The International Business Risk of Terrorism: A Pragmatic Framework for Assessing its Impact on the U.S.-Based, Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise’s Supply Chain Operations

Purpose - Subject paper examines the international business risk of terrorism’s impact on the focal firm’s supply chain operations, as proliferated by the acceleration of globalization, via a fundamental review of pertinent country- and firm-level considerations shaped by global environmental factors. Subsequently, a managerial risk assessment and mitigation planning framework is presented for the supply chain executive’s pragmatic use. Design/methodology/approach – Broad evaluation of contemporary viewpoints precedes a risk assessment and mitigation planning framework from the supply chain executive’s point-of-view. Findings – While observed research found the probability of the risk of terrorism to be low, the severity (impact) of such a risk is quite substantial. By and large, contemporaries suggest a combination of public-private partnerships to proactively lessen its likelihood and the implementation of operational redundancies (assets and infrastructure) to minimize its impact to ongoing business operations. Yet, supply chain executives need a pragmatic framework to adequately assess its individual situation in order to develop an appropriate risk mitigation plan. Originality/value – Provides an essential supplementary framework for inclusion in a firm’s broad supply chain risk assessment and management strategy. Although the paper is focused on the U.S., it has global implications. Series Virtual Image Empt

Building the Operational Technology (OT) Cybersecurity Workforce: What are Employers Looking for?

A trained workforce is needed to protect operational technology (OT) and industrial control systems (ICS) within national critical infrastructure and critical industries. However, what knowledge, skills, and credentials are employers looking for in OT cybersecurity professionals? To best train the next generation of OT cybersecurity professionals, an understanding of current OT cybersecurity position requirements is needed. Thus, this work analyzes 100 OT cybersecurity positions to provide insights on key prerequisite requirements such as prior professional experience, education, industry certifications, security clearances, programming expertise, soft verbal and written communication skills, knowledge of OT frameworks, standards, and network communication protocols, and position travel. We found that OT cybersecurity roles are typically non-entry level, as experience was the most common requirement, and was required on 95% of analyzed positions. Possession of a bachelor’s degree or higher was required for 82% of positions, while industry certifications such as the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) or the Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC) Global Industrial Cyber Security Professional (GICSP) were listed on 64% of positions. Knowledge of OT or IT frameworks and standards and strong communication skills were listed on 48% of positions, while programming expertise, possession of the United States security clearance, and knowledge of OT or IT networking protocols were required for 18%, 24%, and 27% of positions, respectively. A work travel requirement was listed on 29% of positions. Individuals seeking to enter the OT cybersecurity field, and educational programs focusing on training OT cybersecurity professionals should prioritize obtaining experience, education, and certification, possessing strong communication skills, and knowledge of relevant OT and IT industry standards and frameworks

Acoustic Microscopy Using Amplitude and Phase Measurements

We have built a low-frequency scanning acoustic microscope (SAM) that measures both amplitude and phase. The majority of SAMs simply measure the amplitude of the reflected signal. Measuring the phase gives a great deal more information. For one thing, the phase is very sensitive to height variations. Measuring the phase also gives us the ability to do signal processing on the resulting images, such as removing the effects of surface features from defocused images of subsurface defects

Den Site Activity Patterns of Adult Male and Female Swift Foxes, Vulpes velox, in Northwestern Texas

Activity of Swift Foxes (Vulpes velox) at den sites was studied in northwestern Texas during pup rearing seasons in 2000 and 2001 to determine role of males in parental care. Twenty-four percent of radio-collared females with a potential to breed successfully raised pups to eight weeks of age. We intensively monitored presence and absence of male and female Swift Foxes at two den sites each year. Females were present >2.6 times more at den sites than males during the pup rearing season. Female and male Swift Foxes largely stayed at dens during diurnal hours and were active away from dens during nocturnal and crepuscular hours. Females and males spent 12.4% and 3.0% more time at dens before pups emerged, than after pups emerged, respectively. Following depredation of one male parent, the female spent 29% less time at the den site. Decrease in time spent at the den by the female following loss of her mate suggested that loss of one parent might severely impact recruitment of Swift Foxes. Our observations indicated that intense Coyote (Canis latrans) depredation may severely impact pup-rearing success as well as the parental care within Swift Fox family groups

Detection of Delaminations Located at Ceramic/Metal Jointed Interface by Scanning Acoustic Microscopy

Since ceramic/metal joints currently play an important role of the structural parts for applications in electrical, electronic or aerospace industries, techniques must be developed for evaluating the integrity of these joints. Such techniques as collimated X-ray beam radiography [1], indentation fracture, and laser speckle imaging have been developed with limited success. No truly nondestructive techniques for evaluating joint strength have been established to date. If a conventional C-scan mode apparatus could be applied directly for detecting a defect such as a delamination on a joint interface, it might be an attractive solution in terms of visualizing the defect as a first step in the evaluation. The shape of the standard specimen of the ceramic/metal joint is essentially a rectangular bar. When the C-scan mode apparatus is used to visualize the jointed interface, an acoustic wave is required to be incident from the ceramic side of the specimen. When considering the attenuation of an ultrasonic wave in the frequency range from 10 to 100 MHz and the thickness of the ceramic portion of the specimen, the wave may not reach the interface, or the wave reflected from the interface may not be detected. When using frequencies lower than 10 MHz, the interface may be imaged, but with limited resolution. Moreover, the contrast may be poor because of water diffusing into the crack in the surface of the specimen. When a conventional A-mode apparatus such as a digital oscilloscope is used to obtain quantitative data, reflected waveforms might be collected. However, the data might not be good enough to analyze details of a defect, such as caused by a fracturing process. Recent studies have shown that delaminations at a ceramic/metal joint, such as a Si3N4/Cu/Steel joint, originate along the periphery of the interface [2]

Hiring Criteria in Biology Departments of Academic Institutions

We surveyed faculty in the biology departments of US institutions of higher education to compare the experience and training valued by faculty at hiring institutions with the experience and training most graduate students receive. Our data show that associate, baccalaureate, and master\u27s institutions value teaching experience and skills more highly than research skills. In contrast, doctoral institutions place a higher value on the ability to publish research and obtain outside funding. These findings provide quantitative and qualitative insight into discrepancies between the values of those who train graduate students in biology and the expectations of the institutions likely to hire these individuals

A Brownian Model for Crystal Nucleation

In this work a phenomenological stochastic differential equation is proposed to model the time evolution of the radius of a pre-critical molecular cluster during nucleation (the classical order parameter). Such a stochastic differential equation constitutes the basis for the calculation of the (nucleation) induction time under Kramers' theory of thermally activated escape processes. Considering the nucleation stage as a Poisson rare-event, analytical expressions for the induction time statistics are deduced for both steady and unsteady conditions, the latter assuming the semiadiabatic limit. These expressions can be used to identify the underlying mechanism of molecular cluster formation (distinguishing between homogeneous or heterogeneous nucleation from the nucleation statistics is possible) as well as to predict induction times and induction time distributions. The predictions of this model are in good agreement with experimentally measured induction times at constant temperature, unlike the values obtained from the classical equation, but agreement is not so good for induction time statistics. Stochastic simulations truncated to the maximum waiting time of the experiments confirm that this fact is due to the time constraints imposed by experiments. Correcting for this effect, the experimental and predicted curves fit remarkably well. Thus, the proposed model seems to be a versatile tool to predict cluster size distributions, nucleation rates, (nucleation) induction time and induction time statistics for a wide range of conditions (e.g. time-dependent temperature, supersaturation, pH, etc.) where classical nucleation theory is of limited applicability.Comment: 20 pages, 3 figure

A Waveguide Based Acoustic Microscope with Application to the Evaluation of Bone

A new ultrasonic scanning system has been developed which is capable of accurate velocity measurements with high spatial resolution. This performance is achieved while using relatively low frequencies to minimize the cost of the instrument. A waveguide detector is used in place of the normal focused ultrasonic transducer. The waveguide receiver makes it possible to provide the needed spatial resolution without limitations imposed by the finite aperture of the transducer. An increase in the complexity of the signal processing required and reduced throughput of the instrument results from this approach. However, these disadvantages are amply compensated by the ability to investigate materials with high attenuation and low wave velocities. These measurements are not possible with traditional acoustic microscopes

Microbial rRNA sequencing analysis of evaporative cooler indoor environments located in the Great Basin Desert region of the United States

Recent studies conducted in the Great Basin Desert region of the United States have shown that skin test reactivity to fungal and dust mite allergens are increased in children with asthma or allergy living in homes with evaporative coolers (EC). The objective of this study was to determine if the increased humidity previously reported in EC homes leads to varying microbial populations compared to homes with air conditioners (AC). Children with physician-diagnosed allergic rhinitis living in EC or AC environments were recruited into the study. Air samples were collected from the child's bedroom for genomic DNA extraction and metagenomic analysis of bacteria and fungi using the Illumina MiSeq sequencing platform. The analysis of bacterial populations revealed no major differences between EC and AC sampling environments. The fungal populations observed in EC homes differed from AC homes. The most prevalent species discovered in AC environments belonged to the genera Cryptococcus (20%) and Aspergillus (20%). In contrast, the most common fungi identified in EC homes belonged to the order Pleosporales and included Alternaria alternata (32%) and Phoma spp. (22%). The variations in fungal populations provide preliminary evidence of the microbial burden children may be exposed to within EC environments in this region