Improvised Explosive Device (IED) is a weapon of choice and is likely to remain a major component of the Global War on Terrorism. It is critical that gaps in knowledge transfer are quickly addressed in order to more effectively equip personnel to counter IED (C-IED) threat. Therefore, the military must analyze the current Knowledge Management (KM) programs in C-IED arena in order to maximize transfer of knowledge derived from experience and skill to staffs and finally to commanders. This study investigates the factors that influence effective use of KM in C-IED operations in the military. The study suggests that effective KM program is determined by the interaction of three organizational capabilities: knowledge infrastructure, knowledge process, and leadership orientation. A self-administrated survey was conducted on 300 NATO staff officers who have served in C-IED environments. A structural equation modeling technique was used to test a set of hypotheses using 118 completed responses collected from the survey. The results suggest that out of the 11 constructs within the model; two are rated as àttribute needs immediate attention (i.e. Culture and Traditional Leadership), eight are rated as àttribute needs further enhancement (i.e. Overall Organizational Capability, Knowledge Process, Knowledge Infrastructure, Acquisition, Transfer, Application, Structure and Transformational Leadership) and one is rated as àttribute runs satisfactorily (i.e. Technology). The results of this research have particular value to engineering management researchers and practitioners operating in military domains because it proposes, empirically tests and justifies a conceptual model that explains KM in C-IED operations in the military.
The purpose of this paper is to provide insights regarding the implementation of using Project Risk Management (PRM) and Decision Analysis (DA) in managing projects for complex systems such as maritime vessels. The PRM approach apprehends many forms of risk both internal and external within a given project and assists the manager in determining the level of importance of each individual project phase and component to optimize project success. Ship Maintenance and Repair project decision-making requires that risk management and risk analysis techniques be applied in order to guide management in making better decisions to meet ship service life perspective. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach to project management is used to identify the short term limitations of projects with respect to a product's life cycle. There are many tools and techniques to assist project managers in implementing optimal solutions, but published statistics indicate failures to meet schedules and/or budgets are still common. The methodology for reducing risk and for determining how much contingency to add to reduce residual risk to an acceptable level will be discussed herein. This paper contributes to a discussion of empirical investigation centered across the areas of Project Management, Decision-Making, Reliability Centered Maintenance and Condition-Based Management.
In: International journal of cyber warfare and terrorism: IJCWT ; an official publication of the Information Resources Management Association, Band 11, Heft 3, S. 41-57
A recent cyberweapons effectiveness methodology clearly provides a parallel but distinct process from that of kinetic weapons – both for defense and offense purposes. This methodology promotes consistency and improves cyberweapon system evaluation accuracy – for both offensive and defensive postures. However, integrating this cyberweapons effectiveness methodology into the design phase and operations phase of weapons systems development is still a challenge. The paper explores several systems engineering modeling techniques (e.g., SysML) and how they can be leveraged towards an enhanced effectiveness methodology. It highlights how failure mode analyses (e.g., FMEA) can facilitate cyber damage determination and target assessment, how block and parametric diagraming techniques can facilitate characterizing cyberweapons and eventually assess the effectiveness of such weapons and conversely assess vulnerabilities of systems to certain types of cyberweapons.
Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) strains are food-borne pathogens that can be transmitted to humans through many different routes, but mainly through consumption of contaminated foods. STEC strains are characterized by the production of Shiga toxins (Stx) that are encoded by two genes stx1 and/or stx2. Each toxin can be subdivided into subtypes and, currently, there are three known subtypes for stx1 (stx1a, stx1c, and stx1d) and seven for stx2 (stx2a, stx2b, stx2c, stx2d, stx2e, stx2f, and stx2g). Others virulence factors, such the production of intimin protein, encoded by eae gene, are associated with severe outcomes of STEC-associated diseases. The most common STEC serotype implicated worldwide is E. coli O157:H7, but many other STEC strains are associated with severe human diseases. Ruminants, especially cattle, are a major reservoir for O157 and non-O157 STEC. Information on STEC prevalence in Portuguese dairy cattle is limited, so we analysed for the presence of STEC 329 faecal specimens collected from the rectum of healthy dairy cattle. The samples were collected from adult lactating cows (n=194) and from heifers (n=135) with ages among 6 to 18 months, between March and June 2019, at milk farms (n=17) in the North region of Portugal. After enrichment, in modified TSB with novobiocin, samples were analysed by real time PCR to detect the presence of stx1, stx2 and eae in accordance to ISO/TS 13136:2012(E). In addition, conventional PCR for the detection of sxt1 and stx2 gene subtypes was performed according to the guidelines of the VTEC European Union Reference ; This study was supported by project PhageSTEC (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029628) funded by FEDER through COMPETE2020 (Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização) and by National Funds thought FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia). ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
The best capabilities are usually achieved by having the latest technologies in defense systems. However, including the new, usually immature, technologies in a system design does not always easily result in achieving the capabilities at the right level, at an affordable cost, and in a timely manner. Many programs have suffered from immature technologies as cost overruns, late or no deliveries, and poor performance levels. Another impact of technology selection appears as obsolescence after the deployment of systems, or even before the deployment of the system. As the technologies of a system become obsolete, the cost of maintaining the system increases. Defense systems, which have longer sustainment life cycles, are more vulnerable to obsolescence of technologies. While obsolete technologies increase the cost of maintaining the military systems, they also impact the level of the superiority of the capabilities. In the current literature, several approaches have been proposed by different authors to address either the immature technology risk or the technology obsolescence risk. This study will make an effort to develop an approach which addresses the issue of technology selection for long life cycle defense systems that consider both the feasibility risk of immature technologies and obsolescence risk of technologies.
The working group was held in remotely, from 12th to 20th Sept 2020. The meeting was attended by 14 experts in total, including two STECF member and two JRC experts. The EWG had two observers who attended part time. The objective of the Mediterranean Methodology EWG 20-15 was to carry out assessments and provide draft advice for stocks identified in the ToR supplied by STECF. An initial plenary session commenced at 09:30 on the first day. The ToRs were discussed and examined in detail. Stocks were allocated to participants based on expertise. An ftp repository was created ad-hoc to share documents, data and scripts and prepare the report. The stocks were evaluated by the GSA groups identified in the ToRs. Most of the work was concluded by Tuesday 20 Sept, after 7 full days of work, and some additional work at the weekend. Over the 7 working days plenary sessions were held each day to monitor progress and share results. The overall conclusions for each stock were discussed and finalized in plenary on the Tuesday. ; European Commission ; European Union, Joint Research Centre ; Published ; Refereed
Se determinó la relación entre abundancia, dominancia y similitud de especies forrajeras con la calidad nutritiva y cantidad de fitomasa potencial para la alimentación de bovinos en sitios con vegetación forestal, arbustiva y herbácea en la época seca y la lluvia. Se encontraron 54 especies forrajeras agrupadas en 21 familias (dominando Fabacea). La abundancia de leñosas forrajeras fue mayor en temporada de lluvias en la comunidad forestal (p<0.0001; 52.8±11.4) y en la de secas en la arbustiva (p=0.002; 14.80±3.09). La similitud entre comunidades varió de 0.27 a 0.54. Las especies forrajeras dominantes de la comunidad forestal en lluvias presentaron altos valores nutricionales, degradabilidad ruminal (65.9-89.0 %) y energía metabolizable (9.35-11.52 MJ/kg MS). El mayor contenido de taninos fue en Bauhinia divaricata (12.75 %). La fitomasa potencial rindió 3272 y 1454 kg MS/ha en lluvias y secas, respectivamente, y fue mayor en herbáceas (P<0.0001; 3977±2299 y 2451±3336, respectivamente). Se encontró una gran diversidad de especies forrajeras, diferentes en cada comunidad vegetal, y que difieren en calidad químico-nutritiva. En su conjunto, la fitomasa potencial de todos los estratos y la variedad de nutrientes que las especies contienen se complementan para alimentar bovinos a lo largo del año.
Commission Decision of 25 February 2016 setting up a Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries, C(2016) 1084, OJ C 74, 26.2.2016, p. 4–10. The Commission may consult the group on any matter relating to marine and fisheries biology, fishing gear technology, fisheries economics, fisheries governance, ecosystem effects of fisheries, aquaculture or similar disciplines. . This report is from STECF Expert Working Group 19-16: 2019 stock assessments of demersal stocks in the Adriatic Sea from the meeting in Rome Italy from 14th to 20th October 2019. A total of seven fish species were evaluated for GSA 17, 18 and 19. The EWG reports age based assessments and short term forecasts for all seven stocks. The content of the report gives the STECF terms of reference, the basis of the evaluations and advice, summaries of state of stock and advised based on either the MSY approach for assessed. The report contains the full stock assessment reports for the seven assessments, and three exploratory assessments for deep-water rose shrimp for each GSA separately. Advice for deep-water rose shrimp is based on the combined stock, the report also contains the STECF observations and conclusions on the assessment report. These conclusions come from the STECF Plenary meeting November 2019. ; European Commission ; European Union, Joint Research Centre ; Published ; Refereed
The working group was held in remotely, from 6th to 10th Sept 2021. The meeting was attended by 20 experts in total, including two STECF members and two JRC experts along with one observer. The objective of the Mediterranean Methodology EWG 21-11 was to carry out assessments and provide draft advice for stocks identified in the ToR supplied by STECF. An initial plenary session commenced at 09:00 on the first day. The ToRs were discussed and examined in detail. Stocks were allocated to participants based on expertise. An ad-hoc ftp repository was created to share documents, data and scripts and prepare the report. The stock assessments were evaluated by all participants. Following EWG 21-02 data preparation EWG data was available for assessments much earlier in the meeting, in all cases by Tuesday night. For stocks with assessment issues some sensitivity test were possible, but for DWRS in GSA 1,5,6,7 exploratory assessments were not fully concluded given time limitations. Over the week plenary sessions were held each day to monitor progress and share results. The overall conclusions for each stock were discussed and finalized in plenary on the Friday. After the main meeting it became apparent that the selected assessment for red and blue shrimp in GSA 1 had issues with the form of the model, the model was re-examined and details circulated to all EWG participants. A short 45minute plenary was held on Tuesday 21st and a revised assessment was agreed. This report contains this final assessment and advice based on it. ; European Commission ; European Union, Joint Research Centre ; Published ; Refereed
The working group was held in remotely, from 7th to 18th Sept 2020. The meeting was attended by 21 experts in total, including three STECF members and four JRC experts. The EWG had two observers who attended part time. The objective of the Mediterranean Methodology EWG 20-09 was to carry out assessments and provide draft advice for stocks identified in the ToR supplied by STECF. An initial plenary session commenced at 09:30 on the first day. The ToRs were discussed and examined in detail. Stocks were allocated to participants based on expertise. An ftp repository was created ad-hoc to share documents, data and scripts and prepare the report. The stock assessments were evaluated by the by all participants. Most of the work was concluded by Tuesday 15 Sept, after 7 full days of work, and some additional work at the weekend. However, two stocks remained to be completed, this extra work was carried out largely by two participant with support from small subgroups. The WG met for a final session on Friday 18 Sept. to conclude the work on one stock. Following extensive trials the last stock could not be assessed with an analytic age based assessment and advice was based on the MEDITS index. Over the first 7 working days plenary sessions were held each day to monitor progress and share results. The overall conclusions for each stock were discussed and finalized in plenary on the Tuesday, though the last assessment was finalised on the following Friday, the last day of the meeting. ; European Commission ; European Union, Joint Research Centre ; Published ; Refereed
Measurements of the inclusive J/ψ yield as a function of charged-particle pseudorapidity density dNch/dη in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with ALICE at the LHC are reported. The J/ψ meson yield is measured at midrapidity (|y|<0.9) in the dielectron channel, for events selected based on the charged-particle multiplicity at midrapidity (|η|<1) and at forward rapidity ( -3.7 < η < -1.7 and 2.8 < η < 5.1); both observables are normalized to their corresponding averages in minimum bias events. The increase of the normalized J/ψ yield with normalized dNch/dη is significantly stronger than linear and dependent on the transverse momentum. The data are compared to theoretical predictions, which describe the observed trends well, albeit not always quantitatively. ; A.I. Alikhanyan National Science Laboratory (Yerevan Physics Institute) Foundation (ANSL), State Committee of Science and World Federation of Scientists (WFS), Armenia; Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austrian Science Fund (FWF): [M 2467-N36] and Nationalstiftung für Forschung, Technologie und Entwicklung, Austria; Ministry of Communications and High Technologies, National Nuclear Research Center, Azerbaijan; Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (Finep), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) and Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil; Ministry of Education of China (MOEC), Ministry of Science & Technology of China (MSTC) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), China; Ministry of Science and Education and Croatian Science Foundation, Croatia; Centro de Aplicaciones Tecnológicas y Desarrollo Nuclear (CEADEN), Cubaenergía, Cuba; The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, Czech Republic; Danish Council for Independent Research Natural Sciences, the Villum Fonden and Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF), Denmark; Helsinki Institute of Physics (HIP), Finland; Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique (CEA) and Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules (IN2P3) and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), France; Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) and GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Germany; General Secretariat for Research and Technology, Ministry of Education, Research and Religions, Greece; National Research Development and Innovation Office, Hungary; Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India (DAE), Department of Science and Technology, Government of India (DST), University Grants Commission, Government of India (UGC) and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India; Indonesian Institute of Science, Indonesia; Centro Fermi - Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche Enrico Fermi and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Italy; Institute for Innovative Science and Technology, Nagasaki Institute of Applied Science (IIST), Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI, Japan; Consejo Nacional de Ciencia (CONACYT) y Tecnología, through Fondo de Cooperación Internacional en Ciencia y Tecnología (FONCICYT) and Dirección General de Asuntos del Personal Academico (DGAPA, UNAM), Mexico; Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO), Netherlands; The Research Council of Norway, Norway; Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS), Pakistan; Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Peru; Ministry of Science and Higher Education, National Science Centre and WUT ID-UB, Poland; Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information and National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), Republic of Korea; Ministry of Education and Scientific Research, Institute of Atomic Physics and Ministry of Research and Innovation and Institute of Atomic Physics, Romania; Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute", Russian Science Foundation and Russian Foundation for Basic Research, Russia; Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic, Slovakia; National Research Foundation of South Africa, South Africa; Swedish Research Council (VR) and Knut & Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW), Sweden; European Organization for Nuclear Research, Switzerland; Suranaree University of Technology (SUT), National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSDTA) and Office of the Higher Education Commission under NRU project of Thailand, Thailand; Turkish Atomic Energy Agency (TAEK), Turkey; National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Ukraine; Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), United Kingdom; National Science Foundation of the United States of America (NSF) and United States Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Physics (DOE NP), United States of America.