Exploring Robust and Resilient Pathways to Water Security (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, C. M.

2013-12-01

Lack of water security and the resultant cumulative effects of water-related hazards are understood to hinder economic growth throughout the world. Traditional methods for achieving water security as exemplified in the industrialized world have exerted negative externalities such as degradation of aquatic ecosystems. There is also growing concern that such methods may not be robust to climate variability change. It has been proposed that alternative pathways to water security must be followed in the developing world. However, it is not clear such pathways currently exist and there is an inherent moral hazard in such recommendations. This presentation will present a multidimensional definition of water security, explore the conflict in norms between engineering and ecologically oriented communities, and present a framework synthesizing those norms for assessing and innovating robust and resilient pathways to water security.

Measuring global water security towards sustainable development goals

Science.gov (United States)

Gain, Animesh K.; Giupponi, Carlo; Wada, Yoshihide

2016-12-01

Water plays an important role in underpinning equitable, stable and productive societies and ecosystems. Hence, United Nations recognized ensuring water security as one (Goal 6) of the seventeen sustainable development goals (SDGs). Many international river basins are likely to experience ‘low water security’ over the coming decades. Water security is rooted not only in the physical availability of freshwater resources relative to water demand, but also on social and economic factors (e.g. sound water planning and management approaches, institutional capacity to provide water services, sustainable economic policies). Until recently, advanced tools and methods are available for the assessment of water scarcity. However, quantitative and integrated—physical and socio-economic—approaches for spatial analysis of water security at global level are not available yet. In this study, we present a spatial multi-criteria analysis framework to provide a global assessment of water security. The selected indicators are based on Goal 6 of SDGs. The term ‘security’ is conceptualized as a function of ‘availability’, ‘accessibility to services’, ‘safety and quality’, and ‘management’. The proposed global water security index (GWSI) is calculated by aggregating indicator values on a pixel-by-pixel basis, using the ordered weighted average method, which allows for the exploration of the sensitivity of final maps to different attitudes of hypothetical policy makers. Our assessment suggests that countries of Africa, South Asia and Middle East experience very low water security. Other areas of high water scarcity, such as some parts of United States, Australia and Southern Europe, show better GWSI values, due to good performance of management, safety and quality, and accessibility. The GWSI maps show the areas of the world in which integrated strategies are needed to achieve water related targets of the SDGs particularly in the African and Asian continents.

Single treatment with ethanol hand rub is ineffective against human rhinovirus--hand washing with soap and water removes the virus efficiently.

Science.gov (United States)

Savolainen-Kopra, Carita; Korpela, Terttu; Simonen-Tikka, Marja-Leena; Amiryousefi, Ali; Ziegler, Thedi; Roivainen, Merja; Hovi, Tapani

2012-03-01

Ethanol-containing hand rubs are used frequently as a substitute for hand washing with water and soap. However, not all viruses are inactivated by a short term rubbing with alcohol. The capacity of a single round of instructed and controlled hand cleaning with water and soap or ethanol-containing hand rub, respectively, was tested for removal of human rhinovirus administered onto the skin of healthy volunteers on the back of the hands. Hand washing with soap and water appeared to be much more efficient for removing rhinoviruses from skin than rubbing hands with an ethanol-containing disinfectant. After washing with soap and water the virus was detected in 3/9 (33.3%) test persons from the left hand and 1/9 (11.1%) cases from the right hand, whereas the virus was detected invariably by real-time RT-PCR from both hands after cleaning with alcohol hand rub (P-value soap can clean efficiently hands contaminated with the virus responsible for an extensive share of common cold episodes. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Socio-Hydrological Observatory for Water Security (SHOWS): Examples of Adaptation Strategies With Next Challenges from Brazilian Risk Areas

Science.gov (United States)

Souza, F. A. A. D.; Mendiondo, E. M.; Taffarello, D.; Guzmán-Arias, D.; Fava, M. C.; Abreu, F.; Freitas, C. C.; de Macedo, M. B.; Estrada, C. R.; do Lago, C. A.

2017-12-01

In Brazil, more than 40,000 hot-spot areas, with vulnerable human settlements with ca. 120 million inhabitants and responsible of 60% of Brazilian Gross Net Product, are threatened by hydrological-driven disaster risks. In these areas, local resilient actions and adaptation strategies do integrate the current Brazilian Act and Regulation of Laws of urban waters, climate change and civil protection. However, these initiatives are still under slow progress, especially to cope with floods, landslides, droughts, progressive biodiversity losses and energy burnouts. Here we address these hot-spots through the concept of Socio-Hydrological Observatory for Water Security (SHOWS), with a mix of adaptation strategies, open-source, big data analysis and societal feedbacks. On the one hand, SHOWS merges strategies like the dynamic framework of water security (Srinivasan et al, 2017), drought risk mapping (Rossato et al, 2017) and water securitization under varying water demand and climate change until year 2100 (Mohor & Mendiondo, 2017; Guzmán-Arias et al, 2017). SHOWS acknowledges different perspectives of water insecurity, several spatiotemporal scales and regime shifts in socio-hydrologic systems. On the one hand, SHOWS links field monitoring during water insecurity hazards (Taffarello et al, 2016), ecosystem-based adaptation networks, and decision-making and big data sources to disaster management (Horita et al, 2017). By using selected examples from two Brazilian running interdisciplinary research aliances, i.e. CAPES-ProAlertas CEMADEN-CEPED/USP and the CNPq/FAPESP National Institute of Science & Technology on Climate Change-II Water Security, we also face the limits, the pros and cons of SHOWS' assumptions. Through real-cases paradoxes, (i.e. 2013/2014 drought), water dashboards and coevolution trends (i.e. impacts on river basin committees from scenarios until 2050, 2100 in NE & SE Brazil), SHOWS helps on guiding decisionmaking for next societal steps of water

The politics of African energy development: Ethiopia's hydro-agricultural state-building strategy and clashing paradigms of water security.

Science.gov (United States)

Verhoeven, Harry

2013-11-13

As key economic, ecological and demographic trends converge to reshape Africa and its relationship with the outside world, a new politics is emerging in the twenty-first century around the water-food-energy nexus, which is central to the continent's relevance in the global economy. On the one hand, Malthusian anxieties are proliferating; pessimists link population growth and growing water scarcity to state failure and 'water wars'. On the other hand, entrepreneurs, sovereign wealth funds and speculators consider Africa's potential in water resources, energy production and food output as one of the last great untapped opportunities for the global economy: Africa is on the brink of an agro-industrial transformation. This article examines how African actors are not merely responding to economic and environmental changes but also thinking politically about water, food and energy security. Many of them are seizing the new opportunities to redefine their national politics, their relationship with local communities and their ties with external players, regionally and globally. Ethiopia's project of hydro-agricultural state-building helps to identify the most important fault lines of this new politics at the national, local and international level. The politics of water security and energy development simultaneously puts African states and their populations on the defensive, as they grapple with huge challenges, but also provides them with unique opportunities to take advantage of a more favourable global configuration of forces.

A novel water poverty index model for evaluation of Chinese regional water security

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Gong, L.; Jin, C. L.; Li, Y. X.; Zhou, Z. L.

2017-08-01

This study proposed an improved Water Poverty Index (WPI) model employed in evaluating Chinese regional water security. Firstly, the Chinese WPI index system was constructed, in which the indicators were obtained according to China River reality. A new mathematical model was then established for WPI values calculation on the basis of Center for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) model. Furthermore, this new model was applied in Shiyanghe River (located in western China). It turned out that the Chinese index system could clearly reflect the indicators threatening security of river water and the Chinese WPI model is feasible. This work has also developed a Water Security Degree (WSD) standard which is able to be regarded as a scientific basis for further water resources utilization and water security warning mechanism formulation.

Water, agriculture, energy: a growing interweaving. Towards an extended water security

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taithe, Alexandre

2009-01-01

In this paper, the author first notices that the definition of water security according to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is a rather restrictive one. Thus, the search for a global security takes all forms of insufficiencies and (military or not) instabilities into account, and is then related to strategic stakes of State stability such as agriculture production, water or energy. He discusses the determining factors and vulnerabilities of a renewed water security and its implications. He highlights how internal political and social constraints are sources of local and regional tensions. In this respect, agriculture is at the heart of use conflicts (difficult and necessary reform of the sector, rivalries between rural and urban users), and water stress directly affects daily domestic uses. The author then outlines the necessary integration stakes related to water, food and energy by discussing the use of water in energy production, the use of energy to produce drinkable water, the relationship between agriculture and energy, and, of course between agriculture and water as agriculture is the main water consumer

Domestic water and sanitation as water security: monitoring, concepts and strategy

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Bradley, David J.; Bartram, Jamie K.

2013-01-01

Domestic water and sanitation provide examples of a situation where long-term, target-driven efforts have been launched with the objective of reducing the proportion of people who are water-insecure, most recently through the millennium development goals (MDGs) framework. Impacts of these efforts have been monitored by an increasingly evidence-based system, and plans for the next period of international policy, which are likely to aim at universal coverage with basic water and sanitation, are being currently developed. As distinct from many other domains to which the concept of water security is applied, domestic or personal water security requires a perspective that incorporates the reciprocal notions of provision and risk, as the current status of domestic water and sanitation security is dominated by deficiency This paper reviews the interaction of science and technology with policies, practice and monitoring, and explores how far domestic water can helpfully fit into the proposed concept of water security, how that is best defined, and how far the human right to water affects the situation. It is considered that they fit well together in terms both of practical planning of targets and indicators and as a conceptual framework to help development. The focus needs to be broad, to extend beyond households, to emphasize maintenance as well as construction and to increase equity of access. International and subnational monitoring need to interact, and monitoring results need to be meaningful to service providers as well as users. PMID:24080628

Water dependency and water exploitation at global scale as indicators of water security

Science.gov (United States)

De Roo, A. P. J.; Beck, H.; Burek, P.; Bernard, B.

2015-12-01

A water dependency index has been developed indicating the dependency of water consumption from upstream sources of water, sometimes across (multiple) national border. This index is calculated at global scale using the 0.1 global LISFLOOD hydrological modelling system forced by WFDEI meteorological data for the timeframe 1979-2012. The global LISFLOOD model simulates the most important hydrological processes, as well as water abstraction and consumption from various sectors, and flood routing, at daily scale, with sub-timesteps for routing and subgrid parameterization related to elevation and landuse. The model contains also options for water allocation, to allow preferences of water use for particular sectors in water scarce periods. LISFLOOD is also used for the Global Flood Awareness System (GloFAS), the European Flood Awareness System (EFAS), continental scale climate change impact studies on floods and droughts. The water dependency indicator is calculated on a monthly basis, and various annual and multiannual indicators are derived from it. In this study, the indicator will be compared against water security areas known from other studies. Other indicators calculated are the Water Exploitation Index (WEI+), which is a commonly use water security indicator in Europe, and freshwater resources per capita indicators at regional, national and river basin scale. Several climate scnearios are run to indicate future trends in water security.

On the Water-Food Nexus: an Optimization Approach for Water and Food Security

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Mortada, Sarah; Abou Najm, Majdi; Yassine, Ali; Alameddine, Ibrahim; El-Fadel, Mutasem

2016-04-01

Water and food security is facing increased challenges with population increase, climate and land use change, as well as resource depletion coupled with pollution and unsustainable practices. Coordinated and effective management of limited natural resources have become an imperative to meet these challenges by optimizing the usage of resources under various constraints. In this study, an optimization model is developed for optimal resource allocation towards sustainable water and food security under nutritional, socio-economic, agricultural, environmental, and natural resources constraints. The core objective of this model is to maximize the composite water-food security status by recommending an optimal water and agricultural strategy. The model balances between the healthy nutritional demand side and the constrained supply side while considering the supply chain in between. It equally ensures that the population achieves recommended nutritional guidelines and population food-preferences by quantifying an optimum agricultural and water policy through transforming optimum food demands into optimum cropping policy given the water and land footprints of each crop or agricultural product. Through this process, water and food security are optimized considering factors that include crop-food transformation (food processing), water footprints, crop yields, climate, blue and green water resources, irrigation efficiency, arable land resources, soil texture, and economic policies. The model performance regarding agricultural practices and sustainable food and water security was successfully tested and verified both at a hypothetical and pilot scale levels.

Water security-National and global issues

Science.gov (United States)

Tindall, James A.; Campbell, Andrew A.

2010-01-01

Potable or clean freshwater availability is crucial to life and economic, environmental, and social systems. The amount of freshwater is finite and makes up approximately 2.5 percent of all water on the Earth. Freshwater supplies are small and randomly distributed, so water resources can become points of conflict. Freshwater availability depends upon precipitation patterns, changing climate, and whether the source of consumed water comes directly from desalination, precipitation, or surface and (or) groundwater. At local to national levels, difficulties in securing potable water sources increase with growing populations and economies. Available water improves living standards and drives urbanization, which increases average water consumption per capita. Commonly, disruptions in sustainable supplies and distribution of potable water and conflicts over water resources become major security issues for Government officials. Disruptions are often influenced by land use, human population, use patterns, technological advances, environmental impacts, management processes and decisions, transnational boundaries, and so forth.

Water security in Southern Africa: Discourses securitising water and the implications for water governance and politics

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Meissner, Richard

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In the South African water discourse, the water security concept is a complex notion that not only covers the quantitative aspects of water demand and supply but is also linked to national security and political stability, as well as human well...

Conceptualizations of water security in the agricultural sector: Perceptions, practices, and paradigms

Science.gov (United States)

Malekian, Atefe; Hayati, Dariush; Aarts, Noelle

2017-01-01

Conceptions of agricultural water security are conditioned by larger understandings of being and reality. It is still unclear what such understandings mean for perspectives on water security in general and on causes and solutions related to perceived water security risks and problems in agricultural sector in particular. Based on a systematic literature review, three conceptualizations of water security, related to different paradigms, are presented. Also the consequences of such conceptualizations for determining research objectives, research activities, and research outcomes on agricultural water security are discussed. The results showed that agricultural water security from a positivist paradigm referred to tangible and measurable water-related hazards and threats, such as floods and droughts, pollution, and so forth. A constructivist approach to agricultural water security, constituted by a process of interaction and negotiation, pointed at perceptions of water security of farmers and other stakeholders involved in agricultural sector. A critical approach to agricultural water security focused on the processes of securing vulnerable farmers and others from wider political, social, and natural impediments to sufficient water supplies. The conclusions of the study suggest that paradigms, underlying approaches should be expressed, clarified, and related to one another in order to find optimal and complementary ways to study water security issues in agricultural sector.

Transboundary Water: Improving Methodologies and Developing Integrated Tools to Support Water Security

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Hakimdavar, Raha; Wood, Danielle; Eylander, John; Peters-Lidard, Christa; Smith, Jane; Doorn, Brad; Green, David; Hummel, Corey; Moore, Thomas C.

2018-01-01

River basins for which transboundary coordination and governance is a factor are of concern to US national security, yet there is often a lack of sufficient data-driven information available at the needed time horizons to inform transboundary water decision-making for the intelligence, defense, and foreign policy communities. To address this need, a two-day workshop entitled Transboundary Water: Improving Methodologies and Developing Integrated Tools to Support Global Water Security was held in August 2017 in Maryland. The committee that organized and convened the workshop (the Organizing Committee) included representatives from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the US Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), and the US Air Force. The primary goal of the workshop was to advance knowledge on the current US Government and partners' technical information needs and gaps to support national security interests in relation to transboundary water. The workshop also aimed to identify avenues for greater communication and collaboration among the scientific, intelligence, defense, and foreign policy communities. The discussion around transboundary water was considered in the context of the greater global water challenges facing US national security.

Economic performance of water storage capacity expansion for food security

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Gohar, Abdelaziz A.; Ward, Frank A.; Amer, Saud A.

2013-03-01

SummaryContinued climate variability, population growth, and rising food prices present ongoing challenges for achieving food and water security in poor countries that lack adequate water infrastructure. Undeveloped storage infrastructure presents a special challenge in northern Afghanistan, where food security is undermined by highly variable water supplies, inefficient water allocation rules, and a damaged irrigation system due three decades of war and conflict. Little peer-reviewed research to date has analyzed the economic benefits of water storage capacity expansions as a mechanism to sustain food security over long periods of variable climate and growing food demands needed to feed growing populations. This paper develops and applies an integrated water resources management framework that analyzes impacts of storage capacity expansions for sustaining farm income and food security in the face of highly fluctuating water supplies. Findings illustrate that in Afghanistan's Balkh Basin, total farm income and food security from crop irrigation increase, but at a declining rate as water storage capacity increases from zero to an amount equal to six times the basin's long term water supply. Total farm income increases by 21%, 41%, and 42% for small, medium, and large reservoir capacity, respectively, compared to the existing irrigation system unassisted by reservoir storage capacity. Results provide a framework to target water infrastructure investments that improve food security for river basins in the world's dry regions with low existing storage capacity that face ongoing climate variability and increased demands for food security for growing populations.

Economic sustainability, water security and multi-level governance of local water schemes in Nepal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emma Hakala

2017-07-01

Full Text Available This article explores the role of multi-level governance and power structures in local water security through a case study of the Nawalparasi district in Nepal. It focuses on economic sustainability as a measure to address water security, placing this thematic in the context of a complicated power structure consisting of local, district and national administration as well as external development cooperation actors. The study aims to find out whether efforts to improve the economic sustainability of water schemes have contributed to water security at the local level. In addition, it will consider the interactions between water security, power structures and local equality and justice. The research builds upon survey data from the Nepalese districts of Nawalparasi and Palpa, and a case study based on interviews and observation in Nawalparasi. The survey was performed in water schemes built within a Finnish development cooperation programme spanning from 1990 to 2004, allowing a consideration of the long-term sustainability of water management projects. This adds a crucial external influence into the intra-state power structures shaping water management in Nepal. The article thus provides an alternative perspective to cross-regional water security through a discussion combining transnational involvement with national and local points of view.

Water security for productive economies: Applying an assessment framework in southern Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Holmatov, Bunyod; Lautze, Jonathan; Manthrithilake, Herath; Makin, Ian

2017-08-01

Achieving water security has emerged as a major objective in Africa, yet an analytical or diagnostic framework for assessing water security in African countries is not known to exist. This paper applies one key dimension of the 2016 Asian Development Bank's (ADB) Asian Water Development Outlook (AWDO) to assess levels of water security for productive economies in countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Economic aspects of water security cover four areas: economic activities in the broad sense, agriculture, electricity, and industry. Water security in each area is measured through application of a set of indicators; results of indicator application are then aggregated to determine economic water security at a country-level. Results show that economic water security in SADC is greatest in the Seychelles and South Africa, and lowest in Madagascar and Malawi. Opportunities for strengthening economic water security in the majority of SADC countries exist through improving agricultural water productivity, strengthening resilience, and expanding sustainable electricity generation. More profoundly, this paper suggests that there is clear potential and utility in applying approaches used elsewhere to assess economic water security in southern Africa.

Impact of water scarcity on food security at micro level in Pakistan

OpenAIRE

Fahim, Muhammad Amir

2011-01-01

Pakistan is confronting the problem of water scarcity which is rendering an adverse impact on food security. The study examines the impact of water scarcity on food security in an era of climate change. It further focuses on projecting the future trends of water and food stock. The research effort probes the links among water scarcity, climate change, food security, water security, food inflation, poverty and management of water resources. Data on food security was collected from the FSA (Foo...

Impact of water scarcity on food security at macro level in Pakistan

OpenAIRE

Fahim, Muhammad Amir

2011-01-01

Pakistan is confronting the problem of water scarcity which is rendering an adverse impact on food security. The study examines the impact of water scarcity on food security in an era of climate change. It further focuses on projecting the future trends of water and food stock. The research effort probes the links among water scarcity, climate change, food security, water security, food inflation, poverty and management of water resources. Data on food security was collected from the FSA (Foo...

Impact of water scarcity on food security at meso level in Pakistan

OpenAIRE

Fahim, Muhammad Amir

2011-01-01

Pakistan is confronting the problem of water scarcity which is rendering an adverse impact on food security. The study examines the impact of water scarcity on food security in an era of climate change. It further focuses on projecting the future trends of water and food stock. The research effort probes the links among water scarcity, climate change, food security, water security, food inflation, poverty and management of water resources. Data on food security was collected from the FSA (Foo...

Linking smallholder agriculture and water to household food security ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Linking smallholder agriculture and water to household food security and nutrition. ... Promoting household food security and reducing malnutrition rates of a growing population with the same amount of water is ... AJOL African Journals Online.

Child rights, right to water and sanitation, and human security.

Science.gov (United States)

Pink, Ross

2012-06-15

The article explores the intersection between child rights, water scarcity, sanitation, and the human security paradigm. The recognition of child rights has been advanced through the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international legal instruments, while water rights are increasingly affirmed in international law and through the historic July 2010 United Nations General Assembly resolution that strengthened the legal foundation for water security and human rights. Yet there remains a development gap in terms of child access to clean and secure water sources for basic human development needs. The human security paradigm provides a legal and humanitarian foundation for the extension of child rights related to water and sanitation. Copyright © 2012 Pink.

Why water security is crucial to you

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Meissner, Richard

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Water security and the appropriate management of water resources are vitally important to South Africa, its population and the economy. According to the Department of Water and Sanitation’s 2013 Strategic Overview of the Water Sector in South Africa...

Security management of water supply

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tchórzewska-Cieślak Barbara

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The main aim of this work is to present operational problems concerning the safety of the water supply and the procedures for risk management systems functioning public water supply (CWSS and including methods of hazard identification and risk assessment. Developed a problem analysis and risk assessment, including procedures called. WSP, which is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO as a tool for comprehensive security management of water supply from source to consumer. Water safety plan is a key element of the strategy for prevention of adverse events in CWSS.

Perspectives on water security in the South African context

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Funke, Nicola S

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This presentation focuses on different perspectives of water security in the South Africa context. The authors link a number of key international perspectives on the topic of water security to official South African government and academic discourse...

Water security begins and ends with the individual

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Meissner, Richard

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Water security and the appropriate management of water resources are vitally important to South Africa, its population and the economy. According to the Department of Water and Sanitation’s 2013 Strategic Overview of the Water Sector in South Africa...

Hydrocomplexity: Addressing water security and emergent environmental risks

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Praveen

2015-07-01

Water security and emergent environmental risks are among the most significant societal concerns. They are highly interlinked to other global risks such as those related to climate, human health, food, human migration, biodiversity loss, urban sustainability, etc. Emergent risks result from the confluence of unanticipated interactions from evolving interdependencies between complex systems, such as those embedded in the water cycle. They are associated with the novelty of dynamical possibilities that have significant potential consequences to human and ecological systems, and not with probabilities based on historical precedence. To ensure water security we need to be able to anticipate the likelihood of risk possibilities as they present the prospect of the most impact through cascade of vulnerabilities. They arise due to a confluence of nonstationary drivers that include growing population, climate change, demographic shifts, urban growth, and economic expansion, among others, which create novel interdependencies leading to a potential of cascading network effects. Hydrocomplexity aims to address water security and emergent risks through the development of science, methods, and practices with the potential to foster a "Blue Revolution" akin to the Green revolution for food security. It blends both hard infrastructure based solution with soft knowledge driven solutions to increase the range of planning and design, management, mitigation and adaptation strategies. It provides a conceptual and synthetic framework to enable us to integrate discovery science and engineering, observational and information science, computational and communication systems, and social and institutional approaches to address consequential water and environmental challenges.

Climate change, water security and the need for integrated policy development: the case of on-farm infrastructure investment in the Australian irrigation sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maraseni, T N; Mushtaq, S; Reardon-Smith, K

2012-01-01

The Australian Government is currently addressing the challenge of increasing water scarcity through significant on-farm infrastructure investment to facilitate the adoption of new water-efficient pressurized irrigation systems. However, it is highly likely that conversion to these systems will increase on-farm energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, suggesting potential conflicts in terms of mitigation and adaptation policies. This study explored the trade-offs associated with the adoption of more water efficient but energy-intensive irrigation technologies by developing an integrated assessment framework. Integrated analysis of five case studies revealed trade-offs between water security and environmental security when conversion to pressurized irrigation systems was evaluated in terms of fuel and energy-related emissions, except in cases where older hand-shift sprinkler irrigation systems were replaced. These results suggest that priority should be given, in implementing on-farm infrastructure investment policy, to replacing inefficient and energy-intensive sprinkler irrigation systems such as hand-shift and roll-line. The results indicated that associated changes in the use of agricultural machinery and agrochemicals may also be important. The findings of this study support the use of an integrated approach to avoid possible conflicts in designing national climate change mitigation and adaptation policies, both of which are being developed in Australia. (letter)

Water Security and Climate Change: The Need for Adaptive Governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tuula Honkonen

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Climate change will bring about unprecedented economic, social and environmental effects, which require both the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation to its adverse effects. Water is the main element through which the impacts of climate change will be felt. Climate change results in increased uncertainties, complexities, stress and potential for conflicts within water management, both among and within states. New forms of governance are needed if the world is to respond to the need to adapt to changes in freshwater supply and to manage water security risks. This paper suggests that adaptive governance should to be main-streamed into all water regulation to ensure the availability of and access to safe water resources and to prevent water-related conflicts. The paper discusses the concept of water security in the context of climate change, the threats that climate change poses to water security, and the concept and implications of adaptive governance as a possible solution. The application of adaptive governance requires a certain degree of institutional and normative flexibility, instruments and institutions that can respond and adapt to changes and manage the level of uncertainty associated with the impacts of climate change. The governance institutions, methods and instruments should be responsive to new information and different kinds of uncertainties, while reflecting the vulnerabilities, capacities, needs and priorities of both societies and ecosystems in the face of climate change. Water security risks could be reduced by increased hydrosolidarity among states, which would present the challenges posed by climate change on water governance and security as primarily an opportunity for new forms of cooperation.

An evaluation index system of water security in China based on macroeconomic data from 2000 to 2012

Science.gov (United States)

Li, X. S.; Peng, Z. Y.; Li, T. T.

2016-08-01

This paper establishes an evaluation index system of water security. The index system employs 5 subsystems (water circulation security, water environment security, water ecology security, water society security and water economy security) and has 39 indicators. Using the AHP method, each indicator is given a relative weight to integrate within the whole system. With macroeconomic data from 2000 to 2012, a model of water security evaluation is applied to assess the state of water security in China. The results show an improving trend in the overall state of China's water security. In particular, the cycle of water security is at a high and low fluctuation. Water environment security presents an upward trend on the whole; however, this trend is unsteady and has shown a descending tendency in some years. Yet, water ecology security, water society security, and water economy security are basically on the rise. However, the degree of coordination of China's water security system remains in need of consolidation.

SaniTwice: a novel approach to hand hygiene for reducing bacterial contamination on hands when soap and water are unavailable.

Science.gov (United States)

Edmonds, Sarah L; Mann, James; McCormack, Robert R; Macinga, David R; Fricker, Christopher M; Arbogast, James W; Dolan, Michael J

2010-12-01

The risk of inadequate hand hygiene in food handling settings is exacerbated when water is limited or unavailable, thereby making washing with soap and water difficult. The SaniTwice method involves application of excess alcohol-based hand sanitizer (ABHS), hand "washing" for 15 s, and thorough cleaning with paper towels while hands are still wet, followed by a standard application of ABHS. This study investigated the effectiveness of the SaniTwice methodology as an alternative to hand washing for cleaning and removal of microorganisms. On hands moderately soiled with beef broth containing Escherichia coli (ATCC 11229), washing with a nonantimicrobial hand washing product achieved a 2.86 (±0.64)-log reduction in microbial contamination compared with the baseline, whereas the SaniTwice method with 62 % ethanol (EtOH) gel, 62 % EtOH foam, and 70 % EtOH advanced formula gel achieved reductions of 2.64 ± 0.89, 3.64 ± 0.57, and 4.61 ± 0.33 log units, respectively. When hands were heavily soiled from handling raw hamburger containing E. coli, washing with nonantimicrobial hand washing product and antimicrobial hand washing product achieved reductions of 2.65 ± 0.33 and 2.69 ± 0.32 log units, respectively, whereas SaniTwice with 62 % EtOH foam, 70 % EtOH gel, and 70 % EtOH advanced formula gel achieved reductions of 2.87 ± 0.42, 2.99 ± 0.51, and 3.92 ± 0.65 log units, respectively. These results clearly demonstrate that the in vivo antibacterial efficacy of the SaniTwice regimen with various ABHS is equivalent to or exceeds that of the standard hand washing approach as specified in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Food Code. Implementation of the SaniTwice regimen in food handling settings with limited water availability should significantly reduce the risk of foodborne infections resulting from inadequate hand hygiene.

Full Scale Drinking Water System Decontamination at the Water Security Test Bed

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The EPA’s Water Security Test Bed (WSTB) facility is a full-scale representation of a drinking water distribution system. In collaboration with the Idaho National...

Food and water security issues in Russia II: water security in general population of Russian Arctic, Siberia and Far East, 2000-2011.

Science.gov (United States)

Dudarev, Alexey A; Dushkina, Eugenia V; Sladkova, Yuliya N; Alloyarov, Pavel R; Chupakhin, Valery S; Dorofeyev, Vitaliy M; Kolesnikova, Tatjana A; Fridman, Kirill B; Evengard, Birgitta; Nilsson, Lena M

2013-01-01

Poor state of water supply systems, shortage of water purification facilities and disinfection systems, low quality of drinking water generally in Russia and particularly in the regions of the Russian Arctic, Siberia and Far East have been defined in the literature. However, no standard protocol of water security assessment has been used in the majority of studies. Uniform water security indicators collected from Russian official statistical sources for the period 2000-2011 were used for comparison for 18 selected regions in the Russian Arctic, Siberia and Far East. The following indicators of water security were analyzed: water consumption, chemical and biological contamination of water reservoirs of Categories I and II of water sources (centralized--underground and surface, and non-centralized) and of drinking water. Water consumption in selected regions fluctuated from 125 to 340 L/person/day. Centralized water sources (both underground and surface sources) are highly contaminated by chemicals (up to 40-80%) and biological agents (up to 55% in some regions), mainly due to surface water sources. Underground water sources show relatively low levels of biological contamination, while chemical contamination is high due to additional water contamination during water treatment and transportation in pipelines. Non-centralized water sources are highly contaminated (both chemically and biologically) in 32-90% of samples analyzed. Very high levels of chemical contamination of drinking water (up to 51%) were detected in many regions, mainly in the north-western part of the Russian Arctic. Biological contamination of drinking water was generally much lower (2.5-12%) everywhere except Evenki AO (27%), and general and thermotolerant coliform bacteria predominated in drinking water samples from all regions (up to 17.5 and 12.5%, correspondingly). The presence of other agents was much lower: Coliphages--0.2-2.7%, Clostridia spores, Giardia cysts, pathogenic bacteria, Rotavirus

Report: Information Security Series: Security Practices Safe Drinking Water Information System

Science.gov (United States)

Report #2006-P-00021, March 30, 2006. We found that the Office of Water (OW) substantially complied with many of the information security controls reviewed and had implemented practices to ensure production servers are monitored.

Measuring global water security towards sustainable development goals

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wada, Y.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/341387819; Gain, A.K.; Giupponi, C.

2016-01-01

Water plays an important role in underpinning equitable, stable and productive societies and ecosystems. Hence, United Nations recognized ensuring water security as one (Goal 6) of the seventeen sustainable development goals(SDGs). Many international river basins are likely to experience ‘low water

Critical water requirements for food, methodology and policy consequences for food security

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gerbens-Leenes, P.W.; Nonhebel, S.

2004-01-01

Food security and increasing water scarcity have a dominant place on the food policy agenda. Food security requires sufficient water of adequate quality because water is a prerequisite for plant growth. Nowadays, agriculture accounts for 70% of the worldwide human fresh water use. The expected

Effects of pollution in River Krishni on hand pump water quality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Dhakyanaika

2010-01-01

Full Text Available River Krishni is highly polluted. The investigation was “to study the effect of pollution in River Krishni on the quality ofgroundwater abstracted through shallow and deep hand pumps placed in the close vicinity of River Krishni”. One suchaffected Village Chanedna Maal was selected for the study. Water samples were analyzed in terms of physical, chemicaland bacteriological water quality parameters. Range of values of conductivity (1040–2770 μS/cm, TOC (27.79–1365.1mg/L, UV absorbance at 254 nm (0.281–10.34 cm-1, color (1510–5200 CU, and COD (15.82–1062 mg/L indicatedpresence of significant amount of pollution / organics in the river water, total coliform (16x102–46x106 MPN/100mLand fecal coliform (16x102–24x106 MPN/100mL. In case of deeper India Mark-II hand pumps conductivity was foundto range from 443–755 μS/cm, TOC (0.226–9.284 mg/L, UV absorbance (0.0–0.118 cm-1, colour (0.0–119 CU, COD(9.0–113 mg/L and MPN (0.0–93x101/100m L. While in case of shallower hand pumps conductivity (441–1609 μS/cm, TOC (0.015–68.82 mg/L, UV absorbance (0.0–1.094 cm-1, colour (4.0–560 CU, COD (9.72–163 mg/L and MPN(0.0–15x102/100mL. Hand pumps abstracting water from shallow and deep unconfined aquifers have been found to deliverpolluted water in terms of color, organics and coliform bacteria. As the hand pumps are the only source of water supply inVillage Chandena Maal, pollution of the groundwater has adversely affected the day to day life of its 3000 residents.

Water security of nations: how international trade affects national water scarity and dependency

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoekstra, Arjen Ysbert; Jones, J. Anthony A.; Vardanian, Trahel G.; Hakopian, Christina

2009-01-01

Import of water in virtual form, i.e. in the form of agricultural and industrial commodities, can be an effective means for water-scarce countries to preserve their domestic water resources. On the other hand, export of water-intensive commodities will increase the use and thus the scarcity of water

Desalination and Water Security: The Promise and Perils of a Technological Fix to the Water Crisis in Baja California Sur, Mexico

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jamie McEvoy

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Across the globe, desalination is increasingly being considered as a new water supply source. This article examines how the introduction of desalinated water into the municipal water supply portfolio has affected water security in the coastal tourist city of Cabo San Lucas in Baja California Sur (BCS, Mexico. It also analyses the competing discourses surrounding desalination in the region and discusses alternative water management options for achieving water security. This article challenges the notion that desalination is an appropriate and sufficient technological solution for arid regions. The findings provide evidence of increased yet delimited water security at a neighbourhood scale while identifying new vulnerabilities related to desalination, particularly in the context of the global South. This article concludes that implementing a technological fix on top of a water management system that is plagued with more systemic and structural problems does little to improve long-term water management and is likely to foreclose or forestall other water management options. This multi-scalar analysis contributes to the emerging literature on water security by considering both a narrow and broad framing of water security and identifying a range of factors that influence water security.

Hygienic status assessment of dish washing waters, utensils, hands ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Hygienic status assessment of dish washing waters, utensils, hands and pieces of money from street food processing sites in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso). N Barro, AR Bello, A Savadogo, CAT Ouattara, AJ Iiboudo, AS Traoré ...

AFRICOM’s Role in Water Security

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-01

Niger River Basin,” USAID, December 2011, 16. 12. Roselle Henn et al., “The impact of Water as a United States Government Security Consideration for...Tensions,” A report to the German Advisory Council on Global Change, July 10, 2006, 3. 17. Ibid., 6. 18. Roselle Henn, et al., “The impact of Water as

Water security for productive economies : Applying an assessment framework in southern Africa

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Holmatov, Bunyod; Lautze, Jonathan; Manthrithilake, Herath; Makin, Ian

2017-01-01

Achieving water security has emerged as a major objective in Africa, yet an analytical or diagnostic framework for assessing water security in African countries is not known to exist. This paper applies one key dimension of the 2016 Asian Development Bank's (ADB) Asian Water Development Outlook

Teaching Computer Security with a Hands-On Component

OpenAIRE

Murthy , Narayan

2011-01-01

Part 2: WISE 7; International audience; To address national needs for computer security education, many universities have incorporated computer and security courses into their undergraduate and graduate curricula. Our department has introduced computer security courses at both the undergraduate and the graduate level. This paper describes our approach, our experiences, and lessons learned in teaching a Computer Security Overview course.There are two key elements in the course: Studying comput...

Food and water security issues in Russia II: Water security in general population of Russian Arctic, Siberia and Far East, 2000–2011

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexey A. Dudarev

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Background . Poor state of water supply systems, shortage of water purification facilities and disinfection systems, low quality of drinking water generally in Russia and particularly in the regions of the Russian Arctic, Siberia and Far East have been defined in the literature. However, no standard protocol of water security assessment has been used in the majority of studies. Study design and methods . Uniform water security indicators collected from Russian official statistical sources for the period 2000–2011 were used for comparison for 18 selected regions in the Russian Arctic, Siberia and Far East. The following indicators of water security were analyzed: water consumption, chemical and biological contamination of water reservoirs of Categories I and II of water sources (centralized – underground and surface, and non-centralized and of drinking water. Results . Water consumption in selected regions fluctuated from 125 to 340 L/person/day. Centralized water sources (both underground and surface sources are highly contaminated by chemicals (up to 40–80% and biological agents (up to 55% in some regions, mainly due to surface water sources. Underground water sources show relatively low levels of biological contamination, while chemical contamination is high due to additional water contamination during water treatment and transportation in pipelines. Non-centralized water sources are highly contaminated (both chemically and biologically in 32–90% of samples analyzed. Very high levels of chemical contamination of drinking water (up to 51% were detected in many regions, mainly in the north-western part of the Russian Arctic. Biological contamination of drinking water was generally much lower (2.5–12% everywhere except Evenki AO (27%, and general and thermotolerant coliform bacteria predominated in drinking water samples from all regions (up to 17.5 and 12.5%, correspondingly. The presence of other agents was much lower: Coliphages �

Food and water security issues in Russia II: Water security in general population of Russian Arctic, Siberia and Far East, 2000–2011

Science.gov (United States)

Dudarev, Alexey A.; Dushkina, Eugenia V.; Sladkova, Yuliya N.; Alloyarov, Pavel R.; Chupakhin, Valery S.; Dorofeyev, Vitaliy M.; Kolesnikova, Tatjana A.; Fridman, Kirill B.; Evengard, Birgitta; Nilsson, Lena M.

2013-01-01

Background Poor state of water supply systems, shortage of water purification facilities and disinfection systems, low quality of drinking water generally in Russia and particularly in the regions of the Russian Arctic, Siberia and Far East have been defined in the literature. However, no standard protocol of water security assessment has been used in the majority of studies. Study design and methods Uniform water security indicators collected from Russian official statistical sources for the period 2000–2011 were used for comparison for 18 selected regions in the Russian Arctic, Siberia and Far East. The following indicators of water security were analyzed: water consumption, chemical and biological contamination of water reservoirs of Categories I and II of water sources (centralized – underground and surface, and non-centralized) and of drinking water. Results Water consumption in selected regions fluctuated from 125 to 340 L/person/day. Centralized water sources (both underground and surface sources) are highly contaminated by chemicals (up to 40–80%) and biological agents (up to 55% in some regions), mainly due to surface water sources. Underground water sources show relatively low levels of biological contamination, while chemical contamination is high due to additional water contamination during water treatment and transportation in pipelines. Non-centralized water sources are highly contaminated (both chemically and biologically) in 32–90% of samples analyzed. Very high levels of chemical contamination of drinking water (up to 51%) were detected in many regions, mainly in the north-western part of the Russian Arctic. Biological contamination of drinking water was generally much lower (2.5–12%) everywhere except Evenki AO (27%), and general and thermotolerant coliform bacteria predominated in drinking water samples from all regions (up to 17.5 and 12.5%, correspondingly). The presence of other agents was much lower: Coliphages – 0.2–2

Evaluation of Water Resource Security Based on an MIV-BP Model in a Karst Area

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liying Liu

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Evaluation of water resource security deserves particular attention in water resource planning and management. A typical karst area in Guizhou Province, China, was used as the research area in this paper. First, based on data from Guizhou Province for the past 10 years, the mean impact value–back propagation (MIV-BP model was used to analyze the factors influencing water resource security in the karst area. Second, 18 indices involving five aspects, water environment subsystem, social subsystem, economic subsystem, ecological subsystem, and human subsystem, were selected to establish an evaluation index of water resource security. Finally, a BP artificial neural network model was constructed to evaluate the water resource security of Guizhou Province from 2005 to 2014. The results show that water resource security in Guizhou, which was at a moderate warning level from 2005 to 2009 and a critical safety level from 2010 to 2014, has generally improved. Groundwater supply ratio, industrial water utilization rate, water use efficiency, per capita grain production, and water yield modulus were the obstacles to water resource security. Driving factors were comprehensive utilization rate of industrial solid waste, qualifying rate of industrial wastewater, above moderate rocky desertification area ratio, water requirement per unit gross domestic product (GDP, and degree of development and utilization of groundwater. Our results provide useful suggestions on the management of water resource security in Guizhou Province and a valuable reference for water resource research.

Water security in South Africa: perceptions on public expectations ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Water security in South Africa: perceptions on public expectations and municipal ... will in government, a need to restore citizen trust in government intention and capability ... services, and a failure to up-scale existing water re-use technology.

Climate Change Adaptation, Water, and Food Security in Pakistan ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Climate Change Adaptation, Water, and Food Security in Pakistan ... those living in the Indus floodplains or on the edges of its deserts - received little attention. ... farmers' decision-making in water stressed regions, and the wider political and ...

77 FR 75017 - Security Zone; On the Waters in Kailua Bay, Oahu, HI

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-19

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY Coast Guard 33 CFR Part 165 [Docket Number USCG-2012-1038] RIN 1625-AA87 Security Zone; On the Waters in Kailua Bay, Oahu, HI AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. ACTION... to read as follows: Sec. 165.T14-215 Security Zone; On the Waters in Kailua Bay, Oahu, HI. (a...

Water security at local government level in South Africa: a qualitative interview-based analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard Meissner, DPhil

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Background: As one of the 40 driest countries in the world with an annual average rainfall of 497 mm, South Africa is a water-scarce country. Additionally, South Africa's rate of economic development is closely linked to its water security. Thus, increasing water stress, supply variability, flooding, and water pollution levels and inadequate access to safe drinking water and sanitation are slowing economic growth. Despite the high premium placed on South Africa's water resources, no commonly shared understanding of water security exists. The aim of this study was to research, using qualitative social scientific methods, how people in two South African localities understand water security. Methods: We used interviews and qualitative analyses to establish and compare how people from different lifestyles perceive water security in the Greater Sekhukhune District and the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipalities of South Africa. The inland Sekhukhune has a drier climate and more rural socioeconomic profile than the coastal, urbanised eThekwini with its complex economy and diverse socioeconomic structure. We did face-to-face structured interviews with a diverse stakeholder group consisting of community members, traditional leaders, municipal officials, researchers, business people, and farmers in each municipality and focus groups in two communities of each municipality: Leeuwfontein and Motetema (Sekhukhune and Inanda and Ntshongweni (eThekwini. Each interview lasted 40–60 min, and focus group discussions lasted 90–120 min. We asked the respondents about their understanding of the concept of water security and whether they believe that, at the local and national level, the authorities had achieved water security for all. Findings: Following a qualitative analysis, we found that water security is a state of mind based on context-specific (ie, localised and individualised perceptions held by an individual of water-related threats and how it influences

An evaluation of hand immersion for rewarming individuals cooled by immersion in cold water.

Science.gov (United States)

Cahill, C J; Balmi, P J; Tipton, M J

1995-05-01

The hypothesis that hypothermic individuals can be actively rewarmed in the field by immersion of the extremities in hot water was investigated. Three techniques for rewarming subjects with lowered deep body temperatures were compared: a) whole body immersion to the neck in water at 40 degrees C; b) immersion of two hands plus forearms only in water at 42 degrees C; and c) passive rewarming. The suggestion that the fall in deep body temperature resulting from immersion to the neck in water at 15 degrees C could be arrested by immersing both arms in water at 42 degrees C was also investigated. Results indicated that immersion to the neck in hot water was clearly the most effective rewarming technique. No significant difference (p > 0.05) was observed in the deep body temperature response during passive rewarming or during immersion of both hands and forearms in water at 42 degrees C. In the later condition some increase in peripheral blood flow to the hands may have occurred and resulted in a heat input of approximately 12 W, but any benefit from this was negated by an associated significant decrease (p > 0.05) in intrinsic heat production. Immersing the arms in hot water during immersion to the neck in cold water appeared to accelerate rather than decelerate the rate of fall of deep body temperature. We concluded that hand rewarming, although theoretically attractive, is ineffective in practice and could be detrimental in some circumstances, by suppressing intrinsic heat production or precipitating rewarming collapse.

Exploring water and food security: the water footprint of domestic food production in the Gaza Strip

Science.gov (United States)

Recanati, Francesca; Castelletti, Andrea; Dotelli, Giovanni; Melià, Paco

2016-04-01

Water scarcity and food security are major issues in the Gaza Strip. This area is characterized by one of the highest densities in the world and it is affected by both severe scarcity of water resources and limited trading possibilities.Given this context, the enhancement of domestic food production is considered a fundamental strategy in achieving food security in the area. For this reason, rural people play a crucial role in implementing sustainable strategies for enhancing the domestic food production while preserving water resources. In order to investigate the effectiveness of existing agricultural scenarios in achieving food security in a sustainable manner, we propose a framework to assess food production systems in terms of their contribution to the nutritional and economic conditions of rural households and their impact on water resources. In particular, the latter has been carried out through the water footprint indicator proposed by the Water Footprint Network. The case study analyzed is a sample farm located in the Gaza Strip, whose food production is based on horticulture, animal husbandry and aquaculture. The study is articulated into two main parts: first, we compare alternative scenarios of vegetal and animal food production in terms of food supply, water consumption and economic income at the household scale; then, we extend the analysis to evaluate the potential contribution of domestic food production to the food security in the whole Gaza Strip, focusing on the nutritional dimension, and providing a preliminary assessment of the environmental and economic sustainability. In particular, we evaluate water appropriation for domestic food production and compare it with the availability of water resources in the region. The outcomes highlight that the domestic food production can potentially satisfy both a basic diet and economic income for rural household, but the related appropriation of freshwater results unsustainable with respect to the fresh

Secure Hashing of Dynamic Hand Signatures Using Wavelet-Fourier Compression with BioPhasor Mixing and Discretization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wai Kuan Yip

2007-01-01

Full Text Available We introduce a novel method for secure computation of biometric hash on dynamic hand signatures using BioPhasor mixing and discretization. The use of BioPhasor as the mixing process provides a one-way transformation that precludes exact recovery of the biometric vector from compromised hashes and stolen tokens. In addition, our user-specific discretization acts both as an error correction step as well as a real-to-binary space converter. We also propose a new method of extracting compressed representation of dynamic hand signatures using discrete wavelet transform (DWT and discrete fourier transform (DFT. Without the conventional use of dynamic time warping, the proposed method avoids storage of user's hand signature template. This is an important consideration for protecting the privacy of the biometric owner. Our results show that the proposed method could produce stable and distinguishable bit strings with equal error rates (EERs of and for random and skilled forgeries for stolen token (worst case scenario, and for both forgeries in the genuine token (optimal scenario.

Y-12 National Security Complex Water Assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elam, Shana E.; Bassett, P.; McMordie Stoughton, Kate

2010-11-01

The Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) sponsored a water assessment at the Y 12 National Security Complex (Y 12) located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Driven by mandated water reduction goals of Executive Orders 13423 and 13514, the objective of the water assessment is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the current water-consuming applications and equipment at Y 12 and to identify key areas for water efficiency improvements that could be applied not only at Y-12 but at other Federal facilities as well. FEMP selected Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to coordinate and manage the water assessment. PNNL contracted Water Savers, LLC to lead the technical aspects of the water assessment. Water Savers provided key technical expertise in water auditing, metering, and cooling systems. This is the report of that effort, which concluded that the Y-12 facility could realize considerable water savings by implementing the recommended water efficiency opportunities.

A Quantitative Socio-hydrological Characterization of Water Security in Large-Scale Irrigation Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Siddiqi, A.; Muhammad, A.; Wescoat, J. L., Jr.

2017-12-01

Large-scale, legacy canal systems, such as the irrigation infrastructure in the Indus Basin in Punjab, Pakistan, have been primarily conceived, constructed, and operated with a techno-centric approach. The emerging socio-hydrological approaches provide a new lens for studying such systems to potentially identify fresh insights for addressing contemporary challenges of water security. In this work, using the partial definition of water security as "the reliable availability of an acceptable quantity and quality of water", supply reliability is construed as a partial measure of water security in irrigation systems. A set of metrics are used to quantitatively study reliability of surface supply in the canal systems of Punjab, Pakistan using an extensive dataset of 10-daily surface water deliveries over a decade (2007-2016) and of high frequency (10-minute) flow measurements over one year. The reliability quantification is based on comparison of actual deliveries and entitlements, which are a combination of hydrological and social constructs. The socio-hydrological lens highlights critical issues of how flows are measured, monitored, perceived, and experienced from the perspective of operators (government officials) and users (famers). The analysis reveals varying levels of reliability (and by extension security) of supply when data is examined across multiple temporal and spatial scales. The results shed new light on evolution of water security (as partially measured by supply reliability) for surface irrigation in the Punjab province of Pakistan and demonstrate that "information security" (defined as reliable availability of sufficiently detailed data) is vital for enabling water security. It is found that forecasting and management (that are social processes) lead to differences between entitlements and actual deliveries, and there is significant potential to positively affect supply reliability through interventions in the social realm.

Cooling hyperthermic firefighters by immersing forearms and hands in 10 degrees C and 20 degrees C water.

Science.gov (United States)

Giesbrecht, Gordon G; Jamieson, Christopher; Cahill, Farrell

2007-06-01

Firefighters experience significant heat stress while working with heavy gear in a hot, humid environment. This study compared the cooling effectiveness of immersing the forearms and hands in 10 and 20 degrees C water. Six men (33 +/- 10 yr; 180 +/- 4 cm; 78 +/- 9 kg; 19 +/- 5% body fat) wore firefighter 'turn-out gear' (heavy clothing and breathing apparatus weighing 27 kg) in a protocol including three 20-min exercise bouts (step test, 78 W, 40 degrees C air, 40% RH) each followed by a 20-min rest/cooling (21 degrees C air); i.e., 60 min of exercise, 60 min of cooling. Turn-out gear was removed during rest/cooling periods and subjects either rested (Control), immersed their hands in 10 or 20 degrees C water (H-10, H-20), or immersed their hands and forearms in 10 or 20 degrees C water (HF-10, HF-20). In 20 degrees C water, hand immersion did not reduce core temperature compared with Control; however, including forearm immersion decreased core temperature below Control values after both the second and final exercise periods (p hand immersion produced a lower core temperature (0.8 degrees C above baseline) than all other conditions (1.1 to 1.4 degrees C above baseline) after the final exercise period (p Hand and forearm immersion in cool water is simple, reduces heat strain, and may increase work performance in a hot, humid environment. With 20 degrees C water, forearms should be immersed with the hands to be effective. At lower water temperatures, forearm and/or hand immersion will be effective, although forearm immersion will decrease core temperature further.

Water security at local government level. What do people think it means in eThekwini?

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Meissner, Richard

2017-12-01

Full Text Available aspects Negative aspects Helping municipalities to help themselves Working together we can secure our water future Diverse - from national government to local community and NGO People should get involved in securing their own water, for example... secure future Scientists from government, NGO's academia Good water quality will ensure healthy people, environments and livelihoods for now and in the future Surely mines can't use good quality water More for some (forever?) A water supply...

Integrating Infrastructure and Institutions for Water Security in Large Urban Areas

Science.gov (United States)

Padowski, J.; Jawitz, J. W.; Carrera, L.

2015-12-01

Urban growth has forced cities to procure more freshwater to meet demands; however the relationship between urban water security, water availability and water management is not well understood. This work quantifies the urban water security of 108 large cities in the United States (n=50) and Africa (n=58) based on their hydrologic, hydraulic and institutional settings. Using publicly available data, urban water availability was estimated as the volume of water available from local water resources and those captured via hydraulic infrastructure (e.g. reservoirs, wellfields, aqueducts) while urban water institutions were assessed according to their ability to deliver, supply and regulate water resources to cities. When assessing availability, cities relying on local water resources comprised a minority (37%) of those assessed. The majority of cities (55%) instead rely on captured water to meet urban demands, with African cities reaching farther and accessing a greater number and variety of sources for water supply than US cities. Cities using captured water generally had poorer access to local water resources and maintained significantly more complex strategies for water delivery, supply and regulatory management. Eight cities, all African, are identified in this work as having water insecurity issues. These cities lack sufficient infrastructure and institutional complexity to capture and deliver adequate amounts of water for urban use. Together, these findings highlight the important interconnection between infrastructure investments and management techniques for urban areas with a limited or dwindling natural abundance of water. Addressing water security challenges in the future will require that more attention be placed not only on increasing water availability, but on developing the institutional support to manage captured water supplies.

A blue/green water-based accounting framework for assessment of water security

Science.gov (United States)

Rodrigues, Dulce B. B.; Gupta, Hoshin V.; Mendiondo, Eduardo M.

2014-09-01

A comprehensive assessment of water security can incorporate several water-related concepts, while accounting for Blue and Green Water (BW and GW) types defined in accordance with the hydrological processes involved. Here we demonstrate how a quantitative analysis of provision probability and use of BW and GW can be conducted, so as to provide indicators of water scarcity and vulnerability at the basin level. To illustrate the approach, we use the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to model the hydrology of an agricultural basin (291 km2) within the Cantareira Water Supply System in Brazil. To provide a more comprehensive basis for decision making, we analyze the BW and GW-Footprint components against probabilistic levels (50th and 30th percentile) of freshwater availability for human activities, during a 23 year period. Several contrasting situations of BW provision are distinguished, using different hydrological-based methodologies for specifying monthly Environmental Flow Requirements (EFRs), and the risk of natural EFR violation is evaluated by use of a freshwater provision index. Our results reveal clear spatial and temporal patterns of water scarcity and vulnerability levels within the basin. Taking into account conservation targets for the basin, it appears that the more restrictive EFR methods are more appropriate than the method currently employed at the study basin. The blue/green water-based accounting framework developed here provides a useful integration of hydrologic, ecosystem and human needs information on a monthly basis, thereby improving our understanding of how and where water-related threats to human and aquatic ecosystem security can arise.

Applications for remotely sensed evapotranspiration data in monitoring water quality, water use, and water security

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Martha; Hain, Christopher; Feng, Gao; Yang, Yun; Sun, Liang; Yang, Yang; Dulaney, Wayne; Sharifi, Amir; Kustas, William; Holmes, Thomas

2017-04-01

Across the globe there are ever-increasing and competing demands for freshwater resources in support of food production, ecosystems services and human/industrial consumption. Recent studies using the GRACE satellite have identified severely stressed aquifers that are being unsustainably depleted due to over-extraction, primarily in support of irrigated agriculture. In addition, historic droughts and ongoing political conflicts threaten food and water security in many parts of the world. To facilitate wise water management, and to develop sustainable agricultural systems that will feed the Earth's growing population into the future, there is a critical need for robust assessments of daily water use, or evapotranspiration (ET), over a wide range in spatial scales - from field to globe. While Earth Observing (EO) satellites can play a significant role in this endeavor, no single satellite provides the combined spatial, spectral and temporal characteristics required for actionable ET monitoring world-wide. In this presentation we discuss new methods for combining information from the current suite of EO satellites to address issues of water quality, water use and water security, particularly as they pertain to agricultural production. These methods fuse multi-scale diagnostic ET retrievals generated using shortwave, thermal infrared and microwave datasets from multiple EO platforms to generate ET datacubes with both high spatial and temporal resolution. We highlight several case studies where such ET datacubes are being mined to investigate changes in water use patterns over agricultural landscapes in response to changing land use, land management, and climate forcings.

Water security at local government level in South Africa: a qualitative interview-based analysis

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Meissner, Richard

2018-05-01

Full Text Available understanding of water security exists. The aim of this study was to research, using qualitative social scientific methods, how people in two South African localities understand water security....

33 CFR 165.1192 - Security Zones; Waters surrounding San Francisco International Airport and Oakland International...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Security Zones; Waters..., California. 165.1192 Section 165.1192 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND... Security Zones; Waters surrounding San Francisco International Airport and Oakland International Airport...

The reliability and validity of hand-held refractometry water content measures of hydrogel lenses.

Science.gov (United States)

Nichols, Jason J; Mitchell, G Lynn; Good, Gregory W

2003-06-01

To investigate within- and between-examiner reliability and validity of hand-held refractometry water content measures of hydrogel lenses. Nineteen lenses of various nominal water contents were examined by two examiners on two occasions separated by 1 hour. An Atago N2 hand-held refractometer was used for all water content measures. Lenses were presented in a random order to each examiner by a third party, and examiners were masked to any potential lens identifiers. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), 95% limits of agreement, and Wilcoxon signed rank test were used to characterize the within- and between-examiner reliability and validity of lens water content measures. Within-examiner reliability was excellent (ICC, 0.97; 95% limits of agreement, -3.6% to +5.7%), and the inter-visit mean difference of 1.1 +/- 2.4% was not biased (p = 0.08). Between-examiner reliability was also excellent (ICC, 0.98; 95% limits of agreement, -4.1% to +3.9%). The mean difference between examiners was -0.1 +/- 2.1% (p = 0.83). The mean difference between the nominally reported water content and our water content measures was -2.1 +/- 1.7% (p refractometry and is material dependent. Therefore, investigators may need to account for bias when measuring hydrogel lens water content via hand-held refractometry.

Human security and access to water, sanitation, and hygiene: exploring the drivers and nexus

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Obani, P.; Gupta, J.; Pahl-Wostl, C.; Badhuri, A.; Gupta, J.

2016-01-01

Water security challenges are mostly covered in the literature on the food and energy nexus. This chapter however adopts a broader conception of water security in relation to lack of access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), and argues that the human rights approach could be instrumental in

Does Personalized Water and Hand Quality Information Affect Attitudes, Behavior, and Health in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania?

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, J.; Pickering, A.; Horak, H.; Boehm, A.

2008-12-01

Tanzania (TZ) has one of the highest rates of child mortality due to enteric disease in the world. NGOs and local agencies have introduced numerous technologies (e.g., chlorine tablets, borewells) to increase the quantity and quality of water in Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania, in hopes of reducing morbidity and mortality of waterborne disease. The objective of the present study is to determine if providing personalized information about water quality and hand surface quality, as determined by concentrations of enterococci and E. coli, results in improved health and water quality in households. A cohort study was completed in June-September 2008 in 3 communities ranging from urban to per-urban in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to achieve our objective. The study consisted of 4 cohorts that were visited 4 times over the 3 month study. One cohort received no information about water and hand quality until the end of the summer, while the other groups received either just information on hand surface quality, just information on water quality, and information on both hand surface and water quality after the first (baseline) household visit. We report concentrations of enterococci and E. coli in water sources (surface waters and bore wells), water stored in households, and environmental waters were children and adults swim and bathe. In addition, we report concentrations of enterococci and E. coli on hands of caregivers and children in households. Preliminary results of surveys on health and perceptions of water quality and illness from the households are provided. Ongoing work will integrate the microbiological and sociological data sets to determine if personalized information interventions resulted in changes in health, water quality in the household, or perceptions of water quality, quantity and relation to human health. Future work will analyze DNA samples from hands and water for human-specific Bacteroides bacteria which are only present in human feces. Our study

Securitising Sustainability? Questioning the 'Water, Energy and Food-Security Nexus'

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthias Leese

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The water, energy and food-security nexus approach put forward by the Bonn2011 Conference highlights the need for an integrative approach towards issues of water, energy and food, and puts them under a general framework of security. While acknowledging the need for urgent solutions in terms of sustainability, the nexus approach, at the same time, makes a normative claim to tackle the needs of the poorest parts of the world population. A closer look at the underlying rationales and proposed policy instruments, however, suggests that the primary scope of the conference proceedings is not a normative one, but one that reframes the conflict between distributional justice and the needs of the world economy under the paradigm of security. Reading this slightly shifted perspective through a Foucauldian lens, we propose that security is now put forward as the key mechanism to foster a new 'green' economy, and that the needs of the poorest are, if anything at all, a secondary effect of the proposed nexus approach.

Security Administrator Street Smarts A Real World Guide to CompTIA Security+ Skills

CERN Document Server

Miller, David R

2011-01-01

A step-by-step guide to the tasks involved in security administration If you aspire to a career in security administration, one of your greatest challenges will be gaining hands-on experience. This book takes you through the most common security admin tasks step by step, showing you the way around many of the roadblocks you can expect on the job. It offers a variety of scenarios in each phase of the security administrator's job, giving you the confidence of first-hand experience. In addition, this is an ideal complement to the brand-new, bestselling CompTIA Security+ Study Guide, 5th Edition o

Hand Grasping Synergies As Biometrics.

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, Vrajeshri; Thukral, Poojita; Burns, Martin K; Florescu, Ionut; Chandramouli, Rajarathnam; Vinjamuri, Ramana

2017-01-01

Recently, the need for more secure identity verification systems has driven researchers to explore other sources of biometrics. This includes iris patterns, palm print, hand geometry, facial recognition, and movement patterns (hand motion, gait, and eye movements). Identity verification systems may benefit from the complexity of human movement that integrates multiple levels of control (neural, muscular, and kinematic). Using principal component analysis, we extracted spatiotemporal hand synergies (movement synergies) from an object grasping dataset to explore their use as a potential biometric. These movement synergies are in the form of joint angular velocity profiles of 10 joints. We explored the effect of joint type, digit, number of objects, and grasp type. In its best configuration, movement synergies achieved an equal error rate of 8.19%. While movement synergies can be integrated into an identity verification system with motion capture ability, we also explored a camera-ready version of hand synergies-postural synergies. In this proof of concept system, postural synergies performed well, but only when specific postures were chosen. Based on these results, hand synergies show promise as a potential biometric that can be combined with other hand-based biometrics for improved security.

Hand Grasping Synergies As Biometrics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramana Vinjamuri

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Recently, the need for more secure identity verification systems has driven researchers to explore other sources of biometrics. This includes iris patterns, palm print, hand geometry, facial recognition, and movement patterns (hand motion, gait, and eye movements. Identity verification systems may benefit from the complexity of human movement that integrates multiple levels of control (neural, muscular, and kinematic. Using principal component analysis, we extracted spatiotemporal hand synergies (movement synergies from an object grasping dataset to explore their use as a potential biometric. These movement synergies are in the form of joint angular velocity profiles of 10 joints. We explored the effect of joint type, digit, number of objects, and grasp type. In its best configuration, movement synergies achieved an equal error rate of 8.19%. While movement synergies can be integrated into an identity verification system with motion capture ability, we also explored a camera-ready version of hand synergies—postural synergies. In this proof of concept system, postural synergies performed well, but only when specific postures were chosen. Based on these results, hand synergies show promise as a potential biometric that can be combined with other hand-based biometrics for improved security.

Escherichia coli Contamination across Multiple Environmental Compartments (Soil, Hands, Drinking Water, and Handwashing Water) in Urban Harare: Correlations and Risk Factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Navab-Daneshmand, Tala; Friedrich, Max N D; Gächter, Marja; Montealegre, Maria Camila; Mlambo, Linn S; Nhiwatiwa, Tamuka; Mosler, Hans-Joachim; Julian, Timothy R

2018-03-01

Escherichia coli pathotypes (i.e., enteropathogenic and enterotoxigenic) have been identified among the pathogens most responsible for moderate-to-severe diarrhea in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Pathogenic E. coli are transmitted from infected human or animal feces to new susceptible hosts via environmental reservoirs such as hands, water, and soil. Commensal E. coli , which includes nonpathogenic E. coli strains, are widely used as fecal bacteria indicator, with their presence associated with increased likelihood of enteric pathogens and/or diarrheal disease. In this study, we investigated E. coli contamination in environmental reservoirs within households ( N = 142) in high-population density communities of Harare, Zimbabwe. We further assessed the interconnectedness of the environmental compartments by investigating associations between, and household-level risk factors for, E. coli contamination. From the data we collected, the source and risk factors for E. coli contamination are not readily apparent. One notable exception is the presence of running tap water on the household plot, which is associated with significantly less E. coli contamination of drinking water, handwashing water, and hands after handwashing. In addition, E. coli levels on hands after washing are significantly associated with handwashing water contamination, hand contamination before washing, and diarrhea incidence. Finally, we observed that animal ownership increases E. coli contamination in soil, and E. coli in soil are correlated with contamination on hands before washing. This study highlights the complexity of E. coli contamination in household environments within LMICs. More, larger, studies are needed to better identify sources and exposure pathways of E. coli -and enteric pathogens generally-to identify effective interventions.

Ground water security and drought in Africa: linking availability, access, and demand.

Science.gov (United States)

Calow, Roger C; Macdonald, Alan M; Nicol, Alan L; Robins, Nick S

2010-01-01

Drought in Africa has been extensively researched, particularly from meteorological, agricultural, and food security perspectives. However, the impact of drought on water security, particularly ground water dependent rural water supplies, has received much less attention. Policy responses have concentrated on food needs, and it has often been difficult to mobilize resources for water interventions, despite evidence that access to safe water is a serious and interrelated concern. Studies carried out in Ghana, Malawi, South Africa, and Ethiopia highlight how rural livelihoods are affected by seasonal stress and longer-term drought. Declining access to food and water is a common and interrelated problem. Although ground water plays a vital role in buffering the effects of rainfall variability, water shortages and difficulties in accessing water that is available can affect domestic and productive water uses, with knock-on effects on food consumption and production. Total depletion of available ground water resources is rarely the main concern. A more common scenario is a spiral of water insecurity as shallow water sources fail, additional demands are put on remaining sources, and mechanical failures increase. These problems can be planned for within normal development programs. Water security mapping can help identify vulnerable areas, and changes to monitoring systems can ensure early detection of problems. Above all, increasing the coverage of ground water-based rural water supplies, and ensuring that the design and siting of water points is informed by an understanding of hydrogeological conditions and user demand, can significantly increase the resilience of rural communities to climate variability.

33 CFR 165.1411 - Security zone; waters surrounding U.S. Forces vessel SBX-1, HI.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Security zone; waters surrounding U.S. Forces vessel SBX-1, HI. 165.1411 Section 165.1411 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD... § 165.1411 Security zone; waters surrounding U.S. Forces vessel SBX-1, HI. (a) Location. The following...

Operation of remote mobile sensors for security of drinking water distribution systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Perelman, By Lina; Ostfeld, Avi

2013-09-01

The deployment of fixed online water quality sensors in water distribution systems has been recognized as one of the key components of contamination warning systems for securing public health. This study proposes to explore how the inclusion of mobile sensors for inline monitoring of various water quality parameters (e.g., residual chlorine, pH) can enhance water distribution system security. Mobile sensors equipped with sampling, sensing, data acquisition, wireless transmission and power generation systems are being designed, fabricated, and tested, and prototypes are expected to be released in the very near future. This study initiates the development of a theoretical framework for modeling mobile sensor movement in water distribution systems and integrating the sensory data collected from stationary and non-stationary sensor nodes to increase system security. The methodology is applied and demonstrated on two benchmark networks. Performance of different sensor network designs are compared for fixed and combined fixed and mobile sensor networks. Results indicate that complementing online sensor networks with inline monitoring can increase detection likelihood and decrease mean time to detection. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Effect of Handwashing with Water or Soap on Bacterial Contamination of Hands

Science.gov (United States)

Burton, Maxine; Cobb, Emma; Donachie, Peter; Judah, Gaby; Curtis, Val; Schmidt, Wolf-Peter

2011-01-01

Handwashing is thought to be effective for the prevention of transmission of diarrhoea pathogens. However it is not conclusive that handwashing with soap is more effective at reducing contamination with bacteria associated with diarrhoea than using water only. In this study 20 volunteers contaminated their hands deliberately by touching door handles and railings in public spaces. They were then allocated at random to (1) handwashing with water, (2) handwashing with non-antibacterial soap and (3) no handwashing. Each volunteer underwent this procedure 24 times, yielding 480 samples overall. Bacteria of potential faecal origin (mostly Enterococcus and Enterobacter spp.) were found after no handwashing in 44% of samples. Handwashing with water alone reduced the presence of bacteria to 23% (p soap and water reduced the presence of bacteria to 8% (comparison of both handwashing arms: p soap and water is more effective for the removal of bacteria of potential faecal origin from hands than handwashing with water alone and should therefore be more useful for the prevention of transmission of diarrhoeal diseases. PMID:21318017

Network attacks and defenses a hands-on approach

CERN Document Server

Trabelsi, Zouheir; Al Braiki, Arwa; Mathew, Sujith Samuel

2012-01-01

The attacks on computers and business networks are growing daily, and the need for security professionals who understand how malfeasants perform attacks and compromise networks is a growing requirement to counter the threat. Network security education generally lacks appropriate textbooks with detailed, hands-on exercises that include both offensive and defensive techniques. Using step-by-step processes to build and generate attacks using offensive techniques, Network Attacks and Defenses: A Hands-on Approach enables students to implement appropriate network security solutions within a laborat

Lethal stakes: rig-hand killings show rising security risks abroad

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lorenz, A

1999-05-03

The increasing demands for protection money from foreign exploration and pipeline construction companies by left-wing guerrilla groups in various South American countries led to greater attention being focused on security services. This paper discusses the various alternatives to consider when choosing a security service. The experience of a Canadian pipeline company with projects in South America, and in need of security services, is described. The company felt that it was important that the security firm have a Calgary presence. It ended up hiring Calgary Protection Concepts Corporation, which is run by former Canadian police and intelligence officers, who provide a wide range of security services. Staff spend time in the country involved to look over the local security situation, develop contacts with local intelligence officers, and contract overseas agents who arrange for bodyguards, escorts and armored cars. ProCon also helps companies develop crisis management plans, guiding senior personnel through scenarios such as kidnapping, extortion and civil strife. ProCon also has a 24-hour emergency assistance call centre to provide immediate advice, to notify personnel and family members and to monitor the situation. Trust is key to hiring an outside security service since the security firm becomes party to extremely confidential information. Top security firms usually specialize in either security work or political risk analysis, but not both. The reason for this is that there are big differences in mentality, training and capabilities between studying risks and actively guarding against hazards.

Lethal stakes: rig-hand killings show rising security risks abroad

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lorenz, A.

1999-01-01

The increasing demands for protection money from foreign exploration and pipeline construction companies by left-wing guerrilla groups in various South American countries led to greater attention being focused on security services. This paper discusses the various alternatives to consider when choosing a security service. The experience of a Canadian pipeline company with projects in South America, and in need of security services, is described. The company felt that it was important that the security firm have a Calgary presence. It ended up hiring Calgary Protection Concepts Corporation, which is run by former Canadian police and intelligence officers, who provide a wide range of security services. Staff spend time in the country involved to look over the local security situation, develop contacts with local intelligence officers, and contract overseas agents who arrange for bodyguards, escorts and armored cars. ProCon also helps companies develop crisis management plans, guiding senior personnel through scenarios such as kidnapping, extortion and civil strife. ProCon also has a 24-hour emergency assistance call centre to provide immediate advice, to notify personnel and family members and to monitor the situation. Trust is key to hiring an outside security service since the security firm becomes party to extremely confidential information. Top security firms usually specialize in either security work or political risk analysis, but not both. The reason for this is that there are big differences in mentality, training and capabilities between studying risks and actively guarding against hazards

DOD/COCOM Water Security Program Strategy Document

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-22

treatment and disposal. DOD/COCOM Water Security Program Strategy 22 18. Toxic Minerals In regions where there are naturally occurring unsafe...surface hydrologic observations using remote sensing to provide data on precipitation, radiation, temperature, soil moisture, groundwater, snowcover...habitat alteration and aquaculture . 13. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Works with partners throughout the nation and the world to monitor health

Agricultural Applications for Remotely Sensed Evapotranspiration Data in Monitoring Water Use, Water Quality, and Water Security

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, M. C.; Hain, C.; Gao, F.; Yang, Y.; Sun, L.; Dulaney, W.; Sharifi, A.; Holmes, T. R.; Kustas, W. P.

2016-12-01

Across the U.S. and globally there are ever increasing and competing demands for freshwater resources in support of food production, ecosystems services and human/industrial consumption. Recent studies using the GRACE satellite have identified severely stressed aquifers globally, which are being unsustainably depleted due to over-extraction primarily in support of irrigated agriculture. In addition, historic droughts and ongoing political conflicts threaten food and water security in many parts of the world. To facilitate wise water management, and to develop sustainable agricultural systems that will feed the Earth's growing population into the future, there is a critical need for robust assessments of daily water use, or evapotranspiration (ET), over a wide range in spatial scales - from field to globe. While Earth Observing (EO) satellites can play a significant role in this endeavor, no single satellite provides the combined spatial, spectral and temporal characteristics required for actionable ET monitoring world-wide. In this presentation we discuss new methods for combining information from the current suite of EO satellites to address issues of water use, water quality and water security, particularly as they pertain to agricultural production. These methods fuse multi-scale diagnostic ET retrievals generated using shortwave, thermal infrared and microwave datasets from multiple EO platforms to generate ET datacubes with both high spatial and temporal resolution. We highlight several case studies where such ET datacubes are being mined to investigate changes in water use patterns over agricultural landscapes in response to changing land use, land management, and climate forcings.

Growing water scarcity in agriculture: future challenge to global water security.

Science.gov (United States)

Falkenmark, Malin

2013-11-13

As water is an essential component of the planetary life support system, water deficiency constitutes an insecurity that has to be overcome in the process of socio-economic development. The paper analyses the origin and appearance of blue as well as green water scarcity on different scales and with particular focus on risks to food production and water supply for municipalities and industry. It analyses water scarcity originating from both climatic phenomena and water partitioning disturbances on different scales: crop field, country level and the global circulation system. The implications by 2050 of water scarcity in terms of potential country-level water deficits for food self-reliance are analysed, and the compensating dependence on trade in virtual water for almost half the world population is noted. Planetary-scale conditions for sustainability of the global water circulation system are discussed in terms of a recently proposed Planetary Freshwater Boundary, and the consumptive water use reserve left to be shared between water requirements for global food production, fuelwood production and carbon sequestration is discussed. Finally, the importance of a paradigm shift in the further conceptual development of water security is stressed, so that adequate attention is paid to water's fundamental role in both natural and socio-economic systems.

Managed groundwater development for water-supply security in Sub ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

security in Sub-Saharan Africa: Investment priorities ... 2010, together with a review of some developments in western Africa and insights from parts of Asia and Latin America. ...... and the Global Water Partnership (Ania Grobicki and Aurelie.

Security of water, energy, and food nexus in the Asia-Pacific region

Science.gov (United States)

Taniguchi, M.; Endo, A.; Fujii, M.; Shoji, J.; Baba, K.; Gurdak, J. J.; Allen, D. M.; Siringan, F. P.; Delinom, R.

2014-12-01

Water, energy, and food are the most important and fundamental resources for human beings and society. Demands for these resources are escalating rapidly because of increases in populations and changes in lifestyles. Therefore intensive demand for those resources makes conflicts between resources. Securities of water, energy, and food are treated separately, however they should be considered as one integrated matter, because water-energy-food are connected and it makes nexus and tradeoff. Security in terms of self-production, diversity of alternatives, and variability are evaluated for water, energy and food for thirty two countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The water and energy nexus includes water consumption for the cooling of power plant systems, water use for hydro power generation, and energy consumption for water allocation and pumping. The water and food nexus consists of water consumption for agriculture and aquaculture. The energy and food nexus includes energy consumption for food production and biomass for energy. Analyses of 11 countries within the Asia- Pacific region show that energy consumption for fish is the largest among foods in Japan, Philippines, and Peru, while energy consumption for cereals is the largest among foods in Canada, US, Indonesia, and others. Water consumption for different types of food and energy are also analyzed, including nexus ratio to total water consumption. The water-energy-food nexus at a local level in the Asia Pacific region are examined by the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature project "Human environmental security in Asia Pacific Ring of Fire". Themes including geothermal power plants for energy development and hot springs as water, shale gas for energy development and water consumption/contamination, aquaculture for food and water contamination are used to evaluate the water-energy-food nexus in the Asia-Pacific region.

Agriculture and Energy: Implications for Food Security, Water, and Land Use

Science.gov (United States)

Tokgoz, S.; Zhang, W.; Msangi, S.; Bhandary, P.

2011-12-01

Sustainable production of agricultural commodities and growth of international trade in these goods are challenged as never before by supply-side constraints (such as climate change, water and land scarcity, and environmental degradation) and by demand-side dynamics (volatility in food and energy markets, the strengthening food-energy linkage, population growth, and income growth). On the one hand, the rapidly expanding demand can potentially create new market opportunities for agriculture. On the other hand, there are many threats to a sufficient response by the supply side to meet this growing and changing demand. Agricultural production systems in many countries are neither resource-efficient, nor producing according to their full potential. The stock of natural resources such as land, water, nutrients, energy, and genetic diversity is shrinking relative to demand, and their use must become increasingly efficient in order to reduce environmental impacts and preserve the planet's productive capacity. World energy prices have increased rapidly in recent years. At the same time, agriculture has become more energy-intensive. Higher energy costs have pushed up the cost of producing, transporting and processing agricultural commodities, driving up commodity prices. Higher energy costs have also affected water use and availability through increased costs of water extraction, conveyance and desalinization, higher demand for hydroelectric power, and increased cost of subsidizing water services. In the meantime, the development of biofuels has diverted increasing amounts of agricultural land and water resources to the production of biomass-based renewable energy. This more "intensified" linkage between agriculture and energy comes at a time when there are other pressures on the world's limited resources. The related high food prices, especially those in the developing countries, have led to setbacks in the poverty alleviation effort among the global community with more

The Effect of Handwashing with Water or Soap on Bacterial Contamination of Hands

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wolf-Peter Schmidt

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Handwashing is thought to be effective for the prevention of transmission of diarrhoea pathogens. However it is not conclusive that handwashing with soap is more effective at reducing contamination with bacteria associated with diarrhoea than using water only. In this study 20 volunteers contaminated their hands deliberately by touching door handles and railings in public spaces. They were then allocated at random to (1 handwashing with water, (2 handwashing with non-antibacterial soap and (3 no handwashing. Each volunteer underwent this procedure 24 times, yielding 480 samples overall. Bacteria of potential faecal origin (mostly Enterococcus and Enterobacter spp. were found after no handwashing in 44% of samples. Handwashing with water alone reduced the presence of bacteria to 23% (p < 0.001. Handwashing with plain soap and water reduced the presence of bacteria to 8% (comparison of both handwashing arms: p < 0.001. The effect did not appear to depend on the bacteria species. Handwashing with non-antibacterial soap and water is more effective for the removal of bacteria of potential faecal origin from hands than handwashing with water alone and should therefore be more useful for the prevention of transmission of diarrhoeal diseases.

Windows 2012 Server network security securing your Windows network systems and infrastructure

CERN Document Server

Rountree, Derrick

2013-01-01

Windows 2012 Server Network Security provides the most in-depth guide to deploying and maintaining a secure Windows network. The book drills down into all the new features of Windows 2012 and provides practical, hands-on methods for securing your Windows systems networks, including: Secure remote access Network vulnerabilities and mitigations DHCP installations configuration MAC filtering DNS server security WINS installation configuration Securing wired and wireless connections Windows personal firewall

FOOD SECURITY IN TUNISIA WITHIN WATER SCARCITY THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF THE MEAT SECTOR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emna Ouertani

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes the evolution of food and nutrition security in Tunisia, judges its sustainability within water scarcity conditions and free trade areas, with a specific focus on the meat sector. For such purpose, the FAO indicators and Food Balance Sheets, as well as the Global Food Security Index are all analyzed. Virtual water, owed to meat and cereals for animal feed production and trade, was estimated to expect food security sustainability. Results indicated that Tunisian food and nutrition security (FNS has been improved over the years, but its stability remains vulnerable because of the political and economic risks and the dependence of Tunisia on imported cereals for animal feed due to water scarcity. Tunisian agricultural policy, especially in both sectors of cereals and meat, should be readjusted to guarantee food and nutrition sustainability.

Virtual Water and Food Security in Tunisia | IDRC - International ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

... on the world grain market has social implications for Tunisia's small farmers and ... Thus, when a country exports an agricultural product, in effect it also exports ... Tunisia that incorporates the virtual water concept in a food security strategy.

Achieving sustainable irrigation water withdrawals: global impacts on food security and land use

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jing; Hertel, Thomas W.; Lammers, Richard B.; Prusevich, Alexander; Baldos, Uris Lantz C.; Grogan, Danielle S.; Frolking, Steve

2017-10-01

Unsustainable water use challenges the capacity of water resources to ensure food security and continued growth of the economy. Adaptation policies targeting future water security can easily overlook its interaction with other sustainability metrics and unanticipated local responses to the larger-scale policy interventions. Using a global partial equilibrium grid-resolving model SIMPLE-G, and coupling it with the global Water Balance Model, we simulate the consequences of reducing unsustainable irrigation for food security, land use change, and terrestrial carbon. A variety of future (2050) scenarios are considered that interact irrigation productivity with two policy interventions— inter-basin water transfers and international commodity market integration. We find that pursuing sustainable irrigation may erode other development and environmental goals due to higher food prices and cropland expansion. This results in over 800 000 more undernourished people and 0.87 GtC additional emissions. Faster total factor productivity growth in irrigated sectors will encourage more aggressive irrigation water use in the basins where irrigation vulnerability is expected to be reduced by inter-basin water transfer. By allowing for a systematic comparison of these alternative adaptations to future irrigation vulnerability, the global gridded modeling approach offers unique insights into the multiscale nature of the water scarcity challenge.

Resource reliability, accessibility and governance: pillars for managing water resources to achieve water security in Nepal

Science.gov (United States)

Biggs, E. M.; Duncan, J.; Atkinson, P.; Dash, J.

2013-12-01

As one of the world's most water-abundant countries, Nepal has plenty of water yet resources are both spatially and temporally unevenly distributed. With a population heavily engaged in subsistence farming, whereby livelihoods are entirely dependent on rain-fed agriculture, changes in freshwater resources can substantially impact upon survival. The two main sources of water in Nepal come from monsoon precipitation and glacial runoff. The former is essential for sustaining livelihoods where communities have little or no access to perennial water resources. Much of Nepal's population live in the southern Mid-Hills and Terai regions where dependency on the monsoon system is high and climate-environment interactions are intricate. Any fluctuations in precipitation can severely affect essential potable resources and food security. As the population continues to expand in Nepal, and pressures build on access to adequate and clean water resources, there is a need for institutions to cooperate and increase the effectiveness of water management policies. This research presents a framework detailing three fundamental pillars for managing water resources to achieve sustainable water security in Nepal. These are (i) resource reliability; (ii) adequate accessibility; and (iii) effective governance. Evidence is presented which indicates that water resources are adequate in Nepal to sustain the population. In addition, aspects of climate change are having less impact than previously perceived e.g. results from trend analysis of precipitation time-series indicate a decrease in monsoon extremes and interannual variation over the last half-century. However, accessibility to clean water resources and the potential for water storage is limiting the use of these resources. This issue is particularly prevalent given the heterogeneity in spatial and temporal distributions of water. Water governance is also ineffective due to government instability and a lack of continuity in policy

Enteric pathogens in stored drinking water and on caregiver's hands in Tanzanian households with and without reported cases of child diarrhea.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mia Catharine Mattioli

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Diarrhea is one of the leading causes of mortality in young children. Diarrheal pathogens are transmitted via the fecal-oral route, and for children the majority of this transmission is thought to occur within the home. However, very few studies have documented enteric pathogens within households of low-income countries. METHODS AND FINDINGS: The presence of molecular markers for three enteric viruses (enterovirus, adenovirus, and rotavirus, seven Escherichia coli virulence genes (ECVG, and human-specific Bacteroidales was assessed in hand rinses and household stored drinking water in Bagamoyo, Tanzania. Using a matched case-control study design, we examined the relationship between contamination of hands and water with these markers and child diarrhea. We found that the presence of ECVG in household stored water was associated with a significant decrease in the odds of a child within the home having diarrhea (OR = 0.51; 95% confidence interval 0.27-0.93. We also evaluated water management and hygiene behaviors. Recent hand contact with water or food was positively associated with detection of enteric pathogen markers on hands, as was relatively lower volumes of water reportedly used for daily hand washing. Enteropathogen markers in stored drinking water were more likely found among households in which the markers were also detected on hands, as well as in households with unimproved water supply and sanitation infrastructure. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of enteric pathogen genes and the human-specific Bacteroidales fecal marker in stored water and on hands suggests extensive environmental contamination within homes both with and without reported child diarrhea. Better stored water quality among households with diarrhea indicates caregivers with sick children may be more likely to ensure safe drinking water in the home. Interventions to increase the quantity of water available for hand washing, and to improve food hygiene, may

Hand immersion in cold water alleviating physiological strain and increasing tolerance to uncompensable heat stress.

Science.gov (United States)

Khomenok, Gennadi A; Hadid, Amir; Preiss-Bloom, Orahn; Yanovich, Ran; Erlich, Tomer; Ron-Tal, Osnat; Peled, Amir; Epstein, Yoram; Moran, Daniel S

2008-09-01

The current study examines the use of hand immersion in cold water to alleviate physiological strain caused by exercising in a hot climate while wearing NBC protective garments. Seventeen heat acclimated subjects wearing a semi-permeable NBC protective garment and a light bulletproof vest were exposed to a 125 min exercise-heat stress (35 degrees C, 50% RH; 5 km/h, 5% incline). The heat stress exposure routine included 5 min rest in the chamber followed by two 50:10 min work-rest cycles. During the control trial (CO), there was no intervention, whilst in the intervention condition the subjects immersed their hands and forearms in a 10 degrees C water bath (HI). The results demonstrated that hand immersion in cold water significantly reduced physiological strain. In the CO exposure during the first and second resting periods, the average rectal temperature (T (re)) practically did not decrease. With hand immersion, the mean (SD) T (re) decreased by 0.45 (0.05 degrees C) and 0.48 degrees C (0.06 degrees C) during the first and second rest periods respectively (P immersion in cold water for 10 min is an effective method for decreasing the physiological strain caused by exercising under heat stress while wearing NBC protective garments. The method is convenient, simple, and allows longer working periods in hot or contaminated areas with shorter resting periods.

Water Security and Services in the Caribbean

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adrian Cashman

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The efficient management of water resources and services continues to be a concern in many of the small island states of the Caribbean. There are growing concerns over the ability of governments in the region to ensure the good management and provision of water without jeopardizing economic growth and the maintenance of social well-being. This paper provides an overview of the major factors influencing the water security facing the Caribbean Region and how the emerging concerns are being addressed. The key challenges and vulnerabilities may be summarized as lack of data and barriers to making available what information there is. Forward planning has been largely neglected and is symptomatic of a lack of appreciation of the need for having national water policies. In this respect Jamaica’s development of a national master water plan serves as a good example of what is needed. Water service providers have to be efficient, well managed and allowed to do their job. This means that they have to be on a sound financial footing. The challenge is to find the balance between appropriate political and regulatory oversight and the autonomy of water managers and service providers.

Water security and societal impacts of tropical cyclones in northwestern Mexico, 1970-2010

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, C. A.; Farfan, L.

2012-12-01

Hydroclimatic variability is one of several potential threats to water security, defined as sustainable quantities and qualities of water for resilient societies and ecosystems in the face of uncertain global environmental change. Other threats can stem from human dimensions of global change, e.g., long-distance trade of water-intensive agricultural commodities or pollution resulting from industrial production and mining in response to rising global market demand. Drought and water scarcity are considered the principal, chronic, hydroclimatic drivers of water insecurity in arid and semi-arid regions. In these conditions, however, rainfall is both the water-supply lifeline and, in extreme events, the cause of flood hazard. In this study, we consider the monsoon-dominated Pacific coast of Mexico and assess the human impacts from tropical cyclone landfall over the past four decades (1970-2010). Storm data from the U.S. National Hurricane Center, rainfall reports from Mexico's National Meteorological Service, and indicators from an international disaster database at Belgium's Université Catholique de Louvain are used to assess the impacts of more than 30 landfall events. For the ten events with the greatest population impact, between 20,000 to 800,000 people were affected by each landfalling cyclone. Strong winds and heavy rainfall, particularly when sustained over periods of 1-3 days, result in significant property damage and loss of life. Results indicate that, in densely populated areas, excessive rainfall accumulations and high daily rates are important causes of cyclone disasters. Strengthening water security associated with extreme events requires planning via structured exchanges between scientists and decision-makers. Adaptive management that accounts for uncertainties, initiates responses, and iteratively assesses outcomes is the thrust of an emerging water-security initiative for the arid Americas that seeks to strengthen water security in northwestern

Food and Livelihood Security in Punjab through Water, Energy and ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Food and Livelihood Security in Punjab through Water, Energy and Agricultural Management ... management and facilitating access to resources by low-income farmers. ... Sharing opportunities for innovation in climate change adaptation.

Forced Engagements: Water Security and Local Rights Formalization in Yanque, Colca Valley, Peru

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boelens, R.A.; Seemann, M.

2014-01-01

For vulnerable groups in society, water insecurity and deficient water availability for food production commonly reflect unequal distribution of water volumes, quality, and services within unequal power structures. Water security is necessarily a political dilemma. Policy debates, however, tend to

Water Security at Local Government Level: What do People Think?

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Meissner, Richard

2016-06-01

Full Text Available stream_source_info Meissner_2016.pdf.txt stream_content_type text/plain stream_size 2853 Content-Encoding UTF-8 stream_name Meissner_2016.pdf.txt Content-Type text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Water Security at Local... Government Level: What do People Think? By Dr. Richard Meissner Integrated Water Assessment Group Natural Resources and the Environment Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Presented at the Sustainable Water Seminar 2016, CSIR ICC, 2...

Water security and the science agenda

Science.gov (United States)

Wheater, Howard S.; Gober, Patricia

2015-07-01

The freshwater environment is facing unprecedented global pressures. Unsustainable use of surface and groundwater is ubiquitous. Gross pollution is seen in developing economies, nutrient pollution is a global threat to aquatic ecosystems, and flood damage is increasing. Droughts have severe local consequences, but effects on food can be global. These current pressures are set in the context of rapid environmental change and socio-economic development, population growth, and weak and fragmented governance. We ask what should be the role of the water science community in addressing water security challenges. Deeper understanding of aquatic and terrestrial environments and their interactions with the climate system is needed, along with trans-disciplinary analysis of vulnerabilities to environmental and societal change. The human dimension must be fully integrated into water science research and viewed as an endogenous component of water system dynamics. Land and water management are inextricably linked, and thus more cross-sector coordination of research and policy is imperative. To solve real-world problems, the products of science must emerge from an iterative, collaborative, two-way exchange with management and policy communities. Science must produce knowledge that is deemed to be credible, legitimate, and salient by relevant stakeholders, and the social process of linking science to policy is thus vital to efforts to solve water problems. The paper shows how a large-scale catchment-based observatory can be used to practice trans-disciplinary science integration and address the Anthropocene's water problems.

Water security at local government level: what do people think it means in eThekwini? Ntshongweni Community feedback

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Meissner, Richard

2017-12-01

Full Text Available defined by international organisations or scientists, like UN Water. • Water security is NOT about quantity, quality, availability, reliable supply, water borne diseases… • Water security is about individuals, and their environment—lived experience...

Efficacy of alcohol-based hand sanitizer on hands soiled with dirt and cooking oil.

Science.gov (United States)

Pickering, Amy J; Davis, Jennifer; Boehm, Alexandria B

2011-09-01

Handwashing education and promotion are well established as effective strategies to reduce diarrhea and respiratory illness in countries around the world. However, access to reliable water supplies has been identified as an important barrier to regular handwashing in low-income countries. Alcohol-based hand sanitizer (ABHS) is an effective hand hygiene method that does not require water, but its use is not currently recommended when hands are visibly soiled. This study evaluated the efficacy of ABHS on volunteers' hands artificially contaminated with Escherichia coli in the presence of dirt (soil from Tanzania) and cooking oil. ABHS reduced levels of E. coli by a mean of 2.33 log colony forming units (CFU) per clean hand, 2.32 log CFU per dirt-covered hand, and 2.13 log CFU per oil-coated hand. No significant difference in efficacy was detected between hands that were clean versus dirty or oily. ABHS may be an appropriate hand hygiene method for hands that are moderately soiled, and an attractive option for field settings in which access to water and soap is limited.

Water security, risk, and economic growth: Insights from a dynamical systems model

Science.gov (United States)

Dadson, Simon; Hall, Jim W.; Garrick, Dustin; Sadoff, Claudia; Grey, David; Whittington, Dale

2017-08-01

Investments in the physical infrastructure, human capital, and institutions needed for water resources management have been noteworthy in the development of most civilizations. These investments affect the economy in two distinct ways: (i) by improving the factor productivity of water in multiple economic sectors, especially those that are water intensive such as agriculture and energy and (ii) by reducing acute and chronic harmful effects of water-related hazards like floods, droughts, and water-related diseases. The need for capital investment to mitigate risks and promote economic growth is widely acknowledged, but prior conceptual work on the relationship between water-related investments and economic growth has focused on the productive and harmful roles of water in the economy independently. Here the two influences are combined using a simple, dynamical systems model of water-related investment, risk, and growth. In cases where initial water security is low, initial investment in water-related assets enables growth. Without such investment, losses due to water-related hazards exert a drag on economic growth and may create a poverty trap. The presence and location of the poverty trap is context-specific and depends on the exposure of productive water-related assets to water-related risk. Exogenous changes in water-related risk can potentially push an economy away from a growth path toward a poverty trap. Our investigation shows that an inverted-U-shaped investment relation between the level of investment in water security and the current level of water security leads to faster rates of growth than the alternatives that we consider here, and that this relation is responsible for the "S"-curve that is posited in the literature. These results illustrate the importance of accounting for environmental and health risks in economic models and offer insights for the design of robust policies for investment in water-related productive assets to manage risk, in the face

Facing global environmental change. Environmental, human, energy, food, health and water security concepts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brauch, Hans Guenter [Freie Univ. Berlin (Germany). Dept. of Political and Social Sciences; United Nations Univ., Bonn (DE). Inst. for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS); AFES-Press, Mosbach (Germany); Oswald Spring, Ursula [National Univ. of Mexico (UNAM), Cuernavaca, MOR (MX). Centro Regional de Investigaciones Multidiscipinarias (CRIM); United Nations Univ., Bonn (DE). Inst. for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS); Grin, John [Amsterdam Univ. (Netherlands). Amsterdam School for Social Science Research; Mesjasz, Czeslaw [Cracow Univ. of Economics (Poland). Faculty of Management; Kameri-Mbote, Patricia [Nairobi Univ. (Kenya). School of Law; International Environmental Law Research Centre, Nairobi (Kenya); Behera, Navnita Chadha [Jamia Millia Islamia Univ., New Delhi (India). Nelson Mandela Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution; Chourou, Bechir [Tunis-Carthage Univ., Hammam-Chatt (Tunisia); Krummenacher, Heinz (eds.) [swisspeace, Bern (Switzerland). FAST International

2009-07-01

This policy-focused, global and multidisciplinary security handbook on Facing Global Environmental Change addresses new security threats of the 21st century posed by climate change, desertification, water stress, population growth and urbanization. These security dangers and concerns lead to migration, crises and conflicts. They are on the agenda of the UN, OECD, OSCE, NATO and EU. In 100 chapters, 132 authors from 49 countries analyze the global debate on environmental, human and gender, energy, food, livelihood, health and water security concepts and policy problems. In 10 parts they discuss the context and the securitization of global environmental change and of extreme natural and societal outcomes. They suggest a new research programme to move from knowledge to action, from reactive to proactive policies and to explore the opportunities of environ-mental cooperation for a new peace policy. (orig.)

Integrated assessment and scenarios simulation of urban water security system in the southwest of China with system dynamics analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Su; Dongjie, Guan; Weici, Su; Weijun, Gao

2017-11-01

The demand for global freshwater is growing, while global freshwater available for human use is limited within a certain time and space. Its security has significant impacts on both the socio-economic system and ecological system. Recently, studies have focused on the urban water security system (UWSS) in terms of either water quantity or water quality. In this study, water resources, water environment, and water disaster issues in the UWSS were combined to establish an evaluation index system with system dynamics (SD) and geographic information systems (GIS). The GIS method performs qualitative analysis from the perspective of the spatial dimension; meanwhile, the SD method performs quantitative calculation about related water security problems from the perspective of the temporal dimension. We established a UWSS model for Guizhou province, China to analyze influencing factors, main driving factors, and system variation law, by using the SD method. We simulated the water security system from 2005 to 2025 under four scenarios (Guiyang scenario, Zunyi scenario, Bijie scenario and combined scenario). The results demonstrate that: (1) the severity of water security in cities is ranked as follows: three cities are secure in Guizhou province, four cities are in basic security and two cities are in a situation of insecurity from the spatial dimension of GIS through water security synthesis; and (2) the major driving factors of UWSS in Guizhou province include agricultural irrigation water demand, soil and water losses area, a ratio increase to the standard of water quality, and investment in environmental protection. A combined scenario is the best solution for UWSS by 2025 in Guizhou province under the four scenarios from the temporal dimension of SD. The results of this study provide a useful suggestion for the management of freshwater for the cities of Guizhou province in southwest China.

Hand hygiene with soap and water is superior to alcohol rub and antiseptic wipes for removal of Clostridium difficile.

Science.gov (United States)

Oughton, Matthew T; Loo, Vivian G; Dendukuri, Nandini; Fenn, Susan; Libman, Michael D

2009-10-01

To evaluate common hand hygiene methods for efficacy in removing Clostridium difficile. Randomized crossover comparison among 10 volunteers with hands experimentally contaminated by nontoxigenic C. difficile. Interventions included warm water with plain soap, cold water with plain soap, warm water with antibacterial soap, antiseptic hand wipes, alcohol-based handrub, and a control involving no intervention. All interventions were evaluated for mean reduction in colony-forming units (CFUs) under 2 contamination protocols: "whole hand" and "palmar surface." Results were analyzed according to a Bayesian approach, by using hierarchical models adjusted for multiple observations. Under the whole-hand protocol, the greatest adjusted mean reductions were achieved by warm water with plain soap (2.14 log(10) CFU/mL [95% credible interval (CrI), 1.74-2.54 log(10) CFU/mL]), cold water with plain soap (1.88 log(10) CFU/mL [95% CrI, 1.48-2.28 log(10) CFU/mL), and warm water with antibacterial soap (1.51 log(10) CFU/mL [95% CrI, 1.12-1.91 log(10) CFU/mL]), followed by antiseptic hand wipes (0.57 log(10) CFU/mL [95% CrI, 0.17-0.96 log(10) CFU/mL]). Alcohol-based handrub (0.06 log(10) CFU/mL [95% CrI, -0.34 to 0.45 log(10) CFU/mL]) was equivalent to no intervention. Under the palmar surface protocol, warm water with plain soap, cold water with plain soap, and warm water with antibacterial soap again yielded the greatest mean reductions, followed by antiseptic hand wipes (26.6, 26.6, 26.6, and 21.9 CFUs per plate, respectively), when compared with alcohol-based handrub. Hypothenar (odds ratio, 10.98 [95% CrI, 1.96-37.65]) and thenar (odds ratio, 6.99 [95% CrI, 1.25-23.41]) surfaces were more likely than fingertips to remain heavily contaminated after handwashing. Handwashing with soap and water showed the greatest efficacy in removing C. difficile and should be performed preferentially over the use of alcohol-based handrubs when contact with C. difficile is suspected or likely.

Impact of Inter‐Basin Water Transfer Projects on Regional Ecological Security from a Telecoupling Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuan Quan

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Inter‐basin water transfer projects (IBWTPs offer one of the most important means to solve the mismatch between supply and demand of regional water resources. IBWTPs have impacts on the complex ecosystems of the areas from which water is diverted and to which water is received. These impacts increase damage or risk to regional ecological security and human wellbeing. However, current methods make it difficult to achieve comprehensive analysis of the impacts of whole ecosystems, because of the long distance between ecosystems and the inconsistency of impact events. In this study, a model was proposed for the analysis of the impacts of IBWTPs on regional ecological security. It is based on the telecoupling framework, and the Driver‐Pressure‐State‐ Impact‐Response (DPSIR model was used to improve the analysis procedure within the telecoupling framework. The Middle Line of the South‐to‐North Water Diversion Project was selected as a case study to illustrate the specific analysis procedure. We realized that information sharing is a key issue in the management of regional security, and that the ecological water requirement, in the form of a single index, could be used to quantitatively assess the impacts on ecological security from IBWTPs.

33 CFR 165.1317 - Security and Safety Zone; Large Passenger Vessel Protection, Puget Sound and adjacent waters...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Security and Safety Zone; Large Passenger Vessel Protection, Puget Sound and adjacent waters, Washington. 165.1317 Section 165.1317 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (CONTINUED) PORTS AND WATERWAYS...

Water Security in Times of Climate Change and Intractability: Reconciling Conflict by Transforming Security Concerns into Equity Concerns

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neil Powell

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This paper considers how to achieve equitable water governance and the flow-on effects it has in terms of supporting sustainable development, drawing on case studies from the international climate change adaptation and governance project (CADWAGO. Water governance, like many other global issues, is becoming increasingly intractable (wicked with climate change and is, by the international community, being linked to instances of threats to human security, the war in the Sudanese Darfur and more recently the acts of terrorism perpetuated by ISIS. In this paper, we ask the question: how can situations characterized by water controversy (exacerbated by the uncertainties posed by climate change be reconciled? The main argument is based on a critique of the way the water security discourse appropriates expert (normal claims about human-biophysical relationships. When water challenges become increasingly securitized by the climate change discourse it becomes permissible to enact processes that legitimately transgress normative positions through post-normal actions. In contrast, the water equity discourse offers an alternative reading of wicked and post-normal water governance situations. We contend that by infusing norm critical considerations into the process of securitization, new sub-national constellations of agents will be empowered to enact changes; thereby bypassing vicious cycles of power brokering that characterize contemporary processes intended to address controversies.

Water resources for urban water and food security: the case of megacity Hong Kong

Science.gov (United States)

Vanham, Davy; Gawlik, Bernd; Bidoglio, Giovanni

2017-04-01

The extent to which urban dwellers consume resources is key on the path to reaching global SDGs. One of these resources is water, which is consumed in a direct and indirect way by city inhabitants, to achieve water and food security within city borders. In this study, we quantify the water resources required to provide these two essential securities for megacity Hong Kong. During the last years, this city has made large investments to make its urban water supply system more water efficient and sustainable. As such, its municipal water abstraction - often defined as direct water use - has decreased from 355 litres per capita per day (l/cap/d) in 2005 to 326 l/cap/d in 2013. Due to its political history, Hong Kong is unique in the world in data availability on urban food consumption. It is therefore the ideal case study to show typical urban food consumption behaviour and its related indirect water use. The current average diet in Hong Kong is very different to the average Chinese diet. It is characterised by a high intake of water intensive products like animal products and sugar, leading to a food related indirect water use or water footprint (WFcons) of 4727 l/cap/d. According to recommendations from the Chinese Nutrition Society for a healthy diet, the intake of some product groups should be increased (vegetables and fruit) and of other product groups reduced (sugar, crop oils, meat and animal fats). This would result in a reduction of the WFcons of 40% to 2852 l/cap/d. Especially the reduced intake of meat (including offals) from currently 126 kg per capita per year (kg/cap/yr) to the recommended value 27 kg/cap/yr would result in a substantial WFcons reduction. Meat consumption in Hong Kong is extremely high. A pesco-vegetarian diet would result in a reduction of 49% (to 2398 l/cap/d) and a vegetarian diet in a 53% (to 2224 l/cap/d) reduction. Hong Kong citizens can thus save a lot of water by looking at their indirect water use, through a change in their diet

Hydro-hegemony or water security community? Collective action, cooperation and conflict in the SADC transboundary security complex

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Meissner, Richard

2017-09-01

Full Text Available In an anarchical global environment, the conflict potential of shared water resources has made rivers subject to high politics (i.e. security). While researchers and diplomats consider regional treaties as cooperation indicators (Wold 1995), unequal...

Water Security in Periurban South Asia : Adapting to Climate ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Chargé(e) de projet. Prof. Ashutosh Kumar Shukla. Institution. Nepal Engineering College. Pays d' institution. Nepal. Site internet. http://www.nec.edu.np. Extrants. Études. Communication strategy in action research on water security in four South Asian peri-urban locations : CCW Asia Regional Partners Meeting, June ...

Water Security in Periurban South Asia : Adapting to Climate ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Adapting to climate change and water security in Asia : proceedings from the Regional Meeting for IDRC-funded partners in Asia working on climate change ... L'honorable Chrystia Freeland, ministre du Commerce international, a annoncé le lancement d'un nouveau projet financé par le Centre de recherches pour le ...

33 CFR 165.1313 - Security zone regulations, tank ship protection, Puget Sound and adjacent waters, Washington

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Areas Thirteenth Coast Guard District § 165.1313 Security zone regulations, tank ship protection, Puget... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Security zone regulations, tank ship protection, Puget Sound and adjacent waters, Washington 165.1313 Section 165.1313 Navigation and...

A global assessment of wildfire risks to human and environmental water security

Science.gov (United States)

Robinne, François-Nicolas; Parisien, Marc-André; Flannigan, Mike; Miller, Carol; Bladon, Kevin D.

2017-04-01

Extreme wildfire events extensively affect hydrosystem stability and generate an important threat to the reliability of the water supply for human and natural communities. While actively studied at the watershed scale, the development of a global vision of wildfire risk to water security has only been undertaken recently, pointing at potential water security concerns in an era of global changes. In order to address this concern, we propose a global-scale analysis of the wildfire risk to surface water supplies based on the Driving forces-Pressures-States-Impacts-Responses (DPSIR) framework. This framework relies on the cause-and-effect relationships existing between the five categories of the DPSIR chain. Based on the literature, we gathered an extensive set of spatial indicators relevant to fire-induced hydrological hazards and water consumption patterns by human and natural communities. Each indicator was assigned a DPSIR category. Then, we collapsed the information in each category using a principal component analysis in order to extract the most relevant pixel-based information provided by each spatial indicator. Finally, we compiled our five categories using an additive indexation process to produce a spatially-explicit index of the wildfire-water risk (WWR). For comparison purposes, we aggregated index scores by global hydrological regions, or hydrobelts, for analysis. Overall, our results show a distinct pattern of medium-to-high risk levels in areas where sizeable wildfire activity, water resources, and water consumption are concomitant, which mainly encompasses temperate and sub-tropical zones. A closer look at hydrobelts reveals differences in the factors driving the risk, with fire activity being the primary factor of risk in the circumboreal forest, and freshwater resource density being prevalent in tropical areas. We also identified major urban areas across the world whose source waters should be protected from extreme fire events, particularly when

Ethical Hacking in Information Security Curricula

Science.gov (United States)

Trabelsi, Zouheir; McCoey, Margaret

2016-01-01

Teaching offensive security (ethical hacking) is becoming a necessary component of information security curricula with a goal of developing better security professionals. The offensive security components extend curricula beyond system defense strategies. This paper identifies and discusses the learning outcomes achieved as a result of hands-on…

Brazilian Hybrid Security in South America

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafael Duarte Villa

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Existing research on security governance in South America functions on dichotomous lines. Analysis of Brazil’s security practices is a case in point. On the one hand, scholars point out the balance of power and hegemonic institutions as the main discourse in the security practices between Brazil and its South American neighbors. On the other hand, some other emphasize the importance of democracy, cooperation on defense and security, and peaceful conflict resolution between states in the region as indicators for the emergence of a security community between Brazil and its neighbors in the South American region. The way in which multiple orders coexist is not given adequate attention in empirical research. This article seeks to overcome this dichotomy. By foregrounding Brazil’s regional security practices, particularly during the Lula and Rousseff administration, I show the hybrid and sometimes ambivalent security governance system in Brazil, where mechanisms of balance of power and security community overlap in important ways.

Health care workers' hand contamination levels and antibacterial efficacy of different hand hygiene methods used in a Vietnamese hospital.

Science.gov (United States)

Salmon, Sharon; Truong, Anh Thu; Nguyen, Viet Hung; Pittet, Didier; McLaws, Mary-Louise

2014-02-01

Handwashing with soap or another antisepsis disinfectant solution is a common practice in Vietnam, but the availability and quality of tap water is unpredictable. We assessed the risk for hand contamination and compared the efficacy of 5 hand hygiene methods in a tertiary Vietnamese hospital. Five fingertip imprints of the dominant hand of 134 health care workers (HCWs) were sampled to establish the average bacterial count before and after hand hygiene action using (1) alcohol-based handrub (ABHR), (2) plain soap and water handwashing with filtered and unfiltered water, or (3) 4% chlorhexidine gluconate hand antisepsis with filtered and unfiltered water. Average bacterial contamination of hands before hand hygiene was 1.65 log(10). Acinetobacter baumannii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Staphylococcus aureus were the most commonly isolated bacterial pathogens. The highest average count before hand hygiene was recovered from HCWs without direct patient contact (2.10 ± 0.11 log(10)). Bacterial counts were markedly reduced after hand hygiene with ABHR (1.4 log(10); P hand, even without direct patient contact. ABHR as an additional step may overcome the effect of high bacterial counts in unfiltered water when soap and water handwashing is indicated. Copyright © 2014 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. All rights reserved.

78 FR 79312 - Security Zone; On the Waters in Kailua Bay, Oahu, HI

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-30

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY Coast Guard 33 CFR Part 165 [Docket Number USCG-2013-0934] RIN 1625-AA87 Security Zone; On the Waters in Kailua Bay, Oahu, HI AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. ACTION..., Oahu, HI. (a) Location. The following area, within the COTP Honolulu Zone (see 33 CFR 3.70-10), from...

Junos Security

CERN Document Server

Cameron, Rob; Giecco, Patricio; Eberhard, Timothy; Quinn, James

2010-01-01

Junos® Security is the complete and authorized introduction to the new Juniper Networks SRX hardware series. This book not only provides a practical, hands-on field guide to deploying, configuring, and operating SRX, it also serves as a reference to help you prepare for any of the Junos Security Certification examinations offered by Juniper Networks. Network administrators and security professionals will learn how to use SRX Junos services gateways to address an array of enterprise data network requirements -- including IP routing, intrusion detection, attack mitigation, unified threat manag

76 FR 12 - Security Zone; On the Waters in Kailua Bay, Oahu, HI

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-03

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY Coast Guard 33 CFR Part 165 [Docket No. USCG-2010-1111] RIN 1625-AA87 Security Zone; On the Waters in Kailua Bay, Oahu, HI AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. ACTION: Temporary..., Oahu, HI. (a) Location. The following area, within the Honolulu Captain of the Port Zone (See 33 CFR 3...

76 FR 80251 - Security Zone; On the Waters in Kailua Bay, Oahu, HI

Science.gov (United States)

2011-12-23

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY Coast Guard 33 CFR Part 165 [Docket No. USCG-2011-1142] RIN 1625-AA87 Security Zone; On the Waters in Kailua Bay, Oahu, HI AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. ACTION: Temporary..., HI. (a) Location. The following area, within the Honolulu Captain of the Port Zone (See 33 CFR 3.70...

Indicators of food and water security in an Arctic Health context--results from an international workshop discussion.

Science.gov (United States)

Nilsson, Lena Maria; Berner, James; Dudarev, Alexey A; Mulvad, Gert; Odland, Jon Øyvind; Parkinson, Alan; Rautio, Arja; Tikhonov, Constantine; Evengård, Birgitta

2013-01-01

In August 2012, a literature search with the aim of describing indicators on food and water security in an Arctic health context was initialized in collaboration between the Arctic Human Health Expert Group, SDWG/AHHEG and the AMAP (Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme within the Arctic Council) Human Health Assessment Group, AMAP/HHAG. In December 2012, workshop discussions were performed with representatives from both of these organizations, including 7 Arctic countries. The aim of this article is to describe the workshop discussions and the rational for the 12 indicators selected and the 9 rejected and to discuss the potential feasibility of these. Advantages and disadvantages of candidate indicators were listed. Informative value and costs for collecting were estimated separately on a 3-level scale: low, medium and high. Based on these reviews, the final selection of promoted and rejected indicators was performed and summarized in tables. Among 10 suggested indicators of food security, 6 were promoted: healthy weight, traditional food proportion in diet, monetary food costs, non-monetary food accessibility, food-borne diseases and food-related contaminants. Four were rejected: per-person dietary energy supply, food security modules, self-estimated food safety and healthy eating. Among 10 suggested indicators of water security, 6 were promoted: per-capita renewable water, accessibility of running water, waterborne diseases, drinking-water-related contaminants, authorized water quality assurance and water safety plans. Four were rejected: water consumption, types of water sources, periodic water shortages and household water costs.

Why SCADA security is NOT like Computer Centre Security

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2014-01-01

Today, the industralized world lives in symbiosis with control systems (aka SCADA systems): it depends on power distribution, oil production, public transport, automatic production lines. While the convenience is at hand, still too many control systems are designed without any security in mind, lack basic security protections, and are not even robust enough to withstand basic attacks. The Stuxnet worm attacking Siemens PLCs in 2010 was another close call. Attackers currently enjoy hacking control systems, and aim to switch lights off. This presentation shall recap the current situation and discuss the differences (or not) between computer center cyber-security and control system cyber-security.

New Security Development and Trends to Secure the SCADA Sensors Automated Transmission during Critical Sessions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aamir Shahzad

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Modern technology enhancements have been used worldwide to fulfill the requirements of the industrial sector, especially in supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA systems as a part of industrial control systems (ICS. SCADA systems have gained popularity in industrial automations due to technology enhancements and connectivity with modern computer networks and/or protocols. The procurement of new technologies has made SCADA systems important and helpful to processing in oil lines, water treatment plants, and electricity generation and control stations. On the other hand, these systems have vulnerabilities like other traditional computer networks (or systems, especially when interconnected with open platforms. Many international organizations and researchers have proposed and deployed solutions for SCADA security enhancement, but most of these have been based on node-to-node security, without emphasizing critical sessions that are linked directly with industrial processing and automation. This study concerns SCADA security measures related to critical processing with specified sessions of automated polling, analyzing cryptography mechanisms and deploying the appropriate explicit inclusive security solution in a distributed network protocol version 3 (DNP3 stack, as part of a SCADA system. The bytes flow through the DNP3 stack with security computational bytes within specified critical intervals defined for polling. We took critical processing knowledge into account when designing a SCADA/DNP3 testbed and deploying a cryptography solution that did not affect communications.

Enhancing water security in a rapidly developing shale gas region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shannon Holding

2017-06-01

New hydrological insights for the region: Initiatives and tools enhancing water security in the region include strategic partnerships and stakeholder collaborations, policy and regulation development, and data collection and distribution efforts. The contributions and limitations of each of these are discussed. A vulnerability mapping framework is presented which addresses data gaps and provides a tool for decision-making surrounding risk to water quality from various hazards. An example vulnerability assessment was conducted for wastewater transport along pipeline and trucking corridors.

Understanding complexities in coupled dynamics of human-water and food security

Science.gov (United States)

Usmani, M.; Kondal, A.; Lin, L.; Colwell, R. R.; Jutla, A.

2017-12-01

Traditional premise of food security is associated with satisfying human hunger by providing sufficient calories to population. Water is the key variable associated with the growth of crops, which is then used as a metric of success for abundance of food across globe. The current framework often negates complex coupled interaction between availability of food nutrients and human well-being (such as productivity, work efficiency, low birth weight, physical and mental growth). Our analysis suggests that 1 in 3 humans suffer from malnutrition across the globe. In last five decades, most of the countries have a decreasing availability trend in at least one of the twenty-three essential food nutrients required for human well-being. We argue that food security can only be achieved if information on use of water for crops and consumption of food must include availability of nutrients for humans. Here, we propose a new concept of "consumptive nutrients" that include constant feedback mechanism between water-human and societal processes- essential for growth, distribution and consumption of food nutrients. Using Ethiopia as a signature rain-fed agricultural region, we will show how decreasing precipitation has led to an increase in crop productivity, but decreased availability of nutrients for humans. This in turn has destabilizing impact on overall regional economy. We will demonstrate why inclusion of nutrients must be a part of discussion for ensuring food security to human population.

Do low-cost ceramic water filters improve water security in rural South Africa?

Science.gov (United States)

Lange, Jens; Materne, Tineke; Grüner, Jörg

2016-10-01

This study examined the performance of a low-cost ceramic candle filter system (CCFS) for point of use (POU) drinking water treatment in the village of Hobeni, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. CCFSs were distributed in Hobeni and a survey was carried out among their users. The performance of 51 CCFSs was evaluated by dip slides and related to human factors. Already after two-thirds of their specified lifetime, none of the distributed CCFSs produced water without distinct contamination, and more than one-third even deteriorated in hygienic water quality. Besides the water source (springs were preferable compared to river or rain water), a high water throughput was the dominant reason for poor CCFS performance. A stepwise laboratory test documented the negative effects of repeated loading and ambient field temperatures. These findings suggest that not every CCFS type per se guarantees improved drinking water security and that the efficiency of low-cost systems should continuously be monitored. For this purpose, dip slides were found to be a cost-efficient alternative to standard laboratory tests. They consistently underestimated microbial counts but can be used by laypersons and hence by the users themselves to assess critical contamination of their filter systems.

Water sovereignty and security, high politics and hard power: the dangers of borrowing discourses!

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gupta, J.; Dellapenna, J.W.; van den Heuvel, M.; Pahl-Wostl, C.; Bhaduri, A.; Gupta, J.

2016-01-01

This chapter argues that water security has many meanings. It addresses the question: will framing water in terms of ‘water security’ be likely to do a disservice to the water governance challenge of the 21st century? Isn’t there a real risk that the term will become hostage to a much more sinister

Water security and its challenges for Malaysia

Science.gov (United States)

Malek, M. A.; Nor, M. A. M.; P, Leong Y.

2013-06-01

Water Security in Malaysia is a national issue. The Malaysian water services industry faces issues which need to be tackled immediately for it to be viable and sustainable. Among them are the decentralized water services sector, ineffective governance structure, unsustainable tariffs, huge investments required to develop the water supply and sewerage infrastructure, inefficient operation by the operators and high non-revenue water (NRW) losses. In Malaysia, the "Sectorial" approach embedded in the present water management system and its transformation towards "Integrated Water Resources Management" (IWRM), is still in a state of inertia. This paper presents the need to transform, from a "Supply" Management mode (a characteristic of a developing country) to a "Water Demand" Management mode (a characteristic of a developed country). Issues on "Water Demand" Management for the Environment which can be a threat to the need for sustainable development for biodiversity are highlighted here. Reliable water accounting systems are found still lacking in this country, especially in the Agriculture and Environmental Sectors, where figures are still highly based on "traditional" assumptions. Water Quality deterioration remains an issue especially for the Water Supply and Environment Sectors. Available surface water resource is depleting in many regions and states in the Peninsular. Apart from the Reduce, Reuse and Recycle (3R) option for surface water, another option would be to begin a concerted effort for groundwater exploitation. However there are still grey areas of knowledge in the groundwater resources in this country for affirmative decisions and development of appropriate policies. It is also found that, there are no concerted plans to prepare the public for the change from "Supply" Management to "Demand" Management. In a developed nation, this change is through stakeholder platforms and supported by appropriate policies, rules and regulations that are based on

Water security and its challenges for Malaysia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malek, M A; Leong Y P; Nor, M A M

2013-01-01

Water Security in Malaysia is a national issue. The Malaysian water services industry faces issues which need to be tackled immediately for it to be viable and sustainable. Among them are the decentralized water services sector, ineffective governance structure, unsustainable tariffs, huge investments required to develop the water supply and sewerage infrastructure, inefficient operation by the operators and high non-revenue water (NRW) losses. In Malaysia, the 'Sectorial' approach embedded in the present water management system and its transformation towards 'Integrated Water Resources Management' (IWRM), is still in a state of inertia. This paper presents the need to transform, from a 'Supply' Management mode (a characteristic of a developing country) to a 'Water Demand' Management mode (a characteristic of a developed country). Issues on 'Water Demand' Management for the Environment which can be a threat to the need for sustainable development for biodiversity are highlighted here. Reliable water accounting systems are found still lacking in this country, especially in the Agriculture and Environmental Sectors, where figures are still highly based on 'traditional' assumptions. Water Quality deterioration remains an issue especially for the Water Supply and Environment Sectors. Available surface water resource is depleting in many regions and states in the Peninsular. Apart from the Reduce, Reuse and Recycle (3R) option for surface water, another option would be to begin a concerted effort for groundwater exploitation. However there are still grey areas of knowledge in the groundwater resources in this country for affirmative decisions and development of appropriate policies. It is also found that, there are no concerted plans to prepare the public for the change from 'Supply' Management to 'Demand' Management. In a developed nation, this change is through stakeholder platforms and supported by appropriate policies, rules and regulations that are based on

Unraveling the nexus between water and food security in Latin America and the Caribbean: regional and global implications

Science.gov (United States)

Willaarts, Barbara; Garrido, Alberto; Soriano, Barbara; De Stefano, Lucia; López Gunn, Elena; Aldaya, Maite; Martínez-Santos, Pedro; Llamas, Ramon

2014-05-01

Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) is a water and land abundant region, and plays a key role in meeting global food and water security. During the last decade, LAC has experience a rapid socio-economic growth, largely sustained by its competitive advantage in the production and exports of agricultural and mining products and by the high commodity prices in the global market. This study seeks to quantify the contribution of LAC's agriculture to global food and water security, i.e. virtual water trade, and evaluate the environmental and societal implications for regional development. Results show that between 2000 and 2011, LAC has increase its agricultural production 27%, and it now accounts for nearly 18% of the global agricultural market. As a result, the agricultural water footprint (WF) of LAC was augmented 65%; and yet, nearly 19% to 44% of the actual agricultural WF - depending on the countries - is virtual water exported to third countries. In fact, almost 50% of the increase in global virtual water trade during the last decade, corresponds to LAC. Such global contribution has significant implications for regional water and food security. From an environmental perspective, crop expansion (mostly rain-fed) resulted in the deforestation of nearly 1 million km2, turning this region into the second most important deforestation hotspots worldwide. This land clearing is having large impacts of ecosystem services, e.g. carbon sequestration, water quality or biodiversity conservation. From a socio-economic perspective, increasing agricultural production has improved regional food security indicators, although one every seven children is still stunted in LAC and nearly 10% of the population remains undernourished. Dietary shifts and socio-cultural factors also lag behind the growing problem of malnutrition in the region, i.e. overweight and obesity. Improvements of water access and sanitation, have had a positive impact on food security indicators, especially

Fermi and nuclear security

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alcober Bosch, V.

2003-01-01

Following the scientific life of Fermi the article reviews the historical evolution of nuclear security from the base of the first system foreseen for the CP-1 critical pile, which made it possible to demonstrate self-sustaining fission reaction, until the mid-fifties by which time the subsequent importance of this concept was perceived. Technological advances have gone hand in hand with the development of the concept of security, and have become a further point to be taken into account in any nuclear installation, and which Fermi always kept in mind during his professional life. (Author) 12 refs

Homeland Security

Science.gov (United States)

Provides an overview of EPA's homeland security roles and responsibilities, and links to specific homeland security issues: water security, research, emergency response, recovery, and waste management.

Natural-pose hand detection in low-resolution images

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nyan Bo Bo1

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Robust real-time hand detection and tracking in video sequences would enable many applications in areas as diverse ashuman-computer interaction, robotics, security and surveillance, and sign language-based systems. In this paper, we introducea new approach for detecting human hands that works on single, cluttered, low-resolution images. Our prototype system, whichis primarily intended for security applications in which the images are noisy and low-resolution, is able to detect hands as smallas 2424 pixels in cluttered scenes. The system uses grayscale appearance information to classify image sub-windows as eithercontaining or not containing a human hand very rapidly at the cost of a high false positive rate. To improve on the false positiverate of the main classifier without affecting its detection rate, we introduce a post-processor system that utilizes the geometricproperties of skin color blobs. When we test our detector on a test image set containing 106 hands, 92 of those hands aredetected (86.8% detection rate, with an average false positive rate of 1.19 false positive detections per image. The rapiddetection speed, the high detection rate of 86.8%, and the low false positive rate together ensure that our system is useable asthe main detector in a diverse variety of applications requiring robust hand detection and tracking in low-resolution, clutteredscenes.

Indicators of food and water security in an Arctic Health context – results from an international workshop discussion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lena Maria Nilsson

2013-08-01

Full Text Available In August 2012, a literature search with the aim of describing indicators on food and water security in an Arctic health context was initialized in collaboration between the Arctic Human Health Expert Group, SDWG/AHHEG and the AMAP (Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme within the Arctic Council Human Health Assessment Group, AMAP/HHAG. In December 2012, workshop discussions were performed with representatives from both of these organizations, including 7 Arctic countries. The aim of this article is to describe the workshop discussions and the rational for the 12 indicators selected and the 9 rejected and to discuss the potential feasibility of these. Advantages and disadvantages of candidate indicators were listed. Informative value and costs for collecting were estimated separately on a 3-level scale: low, medium and high. Based on these reviews, the final selection of promoted and rejected indicators was performed and summarized in tables. Among 10 suggested indicators of food security, 6 were promoted: healthy weight, traditional food proportion in diet, monetary food costs, non-monetary food accessibility, food-borne diseases and food-related contaminants. Four were rejected: per-person dietary energy supply, food security modules, self-estimated food safety and healthy eating. Among 10 suggested indicators of water security, 6 were promoted: per-capita renewable water, accessibility of running water, waterborne diseases, drinking-water-related contaminants, authorized water quality assurance and water safety plans. Four were rejected: water consumption, types of water sources, periodic water shortages and household water costs.

Changes of brachial arterial doppler waveform during immersion of the hand of young men in ice-cold water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Young Goo

1994-01-01

To evaluate the changes of brachial arterial Doppler waveform during immersion of the hand of young men in ice-cold water. Doppler waveforms of brachial arteries in 11 young male patients were recorded before and during immersion of ipsilateral hand in ice-cold water(4-5 .deg. C). The procedure was repeated on separate days. Patterns of waveform during immersion were compared with the changes of pulsatility index. Four men showed high impedance waveforms, and 5 men showed low impedance waveforms during immersion both at the first and at the second study. Two men, however, showed high impedance waveforms at the first study and tow impedance waveforms at the second study. The pulsatility index rose and fell in high and low impedance waveforms, respectively. The changes of brachial arterial Doppler waveforms could be classified into high and low impedance patterns, probably reflecting the acute changes in downstream impedance during immersion of hand in ice-cold water

Global Water Cycle Diagrams Minimize Human Influence and Over-represent Water Security

Science.gov (United States)

Abbott, B. W.; Bishop, K.; Zarnetske, J. P.; Minaudo, C.; Chapin, F. S., III; Plont, S.; Marçais, J.; Ellison, D.; Roy Chowdhury, S.; Kolbe, T.; Ursache, O.; Hampton, T. B.; GU, S.; Chapin, M.; Krause, S.; Henderson, K. D.; Hannah, D. M.; Pinay, G.

2017-12-01

The diagram of the global water cycle is the central icon of hydrology, and for many people, the point of entry to thinking about key scientific concepts such as conservation of mass, teleconnections, and human dependence on ecological systems. Because humans now dominate critical components of the hydrosphere, improving our understanding of the global water cycle has graduated from an academic exercise to an urgent priority. To assess how the water cycle is conceptualized by researchers and the general public, we analyzed 455 water cycle diagrams from textbooks, scientific articles, and online image searches performed in different languages. Only 15% of diagrams integrated human activity into the water cycle and 77% showed no sign of humans whatsoever, although representation of humans varied substantially by region (lowest in China, N. America, and Australia; highest in Western Europe). The abundance and accessibility of freshwater resources were overrepresented, with 98% of diagrams omitting water pollution and climate change, and over 90% of diagrams making no distinction for saline groundwater and lakes. Oceanic aspects of the water cycle (i.e. ocean size, circulation, and precipitation) and related teleconnections were nearly always underrepresented. These patterns held across disciplinary boundaries and through time. We explore the historical and contemporary reasons for some of these biases and present a revised version of the global water cycle based on research from natural and social sciences. We conclude that current depictions of the global water cycle convey a false sense of water security and that reintegrating humans into water cycle diagrams is an important first step towards understanding and sustaining the hydrosocial cycle.

Ability of Hand Hygiene Interventions Using Alcohol-Based Hand Sanitizers and Soap To Reduce Microbial Load on Farmworker Hands Soiled during Harvest.

Science.gov (United States)

de Aceituno, Anna Fabiszewski; Bartz, Faith E; Hodge, Domonique Watson; Shumaker, David J; Grubb, James E; Arbogast, James W; Dávila-Aviña, Jorgé; Venegas, Fabiola; Heredia, Norma; García, Santos; Leon, Juan S

2015-11-01

Effective hand hygiene is essential to prevent the spread of pathogens on produce farms and reduce foodborne illness. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Food Safety Modernization Act Proposed Rule for Produce Safety recommends the use of soap and running water for hand hygiene of produce handlers. The use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer (ABHS) may be an effective alternative hygiene intervention where access to water is limited. There are no published data on the efficacy of either soap or ABHS-based interventions to reduce microbial contamination in agricultural settings. The goal of this study was to assess the ability of two soap-based (traditional or pumice) and two ABHS-based (label-use or two-step) hygiene interventions to reduce microbes (coliforms, Escherichia coli, and Enterococcus spp.) and soil (absorbance of hand rinsate at 600 nm [A600]) on farmworker hands after harvesting produce, compared with the results for a no-hand-hygiene control. With no hand hygiene, farmworker hands were soiled (median A600, 0.48) and had high concentrations of coliforms (geometric mean, 3.4 log CFU per hand) and Enterococcus spp. (geometric mean, 5.3 log CFU per hand) after 1 to 2 h of harvesting tomatoes. Differences in microbial loads in comparison to the loads in the control group varied by indicator organism and hygiene intervention (0 to 2.3 log CFU per hand). All interventions yielded lower concentrations of Enterococcus spp. and E. coli (P hands (P hand washing with soap at reducing indicator organisms on farmworker hands. Based on these results, ABHS is an efficacious hand hygiene solution for produce handlers, even on soiled hands.

Access to waterless hand sanitizer improves student hand hygiene behavior in primary schools in Nairobi, Kenya.

Science.gov (United States)

Pickering, Amy J; Davis, Jennifer; Blum, Annalise G; Scalmanini, Jenna; Oyier, Beryl; Okoth, George; Breiman, Robert F; Ram, Pavani K

2013-09-01

Handwashing is difficult in settings with limited resources and water access. In primary schools within urban Kibera, Kenya, we investigated the impact of providing waterless hand sanitizer on student hand hygiene behavior. Two schools received a waterless hand sanitizer intervention, two schools received a handwashing with soap intervention, and two schools received no intervention. Hand cleaning behavior after toilet use was monitored for 2 months using structured observation. Hand cleaning after toileting was 82% at sanitizer schools (N = 2,507 toileting events), 38% at soap schools (N = 3,429), and 37% at control schools (N = 2,797). Students at sanitizer schools were 23% less likely to have observed rhinorrhea than control students (P = 0.02); reductions in student-reported gastrointestinal and respiratory illness symptoms were not statistically significant. Providing waterless hand sanitizer markedly increased student hand cleaning after toilet use, whereas the soap intervention did not. Waterless hand sanitizer may be a promising option to improve student hand cleansing behavior, particularly in schools with limited water access.

Energy and water tradeoffs in enhancing food security: A selective international assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mushtaq, Shahbaz; Maraseni, Tek Narayan; Maroulis, Jerry; Hafeez, Mohsin

2009-01-01

Rice is the major staple food in most Asian countries. However, with rapidly growing populations, sustained high productivity and yields through improving water productivity is critically important. Increasingly complex energy-agriculture relationships require an in-depth understanding of water and energy tradeoffs. This study contributes to energy and food policies by analysing the complex energy, water and economics dynamics across a selection of major rice growing countries. The results show that tradeoffs exist between yield and energy inputs with high yield attributed to higher levels of energy input. The selected developed countries show higher energy productivity, relative to all other energy inputs, compared to the selected developing counties, owing to enhanced mechanisation, on-farm technology and improved farm management. Among all countries, China has the highest water productivity due to water-saving irrigation practices. These practices offer opportunities for developed and developing countries to increase water productivity at the same time taking advantage of economic and energy benefits of reduced pumping. Sustained production from agriculture is vital to food security. Improved irrigation practices can offset environmental footprints in the short run but their large-scale implementation remains an issue. In the long run, investments are needed to buffer the negative impacts of food production on the environment. Investments to boost water productivity and improved energy use efficiency in crop production are two pathways to reduce energy dependency, enhanced natural resource sustainability and ensuring future food security.

International Cooperation for the Training of Water Managers from Developing Countries

Science.gov (United States)

Aswathanarayana, U.

2007-12-01

Water is the key to the well being of a community. On one hand, water security is linked to food security, as food cannot be grown without water. On the other hand, water security is linked to environmental security, as water is needed to maintain the health of a community. International cooperation is proposed for the training in Hyderabad, India, with international faculty, of ~ 300 water managers from the developing countries at an estimated cost of ~USD 3300/- per candidate (including ~ USD 1800/- for international travel), through ten interactive and customized training programmes during the period of five years, to enable them to address two crucial issues affecting the poor in the developing countries, namely, access to affordable water and coping with water scarcity. Ways of Good governance and geographical targeting of poverty alleviation programmes are built into each training programme. Each training programme will be for about three weeks (inclusive of field work). Each course will have a component common to all, plus a component customized to the biophysical and socioeconomic situation in a candidate's country. Ten course manuals will be produced. which can later be published commercially as low-cost volumes, for the benefit of the readership in the Developing countries . Each candidate will be provided his own computer, and software, and individual faculty adviser. On the basis of the training received, a candidate should be able to carry with him at the end of the course a draft outline of techno-socio-economic action plan for his country/area in respect of the theme of the course, prepared by himself/herself. A copy of this outline would be provided to the World Bank, and relevant organizations for follow- up activity

Securing remote services by integrating SecurID strong authentication technology in EFDA-Federation infrastructure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Castro, R., E-mail: rodrigo.castro@visite.es [Asociacion EURATOM/CIEMAT para Fusion, Madrid (Spain); Barbato, P. [Consorzio RFX, Euratom ENEA Association, Corso Stati Uniti 4, 35127 Padova (Italy); Vega, J. [Asociacion EURATOM/CIEMAT para Fusion, Madrid (Spain); Taliercio, C. [Consorzio RFX, Euratom ENEA Association, Corso Stati Uniti 4, 35127 Padova (Italy)

2011-10-15

Remote participation facilities among fusion laboratories require access control solutions with two main objectives: to preserve the usability of the systems and to guaranty the required level of security for accessing to shared services. On one hand, this security solution has to be: single-sign-on, transparent for users, compatible with user mobility, and compatible with used client applications. On the other hand, it has to be compatible with shared services and resources among organisations, providing in each case the required access security level. EFDA-Federation is a security infrastructure that integrates a set of fusion laboratories and enables to share resources and services fulfilling the requirements previously described. In EFDA community, JET and RFX have security access policies to some of their services that require strong authentication mechanisms. In both cases, strong authentication is based on RSA SecurID tokens. This is a hardware device that is supplied to and generates a new password every minute. The job presents two main results. The first one is the integration of RSA SecurID into EFDA-Federation. Thanks to it, federated organisations are able to offer SecurID to their users as an alternative strong authentication mechanism, with the corresponding increase of security level. The second result is the development of a new access control mechanism based on port knocking techniques and its integration into EFDA-Federation. Additionally, a real application in RFX is presented and includes the integration of its SecurID infrastructure as federated authentication mechanism, and the application of the new access control mechanism to its MDSplus server.

Securing remote services by integrating SecurID strong authentication technology in EFDA-Federation infrastructure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castro, R.; Barbato, P.; Vega, J.; Taliercio, C.

2011-01-01

Remote participation facilities among fusion laboratories require access control solutions with two main objectives: to preserve the usability of the systems and to guaranty the required level of security for accessing to shared services. On one hand, this security solution has to be: single-sign-on, transparent for users, compatible with user mobility, and compatible with used client applications. On the other hand, it has to be compatible with shared services and resources among organisations, providing in each case the required access security level. EFDA-Federation is a security infrastructure that integrates a set of fusion laboratories and enables to share resources and services fulfilling the requirements previously described. In EFDA community, JET and RFX have security access policies to some of their services that require strong authentication mechanisms. In both cases, strong authentication is based on RSA SecurID tokens. This is a hardware device that is supplied to and generates a new password every minute. The job presents two main results. The first one is the integration of RSA SecurID into EFDA-Federation. Thanks to it, federated organisations are able to offer SecurID to their users as an alternative strong authentication mechanism, with the corresponding increase of security level. The second result is the development of a new access control mechanism based on port knocking techniques and its integration into EFDA-Federation. Additionally, a real application in RFX is presented and includes the integration of its SecurID infrastructure as federated authentication mechanism, and the application of the new access control mechanism to its MDSplus server.

Deficit irrigation and sustainable water-resource strategies in agriculture for China’s food security

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Taisheng; Kang, Shaozhong; Zhang, Jianhua; Davies, William J.

2015-01-01

More than 70% of fresh water is used in agriculture in many parts of the world, but competition for domestic and industrial water use is intense. For future global food security, water use in agriculture must become sustainable. Agricultural water-use efficiency and water productivity can be improved at different points from the stomatal to the regional scale. A promising approach is the use of deficit irrigation, which can both save water and induce plant physiological regulations such as stomatal opening and reproductive and vegetative growth. At the scales of the irrigation district, the catchment, and the region, there can be many other components to a sustainable water-resources strategy. There is much interest in whether crop water use can be regulated as a function of understanding of physiological responses. If this is the case, then agricultural water resources can be reallocated to the benefit of the broader community. We summarize the extent of use and impact of deficit irrigation within China. A sustainable strategy for allocation of agricultural water resources for food security is proposed. Our intention is to build an integrative system to control crop water use during different cropping stages and actively regulate the plant’s growth, productivity, and development based on physiological responses. This is done with a view to improving the allocation of limited agricultural water resources. PMID:25873664

Deficit irrigation and sustainable water-resource strategies in agriculture for China's food security.

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Taisheng; Kang, Shaozhong; Zhang, Jianhua; Davies, William J

2015-04-01

More than 70% of fresh water is used in agriculture in many parts of the world, but competition for domestic and industrial water use is intense. For future global food security, water use in agriculture must become sustainable. Agricultural water-use efficiency and water productivity can be improved at different points from the stomatal to the regional scale. A promising approach is the use of deficit irrigation, which can both save water and induce plant physiological regulations such as stomatal opening and reproductive and vegetative growth. At the scales of the irrigation district, the catchment, and the region, there can be many other components to a sustainable water-resources strategy. There is much interest in whether crop water use can be regulated as a function of understanding of physiological responses. If this is the case, then agricultural water resources can be reallocated to the benefit of the broader community. We summarize the extent of use and impact of deficit irrigation within China. A sustainable strategy for allocation of agricultural water resources for food security is proposed. Our intention is to build an integrative system to control crop water use during different cropping stages and actively regulate the plant's growth, productivity, and development based on physiological responses. This is done with a view to improving the allocation of limited agricultural water resources. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The Socio-hydrology of Bangalore's Lake System and implications for Urban Water Security

Science.gov (United States)

Srinivasan, V.; Roy, S.

2017-12-01

Bengaluru city has experienced unprecedented growth in recent decades. If the city is to sustain growth and claim its position as a "global" high-tech city, it must be able to secure sufficient water supply and also create a healthy livable environment. With the city's many lakes vanishing due to rapid urbanisation, depletion of groundwater as a result of overuse in the peri-urban areas, and lack of proper underground drainage system and sewage treatment plants, Bangalore is now grappling with issues of imminent water crisis, inequitable access to water supply, and public health hazards. In this context, the restoration of Bangalore's lakes has been promoted as a panacea for its flooding, water stress, and wastewater problems. It has been argued that lakes can store storm water and recycled wastewater and avoid the need for potentially destructive, expensive schemes that may destroy biodiversity rich aquatic ecosystems and forests. Bangalore's lakes are linked by the drainage channels to form a cascade; overflow from each lake flows to the next lake downstream. Yet, most efforts have tended to view the lakes in isolation. This study of the hydrology of Bangalore's lake system in its entirety simulates the lake system as a whole. The study explores approaches to management and theor impact on urban water security.

The Climate Disruption Challenge for Water Security in a Growing World

Science.gov (United States)

Paxton, L. J.; Nix, M.; Ihde, A.; MacDonald, L. H.; Parker, C.; Schaefer, R. K.; Weiss, M.; Babin, S. M.; Swartz, W. H.; Schloman, J.

2012-12-01

Climate disruption, the increasingly large and erratic departures of weather and climate from the benign conditions of the last one hundred years, is the greatest challenge to the long-term stability of world governments. Population growth, food and water security, energy supplies, and economic factors are, to some degree, within the control of governance and policy and all of these are impacted by climate disruption. Climate disruption, on the other hand, is not amenable to direct modification on the short timescales that commonly dictate governmental policy and human response. Global average temperatures will continue to increase even if there were immediate, profound changes in emission scenarios. Policy makers are faced with the very practical and immediate problem of determining what can one reasonably do to ameliorate the impact of climate disruption. The issue from a policy viewpoint is: how does one make effective policy when faced with a situation in which there are varied viewpoints in competition. How does one establish a consensus for action? What information "speaks" to policy makers? Water security is one such issue and provides an important, immediate, and tangible device to use when we examine how one can determine what policies can be effectively pursued. The Global Assimilation of Information for Action (GAIA) project creates a support environment to address the impact of climate disruption on global, national, regional, and/or local interests. The basic research community is concerned with the scientific aspects of predicting climate change in terms of environmental parameters such as rainfall, temperature and humidity while decision makers must deal with planning for a world that may be very different from the one we have grown accustomed to. Decision makers must deal with the long-term impacts on public health, agriculture, economic productivity, security, extreme weather, etc in an environment that has come to focus on short-term issues. To

Hand washing with soap and water together with behavioural recommendations prevents infections in common work environment: an open cluster-randomized trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Savolainen-Kopra, Carita; Haapakoski, Jaason; Peltola, Piia A; Ziegler, Thedi; Korpela, Terttu; Anttila, Pirjo; Amiryousefi, Ali; Huovinen, Pentti; Huvinen, Markku; Noronen, Heikki; Riikkala, Pia; Roivainen, Merja; Ruutu, Petri; Teirilä, Juha; Vartiainen, Erkki; Hovi, Tapani

2012-01-16

Hand hygiene is considered as an important means of infection control. We explored whether guided hand hygiene together with transmission-limiting behaviour reduces infection episodes and lost days of work in a common work environment in an open cluster-randomized 3-arm intervention trial. A total of 21 clusters (683 persons) were randomized to implement hand hygiene with soap and water (257 persons), with alcohol-based hand rub (202 persons), or to serve as a control (224 persons). Participants in both intervention arms also received standardized instructions on how to limit the transmission of infections. The intervention period (16 months) included the emergence of the 2009 influenza pandemic and the subsequent national hand hygiene campaign influencing also the control arm. In the total follow-up period there was a 6.7% reduction of infection episodes in the soap-and water arm (p = 0.04). Before the onset of the anti-pandemic campaign, a statistically significant (p = 0.002) difference in the mean occurrence of infection episodes was observed between the control (6.0 per year) and the soap-and-water arm (5.0 per year) but not between the control and the alcohol-rub arm (5.6 per year). Neither intervention had a decreasing effect on absence from work. We conclude that intensified hand hygiene using water and soap together with behavioural recommendations can reduce the occurrence of self-reported acute illnesses in common work environment. Surprisingly, the occurrence of reported sick leaves also increased in the soap-and water-arm. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00981877 The Finnish Work Environment Fund and the National Institute for Health and Welfare.

Editors' Preface to Special Issue on Drinking Water Safety, Security, and Sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Recognizing these needs, researchers from Zhejiang University (China), the US EPA and the University of Alberta (Canada) organized the “International Conference on Drinking Water Safety, Security and Sustainability” in October 2011 in Hangzhou, China. The conference was attended...

Teaching Web Security Using Portable Virtual Labs

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Li-Chiou; Tao, Lixin

2012-01-01

We have developed a tool called Secure WEb dEvelopment Teaching (SWEET) to introduce security concepts and practices for web application development. This tool provides introductory tutorials, teaching modules utilizing virtualized hands-on exercises, and project ideas in web application security. In addition, the tool provides pre-configured…

Environmental Impact on the Quality of Water from Hand-Dug Wells in Yola Environs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Onoja PATRICK

2007-01-01

Full Text Available The impact of environmental conditions on the quality of water from seven hand-dug wells in Vinikilang, Shinko, Demsawo and Girei was studied. Monthly physical and chemical analyses were carried out on the well water samples. The results revealed that the environment has direct impact on the quality of water and also the type of contamination of the well water samples. Water samples from the wells have higher levels of heavy metals: Fe, Zn, Cu and Pb, above the permissible limits of (0.1 mg/l, 5 mg/l, 0.5 mg/l and 0.05 mg/l for Fe, Zn, Cu and Pb respectively WHO specifications, except well 1 whose Zn level was lower than the permissible limit. Wells close to abattoir, pit latrine, domestic refuse dumps, stagnant water and drainage showed higher amounts of coliform bacteria.

Access to Waterless Hand Sanitizer Improves Student Hand Hygiene Behavior in Primary Schools in Nairobi, Kenya

Science.gov (United States)

Pickering, Amy J.; Davis, Jennifer; Blum, Annalise G.; Scalmanini, Jenna; Oyier, Beryl; Okoth, George; Breiman, Robert F.; Ram, Pavani K.

2013-01-01

Handwashing is difficult in settings with limited resources and water access. In primary schools within urban Kibera, Kenya, we investigated the impact of providing waterless hand sanitizer on student hand hygiene behavior. Two schools received a waterless hand sanitizer intervention, two schools received a handwashing with soap intervention, and two schools received no intervention. Hand cleaning behavior after toilet use was monitored for 2 months using structured observation. Hand cleaning after toileting was 82% at sanitizer schools (N = 2,507 toileting events), 38% at soap schools (N = 3,429), and 37% at control schools (N = 2,797). Students at sanitizer schools were 23% less likely to have observed rhinorrhea than control students (P = 0.02); reductions in student-reported gastrointestinal and respiratory illness symptoms were not statistically significant. Providing waterless hand sanitizer markedly increased student hand cleaning after toilet use, whereas the soap intervention did not. Waterless hand sanitizer may be a promising option to improve student hand cleansing behavior, particularly in schools with limited water access. PMID:23836575

Model-based Impact Assessment of an Integrated Water Management Strategy on Ecosystem Services relevant to Food Security in Namibia

Science.gov (United States)

Luetkemeier, R.; Liehr, S.

2012-04-01

North-central Namibia is characterized by seasonal alterations of drought and heavy rainfall, mostly saline groundwater resources and a lack of perennial rivers. Water scarcity poses a great challenge for freshwater supply, harvest and food security against the background of high population growth and climate change. CuveWaters project aims at poverty reduction and livelihood improvement on a long term basis by introducing a multi-resource-mix as part of an integrated water resources management (IWRM) approach. Herein, creating water buffers by rainwater harvesting (RWH) and subsurface water storage as well as reuse of treated wastewater facilitates micro-scale gardening activities. This link constitutes a major component of a sustainable adaptation strategy by contributing to the conservation and improvement of basic food and freshwater resources in order to reduce drought vulnerability. This paper presents main findings of an impact assessment carried out on the effect of integrated water resources management on ecosystem services (ESS) relevant to food security within the framework of CuveWaters project. North-central Namibia is perceived as a social-ecological system characterized by a strong mutual dependence between natural environment and anthropogenic system. This fundamental reliance on natural resources highlights the key role of ESS in semi-arid environments to sustain human livelihoods. Among other services, food provision was chosen for quantification as one of the most fundamental ESS in north-central Namibia. Different nutritional values were utilized as indicators to adopt a demand-supply approach (Ecosystem Service Profile) to illustrate the ability of the ecosystem to meet people's nutritional requirements. Calculations have been conducted using both Bayesian networks to incorporate uncertainty introduced by the variability of monthly precipitation and the application of plant specific water production functions. Results show that improving the

Water Security Toolkit User Manual: Version 1.3 | Science ...

Science.gov (United States)

User manual: Data Product/Software The Water Security Toolkit (WST) is a suite of tools that help provide the information necessary to make good decisions resulting in the minimization of further human exposure to contaminants, and the maximization of the effectiveness of intervention strategies. WST assists in the evaluation of multiple response actions in order to select the most beneficial consequence management strategy. It includes hydraulic and water quality modeling software and optimization methodologies to identify: (1) sensor locations to detect contamination, (2) locations in the network in which the contamination was introduced, (3) hydrants to remove contaminated water from the distribution system, (4) locations in the network to inject decontamination agents to inactivate, remove or destroy contaminants, (5) locations in the network to take grab sample to confirm contamination or cleanup and (6) valves to close in order to isolate contaminated areas of the network.

Taking the road less taken: reorienting the state for periurban water security

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Narain, Vishal; Ranjan, Pranay; Vij, S.; Dewan, Aman

2017-01-01

This paper describes the intervention strategy to improve water security in Sultanpur, a village in periurban Gurgaon, India. Most approaches to improving natural resource management in periurban contexts focus on mobilising the community; little attention is paid to reorienting the state or

Megacity precipitationsheds reveal tele-connected water security challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Wang-Erlandsson, Lan; Gordon, Line J.

2018-01-01

Urbanization is a global process that has taken billions of people from the rural countryside to concentrated urban centers, adding pressure to existing water resources. Many cities are specifically reliant on renewable freshwater regularly refilled by precipitation, rather than fossil groundwater or desalination. A precipitationshed can be considered the “watershed of the sky” and identifies the origin of precipitation falling in a given region. In this paper, we use this concept to determine the sources of precipitation that supply renewable water in the watersheds of the largest cities of the world. We quantify the sources of precipitation for 29 megacities and analyze their differences between dry and wet years. Our results reveal that 19 of 29 megacities depend for more than a third of their water supply on evaporation from land. We also show that for many of the megacities, the terrestrial dependence is higher in dry years. This high dependence on terrestrial evaporation for their precipitation exposes these cities to potential land-use change that could reduce the evaporation that generates precipitation. Combining indicators of water stress, moisture recycling exposure, economic capacity, vegetation-regulated evaporation, land-use change, and dry-season moisture recycling sensitivity reveals four highly vulnerable megacities (Karachi, Shanghai, Wuhan, and Chongqing). A further six megacities were found to have medium vulnerability with regard to their water supply. We conclude that understanding how upwind landscapes affect downwind municipal water resources could be a key component for understanding the complexity of urban water security. PMID:29534109

Hand washing with soap and water together with behavioural recommendations prevents infections in common work environment: an open cluster-randomized trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Savolainen-Kopra Carita

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Hand hygiene is considered as an important means of infection control. We explored whether guided hand hygiene together with transmission-limiting behaviour reduces infection episodes and lost days of work in a common work environment in an open cluster-randomized 3-arm intervention trial. Methods A total of 21 clusters (683 persons were randomized to implement hand hygiene with soap and water (257 persons, with alcohol-based hand rub (202 persons, or to serve as a control (224 persons. Participants in both intervention arms also received standardized instructions on how to limit the transmission of infections. The intervention period (16 months included the emergence of the 2009 influenza pandemic and the subsequent national hand hygiene campaign influencing also the control arm. Results In the total follow-up period there was a 6.7% reduction of infection episodes in the soap-and water arm (p = 0.04. Before the onset of the anti-pandemic campaign, a statistically significant (p = 0.002 difference in the mean occurrence of infection episodes was observed between the control (6.0 per year and the soap-and-water arm (5.0 per year but not between the control and the alcohol-rub arm (5.6 per year. Neither intervention had a decreasing effect on absence from work. Conclusions We conclude that intensified hand hygiene using water and soap together with behavioural recommendations can reduce the occurrence of self-reported acute illnesses in common work environment. Surprisingly, the occurrence of reported sick leaves also increased in the soap-and water-arm. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00981877 Source of funding The Finnish Work Environment Fund and the National Institute for Health and Welfare.

Stormwater harvesting: Improving water security in South Africa's urban areas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lloyd Fisher-Jeffes

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The drought experienced in South Africa in 2016 one of the worst in decades has left many urbanised parts of the country with limited access to water, and food production has been affected. If a future water crisis is to be averted, the country needs to conserve current water supplies, reduce its reliance on conventional surface water schemes, and seek alternative sources of water supply. Within urban areas, municipalities must find ways to adapt to, and mitigate the threats from, water insecurity resulting from, inter alia, droughts, climate change and increasing water demand driven by population growth and rising standards of living. Stormwater harvesting (SWH is one possible alternative water resource that could supplement traditional urban water supplies, as well as simultaneously offer a range of social and environmental benefits. We set out three position statements relating to how SWH can: improve water security and increase resilience to climate change in urban areas; prevent frequent flooding; and provide additional benefits to society. We also identify priority research areas for the future in order to target and support the appropriate uptake of SWH in South Africa, including testing the viability of SWH through the use of real-time control and managed aquifer recharge.

Insight from the 5th World Water Forum on Securing Water for Food and Ecosystems in Africa : Report on BOCI Project BO-10-004-003: Water Conventions

OpenAIRE

Wageningen International

2009-01-01

Water scarcity is considered to be one of the largest threats for many parts of Africa. Under water scarce conditions reducing the consumption of water and preventing pollution of accessible water resources is essential. Combating water scarcity in both dimensions of quality and quantity is of special relevance for the LNV priority regions (including those in Water Mondiaal). Future LNV policies to address food security in Africa will affect the use, spread and fate of agrochemicals as well. ...

Access to Waterless Hand Sanitizer Improves Student Hand Hygiene Behavior in Primary Schools in Nairobi, Kenya

OpenAIRE

Pickering, Amy J.; Davis, Jennifer; Blum, Annalise G.; Scalmanini, Jenna; Oyier, Beryl; Okoth, George; Breiman, Robert F.; Ram, Pavani K.

2013-01-01

Handwashing is difficult in settings with limited resources and water access. In primary schools within urban Kibera, Kenya, we investigated the impact of providing waterless hand sanitizer on student hand hygiene behavior. Two schools received a waterless hand sanitizer intervention, two schools received a handwashing with soap intervention, and two schools received no intervention. Hand cleaning behavior after toilet use was monitored for 2 months using structured observation. Hand cleaning...

Climate Change and Water Security in South Africa; Assessing Conflict and Coping Strategies in KwaZulu-Natal

Science.gov (United States)

Hosea, P. O.

2017-12-01

The focus on the security implication of climate change was intensified after the 2007 United Nations Security Council debate on climate change as a threat multiplier. In the light of this, Africa is identified as the continent highly vulnerable to climate change impacts due to its high dependence on climate sensitive economy, high poverty prevalence rate, weak institutional coping capacity as well as poor social infrastructure. In the past decades, the peculiarity of South Africa vis-à-vis climate change vulnerability, especially water scarcity, has become an issue of political and economic concern. The country is water stressed due to its arid and semi-arid conditions. In light of this, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) (2010) assert that while global temperature increased by 0.80C over the last century, the surface temperature around the Southern Africa region increased by 2.00C over the same period. This connotes that climate change and its impact is inevitable for the region. This will further exacerbate the already stress water resources within South Africa. Owing to Cilliers (2009) and the Council on Foreign Relations (2016) argument that most conflict in Africa are largely driven by resource competition which are masqueraded as issues based on politics, religion or ethnicity, this study investigates the propensity of conflict dynamics in relation to climate change and water security. Using eco-violence theory as a theoretical framework and on the premises of human security, the study assess the security implications triggered by the impact of climate change on water security of rural communities in uMkhanyakude District Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It focused on the extent to which this might trigger conflict as a coping mechanism among rural dwellers to water insecurity in order to inform policy options. Data for the were sourced using a mixed method paradigm where 385 survey questionnaire were distributed using

Cyber Security Applications: Freeware & Shareware

Science.gov (United States)

Rogers, Gary; Ashford, Tina

2015-01-01

This paper will discuss some assignments using freeware/shareware instructors can find on the Web to use to provide students with hands-on experience in this arena. Also, the college, Palm Beach State College, via a grant with the U.S. Department of Labor, has recently purchased a unique cyber security device that simulates cyber security attacks…

Microbiological quality of water from hand-dug wells used for domestic purposes in urban communities in Kumasi, Ghana

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Akple, M.; Keraita, Bernard; Konradsen, Flemming

2011-01-01

Assessment was done on the microbiological quality of water in hand-dug wells in urban communities in Kumasi, Ghana. A total of 256 water samples were taken from eight wells and examined for faecal coliforms, enterococci and helminths. High contamination levels were recorded in the wells, more so...

Rostering at a Dutch Security Firm

NARCIS (Netherlands)

R. Freling (Richard); N. Piersma (Nanda); A.P.M. Wagelmans (Albert); A. van de Wetering

2001-01-01

textabstractThe roster planning process at the Dutch security firm NVD was traditionally carried out by hand. A few years NVD was traditionally carried out by hand. A few years ago, because of changing labor laws in the Netherlands, this became practically impossible. We developed a decision support

Food and water security in a changing arctic climate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

White, Daniel M; Gerlach, S Craig; Loring, Philip; Tidwell, Amy C; Chambers, Molly C

2007-01-01

In the Arctic, permafrost extends up to 500 m below the ground surface, and it is generally just the top metre that thaws in summer. Lakes, rivers, and wetlands on the arctic landscape are normally not connected with groundwater in the same way that they are in temperate regions. When the surface is frozen in winter, only lakes deeper than 2 m and rivers with significant flow retain liquid water. Surface water is largely abundant in summer, when it serves as a breeding ground for fish, birds, and mammals. In winter, many mammals and birds are forced to migrate out of the Arctic. Fish must seek out lakes or rivers deep enough to provide good overwintering habitat. Humans in the Arctic rely on surface water in many ways. Surface water meets domestic needs such as drinking, cooking, and cleaning as well as subsistence and industrial demands. Indigenous communities depend on sea ice and waterways for transportation across the landscape and access to traditional country foods. The minerals, mining, and oil and gas industries also use large quantities of surface water during winter to build ice roads and maintain infrastructure. As demand for this limited, but heavily-relied-upon resource continues to increase, it is now more critical than ever to understand the impacts of climate change on food and water security in the Arctic

A short overview of measures for securing water resources for irrigated crop production

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Christian Richardt; Ørum, Jens Erik; Pedersen, Søren Marcus

2014-01-01

Agriculture is the main user of limited fresh water resources in the world. Optimisation of agricultural water resources and their use can be obtained by both agronomical and political incentives. Important options are: reduction of the loss of irrigation water in conveyance before it reaches...... of the 'virtual water' principles so that water-rich regions secure food supply to dry regions; reduction in waste of food, feed and biofuel from post-harvest to the end consumer; changing of food composition to less water-consuming products; regulating amount of irrigation water by rationing, subsidies or water...... pricing to support water-saving measures such as use of drip, irrigation scheduling and DI. The potential for water saving for different measures is discussed and estimated. Reduction in waste of food and loss of irrigation water from conveyance source to farm both has a great potential for water saving...

Investigating Food and Agribusiness Corporations as Global Water Security, Management and Governance Agents: The case of Nestlé, Bunge and Cargill

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suvi Sojamo

2012-10-01

Full Text Available This article investigates the agency of the world’s largest food and agribusiness corporations in global water security via case studies of Nestlé, Bunge and Cargill by analysing their position in the political economy of the world agro-food system and the ways they intentionally and non-intentionally manage and govern water in their value chains and wider networks of influence. The concentrated power of a few corporations in global agro-food value chains and their ability to influence the agro-food market dynamics and networks throughout the world pose asymmetric conditions for reaching not only global food security but also water security. The article will analyse the different forms of power exercised by the corporations in focus in relation to global water security and the emerging transnational water governance regime, and the extent to which their value chain position and stakeholder interaction reflect or drive their actions. Due to their vast infrastructural and technological capacity and major role in the global agro-food political economy, food and agribusiness corporations cannot avoid increasingly engaging, for endogenous and exogenous reasons, in multi-stakeholder initiatives and partnerships to devise methods of managing the agro-food value chains and markets to promote global water security. However, their asymmetric position in relation to their stakeholders demands continuous scrutiny.

Cyber security challenges in Smart Cities: Safety, security and privacy

Science.gov (United States)

Elmaghraby, Adel S.; Losavio, Michael M.

2014-01-01

The world is experiencing an evolution of Smart Cities. These emerge from innovations in information technology that, while they create new economic and social opportunities, pose challenges to our security and expectations of privacy. Humans are already interconnected via smart phones and gadgets. Smart energy meters, security devices and smart appliances are being used in many cities. Homes, cars, public venues and other social systems are now on their path to the full connectivity known as the “Internet of Things.” Standards are evolving for all of these potentially connected systems. They will lead to unprecedented improvements in the quality of life. To benefit from them, city infrastructures and services are changing with new interconnected systems for monitoring, control and automation. Intelligent transportation, public and private, will access a web of interconnected data from GPS location to weather and traffic updates. Integrated systems will aid public safety, emergency responders and in disaster recovery. We examine two important and entangled challenges: security and privacy. Security includes illegal access to information and attacks causing physical disruptions in service availability. As digital citizens are more and more instrumented with data available about their location and activities, privacy seems to disappear. Privacy protecting systems that gather data and trigger emergency response when needed are technological challenges that go hand-in-hand with the continuous security challenges. Their implementation is essential for a Smart City in which we would wish to live. We also present a model representing the interactions between person, servers and things. Those are the major element in the Smart City and their interactions are what we need to protect. PMID:25685517

Cyber security challenges in Smart Cities: Safety, security and privacy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adel S. Elmaghraby

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The world is experiencing an evolution of Smart Cities. These emerge from innovations in information technology that, while they create new economic and social opportunities, pose challenges to our security and expectations of privacy. Humans are already interconnected via smart phones and gadgets. Smart energy meters, security devices and smart appliances are being used in many cities. Homes, cars, public venues and other social systems are now on their path to the full connectivity known as the “Internet of Things.” Standards are evolving for all of these potentially connected systems. They will lead to unprecedented improvements in the quality of life. To benefit from them, city infrastructures and services are changing with new interconnected systems for monitoring, control and automation. Intelligent transportation, public and private, will access a web of interconnected data from GPS location to weather and traffic updates. Integrated systems will aid public safety, emergency responders and in disaster recovery. We examine two important and entangled challenges: security and privacy. Security includes illegal access to information and attacks causing physical disruptions in service availability. As digital citizens are more and more instrumented with data available about their location and activities, privacy seems to disappear. Privacy protecting systems that gather data and trigger emergency response when needed are technological challenges that go hand-in-hand with the continuous security challenges. Their implementation is essential for a Smart City in which we would wish to live. We also present a model representing the interactions between person, servers and things. Those are the major element in the Smart City and their interactions are what we need to protect.

Cyber security challenges in Smart Cities: Safety, security and privacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Elmaghraby, Adel S; Losavio, Michael M

2014-07-01

The world is experiencing an evolution of Smart Cities. These emerge from innovations in information technology that, while they create new economic and social opportunities, pose challenges to our security and expectations of privacy. Humans are already interconnected via smart phones and gadgets. Smart energy meters, security devices and smart appliances are being used in many cities. Homes, cars, public venues and other social systems are now on their path to the full connectivity known as the "Internet of Things." Standards are evolving for all of these potentially connected systems. They will lead to unprecedented improvements in the quality of life. To benefit from them, city infrastructures and services are changing with new interconnected systems for monitoring, control and automation. Intelligent transportation, public and private, will access a web of interconnected data from GPS location to weather and traffic updates. Integrated systems will aid public safety, emergency responders and in disaster recovery. We examine two important and entangled challenges: security and privacy. Security includes illegal access to information and attacks causing physical disruptions in service availability. As digital citizens are more and more instrumented with data available about their location and activities, privacy seems to disappear. Privacy protecting systems that gather data and trigger emergency response when needed are technological challenges that go hand-in-hand with the continuous security challenges. Their implementation is essential for a Smart City in which we would wish to live. We also present a model representing the interactions between person, servers and things. Those are the major element in the Smart City and their interactions are what we need to protect.

Enabling Water-Energy–Food Nexus: A New Approach for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security in Mountainous Landlocked Countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tek Bahadur Gurung

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Majority of landlocked mountainous countries are poorly ranked in Human Development Index (HDI, mostly due to poor per capita agriculture production, increasing population, unemployment, expensive and delayed transportation including several other factors. Generally, economy of such countries substantially relies on subsistence agriculture, tourism, hydropower and largely on remittance etc. Recently, it has been argued that to utilize scarce suitable land efficiently for food production, poor inland transport, hydropower, irrigation, drinking water in integration with other developmental infrastructures, an overarching policy linking water - energy – food nexus within a country for combating water, energy and food security would be most relevant. Thus, in present paper it has been opined that promotion of such linkage via nexus approach is the key to sustainable development of landlocked mountainous countries. Major land mass in mountainous countries like Nepal remains unsuitable for agriculture, road and other infrastructure profoundly imposing food, nutrition and energy security. However, large pristine snowy mountains function as wildlife sanctuaries, pastures, watershed, recharge areas for regional and global water, food and energy security. In return, landlocked mountainous countries are offered certain international leverages. For more judicious trade off, it is recommended that specific countries aerial coverage of mountains would be more appropriate basis for such leverages. Moreover, for sustainability of mountainous countries an integrated approach enabling water - energy – food nexus via watershed-hydropower-irrigation-aquaculture-agriculture-integrated linking policy model is proposed. This model would enable protection of watershed for pico, micro, and mega hydro power plants and tail waters to be used for aquaculture or irrigation or drinking water purposes for food and nutrition security.

33 CFR 127.705 - Security systems.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Security systems. 127.705 Section 127.705 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (CONTINUED... Waterfront Facilities Handling Liquefied Natural Gas Security § 127.705 Security systems. The operator shall...

18 CFR 1314.5 - Creation of Participant's Security Entitlement; security interests.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Creation of Participant... FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS § 1314.5 Creation of Participant's Security Entitlement; security interests. (a) A... Security Entitlement of a Participant in favor of the United States to secure deposits of public money...

An evaluation of security measures implemented to address physical threats to water infrastructure in the state of Mississippi.

Science.gov (United States)

Barrett, Jason R; French, P Edward

2013-01-01

The events of September 11, 2001, increased and intensified domestic preparedness efforts in the United States against terrorism and other threats. The heightened focus on protecting this nation's critical infrastructure included legislation requiring implementation of extensive new security measures to better defend water supply systems against physical, chemical/biological, and cyber attacks. In response, municipal officials have implemented numerous safeguards to reduce the vulnerability of these systems to purposeful intrusions including ongoing vulnerability assessments, extensive personnel training, and highly detailed emergency response and communication plans. This study evaluates fiscal year 2010 annual compliance assessments of public water systems with security measures that were implemented by Mississippi's Department of Health as a response to federal requirements to address these potential terrorist threats to water distribution systems. The results show that 20 percent of the water systems in this state had at least one security violation on their 2010 Capacity Development Assessment, and continued perseverance from local governments is needed to enhance the resiliency and robustness of these systems against physical threats.

Evaluation of surface water dynamics for water-food security in seasonal wetlands, north-central Namibia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Hiyama

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Agricultural use of wetlands is important for food security in various regions. However, land-use changes in wetland areas could alter the water cycle and the ecosystem. To conserve the water environments of wetlands, care is needed when introducing new cropping systems. This study is the first attempt to evaluate the water dynamics in the case of the introduction of rice-millet mixed-cropping systems to the Cuvelai system seasonal wetlands (CSSWs in north-central Namibia. We first investigated seasonal changes in surface water coverage by using satellite remote sensing data. We also assessed the effect of the introduction of rice-millet mixed-cropping systems on evapotranspiration in the CSSWs region. For the former investigation, we used MODIS and AMSR-E satellite remote sensing data. These data showed that at the beginning of the wet season, surface water appears from the southern (lower part and then expands to the northern (higher part of the CSSWs. For the latter investigation, we used data obtained by the classical Bowen ratio-energy balance (BREB method at an experimental field site established in September 2012 on the Ogongo campus, University of Namibia. This analysis showed the importance of water and vegetation conditions when introducing mixed-cropping to the region.

Threat modeling designing for security

CERN Document Server

Shostack, Adam

2014-01-01

Adam Shostack is responsible for security development lifecycle threat modeling at Microsoft and is one of a handful of threat modeling experts in the world. Now, he is sharing his considerable expertise into this unique book. With pages of specific actionable advice, he details how to build better security into the design of systems, software, or services from the outset. You'll explore various threat modeling approaches, find out how to test your designs against threats, and learn effective ways to address threats that have been validated at Microsoft and other top companies. Systems secur

Social Networks and Corporate Information Security

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ekaterina Gennadievna Kondratova

2013-06-01

Full Text Available It is defined in the article social networks as a tool in the hands of cyber-criminals to compromise the organization’s data. The author focuses on a list of threats to information security caused by social networks usage, which should be considered in the set up of information security management system of the company.

Animal Feces Contribute to Domestic Fecal Contamination: Evidence from E. coli Measured in Water, Hands, Food, Flies, and Soil in Bangladesh.

Science.gov (United States)

Ercumen, Ayse; Pickering, Amy J; Kwong, Laura H; Arnold, Benjamin F; Parvez, Sarker Masud; Alam, Mahfuja; Sen, Debashis; Islam, Sharmin; Kullmann, Craig; Chase, Claire; Ahmed, Rokeya; Unicomb, Leanne; Luby, Stephen P; Colford, John M

2017-08-01

Fecal-oral pathogens are transmitted through complex, environmentally mediated pathways. Sanitation interventions that isolate human feces from the environment may reduce transmission but have shown limited impact on environmental contamination. We conducted a study in rural Bangladesh to (1) quantify domestic fecal contamination in settings with high on-site sanitation coverage; (2) determine how domestic animals affect fecal contamination; and (3) assess how each environmental pathway affects others. We collected water, hand rinse, food, soil, and fly samples from 608 households. We analyzed samples with IDEXX Quantitray for the most probable number (MPN) of E. coli. We detected E. coli in source water (25%), stored water (77%), child hands (43%), food (58%), flies (50%), ponds (97%), and soil (95%). Soil had >120 000 mean MPN E. coli per gram. In compounds with vs without animals, E. coli was higher by 0.54 log 10 in soil, 0.40 log 10 in stored water and 0.61 log 10 in food (p food increased with increasing E. coli in soil, ponds, source water and hands. We provide empirical evidence of fecal transmission in the domestic environment despite on-site sanitation. Animal feces contribute to fecal contamination, and fecal indicator bacteria do not strictly indicate human fecal contamination when animals are present.

Effectiveness of Hand Sanitizers with and without Organic Acids for Removal of Rhinovirus from Hands ▿

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, Ronald B.; Fuls, Janice L.; Rodgers, Nancy D.

2010-01-01

These studies evaluated the effectiveness of ethanol hand sanitizers with or without organic acids to remove detectable rhinovirus from the hands and prevent experimental rhinovirus infection. Ethanol hand sanitizers were significantly more effective than hand washing with soap and water. The addition of organic acids to the ethanol provided residual virucidal activity that persisted for at least 4 h. Whether these treatments will reduce rhinovirus infection in the natural setting remains to be determined. PMID:20047916

Analysis of Water Resources Supply and Demand and Security of Water Resources Development in Irrigation Regions of the Middle Reaches of the Heihe River Basin, Northwest China

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

JI Xi-bin; KANG Er-si; CHEN Ren-sheng; ZHAO Wen-zhi; XIAO Sheng-chun; JIN Bo-wen

2006-01-01

Based on the data for meteorology, hydrology, soil, planting, vegetation, and socio-economic development of the irrigation region in the middle reaches of the Heihe River basin, Northwest China, the model of balance of water supply and demand in the region was established, and the security of water resource was assessed, from which the results that the effects of unified management of water resources in the Heihe River basin between Gansu Province and Inner Mongolia on regional hydrology are significant with a decrease in water supply diverted from Heihe River and an increase in groundwater extracted. In addition, it was found that the groundwater level has been steadily decreasing due to over pumping and decrease in recharges. In present year (2003), the volume of potential groundwater in the irrigation districts is far small because of the groundwater overdraft; even in the particular regions, there is no availability of groundwater resources for use. By 2003, water supply is not sufficient to meet the water demand in the different irrigation districts, the sustainable development and utilization of water resources are not secured, and the water supply crisis occurs in Pingchuan irrigation district. Achieving water security for the sustainable development of society, agriculture, economy, industry, and livelihoods while maintaining or improving the abilities of the management and planning of water resources, determining of the reasonable percentage between water supply and groundwater utilization and water saving in agricultural irrigation are taken into account. If this does not occur, it is feared that the present performance of water development and planning may further aggravate the problem of scarcities of water resources and further damage the fragile ecological system.

A Secure and Efficient Handover Authentication Protocol for Wireless Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Weijia Wang

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Handover authentication protocol is a promising access control technology in the fields of WLANs and mobile wireless sensor networks. In this paper, we firstly review an effcient handover authentication protocol, named PairHand, and its existing security attacks and improvements. Then, we present an improved key recovery attack by using the linearly combining method and reanalyze its feasibility on the improved PairHand protocol. Finally, we present a new handover authentication protocol, which not only achieves the same desirable effciency features of PairHand, but enjoys the provable security in the random oracle model.

Loss of the CNA I secured river water system: analysis and effect evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berra, Sandra; Guala, Mariana I.; Lorenzo, Andrea T.; Raffo Calderon, Maria C.; Urrutia, Guillermo

1999-01-01

In this work the evolution of the plant parameters is evaluated in the case of a loss of the secured circuit of river water (system UK). In particular the systems which are affected for this loss were studied. It was evaluated the functional degradation of these systems. (author)

Legal study on water environmental protection of Three Gorges Reservoir Area

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

DENG He

2007-01-01

Water environment security of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area has become a more extensive concern since the impoundment of the reservoir. This paper describes the existing water environmental hazards and defects in current legal system for water environmental protection in this area, and also discusses their possible causes and potential problems in the future based on first hand materials and other literature. According to the theories of integrated river basin management and environmental equity principle, legal proposals are put forward, which include building an unitary legal system dedicated to the Reservoir Area, setting up a basin authority of the Yangtze River to preside over the resources protection and development, using interests' compensation system to solve interest conflicts among different reaches, and making concrete regulations to direct public participation in water environmental security protection of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area.

Efficacy of soap and water and alcohol-based hand-rub preparations against live H1N1 influenza virus on the hands of human volunteers.

Science.gov (United States)

Grayson, M Lindsay; Melvani, Sharmila; Druce, Julian; Barr, Ian G; Ballard, Susan A; Johnson, Paul D R; Mastorakos, Tasoula; Birch, Christopher

2009-02-01

Although pandemic and avian influenza are known to be transmitted via human hands, there are minimal data regarding the effectiveness of routine hand hygiene (HH) protocols against pandemic and avian influenza. Twenty vaccinated, antibody-positive health care workers had their hands contaminated with 1 mL of 10(7) tissue culture infectious dose (TCID)(50)/0.1 mL live human influenza A virus (H1N1; A/New Caledonia/20/99) before undertaking 1 of 5 HH protocols (no HH [control], soap and water hand washing [SW], or use of 1 of 3 alcohol-based hand rubs [61.5% ethanol gel, 70% ethanol plus 0.5% chlorhexidine solution, or 70% isopropanol plus 0.5% chlorhexidine solution]). H1N1 concentrations were assessed before and after each intervention by viral culture and real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The natural viability of H1N1 on hands for >60 min without HH was also assessed. There was an immediate reduction in culture-detectable and PCR-detectable H1N1 after brief cutaneous air drying--14 of 20 health care workers had H1N1 detected by means of culture (mean reduction, 10(3-4) TCID(50)/0.1 mL), whereas 6 of 20 had no viable H1N1 recovered; all 20 health care workers had similar changes in PCR test results. Marked antiviral efficacy was noted for all 4 HH protocols, on the basis of culture results (14 of 14 had no culturable H1N1; (P< .002) and PCR results (P< .001; cycle threshold value range, 33.3-39.4), with SW statistically superior (P< .001) to all 3 alcohol-based hand rubs, although the actual difference was only 1-100 virus copies/microL. There was minimal reduction in H1N1 after 60 min without HH. HH with SW or alcohol-based hand rub is highly effective in reducing influenza A virus on human hands, although SW is the most effective intervention. Appropriate HH may be an important public health initiative to reduce pandemic and avian influenza transmission.

Climate change and water security with a focus on the Arctic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Birgitta Evengard

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Water is of fundamental importance for human life; access to water of good quality is of vital concern for mankind. Currently however, the situation is under severe pressure due to several stressors that have a clear impact on access to water. In the Arctic, climate change is having an impact on water availability by melting glaciers, decreasing seasonal rates of precipitation, increasing evapotranspiration, and drying lakes and rivers existing in permafrost grounds. Water quality is also being impacted as manmade pollutants stored in the environment are released, lowland areas are flooded with salty ocean water during storms, turbidity from permafrost-driven thaw and erosion is increased, and the growth or emergence of natural pollutants are increased. By 2030 it is estimated that the world will need to produce 50% more food and energy which means a continuous increase in demand for water. Decisionmakers will have to very clearly include life quality aspects of future generations in the work as impact of ongoing changes will be noticeable, in many cases, in the future. This article will focus on effects of climate-change on water security with an Arctic perspective giving some examples from different countries how arising problems are being addressed.

Private Security Contractors in Darfur

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Leander, Anna

2006-01-01

This article argues that the role of Private Security Contractors in Darfur reflects and reinforces neo-liberal governmentality in contemporary security governance. It is an argument (in line with other articles in this special issue) which is more interested in discussing how the privatization....... It underlines that governance is increasingly taking place through a set of (quasi-) markets, it is marked by entrepreneurial values, and a hands off approach to governance. We then discuss the way this overall change is reflected in and reinforced by the role of private security contractors in Darfur. Drawing...... at these processes is necessary to understand the role of private security contractors in Darfur. But more than this, practices in Darfur entrench neo-liberal governmentality in security more generally. The managerial and `de-politicizing' approach to security in Darfur displaces alternative views not only...

Security of the electricity supply. The area of conflict between profitability and environmental compatibility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Praktiknjo, Aaron

2013-01-01

The scope of the book is on the one hand support for the power industry defining investment and sales strategies that intend optimum supply security in the view of the customer and on the other hand the information for energy and environmental politicians demonstrating the conflict of objectives. The following issues are covered: technical and organizational aspects of electricity supply, theoretical background of the security of electricity supply, security of supply for economic sections, security of electricity supply for private households: theoretical microeconomic approach, security of electricity supply for private households: method of defined preferences, security of electricity supply in the context of climate protection and nuclear phase-out.

Smart security and securing data through watermarking

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Ritesh; Kumar, Lalit; Banik, Debraj; Sundar, S.

2017-11-01

The growth of image processing in embedded system has provided the boon of enhancing the security in various sectors. This lead to the developing of various protective strategies, which will be needed by private or public sectors for cyber security purposes. So, we have developed a method which uses digital water marking and locking mechanism for the protection of any closed premises. This paper describes a contemporary system based on user name, user id, password and encryption technique which can be placed in banks, protected offices to beef the security up. The burglary can be abated substantially by using a proactive safety structure. In this proposed framework, we are using water-marking in spatial domain to encode and decode the image and PIR(Passive Infrared Sensor) sensor to detect the existence of person in any close area.

In Whom Do We Trust - Sharing Security Events

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steinberger, Jessica; Kuhnert, Benjamin; Sperotto, Anna; Baier, Harald; Pras, Aiko

2016-01-01

Security event sharing is deemed of critical importance to counteract large-scale attacks at Internet service provider (ISP) networks as these attacks have become larger, more sophisticated and frequent. On the one hand, security event sharing is regarded to speed up organization's mitigation and

Training Students to Steal: A Practical Assignment in Computer Security Education

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dimkov, T.; Pieters, Wolter; Hartel, Pieter H.

Practical courses in information security provide students with first-hand knowledge of technical security mechanisms and their weaknesses. However, teaching students only the technical side of information security leads to a generation of students that emphasize digital solutions, but ignore the

Secure Nearest Neighbor Query on Crowd-Sensing Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ke Cheng

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Nearest neighbor queries are fundamental in location-based services, and secure nearest neighbor queries mainly focus on how to securely and quickly retrieve the nearest neighbor in the outsourced cloud server. However, the previous big data system structure has changed because of the crowd-sensing data. On the one hand, sensing data terminals as the data owner are numerous and mistrustful, while, on the other hand, in most cases, the terminals find it difficult to finish many safety operation due to computation and storage capability constraints. In light of they Multi Owners and Multi Users (MOMU situation in the crowd-sensing data cloud environment, this paper presents a secure nearest neighbor query scheme based on the proxy server architecture, which is constructed by protocols of secure two-party computation and secure Voronoi diagram algorithm. It not only preserves the data confidentiality and query privacy but also effectively resists the collusion between the cloud server and the data owners or users. Finally, extensive theoretical and experimental evaluations are presented to show that our proposed scheme achieves a superior balance between the security and query performance compared to other schemes.

Embedding security messages in existing processes: a pragmatic and effective approach to information security culture change

CERN Document Server

Lopienski, Sebastian

Companies and organizations world-wide depend more and more on IT infrastructure and operations. Computer systems store vital information and sensitive data; computing services are essential for main business processes. This high dependency comes with a number of security risks, which have to be managed correctly on technological, organizational and human levels. Addressing the human aspects of information security often boils down just to procedures, training and awareness raising. On the other hand, employees and collaborators do not adopt security attitude and habits simply when told to do so – a real change in behaviour requires an established security culture. But how to introduce a security culture? This thesis outlines the need of developing or improving security culture, and discusses how this can be done. The proposed approach is to gradually build security knowledge and awareness, and influence behaviours. The way to achieve this is to make security communication pervasive by embedding security me...

GAS-PHASE AND PARTICULATE EMISSIONS DURING APPLICATION OF A WATER-BASED CLEANER WITH A HAND-PUMP SPRAYER

Science.gov (United States)

The paper gives results of tests in a controlled environment test room to measure concentrations of 2-butoxyethanol and particles during application of a cleaner to realistic surfaces (counter tops, glass, walls). (NOTE: Users of water-based cleaners applied with hand-pump spray...

Nuclear Security and the Way Forward

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mrabit, Khammar

2013-01-01

Nuclear security has always been taken seriously. There is ample evidence that traditional deterrence does not necessarily obstruct those with malicious intent, who can also operate across borders. This understanding of the threat has highlighted the need to adopt a vigorous approach to protecting nuclear materials, associated facilities and activities in order to strengthen nuclear security worldwide. States recognize that there is a credible threat of nuclear or other radioactive material falling into the wrong hands and that this threat is global. An international legal framework for nuclear security, national nuclear security infrastructures, and the IAEA's leading role are some of the building blocks of an effective international nuclear security framework that contributes to effectively addressing this threat

Amazon rainforest modulation of water security in the Pantanal wetland.

Science.gov (United States)

Bergier, Ivan; Assine, Mario L; McGlue, Michael M; Alho, Cleber J R; Silva, Aguinaldo; Guerreiro, Renato L; Carvalho, João C

2018-04-01

The Pantanal is a large wetland mainly located in Brazil, whose natural resources are important for local, regional and global economies. Many human activities in the region rely on Pantanal's ecosystem services including cattle breeding for beef production, professional and touristic fishing, and contemplative tourism. The conservation of natural resources and ecosystems services provided by the Pantanal wetland must consider strategies for water security. We explored precipitation data from 1926 to 2016 provided by a regional network of rain gauge stations managed by the Brazilian Government. A timeseries obtained by dividing the monthly accumulated-rainfall by the number of rainy days indicated a positive trend of the mean rate of rainy days (mm/day) for the studied period in all seasons. We assessed the linkage of Pantanal's rainfall patterns with large-scale climate data in South America provided by NOAA/ESRL from 1949 to 2016. Analysis of spatiotemporal correlation maps indicated that, in agreement with previous studies, the Amazon biome plays a significant role in controlling summer rainfall in the Pantanal. Based on these spatiotemporal maps, a multi-linear regression model was built to predict the mean rate of summer rainy days in Pantanal by 2100, relative to the 1961-1990 mean reference. We found that the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest has profound implications for water security and the conservation of Pantanal's ecosystem services. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

33 CFR 104.145 - Maritime Security (MARSEC) Directive.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Maritime Security (MARSEC) Directive. 104.145 Section 104.145 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY MARITIME SECURITY MARITIME SECURITY: VESSELS General § 104.145 Maritime Security (MARSEC...

33 CFR 105.145 - Maritime Security (MARSEC) Directive.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Maritime Security (MARSEC) Directive. 105.145 Section 105.145 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY MARITIME SECURITY MARITIME SECURITY: FACILITIES General § 105.145 Maritime Security (MARSEC...

Clean Hands Count

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Clean Hands Count

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Full Text Available ... action today; no cure tomorrow - Duration: 3:10. World Health Organization 78,256 views 3:10 Wash ... handwash? With soap and water - Duration: 1:27. World Health Organization 230,361 views 1:27 Hand ...

Clean Hands Count

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Full Text Available ... action today; no cure tomorrow - Duration: 3:10. World Health Organization 75,362 views 3:10 Wash ' ... handwash? With soap and water - Duration: 1:27. World Health Organization 219,427 views 1:27 Hand ...

[Products for hand hygiene and antisepsis: use by health professionals and relationship with hand eczema].

Science.gov (United States)

Batalla, A; García-Doval, I; de la Torre, C

2012-04-01

Hand hygiene is the most important measure for the prevention of nosocomial infection. We describe the different products available for hygiene and antisepsis of the hands and the use of these products in daily practice. Hand hygiene products such as soaps and detergents are a cause of irritant dermatitis in health professionals. This irritation is one of the principal factors affecting their use in clinical practice. Alcohol-based products are better tolerated and less irritant than soap and water; irritation should not therefore be a limiting factor in the use of these products and they are to be recommended in place of soap and water. Informative and continued education programs could increase their use. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier España, S.L. and AEDV. All rights reserved.

Reconsidering relations between nuclear energy and security concepts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Irie, Kazutomo

2004-01-01

Relations between nuclear energy and security concepts can be clarified through investigation into the multivocal nature of security concepts. While military uses of nuclear energy significantly influence national security, peaceful uses of nuclear energy contribute energy security, which is an expanded concept of national security. Military and peaceful uses of nuclear energy have reciprocal actions, thus influencing national security and energy security, respectively. Nuclear security, which means security of nuclear systems themselves, recently attracts the attention of the international society. Nuclear security directly influences national security issues. On the other hand, along with nuclear safety, nuclear security becomes a prerequisite for energy security through peaceful uses of nuclear energy. In investigating into relations between nuclear energy and security concepts, the difficulty of translating the English word of 'nuclear security' into Japanese as well as other languages is found. (author)

Android Based Mobile Apps for Information Security Hands-On Education

Science.gov (United States)

Trabelsi, Zouheir; Al Matrooshi, Mohammed; Al Bairaq, Saeed; Ibrahim, Walid; Masud, Mohammad M.

2017-01-01

As mobile devices grow increasingly in popularity within the student community, novel educational activities and tools, as well as learning approaches can be developed to get benefit from this prevalence of mobile devices (e.g. mobility and closeness to students' daily lives). Particularly, information security education should reflect the current…

High Arsenic contamination in drinking water Hand-Pumps in Khap Tola, West Champaran, Bihar, India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siddharth eBhatia

2014-11-01

Full Text Available This study tests the drinking water supply of a marginalized village community of Khap Tola in the state of Bihar, a state in Northern India. Based on hand pump drinking water sample testing and analysis, we found that there was high levels of arsenic (maximum value being 397 ppb , in excess of the WHO limits of 10ppb. Analysis showed 57% of the samples from private hand-pumps in the shallow aquifer zone of 15-35m have arsenic greater than 200 ppb. Using GIS overlay analysis technique it was calculated that 25% of the residential area in the village is under high risk of arsenic contamination. Further using USEPA guidelines, it was calculated that children age group 5-10 years are under high risk of getting cancer. The Hazard Quotient calculated for 21 children taken for study, indicated that children may have adverse non-carcinogenic health impacts, in the future, with continued exposure. Since the area adds a new arsenic contaminated place in India, further geochemical analysis and health assessment needs to be done in this district of West Champaran in, Bihar.

A compliant underactuated hand with suction flow for underwater mobile manipulation

KAUST Repository

Stuart, Hannah S.

2014-05-01

© 2014 IEEE. Fingertip suction is investigated using a compliant, underactuated, tendon-driven hand designed for underwater mobile manipulation. Tendon routing and joint stiffnesses are designed to provide ease of closure while maintaining finger rigidity, allowing the hand to pinch small objects, as well as secure large objects, without diminishing strength. While the hand is designed to grasp a range of objects, the addition of light suction flow to the fingertips is especially effective for small, low-friction (slippery) objects. Numerical simulations confirm that changing suction parameters can increase the object acquisition region, providing guidelines for future versions of the hand.

A compliant underactuated hand with suction flow for underwater mobile manipulation

KAUST Repository

Stuart, Hannah S.; Wang, Shiquan; Gardineer, Bayard; Christensen, David L.; Aukes, Daniel M.; Cutkosky, Mark

2014-01-01

© 2014 IEEE. Fingertip suction is investigated using a compliant, underactuated, tendon-driven hand designed for underwater mobile manipulation. Tendon routing and joint stiffnesses are designed to provide ease of closure while maintaining finger rigidity, allowing the hand to pinch small objects, as well as secure large objects, without diminishing strength. While the hand is designed to grasp a range of objects, the addition of light suction flow to the fingertips is especially effective for small, low-friction (slippery) objects. Numerical simulations confirm that changing suction parameters can increase the object acquisition region, providing guidelines for future versions of the hand.

Testing biological effects of hand-washing grey water for reuse in irrigation on an urban farm: a case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Mohammad Zain; Sim, Yei Lin; Lin, Yang Jian; Lai, Ka Man

2013-01-01

The feasibility of reusing hand-washing grey water contaminated with antibacterial hand-washing liquid for irrigation purposes in an urban farm is explored in this case study. Experiments are carried out to investigate if the quality of this grey water allows for its reuse in agriculture as per the guidelines established by the World Health Organization (WHO). However, there is no guideline to test the biological effect of grey water prior to agricultural use. It is plausible that the antibacterial property of the grey water can harm the soil microbial system and plants when applied to land, even if all other water quality parameters satisfy the WHO limit. We use algae (Chlorella vulgaris) and indigenous soil bacteria as initial plant and soil bacteria indicators, respectively, to test the potential inhibition of the water on plants and soil bacteria. Results show that the chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the grey water is 10% higher than the WHO permissible level, while all other water quality parameters are within the limits after four days of our experimental period. An inhibitory effect is observed in all of the biological tests. However, the inhibitory effect on algae and soil bacteria is not observed after the four-day period. The case study demonstrates a new approach for testing the biological effect of grey water, which can be used in conjunction with the WHO guideline, and provides data for this urban farm to set up a future water treatment system for grey-water reuse in irrigation.

Evaluation of Water Security in Kathmandu Valley before and after Water Transfer from another Basin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bhesh Raj Thapa

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL has planned to harness water from outside the valley from Melamchi as an inter-basin project to supply water inside the ring road (core valley area of the Kathmandu Valley (KV. The project, called the “Melamchi Water Supply Project (MWSP”, is expected to have its first phase completed by the end of September 2018 and its second phase completed by the end of 2023 to supply 170 MLD (million liters a day through the first phase and an additional 340 MLD through the second phase. The area has recently faced a severe water deficit and KUKL’s existing infrastructure has had a limited capability, supplying only 19% of the water that is demanded in its service areas during the dry season and 31% during the wet season. In this context, this study aims to assess the temporal trends and spatial distribution of household water security index (WSI, defined as a ratio of supply to demand for domestic water use for basic human water requirements (50 L per capita per day (lpcd and economic growth (135 lpcd as demand in pre- and post-MWSP scenarios. For this purpose, data on water demand and supply with infrastructure were used to map the spatial distribution of WSI and per capita water supply using ArcMap. Results show a severe water insecurity condition in the year 2017 in all KUKL service areas (SAs, which is likely to improve after completion of the MWSP. It is likely that recent distribution network and strategies may lead to inequality in water distribution within the SAs. This can possibly be addressed by expanding existing distribution networks and redistributing potable water, which can serve an additional 1.21 million people in the area. Service providers may have to develop strategies to strengthen a set of measures including improving water supply infrastructures, optimizing water loss, harnessing additional water from hills, and managing water within and outside the KUKL SAs in the long run to cover

Feeling Is Believing: A Secure Template Exchange Protocol

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Buhan, I.R.; Doumen, J.M.; Hartel, Pieter H.; Veldhuis, Raymond N.J.; Lee, Seong-Whan; Li, Stan Z.

We use grip pattern based biometrics as a secure side channel to achieve pre-authentication in a protocol that sets up a secure channel between two hand held devices. The protocol efficiently calculates a shared secret key from biometric data. The protocol is used in an application where grip

Clean Hands Count

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Full Text Available ... action today; no cure tomorrow - Duration: 3:10. World Health Organization 72,319 views 3:10 Wash 'Em - Hand ... handwash? With soap and water - Duration: 1:27. World Health Organization 205,878 views 1:27 Germ Smart - Wash ...

Clean Hands Count

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Full Text Available ... action today; no cure tomorrow - Duration: 3:10. World Health Organization 74,478 views 3:10 Wash your Hands - ... handwash? With soap and water - Duration: 1:27. World Health Organization 215,487 views 1:27 Infection Control Video - ...

The myth of secure computing.

Science.gov (United States)

Austin, Robert D; Darby, Christopher A

2003-06-01

Few senior executives pay a whole lot of attention to computer security. They either hand off responsibility to their technical people or bring in consultants. But given the stakes involved, an arm's-length approach is extremely unwise. According to industry estimates, security breaches affect 90% of all businesses every year and cost some $17 billion. Fortunately, the authors say, senior executives don't need to learn about the more arcane aspects of their company's IT systems in order to take a hands-on approach. Instead, they should focus on the familiar task of managing risk. Their role should be to assess the business value of their information assets, determine the likelihood that those assets will be compromised, and then tailor a set of risk abatement processes to their company's particular vulnerabilities. This approach, which views computer security as an operational rather than a technical challenge, is akin to a classic quality assurance program in that it attempts to avoid problems rather than fix them and involves all employees, not just IT staffers. The goal is not to make computer systems completely secure--that's impossible--but to reduce the business risk to an acceptable level. This article looks at the types of threats a company is apt to face. It also examines the processes a general manager should spearhead to lessen the likelihood of a successful attack. The authors recommend eight processes in all, ranging from deciding how much protection each digital asset deserves to insisting on secure software to rehearsing a response to a security breach. The important thing to realize, they emphasize, is that decisions about digital security are not much different from other cost-benefit decisions. The tools general managers bring to bear on other areas of the business are good models for what they need to do in this technical space.

Energy security: between markets and sovereign politics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dudau Radu

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Energy security is a constant presence in the energy-related political discourse all over the world. States strive to secure steady inflows of needed energy supplies, as well as the price affordability of those supplies. However, what are deemed to be the best means to meet such goals depends on one’s theoretical vantage point. On the one hand, economically-minded theorists maintain that energy security is only a matter of market rules and interactions. Thus, they call upon energy markets to deliver both steady supplies and competitive prices. On the other hand, politically-minded scholars emphasize the political and hard-power nature of international energy trades, especially in a global context market by the emergence of state-centered, authoritarian regimes that use large national energy companies as foreign policy instruments. These two positions delineate competing approaches to how energy security risks ought to be managed. The former approaches energy security risks by means similar to portfolio management, requiring diversification of investments in order to insulate them from market shocks. The latter approaches energy security as a matter of foreign policy, by which states envisage interest coordination and favorable alignments within countervailing alliances against the agent of energy security risk. The present paper goes beyond the uncontentious point that these two dimensions are complementary. It argues that, depending on the international context, a more market-driven or a more-politically driven behavior may be adequate.

Information-Theoretic Conditions for Two-Party Secure Function Evaluation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schaffner, Christian; Crépeau, Claude; Savvides, George

2006-01-01

The standard security definition of unconditional secure function evaluation, which is based on the ideal/real model paradigm, has the disadvantage of being overly complicated to work with in practice. On the other hand, simpler ad-hoc definitions tailored to special scenarios have often been...

Evaluation of water security in Jordan using a multi-agent, hydroeconomic model: Initial model results from the Jordan Water Project

Science.gov (United States)

Yoon, J.; Klassert, C. J. A.; Lachaut, T.; Selby, P. D.; Knox, S.; Gorelick, S.; Rajsekhar, D.; Tilmant, A.; Avisse, N.; Harou, J. J.; Medellin-Azuara, J.; Gawel, E.; Klauer, B.; Mustafa, D.; Talozi, S.; Sigel, K.; Zhang, H.

2016-12-01

Our work focuses on development of a multi-agent, hydroeconomic model for water policy evaluation in Jordan. Jordan ranks among the most water-scarce countries in the world, a situation exacerbated due to a recent influx of refugees escaping the ongoing civil war in neighboring Syria. The modular, multi-agent model is used to evaluate interventions for enhancing Jordan's water security, integrating biophysical modules that simulate natural and engineered phenomena with human modules that represent behavior at multiple levels of decision making. The hydrologic modules are developed using spatially-distributed groundwater and surface water models, which are translated into compact simulators for efficient integration into the multi-agent model. For the multi-agent model, we explicitly account for human agency at multiple levels of decision making, with agents representing riparian, management, supplier, and water user groups. Human agents are implemented as autonomous entities in the model that make decisions in relation to one another and in response to hydrologic and socioeconomic conditions. The integrated model is programmed in Python using Pynsim, a generalizable, open-source object-oriented software framework for modeling network-based water resource systems. The modeling time periods include historical (2006-2014) and future (present-2050) time spans. For the historical runs, the model performance is validated against historical data for several observations that reflect the interacting dynamics of both the hydrologic and human components of the system. A historical counterfactual scenario is also constructed to isolate and identify the impacts of the recent Syrian civil war and refugee crisis on Jordan's water system. For the future period, model runs are conducted to evaluate potential supply, demand, and institutional interventions over a wide range of plausible climate and socioeconomic scenarios. In addition, model sensitivity analysis is conducted

The Need for an Informational Systems Approach to Security

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José María Díaz Nafría

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Different senses of security and its related assumptions, methodologies and contexts are analyzed by first reviewing the liberalistic notions of security and trust, unveiling, on the one hand, the contradictions exhibited between discourse and practice; on the other hand, the historical strategy of concentration of power behind the liberalistic doctrines. The weakness, limits and implications of the liberalistic notions and methods on security and trust are inquired, and subsequently a genuine horizon of security as sustainable and general procurement of positive freedom is advocated. The CyberSyn project successfully implemented in Chile, but tragically and prematurely ending under the hard power in the 9/11 of 1973, serves as model of the posed system approach to security. However, the system model is actualized and completed with elements of the general theory of information in virtue of: the increased complexity of societal systems, its ultimate global dimension, its biospherical closure, the increase of information assets and processes, and some epistemological boundaries. These reasons also set the need of keeping – beside the system approach – a critical and ethical stance.

Assessment of the Quality of Water from Hand-Dug Wells in Ghana

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marian Asantewah Nkansah

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This study focused upon the determination of physicochemical and microbial properties, including metals, selected anions and coliform bacteria in drinking water samples from hand-dug wells in the Kumasi metropolis of the Republic of Ghana. The purpose was to assess the quality of water from these sources. Ten different water samples were taken from different parts of Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti region of Ghana and analyzed for physicochemical parameters including pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, alkalinity total hardness and coliform bacteria. Metals and anions analyzed were Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, NO 3 – , NO 2 – , SO 4 2- , PO 4 2- , F – and Cl – . Bacteria analysed were total coliform and Escherichia coli. The data showed variation of the investigated parameters in samples as follows: pH, 6.30-0.70; conductivity (EC, 46-682 μS/cm; PO 4 3- , 0.67-76.00 mg/L; F – , 0.20-0.80 mg/L; NO 3 – , 0-0.968 mg/L; NO 2 – , 0-0.063 mg/L; SO 4 2- , 3.0-07.0 mg/L; Fe, 0-1.2 mg/L; Mn, 0-0.018 mg/L. Total coliform and Escherichia coli were below the minimum detection limit (MDL of 20 MPN per 100 ml in all the samples. The concentrations of most of the investigated parameters in the drinking water samples from Ashanti region were within the permissible limits of the World Health Organization drinking water quality guidelines.

Analysis And Assessment Of The Security Method Against Incidental Contamination In The Collective Water Supply System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Szpak Dawid

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the main types of surface water incidental contaminations and the security method against incidental contamination in water sources. Analysis and assessment the collective water supply system (CWSS protection against incidental contamination was conducted. Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA was used. The FMEA method allow to use the product or process analysis, identification of weak points, and implementation the corrections and new solutions for eliminating the source of undesirable events. The developed methodology was shown in application case. It was found that the risk of water contamination in water-pipe network of the analyzed CWSS caused by water source incidental contamination is at controlled level.

The Influence of Hand Immersion Duration on Manual Performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Ray, Matthew; Sanli, Elizabeth; Brown, Robert; Ennis, Kerri Ann; Carnahan, Heather

2017-08-01

To investigate the effect of hand immersion duration on manipulative ability and tactile sensitivity. Individuals in maritime settings often work with hands that have been immersed in water. Although research has shown that hand immersion duration differentially impacts skin adhesion and tactile sensitivity, the effect of hand immersion on manipulative ability has not been directly tested. Given how critical manipulative ability is for the safety and performance of those working at sea, the effect of hand immersion duration on manual performance was investigated. Tests of manipulative ability (Purdue Pegboard, Grooved Pegboard, reef knot untying) and tactile sensitivity (Touch-Test) were completed following no-exposure, short-exposure, and long-exposure hand immersions in thermoneutral water. Compared to the no immersion condition, the Purdue Pegboard performance was reduced in both immersion conditions (short exposure, -11%; long exposure, -8%). A performance decrement was only observed in the short exposure condition (+15% in time to complete task) for the reef knot untying task. There were no statistical differences in the Grooved Pegboard or Touch-Test scores between exposure conditions. Immersing the hands in water decreases manipulative ability except for when object properties reduce the slipperiness between the hand and object. Manual performance in a wet environment may be conserved by designing tools and objects with edges and textures that can offset the slipperiness of wet hands. To maintain safety, the time requirements for working with wet hands needs to be considered.

Personal authentication through dorsal hand vein patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Chih-Bin; Hao, Shu-Sheng; Lee, Jen-Chun

2011-08-01

Biometric identification is an emerging technology that can solve security problems in our networked society. A reliable and robust personal verification approach using dorsal hand vein patterns is proposed in this paper. The characteristic of the approach needs less computational and memory requirements and has a higher recognition accuracy. In our work, the near-infrared charge-coupled device (CCD) camera is adopted as an input device for capturing dorsal hand vein images, it has the advantages of the low-cost and noncontact imaging. In the proposed approach, two finger-peaks are automatically selected as the datum points to define the region of interest (ROI) in the dorsal hand vein images. The modified two-directional two-dimensional principal component analysis, which performs an alternate two-dimensional PCA (2DPCA) in the column direction of images in the 2DPCA subspace, is proposed to exploit the correlation of vein features inside the ROI between images. The major advantage of the proposed method is that it requires fewer coefficients for efficient dorsal hand vein image representation and recognition. The experimental results on our large dorsal hand vein database show that the presented schema achieves promising performance (false reject rate: 0.97% and false acceptance rate: 0.05%) and is feasible for dorsal hand vein recognition.

Security research roadmap; Security-tutkimuksen roadmap

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Naumanen, M.; Rouhiainen, V. (eds.)

2006-02-15

Requirements for increasing security have arisen in Europe after highly visible and tragic events in Madrid and in London. While responsibility for security rests largely with the national activities, the EU has also started planning a research area .Space and security. as a part of the 7th Framework Programme. As the justification for this research area it has been presented that technology alone can not assure security, but security can not be assured without the support of technology. Furthermore, the justification highlights that security and military research are becoming ever closer. The old separation between civil and military research is decreasing, because it has been noticed that both areas are nowadays utilising the same knowledge. In Finland, there is already now noteworthy entrepreneurship related to security. Although some of the companies are currently only operating in Finland, others are already international leaders in their area. The importance of the security area is increasing and remarkable potential for new growth business areas can already be identified. This however also requires an increase in research efforts. VTT has a broad range of security research ongoing in many technology areas. The main areas have been concentrating on public safety and security, but VTT is participating also in several research projects related to the defence technology. For identifying and defining in more detail the expertise and research goals, the Security research roadmap was developed. The roadmap identified three particularly significant areas related to security. The assurance of critical infrastructure emphasises the protection of energy networks, information networks, water supply, traffic and transport, and obviously also the citizens. For assuring the activities of entrepreneurship, significant areas include the security of production and services, the security of sites and assets, and information security for embedded systems. The most important

Sensor-enabled chem/bio contamination detection system dedicated to situational awareness of water distribution security status

Science.gov (United States)

Ginsberg, Mark D.; Smith, Eddy D.; VanBlaricum, Vicki; Hock, Vincent F.; Kroll, Dan; Russell, Kevin J.

2010-04-01

Both real events and models have proven that drinking water systems are vulnerable to deliberate and/or accidental contamination. Additionally, homeland security initiatives and modeling efforts have determined that it is relatively easy to orchestrate the contamination of potable water supplies. Such contamination can be accomplished with classic and non-traditional chemical agents, toxic industrial chemicals (TICs), and/or toxic industrial materials (TIMs). Subsequent research and testing has developed a proven network for detection and response to these threats. The method uses offthe- shelf, broad-spectrum analytical instruments coupled with advanced interpretive algorithms. The system detects and characterizes any backflow events involving toxic contaminants by employing unique chemical signature (fingerprint) response data. This instrumentation has been certified by the Office of Homeland Security for detecting deliberate and/or accidental contamination of critical water infrastructure. The system involves integration of several mature technologies (sensors, SCADA, dynamic models, and the HACH HST Guardian Blue instrumentation) into a complete, real-time, management system that also can be used to address other water distribution concerns, such as corrosion. This paper summarizes the reasons and results for installing such a distribution-based detection and protection system.

7 CFR 1780.14 - Security.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 12 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Security. 1780.14 Section 1780.14 Agriculture... (CONTINUED) WATER AND WASTE LOANS AND GRANTS General Policies and Requirements § 1780.14 Security. Loans will be secured by the best security position practicable in a manner which will adequately protect the...

The 21st Century Challenges and the Food-Energy-Water-Security (FEWS) Nexus in the Middle East Region

Science.gov (United States)

Moradkhani, H.; Hameed, M.

2017-12-01

Developing countries have experienced crucial conditions in meeting the needs for food, energy, and water security. This paper presents a country-level quantitative assessment of the current issues associated with the Food-Energy-Water-Security (FEWS) Nexus in the Middle East region. In this study, sixteen countries in the Middle East region are chosen, namely, Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, and Turkey. The most recent datasets are used to study and analyze the factors that have emerged the demand to understand and manage the linkage of FEW systems in the region. Water scarcity, extreme events, population growth, urbanization, economic growth, poverty, and political stability are found to be the key drivers of the current challenges in the Middle East region. Additionally, the results suggest that these factors have created a subsequent stress on FEW resources specifically on water sector in the region. Therefore, more attention is required to sustain the FEW resources and cope with the socio-economic development.

Determination of the physico-chemical and bacteriological quality of water from hand dug wells in the Ga-West Municipality, Accra, Ghana

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fatawu, B.

2015-01-01

The Ga-West Municipality is noted for high reported cases of Buruli Ulcer and other water-borne diseases. A large section of the population of the municipality depends on boreholes and hand-dug wells to meet their basic daily water requirement. The hand-dug wells and boreholes, unlike treated piped water and Water Kiosk Programmes in the communities of the study area are not frequently monitored for their bacteriological, physic-chemical parameters and trace elements content; to ascertain their suitability for drinking and other important domestic chores. The study assessed the quality (bacteriological, physico-chemical and trace elements) of water from hand-dug wells and boreholes in communities within the Ga West Municipality. Groundwater samples were collected in November and December 2014 from hand-dug wells and boreholes in twenty-three (19) communities within the Ga-West Municipality for the study. pH, Total Dissolved Solids, Electric Conductivity and Temperature were determined onsite with the portable Multifunctional HACH-Conductivity meter. HCO 3 - Alkalinity, Calcium and Total Hardness were determined by Titrimetry. Trace metals (Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Pb, Cd, Zn) and Mg were determined by Atomic Absorption Spectrometry. For bacterial indicators, Aerobic Colony Count Technique was employed. Fecal Coliform and E-coli were determined using Violet Red Bile-salt Agar Media, and Indole Test used to confirm Ecoli. Plate Count Agar Media was used in the determination of Total Coliform. pH was acidic to weakly alkaline (4.5 - 8.5) for hand-dug wells and weakly acidic to near-neutral (6.4 - 7.5) in the boreholes. Total Dissolved Solids were generally high with about 35.7 % of the samples exceeding WHO recommended Guideline of 1000 mg/L in both hand-dug wells and boreholes. According to TDS classification by Freeze and Cherry, 74.3 % of the groundwater samples were classified as fresh, (TDS ‹100 mg/L) and 35.7 % as brackish (TDS › 100 mg/L). Total Hardness values

Does land tenure security matter for investment in soil and water conservation? Evidence from Kenya

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kabubo-Mariara, J.; Linderhof, V.G.M.; Kruseman, G.

2010-01-01

This paper investigates the impact of tenure security and other factors on investment in soil and water conservation (SWC) in Kenya. Factor analysis, step-wise regression and reduced form model approaches are used to explain the willingness, likelihood and intensity of adoption of SWC investments.

A simple security architecture for smart water management system

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Ntuli, N

2016-05-01

Full Text Available . Secure booting prevents installation of malicious code onto the device. By making sure that the booting process is secured, we can establish securely the root of trust for the device. Public key cryptography is utilized at this stage. During... Architecture 1168 Nonhlanhla Ntuli and Adnan Abu-Mahfouz / Procedia Computer Science 83 ( 2016 ) 1164 – 1169 3.2. Secure Communication While public key cryptography can be used in the first step (secure booting), it would be too heavy to use during...

Compact Dexterous Robotic Hand

Science.gov (United States)

Lovchik, Christopher Scott (Inventor); Diftler, Myron A. (Inventor)

2001-01-01

A compact robotic hand includes a palm housing, a wrist section, and a forearm section. The palm housing supports a plurality of fingers and one or more movable palm members that cooperate with the fingers to grasp and/or release an object. Each flexible finger comprises a plurality of hingedly connected segments, including a proximal segment pivotally connected to the palm housing. The proximal finger segment includes at least one groove defining first and second cam surfaces for engagement with a cable. A plurality of lead screw assemblies each carried by the palm housing are supplied with power from a flexible shaft rotated by an actuator and output linear motion to a cable move a finger. The cable is secured within a respective groove and enables each finger to move between an opened and closed position. A decoupling assembly pivotally connected to a proximal finger segment enables a cable connected thereto to control movement of an intermediate and distal finger segment independent of movement of the proximal finger segment. The dexterous robotic hand closely resembles the function of a human hand yet is light weight and capable of grasping both heavy and light objects with a high degree of precision.

Hands-on Humidity.

Science.gov (United States)

Pankiewicz, Philip R.

1992-01-01

Presents five hands-on activities that allow students to detect, measure, reduce, and eliminate moisture. Students make a humidity detector and a hygrometer, examine the effects of moisture on different substances, calculate the percent of water in a given food, and examine the absorption potential of different desiccants. (MDH)

Hands-On Hydrology

Science.gov (United States)

Mathews, Catherine E.; Monroe, Louise Nelson

2004-01-01

A professional school and university collaboration enables elementary students and their teachers to explore hydrology concepts and realize the beneficial functions of wetlands. Hands-on experiences involve young students in determining water quality at field sites after laying the groundwork with activities related to the hydrologic cycle,…

Data-driven security analysis, visualization and dashboards

CERN Document Server

Jacobs, Jay

2014-01-01

Uncover hidden patterns of data and respond with countermeasures Security professionals need all the tools at their disposal to increase their visibility in order to prevent security breaches and attacks. This careful guide explores two of the most powerful ? data analysis and visualization. You'll soon understand how to harness and wield data, from collection and storage to management and analysis as well as visualization and presentation. Using a hands-on approach with real-world examples, this book shows you how to gather feedback, measure the effectiveness of your security methods, and ma

Security and privacy issues in implantable medical devices: A comprehensive survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Camara, Carmen; Peris-Lopez, Pedro; Tapiador, Juan E

2015-06-01

Bioengineering is a field in expansion. New technologies are appearing to provide a more efficient treatment of diseases or human deficiencies. Implantable Medical Devices (IMDs) constitute one example, these being devices with more computing, decision making and communication capabilities. Several research works in the computer security field have identified serious security and privacy risks in IMDs that could compromise the implant and even the health of the patient who carries it. This article surveys the main security goals for the next generation of IMDs and analyzes the most relevant protection mechanisms proposed so far. On the one hand, the security proposals must have into consideration the inherent constraints of these small and implanted devices: energy, storage and computing power. On the other hand, proposed solutions must achieve an adequate balance between the safety of the patient and the security level offered, with the battery lifetime being another critical parameter in the design phase. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cytomegalovirus survival and transferability and the effectiveness of common hand-washing agents against cytomegalovirus on live human hands.

Science.gov (United States)

Stowell, Jennifer D; Forlin-Passoni, Daniela; Radford, Kay; Bate, Sheri L; Dollard, Sheila C; Bialek, Stephanie R; Cannon, Michael J; Schmid, D Scott

2014-01-01

Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) transmission can occur when women acquire CMV while pregnant. Infection control guidelines may reduce risk for transmission. We studied the duration of CMV survival after application of bacteria to the hands and after transfer from the hands to surfaces and the effectiveness of cleansing with water, regular and antibacterial soaps, sanitizer, and diaper wipes. Experiments used CMV AD169 in saliva at initial titers of 1 × 10(5) infectious particles/ml. Samples from hands or surfaces (points between 0 and 15 min) were placed in culture and observed for at least 2 weeks. Samples were also tested using CMV real-time PCR. After application of bacteria to the hands, viable CMV was recovered from 17/20 swabs at 0 min, 18/20 swabs at 1 min, 5/20 swabs at 5 min, and 4/20 swabs at 15 min. After transfer, duration of survival was at least 15 min on plastic (1/2 swabs), 5 min on crackers and glass (3/4 swabs), and 1 min or less on metal and cloth (3/4 swabs); no viable virus was collected from wood, rubber, or hands. After cleansing, no viable virus was recovered using water (0/22), plain soap (0/20), antibacterial soap (0/20), or sanitizer (0/22). Viable CMV was recovered from 4/20 hands 10 min after diaper wipe cleansing. CMV remains viable on hands for sufficient times to allow transmission. CMV may be transferred to surfaces with reduced viability. Hand-cleansing methods were effective at eliminating viable CMV from hands.

Classification of atopic hand eczema and the filaggrin mutations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Giwercman, C.; Lerbaek, A.; Bisgaard, H.

2008-01-01

Hand eczema is a common disease with various risk factors of which atopic dermatitis is known to be one of the most important. Recently, two mutations in the gene coding for filaggrin, a protein important for the skin barrier, have repeatedly been shown to be associated with atopic dermatitis...... mutations. We believe this will increase the possibility of subgrouping this otherwise heterogenic disease and thereby enable a better phenotype-genotype characterization of hand eczema. This could improve the preventive initiatives, secure better information of patients about the prognosis...

Cyber Security Testing and Training Programs for Industrial Control Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Daniel Noyes

2012-03-01

Service providers rely on industrial control systems (ICS) to manage the flow of water at dams, open breakers on power grids, control ventilation and cooling in nuclear power plants, and more. In today's interconnected environment, this can present a serious cyber security challenge. To combat this growing challenge, government, private industry, and academia are working together to reduce cyber risks. The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is a key contributor to the Department of Energy National SCADA Test Bed (NSTB) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Control Systems Security Program (CSSP), both of which focus on improving the overall security posture of ICS in the national critical infrastructure. In support of the NSTB, INL hosts a dedicated SCADA testing facility which consists of multiple control systems supplied by leading national and international manufacturers. Within the test bed, INL researchers systematically examine control system components and work to identify vulnerabilities. In support of the CSSP, INL develops and conducts training courses which are designed to increase awareness and defensive capabilities for IT/Control System professionals. These trainings vary from web-based cyber security trainings for control systems engineers to more advanced hands-on training that culminates with a Red Team/ Blue Team exercise that is conducted within an actual control systems environment. INL also provides staffing and operational support to the DHS Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT) Security Operations Center which responds to and analyzes control systems cyber incidents across the 18 US critical infrastructure sectors.

Carboy Security Testing and Training Programs for Industrial Control Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noyes, Daniel

2012-01-01

Service providers rely on industrial control systems (ICS) to manage the flow of water at dams, open breakers on power grids, control ventilation and cooling in nuclear power plants, and more. In today's interconnected environment, this can present a serious cyber security challenge. To combat this growing challenge, government, private industry, and academia are working together to reduce cyber risks. The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is a key contributor to the Department of Energy National SCADA Test Bed (NSTB) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Control Systems Security Program (CSSP), both of which focus on improving the overall security posture of ICS in the national critical infrastructure. In support of the NSTB, INL hosts a dedicated SCADA testing facility which consists of multiple control systems supplied by leading national and international manufacturers. Within the test bed, INL researchers systematically examine control system components and work to identify vulnerabilities. In support of the CSSP, INL develops and conducts training courses which are designed to increase awareness and defensive capabilities for IT/Control System professionals. These training vary from web-based cyber security training for control systems engineers to more advanced hands-on training that culminates with a Red Team/Blue Team exercise that is conducted within an actual control systems environment. INL also provides staffing and operational support to the DHS Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT) Security Operations Center which responds to and analyzes control systems cyber incidents across the 18 US critical infrastructure sectors

Cyber Security Testing and Training Programs for Industrial Control Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noyes, Daniel

2012-01-01

Service providers rely on industrial control systems (ICS) to manage the flow of water at dams, open breakers on power grids, control ventilation and cooling in nuclear power plants, and more. In today's interconnected environment, this can present a serious cyber security challenge. To combat this growing challenge, government, private industry, and academia are working together to reduce cyber risks. The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is a key contributor to the Department of Energy National SCADA Test Bed (NSTB) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Control Systems Security Program (CSSP), both of which focus on improving the overall security posture of ICS in the national critical infrastructure. In support of the NSTB, INL hosts a dedicated SCADA testing facility which consists of multiple control systems supplied by leading national and international manufacturers. Within the test bed, INL researchers systematically examine control system components and work to identify vulnerabilities. In support of the CSSP, INL develops and conducts training courses which are designed to increase awareness and defensive capabilities for IT/Control System professionals. These trainings vary from web-based cyber security trainings for control systems engineers to more advanced hands-on training that culminates with a Red Team/ Blue Team exercise that is conducted within an actual control systems environment. INL also provides staffing and operational support to the DHS Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT) Security Operations Center which responds to and analyzes control systems cyber incidents across the 18 US critical infrastructure sectors.

Carboy Security Testing and Training Programs for Industrial Control Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Noyes, Daniel [Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho (United States)

2012-03-15

Service providers rely on industrial control systems (ICS) to manage the flow of water at dams, open breakers on power grids, control ventilation and cooling in nuclear power plants, and more. In today's interconnected environment, this can present a serious cyber security challenge. To combat this growing challenge, government, private industry, and academia are working together to reduce cyber risks. The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is a key contributor to the Department of Energy National SCADA Test Bed (NSTB) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Control Systems Security Program (CSSP), both of which focus on improving the overall security posture of ICS in the national critical infrastructure. In support of the NSTB, INL hosts a dedicated SCADA testing facility which consists of multiple control systems supplied by leading national and international manufacturers. Within the test bed, INL researchers systematically examine control system components and work to identify vulnerabilities. In support of the CSSP, INL develops and conducts training courses which are designed to increase awareness and defensive capabilities for IT/Control System professionals. These training vary from web-based cyber security training for control systems engineers to more advanced hands-on training that culminates with a Red Team/Blue Team exercise that is conducted within an actual control systems environment. INL also provides staffing and operational support to the DHS Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT) Security Operations Center which responds to and analyzes control systems cyber incidents across the 18 US critical infrastructure sectors.

Understanding the socio-institutional context to support adaptation for future water security in forest landscapes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tahia Devisscher

2016-12-01

Full Text Available During the first half of the 21st century, socioeconomic development is expected to contribute faster and to a greater extent to global water stress than climate change. Consequently, we aimed to identify conditions that can facilitate local adaptation planning for future water security, accounting for the socio-institutional context, developmental needs, and interests affecting water use and management. Our study focused on three forest landscapes in Latin America where water stress was identified as a current concern potentially leading to future social conflict if not addressed. In the three sites, we adopted a participatory approach to implement a systematic diagnostic framework for the analysis of socio-institutional barriers and opportunities influencing local adaptation decision making. This novel application enabled science-society engagement in which civil society organizations were coleading the research. The field methods we used involved participatory social network mapping, semistructured interviews, and validation workshops. Our study generated insights into several interventions that could help overcome barriers affecting the adaptation decision-making process, particularly in the diagnosis and early planning phases. Points of intervention included fostering local participation and dialogue to facilitate coproduction of knowledge, and strengthening the role of key central actors in the water governance networks. These key actors are currently bridging multiple interests, information sources, and governance levels, and thus, they could become agents of change that facilitate local adaptation processes. Working jointly with civil society to frame the research proved effective to increase awareness about water issues, which related not only to the technological, economic, and political aspects of water, but also to organizational processes. The involvement of civil society created genuine interest in building further capacity for

Tele-Lab IT-Security: an Architecture for an online virtual IT Security Lab

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christoph Meinel

2008-05-01

Full Text Available Recently, Awareness Creation in terms of IT security has become a big thing – not only for enterprises. Campaigns for pupils try to highlight the importance of IT security even in the user’s early years. Common practices in security education – as seen in computer science courses at universities – mainly consist of literature and lecturing. In the best case, the teaching facility offers practical courses in a dedicated isolated computer lab. Additionally, there are some more or less interactive e-learning applications around. Most existing offers can do nothing more than impart theoretical knowledge or basic information. They all lack of possibilities to provide practical experience with security software or even hacker tools in a realistic environment. The only exceptions are the expensive and hard-to-maintain dedicated computer security labs. Those can only be provided by very few organizations. Tele-Lab IT-Security was designed to offer hands-on experience exercises in IT security without the need of additional hardware or maintenance expenses. The existing implementation of Tele-Lab even provides access to the learning environment over the Internet – and thus can be used anytime and anywhere. The present paper describes the extended architecture on which the current version of the Tele-Lab server is built.

ROLE OF GRASSROOTS ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY: The case of water security at Bwaila Secondary School in Malawi

Science.gov (United States)

Chasukwa Mwalwenje, Yvonne; Chasukwa, Steria

2015-04-01

Malawi is popularly known as the Warm Heart of Africa. Malawi has a total land area of 45,747 sq. miles. Of the total area, 80 % is covered by fresh water from Lake Malawi and other rivers. The country boasts that it holds large amounts of fresh water and has the third largest lake in Africa. Ironically, the number of households with reliable water access is low (Water Aid, 2014, UNDP, Human Development Report 2008). Regardless of signs of economic development, water security still remains a challenge in the Warm Heart of Africa. The problem with access to water prompted the Government of Malawi to introduce a National Water Policy in 1994 with the vision of 'Water and Sanitation for All'. Since then, other water access interventions have impacted on the ability to manage water sustainably. Over the past few years, more inclusive and diversified interventions have been put in place to reverse the situation. For instance, the government of Malawi has taken action to increase the number of water tanks in schools (UNICEF 2005). Several stakeholders' support the government in their role provides policy direction and coordinate management of the water sector. The outlined National Water and Sanitation Policy strategies includes promoting water conservation and catchment protection; incorporating local governments and communities in planning, development and management of water supplies and sanitation services; rehabilitating the existing infrastructure; creating an enabling environment for public-private partnerships in water supply and sanitation activities; undertaking rehabilitation and reduction of unaccounted-for-water of existing urban, peri-urban, as a priority; promoting economic incentives and opportunities to encourage the participation of small-scale water and sanitation service providers; and promoting water recycling and re-use. Despite of all these interventions, Malawi still continues to face significant challenges with issues of access and quality of

Hand hygiene practices among community Health Officers in Rivers ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

EB

Hand washing with soap and water or alcohol-based hand rub has long been considered one of the most important infection control measures to prevent healthcare-associated infections. However, compliance by healthcare workers with recommended hand hygiene procedures is unacceptably low, with compliance rates ...

Effect of hand paddles and parachute on butterfly coordination.

Science.gov (United States)

Telles, Thiago; Barroso, Renato; Barbosa, Augusto Carvalho; Salgueiro, Diego Fortes de Souza; Colantonio, Emilson; Andries Júnior, Orival

2015-01-01

This study investigated the effects of hand paddles, parachute and hand paddles plus parachute on the inter-limb coordination of butterfly swimming. Thirteen male swimmers were evaluated in four random maximal intensity conditions: without equipment, with hand paddles, with parachute and with hand paddles + parachute. Arm and leg stroke phases were identified by 2D video analysis to calculate the total time gap (T1: time between hands' entry in the water and high break-even point of the first undulation; T2: time between the beginning of the hand's backward movement and low break-even point of the first undulation; T3: time between the hand's arrival in a vertical plane to the shoulders and high break-even point of the second undulation; T4: time between the hand's release from the water and low break-even point of the second undulation). The swimming velocity was reduced and T1, T2 and T3 increased in parachute and hand paddles + parachute. No changes were observed in T4. Total time gap decreased in parachute and hand paddles + parachute. It is concluded that hand paddles do not influence the arm-to-leg coordination in butterfly, while parachute and hand paddles + parachute do change it, providing a greater propulsive continuity.

Climate Change and Water Scarcity: The Case of Saudi Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

DeNicola, Erica; Aburizaiza, Omar S; Siddique, Azhar; Khwaja, Haider; Carpenter, David O

2015-01-01

Climate change is expected to bring increases in average global temperatures (1.4°C-5.8°C [34.52°F-42.44°F] by 2100) and precipitation levels to varying degrees around the globe. The availability and quality of water will be severely affected, and public health threats from the lack of this valuable resource will be great unless water-scarce nations are able to adapt. Saudi Arabia provides a good example of how the climate and unsustainable human activity go hand in hand in creating stress on and depleting water resources, and an example for adaptation and mitigation. A search of the English literature addressing climate change, water scarcity, human health, and related topics was conducted using online resources and databases accessed through the University at Albany, State University of New York library web page. Water scarcity, which encompasses both water availability and water quality, is an important indicator of health. Beyond drinking, water supply is intimately linked to food security, sanitation, and hygiene, which are primary contributors to the global burden of disease. Poor and disadvantaged populations are the ones who will suffer most from the negative effects of climate change on water supply and associated human health issues. Examples of adaptation and mitigation measures that can help reduce the strain on conventional water resources (surface waters and fossil aquifers or groundwater) include desalination, wastewater recycling and reuse, and outsourcing food items or "virtual water trade." These are strategies being used by Saudi Arabia, a country that is water poor primarily due to decades of irresponsible irrigation practices. The human and environmental health risks associated with these adaptation measures are examined. Finally, strategies to protect human health through international collaboration and the importance of these efforts are discussed. International, multidisciplinary cooperation and collaboration will be needed to promote

Water Security Toolkit User Manual Version 1.2.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Klise, Katherine A.; Siirola, John Daniel; Hart, David; Hart, William Eugene; Phillips, Cynthia Ann; Haxton, Terranna; Murray, Regan; Janke, Robert; Taxon, Thomas; Laird, Carl; Seth, Arpan; Hackebeil, Gabriel; McGee, Shawn; Mann, Angelica

2014-08-01

The Water Security Toolkit (WST) is a suite of open source software tools that can be used by water utilities to create response strategies to reduce the impact of contamination in a water distribution network . WST includes hydraulic and water quality modeling software , optimizati on methodologies , and visualization tools to identify: (1) sensor locations to detect contamination, (2) locations in the network in which the contamination was introduced, (3) hydrants to remove contaminated water from the distribution system, (4) locations in the network to inject decontamination agents to inactivate, remove, or destroy contaminants, (5) locations in the network to take grab sample s to help identify the source of contamination and (6) valves to close in order to isolate contaminate d areas of the network. This user manual describes the different components of WST , along w ith examples and case studies. License Notice The Water Security Toolkit (WST) v.1.2 Copyright c 2012 Sandia Corporation. Under the terms of Contract DE-AC04-94AL85000, there is a non-exclusive license for use of this work by or on behalf of the U.S. government. This software is distributed under the Revised BSD License (see below). In addition, WST leverages a variety of third-party software packages, which have separate licensing policies: Acro Revised BSD License argparse Python Software Foundation License Boost Boost Software License Coopr Revised BSD License Coverage BSD License Distribute Python Software Foundation License / Zope Public License EPANET Public Domain EPANET-ERD Revised BSD License EPANET-MSX GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) v.3 gcovr Revised BSD License GRASP AT&T Commercial License for noncommercial use; includes randomsample and sideconstraints executable files LZMA SDK Public Domain nose GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) v.2.1 ordereddict MIT License pip MIT License PLY BSD License PyEPANET Revised BSD License Pyro MIT License PyUtilib Revised BSD License Py

33 CFR 165.1407 - Security Zones; Oahu, HI.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Security Zones; Oahu, HI. 165.1407 Section 165.1407 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY... Navigation Areas and Limited Access Areas Fourteenth Coast Guard District § 165.1407 Security Zones; Oahu, HI...

Effectiveness Of Different House-Hold Hand Washing Agents On ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Hand hygiene is a very important procedure in infection control. Washing agents commonly in use were investigated for their effectiveness in reducing hand floral and cotton towel was used as drying agent. Agents studied include; water alone, carex soap, dettol, and imperial leather. The hands were inoculated (deliberate ...

Bill project authorizing the ratification of association agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their member states, on the one hand, and Georgia, on the other hand. (accelerated procedure). Nr 2791

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valls, Manuel; Fabius, Laurent

2015-01-01

This bill project mainly contains the text of the association agreement between the EU and Euratom on the one hand, and Georgia on the other hand. This agreement contains a statement of objectives, a presentation of general principles, of issues of cooperation in the field of foreign policy and security, of issues related to freedom, security and justice, of issues related to trade and associated issues, to economic cooperation, to cooperation in other fields (transports, energy, environment, climate, industrial policy, and so on), to financial support and fraud prevention. Numerous appendices are related to these different topics

Impact of Climate and Land Use Changes on Water and Food Security in Jordan: Implications for Transcending “The Tragedy of the Commons”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jawad Taleb Al-Bakri

2013-02-01

Full Text Available This study investigates the impact of climate change and land use change on water resources and food security in Jordan. The country is dominated by arid climate with limited arable land and water resources, where the per capita share of water is less than 145 m3/year. The study focused on crop production and water resources under trends of anticipated climate change and population growth in the country. Remote sensing data were used to determine land use/cover changes and rates of urbanization, which took place at the cost of the cultivable land. Recession of irrigated areas led to lesser food production and food security. Outputs from crop production and water requirements models, in addition to regression analysis, were used to estimate the projected increase in agricultural water demand under the scenarios of increased air temperature and reduced rainfall by the years 2030 and 2050. Results indicated that problems of water scarcity and food insecurity would be exacerbated by climate change and increased population growth. To move from the tragedy of the commons towards transcendence, the study emphasized the need for adaptive measures to reduce the impacts of climate change on water resources and food security. The challenge, however, would remain the development and the efficient use of new water resources as a means for future sustainable development.

Microbial Efficacy of Waterless Hand Hygiene in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Science.gov (United States)

Pickering, A.; Boehm, A.; Davis, J.

2008-12-01

Millions of people die from diarrheal and respiratory diseases every year due to lack of proper sanitation, hygiene, and access to clean water. The act of handwashing with soap has been found to effectively reduce both diarrheal and respiratory illness, however, handwashing at critical times (i.e. after using the toilet, before preparing food) remains infrequent around the world. This research investigates the potential for alcohol- based hand sanitizer (ABHS) to be an effective and appropriate hand hygiene option in developing countries. A study was conducted to assess the microbiological effectiveness of ABHS, as compared to handwashing with soap and water, in field conditions in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. A total of 205 participants, including mothers, nurses, students, and teachers, were introduced to ABHS, given a standardized amount (2ml) of product, and instructed on how to use the product correctly. Hand samples were obtained using the hand rinse method before and after the use of ABHS from 152 participants. The other 53 participants were hand sampled before and after handwashing with a non-antimicrobial liquid soap and clean water (prior to using ABHS). Visual inspections of the hands were performed before hand sampling to record the level of dirt on the hands. All hand samples were processed and analyzed by membrane filtration for concentrations of two microbial indicators, enterococci and E. coli. User perceptions of the product and willingness to pay are also documented. The results of this study provide valuable insight on the prospective of promoting ABHS in developing countries and water scarce areas.

At the Crossroads: Counterproliferation and National Security Strategy

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

2004-01-01

.... national security and an enormous challenge for the entire international community. In the hands of rogue states, failing states, or substate terrorist groups, these weapons threaten not only U.S...

Comparative Assessment of Physical and Social Determinants of Water Quantity and Water Quality Concerns

Science.gov (United States)

Gunda, T.; Hornberger, G. M.

2017-12-01

Concerns over water resources have evolved over time, from physical availability to economic access and recently, to a more comprehensive study of "water security," which is inherently interdisciplinary because a secure water system is influenced by and affects both physical and social components. The concept of water security carries connotations of both an adequate supply of water as well as water that meets certain quality standards. Although the term "water security" has many interpretations in the literature, the research field has not yet developed a synthetic analysis of water security as both a quantity (availability) and quality (contamination) issue. Using qualitative comparative and multi-regression analyses, we evaluate the primary physical and social factors influencing U.S. states' water security from a quantity perspective and from a quality perspective. Water system characteristics are collated from academic and government sources and include access/use, governance, and sociodemographic, and ecosystem metrics. Our analysis indicates differences in variables driving availability and contamination concerns; for example, climate is a more significant determinant in water quantity-based security analyses than in water quality-based security analyses. We will also discuss coevolution of system traits and the merits of constructing a robust water security index based on the relative importance of metrics from our analyses. These insights will improve understanding of the complex interactions between quantity and quality aspects and thus, overall security of water systems.

The effects of cold immersion and hand protection on grip strength.

Science.gov (United States)

Vincent, M J; Tipton, M J

1988-08-01

The maximal voluntary grip strength (MVGS) of male volunteers was examined following a series of five intermittent 2 min cold water (5 degrees C) immersions of the unprotected hand or forearm. MVGS changes due to wearing a protective glove were also investigated. The surface electrical activity over the hand flexor muscles was recorded, as was the skin temperature of the hand and forearm. MVGS decreased significantly (p less than 0.01) following hand immersions (16%) and forearm immersion (13%). The majority of these reductions occurred during the first 2-min period of immersion. The effect of wearing a glove after unprotected hand cooling also produced significant (p less than 0.01) MVGS reductions which averaged 14%. These reductions were in addition to those caused by hand cooling. We conclude that both hand and forearm protection are important for the maintenance of hand-grip strength following cold water immersion.

Annual Storm Water Report for the Y-12 National Security Complex Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Environment Compliance Department

2012-01-01

The storm water pollution prevention program at the Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12 Complex) intends to protect the quality of storm water runoff through: (1) reducing the exposure of metal accumulation areas to precipitation, (2) implementation of Best Management Practices, (3) sampling during rain events and subsequent analysis, and (4) routine surveillances. When prescribed, the analytical data is compared to a set of cut-off concentration values to determine how the Y-12 Complex relates to other metal fabrication industries in the state of Tennessee. The quality of the storm water exiting the Y-12 Complex via East Fork Poplar Creek indicated some improvement in 2011. This improvement is attributable to the completion of several construction, demolition and remediation projects which occurred in 2010 and 2011. Emphasis will continue to be placed on site inspections and the timely implementation of improved storm water control measures as deemed necessary.

Annual Storm Water Report for the Y-12 National Security Complex, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Clean Water Compliance Section of the Environment Compliance Department

2012-01-01

The storm water pollution prevention program at the Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12 Complex) intends to protect the quality of storm water runoff through: (1) reducing the exposure of metal accumulation areas to precipitation, (2) implementation of Best Management Practices, (3) sampling during rain events and subsequent analysis, and (4) routine surveillances. When prescribed, the analytical data is compared to a set of cut-off concentration values to determine how the Y-12 Complex relates to other metal fabrication industries in the state of Tennessee. The quality of the storm water exiting the Y-12 Complex via East Fork Poplar Creek indicated some improvement in 2011. This improvement is attributable to the completion of several construction, demolition and remediation projects which occurred in 2010 and 2011. Emphasis will continue to be placed on site inspections and the timely implementation of improved storm water control measures as deemed necessary.

Security and Political Stability in the Mediterranean

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonio Marquina

1997-09-01

Full Text Available The author revises with a critical eye the treatment given the issue of security during the Euro-Mediterranean process from the Declaration of Barcelona to the Conference at Malta. According to Marquina, no idea of security exists which gives backbone to theEuro-Mediterranen process and the documents themselves contain incoherencies and significant imprecisions, especially regarding the concepts of cooperative security, preventative diplomacy and ‘good neighbor’ relations. These principles appear to be rather underexplained in both their conceptual and operative aspects. On one hand, the information about matters that affect security is exchanged on both a voluntary and official basis and can be, as such, thus opaque and not always reliable; on the other hand, the issues thataffect security are so wide-ranging that the operative approach - the communications network, mechanisms for early-warning, the conciliation and peaceful resolution of controversies - seems hardly realistic. With respect to confidence-building measures, the author considers that these should be linked to arms control agreements, which are more in accord with the stated objectives of defense sufficiency and the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Marquina also maintains that the role of civil society and the importance of cultural dialogue - both fundamental to conflict prevention - have not been reinforced even though the principal problems of security in the region are due to structural imbalances –military, economical, political– and, precisely the disparities amongcultures. In this sense, the EU states might consider putting forward unilateral policies that restrict such disparities, provided that a certain reciprocity of policy is put forth from the southern states in the Mediterranean.

Developing a method for quantification of Ascaris eggs on hands

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jeandron, Aurelie; Ensink, Jeroen J. H.; Thamsborg, Stig Milan

In transmission of soil transmitted helminths, especially with Ascaris and Trichuris infections, the importance of hands is unclear and very limited literature exists. This is partly because of the absence of a reliable method to quantify the number of helminth eggs on hands. The aim of this study...... was to develop a method to assess the number of Ascaris eggs on hands and determine the egg recovery rate of the method. Under laboratory conditions, hands were contaminated with app. 1000 Ascaris eggs, air dried and washed in a plastic bag retaining the washing water, in order to determine recovery rates...... of eggs for two different detergents (cationic [benzethonium chloride 0.1%], anionic [7X 1% - quadrafos, glycol ether, and dioctyl sulfoccinate sodium salt]) and de-ionized water used as control. The highest recovery rate (95.6%) was achieved with a hand rinse performed with 7X 1%. Washing hands...

Do hospital visitors wash their hands? Assessing the use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer in a hospital lobby.

Science.gov (United States)

Birnbach, David J; Nevo, Igal; Barnes, Susan; Fitzpatrick, Maureen; Rosen, Lisa F; Everett-Thomas, Ruth; Sanko, Jill S; Arheart, Kristopher L

2012-05-01

Reports regarding hand hygiene compliance (HHC) among hospital visitors are limited. Although there is an implicit assumption that the availability of alcohol-based hand sanitizer (AHS) promotes visitor HHC, the degree of AHS use by visitors remains unclear. To assess AHS use, we observed visitor HHC and how it is affected by visual cues in a private university hospital. Using an observational controlled study, we tested 3 interventions: a desk sign mandating all visitors to use AHS, a free-standing AHS dispenser directly in front of a security desk, and a combination of a freestanding AHS dispenser and a sign. HHC was 0.52% at baseline and did not improve significantly when the desk sign was provided as a cue 0.67% (P = .753). However, HHC did improve significantly with use of the freestanding AHS dispenser (9.33%) and the sign and dispenser combination (11.67%) (P hand hygiene behavior. Copyright © 2012 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Assessing food security in water scarce regions by Life Cycle Analysis: a case study in the Gaza strip

Science.gov (United States)

Recanati, Francesca; Castelletti, Andrea; Melià, Paco; Dotelli, Giovanni

2013-04-01

Food security is a major issue in Palestine for both political and physical reasons, with direct effects on the local population living conditions: the nutritional level of people in Gaza is classified by FAO as "insecure". As most of the protein supply comes from irrigated agricultural production and aquaculture, freshwater availability is a limiting factor to food security, and the primary reason for frequent conflicts among food production processes (e.g. aquaculture, land livestock or different types of crops). In this study we use Life Cycle Analysis to assess the environmental impacts associated to all the stages of water-based protein production (from agriculture and aquaculture) in the Gaza strip under different agricultural scenarios and hydroclimatic variability. As reported in several recent studies, LCA seems to be an appropriate methodology to analyze agricultural systems and assess associated food security in different socio-economic contexts. However, we argue that the inherently linear and static nature of LCA might prove inadequate to tackle with the complex interaction between water cycle variability and the food production system in water-scarce regions of underdeveloped countries. Lack of sufficient and reliable data to characterize the water cycle is a further source of uncertainty affecting the robustness of the analysis. We investigate pros and cons of LCA and LCA-based option planning in an average size farm in Gaza strip, where farming and aquaculture are family-based and integrated by reuse of fish breeding water for irrigation. Different technological solutions (drip irrigation system, greenhouses etc.) are evaluated to improve protein supply and reduce the pressure on freshwater, particularly during droughts. But this use of technology represent also a contribution in increasing sustainability in agricultural processes, and therefore in economy, of Gaza Strip (reduction in chemical fertilizers and pesticides etc.).

Rostering at a Dutch Security Firm

NARCIS (Netherlands)

R. Freling (Richard); N. Piersma (Nanda); A.P.M. Wagelmans (Albert); A. van de Wetering

2001-01-01

textabstractThe roster planning process at the Dutch security firm NVD was traditionally carried out by hand. A few years ago, because of changing labor laws in The Netherlands, this became practically impossible. We developed a decision support system which has four main modules. The first one

Food security, irrigation, climate change, and water scarcity in India

Science.gov (United States)

Hertel, T. W.; Taheripour, F.; Gopalakrishnan, B. N.; Sahin, S.; Escurra, J.

2015-12-01

annual reductions in welfare will be about 24.3 billion for 2008 to 2030. This study highlights the importance of considering the interplay between climate and water availability in assessments of food security.

A framework for modelling the complexities of food and water security under globalisation

Science.gov (United States)

Dermody, Brian J.; Sivapalan, Murugesu; Stehfest, Elke; van Vuuren, Detlef P.; Wassen, Martin J.; Bierkens, Marc F. P.; Dekker, Stefan C.

2018-01-01

We present a new framework for modelling the complexities of food and water security under globalisation. The framework sets out a method to capture regional and sectoral interdependencies and cross-scale feedbacks within the global food system that contribute to emergent water use patterns. The framework integrates aspects of existing models and approaches in the fields of hydrology and integrated assessment modelling. The core of the framework is a multi-agent network of city agents connected by infrastructural trade networks. Agents receive socio-economic and environmental constraint information from integrated assessment models and hydrological models respectively and simulate complex, socio-environmental dynamics that operate within those constraints. The emergent changes in food and water resources are aggregated and fed back to the original models with minimal modification of the structure of those models. It is our conviction that the framework presented can form the basis for a new wave of decision tools that capture complex socio-environmental change within our globalised world. In doing so they will contribute to illuminating pathways towards a sustainable future for humans, ecosystems and the water they share.

Lionfish envenomation of the hand.

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, M R; Wells, S

1993-05-01

Lionfish (Pterois volitans) envenomation of the hand causes excruciating pain and occurs in three grades: (1) erythematous reaction, (2) blister formation, and (3) dermal necrosis. The initial treatment in all cases is to soak the hand in nonscalding water (45 degrees C) until the pain subsides by denaturing the thermolabile venom proteins. The blisters should be immediately excised to prevent dermal necrosis, inasmuch as the blister fluid contains residual active venom. To prevent a hypersensitivity reaction, any further contact with the fish should be avoided.

Peaceful nuclear development and the three 'S' ('Safety', 'Security' and 'Safeguards')

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Julio Gonzalez, Abel; Abel Gonzalez, Martin

2010-01-01

We should agree on a comprehensive solution for a commensurate international control of both nuclear and radioactive material designed to ensure that peaceful nuclear developments will not cause harm to humanity. The concept of an international security system is clouded by the confusing semantics of its parts: the English concepts 'safeguards', 'safety' and 'security', on one hand, and nuclear and radioactive materials on the other hand. The objectives should be: to ensure, through appropriate safeguards, that nuclear materials are not diverted to non-peaceful activities; to prevent, through appropriate security, the unauthorized possession or use, illegal or malicious, of nuclear and radioactive materials; and, to ensure, through appropriate safety, that the use of nuclear and radioactive material will not cause harm to people and the environment. Security must be understood as an integral part of safeguards and safety, because materials that are secure are not necessarily safeguarded or safe, and materials may not be safeguarded or safe unless they are secure. Security is a necessary but not sufficient condition for safeguards and safety; security is an important but subsidiary condition of safeguards and safety; security is necessary but not sufficient to ensure nuclear control via safeguards and safety. In conclusion an International Treaty for the Control ('safeguards', 'safety' and 'security') of the Peaceful Development of Nuclear Energy and its Byproducts is proposed. It should clearly regulate the obligations and (non-compliance) penalties of the Parties, and, based on existing agreements, should be clear, logical, rational, fundamental, methodical, systematic, universal, equitable, impartial, fair and non discriminatory. (author)

Impacts of multiple global environmental changes on African crop yield and water use efficiency: Implications to food and water security

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, S.; Yang, J.; Zhang, J.; Xu, R.; Dangal, S. R. S.; Zhang, B.; Tian, H.

2016-12-01

Africa is one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to climate change and climate variability. Much concern has been raised about the impacts of climate and other environmental factors on water resource and food security through the climate-water-food nexus. Understanding the responses of crop yield and water use efficiency to environmental changes is particularly important because Africa is well known for widespread poverty, slow economic growth and agricultural systems particularly sensitive to frequent and persistent droughts. However, the lack of integrated understanding has limited our ability to quantify and predict the potential of Africa's agricultural sustainability and freshwater supply, and to better manage the system for meeting an increasing food demand in a way that is socially and environmentally or ecologically sustainable. By using the Dynamic Land Ecosystem Model (DLEM-AG2) driven by spatially-explicit information on land use, climate and other environmental changes, we have assessed the spatial and temporal patterns of crop yield, evapotranspiration (ET) and water use efficiency across entire Africa in the past 35 years (1980-2015) and the rest of the 21st century (2016-2099). Our preliminary results indicate that African crop yield in the past three decades shows an increasing trend primarily due to cropland expansion (about 50%), elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration, and nitrogen deposition. However, crop yield shows substantially spatial and temporal variation due to inter-annual and inter-decadal climate variability and spatial heterogeneity of environmental drivers. Climate extremes especially droughts and heat wave have largely reduced crop yield in the most vulnerable regions. Our results indicate that N fertilizer could be a major driver to improve food security in Africa. Future climate warming could reduce crop yield and shift cropland distribution. Our study further suggests that improving water use efficiency through land

Safeguards and security requirements for weapons plutonium disposition in light water reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomas, L.L.; Strait, R.S.

1994-10-01

This paper explores the issues surrounding the safeguarding of the plutonium disposition process in support of the United States nuclear weapons dismantlement program. It focuses on the disposition of the plutonium by burning mixed oxide fuel in light water reactors (LWR) and addresses physical protection, material control and accountability, personnel security and international safeguards. The S and S system needs to meet the requirements of the DOE Orders, NRC Regulations and international safeguards agreements. Experience has shown that incorporating S and S measures into early facility designs and integrating them into operations provides S and S that is more effective, more economical, and less intrusive. The plutonium disposition safeguards requirements with which the US has the least experience are the implementation of international safeguards on plutonium metal; the large scale commercialization of the mixed oxide fuel fabrication; and the transportation to and loading in the LWRs of fresh mixed oxide fuel. It is in these areas where the effort needs to be concentrated if the US is to develop safeguards and security systems that are effective and efficient

The Saskatchewan River Basin - a large scale observatory for water security research (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Wheater, H. S.

2013-12-01

The 336,000 km2 Saskatchewan River Basin (SaskRB) in Western Canada illustrates many of the issues of Water Security faced world-wide. It poses globally-important science challenges due to the diversity in its hydro-climate and ecological zones. With one of the world's more extreme climates, it embodies environments of global significance, including the Rocky Mountains (source of the major rivers in Western Canada), the Boreal Forest (representing 30% of Canada's land area) and the Prairies (home to 80% of Canada's agriculture). Management concerns include: provision of water resources to more than three million inhabitants, including indigenous communities; balancing competing needs for water between different uses, such as urban centres, industry, agriculture, hydropower and environmental flows; issues of water allocation between upstream and downstream users in the three prairie provinces; managing the risks of flood and droughts; and assessing water quality impacts of discharges from major cities and intensive agricultural production. Superimposed on these issues is the need to understand and manage uncertain water futures, including effects of economic growth and environmental change, in a highly fragmented water governance environment. Key science questions focus on understanding and predicting the effects of land and water management and environmental change on water quantity and quality. To address the science challenges, observational data are necessary across multiple scales. This requires focussed research at intensively monitored sites and small watersheds to improve process understanding and fine-scale models. To understand large-scale effects on river flows and quality, land-atmosphere feedbacks, and regional climate, integrated monitoring, modelling and analysis is needed at large basin scale. And to support water management, new tools are needed for operational management and scenario-based planning that can be implemented across multiple scales and

Clean Hands for Life: results of a large, multicentre, multifaceted, social marketing hand-hygiene campaign.

Science.gov (United States)

Forrester, L A; Bryce, E A; Mediaa, A K

2010-03-01

A year-long multifaceted hand-hygiene campaign entitled Clean Hands for Life targeting individual, environmental and organisational factors that influence healthcare worker (HCW) hand-hygiene behaviour was implemented in 36 acute and long-term care facilities in Vancouver Coastal Health region. The campaign involved rotation of ten novel posters, two poster contests, and distribution of multiple promotional items. A social marketing approach was used to implement and monitor the effectiveness of the campaign. Evaluation included quality assurance surveys, staff surveys (baseline, mid- and post-campaign), and focus groups. A total of 141 poster contest submissions was received, 5452 staff surveys completed and 14 focus groups conducted. Overall knowledge of the importance of hand-hygiene and intention to clean hands was high at baseline. No significant differences were observed when mid- and post-campaign scores were compared to baseline. The majority (89.5%) of HCWs reported that they preferred soap and water over alcohol hand gel. A significant increase in the self-reported use of hand-hygiene products was observed particularly among HCWs not providing direct patient care. Barriers to hand-hygiene included inappropriate placement of sinks, traffic flow issues, inadequately stocked washrooms, workload and time constraints. Organisational support was visible throughout the campaign. The results showed that social marketing is an effective approach in engaging HCWs. Hand-hygiene campaigns that focus almost exclusively on increasing awareness among HCWs may not be as successful as multifaceted campaigns or campaigns that target identified barriers to hand-hygiene. Copyright 2009 The Hospital Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

76 FR 48751 - Security Zones; Captain of the Port Lake Michigan Zone

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-09

... Jardine Water Filtration Plant security zone would encompass all U.S. navigable waters of Lake Michigan... areas near shore to Chicago's water filtration plants; the security zones have been designed to allow.... 165.910 Security Zones; Captain of the Port Lake Michigan. (a) * * * (1) Jardine Water Filtration...

CERN Technical Training: new courses on computer security

CERN Multimedia

HR Department

2009-01-01

Two new trainings are available at CERN concerning computer security. • How to create secure software? The "Developing secure software" course (3.5 hours) is designed for software programmers, both for regular software and Web applications. It covers main aspects of security in different phases of the software development lifecycle. The last, optional hour discusses security issues of Web application developers. This course, although not hands-on, is interactive and full of real-life examples. The first session of this course will take place, in English, on 21 April in the CERN Technical Training Centre. More sessions will be scheduled in 2009. • How to safely navigate and send mails? The "Secure e-mail and Web browsing" course is an entry-level 1.5-hour course designed to show how to detect and avoid typical security pitfalls encountered when e-mailing and browsing the Web. It is designed for non-technical users of Internet Explorer and Outlook. The first sessions ...

CERN Technical Training: new courses on computer security

CERN Multimedia

HR Department

2009-01-01

Two new trainings are available at CERN concerning computer security. • How to create secure software? The "Developing secure software" course (3.5 hours) is designed for software programmers, both for regular software and Web applications. It covers main aspects of security in different phases of the software development lifecycle. The last, optional hour discusses security issues of Web application developers. This course, although not hands-on, is interactive and full of real-life examples. The first session of this course will take place, in English, on 21 April in the CERN Technical Training Centre. More sessions will be scheduled in 2009. • How to safely navigate and send mails? The "Secure e-mail and Web browsing" course is an entry-level 1.5-hour course designed to show how to detect and avoid typical security pitfalls encountered when e-mailing and browsing the Web. It is designed for non-technical users of Internet Explorer and Outlook. The first sessions o...

CERN Technical Training: new courses on computer security

CERN Multimedia

HR Department

2009-01-01

Two new trainings are available at CERN concerning computer security. • How to create secure software? The "Developing secure software" course (3.5 hours) is designed for software programmers, both for regular software and Web applications. It covers main aspects of security in different phases of the software development lifecycle. The last, optional hour discusses security issues of Web application developers. This course, although not hands-on, is interactive and full of real-life examples. The first session of this course will take place, in English, on 21 April in the CERN Technical Training Center. More sessions will be scheduled in 2009. • How to safely navigate and send mails? The "Secure e-mail and Web browsing" course is an entry-level 1.5-hour training aimed to show how to detect and avoid typical security pitfalls encountered when e-mailing and browsing the Web. It is designed for non-technical users of Internet Explorer and Outlook. The first sessions o...

European Security through EU-Russian Relations: Towards a New Multilateral Order?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandra Fernandes

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Since the end of the Cold War, the EU and Russia have managed to create an original framework for institutionalised cooperation despite asymmetric characteristics. Yet, the way these two main security actors interact has an impact on the (non-resolution of security issues in Europe, ranging from ‘‘frozen conflicts’’ to the discussion of the security architecture. Since the second mandate of President Putin, the relation has been characterised by two paradoxical features. On the one hand, the methodology and the domains of cooperation have reached a high degree of achievement. On the other hand, the political quality of the relationship has deteriorated and it is not able to achieve the desired ‘‘strategic partnership’’ that should be based on a common set of values and principles. This article aims to define multilateralism as a paradigm applicable to EU-Russian relations. It examines their relationship in the security and defence realm and the Union’s reactions to a new security approach by Russia since the 2008 Medvedev proposal. The article questions how the EU-Russian political dialogue impacts on multilateralism in the security field. The conclusion considers EU-Russian relations as a peculiar multilateral playground addressing common security challenges, which still needs to be developed further in order to be instrumental in the search for collective and legitimate solutions.

Position of the academy of nutrition and dietetics: nutrition security in developing nations: sustainable food, water, and health.

Science.gov (United States)

Nordin, Stacia M; Boyle, Marie; Kemmer, Teresa M

2013-04-01

It is the position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics that all people should have consistent access to an appropriately nutritious diet of food and water, coupled with a sanitary environment, adequate health services, and care that ensure a healthy and active life for all household members. The Academy supports policies, systems, programs, and practices that work with developing nations to achieve nutrition security and self-sufficiency while being environmentally and economically sustainable. For nations to achieve nutrition security, all people must have access to a variety of nutritious foods and potable drinking water; knowledge, resources, and skills for healthy living; prevention, treatment, and care for diseases affecting nutrition status; and safety-net systems during crisis situations, such as natural disasters or deleterious social and political systems. More than 2 billion people are micronutrient deficient; 1.5 billion people are overweight or obese; 870 million people have inadequate food energy intake; and 783 million people lack potable drinking water. Adequate nutrient intake is a concern, independent of weight status. Although this article focuses on nutritional deficiencies in developing nations, global solutions for excesses and deficiencies need to be addressed. In an effort to achieve nutrition security, lifestyles, policies, and systems (eg, food, water, health, energy, education/knowledge, and economic) contributing to sustainable resource use, environmental management, health promotion, economic stability, and positive social environments are required. Food and nutrition practitioners can get involved in promoting and implementing effective and sustainable policies, systems, programs, and practices that support individual, community, and national efforts. Copyright © 2013 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

33 CFR 106.140 - Maritime Security (MARSEC) Directive.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Maritime Security (MARSEC... SECURITY MARITIME SECURITY MARINE SECURITY: OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF (OCS) FACILITIES General § 106.140 Maritime Security (MARSEC) Directive. All OCS facility owners or operators subject to this part must comply...

Maritime Safety and Security Challenges – 3D Simulation Based Training

OpenAIRE

Christoph Felsenstein; Knud Benedict; Michael Baldauf

2013-01-01

Maritime Safety and Security on board ships very much depends on well trained crews. That is why training and exercising emergency response procedures as well as efficiency in reliable management are extremely necessary. On the other hand research as well as technological development in safety and security, tools and other kinds of technical and organizational systems contribute to further improvement and guarantee high levels of safety and security in maritime transportation. Simulation faci...

CompTIA Security+ Deluxe Study Guide Exam SY0-301

CERN Document Server

Dulaney, Emmett

2011-01-01

Get a host of extras with this Deluxe version including a Security Administration Simulator!  Prepare for CompTIA's new Security+ exam SY0-301 with this Deluxe Edition of our popular CompTIA Security+ Study Guide, 5th Edition. In addition to the 100% coverage of all exam essentials and study tools you'll find in the regular study guide, the Deluxe Edition gives you over additional hands-on lab exercises and study tools, three additional practice exams, author videos, and the exclusive Security Administration simulator. This book is a CompTIA Recommended product. Provides 100% coverage of all e

33 CFR 101.405 - Maritime Security (MARSEC) Directives.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Maritime Security (MARSEC... SECURITY MARITIME SECURITY MARITIME SECURITY: GENERAL Control Measures for Security § 101.405 Maritime... necessary to respond to a threat assessment or to a specific threat against the maritime elements of the...

Security research roadmap

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rouhiainen, V. (ed.)

2007-02-15

VTT has a broad range of security research ongoing in many areas of technology. The main areas have been concentrating on public safety and security, but VTT is also participating in several research projects related to defence technology. To identify and define expertise and research goals in more detail, the Security research roadmap was developed. The roadmap identified three particularly significant areas related to security. The assurance of a critical infrastructure emphasises the protection of energy networks, information networks, water supply, traffic and transport, and obviously also the citizens. For assuring the activities of entrepreneurship, significant areas include the security of production and services, the security of sites and assets, and information security for embedded systems. The most important security products and technologies needed are, for example, management of total security, detection, identification, localisation and communication, protection of information networks and systems, as well as physical protection. In the EU's Security programme, which aims at ensuring the security of society and its vital functions, it is stated that. Technology alone can not assure security, but security can not be assured without the support of technology. VTT is conducting security research in all its areas of expertise and clusters. The area has a significant research potential. The development of products and systems designed for the improvement of security has just started. There is still room for innovation. This report presents knowledge and development needs in more detail, as well as future development potential seen in the area of security. (orig.)

Device of Definition of Hand-Written Documents Belonging to One Executor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. D. Kulik

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Results of working out of the device of definition of hand-written documents belonging to the executor of the text in Russian are presented. The device is intended for automation of work of experts and allows to solve problems of information security and search of criminals.

Achieving water security through community-based agreements in rural Northwestern Costa Rica

Science.gov (United States)

Bautista Solís, P.; Bommel, P.; Campos, X.; Suarez, A.; Leclerc, G.

2016-12-01

Community-based drinking water organizations have the responsibility in supplying water for domestic use to 29% of the Costa Rican population. Nowadays, more than 1.500 of these organizations face important challenges for achieving this critical mission, such as fulfilling national drinking-water quality standards, and improving their organization and administration to secure water supply and distribution under climate change. We conducted action-research in two communities with similar geographical and demographic conditions: Cuajiniquil and Colas de Gallo located in the drought prone Guanacaste region in Costa Rica. Both communities are contrasted regarding to their assets and organization. We addressed the following research question: Can a participatory process help communities assess the situation of their aqueduct and its management, project themselves in the future, and build more resilient strategies to face domestic water restrictions? Through 16 participatory sessions, we adapted the Wat-a-Game (WAG) toolkit to the problem of domestic water provision in these communities, creating the WAG-Tico role-playing game. This was complemented by two other activities: visits by regional actors sharing their experience, and exchange visits between both communities for cross-learning about community-based water management. The process resulted in a locally-led collaboration between both communities and the emergence of community commitments for improving drought resilience. WAG-Tico sensibilized participants to appreciate the value of community organization and the impacts of climate change on water supply, and develop aqueduct management rules. Exchange visits and regional actors interventions promoted opportunities for accessing to external resources (i.e. social, human and financial). Colas de Gallo created its first water committee for building a community aqueduct and their first drilled well. Cuajiniquil has committed in protecting its water springs, organized

Handwashing and Ebola virus disease outbreaks: A randomized comparison of soap, hand sanitizer, and 0.05% chlorine solutions on the inactivation and removal of model organisms Phi6 and E. coli from hands and persistence in rinse water.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marlene K Wolfe

Full Text Available To prevent Ebola transmission, frequent handwashing is recommended in Ebola Treatment Units and communities. However, little is known about which handwashing protocol is most efficacious. We evaluated six handwashing protocols (soap and water, alcohol-based hand sanitizer (ABHS, and 0.05% sodium dichloroisocyanurate, high-test hypochlorite, and stabilized and non-stabilized sodium hypochlorite solutions for 1 efficacy of handwashing on the removal and inactivation of non-pathogenic model organisms and, 2 persistence of organisms in rinse water. Model organisms E. coli and bacteriophage Phi6 were used to evaluate handwashing with and without organic load added to simulate bodily fluids. Hands were inoculated with test organisms, washed, and rinsed using a glove juice method to retrieve remaining organisms. Impact was estimated by comparing the log reduction in organisms after handwashing to the log reduction without handwashing. Rinse water was collected to test for persistence of organisms. Handwashing resulted in a 1.94-3.01 log reduction in E. coli concentration without, and 2.18-3.34 with, soil load; and a 2.44-3.06 log reduction in Phi6 without, and 2.71-3.69 with, soil load. HTH performed most consistently well, with significantly greater log reductions than other handwashing protocols in three models. However, the magnitude of handwashing efficacy differences was small, suggesting protocols are similarly efficacious. Rinse water demonstrated a 0.28-4.77 log reduction in remaining E. coli without, and 0.21-4.49 with, soil load and a 1.26-2.02 log reduction in Phi6 without, and 1.30-2.20 with, soil load. Chlorine resulted in significantly less persistence of E. coli in both conditions and Phi6 without soil load in rinse water (p<0.001. Thus, chlorine-based methods may offer a benefit of reducing persistence in rinse water. We recommend responders use the most practical handwashing method to ensure hand hygiene in Ebola contexts, considering

Analysis of uses and competitions of water resources or an original dissemination strategy of hydrological modelling results of an EU project ?

Science.gov (United States)

La Jeunesse, Isabelle; Fustec, Klervi; Larrue, Corinne; Trottier, Julie

2010-05-01

We propose to address the question of security threats through an analysis of water uses and competitions in the current situation, on one hand, and in conditions of climate change, on the other hand, in order to have an operational dissemination of hydrological modelling results. This will be carried out for each case study of the EU project CLIMB (7th EU FP). In this particular case, climate change impacts are to be considered in relation with water uses and rivalries. Taking them into account while involving stakeholders should allow us to have a deep impact on water uses regulation under conditions of climate change. The originality of this methodology, the first objective of which within the project is to disseminate project results and interact with stakeholders, is to use the dissemination phase as a means of involving stakeholder knowledge concerning water uses and competitions. The idea is to let the stakeholders identify themselves, in each case study, by means of interactive methods, the impact of the change of hydrological regime on their own water uses and competitions. We propose to use a real "bottom-up" strategy to assess the potential water uses and rivalries in the context of water scarcity (or flood) due to climate change. Such an approach will allow us to evaluate the risk of an increase in water rivalries and threats to security following climate change impacts scenarios at the river basin scale.

Efficacy of Waterless Hand Hygiene Compared with Handwashing with Soap: A Field Study in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Science.gov (United States)

Pickering, Amy J.; Boehm, Alexandria B.; Mwanjali, Mathew; Davis, Jennifer

2010-01-01

Effective handwashing with soap requires reliable access to water supplies. However, more than three billion persons do not have household-level access to piped water. This research addresses the challenge of improving hand hygiene within water-constrained environments. The antimicrobial efficacy of alcohol-based hand sanitizer, a waterless hand hygiene product, was evaluated and compared with handwashing with soap and water in field conditions in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Hand sanitizer use by mothers resulted in 0.66 and 0.64 log reductions per hand of Escherichia coli and fecal streptococci, respectively. In comparison, handwashing with soap resulted in 0.50 and 0.25 log reductions per hand of E. coli and fecal streptococci, respectively. Hand sanitizer was significantly better than handwashing with respect to reduction in levels of fecal streptococci (P = 0.01). The feasibility and health impacts of promoting hand sanitizer as an alternative hand hygiene option for water-constrained environments should be assessed. PMID:20134005

Temperature dependence on sodium-water chemical reaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tamura, Kenta; Deguchi, Yoshihiro; Suzuki, Koichi; Takata, Takashi; Yamaguchi, Akira; Kikuchi, Shin; Ohshima, Hiroyuki

2012-01-01

In a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR), liquid sodium is used as a heat transfer fluid because of its excellent heat transport capability. On the other hand, it has strong chemical reactivity with water vapor. One of the design basis accidents of the SFR is the water leakage into the liquid sodium flow by a breach of heat transfer tubes. This process ends up damages on the heat transport equipment in the SFR. Therefore, the study on sodium-water chemical reactions is of paramount importance for security reasons. This study aims to clarify the sodium-water reaction mechanisms using laser diagnostics. A quasi one-dimensional flame model is also applied to a sodium-water counter-flow reaction field. Temperature, H 2 , H 2 O, OH, Na and Particulate matter were measured using laser induced fluorescence and CARS in the counter-flow reaction field. The temperature of the reaction field was also modified to reduce the condensation of Na in the reaction zone. (author)

Hand washing practices amongst medical students in Port Harcourt ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Alasia Datonye

Background: Hand washing with soap and water is one of ... Method: This was a descriptive cross sectional survey ... simple questionnaire exploring perceptions, attitudes and ... Many studies have shown that doctors decontaminating their hands between seeing patients ..... countries: a systematic review and meta analysis.

Security Scenario Generator (SecGen): A Framework for Generating Randomly Vulnerable Rich-scenario VMs for Learning Computer Security and Hosting CTF Events

OpenAIRE

Schreuders, ZC; Shaw, T; Shan-A-Khuda, M; Ravichandran, G; Keighley, J; Ordean, M

2017-01-01

Computer security students benefit from hands-on experience applying security tools and techniques to attack and defend vulnerable systems. Virtual machines (VMs) provide an effective way of sharing targets for hacking. However, developing these hacking challenges is time consuming, and once created, essentially static. That is, once the challenge has been "solved" there is no remaining challenge for the student, and if the challenge is created for a competition or assessment, the challenge c...

A framework for modelling the complexities of food and water security under globalisation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. J. Dermody

2018-01-01

Full Text Available We present a new framework for modelling the complexities of food and water security under globalisation. The framework sets out a method to capture regional and sectoral interdependencies and cross-scale feedbacks within the global food system that contribute to emergent water use patterns. The framework integrates aspects of existing models and approaches in the fields of hydrology and integrated assessment modelling. The core of the framework is a multi-agent network of city agents connected by infrastructural trade networks. Agents receive socio-economic and environmental constraint information from integrated assessment models and hydrological models respectively and simulate complex, socio-environmental dynamics that operate within those constraints. The emergent changes in food and water resources are aggregated and fed back to the original models with minimal modification of the structure of those models. It is our conviction that the framework presented can form the basis for a new wave of decision tools that capture complex socio-environmental change within our globalised world. In doing so they will contribute to illuminating pathways towards a sustainable future for humans, ecosystems and the water they share.

Incomplete water securitization in coupled hydro-human production sytems

Science.gov (United States)

van den Boom, B.; Pande, S.

2012-04-01

least good as for all the agents and that makes at least one agent better off . On the other hand, allocations under autarky EA will tend to be inefficient, meaning that other allocations may exist that would be preferred by some agents without compromising the interest of the others. By the same token, the in-between case with water securities will generally also fail to achieve full efficiency. Nonetheless, some securitization will always be at least as good as none while it will be better under conditions of water scarcity that are common in dryland area river basins. Hence water allocations under EWS will generally lead to an improvement over those under EA. It should be noted that the fully efficient equilibrium is only imaginary because it requires a separate water security for every agent, for every period and for every contingency that nature might hold. Clearly, because of dimensionality, this amount of securities will be beyond reach. Therefore, water securitization with a limited number of securities remains as the only practical option to deal with the inefficiency of water allocations under autarky. The economic theory of incomplete markets provides a useful framework to study limited water securitization. We apply the theory in the context of our water allocation framework using an institutional setting where downstream agent i may secure water from upstream agent (i-1) through an agreement that pays for (i-1)'s water savings. In this manner we identify (I-1) water securities, one for each pair of contiguous agents. Each security addresses, at the local level, the interaction of flows over time and over contingencies that might occur. Under scarcity conditions prevalent in many river basins, agents will show an interest to supply and demand such securities. In particular, downstream area can often make more productive use of water. Accordingly, in the water autarky equilibrium EA, they would be willing to pay for more water, while, at the same time

33 CFR 165.758 - Security Zone; San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Security Zone; San Juan, Puerto Rico. (a) Location. Moving and fixed security zones are established 50... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Security Zone; San Juan, Puerto Rico. 165.758 Section 165.758 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND...

Lecture 13: Control System Cyber Security

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2013-01-01

Today, the industralized world lives in symbiosis with control systems: it depends on power distribution, oil production, public transport, automatic production lines. While the convenience is at hand, still too many control systems are designed without any security in mind, lack basic security protections, and are not even robust enough to withstand basic attacks. The Stuxnet worm attacking Siemens PLCs in 2010 was another close call. Attackers currently enjoy hacking control systems, and aim to switch lights off. This presentation shall recap the current situation and outline why the presenter is still waiting for a change in paradigm. Stefan Lüders, PhD, graduated from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and joined CERN in 2002. Being initially developer of a common safety system used in all four experiments at the Large Hadron Collider, he gathered expertise in cyber-security issues of control systems. Consequently in 2004, he took over responsibilities in securing CERN's accelerator and...

Water pressure control device for control rod drive

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, Hideyuki.

1981-01-01

Purpose: To minimize the fluctuations in the reactor water level upon occurrence of abnormality by inputting the level signal of the reactor to an arithmetic unit for controlling the pressure of control rod drive water to thereby enable effective reactor level control. Constitution: Signal from a flow rate transmitter is inputted into an arithmetic unit to perform constant flow rate control upon normal operation. While on the other hand, if abnormality occurs such as feedwater pump trips, the arithmetic unit is switched from the constant flow rate control to the reactor water level control. Reactor water level signal is inputted into the arithmetic unit and the control valve is most suitably controlled, whereby water is fed from CST to the reactor by way of control rod drive water system to secure the reactor water level if feedwater to the reactor is interrupted by loss of coolants on the feedwater system. Since this enables to minimize the fluctuations in the reactor water level upon abnormality, the reactor water level can be controlled most suitably by the reactor water level signal. (Moriyama, K.)

NNSA Program Develops the Next Generation of Nuclear Security Experts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brim, Cornelia P.; Disney, Maren V.

2015-09-02

NNSA is fostering the next generation of nuclear security experts is through its successful NNSA Graduate Fellowship Program (NGFP). NGFP offers its Fellows an exceptional career development opportunity through hands-on experience supporting NNSA mission areas across policy and technology disciplines. The one-year assignments give tomorrow’s leaders in global nuclear security and nonproliferation unparalleled exposure through assignments to Program Offices across NNSA.

Secure Multicast Routing Algorithm for Wireless Mesh Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rakesh Matam

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Multicast is an indispensable communication technique in wireless mesh network (WMN. Many applications in WMN including multicast TV, audio and video conferencing, and multiplayer social gaming use multicast transmission. On the other hand, security in multicast transmissions is crucial, without which the network services are significantly disrupted. Existing secure routing protocols that address different active attacks are still vulnerable due to subtle nature of flaws in protocol design. Moreover, existing secure routing protocols assume that adversarial nodes cannot share an out-of-band communication channel which rules out the possibility of wormhole attack. In this paper, we propose SEMRAW (SEcure Multicast Routing Algorithm for Wireless mesh network that is resistant against all known active threats including wormhole attack. SEMRAW employs digital signatures to prevent a malicious node from gaining illegitimate access to the message contents. Security of SEMRAW is evaluated using the simulation paradigm approach.

Intelligent techniques in signal processing for multimedia security

CERN Document Server

Santhi, V

2017-01-01

This book proposes new algorithms to ensure secured communications and prevent unauthorized data exchange in secured multimedia systems. Focusing on numerous applications’ algorithms and scenarios, it offers an in-depth analysis of data hiding technologies including watermarking, cryptography, encryption, copy control, and authentication. The authors present a framework for visual data hiding technologies that resolves emerging problems of modern multimedia applications in several contexts including the medical, healthcare, education, and wireless communication networking domains. Further, it introduces several intelligent security techniques with real-time implementation. As part of its comprehensive coverage, the book discusses contemporary multimedia authentication and fingerprinting techniques, while also proposing personal authentication/recognition systems based on hand images, surveillance system security using gait recognition, face recognition under restricted constraints such as dry/wet face condi...

Security of the electricity supply. The area of conflict between profitability and environmental compatibility; Sicherheit der Elektrizitaetsversorgung. Das Spannungsfeld von Wirtschaftlichkeit und Umweltvertraeglichkeit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Praktiknjo, Aaron

2013-07-01

The scope of the book is on the one hand support for the power industry defining investment and sales strategies that intend optimum supply security in the view of the customer and on the other hand the information for energy and environmental politicians demonstrating the conflict of objectives. The following issues are covered: technical and organizational aspects of electricity supply, theoretical background of the security of electricity supply, security of supply for economic sections, security of electricity supply for private households: theoretical microeconomic approach, security of electricity supply for private households: method of defined preferences, security of electricity supply in the context of climate protection and nuclear phase-out.

Energy Security of Russia and the EU: Current Legal Problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seliverstov, S.

2009-01-01

Security of energy supply is a cornerstone of European energy policy. It receives specific mention both in the Constitution Treaty and in the Lisbon Treaty. Of course, energy and energy-generated revenues are vital for Russia as well. It is a common understanding that Russia and the EU are extremely interdependent in terms of energy. On the one hand, Russia is the strategic energy supplier to the EU as a whole; for some member states Russian supplies represent the only source of the external energy flows. On the other hand, the revenues generated from the west-bound supplies of oil and gas constitute a significant share of the overall export income and of the budget of Russian Federation. Taking the interdependency as a point of departure the present article answers the following questions: What are the differences and the similarities in the European and the Russian approaches towards security of energy supply? Is their understanding of energy security so different? What are the current legal instruments guiding interaction in this sphere? What are the actual trends that could give some indication of how the situation may develop in the future? - While the concepts of 'security of energy supplies' or of 'energy security' are theoretical in nature, the ways the concepts are understood and the legal framework for them directly influences the way they are applied in practice. (author)

Recent Developments in Microbiological Approaches for Securing Mine Wastes and for Recovering Metals from Mine Waters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Barrie Johnson

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Mining of metals and coals generates solid and liquid wastes that are potentially hazardous to the environment. Traditional methods to reduce the production of pollutants from mining and to treat impacted water courses are mostly physico-chemical in nature, though passive remediation of mine waters utilizes reactions that are catalysed by microorganisms. This paper reviews recent advances in biotechnologies that have been proposed both to secure reactive mine tailings and to remediate mine waters. Empirical management of tailings ponds to promote the growth of micro-algae that sustain populations of bacteria that essentially reverse the processes involved in the formation of acid mine drainage has been proposed. Elsewhere, targeted biomineralization has been demonstrated to produce solid products that allow metals present in mine waters to be recovered and recycled, rather than to be disposed of in landfill.

Quantifying the Effects of Water Temperature, Soap Volume, Lather Time, and Antimicrobial Soap as Variables in the Removal of Escherichia coli ATCC 11229 from Hands.

Science.gov (United States)

Jensen, Dane A; Macinga, David R; Shumaker, David J; Bellino, Roberto; Arbogast, James W; Schaffner, Donald W

2017-06-01

The literature on hand washing, while extensive, often contains conflicting data, and key variables are only superficially studied or not studied at all. Some hand washing recommendations are made without scientific support, and agreement between recommendations is limited. The influence of key variables such as soap volume, lather time, water temperature, and product formulation on hand washing efficacy was investigated in the present study. Baseline conditions were 1 mL of a bland (nonantimicrobial) soap, a 5-s lather time, and 38°C (100°F) water temperature. A nonpathogenic strain of Escherichia coli (ATCC 11229) was the challenge microorganism. Twenty volunteers (10 men and 10 women) participated in the study, and each test condition had 20 replicates. An antimicrobial soap formulation (1% chloroxylenol) was not significantly more effective than the bland soap for removing E. coli under a variety of test conditions. Overall, the mean reduction was 1.94 log CFU (range, 1.83 to 2.10 log CFU) with the antimicrobial soap and 2.22 log CFU (range, 1.91 to 2.54 log CFU) with the bland soap. Overall, lather time significantly influenced efficacy in one scenario, in which a 0.5-log greater reduction was observed after 20 s with bland soap compared with the baseline wash (P = 0.020). Water temperature as high as 38°C (100°F) and as low as 15°C (60°F) did not have a significant effect on the reduction of bacteria during hand washing; however, the energy usage differed between these temperatures. No significant differences were observed in mean log reductions experienced by men and women (both 2.08 log CFU; P = 0.988). A large part of the variability in the data was associated with the behaviors of the volunteers. Understanding what behaviors and human factors most influence hand washing may help researchers find techniques to optimize the effectiveness of hand washing.

MINING SECURITY PIPE© (TSM© WITH UNDERGROUND GPS GLOBAL© (RSPG© ESCAPE SECURITY DEVICE IN UNDERGROUND MINING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafael Barrionuevo GIMÉNEZ

2016-04-01

Full Text Available TSM is escape pipe in case of collapse of terrain. The TSM is a passive security tool placed underground to connect the work area with secure area (mining gallery mainly. TSM is light and hand able pipe made with aramid (Kevlar, carbon fibre, or other kind of new material. The TSM will be placed as a pipe line network with many in/out entrances/exits to rich and connect problem work areas with another parts in a safe mode. Different levels of instrumentation could be added inside such as micro-led escape way suggested, temperature, humidity, level of oxygen, etc.. The open hardware and software like Arduino will be the heart of control and automation system.

Securing water for the cities.

Science.gov (United States)

Satterthwaite, D

1993-01-01

Many cities in developing countries have grown so much that they can no longer provide adequate, sustainable water. Over pumping in Dakar and Mexico City has forced those cities to obtain water from ever more distant sources. In Dakar, the result has been saltwater intrusion. Overpumping has caused Mexico City to sink, in some areas by as much as 9 m, resulting in serious damage to buildings and sewage and drainage pipes. Other cities facing similar water problems are coastal cities in Peru (e.g., Lima), La Rioja and Catamarca in Argentina, cities in Northern Mexico, and cities in dry areas of Africa. For some cities, the problem is not so much ever more distant water supplies but insufficient funds to expand supplies. Bangkok and Jakarta both face saltwater intrusion into their overdrawn aquifers. Even through agriculture is the dominant user of water in most countries, demand concentrated in a small area exhausts local and regional sources and pollutes rivers, lakes, and coasts with untreated human and industrial waste. Most cities in Africa and Asia do not have a sewerage system. Further, most cities do not have the drains to deal with storm water and external floodwater, causing frequent, seasonal flooding. The resulting stagnant water provides breeding grounds for insect vectors of diseases (e.g., malaria). The problems in most cities are a result of poor management, not lack of water. Reducing leaks in existing piped distribution systems from the usual 60% loss of water to leaks to 12% would increase the available water 2-fold. Another way to address water shortages would be commercial, industrial, and recreational use of minimally treated waste water, such as is the case in Madras and Mexico City. Political solutions are needed to resolve inadequate water supply and waste management.

Hand hygiene for the prevention of nosocomial infections.

Science.gov (United States)

Kampf, Günter; Löffler, Harald; Gastmeier, Petra

2009-10-01

The WHO regards hand hygiene as an essential tool for the prevention of nosocomial infection, but compliance in clinical practice is often low. The relevant scientific literature and national and international evidence-based recommendations (Robert Koch Institute [Germany], WHO) were evaluated. Hygienic hand disinfection has better antimicrobial efficacy than hand-washing and is the procedure of choice to be performed before and after manual contact with patients. The hands should be washed, rather than disinfected, only when they are visibly soiled. Skin irritation is quite common among healthcare workers and is mainly caused by water, soap, and prolonged wearing of gloves. Compliance can be improved by training, by placing hand-rub dispensers at the sites where they are needed, and by physicians setting a good example for others. Improved compliance in hand hygiene, with proper use of alcohol-based hand rubs, can reduce the nosocomial infection rate by as much as 40%.

Simulated microbe removal around finger rings using different hand sanitation methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Alur, Archana A; Rane, Madhavi J; Scheetz, James P; Lorenz, Douglas J; Gettleman, Lawrence

2009-09-01

It is our opinion that the CDC and the WHO have underestimated cross-contamination under examination gloves in dental clinics while wearing jewelry, such as finger rings. These agencies only "recommend" removing jewelry, and only washing hands for 15 seconds with soap and warm water before donning gloves. This study examined several washing procedures and finger rings using simulated microbes. A gloved rubber hand manikin was made and fitted with a fresh disposable vinyl glove. Four fingers were fitted with rings or no ring, dusted with simulated microbes, and washed with a scrub brush for 5, 15, and 25 seconds under 20 degrees C and 40 degrees C water alone, or with liquid hand soap. Light levels (in lux) of fluorescent powder before and after washing were measured and delta scores calculated for changes in light levels, equivalent to effectiveness of hand washing procedures. A full-factorial, 3-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test for differences among levels of the three study factors-time, temperature, and soap use. Tukey's post hoc honestly significant difference (HSD) test was applied to significant factors to examine pair-wise differences between factor levels. It was found that the longer the hands with rings were washed with a scrub brush under flowing water, the more simulated microbes were removed. By 25 seconds, all methods were essentially the same. Simulated microbes were more difficult to remove from the palm compared to the back of the hand. The liquid hand soap used in this study was more effective with warm water than cold. When given a choice of washing with cold water up to 15 seconds, it would be preferable not to use soap to remove simulated microbes. Qualitatively, the outer surface of finger rings were more effectively cleaned than the crevice below the ring, and the ring with a stone setting appeared to accumulate and retain simulated microbes more than other rings. The most effective treatment was washing with warm water

Cytomegalovirus Survival and Transferability and the Effectiveness of Common Hand-Washing Agents against Cytomegalovirus on Live Human Hands

OpenAIRE

Stowell, Jennifer D.; Forlin-Passoni, Daniela; Radford, Kay; Bate, Sheri L.; Dollard, Sheila C.; Bialek, Stephanie R.; Cannon, Michael J.; Schmid, D. Scott

2014-01-01

Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) transmission can occur when women acquire CMV while pregnant. Infection control guidelines may reduce risk for transmission. We studied the duration of CMV survival after application of bacteria to the hands and after transfer from the hands to surfaces and the effectiveness of cleansing with water, regular and antibacterial soaps, sanitizer, and diaper wipes. Experiments used CMV AD169 in saliva at initial titers of 1 × 105 infectious particles/ml. Samples fr...

33 CFR 165.1409 - Security Zones; Hawaii, HI.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Security Zones; Hawaii, HI. 165... Navigation Areas and Limited Access Areas Fourteenth Coast Guard District § 165.1409 Security Zones; Hawaii..., Hawaii. All waters extending 100 yards in all directions from each large passenger vessel in Hilo Harbor...

Strong Authentication Scheme Based on Hand Geometry and Smart Card Factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali A. Yassin

2016-07-01

Full Text Available In 2009, Xu et al. presented a safe, dynamic, id-based on remote user authentication method that has several advantages such as freely chosen passwords and mutual authentication. In this paper, we review the Xu–Zhu–Feng scheme and indicate many shortcomings in their scheme. Impersonation attacks and insider attacks could be effective. To overcome these drawbacks, we propose a secure biometric-based remote authentication scheme using biometric characteristics of hand-geometry, which is aimed at withstanding well-known attacks and achieving good performance. Furthermore, our work contains many crucial merits such as mutual authentication, user anonymity, freely chosen passwords, secure password changes, session key agreements, revocation by using personal biometrics, and does not need extra device or software for hand geometry in the login phase. Additionally, our scheme is highly efficient and withstands existing known attacks like password guessing, server impersonation, insider attacks, denial of service (DOS attacks, replay attacks, and parallel-session attacks. Compared with the other related schemes, our work is powerful both in communications and computation costs.

The added value of a water footprint approach: Micro- and macroeconomic analysis of cotton production, processing and export in water bound Uzbekistan

Science.gov (United States)

Rudenko, I.; Bekchanov, M.; Djanibekov, U.; Lamers, J. P. A.

2013-11-01

Since independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991, Uzbekistan is challenged to consolidate its efforts and identify and introduce suitable agricultural policies to ease the threat of advancing land, water and ecosystem deterioration. On the one hand, irrigated cotton production provides income, food and energy sources for a large part of the rural households, which accounts for about 70% of the total population. On the other hand, this sector is considered a major driver of the on-going environmental degradation. Due to this dual nature, an integrated approach is needed that allows the analyses of the cotton sector at different stages and, consequently, deriving comprehensive options for action. The findings of the economic based value chain analysis and ecologically-oriented water footprint analysis on regional level were complemented with the findings of an input-output model on national level. This combination gave an added value for better-informed decision-making to reach land, water and ecosystem sustainability, compared to the individual results of each approach. The synergy of approaches pointed at various options for actions, such as to (i) promote the shift of water use from the high water consuming agricultural sector to a less water consuming cotton processing sector, (ii) increase overall water use efficiency by expanding the highly water productive industrial sectors and concurrently decreasing sectors with inefficient water use, and (iii) reduce agricultural water use by improving irrigation and conveyance efficiencies. The findings showed that increasing water use efficiency, manufacturing products with higher value added and raising water users' awareness of the real value of water are essential for providing water security in Uzbekistan.

Pastoralists at War: Violence and Security in the Kenya-Sudan-Uganda Border Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jonah Leff

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The majority of those living in the border region of Kenya, Sudan, and Uganda are pastoralists, whose livelihoods are dictated by the upkeep and size of their herds. Harsh environmental conditions force pastoralists to migrate in search of water and pasturelands during the dry season. With limited access to water and competing rights to land, intertribal conflict arises when pastoralists from one tribe enter the territory of another. The increased availability of small arms in the region from past wars increasingly makes ordinary clashes fatal. Governments in the region have responded with heavy-handed coercive disarmament operations. These have led to distrust and subsequent violent clashes between communities and security providers. This report reviews the scale, consequences of, and responses to the many pastoral conflicts, utilizing methodological tools such as key informant interviews, retrospective analysis, and a thorough review of available literature.

Clean power from deserts. The DESERTEC concept for energy, water and climate security

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2009-07-01

The main challenge for the future is to reclaim energy from renewable and clean sources in environmentally compatible ways. Here the deserts of the earth can play a key role. They receive about 700 times more energy from the sun than humankind consumes by burning fossil fuels, day by day. Deserts are the places with the best solar radiation conditions and with the least possible impact of collector deployment onto the biosphere on earth. In deserts, clean power can be produced by solar thermal power plants (CSP) in a truly sustainable way and at any volume of conceivable demand. Power can be transmitted with low losses by high voltage direct current (HVDC) lines to more than 90% of the world's population. This gives the deserts a new role: Together with the many other forms of accessible renewable energy the newly utilized desert would enable us to replace fossil fuels and thus end the ongoing destruction of our natural living conditions. To put this into practice, countries with deserts, countries with high energy demand and countries with technology competence must cooperate. This is an opportunity for the Mediterranean riparian regions of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (EUMENA) to form a community for energy, water and climate security. With the political will, EUMENA countries could now launch 'EUMENA-DESERTEC' Program, to bring humankind back into balance with its environment, by putting deserts and technology into service for energy, water and climate security. This would be an important step towards creating a truly sustainable civilization.

National Security Technology Incubator Business Plan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None, None

2007-12-31

This document contains a business plan for the National Security Technology Incubator (NSTI), developed as part of the National Security Preparedness Project (NSPP) and performed under a Department of Energy (DOE)/National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) grant. This business plan describes key features of the NSTI, including the vision and mission, organizational structure and staffing, services, evaluation criteria, marketing strategies, client processes, a budget, incubator evaluation criteria, and a development schedule. The purpose of the NSPP is to promote national security technologies through business incubation, technology demonstration and validation, and workforce development. The NSTI will focus on serving businesses with national security technology applications by nurturing them through critical stages of early development. The vision of the NSTI is to be a successful incubator of technologies and private enterprise that assist the NNSA in meeting new challenges in national safety, security, and protection of the homeland. The NSTI is operated and managed by the Arrowhead Center, responsible for leading the economic development mission of New Mexico State University (NMSU). The Arrowhead Center will recruit business with applications for national security technologies recruited for the NSTI program. The Arrowhead Center and its strategic partners will provide business incubation services, including hands-on mentoring in general business matters, marketing, proposal writing, management, accounting, and finance. Additionally, networking opportunities and technology development assistance will be provided.

An automated hand hygiene training system improves hand hygiene technique but not compliance.

Science.gov (United States)

Kwok, Yen Lee Angela; Callard, Michelle; McLaws, Mary-Louise

2015-08-01

The hand hygiene technique that the World Health Organization recommends for cleansing hands with soap and water or alcohol-based handrub consists of 7 poses. We used an automated training system to improve clinicians' hand hygiene technique and test whether this affected hospitalwide hand hygiene compliance. Seven hundred eighty-nine medical and nursing staff volunteered to participate in a self-directed training session using the automated training system. The proportion of successful first attempts was reported for each of the 7 poses. Hand hygiene compliance was collected according to the national requirement and rates for 2011-2014 were used to determine the effect of the training system on compliance. The highest pass rate was for pose 1 (palm to palm) at 77% (606 out of 789), whereas pose 6 (clean thumbs) had the lowest pass rate at 27% (216 out of 789). One hundred volunteers provided feedback to 8 items related to satisfaction with the automated training system and most (86%) expressed a high degree of satisfaction and all reported that this method was time-efficient. There was no significant change in compliance rates after the introduction of the automated training system. Observed compliance during the posttraining period declined but increased to 82% in response to other strategies. Technology for training clinicians in the 7 poses played an important education role but did not affect compliance rates. Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

European perspectives on security research

CERN Document Server

2011-01-01

Europe’s networked societies of today are shaped by a growing interconnection in almost all areas of life. The complexity of our infrastructures and the concurrent accessibility to means of destruction by terrorist groups and individual perpetrators call for innovative security solutions. However, such evolving innovations inevitably raise fundamental questions of concern in our societies. How do we balance the imperatives of securing our citizens and infrastructures on the one hand, and of protecting of our sacredly held civil liberties on the other? The topical network ‘Safety and Security’ of acatech – the German Academy of Science and Engineering – invited experts from the science academies of various European countries to share their perspectives on security research and the aspect of safety during a two-day workshop hosted by the Fraunhofer Institute for High-Speed Dynamics, Ernst-Mach-Institut in March 2010. This publication is a compilation of contributions made during the workshop.

Hand hygiene in rural Indonesian healthcare workers: barriers beyond sinks, hand rubs and in-service training.

Science.gov (United States)

Marjadi, B; McLaws, M-L

2010-11-01

Few attempts to increase healthcare workers' hand hygiene compliance have included an in-depth analysis of the social and behavioural context in which hand hygiene is not undertaken. We used a mixed method approach to explore hand hygiene barriers in rural Indonesian healthcare facilities to develop a resource-appropriate adoption of international guidelines. Two hospitals and eight clinics (private and public) in a rural Indonesian district were studied for three months each. Hand hygiene compliance was covertly observed for two shifts each in three adult wards at two hospitals. Qualitative data were collected from direct observation, focus group discussions and semistructured in-depth and informal interviews within healthcare facilities and the community. Major barriers to compliance included longstanding water scarcity, tolerance of dirtiness by the community and the healthcare organisational culture. Hand hygiene compliance was poor (20%; 57/281; 95% CI: 16-25%) and was more likely to be undertaken after patient contact (34% after-patient contact vs 5% before-patient contact, Pperceived to be dirty (49% 'inherent' vs 11% 'elective' opportunities associated with clean contacts, Pcommitment to the provision of supportive working conditions. Copyright © 2010 The Hospital Infection Society. All rights reserved.

Wells Construction. Hand Dug and Hand Drilled. Appropriate Technologies for Development. Manual M-9.

Science.gov (United States)

Brush, Richard E.

This manual is intended for use by development workers involved in the construction of wells to supply water to a local population for personal consumption. Discussed first are the basic points to consider when planning a well. Various aspects of constructing hand-dug wells are explained, including well design, supplies, the lowering and raising…

33 CFR 165.1410 - Security Zones; Kauai, HI.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Security Zones; Kauai, HI. 165..., HI. (a) Location. The following areas, from the surface of the water to the ocean floor, are security... Nawiliwili Harbor, Kauai, HI or within 3 nautical miles seaward of the Nawiliwili Harbor COLREGS DEMARCATION...

[Calculation on ecological security baseline based on the ecosystem services value and the food security].

Science.gov (United States)

He, Ling; Jia, Qi-jian; Li, Chao; Xu, Hao

2016-01-01

The rapid development of coastal economy in Hebei Province caused rapid transition of coastal land use structure, which has threatened land ecological security. Therefore, calculating ecosystem service value of land use and exploring ecological security baseline can provide the basis for regional ecological protection and rehabilitation. Taking Huanghua, a city in the southeast of Hebei Province, as an example, this study explored the joint point, joint path and joint method between ecological security and food security, and then calculated the ecological security baseline of Huanghua City based on the ecosystem service value and the food safety standard. The results showed that ecosystem service value of per unit area from maximum to minimum were in this order: wetland, water, garden, cultivated land, meadow, other land, salt pans, saline and alkaline land, constructive land. The order of contribution rates of each ecological function value from high to low was nutrient recycling, water conservation, entertainment and culture, material production, biodiversity maintenance, gas regulation, climate regulation and environmental purification. The security baseline of grain production was 0.21 kg · m⁻², the security baseline of grain output value was 0.41 yuan · m⁻², the baseline of ecosystem service value was 21.58 yuan · m⁻², and the total of ecosystem service value in the research area was 4.244 billion yuan. In 2081 the ecological security will reach the bottom line and the ecological system, in which human is the subject, will be on the verge of collapse. According to the ecological security status, Huanghua can be divided into 4 zones, i.e., ecological core protection zone, ecological buffer zone, ecological restoration zone and human activity core zone.

Simulation of X-ray irradiation on human hand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amaya, Fabiola; Montoya, Modesto

2001-01-01

Using the Monte Carlo code MCNP we simulate a human hand X-rays irradiation with radiodiagnostic energies to find the better range energy to make radiographs with the lowest dose and an optimal contrast. We calculate bone doses by considering a soft tissue - water - and calcium bone hand, which is irradiated with a million of X-rays photons from a punctual source. These photons are directed inside a conic angle on the hand. Afterwards, we simulate elements which normally compose bones (C, H, O, N, Mg, P, Ca, and S). We estimate bone dose considering: a) bone material (water, calcium and bone tissue); b) bone thickness (0.01; 0.1; 0.5; 1.0; 1.5 and 3.0 cm); and c) source-hand distance (30, 50, 70 and 90 cm). We calculate photon transmission percent through soft tissue and bone tissue and the statistics from the number of photons that reach the radiographic film after passing through soft tissue or bone tissue for our geometric configuration. We found that we can obtain a good image contrast by using X-rays with energies in the range of 20 to 40 keV. (author)

Security aspects of 3G-WLAN interworking

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Køien, Geir M.

2003-01-01

to roaming and mobility support. In short, WLAN systems are great for hot spot coverage, while 3G systems provide global coverage and the necessary network and management infrastructure to cater for security, roaming, and charging requirements. The focus of the article is on security aspects of 3GPP......Third-generation cellular systems will provide wide coverage and nearly universal roaming, but will not realistically live up to the bit rate expectations placed on them. On the other hand, WLAN systems already offer bit rates surpassing those of 3G systems, but are often found lacking with respect...

A study of dorsal vein pattern for biometric security

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Nafiisah

ensure more reliable security, many biometric verification techniques have been developed .... 3.0 HA D DORSAL VEI PATTER AS A BIOMETRIC ... image for the back of the hand, and converted by a computer into a digital image that can be.

IAEA Nuclear Security - Achievements 2002-2011

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2012-03-01

The possibility that nuclear or other radioactive material could be used for malicious purposes is real. This calls for a collective commitment to the control of, and accountancy for, material, as well as to adequate levels of protection in order to prevent criminal or unauthorized access to the material or associated facilities. Sharing of knowledge and experience, coordination among States and collaboration with other international organizations, initiatives and industries supports an effective international nuclear security framework. In 2001, the Board of Governors tasked the IAEA with improving nuclear security worldwide. The report that follows provides an overview of accomplishments over the last decade and reflects the importance that States assign to keeping material in the right hands. The IAEA has established a comprehensive nuclear security programme, described first in the Nuclear Security Plan of 2002-2005 and subsequently in the second plan of 2006- 2009. Activities included developing internationally accepted nuclear security guidance, supporting international legal instruments, protecting material and facilities, securing transport and borders, detecting and interdicting illicit nuclear trafficking, strengthening human resource capacity and preparing response plans should a nuclear security event occur. The IAEA has begun the implementation of its third Nuclear Security Plan, to be completed at the end of 2013. This approach to nuclear security recognizes that an effective national nuclear security regime builds on a number of factors: the implementation of relevant international legal instruments; IAEA guidance and standards; information protection; physical protection; material accounting and control; detection of, and response to, trafficking in such material; national response plans and contingency measures. Implemented in a systematic manner, these building blocks make up a sustainable national nuclear security regime and contribute to global

Cloud-Based Virtual Laboratory for Network Security Education

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Le; Huang, Dijiang; Tsai, Wei-Tek

2014-01-01

Hands-on experiments are essential for computer network security education. Existing laboratory solutions usually require significant effort to build, configure, and maintain and often do not support reconfigurability, flexibility, and scalability. This paper presents a cloud-based virtual laboratory education platform called V-Lab that provides a…

Information Communication and Technology for Water Resource Management and Food Security in Kenya: A Case Study of Kericho and Uasin Gishu Districts

Science.gov (United States)

Omboto, P. I.; Macharia, J.; Mbagaya, Grace; Standa, F. N.

2011-01-01

Recent reports on Kenya have indicated food insecurity and destruction of water catchments as serious problems facing the country. Despite the tremendous strides in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the country has not taken advantage of the technology to improve food security by effectively managing her water resources. A survey on…

Randomized Controlled Trial of Antiseptic Hand Hygiene Methods in an Outpatient Surgery Clinic.

Science.gov (United States)

Therattil, Paul J; Yueh, Janet H; Kordahi, Anthony M; Cherla, Deepa V; Lee, Edward S; Granick, Mark S

2015-12-01

Outpatient wound care plays an integral part in any plastic surgery practice. However, compliance with hand hygiene measures has shown to be low, due to skin irritation and lack of time. The objective of this trial was to determine whether single-use, long-acting antiseptics can be as effective as standard multiple-use hand hygiene methods in an outpatient surgical setting. A prospective, randomized controlled trial was performed in the authors' outpatient plastic surgery clinic at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ to compare the efficacy of an ethyl alcohol-based sanitizer (Avagard D Instant Hand Aniseptic, 3M Health Care, St. Paul, MN), a benzalkonium chloride-based sanitizer (Soft & Shield, Bioderm Technologies, Inc, Trenton, NJ, distributed by NAPP Technologies, Hackensack, NJ ), and soap and- water handwashing. Subjects included clinic personnel, who were followed throughout the course of a 3-hour clinic session with hourly hand bacterial counts taken. During the course of the trial, 95 subjects completed the clinic session utilizing 1 of the hand hygiene methods (36 ethyl alcohol-based sanitizer, 38 benzalkonium chloride-based sanitizer, and 21 soap-and-water handwashing). There was no difference between hand bacterial counts using the different methods at 4 hourly time points (P greater than 0.05). Hand bacterial counts increased significantly over the 3-hour clinic session with the ethyl alcohol-based sanitizer (9.24 to 21.90 CFU, P less than 0.05), benzalkonium chloride-based sanitizer (6.69 to 21.59 CFU, P less than 0.05), and soap-and-water handwashing (8.43 to 22.75 CFU, P less than 0.05). There does not appear to be any difference in efficacy between single-use, long-acting sanitizer, and standard multiple-use hand hygiene methods. Hand bacterial counts increased significantly over the course of the 3-hour clinic session regardless of the hand hygiene measure used. Hand condition of subjects was improved with the ethyl alcohol

33 CFR 106.255 - Security systems and equipment maintenance.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Security systems and equipment... Shelf (OCS) Facility Security Requirements § 106.255 Security systems and equipment maintenance. (a) Security systems and equipment must be in good working order and inspected, tested, calibrated, and...

Patients' Hand Washing and Reducing Hospital-Acquired Infection.

Science.gov (United States)

Haverstick, Stacy; Goodrich, Cara; Freeman, Regi; James, Shandra; Kullar, Rajkiran; Ahrens, Melissa

2017-06-01

Hand hygiene is important to prevent hospital-acquired infections. Patients' hand hygiene is just as important as hospital workers' hand hygiene. Hospital-acquired infection rates remain a concern across health centers. To improve patients' hand hygiene through the promotion and use of hand washing with soap and water, hand sanitizer, or both and improve patients' education to reduce hospital-acquired infections. In August 2013, patients in a cardiothoracic postsurgical step-down unit were provided with individual bottles of hand sanitizer. Nurses and nursing technicians provided hand hygiene education to each patient. Patients completed a 6-question survey before the intervention, at hospital discharge and 1, 2, and 3 months after the intervention. Hospital-acquired infection data were tracked monthly by infection prevention staff. Significant correlations were found between hand hygiene and rates of infection with vancomycin-resistant enterococci ( P = .003) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus ( P = .01) after the intervention. After the implementation of hand hygiene interventions, rates of both infections declined significantly and patients reported more staff offering opportunities for and encouraging hand hygiene. This quality improvement project demonstrates that increased hand hygiene compliance by patients can influence infection rates in an adult cardiothoracic step-down unit. The decreased infection rates and increased compliance with hand hygiene among the patients may be attributed to the implementation of patient education and the increased accessibility and use of hand sanitizer. ©2017 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

Instant SQL Server Analysis Services 2012 Cube Security

CERN Document Server

Jayanty, Satya SK

2013-01-01

Filled with practical, step-by-step instructions and clear explanations for the most important and useful tasks. Instant Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services 2012 Cube Security is a practical, hands-on guide that provides a number of clear, step-by-step exercises for getting started with cube security.This book is aimed at Database Administrators, Data Architects, and Systems Administrators who are managing the SQL Server data platform. It is also beneficial for analysis services developers who already have some experience with the technology, but who want to go into more detail on advanced

The Economic Impact of the Homeland Security Advisory System: The Cost of Heightened Border Security

Science.gov (United States)

2008-12-01

Protection’s office responsible for securing the United States’ land border in the Detroit area. PoD provides a wide rage of cargo processing functions...a wide range of threats. Improper trademark labeling, tariffs, import quotas, agricultural issues, narcotics, human trafficking, and terrorism are...unloaded a truck, CBP agents search through the cargo. They open boxes, use hand-held radiation detectors, canines , and x-ray machines to inspect the

Chemical Sniffing Instrumentation for Security Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Giannoukos, Stamatios; Brkić, Boris; Taylor, Stephen; Marshall, Alan; Verbeck, Guido F

2016-07-27

Border control for homeland security faces major challenges worldwide due to chemical threats from national and/or international terrorism as well as organized crime. A wide range of technologies and systems with threat detection and monitoring capabilities has emerged to identify the chemical footprint associated with these illegal activities. This review paper investigates artificial sniffing technologies used as chemical sensors for point-of-use chemical analysis, especially during border security applications. This article presents an overview of (a) the existing available technologies reported in the scientific literature for threat screening, (b) commercially available, portable (hand-held and stand-off) chemical detection systems, and (c) their underlying functional and operational principles. Emphasis is given to technologies that have been developed for in-field security operations, but laboratory developed techniques are also summarized as emerging technologies. The chemical analytes of interest in this review are (a) volatile organic compounds (VOCs) associated with security applications (e.g., illegal, hazardous, and terrorist events), (b) chemical "signatures" associated with human presence, and (c) threat compounds (drugs, explosives, and chemical warfare agents).

33 CFR 105.230 - Maritime Security (MARSEC) Level coordination and implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Maritime Security (MARSEC) Level..., DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY MARITIME SECURITY MARITIME SECURITY: FACILITIES Facility Security Requirements § 105.230 Maritime Security (MARSEC) Level coordination and implementation. (a) The facility owner...

Energy Security of Russia and the EU: Current Legal Problems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Seliverstov, S.

2009-07-01

Security of energy supply is a cornerstone of European energy policy. It receives specific mention both in the Constitution Treaty and in the Lisbon Treaty. Of course, energy and energy-generated revenues are vital for Russia as well. It is a common understanding that Russia and the EU are extremely interdependent in terms of energy. On the one hand, Russia is the strategic energy supplier to the EU as a whole; for some member states Russian supplies represent the only source of the external energy flows. On the other hand, the revenues generated from the west-bound supplies of oil and gas constitute a significant share of the overall export income and of the budget of Russian Federation. Taking the interdependency as a point of departure the present article answers the following questions: What are the differences and the similarities in the European and the Russian approaches towards security of energy supply? Is their understanding of energy security so different? What are the current legal instruments guiding interaction in this sphere? What are the actual trends that could give some indication of how the situation may develop in the future? - While the concepts of 'security of energy supplies' or of 'energy security' are theoretical in nature, the ways the concepts are understood and the legal framework for them directly influences the way they are applied in practice. (author)

Collaborative Adaptation Planning for Water Security: Preliminary Lessons, Challenges, and the Way Forward for Maipo Basin Adaptation Plan, Chile

Science.gov (United States)

Vicuna, S.; Scott, C. A.; Bonelli, S.; Bustos, E.; Meza, F. J.

2014-12-01

The Maipo basin holds 40% of Chile's total population and almost half of the country's Gross Domestic Product. The basin is located in the semiarid central region of the country and, aside from the typical pressures of growth in developing country basins, the Maipo river faces climate change impacts associated with a reduction in total runoff and changes in its seasonality. Surface water is the main water source for human settlements and economic activities including agriculture. In 2012 we started a research project to create a climate variability and climate change adaptation plan for the basin. The pillars of the plan are co-produced by researchers and a Scenario Building Team (SBT) with membership of relevant water and land use stakeholders (including from civil society, public and private sectors) in the basin. Following similar experiences in other regions in the world that have faced the challenges of dealing with long term planning under uncertainty, the project has divided the task of developing the plan into a series of interconnected elements. A critical first component is to work on the desired vision(s) of the basin for the future. In this regards, the "water security" concept has been chosen as a framework that accommodates all objectives of the SBT members. Understanding and quantifying the uncertainties that could affect the future water security of the basin is another critical aspect of the plan. Near and long term climate scenarios are one dimension of these uncertainties that are combined with base development uncertainties such as urban growth scenarios. A third component constructs the models/tools that allows the assessment of impacts on water security that could arise under these scenarios. The final critical component relates to the development of the adaptation measures that could avoid the negative impacts and/or capture the potential opportunities. After two years in the development of the adaptation plan a series of results has been

Water Storage: Quo Vadis?

Science.gov (United States)

Smakhtin, V.

2017-12-01

Humans stored water - in various forms - for ages, coping with water resources variability, and its extremes - floods and droughts. Storage per capita, and other storage-related indicators, have essentially become one way of reflecting the progress of economic development. Massive investments went into large surface water reservoirs that have become the characteristic feature of the earth's landscapes, bringing both benefits and controversy. As water variability progressively increases with changing climate, globally, on one hand, and the idea of sustainable development receives strong traction, on another - it may be worth the while to comprehensively examine current trends and future prospects for water storage development. The task is surely big, to say the least. The presentation will aim to initiate a structured discussion on this multi-facet issue and identify which aspects and trends of water storage development may be most important in the context of Sustainable Development Goals, Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and examine how, where and to what extent water storage planning can be improved. It will cover questions like i) aging of large water storage infrastructure, the current extent of this trend in various geographical regions, and possible impacts on water security and security of nations; ii) improved water storage development planning overall in the context of various water development alternatives and storage options themselves and well as their combinations iii) prospects for another "storage revolution" - speed increase in dam numbers, and where, if at all this is most likely iv) recent events in storage development, e.g. is dam decommissioning a trend that picks pace, or whether some developing economies in Asia can do without going through the period of water storage construction, with alternatives, or suggestions for alleviation of negative impacts v) the role of subsurface storage as an

Analysis of Information Remaining on Hand Held Devices Offered for Sale on the Second Hand Market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andy Jones

2008-06-01

resellers.The study was carried out by the security research team at the BT IT Futures Centre in conjunction with Edith Cowan University in Australia and the University of Glamorgan in the UK. The basis of the research was to acquire a number of second hand held devices from a diverse range of sources and then determine whether they still contained information relating to a previous owner or whether the information had been effectively removed. The devices that were obtained for the research were supplied blind to the researchers through a third party. The ‘blind’ supply of the devices meant that the people undertaking the research were provided with no information about the device and that the source of the devices and any external markings were hidden from them. This process was put in place to ensure that any findings of the research were based solely on the information that could be recovered from the digital storage media that was contained within the device.The underlying methodology that was used in the research was based on the forensic imaging of the devices. A forensic image of a device is a copy of the digital media that has been created in a scientifically sound manner to a standard that is acceptable to the courts. This procedure was implemented to ensure that the evidential integrity of the devices was maintained, with the devices also then being stored in a secure manner.  All subsequent research was then conducted on the image of the device. This was considered to be a sensible precaution against the possibility that information discovered on a device might indicate criminal activity and require the involvement of law enforcement.  Following the forensic imaging of the devices, the images that were created were then analyzed to determine whether any information remained and whether it could be easily recovered using commonly available tools and techniques that anyone who had purchased the device could acquire.

Climatic change and security stakes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ambrosi, Ph.; Hallegatte, St.

2006-01-01

This paper explores the relationships between climate change and security. Potential threats from climate change, as a unique source of stress or together with other factors, to human security are first examined. Some of the most explicit examples illustrate this section: food security, water availability, vulnerability to extreme events and vulnerability of small islands States and coastal zones. By questioning the basic needs of some populations or at least aggravating their precariousness, such risks to human security could also raise global security concerns, which we examine in turn, along four directions: rural exodus with an impoverishment of displaced populations, local conflicts for the use of natural resources, diplomatic tensions and international conflicts, and propagation to initially-unaffected regions through migratory flows. (authors)

33 CFR 106.235 - Maritime Security (MARSEC) Level coordination and implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Maritime Security (MARSEC) Level..., DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY MARITIME SECURITY MARINE SECURITY: OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF (OCS) FACILITIES Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Facility Security Requirements § 106.235 Maritime Security (MARSEC) Level...

33 CFR 104.240 - Maritime Security (MARSEC) Level coordination and implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Maritime Security (MARSEC) Level..., DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY MARITIME SECURITY MARITIME SECURITY: VESSELS Vessel Security Requirements § 104.240 Maritime Security (MARSEC) Level coordination and implementation. (a) The vessel owner or...

33 CFR 103.310 - Responsibilities of the Area Maritime Security (AMS) Committee.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... disseminating appropriate security information to port stakeholders. ... Maritime Security (AMS) Committee. 103.310 Section 103.310 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY MARITIME SECURITY MARITIME SECURITY: AREA MARITIME SECURITY Area Maritime...

National Security Technology Incubator Evaluation Process

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None, None

2007-12-31

This report describes the process by which the National Security Technology Incubator (NSTI) will be evaluated. The technology incubator is being developed as part of the National Security Preparedness Project (NSPP), funded by a Department of Energy (DOE)/National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) grant. This report includes a brief description of the components, steps, and measures of the proposed evaluation process. The purpose of the NSPP is to promote national security technologies through business incubation, technology demonstration and validation, and workforce development. The NSTI will focus on serving businesses with national security technology applications by nurturing them through critical stages of early development. An effective evaluation process of the NSTI is an important step as it can provide qualitative and quantitative information on incubator performance over a given period. The vision of the NSTI is to be a successful incubator of technologies and private enterprise that assist the NNSA in meeting new challenges in national safety and security. The mission of the NSTI is to identify, incubate, and accelerate technologies with national security applications at various stages of development by providing hands-on mentoring and business assistance to small businesses and emerging or growing companies. To achieve success for both incubator businesses and the NSTI program, an evaluation process is essential to effectively measure results and implement corrective processes in the incubation design if needed. The evaluation process design will collect and analyze qualitative and quantitative data through performance evaluation system.

Report: EPA Needs to Assess the Quality of Vulnerability Assessments Related to the Security of the Nation’s Water Supply

Science.gov (United States)

Report #2003-M-00013, September 24, 2003. In connection with our ongoing evaluation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) activities to enhance the security of the Nation’s water supply, we noted an issue that requires your immediate attention.

Information and Knowledge Management in the Scope of the Information Security practices: the human factor within Organizations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luciana Emirena Santos Carneiro

2013-08-01

Full Text Available The security of informational assets has always been a corporate requirement. These assets can be scaled in three main spheres, namely, people, organizational processes and technologies. The internet, the web, the broadcast of networks, and the growing presence of technology both in people's lives and in organizational contexts have caused profound transformations in the intrinsic processes that constitute personal and organizational routines. On the one hand, these changes provided by the technological progress have fostered competitiveness and decentralization; on the other hand, they require better management, control, security and protection for information and knowledge. This article presents the results of an investigation within information security realm, focusing on the human aspects of knowledge and information management related to security practices. Using a quality-quantitative approach, we identify behavioral actions and profiles of employees of a company in the field of healthcare, which reveal some connections with information security failures. We conclude that the human element is a relevant variable, even a critical one, for the management of information security in organizations.

76 FR 70350 - West Oahu Offshore Security Zone

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-14

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY Coast Guard 33 CFR Part 165 [Docket No. USCG-2011-1048] RIN 1625-AA87 West Oahu Offshore Security Zone AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. ACTION: Temporary final rule. SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary security zone on the navigable waters of Oahu's western...

New Zealand; Financial Sector Assessment Program—Detailed Assessments of Observance of Standards and Codes—International Organization of Securities Commission (IOSCO)—Objectives and Principles of Securities Regulation

OpenAIRE

International Monetary Fund

2004-01-01

This paper evaluates the Observance of Standards and Codes on the International Organization of Securities Commission (IOSCO) Objectives and Principles of Securities Regulation for New Zealand. New Zealand equity markets are comparatively small with market capitalization of about 44 percent of GDP. Reflecting a preference for property investment, ownership of New Zealand-listed equities remains mostly in the hands of offshore investors and domestic institutional investors, with only about one...

33 CFR 165.720 - Safety/Security Zone: St. Johns River, Jacksonville, FL.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Safety/Security Zone: St. Johns... OF HOMELAND SECURITY (CONTINUED) PORTS AND WATERWAYS SAFETY REGULATED NAVIGATION AREAS AND LIMITED... § 165.720 Safety/Security Zone: St. Johns River, Jacksonville, FL. (a) Location. The water and the land...

Responding to the challenges of water security: the Eighth Phase of the International Hydrological Programme, 2014–2021

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Jimenez-Cisneros

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the major water challenges at global, regional and local levels, including the need to adapt to climate change. It relates how the International Hydrological Programme (IHP – an intergovernmental scientific programme – will respond in its Eighth Phase to the water-related risks and seize potential opportunities, thereby contributing to ensure Water Security at all levels. The Member States of UNESCO IHP periodically define priorities for research, technological development, innovation and education. To implement the priorities in a coordinated manner, the Member States can count on the team and the projects of IHP based at UNESCO, as well as on the "UNESCO Water Family|, consisting to date of a Category 1 centre UNESCO-IHE located in the Netherlands; the World Water Assessment Programme, based in Italy, which produces the World Water Development Report of the United Nations; 30 Category 2 water centres under the auspices of UNESCO; and 35 water chairs in various parts of the world. Governments can access the powerful network of the UNESCO Water Family through IHP and its Intergovernmental Council.

Water-displacement plethysmography: a technique for the simultaneous thermal manipulation and measurement of whole-hand and whole-foot blood flows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caldwell, Joanne N; Taylor, Nigel A S

2014-01-01

The purpose of this project was to design, construct and validate water-displacement plethysmographs for the forearm, hand and foot that could clamp segmental skin temperature whilst simultaneously measuring cutaneous blood flow. Two experiments were performed. In the first, the forearm plethysmograph was validated against a mercury-in-silastic plethysmograph under thermoneutral conditions, with and without forearm heating. Cutaneous vascular conductance was elevated almost three-fold by this treatment, however, there were no significant differences between the two forms of plethysmography in either state (P > 0.05). In study two, hand and foot blood flows were measured under clamped thermoneutral conditions, but with three local skin temperature treatments (5, 25, 40 °C). The hand had significantly higher blood flows than the foot at both 25 °C (4.07 versus 2.20 mL.100 mL  − 1 .min  − 1 ; P < 0.05) and 40 °C (8.20 versus 4.47 mL.100 mL  − 1 .min  − 1 ; P < 0.05). The foot was maximally constricted during the two lower temperatures, yet the cutaneous thermal sensitivity of the hand was almost two-fold greater (P < 0.05). This evidence supports the significant role played by these appendages in heat loss and conservation, and these plethysmographs will now be used to map cutaneous vascular responses (forearm, hand, calf, foot) across combinations of core and local skin temperatures. (paper)

33 CFR 103.305 - Composition of an Area Maritime Security (AMS) Committee.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... port stakeholders having a special competence in maritime security; and (7) Port stakeholders affected... Security (AMS) Committee. 103.305 Section 103.305 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY MARITIME SECURITY MARITIME SECURITY: AREA MARITIME SECURITY Area Maritime...

Alcohol-free instant hand sanitizer reduces elementary school illness absenteeism.

Science.gov (United States)

Dyer, D L; Shinder, A; Shinder, F

2000-10-01

BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESES: A substantial percentage of school absenteeism among children is related to transmissible infection. Rates of transmission can be reduced by hand washing with soap and water, but such washing occurs infrequently. This study tested whether an alcohol-free instant hand sanitizer (CleanHands) could reduce illness absenteeism in school-age children. A 10-week, open-label, crossover study was performed on 420 elementary school-age children (ages 5-12). Students were given a brief orientation immediately prior to the start of the study on the relationship of germs, illness, and hand washing. Each student in the treatment group then received the test product in individual bottles, with instructions to apply one to two sprays to the hands after coming into the classroom, before eating, and after using the restroom, in addition to their normal hand washing with soap and water. The control group was instructed to continue hand washing as normal with non-medicated soap. After 4 weeks of treatment and a 2-week wash-out period, the control and experimental groups were reversed. Data gathered on absenteeism were classified as gastrointestinal or respiratory related and normalized for nonillness-related absenteeism and school holidays. Compared to the hand washing-only control group, students using CleanHands were found to have 41.9% fewer illness-related absence days, representing a 28.9% and a 49.7% drop in gastrointestinal- and respiratory-related illnesses, respectively. Likewise, absence incidence decreased by 31.7%, consisting of a 44.2% and 50.2% decrease in incidence of gastrointestinal- and respiratory-related illnesses, respectively. No adverse events were reported during the study. Daily use of the instant hand sanitizer was associated with significantly lower rates of illness-related absenteeism.

Impact of lengthening open water season on food security in Alaska coastal communities: Global impacts may outweigh local "frontline" effects

Science.gov (United States)

Rolph, R.; Mahoney, A. R.

2015-12-01

Using ice concentration data from the Alaska Sea Ice Atlas from 1953-2013 for selected communities in Alaska, we find a consistent trend toward later freeze up and earlier breakup, leading a lengthened open water period. Such changes are often considered to bring a variety of "frontline" local impacts to Arctic coastal communities such as increased rates of coastal erosion. However, direct consequences of these changes to local food security (e.g. through impacts on subsistence activities and marine transport of goods) may be outweighed at least in the short term by the effects of large scale Arctic sea ice change coupled with global oil markets. For example, a later freeze-up might delay local hunters' transition from boats to snow-machines, but whether this trend will affect hunting success, especially in the next few years, is uncertain. Likewise, the magnitude of change in open water season length is unlikely to be sufficient to increase the frequency with which communities are served by barges. However, an expanding open water season throughout the Arctic has implications for the global economy, which can have indirect effects on local communities. In the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, where rapid sea ice change has been accompanied by increased interest in oil and gas development, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management currently requires drilling operations to cease 38 days prior to freeze up. Taking this into account, the lengthening open water season has effectively extended the drilling season for oil companies by 184% since the 1950s. If oil development goes ahead, local communities will likely experience a range of indirect impacts on food security due to increased vessel traffic and demand on infrastructure coupled with changes in local economies and employment opportunities. Increased likelihood of an oil spill in coastal waters also poses a significant threat to local food security. Thus, while Arctic coastal communities are already experiencing

Performance Comparison Between FEDERICA Hand and LARM Hand

OpenAIRE

Carbone, Giuseppe; Rossi, Cesare; Savino, Sergio

2015-01-01

This paper describes two robotic hands that have been\\ud developed at University Federico II of Naples and at the\\ud University of Cassino. FEDERICA Hand and LARM Hand\\ud are described in terms of design and operational features.\\ud In particular, careful attention is paid to the differences\\ud between the above-mentioned hands in terms of transmission\\ud systems. FEDERICA Hand uses tendons and pulleys\\ud to drive phalanxes, while LARM Hand uses cross four-bar\\ud linkages. Results of experime...

Ecological Security Pattern Analysis Based on InVEST and Least-Cost Path Model: A Case Study of Dongguan Water Village

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qian Lin

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The famous “world’s factory” city, Dongguan, like many other places in China, is a typical beneficiary of China’s Reform and Opening-up Policy. However, rapid urban sprawl and economic growth are at the expense of the destruction of the local environment. Therefore, it is of great importance to establish an ecological security network for sustainable development. InVEST models, effective tools to measure sensitivity and intensity of external threats to quantify habitat value, are used to calculate habitat quality of water and land. By combining structural connectivity and the Least-Cost Path model (LCP model, in which corridors are determined based on the minimum accumulative cost path between each critical point, ecological security patterns were calculated. According to the results, the northwest region of Dongguan, having a large quantity of farmlands and water and therefore many corridors and critical patches, is the most essential area in the overall security of ecological environments, which should be protected first. If developed, it should be dominated by eco-tourism and eco-agriculture. We hope that research on the ecological network, which includes critical patches and corridors formed by greenland and rivers, will lead toward better-informed proposals for local urban planning and regional sustainable development.

[Evaluation of food and nutrition security in families in the district of los morochucos in Ayacucho, Peru].

Science.gov (United States)

Pillaca, Susan; Villanueva, María

2015-01-01

To evaluate food and nutrition security in families of Los Morochucos district in Ayacucho, Peru. A study based on interpretation of available information from official sources and surveys carried out to gather information not recorded in these sources. Sampling was stratified and two-staged comprising 128 families with at least one child under 12 years. The variables were the level of food security, family perception of their situation of availability of and access to food, exclusive breastfeeding, feeding during episodes of diarrhea, frequency of food consumption, consumption of safe water, hand washing, proper toilets, stable food supply, nutrition and health status, chronic malnutrition, anemia and parasitic infections in children aged 6 months to three years. 39.1% of families had food security, 37.5% were food insecure without hunger, 18.8% had food insecurity with hunger, and 4.7% had food insecurity with severe hunger. They had acceptable calorie intake, but did not have a balanced diet. There was no chlorinated water. During the episodes of diarrhea, 72% of mothers fed the child with mate (tea) or broth. A great quantity of their crops were lost in 2011. Of children 6 months to three years, 34.5% presented chronic malnutrition, 42.4% had anemia and 61.6% had parasites. Food and nutrition insecurity in this district of Ayacucho is considerable and there should be prioritization of the implementation of investment projects with the aim of contributing to the development of the community.

Academics and National-Security Experts Must Work Together

Science.gov (United States)

Gansler, Jacques S.; Gast, Alice P.

2008-01-01

In the years since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the federal government's policies that deal with national security have changed significantly. In an effort to prevent the results of science and engineering research from being misused or falling into the wrong hands, government agencies that support studies are placing restrictions on…

Integrating security issues in nuclear engineering curriculum in Indonesia. Classical vs policy approaches

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Putero, Susetyo Hario; Rosita, Widya; Sihana, Fnu; Ferdiansjah; Santosa, Haryono Budi; Muharini, Anung

2015-01-01

Recently, risk management for nuclear facilities becomes more complex due to security issue addressed by IAEA. The harmonization between safety, safeguards and security is still questionable. It also challenges to nuclear engineering curriculum in the world how to appropriately lecture the new issue. This paper would like to describe how to integrate this issue in developing nuclear engineering curriculum in Indonesia. Indonesia has still no nuclear power plant, but there are 3 research reactors laid in Indonesia. As addition, there are several hospitals and industries utilizing radioisotopes in their activities. The knowledge about nuclear security of their staffs is also not enough for handling radioactive material furthermore the security officers. Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) is the only university in Indonesia offering nuclear engineering program, as consequently the university should actively play the role in overcoming this issue not only in Indonesia, but also in Southeast Asia. In the other hand, students has to have proper knowledge in order to complete in the global nuclear industry. After visited several universities in USA and participated in INSEN meeting, we found that most of universities in the world anticipate this issue by giving the student courses related to policy (non-technical) study based on IAEA NSS 12. In the other hand, the rest just make nuclear security as a case study on their class. Furthermore, almost all of programs are graduate level. UGM decided to enhance several present related undergraduate courses with security topics as first step to develop the awareness of student to nuclear security. The next (curriculum 2016) is to integrate security topics into the entire of curriculum including designing a nuclear security elective course for undergraduate level. The first trial has successfully improved the student knowledge and awareness on nuclear security. (author)

Support for Multi-Level Security Policies in DRM Architectures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tanenbaum, A.S.; Popescu, B.C.; Crispo, B.; Hempelmann, C.F.; Raskin, V.

2004-01-01

Digital rights management systems allow copyrighted content to be commercialized in digital format without the risk of revenue loss due to piracy. Making such systems secure is no easy task, given that content needs to be protected while accessed through electronic devices in the hands of

Back to basics: hand hygiene and surgical hand antisepsis.

Science.gov (United States)

Spruce, Lisa

2013-11-01

Health care-associated infections (HAIs) are a significant issue in the United States and throughout the world, but following proper hand hygiene practices is the most effective and least expensive way to prevent HAIs. Hand hygiene is inexpensive and protects patients and health care personnel alike. The four general types of hand hygiene that should be performed in the perioperative environment are washing hands that are visibly soiled, hand hygiene using alcohol-based products, surgical hand scrubs, and surgical hand scrubs using an alcohol-based surgical hand rub product. Barriers to proper hand hygiene may include not thinking about it, forgetting, skin irritation, a lack of role models, or a lack of a safety culture. One strategy for improving hand hygiene practices is monitoring hand hygiene as part of a quality improvement project, but the most important aspect for perioperative team members is to set an example for other team members by following proper hand hygiene practices and reminding each other to perform hand hygiene. Copyright © 2013 AORN, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Why language matters: a tour through hand hygiene literature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniela Pires

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Hand hygiene has evolved over the last decades and many terminologies emerged. We aimed to analyse the evolution in the frequency of utilization of key hand hygiene terms in the literature along the years. Methods We identified keywords and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH used in MEDLINE® indexation related to hand hygiene by searching international guidelines and the MeSH database. We performed a MEDLINE® search combining the selected keywords and MeSH and analysed the number of publications retrieved yearly. Results The literature search yielded 9019 publications when all hand hygiene related search terms were combined, between 1921 and November 2016. The total number of publications per year increased from a median of 4 (IQR 3, 6 in the 1950’s to 554 (IQR 478, 583 between 2011 and 2015. The most frequently used keywords are hand disinfection, hand hygiene, hand washing, handrub, hand sanitizer and alcohol-based hand rub (ABHR. Until the 1990s, hand disinfection and hand washing were the most frequently used terms. Whilst the last decade has seen a remarkable increase in publications mentioning hand disinfection and hand hygiene and for the first time handrub, hand sanitizers and ABHR were introduced in the literature. Hand disinfection, hand hygiene and hand sanitizers are the main MeSH used by MEDLINE®. Since 2013 hand hygiene is the most frequently used MeSH and keyword. Conclusions The change seen in literature in the last two decades, from hand washing and hand disinfection to hand hygiene, most probably reflect the paradigm shift favouring use of ABHR over soap and water promoted by international guidelines in the early 2000s.

The security of supply and the international political problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petit, A.

1981-01-01

The paper deals with the problem of security of supply of electronuclear programs, especially under their political aspects. After a brief summary of the main historical events related to the subject: post-war position, Non Proliferation Treaty signature, London guidelines etc., the author underlines the fact that up to now, four countries only have been completely independent for their supplies. The elements of such independence are recalled as well as the special viewpoints of developing countries on the one hand, industrialized countries on the other hand. The final part analyses the means of reestablishing or reinforcing this security of supply. The classical commercial aspects such as preference for domestic producers, diversification of supplies and stockpiling are dealt with as well as with aspects more specific to nuclear energy, a technical one such as the possibility of developing breeders, and political ones, such as freedom to reexport, freedom to use imported materials in the frame of peaceful uses. (AF)