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15 - A Cyber Threat to National Security?
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- By P. Sean Gorman, President and CTO FortiusOne
- Edited by Philip E. Auerswald, George Mason University, Virginia, Lewis M. Branscomb, Harvard University, Massachusetts, Todd M. La Porte, George Mason University, Virginia, Erwann O. Michel-Kerjan, University of Pennsylvania
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- Book:
- Seeds of Disaster, Roots of Response
- Published online:
- 30 July 2009
- Print publication:
- 18 September 2006, pp 239-257
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- Chapter
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Summary
Since the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, the nation has increased its attention on cyber security as an important facet of national security and critical infrastructure vital to the functioning of the U.S. economy. The White House's National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace states that “by 2002, our economy and national security are fully dependent upon information technology and the information infrastructure. A network of networks directly supports the operation of all sectors of our economy.”
Cyber security is also highlighted as an area critical to national security by the National Research Council's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board and National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee. This point, though, has not been without contention, especially with regards to the threat posed by cyber terrorism. Washington Monthly editor Joshua Green maintains that a myth of cyber terrorism has been imagined or created by the current administration: “There is no such thing as cyber terrorism – no instance of anyone ever having been killed by a terrorist (or anyone else) using a computer. Nor is there compelling evidence that Al Qaeda or any other terrorist organization has resorted to computers for any sort of serious destructive activity.”
The recurring theme in this book is the question of private efficiencies resulting in public vulnerabilities. In no other critical infrastructure sector are vulnerabilities more publicly seen than in cyber systems, which include the logical and physical network of computers, servers, fiber optic cables, and other components that constitute the nation's information infrastructure.
7 - Biofilm Complications of Urinary Tract Devices
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- By Sean P. Gorman, School of Pharmacy, Medical Biology Centre, Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, UK, David S. Jones, School of Pharmacy, Medical Biology Centre, Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, UK
- Edited by Michael Wilson, University College London, Deirdre Devine, Leeds Dental Institute, University of Leeds
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- Book:
- Medical Implications of Biofilms
- Published online:
- 23 November 2009
- Print publication:
- 01 September 2003, pp 136-170
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Summary
INTRODUCTION
The anatomy of the urinary tract, unfortunately, allows ready access by pathogens to the urethra and beyond when normal defences are breached. The potential for urinary tract infection (UTI) is considerably enhanced by the presence of an indwelling device such as a urethral catheter that provides a conduit to the bladder (Tunney, Jones, and Gorman, 1999). This allows not only the voiding of urine, but also the ingress of microorganisms that colonise the device material and adopt a biofilm growth mode. Such ‘device-related’ infection is a frequent occurrence in the urinary tract, requiring considerable time and resource in its management. It is estimated that over 40 per cent of nosocomial infections are related to the urinary tract (Nickel, Downey, and Costerton, 1989). Despite careful aseptic management, bacteriuria arises in approximately 50 per cent of patients within 10–14 days and in all those undergoing long-term catheterisation for management of urinary retention and incontinence by 28 days. Additional complications such as blocking encrustations, stone formation, pyelonephritis, and bladder cancer may also arise in patients with asymptomatic infection (Gorman and Tunney, 1997). The elderly are particularly prone to urinary device-related infection. Residents of nursing homes undergoing long-term catheterisation are three times more likely to receive antibiotics, be hospitalised, and die within a year than matched non-catheterised residents (Kunin, Chin, and Chambers, 1987).
The obstruction of urine flow in urinary devices by crystalline encrustation is an additional clinical complication.