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Les retardateurs de flammes halogénés (RFHs) ont été développés pour lutter contre les incendies domestiques et industriels dans les années 1970s. Leur importante utilisation et leur semi-volatilité ont conduit à leur dispersion à grande échelle dans l’environnement, et leur propriété lipophile et leur persistance ont favorisé leur accumulation dans le corps humain. Les RFHs sont continuellement soumis à de nouvelles réglementations en raison de leur lien potentiel sur la santé humaine. En réponse à ces réglementations, de nombreux composés alternatifs sont constamment développés et introduits sur le marché. L’augmentation du nombre de composés utilisés oblige la recherche à constamment développer et mettre à jour des méthodes analytiques pouvant inclure l’ensemble de ces composés. Ces méthodes sont développées non seulement afin de permettre l’analyse du sang, qui est le substitut le plus couramment utilisé pour étudier l’exposition humaine, mais également pour d’autres matrices à l’intérêt croissant telles que les selles, les cheveux ou encore les ongles. En particulier, les selles, en plus d’offrir l’avantage d’un échantillonnage non invasif, permettent de renseigner sur l’exposition du microbiome intestinal. L’étude de l’exposition du microbiome intestinal au RFHs est un enjeu majeur car il demeure intimement lié au cerveau notamment comme acteur majeur dans la synthèse des neurotransmetteurs. Ce projet s’inscrit dans le cadre de la cohorte GESTE, qui est une cohorte Canadienne visant à étudier l’impact des retardateurs de flammes halogénés sur le développement neuronal des enfants. Une des forces et originalités de GESTE est que la collecte des échantillons biologiques provenant de centaines d’enfants âgés d’environ 8 à 13 ans, s’est accompagnée d’une collecte de données additionnelles et diverses permettant de caractériser au maximum l’exposition alliant informations géographiques, diététiques, médicales, socio-économiques et temporelles. Le premier objectif d

There is an urgent need for biosurveillance of unregulated African meat imports at border points of entry in destination markets. This is underscored by recent pandemics linked to exotic wildlife products. Our objective was to catalog the quantity of meat that is informally transported from Africa into and through Europe often without any veterinary or sanitary checks. We searched and included peer-reviewed studies that contained data on the intercontinental movement of unregulated meat from the African continent. This was followed by an investigation of the reported contamination of such meat. We included fifteen airport studies with limited data on this topic. The references included in this review describe the quantity of meat found at border inspection posts and the presence of pathogens. Disease-causing pathogens were found to be present, and the results are organized into bacteria, virus, and parasite categories. The species of animal meat found in this review were linked to CITES-protected species some of which are known reservoir hosts for infectious diseases. This represents a potential and unquantified human health risk to populations along the supply chain, and a loss to biodiversity in supply countries. Meat samples described in this review were primarily found opportunistically by Customs officials, indicating that any estimate of the total quantities passing undetected through border checkpoints must remain tentative, and cannot rule out the possibility that it is indeed considerably higher. We propose a template for future studies regarding African meat imports at border points of entry. The result of this review illustrates a gap in knowledge and lacunae regarding the amount of unregulated African meat imports worldwide, the pathogens it may contain, and the resulting biodiversity loss that occurs from the intercontinental movement of this meat.

Nairoviruses, tick-borne viruses from the Bunyaviridae family, pose persistent and significant threats to human health. While the most notable is Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV), which possesses a fatality rate pushing 30%, other nairoviruses are establishing themselves in our viromes including Pacific Coast tick nairovirus (PCTN) and Songling virus (SGLV). To thwart host antiviral immune response, specifically reversing the post-translational modifications of interferon-stimulated gene product 15 (ISG15) after infection, nairoviruses encode for and utilize an ovarian tumor domain protease (OTU) capable of deISGylation. The fact that ISG15 structure and sequence is hardly conserved between species, coupled with previous studies demonstrating diverse OTU preferences for certain ISG15s, pinpoints these two as key subjects of disease prevention due to possible variations in interaction. To gain a broader understanding of nairovirus OTU-ISG15 interface and identify possible host carriers, a high-throughput method of obtaining binding kinetic data was developed which employed bio-layer interferometry (BLI). ~72 interactions between vOTUs and ISG15 were examined, which revealed significant differences for nairovirus OTU binding preferences. CCHF and PCTN vOTUs put on robust displays of binding, while SGLV vOTU showcased more specificity for which ISG15s it bound to. These insights serve to be progress and contributions towards building a larger biosurveillance tool ultimately unveiling pivotal animal reservoirs of nairoviruses.

A biofoundry is a highly automated facility for processing of biological samples. In that capacity it has a major role in accelerating innovation and product development in engineering biology by implementing design, build, test and learn (DBTL) cycles. Biofoundries bring public and private stakeholders together to share resources, develop standards and forge collaborations on national and international levels. In this paper we argue for expanding the scope of applications for biofoundries towards roles in biosurveillance and biosecurity. Reviewing literature on these topics, we conclude that this could be achieved in multiple ways including developing measurement standards and protocols, engaging citizens in data collection, closer collaborations with biorefineries, and processing of samples. Here we provide an overview of these roles that despite their potential utility have not yet been commonly considered by policymakers and funding agencies and identify roadblocks to their realization. This document should prove useful to policymakers and other stakeholders who wish to strengthen biosecurity programs in ways that synergize with bioeconomy., BN/Bionanoscience, BN/Cees Dekker Lab

SUCHIMED 2021 est la 10ème campagne de surveillance de la contamination chimique et de son évolution en Méditerranée. Elle a été bâtie comme une plateforme, support de différentes activités de surveillance et de recherche avec comme pilier principal le réseau RINBIO, qui consiste à réaliser une biosurveillance active par caging de moules. Sur le plan de la contamination chimique, les principaux résultats de cette campagne indiquent : · En Occitanie, o la présence chronique de DDT depuis 20 ans ; o la détection de marqueurs terrigènes (Mn, As) entre les embouchures de l’Aude et de l’Hérault à laquelle s’ajoute une contamination en HAP et TCE (Pt) des sédiments aux abords de Port-La-Nouvelle. · En PACA, o un marquage en PCB entre le Rhône et Marseille (dans toutes les matrices) issus de sources multiples et sans évolution significative sur les 20 dernières années ; o une contamination en HAP des sédiments de la zone industrialo-portuaire de Fos ; o la présence de TBT à la station Carry-le-Rouet à une valeur supérieure à la concentration écologiquement acceptable (EAC) qui devra être confirmée lors de la prochaine campagne ; o la détection aux abords de l’agglomération marseillaise d’éléments métalliques et de HAP dans les sédiments, et en partie dans le plancton, auxquels s’ajoutent les TCE au niveau du rejet de la STEP de Cortiou ; o un marquage chronique en rade de Toulon de la colonne d’eau et des sédiments en PCB, HAP, métaux (Hg, Pb, Cu, TCE), PBDE et/ou composés organostanniques (TBT), sans tendance temporelle significative sur deux décennies pour les cinq premiers composés ; o la détection aux abords du fleuve Var de Cr, Mn et Ni dans la colonne d’eau et de HAP dans les sédiments, une différence de contamination entre les matrices qui interroge sur l’origine de la matière organique ; o un marquage en métaux (dont le Pb) et HAP en rade de Villefranche dans la colonne d’eau et le sédiment. · En Corse, o une forte influe

SUCHIMED 2021 est la 10ème campagne de surveillance de la contamination chimique et de son évolution en Méditerranée. Elle a été bâtie comme une plateforme, support de différentes activités de surveillance et de recherche avec comme pilier principal le réseau RINBIO, qui consiste à réaliser une biosurveillance active par caging de moules. Sur le plan de la contamination chimique, les principaux résultats de cette campagne indiquent : · En Occitanie, o la présence chronique de DDT depuis 20 ans ; o la détection de marqueurs terrigènes (Mn, As) entre les embouchures de l’Aude et de l’Hérault à laquelle s’ajoute une contamination en HAP et TCE (Pt) des sédiments aux abords de Port-La-Nouvelle. · En PACA, o un marquage en PCB entre le Rhône et Marseille (dans toutes les matrices) issus de sources multiples et sans évolution significative sur les 20 dernières années ; o une contamination en HAP des sédiments de la zone industrialo-portuaire de Fos ; o la présence de TBT à la station Carry-le-Rouet à une valeur supérieure à la concentration écologiquement acceptable (EAC) qui devra être confirmée lors de la prochaine campagne ; o la détection aux abords de l’agglomération marseillaise d’éléments métalliques et de HAP dans les sédiments, et en partie dans le plancton, auxquels s’ajoutent les TCE au niveau du rejet de la STEP de Cortiou ; o un marquage chronique en rade de Toulon de la colonne d’eau et des sédiments en PCB, HAP, métaux (Hg, Pb, Cu, TCE), PBDE et/ou composés organostanniques (TBT), sans tendance temporelle significative sur deux décennies pour les cinq premiers composés ; o la détection aux abords du fleuve Var de Cr, Mn et Ni dans la colonne d’eau et de HAP dans les sédiments, une différence de contamination entre les matrices qui interroge sur l’origine de la matière organique ; o un marquage en métaux (dont le Pb) et HAP en rade de Villefranche dans la colonne d’eau et le sédiment. · En Corse, o une forte influe

Background: With advances in science and technology, biotechnology is becoming more accessible to people of all demographics. These advances inevitably hold the promise to improve personal and population well-being and welfare substantially. It is paradoxical that while greater access to biotechnology on a population level has many advantages, it may also increase the likelihood and frequency of biodisasters due to accidental or malicious use. Similar to “Disease X” (describing unknown naturally emerging pathogenic diseases with a pandemic potential), we term this unknown risk from biotechnologies “Biodisaster X.” To date, no studies have examined the potential role of information technologies in preventing and mitigating Biodisaster X. Objective: This study aimed to explore (1) what Biodisaster X might entail and (2) solutions that use artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging 6G technologies to help monitor and manage Biodisaster X threats. Methods: A review of the literature on applying AI and 6G technologies for monitoring and managing biodisasters was conducted on PubMed, using articles published from database inception through to November 16, 2020. Results: Our findings show that Biodisaster X has the potential to upend lives and livelihoods and destroy economies, essentially posing a looming risk for civilizations worldwide. To shed light on Biodisaster X threats, we detailed effective AI and 6G-enabled strategies, ranging from natural language processing to deep learning–based image analysis to address issues ranging from early Biodisaster X detection (eg, identification of suspicious behaviors), remote design and development of pharmaceuticals (eg, treatment development), and public health interventions (eg, reactive shelter-at-home mandate enforcement), as well as disaster recovery (eg, sentiment analysis of social media posts to shed light on the public’s feelings and readiness for recovery building). Conclusions: Biodisaster X is a looming but a

The spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula White, is an invasive planthopper (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae) that was first detected in the United States in Berks County, PA, in 2014, and has since spread in the mid-Atlantic region. This phloem-feeding pest has a broad host range, including economically important crops such as grape where their feeding causes dieback of infested plants. Monitoring the presence and abundance of L. delicatula is of utmost importance to develop pest management approaches. Current monitoring practices include sticky bands deployed on tree trunks, sometimes paired with commercially available methyl salicylate lures. A drawback associated with sticky bands is the high numbers of nontarget captures. Here, we developed traps for L. delicatula based on a circle trap originally designed for weevils. These traps are comprised of a screen funnel that wraps around the trunk of a tree and guides individuals walking up the trunk into a collection device. In 2018 and 2019, we compared circle trap designs with sticky bands in Pennsylvania and Virginia. In both years, circle trap designs yielded captures that were equivalent to or exceeded captures of L. delicatula on sticky bands. Nontarget captures were significantly lower for circle traps compared with sticky bands. Presence of a methyl salicylate lure in association with traps deployed on host trees or vertical tree-mimicking posts did not increase L. delicatula captures compared with unbaited traps. Circle traps, modified using vinyl screen and a larger collection device, present an alternative to the current approach with reduced nontarget capture for monitoring L. delicatula.

We report an outbreak of parainfluenza 3, which had an attack rate of 30%, in a residential care facility in Melbourne, Australia. One-fifth of affected residents required hospitalization, but there were no deaths. The outbreak demonstrated the value of active surveillance and early microbiologic testing and the urgent need for antimicrobial stewardship programs in the aged care setting.Copyright © 2017 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc.

We report an outbreak of parainfluenza 3, which had an attack rate of 30%, in a residential care facility in Melbourne, Australia. One-fifth of affected residents required hospitalization, but there were no deaths. The outbreak demonstrated the value of active surveillance and early microbiologic testing and the urgent need for antimicrobial stewardship programs in the aged care setting.Copyright © 2017 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc.

The data-base analyses of the French biomonitoring program (RNO/ROCCH, IFREMER, 2003-2014) in terms of silver (Ag) and copper (Cu) concentrations accumulation in oysters from 13 sites along the French Atlantic Coast showed spatial and time-dependent variations reflecting local pressures. The high Ag and Cu relations seems to be partly due to physiological processes involved in their bioaccumulation by oysters. The Cu/Ag elementary ratios showed an interesting potential for Ag and Cu sources detection, which were invisible through the use of only absolute concentrations characterized by a high individual variability. Chemical measurements and histological observations performed in wild oysters from Gironde Estuary showed a preferential Ag and Cu accumulation in the digestive gland with important cellular damages. The innovative isotope spiking method is highly sensitive and precise to observe rapid in vivo Ag and Cu accumulation kinetics through direct pathway using close-to-real exposure concentrations. The isotopic signals allowed to quantify the rapid MTE accumulation in the different organs and to observe the Ag and Cu co-regulation. Furthermore, it represents a real step forward in ecotoxicological experiments allowing to obtain the initial and final contamination state inside the same organism. The study of the trophic pathway suggested a higher Ag accumulation in algae than for Cu. The Ag and Cu potentially bioavailable fraction in estuarine particles was estimated respectively at 60% and 82%. The results showed that this estimation depends on the exposure time and sediment concentration, which can lead to important under-estimations., L’analyse des données de biosurveillance (RNO/ROCCH, IFREMER, 2003-2014) des concentrations en argent (Ag) et cuivre (Cu) dans les huîtres sauvages de 13 sites de la côte atlantique française a montré des variations spatio-temporelles reflétant les pressions locales. De fortes relations entre Ag et Cu semblent en partie dues à des facteurs physiologiques impliqués dans leur bioaccumulation chez les huîtres. Le rapport élémentaire Cu/Ag a montré un potentiel intéressant pour détecter des sources de Ag et Cu, invisibles à travers les concentrations absolues qui sont caractérisées par une très forte variabilité inter-individuelle. Les mesures chimiques et les observations histologiques dans les huîtres sauvages de la Gironde, ont montré une accumulation préférentielle de Ag et Cu dans la glande digestive, accompagnée d’importantes dégradations cellulaires. La méthode innovante du dopage isotopique est très sensible et précise pour observer les cinétiques rapides d’accumulation in vivo de Ag et Cu par voie directe à des niveaux d’exposition réalistes. Les signaux isotopiques ont permis de quantifier l’accumulation rapide des ETM dans les différents organes et d’observer des phénomènes de co-régulation entre Ag et Cu. De plus, elle représente une réelle avancée pour des expérimentations écotoxicologiques permettant d’analyser l’état de contamination initial et après exposition dans le même individu. L’étude de la voie trophique suggère une accumulation de Ag supérieure à celle de Cu chez les algues. La fraction de Ag et Cu particulaire potentiellement biodisponible des particules estuariennes a été estimée à 60% et 82%, respectivement. Les résultats ont montré que cette estimation dépend du temps d’exposition et de la concentration en sédiment, pouvant entraîner d’importantes sous-estimations.

The data-base analyses of the French biomonitoring program (RNO/ROCCH, IFREMER, 2003-2014) in terms of silver (Ag) and copper (Cu) concentrations accumulation in oysters from 13 sites along the French Atlantic Coast showed spatial and time-dependent variations reflecting local pressures. The high Ag and Cu relations seems to be partly due to physiological processes involved in their bioaccumulation by oysters. The Cu/Ag elementary ratios showed an interesting potential for Ag and Cu sources detection, which were invisible through the use of only absolute concentrations characterized by a high individual variability. Chemical measurements and histological observations performed in wild oysters from Gironde Estuary showed a preferential Ag and Cu accumulation in the digestive gland with important cellular damages. The innovative isotope spiking method is highly sensitive and precise to observe rapid in vivo Ag and Cu accumulation kinetics through direct pathway using close-to-real exposure concentrations. The isotopic signals allowed to quantify the rapid MTE accumulation in the different organs and to observe the Ag and Cu co-regulation. Furthermore, it represents a real step forward in ecotoxicological experiments allowing to obtain the initial and final contamination state inside the same organism. The study of the trophic pathway suggested a higher Ag accumulation in algae than for Cu. The Ag and Cu potentially bioavailable fraction in estuarine particles was estimated respectively at 60% and 82%. The results showed that this estimation depends on the exposure time and sediment concentration, which can lead to important under-estimations., L’analyse des données de biosurveillance (RNO/ROCCH, IFREMER, 2003-2014) des concentrations en argent (Ag) et cuivre (Cu) dans les huîtres sauvages de 13 sites de la côte atlantique française a montré des variations spatio-temporelles reflétant les pressions locales. De fortes relations entre Ag et Cu semblent en partie dues à des facteurs physiologiques impliqués dans leur bioaccumulation chez les huîtres. Le rapport élémentaire Cu/Ag a montré un potentiel intéressant pour détecter des sources de Ag et Cu, invisibles à travers les concentrations absolues qui sont caractérisées par une très forte variabilité inter-individuelle. Les mesures chimiques et les observations histologiques dans les huîtres sauvages de la Gironde, ont montré une accumulation préférentielle de Ag et Cu dans la glande digestive, accompagnée d’importantes dégradations cellulaires. La méthode innovante du dopage isotopique est très sensible et précise pour observer les cinétiques rapides d’accumulation in vivo de Ag et Cu par voie directe à des niveaux d’exposition réalistes. Les signaux isotopiques ont permis de quantifier l’accumulation rapide des ETM dans les différents organes et d’observer des phénomènes de co-régulation entre Ag et Cu. De plus, elle représente une réelle avancée pour des expérimentations écotoxicologiques permettant d’analyser l’état de contamination initial et après exposition dans le même individu. L’étude de la voie trophique suggère une accumulation de Ag supérieure à celle de Cu chez les algues. La fraction de Ag et Cu particulaire potentiellement biodisponible des particules estuariennes a été estimée à 60% et 82%, respectivement. Les résultats ont montré que cette estimation dépend du temps d’exposition et de la concentration en sédiment, pouvant entraîner d’importantes sous-estimations.

The data-base analyses of the French biomonitoring program (RNO/ROCCH, IFREMER, 2003-2014) in terms of silver (Ag) and copper (Cu) concentrations accumulation in oysters from 13 sites along the French Atlantic Coast showed spatial and time-dependent variations reflecting local pressures. The high Ag and Cu relations seems to be partly due to physiological processes involved in their bioaccumulation by oysters. The Cu/Ag elementary ratios showed an interesting potential for Ag and Cu sources detection, which were invisible through the use of only absolute concentrations characterized by a high individual variability. Chemical measurements and histological observations performed in wild oysters from Gironde Estuary showed a preferential Ag and Cu accumulation in the digestive gland with important cellular damages. The innovative isotope spiking method is highly sensitive and precise to observe rapid in vivo Ag and Cu accumulation kinetics through direct pathway using close-to-real exposure concentrations. The isotopic signals allowed to quantify the rapid MTE accumulation in the different organs and to observe the Ag and Cu co-regulation. Furthermore, it represents a real step forward in ecotoxicological experiments allowing to obtain the initial and final contamination state inside the same organism. The study of the trophic pathway suggested a higher Ag accumulation in algae than for Cu. The Ag and Cu potentially bioavailable fraction in estuarine particles was estimated respectively at 60% and 82%. The results showed that this estimation depends on the exposure time and sediment concentration, which can lead to important under-estimations., L’analyse des données de biosurveillance (RNO/ROCCH, IFREMER, 2003-2014) des concentrations en argent (Ag) et cuivre (Cu) dans les huîtres sauvages de 13 sites de la côte atlantique française a montré des variations spatio-temporelles reflétant les pressions locales. De fortes relations entre Ag et Cu semblent en partie dues à des facteurs physiologiques impliqués dans leur bioaccumulation chez les huîtres. Le rapport élémentaire Cu/Ag a montré un potentiel intéressant pour détecter des sources de Ag et Cu, invisibles à travers les concentrations absolues qui sont caractérisées par une très forte variabilité inter-individuelle. Les mesures chimiques et les observations histologiques dans les huîtres sauvages de la Gironde, ont montré une accumulation préférentielle de Ag et Cu dans la glande digestive, accompagnée d’importantes dégradations cellulaires. La méthode innovante du dopage isotopique est très sensible et précise pour observer les cinétiques rapides d’accumulation in vivo de Ag et Cu par voie directe à des niveaux d’exposition réalistes. Les signaux isotopiques ont permis de quantifier l’accumulation rapide des ETM dans les différents organes et d’observer des phénomènes de co-régulation entre Ag et Cu. De plus, elle représente une réelle avancée pour des expérimentations écotoxicologiques permettant d’analyser l’état de contamination initial et après exposition dans le même individu. L’étude de la voie trophique suggère une accumulation de Ag supérieure à celle de Cu chez les algues. La fraction de Ag et Cu particulaire potentiellement biodisponible des particules estuariennes a été estimée à 60% et 82%, respectivement. Les résultats ont montré que cette estimation dépend du temps d’exposition et de la concentration en sédiment, pouvant entraîner d’importantes sous-estimations.

The data-base analyses of the French biomonitoring program (RNO/ROCCH, IFREMER, 2003-2014) in terms of silver (Ag) and copper (Cu) concentrations accumulation in oysters from 13 sites along the French Atlantic Coast showed spatial and time-dependent variations reflecting local pressures. The high Ag and Cu relations seems to be partly due to physiological processes involved in their bioaccumulation by oysters. The Cu/Ag elementary ratios showed an interesting potential for Ag and Cu sources detection, which were invisible through the use of only absolute concentrations characterized by a high individual variability. Chemical measurements and histological observations performed in wild oysters from Gironde Estuary showed a preferential Ag and Cu accumulation in the digestive gland with important cellular damages. The innovative isotope spiking method is highly sensitive and precise to observe rapid in vivo Ag and Cu accumulation kinetics through direct pathway using close-to-real exposure concentrations. The isotopic signals allowed to quantify the rapid MTE accumulation in the different organs and to observe the Ag and Cu co-regulation. Furthermore, it represents a real step forward in ecotoxicological experiments allowing to obtain the initial and final contamination state inside the same organism. The study of the trophic pathway suggested a higher Ag accumulation in algae than for Cu. The Ag and Cu potentially bioavailable fraction in estuarine particles was estimated respectively at 60% and 82%. The results showed that this estimation depends on the exposure time and sediment concentration, which can lead to important under-estimations., L’analyse des données de biosurveillance (RNO/ROCCH, IFREMER, 2003-2014) des concentrations en argent (Ag) et cuivre (Cu) dans les huîtres sauvages de 13 sites de la côte atlantique française a montré des variations spatio-temporelles reflétant les pressions locales. De fortes relations entre Ag et Cu semblent en partie dues à des facteurs physiologiques impliqués dans leur bioaccumulation chez les huîtres. Le rapport élémentaire Cu/Ag a montré un potentiel intéressant pour détecter des sources de Ag et Cu, invisibles à travers les concentrations absolues qui sont caractérisées par une très forte variabilité inter-individuelle. Les mesures chimiques et les observations histologiques dans les huîtres sauvages de la Gironde, ont montré une accumulation préférentielle de Ag et Cu dans la glande digestive, accompagnée d’importantes dégradations cellulaires. La méthode innovante du dopage isotopique est très sensible et précise pour observer les cinétiques rapides d’accumulation in vivo de Ag et Cu par voie directe à des niveaux d’exposition réalistes. Les signaux isotopiques ont permis de quantifier l’accumulation rapide des ETM dans les différents organes et d’observer des phénomènes de co-régulation entre Ag et Cu. De plus, elle représente une réelle avancée pour des expérimentations écotoxicologiques permettant d’analyser l’état de contamination initial et après exposition dans le même individu. L’étude de la voie trophique suggère une accumulation de Ag supérieure à celle de Cu chez les algues. La fraction de Ag et Cu particulaire potentiellement biodisponible des particules estuariennes a été estimée à 60% et 82%, respectivement. Les résultats ont montré que cette estimation dépend du temps d’exposition et de la concentration en sédiment, pouvant entraîner d’importantes sous-estimations.

Wearable sensor technology will shape the future of biosurveillance for the DoD, equipping the Warfighter with personal chemical, biological, and radiological exposure detection devices that can monitor both the environment around them, as well as the health of each individual service member. As wearable chemical and biological sensors become increasingly integrated into real-time interfaces, it becomes imperative for the Department of Defense (DoD) to identify and assess those sensor technologies that can be quickly developed and integrated into useable and deployable systems. The Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) has conducted a technology survey of the wearable sensor technology market for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency/Joint Science and Technology Office (DTRA/JSTO)., Prepared in collabortion with Columbia University, Center for Infection and Immunity, New York, NY; Leidos, Inc., Abingdon, MD; Booz Allen Hamilton, Belcamp, MD. The original document contains color images.

The Cooperative Biological Engagement Program (CBEP) within the Department of Defense (DoD) is part of the larger Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program that was initiated at the end of the Cold War. While CTR began in the former Soviet Union (FSU), it has now has expanded beyond its Cold War legacy to address current biological threats of mutual interest to the United States and 20 partner countries in different regions around the world. As the program has evolved since its inception two decades ago, so too have its content and approaches to performance measurement. Congress has shown particular interest in encouraging DoD to improve CTR assessments. Legislation for fiscal year 2010, for example, called on DoD to develop metrics for assessing CTR programs and on the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to assess DoD's efforts. CBEP leaders approached the RAND National Defense Research Institute to build on existing work related to measurement of program performance, develop a comprehensive evaluation framework, and recommend metrics for assessing and communicating CBEP progress toward program goals. This report details the work we carried out between February and October 2013, including our methods, findings, recommendations, and guidance for implementing and aggregating the recommended metrics.

In the early-2000s, the U.S. government began engaging scientists and public health officials in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to reduce the risk that individuals and organizations might contribute to the use of pathogens to harm people or the development of biological weapons. Initial engagement efforts began in Iraq and Libya, both of which had offensive biological weapons programs. These initial efforts focused on supporting former weapons scientists as they pursued peaceful research activities. When U.S. bioengagement efforts expanded beyond Iraq and Libya in the mid-2000s, the focus shifted from supporting peaceful research to improving biosafety and biosecurity training of laboratory staff, enhancing physical security of research and diagnostic facilities, and building local capacity to identify infectious disease outbreaks (i.e., biosurveillance or infectious disease surveillance). Countries that never had offensive biological weapons programs and scientists and public health officials who had never worked with biological weapons (or intended to work with biological agents) were now being included in bioengagement activities. This broad inclusion of scientific experts has raised a significant challenge: how could bioengagement activities be developed to reduce the risk that pathogens could be used for harm while addressing local needs and all in full partnership with regional scientists and health officials. The broader Middle East and North Africa comprises many countries, each of which have distinct cultures, dialects and/or languages, ties to the international community, and governing frameworks. The culture, society, and language of these countries have been influenced by European colonization and interest in the region. Similarly, culture, religion and government structure differs across the region. These differences strongly influence the effectiveness and local acceptance of scientific engagement activities., Sponsored in part by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

Biosurveillance is a cornerstone of public health. In July 2012, the White House issued the National Strategy for Biosurveillance, which defines the term and sets out key functions and guiding principles. The Department of Defense (DoD) carries out biosurveillance to monitor the health of military and affiliated populations and supports biosurveillance in other countries through a range of programs across the department. The Deputy Secretary of Defense issued interim guidance in June 2013 for implementation of the new National Strategy. This begins to set formal policy for DoD's biosurveillance enterprise. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recognized the importance of effective DoD biosurveillance not only for the department itself but also within the context of the National Strategy. With this in mind, OMB tasked DoD to carry out a comprehensive examination of its biosurveillance enterprise to determine priority missions and desired outcomes, the extent to which DoD biosurveillance programs contribute to these missions, and whether the current funding system is appropriate and how it can be improved to ensure stable funding. DoD leaders designated the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center (AFHSC) to lead this assessment effort. AFHSC sought objective external analytic support from the RAND Arroyo Center, a component of the RAND Corporation, to respond to the tasks specified by OMB: Task 1: Identify a prioritized list of the program's missions and desired outcomes, and develop performance measures and targets to track progress toward achieving those outcomes; Task 2: Evaluate how the current array of DoD biosurveillance program assets contributes to achieving these prioritized missions; and Task 3: Assess whether the current funding system is appropriate and how it can be improved to assure stable funding.

We have developed a thermal-stable, pathogenic Leptospira TaqMan PCR assay intended to support pathogen surveillance in reservoir populations. The assay is packaged specifically for use with a portable, ruggedized real-time PCR thermocycler. Limit of detection was established at ≤100 fg (20 organisms). Sensitivity and specificity were 100% concordant with conventional PCR results using a broad test panel of human pathogenic and nonpathogenic Leptospira, genetic near neighbors, and clinically significant organisms. In blind testing using a panel (n=50) of pathogenic Leptospira infected and noninfected Rattus species samples, assay sensitivity results were 100% concordant with conventional PCR. Tests performed under field conditions using wild-collected rodent kidney extracts demonstrated the mobility of the system. During field evaluation, samples were processed and analyzed in 3 hours. Thermal stabilized reagents allowed transportation, storage, and analyses under ambient temperatures. The system provides a promising aid in leptospirosis control programs., See also ADA563387, AMEED p22-28 July-September 2012. The original document contains color images.

U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground (DPG), West Desert Test Center (WDTC), specializes in planning, conducting, and analyzing results of developmental and production tests. Areas of expertise include chemical and biological (CB) defense systems, smoke and obscurants, materiel and delivery systems, munitions and incendiary devices, meteorological research and modeling, environmental characterization and remediation technology testing, and technology transfer to include specialized hands-on CB training for military and civil support teams. The WDTC is staffed with a highly responsive and dynamic organization that uses state-of-the-art laboratories, controlled environmental chamber testing, field testing, and CBW training to support the DPG mission. The WDTC features a diverse and dedicated team of scientists, chemists, microbiologists, engineers, technicians, and support personnel who specialize in developmental test and evaluation of chemical and biological defense system testing. The 2012 Capabilities Report consists of the following 10 sections: 1) Dugway Proving Ground Introduction; 2) Dugway Proving Ground Test and Support Facilities; 3) Dugway Test Grids and Training Ranges; 4) Biological Defense; 5) Chemical Test Capabilities; 6) Munitions Testing and Smoke & Obscurants; 7) Dugway Test Support; 8) Meteorology; 9) Specialized Test and Training Facilities and Programs; and 10) Modeling and Simulation., Prepared in cooperation with the Dugway Data Service Team, Dugway, UT.

This need for the public health and medical enterprise to share information, has increased over the last decade, due to events such as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak, natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, the 2009 H1N1 influenza outbreak, and other naturally occurring outbreaks, such as the recent Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O104 (STEC O104:H4) infections occurring in, and associated with, travel to Germany. This thesis explores the various ways that information sharing can be improved within the public health and medical enterprise. Through case studies and interviews, a conceptual framework, the LEAPS model, was developed to guide the process to improve information sharing. This model is based upon the establishment of a strong foundation in health information sharing and disease surveillance. This model is centered upon leadership, policy, and strategy. The LEAPS model framework is then expanded to offer specific ways for the public health and medical enterprise to improve information sharing within jurisdictions and sectors to rapidly detect and respond to naturally occurring or intentional disease outbreaks or exposures and to create better situational awareness and a common operating picture., The original document contains color images.

The Navy and Marine Corps use the ESSENCE system for early detection of diseases and other public health threats to the force and for situational awareness on the location and spread of such diseases. In accordance with BUMEDINST 6220.12B, the NMCPHC sponsored a survey to better understand ESSENCE account holders' training on the system, employment of the system, and their perceived value of the system. The survey was sent to 225 Navy and Marine Crops users with either an active or a disabled ESSENCE account. Ultimately, 143 of the users responded to the survey for a 64 percent response rate. Survey findings conclude that, overall, nine out of 10 ESSENCE account holders, past and present, favor using the system, find it valuable, and believe the training they received has been adequate. However, users raised four issues: 1) it takes an excessive amount of time to obtain an account, 2) passwords are required to be changed too often, 3) there are too many miscodings leading to excessive false positive signals, and 4) training and training tools are insufficient., The original document contains color images.

Bioterrorism is not a new threat, but the potential for disastrous outcomes is greater than it has ever been. In order to confront this threat, biosurveillance systems are utilized to provide early warning of health threats, early detection of health events, and situational awareness of disease activity. To date, there is little known about the performance of such biosurveillance systems in comparison to diagnosis capabilities of medical personnel. In this thesis, a discrete event simulation model of an anthrax outbreak is developed in order to analyze the performance of such biosurveillance systems in comparison to medical personnel. This research found the Early Aberration Reporting System C1 statistical algorithm is useful in early event detection of a bioterror attack. Given an exposed population of 1,000 people, the nominal probability that the algorithm signals first is 31.5% and it is 0.3% for an exposed population of 10,000 people. Given an exposed population of 1,000 people, the nominal time it takes for the algorithm to signal is 3.3 days and 0.38 days for an exposed population of 10,000 people., The original document contains color images.

With growing concerns about international spread of disease and expanding use of early disease detection surveillance methods, the field of syndromic surveillance has received increased attention over the last decade. The purpose of this article is to clarify the various meanings that have been assigned to the term syndromic surveillance and to propose a refined categorization of the characteristics of these systems. Existing literature and conference proceedings were examined on syndromic surveillance from 1998 to 2010, focusing on low- and middle-income settings. Based on the 36 unique definitions of syndromic surveillance found in the literature, five commonly accepted principles of syndromic surveillance systems were identified, as well as two fundamental categories: specific and non-specific disease detection. Ultimately, the proposed categorization of syndromic surveillance distinguishes between systems that focus on detecting defined syndromes or outcomes of interest and those that aim to uncover non-specific trends that suggest an outbreak may be occurring. By providing an accurate and comprehensive picture of this field's capabilities, and differentiating among system types, a unified understanding of the syndromic surveillance field can be developed, encouraging the adoption, investment in, and implementation of these systems in settings that need bolstered surveillance capacity, particularly low- and middle-income countries.

With growing concerns about international spread of disease and expanding use of early disease detection surveillance methods, the field of syndromic surveillance has received increased attention over the last decade. The purpose of this article is to clarify the various meanings that have been assigned to the term syndromic surveillance and to propose a refined categorization of the characteristics of these systems. Existing literature and conference proceedings were examined on syndromic surveillance from 1998 to 2010, focusing on low- and middle-income settings. Based on the 36 unique definitions of syndromic surveillance found in the literature, five commonly accepted principles of syndromic surveillance systems were identified, as well as two fundamental categories: specific and non-specific disease detection. Ultimately, the proposed categorization of syndromic surveillance distinguishes between systems that focus on detecting defined syndromes or outcomes of interest and those that aim to uncover non-specific trends that suggest an outbreak may be occurring. By providing an accurate and comprehensive picture of this field's capabilities, and differentiating among system types, a unified understanding of the syndromic surveillance field can be developed, encouraging the adoption, investment in, and implementation of these systems in settings that need bolstered surveillance capacity, particularly low- and middle-income countries.

This study examines three applications of control charts used for monitoring syndromic data with different characteristics. The first part develops a seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) based surveillance chart, and compares it with the CDC Early Aberration Reporting System (EARS) W2c method using both authentic and simulated data. After successfully removing the long-term trend and the seasonality involved in syndromic data, the performance of the SARIMA approach is shown to be better than the performance of the EARS method in terms of two key surveillance characteristics, the false alarm rate and the average time to detect the outbreaks. In the second part, we propose a generalized likelihood ratio (GLR) control chart to detect a wide range of shifts in the mean of Poisson distributed biosurveillance data. The application of a sign function on the original GLR chart statistics leads to downward-sided, upward-sided, and two-sided GLR chart statistics in an unified framework. To facilitate the use of such charts in practice, we provide detailed guidance on developing and implementing the GLR chart. Under the steady-state framework, this study indicates that the overall GLR chart performance in detecting a range of shifts of interest is superior to the performance of traditional control charts including the EARS method, Shewhart charts, EWMA charts, and CUSUM charts. There is often an excessive number of zeros involved in health care related data. Zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) models are more appropriate than Poisson models to describe such data. The last part of the dissertation considers the GLR chart for ZIP data under a research framework similar to the second part. Because small sample sizes may influence the estimation of ZIP parameters, the efficiency of MLEs is investigated in depth, followed by suggestions for improvement. Numerical approaches to solving for the MLEs are discussed as well. Statistics for a set of GLR charts are derived

The evaluation of discrete processes are performed for industrial and healthcare processes. Count data may be used to measure the number of defective items in industrial applications or the incidence of a certain disease at a health facility. Another classification of a discrete random variable is for binary data, where information on an item can be classified as conforming or nonconforming in a manufacturing context, or a patient's status of having a disease in health-related applications. The first phase of this research uses discrete count data modeled from the Poisson and negative binomial distributions in a healthcare setting. Syndromic counts are currently monitored by the BioSense program within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to provide real-time biosurveillance. The Early Aberration Reporting System (EARS) uses recent baseline information comparatively with a current day's syndromic count to determine if outbreaks may be present. An adaptive threshold method is proposed based on fitting baseline data to a parametric distribution, then calculating an upper-tailed p-value. These statistics are then converted to an approximately standard normal random variable. Monitoring is examined for independent and identically distributed data as well as data following several seasonal patterns. An exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) chart is also used for these methods. The effectiveness of these methods in detecting simulated outbreaks in several sensitivity analyses is evaluated. The second phase of research explored in this dissertation considers information that can be classified as a binary event. In industry, it is desirable to have the probability of a nonconforming item, p, be extremely small. Traditional Shewhart charts such as the p-chart, are not reliable for monitoring this type of process. A comprehensive literature review of control chart procedures for this type of process is given. The equivalence between two cumulative sum (

This paper briefly summarizes a short course I gave at the 12th Biennial Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) Symposium held in Decatur, Georgia on April 6, 2009. The goal of this short course was to discuss various methodological issues of biosurveillance detection algorithms, with a focus on the issues related to developing, evaluating, and implementing such algorithms.

Presented at the Interagency Meeting. This is an online meeting held 9-10 February 2010. The original document contains color images. Prepared in collaboration with the Monterey County Health Dept., Monterey, CA.

Recent reports by congressional commissions, the inclusion of bioterrorism issues in President Obama's State of the Union address, and issuance of executive orders have increased congressional attention to the threat of bioterrorism. Federal efforts to combat the threat of bioterrorism predate the anthrax attacks of 2001, but they have significantly increased since then. The U.S. Government has developed these efforts as part of and in parallel with other defenses against conventional terrorism. Several strategy and planning documents direct the Federal Government's biodefense efforts, and many different agencies have a role. These agencies have implemented numerous disparate actions and programs in their statutory areas to address the threat. But despite these efforts, many experts, including congressional commissions, nongovernmental organizations, and industry representatives, have highlighted weaknesses in the Federal Government's biodefense activities. Recent reports by congressional commissions have stated that the Federal Government could significantly improve its efforts to address the bioterrorism threat. Several key questions face congressional policy makers: How sufficiently do the efforts already underway address the threat of bioterrorism?; Have the federal investments to date met the expectations of Congress or other stakeholders?; Should Congress alter, augment, or terminate these existing programs in the current environment of fiscal challenge?; and What is the appropriate federal role in response to the threat of bioterrorism, and what mechanisms are most appropriate for involving other stakeholders, including state and local jurisdictions, industry, and others? This report focuses on four areas under congressional consideration deemed critical to the success of the biodefense enterprise: strategic planning; risk assessment; surveillance; and the development, procurement, and distribution of medical countermeasures., CRS Report for Congress.

The Monterey County Health Department (MCHD) in California uses the Early Aberration Reporting System (EARS) to monitor emergency room and clinic data for biosurveillance, particularly as an alert system for various types of disease outbreaks. The flexibility of the system has proven to be a very useful feature of EARS; however, little research has been conducted to assess its performance. In this thesis, a quantitative analysis based on modifications to EARS' internal logic and algorithms is assessed. Logic is used as a counting tool for potential cases of outbreak, and the Early Event Detection (EED) algorithms are used to determine whether or not an outbreak is about to occur. The EED methods are compared by assessing their ability to detect the presence of a known H1N1 outbreak in Monterey County. This research found the cumulative sum (CUSUM) detection method to be the most reliable in signaling the H1N1 outbreak, across all combinations of logic explored., The original document contains color images.

We examine some of the methodologies implemented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) BioSense program. The program uses data from hospitals and public health departments to detect outbreaks using the Early Aberration Reporting System (EARS). The EARS method W2 allows one to monitor syndrome counts (W2count) from each source and the proportion of counts of a particular syndrome relative to the total number of visits (W2rate). We investigate the performance of the W2r method designed using an empiric recurrence interval (RI) in this dissertation research. An adaptive threshold monitoring method is introduced based on fitting sample data to the underlying distributions, then converting the current value to a Z-score through a p-value. We compare the upper thresholds on the Z-scores required to obtain given values of the recurrence interval for different sets of parameter values. We then simulate one-week outbreaks in our data and calculate the proportion of times these methods correctly signal an outbreak using Shewhart and exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) charts. Our results indicate the adaptive threshold method gives more consistent statistical performance across different parameter sets and amounts of baseline historical data used for computing the statistics. For the power analysis, the EWMA chart is superior to its Shewhart counterpart in nearly all cases, and the adaptive threshold method tends to outperform the W2 rate method. Two modified W2r methods proposed in the dissertation also tend to outperform the W2r method in terms of the RI threshold functions and in the power analysis.

In this dissertation we develop a framework that combines data mining, statistics and operations research methods for improving real-time decision support systems in healthcare. Our approach consists of three main concepts: data gathering and preprocessing, modeling, and deployment. We introduce the notion of offline and semi-offline modeling to differentiate between models that are based on known baseline behavior and those based on a baseline with missing information. We apply and illustrate the framework in the context of two important healthcare contexts: biosurveillance and kidney allocation. In the biosurveillance context, we address the problem of early detection of disease outbreaks. We discuss integer programming-based univariate monitoring and statistical and operations research-based multivariate monitoring approaches. We assess method performance on authentic biosurveillance data. In the kidney allocation context, we present a two-phase model that combines an integer programming-based learning phase and a data-analytical based real-time phase. We examine and evaluate our method on the current Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) waiting list. In both contexts, we show that our framework produces significant improvements over existing methods.

We describe a methodology for optimizing a threshold detection-based biosurveillance system. The goal is to maximize the system-wide probability of detecting an "event of interest" against a noisy background, subject to a constraint on the expected number of false signals. We use non-linear programming to appropriately set detection thresholds taking into account the probability of an event of interest occurring somewhere in the coverage area. Using this approach, public health officials can "tune" their biosurveillance systems to optimally detect various threats, thereby allowing practitioners to focus their public health surveillance activities. Given some distributional assumptions, we derive a 1-dimensional optimization methodology that allows for the efficient optimization of very large systems. We demonstrate that optimizing a syndromic surveillance system can improve its performance by 20-40 percent.

An anomaly is an observation that does not conform to the expected normal behavior. With the ever increasing amount of data being collected, automatic surveillance systems are becoming more popular and are increasingly using data mining methods to detect patterns of anomalies. The diverse nature of real-world datasets, and the difficulty of obtaining labeled training data make it challenging to develop a universal framework for anomaly detection. We focus on a key feature of most real world scenarios, that multiple anomalous records are usually generated by a common anomalous process. In this thesis we develop methods that utilize the similarity between records in these groups or patterns of anomalies to perform better detection. We also investigate new methods for detection of individual record anomalies, which we then incorporate into the group detection methods. A recurring feature of our methods is combinatorial search over some space (e.g. over all subsets of attributes, or over all subsets of records). We use a variety of computational speedup tricks and approximation techniques to make these methods scalable to large datasets. Since most of our motivating problems involve datasets having categorical or symbolic values, we focus on categorical datasets. Apart from this, we make few assumptions about the data, and our methods are very general and applicable to a wide variety of domains. Additionally, we investigate anomaly pattern detection in data structured by space and time. Our method generalizes the popular method of spatio-temporal scan statistics to learn and detect specific, time-varying spatial patterns in the data. Finally, we show an efficient and easily interpretable technique for anomaly detection in multivariate time series data. We evaluate our methods on a variety of real world data sets including both real and synthetic anomalies., Sponsored in part by FA865005C7264, Central Intelligence Agency Grant no. 2002*H030300*000, National Institutes of Health Grant no. 5R01PH00002802, US Dept. of Energy Grant no. B563433 and National Science Foundation Grants nos. 0000164 and 010543-1. The original document contains color images. All DTIC reproductions will be in black and white.

In the past 25 years, numerous biomarkers have been developed with the objective to apply them to aquatic ecosystem biomonitoring. Recently, the Water Framework Directive (WFD) of the European union specified monitoring programs required to assess the achievement of good chemical and ecological status for all water bodies by 2015. This article reviews the potential of biomarkers for ecotoxicological status assessment in WFD monitoring programmes based on previous national and international experiments., Au cours des 25 dernières années, de nombreux biomarqueurs ont été développés dans un objectif de biosurveillance des milieux aquatiques. Récemment, la directive cadre sur l’eau (DCE) de l’Union européenne précisait les programmes de surveillance requis pour évaluer l’atteinte du bon état chimique et écologique des masses d’eau en 2015. En s’appuyant sur les expériences nationales et internationales antérieures, cet article dresse un bilan du potentiel des biomarqueurs pour évaluer le statut écotoxicologique des milieux aquatiques dans le cadre des programmes de surveillance de la DCE.

In the past 25 years, numerous biomarkers have been developed with the objective to apply them to aquatic ecosystem biomonitoring. Recently, the Water Framework Directive (WFD) of the European union specified monitoring programs required to assess the achievement of good chemical and ecological status for all water bodies by 2015. This article reviews the potential of biomarkers for ecotoxicological status assessment in WFD monitoring programmes based on previous national and international experiments., Au cours des 25 dernières années, de nombreux biomarqueurs ont été développés dans un objectif de biosurveillance des milieux aquatiques. Récemment, la directive cadre sur l’eau (DCE) de l’Union européenne précisait les programmes de surveillance requis pour évaluer l’atteinte du bon état chimique et écologique des masses d’eau en 2015. En s’appuyant sur les expériences nationales et internationales antérieures, cet article dresse un bilan du potentiel des biomarqueurs pour évaluer le statut écotoxicologique des milieux aquatiques dans le cadre des programmes de surveillance de la DCE.

Surveillance for invasive non-indigenous species (NIS) is an integral part of a quarantine system. Estimating the efficiency of a surveillance strategy relies on many uncertain parameters estimated by experts, such as the efficiency of its components in face of the specific NIS, the ability of the NIS to inhabit different environments, and so on. Due to the importance of detecting an invasive NIS within a critical period of time, it is crucial that these uncertainties be accounted for in the design of the surveillance system. We formulate a detection model that takes into account, in addition to structured sampling for incursive NIS, incidental detection by untrained workers. We use info-gap theory for satisficing (not minimizing) the probability of detection, while at the same time maximizing the robustness to uncertainty. We demonstrate the trade-off between robustness to uncertainty, and an increase in the required probability of detection. An empirical example based on the detection of Pheidole megacephala on Barrow Island demonstrates the use of info-gap analysis to select a surveillance strategy.

In the past 25 years, numerous biomarkers have been developed with the objective to apply them to aquatic ecosystem biomonitoring. Recently, the Water Framework Directive (WFD) of the European union specified monitoring programs required to assess the achievement of good chemical and ecological status for all water bodies by 2015. This article reviews the potential of biomarkers for ecotoxicological status assessment in WFD monitoring programmes based on previous national and international experiments., Au cours des 25 dernières années, de nombreux biomarqueurs ont été développés dans un objectif de biosurveillance des milieux aquatiques. Récemment, la directive cadre sur l’eau (DCE) de l’Union européenne précisait les programmes de surveillance requis pour évaluer l’atteinte du bon état chimique et écologique des masses d’eau en 2015. En s’appuyant sur les expériences nationales et internationales antérieures, cet article dresse un bilan du potentiel des biomarqueurs pour évaluer le statut écotoxicologique des milieux aquatiques dans le cadre des programmes de surveillance de la DCE.

In the past 25 years, numerous biomarkers have been developed with the objective to apply them to aquatic ecosystem biomonitoring. Recently, the Water Framework Directive (WFD) of the European union specified monitoring programs required to assess the achievement of good chemical and ecological status for all water bodies by 2015. This article reviews the potential of biomarkers for ecotoxicological status assessment in WFD monitoring programmes based on previous national and international experiments., Au cours des 25 dernières années, de nombreux biomarqueurs ont été développés dans un objectif de biosurveillance des milieux aquatiques. Récemment, la directive cadre sur l’eau (DCE) de l’Union européenne précisait les programmes de surveillance requis pour évaluer l’atteinte du bon état chimique et écologique des masses d’eau en 2015. En s’appuyant sur les expériences nationales et internationales antérieures, cet article dresse un bilan du potentiel des biomarqueurs pour évaluer le statut écotoxicologique des milieux aquatiques dans le cadre des programmes de surveillance de la DCE.

The automatic collection and increasing availability of health data provides a new opportunity for techniques to monitor this information. By monitoring pre-diagnostic data sources, such as over-the-counter cough medicine sales or emergency room chief complaints of cough, there exists the potential to detect disease outbreaks earlier than traditional laboratory disease confirmation results. This research is particularly important for a modern, highly-connected society, where the onset of disease outbreak can be swift and deadly, whether caused by a naturally occurring global pandemic such as swine flu or a targeted act of bioterrorism. In this dissertation, we first describe the problem and current state of research in disease outbreak detection, then provide four main additions to the field. First, we formalize a framework for analyzing health series data and detecting anomalies: using forecasting methods to predict the next day's value, subtracting the forecast to create residuals, and finally using detection algorithms on the residuals. The formalized framework indicates the link between the forecast accuracy of the forecast method and the performance of the detector, and can be used to quantify and analyze the performance of a variety of heuristic methods. Second, we describe improvements for the forecasting of health data series. The application of weather as a predictor, cross-series covariates, and ensemble forecasting each provide improvements to forecasting health data. Third, we describe improvements for detection. This includes the use of multivariate statistics for anomaly detection and additional day-of-week preprocessing to aid detection. Most significantly, we also provide a new method, based on the CuScore, for optimizing detection when the impact of the disease outbreak is known. This method can provide an optimal detector for rapid detection, or for probability of detection within a certain timeframe. Finally, we describe a method for improved comp

The National Capital Region (NCR) encompasses Washington, DC, and the ports of northern Virginia and southern Maryland. Within the NCR, there are 231 federal departments and agencies with 340,000 federal employees whose primary mission is conducting U.S. Government activities on a daily basis. A large-scale aerosolized anthrax attack could have devastating effects on the U.S. Government's capacity to respond to the immediate crisis and facilitate the return to normal governmental business operations. The region's local jurisdictions must respond quickly to provide mass prophylaxis through pre-established mechanisms to protect the public. However, no plans exist that address the Federal workforce, which could potentially have devastating effects on U.S. Government operations. This paper evaluates the countermeasure options available and recommends a strategic course of action for the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government must be prepared to minimize the effects of an aerosolized anthrax attack on its NCR federal workforce so that the government can return to normal business operations as expeditiously as possible., Civilian Research Project. Senior Service College Fellowship Project.

When President George W. Bush signed H.R. 1, "Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007," into law on August 3, 2007 without any limiting statement, it seemed that the unfulfilled security recommendations of the 9/11 Commission would finally be implemented. To ensure that they were, over the past year the Majority staffs of the Committees on Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs have conducted extensive oversight to answer the question: How is the Bush Administration doing on fulfilling the requirements of H.R. 1 (P.L. 110-53)? The Majority staffs of the two Committees prepared this report to summarize their findings. While the Majority staffs of the Committees found that the Bush Administration has taken some steps to carry out the provisions of the Act, this report focuses on the Administration's performance with respect to key statutory requirements in the following areas: (1) aviation security, (2) rail and public transportation security, (3) port security, (4) border security, (5) information sharing, (6) privacy and civil liberties, (7) emergency response, (8) biosurveillance, (9) private sector preparedness, and (10) national security. In each of the 25 individual assessments in this report, a status update is provided on the Bush Administration's performance on these key provisions. As this report demonstrates, the Bush Administration has not delivered on myriad critical homeland and national security mandates set forth in H.R. 1. Democratic Members of the Committees are alarmed that the Bush Administration has not made more progress on implementing these key provisions. Without them, the Administration has failed to provide the American people the security they expect and deserve. This report is intended as a wake-up call to the Bush Administration. In his short time left in office, the President should redouble his efforts to make America more secure by acting expeditiously to make the progress identified in this report., Report Prepared by the Majority Staffs of the Committee on Homeland Security and Committee on Foreign Affairs.

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, questions developed over how quickly the country could respond if a bioterrorism attack were to occur. "Syndromic surveillance" systems are a relatively new concept that is being implemented and used by public health practitioners to attempt to detect a bioterrorism attack earlier than would be possible using conventional biosurveillance methods. The idea behind using syndromic surveillance is to detect a bioterrorist attack by monitoring potential leading indicators of an outbreak such as absenteeism from work or school, over-the-counter drug sales, or emergency room counts. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Early Aberration Reporting System (EARS) is one syndromic surveillance system that is currently in operation around the United States. This thesis compares the performance of three syndromic surveillance detection algorithms, entitled C1, C2, and C3, that are implemented in EARS, versus the Cumulative Sum (CUSUM) method applied to model-based prediction errors. The CUSUM performed significantly better than the EARS' methods across all of the scenarios evaluated. These scenarios consisted of various combinations of large and small background disease incidence rates, seasonal cycles from large to small (as well as no cycle), daily effects, and various levels of random daily variation. This results in the recommendation to replace the C1, C2, and C3 methods in existing syndromic surveillance systems with an appropriately implemented CUSUM method., The original document contains color images.

Biological terrorism is a threat to the security and well-being of the United States. It is critical to detect the presence of these attacks in a timely manner so that emergency services can provide sufficient and effective responses to minimize or contain the damage inflicted. Syndromic surveillance is the process of monitoring public health-related data and applying statistical tests to determine the potential presence of a disease outbreak in the observed system. This research involved a comparative analysis of two multivariate statistical methods: the multivariate cumulative sum (MCUSUM) and the multivariate exponentially weighted moving average (MEWMA), both modified to look only for increases in disease incidence. While neither of these methods is currently in use in a biosurveillance system, they are among the most promising multivariate methods for this application. This analysis was based on a series of simulations using synthetic syndromic surveillance data that mimics various types of background disease incidence and outbreaks. The authors found that, similar to results for the univariate CUSUM and EWMA, the directionally sensitive MCUSUM and MEWMA perform very similarly.

From October 2004 through March 2005, the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) transformed a research protocol for gene-based pathogen identification into a demonstration project called Silent Guardian. Silent Guardian executed a bio-surveillance operation in the Washington, DC, region during the weeks surrounding the 2005 Presidential inauguration. To perform this bio-surveillance, nasal wash specimens were collected from patients presenting with flu-like symptoms at six military clinics in the Military District Washington and taken to NRL for testing. Simultaneous analysis for both common respiratory pathogens and bioterrorism agents was performed 24 hours a day for two months. The Silent Guardian Demonstration achieved four major objectives: (1) Pathogens were unequivocally identified from a general urban population within 24 hours; (2) The ability to sequence genes from more than 20 pathogen species was demonstrated in a production mode; (3) The capability of moving cutting edge technology from research to production within a six-week period was demonstrated by combined military/civilian teams; and (4) A clear path was identified that could lead to an automated, portable, user friendly system. This is the first documented application of DNA microarray technology to operational, broad-spectrum strain-level pathogen identification in an urban population., Published in NRL Review, p85-91, 2006.