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Secretary Napolitano and Dutch Minister of Security and Justice Ivo Opstelten Sign Letter of Intent on Cybersecurity Cooperation
DHS Press Releases - 11 hours 33 min ago
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010
WASHINGTON—Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Dutch Minister of Security and Justice Ivo Opstelten today signed a Letter of Intent to build upon cooperative cybersecurity initiatives to promote a safe, secure and resilient cyber environment.
“The United States is strongly committed to working with international partners to combat threats to security and economic stability,” said Secretary Napolitano. “This Letter will help us strengthen collaboration and cooperation in the area of cybersecurity with the Dutch government to better protect the citizens of both nations.”
“Cybersecurity has become a priority on the international agenda. In January, the Netherlands opened the National Cybersecurity Center, a partnership between the public, private and academic sectors. Bilateral security cooperation between the Netherlands and the United States is already strong and this Letter of Intent will further enhance our collaboration in cybersecurity,” said Minister Ivo Opstelten.
The Letter of Intent signed today recognizes expanded coordination between the United States and the Netherlands, and outlines several areas to further collaborate on cybersecurity including incident management and response activities, control systems security, and cybersecurity exercises.
During the meeting, Secretary Napolitano and Minister Opstelten also discussed the importance of international security partnerships as well as collaborative efforts to combat terrorism and transnational crime, and ensure a stronger, safer, and more resilient global supply chain. Secretary Napolitano traveled to the Netherlands last June to meet with her counterparts as part of the Department’s ongoing commitment to securing the global supply chain and international transportation systems.
For more information, visit www.dhs.gov.
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Categories: Government Agency News, Homeland Security News
New: Blast Preparedness and Response Training and Continuing Education
CDC Emergency Preparedness and Response - Tue, 02/21/2012 - 18:00
This course focuses on the effects of explosive events and provides the latest clinical information regarding blast-related injuries from terrorism. It was developed to compliment all hazards disaster response training programs and also serve as an independent training source for emergency responders and hospital staff.
Categories: Government Agency News
Update: Blast and Bombing Injuries
CDC Emergency Preparedness and Response - Tue, 02/21/2012 - 18:00
In an instant, an explosion or blast can wreck havoc; producing numerous casualties with complex, technically challenging injuries not commonly seen after natural disasters such as floods or hurricanes.
Categories: Government Agency News
Ozone-induced lung injury and sterile inflammation. Role of toll-like receptor 4.
Jeffrey D. Laskin, Ph.D. - Tue, 02/21/2012 - 15:00
Ozone-induced lung injury and sterile inflammation. Role of toll-like receptor 4.
Exp Mol Pathol. 2012 Jan 24;
Authors: Connor AJ, Laskin JD, Laskin DL
Abstract
Inhalation of toxic doses of ozone is associated with a sterile inflammatory response characterized by an accumulation of macrophages in the lower lung which are activated to release cytotoxic/proinflammatory mediators that contribute to tissue injury. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is a pattern recognition receptor present on macrophages that has been implicated in sterile inflammatory responses. In the present studies we used TLR4 mutant C3H/HeJ mice to analyze the role of TLR4 in ozone-induced lung injury, oxidative stress and inflammation. Acute exposure of control C3H/HeOuJ mice to ozone (0.8ppm for 3h) resulted in increases in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) lipocalin 24p3 and 4-hydroxynonenal modified protein, markers of oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation. This was correlated with increases in BAL protein, as well as numbers of alveolar macrophages. Levels of surfactant protein-D, a pulmonary collectin known to regulate macrophage inflammatory responses also increased in BAL following ozone inhalation. Ozone inhalation was associated with classical macrophage activation, as measured by increased NF-κB binding activity and expression of TNFα mRNA. The observation that these responses to ozone were not evident in TLR4 mutant C3H/HeJ mice demonstrates that functional TLR4 contributes to ozone-induced sterile inflammation and macrophage activation.
PMID: 22300504 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Categories: Publications from UCDPER Members
New Jersey: a case study of the reduction in urban and suburban air pollution from the 1950s to 2010.
Paul J. Lioy, Ph.D. - Tue, 02/21/2012 - 15:00
New Jersey: a case study of the reduction in urban and suburban air pollution from the 1950s to 2010.
Environ Health Perspect. 2011 Oct;119(10):1351-5
Authors: Lioy PJ, Georgopoulos PG
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Air pollution has been a topic of intense concern and study for hundreds of years. During the second half of the 20th century, the United States implemented regulations and controls to reduce the levels of criteria air pollutants and achieve the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for the protection of human health, while concurrently reducing the levels of toxic air pollutants.
OBJECTIVE: In this commentary we trace the changes in air pollution in New Jersey as a case study, demonstrating the impact of local, state, and federal strategies to control emissions of pollutants and pollutant precursors from the 1950s until today.
DISCUSSION: The original NAAQS (1970-1995) have been achieved, and significant progress has been made to achieve revised standards for ozone and particulate matter (PM) < 2.5 µm in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5) in New Jersey, which in the past was considered a highly polluted industrial state.
CONCLUSIONS: Assuming no reversals on current regulations because of some major event or energy infrastructure disruption, outdoor air pollution reductions will continue to address health risks among specific segments of the general population affected by ozone/PM and pollution caused by neighborhood, local, and regional point and mobile sources.
PMID: 21622086 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Categories: Publications from UCDPER Members
Readout of Secretary Napolitano’s Visit to Texas
DHS Press Releases - Tue, 02/21/2012 - 07:00
MCALLEN, Texas—Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano today traveled to McAllen, Texas and joined U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Acting Commissioner David Aguilar to see CBP operations at the Southwest border, discuss the Department’s efforts to secure the border while facilitating lawful travel and trade, and meet with state and local law enforcement officials.
“The men and women of CBP work hard every day to keep our borders safe while facilitating the trade and travel that are so essential to the economy of the Southwest region and the United States,” said Secretary Napolitano. “This administration has deployed unprecedented resources along the Southwest border and we continue to work closely with our partners at all levels—including other federal agencies, state, local, tribal and territorial law enforcement, the private sector and the government of Mexico—to secure our border.”
Secretary Napolitano and Acting Commissioner Aguilar visited the Port of Hidalgo, Pharr Bridge, CBP’s Air and Marine Branch, and the Border Patrol Forward Operating Base near Falcon Heights where they saw some of CBP’s capabilities along the Southwest border as well as recent investments in personnel, technology and infrastructure.
While in McAllen, Secretary Napolitano and Acting Commissioner Aguilar met with DHS employees in the region and held a roundtable discussion with state, local and tribal law enforcement partners to underscore the Department’s commitment to continuing to strengthen information and intelligence sharing along the Southwest border.
Nationwide, illegal immigration attempts, as measured by Border Patrol apprehensions, have decreased 53 percent in the past three years, and are less than 20 percent of what they were at their peak.
For more information, visit www.dhs.gov.
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Categories: Government Agency News, Homeland Security News
Hezbollah denies responsibility for attempted terror attacks against Israeli targets
Homeland Security News - Sun, 02/19/2012 - 17:12
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah denied Israeli accusations on Thursday that his group was behind bombers who targeted Israeli missions in India and Georgia this week. “I assure you that Hezbollah has nothing to do with this, he told supporters. Israel accused Iran and Hezbollah of being behind twin bomb attacks that targeted Israeli embassy staff [...]
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Hezbollah denies responsibility for attempted terror attacks against Israeli targets
Categories: Homeland Security News
How safe is the cargo on passenger flights?
Homeland Security News - Sun, 02/19/2012 - 16:55
This report is based on a one-year investigation by CNN into air cargo security in light of a thwarted plot by al Qaeda in October 2010 to blow up cargo jets over the United States. CNN’s Nic Robertson’s report “Deadly Cargo” airs on CNN Presents, Saturday and Sunday February 18, 19 at 8 p.m. ET [...]
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How safe is the cargo on passenger flights?
Categories: Homeland Security News
TSA Has Several Unusual Incidents
Homeland Security News - Sat, 02/18/2012 - 19:26
According to the agency’s blog , a man tried to take a spear gun onto a plane at Newark Liberty International Airport this week, thinking it was just fine since it wasn’t a bullet-firing gun. Another guy thought humor would help him get through security faster at Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip. A passenger [...]
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TSA Has Several Unusual Incidents
Categories: Homeland Security News
London-based oil executive linked to 9/11 hijackers
Homeland Security News - Sat, 02/18/2012 - 19:20
The UK’s Telegraph reports that a Saudi Arabian man accused of associating with several of the September 11 hijackers and who disappeared from his home in the United States a few weeks before the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, is in London working for his country’s state oil company. Security records of [...]
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London-based oil executive linked to 9/11 hijackers
Categories: Homeland Security News
The World Health Organization (WHO) Recommends Vaccine Composition for the 2011-2012 Northern Hemisphere Influenza Season
PandemicFlu.gov - Sat, 02/18/2012 - 15:00
The World Health Organization (WHO) Recommends Vaccine Composition for the 2011-2012 Northern Hemisphere Influenza Season
Categories: Government Agency News
Size-dependent oxygen activation efficiency over Pd(n)/TiO2(110) for the CO oxidation reaction.
Fred S. Roberts, Ph.D. - Sat, 02/18/2012 - 03:00
Size-dependent oxygen activation efficiency over Pd(n)/TiO2(110) for the CO oxidation reaction.
J Am Chem Soc. 2010 Sep 29;132(38):13097-9
Authors: Kaden WE, Kunkel WA, Kane MD, Roberts FS, Anderson SL
The dissociative binding efficiency of oxygen over Pd(n)/TiO(2)(110) (n = 4, 7, 10, 20) has been measured using temperature programmed reaction (TPR) mass spectrometry and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) following exposure to O(2) with varying doses and dose temperatures. Experiments were carried out following two different O(2) exposures at 400 K (10 L and 50 L) and for 10 L of O(2) exposure at varying temperatures (T(surf) = 200, 300, and 400 K). During TPR taken after sequential O(2) and CO (5 L at 180 K) exposures, unreacted CO is found to desorb in three features at T(desorb) ≈ 150, 200, and 430 K, while CO(2) is observed to desorb between 170 and 450 K. We show that Pd(20) has exceptionally high efficiency for oxygen activation, compared to other cluster sizes. As a consequence, its activity becomes limited by competitive CO binding at low O(2) exposures, while other Pd(n) sizes are still limited by inefficient O(2) activation. This difference in mechanism can ultimately be related back to differences in electronic properties, thus making this question one that is interesting from the theoretical perspective. We also demonstrate a correlation between one of the two CO binding sites and CO(2) production, suggesting that only CO in that site is reactive.
PMID: 20809570 [PubMed]
Categories: Publications from UCDPER Members
Digital biology: an emerging and promising discipline.
Fred S. Roberts, Ph.D. - Sat, 02/18/2012 - 03:00
Digital biology: an emerging and promising discipline.
Trends Biotechnol. 2005 Mar;23(3):113-7
Authors: Morris RW, Bean CA, Farber GK, Gallahan D, Jakobsson E, Liu Y, Lyster PM, Peng GC, Roberts FS, Twery M, Whitmarsh J, Skinner K
This article examines the role of computation and quantitative methods in modern biomedical research to identify emerging scientific, technical, policy and organizational trends. It identifies common concerns and practices in the emerging community of computationally-oriented bio-scientists by reviewing a national symposium, Digital Biology: the Emerging Paradigm, held at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, November 6th and 7th 2003. This meeting showed how biomedical computing promises scientific breakthroughs that will yield significant health benefits. Three key areas that define the emerging discipline of digital biology are: scientific data integration, multi-scale modeling and networked science. Each area faces unique technical challenges and information policy issues that must be addressed as the field matures. Here we summarize the emergent challenges and offer suggestions to academia, industry and government on how best to expand the role of computation in their scientific activities.
PMID: 15734552 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Categories: Publications from UCDPER Members
Consensus functions and patterns in molecular sequences.
Fred S. Roberts, Ph.D. - Sat, 02/18/2012 - 03:00
Consensus functions and patterns in molecular sequences.
Bull Math Biol. 1993;55(4):695-713
Authors: Mirkin B, Roberts FS
In recent years, methods of consensus, developed for the solution of problems in the social sciences, have become widely used in molecular biology. We study a method of consensus originally due to Waterman et al. (Waterman, Galas and Arratis. 1984. Pattern recognition in several sequences: consensus and alignment. Bull. math. Biol. 46, 515-527) which is used to identify patterns or features in a molecular sequence where a pattern can vary in position within a given window. We show that some well-known consensus methods of the social sciences, the median and the mean, are special cases of this method for certain choices of the parameters used in it and give a precise account of the parameters for which these special cases arise. We also show that the specific parameters used in the method of Waterman et al. make their method equivalent to the media procedure which is widely used in the social sciences.
PMID: 8318927 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Categories: Publications from UCDPER Members
Iranian Suspects In Alleged Terror Plot Cavorted With Prostitutes
Homeland Security News - Fri, 02/17/2012 - 19:27
The three Iranian men detained for allegedly plotting bomb attacks in Bangkok on Israeli diplomats had more than terror on their minds in Thailand. Police said Friday that they had also cavorted with prostitutes at a beach resort. The news comes as Thai authorities announced they were searching for two more suspects in the botched [...]
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Iranian Suspects In Alleged Terror Plot Cavorted With Prostitutes
Categories: Homeland Security News
Al Qaeda and Iran May Be Planning a Spectacular Attack
Homeland Security News - Fri, 02/17/2012 - 19:22
Reports that Iran is cooperating with al-Qaeda on a “spectacular” attack on the West have to be taken seriously, particularly in light of the attempted assassinations of Israeli diplomats last week and the revelation last year that al-Qaeda had begun using Iran as a transit point to its bases in Pakistan and Afghanistan. They’re not [...]
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Al Qaeda and Iran May Be Planning a Spectacular Attack
Categories: Homeland Security News
Feds Arrest Man Allegedly Heading To U.S. Capitol For Suicide Mission
Homeland Security News - Fri, 02/17/2012 - 18:50
Authorities arrested and charged Friday a Virginia man allegedly on his way to the U.S. Capitol for what he thought would be a suicide attack on one of the nation’s most symbolic landmarks. The federal criminal complaint against the suspect identifies him as Amine El Khalifi, a 29-year-old Moroccan citizen who has been living in [...]
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Feds Arrest Man Allegedly Heading To U.S. Capitol For Suicide Mission
Categories: Homeland Security News
Notifiable Diseases and Mortality Tables
CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report - Fri, 02/17/2012 - 15:55
Categories: Government Agency News
QuickStats: Drug Poisoning Death Rates,* by Intent — United States, 1999–2009
CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report - Fri, 02/17/2012 - 15:54
Categories: Government Agency News
Errata: Vol. 61, No. 4
CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report - Fri, 02/17/2012 - 15:54
Categories: Government Agency News
