London, U.K. — Defence IQ, the leading online resource for military and defence news and analysis, has announced the release of its Social Media in Defence 2012 Report. The report explores the use of social media in the defence industry and is primarily focused on the commercial sector, considering what benefits, if any, social media offers to defence contractors and organisations.

A full copy of the report can be accessed here: Social Media in Defence 2012.

“The use of social media in the defence industry, particularly on the commercial side, has been limited to date,” said Andrew Elwell, Editor in Chief, Defence IQ. “While the report indicates that there is still resistance from industry, these perceptions are changing. The majority of survey respondents said that they will make significant changes to their social media policy over the next few years because it offers many advantages in terms of brand awareness and thought leadership.”

The report also examines the use of social media within a wider context, looking at how the defence media and journalists are utilizing social media as a tool to learn more about the industry and engage with suppliers.

“As with the advent of many new technologies, they are often viewed with suspicion until the benefits of using them become clearer,” said Elwell. “However, all indications are that in five or ten years the very premise of this report may seem bizarre to the leaders of the future because having a robust online presence and an engaging social media strategy will be fundamental, regardless of which industry you are in.”

For more information, please visit http://www.defenceiq.com

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Menlo Park, California, U.S.A. — The Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded SRI International a one-year grant to develop a novel therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune nervous system disease that affects about 400,000 people in the United States and more than two million people worldwide. There is currently no cure for this disorder, which can impair vision and movement.

The grant, funded through DoD’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, will support the development of an oral drug that targets miR-326, a molecule recently found to stimulate the production of immune system mediators known as T-helper 17 (Th17) cells. Patients with MS have high levels of miR-326, and Th17 is thought to play a critical role in causing MS and other autoimmune diseases.

The new therapy will inhibit miR-326 and block the production of Th17 cells. The novel, orally administered drug will be more convenient for patients than currently available treatments. MS treatments today often require frequent hospital visits for injections or intravenous infusions.

The new drug could also help patients who do not respond to existing medications, or who experience significant side effects as a result of taking them. ”New and more convenient and effective therapeutics for multiple sclerosis are greatly needed,” saidJennifer Lam, Ph.D., a research scientist in SRI’s Biosciences Division who is spearheading the project. “Our research is directed toward the development of a novel oral therapeutic as well as a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that contribute to MS.”

Innovations from SRI International have created new industries, billions of dollars of marketplace value, and lasting benefits to society—touching our lives every day.

The project described was supported by Award Numbers W81XWH-11-1-0736 from the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity. The content of the information does not necessarily reflect the position or the policy of the Government, and no official endorsement should be inferred

For more information about SRI International please visit www.sri.com

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Washington, U.S.A. – The space-based technology that lets GPS-equipped motorists constantly update their precise location will undergo a major test of its ability to rapidly pinpoint the location and magnitude of strong earthquakes across the western United States. Results from the new Real-time Earthquake Analysis for Disaster (READI) Mitigation Network soon could be used to assist prompt disaster response and more accurate tsunami warnings.

The new research network builds on decades of technology development supported by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, NASA, and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The network uses real-time GPS measurements from nearly 500 stations throughout California, Oregon and Washington. When a large earthquake is detected, GPS data are used to automatically calculate its vital characteristics including location, magnitude and details about the fault rupture.

“With the READI network we are enabling continued development of real-time GPS technologies to advance national and international early warning disaster systems,” said Craig Dobson, natural hazards program manager in the Earth Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “This prototype system is a significant step towards realizing the goal of providing Pacific basin-wide natural hazards capability around the Pacific ’Ring of Fire.’”

Accurate and rapid identification of earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 and stronger is critical for disaster response and mitigation efforts, especially for tsunamis. Calculating the strength of a tsunami requires detailed knowledge of the size of the earthquake and associated ground movements. Acquiring this type of data for very large earthquakes is a challenge for traditional seismological instruments that measure ground shaking.

High-precision, second-by-second measurements of ground displacements using GPS have been shown to reduce the time needed to characterize large earthquakes and to increase the accuracy of subsequent tsunami predictions. After the capabilities of the network have been fully demonstrated, it is intended to be used by appropriate natural hazard monitoring agencies. USGS and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are responsible for detecting and issuing warnings on earthquakes and tsunamis, respectively.

“By using GPS to measure ground deformation from large earthquakes, we can reduce the time needed to locate and characterize the damage from large seismic events to several minutes,” said Yehuda Bock, director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s Orbit and Permanent Array Center in La Jolla, Calif. ”We now are poised to fully test the prototype system this year.”

The READI network is a collaboration of many institutions including Scripps at the University of California in San Diego; Central Washington University in Ellensburg; the University of Nevada in Reno; California Institute of Technology/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena; UNAVCO in Boulder, Colo.; and theUniversity of California at Berkeley.

NASA, NSF, USGS, and other federal, state, and local partners support the GPS stations in the network, including the EarthScope Plate Boundary Observatory, the Pacific Northwest Geodetic Array, the Bay Area Regional Deformation Array and the California Real-Time Network.

“The relatively small investments in GPS-based natural hazards systems have revolutionized the way we view the Earth and allowed us to develop this prototype system with great potential benefits for the infrastructure and population in earthquake-prone states in the western United States,” said Frank Webb, Earth Science Advanced Mission Concepts program manager at JPL.

The READI network is the outgrowth of nearly 25 years of U.S. government research efforts to develop the capabilities and applications of GPS technology. The GPS satellite system was created by the Department of Defense for military and ultimately civil positioning needs.

NASA leveraged this investment by supporting development of a global GPS signal receiving network to improve the accuracy and utility of GPS positioning information. Today that capability provides real-time, pinpoint positioning and timing for a wide variety of uses from agriculture to Earth exploration.

“Conventional seismic networks have consistently struggled to rapidly identify the true size of great earthquakes during the last decade,” said Timothy Melbourne, director of the Central Washington University’s Pacific Northwest Geodetic Array. “This GPS system is more likely to provide accurate and rapid estimates of the location and amount of fault slip to fire, utility, medical and other first-response teams.”

The GPS earthquake detection capability was first demonstrated by NASA-supported research on a major 2004 Sumatra quake conducted by Geoffrey Blewitt and colleagues at the University of Nevada in Reno.

For more information about NASA programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov

Image Courtesy of   ChameleonsEye / Shutterstock.com

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Mouser Electronics  regarded as a top design engineering resource and global distributor for semiconductors and electronic components, has announced its support for a new United States anti-counterfeit law, Detection and Avoidance of Counterfeit Electronic Parts (SEC. 818).

The issue of counterfeit components made national headlines recently when the United States Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing in November to discuss the ongoing issues with counterfeit electronic parts in the U.S. Defense Department’s (DOD) supply chain.

According to SEC.818, several measures will be taken in order to avoid counterfeit components, including the requirement for DOD contractors and subcontractors to obtain electronic parts that are in production or currently available in stock from the original component manufacturers (OCM) or their authorized dealers. In addition, contractors that supply electronic components will now also be required to establish policies and procedures to keep counterfeit components out of the defense supply chain.

As an OCM authorized distributor committed to providing genuine, authorized components, Mouser announced last year that it had completed the rigorous audits to be registered as an AS9120A Distributor. AS9120A is a quality management certification for distributors to the aerospace industry.

The high standard addresses chain of custody, traceability, control and availability of records. AS9120A certification requires rigorous purchasing, handling, storage, and traceability controls to prevent counterfeit and non-conforming electronic components from entering the supply chain.

Mouser has also adopted relevant requirements of SAE standard AS5553 Counterfeit Electronic Parts; Avoidance, Detection, Mitigation, and Disposition into their AS9120A Quality Management System. Additionally, Mouser is a contributing member on the SAE G-19 Counterfeit Electronic Parts Committee that wrote AS5553.

“Customers can trust that Mouser is delivering authorized, genuine components,” says Pete Shopp, Mouser Electronics Senior Vice President of Business Operations. “The initiative being taken to avoid counterfeit components is something Mouser fully supports.”

Shopp also notes that Mouser is a member of the Electronic Components Industry Association (ECIA) the China Electronics Distributor Alliance (CEDA), and the European organizations of ECSN, DMASS and FBDI, all industry organizations that work to support supply chain standards. According to ECIA, the most effective method for preventing counterfeit electronic components from entering the supply chain is to obtain those components only from the original manufacturer or from OCM authorized distributors.

With its broad product line and unsurpassed customer service, Mouser caters to design engineers and buyers by delivering What’s Next in advanced technologies. Mouser offers customers 19 global support locations and stocks the world’s widest selection of the latest semiconductors and electronic components for the newest design projects.

Mouser Electronics’ website is updated daily and searches more than 8 million products to locate over 2 million orderable part numbers available for easy online purchase.  Mouser.com also houses an industry-first interactive catalog, data sheets, supplier-specific reference designs, application notes, technical design information, and engineering tools.

Image Courtesy of   https://www.facebook.com/mouserelectronics

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Haiti’s Civil Protection network received a substantial boost with the presentation of SUVs, trucks, boats, canoes, 11,000 solar radios, tents and other disaster-response equipment presented as gifts to the Government of Haiti by the U.S. Department of Defense.

In a ceremony held at the Directorate of Civil Protection in Haiti (DPC) in Port Au Prince, U.S. Ambassador to Haiti, Kenneth Merten, signed over the equipment to Haiti’s Minister of the Interior, Defense and the Collectivities Thierry Mayard-Paul, in support of Haiti’s Civil Protection network and ongoing disaster preparedness.

Lt. General Douglas M. Frazer, Commander of the SOUTHCOM, representing the U.S. DOD, together with U.S. Army Commander John Reed, pointed out that the earthquake not only impacted and changed the lives of the people of Haiti but also every member of the U.S. armed forces who came to give relief.

“Courage, resilience and character are examples of strength the people of Haiti exemplified to the armed forces teams,” said Lt. General Fraser. “It is in all our interests—the government of Haiti’s, SOUTHCOM’s and the international community’s—-to continue supporting Haiti’s capacity to respond to disasters.

This equipment, which further enhances the capability of Haiti’s Department of Civil Protection (DCP) for disaster response, is tangible proof of the strong relationship between the government of Haiti and the U.S. The continuing commitment of the U.S. to support the government of Haiti, is unwavering.”

The timing of this event coincides with the second anniversary of the January 12, 2010 earthquake that destroyed much of the nation’s infrastructure.  According to Mayard-Paul, the equipment provided by the U.S. will help reinforce his Ministry’s comprehensive disaster preparedness strategy,  which includes building a network of emergency operations centers, warehouses, disaster and fire stations throughout Haiti in order to help make all parts of the country safer.

“Haiti is in a geographic location that is vulnerable to the variances of nature, including hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes,” said Mayard-Paul. “Our efforts to put this country back on course and to achieve our goals for sustainable economic development are also susceptible to these natural disasters.

Therefore, the valuable contributions of our U.S. friends will help substantially in strengthening our disaster mitigation efforts while we continue to serve our individual communities through job creation and economic growth.” During the event, Mayard-Paul recognized the ongoing support that the U.S. Southern Command has shown Haiti, particularly during the aftermath of the earthquake.

“SOUTHCOMM was pivotal during that time of national tragedy, particularly because it played various roles, from disaster relief to wide-scale humanitarian efforts,” he said.  “By your example, you have shown us how we can move forward by establishing a new and democratic armed force.”

arindambanerjee / Shutterstock.com

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