Assessment of terrorist threats to the Canadian energy sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shull, A.

2006-01-01

A critical terrorist threat assessment of Canadian energy systems was presented, as well as an analysis of integrated continental systems. Recent responses to heightened threat levels on the part of the Canadian government have ranged from information sharing to emergency preparedness and disaster mitigation strategies. This paper examined threats that the energy sector has traditionally encountered and argued that response capabilities do not match current threats posed by terrorism. The potential of a terrorist attack on the Canadian energy infrastructure is significant and has been referred to as a possible target by terrorist organizations. Actions taken by the Canadian government in response to heightened threat levels were examined. A review of energy industry security measures included outlines of: the natural gas industry, the electric sector, and nuclear reactors and waste. It was noted that not all elements of the critical energy infrastructure share the same level of risk. Recommendations included increased information sharing between government agencies and the private sector; resiliency standards in densely populated areas; and insulating the energy grid against a cascading blackout through the use of DC rather than AC lines. 59 refs

Terrorist targeting and energy security

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Toft, Peter; Duero, Arash; Bieliauskas, Arunas [Institute of Energy, Joint Research Center of the European Commission, P.O. Box 2, 1755 ZG Petten (Netherlands)

2010-08-15

Sudden, short-term disruptions seriously endangering energy security can be triggered by a variety of events - among them attacks by terrorists. This study investigates terrorist attack practices against energy infrastructures and discusses how we may understand them. Our results indicate that attacks against energy infrastructures are comparatively few. Also, we find no strong connection between the ideologies of various terrorist groups and their proclivity to attack. In addition, the highly disproportionate number of attacks in a handful of countries highlights the strong geographic concentration of attacks. To explain these findings, we analyze terrorist targeting incentives including intimidation levels, symbolism, attack feasibility, and concerns for stakeholders. We argue that terrorists in general have comparatively few incentives to attack energy supply infrastructures based on our assessment of these factors. Moreover, higher levels of terrorist incidents in states more prone to internal violent conflict may suggest stronger incentives to attack energy infrastructures. When outlining energy security policies, the low frequency of worldwide attacks coupled with the high concentration of attacks in certain unstable countries should be taken into consideration. Energy importing countries could benefit from developing strategies to increase stability in key energy supply and/or transit countries facing risks of internal instability. (author)

Religious cover to terrorist movement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zaidi, M.K.

2005-01-01

Full text: Terrorism is the use of force or the threat of force against civilian populations to achieve political objectives. The terrorists create fear, response and disruption. People fighting for freedom who have no bombs - no airplanes would resort to such atrocities as beheading even though killing of innocent people is strictly prohibited in all the religions practiced on this earth. It is done out of political madness and not religious fervor so it was said that the fight against terrorism is not a military problem, nor is it a diplomatic one, but a cultural one. Terrorism is not associated to any particular faith or discipline but it is rooted deeply in poor education and resource system. Some frustrated individuals with no employment seek easy ways to form groups and cause harassment in neighborhoods and it expands to the local and national level. The scientific community must now resolve to confront the dangers facing civilized countries through employing the scientific culture, which means scientific excellence and solidarity, to overcome ignorance in the face of global terrorism. The developed nations have adopted to collect information, do research, have tools to act and take action. States must improve the timely cross-border sharing of national security intelligence information, under appropriate circumstances, between intelligence and law enforcement agencies to better prevent and disrupt terrorist activities and to prosecute terrorists. Some world's leaders have agreed to use the national security intelligence information in investigation and prosecution process as a vital component in the battle against terrorism. Political leaders, rulers, administrator, school counselors and teachers should think of how the problems could be solved if they meet the needs and hopes of their inhabitants, provide proper education to build good moral values and also address their concerns. (author)

Religious cover to terrorist movement

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zaidi, M K [US Department of Energy, Idaho Radiological and Environmental Sciences Laboratory (RESL), Idaho Falls (United States)

2005-07-01

Full text: Terrorism is the use of force or the threat of force against civilian populations to achieve political objectives. The terrorists create fear, response and disruption. People fighting for freedom who have no bombs - no airplanes would resort to such atrocities as beheading even though killing of innocent people is strictly prohibited in all the religions practiced on this earth. It is done out of political madness and not religious fervor so it was said that the fight against terrorism is not a military problem, nor is it a diplomatic one, but a cultural one. Terrorism is not associated to any particular faith or discipline but it is rooted deeply in poor education and resource system. Some frustrated individuals with no employment seek easy ways to form groups and cause harassment in neighborhoods and it expands to the local and national level. The scientific community must now resolve to confront the dangers facing civilized countries through employing the scientific culture, which means scientific excellence and solidarity, to overcome ignorance in the face of global terrorism. The developed nations have adopted to collect information, do research, have tools to act and take action. States must improve the timely cross-border sharing of national security intelligence information, under appropriate circumstances, between intelligence and law enforcement agencies to better prevent and disrupt terrorist activities and to prosecute terrorists. Some world's leaders have agreed to use the national security intelligence information in investigation and prosecution process as a vital component in the battle against terrorism. Political leaders, rulers, administrator, school counselors and teachers should think of how the problems could be solved if they meet the needs and hopes of their inhabitants, provide proper education to build good moral values and also address their concerns. (author)

`Googling' Terrorists: Are Northern Irish Terrorists Visible on Internet Search Engines?

Science.gov (United States)

Reilly, P.

In this chapter, the analysis suggests that Northern Irish terrorists are not visible on Web search engines when net users employ conventional Internet search techniques. Editors of mass media organisations traditionally have had the ability to decide whether a terrorist atrocity is `newsworthy,' controlling the `oxygen' supply that sustains all forms of terrorism. This process, also known as `gatekeeping,' is often influenced by the norms of social responsibility, or alternatively, with regard to the interests of the advertisers and corporate sponsors that sustain mass media organisations. The analysis presented in this chapter suggests that Internet search engines can also be characterised as `gatekeepers,' albeit without the ability to shape the content of Websites before it reaches net users. Instead, Internet search engines give priority retrieval to certain Websites within their directory, pointing net users towards these Websites rather than others on the Internet. Net users are more likely to click on links to the more `visible' Websites on Internet search engine directories, these sites invariably being the highest `ranked' in response to a particular search query. A number of factors including the design of the Website and the number of links to external sites determine the `visibility' of a Website on Internet search engines. The study suggests that Northern Irish terrorists and their sympathisers are unlikely to achieve a greater degree of `visibility' online than they enjoy in the conventional mass media through the perpetration of atrocities. Although these groups may have a greater degree of freedom on the Internet to publicise their ideologies, they are still likely to be speaking to the converted or members of the press. Although it is easier to locate Northern Irish terrorist organisations on Internet search engines by linking in via ideology, ideological description searches, such as `Irish Republican' and `Ulster Loyalist,' are more likely to

The Lord’s Resistance Army: an African Terrorist Group?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emma Leonard

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The years since 9/11 have been characterised by the increasing threat of terrorist action in the  Middle East and South Asia. Yet Sub-Saharan Africa was has also become a region of concern. In 1998, it had been the scene of two Al-Qaeda attacks against US embassies; besides Africa is home to large Muslim populations. Since 9/11 African violent non-state groups unrelated to Al- Qaeda or to the wider Islamist movement have been recast as terrorist organisations. These groups primarily operate in conflict zones, an area of research that traditionally has not been the main focus of Terrorism Studies. Protagonists have at various times been called freedom fighters, rebels, warlords, insurgents or simply violent gangs. This article looks at the most notorious of African groups – the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA. It argues that some groups like the LRA have been recast as terrorist organisations not because of a change in their activities but due to a change in the geo-strategic environment they found themselves in the post-9/11 period. The LRA’s ideology and tactics will be judged against a broad definition of terrorism in order to test whether the group can, in an objective way, be called a terrorist organisation. It is concluded that the LRA is too ambiguous an organisation to be simply labelled in such a way. It is also suggested that the terrorism label has in fact been an obstacle to attempts to end successfully a confrontation that is now going into its 24th year. 

Vulnerability analysis and critical areas identification of the power systems under terrorist attacks

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Shuliang; Zhang, Jianhua; Zhao, Mingwei; Min, Xu

2017-05-01

This paper takes central China power grid (CCPG) as an example, and analyzes the vulnerability of the power systems under terrorist attacks. To simulate the intelligence of terrorist attacks, a method of critical attack area identification according to community structures is introduced. Meanwhile, three types of vulnerability models and the corresponding vulnerability metrics are given for comparative analysis. On this basis, influence of terrorist attacks on different critical areas is studied. Identifying the vulnerability of different critical areas will be conducted. At the same time, vulnerabilities of critical areas under different tolerance parameters and different vulnerability models are acquired and compared. Results show that only a few number of vertex disruptions may cause some critical areas collapse completely, they can generate great performance losses the whole systems. Further more, the variation of vulnerability values under different scenarios is very large. Critical areas which can cause greater damage under terrorist attacks should be given priority of protection to reduce vulnerability. The proposed method can be applied to analyze the vulnerability of other infrastructure systems, they can help decision makers search mitigation action and optimum protection strategy.

The Decision Calculus of Terrorist Leaders

OpenAIRE

J. Tyson Chatagnier; Alex Mintz; Yair Samban

2012-01-01

This article contributes to the literature on terrorist group decision-making by introducing a new procedure, Applied Decision Analysis, in an attempt to understand how leaders of terrorist organizations make decisions. We examine twenty-three decisions taken by leaders of three terrorist organizations: Al-Qaeda, Hamas, and Hizballah. We also demonstrate the use of the Applied Decision Analysis procedure to uncover the "Decision DNA" or “decision code” of leaders of such organizat...

Explaining the discrepancy between intentions and actions: the case of hypothetical bias in contingent valuation

Science.gov (United States)

Icek Ajzen; Thomas C. Brown; Franklin Carvajal

2004-01-01

An experiment was designed to account for intention-behavior discrepancies by applying the theory of planned behavior to contingent valuation. College students (N = 160) voted in hypothetical and real payment referenda to contribute $8 to a scholarship fund. Overestimates of willingness to pay in the hypothetical referendum could not be attributed to moderately...

Malevolent Creativity in Terrorist Organizations

Science.gov (United States)

Gill, Paul; Horgan, John; Hunter, Samuel T.; Cushenbery, Lily D.

2013-01-01

Terrorist organizations are both imitative and innovative in character. While the drivers of imitation have been extensively modeled using concepts such as contagion and diffusion, creativity and innovation remain relatively underdeveloped ideas in the context of terrorist behavior. This article seeks to redress this deficiency by presenting a…

Combatting the Terrorist Threat.

Science.gov (United States)

1985-05-22

have supplied many terrorist groups with plastique and other explosives to build bombs. 3 Using these explosives they have produced vehicle bombs which...deceptive, if not dangerously naive.1 5 State Supported Terrorism State supported terrorism is not a new concept , however, it has only recently been...terrorist incidents. The product of that study was the tri-level US anti- terrorism program concept . 3 The program structure is shown in Figure 11. President

Differences in Behavior and Brain Activity during Hypothetical and Real Choices.

Science.gov (United States)

Camerer, Colin; Mobbs, Dean

2017-01-01

Real behaviors are binding consequential commitments to a course of action, such as harming another person, buying an Apple watch, or fleeing from danger. Cognitive scientists are generally interested in the psychological and neural processes that cause such real behavior. However, for practical reasons, many scientific studies measure behavior using only hypothetical or imagined stimuli. Generalizing from such studies to real behavior implicitly assumes that the processes underlying the two types of behavior are similar. We review evidence of similarity and differences in hypothetical and real mental processes. In many cases, hypothetical choice tasks give an incomplete picture of brain circuitry that is active during real choice. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Emergency measures following hypothetical actions against nuclear facilities in Italy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rogani, A.; Tabet, E.

2003-01-01

Full text: After the Chernobyl accident a national emergency plan of protective measures for radiological emergencies has been set up in Italy to cope with nuclear risks which require actions at national level. Since most of the Italian nuclear installations are, at present, not operational, the most relevant nuclear risk sources identified in the national emergency plan stem from accidents in nuclear power plants near the Italian borders or aboard nuclearpropelled ships, or events related to the fall of nuclear-powered satellites and transportation of radioactive materials. The plan identifies a reference scenario for nation-wide emergency interventions and the proper structures to be involved in the radiological emergency. However, risks related to nuclear terrorism are not taken into account in the plan, whereas nuclear plants as well as nuclear materials and sources (in use in medical, scientific and industrial applications) are known to represent potential targets for hostile acts, potentially giving rise to harmful radioactive releases into the atmosphere. Along with four nuclear power plants, now undergoing a decommissioning procedure, several other nuclear facilities, such as provisional radioactive waste deposits or research centers, are present in Italy. Unfortunately not all of the radioactive waste inventory is conditioned in such a way to make a spread of radioactive contamination, as a consequence of a hostile action, unlikely; moreover, spent fuel elements are still kept, in some cases, inside the plant spent fuel storage pool. In this paper the hypothetical radiological impact of deliberate actions against some reference nuclear installations will be evaluated, together with its amplications for an appropriate profiling of the emergency countermeasures which could be required. Especially the case of a terrorism act against a spent fuel storage pool is worked out in some detail, as this event appears to be one of those with the most severe

Australian Correctional Management Practices for Terrorist Prisoners

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nathan Tompson

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Management practices for incarcerated terrorists is an important counterterrorism policy consideration. Moreover, there is a misconception that once incarcerated, terrorists cease to be a risk. If correctional management regimes are implemented poorly, terrorist prisoners may be afforded the opportunity to remain active while incarcerated, including the recruitment of other prisoners, and the planning of future attacks. Equally, they may be viewed as role models or martyrs for sympathisers to aspire to. Despite the magnitude of the consequences, there is no agreed approach to managing Australian terrorist prisoners. As such, a dichotomy of dominant models has emerged; that is, to either segregate terrorist prisoners, or conversely, to disperse them throughout the wider prisoner population. Each strategy presents its own set of benefits and risks. This paper compares the management practices for terrorist prisoners in the states of New South Wales and Victoria to determine the strengths and vulnerabilities of each of these approaches. The paper concludes that policy-makers should consider reassessing current strategies. It suggests that a focus that extends the immediate containment considerations to encompass post-release factors would bring benefits for society.

Detecting Hidden Hierarchy of Non Hierarchical Terrorist Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Memon, Nasrullah

measures (and combinations of them) to identify key players (important nodes) in terrorist networks. Our recently introduced techniques and algorithms (which are also implemented in the investigative data mining toolkit known as iMiner) will be particularly useful for law enforcement agencies that need...... to analyze terrorist networks and prioritize their targets. Applying recently introduced mathematical methods for constructing the hidden hierarchy of "nonhierarchical" terrorist networks; we present case studies of the terrorist attacks occurred / planned in the past, in order to identify hidden hierarchy...

Overview of the terrorist threat to international peace and security

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilkinson, P.

2001-01-01

This contribution deals with the implications of terrorism for international peace and security and the escalation to mass terrorism. The topics covered are: impact of the latest terrorist events on the United States, impact on the international community; illegitimacy of terrorism; need for global action; the role of the united Nations; the crucial role for disarmament and counter-proliferation activities, especially in finding means of enhancing the security of materials that could easily be misused

31 CFR 595.311 - Specially designated terrorist.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

...) OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY TERRORISM SANCTIONS REGULATIONS General Definitions § 595.311 Specially designated terrorist. (a) The term specially designated terrorist means: (1...

31 CFR 597.309 - Foreign terrorist organization.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... REGULATIONS General Definitions § 597.309 Foreign terrorist organization. The term foreign terrorist... respect to which the Secretary of State has notified Congress of the intention to designate as a foreign...

Understanding Terrorist Ideology

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Cragin, Kim

2007-01-01

This variation, by its very nature, makes it somewhat difficult to identify overarching patterns in how terrorist ideologies might motivate individuals and sympathetic communities on a global level...

Terrorist Financing: The 9/11 Commission Recommendation

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Weiss, Martin A

2005-01-01

.... The Commission recommended that the U.S. government shift the focus of its efforts to counter terrorist financing from a strategy based on seizing terrorist assets to a strategy based on exploiting intelligence gathered from financial investigations...

Real Time Big Data Analytics for Predicting Terrorist Incidents

Science.gov (United States)

Toure, Ibrahim

2017-01-01

Terrorism is a complex and evolving phenomenon. In the past few decades, we have witnessed an increase in the number of terrorist incidents in the world. The security and stability of many countries is threatened by terrorist groups. Perpetrators now use sophisticated weapons and the attacks are more and more lethal. Currently, terrorist incidents…

Immigration: Terrorist Grounds for Exclusion and Removal Aliens

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Garcia, Michael J; Wasem, Ruth E

2008-01-01

...., legal permanent residents) or temporarily as nonimmigrants. Notably, any alien who engages in terrorist activity, or is a representative or member of a designated foreign terrorist organization, is generally inadmissible...

Defender's Edge: Utilizing Intelligent Agent Technology to Anticipate Terrorist Acts

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Scheiber, Lane

2003-01-01

...), to the problem of anticipating terrorist acts. Two areas in which IAs could play a significant role are in the development and maintenance of a real-time picture of terrorist activity, and in predicting potential occurrences of terrorist acts...

Will it Ever be Possible to Profile the Terrorist?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jonathan A Rae

2012-09-01

Full Text Available 'This paper critiques the claim that terrorists can be profiled – that is to say that terrorists possess distinguishable attributes that can be conceivably identified by an observer. In doing so, the most prominent profiling parameters - racial, gender, age, pathological, psychological and socioeconomic – are investigated. The above approaches are found to have little to no applied value in identifying terrorists from a societal population. The dominant criticisms of these methods emphasise their crude reductionism, an absence of internal and external validity, and their lack of practical application. Current evidence indicates that the profiling of terrorists is a futile venture.'

Agent Based Modeling on Organizational Dynamics of Terrorist Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bo Li

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Modeling organizational dynamics of terrorist network is a critical issue in computational analysis of terrorism research. The first step for effective counterterrorism and strategic intervention is to investigate how the terrorists operate with the relational network and what affects the performance. In this paper, we investigate the organizational dynamics by employing a computational experimentation methodology. The hierarchical cellular network model and the organizational dynamics model are developed for modeling the hybrid relational structure and complex operational processes, respectively. To intuitively elucidate this method, the agent based modeling is used to simulate the terrorist network and test the performance in diverse scenarios. Based on the experimental results, we show how the changes of operational environments affect the development of terrorist organization in terms of its recovery and capacity to perform future tasks. The potential strategies are also discussed, which can be used to restrain the activities of terrorists.

Survival of the Fittest: Why Terrorist Groups Endure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joseph K. Young

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Why do terrorist groups endure? This question is relevant to scholars and policy makers alike. In the past, this issue was not been addressed in a systematic fashion. Recent work investigates this question using data on transnational groups and finds that factors associated with the home country can influence the duration the group endures. Applying the theory of outbidding to terrorist group survival, we argue that strategic competition among groups predicts group duration. Using the Global Terrorism Database, we develop a dataset using the terrorist group as the unit of analysis to model the duration of group activity and thus include the largest sample of groups yet. Controlling for previous explanations of both group duration and terrorism, we find a robust effect for the impact that group competition has on terrorist group survival.

On Deceiving Terrorists

Science.gov (United States)

2001-12-01

developed. By way of contrast, the last two categories—theoretical works and doctrine—attempt to transcend the contextual limits of the first two... Busqueda , the Colombian National Police “Search Bloc,” which was tasked with apprehending Escobar (Bowden, 2001). Deceiving Terrorists Chain Network

VULNERABILITIES, TERRORIST AND BIOTERRORIST THREATS AND RISKS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Viorel ORDEANUL

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The contemporary society has been, is and will probably be dominated "urbi et orbi " (everywhere and for everybody by conflicts expressed through violence, social confrontations, permissiveness, authority collapse, collapse of moral norms. Paradoxically, although it is spoken and written much about terrorism and terrorists, there is still no complete and accepted definition of these terms, and the legal classification is approximate. The analysis of threats is an extremely important decisional asset when setting up plans of direct protection or objective security strategies or institutions suitable to become targets of violent actions, but today's intelligence community has not yet established a clear set of procedures and principles that constitute the expert main frame for a comprehensive analysis of threats and vulnerabilities.

Terrorists and Suicide Attacks

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Cronin, Audrey K

2003-01-01

Suicide attacks by terrorist organizations have become more prevalent globally, and assessing the threat of suicide attacks against the United States and its interests at home and abroad has therefore...

Plutonium - how great is the terrorist threat

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cohen, B.L.

1977-01-01

The terrorists' problems in stealing the plutonium and fabricating the device are measured against the likely effects of its explosion. Alternatives are discussed and it is concluded that there are many easier ways of killing a large number of people. It is considered impossible to guard absolutely against all possible terrorist threats of mass murder. (U.K.)

Threat Assessment: Do Lone Terrorists Differ from Other Lone Offenders?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diane M. Zierhoffer

2014-10-01

Full Text Available This study evaluates the viability of a threat assessment model developed to calculate the risk of targeted violence as a predictor of violence by potential lone terrorists. There is no profile, to date, which would assist in the identification of a lone terrorist prior to an attack. The threat assessment model developed by Borum, Fein, Vossekuil, and Berglund and described in “Threat Assessment: Defining an approach for evaluating risk of targeted violence” (1999 poses ten questions about the patterns of thinking and behaviors that may precipitate an attack of targeted violence. Three terrorists are studied to assess the model’s value as a predictor of terrorism. It is assessed for its use within law enforcement, during an investigation of someone brought to attention as a possible terrorist and for family members or friends who suspect potential terrorist behavior. Would these questions encourage someone to report a friend to prevent a possible attack? This threat assessment model provides a foundation for future research focused on developing a structured risk assessment for lone terrorists. In its present form, the questions can assist both citizens and law enforcement personnel in identifying the patterns of thought and behavior potentially indicative of a lone terrorist.

On Terrorists and Terrorism

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Kellen, Konrad

1982-01-01

...; it examines their socioeconomic backgrounds and their driving ideologies; and it probes into elements that may aid the cohesion of terrorist groups, as well as at elements that drive toward disintegration...

Will it ever be possible to profile the terrorist?

OpenAIRE

Rae, Jonathan A.

2012-01-01

This paper critiques the claim that terrorists can be profiled – that is to say that terrorists possess distinguishable attributes that can be conceivably identified by an observer. In doing so, the most prominent profiling parameters - racial, gender, age, pathological, psychological and socioeconomic – are investigated. The above approaches are found to have little to no applied value in identifying terrorists from a societal population. The dominant criticisms of these methods emphasise th...

Immigration: Terrorist Grounds for Exclusion and Removal of Aliens

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Garcia, Michael J; Wasem, Ruth E

2007-01-01

...., legal permanent residents) or temporarily as nonimmigrants. Notably, any alien who engages in terrorist activity, or is a representative or member of a designated foreign terrorist organization, is generally inadmissible...

Bombing alone: tracing the motivations and antecedent behaviors of lone-actor terrorists,.

Science.gov (United States)

Gill, Paul; Horgan, John; Deckert, Paige

2014-03-01

This article analyzes the sociodemographic network characteristics and antecedent behaviors of 119 lone-actor terrorists. This marks a departure from existing analyses by largely focusing upon behavioral aspects of each offender. This article also examines whether lone-actor terrorists differ based on their ideologies or network connectivity. The analysis leads to seven conclusions. There was no uniform profile identified. In the time leading up to most lone-actor terrorist events, other people generally knew about the offender's grievance, extremist ideology, views, and/or intent to engage in violence. A wide range of activities and experiences preceded lone actors' plots or events. Many but not all lone-actor terrorists were socially isolated. Lone-actor terrorists regularly engaged in a detectable and observable range of activities with a wider pressure group, social movement, or terrorist organization. Lone-actor terrorist events were rarely sudden and impulsive. There were distinguishable behavioral differences between subgroups. The implications for policy conclude this article. © 2013 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Reducing the attractiveness of chemical plants to terrorist attacks: dehorning rhinos

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Khakzad Rostami, N.

2017-01-01

The terrorist attacks to two French chemical facilities in June and July 2015 raised the flag about the attractiveness of chemical plants to terrorist groups and the imminent risk of similar attacks in western countries. Although the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US put the security of chemical

VIOLENT FRAMES IN ACTION

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sanfilippo, Antonio P.; McGrath, Liam R.; Whitney, Paul D.

2011-11-17

We present a computational approach to radical rhetoric that leverages the co-expression of rhetoric and action features in discourse to identify violent intent. The approach combines text mining and machine learning techniques with insights from Frame Analysis and theories that explain the emergence of violence in terms of moral disengagement, the violation of sacred values and social isolation in order to build computational models that identify messages from terrorist sources and estimate their proximity to an attack. We discuss a specific application of this approach to a body of documents from and about radical and terrorist groups in the Middle East and present the results achieved.

TERRITORIAL RISK ASSESMENT AFTER TERRORIST ACT: EXPRESS MODEL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. M. Biliaiev

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The paper involves the development of a method to assess the territorial risk in the event of a terrorist attack using a chemical agent. Methodology. To describe the process of chemical agent scattering in the atmosphere, ejected in the event of a terrorist attack, the equation of mass transfer of an impurity in atmospheric air is used. The equation takes into account the velocity of the wind flow, atmospheric diffusion, the intensity of chemical agent emission, the presence of buildings near the site of the emission of a chemically hazardous substance. For numerical integration of the modeling equation, a finite difference method is used. A feature of the developed numerical model is the possibility of assessing the territorial risk in the event of a terrorist attack under different weather conditions and the presence of buildings. Findings. A specialized numerical model and software package has been developed that can be used to assess the territorial risk, both in the case of terrorist attacks, with the use of chemical agents, and in case of extreme situations at chemically hazardous facilities and transport. The method can be implemented on small and medium-sized computers, which allows it to be widely used for solving the problems of the class under consideration. The results of a computational experiment are presented that allow estimating possibilities of the proposed method for assessing the territorial risk in the event of a terrorist attack using a chemical agent. Originality. An effective method of assessing the territorial risk in the event of a terrorist attack using a chemically hazardous substance is proposed. The method can be used to assess the territorial risk in an urban environment, which allows you to obtain adequate data on possible damage areas. The method is based on the numerical integration of the fundamental mass transfer equation, which expresses the law of conservation of mass in a liquid medium. Practical

Money, media and the anti-politics of terrorist finance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Goede, M.

2008-01-01

This article offers a critical analysis of the anti-politics of terrorist finance, understood as the particularly depoliticized governing practices enabled in its name. The article conceptualizes 'terrorist finance' not as an unproblematic reality which has elicited a state response, but as a

Categorizing terrorist entities listed by the European Union according to terrorist groups’ underlying motives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liane Rothenberger

2015-10-01

Full Text Available States and international organizations have compiled lists of a great variety of terrorist groups. The current European Union list includes 44 entities. This study analyzes the underlying motives of the terrorist organizations named in this list. In order to understand the groups’ motivations and consequently be able to advise on methods of countering them with communication strategies, we employ a three-item typology provided by Waldmann (2001. The results show that only five of the 44 groups were religiously motivated to commit terrorism. Most of the groups (n=20 had nationalist-separatist motives, and 19 groups displayed social-revolutionary motives. Based on the respective motives, differing counter-terrorism strategies are proposed, e.g., developing rhetorical counter-narratives that address and reduce the groups’ motivational and identity-generating characteristics.

Intelligence Constraints on Terrorist Network Plots

Science.gov (United States)

Woo, Gordon

Since 9/11, the western intelligence and law enforcement services have managed to interdict the great majority of planned attacks against their home countries. Network analysis shows that there are important intelligence constraints on the number and complexity of terrorist plots. If two many terrorists are involved in plots at a given time, a tipping point is reached whereby it becomes progressively easier for the dots to be joined and for the conspirators to be arrested, and for the aggregate evidence to secure convictions. Implications of this analysis are presented for the campaign to win hearts and minds.

Israeli Adolescents' Coping Strategies in Relation to Terrorist Attacks

Science.gov (United States)

Tatar, Moshe; Amram, Sima

2007-01-01

Exposure to terrorism seriously threatens the well-being of children and adolescents. Israeli citizens have witnessed massive ongoing terrorist attacks during the last few years. The present research, conducted among 330 Israeli adolescents, examined coping strategies in relation to terrorist attacks. We found that adolescents utilize more…

The alliance relationship analysis of international terrorist organizations with link prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, Ling; Fang, Haiyang; Tian, Yanfang; Yang, Tinghong; Zhao, Jing

2017-09-01

Terrorism is a huge public hazard of the international community. Alliances of terrorist organizations may cause more serious threat to national security and world peace. Understanding alliances between global terrorist organizations will facilitate more effective anti-terrorism collaboration between governments. Based on publicly available data, this study constructed a alliance network between terrorist organizations and analyzed the alliance relationships with link prediction. We proposed a novel index based on optimal weighted fusion of six similarity indices, in which the optimal weight is calculated by genetic algorithm. Our experimental results showed that this algorithm could achieve better results on the networks than other algorithms. Using this method, we successfully digged out 21 real terrorist organizations alliance from current data. Our experiment shows that this approach used for terrorist organizations alliance mining is effective and this study is expected to benefit the form of a more powerful anti-terrorism strategy.

Offensive Counterterrorism Targeted killing in eliminating terrorist target: the case of the USA and Israel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hermínio Matos

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Due to the "global terrorism project", some States have adopted offensive counterterrorism measures which, though within national strategies on security and defense, contemplate the use of military power and the use of lethal force against non-state actors - individuals, groups or terrorist organizations - beyond their national borders. Reformulating the security paradigm has led, in these cases, to policies against terrorism. This is the case of targeted killing - the killing of selected targets - by the USA and Israel. Targeted killing actions - using essentially but not only drones - in Pakistan and Yemen by the American administration, a well as the Israeli response to Palestinian terrorism, are under heated debate in terms of their efficiency and legality. Thus, this paper aims to not only provide an analytical framework on this theme but also analyze the scope and impact of these counter terrorist strategies by the two countries.

Optimal counterterrorism and the recruitment effect of large terrorist attacks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Thomas

2011-01-01

We analyze a simple dynamic model of the interaction between terrorists and authorities. Our primary aim is to study optimal counterterrorism and its consequences when large terrorist attacks lead to a temporary increase in terrorist recruitment. First, we show that an increase in counterterrorism...... makes it more likely that terrorist cells plan small rather than large attacks and therefore may increase the probability of a successful attack. Analyzing optimal counterterrorism we see that the recruitment effect makes authorities increase the level of counterterrorism after large attacks. Therefore......, in periods following large attacks a new attack is more likely to be small compared to other periods. Finally, we analyze the long-run consequences of the recruitment effect. We show that it leads to more counterterrorism, more small attacks, and a higher sum of terrorism damage and counterterrorism costs...

Saudi Arabia: Terrorist Financing Issues

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Blanchard, Christoper M; Prados, Alfred B

2007-01-01

According to the U.S. State Department 2007 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, Saudi donors and unregulated charities have been a major source of financing to extremist and terrorist groups over the past 25 years...

Islamic State and Its Attitude to the Terrorist Attacks on the Energy Sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lukáš Tichý

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The main aim of this article is both to analyze the importance of the terrorist attacks on energy infrastructure and industry for strategy of militant terrorist organization Islamic State against the background of the influence of Islam and to describe a specific example and manifestations of the terrorist activities focused on energy sector in the Middle East and North Africa. In the theoretical level, the article is based on the concept of terrorist attack on energy sector and relation between energy and Sunni Islam. In methodological level, the article is based on the case study method framing terrorist attacks of Islamic State on energy industry and infrastructure in Iraq, Syria and Libya.

Bombing Alone: Tracing the Motivations and Antecedent Behaviors of Lone-Actor Terrorists*,†,‡

Science.gov (United States)

Gill, Paul; Horgan, John; Deckert, Paige

2014-01-01

This article analyzes the sociodemographic network characteristics and antecedent behaviors of 119 lone-actor terrorists. This marks a departure from existing analyses by largely focusing upon behavioral aspects of each offender. This article also examines whether lone-actor terrorists differ based on their ideologies or network connectivity. The analysis leads to seven conclusions. There was no uniform profile identified. In the time leading up to most lone-actor terrorist events, other people generally knew about the offender’s grievance, extremist ideology, views, and/or intent to engage in violence. A wide range of activities and experiences preceded lone actors’ plots or events. Many but not all lone-actor terrorists were socially isolated. Lone-actor terrorists regularly engaged in a detectable and observable range of activities with a wider pressure group, social movement, or terrorist organization. Lone-actor terrorist events were rarely sudden and impulsive. There were distinguishable behavioral differences between subgroups. The implications for policy conclude this article. PMID:24313297

Terrorist threats of nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jozsef Solymosi; Jozser Ronaky; Zoltan Levai; Arpad Vincze; Laszlo Foldi

2004-01-01

More than one year has passed since the terrible terrorist attacks against the United States. The tragic event fundamentally restructured our security policy approach and made requirements of countering terrorism a top priority of the 21st century. In one year a lot of studies were published and the majority of them analyses primarily the beginnings of terrorism then focus on the interrelations of causes and consequences of the attacks against the WTC. In most of the cases the authors can only put their questions most of which have remained unanswered to date. Meanwhile, in a short while after the attacks the secret assessments of threat levels of potential targets and areas were also prepared. One of the high priority fields is the issue of nuclear, biological, and chemical security, in short NBC-security. Here and now we focus on component N, that is the assessment techniques of nuclear security in short, without aiming at completeness. Our definite objective is to make non-expert readers understand - and present a concrete example as it is done in risk analysis - the real danger-level of nuclear facilities and especially the terrorist threat. Our objective is not to give tips to terrorists but to provide them with deterring arguments and at the same time calm worried people. In our communique we give an overview of international practice of nuclear antiterrorism and of preventive nuclear protection in Hungary. (author)

Understanding public confidence in government to prevent terrorist attacks.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baldwin, T. E.; Ramaprasad, A,; Samsa, M. E.; Decision and Information Sciences; Univ. of Illinois at Chicago

2008-04-02

A primary goal of terrorism is to instill a sense of fear and vulnerability in a population and to erode its confidence in government and law enforcement agencies to protect citizens against future attacks. In recognition of its importance, the Department of Homeland Security includes public confidence as one of the principal metrics used to assess the consequences of terrorist attacks. Hence, a detailed understanding of the variations in public confidence among individuals, terrorist event types, and as a function of time is critical to developing this metric. In this exploratory study, a questionnaire was designed, tested, and administered to small groups of individuals to measure public confidence in the ability of federal, state, and local governments and their public safety agencies to prevent acts of terrorism. Data was collected from three groups before and after they watched mock television news broadcasts portraying a smallpox attack, a series of suicide bomber attacks, a refinery explosion attack, and cyber intrusions on financial institutions, resulting in identity theft. Our findings are: (a) although the aggregate confidence level is low, there are optimists and pessimists; (b) the subjects are discriminating in interpreting the nature of a terrorist attack, the time horizon, and its impact; (c) confidence recovery after a terrorist event has an incubation period; and (d) the patterns of recovery of confidence of the optimists and the pessimists are different. These findings can affect the strategy and policies to manage public confidence after a terrorist event.

Family Therapy of Terroristic Trauma: Psychological Syndromes and Treatment Strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Laurence

2003-01-01

Reviews pertinent literature on terroristic trauma and combines this information with the author's experience in treating adults, children, and family victims and survivors of recent terrorist attacks. Describes the psychological syndromes resulting from terrorism and discusses the relevant individual and family therapy modalities for treating…

Simulation of a terrorist attack with intent to a source of Iridium-192 and Radium Sulphate-226: procedures for radiation emergency actions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aguiar, Bruno Dias de

2013-01-01

The accomplishment of major public events comprises a previous radiological safety planning network, since both public safety and safeguards criteria are based upon risk factors, to which individuals and even the environment may be exposed to, moreover in radiological, nuclear and/or terrorist threats. Therefore, a preventive and extensive local radiological survey must be performed, aiming the detection of unexpected radioactive material, being it a sealed or unsealed source or even in the dispersed form. Once confirmed its presence, protective actions must be started up, with monitoring and restraint of the source/material, followed by dose and dose rate assessment in environment, as well as contamination in air and in surfaces in general. As a consequence, such measures must be carried out at once, according to specific protocols adopted by the responding team, as soon as the incident is confirmed. Aiming a better qualification in the attendance of major events, a simulated scenario is proposed in this study, comprising an incident with the malicious presence of a radioactive source in the Mario Filho Stadium (Maracana). (author)

Personality and Fear of Terrorist attacks in Ghana: The mediating ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study aimed at determining whether or not neuroticism would account for more variance in predicting risk perception and fear of terrorist attack in Ghana compared to conscientiousness. Moreover, it sought to examine the mediating effect of risk perception on the relationship between neuroticism and fear of terrorist ...

PROSECUTING SOMALIA PIRATES AS TERRORISTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ODHIAMBO E.O.S., ONKWARE K., KASSILLY J., NTABO O. M.

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This article starts from the assumption that piracy resembles terrorism in many aspects and attempts to support it through both a theoretical investigation and practical examples. The argument it makes is that Somali pirates should be prosecuted as terrorists. Moreover, it emphasizes the idea that for Somalia’s neighboring countries and not only the implementation of such an approach consists in resorting to the antiterrorist conventions already in place. Thus, for example, Kenya Navy as a piracyfi ghting agency should rely on these conventions to justify the capture and prosecution of pirates in Kenyan courts. In this respect, we emphasize the idea that only by resorting to an established international legal framework can Kenya identify the tools to counter pirates’ actions within legal limits. Moreover, this should be paralleled by efforts towards rebuilding Somalia and its institutions if long-term solutions are to be envisaged in the eradication of piracy in the Indian Ocean. In conclusion, the article looks at the concepts of piracy, terrorism and development in the Horn of Africa, suggests that piracy is a form of Terrorism and, makes a series of recommendations.

Agent Based Modeling on Organizational Dynamics of Terrorist Network

OpenAIRE

Bo Li; Duoyong Sun; Renqi Zhu; Ze Li

2015-01-01

Modeling organizational dynamics of terrorist network is a critical issue in computational analysis of terrorism research. The first step for effective counterterrorism and strategic intervention is to investigate how the terrorists operate with the relational network and what affects the performance. In this paper, we investigate the organizational dynamics by employing a computational experimentation methodology. The hierarchical cellular network model and the organizational dynamics model ...

EWAS: Modeling Application for Early Detection of Terrorist Threats

Science.gov (United States)

Qureshi, Pir Abdul Rasool; Memon, Nasrullah; Wiil, Uffe Kock

This paper presents a model and system architecture for an early warning system to detect terrorist threats. The paper discusses the shortcomings of state-of-the-art systems and outlines the functional requirements that must to be met by an ideal system working in the counterterrorism domain. The concept of generation of early warnings to predict terrorist threats is presented. The model relies on data collection from open data sources, information retrieval, information extraction for preparing structured workable data sets from available unstructured data, and finally detailed investigation. The conducted investigation includes social network analysis, investigative data mining, and heuristic rules for the study of complex covert networks for terrorist threat indication. The presented model and system architecture can be used as a core framework for an early warning system.

Kidnapping by Terrorist Groups, 1970-2010: Is Ideological Orientation Relevant?

Science.gov (United States)

Forest, James J. F.

2012-01-01

This article examines whether a terrorist group's ideology has a meaningful impact on its involvement in kidnapping. On a global level, incident data (1970-2010) indicate that in the past decade the number of kidnappings by terrorist groups has increased, while Muslim extremists have replaced left-wing/Marxist revolutionaries as the world's…

Closing the gap : measuring the social identity of terrorists

OpenAIRE

Ludwick, Keith W.

2008-01-01

CHDS State/Local Studies of terrorism today focus on psychological and behavioral aspects of individuals. Most research shows that using a single model in an attempt to profile terrorists psychologically is problematic, if not impossible. However, using two well established theories from social psychology, Social Identity Theory and Social Distance Theory, allows the development of a practical model to develop a social profile of a terrorist group. From that, it is further possible to...

25 CFR 11.402 - Terroristic threats.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... ORDER CODE Criminal Offenses § 11.402 Terroristic threats. A person is guilty of a misdemeanor if he or she threatens to commit any crime of violence with purpose to terrorize another or to cause evacuation...

Countering the Nuclear Terrorist Threat

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vantine, H C

2002-01-01

The nuclear/radioactive threat to homeland security posed by terrorists can be broken into four categories. Of highest concern is the use of an improvised nuclear device (IND). An IND, as its name implies, is a nuclear explosive device. It produces nuclear yield, and this nuclear yield has catastrophic effects. An IND is the ultimate terrorist weapon, and terrorist groups are actively attempting to acquire nuclear weapons. Detonation of an IND could dwarf the devastation of the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center. Dealing with the aftermath of an IND would be horrific. Rescue efforts and cleanup would be hazardous and difficult. Workers would have to wear full protection suits and self-contained breathing apparatus. Because of the residual radioactivity, in certain locations they could only work short times before acquiring their ''lifetime'' dose. As with the Chernobyl event, some rescue workers might well expose themselves to lethal doses of radiation, adding to the casualty toll. Enormous volumes of contaminated debris would have to be removed and disposed. If a terrorist group decides not to pursue an actual nuclear device, it might well turn to Radiological Dispersal Devices (RDDs) or ''dirty bombs'' as they are often called. RDDs spread radioactivity but they do not generate nuclear yield. The fabrication of an RDD requires radioactive material and a dispersal mechanism. Radioactive materials are used all over the world for medical, industrial, and research applications. Standards for safe handling and accountability of radioactive material vary around the world. Stories in the press suggest inadequate controls on radiological materials in parts of the world. The effects of an RDD vary widely, and are measured in terms of contamination area, health effects to the exposed population, and economic consequences. Even a negligible, but measurable, exposure would exploit the general public's fear of things radioactive and would have significant

The Development of Decision Aids for Counter-Terrorist Applications

Science.gov (United States)

1980-12-01

I.D. AM OLT of PLO A14YOLP of PLO Agua Sandinist TPLF of Turkey 0 TERORISTS 3 4 25 2 GROUP CAPABILITY Unknown Unknown Auto Weapons Sten Gun "DEADLINE...of any terrorist group to different situ - ations are not independent, but reflect a coherent policy regarding violence and willingness to negotiate...importance in this stage is the need to deter future terrorist activities with- out jeopardizing our credibility in future negotiation situ - ations. I8

Who sets the Agenda: The Author or the Terrorist?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søndergaard, Leif

2012-01-01

Definitions of terrorism. Terorism in the 1980s, i.e. taking hostages and exploding bombs outside the US. UNA-bomber and Oklahoma bomber. Relations between author and terrorist in and outside USA before 9/11. Relations between terrorist and press. President Bush's rhetoric and various reactions t...... to 9/11. Novels by Safran Foer (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) and Don DeLillo (Falling Man) focus on the personal and private consequences whereas Mohsin Hamid (The Reluctant Fundamentalist) includes the other side....

Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing in the Luxembourg investment fund market

OpenAIRE

Dietz, Andrea

2017-01-01

The field of Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing in their current form have had an important impact on the financial world for almost half a century. Today, Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing pose a threat to the integrity of the financial markets and systems worldwide. The intention behind implementing a regulatory Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing framework is to cut off the financial resources of criminals and to follow back the traces that finan...

Combatting Commercial Terrorists: The PKK Case

Science.gov (United States)

2015-12-01

Kurdistan Workers’ Party, drug trafficking, human trafficking, cigarette smuggling, prostitution, extortion, money laundering , Turkey 15. NUMBER OF...91 F. MONEY LAUNDERING ............................................................... 93 G. CONCLUSION...opportunity to launder illegal money . Also, donations from a sympathetic population is another source of money and legitimacy for terrorist

Dynamical Adaptation in Terrorist Cells/Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hussain, Dil Muhammad Akbar; Ahmed, Zaki

2010-01-01

Typical terrorist cells/networks have dynamical structure as they evolve or adapt to changes which may occur due to capturing or killing of a member of the cell/network. Analytical measures in graph theory like degree centrality, betweenness and closeness centralities are very common and have long...

Forensic Analysis of Terrorist Counter-Financing to Combat Nuclear Proliferation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Drame, B. [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Toler, L. [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Bachner, Katherine [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

2016-02-01

The single greatest threat to U.S. homeland security remains the proliferation of nuclear weapons, especially among terrorists and other non-state actors who are not governed by the Non-Proliferation Treaty. One of the most important tools for combating terrorism among such rogue actors is counter-financing. Without funding, terrorists cannot acquire, maintain, or deploy nuclear weapons. According to the official report of the 9/11 Commission, counter-financing could have prevented the attacks of September 11, 2001. Unfortunately, no single country can defeat global terrorism. Successful counter-financing requires significant international cooperation. Since 2001, the United States and the European Union, despite vastly different approaches to intelligence gathering, have shared information through the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program (TFTP). That shared information allows authorities to trace suspicious transactions, identify culprits, and map out global terrorist networks. The TFTP successfully thwarted a 2011 plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the U.S. and multiple threats during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London; it also aided in the investigation of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. That program is necessary but not sufficient. To strengthen our ability to detect and disrupt terrorist plotting and prevent nuclear proliferation, we must expand and coordinate two additional transnational measures: (1) the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT), a standardized global messaging network for financial institutions to quickly, accurately, and securely send and receive money transfer instructions, and (2) International Bank Account Numbers (IBAN) to identify individual accounts involved in international transactions. Both initiatives were incompletely adopted in the wake of 9/11, but most global banks use one or neither. More fully implementing and coordinating these two systems would allow for coherent information

The Proliferation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Terrorist Use, Capability, and Strategic Implications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ball, Ryan Jokl [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

2017-10-16

There has been unparalleled proliferation and technological advancement of consumer unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) across the globe in the past several years. As witnessed over the course of insurgency tactics, it is difficult to restrict terrorists from using widely available technology they perceive as advantageous to their overall strategy. Through a review of the characteristics, consumer market landscape, tactics, and countertactics, as well as operational use of consumer-grade UAVs, this open-source report seeks to provide an introductory understanding of the terrorist-UAV landscape, as well as insights into present and future capabilities. The caveat is evaluating a developing technology haphazardly used by terrorists in asymmetric conflicts.

The Dynamics of the Creation, Evolution, and Disappearance of Terrorist Internet Forums

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manuel Ricardo Torres-Soriano

2013-06-01

Full Text Available An examination of the organizational nature of the threat posed by jihadi terrorism, supplying quantitative and qualitative data on the dynamics behind the creation, evolution, and disappearance of the main jihadi Internet forums during the period 2008–2012. An analysis of the origins and functions of the forums, their links with terrorist organizations, their internal structures, and the processes accounting for their stability in cyberspace shows that far from representinga horizontal structure where the main actors are a network of followers, the terrorist presence on the Internet is in fact a hierarchical organization in which intervention by formal terrorist organizations plays a crucial role.

Terrorist Capabilities for Cyberattack: Overview and Policy Issues

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Rollins, John; Wilson, Clay

2005-01-01

.... Persistent Internet and computer security vulnerabilities, which have been widely publicized, may gradually encourage terrorists to develop new computer skills, or develop alliances with criminal...

Threat Assessment: Do Lone Terrorists Differ from Other Lone Offenders?

OpenAIRE

Diane M. Zierhoffer

2014-01-01

This study evaluates the viability of a threat assessment model developed to calculate the risk of targeted violence as a predictor of violence by potential lone terrorists. There is no profile, to date, which would assist in the identification of a lone terrorist prior to an attack. The threat assessment model developed by Borum, Fein, Vossekuil, and Berglund and described in “Threat Assessment: Defining an approach for evaluating risk of targeted violence” (1999) poses ten questions about t...

TePiTri : a screening method for assessing terrorist-related pipeline transport risks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reniers, G.; Dullaert, W.E.H.

2012-01-01

The article proposes an approach to determine relative terrorist-related security risk levels of pipeline transportation. Pipeline routes are divided into smaller route segments. Subsequently, likelihood scores of possible terrorist-related incidents are determined per route segment and per

Training, SEVIS, and NSEERS: Will They Stop Terrorists from Entering the U.S

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Bugarin, Darwina S

2007-01-01

.... Stopping their entry is key to preventing attacks. The 9/11 Commission's Staff Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, 9/11 and Terrorist Travel, identified pre-9/11 gaps/weaknesses in U.S...

Mass casualty response in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks.

Science.gov (United States)

Roy, Nobhojit; Kapil, Vikas; Subbarao, Italo; Ashkenazi, Isaac

2011-12-01

The November 26-29, 2008, terrorist attacks on Mumbai were unique in its international media attention, multiple strategies of attack, and the disproportionate national fear they triggered. Everyone was a target: random members of the general population, iconic targets, and foreigners alike were under attack by the terrorists. A retrospective, descriptive study of the distribution of terror victims to various city hospitals, critical radius, surge capacity, and the nature of specialized medical interventions was gathered through police, legal reports, and interviews with key informants. Among the 172 killed and 304 injured people, about four-fifths were men (average age, 33 years) and 12% were foreign nationals. The case-fatality ratio for this event was 2.75:1, and the mortality rate among those who were critically injured was 12%. A total of 38.5% of patients arriving at the hospitals required major surgical intervention. Emergency surgical operations were mainly orthopedic (external fixation for compound fractures) and general surgical interventions (abdominal explorations for penetrating bullet/shrapnel injuries). The use of heavy-duty automatic weapons, explosives, hostages, and arson in these terrorist attacks alerts us to new challenges to medical counterterrorism response. The need for building central medical control for a coordinated response and for strengthening public hospital capacity are lessons learned for future attacks. These particular terrorist attacks had global consequences, in terms of increased security checks and alerts for and fears of further similar "Mumbai-style" attacks. The resilience of the citizens of Mumbai is a critical measure of the long-term effects of terror attacks.

In Silico screening for functional candidates amongst hypothetical proteins

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sanderhoff May

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The definition of a hypothetical protein is a protein that is predicted to be expressed from an open reading frame, but for which there is no experimental evidence of translation. Hypothetical proteins constitute a substantial fraction of proteomes of human as well as of other eukaryotes. With the general belief that the majority of hypothetical proteins are the product of pseudogenes, it is essential to have a tool with the ability of pinpointing the minority of hypothetical proteins with a high probability of being expressed. Results Here, we present an in silico selection strategy where eukaryotic hypothetical proteins are sorted according to two criteria that can be reliably identified in silico: the presence of subcellular targeting signals and presence of characterized protein domains. To validate the selection strategy we applied it on a database of human hypothetical proteins dating to 2006 and compared the proteins predicted to be expressed by our selecting strategy, with their status in 2008. For the comparison we focused on mitochondrial proteins, since considerable amounts of research have focused on this field in between 2006 and 2008. Therefore, many proteins, defined as hypothetical in 2006, have later been characterized as mitochondrial. Conclusion Among the total amount of human proteins hypothetical in 2006, 21% have later been experimentally characterized and 6% of those have been shown to have a role in a mitochondrial context. In contrast, among the selected hypothetical proteins from the 2006 dataset, predicted by our strategy to have a mitochondrial role, 53-62% have later been experimentally characterized, and 85% of these have actually been assigned a role in mitochondria by 2008. Therefore our in silico selection strategy can be used to select the most promising candidates for subsequent in vitro and in vivo analyses.

Identifying foreign terrorist fighters: The Role of Public-Private Partnership, Information Sharing and Financial Intelligence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tom Keatinge

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Since 9/11, financial institutions have found themselves placed squarely on the front line of efforts to combat terrorism: countering terrorist financing has been a core element of the global counter-terrorism architecture since President George W Bush signed Executive Order 13224 promising to starve terrorists of funding. Financial institutions have played valuable “post-event” forensic roles, but despite the apparently immense troves of data they hold, their effective involvement in the identification and disruption of terrorist intentions or activity remains elusive. With global authorities consumed with the mushrooming growth of “foreign terrorist fighters” (FTFs, it seems timely to revisit the question of how financial institutions can play a more preventative role in countering terrorist threats. As the intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force (FATF noted recently, “greater domestic cooperation among AML/CFT [anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism] bodies and other authorities” is needed to tackle funding of FTFs. Banks must play a key role in the development of this architecture. The issue of FTFs flowing to and from the conflict in Syria is likely to shape the international security agenda for the foreseeable future. Identifying citizens who have joined terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq pose a threat to the UK. The UK is certainly not alone in Europe in facing this threat. Evidence suggests these fears are now being realised. Both the scale of the issue in the context of the Syrian conflict and the speed with which the numbers have risen have caught international security authorities off guard, which – it would seem – have only belatedly appreciated the magnitude of the challenge. Whilst there has been much discussion and debate about who these travelling fighters are, their motivations, and the threats they pose, the majority of this analysis has focused on the role of social media in this

Identification of critical locations across multiple infrastructures for terrorist actions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patterson, S.A.; Apostolakis, G.E.

2007-01-01

This paper presents a possible approach to ranking geographic regions that can influence multiple infrastructures. Once ranked, decision makers can determine whether these regions are critical locations based on their susceptibility to terrorist acts. We identify these locations by calculating a value for a geographic region that represents the combined values to the decision makers of all the infrastructures crossing through that region. These values, as well as the size of the geographic region, are conditional on an assumed destructive threat of a given size. In our case study, the threat is assumed to be minor, e.g., a bomb that can affect objects within 7 m of it. This approach first requires an assessment of the users of the system. During this assessment, each user is assigned a performance index (PI) based on the disutility of the loss of each infrastructure's resource via multi-attribute utility theory (MAUT). A Monte Carlo network analysis is then performed to develop importance measures (IM) for the elements of each infrastructure for their ability to service each user. We combine the IMs with the user PIs to a value that we call valued worth (VW) for each infrastructure's elements independently. Then we use spatial analysis techniques within a geographic information system (GIS) to combine the VWs of each infrastructure's elements in a geographic area, conditional on the threat, into a total value we call geographic valued worth (GVW). The GVW is displayed graphically in the GIS system in a color scheme that shows the numerical ranking of these geographic areas. The map and rankings are then submitted to the decision makers to better allocate anti-terrorism resources. A case study of this methodology is performed on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) campus. The results of the study show how the methodology can bring attention to areas that are important when several infrastructures are considered, but may be ignored when infrastructures

40 years of terrorist bombings - A meta-analysis of the casualty and injury profile.

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, D S; McMenemy, L; Stapley, S A; Patel, H D L; Clasper, J C

2016-03-01

Terrorists have used the explosive device successfully globally, with their effects extending beyond the resulting injuries. Suicide bombings, in particular, are being increasingly deployed due to the devastating effect of a combination of high lethality and target accuracy. The aim of this study was to identify trends and analyse the demographics and casualty figures of terrorist bombings worldwide. Analysis of the Global Terrorism Database (GTD) and a PubMed/Embase literature search (keywords "terrorist", and/or "suicide", and/or "bombing") from 1970 to 2014 was performed. 58,095 terrorist explosions worldwide were identified in the GTD. 5.08% were suicide bombings. Incidents per year are increasing (Pprofile of survivors to guide the immediate response by the medical services and the workload in the coming days. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A data-stream classification system for investigating terrorist threats

Science.gov (United States)

Schulz, Alexia; Dettman, Joshua; Gottschalk, Jeffrey; Kotson, Michael; Vuksani, Era; Yu, Tamara

2016-05-01

The role of cyber forensics in criminal investigations has greatly increased in recent years due to the wealth of data that is collected and available to investigators. Physical forensics has also experienced a data volume and fidelity revolution due to advances in methods for DNA and trace evidence analysis. Key to extracting insight is the ability to correlate across multi-modal data, which depends critically on identifying a touch-point connecting the separate data streams. Separate data sources may be connected because they refer to the same individual, entity or event. In this paper we present a data source classification system tailored to facilitate the investigation of potential terrorist activity. This taxonomy is structured to illuminate the defining characteristics of a particular terrorist effort and designed to guide reporting to decision makers that is complete, concise, and evidence-based. The classification system has been validated and empirically utilized in the forensic analysis of a simulated terrorist activity. Next-generation analysts can use this schema to label and correlate across existing data streams, assess which critical information may be missing from the data, and identify options for collecting additional data streams to fill information gaps.

Defense against terroristic hazards and risk by building planning law

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hopkins, Richard

2012-01-01

The book on defense against terroristic hazards and risk by building planning law includes the following issues: Introduction: civil engineering and safety. Risk, hazards and urban planning: historical and actual examples for the constructional danger prevention, terroristic threat and urban planning. Risk, hazards and terrorism: sociology and risk, law and risk, terrorism - risk or hazard? Answer to uncertainty - risk prevention, catastrophe law as link. Risk, hazard, terrorism and the public building and regional planning law: regional planning law as point of origin, building law and terrorism, possibility of control by the legal building regulations.

Terrorist Capabilities for Cyberattack: Overview and Policy Issues

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Rollins, John; Wilson, Clay

2005-01-01

... organizations and consider attempting a cyberattack against the critical infrastructure. Cybercrime increased dramatically between 2004 and 2005, and several recent terrorist events appear to have been funded partially through online credit card fraud...

Analysing Personal Characteristics of Lone-Actor Terrorists: Research Findings and Recommendations

OpenAIRE

Roy, de, van Zuijdewijn J.; Bakker, E.

2016-01-01

This Research Note presents the outcome of a project that looked at the personal characteristics of lone-actor terrorists. It is part of the larger Countering Lone-Actor Terrorism (CLAT) project. The project described here aimed to improve understanding of, and responses to, the phenomenon of (potentially) violent lone-actors based on an analysis of 120 cases from across Europe. The Research Note focuses on the personal characteristics of lone-actor terrorists.[1] First of all, it presents th...

Can a Copycat Effect be Observed in Terrorist Suicide Attacks?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicholas Farnham

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to explore how a copycat effect – established within the field of suicide studies – may manifest itself in terrorist suicide attacks, and takes an exploratory approach in evaluating the prospect of incorporating open-data resources in future counter-terrorism research. This paper explores a possible ‘copycat effect’ in cases of suicide terrorism, which entails a perpetrator being inspired by a preceding attack to carry out a similar attack not long after the original. In the wake of mounting risks of lone wolf terrorist attacks today and due to the general difficulties faced in preventing such attacks, in this paper we explore a potential area of future prevention in media reporting, security and anti-terrorism policies today. Using the START Global Terrorism Database (GTD, this paper investigates terrorist suicide-attack clusters and analyses the relationship between attacks found within the same cluster. Using a mixed-method approach, our analyses did not uncover clear evidence supporting a copycat effect among the studied attacks. These and other findings have numerous policy and future research implications.

31 CFR 594.310 - Specially designated global terrorist; SDGT.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... (Continued) OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY GLOBAL TERRORISM SANCTIONS REGULATIONS General Definitions § 594.310 Specially designated global terrorist; SDGT. The term specially...

Analytical technique to address terrorist threats by chemical weapons of mass destruction

Science.gov (United States)

Dempsey, Patrick M.

1997-01-01

Terrorism is no longer an issue without effect on the American mind. We now live with the same concerns and fears that have been commonplace in other developed and third world countries for a long time. Citizens of other countries have long lived with the specter of terrorism and now the U.S. needs to be concerned and prepared for terrorist activities.T he terrorist has the ability to cause great destructive effects by focusing their effort on unaware and unprepared civilian populations. Attacks can range from simple explosives to sophisticated nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Intentional chemical releases of hazardous chemicals or chemical warfare agents pose a great threat because of their ready availability and/or ease of production, and their ability to cause widespread damage. As this battlefront changes from defined conflicts and enemies to unnamed terrorists, we must implement the proper analytical tools to provide a fast and efficient response. Each chemical uses in a terrorists weapon leaves behind a chemical signature that can be used to identify the materials involved and possibly lead investigators to the source and to those responsible. New tools to provide fast and accurate detection for battlefield chemical and biological agent attack are emerging. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) is one of these tools that has found increasing use by the military to respond to chemical agent attacks. As the technology becomes smaller and more portable, it can be used by law enforcement personnel to identify suspected terrorist releases and to help prepare the response; define contaminated areas for evacuation and safety concerns, identify the proper treatment of exposed or affected civilians, and suggest decontamination and cleanup procedures.

In Their Own Words? Methodological Considerations in the Analysis of Terrorist Autobiographies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mary Beth Altier

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Despite the growth of terrorism literature in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, there remain several methodological challenges to studying certain aspects of terrorism. This is perhaps most evident in attempts to uncover the attitudes, motivations, and intentions of individuals engaged in violent extremism and how they are sometimes expressed in problematic behavior. Such challenges invariably stem from the fact that terrorists and the organizations to which they belong represent clandestine populations engaged in illegal activity. Unsurprisingly, these qualities make it difficult for the researcher to identify and locate willing subjects of study—let alone a representative sample. In this research note, we suggest the systematic analysis of terrorist autobiographies offers a promising means of investigating difficult-to-study areas of terrorism-related phenomena. Investigation of autobiographical accounts not only offers additional data points for the study of individual psychological issues, but also provides valuable perspectives on the internal structures, processes, and dynamics of terrorist organizations more broadly. Moreover, given most autobiographies cover critical events and personal experiences across the life course, they provide a unique lens into how terrorists perceive their world and insight into their decision-making processes. We support our advocacy of this approach by highlighting its methodological strengths and shortcomings.

The personality profile of terrorist leaders: theoretical aspects and ways of measuring

OpenAIRE

Dimitrovska, Aleksandra; Dojcinovski, Metodija

2015-01-01

The main task of the psychology of terrorism is to explain the psychological aspects of terrorism, trying to provide answers about the behavior of the persons involved in terrorist activities. The literature suggests that there is no a single theory that explains the reasons and the way of "making the terrorists." While the first generation of research have viewed on terrorism as a pathology, explaining it predominantly through mental illness and psychopathic personality, th...

Reducing hypothetical bias in choice experiments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ladenburg, Jacob; Olsen, Søren Bøye; Nielsen, Rasmus Christian Fejer

eliminate some of the hypothetical bias. The present paper tests an addition to Cheap Talk, an Opt-Out Reminder. The Opt-Out Reminder is an objective short script presented prior to the choice sets, prompting the respondent to choose the opt-out alternative, if he/she finds the proposed policy generated...... alternatives in a choice set too expensive. The results suggest that adding an Opt-Out Reminder to Cheap Talk can in fact reduce hypothetical bias even further and reduces some of the ineffectiveness of CT in relation to the survey bid range and experienced respondents....

A Call to Action for National Foreign Language Capabilities

Science.gov (United States)

US Department of Defense, 2005

2005-01-01

The terrorist attacks of September 11th, the Global War on Terrorism, and the continued threat to the Homeland have defined the critical need to take action to improve the foreign language and cultural capabilities of the Nation. The government must act now to improve the gathering and analysis of information, advance international diplomacy, and…

Impunity for International Terrorists? Key Legal Questions and Practical Considerations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christophe Paulussen

2012-04-01

Full Text Available This Research Paper discusses several of the key questions related to the subject of impunity of international terrorists, taking both a fundamental and a more practical approach within the context of international law. First, it reflects on a number of core definitional and theoretical questions which have been pushed into the background of day‐to‐day reality, by the actual fight against terrorism. For instance: what does the concept of impunity entail exactly and which kinds of standards could be used in measuring impunity? Is it clear what falls under the header of international terrorism and can it in fact be argued that international terrorists enjoy impunity? In practical terms, the paper explores a number of questions related to the actual prosecution of terrorism. What are the obstacles that national prosecutors face every day when prosecuting suspects of international terrorism? To what extent does a rule that prima facie seems ideal to fight terrorism (aut dedere aut judicare: either extradite or prosecute apply to terrorist offences? And what is the role of international criminal law – and the international criminal tribunals – in fighting terrorism? The Paper concludes with a series of recommendations.

ANTI-TERROR POLICY OF UZBEKISTAN IN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE REGIONAL ANTI-TERRORIST POLICY OF THE SCO

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

С П Базылева

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The beginning of the XXI century was marked by a number of serious problems, including cancer, world hunger, environmental problems and increasing every year the problem of global terrorism, which poses a great threat to the security of the modern multipolar world. Uzbekistan today occupies a firm position in fight against terrorist threat. The principled position of Uzbekistan in the fight against terrorism is that “no country should exclude their participation in the fight against global terrorism, there must be no transit zones and "green corridors" for terrorist organizations”. The Central Asian region is one of the most vulnerable, because it is necessary to pay special attention to the strategy of the anti-terrorist security of the countries included in the structure of the Central Asian region. In this article, we consider the anti-terrorist policy of Uzbekistan in the framework of the regional anti-terrorist policy of the SCO.

Clinical and psychological aspects of adolescent involvement in extremist and terrorist activities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oshevsky D.S.

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the clinical and psychological aspects of including minors in terrorist and extremist activities. In the historical perspective, it was traced how the views on the role of mental disorders in the genesis of such crimes changed. It is shown that terrorist and extremist activity must be viewed as a complex multi-factor phenomenon, in which socio-psychological components play a leading role. It is noted that the psychopathological process can act as a prerequisite for inclusion in such radical groups. Psychoanalytic, sociological, cognitive approaches, theories of social learning and the concept of diffuse ego-identity making attempts to explain the mechanisms of terrorist and extremist activity in minors are analyzed. The problem of insufficient study of the influence of the Internet and social networks on the formation of readiness for admission to adolescents in radical organizations is posed.

Closing the Gap: Measuring the Social Identity of Terrorists

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Ludwick, Keith W

2008-01-01

.... However, using two well-established theories from social psychology, Social Identity Theory and Social Distance Theory, allows the development of a practical model to develop a social profile of a terrorist group...

The Internet information infrastructure: Terrorist tool or architecture for information defense?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kadner, S.; Turpen, E. [Aquila Technologies Group, Albuquerque, NM (United States); Rees, B. [Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)

1998-12-01

The Internet is a culmination of information age technologies and an agent of change. As with any infrastructure, dependency upon the so-called global information infrastructure creates vulnerabilities. Moreover, unlike physical infrastructures, the Internet is a multi-use technology. While information technologies, such as the Internet, can be utilized as a tool of terror, these same technologies can facilitate the implementation of solutions to mitigate the threat. In this vein, this paper analyzes the multifaceted nature of the Internet information infrastructure and argues that policymakers should concentrate on the solutions it provides rather than the vulnerabilities it creates. Minimizing risks and realizing possibilities in the information age will require institutional activities that translate, exploit and convert information technologies into positive solutions. What follows is a discussion of the Internet information infrastructure as it relates to increasing vulnerabilities and positive potential. The following four applications of the Internet will be addressed: as the infrastructure for information competence; as a terrorist tool; as the terrorist`s target; and as an architecture for rapid response.

Lone Actor Terrorist Attack Planning and Preparation: A Data-Driven Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Schuurman, Bart; Bakker, Edwin; Gill, Paul; Bouhana, Noémie

2017-10-23

This article provides an in-depth assessment of lone actor terrorists' attack planning and preparation. A codebook of 198 variables related to different aspects of pre-attack behavior is applied to a sample of 55 lone actor terrorists. Data were drawn from open-source materials and complemented where possible with primary sources. Most lone actors are not highly lethal or surreptitious attackers. They are generally poor at maintaining operational security, leak their motivations and capabilities in numerous ways, and generally do so months and even years before an attack. Moreover, the "loneness" thought to define this type of terrorism is generally absent; most lone actors uphold social ties that are crucial to their adoption and maintenance of the motivation and capability to commit terrorist violence. The results offer concrete input for those working to detect and prevent this form of terrorism and argue for a re-evaluation of the "lone actor" concept. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Forensic Sciences published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

The application of an action system model to destructive behaviour: the examples of arson and terrorism.

Science.gov (United States)

Fritzon, K; Canter, D; Wilton, Z

2001-01-01

This article argues that criminal and deviant behaviour can be productively viewed through an action system framework. The idea is developed by considering two forms of destructive behaviour: arson and barricade-hostage terrorist incidents. Two studies are presented. The first study tests the hypothesis that different forms of arson will reflect the four dominant states that an action system can take; integrative, expressive, conservative, and adaptive. A smallest space analysis was performed on 46 variables describing 230 cases of arson and the results identified the four themes of action system functioning. An examination of the personal characteristics of the arsonists also produced four variable groupings and a combined analysis of the four action scales and four characteristics scales also supported the structural hypothesis of the action system model. The second study applied the action system model to the study acts of terrorist barricade-hostage incidents. A smallest space analysis of 44 variables coded from 41 incidents again revealed four distinct forms of activity, which were psychologically similar to the four modes of arson identified in study one. Overall, these two studies provide support for the appropriateness of the action system framework as a way of classifying different forms of deviant behaviour. Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The human body as a terrorist weapon: hunger strikes and suicide bombers

OpenAIRE

Mollica, Marcello; Dingley, James

2007-01-01

This article argues that a major factor in terrorist acts is an appeal to the actor's own community at an emotional and symbolic level, through acts of sacrifice, particularly self-sacrifice. Although other aims also exist, a prime concern is to recall the actor's home audience to the struggle, because the actor regards himself as acting on their behalf. This utilizes the imagery and symbolism of traditional religion, implying a strong communal and non-material impetus to terrorist acts, rath...

BOLD responses in reward regions to hypothetical and imaginary monetary rewards.

Science.gov (United States)

Miyapuram, Krishna P; Tobler, Philippe N; Gregorios-Pippas, Lucy; Schultz, Wolfram

2012-01-16

Monetary rewards are uniquely human. Because money is easy to quantify and present visually, it is the reward of choice for most fMRI studies, even though it cannot be handed over to participants inside the scanner. A typical fMRI study requires hundreds of trials and thus small amounts of monetary rewards per trial (e.g. 5p) if all trials are to be treated equally. However, small payoffs can have detrimental effects on performance due to their limited buying power. Hypothetical monetary rewards can overcome the limitations of smaller monetary rewards but it is less well known whether predictors of hypothetical rewards activate reward regions. In two experiments, visual stimuli were associated with hypothetical monetary rewards. In Experiment 1, we used stimuli predicting either visually presented or imagined hypothetical monetary rewards, together with non-rewarding control pictures. Activations to reward predictive stimuli occurred in reward regions, namely the medial orbitofrontal cortex and midbrain. In Experiment 2, we parametrically varied the amount of visually presented hypothetical monetary reward keeping constant the amount of actually received reward. Graded activation in midbrain was observed to stimuli predicting increasing hypothetical rewards. The results demonstrate the efficacy of using hypothetical monetary rewards in fMRI studies. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Closing the Gap: Measuring the Social Identity of Terrorists

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Ludwick, Keith W

2008-01-01

.... From that, it is further possible to use the resulting social profile to compare terrorist groups against each other in order to develop predictive models as to the propensity of violence of a particular group...

Game Theoretic Centrality Analysis of Terrorist Networks : The Cases of Jemaah Islamiyah and Al Qaeda

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lindelauf, R.; Hamers, H.J.M.; Husslage, B.G.M.

2011-01-01

The identification of key players in a terrorist network can lead to prevention of attacks, due to efficient allocation of surveillance means or isolation of key players in order to destabilize the network. In this paper we introduce a game theoretic approach to identify key players in terrorist

Protecting chemical plants against terrorist attacks: a review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Khakzad Rostami, N.; Reniers, G.L.L.M.E.

2015-01-01

Protection of hazardous establishments such as chemical plants intentional incidents has drawn attention from safety and security experts since 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. Although major steps have been taken since, the recent intentional incidents in two chemical plants in France in June and

When Do Governments Concede to Terrorists

Science.gov (United States)

2014-06-01

crisis, 146 people were taken hostage by the terrorist group Tupac Amaru (MRTA) at the Japanese Embassy in Peru . Six of those were American...hispanic_heritage/article-9475994 FARC-EP. (2009). Chronology of resistance: FARC-EP, a history of struggle. Retrieved from http://resistencia- colombia.org...index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=463: chronology - of-resistance-farc-ep-a-history-of-struggle&catid=50&Itemid=85 Gladwell, M. (2000). The

Anticipating Terrorist Safe Havens from Instability Induced Conflict

Science.gov (United States)

Shearer, Robert; Marvin, Brett

This chapter presents recent methods developed at the Center for Army Analysis to classify patterns of nation-state instability that lead to conflict. The ungoverned areas endemic to failed nation-states provide terrorist organizations with safe havens from which to plan and execute terrorist attacks. Identification of those states at risk for instability induced conflict should help to facilitate effective counter terrorism policy planning efforts. Nation-states that experience instability induced conflict are similar in that they share common instability factors that make them susceptible to experiencing conflict. We utilize standard pattern classification algorithms to identify these patterns. First, we identify features (political, military, economic and social) that capture the instability of a nation-state. Second, we forecast the future levels of these features for each nation-state. Third, we classify each future state’s conflict potential based upon the conflict level of those states in the past most similar to the future state.

In Silico screening for functional candidates amongst hypothetical proteins

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Desler, Claus; Suravajhala, Prashanth; Sanderhoff, May

2009-01-01

eukaryotes. With the general belief that the majority of hypothetical proteins are the product of pseudogenes, it is essential to have a tool with the ability of pinpointing the minority of hypothetical proteins with a high probability of being expressed. RESULTS: Here, we present an in silico selection...

A data fusion approach to indications and warnings of terrorist attacks

Science.gov (United States)

McDaniel, David; Schaefer, Gregory

2014-05-01

Indications and Warning (I&W) of terrorist attacks, particularly IED attacks, require detection of networks of agents and patterns of behavior. Social Network Analysis tries to detect a network; activity analysis tries to detect anomalous activities. This work builds on both to detect elements of an activity model of terrorist attack activity - the agents, resources, networks, and behaviors. The activity model is expressed as RDF triples statements where the tuple positions are elements or subsets of a formal ontology for activity models. The advantage of a model is that elements are interdependent and evidence for or against one will influence others so that there is a multiplier effect. The advantage of the formality is that detection could occur hierarchically, that is, at different levels of abstraction. The model matching is expressed as a likelihood ratio between input text and the model triples. The likelihood ratio is designed to be analogous to track correlation likelihood ratios common in JDL fusion level 1. This required development of a semantic distance metric for positive and null hypotheses as well as for complex objects. The metric uses the Web 1Terabype database of one to five gram frequencies for priors. This size requires the use of big data technologies so a Hadoop cluster is used in conjunction with OpenNLP natural language and Mahout clustering software. Distributed data fusion Map Reduce jobs distribute parts of the data fusion problem to the Hadoop nodes. For the purposes of this initial testing, open source models and text inputs of similar complexity to terrorist events were used as surrogates for the intended counter-terrorist application.

The Counter Terrorist Classroom: Religion, Education, and Security

Science.gov (United States)

Gearon, Liam

2013-01-01

The article identifies international cases--from the United States, Europe, and the United Nations--of an emergent interface of religion, education, and security. This is manifest in the uses of religion in education to counter religious extremism, the notional "counter terrorist classroom." To avoid an over-association of extremism with…

Terrorist Capabilities for Cyberattack: Overview and Policy Issues

Science.gov (United States)

2007-01-22

called “Digital Pearl Harbor” (DPH), with the result that 79% of the gamers said that a strategic cyberattack against the United States was likely...terrorist sponsors, five of them — North Korea , Sudan, Syria, Libya, and Cuba — are described as a diminishing concern for terrorism. Only Iran remains

Terrorists and Sponsors. An Inquiry into Trust and Double-Crossing

Science.gov (United States)

McCormick, Gordon H.; Owen, Guillermo

We consider the conditions that lead to the dissolution of state-terrorist coalitions. While such coalitions have well known advantages, they also have structural weaknesses that are largely ignored in the literature on the state sponsorship of terrorism. Each player in the coalition has interests that are only partially shared and, in some cases, at odds with those of its partner. Long term cooperation must be based on mutual advantage and mutual trust, both of which are subject to change over time.We examine the conditions that are needed to begin and maintain a cooperative strategy and the circumstances that lead a state and a terrorist group to leave the coalition and double-cross its partner. Equilibrium strategies for both players are defined and interpreted.

The meaning of collective terrorist threat : Understanding the subjective causes of terrorism reduces its negative psychological impact

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fischer, Peter; Postmes, Tom; Koeppl, Julia; Conway, Lianne; Fredriksson, Tom

This article hypothesized that the possibility to construct intellectual meaning of a terrorist attack (i.e., whether participants can cognitively understand why the perpetrators did their crime) reduces the negative psychological consequences typically associated with increased terrorist threat.

Vulnerability to terrorist attacks in European electricity decarbonisation scenarios: Comparing renewable electricity imports to gas imports

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lilliestam, Johan

2014-01-01

The decarbonised future European electricity system must remain secure: reliable electricity supply is a prerequisite for the functioning of modern society. Scenarios like Desertec, which partially rely on solar power imports from the Middle East and North Africa, may be attractive for decarbonisation, but raise concerns about terrorists interrupting supply by attacking the long, unprotected transmission lines in the Sahara. In this paper, I develop new methods and assess the European vulnerability to terrorist attacks in the Desertec scenario. I compare this to the vulnerability of today's system and a decarbonisation scenario in which Europe relies on gas imports for electricity generation. I show that the vulnerability of both gas and electricity imports is low, but electricity imports are more vulnerable than gas imports, due to their technical characteristics. Gas outages (and, potentially, resulting blackouts) are the very unlikely consequence even of very high-number attacks against the gas import system, whereas short blackouts are the potential consequence of a few attacks against the import electricity lines. As the impacts of all except extreme attacks are limited, terrorists cannot attack energy infrastructure and cause spectacular, fear-creating outages. Both gas and electricity import infrastructure are thus unattractive and unlikely terrorist targets. - Highlights: • A comparison of terrorism risks of importing solar power and gas for power generation. • Both scenarios show low vulnerability to terrorist attacks. • Within low vulnerabilities, gas imports are less vulnerable than electricity imports. • Causing spectacular, large and long outages is very difficult for attacker. • The attractiveness of gas and power import infrastructure as terrorist target is low

33 CFR Appendix B to Part 277 - Hypothetical Example of Cost Apportionment

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Hypothetical Example of Cost... APPORTIONMENT OF BRIDGE ALTERATIONS Pt. 277, App. B Appendix B to Part 277—Hypothetical Example of Cost... bridge was completed in 1908 and the superstructure completed in 1909. For this hypothetical example it...

Liquid Missile Fuels as Means of Chemical Terrorist Attack

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Superina, V.; Orehovec, Z.

2007-01-01

Modern world is faced with numerous terrorist attacks whose goals, methods and means of the conduct are various. It seems that we have entered the era when terrorism, one's own little terrorism, is the easiest and the most painless way of achieving a goal. That is why that such a situation has contributed to the necessity for strengthening individual and collective protection and safety, import and export control, control of the production and illegal sale of the potential means for delivering terrorist act. It has also contributed to the necessity for devising means of the delivery. For more than 10 years, a series of congresses on CB MTS Industry has pointed at chemicals and chemical industry as potential means and targets of terrorism. The specialization and experience of different authors in the field of the missile technology and missile fuels, especially those of Eastern origin, and the threat that was the reality of the war conflicts in 1990s was the reason for making a scientific and expert analysis of the liquid missile fuels as means of terrorism. There are not many experts in the field of NBC protection who are familiar with the toxicity and reaction of liquid missile fuels still lying discarded and unprotected in abandoned barracks all over Europe and Asia. The purpose of this paper is to draw public attention to possible different abuses of liquid missile fuels for a terrorist purpose, as well as to possible consequences and prevention measures against such abuses. (author)

Asian Organized Crime and Terrorist Activity in Canada, 1999-2002

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Helfand, Neil S

2003-01-01

This study is based on open source research into the scope of Asian organized crime and terrorist activity in Canada during the period 1999 to 2002, and the extent of cooperation and possible overlap...

Computational structural and functional analysis of hypothetical proteins of Staphylococcus aureus

OpenAIRE

Mohan, Ramadevi; Venugopal, Subhashree

2012-01-01

Genome sequencing projects has led to an explosion of large amount of gene products in which many are of hypothetical proteins with unknown function. Analyzing and annotating the functions of hypothetical proteins is important in Staphylococcus aureus which is a pathogenic bacterium that cause multiple types of diseases by infecting various sites in humans and animals. In this study, ten hypothetical proteins of Staphylococcus aureus were retrieved from NCBI and analyzed for their structural ...

Exploitation of Free Markets and Globalization to Finance Terrorists

Science.gov (United States)

2008-09-01

is their capability to exploit the black market peso exchange or the international foreign exchange arbitrage . Under the scenario of a weak U.S...appears legitimate. By using intermediaries or legitimate businesses, the financial markets are wide open for terrorists to hedge funds and

47 CFR 69.608 - Carrier Common Line hypothetical net balance.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Carrier Common Line hypothetical net balance. 69.608 Section 69.608 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) COMMON CARRIER... net balance. The hypothetical net balance shall be equal to a Carrier Common Line revenue requirement...

Political terrorism and affective polarization in "black" and "red" terrorists in Italy during the years 1968-1988.

Science.gov (United States)

Pacini, Matteo; Maremmani, Icro

2018-04-01

Psychiatric evaluations of violent political crime were mostly performed on a case-by-case basis in a forensic environment, which made them unduly dependent on categories of presumed dangerousness and legal responsibility, rather than on a clinical definition of their mental status. In referring to such "clinical" definitions, the disorder we have in mind is not limited to the major, agitated psychotic manias or mixed states. The presence of a dominant temperament, or protracted hypomania, is enough by itself to explain an individual's engagement in a wide range of activities, not necessarily sociopathic or violent. We put forward the hypothesis that formal and transpolitical radical choices, either in favor of an illegal lifestyle or of activities involving a high level of risk, may be linked with certain mental states, especially when considering small clandestine groups showing a high level of internal ideological consensus, and a no-return attitude toward a commitment to radical choices. Available data about the psycho(patho)logical profile of terrorists are still hard to come by. The only available studies are those on identified living terrorists (judging by the trials of those who personally admitted to having been terrorists), and statistical data imply a number of documented cases belonging to the same terrorist organization. In Italy, the period often called the "years of lead [bullets]" displays an interesting viewpoint for the study of terrorist psychology, for two main reasons: first of all, it is a historically defined period (1968-1988), and second, the number of ascertained participants in terrorist activities was quite large.

The Next Terrorist Attack: Not If, But When...Are We Prepared?

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Lynch, David

2004-01-01

.... Since lessons learned from past attacks call attention to the terrorists' ability to overcome military defenses, the importance of well-developed, exercised response plans cannot be overstated...

Waste Management Policy Framework to Mitigate Terrorist Intrusion Activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Redus, Kenneth S.

2003-01-01

A policy-directed framework is developed to support US Department of Energy (DOE) counterterrorism efforts, specifically terrorist intrusion activities that affect of Environmental Management (EM) programs. The framework is called the Security Effectiveness and Resource Allocation Definition Forecasting and Control System (SERAD-FACS). Use of SERAD-FACS allows trade-offs between resources, technologies, risk, and Research and Development (R and D) efforts to mitigate such intrusion attempts. Core to SERAD-FACS is (1) the understanding the perspectives and time horizons of key decisionmakers and organizations, (2) a determination of site vulnerabilities and accessibilities, and (3) quantifying the measures that describe the risk associated with a compromise of EM assets. The innovative utility of SERAD-FACS is illustrated for three integrated waste management and security strategies. EM program risks, time delays, and security for effectiveness are examined to demonstrate the significant cost and schedule impact terrorist activities can have on cleanup efforts in the DOE complex

CARNSORE: Hypothetical reactor accident study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walmod-Larsen, O.; Jensen, N.O.; Kristensen, L.; Meide, A.; Nedergaard, K.L.; Nielsen, F.; Lundtang Petersen, E.; Petersen, T.; Thykier-Nielsen, S.

1984-06-01

Two types of design-basis accident and a series of hypothetical core-melt accidents to a 600 MWe reactor are described and their consequences assessed. The PLUCON 2 model was used to calculate the consequences which are presented in terms of individual and collective doses, as well as early and late health consequences. The site proposed for the nucelar power station is Carnsore Point, County Wexford, south-east Ireland. The release fractions for the accidents described are those given in WASH-1400. The analyses are based on the resident population as given in the 1979 census and on 20 years of data from the meteorological stations at Rosslare Harbour, 8.5 km north of the site. The consequences of one of the hypothetical core-melt accidents are described in detail in a meteorological parametric study. Likewise the consequences of the worst conceivable combination of situations are described. Finally, the release fraction in one accident is varied and the consequences of a proposed, more probable ''Class 9 accident'' are presented. (author)

A First Look on iMiner's Knowledge base and Detecting Hidden Hierarchy of Riyadh Bombing Terrorist Network

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Memon, Nasrullah

2007-01-01

  - Data collection is difficult to any network analysis because it is difficult to create a complete network.  It is not easy to gain information on terrorist networks.  It is fact that terrorist organizations do not provide information on their members and the government rarely allows researche...

The Nation That Cried Lone Wolf : A Data-Driven Analysis of Individual Terrorists in the United States Since 9/11

OpenAIRE

Eby, Charles A.

2012-01-01

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited Lone-wolf terrorist attacks have occurred in the United States throughout the countrys history. Attempted attacks from individual terrorists unaffiliated with terrorist groups may be becoming more prevalent. Both the general public and government officials acknowledge the presence and importance of these attacks; however, relatively little literature exists on the subject compared to group terrorism. Much of the information on lone wol...

Computing Optimal Mixed Strategies for Terrorist Plot Detection Games with the Consideration of Information Leakage

OpenAIRE

Li MingChu; Yang Zekun; Lu Kun; Guo Cheng

2017-01-01

The terrorist’s coordinated attack is becoming an increasing threat to western countries. By monitoring potential terrorists, security agencies are able to detect and destroy terrorist plots at their planning stage. Therefore, an optimal monitoring strategy for the domestic security agency becomes necessary. However, previous study about monitoring strategy generation fails to consider the information leakage, due to hackers and insider threat. Such leakage events may lead to failure of watch...

Development of threshold action criteria for light water reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okrent, D.; Baldewicz, W.L.

1982-06-01

A survey of recently threshold criteria for regulatory action on LWRs is presented together with some commentary. This is followed by a new proposal for threshold action criteria which includes some different risk attributes than are found in previous criteria. Some preliminary risk values are suggested for the criteria and then evaluated in terms of a few hypothetical accident scenarios. Finally, several licensing issues are examined in terms of various threshold action criteria

Freed: Ripples of the Convicted and Released Terrorist in America

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-01

Singapore, Malaysia , Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines (The International Conference on Terrorist Rehabilitation, 2009). No single methodology to...2009, p. 16). Care Rehabilitation Centers include group meals, art therapy, recreation and other leisure activity to “build teamwork but also

The Use of Structures in Communication Networks to Track Membership in Terrorist Groups

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H.A Eiselt

2015-02-01

Full Text Available This concept paper investigates possibilities to detect terrorist cells based on communications between individuals without the need for wiretapping. The advantages of such procedure are apparent: fewer (if any legal requirements, and, most importantly, the possibility to automate the surveillance. After a brief review of the pertinent literature, we offer three approaches that are designed to aid in the detection of not only terrorist cells, but also the command structures within the cells. The techniques are demonstrated by using a small illustration. The paper concludes by outlining limitations of the procedures described here.

Preemption and Retribution: Precision-Guided Munitions to Counter Terrorist Threats

Science.gov (United States)

1998-04-01

story are told. Terrorists have become skilled at cultivating 18 the " underdog " image and portraying their adversaries as ruthless aggressors...Frontiers, Israel’s War Against Terrorism, London: Arms and Armour Publications, 1990. Schmemann, Serge. " Netanyahu Defiantly Defending Botched

Surgical resource utilization in urban terrorist bombing: a computer simulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Hirshberg, A; Stein, M; Walden, R

1999-09-01

The objective of this study was to analyze the utilization of surgical staff and facilities during an urban terrorist bombing incident. A discrete-event computer model of the emergency room and related hospital facilities was constructed and implemented, based on cumulated data from 12 urban terrorist bombing incidents in Israel. The simulation predicts that the admitting capacity of the hospital depends primarily on the number of available surgeons and defines an optimal staff profile for surgeons, residents, and trauma nurses. The major bottlenecks in the flow of critical casualties are the shock rooms and the computed tomographic scanner but not the operating rooms. The simulation also defines the number of reinforcement staff needed to treat noncritical casualties and shows that radiology is the major obstacle to the flow of these patients. Computer simulation is an important new tool for the optimization of surgical service elements for a multiple-casualty situation.

[Treatment strategies for mass casualty incidents and terrorist attacks in trauma and vascular surgery : Presentation of a treatment concept].

Science.gov (United States)

Friemert, B; Franke, A; Bieler, D; Achatz, A; Hinck, D; Engelhardt, M

2017-10-01

The treatment of patients in the context of mass casualty incidents (MCI) represents a great challenge for the participating rescue workers and clinics. Due to the increase in terrorist activities it is necessary to become familiar with this new kind of threat to civilization with respect to the medical treatment of victims of terrorist attacks. There are substantial differences between a "normal" MCI and a terrorist MCI with respect to injury patterns (blunt trauma vs. penetrating/perforating trauma), the type and form of the incident (MCI=static situation vs. terrorist attack MCI= dynamic situation) and the different security positions (rescue services vs. police services). This article is concerned with question of which changes in the surgical treatment of patients are made necessary by these new challenges. In this case it is necessary that physicians are familiar with the different injury patterns, whereby priority must be given to gunshot and explosion (blast) injuries. Furthermore, altered strategic and tactical approaches (damage control surgery vs. tactical abbreviated surgical care) are necessary to ensure survival for as many victims of terrorist attacks as possible and also to achieve the best possible functional results. It is only possible to successfully counter these new challenges by changing the mindset in the treatment of terrorist MCI compared to MCI incidents. An essential component of this mindset is the acquisition of a maximum of flexibility. This article would like to make a contribution to this problem.

Licensing issues in the context of terrorist attacks on nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Danwitz, T. von

2002-01-01

The terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in September 2001 has prompted enhanced nuclear risk awareness among the German population. But in the current public debate about the safety of nuclear power plants in Germany in times of new dimensions of danger, aspects such as the role of the constitutional law, the German Atomic Energy Act, and the regulatory system governing nuclear power plant licensing in the context of protection and safety have not been addressed. The author therefore discusses the German nuclear power plant licensing law and administrative regime, elaborating on the significance attributed in those bodies of law to risks like terrorist attacks on nuclear power plants. (orig./CB) [de

‘Let the Punishment Match the Offence’: Determining Sentences for Australian Terrorists

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicola McGarrity

2013-04-01

Full Text Available To date, 38 men have been charged with terrorism offences in Australia. Twenty-six have been convicted. The article commences with an overview of the factual circumstances leading to these convictions. This provides important background for the following discussion of a largely unexplored issue in Australian anti-terrorism law and policy, namely, the difficulties faced by the Australian courts in adapting traditional sentencing principles to the (for the most part, preparatory terrorism offences enacted by the Commonwealth Parliament after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Of particular interest are how the courts determine the objective seriousness of these offences and the respective weight placed upon deterrence (both specific and general and the rehabilitation of convicted terrorists.

FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS OF THE STATE POLICY FOR THE PREVENTION OF TERRORIST ACTS IN UKRAINE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mykola Bunchuk

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The article’s objective is to determine the mechanism for implementing the financial instruments of the state policy to counter terrorist acts in the territory not controlled by Ukrainian authorities in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Methodology. Within the scientific research, for the most effective approaches at the national level to prevent the threat of international terrorism, under the conditions of the deep internal political crisis and extremely difficult economic situation, in order to improve the efficiency of public administration in developing and implementing the anti-terrorism state policies in Ukraine, the paper analyses international and domestic regulations on preventing the terrorist financing, considers factors that affect the deterioration of the social and economic situation of the temporarily occupied parts of Donbas. Results of the research allow formulating the definition of financial instruments of antiterrorist policies, the paper develops and proposes a series of organizational measures in order to prevent the terrorist financing in Ukraine. Practical implications. Based on the above, we propose an option of classification of main illegal mechanisms that may be used to finance terrorist activities in the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions uncontrolled by Ukrainian authorities, dividing them into internal and external. Given the above studied factors and classification of financing of terrorist acts in eastern Ukraine, we can assume that for the purpose of evading duty payable to relevant state bodies of Ukraine, external supplies of inventories in the uncontrolled areas of the Donetsk region, which are later obtained by illegal armed groups, are possibly carried out as follows: on behalf of a commercial entity registered in a foreign country for the Ukrainian commercial entity, registered in settlements located in the uncontrolled territory; crossing of international transit traffic that moves through the

Near-space airships against terrorist activities

Science.gov (United States)

Kesenek, Ceylan

2014-06-01

Near-space is a region surrounding the earth which is too dense for a satellite to fly and also too thin for air breathing vehicles to fly. The near-space region which is located between 65,000 and 325,000 feet is really underutilized despite its unique potential. Near-Space airships can be used to exploit the potential of near space. Such a system can supply not only a great deal of information using ISR (Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance) sensors on board but also serve as a communication/data relay. Airships used in near space can cover a very wide footprint area for surveillance missions. Free of orbital mechanics these near-space assets can continue its mission for long period of time with a persistence of days and months. These assets can provide persistent intelligence for fight against terrorist activities. Terrorism is a non-state threat and doesn't have a static hierarchical structure. To fight against such an adversary an overwhelming intelligence activity must be applied. Therefore, intelligence collection and surveillance missions play a vital role in counter terrorism. Terrorists use asymmetric means of threat that require information superiority. In this study exploitation of near space by airships is analyzed for fight against terrorism. Near-space airships are analyzed according to the operational effectiveness, logistic structure and cost. Advantages and disadvantages of airships are argued in comparison with satellites and airplanes. As a result, by bridging the gap between the air and space, nearspace airships are considered to be the most important asset of warfighter especially with its operational effectiveness.

Computing Optimal Mixed Strategies for Terrorist Plot Detection Games with the Consideration of Information Leakage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li MingChu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The terrorist’s coordinated attack is becoming an increasing threat to western countries. By monitoring potential terrorists, security agencies are able to detect and destroy terrorist plots at their planning stage. Therefore, an optimal monitoring strategy for the domestic security agency becomes necessary. However, previous study about monitoring strategy generation fails to consider the information leakage, due to hackers and insider threat. Such leakage events may lead to failure of watching potential terrorists and destroying the plot, and cause a huge risk to public security. This paper makes two major contributions. Firstly, we develop a new Stackelberg game model for the security agency to generate optimal monitoring strategy with the consideration of information leakage. Secondly, we provide a double-oracle framework DO-TPDIL for calculation effectively. The experimental result shows that our approach can obtain robust strategies against information leakage with high feasibility and efficiency.

The game-theoretic national interstate economic model : an integrated framework to quantify the economic impacts of cyber-terrorist behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-12-01

This study suggests an integrated framework to quantify cyber attack impacts on the U.S. airport security system. A cyber attack by terrorists on the U.S. involves complex : strategic behavior by the terrorists because they could plan to invade an ai...

The Sociology and Psychology of Terrorism: Who Becomes a Terrorist and Why?

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Hudson, Rex A

1999-01-01

...) and the new recruitment patterns of some groups, such as recruiting suicide commandos, female and child terrorists, and scientists capable of developing weapons of mass destruction, provide a measure...

Can a Copycat Effect be Observed in Terrorist Suicide Attacks?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Farnham, N.T.; Liem, M.C.A.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to explore how a copycat effect – established within the field of suicide studies – may manifest itself in terrorist suicide attacks, and takes an exploratory approach in evaluating the prospect of incorporating open-data resources in future counter-terrorism research.

The Effect Terrorist Labels Have on Military Operations

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-17

Department until 2008.44 Nelson Mandela , the renowned member of the ANC and Nobel Prize laureate, became president of South Africa in 1994 and is...celebrated internationally as one of the most prolific and revolutionary leaders of the 20th century. Mandela received all these awards and accolades—many...models or key players during 44 Mimi Hall, "U.S. has Mandela on Terrorist List," USA Today, http

The use of models to help in the decision making process related to response after an RDD (Radiological dispersion device) event

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saint Yves, Thalis Leon de Avila; Lauria, Dejanira da Costa; Maia, Arlei; Andrade, Edson Ramos de

2011-01-01

Since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the assessment of radiological impacts for the public and the environment due to radionuclides being scattered by a radiological malevolent event has been a central focus. Models and computational codes have been developed and hypothetical scenarios have been formulated for establishing priority of countermeasures and protective actions; determining of generic operational guidelines; and assessment of risks for exposure population. In this study, a likely scenario was considered for evaluation of radiation exposures after a hypothetical radiological explosion of a 137 Cs device event in an urban environment. Joining to that, the main goal of this study is evaluating the usefulness of the sequential use of two codes for assessment of radiological consequence, and supporting decision making related to a RDD. A summary of the approaches of the two different codes, of their key inputs and outputs are presented. (author)

Public health preparedness and response to a radiological terrorist attack

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamaguchi, Ichiro

2016-01-01

Given the potential for intentional malevolent acts, the security of radioactive sources should be ensured. In the event of a terrorist attack using a radioactive source, we should care not only about health concerns of victims, especially including first responders who suffer from radiation injury, but also public health activities with affected people during the long recovery phase. Regarding the radiological public health viewpoint, preventive efforts are also important. In fact, regulatory reform is progressing in Japan according to the code of conduct issued by IAEA. One of the difficulties of countermeasures for the security of radioactive sources in Japan is to establish a disposal facility for disused sealed radioactive sources, since radioactive waste has been additionally a point of contention in society since the nuclear disaster. This paper presents an overview of countermeasures for terrorist attacks using a radioactive source, from the viewpoint of public health in Japan including the results of survey targeted hospitals equipped with blood irradiation machines. (author)

Terror i tvillingtårnene – dystopi og ironi? 9/11 i Darlah og En terrorist i senga

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lersbryggen Mørk, Kjersti

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Terror in the Twin Towers – dystopia and irony? 9/11 in Darlah and En terrorist i senga. Through globalization of our media society, children as well as adults are endlessly exposed to information and images from all over the world. In Norway, signs of the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in USA on September 11th 2001 are now to be found in literature for children and young adults. With globalization theory and post-colonial theory I will examine how two novels present global challenges in general and 9/11 in particular. What does globalization mean for the construction of identity? Who are “we”, and who are “the others”? The novel for young adults, Darlah – 172 timer på månen [Darlah – 172 hours on the moon] (2008 by Johan Harstad, is a dystopia where 9/11 points forward to a full scale catastrophe for humanity. En terrorist i senga [There's a terrorist in my bed] (2008, a novel for children by Endre Lund Eriksen, makes explicit references to 9/11 – but with playfulness and ironic revelation of xenophobia. Both books use aliens from outer space as “the other”, but where Darlah presents a pessimistic view of our global future, En terrorist i senga is optimistic on behalf of the humankind.

The Rise and the Fall of Terrorist Organizations in Post-Dictatorial Greece: The Role and the Lessons for the Intelligence Services

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Fakitsas, Miltiadis

2003-01-01

The Greek government unsuccessfully battled leftist terrorist groups from 1975 to 2002, The two most notorious terrorist organizations during this period were the "November 17" group and another group...

Reactions to Hypothetical, Jealousy Producing Events.

Science.gov (United States)

Hansen, Gary L.

1982-01-01

Asked subjects (N=220) how they would feel about their mates' behavior in eight hypothetical situations designed to measure jealousy. Responses indicated that jealousy is likely to be a major issue. Sex role orientation is most consistently related to jealousy with sex role traditional subjects being the most jealous. (Author)

Hypothetical model of factors determining performance and sports achievement in team sports

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Trninić Marko

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The objective of this paper is formation of a comprehensive hypothetical dynamic interactional process model structured by assumed constructs, i.e. processes or mechanisms that obtain real features and influences on athlete's performance and athletic achievement. Thus there are formed and assumed reciprocal relations between high training and competition - based stress as the input variable, cognitive appraisal and interpretation as the mediator, and mood state as the moderator based on the development of the dynamic systems theory. Also, proposed model uses basic assumptions of the Action-Theory approach and it is in accordance with the contemporary socialcognitive view of team functioning in sports. Within the process model, the output variables are measures of efficacy evident through athlete's individual and team performance and athletic achievement. The situation, the team and athlete attributes, the performance and the athletic achievement are joined variables, and the individual and the collective efficacy are the consequence of their reciprocal interaction. Therefore, there are complex and reciprocal interactive processes in real sports and explorative situations amongst the attributes of athlete and team and the behaviour and situation that determine performance and athletic achievement. This is probably the result of an integrated network of reciprocal multi-causal activity of a set of stated assumed constructs from different theories. Thus the hypothetical model is an effort to describe elaborate correlations and/or interdependencies between internal and external determinants which presumably affect athlete's performance and athletic achievement.

Adolescents' explicit and implicit evaluations of hypothetical and actual peers with different bullying participant roles.

Science.gov (United States)

Pouwels, J Loes; Lansu, Tessa A M; Cillessen, Antonius H N

2017-07-01

This study examined how adolescents evaluate bullying at three levels of specificity: (a) the general concept of bullying, (b) hypothetical peers in different bullying participant roles, and (c) actual peers in different bullying participant roles. Participants were 163 predominantly ethnic majority adolescents in The Netherlands (58% girls; M age =16.34years, SD=0.79). For the hypothetical peers, we examined adolescents' explicit evaluations as well as their implicit evaluations. Adolescents evaluated the general concept of bullying negatively. Adolescents' explicit evaluations of hypothetical and actual peers in the bullying roles depended on their own role, but adolescents' implicit evaluations of hypothetical peers did not. Adolescents' explicit evaluations of hypothetical peers and actual peers were different. Hypothetical bullies were evaluated negatively by all classmates, whereas hypothetical victims were evaluated relatively positively compared with the other roles. However, when adolescents evaluated their actual classmates, the differences between bullies and the other roles were smaller, whereas victims were evaluated the most negatively of all roles. Further research should take into account that adolescents' evaluations of hypothetical peers differ from their evaluations of actual peers. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Do terrorist attacks affect ethnic discrimination in the labour market? Evidence from two randomized field experiments.

Science.gov (United States)

Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth; Chan, Tak Wing; Ugreninov, Elisabeth; Midtbøen, Arnfinn H; Rogstad, Jon

2018-01-24

Terrorist attacks are known to influence public opinion. But do they also change behaviour? We address this question by comparing the results of two identical randomized field experiments on ethnic discrimination in hiring that we conducted in Oslo. The first experiment was conducted before the 2011 terrorist attacks in Norway; the second experiment was conducted after the attacks. In both experiments, applicants with a typical Pakistani name were significantly less likely to get a job interview compared to those with a typical Norwegian name. But the ethnic gap in call-back rates were very similar in the two experiments. Thus, Pakistanis in Norway still experienced the same level of discrimination, despite claims that Norwegians have become more positive about migrants after the far-right, anti-migrant terrorist attacks of 2011. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2018.

Changing the story the role of the narrative in the success or failure of terrorist groups

OpenAIRE

Mellen, Brian C.

2009-01-01

Approved for public release, distribution unlimited This thesis focuses on the nexus between a terrorist group's narrative and the group's success or failure in achieving its strategic goals. This work theorizes that the interaction of competing narratives exerts a systematic impact on the ability of the terrorist group to achieve its strategic goals through the influence that the narratives have over a group's members, the group's adversary, and the affected population. Although a te...

MOTIVATION SPECIFIC FOR YOUNGSTERS INVOLVED INTO TERRORIST OPERATION

OpenAIRE

Beslan Alexeyevich Tarchokov

2015-01-01

The paper made an attempt to explore preconditions, motives, reasons and factors capable of facilitating youth’ involvement into terrorist operations, emergence of youth terrorism and its spreading around, including the specifics of social and economic domains, of ideology and politics, psychology and law, etc. all of them taken on the scene of nowadays globalized society. Specifying in greater detail the causes and circumstances that contributed to involvement of young Russians into terroris...

About a hypothetical terrorist attack on a nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2001-10-01

After the terrorism attack on the World Trade Center, a record number ( two thirds) of US citizens favour the use of nuclear energy and consider nuclear plants to be safe. At the same time 59% definitely support building more nuclear plants, less than in March during the Californian crisis, but more than earlier., Most american citizens ( 84%) continue to support licence renewal for nuclear plants and 72 % agree with keeping the option open to build new nuclear plants in the future. The strongest supporters are those who have visited a nuclear plant or information centre. (N.C.)

Improving Local and State Agency Response to Terrorist Incidents Involving Biological Weapons

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

2003-01-01

.... Because of multiple terrorist acts such as the September II, 2001 attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, as well as anthrax contaminated mail and the Oklahoma City bombing, there is a...

Modeling cascading failures in interdependent infrastructures under terrorist attacks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Baichao; Tang, Aiping; Wu, Jie

2016-01-01

An attack strength degradation model has been introduced to further capture the interdependencies among infrastructures and model cascading failures across infrastructures when terrorist attacks occur. A medium-sized energy system including oil network and power network is selected for exploring the vulnerabilities from independent networks to interdependent networks, considering the structural vulnerability and the functional vulnerability. Two types of interdependencies among critical infrastructures are involved in this paper: physical interdependencies and geographical interdependencies, shown by tunable parameters based on the probabilities of failures of nodes in the networks. In this paper, a tolerance parameter α is used to evaluation of the overloads of the substations based on power flow redistribution in power transmission systems under the attack. The results of simulation show that the independent networks or interdependent networks will be collapsed when only a small fraction of nodes are attacked under the attack strength degradation model, especially for the interdependent networks. The methodology introduced in this paper with physical interdependencies and geographical interdependencies involved in can be applied to analyze the vulnerability of the interdependent infrastructures further, and provides the insights of vulnerability of interdependent infrastructures to mitigation actions for critical infrastructure protections. - Highlights: • An attack strength degradation model based on the specified locations has been introduced. • Interdependencies considering both physical and geographical have been analyzed. • The structural vulnerability and the functional vulnerability have been considered.

Detection of Hidden Hostile/Terrorist Groups in Harsh Territories by Using Animals as Mobile Biological Sensors.

Science.gov (United States)

Sahin, Yasar Guneri; Ercan, Tuncay

2008-07-25

Terrorism is the greatest threat to national security and cannot be defeated by conventional military force alone. In critical areas such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Turkey, regular forces cannot reach these hostile/terrorist groups, the instigators of terrorism. These groups have a clear understanding of the relative ineffectiveness of counter-guerrilla operations and rely on guerrilla warfare to avoid major combat as their primary means of continuing the conflict with the governmental structures. In Internal Security Operations, detection of terrorist and hostile groups in their hiding places such as caves, lairs, etc. can only be achieved by professionally trained people such as Special Forces or intelligence units with the necessary experience and tools suitable for collecting accurate information in these often harsh, rugged and mountainous countries. To assist these forces, commercial micro-sensors with wireless interfaces could be utilized to study and monitor a variety of phenomena and environments from a certain distance for military purposes. In order to locate hidden terrorist groups and enable more effective use of conventional military resources, this paper proposes an active remote sensing model implanted into animals capable of living in these environments. By using these mobile sensor devices, improving communications for data transfer from the source, and developing better ways to monitor and detect threats, terrorist ability to carry out attacks can be severely disrupted.

Detection of Hidden Hostile/Terrorist Groups in Harsh Territories by Using Animals as Mobile Biological Sensors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tuncay Ercan

2008-07-01

Full Text Available Terrorism is the greatest threat to national security and cannot be defeated by conventional military force alone. In critical areas such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Turkey, regular forces cannot reach these hostile/terrorist groups, the instigators of terrorism. These groups have a clear understanding of the relative ineffectiveness of counter-guerrilla operations and rely on guerrilla warfare to avoid major combat as their primary means of continuing the conflict with the governmental structures. In Internal Security Operations, detection of terrorist and hostile groups in their hiding places such as caves, lairs, etc. can only be achieved by professionally trained people such as Special Forces or intelligence units with the necessary experience and tools suitable for collecting accurate information in these often harsh, rugged and mountainous countries. To assist these forces, commercial micro-sensors with wireless interfaces could be utilized to study and monitor a variety of phenomena and environments from a certain distance for military purposes. In order to locate hidden terrorist groups and enable more effective use of conventional military resources, this paper proposes an active remote sensing model implanted into animals capable of living in these environments. By using these mobile sensor devices, improving communications for data transfer from the source, and developing better ways to monitor and detect threats, terrorist ability to carry out attacks can be severely disrupted.

Suits Against Terrorist States by Victims of Terrorism

Science.gov (United States)

2008-05-01

Nat’l City Bank v. Banco Para El Comercio Exterior de Cuba, 462 U.S. 611 (1983) (“Bancec”) to judgments against designated terrorist States. Bancec held...to determine both whether an exception to the Cuban Government’s immunity from garnishment also applies to [ Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba, S.A...was eventually reversed on other grounds by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit — Alejandre v. Telefonica Larga Distancia de Puerto Rico

Terrorist Threats in the Basque Country: its Impact on the Psychosocial Sphere of Victims

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Javier Martín-Peña

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The ceasefire of armed activities announced by ETA (Basque Homeland and Freedom in 2011 has fostered a debate about the violence and the victims of the terrorist organization. During those years, the violence perpetrated by ETA was characterized by bomb attacks and assassinations. In addition to this blatant violent behavior, a low-intensity violence was also taking place in the Basque Country, consisting of terrorist threats against their targets. There is, however, a lack of evidence-based research into this phenomenon. This investigation studies the impact of terrorist threats on the psychosocial functioning of people threatened by ETA in the Basque Country. Seventy-six people targeted by ETA completed self-reported survey. Terrorist threats and their derived psychosocial consequences were assessed by this way. The findings point out a relationship between terrorist threats and their psychosocial effects, which greatly affected the immediate environment of the targets too. The implications of these findings are discussed. El cese de la actividad armada anunciado por ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna – Euskadi y Libertad en 2011 ha promovido un debate sobre la violencia y las víctimas de la organización terrorista. Durante esos años, la violencia perpetrada por ETA se caracterizó por ataques con bombas y asesinatos. Además de este comportamiento claramente violento, en el País Vasco también se estaba produciendo una violencia de baja intensidad, consistente en amenazas terroristas contra sus objetivos. Sin embargo, no hay una investigación basada en la evidencia sobre este fenómeno. Esta investigación estudia el impacto de las amenazas terroristas en el funcionamiento psicosocial de las personas amenazadas por ETA en el País Vasco. Setenta y seis personas amenazadas por ETA completaron una encuesta de autoevaluación. Se evaluaron de esta forma las amenazas terroristas y sus consecuencias psicosociales derivadas. Los resultados indicaron

Evaluation of hypothetical (153)Gd source for use in brachytherapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghorbani, Mahdi; Behmadi, Marziyeh

2016-01-01

The purpose of this work is to evaluate the dosimetric parameters of a hypothetical (153)Gd source for use in brachytherapy and comparison of the dosimetric parameters with those of (192)Ir and (125)I sources. Dose rate constant, the radial dose function and the two dimensional (2D) anisotropy function data for the hypothetical (153)Gd source were obtained by simulation of the source using MCNPX code and then were compared with the corresponding data reported by Enger et al. A comprehensive comparison between this hypothetical source and a (192)Ir source with similar geometry and a (125)I source was performed as well. Excellent agreement was shown between the results of the two studies. Dose rate constant values for the hypothetical (153)Gd, (192)Ir, (125)I sources are 1.173 cGyh(-1) U(-1), 1.044 cGyh(-1) U(-1), 0.925 cGyh(-1) U(-1), respectively. Radial dose function for the hypothetical (153)Gd source has an increasing trend, while (192)Ir has more uniform and (125)I has more rapidly falling off radial dose functions. 2D anisotropy functions for these three sources indicate that, except at 0.5 cm distance, (192)Ir and (125)I have more isotropic trends as compared to the (153)Gd source. A more uniform radial dose function, and 2D anisotropy functions with more isotropy, a much higher specific activity are advantages of (192)Ir source over (153)Gd. However, a longer half-life of (153)Gd source compared to the other two sources, and lower energy of the source with respect to (192)Ir are advantages of using (153)Gd in brachytherapy versus (192)Ir source.

Assessing Hypothetical Gravity Control Propulsion

OpenAIRE

Millis, Marc G.

2006-01-01

Gauging the benefits of hypothetical gravity control propulsion is difficult, but addressable. The major challenge is that such breakthroughs are still only notional concepts rather than being specific methods from which performance can be rigorously quantified. A recent assessment by Tajmar and Bertolami used the rocket equation to correct naive misconceptions, but a more fundamental analysis requires the use of energy as the basis for comparison. The energy of a rocket is compared to an ide...

Comment on the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks in the United States of America. Vienna, 11 September 2002

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

ElBaradei, M.

2002-01-01

The IAEA has long been active in encouraging States to make security an integral part of the management of their nuclear programmes. The attacks in September 2001 were, however, a wake-up call to the world nuclear community that more can and must be done. In the wake of the terrorist attacks, Member States of the IAEA meeting in the Agency's General Conference adopted a resolution requesting that the IAEA Director General initiate a thorough review of the Agency's activities and programmes relevant to preventing acts of terrorism involving nuclear and other radioactive materials. The Agency moved rapidly to respond. It devised and is presently implementing an integrated action plan which includes enhanced and new activities to upgrade nuclear security worldwide and to combat nuclear terrorism. The plan covers eight areas: (1) physical protection of nuclear material and nuclear facilities; (2) detection of malicious activities (such as illicit trafficking) involving nuclear and other radioactive materials; (3) strengthening of State systems for nuclear material accountancy and control; (4) security of radioactive sources; (5) the assessment of safety and security related vulnerabilities at nuclear facilities; (6) response to malicious acts or threats thereof; (7) the adherence to international agreements and guidelines; and (8) co-ordination and information management for nuclear security related matters. National measures for protecting nuclear material and facilities remain uneven in their substance and application. There is wide recognition that the international physical protection regime needs to be further strengthened. Through its International Physical Protection Advisory Service (IPPAS), the Agency provides Member States with assessment services, together with associated advice and follow up actions to improve security arrangements at nuclear facilities. It also provides training and workshops, notably in assessing threats, as well as other supporting

Underlying Reasons for Success and Failure of Terrorist Attacks: Selected Case Studies

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

McCleskey, Edward; McCord, Diana; Leetz, Jennifer; Markey, John

2007-01-01

.... This is the second of a two-phased effort: Phase I focused on assessing the underlying reasons for the success and failure of terrorist attacks against targets within the United States and against U.S. interests abroad...

Effectiveness of Using Red-Teams to Identify Maritime Security Vulnerabilities to Terrorist Attack

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Culpepper, Anna

2004-01-01

.... Moreover, there have been no attacks on homeland U.S. targets since September 11. The red team concept provides an innovative method to examine these vulnerabilities from the terrorist perspective...

Breaching the Fortress Wall. Understanding Terrorist Efforts to Overcome Defensive Technologies

Science.gov (United States)

2007-01-01

that affect, in overlapping ways, sequential parts of the terrorist activity chain (Figure 1.2). The purposes of each of these types of technologies...fication lineup .51 The ways in which PIRA chose to manage operations also contrib- uted to its overall counterforensic effort. For example, although

Lone Actor Terrorist Attack Planning and Preparation : A Data-Driven Analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schuurman, B.W.; Bakker, E.; Gill, P.; Bouhana, N.

2017-01-01

This article provides an in-depth assessment of lone actor terrorists’ attack planning and preparation. A codebook of 198 variables related to different aspects of pre-attack behavior is applied to a sample of 55 lone actor terrorists. Data were drawn from open-source materials and complemented

Analysing Personal Characteristics of Lone-Actor Terrorists : Research Findings and Recommendations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roy, de van Zuijdewijn J.; Bakker, E.

2016-01-01

This Research Note presents the outcome of a project that looked at the personal characteristics of lone-actor terrorists. It is part of the larger Countering Lone-Actor Terrorism (CLAT) project. The project described here aimed to improve understanding of, and responses to, the phenomenon of

Cross-Milieu Terrorist Collaboration: Using Game Theory to Assess the Risk of a Novel Threat.

Science.gov (United States)

Ackerman, Gary A; Zhuang, Jun; Weerasuriya, Sitara

2017-02-01

This article uses a game-theoretic approach to analyze the risk of cross-milieu terrorist collaboration-the possibility that, despite marked ideological differences, extremist groups from very different milieus might align to a degree where operational collaboration against Western societies becomes possible. Based upon theoretical insights drawn from a variety of literatures, a bargaining model is constructed that reflects the various benefits and costs for terrorists' collaboration across ideological milieus. Analyzed in both sequential and simultaneous decision-making contexts and through numerical simulations, the model confirms several theoretical arguments. The most important of these is that although likely to be quite rare, successful collaboration across terrorist milieus is indeed feasible in certain circumstances. The model also highlights several structural elements that might play a larger role than previously recognized in the collaboration decision, including that the prospect of nonmaterial gains (amplification of terror and reputational boost) plays at least as important a role in the decision to collaborate as potential increased capabilities does. Numerical simulation further suggests that prospects for successful collaboration over most scenarios (including operational) increase when a large, effective Islamist terrorist organization initiates collaboration with a smaller right-wing group, as compared with the other scenarios considered. Although the small number of historical cases precludes robust statistical validation, the simulation results are supported by existing empirical evidence of collaboration between Islamists and right- or left-wing extremists. The game-theoretic approach, therefore, provides guidance regarding the circumstances under which such an unholy alliance of violent actors is likely to succeed. © 2016 Society for Risk Analysis.

Hypothetical Scenario Generator for Fault-Tolerant Diagnosis

Science.gov (United States)

James, Mark

2007-01-01

The Hypothetical Scenario Generator for Fault-tolerant Diagnostics (HSG) is an algorithm being developed in conjunction with other components of artificial- intelligence systems for automated diagnosis and prognosis of faults in spacecraft, aircraft, and other complex engineering systems. By incorporating prognostic capabilities along with advanced diagnostic capabilities, these developments hold promise to increase the safety and affordability of the affected engineering systems by making it possible to obtain timely and accurate information on the statuses of the systems and predicting impending failures well in advance. The HSG is a specific instance of a hypothetical- scenario generator that implements an innovative approach for performing diagnostic reasoning when data are missing. The special purpose served by the HSG is to (1) look for all possible ways in which the present state of the engineering system can be mapped with respect to a given model and (2) generate a prioritized set of future possible states and the scenarios of which they are parts.

75 FR 75904 - Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations; Terrorism Sanctions Regulations; Foreign Terrorist...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-07

... Terrorism Sanctions Regulations; Terrorism Sanctions Regulations; Foreign Terrorist Organizations Sanctions... Foreign Assets Control (``OFAC'') of the U.S. Department of the Treasury is amending the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations (``GTSR'') and the Terrorism Sanctions Regulations (``TSR'') to expand the scope of...

The challenge of preparation for a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear terrorist attack

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander David

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Terrorism is not a new phenomenon, but, in the contemporary scene, it has established itself in a manner which commands the most serious attention of the authorities. Until relatively recently, the major threat has been through the medium of conventional weaponry and explosives. Their obvious convenience of use and accessibility guarantees that such methods will continue to represent a serious threat. However, over the last few years, terrorists have displayed an enthusiasm for higher levels of carnage, destruction and publicity. This trend leads inexorably to the conclusion that chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN methods will be pursued by terrorist organisations, particularly those which are well organised, are based on immutable ideological principles, and have significant financial backing. Whilst it is important that the authorities and the general public do not risk over-reacting to such a threat (otherwise, they will do the work of the terrorists for them, it would be equally ill-advised to seek comfort in denial. The reality of a CBRN event has to be accepted and, as a consequence, the authorities need to consider (and take seriously how individuals and the community are likely to react thereto and to identify (and rehearse in a realistic climate what steps would need to be taken to ameliorate the effects of such an event.

Media participation and mental health in terrorist attack survivors.

Science.gov (United States)

Thoresen, Siri; Jensen, Tine K; Dyb, Grete

2014-12-01

Terrorism and disasters receive massive media attention, and victims are often approached by reporters. Not much is known about how terror and disaster victims perceive the contact with media and whether such experiences influence mental health. In this study, we describe how positive and negative experiences with media relate to posttraumatic stress (PTS) reactions among survivors of the 2011 Utøya Island terrorist attack in Norway. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 285 survivors (47.0% female and 53.0% male) 14-15 months after the terrorist attack. Most survivors were approached by reporters (94%), and participated in media interviews (88%). The majority of survivors evaluated their media contact and participation as positive, and media participation was unrelated to PTS reactions. Survivors who found media participation distressing had more PTS reactions (quite distressing: B = 0.440, extremely distressing: B = 0.611, p = .004 in adjusted model). Perceiving media participation as distressing was slightly associated with lower levels of social support (r = -.16, p = .013), and regretting media participation was slightly associated with feeling let down (r = .18, p = .004). Reporters should take care when interviewing victims, and clinicians should be aware of media exposure as a potential additional strain on victims. Copyright © 2014 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

Dismantling Terrorism: Developing Actionable Solutions for Today's Plague of Violence

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Scott, Frances K

2007-01-01

.... The bibliography is divided into the following sections: causes and origins of terrorism, geographical distribution of terrorist groups, terrorist financing, terrorist groups and networks, the psychology of terrorism, prevention of terrorism, remedies...

Terrorist threat and perceived Islamic support for terrorist attacks as predictors of personal and institutional out-group discrimination and support for anti-immigration policies: evidence from 9 European countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Doosje, B.; Zimmermann, A.; Küpper, B.; Zick, A.; Meertens, R.

2009-01-01

Traditionally, research has shown that subtle and blatant prejudices are important predictors of out-group discrimination and support for anti-immigration policies. The present paper shows that, when controlling for these types of prejudices and for political conservatism, terrorist threat and

Transition from Terrorist Event Management to Consequence Management, Executive Summary

Science.gov (United States)

1982-03-31

hUMIEe " BDM/W-82-l1 5-TR AUTO11(o 1. CONTR ACT OR GRANT NumURe) J. C. Evanis, M. K. Pilgrim, C. J. Potter EMW-C-0744 9. PER•O^•ING ORGANIZATIN NAME...should, and is expected to, provide leadership in this regard. There exists a variety of experience and planning for responding to terrorist events. The

Using respondent uncertainty to mitigate hypothetical bias in a stated choice experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Richard C. Ready; Patricia A. Champ; Jennifer L. Lawton

2010-01-01

In a choice experiment study, willingness to pay for a public good estimated from hypothetical choices was three times as large as willingness to pay estimated from choices requiring actual payment. This hypothetical bias was related to the stated level of certainty of respondents. We develop protocols to measure respondent certainty in the context of a choice...

Can a Repeated Opt-Out Reminder remove hypothetical bias in discrete choice experiments?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Alemu, Mohammed Hussen; Olsen, Søren Bøye

hypothetical bias in stated DCE. The data originates from a field experiment concerning consumer preferences for a novel food product made from cricket flour. Utilizing a between-subject design with three treatments, we find significantly higher marginal willingness to pay values in hypothetical than...

Practising of radiological emergency caused by a terrorist attack

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Racana, R.; Terrado, C.

2006-01-01

After the events of September 11, 2001 terrorist working has become an important factor in the forecasts to adopt in the face of the possibility of confronting different radiological emergencies. The not wanted events of exposure to ionizing radiations can take place by flaws of systems or accidents, or also by criminal voluntary actions. These malevolent actions can include attacks or sabotages in nuclear plants, detonation of manufactured nuclear devices or acquired under ground, robbery of radioactive sources to manufacture the calls dirty bombs or to cause damage, panic or threats. In the scenarios in that the radiological emergency is voluntarily provoked the moment and place of the attack are chosen by the aggressors, therefore the ionizing radiations will be in not prepared atmospheres neither equipped to the effect. This increases the confusion, the panic and the damage not only caused by the radiation effects but also by the uncertainty and consequent reactions. To diminish the effects of this type of threats it is necessary to make forecasts and to train the personnel that it can be direct or indirectly involved. During 2005, an exercise in which it was outlined the robbery by part of a group command of a source of Co 60 of 5000 Ci that it was transported to make a decanting in a medical center of The Pampa county, Argentina. It was about a cabinet exercise, planned and executed jointly among the Nuclear Regulatory Authority and the Secretary of Interior Safety, in which participated the professionals of the nuclear area that by law are the responsible ones of coordinating the actions in the event of an emergency of this type, and the safety forces that depend of the Secretary of Interior Safety, Federal and Provincial Policemen, Naval Prefecture and National Gendarmerie. The exercise last one day during which 9 main situations were approached that were unchained after having produced the attack and initial robbery. For each situation it was checked the

Terrorists on Trial: A Performative Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beatrice de Graaf

2011-03-01

Full Text Available On 30 March 2011, ICCT organised an Expert Meeting entitled “Terrorism Trials as Theatre: A Performative Perspective”. The Expert Meeting applied a performative perspective to three well known and recent trials in different parts of the world: the trials against the Dutch Hofstad Group, the Mumbai 2008 Terrorist Attack Trial and the Guantanamo Military Tribunals. As such, the Expert Meeting did not concentrate solely on the immediate judicial performance of the magistrates and/or the defence; instead, the trials were put in their wider sociological context, adopting notions of social drama and communication sciences. This Expert Meeting Paper is a further adaptation of the Discussion Paper that was used as basis for debate during the Meeting.

Social categorization and fear reactions to the September 11th terrorist attacks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dumont, M.; Yzerbyt, V.Y.; Wigboldus, D.H.J.; Gordijn, E.H.

2003-01-01

Two experiments were run in The Netherlands and Belgium 1 week after the terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001. The aim was to investigate whether social categorization affected emotional reactions, behavioral tendencies, and actual behaviors. Results

Is magnetic resonance imaging safe for patients with retained metal fragments from combat and terrorist attacks?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eshed, Iris; Kushnir, Tamar; Shabshin, Noga; Konen, Eli

2010-01-01

Background: Increasing numbers of military confrontations and terrorist attacks have led to increasing reports of retained metal fragments among patients referred for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The potential hazard of retained metal fragments for patients undergoing MRI has been studied among patients with retained metal fragments from domestic violence but not from combat and terrorist attacks. Purpose: To retrospectively evaluate the safety of MRI in patients with subcutaneous warfare-metal fragments. Material and Methods: 10,322 consecutive metal screening forms of patients scheduled for 1.5 Tesla (T) MR examination were retrospectively reviewed. All patients reported to have retained metal fragments were contacted by telephone and asked to describe the event in which they were exposed to the fragments and for any adverse sequelae or sensations during and after MRI. Their radiographs were evaluated for the number and size of the fragments. The data were analyzed for correlations between these factors. Results: Seven of the 24 patients who reported retained metal fragments were excluded, since there was no validating evidence of their presence. Fragments in the remaining 17 patients (18 MRI examinations) were inflicted by military or terrorist attacks that occurred 2-39 years prior to the MRI. The fragment size ranged between 1 and 10 mm. One patient reported a superficial migration of a 10-mm fragment after MRI. No other adverse reactions were reported. Conclusion: Conducting 1.5T MRI examinations is safe in patients with retained metal fragments from combat and terrorist attacks not in the vicinity of vital organs. However, caution is advised.

Is magnetic resonance imaging safe for patients with retained metal fragments from combat and terrorist attacks?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eshed, Iris; Kushnir, Tamar; Shabshin, Noga; Konen, Eli (Dept. of Diagnostic Imaging, Sheba Medical center, Tel Hashomer, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv Univ., Tel Aviv (Israel)), e-mail: iris.eshed@sheba.health.gov.il

2010-03-15

Background: Increasing numbers of military confrontations and terrorist attacks have led to increasing reports of retained metal fragments among patients referred for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The potential hazard of retained metal fragments for patients undergoing MRI has been studied among patients with retained metal fragments from domestic violence but not from combat and terrorist attacks. Purpose: To retrospectively evaluate the safety of MRI in patients with subcutaneous warfare-metal fragments. Material and Methods: 10,322 consecutive metal screening forms of patients scheduled for 1.5 Tesla (T) MR examination were retrospectively reviewed. All patients reported to have retained metal fragments were contacted by telephone and asked to describe the event in which they were exposed to the fragments and for any adverse sequelae or sensations during and after MRI. Their radiographs were evaluated for the number and size of the fragments. The data were analyzed for correlations between these factors. Results: Seven of the 24 patients who reported retained metal fragments were excluded, since there was no validating evidence of their presence. Fragments in the remaining 17 patients (18 MRI examinations) were inflicted by military or terrorist attacks that occurred 2-39 years prior to the MRI. The fragment size ranged between 1 and 10 mm. One patient reported a superficial migration of a 10-mm fragment after MRI. No other adverse reactions were reported. Conclusion: Conducting 1.5T MRI examinations is safe in patients with retained metal fragments from combat and terrorist attacks not in the vicinity of vital organs. However, caution is advised.

Iraagi väitel tuleb iga teine terrorist Süüriast / Igor Taro

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Taro, Igor

2007-01-01

Bagdadis elurajooni turul hukkus enesetapurünnakus 130 inimest. Iraagi kõrge valitsusametniku sõnul tuleb 50% terrorist üle Süüria piiri. Iraagi peaminister Nuri al-Maliki arvamus. Vt. samas: Mässulised leiavad tuge internetist

Trash can bomb can fall into the hands of terrorists

CERN Multimedia

2001-01-01

Leading scientists from CERN described how if terrorists were able to get their hands on plutonium or uranium, they would be able to manufacture a 'trash can' nuclear bomb simply by inserting the radioactive material into a normal bomb. Once detonated a large area could be contaminated leading to the immediate deaths of many with many more future casualties due to cancers caused by the radiation.

Remediation following a CBRN terrorist attack : domestic and international perspectives

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yanofsky, N. [Defence Research and Development Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada)

2005-07-01

The risks of chemical, biological and radiological/nuclear (CBRN) agents in terrorist attacks is well recognized. Serious measures must be in place to respond to terrorist attacks that involve these agents, including cleanup of affected buildings, machinery, land, water and air. This paper describes what is expected from the science community in the development of adequate, reliable and economical decontamination methods and equipment. It also discusses improved detection methods and adequate personal protection. Cleanup after a terrorist attack has much in common with the cleanup of contaminated sites or dealing with the consequences of industrial accidents, particularly as most potential chemical terror agents are represented by toxic industrial chemicals. The major needs of organizations involved in cleanup procedures were reviewed. Issues concerning first responders, assessment of situations, information collecting and the detection of possible chemical, biological and radiological agents were discussed. The development of generic decontamination procedures and equipment was suggested, with reference to the fact that the spectrum of CBRN weapons is very broad. In addition, the development of detection systems and instruments capable of analyzing a broad range of agents was also seen as desirable. New generation instruments such as Toxic Industrial Materials (TIMs) detectors were reviewed. Guidelines for cleanup procedures and remediation efforts were examined. It was also noted that there is relatively little information available to predict the behaviour of potential agents of CBRN terrorism in a complex urban environment. By studying different complex threat scenarios, scientists, first responders and other parties can achieve a better understanding of how to optimize the deployment of their resources. Mechanical, physiochemical and biological methods of decontamination were evaluated. Issues concerning waste disposal were discussed. It was noted that the

The Sociology and Psychology of Terrorism: Who Becomes a Terrorist and Why?

Science.gov (United States)

1999-09-01

for School Killers,” New York Times, June 21, 1999, A10. Della Porta, Donatella. “ Political Socialization in Left-Wing Underground Organizations...Newsletter of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, 22, No. 1, 1997. Wasmund, Klaus. “The Political Socialization of West German Terrorists.” In

Restoration projects for decontamination of facilities from chemical, biological and radiological contamination after terrorist actions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fingas, M.; Volchek, K.; Lumley, T.; Thouin, G.; Harrison, S.; Kuang, W. [Environment Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada). Emergencies Science and Technology Division, Environmental Technology Centre, Science and Technology Branch; Payette, P.; Laframboise, D.; Best, M. [Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada); Krishnan, J.; Wagener, S.; Bernard, K.; Majcher, M. [Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, MB (Canada); Cousins, T.; Jones, T. [Defence Research and Development Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada); Velicogna, D.; Hornof, M.; Punt, M. [SAIC Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada)

2006-07-01

This paper reviewed studies that identified better decontamination methods for chemical, biological and radiological/nuclear (CBRN) attacks. In particular, it reviewed aspects of 3 projects in which procedures were tested and validated for site restoration. Cleanup targets or standards for decontaminating buildings and materials after a CBRN attack were also developed. The projects were based on physicochemical and toxicological knowledge of potential terrorist agents and selected surface matrices. The projects also involved modeling and assessing environmental and health risks. The first multi-agent project involved gathering information on known procedures for restoration of areas including interiors and exteriors of buildings, contents, parking lots, lawn, and vehicles. Air inside the building was included. The efficacy of some of the proposed concepts was tested. Results included the determination of appropriate surrogates for anthrax and tests of liquid and gaseous biocides on the surrogates. The development of new contamination procedures using peroxyacetic acid were also discussed. The second project involved decontamination tests on CBRN using specially-constructed buildings at the Counter-terrorism Technology Centre at Defence Research and Development Canada in Suffield. The buildings will be contaminated with chemical and biological agents and with short-lived radionuclides. They will be decontaminated using the best-performing technologies known. Information collected will include fate of the contaminant and decontamination products, effectiveness of the restoration methods, cost and duration of cleanup and logistical problems. The third project is aimed at developing cleanup standards for decontaminating buildings and construction materials after a chemical or biological attack. It will create as many as 12 algorithms for the development of 50 standards which will help cleanup personnel and first-responders to gauge whether proposed methods can achieve

Radiological preparedness in the case of a terrorist attack or an accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cizmek, A.

2005-01-01

During the Cold War, every information about weapons of mass destruction was treated as top secret, regardless of whether the information concerned friend or foe. The most serious threat in our post Cold War era are terrorist radiological dispersal devices. Dirty nukes are what you may choose to build if you're unable to create a real nuclear bomb, i.e. one whose explosion is based on a nuclear reaction. A dirty bomb is a conventional explosive salted with radioactive isotopes in order to spew out that nuclear material and contaminate a wide area. The military usefulness of such devices have always been in dispute. In fact, the TNT in such a bomb may still be more dangerous than the nuclear material. Its destructive power would really depend on the size of the conventional bomb, and the volume and nature of nuclear material. This paper addresses the possibilities of decontamination and preparedness in the case of a terrorist attack or accident.(author)

Expression profiling of hypothetical genes in Desulfovibrio vulgaris leads to improved functional annotation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elias, Dwayne A.; Mukhopadhyay, Aindrila; Joachimiak, Marcin P.; Drury, Elliott C.; Redding, Alyssa M.; Yen, Huei-Che B.; Fields, Matthew W.; Hazen, Terry C.; Arkin, Adam P.; Keasling, Jay D.; Wall, Judy D.

2008-10-27

Hypothetical and conserved hypothetical genes account for>30percent of sequenced bacterial genomes. For the sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough, 347 of the 3634 genes were annotated as conserved hypothetical (9.5percent) along with 887 hypothetical genes (24.4percent). Given the large fraction of the genome, it is plausible that some of these genes serve critical cellular roles. The study goals were to determine which genes were expressed and provide a more functionally based annotation. To accomplish this, expression profiles of 1234 hypothetical and conserved genes were used from transcriptomic datasets of 11 environmental stresses, complemented with shotgun LC-MS/MS and AMT tag proteomic data. Genes were divided into putatively polycistronic operons and those predicted to be monocistronic, then classified by basal expression levels and grouped according to changes in expression for one or multiple stresses. 1212 of these genes were transcribed with 786 producing detectable proteins. There was no evidence for expression of 17 predicted genes. Except for the latter, monocistronic gene annotation was expanded using the above criteria along with matching Clusters of Orthologous Groups. Polycistronic genes were annotated in the same manner with inferences from their proximity to more confidently annotated genes. Two targeted deletion mutants were used as test cases to determine the relevance of the inferred functional annotations.

Defense against terroristic hazards and risk by building planning law; Abwehr terroristischer Gefahren und Risiken durch Bauplanungsrecht

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hopkins, Richard

2012-07-01

The book on defense against terroristic hazards and risk by building planning law includes the following issues: Introduction: civil engineering and safety. Risk, hazards and urban planning: historical and actual examples for the constructional danger prevention, terroristic threat and urban planning. Risk, hazards and terrorism: sociology and risk, law and risk, terrorism - risk or hazard? Answer to uncertainty - risk prevention, catastrophe law as link. Risk, hazard, terrorism and the public building and regional planning law: regional planning law as point of origin, building law and terrorism, possibility of control by the legal building regulations.

A New Forensic Picture Polygraph Technique for Terrorist and Crime Deception System

Science.gov (United States)

Costello, R. H. Brian; Axton, JoAnn; Gold, Karen L.

2006-01-01

The Forensic Terrorist Detection System called Pinocchio Assessment Profile (PAP) employs standard issue polygraphs for a non-verbal picture technique originated as a biofeedback careers interest instrument. The system can be integrated readily into airport screening protocols. However, the method does not rely on questioning or foreign language…

Conceptualizing Terrorist Violence and Suicide Bombing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Murad Ismayilov

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This article presents an analysis of different approaches to terrorist violence, with a particular focus on suicide terrorism, using the above mentioned levels of analysis as a conceptual framework to organize this study. In doing so, the article focuses primarily on four selected studies: Khashan's theory of collective Palestinian frustration operating at individual and structural levels; Pape's strategic theory of suicide terrorism, Devji's notion of global jihad, and Hammes' conceptualization of suicide terrorism as one of the strategies of Fourth Generation Warfare, all studied at a strategic level. Drawing on these analyses, as well as on Tilly, this article attempts to address the question of whether suicide terrorism represents a "coherent phenomenon," and whether there is, or may be, a generalized pattern which could account for all possible causes of martyrdom operations.

Playing the villain : understanding the punishment and portrayal of terrorists

OpenAIRE

Spens, Christiana

2017-01-01

Playing the Villain argues that the portrayal and punishment of terrorists in the Western media perpetuates colonialist attitudes, due to the visual connections between these modern images and past or fictional representations of iconic, punished villains. A theory of scapegoating related to intervisuality supports this argument, by explaining that as a ritual dependent on and developed by cultural history and mythology, scapegoating requires engagement with recognisable visual motifs that...

Have the Mexican Drug Cartels Evolved into a Terrorist Insurgency?

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-14

individual police officers and journalists.55 Originally, the Gulf Cartel recruited them from Mexico’s Special Operations Forces, known as Grupo Aeromóvil de ...fluid situation surrounding the Mexican drug war has led to much speculation about how to classify the powerful drug cartels conducting it. There is... conducting it. There is literature debating whether the cartels are merely a criminal enterprise or whether the cartels represent a new terrorist

Developing Health-Based Pre-Planning Clearance Goals for Airport Remediation Following Chemical Terrorist Attack: Introduction and Key Assessment Considerations

OpenAIRE

Watson, Annetta; Hall, Linda; Raber, Ellen; Hauschild, Veronique D.; Dolislager, Fredrick; Love, Adam H.; Hanna, M. Leslie

2011-01-01

In the event of a chemical terrorist attack on a transportation hub, post-event remediation and restoration activities necessary to attain unrestricted facility reuse and re-entry could require hours to multiple days. While restoration timeframes are dependent on numerous variables, a primary controlling factor is the level of pre-planning and decision-making completed prior to chemical terrorist release. What follows is the first of a two-part analysis identifying key considerations, critica...

Processing counterfactual and hypothetical conditionals: an fMRI investigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kulakova, Eugenia; Aichhorn, Markus; Schurz, Matthias; Kronbichler, Martin; Perner, Josef

2013-05-15

Counterfactual thinking is ubiquitous in everyday life and an important aspect of cognition and emotion. Although counterfactual thought has been argued to differ from processing factual or hypothetical information, imaging data which elucidate these differences on a neural level are still scarce. We investigated the neural correlates of processing counterfactual sentences under visual and aural presentation. We compared conditionals in subjunctive mood which explicitly contradicted previously presented facts (i.e. counterfactuals) to conditionals framed in indicative mood which did not contradict factual world knowledge and thus conveyed a hypothetical supposition. Our results show activation in right occipital cortex (cuneus) and right basal ganglia (caudate nucleus) during counterfactual sentence processing. Importantly the occipital activation is not only present under visual presentation but also with purely auditory stimulus presentation, precluding a visual processing artifact. Thus our results can be interpreted as reflecting the fact that counterfactual conditionals pragmatically imply the relevance of keeping in mind both factual and supposed information whereas the hypothetical conditionals imply that real world information is irrelevant for processing the conditional and can be omitted. The need to sustain representations of factual and suppositional events during counterfactual sentence processing requires increased mental imagery and integration efforts. Our findings are compatible with predictions based on mental model theory. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Identification of the conserved hypothetical protein BPSL0317 in Burkholderia pseudomallei K96243

Science.gov (United States)

Yusoff, Nur Syamimi; Damiri, Nadzirah; Firdaus-Raih, Mohd

2014-09-01

Burkholderia pseudomallei K96243 is the causative agent of melioidosis, a disease which is endemic in Northern Australia and Southeastern Asia. The genome encodes several essential proteins including those currently annotated as hypothetical proteins. We studied the conservation and the essentiality of expressed hypothetical proteins in normal and different stress conditions. Based on the comparative genomics, we identified a hypothetical protein, BPSL0317, a potential essential gene that is being expressed in all normal and stress conditions. BPSL0317 is also phylogenetically conserved in the Burkholderiales order suggesting that this protein is crucial for survival among the order's members. BPSL0317 therefore has a potential to be a candidate antimicrobial drug target for this group of bacteria.

CAROLIN GOERZIG. TALKING TO TERRORISTS: CONCESSIONS AND THE RENUNCIATION OF VIOLENCE. REVIEWED BY: SCOTT NICHOLAS ROMANIUK

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Scott Nicholas Romaniuk

2016-03-01

Full Text Available “Talking to terrorists remains a taboo” (Goerzig, 2010: p. 125. The adoption and reinforcement of such a moral position by many Western and non-Western governments alike has played no small role in, to a large extent, states to contain the violence and insecurity bred by terror activist in the post-Cold war and post-9/11 periods. Yet, few policymakers seem to recognize the danger in building political and social environments in which dialogue between states and terrorist groups and organizations is little more than depravity or even a betrayal to entire populations. To be sure, the protection of civilian populations has been entrusted to states that might otherwise learn better means of terrorism deterrence if lines of communication between states and terrorists were less constrained. The taboo of which Carolin Goerzig speaks, is one that “has been institutionalized in a legal framework in which … academics are being asked to report on their students and in which attempting to understand the subjectivities of ‘terrorist’ suspects could be interpreted as a ‘glorification of terrorism’” (Jackson quoted in Goerzig, 2010: p. 125.

Authoritarian reactions to terrorist threat: who is being threatened, the Me or the We?

Science.gov (United States)

Asbrock, Frank; Fritsche, Immo

2013-01-01

Endorsement of authoritarian attitudes has been observed to increase under conditions of terrorist threat. However, it is not clear whether this effect is a genuine response to perceptions of personal or collective threat. We investigated this question in two experiments using German samples. In the first experiment (N = 144), both general and specific authoritarian tendencies increased after asking people to imagine that they were personally affected by terrorism. No such effect occurred when they were made to think about Germany as a whole being affected by terrorism. This finding was replicated and extended in a second experiment (N = 99), in which personal and collective threat were manipulated orthogonally. Authoritarian and ethnocentric (ingroup bias) reactions occurred only for people highly identified with their national ingroup under personal threat, indicating that authoritarian responses may operate as a group-level coping strategy for a threat to the personal self. Again, we found no effects for collective threat. In both studies, authoritarianism mediated the effects of personal threat on more specific authoritarian and ethnocentric reactions. These results suggest that the effects of terrorist threat on authoritarianism can, at least in part, be attributed to a sense of personal insecurity, raised under conditions of terrorist threat. We discuss the present findings with regard to basic sociomotivational processes (e.g., group-based control restoration, terror management) and how these may relate to recent models of authoritarianism.

Activist or Terrorist? Negotiating Discourses of Eco-Terror in "If a Tree Falls"

Science.gov (United States)

Olson, Jade

2018-01-01

Environmentalist voices like the Earth Liberation Front have been labeled "eco-terrorists." The 2011 documentary film "If a Tree Falls" explores how "eco-terrorism" troubles the unstable border between activism and terrorism. This essay offers a textual analysis of the film's negotiation of the activism/terrorism…

Structural and Functional Annotation of Hypothetical Proteins of O139

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Md. Saiful Islam

2015-06-01

Full Text Available In developing countries threat of cholera is a significant health concern whenever water purification and sewage disposal systems are inadequate. Vibrio cholerae is one of the responsible bacteria involved in cholera disease. The complete genome sequence of V. cholerae deciphers the presence of various genes and hypothetical proteins whose function are not yet understood. Hence analyzing and annotating the structure and function of hypothetical proteins is important for understanding the V. cholerae. V. cholerae O139 is the most common and pathogenic bacterial strain among various V. cholerae strains. In this study sequence of six hypothetical proteins of V. cholerae O139 has been annotated from NCBI. Various computational tools and databases have been used to determine domain family, protein-protein interaction, solubility of protein, ligand binding sites etc. The three dimensional structure of two proteins were modeled and their ligand binding sites were identified. We have found domains and families of only one protein. The analysis revealed that these proteins might have antibiotic resistance activity, DNA breaking-rejoining activity, integrase enzyme activity, restriction endonuclease, etc. Structural prediction of these proteins and detection of binding sites from this study would indicate a potential target aiding docking studies for therapeutic designing against cholera.

A Terrorist-fraud Resistant and Extractor-free Anonymous Distance-bounding Protocol

OpenAIRE

Avoine , Gildas; Bultel , Xavier; Gambs , Sébastien; Gerault , David; Lafourcade , Pascal; Onete , Cristina; Robert , Jean-Marc

2017-01-01

International audience; Distance-bounding protocols have been introduced to thwart relay attacks against contactless authentication protocols. In this context, veri-fiers have to authenticate the credentials of untrusted provers. Unfortunately , these protocols are themselves subject to complex threats such as terrorist-fraud attacks, in which a malicious prover helps an accomplice to authenticate. Provably guaranteeing the resistance of distance-bounding protocols to these attacks is a compl...

Further evidence of close correspondence for alcohol demand decision making for hypothetical and incentivized rewards.

Science.gov (United States)

Amlung, Michael; MacKillop, James

2015-04-01

Alcohol purchase tasks (APTs) are increasingly being used to assess behavioral economic demand for alcohol. Prior studies utilizing APTs have typically assessed demand for hypothetical outcomes, making the extent to which these hypothetical measures reflect preferences when actual rewards are at stake an important empirical question. This study examined alcohol demand across hypothetical and incentivized APTs. Nineteen male heavy drinkers completed two APTs - one for hypothetical alcohol and another in which one randomly-selected outcome was provided. Participants were given an opportunity to consume the alcohol associated with their choice on the incentivized APT during a self-administration period in a simulated bar environment. Results indicated generally close correspondence between APT versions, though participants were more sensitive to increases in price and tended to consume more at low prices on the incentivized version. Estimated consumption on the incentivized APT was highly correlated with the amount of alcohol consumed in the laboratory (r=.87, pdecision-making when rewards are hypothetical vs. actually available. Implications for behavioral economic approaches to addictive behavior and directions for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

International legal problem in combating 'Islamic State' terrorist group in Syria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stevanović Miroslav

2015-01-01

Full Text Available 'Islamic State of Iraq and Syria' (ISIS has occupied parts of internationally recognized states and exerts further territorial pretensions. ISIS, also, implements a repressive rule, through violations of human rights and humanitarian law, which may constitute international crimes. In facing the threat od ISIS, the perception of international terrorism is important since this group has the features of a territorial entity. So far, facing with the threat of ISIS has been reduced to a model that is adopted by the UN Security Council against the terrorist network Al-Qaida. An international coalition of states, led by the United States, has undertaken air strikes on positions ISIS, on several grounds: the responsibility to protect, the protection of national security, and at the request of Iraq. At the same time, the strikes are applied in Syria, which can not be accountable for the actions of ISIS and has not requested international assistance. International law does not allow actions which would aim to destroy or jeopardize the territorial integrity or political independence of any sovereign and independent state, which is acting in accordance with the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and is hence governed by a representative government. The UNSC resolution 2249 remains short of recommending international armed action under the aegis of UNSC, but represents a step forward in recognizing the responsibility of this body in facing ISIS, at least as far as the 'destruction of refuge' is concerned. The use of force in the territory of Syria, without the express authorization of the UNSC is illegal, because terrorism does not constitute grounds for the use of force against countries. But, it opens broader issues of responsibility for the development of ISIS and the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East, as well as the functioning of the system of collective security. Overcoming the current crisis UNSC implies not just a

The restoration project : decontamination of facilities from chemical, biological and radiological contamination after terrorist action

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fingas, M.; Volchek, K.; Thouin, G.; Harrison, S.; Kuang, W. [Environment Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada). Emergencies Science Div; Velicogna, D.; Hornof, M.; Punt, M. [SAIC Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada); Payette, P.; Duncan, L.; Best, M.; Krishnan; Wagener, S.; Bernard, K.; Majcher, M. [Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada); Cousins, T.; Jones, T. [Defence Research and Development Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada)

2005-07-01

Bioterrorism poses a real threat to the public health and national security, and the restoration of affected facilities after a chemical, biological or radiological attack is a major concern. This paper reviewed aspects of a project conducted to collect information, test and validate procedures for site restoration after a terrorist attack. The project began with a review of existing technology and then examined new technologies. Restoration included pickup, neutralization, decontamination, removal and final destruction and deposition of contaminants as well as cleaning and neutralization of material and contaminated waste from decontamination. The project was also intended to test existing concepts and develop new ideas. Laboratory scale experiments consisted of testing, using standard laboratory techniques. Radiation decontamination consisted of removal and concentration of the radioisotopes from removal fluid. General restoration guidelines were provided, as well as details of factors considered important in specific applications, including growth conditions and phases of microorganisms in biological decontamination, or the presence of inhibitors or scavengers in chemical decontamination. Various agents were proposed that were considered to have broad spectrum capability. Test surrogates for anthrax were discussed. The feasibility of enhanced oxidation processes was examined in relation to the destruction of organophosphorus, organochlorine and carbamate pesticides. The goal was to identify a process for the treatment of surfaces contaminated with pesticides. Tests included removal from carpet, porous ceiling tile, steel plates, and floor tiles. General radiation contamination procedures and techniques were reviewed, as well as radiological decontamination waste treatment. It was concluded that there is no single decontamination technique applicable for all contaminants, and decontamination methods depend on economic, social and health factors. The amount of

Reasoning about Emotional Contents Following Shocking Terrorist Attacks: A Tale of Three Cities

Science.gov (United States)

Blanchette, Isabelle; Richards, Anne; Melnyk, Laura; Lavda, Anastasia

2007-01-01

The authors examined reasoning following the terrorist attacks carried out in London in July 2005. They tested participants in London (United Kingdom), Manchester (United Kingdom), and London (Canada) within 1 week of the attacks and again 6 months later. Participants reasoned about syllogisms of 3 types: neutral, generally emotional, and…

Combining aptamers and in silico interaction studies to decipher the function of hypothetical proteins

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Suravajhala, Prashanth; Burri, Harsha Vardhan Reddy; Heiskanen, Arto

2014-01-01

We present the potential role of aptamers in elucidating the function of hypothetical proteins, as well as the possibilities provided by bioinformatics for establishing a benchmark for aptamer-protein prediction methods. With these future perspectives, the role of hypothetical proteins as target ...... molecules for diagnostics and therapies could prove to be very useful in development of medical technology....

Demand curves for hypothetical cocaine in cocaine-dependent individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Bruner, Natalie R; Johnson, Matthew W

2014-03-01

Drug purchasing tasks have been successfully used to examine demand for hypothetical consumption of abused drugs including heroin, nicotine, and alcohol. In these tasks, drug users make hypothetical choices whether to buy drugs, and if so, at what quantity, at various potential prices. These tasks allow for behavioral economic assessment of that drug's intensity of demand (preferred level of consumption at extremely low prices) and demand elasticity (sensitivity of consumption to price), among other metrics. However, a purchasing task for cocaine in cocaine-dependent individuals has not been investigated. This study examined a novel Cocaine Purchasing Task and the relation between resulting demand metrics and self-reported cocaine use data. Participants completed a questionnaire assessing hypothetical purchases of cocaine units at prices ranging from $0.01 to $1,000. Demand curves were generated from responses on the Cocaine Purchasing Task. Correlations compared metrics from the demand curve to measures of real-world cocaine use. Group and individual data were well modeled by a demand curve function. The validity of the Cocaine Purchasing Task was supported by a significant correlation between the demand curve metrics of demand intensity and O max (determined from Cocaine Purchasing Task data) and self-reported measures of cocaine use. Partial correlations revealed that after controlling for demand intensity, demand elasticity and the related measure, P max, were significantly correlated with real-world cocaine use. Results indicate that the Cocaine Purchasing Task produces orderly demand curve data, and that these data relate to real-world measures of cocaine use.

Radiological Consequence Analyses Following a Hypothetical Severe Accident in Japan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Juyub; Kim, Juyoul [FNC Technology Co., Yongin (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

In order to reflect the lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, a simulator which is named NANAS (Northeast Asia Nuclear Accident Simulator) for overseas nuclear accident has been developed. It is composed of three modules: source-term estimation, atmospheric dispersion prediction and dose assessment. For the source-term estimation module, the representative reactor types were selected as CPR1000, BWR5 and BWR6 for China, Japan and Taiwan, respectively. Considering the design characteristics of each reactor type, the source-term estimation module simulates the transient of design basis accident and severe accident. The atmospheric dispersion prediction module analyzes the transport and dispersion of radioactive materials and prints out the air and ground concentration. Using the concentration result, the dose assessment module calculates effective dose and thyroid dose in the Korean Peninsula region. In this study, a hypothetical severe accident in Japan was simulated to demonstrate the function of NANAS. As a result, the radiological consequence to Korea was estimated from the accident. PC-based nuclear accident simulator, NANAS, has been developed. NANAS contains three modules: source-term estimation, atmospheric dispersion prediction and dose assessment. The source-term estimation module simulates a nuclear accident for the representative reactor types in China, Japan and Taiwan. Since the maximum calculation speed is 16 times than real time, it is possible to estimate the source-term release swiftly in case of the emergency. The atmospheric dispersion prediction module analyzes the transport and dispersion of radioactive materials in wide range including the Northeast Asia. Final results of the dose assessment module are a map projection and time chart of effective dose and thyroid dose. A hypothetical accident in Japan was simulated by NANAS. The radioactive materials were released during the first 24 hours and the source

Consequence Assessment for Potential Scenarios of Radiological Terrorists Events

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shin, Hyeongki; Kim, Juyoul

2007-01-01

Radiological dispersal device (RDD) means any method used to deliberately disperse radioactive material to create terror or harm. Dirty bomb is an example of RDD, which usually consists of radioactive material and unconventional explosive. Dirty bomb was a problem long before September 11, 2001. In 1987, the Iraqi government tested a one-ton radiological bomb. The Iraqi tests confirmed that a dirty bomb is not effective as weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and that its main value is as a psychological weapon. In 1995, Chechen rebels buried a dirty bomb in a park in Moscow threatening to detonate one in the future if their demands were not met. Another good example of potential dirty bomb effects was an incident in Goiania, Brazil on September 18, 1987, where an orphaned medical source containing 1,375 Ci of Cs-137 resulted the death of four people and extensive environmental contamination. The purposes of radiological terrorists events are not to destroy or damage the target but to disperse radioactivity in the environment. They inflict panic on a public and economic damage by disruption of business. They also have influence on enormous clean-up costs by spreading radioactive contamination including secondary impacts on water supply reservoirs. Generally, two major long-term concerns following a RDD are human health and economic impacts. In this study, we developed potential scenarios of radiological terrorists events and performed their radiological consequence assessments in terms of total effective dose equivalent (TEDE), projected cumulative external and internal dose, and ground deposition of radioactivity

Consequence Assessment for Potential Scenarios of Radiological Terrorists Events

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shin, Hyeongki [Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Juyoul [Seoul National University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2007-07-01

Radiological dispersal device (RDD) means any method used to deliberately disperse radioactive material to create terror or harm. Dirty bomb is an example of RDD, which usually consists of radioactive material and unconventional explosive. Dirty bomb was a problem long before September 11, 2001. In 1987, the Iraqi government tested a one-ton radiological bomb. The Iraqi tests confirmed that a dirty bomb is not effective as weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and that its main value is as a psychological weapon. In 1995, Chechen rebels buried a dirty bomb in a park in Moscow threatening to detonate one in the future if their demands were not met. Another good example of potential dirty bomb effects was an incident in Goiania, Brazil on September 18, 1987, where an orphaned medical source containing 1,375 Ci of Cs-137 resulted the death of four people and extensive environmental contamination. The purposes of radiological terrorists events are not to destroy or damage the target but to disperse radioactivity in the environment. They inflict panic on a public and economic damage by disruption of business. They also have influence on enormous clean-up costs by spreading radioactive contamination including secondary impacts on water supply reservoirs. Generally, two major long-term concerns following a RDD are human health and economic impacts. In this study, we developed potential scenarios of radiological terrorists events and performed their radiological consequence assessments in terms of total effective dose equivalent (TEDE), projected cumulative external and internal dose, and ground deposition of radioactivity.

The Terrorist and the Media: Partners in Crime or Rituals and Harmless Observers?

Science.gov (United States)

Dowling, Ralph E.

This paper explores the idea that the media "cause" or strongly motivate acts of terrorism. In an effort to refute this view the paper applies Kenneth Burke's dramatistic theory of communication to show that the motives and behavior of political terrorists can be explained without reference to the media coverage terrorism produces. The…

Guerilla Warfare & Law Enforcement: Combating the 21st Century Terrorist Cell within the U.S.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Major Richard Hughbank

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Both domestic and international terrorist organizations employ guerrilla warfare tactics, techniques, and procedures. Thus, the ability to identify and defeat the members of these organizations, cripple their infrastructures, and disrupt their financial resources lies in the understanding of modern guerrilla warfare as it develops in the twenty-first century within the United States.3 The forms of asymmetric warfare4 adopted by domestic and international terrorist groups alike is no longer intended to gain simple media exposure or governmental manipulation; they want to make an overpowering impact by causing massive loss of life and severe damage to infrastructure and are often motivated by religious imperatives and political goals. As terrorism analyst Stephen Flynn has observed, "Throughout the 20th century [Americans] were able to treat national security as essentially an out-of-body experience. When confronted by threats, [America] dealt with them on the turf of our allies or our adversaries. Aside from the occasional disaster and heinous crime, civilian life [in the United States] has been virtually terror-free." With the turn of the twenty-first century, terrorist operations have become more prevalent in the United States and are taking shape in the form of modern guerrilla warfare, thus creating new challenges for federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. After reviewing the origin and nature of these challenges, this article will offer some suggestions for countering guerilla warfare in the United States.

Colombian Army Transformation and the Inflection Point of the Terrorist Groups

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-30

Prince (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), 24. 2 James D Henderson, La Modernizacion en Colombia: Los años de Laureano Gomez, 1889-1965...prime factor that permits the terrorist´s isolation from the social base, as well as the legitimate use of force by the State. In summary, the FARC...his dismissal, for alleged meddling in political affairs. 23 3 Francisco Leal Buitrago, La Inseguridad de la Seguridad. Colombia 1958-2005

Transnational Crime and the Criminal-Terrorist Nexus: Synergies and Corporate Trends

Science.gov (United States)

2004-04-01

are forced into prostitution, pornography and sweatshop labor, it becomes an obvious and direct threat to the fabric of our society.3 Add terrorists... impacts the U.S. Finally, many nation states are on the brink of thriving or failing, and their fate depends either on us…or the “help” of organized...and social fabric of societies came to light in the mid-1990s. Aggravating factors include globalization of business networks, lowered trade

Estimation of terrorist attack resistibility of dual-purpose cask TP-117 with DU (depleted uranium) gamma shield

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alekseev, O.G.; Matveev, V.Z.; Morenko, A.I.; Il'kaev, R.I.; Shapovalov, V.I.

2004-01-01

Report is devoted to numerical research of dual-purpose unified cask (used for SFA transportation and storage) resistance to terrorist attacks. High resistance of dual-purpose unified cask has been achieved due to the unique design-technological solutions and implementation of depleted uranium in cask construction. In suggested variant of construction depleted uranium fulfils functions of shielding and constructional material. It is used both in metallic and cermet form (basing on steel and depleted uranium dioxide). Implementation of depleted uranium in cask construction allows maximal load in existing overall dimensions of the cask. At the same time: 1) all safety requirements (IAEA) are met, 2) dual-purpose cask with SFA has high resistance to terrorist attacks

Estimation of terrorist attack resistibility of dual-purpose cask TP-117 with DU (depleted uranium) gamma shield

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alekseev, O.G.; Matveev, V.Z.; Morenko, A.I.; Il' kaev, R.I.; Shapovalov, V.I. [Russian Federal Nuclear Center - All-Russian Research Inst. of Experimental Physics, Sarov (Russian Federation)

2004-07-01

Report is devoted to numerical research of dual-purpose unified cask (used for SFA transportation and storage) resistance to terrorist attacks. High resistance of dual-purpose unified cask has been achieved due to the unique design-technological solutions and implementation of depleted uranium in cask construction. In suggested variant of construction depleted uranium fulfils functions of shielding and constructional material. It is used both in metallic and cermet form (basing on steel and depleted uranium dioxide). Implementation of depleted uranium in cask construction allows maximal load in existing overall dimensions of the cask. At the same time: 1) all safety requirements (IAEA) are met, 2) dual-purpose cask with SFA has high resistance to terrorist attacks.

Hidden Markov models for the activity profile of terrorist groups

OpenAIRE

Raghavan, Vasanthan; Galstyan, Aram; Tartakovsky, Alexander G.

2012-01-01

The main focus of this work is on developing models for the activity profile of a terrorist group, detecting sudden spurts and downfalls in this profile, and, in general, tracking it over a period of time. Toward this goal, a $d$-state hidden Markov model (HMM) that captures the latent states underlying the dynamics of the group and thus its activity profile is developed. The simplest setting of $d=2$ corresponds to the case where the dynamics are coarsely quantized as Active and Inactive, re...

Radical Islam as a Means of Self-Realization for the North Caucasian Youth: From the Terrorist-Criminal Groups to the Beginnings of the Creation of a New, Less Controlled Subculture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nikoloz Janelidze

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Radical Islam with its various types of manifestations is one of the significant challenges facing the modern world. This problem has also affected the societies of autonomous republics bordering Georgia to the north. In today’s North Caucasus, the activity of radical Islam followers has reached beyond the political (in many cases terrorist niche and has acquired quasi-social characteristics. Furthermore, the facts and tendencies indicate that this part of the society (in this case youth purposefully or unintentionally creates the so-called uncontrolled and/or less controlled subculture with different opinions, views, ideology, behaviors, in many cases clothes, hairstyle, etc. Radical Islam (in this case as a doctrine regulates human conduct – provides advice, dictates how to act, and in fact it sets a dogma how to dress, how to behave in public, how to live, etc. Wahhabis/Salafis are forbidden to smoke tobacco, hashish, to use beads, sing loudly, dance, etc. It is worth to separately note the so-called aggressive wing of Wahhabism/Salafism or the terrorists, field commanders, etc.One of the motives for writing the article is to show readers the fact that radical Islam in North Caucasus is not solely a terrorist activity. It encompasses a much broader spectrum of the society, and at the same time it is much more than a religion. It sets the norms of social behavior and thinking, which in itself limits the formation of subjective attitudes. Exactly the lack of the latter generates the negative trend of their activities, which quite often are used for political actions by the respective forces.

The quest for significance model of radicalization: implications for the management of terrorist detainees.

Science.gov (United States)

Dugas, Michelle; Kruglanski, Arie W

2014-01-01

Radicalization and its culmination in terrorism represent a grave threat to the security and stability of the world. A related challenge is effective management of extremists who are detained in prison facilities. The major aim of this article is to review the significance quest model of radicalization and its implications for management of terrorist detainees. First, we review the significance quest model, which elaborates on the roles of motivation, ideology, and social processes in radicalization. Secondly, we explore the implications of the model in relation to the risks of prison radicalization. Finally, we analyze the model's implications for deradicalization strategies and review preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of a rehabilitation program targeting components of the significance quest. Based on this evidence, we argue that the psychology of radicalization provides compelling reason for the inclusion of deradicalization efforts as an essential component of the management of terrorist detainees. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Operation the laboratory for NBC protection and bio monitoring in the case of terrorist attack with NBC weapons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tusek, D.; Vucemilovic, A; Klobucar, J.

2009-01-01

The aim of this study was to develop efficacy of Operation the Laboratory for NBC protection and Bio monitoring in the case of terrorist attack with chemical weapons. When is necessary quickly, adeptly Operation and unambiguous confirmation about use chemical warfare agent, the Laboratory must be ready and qualified for reaction. The Laboratory had to develop capability for the timely sampling and unambiguous identification chemical warfare agents in a battlefield or in case of the terrorist attack. The need for quality sample collection and analyses is critical to verify use of chemical weapon (CW) by an enemy or terrorists. Collection, packaging, transport and analysis of samples must be carried out on proper way and quickly enough for military, medical or political purposes. Precise records must accompany each sample but these records must not contaminate samples anyway. All sampling team personnel have to be equipped with appropriate equipment and qualified in its handling. After arriving samples at our Laboratory, we will handle with them on standard procedures; carry out preparation such as Headspace, Liquid/liquid extraction, Solid phase extraction, Liquid/solid extraction, concentration and derivatization. After that we will analyze samples by gas-chromatography mass-spectrometry (GC/MS) method.(author)

9/11, Act II : A Fine-Grained Analysis of Regional Variations in Traffic Fatalities in the Aftermath of the Terrorist Attacks

OpenAIRE

Gaissmaier, Wolfgang; Gigerenzer, Gerd

2012-01-01

Terrorists can strike twice - first, by directly killing people, and second, through dangerous behaviors induced by fear in people's minds. Previous research identified a substantial increase in U.S. traffic fatalities subsequent to the September 11 terrorist attacks, which were accounted for as due to a substitution of driving for flying, induced by fear of dread risks. Here, we show that this increase in fatalities varied widely by region, a fact that was best explained by regional variatio...

[Stories and drawings by children after the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris].

Science.gov (United States)

Poget, Marc; Bouaziz, Nora; Apter, Gisèle

2016-01-01

Through the stories and drawings of children in a medical-psychological centre, it is possible to explore their psychological representations of the terrorist attacks which took place in Paris in January 2015. This work highlights the need to rethink the methods of care provided to these children in order to adapt them to their specific needs. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Genome-wide screens for expressed hypothetical proteins

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Claus Desler; Durhuus, Jon Ambæk; Rasmussen, Lene Juel

2012-01-01

A hypothetical protein (HP) is defined as a protein that is predicted to be expressed from an open reading frame, but for which there is no experimental evidence of translation. HPs constitute a substantial fraction of proteomes of human as well as of other organisms. With the general belief that...... that the majority of HPs are the product of pseudogenes, it is essential to have a tool with the ability of pinpointing the minority of HPs with a high probability of being expressed....

Spatial proximity and the risk of psychopathology after a terrorist attack

OpenAIRE

DiMaggio, Charles; Galea, Sandro; Emch, Michael

2010-01-01

Previous studies concerned with the relation of proximity to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and subsequent psychopathology have produced conflicting results. The goals of this analysis are to assess the appropriateness of using Bayesian hierarchical spatial techniques to answer the question of the role of proximity to a mass trauma as a risk factor for psychopathology. Using a set of individual-level Medicaid data for New York State, and controlling for age, gender, median household...

Analysis of hypothetical LMFBR whole-core accidents in the USA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferguson, D.R.; Deitrich, L.W.; Brown, N.W.; Waltar, A.E.

1978-01-01

Methods used for analysis of material behaviour, accident phenomenology and integrated accident calculations are reviewed. Applications of these methods to hypothetical LOF and TOP accidents are discussed. Recent results obtained from applications to FFTF and CRBRP are presented. (author)

9/11, Act II: a fine-grained analysis of regional variations in traffic fatalities in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaissmaier, Wolfgang; Gigerenzer, Gerd

2012-12-01

Terrorists can strike twice--first, by directly killing people, and second, through dangerous behaviors induced by fear in people's minds. Previous research identified a substantial increase in U.S. traffic fatalities subsequent to the September 11 terrorist attacks, which were accounted for as due to a substitution of driving for flying, induced by fear of dread risks. Here, we show that this increase in fatalities varied widely by region, a fact that was best explained by regional variations in increased driving. Two factors, in turn, explained these variations in increased driving. The weaker factor was proximity to New York City, where stress reactions to the attacks were previously shown to be greatest. The stronger factor was driving opportunity, which was operationalized both as number of highway miles and as number of car registrations per inhabitant. Thus, terrorists' second strike exploited both fear of dread risks and, paradoxically, an environmental structure conducive to generating increased driving, which ultimately increased fatalities.

Modelling the long-term consequences of a hypothetical dispersal of radioactivity in an urban area including remediation alternatives

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thiessen, K.M.; Andersson, Kasper Grann; Batandjieva, B.

2009-01-01

The Urban Remediation Working Group of the International Atomic Energy Agency's EMRAS (Environmental Modelling for Radiation Safety) program was organized to address issues of remediation assessment modelling for urban areas contaminated with dispersed radionuclides. The present paper describes...... the second of two modelling exercises. This exercise was based on a hypothetical dispersal of radioactivity in an urban area from a radiological dispersal device, with reference surface contamination at selected sites used as the primary input information. Modelling endpoints for the exercise included...... radionuclide concentrations and external dose rates at specified locations, contributions to the dose rates from individual surfaces, and annual and cumulative external doses to specified reference individuals. Model predictions were performed for a "no action" situation (with no remedial measures...

We Bomb, Therefore We Are: The Evolution of Terrorist Group Life Cycles

Science.gov (United States)

1994-03-24

34 Political Socialization in Left-Wing Underground Organizations: Biographies of Italian and German Militants," International Social Movement Research... Political Socialization of Terrorist Groups in West Germany," Journal of Political and Military Sociology, v. 11, n. 2, Fall 1983, 236. See also Giorgio...Love?, 30-31. 7 Quoted in Wasmund, " Political Socialization ," 236. 88Irving L. Horowitz, "The Routinization of Terrorism and Its Unanticipated

An approach for estimating the radiological significance of a hypothetical major nuclear accident over long distance transboundary scales

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mitrakos, D., E-mail: dimitris.mitrakos@eeae.gr; Potiriadis, C.; Housiadas, C.

2016-04-15

Highlights: • Actions may be warranted after a major nuclear accident even at long distances. • Distance may not be the decisive parameter for longer term radiological impact. • Remote impact may vary orders of magnitude depending on the meteorological conditions. • The potential impact can be assessed using computationally inexpensive calculations. - Abstract: After the Fukushima accident important initiatives were taken in European level to enhance the nuclear safety level of the existing and planned nuclear reactors, such as the so-called nuclear “stress-tests” and the amendment of the Nuclear Safety Directive. A recent work of HERCA and WENRA focused on the need for a more consistent and harmonized response in a transboundary context in case of a hypothetical major nuclear accident in Europe. Such an accident, although very improbable, cannot be totally excluded and so, should be considered in emergency preparedness arrangements among the various European countries. In case of a hypothetical severe Fukushima-like accident in Europe, the role of the neighboring countries may be important, since the authorities should be able to provide information and advice to the government and the public, but also can contribute to the overall assessment of the situation be their own means. In this work we assess the radiological significance of a hypothetical major nuclear accident for distances longer than 300 km that are not typically covered by the internationally accepted emergency planning zones. The approach is simple and computationally inexpensive, since it is based on the calculation of only a few release scenarios at dates selected within a whole year on the basis of bounding the deposition levels at long distances in relation to the occurrence of precipitation. From the calculated results it is evident that distance is not the only decisive parameter in estimating the potential radiological significance of a severe nuclear accident. The hypothetical

Plastic Surgery Management of Victims of Terrorist Violence in Ankara, Turkey.

Science.gov (United States)

İğde, Murat; Kaplan, Ahmet

2017-12-01

Terror attacks have been progressively increasing worldwide through the present era. The management of the consequences of terrorism events is under debate in almost every scientific area. The organization and advancement of health services constitute important components of the crisis management. Similar to other specialty areas in medicine, the medical management of terrorist attacks is becoming important in terms of plastic and reconstructive surgery.Ankara, the capital of Turkey, has been subject to 2 terrorist events in public places within a year. The total number of patients involved in both cases was 434. Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital is a tertiary health care institution and one of the most important trauma centers in the region. A total of 178 Patients exposed to these events referred to our hospital. Of the total, 34 patients were completely or partially treated in the plastic and reconstructive surgery clinic. In this study, we tried to discuss the difficulties encountered in the classification of patients and plastic surgery during the treatment period of patients who experienced these attacks.Data were obtained from The National News Agency, hospital, and our own clinic registries. Patient classification was based on the injured parts of the body. Statistical analysis was performed for all data. In conclusion, the role and the importance of plastic surgery department especially in trauma management have been emphasized in the light of our findings.

Combating the terrorist use of mass destruction weapons, particularly nuclear weapons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barakat, M.

2008-01-01

The risks of mass destruction weapons vary and also forms of damages resulting therefrom. While the effects of nuclear weapons are focused, sudden and comprehensive, the chemical weapons have limited impacts relatively unless used intensively severe prejudice to the element of surprise, and thus impaired the efficacy of their influences,especially that they affect exceptionally the individuals in the area of injury and biological weapons do not announce themselves except through their effect that appears later than the time of use as they affect exceptionally the organisms in the area of injury.The mass destruction weapons have turned from being a purely military means in the early twentieth century and have now become the means of violence against governments and countries that they should prepare themselves for and respond in ways of successful and effective countermeasures. Despite the fact that the acquisition of mass destruction weapons can be considered as a priority objective, which terrorist groups and organizations steadily seek but their accessibility is flanked by a lot of difficulties. Addressing the risk of further spread of nuclear weapons, and especially after doubling the power of those high-risk weapons, the international community has an approach to take a number of arrangements that complement each other to control and resist nuclear proliferation, either for the states or for terrorist groups.

The Relationship Between Personality and Schadenfreude in Hypothetical Versus Live Situations.

Science.gov (United States)

Greenier, Keegan D

2018-06-01

This study sought to investigate how individual differences are related to schadenfreude (pleasure derived from another's misfortune) by replicating past findings and extending them to additional personality traits. Because most past research on schadenfreude has relied heavily on the use of reactions to hypothetical scenarios, an attempt was made to demonstrate external validity by also including a reaction to a live event (confederate misfortune). For the scenarios, schadenfreude was positively correlated with the Dark Triad and just world beliefs; negatively correlated with empathy and agreeableness; and uncorrelated with dispositional envy, self-esteem, or the remaining Big Five traits. For the live event, no personality traits were correlated with schadenfreude, suggesting responses to hypothetical situations may not be representative of real-life schadenfreude events.

Restricted Predicates for Hypothetical Datalog

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernando Sáenz-Pérez

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Hypothetical Datalog is based on an intuitionistic semantics rather than on a classical logic semantics, and embedded implications are allowed in rule bodies. While the usual implication (i.e., the neck of a Horn clause stands for inferring facts, an embedded implication plays the role of assuming its premise for deriving its consequence. A former work introduced both a formal framework and a goal-oriented tabled implementation, allowing negation in rule bodies. While in that work positive assumptions for both facts and rules can occur in the premise, negative assumptions are not allowed. In this work, we cover this subject by introducing a new concept: a restricted predicate, which allows negative assumptions by pruning the usual semantics of a predicate. This new setting has been implemented in the deductive system DES.

Testing QCD with Hypothetical Tau Leptons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brodsky, Stanley J.

1998-10-21

We construct new tests of perturbative QCD by considering a hypothetical {tau} lepton of arbitrary mass, which decays hadronically through the electromagnetic current. We can explicitly compute its hadronic width ratio directly as an integral over the e{sup +}e{sup -} annihilation cross section ratio, R{sub e{sup +}e{sup -}}. Furthermore, we can design a set of commensurate scale relations and perturbative QCD tests by varying the weight function away from the form associated with the V-A decay of the physical {tau}. This method allows the wide range of the R{sub e{sup +}e{sup -}} data to be used as a probe of perturbative QCD.

Attention and Memory in School-Age Children Surviving the Terrorist Attack in Beslan, Russia

Science.gov (United States)

Scrimin, Sara; Moscardino, Ughetta; Capello, Fabia; Axia, Giovanna

2009-01-01

Little is known about the impact of terrorism on children's cognitive functioning and school learning. The primary purpose of this study was to report on cognitive functioning among school-age children 20 months after a terrorist attack against their school. Participants included 203 directly and indirectly exposed children from Beslan and 100…

48 CFR 252.209-7001 - Disclosure of ownership or control by the government of a terrorist country.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

...) (a) Definitions. As used in this provision— (1) Government of a terrorist country includes the state... the government of which has repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism. As of the...

[Terrorist attack trauma - an individual entity of polytrauma : A 10-year update].

Science.gov (United States)

Güsgen, C; Franke, A; Hentsch, S; Kollig, E; Schwab, R

2017-10-01

The incidence of terrorist attacks is increasing worldwide, and they have also become a permanent threat in European cities. Due to its complexity, terrorist attack trauma places high demands on the strategy of surgical treatment. The combination of various mechanisms, explosions and gunshot injuries, with the characteristic pressure (blast) damage and a high proportion of penetrating trauma with simultaneous burns are characteristic features. Unlike in military conflicts, injuries to people of all ages and without ballistic body protection (body armor) are to be expected. The mechanism of the attack and its local conditions are of relevance for the assessment of the situation and the expected injury patterns. Thus, suicide attacks result in several times higher numbers of fatalities and casualties. Explosions on free ground lead to different types of injury than those in closed or semi-enclosed spaces. The treatment principles of the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS®) are based on the intrahospital care of casualties as well as damage control strategies with trigger factors. In order to prepare and educate clinics and surgeons in Germany for such scenarios, various course formats of the professional societies, the German Society for General and Visceral Surgery (DGAV) and the German Society for Trauma Surgery (DGU) have now been established.

Chemical or Biological Terrorist Attacks: An Analysis of the Preparedness of Hospitals for Managing Victims Affected by Chemical or Biological Weapons of Mass Destruction

Science.gov (United States)

Bennett, Russell L.

2006-01-01

The possibility of a terrorist attack employing the use of chemical or biological weapons of mass destruction (WMD) on American soil is no longer an empty threat, it has become a reality. A WMD is defined as any weapon with the capacity to inflict death and destruction on such a massive scale that its very presence in the hands of hostile forces is a grievous threat. Events of the past few years including the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995 and the use of planes as guided missiles directed into the Pentagon and New York’s Twin Towers in 2001 (9/11) and the tragic incidents involving twenty-three people who were infected and five who died as a result of contact with anthrax-laced mail in the Fall of 2001, have well established that the United States can be attacked by both domestic and international terrorists without warning or provocation. In light of these actions, hospitals have been working vigorously to ensure that they would be “ready” in the event of another terrorist attack to provide appropriate medical care to victims. However, according to a recent United States General Accounting Office (GAO) nationwide survey, our nation’s hospitals still are not prepared to manage mass causalities resulting from chemical or biological WMD. Therefore, there is a clear need for information about current hospital preparedness in order to provide a foundation for systematic planning and broader discussions about relative cost, probable effectiveness, environmental impact and overall societal priorities. Hence, the aim of this research was to examine the current preparedness of hospitals in the State of Mississippi to manage victims of terrorist attacks involving chemical or biological WMD. All acute care hospitals in the State were selected for inclusion in this study. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were utilized for data collection and analysis. Six hypotheses were tested. Using a

Reducing therapeutic misconception: A randomized intervention trial in hypothetical clinical trials.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul P Christopher

Full Text Available Participants in clinical trials frequently fail to appreciate key differences between research and clinical care. This phenomenon, known as therapeutic misconception, undermines informed consent to clinical research, but to date there have been no effective interventions to reduce it and concerns have been expressed that to do so might impede recruitment. We determined whether a scientific reframing intervention reduces therapeutic misconception without significantly reducing willingness to participate in hypothetical clinical trials.This prospective randomized trial was conducted from 2015 to 2016 to test the efficacy of an informed consent intervention based on scientific reframing compared to a traditional informed consent procedure (control in reducing therapeutic misconception among patients considering enrollment in hypothetical clinical trials modeled on real-world studies for one of five disease categories. Patients with diabetes mellitus, hypertension, coronary artery disease, head/neck cancer, breast cancer, and major depression were recruited from medical clinics and a clinical research volunteer database. The primary outcomes were therapeutic misconception, as measured by a validated, ten-item Therapeutic Misconception Scale (range = 10-50, and willingness to participate in the clinical trial.154 participants completed the study (age range, 23-87 years; 92.3% white, 56.5% female; 74 (48.1% had been randomized to receive the experimental intervention. Therapeutic misconception was significantly lower (p = 0.004 in the scientific reframing group (26.4, 95% CI [23.7 to 29.1] compared to the control group (30.9, 95% CI [28.4 to 33.5], and remained so after controlling for education (p = 0.017. Willingness to participate in the hypothetical trial was not significantly different (p = 0.603 between intervention (52.1%, 95% CI [40.2% to 62.4%] and control (56.3%, 95% CI [45.3% to 66.6%] groups.An enhanced educational intervention augmenting

Terrorists or cowards: negative portrayals of male Syrian refugees in social media

OpenAIRE

Rettberg, Jill Walker; Gajjala, Radhika

2015-01-01

This paper examines images and words shared on the Twitter hashtag #refugeesNOTwelcome to understand the portrayal of male Syrian refugees in a post-9/11 context where the Middle-Eastern male is often primarily cast as a potential terrorist. Queer theorist Jasbir Puar (2007) and Middle- East scholar Paul Amar (2011) provide us with a theoretical approach to make sense of the contradictions we see emerging in this social media context.

Analyses of hypothetical FCI's in a fast reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Padilla, A. Jr.; Martin, F.J.; Niccoli, L.G.

1981-01-01

Parametric analyses using the SIMMER code were performed to evaluate the potential for a severe recriticality from a pressure-driven recompaction caused by an energetic FCI during the transition phase of a hypothetical accident in a fast reactor. For realistic and reasonable estimates for the assumed accident conditions, a severe recriticality was not predicted. The conditions under which a severe recriticality would be obtained or averted were identified. 10 figures, 2 tables

Strengthening Hospital Surge Capacity in the Event of Explosive or Chemical Terrorist Attacks

Science.gov (United States)

2009-03-01

and become more specialized and efficient over the past decade in order to survive in the tight financial markets . Capacity is not keeping pace...Surge Capacity for Terrorist Bombings,” Atlanta, Georgia, (April 2007): 6. 197 S. Einav, Z. Feigenberg, C. Weissman, D. Zolchik, G. Caspi, D. Kotler ...activated in several bombings, 200 S. Einav, Z. Feigenberg, C. Weissman, D. Zolchik, G. Caspi, D. Kotler

Trial of risk assessment of a hypothetical nuclear facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Terao, Norichika; Suzuki, Mitsutoshi

2013-01-01

An equation for risk assessment in physical protection is shown by a probability of an adversary attack during a period time, P A , a probability of system effectiveness, P E , and consequence value, C. In addition, P E is shown as the multiplication of a probability of interruption of the facility, P I , by a probability of neutralization by response force, P N . In this study, it is assumed that an adversary assaults a hypothetical nuclear facility. The new quantification method about P A and P I in risk evaluation formula is devised, and risk assessment is attempted. In case of P A , the possibility of assaults against a nuclear facility is discussed by using terrorism data written in the open source database of terrorism, Global Terrorism Database (GTD), summarized by University of Maryland. In addition, it is discussed about P I by using the way of thinking of a risk assessment tool, EASI, developed by the Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). In the hypothetical nuclear facility, the performance of response force, sensors, and communication is expressed quantitatively by probability distribution based on some assumptions. (author)

Malicious release of radioactive materials in urban area. Exposure of the public and emergency staff, protective measures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koch, Wolfgang; Lange, Florentin

2016-01-01

The preparedness for hypothetical radiological scenarios is part of the tasks for governmental authorities, safety and emergency organizations and the staff in case of the incident. The EURATOM guideline for radiation protection has to be implemented into national laws. According to the guidelines it is required that emergency planning has to be prepared for hypothetical radiological scenarios including terroristic or other maliciously motivated attacks using radioactive materials. The study includes assumptions on the released respirable radioactivity, restriction of the hazardous area, wind induced re-suspension of radioactive dusts and inhalation exposure, and mitigation measures.

Malicious release of radioactive materials in urban area. Exposure of the public and emergency staff, protective measures; Boeswillige Freisetzung radioaktiver Stoffe in urbanen Bereichen. Exposition von Bevoelkerung und Einsatzpersonal, Schutzmassnahmen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Koch, Wolfgang [Fraunhofer-Institut fuer Toxikologie und Experimentelle Medizin ITEM, Hannover (Germany). Bereich Aerosolforschung und Analytische Chemie; Lange, Florentin

2016-07-01

The preparedness for hypothetical radiological scenarios is part of the tasks for governmental authorities, safety and emergency organizations and the staff in case of the incident. The EURATOM guideline for radiation protection has to be implemented into national laws. According to the guidelines it is required that emergency planning has to be prepared for hypothetical radiological scenarios including terroristic or other maliciously motivated attacks using radioactive materials. The study includes assumptions on the released respirable radioactivity, restriction of the hazardous area, wind induced re-suspension of radioactive dusts and inhalation exposure, and mitigation measures.

What we say and what we do: the relationship between real and hypothetical moral choices.

Science.gov (United States)

FeldmanHall, Oriel; Mobbs, Dean; Evans, Davy; Hiscox, Lucy; Navrady, Lauren; Dalgleish, Tim

2012-06-01

Moral ideals are strongly ingrained within society and individuals alike, but actual moral choices are profoundly influenced by tangible rewards and consequences. Across two studies we show that real moral decisions can dramatically contradict moral choices made in hypothetical scenarios (Study 1). However, by systematically enhancing the contextual information available to subjects when addressing a hypothetical moral problem-thereby reducing the opportunity for mental simulation-we were able to incrementally bring subjects' responses in line with their moral behaviour in real situations (Study 2). These results imply that previous work relying mainly on decontextualized hypothetical scenarios may not accurately reflect moral decisions in everyday life. The findings also shed light on contextual factors that can alter how moral decisions are made, such as the salience of a personal gain. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Tracking and Analyzing Individual Distress Following Terrorist Attacks Using Social Media Streams.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Yu-Ru; Margolin, Drew; Wen, Xidao

2017-08-01

Risk research has theorized a number of mechanisms that might trigger, prolong, or potentially alleviate individuals' distress following terrorist attacks. These mechanisms are difficult to examine in a single study, however, because the social conditions of terrorist attacks are difficult to simulate in laboratory experiments and appropriate preattack baselines are difficult to establish with surveys. To address this challenge, we propose the use of computational focus groups and a novel analysis framework to analyze a social media stream that archives user history and location. The approach uses time-stamped behavior to quantify an individual's preattack behavior after an attack has occurred, enabling the assessment of time-specific changes in the intensity and duration of an individual's distress, as well as the assessment of individual and social-level covariates. To exemplify the methodology, we collected over 18 million tweets from 15,509 users located in Paris on November 13, 2015, and measured the degree to which they expressed anxiety, anger, and sadness after the attacks. The analysis resulted in findings that would be difficult to observe through other methods, such as that news media exposure had competing, time-dependent effects on anxiety, and that gender dynamics are complicated by baseline behavior. Opportunities for integrating computational focus group analysis with traditional methods are discussed. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

Radiological consequences of a hypothetical ''roof breakdown'' accident of the Chernobyl sarcophagus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pretzsch, G.

1997-01-01

On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety GRS performed investigations with the aim to improve the safety of the Chernobyl Unit 4 shelter in close connection with the Ministry for Environment and Nuclear Safety of the Ukraina from 1992 to 1995. One of the tasks of the working programme was concerned with the analysis of hypothetical accidents of the present shelter, which comprises the newly built Sarcophagus and the remaining ruins of Unit 4. In close collaboration with Ukrainian and Russian experts the maximum hypothetical accident was defined to be the breakdown of the roof of the Sarcophagus and subsequent release of the radioactive dust which is mainly located in the destroyed reactor hall and the neighboring rooms

How Belfius Bank's response to the terrorist attacks in Brussels helped embed business continuity in the company culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Jappens, Ludo

2017-01-01

Until 2015, major terrorist incidents in Belgium were considered a 'black swan'. However, the suicide attacks in Paris on 13th November, 2015 provided a wake-up call. Investigations revealed that the raid was prepared in Belgium by jihadists who grew up in Brussels and was coordinated by Belgian ISIS fighters in Syria. In an instant, it became clear that terror had been embedded in Belgian society and could erupt at any moment. At Belfius Bank Belgium, the subsequent months were a rollercoaster ride of terrorist-related events. Business activities were strongly affected, as the company's head office is located in the centre of Brussels. This paper focuses on the way Belfius responded to the events and how the lessons learned have helped to improve its business continuity and crisis management capability.

Cultural Memory of Sorrow in Advertising after the Terrorist Attacks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Esther Martínez Pastor

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The general objective of this research study is to do a comparative research to investigate the perception of sorrow in the advertising in the press after the terrorist attacks: 11/09/2001 (U.S. and 11/04/2004 (Spain. The general hypothesis considers that there are similar perceptions of the sorrow towards the ads although there are cultural differences. On a computer program the subject was shown these images about announcement advertisement published in the press after the 09/11 and 11/04 in a random order and was asked different questions that explored their perception and attitudes with regard to these advertisements

Optimizing Visits to the Site of Death for Bereaved Families After Disasters and Terrorist Events.

Science.gov (United States)

Kristensen, Pål; Dyregrov, Atle; Weisæth, Lars; Straume, Marianne; Dyregrov, Kari; Heir, Trond; Bugge, Renate Grønvold

2017-09-13

In recent years it has been common after disasters and terrorist events to offer bereaved families the opportunity to visit the place where their loved ones died. Many report that such visits are beneficial in processing their loss. Various factors, both cognitive (eg, counteracting disbelief) and existential or emotional (eg, achieving a sense of closeness to the deceased), are associated with the experienced benefit. Nonetheless, exacerbations of trauma and grief reactions (eg, re-enactment fantasies) are common, with some of the bereaved also reporting adverse reactions after the visit. Subsequently, proper preparations are a prerequisite before such visits take place. This article describes how to optimize collective visits to the site of death after disasters or terrorist events for bereaved families. Important questions-for example, concerning those who should be responsible for organizing a visit and those who should be invited, the timing of the visit, what can be done at the site, the need for support personnel, and other practical issues-are discussed and general guidelines are recommended. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;page 1 of 5).

Hypothetical conflict situations with friends and peers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petrović Danijela S.

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with age and sex differences in preferred strategies of conflict resolution in friendship and peer relationships. The study was conducted on the sample of 286 adolescents. Conflict resolution strategies have been investigated by the method of hypothetical conflict situations. For the purposes of this research, we have created an instrument consisting of 20 hypothetical situations, with the following subjects of conflict: breaking the agreement, non-compliance with opinion differences, provocations, dishonesty and stubbornness. Conflict resolution strategies we examined were giving in, withdrawal, competition and problem solving. The results have shown that problem solving is the dominant strategy of adolescents in conflict with friends, while in peer conflicts they more often opt for competition. Age differences are reflected in the fact that older adolescents are more likely to choose problem solving than younger, whereas younger adolescents are more likely to choose a retreat (withdrawal strategy than older. Girls are more prone to choosing problem solving than boys, who, on the other hand, tend to withdraw more than girls. Also, gender of the other person in the conflict is proved to be important - in conflict with male peers, adolescents choose competition to a greater extent and withdraw to a minor extent, compared to when they are in conflict with female peers. The results have practical implications as well. In programs for teaching constructive conflict resolution that are designed for younger adolescents there should be more emphasis on empowerment and training for assertive behaviour. In addition, when teaching about constructive conflict resolution strategies, it is important to consider the gender of adolescents as well as the gender of the person with whom they are in conflict.

Consequences of a hypothetical incident for different sectors

CERN Document Server

Bertinelli, F; Garion, C; Jimenez, J M; Parma, V; Perin, A; Schmidt, R; Tavian, L; Tock, J P; van Weelderen, R

2011-01-01

During the 2009 long shutdown, the LHC machine has been partially consolidated by adding safety relief devices in order to better protect the cryostats against large helium release and consequently to mitigate the risks of collateral damages. After recalling the present relief valve implementation and other mitigations related to the collateral damages, this paper describes the damage process of a hypothetical incident, presents its consequences for the different sectors and for beam energies up to 5 TeV with emphasis on the induced downtime.

Characterising the UK Terrorist Threat: The Problem with Non-Violent Ideology as a Focus for Counter-Terrorism and Terrorism as the product of ‘Vulnerability’

OpenAIRE

Anthony Richards

2012-01-01

This article investigates two particular aspects as to how the terrorist threat in the UK has been characterised, arguing that they both challenge conventional academic wisdom as to how terrorism should be conceptualised. While such conventional wisdom should always be open to challenge, and policymaking perspectives are different to those of academics, these two particular aspects as to how the terrorist threat has been perceived in the UK merit scrutiny, especially as counter-terrorism stra...

Bioinformatics and structural characterization of a hypothetical protein from Streptococcus mutans

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nan, Jie; Brostromer, Erik; Liu, Xiang-Yu

2009-01-01

. From the interlinking structural and bioinformatics studies, we have concluded that SMU.440 could be involved in polyketide-like antibiotic resistance, providing a better understanding of this hypothetical protein. Besides, the combination of multiple methods in this study can be used as a general...

Securing public transportation systems an integrated decision analysis framework for the prevention of terrorist attacks as example

CERN Document Server

Brauner, Florian

2017-01-01

Florian Brauner addresses the risk reduction effects of security measures (SecMe) as well as economic and social effects using terrorist threats in public transportation as use case. SecMe increase the level of security but cause interferences and restrictions for customers (e.g. privacy). This study identifies the interferences and analyzes the acceptance with an empirical survey of customers. A composite indicator for the acceptance of different SecMe is developed and integrated into a risk management framework for multi-criteria decision analysis achieving the right balance of risk reduction, costs, and social acceptance. Contents Assessment of Security Measures for Risk Management Measurement of Objective Effectiveness of Security Measures Against Terrorist Attacks Determination of Subjective Effects of Security Measures (Customer Acceptance Analysis) Cost Analysis of Security Measures Multi-Criteria Decision Support Systems Target Groups Scientists with Interest in Civil Security Research Providers and S...

Fuel assembly loads during a hypothetical blowdown event in a PWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stabel, J.; Bosanyi, B.; Kim, J.D.

1991-01-01

As a consequence of a hypothetical sudden break of the main coolant pipe of a PWR, RPV-internals and fuel assemblies (FA's) are undergoing horizontal and vertical motions. FA's may impact against each other, against core shroud or against lower core support. The corresponding impact loads must be absorbed by the FA spacer grids and guide thimbles. In this paper FA-loads are calculated with and without consideration of Fluid-Structure-Interaction (FSI) effects for assumed different break sizes of the main coolant pipe. The analysis has been performed for a hypothetical cold leg break of a typical SIEMENS-4 loop plant. For this purpose the codes DAPSY/DAISY (GRS, Germany) were coupled with the structural code KWUSTOSS (SIEMENS). It is shown that the FA loads obtained in calculations with consideration of FSI effects are by a factor of 2-4 lower than those obtained in the corresponding calculations without consideration of FSI. (author)

The impact of arbitrarily applicable relational responding on evaluative learning about hypothetical money and shock outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Dymond, Simon; Molet, Mikael; Davies, Lynette

2017-08-01

Evaluative learning comprises changes in preferences after co-occurrences between conditioned stimuli (CSs) and an unconditioned stimulus (US) of affective value. Co-occurrences may involve relational responding. Two experiments examined the impact of arbitrary relational responding on evaluative preferences for hypothetical money and shock outcomes. In Experiment 1, participants were trained to make arbitrary relational responses by placing CSs of the same size but different colours into boxes and were then instructed that these CSs represented different intensities of hypothetical USs (money or shock). Liking ratings of the CSs were altered in accordance with the underlying bigger/smaller than relations. A reversal of preference was also observed: the CS associated with the smallest hypothetical shock was rated more positively than the CS associated with the smallest amount of hypothetical money. In Experiment 2, procedures from Relational Frame Theory (RFT) established a relational network of more than/less than relations consisting of five CSs (A-B-C-D-E). Overall, evaluative preferences were altered, but not reversed, depending on (a) how stimuli had been related to one another during the learning phase and (b) whether those stimuli referred to money or shocks. The contribution of RFT to evaluative learning research is discussed.

Integration of Social Sciences in Terrorism Modelling: Issues, Problems and Recommendations

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Resnyansky, L

2007-01-01

...; terrorists behaviour; the structure of terrorist organisations and networks; terrorism threat; and influence strategies and actions directed towards terrorism threat anticipation and minimisation.

[A Structural Equation Model of Pressure Ulcer Prevention Action in Clinical Nurses].

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sook Ja; Park, Ok Kyoung; Park, Mi Yeon

2016-08-01

The purpose of this study was to construct and test a structural equation model for pressure ulcer prevention action by clinical nurses. The Health Belief Model and the Theory of Planned Behavior were used as the basis for the study. A structured questionnaire was completed by 251 clinical nurses to analyze the relationships between concepts of perceived benefits, perceived barriers, attitude, subjective norm, perceived control, intention to perform action and behavior. SPSS 22.0 and AMOS 22.0 programs were used to analyze the efficiency of the hypothesized model and calculate the direct and indirect effects of factors affecting pressure ulcer prevention action among clinical nurses. The model fitness statistics of the hypothetical model fitted to the recommended levels. Attitude, subjective norm and perceived control on pressure ulcer prevention action explained 64.2% for intention to perform prevention action. The major findings of this study indicate that it is essential to recognize improvement in positive attitude for pressure ulcer prevention action and a need for systematic education programs to increase perceived control for prevention action.

Sensitivity Analysis of Evacuation Speed in Hypothetical NPP Accident by Earthquake

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Sung-yeop; Lim, Ho-Gon [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

Effective emergency response in emergency situation of nuclear power plant (NPP) can make consequences be different therefore it is regarded important when establishing an emergency response plan and assessing the risk of hypothetical NPP accident. Situation of emergency response can be totally changed when NPP accident caused by earthquake or tsunami is considered due to the failure of roads and buildings by the disaster. In this study evacuation speed has been focused among above various factors and reasonable evacuation speed in earthquake scenario has been investigated. Finally, sensitivity analysis of evacuation speed in hypothetical NPP accident by earthquake has been performed in this study. Evacuation scenario can be entirely different in the situation of seismic hazard and the sensitivity analysis of evacuation speed in hypothetical NPP accident by earthquake has been performed in this study. Various references were investigated and earthquake evacuation model has been developed considering that evacuees may convert their evacuation method from using a vehicle to walking when they face the difficulty of using a vehicle due to intense traffic jam, failure of buildings and roads, and etc. The population dose within 5 km / 30 km have been found to be increased in earthquake situation due to decreased evacuation speed and become 1.5 - 2 times in the severest earthquake evacuation scenario set up in this study. It is not agreed that using same emergency response model which is used for normal evacuation situations when performing level 3 probabilistic safety assessment for earthquake and tsunami event. Investigation of data and sensitivity analysis for constructing differentiated emergency response model in the event of seismic hazard has been carried out in this study.

Sensitivity Analysis of Evacuation Speed in Hypothetical NPP Accident by Earthquake

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Sung-yeop; Lim, Ho-Gon

2016-01-01

Effective emergency response in emergency situation of nuclear power plant (NPP) can make consequences be different therefore it is regarded important when establishing an emergency response plan and assessing the risk of hypothetical NPP accident. Situation of emergency response can be totally changed when NPP accident caused by earthquake or tsunami is considered due to the failure of roads and buildings by the disaster. In this study evacuation speed has been focused among above various factors and reasonable evacuation speed in earthquake scenario has been investigated. Finally, sensitivity analysis of evacuation speed in hypothetical NPP accident by earthquake has been performed in this study. Evacuation scenario can be entirely different in the situation of seismic hazard and the sensitivity analysis of evacuation speed in hypothetical NPP accident by earthquake has been performed in this study. Various references were investigated and earthquake evacuation model has been developed considering that evacuees may convert their evacuation method from using a vehicle to walking when they face the difficulty of using a vehicle due to intense traffic jam, failure of buildings and roads, and etc. The population dose within 5 km / 30 km have been found to be increased in earthquake situation due to decreased evacuation speed and become 1.5 - 2 times in the severest earthquake evacuation scenario set up in this study. It is not agreed that using same emergency response model which is used for normal evacuation situations when performing level 3 probabilistic safety assessment for earthquake and tsunami event. Investigation of data and sensitivity analysis for constructing differentiated emergency response model in the event of seismic hazard has been carried out in this study

Review of the Estimates for the Impact of the September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attacks on New York Tax Revenues

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

2002-01-01

As a follow-up to our May 2002 report, reviewing the estimates of the economic impact of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York, Congress requested additional information on New York tax revenues...

The Representation of Islam in Western Media: The Coverage of Norway Terrorist Attacks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emad A. Alghamdi

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Undeniably mass media have become the primary source of information and communication for the majority of, if not all, members of modern societies. The nature of the information thus communicated and the manner in which it is dispensed through media certainly have a profound influence on people’s perceptions of the world around them. The relation between the media, on one hand, and culture, social life, and politics on the other, is an interesting one in which media fulfills dual functions, reflecting and also shaping issues occurring within these three domains (Bell & Garrett, 1998. In the initial media coverage of the 2011 Norway terrorist attacks, some western media authors, inaccurately and unjustly, held Muslims and Islamic groups as being responsible for the attacks. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA, this study seeks to ascertain how language was manipulated in this coverage of the terrorist attacks in order to give expression to blind prejudice against Islam and Muslims. As findings of the analyses reveal, the tones of allegation in these articles and reports differed dramatically from one article to another ranging from tones of mere suspicion to those of overt accusation. The varying degrees of uncertainty or assertion of the authors’ statements were reflected in the varied linguistic forms and devices used within the discourse.

The need to counter extremist terrorist manifestations in society and in the penal system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kazberov P.N.

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The article discusses the need for inter-agency work to minimize the extremist-terrorist activities in the community. The problem of the psychology of extremism and terrorism are increasingly in the spotlight representatives of various scientific disciplines. First of all, there is no single legal science in all respects understanding of phenomena such as extremism and terrorism, their classification and evaluation, although a number of positive examples in this respect international cooperation is present. According to current data provided by the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, the General Prosecutor of the Russian Federation, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights, extremism is a real threat to the national security of the Russian Federation. From the data of law enforcement should be the fact that most of the crimes of extremist and terrorist nature committed by persons of young age, the consciousness of which are susceptible to nationalist propaganda. A significant increase in informal youth movements extremist-nationalist orientation. The problem of expansion of extremism is also relevant for the penitentiary system of modern society. The very fact that a significant number of prisoners serving sentences for extremism and terrorism, illustrates the need for them special psychological and educational work

Cyberspace as a new arena for terroristic propaganda: an updated examination.

Science.gov (United States)

Minei, Elizabeth; Matusitz, Jonathan

2012-11-01

This paper analyzes the role of propaganda use in cyberterrorism. The main premise is that cyberterrorists display various semiotic gestures (e.g., the use of images and Internet videos) to communicate their intents to the public at large. In doing so, they communicate themes-these themes range from hate to anger. Cyberterrorism, then, is a form of theater or spectacle in which terrorists exploit cyberspace to trigger feelings of panic and overreaction in the target population. In many cases, this form of propaganda is the primary means of communication for various cyberterrorist groups to convey their intents. Internet sites also produce numerous opportunities for in-group communication and publicity.

76 FR 39408 - Privacy Act of 1974; Department of Homeland Security/ALL-030 Use of the Terrorist Screening...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-06

... of Investigation (FBI)/Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) is providing a near real time, synchronized... appropriate clearances or permissions. Retention and disposal: The WLS will maintain a near real time mirror... difficulties they experienced during their travel screening at transportation hubs such as airports and train...

Statistical equivalence and test-retest reliability of delay and probability discounting using real and hypothetical rewards.

Science.gov (United States)

Matusiewicz, Alexis K; Carter, Anne E; Landes, Reid D; Yi, Richard

2013-11-01

Delay discounting (DD) and probability discounting (PD) refer to the reduction in the subjective value of outcomes as a function of delay and uncertainty, respectively. Elevated measures of discounting are associated with a variety of maladaptive behaviors, and confidence in the validity of these measures is imperative. The present research examined (1) the statistical equivalence of discounting measures when rewards were hypothetical or real, and (2) their 1-week reliability. While previous research has partially explored these issues using the low threshold of nonsignificant difference, the present study fully addressed this issue using the more-compelling threshold of statistical equivalence. DD and PD measures were collected from 28 healthy adults using real and hypothetical $50 rewards during each of two experimental sessions, one week apart. Analyses using area-under-the-curve measures revealed a general pattern of statistical equivalence, indicating equivalence of real/hypothetical conditions as well as 1-week reliability. Exceptions are identified and discussed. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Computer codes developed in FRG to analyse hypothetical meltdown accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hassmann, K.; Hosemann, J.P.; Koerber, H.; Reineke, H.

1978-01-01

It is the purpose of this paper to give the status of all significant computer codes developed in the core melt-down project which is incorporated in the light water reactor safety research program of the Federal Ministry of Research and Technology. For standard pressurized water reactors, results of some computer codes will be presented, describing the course and the duration of the hypothetical core meltdown accident. (author)

Probabilitas Teroris Perempuan di Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Endy Saputro

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Indonesian police through Densus 88 have analyzed and predicted the strategy of terrorism in Indonesia, which was important to note that those Indonesian terrorist are males. In short, the Indonesian terrorists need to set up their strategy of attack. Will the Indonesian terrorists build a new strategy with taking involve woman within the strategy? This paper aims to understand the involvement of women terrorist in some suicide actions in global context. To sum up, this paper argues that the emergence of women terrorist in Indonesia are possible, yet it requires the precedence conditions of world women terrorists in global contexts.

Excessive Gestational Weight Gain and Subsequent Maternal Obesity at Age 40: A Hypothetical Intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Abrams, Barbara; Coyle, Jeremy; Cohen, Alison K; Headen, Irene; Hubbard, Alan; Ritchie, Lorrene; Rehkopf, David H

2017-09-01

To model the hypothetical impact of preventing excessive gestational weight gain on midlife obesity and compare the estimated reduction with the US Healthy People 2020 goal of a 10% reduction of obesity prevalence in adults. We analyzed 3917 women with 1 to 3 pregnancies in the prospective US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, from 1979 to 2012. We compared the estimated obesity prevalence between 2 scenarios: gestational weight gain as reported and under the scenario of a hypothetical intervention that all women with excessive gestational weight gain instead gained as recommended by the Institute of Medicine (2009). A hypothetical intervention was associated with a significantly reduced estimated prevalence of obesity for first (3.3 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.0, 5.6) and second (3.0 percentage points; 95% CI = 0.7, 5.2) births, and twice as high in Black as in White mothers, but not significant in Hispanics. The population attributable fraction was 10.7% (95% CI = 3.3%, 18.1%) in first and 9.3% (95% CI = 2.2%, 16.5%) in second births. Development of effective weight-management interventions for childbearing women could lead to meaningful reductions in long-term obesity.

Testing the effectiveness of certainty scales, cheap talk, and dissonance-minimization in reducing hypothetical bias in contingent valuation studies

Science.gov (United States)

Mark Morrison; Thomas C. Brown

2009-01-01

Stated preference methods such as contingent valuation and choice modeling are subject to various biases that may lead to differences between actual and hypothetical willingness to pay. Cheap talk, follow-up certainty scales, and dissonance minimization are three techniques for reducing this hypothetical bias. Cheap talk and certainty scales have received considerable...

Finding the Wolves in Sheeps Clothing: Ways to Distinguish and Deter Lone-Wolf Terrorists

Science.gov (United States)

2015-03-01

Mark Hamm, “Lone-wolf Terrorism in America: Forging a New Way of Looking at an Old Problem,” YouTube video, 7:32, posted by the National Institute...that factors that influence most lone-wolf terrorists include, “to varying degrees and in variable combinations: personal aversion or depression ...Russia.”97 Also discovered after the bombings, “Tamerlan had a YouTube account that he used to post and watch violent Islamic extremist videos starting

study and analysis of asa river hypothetical dam break using hec-ras

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Impounded reservoirs provide beneficial functions such as flood control, recreation, hydropower and water supply but they also carry potential risks. Spontaneous dam break phenomenon can occur and the resultant flooding may cause substantial loss of life and property damage downstream of the dam. A hypothetical dam ...

Posse Comitatus and the Use of the Military in Denying Terrorist Access to the United States Along the Border with Mexico

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Thomas, Greg A

2005-01-01

.... The largely unsecured border we share with Mexico is an enticing avenue for illegal immigrants and drug smugglers but also, and more importantly, for potential terrorists hostile to the United States...

The Rise and the Fall of Terrorist Organizations in Post-Dictatorial Greece: The Role and the Lessons for the Intelligence Services

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Fakitsas, Miltiadis

2003-01-01

... and business elite, The government's failure to curtail these groups resulted from the enormous belief that these terrorists were not a direct threat to Greek's democracy Fortunately, in June of 2002...

Reflection in phraseological neology of traumatic historical events connected with the terrorist threat

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Skorobogatova Taisiya Ivanovna

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the analysis of phraseological units - neologisms which are associated with such traumatic historical events, as the implementation of terrorist acts. Particular emphasis is placed on the description of English, Russian and French phraseological units that have introduced the memory of the terrorist threat in the XX-XXI centuries.: Eng. That’s so 10th September (lit. today September 10, fig: Do not worry ahead of time about nothing; Rus. мочить в сортире (descriptor: беспощадно расправиться; фр. le prince s’est mari, le m chant est mort, c’est une semaine Walt Disney (lit. prince married the villain died, week Walt Disney; descriptor: Idyll, g n ration Bataclan (lit. Bataklan generation; descriptor: young people age of the victims who died in the “Bataklane”, i.e. young people aged 25-35. Phraseology description of new, emerging units is one of the most important problems in theoretical linguistics, namely: to illustrate and confirm the fact that the phrasebook body of a single national language is the result of the two memories - historical and linguistic. At the same time important to consider such a significant factor that determines the specificity of the national phraseological fund as memory selectivity in general and historical memory in particular.

Evaluation of Nuclide Release Scenarios for a Hypothetical LILW Repository

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Youn Myoung; Jeong, Jong Tae

2010-11-01

A program for the safety assessment and performance evaluation of a low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste (LILW) repository system has been developed. Utilizing GoldSim (GoldSim, 2006), the program evaluates nuclide release and transport into the geosphere and biosphere under various disruptive natural and manmade events and scenarios that can occur after a waste package failure. We envisaged and illustrated these events and scenarios as occurring after the closure of a hypothetical LILW repository, and they included the degradation of various manmade barriers, pumping well drilling, and natural disruptions such as the sudden formation of a preferential flow pathway in the far-field area of the repository. Possible enhancement of nuclide transport facilitated by colloids or chelating agents is also dealt with. We used the newly-developed GoldSim template program, which is capable of various nuclide release scenarios and is greatly suited for simulating a potential repository given the geological circumstances in Korea, to create the detailed source term and near-field release scheme, various nuclide transport modes in the far-field geosphere area, and the biosphere transfer. Even though all parameter values applied to the hypothetical repository were assumed, the illustrative results, particularly the probabilistic calculations and sensitivity studies, may be informative under various scenarios

Main radiation protection actions for medical personnel as primary responders front of an event with radiological dispersive device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duque, Hildanielle Ramos

2015-01-01

After the terrorist attack in New York, USA, in 2001, there was a worldwide concern about possible attacks using radioactive material in conventional detonators, called as Radiological Dispersal Device (RDD) or 'dirty bomb'. Several studies have been and are being made to form a global knowledge about this type of event. As until now, fortunately, there has not been an event with RDD, the Goiania Radiological Accident in Brazil, 1987, is used as a reference for decision-making. Several teams with technical experts should act in an event with RDD, but the medical staffs who respond quickly to the event must be properly protected from the harmful effects of radiation. Based on the radiological protection experts performance during the Goiania accident and the knowledge from lessons learned of many radiological accidents worldwide, this work presents an adaptation of the radiation protection actions for an event with RDD that helps a medical team as primary responders. The following aspects are presented: the problem of radioactive contamination from the explosion of the device in underground environment, the actions of the first responders and evaluation of health radiation effects. This work was based on specialized articles and papers about radiological accidents and RDD; as well as personal communication and academic information of the Institute of Radiation Protection and Dosimetry. The radiation protection actions, adapted to a terrorist attack event with RDD, have as a scenario a subway station in the capital. The main results are: the use of the basic radiation protection principle of time because there is no condition to take care of a patient keeping distance or using a shielding; the use of full appropriate protection cloths for contaminating materials ensuring the physical safety of professionals, and the medical team monitoring at the end of a medical procedure, checking for surface contamination. The main conclusion is that all medical actions

Addressing the Foreign Terrorist Fighters Phenomenon From a European Union Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark Singleton

2014-12-01

Full Text Available With the outbreak of civil war and sectarian violence in Syria, Iraq, and Libya, over 15,000 men and women from more than 80 countries around the world have left their homes to become foreign fighters. The security challenge they pose is immense and there are concerns about radicalised fighters returning to their countries of origin or residence, hardened by experience and with the possible intent – and the know-how – to engage in terrorist activities. On 24 September, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2178 (2014 with the support of over 120 states representing a broad cross-section of the UN membership. Resolution 2178 called on all UN member states to ensure increased border security and to screen for or arrest so-called “foreign terrorist fighters” (FTFs travelling to or returning from conflict areas. Rightly so, it also urges states to counter violent extremism by taking preventive measures, such as engaging with communities at the local level to stop the spread of extremist ideologies. On 23 October 2014, the Global Center on Cooperative Security, the Human Security Collective, and ICCT convened an expert meeting at the European Union (EU in Brussels to discuss the implications of the resolution and to explore appropriate and effective responses to the threat of FTFs, both within the EU and as part of the Union’s foreign security and development programming. Building upon the discussion in Brussels, this policy brief is a compilation of essays from all three organisations on the challenges and opportunities for addressing the FTF threat from a European Union perspective. It also examines the implementation of Resolution 2178 as an integral part of national and multilateral foreign security and development policies and initiatives.

The effect of the September 11 terrorist attacks on suicide and deliberate self-harm : A time trend study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

De Lange, AW; Neeleman, J

2004-01-01

Suicide rates may be affected by world news. Our objective was to investigate the possible impact of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, on suicidal behavior in the Netherlands. There was evidence of an increase in rates of suicide and deliberate self-harm in the weeks immediately following

Stochastic nanopore sensors for the detection of terrorist agents: Current status and challenges

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu Aihua; Zhao Qitao [Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019-0065 (United States); Guan Xiyun, E-mail: xguan@uta.edu [Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019-0065 (United States)

2010-08-24

Nanopore stochastic sensor works by monitoring the ionic current modulations induced by the passage of analytes of interest through a single pore, which can be obtained from a biological ion channel by self-assembly or artificially fabricated in a solid-state membrane. In this minireview, we overview the use of biological nanopores and artificial nanopores for the detection of terrorist agents including explosives, organophosphorus nerve agents, nitrogen mustards, organoarsenic compounds, toxins, and viruses. We also discuss the current challenge in the development of deployable nanopore sensors for real-world applications.

A project to develop restoration methods for buildings and facilities after a terrorist attack

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fingas, M.F. [Environment Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada). Emergencies Science and Technology Div]|[Environment Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada). River Road Environmental Technology Centre; Volchek, K.; Hornof, M.; Boudreau, L.; Punt, M. [SAIC Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada); Payette, P.; Best, M. [Health Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada); Garbutt, M.; Krishnan, J.; Wagener, S.; Bernard, K. [Health Canada, Winnipeg, MB (Canada); Cousins, T.; Haslip, D. [Defence Research and Development Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada)

2004-07-01

A multi-agent project was initiated to review site restoration after a terrorist attack. The objective was to acquire and compile information on all known restoration procedures for buildings, exteriors of buildings, their interior contents, and adjacent areas such as parking lots, lawns and vehicles. All procedures were then tested and validated. Restoration procedures included pickup, neutralization, decontamination, removal and final destruction/deposition of the contaminant, cleaning material and contaminated debris resulting from the terrorist act. This research and development project considered chemical, biological and nuclear contamination with the intent to develop methods to decontaminate and restore buildings after a chemical, biological and radiological (CBR) attack. Ideas were collected from work conducted around the world. The efficacy of best candidates was tested along with all selected chemical target items. The project also involved the preparation of procedures for decontamination and restoration. Ultimately, a tradeoff decision basis will be developed to provide information on abandonment and quarantine versus cleanup. The study revealed that there are several technologies that can be used for the decontamination of structures and equipment after acts of terrorism, however, no one technique will work for all contaminants on all surfaces. The selection of a decontamination method depends on the contaminant, the surface being decontaminated and economic, social and health factors. The amount of waste generated by decontamination is a major feasibility factor. 25 refs., 6 tabs.

Predicting hypothetical willingness to participate (WTP) in a future phase III HIV vaccine trial among high-risk adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Giocos, Georgina; Kagee, Ashraf; Swartz, Leslie

2008-11-01

The present study sought to determine whether the Theory of Planned Behaviour predicted stated hypothetical willingness to participate (WTP) in future Phase III HIV vaccine trials among South African adolescents. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses showed that The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) significantly predicted WTP. Of all the predictors, Subjective norms significantly predicted WTP (OR = 1.19, 95% C.I. = 1.06-1.34). A stepwise logistic regression analysis revealed that Subjective Norms (OR = 1.19, 95% C.I. = 1.07-1.34) and Attitude towards participation in an HIV vaccine trial (OR = 1.32, 95% C.I. = 1.00-1.74) were significant predictors of WTP. The addition of Knowledge of HIV vaccines and HIV vaccine trials, Perceived self-risk of HIV infection, Health-promoting behaviours and Attitudes towards HIV/AIDS yielded non-significant results. These findings provide support for the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and suggest that psychosocial factors may play an important role in WTP in Phase III HIV vaccine trials among adolescents.

Modelling the long-term consequences of a hypothetical dispersal of radioactivity in an urban area including remediation alternatives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thiessen, K.M.; Andersson, K.G.; Batandjieva, B.; Cheng, J.-J.; Hwang, W.T.; Kaiser, J.C.; Kamboj, S.; Steiner, M.; Tomas, J.; Trifunovic, D.; Yu, C.

2009-01-01

The Urban Remediation Working Group of the International Atomic Energy Agency's EMRAS (Environmental Modelling for Radiation Safety) program was organized to address issues of remediation assessment modelling for urban areas contaminated with dispersed radionuclides. The present paper describes the second of two modelling exercises. This exercise was based on a hypothetical dispersal of radioactivity in an urban area from a radiological dispersal device, with reference surface contamination at selected sites used as the primary input information. Modelling endpoints for the exercise included radionuclide concentrations and external dose rates at specified locations, contributions to the dose rates from individual surfaces, and annual and cumulative external doses to specified reference individuals. Model predictions were performed for a 'no action' situation (with no remedial measures) and for selected countermeasures. The exercise provided an opportunity for comparison of three modelling approaches, as well as a comparison of the predicted effectiveness of various countermeasures in terms of their short-term and long-term effects on predicted doses to humans.

Ability to Categorize Food Predicts Hypothetical Food Choices in Head Start Preschoolers.

Science.gov (United States)

Nicholson, Jody S; Barton, Jennifer M; Simons, Ali L

2018-03-01

To investigate whether preschoolers are able to identify and categorize foods, and whether their ability to classify food as healthy predicts their hypothetical food choice. Structured interviews and body measurements with preschoolers, and teacher reports of classroom performance. Six Head Start centers in a large southeastern region. A total of 235 preschoolers (mean age [SD], 4.73 [0.63] years; 45.4% girls). Teachers implemented a nutrition education intervention across the 2014-2015 school year in which children were taught to identify and categorize food as sometimes (ie, unhealthy) and anytime (ie, healthy). Preschooler responses to a hypothetical snack naming, classifying, and selection scenario. Hierarchical regression analyses to examine predictors of child hypothetical food selection. While controlling for child characteristics and cognitive functioning, preschoolers who were better at categorizing food as healthy or unhealthy were more likely to say they would choose the healthy food. Low-contrast food pairs in which food had to be classified based on multiple dimensions were outside the cognitive abilities of the preschoolers. Nutrition interventions may be more effective in helping children make healthy food choices if developmental limitations in preschoolers' abilities to categorize food is addressed in their curriculum. Classification of food into evaluative categories is challenging for this age group. Categorizing on multiple dimensions is difficult, and dichotomous labeling of food as good or bad is not always accurate in directing children toward making food choices. Future research could evaluate further preschoolers' developmental potential for food categorization and nutrition decision making and consider factors that influence healthy food choices at both snack and mealtime. Copyright © 2017 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Parent and medical professional willingness to enroll children in a hypothetical pediatric optic neuritis treatment trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amy eWaldman

2011-11-01

Full Text Available The Optic Neuritis Treatment Trial and subsequent studies have had a tremendous impact on the treatment and prognosis of optic neuritis and multiple sclerosis in adults. The results of these studies have been extrapolated to children; however, pediatric data are sparse. Using the method of prospective preference assessment, the willingness of parents and medical professionals to enroll children in a hypothetical Pediatric Optic Neuritis Treatment Trial was assessed using a mock consent form and questionnaire. A 3-arm trial was proposed: 1 intravenous corticosteroids, 2 high-dose oral corticosteroids, and 3 an oral placebo. The forms were completed by 198 parents and 49 physicians. After reviewing the hypothetical scenario, trial design, risks and benefits, and alternatives to the study, 21% of parents would enroll their children in the trial whereas 98% of medical professionals would enroll their patients. With medical professional recommendation, 43% of parents would enroll their children. The manner in which this hypothetical trial was presented to parents, specifically with respect to the recommendation of their child’s health care team, influenced a parent’s willingness to participate.

The potentialities of terrorism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cohen, B.L.

1976-01-01

The potential hazard of terrorists obtaining plutonium and building a nuclear device is examined within the perspective of other terrorist activities. Various sources are quoted on the possibility of a terrorist group having the resources, including skilled personnel, to build a bomb. The potential damage engendered by such a device is hypothesized to be less than that of many other terrorist actions which could be easily accomplished. Other activities, poison or nerve gas, gasoline dropped on a football stadium, destruction of a large dam, poisoning food or water supply and armed action against a tanker carrying liquefied natural gas, are cited as examples of terrorist incidents more devastating than building a crude plutonium bomb. Resistance to blackmail strategies is seen as the only reliable way to thwart their activities in the long run. Although plutonium must be guarded carefully, it is demonstrated as being far from the only or most devastating means of blackmail. It is concluded that the threat of terrorist activities is being used by anti-nuclear groups to support emotionally based dislike of nuclear power. (J.T.A.)

Ultraviolet-B phototoxicity and hypothetical photomelanomagenesis: intraocular and crystalline lens photoprotection.

Science.gov (United States)

Mainster, Martin A; Turner, Patricia L

2010-04-01

Ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation can cause phototoxic macular injuries in young people who have been sunbathing but not sungazing and in welders. Welders have a reportedly increased risk of uveal melanoma. We analyze phakic and pseudophakic risks for solar and welding arc UV-B exposure. Optical radiation measurement, analysis, and perspective. Spectral transmittances were measured for UV-transmitting, UV-blocking, and blue-blocking intraocular lenses (IOLs). The photoprotective performances of crystalline and intraocular lenses were analyzed using relevant epidemiologic and laboratory data and action spectra for acute retinal phototoxicity and melanoma photocarcinogenesis. Crystalline lens UV-B retinal protection is deficient in children and young adults, increasing their potential susceptibility to acute retinal phototoxicity and hypothetical photomelanomagenesis. UV-B radiation has sufficient energy/photon to induce primary melanomagenic DNA lesions, unlike blue light or UV-A radiation. UV-blocking and blue-blocking IOLs have negligible UV-B transmittance. UV-transmitting IOL transmittance of UV-B radiation is equivalent to that of a 15-year-old crystalline lens. If optical radiation exposure is responsible for welders' increased risk of uveal melanoma, then UV-B radiation is the most probable causative agent and spectacle wear is a potential confounding factor in epidemiologic studies of ocular melanoma. Welders under 30 years of age are at greater risk for welding maculopathy than older welders. Children, adults under 30 years of age, and pseudophakic individuals with UV-transmitting IOLs should wear sunglasses in bright environments because of the UV-B window in their crystalline lenses or IOLs. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Can a Repeated Opt-Out Reminder mitigate hypothetical bias in discrete choice experiments?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Alemu, Mohammed Hussen; Olsen, Søren Bøye

2018-01-01

In this paper, we test whether a Repeated Opt-Out Reminder (ROOR) can mitigate hypothetical bias in stated discrete choice experiments (DCE). The data originate from a field experiment concerning consumer preferences for a novel food product made from cricket flour. Utilising a between...

EAC european accident code. A modular system of computer programs to simulate LMFBR hypothetical accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wider, H.; Cametti, J.; Clusaz, A.; Devos, J.; VanGoethem, G.; Nguyen, H.; Sola, A.

1985-01-01

One aspect of fast reactor safety analysis consists of calculating the strongly coupled system of physical phenomena which contribute to the reactivity balance in hypothetical whole-core accidents: these phenomena are neutronics, fuel behaviour and heat transfer together with coolant thermohydraulics in single- and two-phase flow. Temperature variations in fuel, coolant and neighbouring structures induce, in fact, thermal reactivity feedbacks which are added up and put in the neutronics calculation to predict the neutron flux and the subsequent heat generation in the reactor. At this point a whole-core analysis code is necessary to examine for any hypothetical transient whether the various feedbacks result effectively in a negative balance, which is the basis condition to ensure stability and safety. The European Accident Code (EAC), developed at the Joint Research Centre of the CEC at Ispra (Italy), fulfills this objective. It is a modular informatics structure (quasi 2-D multichannel approach) aimed at collecting stand-alone computer codes of neutronics, fuel pin mechanics and hydrodynamics, developed both in national laboratories and in the JRC itself. EAC makes these modules interact with each other and produces results for these hypothetical accidents in terms of core damage and total energy release. 10 refs

Hypothetical Case and Scenario Description for International Transportation of Spent Nuclear Fuel.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Williams, Adam David [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Osborn, Douglas [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Jones, Katherine A. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Kalinina, Elena Arkadievna [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Cohn, Brian [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Thomas, Maikael A. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Parks, Mancel Jordan [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Parks, Ethan Rutledge [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Mohagheghi, Amir H. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2017-12-01

To support more rigorous analysis on global security issues at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), there is a need to develop realistic data sets without using "real" data or identifying "real" vulnerabilities, hazards or geopolitically embarrassing shortcomings. In response, an interdisciplinary team led by subject matter experts in SNL's Center for Global Security and Cooperation (CGSC) developed a hypothetical case description. This hypothetical case description assigns various attributes related to international SNF transportation that are representative, illustrative and indicative of "real" characteristics of "real" countries. There is no intent to identify any particular country and any similarity with specific real-world events is purely coincidental. To support the goal of this report to provide a case description (and set of scenarios of concern) for international SNF transportation inclusive of as much "real-world" complexity as possible -- without crossing over into politically sensitive or classified information -- this SAND report provides a subject matter expert-validated (and detailed) description of both technical and political influences on the international transportation of spent nuclear fuel. [PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

Short and intermediate economic impacts of a terrorist-initiated loss of electric power: Case study of New Jersey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Greenberg, Michael; Mantell, Nancy; Lahr, Michael; Felder, Frank; Zimmerman, Rae

2007-01-01

The economic impacts of potential terrorist attacks on the New Jersey electric power system are examined using a regional econometric model. The magnitude and duration of the effects vary by type of business and income measure. We assume damage is done during in the summer 2005 quarter, a peak period for energy use. The state economy recovers within a year, if we assume that economic activity is restored in the next time period. However, if the attacks prompt an absolute of loss of activity due to firm relocation, closing, and geographical changes in expansion plans, then the economy does not fully recover by the year 2010. Hence, the electrical power system's resiliency to damage is the key to the extent and duration of any economic consequences of a terrorist attack, at least in New Jersey. The policy implication is that the costs and benefits of making the electric power system more resilient to plausible attacks should be weighed and that the restorative capacity of the system should be strengthened

Short and intermediate economic impacts of a terrorist-initiated loss of electric power: case study of New Jersey

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Greenberg, M.; Mantell, N.; Lahr, M.; Felder, F. [Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ (United States). Edward J. Bloustein School; Zimmerman, R. [New York University (United States). Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service

2007-01-15

The economic impacts of potential terrorist attacks on the New Jersey electric power system are examined using a regional econometric model. The magnitude and duration of the effects vary by type of business and income measure. We assume damage is done during in the summer 2005 quarter, a peak period for energy use. The state economy recovers within a year, if we assume that economic activity is restored in the next time period. However, if the attacks prompt an absolute of loss of activity due to firm relocation, closing, and geographical changes in expansion plans, then the economy does not fully recover by the year 2010. Hence, the electrical power system's resiliency to damage is the key to the extent and duration of any economic consequences of a terrorist attack, at least in New Jersey. The policy implication is that the costs and benefits of making the electric power system more resilient to plausible attacks should be weighed and that the restorative capacity of the system should be strengthened. (author)

Analysis of initial events following hypothetical criticality of a transport flask

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barbry, F.; Bonhomme, C.; Brown, M.L.; Hague, P.; Mather, D.J.; Shaw, P.M.

1984-01-01

This report deals with the estimation of possible consequences, eg energy release, temperatures reached etc, of such a hypothetical accident in a particular notional transport package design. This particular study examines the situation if criticality occurs during unloading or refilling of a PWR flask. In the first instance, an idealised model has been chosen in order to develop the calculational techniques; it is not initself a realistic accident representation

Willingness to pay for three hypothetical malaria vaccines in Nigeria.

Science.gov (United States)

Udezi, Waka Anthony; Usifoh, Cyril Odianose; Ihimekpen, Omoyeme Oluwatosin

2010-08-01

Unlike some African countries that have reported a approximately 50% reduction in malaria deaths in recent years, Nigeria has shown no evidence of a systematic decline in malaria burden. An important and sustainable reduction in malaria burden cannot be achieved unless an effective and inexpensive malaria vaccine becomes available. The goals of this study were to determine the willingness to pay (WTP) for 3 hypothetical malaria vaccines with different levels of protection (in years), effectiveness, and adverse effects; and to identify factors that influence the price that people are willing to pay in Nigeria. With the aid of a questionnaire, a contingent valuation method using payment cards was used to elicit WTP values for 3 hypothetical malaria vaccines. Payment cards contained both a description of the features of the vaccine being evaluated and price options. The 3 hypothetical vaccines had the following characteristics: vaccine A was 75% effective, protected for 3 years, and was well tolerated; vaccine B was 85% effective, protected for 6 years, and was less well tolerated than vaccine A; and vaccine C was 95% effective and protected for 12 years, but was the least well tolerated. Participants consisted of a convenience sample of individuals who were at the pharmacy waiting area of the state-owned hospitals located in Benin City and Warri, Nigeria. Every third patient or caregiver who was in the pharmacy to fill a prescription was asked to take part in the study as they waited to see the pharmacist. If consent was not granted, the next person in line was approached to be interviewed. Linear multiple regression analysis and nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney, or chi(2) test was applied in inferential analysis, where necessary, to investigate the effects of sociodemographic factors on WTP. Prices on payment cards were expressed in Nigerian naira (NGN 150.00 approximately US $1.00), but study results were expressed in US dollars. A total of 359

Preventing nuclear terrorism: responses to terrorist grievances

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beres, L.R.

1987-01-01

The US is vulnerable to nuclear terrorism, despite the presence of physical security and other measures. Although these measures are important, they are insufficient to prevent or deter terrorism. What, then, is the answer? The author feels it lies in a hitherto neglected dimension of terrorism: its underlying political grievances. The principal grievance that potential terrorists have against the US concerns misguided elements of US foreign policy. These elements are moving the US on a seemingly inexorable collision course with terrorism and, more than likely, with nuclear terrorism. The US represents a serious threat to many people and groups who feel directly the effects of a foreign policy mired in strident anti-Sovietism: opponents of the US-NATO Euromissile deployments, populations seeking to secure their human rights from repressive regimes supported by the US, and governments seeking self-determination but embattled by insurgents backed by US arms, equipment, and advisers. In many cases, the US foreign policy stance in one country has aroused suspicion and anger within the region as a whole. The collision course need not be inevitable. The US can take a number of steps in the political arena that would greatly reduce the threat of nuclear terrorism

The correlation between diversion (Article 113 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and terrorist act (Article 258 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Андрій Сергійович Климосюк

2018-03-01

During the investigating of the punishability for these crimes, it was found that in some cases the actual infliction of harm by a s diversion causes the necessity for additional qualifications by Part 2 of Art. 115 or Part 3 of Art. 258 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. It is proved that the norm of diversion can be competed with the norm of a terrorist act as a whole (Article 113 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and as part of the whole (Article 258 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and in such cases the preference in enforcement should be qualified as a diversion. Examples given in this article are an illustrations of an ideal and actual set of diversion e and terrorist act.

Application of an infiltration evaluation methodology to a hypothetical low-level waste disposal facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meyer, P.D.

1993-12-01

This report provides an analysis of infiltration and percolation at a hypothetical low-level waste (LLW) disposal facility was carried out. The analysis was intended to illustrate general issues of concern in assessing the performance of LLW disposal facilities. Among the processes considered in the analysis were precipitation, runoff, information, evaporation, transpiration, and redistribution. The hypothetical facility was located in a humid environment characterized by frequent and often intense precipitation events. The facility consisted of a series of concrete vaults topped by a multilayer cover. Cover features included a sloping soil surface to promote runoff, plant growth to minimize erosion and promote transportation, a sloping clay layer, and a sloping capillary barrier. The analysis within the root zone was carried out using a one-dimensional, transient simulation of water flow. Below the root zone, the analysis was primarily two-dimensional and steady-state

Structure of the conserved hypothetical protein MAL13P1.257 from Plasmodium falciparum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holmes, Margaret A.; Buckner, Frederick S.; Van Voorhis, Wesley C.; Mehlin, Christopher; Boni, Erica; Earnest, Thomas N.; DeTitta, George; Luft, Joseph; Lauricella, Angela; Anderson, Lori; Kalyuzhniy, Oleksandr; Zucker, Frank; Schoenfeld, Lori W.; Hol, Wim G. J.; Merritt, Ethan A.

2006-01-01

The crystal structure of a conserved hypothetical protein, MAL13P1.257 from P. falciparum, has been determined at 2.17 Å resolution. The structure represents a new protein fold and is the first structural representative for Pfam sequence family PF05907. The structure of a conserved hypothetical protein, PlasmoDB sequence MAL13P1.257 from Plasmodium falciparum, Pfam sequence family PF05907, has been determined as part of the structural genomics effort of the Structural Genomics of Pathogenic Protozoa consortium. The structure was determined by multiple-wavelength anomalous dispersion at 2.17 Å resolution. The structure is almost entirely β-sheet; it consists of 15 β-strands and one short 3 10 -helix and represents a new protein fold. The packing of the two monomers in the asymmetric unit indicates that the biological unit may be a dimer.

What Are We Really Afraid Of? The Practitioner View of the Terrorist Threat in the United States

Science.gov (United States)

2005-03-01

like intelligence gathering and courier work • 80% single • Familiarity with home ground. Thus terrorists come from both rural and urban areas • 66...codes also help disaggregate intra- - 114 - state regions by identifying urban areas from suburban and rural . Finally, through geographic mapping...National Laboratory for Tourism and eCommerce (NLTEC), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 2002. Self-Selection Biases in the Internet

Architectural and structural engineering aspects of protective design for nuclear power plants against terrorist attack

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Musacchio, J.M.; Rozen, A.

1987-01-01

This paper presents the results of several threat studies which have been performed, provides collective data on costs, and discusses, in a general sense, architectural/structural aspects of passive protection design measures which have been developed and utilized at several nuclear power plants. By combining relevant architectural and structural measures in the standard design, it is possible to substantially reduce the vulnerability of nuclear power plants to terrorist attack and the estimated damage to a manageable level with a minimal investment. (orig./HP)

Mrs. Shipley’s Ghost: The Right to Travel and Terrorist Watchlists (by Jeffrey Kahn, University of Michigan Press, 2013

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susan Ginsburg

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Since 9/11, migration-related security measures, including a growing reliance on watch-lists, have limited the right to travel. Jeffrey Kahn’s book, Mrs. Shipley’s Ghost: The Right to Travel and Terrorist Watchlists, examines the legal and policy questions raised by prohibitions on travel by US citizens. 

Interpersonal deviance and consequent social impact in hypothetically schizophrenia-prone men.

Science.gov (United States)

Zborowski, M J; Garske, J P

1993-08-01

Interpersonal deviance is central to the theory of and research on schizotypal psychopathology. The present study investigated interpersonal deviance and its corresponding impact among hypothetically schizotypic, or schizophrenia-prone, men, defined by high scores on the Perceptual Aberration-Magical Ideation (Per-Mag) Scale. In a videotaped interview, high-scoring Ss relative to control Ss were rated as more odd (p scale and suggest that interpersonal factors may influence the eventual adjustment of high-scoring individuals.

Analysis of hypothetical LMFBR whole-core accidents in the USA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferguson, D.R.; Deitrich, L.W.; Brown, N.W.; Waltar, A.E.

1978-01-01

The issue of hypothetical whole-core accidents continues to play a significant role in assessment of the potential risk to the public associated with LMFBR operation in the USA. The paper briefly characterizes the changing nature of this role, with emphasis on the current risk-oriented perspective. It then describes the models and codes used for accident analysis in the USA which have been developed under DOE sponsorship and summarizes some specific applications of the codes to the current generation of fast reactors. An assessment of future trends in this area concludes the paper

Learning from history: The Glasgow Airport terrorist attack.

Science.gov (United States)

Crichton, Gillies

Glasgow Airport was the target of a terrorist attack on 30th June, 2007. Many people within Scotland had come to believe that Scotland was immune from terrorism. This perception was in large part informed by Scotland's experience during the protracted Troubles in Northern Ireland, during which the Provisional Irish Republican Army's mainland bombing campaign focused on targets in England, sparing both Scotland and Wales. While Glasgow Airport did not expect such an attack to take place, meticulous planning, organising and testing of plans had taken place to mitigate the unlikely event of such an attack. The attack stands up as a shining example of robust business continuity management, where the airport reopened for business as usual in less than 24 hours from the time of the attack. Little is known about how the airport handled the situation in conjunction with other responding agencies as people tend to want to focus on high-profile disasters only. Yet countless such incidents are happening worldwide on a daily basis, in which there are excellent learning opportunities, and, taken in the spirit of converting hindsight into foresight, the likelihood of similar incidents could potentially be reduced in the future.

Planning guidance for emergency response to a hypothetical nuclear attack on Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Science.gov (United States)

Shubayr, Nasser Ali M.

The threat of nuclear attack will remain imminent in an ever-advancing society. Saudi Arabia is not immune to this threat. This dissertation establishes planning guidance for response to a nuclear attack on Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, based on a hypothetical scenario of a nuclear detonation. A case scenario of a one-megaton thermonuclear bomb detonated at ground level over Riyadh is used to support the thesis. Previous nuclear tests and the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings have been used to present possible effects on Riyadh. US planning guidance and lessons learned from the Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear plants accidents have been used to develop the emergency response guidance. The planning guidance outlines a rapid response to the nuclear detonation. Four damage zones have been identified; severe damage zone, moderate damage zone, light damage zone and dangerous fallout zone. Actions that are recommended, and those that should be avoided, have been determined for each zone. Shelter/ evacuation evaluation for blast-affected and fallout-affected areas is the basis for the recommendation that shelter in place is the best decision for the first hours to days after the attack. Guidelines for medical care response and population monitoring and decontamination are included to reduce the early and long-term effects of the attack. Recommendations to the Saudi Arabian authorities have been made to facilitate suitable preparedness and response for such an event.

Comparison of the hypothetical (57)Co brachytherapy source with the (192)Ir source.

Science.gov (United States)

Toossi, Mohammad Taghi Bahreyni; Ghorbani, Mahdi; Rostami, Atefeh; Khosroabadi, Mohsen; Khademi, Sara; Knaup, Courtney

2016-01-01

The (57)Co radioisotope has recently been proposed as a hypothetical brachytherapy source due to its high specific activity, appropriate half-life (272 days) and medium energy photons (114.17 keV on average). In this study, Task Group No. 43 dosimetric parameters were calculated and reported for a hypothetical (57)Co source. A hypothetical (57)Co source was simulated in MCNPX, consisting of an active cylinder with 3.5 mm length and 0.6 mm radius encapsulated in a stainless steel capsule. Three photon energies were utilized (136 keV [10.68%], 122 keV [85.60%], 14 keV [9.16%]) for the (57)Co source. Air kerma strength, dose rate constant, radial dose function, anisotropy function, and isodose curves for the source were calculated and compared to the corresponding data for a (192)Ir source. The results are presented as tables and figures. Air kerma strength per 1 mCi activity for the (57)Co source was 0.46 cGyh(-1) cm 2 mCi(-1). The dose rate constant for the (57)Co source was determined to be 1.215 cGyh(-1)U(-1). The radial dose function for the (57)Co source has an increasing trend due to multiple scattering of low energy photons. The anisotropy function for the (57)Co source at various distances from the source is more isotropic than the (192)Ir source. The (57)Co source has advantages over (192)Ir due to its lower energy photons, longer half-life, higher dose rate constant and more isotropic anisotropic function. However, the (192)Ir source has a higher initial air kerma strength and more uniform radial dose function. These properties make (57)Co a suitable source for use in brachytherapy applications.

Assessment of environmental public exposure from a hypothetical nuclear accident for Unit-1 Bushehr nuclear power plant

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sohrabi, M.; Ghasemi, M.; Amrollahi, R.; Khamooshi, C.; Parsouzi, Z. [Amirkabir University of Technology, Health Physics and Dosimetry Research Laboratory, Department of Physics, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2013-05-15

Unit-1 of the Bushehr nuclear power plant (BNPP-1) is a VVER-type reactor with 1,000-MWe power constructed near Bushehr city at the coast of the Persian Gulf, Iran. The reactor has been recently operational to near its full power. The radiological impact of nuclear power plant (NPP) accidents is of public concern, and the assessment of radiological consequences of any hypothetical nuclear accident on public exposure is vital. The hypothetical accident scenario considered in this paper is a design-basis accident, that is, a primary coolant leakage to the secondary circuit. This scenario was selected in order to compare and verify the results obtained in the present paper with those reported in the Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR 2007) of the BNPP-1 and to develop a well-proven methodology that can be used to study other and more severe hypothetical accident scenarios for this reactor. In the present study, the version 2.01 of the PC COSYMA code was applied. In the early phase of the accidental releases, effective doses (from external and internal exposures) as well as individual and collective doses (due to the late phase of accidental releases) were evaluated. The surrounding area of the BNPP-1 within a radius of 80 km was subdivided into seven concentric rings and 16 sectors, and distribution of population and agricultural products was calculated for this grid. The results show that during the first year following the modeled hypothetical accident, the effective doses do not exceed the limit of 5 mSv, for the considered distances from the BNPP-1. The results obtained in this study are in good agreement with those in the FSAR-2007 report. The agreement obtained is in light of many inherent uncertainties and variables existing in the two modeling procedures applied and proves that the methodology applied here can also be used to model other severe hypothetical accident scenarios of the BNPP-1 such as a small and large break in the reactor coolant system as well

Potential radiological exposure rates resulting from hypothetical dome failure at Tank W-10

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-07-01

The main plant area at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) contains 12 buried Gunite tanks that were used for the storage and transfer of liquid radioactive waste. Although the tanks are no longer in use, they are known to contain some residual contaminated sludges and liquids. In the event of an accidental tank dome failure, however unlikely, the liquids, sludges, and radioactive contaminants within the tank walls themselves could create radiation fields and result in above-background exposures to workers nearby. This Technical Memorandum documents a series of calculations to estimate potential radiological exposure rates and total exposures to workers in the event of a hypothetical collapse of a Gunite tank dome. Calculations were performed specifically for tank W-10 because it contains the largest radioactivity inventory (approximately half of the total activity) of all the Gunite tanks. These calculations focus only on external, direct gamma exposures for prescribed, hypothetical exposure scenarios and do not address other possible tank failure modes or routes of exposure. The calculations were performed with established, point-kernel gamma ray modeling codes

Changes in adolescents' conflict responses associated with consecutive presentation of hypothetical conflict situations.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, H D; LaVoie, J C; Eggenburg, E; Mahoney, M A; Pounds, L

2001-10-01

The advantages of using hypothetical situations are one reason they have been widely used to examine adolescents' responses to conflict situations. One frequently used research protocol involves presenting several conflict scenarios to participants during a single session. However, in real-life situations multiple conflicts rarely occur within short periods of time, and the nature of this presentation may be associated with changes in adolescents' reports of conflict behaviors. Trend analyses of emotional, conflict goal, and conflict tactic responses from grade 8, 10, 12, and college students to consecutively presented conflict situations showed that responses were associated with presentation of the hypothetical situations. Findings revealed an increase in reports of assertive conflict behaviors and a decrease in reports of constructive conflict behaviors with successive situation presentation. Results from the current study suggest that researchers must consider trends in responses when examining findings from successive situation presentation methodologies because adolescent reports of conflict behavior may change as situation presentation proceeds. Copyright 2001 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents.

Potential radiological exposure rates resulting from hypothetical dome failure at Tank W-10

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1994-07-01

The main plant area at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) contains 12 buried Gunite tanks that were used for the storage and transfer of liquid radioactive waste. Although the tanks are no longer in use, they are known to contain some residual contaminated sludges and liquids. In the event of an accidental tank dome failure, however unlikely, the liquids, sludges, and radioactive contaminants within the tank walls themselves could create radiation fields and result in above-background exposures to workers nearby. This Technical Memorandum documents a series of calculations to estimate potential radiological exposure rates and total exposures to workers in the event of a hypothetical collapse of a Gunite tank dome. Calculations were performed specifically for tank W-10 because it contains the largest radioactivity inventory (approximately half of the total activity) of all the Gunite tanks. These calculations focus only on external, direct gamma exposures for prescribed, hypothetical exposure scenarios and do not address other possible tank failure modes or routes of exposure. The calculations were performed with established, point-kernel gamma ray modeling codes.

Terrorism, the Internet and the Social Media Advantage: Exploring how terrorist organizations exploit aspects of the internet, social media and how these same platforms could be used to counter-violent extremism.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luke Bertram

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The deeply engrained nature of social media in modern life have provided ease of access to information and speed of use within almost every aspect of a person’s life. These same benefit are also available to terrorists and their organizations. The same technology that allows for a globalized world to interact without regard for distance or physical location is also utilized, exploited and adapted to by terrorist organizations to conduct operations, reach candidates and ensure organizational longevity. This article takes the position of observer of these advancements with the end goal of informing counter-violent extremism strategists of the advances that terrorist groups have already made in digital technology; and where the priority of intervention strategies should be aimed. Further, this is intended to guide policy makers to embrace and utilize digital technologies as a mechanism to carry counter-radicalization and counter-violent extremism interventions through the same digital potential and reach the same audiences as terrorist organizations. What appears strongly apparent is that social media will not abate from its intrinsic position graphed into daily life. This means that counter-terrorism, counter-radicalization and counter-violent extremism strategies must take up the same technology in order to effectively discredit and nullify extremist groups – a digital problem needs a digital solution.

The Treatment of Images in 11-M Terrorist Attacks. Terrorism and Violence in the Press

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dra. Emma Torres Romay

2006-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper we want to analyze the pictures publishing in the Spanish and international newspapers before the Madrid terrorist attack, March, 11. With this research we get some ideas about freedom speech limits: the respect of the privacy and, in special, the respect of the pain. At the same time, we´ll remark the importance of the photography in the press and their communication power. For this research we used the March, 11 and 12 newspapers of most important Spanish editors and the digital edition of international press.

Distinguishing hypothetical willingness from behavioral intentions to initiate HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP): Findings from a large cohort of gay and bisexual men in the U.S.

Science.gov (United States)

Rendina, H Jonathon; Whitfield, Thomas H F; Grov, Christian; Starks, Tyrel J; Parsons, Jeffrey T

2017-01-01

Much of the data on the acceptability of HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) is based on willingness to take PrEP (i.e., hypothetical receptivity) rather than actual intentions (i.e., planned behavioral action) to do so. We sought to examine differences between hypothetical willingness and behavioral intentions to begin PrEP in a national sample of gay and bisexual men (GBM) across the U.S. We utilized data collected in 2015 to examine differences between those Unwilling (42.6% n = 375), Willing but not intending (41.4%, n = 365), and willing and Intending to take PrEP (15.9%, n = 140) in a multivariable, multinomial logistic regression. Men with less education had higher odds of Intending to take PrEP. Compared to men unsure about PrEP's efficacy, those who believed PrEP was at least 90% efficacious had higher odds of Intending to take PrEP. Those who saw themselves as appropriate candidates for PrEP had higher odds of Intending to take PrEP while those who saw themselves as inappropriate candidates for PrEP had lower odds of Intending to take PrEP in comparison to men unsure if they were appropriate candidates. Increased motivation for condom non-use because of perceived sexual pressure by partners was associated with higher odds of Intending to take PrEP. The groups did not differ by risk behavior nor recent STI diagnosis. Overall, the distinction between willingness and intentions to take PrEP was meaningful and may help explain disparities between PrEP acceptability and uptake. While much of the literature has focused on hypothetical willingness to take PrEP, these results highlight the importance of simultaneously assessing willingness and intentions when examining correspondence with uptake and developing interventions to increase PrEP uptake. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hanford groundwater transport estimates for hypothetical radioactive waste incidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arnett, R.C.; Brown, D.J.; Baca, R.G.

1977-06-01

This report presents an analysis of the impact of subsurface contamination resulting from a series of hypothetical leaks or accidents involving Hanford high-level radioactive defense waste. Estimates of the amounts and concentrations of radionuclides reaching the Columbia River through the Hanford unconfined aquifer flow path were obtained by means of predictive models. The results of the study showed that the spatially averaged concentrations of 99 Tc, 3 H, and 106 Ru in the ground water as it discharges into the Columbia River are at all times far below the respective ERDA Manual Chapter 0524 Concentration Guides for uncontrolled areas. Upon entering the Columbia River, additional large dilutions of the water containing trace quantities of contaminants will occur

Nuclear Reactor RA Safety Report, Vol. 16, Maximum hypothetical accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1986-11-01

Fault tree analysis of the maximum hypothetical accident covers the basic elements: accident initiation, phase development phases - scheme of possible accident flow. Cause of the accident initiation is the break of primary cooling pipe, heavy water system. Loss of primary coolant causes loss of pressure in the primary circuit at the coolant input in the reactor vessel. This initiates safety protection system which should automatically shutdown the reactor. Separate chapters are devoted to: after-heat removal, coolant and moderator loss; accident effects on the reactor core, effects in the reactor building, and release of radioactive wastes [sr

Testing the speed of 'spooky action at a distance'.

Science.gov (United States)

Salart, Daniel; Baas, Augustin; Branciard, Cyril; Gisin, Nicolas; Zbinden, Hugo

2008-08-14

Correlations are generally described by one of two mechanisms: either a first event influences a second one by sending information encoded in bosons or other physical carriers, or the correlated events have some common causes in their shared history. Quantum physics predicts an entirely different kind of cause for some correlations, named entanglement. This reveals itself in correlations that violate Bell inequalities (implying that they cannot be described by common causes) between space-like separated events (implying that they cannot be described by classical communication). Many Bell tests have been performed, and loopholes related to locality and detection have been closed in several independent experiments. It is still possible that a first event could influence a second, but the speed of this hypothetical influence (Einstein's 'spooky action at a distance') would need to be defined in some universal privileged reference frame and be greater than the speed of light. Here we put stringent experimental bounds on the speed of all such hypothetical influences. We performed a Bell test over more than 24 hours between two villages separated by 18 km and approximately east-west oriented, with the source located precisely in the middle. We continuously observed two-photon interferences well above the Bell inequality threshold. Taking advantage of the Earth's rotation, the configuration of our experiment allowed us to determine, for any hypothetically privileged frame, a lower bound for the speed of the influence. For example, if such a privileged reference frame exists and is such that the Earth's speed in this frame is less than 10(-3) times that of the speed of light, then the speed of the influence would have to exceed that of light by at least four orders of magnitude.

Granting Concessions and Paying Ransoms to Terrorists: A Policy Options Analysis of the U.S. Policy on Hostage Recovery

Science.gov (United States)

2016-06-01

businesses like General Motors, which received bailout money from the federal government, and the Catholic Church, which receives tax-exempt status...from gaining independence from France . Other examples of absolute terrorists include the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), Hamas, and al...The conflict began when the IRA, which represented the Catholic minority, felt discriminated against by the Protestant majority, represented by

BOLD responses in reward regions to hypothetical and imaginary monetary rewards.

OpenAIRE

Miyapuram Krishna P; Tobler Philippe N; Gregorios-Pippas Lucy; Schultz Wolfram

2012-01-01

Monetary rewards are uniquely human. Because money is easy to quantify and present visually, it is the reward of choice for most fMRI studies, even though it cannot be handed over to participants inside the scanner. A typical fMRI study requires hundreds of trials and thus small amounts of monetary rewards per trial (e.g. 5p) if all trials are to be treated equally. However, small payoffs can have detrimental effects on performance due to their limited buying power. Hypothetical monetary rewa...

U.S. Adult Interest in Less Harmful and Less Addictive Hypothetical Modified Risk Tobacco Products.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Brien, Erin Keely; Persoskie, Alexander; Parascandola, Mark; Hoffman, Allison C

2017-09-28

Tobacco companies have a history of making health claims about their new products. Such claims are now regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. We examined consumer interest in hypothetical modified risk tobacco products (MRTPs) among current, former and never established smokers, and examined whether interest was associated with beliefs about tobacco and cancer. Data were analyzed from the U.S. nationally representative 2015 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS-FDA 2015; N = 3,738). Interest in hypothetical MRTPs was assessed by asking participants their likelihood of using tobacco products claiming to be less addictive and less harmful than other products. About half of current smokers and a tenth of both former and never smokers reported they were "somewhat" or "very" likely to try hypothetical MRTPs claiming to be less harmful or less addictive. Female smokers, former smokers with lower smoking harm perceptions, and never smokers who are young adults or without college education expressed more interest in these products. Interest in using these products was positively associated with believing that smoking status is a changeable individual characteristic and that it is possible for tobacco products to be made without some harmful chemicals. We identified several subgroups of current, former, and never smokers who may be particularly affected by the marketing of MRTPs and therefore important to study to inform models of the potential population health impact of authorizing the marketing of MRTPs. Findings about interest in hypothetical MRTPs can inform models of how the marketing of MRTPs could affect population health. Understanding which subgroups are particularly interested in MRTPs can help determine who might be important to study to inform these models. We identified several groups who may warrant specific attention: smokers who are female, former smokers who hold low harm perceptions of smoking, never smokers who are young adults or

An attempt to evaluate the risks associated with radiological terror

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paschoa, A.S.; Dantas, B.M.

2014-01-01

The evaluation of the risk of a terrorist attack has been made frequently by multiplying the probability of occurrence of a terrorist attempt by the probability of its success and a quantity which represents the consequences of a successful attack. In the case of a radiological attack the consequences will vary in case the action will be active or passive. Thirteen radionuclides were examined for their potential uses in credible threats or terrorist attacks based on their availability from laboratories and hospitals. Taking into account the dose conversion coefficients published by the International Atomic Energy Agency, those radionuclides with higher dose effectiveness for ingestion are the following: 210 Po; 226 Ra and 241 Am. Other radionuclides which can be used in threats and terror attacks, like 137 Cs for example have also been examined. The risks associated with the selected radionuclides have been tentatively ranked as high, medium, or low. The probability used to evaluate risks depends on the motivation of the terrorist and the capacity, which implies availability or the actual possibility of obtaining a particular radionuclide. On the other hand, whenever a list of radionuclides to be used in a malevolent action is available to a terrorist, the choice of the most adequate will depend also on the action to be undertaken. This work ranks risks associated with radiological terror based on physical, chemical, radio-toxicological and other relevant data on radionuclides, which were either already used in terror attacks, or were pointed out as adequate to be used in such malevolent actions. (author)

Analysis of hypothetical incidents in nuclear power plants with PWR and HTR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geiser, H.

1977-01-01

Several accident analyses are reviewed with a view to fission product release, and the findings are transferred to German reactor plants with LWR and HTR and compared. First of all, hypothetical accidents are compared for both of these lines; after this, the history of accidents is briefly described, and the fission product release during these accidents is investigated. For both reactor lines, there is a different but sufficiently high potential for safety improvements. (orig.) [de

Tailings technology. Decommissioning and rehabilitation remedial action technology development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramsey, R.W. Jr.

1982-01-01

This paper is to provide an overview of technology requirements for long-term uranium mill tailings disposal and remedial actions for existing tailings to ensure their adequate disposal. The paper examines the scientific disciplines that are the basis for the technology of uranium mill tailings stabilization and the design of barriers to control radiological exposure or environmental degradation at the location of tailings disposal. The discussion is presented as a hypothetical course of instruction at a fictitious university. Features of six mechanisms of dispersal or intrusion are examined with brief discussion of the applicable technology development for each. The paper serves as an introduction to subsequent specific technology development papers in the session. (author)

Comparison of SAS3A and MELT-III predictions for a transient overpower hypothetical accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilburn, N.P.

1976-01-01

A comparison is made of the predictions of the two major codes SAS3A and MELT-III for the hypothetical unprotected transient overpower accident in the FFTF. The predictions of temperatures, fuel restructuring, fuel melting, reactivity feedbacks, and core power are compared

Post-event human decision errors: operator action tree/time reliability correlation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, R.E.; Fragola, J.; Wreathall, J.

1982-11-01

This report documents an interim framework for the quantification of the probability of errors of decision on the part of nuclear power plant operators after the initiation of an accident. The framework can easily be incorporated into an event tree/fault tree analysis. The method presented consists of a structure called the operator action tree and a time reliability correlation which assumes the time available for making a decision to be the dominating factor in situations requiring cognitive human response. This limited approach decreases the magnitude and complexity of the decision modeling task. Specifically, in the past, some human performance models have attempted prediction by trying to emulate sequences of human actions, or by identifying and modeling the information processing approach applicable to the task. The model developed here is directed at describing the statistical performance of a representative group of hypothetical individuals responding to generalized situations

Post-event human decision errors: operator action tree/time reliability correlation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hall, R E; Fragola, J; Wreathall, J

1982-11-01

This report documents an interim framework for the quantification of the probability of errors of decision on the part of nuclear power plant operators after the initiation of an accident. The framework can easily be incorporated into an event tree/fault tree analysis. The method presented consists of a structure called the operator action tree and a time reliability correlation which assumes the time available for making a decision to be the dominating factor in situations requiring cognitive human response. This limited approach decreases the magnitude and complexity of the decision modeling task. Specifically, in the past, some human performance models have attempted prediction by trying to emulate sequences of human actions, or by identifying and modeling the information processing approach applicable to the task. The model developed here is directed at describing the statistical performance of a representative group of hypothetical individuals responding to generalized situations.

Reducing Mortality from Terrorist Releases of Chemical and Biological Agents: I. Filtration for Ventilation Systems in Commercial Building

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thatcher, Tracy L.; Daisey, Joan M.

1999-09-01

There is growing concern about potential terrorist attacks involving releases of chemical and/or biological (CB) agents, such as sarin or anthrax, in and around buildings. For an external release, the CB agent can enter the building through the air intakes of a building's mechanical ventilation system and by infiltration through the building envelope. For an interior release in a single room, the mechanical ventilation system, which often recirculates some fraction of the air within a building, may distribute the released CB agent throughout the building. For both cases, installing building systems that remove chemical and biological agents may be the most effective way to protect building occupants. Filtration systems installed in the heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems of buildings can significantly reduce exposures of building occupants in the event of a release, whether the release is outdoors or indoors. Reduced exposures can reduce the number of deaths from a terrorist attack. The purpose of this report is to provide information and examples of the design of filtration systems to help building engineers retrofit HVAC systems. The report also provides background information on the physical nature of CB agents and brief overviews of the basic principles of particle and vapor filtration.

What we need to know ...and when. Educating the public about nuclear terrorist risks can help raise levels of security

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khripunov, I.

2006-01-01

Nuclear power infrastructures could be the target of terrorist acts of theft, sabotage, unauthorized access or other malicious acts given their radiological and chemical content and potential for building weapons. Attacks on its major components, including fuel production, reactors, waste handling, and reprocessing facilities, would lead to serious consequences-even if there is little or no damage to a nuclear power plant itself and other related structures. Public fear of nuclear radiation, in combination with a possibly massive resultant blackout and other aggravating factors, could create significant distress and panic. In other words, successful terrorist attempts to attack nuclear power infrastructure can easily bring about systemic disaster. Systemic risks impact society on a large scale and their effects may spread much further from the original hazardous source. Those risks widely affect systems that society depends on, such as health, transport, environment, telecommunications. Their consequences may be technical, social, environmental, psychological and economic and involve different stakeholders. In this context, however, one important stakeholder has been under-appreciated, under-utilized and somewhat misunderstood: the general public. The nuclear power infrastructure must learn how to efficiently communicate to the public and develop better options for public risk communication that relate to deliberate attacks or accidents. The public is also a challenging stockholder because citizens are deeply split regarding the acceptability and value of nuclear power generation and tend to express their feelings emotionally. However, there is growing recognition that because of skyrocketing oil prices and evidence of the greenhouse effect, nuclear power may be approaching renaissance. Hence, the public must no longer be looked upon only as potential victims or panicked masses but rather as an important contributing factor for better nuclear security throughout

Take Me Out to the Ballgame, but Keep Me away from the Concession Stand Workers: A Hypothetical Case Involving Negligent Volunteers at Ballparks

Science.gov (United States)

Thor, Jennifer Cordon; York, Kenneth M.

2016-01-01

The hypothetical case presented in this article challenges students in a legal environment of business course to answer that question by examining key legal concepts in agency and contract law, and to conduct an ethical analysis in a case involving volunteers. Although the events in the following case are hypothetical, the contract that the…

Effects of hypothetical improvised nuclear detonation on the electrical infrastructure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barrett, Christopher L.; Eubank, Stephen; Evrenosoglu, C. Yaman; Marathe, Achla; Marathe, Madhav V.; Phadke, Arun; Thorp, James; Vullikanti, Anil

2013-01-01

We study the impacts of a hypothetical improvised nuclear detonation (IND) on the electrical infrastructure and its cascading effects on other urban inter-dependent infrastructures of a major metropolitan area in the US. We synthesize open source information, expert knowledge, commercial software and Google Earth data to derive a realistic electrical transmission and distribution network spanning the region. A dynamic analysis of the geo-located grid is carried out to determine the cause of malfunction of components, and their short-term and long-term effect on the stability of the grid. Finally a detailed estimate of the cost of damage to the major components of the infrastructure is provided.

Effects of hypothetical improvised nuclear detonation on the electrical infrastructure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barrett, Christopher L.; Eubank, Stephen; Evrenosoglu, C. Yaman; Marathe, Achla; Marathe, Madhav V.; Phadke, Arun; Thorp, James; Vullikanti, Anil [Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA (United States). Network Dynamics and Simulation Science Lab.

2013-07-01

We study the impacts of a hypothetical improvised nuclear detonation (IND) on the electrical infrastructure and its cascading effects on other urban inter-dependent infrastructures of a major metropolitan area in the US. We synthesize open source information, expert knowledge, commercial software and Google Earth data to derive a realistic electrical transmission and distribution network spanning the region. A dynamic analysis of the geo-located grid is carried out to determine the cause of malfunction of components, and their short-term and long-term effect on the stability of the grid. Finally a detailed estimate of the cost of damage to the major components of the infrastructure is provided.

An Assessment of the Hypothetical Impact of Drug Abuse on Combat Capability. Volume I.

Science.gov (United States)

1979-12-01

25 I .4 Jill 1.6 MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART NATIONAt BIURIA OF gMANI£ IWOI) A LEVEL AD SAI-80-113-WA AN ASSESSMENT OF THE HYPOTHETICAL IMPACTo OF...potential loss of unit effectiveness in each of these units. The resulting measure of unit effectiveness provides a powerful analy- tic tool for comparing

Consequences in Norway after a hypothetical accident at Sellafield - Predicted impacts on the environment.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thoerring, H.; Liland, A.

2010-12-15

This report deals with the environmental consequences in Norway after a hypothetical accident at Sellafield. The investigation is limited to the terrestrial environment, and focus on animals grazing natural pastures, plus wild berries and fungi. Only 137Cs is considered. The predicted consequences are severe, in particular for mutton and goat milk production. (Author)

Consequences in Norway after a hypothetical accident at Sellafield - Predicted impacts on the environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thoerring, H.; Liland, A.

2010-12-01

This report deals with the environmental consequences in Norway after a hypothetical accident at Sellafield. The investigation is limited to the terrestrial environment, and focus on animals grazing natural pastures, plus wild berries and fungi. Only 137Cs is considered. The predicted consequences are severe - in particular for mutton and goat milk production. (Author)

Increased Incidence Rate of Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders in Denmark After the September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attacks in the United States

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Bertel T; Østergaard, Søren D; Sønderskov, Kim M

2016-01-01

The terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001 (hereafter referred to as 9/11) in the United States had a profound impact on the physical and mental health of Americans, but the effects beyond the United States are largely unknown. To understand the wider aftermath, we examined...

BEACON/MOD2A analysis of the Arkansas-1 reactor cavity during a hypothetical hot leg break

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramsthaler, J.A.

1979-01-01

As part of the evaluation of the new MOD2A version of the BEACON code, the Arkansas-1 reactor cavity was modeled during a hypothetical loss-of-coolant accident. Results of the BEACON analysis were compared with results obtained previously with the COMPARE containment code. Studies were also made investigating some of the BEACON interphasic, timestep control, and wall heat transfer options to assure that these models were working properly and to observe their effects on the results. Descriptions of the Arkansas-1 reactor cavity, initial assumptions during the hypothetical LOCA, and methods of modeling with BEACON are presented. Some of the problems encountered in accurately modeling the penetrations surrounding the hot and cold leg pipes are also discussed

An assessment of the terrorist threat to use a nuclear or radiological device in an attack

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kingshott, B.F. [Grand Valley State University, 275C DeVos Center, 401 West Fulton Street, Grand Rapids, MI 49504 (United States)]. E-mail: kingshob@gvsu.edu

2006-07-01

This paper will discuss terrorism from the perspective of a terrorist organisation acquiring nuclear material to build weapons and how security of radiological material world wide will minimise the risk of such devices being used. It will discuss the need to improve security at nuclear waste processing and storage sites and the adequacy of current security. It will also discuss the phenomenon of suicide attacks by the bomb carriers and the role of the media in informing and educating the general public of the consequences should such a device containing nuclear material be detonated. (author)

Understanding Terrorism from an Economic perspective

OpenAIRE

Haldar, Tanushree

2013-01-01

Terrorism has emerged as a major threat to the contemporary society. Nation States are reliant on their counter-terrorism laws for checking terrorism and deterring terrorists. To understand the effectiveness of these counter terrorism laws, it is important to first understand the behaviour of terrorists, so as to comprehend what actions can dissuade terrorist’s behaviour and decision to propagate violence. This paper will first look at behaviour of terrorist in decision making from an economi...

Involvement of Russian Organized Crime Syndicates, Criminal Elements in the Russian Military, and Regional Terrorist Groups in Narcotics Trafficking in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Chechnya

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Curtis, Glenn E

2002-01-01

... (Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia), and in Chechnya. The purpose of the report is to reveal the role of Russian organized crime and Central Asian terrorist organizations in narcotics trafficking in those areas...

Toward effective ecological risk-management of refinery corrective action

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Metzger, B.H.; Rury, P.M.; Turton, D.; Archibald, B.; Clark, J.; Cura, J.

1995-01-01

Cleanup of complex industrial sites, such as refineries, requires risk-based decision tools to ensure that environmentally protective remediation is consistent with current and future land use. However, conventional ecological risk assessment approaches are not well suited for complex industrial sites. Site risk assessments focus on hypothetical chemical risk assuming diverse and undisturbed ecosystems, rather than industrial and disturbed area conditions. In addition, they offer little guidance as to how to make timely and effective risk management decisions. An innovative methodology is proposed to assist industry and regulatory risk managers with rapid EcoRisk reconnaissance and cost-effective remedial decision-making at complex industrial sites. Phase 1 comprises a three-step risk screening of areas of ecological concern at the site, which integrates habitat quality characteristics and potential chemical hazards. It yields an ordering of areas as follows: areas of no significant risk; areas of potentially significant risk; and areas of likely significant risk. A decision rule is then applied to determine appropriate risk management action, including: no action; additional study; and remedial or management action. In Phase 2, additional study is conducted for areas that exhibit potentially significant risk so as to facilitate risk management. This methodology is currently being applied at the 1,300 acre, former Exxon Bayway Refinery in New Jersey

Characterization of hypothetical proteins Cpn0146, 0147, 0284 & 0285 that are predicted to be in the Chlamydia pneumoniae inclusion membrane

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liu Kaiyang

2007-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Although more than 100 Chlamydia pneumoniae hypothetical proteins have been predicted to be inclusion membrane proteins, only a few have been experimentally demonstrated to be in the inclusion membrane. Using antibodies raised with fusion proteins, we characterized four such hypothetical proteins encoded by two gene clusters (Cpn0146-147 and Cpn0284-285 in the C. pneumoniae genome. Results Cpn0146 and 0147 were detected in the inclusion membrane while Cpn0284 and 0285 inside inclusion and mainly associated with reticulate bodies although all four proteins contain an N-terminal bi-lobed hydrophobic region, a signature motif assigned to inclusion membrane proteins. These four hypothetical proteins were only detected in cells infected with C. pneumoniae but not other chlamydial species, with Cpn0147 at 6 hours and Cpn0146, 0284 & 0285 at 24 hours after infection. Cpn0146 & 147 but not Cpn0284 and 285 co-localized with a host cell endoplasmic reticulum marker, a property known to be possessed by some chlamydial inclusion membrane proteins, when expressed in the host cell cytosol via transgenes. However, the endoplasmic reticulum localization of the C. pneumoniae inclusion membrane proteins did not result in inhibition of the subsequent C. pneumoniae infection. Conclusion The hypothetical proteins Cpn0146 & 0147 were localized in the C. pneumoniae inclusion membrane while Cpn0284 & 0285 within the inclusion although all four were predicted to be Inc proteins, suggesting the need to experimentally characterize the predicted Inc proteins.

Issues in clustered nuclear siting: a comparison of a hypothetical nuclear energy center in New Jersey with dispersed nuclear siting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meier, P.M.; Morell, D.

1976-09-01

The report is an analysis of a hypothetical nuclear energy center (NEC) conducted in support of the recently completed study by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, mandated by the Congress in the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974. The intent of the analysis of the hypothetical, or ''surrogate'', site was to inject a local and regional perspective into the assessment of technical, environmental, institutional, and socioeconomic issues which could be adequately addressed only by reference to a specific site. The hypothetical NEC site in Ocean County, New Jersey, was chosen to illustrate the problems and impacts of potential energy centers in coastal and near-coastal sites in relatively close proximity to large metropolitan areas. Earlier studies of hypothetical energy centers on the Mississippi River at River Bend, La., and on the Columbia River near Hanford, Washington, were also re-examined for their relevance to this new study effort. Neither Ocean County, nor any of the other surrogate sites, have been considered for actual construction of an NEC, nor does their selection for study purposes imply any judgement of desirability. Indeed, the major finding of the report presented is that Ocean County is a relatively poor location for an energy center, and this may well be true of many coastal locations similar to the Jersey shore. The objective in selecting surrogate sites, then, was not to find the best locations, but to select sites that would illustrate the broadest range of potential public policy and siting issues

Modeling a Hypothetical 170Tm Source for Brachytherapy Applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Enger, Shirin A.; D'Amours, Michel; Beaulieu, Luc

2011-01-01

Purpose: To perform absorbed dose calculations based on Monte Carlo simulations for a hypothetical 170 Tm source and to investigate the influence of encapsulating material on the energy spectrum of the emitted electrons and photons. Methods: GEANT4 Monte Carlo code version 9.2 patch 2 was used to simulate the decay process of 170 Tm and to calculate the absorbed dose distribution using the GEANT4 Penelope physics models. A hypothetical 170 Tm source based on the Flexisource brachytherapy design with the active core set as a pure thulium cylinder (length 3.5 mm and diameter 0.6 mm) and different cylindrical source encapsulations (length 5 mm and thickness 0.125 mm) constructed of titanium, stainless-steel, gold, or platinum were simulated. The radial dose function for the line source approximation was calculated following the TG-43U1 formalism for the stainless-steel encapsulation. Results: For the titanium and stainless-steel encapsulation, 94% of the total bremsstrahlung is produced inside the core, 4.8 and 5.5% in titanium and stainless-steel capsules, respectively, and less than 1% in water. For the gold capsule, 85% is produced inside the core, 14.2% inside the gold capsule, and a negligible amount ( 170 Tm source is primarily a bremsstrahlung source, with the majority of bremsstrahlung photons being generated in the source core and experiencing little attenuation in the source encapsulation. Electrons are efficiently absorbed by the gold and platinum encapsulations. However, for the stainless-steel capsule (or other lower Z encapsulations) electrons will escape. The dose from these electrons is dominant over the photon dose in the first few millimeter but is not taken into account by current standard treatment planning systems. The total energy spectrum of photons emerging from the source depends on the encapsulation composition and results in mean photon energies well above 100 keV. This is higher than the main gamma-ray energy peak at 84 keV. Based on our

Hospital Preparedness to Respond to Biological and Chemical Terrorist Attack

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Florin, P.

2007-01-01

There is a growing concern about the terrorist use of chemical or biological agents against civilian population. A large proportion of hospitals are probably poorly prepared to handle victims of chemical or biological terrorism. At national level, starting with 2008 hospitals will be under the administration and control of local authorities. That is good opportunities for local authorities and public health office to tailor the activity of the hospitals to the real needs in the area of responsibility, and to allocate the suitable budget for them. Commonly hospitals are not fully prepared to respond to massive casualty disaster of any kind, either i their capacity to care for large numbers of victims or in their ability to provide care in coordination with a regional or national incident command structure. Preparedness activities to respond properly to chemical or biological attack including the adequate logistic, the principle of training and drill for the hospital emergency units and medical personal, communication and integration of the hospital team in local and regional civil response team are developed by the author.(author)

Working toward resilience: a retrospective report of actions taken in support of a New York school crisis team following 9/11.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Kendall; Luna, Joanne M Tortorici

2011-01-01

A retrospective report details external support rendered to a Lower Manhattan school crisis team following the 9/11/01 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center This analysis occasions an opportunity for consideration of working assumptions, the formative use of data to plan support actions, and the subsequent emergence of a collaborative approach to post-disaster team support in school settings. The nature of assessment and nature of subsequent service delivery illustrates a community resilience-based approach to school crisis management. Recommendations for such work are based upon mixed qualitative and quantitative data gathered from on-scene team members as part of the ongoing support effort.

Review of Studies of the Economic Impact of the September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attacks on the World Trade Center

Science.gov (United States)

2002-05-29

of the Budget, • New York City Partnership and Chamber of Commerce , Washington, DC 20548 Report Documentation Page Report Date 29MAY2002 Report Type...700R Impact of Terrorist Attacks on the World Trade Center 10 Eight Studies (cont’d) ! New York City Partnership and Chamber of Commerce , Economic...Center 29 Observations Observations The New York City Partnership and Chamber of Commerce study generated the most comprehensive estimates—direct and

War on Terror: Fantasy and Fiction Behind the Mythology of Terrorist Financing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

El-Fatih A. Abdel Salam

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Documentary evidence shows that the series of financial crackdowns initiated since 9/11 have had virtually no impact on terrorism. This is because these efforts are based on a fundamental misconception on how terrorism works. The financial warriors’ predisposition to stereotypes about “Arabs and their money” allowed unsubstantiated rumours–such as Bin Laden’s personal fortune of $300 million–to become established as facts. This study exposes the extent to which Washington policymakers simply transposed the template for the war on drugs on to the war on terror, despite the fact that terrorism is not a profit–driven enterprise. The collateral damage inflicted on organisations like Al-Barakaat, the Somali remittance network, wrongly accused of channeling money to the terrorists, and others are counter-productive as they dent the image of the US in the Muslim world.

Neural systems for guilt from actions affecting self versus others

Science.gov (United States)

Morey, Rajendra A.; McCarthy, Gregory; Selgrade, Elizabeth S.; Seth, Srishti; Nasser, Jessica D.; LaBar, Kevin S.

2012-01-01

Guilt is a core emotion governing social behavior by promoting compliance with social norms or self-imposed standards. The goal of this study was to contrast guilty responses to actions that affect self versus others, since actions with social consequences are hypothesized to yield greater guilty feelings due to adopting the perspective and subjective emotional experience of others. Sixteen participants were presented with brief hypothetical scenarios in which the participant’s actions resulted in harmful consequences to self (guilt-self) or to others (guilt-other) during functional MRI. Participants felt more intense guilt for guilt-other than guilt-self and guilt-neutral scenarios. Guilt scenarios revealed distinct regions of activity correlated with intensity of guilt, social consequences of actions, and the interaction of guilt by social consequence. Guilt intensity was associated with activation of the dorsomedial PFC, superior frontal gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, and anterior inferior frontal gyrus. Guilt accompanied by social consequences was associated with greater activation than without social consequences in the ventromedial and dorsomedial PFC, precuneus, posterior cingulate, and posterior superior temporal sulcus. Finally, the interaction analysis highlighted select regions that were more strongly correlated with guilt intensity as a function of social consequence, including the left anterior inferior frontal gyrus, left ventromedial PFC, and left anterior inferior parietal cortex. Our results suggest these regions intensify guilt where harm to others may incur a greater social cost. PMID:22230947

Organizational change in the Ministry of Justice and Public Security after the terrorist attacks on 22 July 2011

OpenAIRE

Jensen, Susan Bahia

2016-01-01

This paper examines changes in the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJ) after the terrorist attacks in Norway 22 July 2011 until 2016. The focus is on the MJ’s internal and external formal organization, internal and external procedures, and demographic profile. A main finding is that the MJ has been subject to several small incremental changes, which collectively have resulted in a considerable development of the Ministry’s governance capacity in the field of societal s...

Assessment of Radiological and Economic Consequences of a Hypothetical Accident for ETRR-2, Egypt Utilizing COSYMA Code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tawfik, F.S.; Abdel-Aal, M.M.

2008-01-01

A comprehensive probabilistic study of an accident consequence assessment (ACA) for loss of coolant accident (LOCA) has accomplished to the second research reactor ETRR-2, located at Inshas Nuclear Research Center, Cairo, Egypt. PC-COSYMA, developed with the support of European Commission, has adopted to assess the radiological and economic consequences of a proposed accident. The consequences of the accident evaluated in case of early and late effects. The effective doses and doses in different organs carried out with and without countermeasures. The force mentioned calculations were required the following studies: the core inventory due to the hypothetical accident, the physical parameters of the source term, the hourly basis meteorological parameters for one complete year, and the population distribution around the plant. The hourly stability conditions and height of atmospheric boundary layers (ABL) of the concerned site were calculated. The results showed that, the nuclides that have short half-lives (few days) give the highest air and ground concentrations after the accident than the others. The area around the reactor requires the early and late countermeasures action after the accident especially in the downwind sectors. Economically, the costs of emergency plan are effectively high in case of applying countermeasures but countermeasures reduce the risk effects

Screening Cargo Containers to Remove a Terrorist Threat

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hazi, A

2005-01-01

Each year some 48 million cargo containers move between the world's ports. More than 6 million of these enter the U.S., but only about 2 percent are opened and inspected when they arrive at U.S. seaports. The West Coast ports of Los Angeles-Long Beach, Oakland, and Seattle alone process 11,000 containers per day, or about 8 containers per minute. Because of this high traffic volume, U.S. seaports are especially vulnerable to a terrorist attack. Illicit radioactive materials could be hidden in any one of the cargo-filled containers that arrive at U.S. ports. Yet, searching every shipment would be bring legitimate commercial activities to a halt. Improving security at U.S. ports is thus one of the nation's most difficult technical and practical challenges because the systems developed for screening cargo must operate in concert with ongoing seaport activities. Working at this intersection of commerce and national security, Lawrence Livermore researchers are applying their expertise in radiation science and detection to develop improved technologies for detecting hidden radioactive materials. One new technology being designed and tested at the Laboratory is a neutron interrogation system for cargo containers. This system will quickly screen incoming shipments to ensure that nuclear materials such as plutonium and highly enriched uranium (HEU) are not smuggled into the U.S

RELAP 5 Simulations of a hypothetical LOCA in Ringhals 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caraher, D.

1987-01-01

RELAP5 simulations of a hypothetical LOCA in Ringhals 2 were conducted in order to determine the sensitivity of the calculated peak cladding temperature (PCT) to Appendix K requirements. The PCT was most sensitive to the assumed model decay heat: Changing from the 1979 ANS Standard to 1.2 times the 1973 Standard increased the PCT by 70 to 100K. After decay heat, the two parameters which affected the PCT the most were steam generator heat transfer and heat transfer lockout. The PCT was not sensitive to the assumed pump rotor condition (locked vs coasting); nor was it sensitive to a modest amount (5 to 10%) of steam generator tube plugging. (author)

Modeling the consequences of hypothetical accidents for the Titan II system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Greenly, G.D.; Sullivan, T.J.

1981-11-01

Calculations have been made with the Atmospheric Release Advisory Capability (ARAC) suite of three-dimensional transport and diffusion codes MATHEW/ADPIC to assess the consequences of severe, hypothetical accident scenarios. One set of calculations develops the integrated dose and surface deposition patterns for a non-nuclear, high explosive detonation and dispersal of material. A second set of calculations depicts the time integrated dose and instantaneous concentration patterns for a substantial, continuous leak of the missile fuel oxidizer converted to nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ). The areas affected and some of the implications for emergency response management are discussed

The compatibility heuristic in non-categorical hypothetical reasoning: inferences between conditionals and disjunctions.

Science.gov (United States)

Espino, Orlando; Byrne, Ruth M J

2013-11-01

A new theory explains how people make hypothetical inferences from a premise consistent with several alternatives to a conclusion consistent with several alternatives. The key proposal is that people rely on a heuristic that identifies compatible possibilities. It is tested in 7 experiments that examine inferences between conditionals and disjunctions. Participants accepted inferences between conditionals and inclusive disjunctions when a compatible possibility was immediately available, in their binary judgments that a conclusion followed or not (Experiment 1a) and ternary judgments that included it was not possible to know (Experiment 1b). The compatibility effect was amplified when compatible possibilities were more readily available, e.g., for 'A only if B' conditionals (Experiment 2). It was eliminated when compatible possibilities were not available, e.g., for 'if and only if A B' bi-conditionals and exclusive disjunctions (Experiment 3). The compatibility heuristic occurs even for inferences based on implicit negation e.g., 'A or B, therefore if C D' (Experiment 4), and between universals 'All A's are B's' and disjunctions (Experiment 5a) and universals and conditionals (Experiment 5b). The implications of the results for alternative theories of the cognitive processes underlying hypothetical deductions are discussed. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Inc.

OPPORTUNITY COSTS OF REWARD DELAYS AND THE DISCOUNTING OF HYPOTHETICAL MONEY AND CIGARETTES

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Patrick S.; Herrmann, Evan S.; Johnson, Matthew W.

2015-01-01

Humans are reported to discount delayed rewards at lower rates than nonhumans. However, nonhumans are studied in tasks that restrict reinforcement during delays, whereas humans are typically studied in tasks that do not restrict reinforcement during delays. In nonhuman tasks, the opportunity cost of restricted reinforcement during delays may increase delay discounting rates. The present within-subjects study used online crowdsourcing (Amazon Mechanical Turk, or MTurk) to assess the discounting of hypothetical delayed money (and cigarettes in smokers) under four hypothetical framing conditions differing in the availability of reinforcement during delays. At one extreme, participants were free to leave their computer without returning, and engage in any behavior during reward delays (modeling typical human tasks). At the opposite extreme, participants were required to stay at their computer and engage in little other behavior during reward delays (modeling typical nonhuman tasks). Discounting rates increased as an orderly function of opportunity cost. Results also indicated predominantly hyperbolic discounting, the “magnitude effect,” steeper discounting of cigarettes than money, and positive correlations between discounting rates of these commodities. This is the first study to test the effects of opportunity costs on discounting, and suggests that procedural differences may partially account for observed species differences in discounting. PMID:25388973

Methods and calculations for regional, continental, and global dose assessments from a hypothetical fuel reprocessing facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schubert, J.F.; Kern, C.D.; Cooper, R.E.; Watts, J.R.

1978-01-01

The Savannah River Laboratory (SRL) is coordinating an interlaboratory effort to provide, test, and use state-of-the-art methods for calculating the environmental impact to an offsite population from the normal releases of radionuclides during the routine operation of a fuel-reprocessing plant. Results of this effort are the estimated doses to regional, continental, and global populations. Estimates are based upon operation of a hypothetical reprocessing plant at a site in the southeastern United States. The hypothetical plant will reprocess fuel used at a burn rate of 30 megawatts/metric ton and a burnup of 33,000 megawatt days/metric ton. All fuel will have been cooled for at least 365 days. The plant will have a 10 metric ton/day capacity and an assumed 3000 metric ton/year (82 percent online plant operation) output. Lifetime of the plant is assumed to be 40 years

Narratives from caregivers of children surviving the terrorist attack in Beslan: issues of health, culture, and resilience.

Science.gov (United States)

Moscardino, Ughetta; Axia, Giovanna; Scrimin, Sara; Capello, Fabia

2007-04-01

Acts of terrorism have an extremely negative impact on the mental health of children and families. The school siege in Beslan, Russia, in 2004, represents a particularly traumatizing event as it was directed specifically at children and involved the entire community. This qualitative study aims to: (a) examine caregiver reactions to the terrorist attack in Beslan as reported 3 months after the traumatic event; (b) determine the extent to which indigenous cultural values and religious belief systems play a role in Beslan's caregivers' reactions to such event; and (c) identify variables that may function as sources of resilience to caregivers. A convenience sample of 17 primary caregivers from Beslan with at least one child who survived the school siege were asked to participate in semi-structured interviews. Narratives generated from the interviews were qualitatively analyzed using a thematic approach; nine major themes were identified. Caregivers' concerns centered on children's physical and psychological well-being, the reorganization of family life, and the disruption of community ties. Cultural values of pride, heroism, courage, and revenge emerged as relevant aspects shaping caregivers' reactions to the traumatic event. Possible sources of resilience included the willingness to return to normality, social support, and the reaffirmation of positive, culturally shared values in face of the perceived threat of future terrorist attacks. Findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical implications on the effects of trauma on children and families as well as interventions with highly traumatized populations in diverse cultural settings.

Long-Term Memory for the Terrorist Attack of September 11: Flashbulb Memories, Event Memories, and the Factors that Influence Their Retention

Science.gov (United States)

Hirst, William; Phelps, Elizabeth A.; Buckner, Randy L.; Budson, Andrew E.; Cuc, Alexandru; Gabrieli, John D. E.; Johnson, Marcia K.; Lustig, Cindy; Lyle, Keith B.; Mather, Mara; Meksin, Robert; Mitchell, Karen J.; Ochsner, Kevin N.; Schacter, Daniel L.; Simons, Jon S.; Vaidya, Chandan J.

2009-01-01

More than 3,000 individuals from 7 U.S. cities reported on their memories of learning of the terrorist attacks of September 11, as well as details about the attack, 1 week, 11 months, and/or 35 months after the assault. Some studies of flashbulb memories examining long-term retention show slowing in the rate of forgetting after a year, whereas…

Potential consequences in Norway after a hypothetical accident at Leningrad nuclear power plant. Potential release, fallout and predicted impacts on the environment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nalbandyan, A.; Ytre-Eide, M.A.; Thoerring, H.; Liland, A.; Bartnicki, J.; Balonov, M.

2012-06-15

The report describes different hypothetical accident scenarios at the Leningrad nuclear power plant for both RBMK and VVER-1200 reactors. The estimated release is combined with different meteorological scenarios to predict possible fallout of radioactive substances in Norway. For a hypothetical catastrophic accident at an RBMK reactor combined with a meteorological worst case scenario, the consequences in Norway could be considerable. Foodstuffs in many regions would be contaminated above the food intervention levels for radioactive cesium in Norway. (Author)

Potential consequences in Norway after a hypothetical accident at Leningrad nuclear power plant. Potential release, fallout and predicted impacts on the environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nalbandyan, A.; Ytre-Eide, M.A.; Thoerring, H.; Liland, A.; Bartnicki, J.; Balonov, M.

2012-06-01

The report describes different hypothetical accident scenarios at the Leningrad nuclear power plant for both RBMK and VVER-1200 reactors. The estimated release is combined with different meteorological scenarios to predict possible fallout of radioactive substances in Norway. For a hypothetical catastrophic accident at an RBMK reactor combined with a meteorological worst case scenario, the consequences in Norway could be considerable. Foodstuffs in many regions would be contaminated above the food intervention levels for radioactive cesium in Norway. (Author)

Spring or string: does tendon elastic action influence wing muscle mechanics in bat flight?

Science.gov (United States)

Konow, Nicolai; Cheney, Jorn A; Roberts, Thomas J; Waldman, J Rhea S; Swartz, Sharon M

2015-10-07

Tendon springs influence locomotor movements in many terrestrial animals, but their roles in locomotion through fluids as well as in small-bodied mammals are less clear. We measured muscle, tendon and joint mechanics in an elbow extensor of a small fruit bat during ascending flight. At the end of downstroke, the tendon was stretched by elbow flexion as the wing was folded. At the end of upstroke, elastic energy was recovered via tendon recoil and extended the elbow, contributing to unfurling the wing for downstroke. Compared with a hypothetical 'string-like' system lacking series elastic compliance, the tendon spring conferred a 22.5% decrease in muscle fascicle strain magnitude. Our findings demonstrate tendon elastic action in a small flying mammal and expand our understanding of the occurrence and action of series elastic actuator mechanisms in fluid-based locomotion. © 2015 The Author(s).

Exorcising spent fuel transportation using comparative hazard assessment methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pennington, Charles W.

2003-01-01

Spent fuel transportation has achieved an exemplary safety record over more than three decades within both the United States (U.S.) and the global community at large. Today, many groups are attempting to precipitate fear of spent fuel transportation within the general public by 'demonizing' this proven technology and by creating a highly charged environment of radiation phobia. The actions of these groups within the U.S. result from the confluence of the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, and the acceptance by the President and Congress of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) recommendation of Yucca Mountain as the repository site for the disposal of the nation's spent fuel. This paper offers a comparative hazard assessment demonstrating the relative safety of spent fuel transportation in the context of currently accepted practices within society to show that there are no 'demons' associated with spent fuel transportation. The paper provides an assessment of potential population exposures based on more than 25 years of transport cask analysis and testing under beyond-design-basis (BDB) event conditions, including missile attacks, with those from current accepted activities within society that produce high dose exposures to the general public. Over the last quarter of a century, several spent fuel cask test programs have produced data that allow calculation of potential releases and population doses resulting from a terrorist attack. The DOE has used this information to develop projected worst-case population exposures as part of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Yucca Mountain repository. The paper discusses these potential releases and population exposures. Additionally, the paper identifies current unregulated activities and practices within societies yielding population exposures that exceed significantly those that would result from such highly hypothetical and improbable events as a terrorist missile attack on a spent fuel

Exorcising spent fuel transportation using comparative hazard assessment methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pennington, Charles W. [NAC international, Norcross (United States)

2003-07-01

Spent fuel transportation has achieved an exemplary safety record over more than three decades within both the United States (U.S.) and the global community at large. Today, many groups are attempting to precipitate fear of spent fuel transportation within the general public by 'demonizing' this proven technology and by creating a highly charged environment of radiation phobia. The actions of these groups within the U.S. result from the confluence of the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, and the acceptance by the President and Congress of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) recommendation of Yucca Mountain as the repository site for the disposal of the nation's spent fuel. This paper offers a comparative hazard assessment demonstrating the relative safety of spent fuel transportation in the context of currently accepted practices within society to show that there are no 'demons' associated with spent fuel transportation. The paper provides an assessment of potential population exposures based on more than 25 years of transport cask analysis and testing under beyond-design-basis (BDB) event conditions, including missile attacks, with those from current accepted activities within society that produce high dose exposures to the general public. Over the last quarter of a century, several spent fuel cask test programs have produced data that allow calculation of potential releases and population doses resulting from a terrorist attack. The DOE has used this information to develop projected worst-case population exposures as part of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Yucca Mountain repository. The paper discusses these potential releases and population exposures. Additionally, the paper identifies current unregulated activities and practices within societies yielding population exposures that exceed significantly those that would result from such highly hypothetical and improbable events as a terrorist missile

Meeting blood requirements following terrorist attacks: the Israeli experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Shinar, Eilat; Yahalom, Vered; Silverman, Barbara G

2006-11-01

Blood services worldwide must be prepared to meet surges in demand for blood components needed by casualties of domestic disasters and acts of terrorism. Israel's National Blood Services, operated by Magen David Adom, has extensive experience in managing blood collections and supply in emergencies. This review summarizes the structure and function of Magen David Adom's national blood program, and relates its experience to other practices that have been reported in the medical literature. Between 2000 and 2005, 7497 victims (85% civilians) were involved in 1645 terrorist attacks in Israel. On-site triage resulted in 967 (13%) deaths at the scene, 615 (8%) with severe injuries, 897 (12%) with moderate injuries and 5018 (67%) with mild injuries. Requests for blood averaged 1.3 blood units and 0.9 components per casualty, or 6.7 units and 4.5 components per severe and moderately injured patient. Public appeals for blood donations were managed centrally to match supply with demand and prevent wastage. This experience illustrates the advantages of a comprehensive program for managing blood operations in emergency situations. A coordinated national program can stabilize in-hospital inventories during routine activities, ensure instant access to precisely defined inventories, facilitate sufficient supply in times of disasters, and minimize outdating and wastage.

Hypothetical air ingress scenarios in advanced modular high temperature gas cooled reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kroeger, P.G.

1988-01-01

Considering an extremely hypothetical scenario of complete cross duct failure and unlimited air supply into the reactor vessel of a modular high temperature gas cooled ractor, it is found that the potential air inflow remains limited due to the high friction pressure drop through the active core. All incoming air will be oxidized to CO and some local external burning would be temporarily possible in such a scenario. The accident would have to continue with unlimited air supply for hundreds of hours before the core structural integrity would be jeopardized

Small to Mid-Size Sporting Events: Are We Prepared to Recover from an Attack?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brian M. Harrell

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This article describes a fictional deadly attack by a lone-wolf terrorist during a high school football event in a small town, here in the United States. The authors begin by describing an attack and then focus on the response from the medical community, city, county, state, and federal government officials. Next, the authors make several recommendations on what actions are needed to develop an effective plan to combat terrorist activities during a small- to mid-size sports event. Among the actions needed, the authors focus on the following: response planning, emergency action plan, incident command, policies and procedures, and security staff training.

Risk Management in Smallholder Cattle Farming: A Hypothetical Insurance Approach in Western Kenya

OpenAIRE

Otieno, David Jakinda; Oluoch-Kosura, Willis; Karugia, Joseph Thuo; Drucker, Adam G.; Rege, Edward

2006-01-01

Smallholder cattle farming is an important livelihood strategy in most developing countries like Kenya. However, tropical diseases in Africa often wipe out these valuable assets. This paper focuses on mitigation of cattle disease risks through a hypothetical insurance scheme. The study is based on data from a survey conducted on a purposive sample of 300 smallholder cattle farmers in Kakamega and Siaya districts of Western Kenya. Descriptive measures and a regression model were used in the an...

Comparing hypothetical versus non-hypothetical methods for measuring willingness to pay in a food context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Martínez-Carrasco

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Choosing a valid procedure to measure willingness to pay (WTP is crucial for designating optimum price policies or for evaluating the demand for new products. This study compares two methods for obtaining WTP in a food context: a random nth price auction and an open-ended contingent valuation (CV question. Participants were regular salad tomato buyers of Alicante and they were randomly assigned to one of the two treatments. The products about which they would show their WTP were traditional tomato varieties. Both treatments were divided into three stages: in the first stage the only available information was a reference price for the tomatoes. In stages 2 and 3 we revealed the local origin and the organic grown of the tomatoes respectively. Our results show that in the auction the percentage of participants willing to pay the same or more than the reference price was between 20 and 30%. In the CV method this percentage was between 40 and 65%. The mean WTP in the auction, considering the whole of the individuals, was situated between 1.90 and 2.13 €/kg. These same results obtained through the CV were situated between 2.54 and 3.21 €/kg. The results confirmed the findings of previous papers in which the hypothetical bias of CV was clarified because it yields higher values for WTP than the auction, especially when referring to the number of individuals willing to pay more. Additionally, hedonic price models were estimated for the prices obtained by both methods with the result that in all the models, WTP was directly related to the price paid for the latest purchase of tomatoes.

Comparing hypothetical versus non-hypothetical methods for measuring willingness to pay in a food context

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martínez-Carrasco, L.; Brugarolas, M.; Martínez-Poveda, A.; Ruiz-Martínez, J.J.

2015-07-01

Choosing a valid procedure to measure willingness to pay (WTP) is crucial for designating optimum price policies or for evaluating the demand for new products. This study compares two methods for obtaining WTP in a food context: a random nth price auction and an open-ended contingent valuation (CV) question. Participants were regular salad tomato buyers of Alicante and they were randomly assigned to one of the two treatments. The products about which they would show their WTP were traditional tomato varieties. Both treatments were divided into three stages: in the first stage the only available information was a reference price for the tomatoes. In stages 2 and 3 we revealed the local origin and the organic grown of the tomatoes respectively. Our results show that in the auction the percentage of participants willing to pay the same or more than the reference price was between 20 and 30%. In the CV method this percentage was between 40 and 65%. The mean WTP in the auction, considering the whole of the individuals, was situated between 1.90 and 2.13 €/kg. These same results obtained through the CV were situated between 2.54 and 3.21 €/kg. The results confirmed the findings of previous papers in which the hypothetical bias of CV was clarified because it yields higher values for WTP than the auction, especially when referring to the number of individuals willing to pay more. Additionally, hedonic price models were estimated for the prices obtained by both methods with the result that in all the models, WTP was directly related to the price paid for the latest purchase of tomatoes. (Author)

Calculated magnetocrystalline anisotropy of existing and hypothetical MCo5 compounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Opahle, Ingo; Richter, Manuel; Kuz'min, Michael D.; Nitzsche, Ulrike; Koepernik, Klaus; Schramm, Lutz

2005-01-01

The magnetic properties, lattice parameters and formation enthalpies of existing and hypothetical MCo 5 compounds (M=Y, La, Th, Mg, Ca and Sr) are calculated within the framework of density functional theory. In these compounds the magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy is dominated by itinerant Co 3d contributions. Band energy calculations suggest that-within in a rigid band picture-anisotropy energies of comparable size to those of hard magnetic materials containing rare earths could be obtained by hole doping of YCo 5 , e.g. by the substitution of Ca or Mg for Y. This idea is confirmed by the presented total energy calculations. However, the calculated enthalpies of formation suggest that CaCo 5 and MgCo 5 could only be prepared by non-equilibrium methods

Towards a common framework of grounded action cognition: Relating motor control, perception and cognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Gentsch, Antje; Weber, Arne; Synofzik, Matthis; Vosgerau, Gottfried; Schütz-Bosbach, Simone

2016-01-01

The relation between motor control and action cognition - including action-related thoughts and action-related perception - has been subject to controversial discussions in the last three decades. During these decades, cognitive neuroscience has been increasingly confronted with a huge variety of different accounts trying to understand and explain the relation between these systems, their interdependencies and the mediating mechanisms by establishing notions such as "internal models", "simulation" or "shared representation". These accounts, however, include a large array of partly overlapping, partly contradictory theories using similar terms for different mechanisms and different terms for similar mechanisms. In the absence of a systematic work-up and comparison, this array of accounts and theories leads to confusion in the field, duplication of experimental work, and unconnected parallelism of theory formation within and between different disciplines. Here we provide a systematic comparison of current models and prospective theories that deal with the relation between cognition, perception and motor control mechanisms. In a second step, we propose "grounded action cognition" as a comprehensive metatheoretical framework which defines different hypothetical possibilities of the relations between these domains, offers systematic insights into current models and theories and last but not least may help to increase comparability of empirical research in the domain of action and action cognition. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Paying the price: a cross-sectional survey of Australian socioeconomically disadvantaged smokers' responses to hypothetical cigarette price rises.

Science.gov (United States)

Guillaumier, Ashleigh; Bonevski, Billie; Paul, Christine; D'Este, Catherine; Doran, Christopher; Siahpush, Mohammad

2014-03-01

Increases in tobacco taxation can lead to reductions in tobacco consumption and prevalence of use across social groups. However, use of price-minimisation strategies to manage current and future tobacco use and the role of financial stress is less understood. This study aimed to measure the effect of cigarette price increases on price-minimisation strategy endorsement and financial stress among socioeconomically disadvantaged smokers. Community service organisation welfare recipients in NSW, Australia completed a touchscreen survey. Smoking history, financial stress, highest price to quit and responses to hypothetical cigarette price increases were assessed. Participants were 354 smokers (response rate = 79%). Most participants received income from a government pension (95%), earned price rises, significantly more participants endorsed trying to quit in response to the larger increase scenario (P price-minimisation strategies (e.g. switching to cheaper brands/products) were endorsed, but remained constant across hypothetical scenarios; level of financial stress appeared to have little influence. Smokers indicating they would not change their smoking in response to price rises had higher levels of nicotine dependence. Socially disadvantaged smokers endorsed numerous price-minimising strategies to maintain smoking at hypothetically increased costs. Larger cigarette price rises motivated more smokers to consider quitting, while price-resistant smokers appeared to have a more entrenched smoker status. © 2013 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

Physicians' willingness to grant requests for assistance in dying for children: a study of hypothetical cases

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vrakking, A.M.; Heide, van der A.; Looman, C.W.; Delden, van J.J.M.; Philipsen, B.D.; Maas, van der P.J.; Wal, van der G.

2005-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To study the willingness of Dutch physicians to use potentially life-shortening or lethal drugs for severely ill children. STUDY DESIGN: We asked 63 pediatricians about their approach to 10 hypothetical cases of children with cancer. The age of the child (15, 11, or 6 years), the child's

The adaptive safety analysis and monitoring system

Science.gov (United States)

Tu, Haiying; Allanach, Jeffrey; Singh, Satnam; Pattipati, Krishna R.; Willett, Peter

2004-09-01

The Adaptive Safety Analysis and Monitoring (ASAM) system is a hybrid model-based software tool for assisting intelligence analysts to identify terrorist threats, to predict possible evolution of the terrorist activities, and to suggest strategies for countering terrorism. The ASAM system provides a distributed processing structure for gathering, sharing, understanding, and using information to assess and predict terrorist network states. In combination with counter-terrorist network models, it can also suggest feasible actions to inhibit potential terrorist threats. In this paper, we will introduce the architecture of the ASAM system, and discuss the hybrid modeling approach embedded in it, viz., Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) to detect and provide soft evidence on the states of terrorist network nodes based on partial and imperfect observations, and Bayesian networks (BNs) to integrate soft evidence from multiple HMMs. The functionality of the ASAM system is illustrated by way of application to the Indian Airlines Hijacking, as modeled from open sources.

Study of puromycin and acridic orange strain effect on photoprotection of yeasts Candida guillermondii from the lethal action of short-wave ultraviolet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fraikin, G.Ya.; Strakhovskaya, M.G.; Rubvin, L.B.

1980-01-01

The synthesis inhibitor of puromycin albumen has been used to establish that photoprotection formation in yeasts of a hypothetic compound which protects DNA from lethal damages, is not connected with macromolecular synthesis. The combined effect of photoprotective light and acridic orange strain on cells has been studied. It is shown that the mechanism in the base of the protector action is analogous to the mechanism of DNA protection with acridic orange

Reduction of dark-band-like metal artifacts caused by dental implant bodies using hypothetical monoenergetic imaging after dual-energy computed tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

Tanaka, Ray; Hayashi, Takafumi; Ike, Makiko; Noto, Yoshiyuki; Goto, Tazuko K

2013-06-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of hypothetical monoenergetic images after dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) for assessment of the bone encircling dental implant bodies. Seventy-two axial images of implantation sites clipped out from image data scanned using DECT in dual-energy mode were used. Subjective assessment on reduction of dark-band-like artifacts (R-DBAs) and diagnosability of adjacent bone condition (D-ABC) in 3 sets of DECT images-a fused image set (DE120) and 2 sets of hypothetical monoenergetic images (ME100, ME190)-was performed and the results were statistically analyzed. With regards to R-DBAs and D-ABC, significant differences among DE120, ME100, and ME190 were observed. The ME100 and ME190 images revealed more artifact reduction and diagnosability than those of DE120. DECT imaging followed by hypothetical monoenergetic image construction can cause R-DBAs and increase D-ABC and may be potentially used for the evaluation of postoperative changes in the bone encircling implant bodies. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Foreign (Terrorist Fighter Estimates: Conceptual and Data Issues

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alex P. Schmid

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This Policy Brief – a short version of a larger Research Paper to be released by ICCT in late 2015 – focuses on the phenomenon of foreign (terrorist fighters (FTFs as it relates to Syria and Iraq. It concentrates on recruits to jihad and the astonishing growth in numbers from less than 1,000 in 2011 to more than 3,500 in 2012, 8,500+ in 2013, 18,000+ in 2014 to more than 25,000 by fall 2015. By October 2015, nearly 30,000 militants from more than 100 countries had become foreign fighters with the so-called “Islamic State” (IS in Syria and Iraq and other militant groups. This Policy Brief first discusses various definitions of FTFs by disaggregating the “foreign”, “terrorist” and “fighters” elements of FTFs of the UN Security Council definition in resolution 2178 (2014. Subsequently, an attempt is made to bring some structure and order to the widely diverging estimates of the numbers of foreign fighters and their origins, with tables presenting the best available estimates for different sides of the conflict at different moments in time since 2011. UN estimates on foreign fighters are juxtaposed with estimates from other sources. The biggest uncertainty is the ratio of foreign fighters to IS own core manpower. It is likely that at least 40 percent of the fighters of IS are foreigners and many more if Iraqis in Syria are counted as such.

Perceptions of, and Assistance Provided to, a Hypothetical Rape Victim: Differences between Rape Disclosure Recipients and Nonrecipients

Science.gov (United States)

Paul, Lisa A.; Kehn, Andre; Gray, Matt J.; Salapska-Gelleri, Joanna

2014-01-01

Objective: Undergraduate rape disclosure recipients' and nonrecipients' sociodemographic and life experience variables, attitudes towards rape, and responses to a hypothetical rape disclosure were compared to determine differences between them. Participants: One hundred ninety-two undergraduates at 3 universities participated in this online survey…

Developing Health-Based Pre-Planning Clearance Goals for Airport Remediation Following Chemical Terrorist Attack: Introduction and Key Assessment Considerations

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Annetta; Hall, Linda; Raber, Ellen; Hauschild, Veronique D.; Dolislager, Fredrick; Love, Adam H.; Hanna, M. Leslie

2011-01-01

In the event of a chemical terrorist attack on a transportation hub, post-event remediation and restoration activities necessary to attain unrestricted facility reuse and re-entry could require hours to multiple days. While restoration timeframes are dependent on numerous variables, a primary controlling factor is the level of pre-planning and decision-making completed prior to chemical terrorist release. What follows is the first of a two-part analysis identifying key considerations, critical information, and decision criteria to facilitate post-attack and post-decontamination consequence management activities. A conceptual site model and human health-based exposure guidelines are developed and reported as an aid to site-specific pre-planning in the current absence of U.S. state or Federal values designated as compound-specific remediation or re-entry concentrations, and to safely expedite facility recovery to full operational status. Chemicals of concern include chemical warfare nerve and vesicant agents and the toxic industrial compounds phosgene, hydrogen cyanide, and cyanogen chloride. This work has been performed as a national case study conducted in partnership with the Los Angeles International Airport and The Bradley International Terminal. All recommended guidelines have been selected for consistency with airport scenario release parameters of a one-time, short-duration, finite airborne release from a single source followed by compound-specific decontamination. PMID:21390292

Developing Health-Based Pre-Planning Clearance Goals for Airport Remediation Following Chemical Terrorist Attack: Introduction and Key Assessment Considerations.

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Annetta; Hall, Linda; Raber, Ellen; Hauschild, Veronique D; Dolislager, Fredrick; Love, Adam H; Hanna, M Leslie

2011-02-13

In the event of a chemical terrorist attack on a transportation hub, post-event remediation and restoration activities necessary to attain unrestricted facility reuse and re-entry could require hours to multiple days. While restoration timeframes are dependent on numerous variables, a primary controlling factor is the level of pre-planning and decision-making completed prior to chemical terrorist release. What follows is the first of a two-part analysis identifying key considerations, critical information, and decision criteria to facilitate post-attack and post-decontamination consequence management activities. A conceptual site model and human health-based exposure guidelines are developed and reported as an aid to site-specific pre-planning in the current absence of U.S. state or Federal values designated as compound-specific remediation or re-entry concentrations, and to safely expedite facility recovery to full operational status. Chemicals of concern include chemical warfare nerve and vesicant agents and the toxic industrial compounds phosgene, hydrogen cyanide, and cyanogen chloride. This work has been performed as a national case study conducted in partnership with the Los Angeles International Airport and The Bradley International Terminal. All recommended guidelines have been selected for consistency with airport scenario release parameters of a one-time, short-duration, finite airborne release from a single source followed by compound-specific decontamination.

Nuclear energy and global governance to 2030 : an action plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frechette, L.; Findlay, T.; Brem, M.; Hanson, J.; Bunch, M.; McCausland, T.

2010-01-01

This document presented the key findings of the Nuclear Energy Futures project that was initiated in May 2006 to consider global governance of nuclear energy. The five-point action plan presented in this document included: (1) nuclear safety whereby all nuclear states are committed to and capable of implementing the highest nuclear safety standards, (2) nuclear security whereby all nuclear material and facilities are secure from unauthorized access or terrorist seizure or attack, (3) nuclear nonproliferation whereby a nuclear revival does not contribute to the proliferation of nuclear weapons, (4) the re-enforcement of the International Atomic Energy Agency's centrality through increased funding, modernization and reform, and (5) stakeholder involvement whereby all partners, especially industry, participate in judiciously managing a nuclear revival. This document suggested that despite some powerful drivers, the revival of nuclear energy faces too many barriers compared to other means of electricity production. These barriers include high costs; fewer subsidies; too slow for meeting the threat of climate change; inadequate power grids; unresolved nuclear waste issue; and fears about safety, security and nuclear weapons.

Nuclear energy and global governance to 2030 : an action plan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Frechette, L.; Findlay, T. (comps.); Brem, M.; Hanson, J.; Bunch, M.; McCausland, T. (eds.)

2010-07-01

This document presented the key findings of the Nuclear Energy Futures project that was initiated in May 2006 to consider global governance of nuclear energy. The five-point action plan presented in this document included: (1) nuclear safety whereby all nuclear states are committed to and capable of implementing the highest nuclear safety standards, (2) nuclear security whereby all nuclear material and facilities are secure from unauthorized access or terrorist seizure or attack, (3) nuclear nonproliferation whereby a nuclear revival does not contribute to the proliferation of nuclear weapons, (4) the re-enforcement of the International Atomic Energy Agency's centrality through increased funding, modernization and reform, and (5) stakeholder involvement whereby all partners, especially industry, participate in judiciously managing a nuclear revival. This document suggested that despite some powerful drivers, the revival of nuclear energy faces too many barriers compared to other means of electricity production. These barriers include high costs; fewer subsidies; too slow for meeting the threat of climate change; inadequate power grids; unresolved nuclear waste issue; and fears about safety, security and nuclear weapons.

The EU Legislative Framework Against Money Laundering and Terrorist Finance:A Critical Analysis in the Light of Evolving Global Standards

OpenAIRE

Gilmore, William; Mitsilegas, Valsamis

2007-01-01

This article examines the evolution of the EU anti-money laundering legislative framework (which in recent years has also included measures to counter terrorist finance), by focusing in particular on recent legislation such as the third money laundering Directive and the Regulation on controls of cash entering the EU, both adopted in 2005. The analysis highlights the relationship between these instruments and international initiatives in the field (in particular FATF standards), and addresses...

Extremist Radicalism and Terrorist Inroads in West Africa: Understanding the Threat

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Solomon Kofi Amoah

2017-12-01

Full Text Available While research has not yet established the regional consequences of terrorism, its immediate effects on states that have been hit (i.e. Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Nigeria, and the spill over effects in neighbouring countries cannot be discounted. This paper analyses the challenge of violent extremism in Africa based on existing evidence from across the West African sub- region. It pays particular attention to the recruitment of young people in Africa into extremist causes on the continent and beyond and proffers measures for their curtailment. The paper argues that terrorism in contemporary Africa undermines democratization, good governance, peace and security and regional development. It also recommends three-pronged strategies for addressing the miasma of extremist radicalism and its associated violence in West Africa, namely, governance, development and security reforms. While it may be difficult to absolutely curtail the activities of terrorist organizations in West Africa. Countries with minimal vulnerabilities like Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia and others should intensify efforts towards increased border and cyber security surveillance, sustained de-radicalization programmes and youth empowerment programmes to curb unemployment in earnest.

Reinforcing value and hypothetical behavioral economic demand for food and their relation to BMI.

Science.gov (United States)

Epstein, Leonard H; Paluch, Rocco A; Carr, Katelyn A; Temple, Jennifer L; Bickel, Warren K; MacKillop, James

2018-04-01

Food is a primary reinforcer, and food reinforcement is related to obesity. The reinforcing value of food can be measured by establishing how hard someone will work to get food on progressive-ratio schedules. An alternative way to measure food reinforcement is a hypothetical purchase task which creates behavioral economic demand curves. This paper studies whether reinforcing value and hypothetical behavioral demand approaches are assessing the same or unique aspects of food reinforcement for low (LED) and high (HED) energy density foods using a combination of analytic approaches in females of varying BMI. Results showed absolute reinforcing value for LED and HED foods and relative reinforcing value were related to demand intensity (r's = 0.20-0.30, p's demand elasticity (r's = 0.17-0.22, p's demand task, and the differential role of effort in the two tasks. Examples of how a better understanding of food reinforcement may be useful to prevent or treat obesity are discussed, including engaging in alternative non-food reinforcers as substitutes for food, such as crafts or socializing in a non-food environment, and reducing the value of immediate food reinforcers by episodic future thinking. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Conceptualization of a hypothetical high-level nuclear waste repository site in unsaturated, fractured tuff

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parsons, A.M.; Olague, N.E.; Gallegos, D.P.

1991-01-01

Under the sponsorship of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) is developing a performance assessment methodology for the analysis of long-term disposal and isolation of high-level nuclear wastes (HLW) in alternative geologic media. As part of this exercise, SNL created a conceptualization of ground-water flow and radionuclide transport in the far field of a hypothetical HLW repository site located in unsaturated, fractured tuff formations. This study provides a foundation for the development of conceptual mathematical, and numerical models to be used in this performance assessment methodology. This conceptualization is site specific in terms of geometry, the regional ground-water flow system, stratigraphy, and structure in that these are based on information from Yucca Mountain located on the Nevada Test Site. However, in terms of processes in unsaturated, fractured, porous media, the model is generic. This report also provides a review and evaluation of previously proposed conceptual models of unsaturated and saturated flow and solute transport. This report provides a qualitative description of a hypothetical HLW repository site in fractured tuff. However, evaluation of the current knowledge of flow and transport at Yucca Mountain does not yield a single conceptual model. Instead, multiple conceptual models are possible given the existing information

Conceptualization of a hypothetical high-level nuclear waste repository site in unsaturated, fractured tuff

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Parsons, A.M.; Olague, N.E.; Gallegos, D.P. [Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)

1991-01-01

Under the sponsorship of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) is developing a performance assessment methodology for the analysis of long-term disposal and isolation of high-level nuclear wastes (HLW) in alternative geologic media. As part of this exercise, SNL created a conceptualization of ground-water flow and radionuclide transport in the far field of a hypothetical HLW repository site located in unsaturated, fractured tuff formations. This study provides a foundation for the development of conceptual mathematical, and numerical models to be used in this performance assessment methodology. This conceptualization is site specific in terms of geometry, the regional ground-water flow system, stratigraphy, and structure in that these are based on information from Yucca Mountain located on the Nevada Test Site. However, in terms of processes in unsaturated, fractured, porous media, the model is generic. This report also provides a review and evaluation of previously proposed conceptual models of unsaturated and saturated flow and solute transport. This report provides a qualitative description of a hypothetical HLW repository site in fractured tuff. However, evaluation of the current knowledge of flow and transport at Yucca Mountain does not yield a single conceptual model. Instead, multiple conceptual models are possible given the existing information.

The multiple roles of hypothetical gene BPSS1356 in Burkholderia pseudomallei.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hokchai Yam

Full Text Available Burkholderia pseudomallei is an opportunistic pathogen and the causative agent of melioidosis. It is able to adapt to harsh environments and can live intracellularly in its infected hosts. In this study, identification of transcriptional factors that associate with the β' subunit (RpoC of RNA polymerase was performed. The N-terminal region of this subunit is known to trigger promoter melting when associated with a sigma factor. A pull-down assay using histidine-tagged B. pseudomallei RpoC N-terminal region as bait showed that a hypothetical protein BPSS1356 was one of the proteins bound. This hypothetical protein is conserved in all B. pseudomallei strains and present only in the Burkholderia genus. A BPSS1356 deletion mutant was generated to investigate its biological function. The mutant strain exhibited reduced biofilm formation and a lower cell density during the stationary phase of growth in LB medium. Electron microscopic analysis revealed that the ΔBPSS1356 mutant cells had a shrunken cytoplasm indicative of cell plasmolysis and a rougher surface when compared to the wild type. An RNA microarray result showed that a total of 63 genes were transcriptionally affected by the BPSS1356 deletion with fold change values of higher than 4. The expression of a group of genes encoding membrane located transporters was concurrently down-regulated in ΔBPSS1356 mutant. Amongst the affected genes, the putative ion transportation genes were the most severely suppressed. Deprivation of BPSS1356 also down-regulated the transcriptions of genes for the arginine deiminase system, glycerol metabolism, type III secretion system cluster 2, cytochrome bd oxidase and arsenic resistance. It is therefore obvious that BPSS1356 plays a multiple regulatory roles on many genes.

Geologic simulation model for a hypothetical site in the Columbia Plateau

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petrie, G.M.; Zellmer, J.T.; Lindberg, J.W.; Foley, M.G.

1981-04-01

This report describes the structure and operation of the Assessment of Effectiveness of Geologic Isolation Systems (AEGIS) Geologic Simulation Model, a computer simulation model of the geology and hydrology of an area of the Columbia Plateau, Washington. The model is used to study the long-term suitability of the Columbia Plateau Basalts for the storage of nuclear waste in a mined repository. It is also a starting point for analyses of such repositories in other geologic settings. The Geologic Simulation Model will aid in formulating design disruptive sequences (i.e. those to be used for more detailed hydrologic, transport, and dose analyses) from the spectrum of hypothetical geological and hydrological developments that could result in transport of radionuclides out of a repository. Quantitative and auditable execution of this task, however, is impossible without computer simulation. The computer simulation model aids the geoscientist by generating the wide spectrum of possible future evolutionary paths of the areal geology and hydrology, identifying those that may affect the repository integrity. This allows the geoscientist to focus on potentially disruptive processes, or series of events. Eleven separate submodels are used in the simulation portion of the model: Climate, Continental Glaciation, Deformation, Geomorphic Events, Hydrology, Magmatic Events, Meteorite Impact, Sea-Level Fluctuations, Shaft-Seal Failure, Sub-Basalt Basement Faulting, and Undetected Features. Because of the modular construction of the model, each submodel can easily be replaced with an updated or modified version as new information or developments in the state of the art become available. The model simulates the geologic and hydrologic systems of a hypothetical repository site and region for a million years following repository decommissioning. The Geologic Simulation Model operates in both single-run and Monte Carlo modes

International tax planning by multinationals: Simulating a tax-minimising intercompany response to the OECD's recommendation on BEPS Action 4

OpenAIRE

Kayis-Kumar, Ann

2016-01-01

In October 2015, the OECD/G20 presented their final report on the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project. This article presents a unique analysis of the OECD/G20’s recommendation on Action 4 by utilising tax optimisation modelling to simulate and examine a hypothetical multinational enterprise’s (MNE’s) behavioural response to this recommendation. The literature to date has primarily focused on the “debt bias”, which arises from the distortion in the tax treatment between debt an...

Emission control strategies for short-chain chloroparaffins in two semi-hypothetical case cities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eriksson, Eva; Revitt, M.; Lützhøft, Hans-Christian Holten

2012-01-01

The short-chain chloroparaffins (SCCP), (C10-13 chloroalkanes) are identified in the European Water Framework Directive, as priority hazardous substances. Within the ScorePP project, the aim is to develop emission control strategies that can be employed to reduce emissions from urban areas...... into receiving waters. Six different scenarios for mitigating SCCP emissions in two different semi-hypothetical case cities representing eastern inland and northern coastal conditions have been evaluated. The analysis, associated with scenario uncertainty, indicates that the EU legislation, Best Available...

Informing Ex Ante Event Studies with Macro-Econometric Evidence on the Structural and Policy Impacts of Terrorism.

Science.gov (United States)

Nassios, Jason; Giesecke, James A

2018-04-01

Economic consequence analysis is one of many inputs to terrorism contingency planning. Computable general equilibrium (CGE) models are being used more frequently in these analyses, in part because of their capacity to accommodate high levels of event-specific detail. In modeling the potential economic effects of a hypothetical terrorist event, two broad sets of shocks are required: (1) physical impacts on observable variables (e.g., asset damage); (2) behavioral impacts on unobservable variables (e.g., investor uncertainty). Assembling shocks describing the physical impacts of a terrorist incident is relatively straightforward, since estimates are either readily available or plausibly inferred. However, assembling shocks describing behavioral impacts is more difficult. Values for behavioral variables (e.g., required rates of return) are typically inferred or estimated by indirect means. Generally, this has been achieved via reference to extraneous literature or ex ante surveys. This article explores a new method. We elucidate the magnitude of CGE-relevant structural shifts implicit in econometric evidence on terrorist incidents, with a view to informing future ex ante event assessments. Ex post econometric studies of terrorism by Blomberg et al. yield macro econometric equations that describe the response of observable economic variables (e.g., GDP growth) to terrorist incidents. We use these equations to determine estimates for relevant (unobservable) structural and policy variables impacted by terrorist incidents, using a CGE model of the United States. This allows us to: (i) compare values for these shifts with input assumptions in earlier ex ante CGE studies; and (ii) discuss how future ex ante studies can be informed by our analysis. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

Surface transportation security : TSA has taken actions to manage risk, improve coordination, and measure performance, but additional actions would enhance its efforts, April 21, 2010.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-21

Terrorist attacks on surface transportation facilities in Moscow, Mumbai, London, and Madrid caused casualties and highlighted the vulnerability of such systems. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), within the Department of Homeland Secu...

Children's Use and Knowledge of Display Rules for Anger following Hypothetical Vignettes versus following Live Peer Interaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Elizabeth H.; Hubbard, Julie A.; Ramsden, Sally R.; Relyea, Nicole; Dearing, Karen F.; Smithmyer, Catherine M.; Schimmel, Kelly D.

2001-01-01

Examined correspondence between second-graders' use and knowledge of anger display rules. Found that children's responses were moderately related across two contexts. Following live interactions, compared to hypothetical vignettes, children reported feeling and expressing less anger, intending to hide their anger more, and dissembling their anger…

Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism Strategies in a Globalised World : alternative perceptiveness of terrorist emergence theory and policing strategies confrontation with human rights

OpenAIRE

Kikkas, Margit

2015-01-01

Globalisation and development in technology have advanced terrorism to reach a broader target audience. Especially focussing at the international co-operation strategies and combined social networks, terrorist activities have an direct- and indirect effect on private households, international commerce and local governments. Security institutions and state organisations use various combinations of counter- terrorism measures, that are mostly social-, political-, or financial in nature. Neverth...

Individual differences in the use of the response scale determine valuations of hypothetical health states: an empirical study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Essink-Bot, Marie-Louise; Stuifbergen, Marja C.; Meerding, Willem-Jan; Looman, Caspar W. N.; Bonsel, Gouke J.

2007-01-01

BACKGROUND: The effects of socio-demographic characteristics of the respondent, including age, on valuation scores of hypothetical health states remain inconclusive. Therefore, we analyzed data from a study designed to discriminate between the effects of respondents' age and time preference on

Responding to Terrorist Incidents in Your Community: Flammable-Liquid Fire Fighting Techniques for Municipal and Rural Firefighters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Denise Baclawski

2010-03-08

The University of Nevada, Reno Fire Science Academy (FSA) applied for grant funding to develop and deliver programs for municipal, rural, and volunteer firefighters. The FSA specializes in preparing responders for a variety of emergency events, including flammable liquid fires resulting from accidents, intentional acts, or natural disasters. Live fire training on full scale burnable props is the hallmark of FSA training, allowing responders to practice critical skills in a realistic, yet safe environment. Unfortunately, flammable liquid live fire training is often not accessible to municipal, rural, or volunteer firefighters due to limited department training budgets, even though most department personnel will be exposed to flammable liquid fire incidents during the course of their careers. In response to this training need, the FSA developed a course during the first year of the grant (Year One), Responding to Terrorist Incidents in Your Community: Flammable-Liquid Fire Fighting Techniques for Municipal and Rural Firefighters. During the three years of the grant, a total of 2,029 emergency responders received this training. In Year Three, two new courses, a train-the-trainer for Responding to Terrorist Incidents in Your Community and Management of Large-Scale Disasters for Public Officials were developed and pilot tested during the Real-World Disaster Management Conference held at the FSA in June of 2007. Two research projects were conducted during Years Two and Three. The first, conducted over a two year period, evaluated student surveys regarding the value of the flammable liquids training received. The second was a needs assessment conducted for rural Nevada. Both projects provided important feedback and a basis for curricula development and improvements.

Fear of Terrorism in New York After the September 11 Terrorist Attacks: Implications for Emergency Mental Health and Preparedness

Science.gov (United States)

Boscarino, Joseph A.; Figley, Charles R.; Adams, Richard E.

2009-01-01

To examine the public’s response to future terrorist attacks, we surveyed 1,001 New Yorkers in the community one year after the September 11 attacks. Overall, New Yorkers were very concerned about future terrorist attacks and also concerned about attacks involving biological or nuclear weapons. In addition, while most New Yorkers reported that if a biological or nuclear attack occurred they would evaluate available information before evacuating, a significant number reported they would immediately evacuate, regardless of police or public health communications to the contrary. The level of public concern was significantly higher on all measures among New York City and Long Island residents (downstate) compared to the rest of the state. A model predicting higher fear of terrorism indicated that downstate residents, women, those 45 to 64 years old, African Americans and Hispanics, those with less education/income, and those more likely to flee, were more fearful of future attacks. In addition, making disaster preparations and carefully evaluating emergency information also predicted a higher level of fear as well. A second model predicting who would flee suggested that those more likely to evaluate available information were less likely to immediately evacuate, while those with a higher fear of future attacks were more likely to flee the area. Given these findings and the possibility of future attacks, mental health professionals need to be more involved in preparedness efforts, especially related to the psychological impact of attacks involving weapons of mass destruction. PMID:14730761

Construction of War Discourse on International News Agencies: Case Study Terrorist attacks November 13th 2015

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ángel TORRES-TOUKOUMIDIS

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This study analyzes warmongering rhetoric presented by international agencies Reuters, Al Arabiya, Al Jazeera and Associated Press (AP of the information related to the terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13th, 2015 for 15 days after the event. We have started from a quantitative and qualitative analysis of 550 information units using the software MAXQDA (v. 11.0.11. Subsequently, the semantic criteria of media discourse: functionality, significance and direction of the goal was applied on the selected sample. The results demonstrate the prevailing demonization of Islam, the exaltation of fear and panic in the discursive construction and it highlighted the spectacle of the information as a communicative strategy on the rhetorical guidance.

Research Ethics in Emerging Forms of Online Learning: Issues Arising from a Hypothetical Study on a MOOC

Science.gov (United States)

Esposito, Antonella

2012-01-01

This paper is concerned with how research ethics is evolving along with emerging online research methods and settings. In particular, it focuses on ethics issues implied in a hypothetical virtual ethnography study aiming to gain insights on participants' experience in an emergent context of networked learning, namely a MOOC--Massive Online Open…

The structure of the hypothetical protein smu.1377c from Streptococcus mutans suggests a role in tRNA modification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fu, Tian-Min; Liu, Xiang; Li, Lanfen; Su, Xiao-Dong

2010-01-01

The crystal structure of smu.1377c, a hypothetical protein from S. mutans, shows a similar fold to Sua5-YciO-YrdC-family proteins and indicates its functional role in tRNA modification. Members of the Sua5-YciO-YrdC protein family are found in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes and possess a conserved α/β twisted open-sheet fold. The Escherichia coli protein YrdC has been shown to be involved in modification of tRNA. The crystal structure of smu.1377c, a hypothetical protein from Streptococcus mutans, has been determined to 2.25 Å resolution. From structure analysis and comparison, it is shown that smu.1377c is a member of the Sua5-YciO-YrdC family and that it may play the same role as E. coli YrdC

Purification and characterization of a thermostable hypothetical xylanase from Aspergillus oryzae HML366.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Haiyan; Qin, Yongling; Li, Nan; Chen, Guiguang; Liang, Zhiqun

2015-03-01

In the current study, fermentation broth of Aspergillus oryzae HML366 in sugar cane bagasse was subjected to ultrafiltration and ion exchange chromatography, and two xylanases, XynH1 and XynH2, were purified. Time-of-flight mass spectrometry coupled with SDS-PAGE analysis revealed that XynH1 is identical to the hypothetical A. oryzae RIB40 protein XP_001826985.1, with a molecular weight of 33.671 kDa. Likewise, XynH2 was identified as xylanase XynF1 with a molecular weight of 35.402 kDa. Sequence analysis indicated that XynH1 belongs to glycosyl hydrolases family 10. The specific activity of XynH1 was measured at 476.9 U/mg. Optimal xylanase activity was observed at pH 6.0, and enzyme remained active within pH 4.0-10.0 and at a temperature below 70 °C. Mg(2+), Mn(2+), Ca(2+), and K(+) enhanced the XynH1 xylanase activity to 146, 122, 114, and 108%, respectively. XynH1 hydrolyzed Birchwood xylan and Larchwood xylan effectively. The K m and V max of XynH1 values determined were 1.16 mM and 336 μmol/min/mg with Birchwood xylan as the substrate. A. oryzae HML366 xylanase XynH1 showed superior heat and pH tolerance, therefore may have significant applications in paper and biofuel industries. These studies constitute the first investigation of the xylanase activities of the hypothetical protein XP_001826985.1 form A. oryzae.

Developing Health-Based Pre-Planning Clearance Goals for Airport Remediation Following a Chemical Terrorist Attack: Decision Criteria for Multipathway Exposure Routes

OpenAIRE

Watson, Annetta; Dolislager, Fredrick; Hall, Linda; Raber, Ellen; Hauschild, Veronique D.; Love, Adam H.

2011-01-01

In the event of a chemical terrorist attack on a transportation hub, post-event remediation and restoration activities necessary to attain unrestricted facility re-use and re-entry could require hours to multiple days. While timeframes are dependent on numerous variables, a primary controlling factor is the level of pre-planning and decision-making completed prior to chemical release. What follows is the second of a two-part analysis identifying key considerations, critical information and de...

Gene expression profile and immunological evaluation of unique hypothetical unknown proteins of Mycobacterium leprae by using quantitative real-time PCR.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Hee Jin; Prithiviraj, Kalyani; Groathouse, Nathan; Brennan, Patrick J; Spencer, John S

2013-02-01

The cell-mediated immunity (CMI)-based in vitro gamma interferon release assay (IGRA) of Mycobacterium leprae-specific antigens has potential as a promising diagnostic means to detect those individuals in the early stages of M. leprae infection. Diagnosis of leprosy is a major obstacle toward ultimate disease control and has been compromised in the past by the lack of specific markers. Comparative bioinformatic analysis among mycobacterial genomes identified potential M. leprae-specific proteins called "hypothetical unknowns." Due to massive gene decay and the prevalence of pseudogenes, it is unclear whether any of these proteins are expressed or are immunologically relevant. In this study, we performed cDNA-based quantitative real-time PCR to investigate the expression status of 131 putative open reading frames (ORFs) encoding hypothetical unknowns. Twenty-six of the M. leprae-specific antigen candidates showed significant levels of gene expression compared to that of ESAT-6 (ML0049), which is an important T cell antigen of low abundance in M. leprae. Fifteen of 26 selected antigen candidates were expressed and purified in Escherichia coli. The seroreactivity to these proteins of pooled sera from lepromatous leprosy patients and cavitary tuberculosis patients revealed that 9 of 15 recombinant hypothetical unknowns elicited M. leprae-specific immune responses. These nine proteins may be good diagnostic reagents to improve both the sensitivity and specificity of detection of individuals with asymptomatic leprosy.

The national drill for deterrence and fighting nuclear terrorism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cioflan, Constantin

2006-01-01

Full text: National Commission for Nuclear Activities Control (CNCAN) in cooperation with the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) organized the 'National Drill for Deterrence and Fighting the Nuclear Terrorism' which took place on May 10, 2006 in Cheile Rasnoavei, Brasov county, Romania. This event continues the activities undertaken by CNCAN, in its capacity of a national center ensuring the nuclear safeguards, physical protection of nuclear materials as well as for preventing and fighting against illicit traffic with radioactive nuclear materials and deterring the terrorist actions menacing the security and nuclear safety of the nation. The drill consisted in simulating a terrorist attack against a shipment of nuclear fuel (made available by the Nuclear Fuel Plant at Pitesti). It was a good opportunity for testing the reacting and organizing technical capacity of the national institutions committed with physical protection in emergency situations generated by terrorist actions. The objectives of the drill was the deployment of a counter-terrorist intervention in case of a terrorist attack intending to hijack a special expedition of dangerous materials. Hostages were seized and the demand was issued for clearing the traffic up to the national boundary. The anti-terrorist brigade (SRI) organized an ambush on the route of displacement in order to capture and annihilate the terrorist unit and re-establishing the legal order. CNCAN participated in this drill with its mobile intervention unit which is a team of experts correspondingly equipped with specific instruments for detecting the nuclear materials, special equipment for communication and locating as well as with two marked vehicles. The SRI employed a number higher than 80 officers and military technicians from anti-terrorist brigade, constituted in negotiators, storming squads, paratroopers, pyrotechnic experts, communication technicians. PUMA and Alouette helicopters for launching air attacks were employed

Probability estimation of potential harm to human health and life caused by a hypothetical nuclear accident at the nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soloviov, Vladyslav; Pysmenniy, Yevgen

2015-01-01

This paper describes some general methodological aspects of the assessment of the damage to human life and health caused by a hypothetical nuclear accident at the nuclear power plant (NPP). Probability estimation of death (due to cancer and non-cancer effects of radiation injury), disability and incapacity of individuals were made by taking into account the regulations of Ukraine. According to the assessment, the probability of death due to cancer and non-cancer effects of radiation damage to individuals who received radiation dose of 1 Sv is equal to 0.09. Probability of disability of 1, 2 or 3 group regardless of the radiation dose is 0.009, 0.0054, 0.027, respectively. Probability of temporary disability of the individual who received dose equal to 33 mSv (the level of potential exposure in a hypothetical nuclear accident at the NPP) is equal 0.16. This probability estimation of potential harm to human health and life caused by a hypothetical nuclear accident can be used for NPP in different countries using requirements of regulations in these countries. And also to estimate the amount of insurance payments due to the nuclear damage in the event of a nuclear accident at the NPP or other nuclear industry enterprise. (author)

Potential for nuclear terrorism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jenkins, B.M.

1977-05-01

The question of whether or not terrorists will ''go nuclear'' is discussed. It is possible, although there is no historical evidence that any criminal or terrorist group ever made any attempt to acquire nuclear material for use in an explosive or dispersal device. In terms of intentions, psychotics are potential nuclear terrorists, but in terms of capabilities, they are the farthest away from being able to acquire a nuclear weapon. The history of nuclear incidents in the U.S. and abroad is reviewed. As the nuclear industry expands, the number of low-level incidents (bomb threats, pilferage, etc.) will increase also, but not necessarily escalate to more serious incidents. Terrorists may ''go nuclear'' solely for the publicity value; nuclear hoaxes may be attenpted. Nuclear terrorism seems more attractive as a threat than as an action. But the nature of the threat may change in the future, and the danger of imitation of a successful nuclear terrorist act is pointed out

Designing a Physical Security System for Risk Reduction in a Hypothetical Nuclear Facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saleh, A.A.; Abd Elaziz, M.

2017-01-01

Physical security in a nuclear facility means detection, prevention and response to threat, the ft, sabotage, unauthorized access and illegal transfer involving radioactive and nuclear material. This paper proposes a physical security system designing concepts to reduce the risk associated with variant threats to a nuclear facility. This paper presents a study of the unauthorized removal and sabotage in a hypothetical nuclear facility considering deter, delay and response layers. More over, the study involves performing any required upgrading to the security system by investigating the nuclear facility layout and considering all physical security layers design to enhance the weakness for risk reduction

Consequence evaluation of hypothetical reactor pressure vessel support failure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu, S.C.; Holman, G.S.; Lambert, H.E.

1991-01-01

This paper describes a consequence evaluation to address safety concerns raised by the radiation embrittlement of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) supports for the Trojan nuclear power plant. The study comprises a structural evaluation and an effects evaluation and assumes that all four reactor vessel supports have completely lost the load carrying capability. The structural evaluation concludes that the Trojan reactor coolant loop (RCL) piping is capable of transferring loads to the steam generator (SG) supports and the reactor coolant pump (RCP) supports and that the SG supports and the RCP supports have sufficient design margins to accommodate additional loads transferred to them through the RCL piping. The effects evaluation, employing a systems analysis approach, investigates initiating events and the reliability of the engineered safeguard systems as the RPV is subject to movements caused by the RPV support failure. The evaluation identifies a number of areas for further investigation and concludes that a hypothetical failure of the Trojan RPV supports due to radiation embrittlement will not result in consequences of significant safety concerns. (author)

Consequences in Norway of a hypothetical accident at Sellafield: Potential release - transport and fallout

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ytre-Eide, M. A.; Standring, W.J.F.; Amundsen, I.; Sickel, M.; Liland, A.; Saltbones, J.; Bartnicki, J.; Haakenstad, H.; Salbu, B.

2009-03-01

This report focuses on transport and fallout from 'worst-case' scenarios based on a hypothetical accident at the B215 facility for storing Highly Active Liquors (HAL) at Sellafield. The scenarios involve an atmospheric release of between 0.1-10 % of the total HAL inventory; only transport and fallout of 137 Cs is considered in this case study. Simulations resulted in between 0.1-50 times the maximum 137 Cs fallout experienced in the most contaminated areas in Norway after the Chernobyl accident. (Author)

An exercise on clean-up actions in an urban environment after a nuclear accident. Report of the NKS EKO 4 programme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

French, S.; Haemaelaeinen, R.; Naadland, E.; Roed, J.; Salo, A.; Sinkko, K.

1996-03-01

The EKO 4/c working group of the environmental effects and emergency preparedness programme (EKO) of the Nordic Nuclear Safety Research (NKS) organised a decision conference on August 30th and 31st, 1995 in Stockholm, Sweden. The meeting was designed to be attended by those responsible for planning and deciding on protective actions in the Nordic countries after a nuclear accident. Issues concerning clean-up strategies in an urban environment after a hypothetical and very severe reactor accident were discussed at the meeting. The objectives of the meeting were to provide a shared understanding between the decision makers and the radiation protection community on concerns and issues related to decision on protective actions after a nuclear accident. (6 refs., 2 figs., 3 tabs.)

An exercise on clean-up actions in an urban environment after a nuclear accident. Report of the NKS EKO 4 programme

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

French, S. [ed.] [Leeds Univ. (United Kingdom). School of Computer Studies; Finck, R. [ed.] [Swedish Radiation Protection Inst., Stockholm (Sweden); Haemaelaeinen, R. [ed.] [Helsinki Univ. of Technology, Espoo (Finland); Naadland, E. [ed.] [Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, Oesteraas (Norway); Roed, J. [ed.] [Risoe National Lab., Roskilde (Denmark); Salo, A. [ed.] [Helsinki (Finland); Sinkko, K. [ed.] [Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety, Helsinki (Finland)

1996-03-01

The EKO 4/c working group of the environmental effects and emergency preparedness programme (EKO) of the Nordic Nuclear Safety Research (NKS) organised a decision conference on August 30th and 31st, 1995 in Stockholm, Sweden. The meeting was designed to be attended by those responsible for planning and deciding on protective actions in the Nordic countries after a nuclear accident. Issues concerning clean-up strategies in an urban environment after a hypothetical and very severe reactor accident were discussed at the meeting. The objectives of the meeting were to provide a shared understanding between the decision makers and the radiation protection community on concerns and issues related to decision on protective actions after a nuclear accident. (6 refs., 2 figs., 3 tabs.).

Developing Health-Based Pre-Planning Clearance Goals for Airport Remediation Following a Chemical Terrorist Attack: Decision Criteria for Multipathway Exposure Routes

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Annetta; Dolislager, Fredrick; Hall, Linda; Raber, Ellen; Hauschild, Veronique D.; Love, Adam H.

2011-01-01

In the event of a chemical terrorist attack on a transportation hub, post-event remediation and restoration activities necessary to attain unrestricted facility re-use and re-entry could require hours to multiple days. While timeframes are dependent on numerous variables, a primary controlling factor is the level of pre-planning and decision-making completed prior to chemical release. What follows is the second of a two-part analysis identifying key considerations, critical information and decision criteria to facilitate post-attack and post-decontamination consequence management activities. Decision criteria analysis presented here provides first-time, open-literature documentation of multi-pathway, health-based remediation exposure guidelines for selected toxic industrial compounds, chemical warfare agents, and agent degradation products for pre-planning application in anticipation of a chemical terrorist attack. Guideline values are provided for inhalation and direct ocular vapor exposure routes as well as percutaneous vapor, surface contact, and ingestion. Target populations include various employees as well as transit passengers. This work has been performed as a national case study conducted in partnership with the Los Angeles International Airport and The Bradley International Terminal. All recommended guidelines have been selected for consistency with airport scenario release parameters of a one-time, short-duration, finite airborne release from a single source followed by compound-specific decontamination. PMID:21399674

Modelling of melting and solidification transport phenomena during hypothetical NPP severe accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sarler, B.

1992-01-01

A physical and mathematical framework to deal with the transport phenomena occuring during melting and solidification of the hypothetical NPP severe accidents is presented. It concentrates on the transient temperature, velocity, and species concentration distributions during such events. The framework is based on the Mixture Continuum Formulation of the components and phases, cast in the boundary-domain integral shape structured by the fundamental solution of the Laplace equation. The formulation could cope with various solid-liquid sub-systems through the inclusion of the specific closure relations. The deduced system of boundary-domain integral equations for conservation of mass, energy, momentum, and species could be solved by the boundary element discrete approximative method. (author) [sl

Network Technologies for Networked Terrorists: Assessing the Value of Information and Communication Technologies to Modern Terrorist Organizations

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Don, Bruce; Frelinger, Dave; Gerwehr, Scott; Landree, Eric; Jackson, Brian

2007-01-01

.... This book explores the role that these communications and computer technologies play and the net effect of their use, the purpose and manner in which the technology is used, the operational actions...

Performance assessment for a hypothetical low-level waste disposal facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, C.S.; Rohe, M.J.; Ritter, P.D.

1997-01-01

Disposing of low-level waste (LLW) is a concern for many states throughout the United States. A common disposal method is below-grade concrete vaults. Performance assessment analyses make predictions of contaminant release, transport, ingestion, inhalation, or other routes of exposure, and the resulting doses for various disposal methods such as the below-grade concrete vaults. Numerous assumptions are required to simplify the processes associated with the disposal facility to make predictions feasible. In general, these assumptions are made conservatively so as to underestimate the performance of the facility. The objective of this report is to describe the methodology used in conducting a performance assessment for a hypothetical waste facility located in the northeastern United States using real data as much as possible. This report consists of the following: (a) a description of the disposal facility and site, (b) methods used to analyze performance of the facility, (c) the results of the analysis, and (d) the conclusions of this study

Performance assessment for a hypothetical low-level waste disposal facility

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, C.S.; Rohe, M.J.; Ritter, P.D. [and others

1997-01-01

Disposing of low-level waste (LLW) is a concern for many states throughout the United States. A common disposal method is below-grade concrete vaults. Performance assessment analyses make predictions of contaminant release, transport, ingestion, inhalation, or other routes of exposure, and the resulting doses for various disposal methods such as the below-grade concrete vaults. Numerous assumptions are required to simplify the processes associated with the disposal facility to make predictions feasible. In general, these assumptions are made conservatively so as to underestimate the performance of the facility. The objective of this report is to describe the methodology used in conducting a performance assessment for a hypothetical waste facility located in the northeastern United States using real data as much as possible. This report consists of the following: (a) a description of the disposal facility and site, (b) methods used to analyze performance of the facility, (c) the results of the analysis, and (d) the conclusions of this study.

Threat Assessment of Potential Terrorist Attacks to the Transport Infrastructure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gabriel Nowacki

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The paper presents threat assessment of potential terrorist attacks to the transport infrastructure. The range of transportation infrastructure has spread and includes railway, inland waterways, road, maritime, air, intermodal transport infrastructure and intelligent transport systems (ITS. ITS service is the provision of an ITS application through a well-defined organisational and operational framework with the aim of contributing to the user safety, efficiency, comfort and/or to facilitate or support transport and travel operations. Terrorism means acts of violence committed by groups that view themselves as victimized by some notable historical wrong. Although these groups have no formal connection with governments, they usually have the financial and moral backing of sympathetic governments. Typically, they stage unexpected attacks on civilian targets, including transport infrastructure, with the aim of sowing fear and confusion. Based on the analyses, transportation infrastructure is potentially threatened with terrorism attacks, especially road and rail infrastructure (about 23 %, and to a smaller degree the maritime and air transport infrastructure (about 2 %. There were 90,3% of incidents involve land transport (74,5% – vehicles, 9,5% – buses, 6,3% - rail covered the 41-year period 1967-2007 in the USA. Legal steps to fight terrorism have been taken on the international level, furthermore, some institutions have been established for this purpose.

FDS simulation of the fuel fireball from a hypothetical commercial airliner crash on a generic nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luther, W.; Mueller, C.; Zocher, O.

2008-01-01

Before September 11, 2001 nuclear installations were designed to withstand the impact of a typical aircraft fighter of that time. In the aftermath of 9/11 it became clear that any new NPP (Nuclear Power Plant) must be designed sufficiently robust against terrorist attack and that the impact of a fast flying commercial airliner hitting the NPP can no longer be excluded as a potential external hazard threatening the NPP safety. The lesson learnt from the WTC and Pentagon attack is that the impact of the aircraft and the onboard jet fuel can cause structural damage, a fireball and a consecutive fire. This paper deals with the simulation of the fireball and its consequence for the NPP safety. (orig.)

KADIS: a program to analyse the disassembly phase of hypothetical accidents in LMFBRs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmuck, P.; Jacobs, G.; Arnecke, G.

1977-11-01

The program KADIS models the disassembly phase during power excursions in LMFBR hypothetical accidents. KADIS is based on point kinetics in the neutronics part and on a 2-dimensional representation of the reactor core in the hydrodynamics part. The core is modeled as an ideal, compressible fluid which is heated up adiabatically during the excursion. KADIS was built up with the help of the VENUS program of Argonne National Laboratory. Several important features were added to the basic VENUS model. Therefore we give first a complete description of the mathematical models used. Secondly we provide the user with the necessary information to handle the input/output of KADIS. (orig.) [de

Theoretical and hypothetical framework for research on political socialization process in the family

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Čičkarić Lilijana

2005-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of the article is to sum up theoretical and hypothetical framework for empirical research of political socialization process in the family in Serbian society nowadays. The investigation focuses on two theoretical concepts, political socialization and generation as a sociological paradigm. Two methodological approaches are applied. First is interactive model of political socialization, based on analysis of relations between individual who is socialized, agents of political socialization, dominant political system and peripheral social sub-systems. The second one tests interactive relation of generation, lifecycle and effects of epoch. It is suitable for definition of certain historical periods with active role of political.

MCCI study for Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor under hypothetical accident condition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verma, Vishnu; Mukhopadhyay, Deb; Chatterjee, B.; Singh, R.K.; Vaze, K.K.

2011-01-01

In case of severe core damage accident in Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR), large amount of molten corium is expected to come out into the calandria vault due to failure of calandria vessel. Molten corium at high temperature is sufficient to decompose and ablate concrete. Such attack could fail CV by basement penetration. Since containment is ultimate barrier for activity release. The Molten Core Concrete Interaction (MCCI) of the resulting pool of debris with the concrete has been identified as an important part of the accident sequence. MCCI Analysis has been carried out for PHWR for a hypothetical accident condition where total core material is considered to be relocated in calandria vault. Concrete ablation rate in vertical and radial direction is evaluated for rectangular geometry using MEDICIS module of ASTEC Code. Amount of gases released during MCCI is also evaluated. (author)

Main radiation protection actions for medical personnel as primary responders front of an event with radiological dispersive device; Principais acoes de protecao radiologica para equipe medica como primeiros respondedores frente a um evento com dispositivo de dispersao radiologica

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Duque, Hildanielle Ramos

2015-07-01

After the terrorist attack in New York, USA, in 2001, there was a worldwide concern about possible attacks using radioactive material in conventional detonators, called as Radiological Dispersal Device (RDD) or 'dirty bomb'. Several studies have been and are being made to form a global knowledge about this type of event. As until now, fortunately, there has not been an event with RDD, the Goiania Radiological Accident in Brazil, 1987, is used as a reference for decision-making. Several teams with technical experts should act in an event with RDD, but the medical staffs who respond quickly to the event must be properly protected from the harmful effects of radiation. Based on the radiological protection experts performance during the Goiania accident and the knowledge from lessons learned of many radiological accidents worldwide, this work presents an adaptation of the radiation protection actions for an event with RDD that helps a medical team as primary responders. The following aspects are presented: the problem of radioactive contamination from the explosion of the device in underground environment, the actions of the first responders and evaluation of health radiation effects. This work was based on specialized articles and papers about radiological accidents and RDD; as well as personal communication and academic information of the Institute of Radiation Protection and Dosimetry. The radiation protection actions, adapted to a terrorist attack event with RDD, have as a scenario a subway station in the capital. The main results are: the use of the basic radiation protection principle of time because there is no condition to take care of a patient keeping distance or using a shielding; the use of full appropriate protection cloths for contaminating materials ensuring the physical safety of professionals, and the medical team monitoring at the end of a medical procedure, checking for surface contamination. The main conclusion is that all medical actions

Framing of outcome and probability of recurrence: breast cancer patients' choice of adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT) in hypothetical patient scenarios.

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmermann, C; Baldo, C; Molino, A

2000-03-01

To examine the effects of framing of outcome and probabilities of cancer occurrence on the treatment preference which breast cancer patients indicate for hypothetical patient scenarios. A modified version of the Decision Board Instrument (Levine et al. 1992) was administered to 35 breast cancer patients with past ACT experience. Patients expressed their choice regarding ACT for six scenarios which were characterized by either negative or positive framing of outcome and by one of the three levels of probability of recurrence (high, medium, low). The framing had no influence on ACT choices over all three probability levels. The majority chose ACT for high and medium risk and one third switched from ACT to No ACT in the low-risk condition. This switch was statistically significant. Hypothetical treatment decisions against ACT occur only when the probability of recurrence is low and the benefit of ACT is small. This finding for patients with past experience of ACT is similar to those reported for other oncological patient groups still in treatment.

Toxicology of organophosphorus compounds in view of an increasing terrorist threat.

Science.gov (United States)

Worek, Franz; Wille, Timo; Koller, Marianne; Thiermann, Horst

2016-09-01

The implementation of the Chemical Weapon Convention (CWC), prohibiting the development, production, storage and use of chemical weapons by 192 nations and the ban of highly toxic OP pesticides, especially class I pesticides according to the WHO classification, by many countries constitutes a great success of the international community. However, the increased interest of terrorist groups in toxic chemicals and chemical warfare agents presents new challenges to our societies. Almost seven decades of research on organophosphorus compound (OP) toxicology was mainly focused on a small number of OP nerve agents despite the fact that a huge number of OP analogues, many of these agents having comparable toxicity to classical nerve agents, were synthesized and published. Only limited physicochemical, toxicological and medical information on nerve agent analogues is available in the open literature. This implies potential gaps of our capabilities to detect, to decontaminate and to treat patients if nerve agent analogues are disseminated and may result in inadequate effectiveness of newly developed countermeasures. In summary, our societies may face new, up to now disregarded, threats by toxic OP which calls for increased awareness and appropriate preparedness of military and civilian CBRN defense, a broader approach for new physical and medical countermeasures and an integrated system of effective detection, decontamination, physical protection and treatment.

[Defusing of victims of the terrorist attacks in Paris. Elements of assessment one-month post-event].

Science.gov (United States)

Prieto, N; Cheucle, E; Faure, P; Digard, F; Dalphin, C; Pachiaudi, V; Simond, M; Darbon, R; Collinet, C; Habibi, R; Gueugniaud, P-Y

2018-04-01

The terrorist attacks (fusillades and suicide attacks) in Paris on 13 November 2015 have had a major psychic impact on all individuals directly or secondarily exposed to them. Medico-psychological unit (CUMP) of the Paris Île-de-France region's immediate care services were immediately mobilized and rapidly strengthened by all regional medico-psychological units (CUMP) throughout the country. Psychological assistance has been provided in several key points of Paris and specifically in the 11th district City Hall of Paris where Lyon's Medico-psychological unit was located. These specific immediate psychological assistances, referred to as a "defusing process" by the medico-psychological unit (CUMP), are mostly devoted to provide the victims with an entry point to a psychological healthcare relationship and give them a first sense of soothing and relief even though they do not prevent further psychological care follow up for the victims. Nonetheless, the potential therapeutic effect of this "defusing process" has not yet been sufficiently established nor demonstrated by any scientific study. A phoning survey was carried out one-month post-terrorist attacks and interviewed the 129 victims who benefited from the "defusing process" conducted by Lyon's medico-psychological unit (CUMP) in order to collect data and assess its effects. These people, whether directly exposed, bereaved relatives or witnesses, whose average age is 35, are mostly living in the Île-de-France region. Most of them present a high score on the IES-R scale, whether they were directly exposed, bereaved relatives or witnesses. Almost all of them (96.5%) experienced at least one medical care contact within this one-month post-trauma period with psychotropic medication for 37% of them. Regarding the defusing conducted by Lyon's medico-psychological unit (CUMP) in the 11th district City Hall of Paris, it appears that 93% of the victims who were looked after indicated that they were satisfied and 87.4% of

Comprehensive and consistent interpretation of local fault experiments and application to hypothetical local overpower accident in Monju

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukano, Yoshitaka

2013-01-01

Experimental studies on local fault (LF) accidents in fast breeder reactors have been performed in many countries because LFs have been historically considered as one of the possible causes of severe accidents. Comprehensive and consistent interpretations of in-pile and out-of-pile experiments related to LF were arrived at in this study based on state-of-the-art review and data analysis techniques. Safety margins for a hypothetical local overpower accident, which was evaluated as a LF accident in the licensing document of the construction permit for a prototype fast breeder reactor called Monju, were also studied. Based on comprehensive interpretations of the latest experimental database, including those performed after the permission of Monju construction, it was clarified that the evaluation of the hypothetical local overpower accident in the Monju licensing was sufficiently conservative. Furthermore, it incorporated adequate safety margins in terms of failure thresholds of the fuel pin, molten fuel ejection, fuel sweep-out behavior after molten fuel ejection, and pin-to-pin failure propagation. Moreover, these comprehensive interpretations are valid and applicable to the safety evaluation of LF accidents of other fast breeder reactors with various fuel and core designs. (author)

An in silico Approach for Structural and Functional Annotation of Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium Hypothetical Protein R_27

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arif Khan

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Typhoid fever is a major cause of illness in most developing countries, including Bangladesh. In quest of new potential drug against Typhoid fever, the current study was designed to elucidate structural and functional details of S. typhi hypothetical protein (HP R_27. HP R_27 has the primary amino acid sequences available only. The structural annotation was determined by ProtParam, SOPMA, and CELLO. The three-dimensional (3D structure of HP R_27 predicted through homology modeling by using Phyre2. The 3D structure then refined and verified by ModRefiner, PROCHECK, ERRAT, QMEAN. The functional annotation was also performed by InterProScan, SMART, Pfam, NCBI-CDD and found Phospholipase D-like and DNA repair activity. Multiple sequence alignment also supported the existence of PLD-like domain and DNA repair protein domain in the selected hypothetical protein sequences. Finally, the cavity of drug binding was also identified to assist further molecular docking study and potent inhibitor identification. This in silico approach can be further utilized in molecular drug design for other clinically significant pathogens.

Cloning, purification and preliminary crystallographic analysis of a conserved hypothetical protein, SA0961 (YlaN), from Staphylococcus aureus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Ling; Sedelnikova, Svetlana E.; Baker, Patrick J.; Rice, David W.

2006-01-01

SA0961 is an unknown hypothetical protein from Staphylococcus aureus that can be identified in the Firmicutes division of Gram-positive bacteria. SA0961 was cloned and the protein was overexpressed in Escherichia coli, purified and subsequently crystallized. SA0961 is an unknown hypothetical protein from Staphylococcus aureus that can be identified in the Firmicutes division of Gram-positive bacteria. The gene for the homologue of SA0961 in Bacillus subtilis, ylaN, has been shown to be essential for cell survival, thus identifying the protein encoded by this gene as a potential target for the development of novel antibiotics. SA0961 was cloned and the protein was overexpressed in Escherichia coli, purified and subsequently crystallized. Crystals of selenomethionine-labelled SA0961 diffract to beyond 2.4 Å resolution and belong to the monoclinic space group P2 1 , with unit-cell parameters a = 31.5, b = 42.7, c = 62.7 Å, β = 92.4° and two molecules in the asymmetric unit. A full structure determination is under way to provide insights into the function of this protein

Cloning, purification and preliminary crystallographic analysis of a conserved hypothetical protein, SA0961 (YlaN), from Staphylococcus aureus

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xu, Ling; Sedelnikova, Svetlana E.; Baker, Patrick J.; Rice, David W., E-mail: d.rice@sheffield.ac.uk [Krebs Institute for Biomolecular Research, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN (United Kingdom)

2006-08-01

SA0961 is an unknown hypothetical protein from Staphylococcus aureus that can be identified in the Firmicutes division of Gram-positive bacteria. SA0961 was cloned and the protein was overexpressed in Escherichia coli, purified and subsequently crystallized. SA0961 is an unknown hypothetical protein from Staphylococcus aureus that can be identified in the Firmicutes division of Gram-positive bacteria. The gene for the homologue of SA0961 in Bacillus subtilis, ylaN, has been shown to be essential for cell survival, thus identifying the protein encoded by this gene as a potential target for the development of novel antibiotics. SA0961 was cloned and the protein was overexpressed in Escherichia coli, purified and subsequently crystallized. Crystals of selenomethionine-labelled SA0961 diffract to beyond 2.4 Å resolution and belong to the monoclinic space group P2{sub 1}, with unit-cell parameters a = 31.5, b = 42.7, c = 62.7 Å, β = 92.4° and two molecules in the asymmetric unit. A full structure determination is under way to provide insights into the function of this protein.

Threatening “the Good Order”: West Meets East in Cecil B. DeMille’s The Cheat and John Updike’s Terrorist

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bradley M. Freeman

2011-12-01

Full Text Available

Despite almost a hundred years of separation, both Cecil B. DeMille’s film The Cheat (1915 and John Updike’s novel Terrorist (2006 deploy a clear-cut territorial divide between Western and Eastern spaces in order to envision a unified American space. These narratives superimpose a “natural” division on these historically opposed spaces and thereby suggest that any contact between these spaces will have dangerous consequences. These consequences include the potential dissolution and eventual destruction of American productivity, surveillance, and territorial integrity. DeMille’s film and Updike’s novel represent America as a nation-state that must be protected from the East. In 1915, The Cheat warned against an interracial America and the upsurge in immigration that characterized the turn of the century. Nearly a century later, Terrorist presupposes an interracial America but still constructs an East that threatens the security of America. While registering the particular concerns of two distinct historical moments, these narratives represent a larger attempt in American aesthetics to imagine an East that jeopardizes the utopian possibilities of an overly idealized American space.

Neutronics simulations on hypothetical power excursion and possible core melt scenarios in CANDU6

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Yonghee

2015-01-01

LOCA (Loss of coolant accident) is an outstanding safety issue in the CANDU reactor system since the coolant void reactivity is strongly positive. To deal with the LOCA, the CANDU systems are equipped with specially designed quickly-acting secondary shutdown system. Nevertheless, the so-called design-extended conditions are requested to be taken into account in the safety analysis for nuclear reactor systems after the Fukushima accident. As a DEC scenario, the worst accident situation in a CANDU reactor system is a unprotected LOCA, which is supposed to lead to a power excursion and possibly a core melt-down. In this work, the hypothetical unprotected LOCA scenario is simulated in view of the power excursion and fuel temperature changes by using a simplified point-kinetics (PK) model accounting for the fuel temperature change. In the PK model, the core reactivity is assumed to be affected by a large break LOCA and the fuel temperature is simulated to account for the Doppler effect. In addition, unlike the conventional PK simulation, we have also considered the Xe-I model to evaluate the impact of Xe during the LOCA. Also, we tried to simulate the fuel and core melt-down scenario in terms of the reactivity through a series of neutronics calculations for hypothetical core conditions. In case of a power excursion and possible fuel melt-down situation, the reactor system behavior is very uncertain. In this work, we tried to understand the impacts of fuel melt and relocation within the pressure vessel on the core reactivity and failure of pressure and calandria tubes. (author)

Analyses of hypothetical nuclear criticality excursions in 10- and 20-MW freezer/sublimer vessels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haught, C.F.; Jordan, W.C.; Basoglu, B.; Dodds, H.L.; Wilkinson, A.D.

1995-01-01

A theoretical model is used to predict the consequences of a postulated hypothetical nuclear criticality excursion in a freezer/sublimer (F/S). Previous work has shown that an intrusion of water into a F/S may result in a critical configuration. A first attempt is made to model the neutronic and thermal-hydraulic phenomena occurring during a criticality excursion involving both uranium hexafluoride (UF 6 ) and uranyl fluoride (UO 2 F 2 ) solution, which is present in the F/S during upset conditions. The model employs point neutronics coupled with simple thermal hydraulics. Reactivity feedback from changes in the properties of the system are included in the model. The excursion is studied in a 10-MW F/S with an initial load of 3,500 kg of 5% weight enriched UF 6 and in a 20-MW F/S with an initial load of 6,800 kg of 2% weight enriched UF 6 . The magnitude of the fission release determined in this work is 5.93 x 10 18 fissions in the 10-MW F/S and 4.21 x 10 18 fissions in the 20-MW F/S. In order to demonstrate the reliability of the techniques used in this work, a limited validation study was conducted by comparing the fission release and peak fission rate determined by this work with experimental results for a limited number of experiments. The agreement between calculations and experiments in the validation study is considered to be satisfactory. The calculational results for the hypothetical accidents in the two F/S vessels appear reasonable

Legge 3 agosto 2007, n. 124 e nuove norme in favore delle vittime del terrorismo

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claudio Lisi

2007-12-01

Full Text Available After several terrorist attacks against the United States and his Allies, the international community has found a way to stop the spreading of extremists and recruiting of terrorists. In the papers we emphasise the necessity of the international community in which each group (Legal Authority, intelligence organism, political and religious organisations play an important role, terrorist attacks are a threat for international peace and security, in fact it’s considered a crime against the world. We can call terrorist acts all those behaviours which purpose is to threaten the collectivity with criminal indiscriminate actions, directed not against single persons but against what these people represent, or if directed towards the person independently of his position in the society, aiming to strike terror and weaken the structures. In the first part of this article I have described several kinds of international terrorism referring to the actual Italian legislation against terrorism and the cooperation of Italy, in the international circle, against terrorism. In the second part I traced the principal components of the reformation of information services for the security of Italy and the new discipline of secret. In the third and last part I have delineated the juridical normative aspects concerning victims of terrorism.La communauté internationale, après plusieurs attaques terroristes contre les États-Unis et ses pays alliés, a adopté une ligne de prévention et de contraste aux conditions qui peuvent favoriser la diffusion de la propagande extrémiste et du recrutement des terroristes. Dans le texte on souligne la nécessité, de la part de la Communauté internationale, d’une approche intégrée, dans laquelle chaque composant (Autorité Judiciaire, Organes d’intelligence, Organisations politiques et religieuses joue un rôle fondamental. Un acte terroriste est une véritable menace à la paix et à la sûreté internationales, en effet

Bankrupting terrorism: the role of US anti-terrorism litigation in the prevention of terrorism and other hybrid threats: a legal assessment and outlook

OpenAIRE

Bachmann, Sascha

2012-01-01

Global terrorist networks are dependent on receiving financial support from a variety of sources, including individuals, charities and corporations. Also known as terrorist financing, the potential of terrorism finance to resemble a global threat has been recognised and also its closeness to other international crimes such as money laundering and organized crime. As a result, possible responses have to constitute co-ordinated, multi-lateral and multi faceted actions under the umbrella of a wi...

Radiation dose evaluation for hypothetical accident with transport package containing Iridium-192 source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trontl, K.; Bace, M.; Pevec, D.

2002-01-01

The aim of this paper is to evaluate dose rates for a hypothetical accident with transport package containing Iridium-192 source and to design additional shielding necessary for the safe unloading of the container, assuming that during the unloading process the whole contents of a radioactive source is unshielded and that the operation is going to take place at the site where a working area exists in the vicinity of the unloading location. Based on the calculated radiation dose rates, a single arrangement of the additional concrete shields necessary for reduction of the gamma dose rates to the permitted level is proposed. The proposed solution is optimal considering safety on one hand and costs on the other.(author)

Cognitive-Motivational Determinants of Residents' Civic Engagement and Health (Inequities) in the Context of Noise Action Planning: A Conceptual Model.

Science.gov (United States)

Riedel, Natalie; van Kamp, Irene; Köckler, Heike; Scheiner, Joachim; Loerbroks, Adrian; Claßen, Thomas; Bolte, Gabriele

2017-05-30

The Environmental Noise Directive expects residents to be actively involved in localising and selecting noise abatement interventions during the noise action planning process. Its intervention impact is meant to be homogeneous across population groups. Against the background of social heterogeneity and environmental disparities, however, the impact of noise action planning on exposure to traffic-related noise and its health effects is unlikely to follow homogenous distributions. Until now, there has been no study evaluating the impact of noise action measures on the social distribution of traffic-related noise exposure and health outcomes. We develop a conceptual (logic) model on cognitive-motivational determinants of residents' civic engagement and health (inequities) by integrating arguments from the Model on household's Vulnerability to the local Environment, the learned helplessness model in environmental psychology, the Cognitive Activation Theory of Stress, and the reserve capacity model. Specifically, we derive four hypothetical patterns of cognitive-motivational determinants yielding different levels of sustained physiological activation and expectancies of civic engagement. These patterns may help us understand why health inequities arise in the context of noise action planning and learn how to transform noise action planning into an instrument conducive to health equity. While building on existing frameworks, our conceptual model will be tested empirically in the next stage of our research process.

An Overview of NCRP Report No. 138 on Terrorist Activities

Science.gov (United States)

Poston, John, Sr.

2005-04-01

In late 1998, the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) convened Scientific Committee 46-14 to prepare a report on the radiological safety aspects of terrorist activities involving radioactivity. The work of this committee was funded through a contract with the Planning and Preparedness Division of the Office of Emergency Management of the Department of Energy. The committee was composed of a diverse group of individuals with expertise in many areas in addition to radiation safety and emergency response. These areas included law (both federal and state), public communications, and psychosocial aspects of such incidents. The statement of work focused the work of the committee, and the resulting report did not necessarily address all issues of such activities. One of the charges of the committee was to provide guidance as to necessary research and make recommendations regarding the present infrastructure with the responsibility for responding to such incidents. This presentation will provide an overview of NCRP Report No. 138 and focus on some of the critical issues raised in the report. These issues include recognition of the event, the interface between federal, state, and local authorities, exposure limits for the first-responders, clean-up criteria, training and resources, the psychosocial aspects of such events, and communications with the media and the public. This report represented the ``beginning'' of such considerations. It pointed the way for additional studies and research in this very important area.

Les dimensions émotionnelles du terrorisme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benjamin Ducol

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Par une volonté louable de rompre avec des approches psychologisantes du phénomène terroriste dominantes au cours des années 1960-70, les recherches contemporaines en matière de terrorisme(s et de violence(s politique(s ont très largement mis l’emphase sur la figure du « terroriste » comme acteur rationnel et stratégique. Face aux limites des approches rationalistes de l’engagement radical qui envisagent de manière réductionniste les individus au travers d’un calcul rationnel univoque en terme de coûts et d’incitatifs à l’action, il nous apparaît important de réintégrer dans les réflexions théoriques sur les phénomènes terroristes, les émotions afin d’en interroger le rôle dans la production d’une trajectoire violente. Le présent article entend proposer à cet égard un bilan critique des travaux universitaires actuels autour de l’engagement terroriste et une réflexion théorique mettant en lumière les contours d’un futur agenda de recherche accordant une place plus importante aux ressorts émotionnels de la violence politique clandestine. Contemporary research on terrorism(s and political violence(s have largely put the emphasis on the figure of the "terrorist" as rational and strategic player, in a break with psychoanalytical approaches to terrorism that were dominant from the 1960-1970’s. Given the limitations of rationalist approaches to radical commitment, and considering how reductionist is the understanding of individual participation to terrorism related activities through a rational calculation framework in terms of costs and incentives to action, it is important to reintegrate in the theoretical reflections on terrorist phenomena how emotions can play a role in leading potential terrorists down a violent path. This paper presents a critical assessment of current academic work surrounding the issue of violent radicalization and involvement in terrorism, and engages in a theoretical debate

Astrophysical implications of hypothetical stable TeV-scale black holes

CERN Document Server

Giddings, Steven B

2008-01-01

We analyze macroscopic effects of TeV-scale black holes, such as could possibly be produced at the LHC, in what is regarded as an extremely hypothetical scenario in which they are stable and, if trapped inside Earth, begin to accrete matter. We examine a wide variety of TeV-scale gravity scenarios, basing the resulting accretion models on first-principles, basic, and well-tested physical laws. These scenarios fall into two classes, depending on whether accretion could have any macroscopic effect on the Earth at times shorter than the Sun's natural lifetime. We argue that cases with such effect at shorter times than the solar lifetime are ruled out, since in these scenarios black holes produced by cosmic rays impinging on much denser white dwarfs and neutron stars would then catalyze their decay on timescales incompatible with their known lifetimes. We also comment on relevant lifetimes for astronomical objects that capture primordial black holes. In short, this study finds no basis for concerns that TeV-scale...

The prohibition of financing of terrorism in the light of international law and regulations of the Republic of Serbia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cmiljanić Bajo M.

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Terrorist acts are sometimes carried out in order to obtain funds for financing terrorist organizations and terrorist actions. Therefore, due attention in considering the forms of combat against terrorism has been paid to the connection between money and violence. The issue of prohibition of financing of terrorism is the subject of many international legal documents. Republic of Serbia has devoted many normative documents to this problem, that are harmonized with the international obligations accepted upon the signing of international treaties. The task of this paper is to show the basic norms of international law and the laws of the Republic of Serbia regarding the prohibition of financing of terrorism.

Evaluating the impacts of farmers' behaviors on a hypothetical agricultural water market based on double auction

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Erhu; Cai, Ximing; Brozović, Nicholas; Minsker, Barbara

2017-05-01

Agricultural water markets are considered effective instruments to mitigate the impacts of water scarcity and to increase crop production. However, previous studies have limited understanding of how farmers' behaviors affect the performance of water markets. This study develops an agent-based model to explicitly incorporate farmers' behaviors, namely irrigation behavior (represented by farmers' sensitivity to soil water deficit λ) and bidding behavior (represented by farmers' rent seeking μ and learning rate β), in a hypothetical water market based on a double auction. The model is applied to the Guadalupe River Basin in Texas to simulate a hypothetical agricultural water market under various hydrological conditions. It is found that the joint impacts of the behavioral parameters on the water market are strong and complex. In particular, among the three behavioral parameters, λ affects the water market potential and its impacts on the performance of the water market are significant under most scenarios. The impacts of μ or β on the performance of the water market depend on the other two parameters. The water market could significantly increase crop production only when the following conditions are satisfied: (1) λ is small and (2) μ is small and/or β is large. The first condition requires efficient irrigation scheduling, and the second requires well-developed water market institutions that provide incentives to bid true valuation of water permits.

Comparative analysis of chemical similarity methods for modular natural products with a hypothetical structure enumeration algorithm.

Science.gov (United States)

Skinnider, Michael A; Dejong, Chris A; Franczak, Brian C; McNicholas, Paul D; Magarvey, Nathan A

2017-08-16

Natural products represent a prominent source of pharmaceutically and industrially important agents. Calculating the chemical similarity of two molecules is a central task in cheminformatics, with applications at multiple stages of the drug discovery pipeline. Quantifying the similarity of natural products is a particularly important problem, as the biological activities of these molecules have been extensively optimized by natural selection. The large and structurally complex scaffolds of natural products distinguish their physical and chemical properties from those of synthetic compounds. However, no analysis of the performance of existing methods for molecular similarity calculation specific to natural products has been reported to date. Here, we present LEMONS, an algorithm for the enumeration of hypothetical modular natural product structures. We leverage this algorithm to conduct a comparative analysis of molecular similarity methods within the unique chemical space occupied by modular natural products using controlled synthetic data, and comprehensively investigate the impact of diverse biosynthetic parameters on similarity search. We additionally investigate a recently described algorithm for natural product retrobiosynthesis and alignment, and find that when rule-based retrobiosynthesis can be applied, this approach outperforms conventional two-dimensional fingerprints, suggesting it may represent a valuable approach for the targeted exploration of natural product chemical space and microbial genome mining. Our open-source algorithm is an extensible method of enumerating hypothetical natural product structures with diverse potential applications in bioinformatics.

Assessment in marine environment for a hypothetic nuclear accident based on the database of tidal harmonic constants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Min, Byung-Il; Periáñez, Raúl; Park, Kihyun; Kim, In-Gyu; Suh, Kyung-Suk

2014-01-01

Highlights: • An oceanic dispersion assessment system has been developed. • The developed system is based on a database of tidal harmonic constants. • It used to evaluate pollutant behavior for the hypothetical nuclear accident. • It can predict the pollutant distributions with real-time in the ocean. - Abstract: The eleven nuclear power plants in operation, under construction and a well-planned plant in the east coast of China generally use seawater for reactor cooling. In this study, an oceanic dispersion assessment system based on a database of tidal harmonic constants is developed. This system can calculate the tidal current without a large computational cost, and it is possible to calculate real-time predictions of pollutant dispersions in the ocean. Calculated amplitudes and phases have maximum errors of 10% and 20% with observations, respectively. A number of hypothetical simulations were performed according to varying of the release starting time and duration of pollutant for the six nuclear sites in China. The developed system requires a computational time of one hour for one month of real-time forecasting in Linux OS. Thus, it can use to evaluate rapidly the dispersion characteristics of the pollutants released into the sea from a nuclear accident

The day Norway cried: Proximity and distress in Norwegian citizens following the 22nd July 2011 terrorist attacks in Oslo and on Utøya Island.

Science.gov (United States)

Thoresen, Siri; Aakvaag, Helene Flood; Wentzel-Larsen, Tore; Dyb, Grete; Hjemdal, Ole Kristian

2012-01-01

Terrorism may create fear and stress reactions not only in the direct victims, but also in the general population. This study investigated emotional responses in the Norwegian population following the 22nd July 2011 terrorist attacks. We hypothesized that Oslo residents would report a higher level of fear responses compared with people living outside Oslo and that proximity would be associated with early distress and later post-traumatic stress reactions. Representative samples were drawn from the Norwegian Population Registry. Telephone interviews were conducted 4-5 months after the attacks. The response rate for the Oslo sample (N=465) was 24% of the total sample, and 43% of those who were actually reached by phone and asked to participate. Corresponding figures for the sample living outside Oslo (N=716) were 19% and 30%. Our results show strong immediate emotional responses, particularly sadness and a feeling of unreality, in both samples. Jumpiness and other fear responses were significantly higher among Oslo residents. Current level of risk perception was low 4-5 months after the attacks; however, a significant minority reported to feel less safe than before. Geographical and psychological proximity were associated with early emotional responses. Psychological proximity was significantly associated with post-traumatic stress reactions, while measures of geographical proximity were not. Immediate emotional responses, first-week reactions, and first-week jumpiness were uniquely and significantly associated with post-traumatic stress reactions. Post-traumatic stress reactions were elevated in ethnic minorities. The terrorist attacks seem to have had a significant effect on the Norwegian population, creating sadness and insecurity, at least in the short term. Proximity to the terrorist attacks was strongly associated with distress in the population, and early distress was strongly related to later post-traumatic stress reactions. Our results indicate that

Inventory of programs. Calculation of the isotope inventory after a hypothetical accident at the Cofrentes Nuclear power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Albendea, M.

2014-01-01

Iberdrola is developing a new application to calculate the inventory of radiological material, then of a hypothetical accident, with the name of inventory. This application allows you to calculate the inventory isotopic, analysers and accurate thermal of all or part of the nucleus of the plant of Cofrentes, even of any single element, based on its history of irradiation and specific periods of decay, since the reactor at any time after the shutdown. (Author)

Early Site Permit Demonstration Program, plant parameters envelopes: Comparison with ranges of values for four hypothetical sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-09-01

The purpose of this volume is to report the results of the comparison of the ALWR plan parameters envelope with values of site characteristics developed for our hypothetical sites that generally represent conditions encountered within the United States. This effort is not intended to identify or address the suitability of any existing site, site area, or region in the United States. Also included in this volume is Appendix F, SERCH Summaries Regarding Siting

Development of SPEEDI-MP and its application to a hypothetical accident of a nuclear submarine in the Japan Sea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kobayashi, Takuya; Nagai, Haruyasu; Chino, Masamichi; Togawa, Orihiko

2004-01-01

A software system SPEEDI-MP is being developed to resolve the environmental problems by simulating the behavior of pollutants in the atmospheric, oceanic and terrestrial environment. Verification of oceanic dispersion prediction codes on the system was carried out to assess the migration behavior of the released 241 Am from a hypothetically sunken nuclear submarine in the Japan Sea. (author)

Chronic thought suppression and posttraumatic symptoms: data from the Madrid March 11, 2004 terrorist attack.

Science.gov (United States)

Vázquez, Carmelo; Hervás, Gonzalo; Pérez-Sales, Pau

2008-12-01

Although a considerable number of people either witnessed directly or in the mass media the traumatic scenes of the terrorist attack that took place on March 11th, 2004 in Madrid, only a fraction of Madrid citizens developed posttraumatic symptoms. In this study, posttraumatic stress-related symptoms, degree of exposure, coping strategies related to the attack, and chronic attempts to avoid intrusive thoughts (i.e., thought suppression) were assessed in a general population Madrid sample (N=503) 2-3 weeks after the attacks. Our results showed that participants with higher scores in chronic thought suppression exhibited higher levels of PTSD symptoms. Higher scores in chronic thought suppression also correlated positively with the use of avoidant coping strategies after the attacks. We discuss the possible common roots of avoidance of intrusive thoughts and avoidant coping strategies and the implications of this relationship for the emergence of stress-related symptoms as well as for public health policies.

"Second class loss": political culture as a recovery barrier--the families of terrorist casualties' struggle for national honors, recognition, and belonging.

Science.gov (United States)

Lebel, Udi

2014-01-01

Israeli families of terrorist victims have undertaken initiatives to include their dearest in the national pantheon. The objections opposed the penetration of "second-class loss" into the symbolic closure of heroic national bereavement. The "hierarchy of bereavement" is examined through the lens of political culture organized around the veneration held for the army fallen and their families, which has symbolic as well as rehabilitative outcomes. Families of civilian terror victims claims for similar status and treatment had to frame their loss as national in the eyes of the social policy. The article claimed linkage between collective memory and rehabilitation.

Threat of nuclear violence at the non-governmental level

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feld, B.T.

1982-01-01

Safeguarding nuclear weapons from falling into the hands of non-governmental terrorist groups is discussed. Political and technical solutions are seen as necessary before international action can be achieved

Organizing SOCOM for Cross-Functional and Geographic Area Operations in the Global War on Terrorism

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Cabanas, Kevin A

2005-01-01

.... The first organization would plan, direct, and execute direct-action type operations designed to defeat the terrorist threat, while the second organization would plan, direct, and execute long-term...

How identity crisis, relative deprivation, personal characteristics, and empathy contribute to the engagement of Western individuals in Islamist terrorist behavior

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khouwaga Yusoufzai

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The growing sense of insecurity in the Western world due to home-grown Islamist terrorism prompts further research on the topic. Based on previous literature, the current paper attempts to determine whether factors can be identified which contribute to Western individuals joining Islamic extremist organizations and engaging in terrorist behavior in the West. Four factors are discussed: While extensive scientific literature supports the view that identity crises and relative deprivation play a crucial role in turning Western individuals to terrorism, evidence on the role of personal characteristics and empathy, on the other hand, is still too scarce to allow any clear scientific judgment.

Models and methods for predicting the release of fission products during hypothetical accidents in HTGRs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bailly, H.W.

1988-01-01

The paper deals with experiments, computational models and methods used to describe the fission product transport (diffusion and particle failure) in the fuel elements of a pebble-bed high-temperature module reactor (HTGR Module) during hypothetical accidents. The codes which describe the diffusion of fission products in the fuel elements are e.g. GETTER and FRESCO. PANAMA, IA/KWU failure function and the so called GOODIN models describe the particle failure. All these models may be used in the risk analysis. The experimental results obtained at the Nuclear Research Center Julich, Germany are discussed and compared with the model calculations for these experiments

An autopsy case related to a terrorist attack using a ball-bearing bomb.

Science.gov (United States)

Takamiya, Masataka; Biwasaka, Hitoshi; Niitsu, Hisae; Saigusa, Kiyoshi; Aoki, Yasuhiro

2009-03-01

We encountered an autopsy case related to a terrorist attack using a ball-bearing bomb. The decedent was a 51-year-old male without significant medical histories. During dinner in a restaurant, the perpetrator suddenly exploded a ball-bearing bomb, the blast from which blew the victim off his chair. The victim was found to be unresponsive, and pronounced dead. X-ray photographs taken before autopsy revealed six spherical shadows. Three penetrating wounds in the head, one in the neck and chest, and two in the left upper arm were observed in vivo. Six projectiles recovered from the body were identified as ball-bearings, one of which traveled through the midbrain, diencephalon, and left temporal lobe. Although blast injuries and penetrating wounds are often combined in bomb attack victims, penetrating brain injury would be the cause of death in this case. Lethal injuries to major organs can thus occur even though the destructive force of a ball-bearing bomb is weak. X-ray films were informative for detecting the ball-bearings in this case, suggesting that autopsy imaging is essential in cases of terrorism victims.

The 1983 Beirut Airport terrorist bombing. Injury patterns and implications for disaster management.

Science.gov (United States)

Frykberg, E R; Tepas, J J; Alexander, R H

1989-03-01

The casualty profile and results of the medical care provided for the survivors of the terrorist truck bombing of the U.S. Marine Corps facility in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1983 were reviewed to determine the factors that influenced casualty survival. This explosion resulted in 346 casualties, of whom 234 (68%) were immediately killed. The spectrum of injury was determined in 85 survivors using the Injury Severity Score (ISS). There were seven (6.3%) deaths among the 112 immediate survivors. All deaths occurred among the 19 (17%) victims who were critically injured (ISS greater than 15), giving a mortality in this population of 37 per cent. Six (86%) of the seven deaths were associated with an initial delay in treatment. Head injury was the most common fatal injury among both immediate fatalities (71.4%) and immediate survivors (57%). Thoracic injury and burns each accounted for 29 per cent of survivor deaths. Triage efficiency, as determined by the rates of overtriage (80%) and undertriage (0), did not appear adversely to affect mortality. Critical analysis of disasters such as this can contribute to improvements in preparation and casualty care in the event of future disasters.

The effects of restaurant menu calorie labeling on hypothetical meal choices of females with disordered eating.

Science.gov (United States)

Haynos, Ann F; Roberto, Christina A

2017-03-01

Concerns have been raised that obesity public policy measures may have harmful effects on individuals with eating disorders. However, little research has investigated this topic. We examined the impact of a popular obesity public policy, menu calorie labeling, on hypothetical food choices of women with disordered eating. Seven hundred sixteen adult females completed an online survey in which they were randomly assigned to receive a restaurant menu with or without calorie information listed. Participants selected foods representative of a meal they would choose to consume and answered questions on restaurant ordering and menu labeling. Participants completed the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (Fairburn & Beglin, ) to assess global eating pathology. Diagnoses of anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and binge-eating disorder (BED) were also derived from this measure. Generalized linear modeling examined the impact of menu label condition, disordered eating, and the menu label by disordered eating interaction on hypothetical food selection and related variables. When disordered eating was examined continuously, menu labeling did not differentially affect food selections of those with elevated disordered eating (p = .45). However, when examined by eating disorder diagnosis, participants with AN or BN ordered significantly fewer (p < .001) and participants with BED ordered significantly more (p = .001) calories in the menu label versus no label condition. Menu labeling may decrease the calories ordered among individuals with AN or BN and increase calories ordered among individuals with BED. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Testing and intercomparison of model predictions of radionuclide migration from a hypothetical area source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Brien, R.S.; Yu, C.; Zeevaert, T.; Olyslaegers, G.; Amado, V.; Setlow, L.W.; Waggitt, P.W.

2008-01-01

This work was carried out as part of the International Atomic Energy Agency's EMRAS program. One aim of the work was to develop scenarios for testing computer models designed for simulating radionuclide migration in the environment, and to use these scenarios for testing the models and comparing predictions from different models. This paper presents the results of the development and testing of a hypothetical area source of NORM waste/residue using two complex computer models and one screening model. There are significant differences in the methods used to model groundwater flow between the complex models. The hypothetical source was used because of its relative simplicity and because of difficulties encountered in finding comprehensive, well-validated data sets for real sites. The source consisted of a simple repository of uniform thickness, with 1 Bq g -1 of uranium-238 ( 238 U) (in secular equilibrium with its decay products) distributed uniformly throughout the waste. These approximate real situations, such as engineered repositories, waste rock piles, tailings piles and landfills. Specification of the site also included the physical layout, vertical stratigraphic details, soil type for each layer of material, precipitation and runoff details, groundwater flow parameters, and meteorological data. Calculations were carried out with and without a cover layer of clean soil above the waste, for people working and living at different locations relative to the waste. The predictions of the two complex models showed several differences which need more detailed examination. The scenario is available for testing by other modelers. It can also be used as a planning tool for remediation work or for repository design, by changing the scenario parameters and running the models for a range of different inputs. Further development will include applying models to real scenarios and integrating environmental impact assessment methods with the safety assessment tools currently

Adaptive management: a paradigm for remediation of public facilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Janecky, David R [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Whicker, Jeffrey J [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Doerr, Ted B [NON LANL

2009-01-01

Public facility restoration planning traditionally focused on response to natural disasters and hazardous materials accidental releases. These plans now need to integrate response to terrorist actions. Therefore, plans must address a wide range of potential vulnerabilities. Similar types of broad remediation planning are needed for restoration of waste and hazardous material handling areas and facilities. There are strong similarities in damage results and remediation activities between unintentional and terrorist actions; however, the uncertainties associated with terrorist actions result in a re-evaluation of approaches to planning. Restoration of public facilities following a release of a hazardous material is inherently far more complex than in confined industrial settings and has many unique technical, economic, social, and political challenges. Therefore, they arguably involve a superset of drivers, concerns and public agencies compared to other restoration efforts. This superset of conditions increases complexity of interactions, reduces our knowledge of the initial conditions, and even condenses the timeline for restoration response. Therefore, evaluations of alternative restoration management approaches developed for responding to terrorist actions provide useful knowledge for large, complex waste management projects. Whereas present planning documents have substantial linearity in their organization, the 'adaptive management' paradigm provides a constructive parallel operations paradigm for restoration of facilities that anticipates and plans for uncertainty, multiple/simUltaneous public agency actions, and stakeholder participation. Adaptive management grew out of the need to manage and restore natural resources in highly complex and changing environments with limited knowledge about causal relationships and responses to restoration actions. Similarities between natural resource management and restoration of a facility and surrounding area

Adaptive Management: A Paradigm for Remediation of Public Facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Janecky, D.R.; Whicker, J.J.; Doerr, T.B.

2009-01-01

Public facility restoration planning traditionally focused on response to natural disasters and hazardous materials accidental releases. These plans now need to integrate response to terrorist actions. Therefore, plans must address a wide range of potential vulnerabilities. Similar types of broad remediation planning are needed for restoration of waste and hazardous material handling areas and facilities. There are strong similarities in damage results and remediation activities between unintentional and terrorist actions; however, the uncertainties associated with terrorist actions result in a re-evaluation of approaches to planning. Restoration of public facilities following a release of a hazardous material is inherently far more complex than in confined industrial settings and has many unique technical, economic, social, and political challenges. Therefore, they arguably involve a superset of drivers, concerns and public agencies compared to other restoration efforts. This superset of conditions increases complexity of interactions, reduces our knowledge of the initial conditions, and even condenses the timeline for restoration response. Therefore, evaluations of alternative restoration management approaches developed for responding to terrorist actions provide useful knowledge for large, complex waste management projects. Whereas present planning documents have substantial linearity in their organization, the 'adaptive management' paradigm provides a constructive parallel operations paradigm for restoration of facilities that anticipates and plans for uncertainty, multiple/simultaneous public agency actions, and stakeholder participation. Adaptive management grew out of the need to manage and restore natural resources in highly complex and changing environments with limited knowledge about causal relationships and responses to restoration actions. Similarities between natural resource management and restoration of a facility and surrounding area(s) after a

Guide to General Atomic studies of hypothetical nuclear driven accidents for the Fort St. Vrain reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wei, T.; Tobias, M.

1974-03-01

The work of the General Atomic Company (GAC) in preparing those portions of the Final Safety Analysis Report for the Fort St. Vrain Reactor (FSV) having to do with hypothetical nuclear driven accidents has been reviewed and a guide to this literature has been prepared. The sources for this study are the Final Safety Analysis Report itself, the Quarterly and Monthly Progress Reports, Topical Reports, and Technical Specifications. The problems considered and the methods used are outlined. An appendix gives a systematic analysis which was used as a guide in organizing the references. (U.S.)

Simulation and dose analysis of a hypothetical accident in Sanmen nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu, Yangmo; Guo, Jianghua; Nie, Chu; Zhou, Youhua

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Atmospheric dispersion following a hypothetical accident in Sanmen NPP is simulated. • Japan, North Korea and Russia are slightly influenced in this accident. • In Taiwan and South Korea, population on 100% and 35% of the land should be given information about reducing dose. • In mainland China, about 284 thousand people are likely to get cancer. - Abstract: In November 2013, an AP1000 nuclear power plant (NPP) will be put into commercial operation. An atmospheric dispersion of radionuclides during a severe hypothetical accident in Sanmen NPP, Zhejiang province, China, is simulated with a Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART. The accident assumes that a station blackout (SBO) accident occurred on August 25, 2011, 55% core was damaged and 49 radionuclides were released into the atmosphere. Our simulation indicates that, during this dispersion, the radioactive plume will cover the mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, North Korea, South Korea and Russia. The radiation dose levels in Japan, North Korea and Russia are the lightest, usually less than 1 mSv. The influenced areas in these countries are 9901 km 2 , 31,736 km 2 and 2,97,524 km 2 , respectively; dose levels in Taiwan and South Korea are moderate, no more than 20 mSv. Information about reducing dose should be given to the public. Total influenced areas in these two countries are 3621 km 2 and 42,370 km 2 , which take up 100% of the land in Taiwan and 35% of the land in South Korea; the worst situation happens in mainland China. The total influenced area is 3 × 106 km 2 and 1,40,000 km 2 in this area has a dose level higher than 20 mSv. Measurement must be taken to reduce the dose. More than 284 thousand residents will face the risk of developing cancer. Furthermore, 96% of this population is mainly concentrated in Zhejiang province, where Sanmen NPP locates

Case study of the effects of hypothetical nuclear power plant accident to the northern food chain of lichen-reindeer-man

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leppaenen, A.P.; Solatie, D. [Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority - STUK (Finland); Paatero, J. [Finnish Meteorological Institute (Finland)

2014-07-01

There are plans to open a new nuclear power plant in Northern Finland at Pyhaejoki. The currently planned reactor type is AES 2006 built by Rosenergoatom. The power output of the AES 2006 is 1200 MWe. In a hypothetical reactor accident at Pyhaejoki large amounts of radioactivity would be released to the environment in Northern Europe. With suitable wind conditions the contaminants would contaminate large areas in the Euro-Arctic region in Northern Scandinavia and in Kola Peninsula. Northern parts of Scandinavia belongs to the sub-arctic region where reindeer herding is an important livelihood for the local and for the indigenous Sami people. As a results of the CEEPRA-project ('Collaboration Network on Environmental Radiation Protection and Research') funded by the EU's Kolarctic ENPI CBC program estimated a possible fallout to Finnish Lapland from a hypothetical nuclear power plant accident occurring at the planned site. Lichen-reindeer-man food chain is an important food chain to the people living in Lapland from traditional and from economical point of views. The food chain is known to enrich radioactive contaminants efficiently. In case of nuclear fallout this food chain would be one of the primary sources of {sup 137}Cs into the inhabitants in Northern regions. The food chain has been well-studied where studies began in the 1960's and was intensified after the Chernobyl accident. This study concentrates on the effects caused by the hypothetical accident, occurring at the planned Pyhaejoki power plant, to the lichen-reindeer-man food chain. The transfer of {sup 137}Cs and {sup 134}Cs to the reindeer meat and possible doses to the man will be estimated. Document available in abstract form only. (authors)

Health status and indicators of stress-regulatory systems in children with cardiorheumatologic diseases from the zone of anti-terrorist operation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I.S. Lebets

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Background. To characterize the health status of children from the antiterrorist operation zone in the east of Ukraine with cardiorheumatologic pathology and to study the indicators of stress-regulating systems was the purpose of our work. Materials and methods. A clinical and instrumental exa­mination was performed in 126 children aged 8–18 years, 92 of them from the anti-terrorist operation zone and 34 immigrant children from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The comparison group consisted of 509 children of the same age from the Kharkiv region and Kharkiv. The intensity of stress-realizing systems was determined by the level of cortisol, thiobarbituric acid-active products and diene conjugates in the blood serum, epinephrine and norepinephrine in daily urine. The state of stress-limiting systems was assessed by the content of serotonin, reduced glutathione, activity of glutathione pe­roxidase and superoxide dismutase in the blood and melatonin in daily urine. Results. In the structure of somatic pathology of children and adolescents from zone of military operations in the east of Ukraine, cardiorheumatologic diseases rank se­cond, the first place belongs to diseases of the digestive system. In 34.1 % of children admitted to the institute for the first time, the deterioration of health occurred against the background of psychoemotional stress and lack of conditions for treatment in the main place of residence. In the structure of patients’ complaints, astheno-neurotic ones prevailed, which was significantly more frequent in children of the first group. Also, various psychosomatic disorders, diseases of the digestive system and endocrinopathy were diagnosed most often. The study of stress-regulating systems in children from the anti-terrorist operation zone revealed some differences in the indicators, taking into account the nosology. Thus, patients with cardiovascular patho­logy had an activation of stress-realizing systems, and

Cognitive-Motivational Determinants of Residents’ Civic Engagement and Health (Inequities in the Context of Noise Action Planning: A Conceptual Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natalie Riedel

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The Environmental Noise Directive expects residents to be actively involved in localising and selecting noise abatement interventions during the noise action planning process. Its intervention impact is meant to be homogeneous across population groups. Against the background of social heterogeneity and environmental disparities, however, the impact of noise action planning on exposure to traffic-related noise and its health effects is unlikely to follow homogenous distributions. Until now, there has been no study evaluating the impact of noise action measures on the social distribution of traffic-related noise exposure and health outcomes. We develop a conceptual (logic model on cognitive-motivational determinants of residents’ civic engagement and health (inequities by integrating arguments from the Model on household’s Vulnerability to the local Environment, the learned helplessness model in environmental psychology, the Cognitive Activation Theory of Stress, and the reserve capacity model. Specifically, we derive four hypothetical patterns of cognitive-motivational determinants yielding different levels of sustained physiological activation and expectancies of civic engagement. These patterns may help us understand why health inequities arise in the context of noise action planning and learn how to transform noise action planning into an instrument conducive to health equity. While building on existing frameworks, our conceptual model will be tested empirically in the next stage of our research process.

Applying the Land Use Portfolio Model to Estimate Natural-Hazard Loss and Risk - A Hypothetical Demonstration for Ventura County, California

Science.gov (United States)

Dinitz, Laura B.

2008-01-01

With costs of natural disasters skyrocketing and populations increasingly settling in areas vulnerable to natural hazards, society is challenged to better allocate its limited risk-reduction resources. In 2000, Congress passed the Disaster Mitigation Act, amending the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, Pub. L. 93-288, 1988; Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2002, 2008b; Disaster Mitigation Act, 2000), mandating that State, local, and tribal communities prepare natural-hazard mitigation plans to qualify for pre-disaster mitigation grants and post-disaster aid. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was assigned to coordinate and implement hazard-mitigation programs, and it published information about specific mitigation-plan requirements and the mechanisms (through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program-HMGP) for distributing funds (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2002). FEMA requires that each community develop a mitigation strategy outlining long-term goals to reduce natural-hazard vulnerability, mitigation objectives and specific actions to reduce the impacts of natural hazards, and an implementation plan for those actions. The implementation plan should explain methods for prioritizing, implementing, and administering the actions, along with a 'cost-benefit review' justifying the prioritization. FEMA, along with the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS), supported the development of HAZUS ('Hazards U.S.'), a geospatial natural-hazards loss-estimation tool, to help communities quantify potential losses and to aid in the selection and prioritization of mitigation actions. HAZUS was expanded to a multiple-hazard version, HAZUS-MH, that combines population, building, and natural-hazard science and economic data and models to estimate physical damages, replacement costs, and business interruption for specific natural-hazard scenarios. HAZUS

Personality and Behavior in Social Dilemmas: Testing the Situational Strength Hypothesis and the Role of Hypothetical Versus Real Incentives.

Science.gov (United States)

Lozano, José H

2016-02-01

Previous research aimed at testing the situational strength hypothesis suffers from serious limitations regarding the conceptualization of strength. In order to overcome these limitations, the present study attempts to test the situational strength hypothesis based on the operationalization of strength as reinforcement contingencies. One dispositional factor of proven effect on cooperative behavior, social value orientation (SVO), was used as a predictor of behavior in four social dilemmas with varying degree of situational strength. The moderating role of incentive condition (hypothetical vs. real) on the relationship between SVO and behavior was also tested. One hundred undergraduates were presented with the four social dilemmas and the Social Value Orientation Scale. One-half of the sample played the social dilemmas using real incentives, whereas the other half used hypothetical incentives. Results supported the situational strength hypothesis in that no behavioral variability and no effect of SVO on behavior were found in the strongest situation. However, situational strength did not moderate the effect of SVO on behavior in situations where behavior showed variability. No moderating effect was found for incentive condition either. The implications of these results for personality theory and assessment are discussed. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Legitimate Use of Military Force Against State-Sponsored International Terrorism

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Erickson, Richard

1989-01-01

... is part of a larger strategy that seeks to maximize the risk of punishment for terrorists and their sponsors and supporters while minimizing their potential rewards, In this context military action...

NATO'S Response to the 11 September 2001 Terrorism: Lessons Learned

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Kouzmanov, Krassi

2003-01-01

This thesis analyzes NATO's decisions and actions in response to the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States and assesses the probable future role of the Alliance in combating...

Change and Continuity in Indonesian Islamist Ideology and Terrorist Strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adam James Fenton

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The “Islamisation” of Indonesia has exerted a transformative force on every aspect of Indonesian society. That process continues today. It has created streams of change and continuity in thoughts, ideologies and practices, of enormous complexity. Strict doctrinal interpretation of Koranic text is not a new phenomenon, contrary to what some reports in the mass media might suggest. Its roots stretch back at least as far as the 1800s with the outbreak of violent conflicts between those urging a stricter, scripturalist application of Islam, and those adhering to traditionalist and colonialist ideologies --culminating in the Padri war of West Sumatra of 1821-38. Indicating an ostensible continuity of ideology, modern extremist ideologues, such as Abu Bakar Bashir, urge their followers toward violent conflict and terrorist actions based on an ideology of strict “Middle Eastern” interpretation of fundamental Islamic tenets. This paper argues that the strategies of those carrying out radical and violent ideologies are undergoing change, as are the strategies of the authorities tasked with combating them. Radical groups have displayed a shift away from large-scale, attacks on symbolic foreign targets towards low-level violence primarily aimed at law enforcement authorities. Authorities, on the other hand, have shown a greater tendency to shoot dead those suspected of involvement with violent radical groups. This paper will examine the changing strategies of violent radical groups and the continuity, and evolution, of the underlying Islamic ideology that provides religious justification for their violent acts. The paper will argue that engaging Indonesia’s politically active youth in an ideological dialogue on Islamism and democracy provides the best prospect for disengagement from, and breaking the cycle of recruitment for, radical violence and terrorism.[Proses panjang Islamisasi di Indonesia telah menghasilkan kekuatan transformatif di

Computational mining for hypothetical patterns of amino acid side chains in protein data bank (PDB)

Science.gov (United States)

Ghani, Nur Syatila Ab; Firdaus-Raih, Mohd

2018-04-01

The three-dimensional structure of a protein can provide insights regarding its function. Functional relationship between proteins can be inferred from fold and sequence similarities. In certain cases, sequence or fold comparison fails to conclude homology between proteins with similar mechanism. Since the structure is more conserved than the sequence, a constellation of functional residues can be similarly arranged among proteins of similar mechanism. Local structural similarity searches are able to detect such constellation of amino acids among distinct proteins, which can be useful to annotate proteins of unknown function. Detection of such patterns of amino acids on a large scale can increase the repertoire of important 3D motifs since available known 3D motifs currently, could not compensate the ever-increasing numbers of uncharacterized proteins to be annotated. Here, a computational platform for an automated detection of 3D motifs is described. A fuzzy-pattern searching algorithm derived from IMagine an Amino Acid 3D Arrangement search EnGINE (IMAAAGINE) was implemented to develop an automated method for searching of hypothetical patterns of amino acid side chains in Protein Data Bank (PDB), without the need for prior knowledge on related sequence or structure of pattern of interest. We present an example of the searches, which is the detection of a hypothetical pattern derived from known structural motif of C2H2 structural pattern from zinc fingers. The conservation of particular patterns of amino acid side chains in unrelated proteins is highlighted. This approach can act as a complementary method for available structure- and sequence-based platforms and may contribute in improving functional association between proteins.

Post-traumatic stress reactions following the March 11, 2004 terrorist attacks in a Madrid community sample: a cautionary note about the measurement of psychological trauma.

Science.gov (United States)

Vázquez, Carmelo; Pérez-Sales, Pau; Matt, Georg

2006-05-01

Posttraumatic stress reactions related to the Madrid March 11, 2004, terrorist attacks were examined in a sample of Madrid residents (N = 503) 18-25 days after the attacks, using multiple diagnostic criteria and different cut-off scores. Based on the symptoms covered by the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian (PCL-C; Weathers, Litz, Herman, Huska, and Keane, 1993), rates of probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) ranged from 3.4% to 13.3%. Taking into account additional criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 200; i.e., the impact of initial reaction and problems in daily functioning as a consequence of the traumatic event), only 1.9% of respondents reported probable PTSD. These results suggest that inferences about the impact of traumatic events on the general population are strongly influenced by the definition of traumatic response. Our findings also revealed that the magnitude of posttraumatic reactions is associated with several risk factors, including living close to the attacked locations, physical proximity to the attacks when they occurred, perception of one's life being at risk, intensity of initial emotional reactions, and being a daily user of the attacked train lines. The use of different cut-off scores did not affect the pattern of risk to develop traumatic stress. The implications of these results for public health policies related to terrorist attacks are discussed.

Study of an hypothetical reactor meltdown accident for a 50 MW sub(th) fast reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Azevedo, E.M. de.

1983-01-01

A melhodology for determining the energy released in hypothetical reactor meltdown accidents is presented. A numerical code was developed based upon the Nicholson method for a uniform and homogeneous reactor with spherical geometry. A comparative study with other know programs in the literature which use better approximations for small energy released, shows that the methodology used were compatible with those under comparison. Besides the influence of some parameters on the energy released, such as the initial power level and the prompt neutron lifetime was studied under this metodology and its result exhibitted. The Doppler effect was also analyzed and its influence on the energy released has been emphasized. (Author) [pt

Risks and consequences of a hypothetical radiological accident on nuclear powered submarine traversing Suez canal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salama, Mohamed

2008-01-01

Full text: Egypt has unique problem in Suez Canal, although there are, a number of radioactive Cargos traveling through the Canal which includes new and spent reactor fuel and about 100 metric tons of uranium hexafluoride each year, under the regulatory control of the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority, there is, still a major problem concerning the passage of a number of nuclear powered vessels and submarines passing through the canal several times each year. The passage of these vessels and submarines has a political situation and not under the regulatory control of the Egyptian regulatory body. In spite of all precautions that are taken, in the nuclear powered vessels and submarines from the point of view of the rugged design of the reactor plant, multiple safety systems and operation with exceptional consideration for safety. Although of all of these a potential for a serious accident may does arise, even though, its probability is minimal. The Government of Egypt has established a national radiological emergency plan in order to cope with any radiological accidents, which may arise inside the country. Suez Canal lies in the north east of Egypt, and passes through a zone of considerable business, agriculture and industrial activities. The zone consists of three populated provinces, Port Said, Ismailia and Suez. According to Suez Canal authority regulations it is not allowed for these vessels and submarines to be landed in port. The motivation of the present paper was undertaken to discuss a hypothetical nuclear reactor accident aboard a nuclear powered submarine occurred during its passage in the Suez Canal. Such an accident will produce a radioactive cloud containing a number of radioactive materials. In such type of accidents contamination and causality zones, could extend to several kilometers. The different phases of the accident are going to be discussed and analyzed. The emergency actions taken during the accident phases are going to be presented. The

Do children do what they say? Responses to hypothetical and real-life social problems in children with mild intellectual disabilities and behaviour problems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Nieuwenhuijzen, M; Bijman, ER; Lamberix, ICW; Wijnroks, L; de Castro, BO; Vermeer, A; Matthys, W

Background Most research on children's social problem-solving skills is based on responses to hypothetical vignettes. Just how these responses relate to actual behaviour in real-life social situations is, however, unclear, particularly for children with mild intellectual disabilities (MID). Method

The impact of SOA for achieving healthcare interoperability. An empirical investigation based on a hypothetical adoption.

Science.gov (United States)

Daskalakis, S; Mantas, J

2009-01-01

The evaluation of a service-oriented prototype implementation for healthcare interoperability. A prototype framework was developed, aiming to exploit the use of service-oriented architecture (SOA) concepts for achieving healthcare interoperability and to move towards a virtual patient record (VPR) paradigm. The prototype implementation was evaluated for its hypothetical adoption. The evaluation strategy was based on the initial proposition of the DeLone and McLean model of information systems (IS) success [1], as modeled by Iivari [2]. A set of SOA and VPR characteristics were empirically encapsulated within the dimensions of IS success model, combined with measures from previous research works. The data gathered was analyzed using partial least squares (PLS). The results highlighted that system quality is a partial predictor of system use but not of user satisfaction. On the contrary, information quality proved to be a significant predictor of user satisfaction and partially a strong significant predictor of system use. Moreover, system use did not prove to be a significant predictor of individual impact whereas the bi-directional relation between use and user satisfaction did not confirm. Additionally, user satisfaction was found to be a strong significant predictor of individual impact. Finally, individual impact proved to be a strong significant predictor of organizational impact. The empirical study attempted to obtain hypothetical, but still useful beliefs and perceptions regarding the SOA prototype implementation. The deduced observations can form the basis for further investigation regarding the adaptability of SOA implementations with VPR characteristics in the healthcare domain.

Study on the experimental VHTR safety with analysis for a hypothetical rapid depressurization accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitake, S.; Suzuki, K.; Ohno, T.; Okada, T.

1982-01-01

A hypothetical rapid depressurization accident of the experimental VHTR has been analyzed, including all phenomena in the accident, from its initiating depressurization of the coolant to consequential radiological hazard. Based on reliability analysis of the engineered safety features, all possible sequences, in which the safety systems are in success or in failure, have been investigated with event tree analysis. The result shows the inherent safety characteristics of the reactor and the effectiveness of the engineered safety features. And through the analysis, it has been indicated that further investigations on some phenomena in the accident, e.g., air ingress by natural circulation flow and fission product transport in the plant, will bring forth more reasonable and sufficient safety of the reactor

Using surveillance data to simulate the impact of a hypothetical pre-entry tuberculosis screening programme in Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Kawatsu, L; Uchimura, K; Izumi, K; Ohkado, A; Kato, S

2018-05-01

Despite a growing burden of foreign-born tuberculosis (TB) patients, Japan does not currently practise pre-entry tuberculosis (TB) screening among foreign-born entrants. To evaluate the impact of a hypothetical pre-entry TB screening programme among new foreign-born entrants into Japan. Using publicly available sources, we estimated 1) the number of prevalent TB cases, defined as bacteriologically or clinically confirmed cases among new foreign-born entrants into Japan in 2015, and 2) the yield from a hypothetical pre-entry TB screening programme under three scenarios: Scenario A, in which screening would be required of all applicants intending to stay for 3 months; Scenario B, screening among applicants for visas for settlement purposes; and Scenario C, screening among student and technical intern visa applicants. The numbers of prevalent TB cases under Scenarios A, B and C were respectively 492, 54 and 248 out of a total of 328 791, 21 554 and 182 879 applicants, respectively 276, 29 and 137 of whom would be detected via the pre-entry screening programme, giving an yield of respectively 83.9, 134.5 and 74.9 per 100 000 screened under each scenario. The yield was the highest under Scenario B; however, the impact was greatest under Scenario A, in that it detected the greatest number of patients and thus contributed the most in reducing the burden of foreign-born TB cases in Japan.

Early cost-utility analysis of general and cerebrospinal fluid-specific Alzheimer's disease biomarkers for hypothetical disease-modifying treatment decision in mild cognitive impairment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Handels, Ron L. H.; Joore, Manuela A.; Tran-Duy, An; Wimo, Anders; Wolfs, Claire A. G.; Verhey, Frans R. J.; Severens, Johan L.

Introduction: The study aimed to determine the room for improvement of a perfect cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarker and the societal incremental net monetary benefit of CSF in subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) assuming a hypothetical disease-modifying Alzheimer's disease (AD) treatment.

Cooperative international arrangements: prevention of nuclear terrorism and the extradition and prosecution of terrorists

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murphy, J.F.

1987-01-01

In considering the problems associated with prosecuting and punishing nuclear terrorists, it is noted that nuclear terrorism per se is not currently a crime under international law. To be sure, the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material would probably cover any act of nuclear terrorism that involved nuclear material used for peaceful purposes. However, nuclear material used for military purposes or military nuclear reactors is outside the scope of the convention. US legislation implementing the convention goes beyond its terms in this respect and covers crimes involving nuclear material for nonpeaceful purposes if the offense is committed within US territorial, special maritime, special territorial, or special aircraft jurisdiction or if the offense is committed by nationals of the US. The author feels an effort should be made, under the auspices of the United Nations, to conclude a convention that would define nuclear terrorism, declare it a crime under international law, and obligate state parties to extradite or prosecute those who commit the crime. Such a convention would fill the large gap in the coverage of the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material

A hypothetical severe reactor accident in Sosnovyj Bor, Russia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lahtinen, J.; Toivonen, H.; Poellaenen, R.; Nordlund, G.

1993-12-01

Individual doses and short-term radiological consequences from a hypothetical severe accident at the Russian nuclear power plant in Sosnovyj Bor were estimated for two sites in Finland. The sites are Kotka, located 140 km from the plant, and Helsinki, 220 km from the plant. The release was assumed to start immediately after the shutdown of the reactor (a 1000 MW RBMK unit) which had been operating at nominal power level for a long time. An effective release height of 500 m was assumed. The prevailing meteorological conditions during the release were taken to present the situation typical of the area (effective wind speed 9 m/s, neutral dispersion conditions). The release fractions applied in the study were of the same order as in the Chernobyl accident, i.e. 100% for noble gases, 60% for iodines, 40% for cesium and 1-10% for other radiologically important nuclides. The release was assumed to last 24 hours. However, half of the nuclides were released during the first hour. No attention was paid to the actual sequence of events that could lead to such release characteristics and time behaviour. The concentration and dose calculations were performed with a modified version of the computer code OIVA developed in Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety. Inhalation dose and external doses from the release plume and from the deposited activity were calculated for adults only, and no sheltering was considered. (11 refs., 4 figs., 6 tabs.)

The failure of international action against terrorism.

Science.gov (United States)

Suter, Keith

2006-01-01

Progress on the so-called 'War on Terrorism' is slow. There is no agreed definition of terrorism and no consistent government policy in respect of it. Consideration of terrorism ignores the role of some governments in what could be regarded as terrorist activity, often with the connivance of others for reasons of political expediency. The special case of suicide terrorism is discussed in detail. It is concluded that the world is now exposed to a new form of warfare, and that even with new military thinking this could continue for perhaps decades to come.

Classification of vulnerability information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gibson, W.G.

1984-01-01

The current upgrading of security measures at sensitive Department of Energy (DOE) facilities reflects the continuing concern over possible terrorist and other criminal acts against these facilities. Security reviews are periodically conducted at DOE facilities, deficiencies are identified, and corrective actions are recommended. While security upgrades are initiated as soon as possible, the process of securing funding and the construction or other activities necessary to complete upgrades can cause delays in correcting security vulnerabilities. Details of security weaknesses at important DOE facilities are classified in order to deny valuable information to terrorists and other malefactors