Security dialogues: building better relationships between security and business

In the real world, there's often a discrepancy between an organization's mandated security processes and what actually happens. The social practice of security flourishes in the space between and around formal organizational security processes. By recognizing the value of risk management as a communication tool, security practitioners can tap opportunities to improve the security dialogue with staff

Treatment of CD30-Expressing Germ Cell Tumors and Sex Cord Stromal Tumors with Brentuximab Vedotin: Identification and Report of Seven Cases

BACKGROUND: Cytotoxic therapy for relapsed and refractory germ cell tumors or metastatic sex cord stromal tumors is rarely effective and is often accompanied by high adverse event rates. Expression of CD30 has been observed in testicular cancers, and patients with CD30-expressing embryonal carcinomas have worse progression-free survival and overall survival than those with CD30-negative tumors. The objective of this study (NCT01461538) was to characterize the antitumor activity of brentuximab vedotin in patients with CD30-expressing nonlymphomatous malignancies. Enrolled patients included seven patients with relapsed or refractory germ cell tumors or metastatic sex cord stromal tumors described in this case series. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty patients with relapsed or refractory germ cell tumors, metastatic sex cord stromal tumors, or testicular tumors were screened for CD30 expression; 14 patients had tumors that expressed CD30. Seven patients with CD30-expressing testicular cancer were enrolled in the treatment study: five patients with germ cell tumors, one patient with a Leydig cell tumor, and one patient with a Sertoli cell tumor. Patients were treated with brentuximab vedotin at initial doses of 1.8 or 2.4 mg/kg every 3 weeks. Response assessments were performed at cycles 2 and 4 and every 4 cycles thereafter while the patient was receiving treatment. RESULTS: Two of seven patients achieved an objective response, including one durable complete response and one partial response at a single time point. Both responding patients had germ cell tumors. Treatment with brentuximab vedotin was generally well tolerated. CONCLUSION: Treatment of relapsed or refractory germ cell tumors with brentuximab vedotin can induce durable responses with a manageable toxicity profile. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: This case series of seven patients with relapsed or refractory CD30-expressing germ cell tumors (GCTs) or sex cord stromal tumors demonstrates that brentuximab vedotin has activity against GCTs and is well tolerated in heavily pretreated patients with these aggressive tumor types. One patient achieved a complete response that has been durable for almost 4 years since the discontinuation of treatment with brentuximab vedotin. Therefore, brentuximab vedotin may be a valuable option for physicians who care for this difficult-to-treat patient population

A Study of Work Practices in Tasmanian Government Schools: Final report to the Australian Education Union – Tasmanian Branch

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) conducted an online survey of members on behalf of the Tasmanian Branch of the Australian Education Union (AEU). The survey, which was open to teachers, school leaders (principals and assistant principals) and education support staff working in Tasmanian government schools and offices, was available to the majority of members of the Union in August 2017, and remained open for four weeks during Term 3. The survey was based on one conducted for the Victorian branch of the AEU in 2016. The survey of the work of union members in Tasmanian government schools focussed on the hours of work by school staff, staff perceptions of their work, and the relationship between work practices and the quality of teaching. More than 3000 teachers, school leaders and education support staff completed the survey, a response rate of 60%

Trapped on the seashore, seaborne evacuation, and impact of exposure to PM2.5: Live demonstration of the urbanEXODUS large-scale evacuation model

Wildfires can trigger large-scale pedestrian, vehicle and seaborne evacuations, and cause injuries and fatalities. Evacuation models are employed to better understand the involved processes and their interactions. During the final exercise of the European Commission’s H2020 IN-PREP project, urbanEXODUS was used within a training platform, by incident managers, to aid their response to a simulated disaster. The scenario involved a traffic accident escalating to a wildfire, causing the local community to evacuate. The model combined pedestrian and vehicle evacuation, and through a flow model, a simplistic representation of boat evacuation. The effects of wildfire on escape routes and possible fatalities were evaluated using fire perimeter data. The development of a novel fractional dose model allowed the software to determine agents’ acute exposure to PM2.5, in relation to the WHO daily mean Air Quality Guidelines (AQG). The simulation results comprise key evacuation performance parameters including evacuation times, fatalities, and escape route usage. Results indicate that 6% of the population was unable to leave the area and are treated as fatalities. The road network and boats were used by 69% and 31% of the evacuees respectively. PM2.5 exposure was zero for 84% of the evacuees, and below the AQG, for 1%, while 15% received, on average, a dosage of 7.6 times the AQG (range 1.0 – 28.3, SD = 5.8), which may cause respiratory and cardiovascular disorders. The model offers detailed evacuation information that is practically impossible to obtain otherwise, allowing crisis managers to take risk-informed decisions when planning for a crisis

The development of pedestrian gap acceptance and midblock pedestrian road crossing behavior utilizing SUMO

While there are several published studies for modelling pedestrian behavior at signalized crossings in SUMO, the behavior of pedestrians crossing a road at a location other than a designated crossing, has not been considered to date. This work looks at how to represent pedestrian agents selecting to cross a road at arbitrary locations along the length of the road. The pedestrian agents utilize a gap acceptance model that represents how a pedestrian decides when to cross a road, based on the frequency and speed of approaching vehicles, while considering the spacing between them. Furthermore, the gap acceptance model allows the pedestrians to choose to cross all lanes in one go, when safe to do so, known as Double Gap or one stage crossing. Alternatively, if an agent is identified as a risk-taker, they may choose to cross lane by lane, sometimes waiting in the middle of the road, known as Rolling Gap or risk-taker crossing behavior. The inclusion of these two crossing behaviors allows for situations where urgency plays an important role in behavioral decision making, such as in emergencies, rush hour or in crowd management events. The outlined pedestrian crossing model is attained by integrating the pedestrian model EXODUS with SUMO, via the TraCI API

Trapped on the seashore, seaborne evacuation, impact of exposure to PM2.5: demonstration of the urbanEXODUS evacuation model

The 2021 wildfire season affected large communities in over ten countries around the Mediterranean basin consuming an area almost double the area burnt by wildfires over the past twelve years. In many cases, people were exposed to hazardous combustion products that caused mass multimodal evacuations, including pedestrian, vehicle, and seaborne evacuations as well as a large number of fatalities. Evacuation modelling can be used to better understand the processes involved, including the interactions between those processes. Such a model is urbanEXODUS, utilised during the final exercise (FSX3) for the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 project IN-PREP. The tool was used as part of a training platform for incident managers in collaborative response to large scale disasters. The scenario deployed during the FSX3, and presented in this work, involved a traffic accident and cascading effects that start a wildfire at a forested area, initiating a multi-modal evacuation of the local community. The model, able to simulate multi-modal evacuations, includes pedestrian and vehicle evacuation, and through the development of a flow model, a simplistic representation of boat evacuation. The model is also able to determine the effect of wildfire products using two different datasets that include (a) wildfire perimeter data and (b) smoke plume data that include PM2.5 concentration levels. The former limits the escape routes, causing engulfment and fatalities. The latter, through the development of a novel fractional dose model, determines the acute exposure of agents to PM2.5 in relation to the World Health Organisation (WHO) daily mean Air Quality Guidelines (AQG). The model demonstrates key evacuation performance results, including evacuation times, escape route usage and number and locations of fatalities. The results indicate that 6% of the entire population were unable to leave the area and are considered as fatalities. With regard to the evacuees, 69% utilised the road network to leave the area, while 31% utilised the seaborne evacuation. Exposure to PM2.5 was zero for 84% of the evacuees, while for 1% it was less than the AQG. However, 15% of the agents received a dosage of PM2.5 on average of 7.6 times the AQG (range 1.0 – 28.3, SD = 5.8). This level of exposure is expected to cause health problems including respiratory, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disorders. The model offers detailed evacuation information that is practically impossible to obtain otherwise, allowing crisis managers to make risk-informed decisions when planning for a crisis