Emergency Prevention System Research Articles

Prevention of emergency situations in complex technical systems using a neuromorphic approach

The paper proposes a scheme of emergency prevention system based on neuromorphic approach. The system includes a prediction unit that implements a mathematical model of the cerebellum predictive functions, and an alarm unit that implements the pain sensation model, proposed by the authors earlier. As a basic element of the proposed system the Compartmental Spiking Neuron Model (CSNM) was used, capable of learning from a small number of examples. The use of neuromorphic approach allows to overcome the limitations associated with the formalizing complexity of the systems being diagnosed and the low availability of data for modeling the processes occurring in them. The overcoming these limitations is possible due to the possibility of learning from a small number of examples and the absence of the need to model the system being diagnosed itself. The paper also presents the results of testing of the proposed scheme, which was carried out on a computer model using synthetic data. The results of the testing showed the fundamental applicability of the proposed scheme in neuromorphic control systems.

An integrated model for anthrax-free zone development in developing countries

Anthrax is more prevalent in impoverished nations and those without veterinarian public health initiatives. A comprehensive strategy was pursued to build an anthrax-free model in which there would be no anthrax. The strategy included routine vaccination, increased public awareness, rapid confirmation, and prompt disposal, as well as the establishment of an effective surveillance system, the development of an emergency prevention system, the enforcement of regulations, and the improvement of collaboration between human health and veterinary services. From 2017 through 2020, several initiatives including both social and laboratory activities were performed. After strictly applying the study's procedures, it was determined that the vast majority of community people (97.5%) were knowledgeable of the disease's nature, prevalence, significance to public health, and treatment in the study area. The farmers' risky practices and attitudes about the killing of sick livestock decreased dramatically (85%). The vaccination rate climbed from 40% to 85%, and the proportion of farmers who can presumptively identify anthrax based on its prominent clinical symptoms rose from 30% to 85%. A confirmation methodology based on PCR was implemented. A geographical map depicting the green and dangerous pastureland was created. The formation of a steering group to assess the progress of scientific activity. Locals established a slaughterhouse in that location, where individuals slaughtered their animals following veterinary examination and strictly followed drug withdrawal period. The contaminated area has been free of anthrax infection for four years as a consequence of these efforts. There also reduction of antibiotic used due to mass awareness. The study indicated that the model is an efficient, effective, and appropriate technique for establishing an anthrax-free zone where no anthrax outbreaks would occur. It could be replicated in any part of the world where socioeconomic and geographical conditions are similar.

Prevention of the spread of infectious diseases as a guarantee of constitutional rights to health protection and medical care in Russia

The subjectof the research is public relations in the sphere of health protection rights, medical care and ensuring sanitary and epidemiological well-being proceedings (in the context of infection safety).The purposeof the research is formulating recommendations for a conceptual solution of the contradictions that have arisen between the public relations that are developing during the period of COVID-19 counteraction and the current regulatory framework. Research methods: formal-legal, comparative-legal, general philosophical methods (synthesis, analysis, induction, deduction, etc.).The aim.The article examines the contradictions between the current system of responding to the occurring emergency situations and the established acting procedure and legislative regulation of public relations associated with the COVID-19 spreading counteraction. A proposition has been formulated on the appropriateness of using a specific concept of infectious safety, which correlates but does not duplicate the existing emergency response system.The main results.It is proposed to call this system a "system for preventing the spread of infectious diseases". Its elements (stages of preventing the spread of infectious diseases) are introduced. It is noted that this system is integrated into the already existing, but unspecified in a sufficient number of legal acts of biological safety statutory regulation. As elements (stages) of the prevention the spread of infectious diseases system it is proposed to consider the prevention of infectious diseases, the elimination of the infectious threat, the restoration of public relations to the state that was in effect at the time of activation the elimination of the infectious threat phase. The content of each stage is reviewed in detail considering new social relations circumstances that are not recognized in the existing emergency prevention system and are not directly affected by it. The abstracts of foreign authors were used, who also note similar problems in public relations of foreign countries (in particular, the United States) in connection with countering the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions.Conceptual conjectures were formulated to resolve the accumulated contradictions between the public relations developing in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic and the existing statutory and administrative institutions in the Russian Federation for the prevention of emergency situations. It is significant to mention that the research is not a comprehensive review on the problem of preventing the spread of infectious diseases, but it provides an additional view on potential ways of solving it. The concept of the prevention the spread of infectious diseases is also opened towards improvement and refinement in future considering new incoming information and legislative innovations.

Система предотвращения аварийных ситуаций производственных технологических объектов на основе ситуационной математической модели

The main criterion characterizing the efficiency of the equipment of an industrial facility is its operation without failures and damages. To reduce the emergency rate, there has been proposed an emergency prevention system targeted at identifying the technological situation at the facility, predicting its further development, and also de-veloping the control actions to return the facility to normal operation. The task of identifying pre-emergency and emergency situations for technological objects is realized as a particular task of recognizing a technological situation based on a situational mathematical model of an object. The situational mathematical model of the object is implemented as a set of production rules that reflect the knowledge of experts about the identification of pre-emergency situations at the object, as well as possible trajectories for bringing the control object into normal operation. A three-level grouping of the rules of the situational mathematical model by security levels is proposed. The features of the formation of the rules of the situational mathematical model in the processing of qualitative information about the object are considered. Based on the situational mathematical model, a method for identifying pre-emergency situations is proposed, the stages of the method implementation are described. An algorithm of functioning the emergency prevention system has been developed. The interaction scheme of the proposed emergency prevention system and the process control system based on the SCADA system is determined. The use of the proposed system will improve the safety and stability of the operation of hazardous technological facilities

DEVELOPMENT OF A NEURAL NETWORK FOR DETERMINING THE CAVITATION STOCK OF PUMPING UNITS

An automated emergency prevention system for the water supply system based on a neural network has been developed. The training sample is collected and loaded into the neural network. The algorithm of the neural network is developed and described. The constructed neural network protects the pumping equipment from cavitation.

Epidemiological and molecular analysis of avian influenza A(H7N9) virus in Shanghai, China, 2013-2017.

BackgroundHuman infections with a novel avian influenza A virus (H7N9) were reported in Shanghai municipality, China, at the beginning of 2013. High-pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H7N9 virus emerged in late February 2017 along with existing low-pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) H7N9 virus, and this has the potential to develop into a pandemic that could be harmful to humans.MethodsTo elucidate the epidemiological characteristics of H7N9-infected cases from 2013 to 2017 in Shanghai, data on the 59 laboratory-confirmed human cases and 26 bird and environmental contamination cases were collected from the WHO website and Food and Agriculture Organization Emergency Prevention System for Animal Health (FAO EMPRES-AH). Full-length sequences of H7N9 viruses that emerged in Shanghai were collected from the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data to analyze the evolutionary and genetic features.ResultsWe found that genetically different strains emerged in every epidemic in Shanghai, and most of the circulating H7N9 strains had affinity to human-type receptors, with the characteristics of high-virulence and low-pathogenic influenza viruses. Furthermore, our findings suggest that the Shanghai chicken strains are closely related to the HPAI H7N9 virus A/Guangdong/17SF003/2016, indicating that this viral strain is of avian origin and generated from the LPAI H7N9 viruses in Shanghai. The gradual decrease in H7N9 human infection in Shanghai was probably due to the control measures taken by the Shanghai government and the enhanced public awareness leading to a reduced risk of H7N9 virus infection. However, LPAI H7N9 viruses from poultry and environmental samples were continually detected in Shanghai across the epidemics, increasing the risk of new emerging H7N9 outbreaks.ConclusionIt is important to consistently obtain sufficient surveillance data and implement prevention measures against H7N9 viruses in Shanghai municipality.

A Paradigm for Justification of Emergency Prevention System at Mechanical Engineering Enterprise

A Paradigm for Justification of Emergency Prevention System at Mechanical Engineering Enterprise

Hard- and Software Implementation of Emergency Prevention System for Maritime Transport

Hard- and software of a marine Euler-angle orientation control system is described. Vessel rolling and pitching are controlled by ballast tank level adjustment. A method for compensating the deviation of vessel’s plane from horizon plane in emergency situations is offered. Using roll and pitch angles data it calculates the parameters of emergency cargo displacement characteristics.

Climate Change Influences on the Global Potential Distribution of Bluetongue Virus.

The geographic distribution of arboviruses has received considerable attention after several dramatic emergence events around the world. Bluetongue virus (BTV) is classified among category “A” diseases notifiable to the World Organization of Animal Health (OIE), and is transmitted among ruminants by biting midges of the genus Culicoides. Here, we developed a comprehensive occurrence data set to map the current distribution, estimate the ecological niche, and explore the future potential distribution of BTV globally using ecological niche modeling and based on diverse future climate scenarios from general circulation models (GCMs) for four representative concentration pathways (RCPs). The broad ecological niche and potential geographic distribution of BTV under present-day conditions reflected the disease’s current distribution across the world in tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions. All model predictions were significantly better than random expectations. As a further evaluation of model robustness, we compared our model predictions to 331 independent records from most recent outbreaks from the Food and Agriculture Organization Emergency Prevention System for Transboundary Animal and Plant Pests and Diseases Information System (EMPRES-i); all were successfully anticipated by the BTV model. Finally, we tested ecological niche similarity among possible vectors and BTV, and could not reject hypotheses of niche similarity. Under future-climate conditions, the potential distribution of BTV was predicted to broaden, especially in central Africa, United States, and western Russia.

The Battle Against Transboundary Animal Diseases In Nigeria And Some West African Countries

The President of the Nigerian Academy of Science, the Chairman of the occasion, distinguished Fellows of the Academy, our Fellows for today's induction, invited guests, gentlemen of the press and media, ladies and gentlemen. It gives me great pleasure to have been chosen to give this lecture. I have chosen this title because in recent years some animal diseases have become increasingly important in terms of their economic or zoonotic impact in Nigeria as well as its neighboring countries. Transboundary Animal Diseases (TADs) are defined by Food and Agriculture Organization Emergency Prevention System (FAO/EMPRES) as those animal diseases that are of significant economic, trade, and/or food security importance for a considerable number of countries; and which can easily spread to other countries and reach epidemic proportions and where control/management, including exclusion, requires co-operation between several countries. The occurrence of any of these diseases in any country may compromise food security through serious loss of animal protein and/or loss of draught animal power for cropping, may lead to significant production losses in meat, milk, and other livestock products. It may also make it impossible to up-grade the production capacity of indigenous livestock importation breeds through high-producing exotic breeds which are usually highly susceptible to these diseases. The prohibitive cost of control of these diseases increases, very significantly, production costs while TADS in a country may disrupt or inhibit trade in livestock and livestock products and, in effect, adversely affect national export economy. Some transboundary animal diseases such as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) or Rift Valley fever are transmissible to humans (zoonosis) and therefore have public health consequences of varying magnitude. Others like Rinderpest may lead to decimation of wildlife population and therefore have environmental impact as well as adversely affect tourism and recreational opportunities for individual countries.

Design of Emergency Prevention System Based on GIS

According to the emergency events characteristics and GIS functions, this paper describes the basic principle of emergency prevention system based on the GIS support in detail, and also designs platform framework and application platforms of emergency prevention system based on GIS. In this paper, a concrete example is introduced, which has a demonstration effect on emergency prevention system construction.

Planning for rapid response to outbreakers of animal diseases transmissible to humans via food

Planning for rapid response to outbreaks of foodborne zoonoses requires coordination and intersectoral collaboration, making the process inherently complex. Guidance documents have been published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) on the topics of foodborne outbreak investigation, establishing food safety emergency response plans, applying risk analysis principles during food safety emergencies, and developing national food recall systems. These guides should be used as resources by national authorities to develop national plans which should each reference the other in order to maintain consistency at the country level. FAO and WHO, together with the World Organisation for Animal Health (O1E), are the international organisations responsible at the global level for the health of people and animals and for food safety and security. As such, these organisations need to continue to work together to develop an intersectoral mechanism to conduct robust and timely joint risk assessments in the face of foodborne outbreaks and other food safety emergencies. Three international instruments have the potential to aid countries in their preparedness to face outbreaks of foodborne zoonoses and organise subsequent response efforts: the International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN), the newly enhanced Global Early Warning System for Major Animal Diseases, including Zoonoses (GLEWS+), and the FAO Emergency Prevention System for Food Safety (EMPRES Food Safety).

Comparing national and global data collection systems for reporting, outbreaks of H5N1 HPAI

Determining if outbreak data collected by regional or international organizations can reflect patterns observed in more detailed data collected by national veterinary services is a necessary first step if global databases are to be used for making inference about determinants of disease maintenance and spread and for emergency planning and response. We compared two data sources that capture spatial and temporal information about H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks reported since 2004 in four countries: Bangladesh, Egypt, Turkey, and Vietnam. One data source consisted of reports collected as part of each country's national veterinary services surveillance program, while the other data source included reports collected using the Emergency Prevention System for Priority Animal and Plant Pests and Diseases (EMPRES-i) global animal health information system. We computed Spearman rank-order correlation statistics to compare spatial and temporal outbreak distributions, and applied a space–time permutation test to check for consistency between the two data sources. Although EMPRES-i typically captured fewer outbreaks than detailed national reporting data, the overall similarity in space and time, particularly after 2006, reflect the ability of the EMPRES-i system to portray disease patterns comparable to those observed in national data sets. Specifically, we show that the two datasets exhibit higher positive correlations in outbreak timing and reported locations after 2006 when compared to December 2003 through 2006. Strengthening the capacity of global systems to acquire data from national and regional databases will improve global analysis efforts and increase the ability of such systems to rapidly alert countries and the international community of potential disease threats.

Emergency Prevention System (EMPRES) for Transboundary Animal and Plant Pests and Diseases. The EMPRES‐Livestock: An FAO Initiative

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) decided that the Organization should be focusing on the goal of enhancing world food security and the fight against transboundary animal diseases and plant pests. A mandate was obtained from the Governing Council and Conference to establish two new Special Programmes to address these fundamental issues. The first is the Special Programme on Food Security and the second is the Emergency Prevention System against transboundary animal and plant pests and diseases (EMPRES). EMPRES has two components, created after 1994 by a new policy of the Director-General of the FAO to better direct the FAO: the plant pest component focuses on the desert locust, whereas the animal diseases component focuses primarily on rinderpest but also on other epidemic diseases (e.g., contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, foot-and-mouth disease, peste de petit ruminants). For the program as a whole, a high-level EMPRES Steering Committee was established. This is chaired by the FAO Director-General and consists of the heads of key departments (Assistant Directors-General) and Divisional Directors. For the animal diseases component (hereafter referred to as EMPRES-Livestock Programme), FAO established a management unit within its Animal Health Service (AGAH), that is, the Infectious Diseases-EMPRES Group, to be responsible for implementation, including liaison with the Joint FAO-International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Division in Vienna for some of the functions suballocated there. This paper briefly describes FAO EMPRES Livestock, its vision, its mission, and its activities to assist FAO developing member countries and regions in improving the ability of veterinary services to reduce the risks of introduction and/or dissemination of transboundary animal disease, by preventing, controlling, and eradicating those diseases, assisting countries in building their own surveillance/early warning systems, establishing contingency plans, and establishing a global information system for disease monitoring.

Strengthening the BTWC: The role of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention in combating natural and deliberate disease outbreaks

Strengthening the BTWC: The role of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention in combating natural and deliberate disease outbreaks

A summary of control strategies for the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria (Forskål)

Repeated desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria (Forskål), outbreaks and plagues in Africa and Asia have in recent years prompted the international community to focus on preventing plague status from being reached through early intervention. Developing and implementing strategies for plague prevention must incorporate strengthening of human and material resources in the locust-affected countries, and emerging technologies must be integrated within strategies in order to construct workable, cost-effective, and environmentally benign locust-control systems at national and regional levels. Components and types of locust-control strategies are outlined. The 1986–1989, 1992–1994, and 1997–1998 campaigns are contrasted to show that implementing proactive control might be associated with reduced pesticide application, economic costs, environmental risks, and duration and extent of the locust threat. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ Emergency Prevention System (desert locust component) is briefly described.

Disease prevention and preparedness: the Food and Agriculture Organization Emergency Prevention System.

In 1994, the Food and Agriculture Organization undertook to revitalise its activities in the control of transboundary animal disease by establishing a new special programme known as the Emergency Prevention System (EMPRES) against transboundary animal and plant pests and diseases. The emphasis of the EMPRES livestock component is placed on pre-empting outbreaks and losses experienced by agriculture through the enhancement of local capacity to detect and react rapidly to plague events. EMPRES concentrates on the co-ordination of the Global Rinderpest Eradication Programme--a time-bound eradication programme--whilst addressing the progressive control of the most serious epidemic diseases within a broad framework of emergency preparedness. Programme activities are discussed in relation to early warning, early reaction, facilitating research and co-ordination. In addition to rinderpest, particular attention has been paid to contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, a re-emerging disease in Africa targeted for strategic attention, and foot and mouth disease, for which co-ordinated regional control in Latin America and South-East Asia has been initiated. Tactical responses to other disease emergencies such as African swine fever, classical swine fever (hog cholera), Rift Valley fever, peste des petits ruminants and lumpy skin disease are described.

Dealing with animal disease emergencies in Africa: prevention and preparedness.

Emergency preparedness planning for animal diseases is a relatively new concept that is only now being applied in Africa. Information can be drawn from numerous recent disease epidemics involving rinderpest, contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) and Rift Valley fever. These examples clearly demonstrate the shortcomings and value of effective early warning with ensured early reaction in the control of transboundary animal disease events. In concert, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), through the Emergency Prevention-System for Transboundary Animal and Plant Pests and Diseases (EMPRES), and Organisation of African Unity/Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (OAU/IBAR), through the European Commission-funded Pan-African Rinderpest Campaign (PARC), have been actively promoting the concepts and application of emergency preparedness planning and should continue to do so under the proposed successor of PARC, namely: the Pan-African Programme for the Control of Epizootics (PACE). The potential partnership between the normative function of the FAO in developing and promoting emergency preparedness and the implementation of improved national and regional disease surveillance by PACE and other partners could witness the commencement of more progressive control of epidemic diseases in Africa and greater self-reliance by African countries in coping with transboundary animal disease emergencies.