1,721,083 research outputs found
A Brief Introduction to the Convergence of Artificial Intelligence and Biotechnology
No full textThis chapter examines the accelerating convergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and biotechnology, a transformative development reshaping scientific discovery, technological innovation, and global governance. As AI methods, particularly machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL), and natural language processing (NLP), are increasingly applied to biological research and engineering, they enable new capabilities ranging from protein structure prediction and gene editing to AI-driven design of biological systems. These developments mark not only the integration of tools and techniques but the emergence of new paradigms at the intersection of computation and biology. We explore how this convergence unfolds across multiple domains, detailing both its profound opportunities and systemic risks. The chapter identifies four core integration paradigms: AI-augmented biological design, biological computing substrates, distributed biological intelligence, and synthetic systems at the AI-biology interface, highlighting the potential for cascading dynamics and identifying measures for assessing and mitigating risk. In parallel, we consider how diverse stakeholder perspectives shape interpretations of uncertainty, with implications for public trust, innovation policy, and regulatory design. A central contribution of the chapter is its ten governance principles grounded in an adaptive, pluralistic, and capability-based approach. Drawing on theories of complex systems, risk, and uncertainty, the chapter outlines mechanisms for anticipating emerging challenges, managing dual-use concerns, and fostering inclusive, participatory approaches to decision-making. The future of this interface relies not only on technological advances but on our ability to ensure that innovation proceeds in ways that are safe, equitable, and aligned with societal priorities and values. By integrating empirical case studies with conceptual frameworks, this chapter offers guidance for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners seeking to responsibly navigate the convergence of AI and biotechnology
Cyber Security Challenges to Arctic Critical Infrastructures
No full textThe Arctic regions of the world have in recent years experienced an increase in human activity not seen before in modern times. Receding polar ice and climate change have contributed to the opening of new sea routes, creating opportunities in intercontinental shipping and tourism. Increased accessibility has enabled the extraction of natural gas and oil, metals, and other resources. The cold climate provides natural cooling for data centers and other computational facilities. Economic activities are coupled with the expansion of military and civilian infrastructure, including for telecommunications, scientific installations, ports, and other intermodal transportation facilities. Information technology promotes efficiency and technologies such as fiber optic cables, satellite communications, radio, and others enable accessibility to these infrastructures from locations outside the Arctic. However, the reliance on information and communication technology and the connectedness of most critical infrastructures (electricity, communications, information, financial and government services, etc.) result in new vulnerabilities exposed by natural disasters or environmental accidents and which adversarial agents can exploit. Cyber security and resilience play a central role in ensuring the safety and security of communities in this age of interconnectedness and big data. Due to their often remote and extreme conditions, Arctic regions face unique challenges of cyber security and resilience for their critical infrastructure. This chapter summarizes discussions and lessons learned from a working group at a NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Governance for Cyber Security and Resilience in the Arctic as it pertains to critical infrastructure, held in Rovaniemi, Finland on 27-30 January, 2019. It aims to provide perspectives on cyber security in the context of Arctic infrastructure from multiple disciplines, including engineering and computer science, international relations, social sciences, law, and governance. Each perspective identifies challenges and opportunities in cyber security and resilience, in particular ones characteristic to Arctic regions. This includes documenting available theory and methods, including analogous methods from other fields, and describing data availabilities and needs. Lessons are derived from past and ongoing scenarios and incidents and methods for forecasting emerging and future scenarios are reviewed. Recommendations for research and practice to increase the cyber security and resilience of infrastructure are provided
A weight of evidence approach for hazard screening of engineered nanomaterials
No full textHazard identification is an important step in assessing nanomaterial risk and is required under multiple regulatory frameworks in the US, Europe and worldwide. Given the emerging nature of the field and complexity of nanomaterials, multiple studies on even basic material properties often result in varying data pointing in different directions when data interpretation is attempted. Weight of evidence (WOE) evaluation has been recommended for nanomaterial risk assessment, but the majority of WOE frameworks are qualitative in nature and do not satisfy the growing needs for objectivity and transparency that are necessary for regulatory decision making. This paper implements a quantitative WOE framework that utilizes multi-criteria decision analysis methodology for integrating individual studies on nanomaterial hazard resulting from physico-chemical and toxicological properties of nanomaterials. For the first time, a WOE approach explicitly integrates expert evaluation of data quality of available information. Application of the framework is illustrated for titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nano-TiO2), but the approach is designed to compare the relative hazard of several nanomaterials as well as emerging stressors in general
Managing Human Factors
No full textFor critical infrastructures (CI), technology solutions have been the preferred choice so far. Yet, the human component of CI could be the primary cause of events causing a less than resilient performance of a CI system. This chapter introduces a systemic approach that contextualizes cascading dynamics in the vulnerability of both technological and human elements. It is followed by a description of the evolution of critical infrastructure and management, envisioned as root causes of cascades effects, and explains the role of the human factor in that process. This chapter highlights why investments in technological resilience of cyber assets cannot do without the integration of its human component. Indeed, consensus is growing among security experts that the weakest link in the security chain is the human being, whether as users, customers, administrators, or managers. The technological progress needs to be followed step by step by improvements in users/operators’ skills and routines, adjusting their ability to improvise and resilience
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Scientists versus regulators: precaution, novelty & regulatory oversight as predictors of perceived risks of engineered nanomaterials.
Get PDFEngineered nanoscale materials (ENMs) present a difficult challenge for risk assessors and regulators. Continuing uncertainty about the potential risks of ENMs means that expert opinion will play an important role in the design of policies to minimize harmful implications while supporting innovation. This research aims to shed light on the views of 'nano experts' to understand which nanomaterials or applications are regarded as more risky than others, to characterize the differences in risk perceptions between expert groups, and to evaluate the factors that drive these perceptions. Our analysis draws from a web-survey (N = 404) of three groups of US and Canadian experts: nano-scientists and engineers, nano-environmental health and safety scientists, and regulatory scientists and decision-makers. Significant differences in risk perceptions were found across expert groups; differences found to be driven by underlying attitudes and perceptions characteristic of each group. Nano-scientists and engineers at the upstream end of the nanomaterial life cycle perceived the lowest levels of risk, while those who are responsible for assessing and regulating risks at the downstream end perceived the greatest risk. Perceived novelty of nanomaterial risks, differing preferences for regulation (i.e. the use of precaution versus voluntary or market-based approaches), and perceptions of the risk of technologies in general predicted variation in experts' judgments of nanotechnology risks. Our findings underscore the importance of involving a diverse selection of experts, particularly those with expertise at different stages along the nanomaterial lifecycle, during policy development
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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