Making Capitalism Respectable

While the effect of financial crises on forming financial policy is well studied, less attention has been paid to how they produce ‘game changing’ turns that reinvent the context for regulatory reform, institutional design, and legitimate future conduct. The aftermath of crisis becomes an exercise in damage-limitation, but based on interpretation, debate, and narrative-building that creates a lasting memory of the crisis. We examine the contemporary perception and memory of the ‘Panic’ or ‘Founders Crisis’ of 1873 in the US and Germany, which had many common transatlantic origins. Yet the solutions could not have been more different because contemporaries created different narratives about this crisis. We highlight how the different language of legitimacy following the 1873 crisis reshaped long-term regulatory norms that discredited insiders in the US, yet encouraged committed, responsible insiders in Germany.

Towards effective crisis management

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings Firms and entire sectors can be vulnerable to both immediate and lasting effects when a major crisis occurs. Swift response utilizing appropriate strategies can enable effective crisis management that enables not only damage limitation and recovery but scope to transform the industry’s future. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

A Rule Mining-based Advanced Persistent Threats Detection System

Advanced persistent threats (APT) are stealthy cyber-attacks that are aimed at stealing valuable information from target organizations and tend to extend in time. Blocking all APTs is impossible, security experts caution, hence the importance of research on early detection and damage limitation. Whole-system provenance-tracking and provenance trace mining are considered promising as they can help find causal relationships between activities and flag suspicious event sequences as they occur. We introduce an unsupervised method that exploits OS-independent features reflecting process activity to detect realistic APT-like attacks from provenance traces. Anomalous processes are ranked using both frequent and rare event associations learned from traces. Results are then presented as implications which, since interpretable, help leverage causality in explaining the detected anomalies. When evaluated on Transparent Computing program datasets (DARPA), our method outperformed competing approaches.

Russia and allies seek damage limitation with Taliban

Significance Since May the Taliban have taken control of almost all areas adjoining Central Asian borders. A remaining stretch between Turkmenistan and north-western Afghanistan is likely to follow soon. Disrupted trade and a possible refugee influx are not the only worries for regional governments; the presence of Central Asian jihadists in areas captured by the Taliban is cause for concern. Impacts Uzbekistan and Tajikistan may review their refusal to host a US military base, but have many reasons to avoid going ahead. The Uzbek presidency says there are no plans to join Russia's Collective Security Treaty Organisation. Even the most reluctant Central Asian policymakers will have to engage with the Taliban to press them to keep other jihadists in check.

Taliban's war outpaces efforts for Afghan settlement

Significance He may ask Ghani to step aside and make way for an interim government, in the hope that this will halt the apparent slide into chaos. The Taliban are capturing territory rapidly across Afghanistan and panic is spreading among government security forces. The Taliban are complying with a promise not to attack provincial capitals but have surrounded several and are just waiting for US and other NATO-led forces to leave Afghanistan. Impacts Pakistan, Iran and perhaps Russia and Saudi Arabia are lobbying for their proteges to be included or spared under Taliban rule. The international focus will switch to damage limitation and securing Taliban cooperation on counter-terrorism and minimal human rights. The pace of the Taliban’s advance is so stunning that Islamabad is wondering how it can curb or control them.

Harm minimisation for the management of self-harm: a mixed-methods analysis of electronic health records in secondary mental healthcare

Background Prevalence of self-harm in the UK was reported as 6.4% in 2014. Despite sparse evidence for effectiveness, guidelines recommend harm minimisation; a strategy in which people who self-harm are supported to do so safely. Aims To determine the prevalence, sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of those who self-harm and practise harm minimisation within a London mental health trust. Method We included electronic health records for patients treated by South London and Maudsley NHS Trust. Using an iterative search strategy, we identified patients who practise harm minimisation, then classified the approaches using a content analysis. We compared the sociodemographic characteristics with that of a control group of patients who self-harm and do not use harm minimisation. Results In total 22 736 patients reported self-harm, of these 693 (3%) had records reporting the use of harm-minimisation techniques. We coded the approaches into categories: (a) ‘substitution’ (>50% of those using harm minimisation), such as using rubber bands or using ice; (b) ‘simulation’ (9%) such as using red pens; (c) ‘defer or avoid’ (7%) such as an alternative self-injury location; (d) ‘damage limitation’ (9%) such as using antiseptic techniques; the remainder were unclassifiable (24%). The majority of people using harm minimisation described it as helpful (>90%). Those practising harm minimisation were younger, female, of White ethnicity, had previous admissions and were less likely to have self-harmed with suicidal intent. Conclusions A small minority of patients who self-harm report using harm minimisation, primarily substitution techniques, and the large majority find harm minimisation helpful. More research is required to determine the acceptability and effectiveness of harm-minimisation techniques and update national clinical guidelines.

Machine Learning based Autonomous Fire Combat Turret

The time lag between the identification and the initiation of the actuation protocol is more in conventional fire combat system. This in turn increases the response time resulting in financial loss as well as injuries to human beings. In this paper an efficient method of fire combat is proposed to eliminate resource loss. This system extinguishes fire before it reaches its destructive level. It eliminates all the flaws of the conventional fire extinguishers and improves the damage limitation by raising an alarm. Further by applying HAAR cascade classifier machine learning algorithm, accuracy of 70-75 % is achieved to detect fire. It also provides minimum latency and optimal response in detecting fires and differentiating them from false triggers. It is observed that the response time of proposed fire combat system is 2-4 seconds. The automatic mode is reliable in the presence of multiple units that are deployed in the same area of interest. The system is able to cover the entire hemispheric 3D volume of the room as per the industrial and domestic safety standards.