What does the marriage of Open Access with online publication bring?

Open Access online publishing is the trend of the future for unrestricted rapid and international dissemination of knowledge. Several journals are published on acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) research, but none of them appear to be Open Access. To eliminate or to abate the scourge of AIDS, it is important that the knowledge acquired through research be disseminated as soon as possible. The Open Access journal, AIDS Research and Therapy, is intended to fill this knowledge gap by online publication of basic, preclinical, and clinical research articles

Pleurostict scarabs (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae): new distributional records in Arunachal Pradesh, north-east India

Based on the specimens present in Zoological Survey of India, (Jabalpur), the paper presents new distributional record of 12 species of Pleurostict Scarabaeidae, comprising eight species of Rutelinae, two species of Cetoniinae, one species each of Melolonthinae and Dynastinae from Arunachal Pradesh (India)

Design of District Emergency Operations Centres, and the Case Study of Indian Oil Corporation Jaipur Depot Explosion

Article on the design of district emergency operations centres and a case study of Indian Oil Corporation Jaipur depot explosion

Bhopal Chemical Disaster

Encyclopedia article describing the devastating effects of a chemical disaster that took place in Bhopal, India in 1984. The author describes the effects of the chemical disaster and the events that followed

Interpol

This encyclopedia entry describes Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization. Interpol facilitates cross-border police cooperation and assists all organizations, authorities, and services with a mission to prevent or combat international crime

A new species of the genus Epistaurus (Orthoptera: Acrididae) from Central India

Epistaurus tinsensis sp. n. is described from Chhattisgarh, India. A key to the species of the genus from India is also provided

Seeking Information After the 2010 Haiti Earthquake: a Case Study in Mass-fatality Management

The 2010 earthquake in Haiti, which killed an estimated 316,000 people, offered many lessons in mass-fatality management (MFM). The dissertation defined MFM in seeking information and in recovery, preservation, identification, and disposition of human remains. Specifically, it examined how mass fatalities were managed in Haiti, how affected individuals sought information about fatalities, and what needs motivated them. Data from 28 in-depth, partially structured interviews, conducted during two field visits ending 21 weeks after the earthquake, were included in a case study. The data analysis revealed the MFM was severely inadequate. One interviewee, a senior UN official, stated, "There was no fatality management." The analysis also indicated a need to learn whereabouts of the deceased motivated individuals to visit spots the deceased were last seen at. It sought to illumine information-seeking practices, as discussed in the works of J. David Johnson and others, by developing a new model of information flow in MFM. In addition, it reaffirmed Donald Case and Thomas Wilson's theoretical proposition – that need guides any seeking of information – in the case of Haiti. Finally, it produced recommendations regarding future directions in MFM for emergency managers and information scientists, including possible use of unidentified body parts in organ transplants. Overall, the dissertation, which was supported by two grants of the National Science Foundation, attempted to add to relatively scanty literature in information seeking in MFM

Design of district emergency operations centres, and the case study of Indian Oil Corporation Jaipur depot explosion

Abstract: The author of this paper was appointed by the Government of Rajasthan state in India to design Emergency Operations Centers (EOC) at district level. The assignment was to submit an implementable practical report of district level EOCs design for equipment, personnel and training. This paper describes the process used for this design. A list of priority equipment, staffing pattern and specific training programmes were suggested. On the basis of the recommendations, EOCs have been set up in all the 33 districts of Rajasthan. The case study of the explosion at the Indian Oil Corporation's Jaipur depot illustrates the use of alternative field EOC in responding to the explosion and the relevance of the EOC consultant's recommendations in responding to the disasters. The objectives of this paper are to share the experiences of designing EOCs in a developing country, and the methods of optimisation for meeting objectives under resource constraints