TechNews digests: Jan - Nov 2005

TechNews is a technology, news and analysis service aimed at anyone in the education sector keen to stay informed about technology developments, trends and issues. TechNews focuses on emerging technologies and other technology news. TechNews service : digests september 2004 till May 2010 Analysis pieces and News combined publish every 2 to 3 month

Analysis of peripheral immune responses for the development of an encephalitis non-human primate animal model for new world alphaviruses

The New World alphaviruses eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV), Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV), and western equine encephalitis virus (WEEV) are all mosquito-borne pathogens originating in North and South America. All three viruses are capable of causing severe illness in animals and humans, with extreme cases leading to encephalitis. Given the lack of commercially available vaccines or treatments, and previous research into these pathogens as potential bioterrorism weapons, all three are of great significance to public health. The aim of our laboratory was to develop a cynomolgus macaque model to study the unique neuropathology of each virus when delivered via an aerosol route, the most likely delivery route for a biological attack. To assess pathogenesis, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated from whole blood and analyzed by flow cytometry. Inflammation in the central nervous system (CNS) was also evaluated using a LEGENDplex bead based immunological array. Results indicate a substantial increase in the number of CCR2+ myeloid cells in circulation, a receptor important for homing and migration to infected tissue. In addition, inflammatory cytokines MCP-1 (CCL-2), IP-10, IL-6, and IL-8 were substantially upregulated in the CNS tissues and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of lethally infected animals. Collectively, this suggests homing and migration of peripheral immune cells to the CNS, and identifies potential markers for future longitudinal studies of alphavirus disease progression and severity

Malicious Code and Spam in Wired and Wireless Environments: Problems and Solutions

Over the last several years digital pests - namely viruses and spam - have reached epidemic proportions, severely impacting the usability of digital communication systems, primarily affecting email. These pests result in increased bandwidth usage, increased operating costs, potential security threats and above all decreased usability. They also have the potential to create Denial of Service attacks, crippling the networks that they infect or target. Whilst to date they have been mostly confined to email, it is becoming apparent that they have the potential to impact digital communications infrastructure of the future. For example, concerns have already been raised with regards to the potential impact of spam on Voice over IP. Spam and viruses have also been appearing within other technologies and communication media, including mobile phone networks and hand held devices. To combat the above mentioned security problems, we propose an email scanning gateway using open source tools, whilst ensuring that the gateway can be readily deployed in a commercial environment. In this paper we present details of the design and implementation, and discuss several possible applications of our proposed syste

EMS Contaminant Isolation Eng.

Isolation and control of bodily substances is an important aspect of pre-hospital emergency care. Proper decontamination is required to ensure safe working and transporting environments for both the healthcare provider and patient in the ambulance. Current methods for disinfecting the ambulance and its equipment have room for improvement. We have collaborated with Worcester Emergency Medical Service (WEMS) paramedics to identify the need for better cleaning procedures and equipment that are better designed to remove contaminants. Common pathogenic risks present to both Emergency Medical Service (EMS) personnel and their patients were analyzed. Alternative disinfection methods and equipment were considered and recommended

Estimating the impact of city-wide Aedes aegypti population control: An observational study in Iquitos, Peru.

During the last 50 years, the geographic range of the mosquito Aedes aegypti has increased dramatically, in parallel with a sharp increase in the disease burden from the viruses it transmits, including Zika, chikungunya, and dengue. There is a growing consensus that vector control is essential to prevent Aedes-borne diseases, even as effective vaccines become available. What remains unclear is how effective vector control is across broad operational scales because the data and the analytical tools necessary to isolate the effect of vector-oriented interventions have not been available. We developed a statistical framework to model Ae. aegypti abundance over space and time and applied it to explore the impact of citywide vector control conducted by the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Iquitos, Peru, over a 12-year period. Citywide interventions involved multiple rounds of intradomicile insecticide space spray over large portions of urban Iquitos (up to 40% of all residences) in response to dengue outbreaks. Our model captured significant levels of spatial, temporal, and spatio-temporal variation in Ae. aegypti abundance within and between years and across the city. We estimated the shape of the relationship between the coverage of neighborhood-level vector control and reductions in female Ae. aegypti abundance; i.e., the dose-response curve. The dose-response curve, with its associated uncertainties, can be used to gauge the necessary spraying effort required to achieve a desired effect and is a critical tool currently absent from vector control programs. We found that with complete neighborhood coverage MoH intra-domicile space spray would decrease Ae. aegypti abundance on average by 67% in the treated neighborhood. Our framework can be directly translated to other interventions in other locations with geolocated mosquito abundance data. Results from our analysis can be used to inform future vector-control applications in Ae. aegypti endemic areas globally

Critical Management Issues for Implementing RFID in Supply Chain Management

The benefits of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology in the supply chain are fairly compelling. It has the potential to revolutionise the efficiency, accuracy and security of the supply chain with significant impact on overall profitability. A number of companies are actively involved in testing and adopting this technology. It is estimated that the market for RFID products and services will increase significantly in the next few years. Despite this trend, there are major impediments to RFID adoption in supply chain. While RFID systems have been around for several decades, the technology for supply chain management is still emerging. We describe many of the challenges, setbacks and barriers facing RFID implementations in supply chains, discuss the critical issues for management and offer some suggestions. In the process, we take an in-depth look at cost, technology, standards, privacy and security and business process reengineering related issues surrounding RFID technology in supply chains

Comparing Information Assurance Awareness Training for End-Users: A Content Analysis Examination of Air Force and Defense Information Systems Agency User Training Modules

Today, the threats to information security and assurance are great. While there are many avenues for IT professionals to safeguard against these threats, many times these defenses prove useless against typical system users. Mandated by laws and regulations, all government agencies and most private companies have established information assurance (IA) awareness programs, most of which include user training. Much has been given in the existing literature to laying out the guidance for the roles and responsibilities of IT professionals and higher level managers, but less is specified for everyday users of information systems. This thesis attempts to determine the content necessary to educate system users of their roles and responsibilities for IA. Using the NIST Special Publication 800-50 as a guide, categories of threats and knowledge areas are established and the literature is analyzed and separated into the categories. The thesis closes with a comparison of the IA awareness training modules of the United State\u27s Air Force and Defense Information Systems Agency and a discussion of areas of further research concerning IA awareness training

FEASIBILITY OF RFID TECHNOLOGY IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN OF ABB MEDIUM VOLTAGE PRODUCTS

Tämä pro gradu tutkielma käsittelee RFID – teknologian soveltuvuutta ABB Oy Medium Voltage Productin toimitusketjussa. Tutkimus toteutettiin tapaustutkimuksena käyttäen sekä laadullisia että määrällisiä menetelmiä. Tutkimuksen taustalla vaikutti yritysten tarve kehittää ja tehostaa tuotantoketjun toimintaa. Jotta yrityksen toiminta säilyisi kannattavana tulevaisuudessa kiristyvän kilpailun vallitessa, on nykyisillä resursseilla kyettävä toimimaan entistä tehokkaammin. Tutkielman viitekehyksen perustana oli alaan liittyvä kirjallisuus sekä tieteelliset elektronisessa muodossa olevat ajankohtaiset julkaisut. Osa teoksista oli julkaistu jo monia vuosia sitten, mutta perusajatukset RFID – teknologiasta ovat pysyneet muuttumattomina. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää RFID – teknologian toteutettavuutta ABB Medium Voltage Productsin toimitusketjun eri vaihessa. Lisäksi tuotiin esille erilaisia ehdotuksia siitä, miten RFID – teknologia voitaisiin käytännössä implementoida ABB:lle. Tavoitteena oli myös selvittää ja vertailla eri investointimahdollisuuksien takaisinmaksuaikoja toimitusketjun eri osissa. RFID – teknologian osalta pääajatus oli kuvata teknologia ensin yleisesti ja sitten tarkemmin yrityksen toimitusketjujen ja eri prosessien näkökulmista. RFID – teknologian käytännön sovelluksia ja toteutuneita projekteja löydettiin myös ja niitä etsittiin siksi, jotta voitaisiin huomata miten toiminta käytännössä tehostui. Keskeisin havainto oli huomata, että RFID – teknologia ei ole välttämätä aina järkevä investointi. Vaikka teknologia vaikuttaisi ensialkuun tehokkaalta ja luotettavalta, löytyy siitä useita ongelmakohtia ja haasteita joihin on tulevaisuudessa löydettävä toimivia ja kustannustehokkaita ratkaisuja. Tulevaisuudessa olisi tärkeää tutkia miten RFID tunnisteet saataisiin inegroitua piirikortteihin sekä kuinka teknologian käyttöönotto tehostaisi ulkoisen varaston tarjoajan prosesseja.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format