Стратегия снижения рисков против ядерного и радиационного терроризма в Нигерии

Распространение оружия массового поражения несёт угрозы миру и национальной безопасности каждого государства. Террористическая активность в мире ставит новые требования к обеспечению физической безопасности ядерных и радиоактивных веществ для развитых государств. Нигерия - член МАГАТЭ, развивающий ядерные технологии для образования и промышленности, а в будущих планах страны - для выработки электроэнергии. Действия террористической исламистской секты "Боко Харам" в северо-восточной части страны вынуждают серьёзно рассматривать угрозу атаки на объекты ЯТЦ с целью завладеть ядерными материалами и радиоактивными веществами. В этой работе проведён анализ угроз террористических атак в Нигерии с учётом местоположения объектов и маршрутов перемещения ЯМ и РВ между ними. Рассмотрена деятельность группировки "Боко Харам", национальное законодательство Нигерии в области обращения с ЯМ и РВ, а также участие в международных договорах и соглашениях по нераспространению

Стратегия снижения рисков против ядерного и радиационного терроризма в Нигерии

Распространение оружия массового поражения несёт угрозы миру и национальной безопасности каждого государства. Террористическая активность в мире ставит новые требования к обеспечению физической безопасности ядерных и радиоактивных веществ для развитых государств. Нигерия - член МАГАТЭ, развивающий ядерные технологии для образования и промышленности, а в будущих планах страны - для выработки электроэнергии. Действия террористической исламистской секты "Боко Харам" в северо-восточной части страны вынуждают серьёзно рассматривать угрозу атаки на объекты ЯТЦ с целью завладеть ядерными материалами и радиоактивными веществами. В этой работе проведён анализ угроз террористических атак в Нигерии с учётом местоположения объектов и маршрутов перемещения ЯМ и РВ между ними. Рассмотрена деятельность группировки "Боко Харам", национальное законодательство Нигерии в области обращения с ЯМ и РВ, а также участие в международных договорах и соглашениях по нераспространению

Neonatal septicemia: bacteriological profile in a tertiary level hospital in South India

Background: Early onset bacterial sepsis remains a major cause of neonatal morbidity and death. The choice of antibiotic for an infant with sepsis depends on the predominant bacterial pathogens and the antibiotic susceptibility profiles for the microorganisms causing disease in a particular geographic region. The purpose of this study was to analyze the bacteriological profile and antibiotic sensitivity pattern of neonatal septicemia in our neonatal unit.Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study carried was out at the NICU of a tertiary level hospital in South India for a period of one year.Results: Clinically suspected septicemia comprised 18.14% of total NICU admissions. Organism was isolated by blood culture in 14.9% of cases. The most common organisms causing septicemia were Coagulase negative Staphylococci, Klebsiella and Staphylococcus aureus. Gram positive isolates were most sensitive to Vancomycin (100%) while the gram negative isolates were most sensitive to Amikacin. Resistance to Crystalline Penicillin, Ampicillin  and 3rd generation cephalosporins was high.Conclusions: The most common organism isolated in septicemia was Coagulase negative staphylococcus in our NICU. Gram positive isolates were most sensitive to Vancomycin (100%) while the gram negative isolates were most sensitive to Amikacin. High resistance to commonly used antibiotics is worrisome. There should be a constant surveillance of the common microbes and their sensitivity pattern in each NICU and the antibiotic protocols should be periodically reviewed. Rational use of antibiotics and preventive measures like hand washing is the need of the hour

Quantifying black carbon deposition over the Greenland ice sheet from forest fires in Canada

Black carbon (BC) concentrations observed in 22 snowpits sampled in the northwest sector of the Greenland ice sheet in April 2014 have allowed us to identify a strong and widespread BC aerosol deposition event, which was dated to have accumulated in the pits from two snow storms between 27 July and 2 August 2013. This event comprises a significant portion (57% on average across all pits) of total BC deposition over 10 months (July 2013 to April 2014). Here we link this deposition event to forest fires burning in Canada during summer 2013 using modeling and remote sensing tools. Aerosols were detected by both the Cloud‐Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (on board CALIPSO) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (Aqua) instruments during transport between Canada and Greenland. We use high‐resolution regional chemical transport modeling (WRF‐Chem) combined with high‐resolution fire emissions (FINNv1.5) to study aerosol emissions, transport, and deposition during this event. The model captures the timing of the BC deposition event and shows that fires in Canada were the main source of deposited BC. However, the model underpredicts BC deposition compared to measurements at all sites by a factor of 2–100. Underprediction of modeled BC deposition originates from uncertainties in fire emissions and model treatment of wet removal of aerosols. Improvements in model descriptions of precipitation scavenging and emissions from wildfires are needed to correctly predict deposition, which is critical for determining the climate impacts of aerosols that originate from fires

Cities in fiction: Perambulations with John Berger

This paper explores selected novels by John Berger in which cities play a central role. These cities are places, partially real and partially imagined, where memory, hope, and despair intersect. My reading of the novels enables me to trace important themes in recent discourses on the nature of contemporary capitalism, including notions of resistance and universality. I also show how Berger?s work points to a writing that can break free from the curious capacity of capitalism to absorb and feed of its critique

Chemical data assimilation estimates of continental U.S. ozone and nitrogen budgets during the Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment-North America

Global ozone analyses, based on assimilation of stratospheric profile and ozone column measurements, and NOy predictions from the Real-time Air Quality Modeling System (RAQMS) are used to estimate the ozone and NOy budget over the continental United States during the July-August 2004 Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment-North America (INTEX-A). Comparison with aircraft, satellite, surface, and ozonesonde measurements collected during INTEX-A show that RAQMS captures the main features of the global and continental U.S. distribution of tropospheric ozone, carbon monoxide, and NOy with reasonable fidelity. Assimilation of stratospheric profile and column ozone measurements is shown to have a positive impact on the RAQMS upper tropospheric/lower stratosphere ozone analyses, particularly during the period when SAGE III limb scattering measurements were available. Eulerian ozone and NOy budgets during INTEX-A show that the majority of the continental U.S. export occurs in the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere poleward of the tropopause break, a consequence of convergence of tropospheric and stratospheric air in this region. Continental U.S. photochemically produced ozone was found to be a minor component of the total ozone export, which was dominated by stratospheric ozone during INTEX-A. The unusually low photochemical ozone export is attributed to anomalously cold surface temperatures during the latter half of the INTEX-A mission, which resulted in net ozone loss during the first 2 weeks of August. Eulerian NOy budgets are shown to be very consistent with previously published estimates. The NOy export efficiency was estimated to be 24%, with NOx + PAN accounting for 54% of the total NOy export during INTEX-A. Copyright 2007 by the American Geophysical Union

Reviews and syntheses : Arctic fire regimes and emissions in the 21st century

In recent years, the pan-Arctic region has experienced increasingly extreme fire seasons. Fires in the northern high latitudes are driven by current and future climate change, lightning, fuel conditions, and human activity. In this context, conceptualizing and parameterizing current and future Arctic fire regimes will be important for fire and land management as well as understanding current and predicting future fire emissions. The objectives of this review were driven by policy questions identified by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) Working Group and posed to its Expert Group on Short-Lived Climate Forcers. This review synthesizes current understanding of the changing Arctic and boreal fire regimes, particularly as fire activity and its response to future climate change in the pan-Arctic have consequences for Arctic Council states aiming to mitigate and adapt to climate change in the north. The conclusions from our synthesis are the following. (1) Current and future Arctic fires, and the adjacent boreal region, are driven by natural (i.e. lightning) and human-caused ignition sources, including fires caused by timber and energy extraction, prescribed burning for landscape management, and tourism activities. Little is published in the scientific literature about cultural burning by Indigenous populations across the pan-Arctic, and questions remain on the source of ignitions above 70 degrees N in Arctic Russia. (2) Climate change is expected to make Arctic fires more likely by increasing the likelihood of extreme fire weather, increased lightning activity, and drier vegetative and ground fuel conditions. (3) To some extent, shifting agricultural land use and forest transitions from forest-steppe to steppe, tundra to taiga, and coniferous to deciduous in a warmer climate may increase and decrease open biomass burning, depending on land use in addition to climate-driven biome shifts. However, at the country and landscape scales, these relationships are not well established. (4) Current black carbon and PM2.5 emissions from wildfires above 50 and 65 degrees N are larger than emissions from the anthropogenic sectors of residential combustion, transportation, and flaring. Wildfire emissions have increased from 2010 to 2020, particularly above 60 degrees N, with 56% of black carbon emissions above 65 degrees N in 2020 attributed to open biomass burning - indicating how extreme the 2020 wildfire season was and how severe future Arctic wildfire seasons can potentially be. (5) What works in the boreal zones to prevent and fight wildfires may not work in the Arctic. Fire management will need to adapt to a changing climate, economic development, the Indigenous and local communities, and fragile northern ecosystems, including permafrost and peatlands. (6) Factors contributing to the uncertainty of predicting and quantifying future Arctic fire regimes include underestimation of Arctic fires by satellite systems, lack of agreement between Earth observations and official statistics, and still needed refinements of location, conditions, and previous fire return intervals on peat and permafrost landscapes. This review highlights that much research is needed in order to understand the local and regional impacts of the changing Arctic fire regime on emissions and the global climate, ecosystems, and pan-Arctic communities.peerReviewe