Resilience metrics for cyber systems

As of February 2019, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has reported since 1880 the average global temperature has increased 1°C, with the warmest year on record being 2016. As the years continue to pass, it is becoming more evident that climate change is occurring, which is known to be a catalyst for climatic weather events. Statistically speaking, these events are more prevalent, and catastrophic exemplified as hurricanes, earthquakes, flooding, and fires. In addition to the increase of potentially catastrophic events, society as a whole has become more conscientious in the use and preservation of natural resources, waste generation, and energy consumption. As the overall population continues to grow, the need for safe, secure and sustainable infrastructure increases. Civil infrastructure must be assessed to measure the level at which it will withstand impact from a catastrophic event, as well as how it is utilizing precious resources and energy. In consideration of these previously mentioned issues, several federal agencies, companies, and researchers have put forth an effort to measure and quantify the ability of civil infrastructure to withstand climatic catastrophes. Also, metrics to quantify sustainable construction are increasingly used as a common tool for infrastructure design and development. Most sustainability metrics consider the qualities of a system that revolve around the concept of sustainable development but fail to consider the resiliency of that system. Sustainability assessments are often discrete and will focus on one particular aspect or measure. Resiliency metrics are often overly complex and do not fully encapsulate the quality in a way that is pragmatic or useful to practitioners and engineers, or simply neglect sustainable construction methods. Proposed here is a framework that attempts to unify sustainability and resiliency assessment of geotechnical infrastructure, by considering the risk of failure given the probability of a catastrophic event. The framework is developed for use on geotechnical engineered systems, specifically an earthen dam used for flood control. A Bayesian analysis is used to determine the probability of failure given the occurrence of a catastrophic event, in conjunction with both a resiliency assessment, and sustainability assessments. This is to ensure that the sustainability index is jointly dependent upon the changes in resiliency given the occurrence of a catastrophic event. Two separate failure modes that are possible at the location of the earthen dam were modeled to determine the flexibility of the framework. Failure modes include seismic events, and rapid-drawdown and both were

The electric power system is one of the most important critical infrastructures of a country. Recently, the number of natural and man‐made disasters is increased, which can impose extensive damages and costs to the power system. A resilient power system can withstand against, adapt to and recover from these disasters. Power system resilience is quantified by mathematical tools which are called “resilience metrics”. Currently, a lot of resilience metrics are proposed in the power system literature. In this paper, based on the extensive research in the critical infrastructure resilience literature which specifically concentrates on the “area‐based” resilience metrics, a new area‐based resilience metric is proposed which can measure the power system resilience considering the government policymaker criteria, which are rarely noticed before. The proposed and conventional area‐based resilience metrics are evaluated based on the real data from the 2012 Superstorm Sandy in the USA, which led to significant damage to the power distribution system. The simulation results show that the proposed area‐based resilience metric is very simple, can successfully address actual power system performance curves and is more meaningful and tangible than the conventional area‐based metrics for the government policymaker. The proposed area‐based resilience metric has also a general form and can be used for other critical infrastructures.

Structural health monitoring (SHM) technologies are useful for rapid structural condition assessment, especially for hidden locations after major hazardous events. This chapter describes a strategy for enhancing structural resilience by integrating innovative SHM technologies focused on a few structural fuse members within resilient structures. The proposed framework would be helpful in implementing SHM technologies into civil infrastructures by quantifying and comparing the resilience metrics of different SHM options. The chapter presents preliminary research into integrating SHM technologies with resilient civil infrastructure design and establishing a resilience metric for rating candidate SHM technologies. An explicit SHM resilience metric is proposed, which could be used to quantify the benefits of installing replaceable fuse devices and associated monitoring technology. To address resilience issues, such as uninterrupted use even after strong earthquakes, self-centering behavior has been incorporated into self-centering structures through post-tensioning.

In 2019, Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) contracted Synapse Energy Economics (Synapse) to research the integration of community and electric grid resilience investment planning as part of the Designing Resilient Communities (DRC): A Consequence-Based Approach for Grid Investment project. Synapse produced a series of reports to explore the challenges and opportunities in several key areas, including benefit-cost analysis (BCA), performance metrics, microgrids, and regulatory mechanisms. This report focuses on BCA. BCA is an approach that electric utilities, electric utility regulators, and communities can use to evaluate the costs and benefits of a wide range of grid resilience investments in a comprehensive and consistent way. While BCA is regularly applied to some types of grid investments, application of BCA to grid resilience investments is in the early stages of development. Though resilience is increasingly cited in connection with grid investment proposals and plans, the resilience- related costs and benefits of grid resilience investments are typically not fully identified, infrequently quantified, and almost never monetized. Without complete assessments of costs and benefits, regulators can be hesitant to approve some types of grid resilience investments. This report provides the first application of the framework developed in the 2020 National Standard Practice Manual for Benefit-Cost Analysis of Distributed Energy Resources (NSPM for DERs) 1 to grid resilience investments. We provide guidance on next steps for implementation to enable grid resilience investments to receive due consideration. We suggest developing BCA principles and standards for jurisdiction-specific BCA tests. We also recommend identifying the resilience impacts of the investments and quantification of these impacts by establishing utility performance metrics for resilience. Proactive integration of grid resilience investments into existing regulatory processes and practices can increase the capacity of jurisdictions to respond to and recover from the consequences of extreme events. 1 National Energy Screening Project. 2020. National Standard Practice Manual for Benefit-Cost Analysis of Distributed Energy Resources . Edition 1. Available at: https://www.nationalenergyscreeningproject.org/national-standard-practice-manual/.

Strategic Self‐Regulation for Speaking English as a Foreign Language: Scale Development and Validation

Prathepa JagdishBackground Hand–foot syndrome (HFS) can result in significant deficits in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and can lead to poor compliance, dose reduction, or interruption. This study was performed to assess the HRQOL with HFS on physical, psychological, social, and sexual aspects of patients receiving capecitabine-based chemotherapy with gastrointestinal cancer along with validating and assessing the reliability score of the questionnaire.Patients and Methods HFS-related QOL (HF-QOL) questionnaire was developed and validated in a sample of 30 patients randomly selected for this pilot study. The internal consistency of the tool was tested by calculating the Cronbach's α coefficient, while content and construct validity were assessed by Pearson's correlation. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 25.0.Results Out of 30, 22 (73%) patients were males, mean age was 44 ± 13 years; 21 (70%) patients had grade 1 HFS, while 6 (20%) and 3 (10%) patients had grades 2 and 3 HFS, respectively. Cronbach's α coefficient was high for physical (0.79) and sexual scales (0.79), while it was moderately low for psychological (0.65) and social (0.53) domains. The average HF-QOL scores were 70.6 ± 13.2 in physical domain and 71.3 ± 23.7 in sexual domain indicating poor quality of life (QOL), while it was 50.9 ± 9.9 in social domain indicating moderately worse QOL. Grades 2 and 3 of HFS were found to have statistical significance on physical (0.0001), psychological (0.05), and social (0.02) domains, whereas sexual domain did not have any statistical significance (0.594).Conclusion This pilot study showed the feasibility of use and validity of a new patient-reported instrument, the HF-QOL, which measures the effect of HFS on daily activities (physical, psychological, social, and sexual domains) after capecitabine-based chemotherapy.

Abstract. Reliance on infrastructure by individuals, businesses, and institutions creates additional vulnerabilities to the disruptions posed by natural hazards. In order to assess the impacts of natural hazards on the performance of infrastructure, a framework for quantifying resilience is presented. This framework expands upon prior work in the literature to improve the comparability of the resilience metric by proposing a standardized assessment period. With recovery being a central component of assessing resilience, especially in cases of extreme hazards, we develop a recovery model based upon an application of the resource-constrained project scheduling problem (RCPSP). This recovery model offers the opportunity to assess flood resilience across different events and also, theoretically, between different study areas. The resilience framework and recovery model have been applied in a case study to assess the resilience of building infrastructure to flooding hazards in Alajo, a neighborhood in Accra, Ghana. For the three flood events investigated (5-, 50-, and 500-year return periods) and the chosen standardized assessment period (300 d), the “300 d resilience” successfully shows a meaningful decreasing trend (0.94, 0.82, and 0.69) with increasing hazard magnitude. This information is most valuable for identifying the vulnerabilities of building infrastructure, assessing the impacts resulting in reduced performance, coordinating responses to flooding events, and preparing for the subsequent recovery. This framework expands upon prior work in the literature to improve the comparability of the resilience metric by proposing a standardized assessment period, the “n-time resilience”.

The purpose of this study is to derive a plan for the effective use of the flourishing concept by analyzing the flourishing concept and presenting its limitations. For this purpose, literature analysis and content analysis were used based on the hermeneutic research method. Documents that occupy an important position in the content of flourishing were collected and analyzed, and reinterpreted in an educational context. As a result of the study, we found that flourishing is a component of personal happiness and is composed based on the contents of the self-directed domain, emotional domain, social domain, and physical domain. In terms of content for each domain, the self-directed domain and emotional domain were the main contents, while the social domain and the physical domain were emphasized to a very limited level. As a result of a comprehensive analysis of the flourishing concept and composition, we found that it was necessary to use the flourishing concept from a broad perspective that encompasses the social and physical domain beyond the cognitive and emotional domain for systematic use. In addition, it is necessary to actively utilize the flourishing concept in terms of enhancing the capacity for individual growth and development through linkage with the pedagogical approach that pursues individual overall growth.

Environment, lifestyle behavior and health-related quality of life in childhood and adolescent cancer survivors of extracranial malignancies

Physical learning, cognitive learning, social learning, and affective learning are positioned as the legitimate learning outcomes of physical education. It has been argued that these four learning outcomes go toward facilitating students’ engagement with the physically active life (Bailey et al., 2009; Kirk, 2013). With Cooperative Learning positioned as a pedagogical model capable of supporting these four learning outcomes (Dyson & Casey, 2012), the purpose of this review was to explore the empirical research in the use of Cooperative Learning in physical education reported on the achievement of learning in the physical, cognitive, social, and affective domains (or their equivalents). The review found that while learning occurred in all 4 domains, the predominant outcomes were reported in the physical, cognitive, and social domains. Affective learning was reported anecdotally, and it became clear that more work is required in this area. The article concludes by suggesting that research into the outcomes of this and other pedagogical models needs to focus on learning beyond the initial instructional unit and extend over a period of years and not just weeks.

Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the demographic factors affecting Quality Of Life (QOL) of hemodialysis (HD) patients.Methods: This observational study was conducted at Shalamar Hospital, Lahore. Patients of End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) and on maintenance HD for more than three months were included during the period March to June 2012. Patient of ESRD not on dialysis and Acute Renal Failure were excluded. One hundred and twenty five patients who fulfilled the criteria were included. Demographic data containing age, sex, residence, socio economic status, education, mode of traveling for dialysis, total time consumed in dialysis were collected by the investigators. QOL index was measured using 26 items, WHO QOL BREF.Results: There were 89(71.2%) male and 36(28.8%) female patients. Environmental domain score was highest (p=0.000) than all other domains in HD Patients. In overall analysis age, marital status and total time consumed in getting HD effect QOL significantly (p=<0.05). In domain wise analysis, male has better QOL in social relationship domain than female. Age has negative relationship with physical health and psychological health domain. QOL of unmarried and literate patients is significantly better (p=<0.05) in physical health domain. Employed patients have better QOL in physical, psychological and social relationship domain (p=<0.05) than unemployed patients. Patients of residence of rural areas have better QOL in physical and environment domain. Financial status of HD patients affect QOL in social domain. Distance covered to reach hospital effect QOL in psychological domain (p=<0.05). Patients traveling in private transport have better QOL in environmental domain (p=<0.05). Total time consumed in getting HD effect social relation in QOL (p=<0.05). According to linear regression model, marital status is positive predictor and unemployment is negative predictor of QOL in physical health domain. Age is negative predictor of QOL in psychological domain, monthly income is positive predictor of QOL in domain. Unemployment is positive predictor of QOL in social relation domain. Monthly income and place of residence is positive predictor of QOL in environment domain.Conclusion: Gender, age, marital status, unemployment, residence of rural area, economical status, distance covered to reach hospital, mode of transport, total time consumed in getting HD, effect QOL in HD patient. Education level is a positive factor for improving QOL of HD patients.

Given the unforeseen events that take continue to place worldwide, cities are experiencing rapid transformations. To maintain their basic functions, cities have to be resilient– possess the ability to bounce back to their original state following extreme events. Unfortunately, the behavior of cities is complex because of the interdependence among their comprising infrastructure systems. The current work presents a critical review of research work pertaining to resilience of cities’ critical infrastructure systems. To conduct such review, meta-research is employed through text analytics, in the form of topic modelling, to quantitatively uncover related latent topics in pertinent literature. Subsequently, the identified topics are qualitatively analyzed in terms of established definitions and metrics for resilience as well as adopted simulation approaches for infrastructure systems interdependence. Accordingly, nine common topics and five major research gaps are identified. This meta-research study is a steppingstone towards better understanding of infrastructure systems interdependence simulation and their resilience quantification approaches.

Although physical education (PE) potentially fosters holistic development across physical, cognitive, affective, and social domains, its unique physical and social demands can render it valuable yet costly. These costs, however, remain underexplored, limiting our understanding of their effects on motivation and impeding efforts to design effective curricula and teaching strategies. Grounded in situated expectancy-value theory, this study investigates perceived costs, their causes, and implications for middle school PE curriculum and instructional practices. Qualitative data were collected from 30 students (aged 12–14 years, M = 13, SD = 0.61, 50% male, 50% female) in three middle schools in China through focus groups and individual interviews. Thematic analysis of the transcripts led to the construction of four themes that capture students’ perceived costs in PE, encompassing physical and physiological, psychological, opportunity, and social cost. These findings indicate that students’ perceived costs are potentially driven by the predominant emphasis on the physical domain in the PE curriculum. This highlights the need to reform high school PE entrance examinations, restructure the curriculum using a constructivist approach, and implement models-based practice to help mitigate perceived costs by emphasizing the long-overlooked affective and social domains. Given the significance of cost in PE, recognizing it as a distinct motivational factor can inform the creation of more inclusive and engaging PE experiences, thereby potentially fostering sustained participation and holistic growth.

Childhood maltreatment has been linked to impairments in social functioning and social cognition in adults with affective disorders. However, conclusions have been limited by inconsistent findings across different maltreatment subtypes and social domains. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to quantify associations between childhood maltreatment (overall and subtypes - physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse, and/or physical and/or emotional neglect) and different domains of social functioning and social cognition in adults with affective disorders (bipolar disorder or major depressive disorder). We also examined effect moderators and mediators of these associations. A systematic search was performed on 12.12.2022 which identified 29 studies included in qualitative synthesis (n = 3022 individuals with affective disorders), of which 27 (n = 2957) were pooled in meta-analyses. Across studies, five social functioning and five social cognition domains were examined, of which four domains of social functioning and two domains of social cognition had sufficient data for meta-analysis (PROSPERO CRD42022288976). Social functioning: childhood maltreatment was associated with lower global social functioning (r = -0.11 to -0.20), poorer interpersonal relations (r = -0.18 to -0.33), and with aggressive behaviour (r = 0.20-0.29) but was unrelated to vocational functioning. Emotional abuse and emotional neglect showed the largest magnitudes of effect. Social cognition: there was no meta-analytic evidence of associations between maltreatment and social cognition domains. Exploratory moderation analyses did not identify any consistent moderators. Narrative synthesis identified attachment style as possible moderator, and sensory patterns, anxiety, and depressive symptoms as possible mediators between childhood maltreatment and social outcomes. Overall, the available evidence was limited, particularly in relation to social cognition. Adults with affective disorders are at risk of social functioning difficulties after childhood maltreatment exposure, an effect observed across multiple maltreatment subtypes, social functioning domains, and diagnoses. Addressing social functioning problems may benefit maltreated adults with both bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder.

AimThe purpose of this study was to determine quality of life in peptic ulcer patients referring to Al-Zahra hospital of Isfahan.BackgroundPeptic ulcer disease (PUD) is one of the most prevalent diseases. Its prevalence is 6-15% and about 10% of people experience its symptom in their life. PUD can have a considerable impact on patients’ quality of life (QOL).Patients and methodsThis descriptive- analytic survey was done on 93 randomly patients referred to Al-Zahra hospital of Isfahan city in Iran. Data gathering was done via questionnaire including five domains: physical, psychological, social, behavioral and economical. For data analysis, t-test, Pearson correlation and ANOVA test were used.Results93 patients with mean age of 38.54 years, including 43 (46.2%) women and 54 (53.8%) men, were studied. There was a negative significant between quality of life and age and between disease duration and psychological, economical domains and between the mean of QOL scores in physical and social domains with the number of cigarette per day, also there was significant relation between social domain and gender, and physical, psychological and behavioral domains with marital status; Physical, social domains with smoking. Also there was a negative significant between physical, social and behavioral domains with years of smoking.ConclusionStudy results showed that quality of life is in a relatively good level among patients, thus some diseases such as peptic ulcer can effect on quality of life. So, treatment and prevention of these diseases may improve their quality of life.