U.S. REPRESENTATIVE'S RENARKS AT APCAC U.S.-ASIA BUSINESS SUMMIT

After The Tsunami.  Credit:  U.S. Navy.

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
The APCAC U.S.-Asia Business Summit
Remarks
Thomas Nides
Deputy Secretary for Management and Resources
Tokyo, Japan
March 1, 2012

Good morning everyone – what a pleasure to be among so many friends and distinguished colleagues today.

Now, some of you might have heard me say before that I wear two hats. I’m here as a diplomat and as a recovering businessman. I am also fast becoming an expert Japan traveler. This is my third trip to Tokyo in the last year, and I am thrilled to be back. I'd like to thank the ACCJ President Michael Alfant, the ACCJ Board of Governors, and the entire APCAC Board for inviting me to speak to you.

We are meeting just days before the one-year anniversary of the terrible earthquake and tsunami that forever changed the lives of millions of people. Japan’s recovery over the last year is an inspiration to the world. What could have been a crippling disaster instead became a remarkable testament to the spirit and resilience of the Japanese people.

The world pulled together to support Japan in those days and months after March 11. Many of you contributed -- American corporations donated nearly $300 million for relief and recovery efforts. American and Japanese rescue and relief forces worked side-by-side, starting within hours of the tsunami.

Of course, Japan has done the same for us. In the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Japanese people were among the first to respond. In the terrible days following 9/11, Japanese volunteers worked at Ground Zero day-in and day-out. When it matters most, our countries step up for each other. That’s what friends do for each other.

Now, last week, Secretary Clinton hosted the first-ever Global Business Conference at the State Department in Washington. We brought together senior U.S. officials with more than 160 business leaders from over 120 countries. My friend and yours Charles Lake was one of the participants, and I’m glad that he’s here today as well.

The Global Business Conference had one goal: to figure out how the United States can make it easier for companies to do business internationally and create American jobs. Today we want to continue that discussion with you. I am joined by a panel of my colleagues -- our chief diplomats from all across the Asia-Pacific. They made the trip because they know how important economics is to our relationship with Asia, and how important the economic relationship between Asia and the United States is to the world.

So as we begin this discussion, I’d like to make four key points. First, how the United States is sharpening our focus on economics as a foreign policy tool. Second, how business and economics are particularly important to our foreign policy in the Asia-Pacific region. Third, how the United States is doing a great deal to deepen our economic cooperation with the region. And finally, how we can and must do more, and how we need businesses to be part of that effort.

So let’s take these points one by one. First, our focus on business and economics as a tool for diplomacy – a policy we call economic statecraft. America's global leadership and our economic strength are fundamentally a package deal. We must do more to build up both.

We live in an era when the size of a country’s economy is every bit as important to exercising global leadership as the size of its military. Our corporations often reach more people in foreign countries than our embassies. Meanwhile, the American people are hungry for jobs that depend on finding new customers and opening new markets beyond our borders.

So we have made economic statecraft a priority for every one of our missions around the globe. And I’ll tell you, we will use every tool we have – including diplomacy – to promote global prosperity and create American jobs.

Which leads me to my second point: economic statecraft is particularly important in here Asia. That is one reason why, as you can see, we have such a strong showing on this panel.

Many Asian countries have long recognized the links between economics and foreign policy. In many ways, the business of Asia is business. Asian economies and populations are growing rapidly. I don’t need to tell you that much of future global economic growth will be centered in the Asia-Pacific. So it is imperative that we do this right. The decisions Asia’s emerging economies make together with the United States will help govern a rules-based system that will guide us through the 21st century. If we get the rules right, all of our countries will prosper together.

Economics is at the heart of America’s strategy in Asia. We are committed to exercising our role as a resident Pacific power—not just militarily and diplomatically but economically.

No one knows this better than the Asia-Pacific Council of American Chambers of Commerce. You have helped tend American business in Asia for more than 40 years. And your work has paid off. American Chambers of Commerce in Asia today oversee more than $400 billion dollars in trade volume and more than $200 billion in foreign direct investment. And yet, we can and we should be trading more.

The futures of the United States and Asia are linked. We are proud of the role the United States has played in helping fuel Asia's growing prosperity. In 2011, the United States exported nearly $900 billion in goods to APEC countries. That’s more exports than we sent to any other group of regional economies.

But there is no guarantee that the future will continue to be marked by success and growth. Our relationships need constant tending.

So, the third area I want to discuss is how we are enhancing our economic cooperation with the region. We have made some key gains, and we are committed to doing even more to get this right. Last year the President signed the landmark Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. This deal will eliminate tariffs on 95 percent of American exports to the Republic of Korea. It will add more than $10 billion to the U.S. economy and grow Korea’s economy by 6 percent.

We want to bring these sorts of benefits to the broader region as well. So, we are working with our partners to build a high quality Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. Done right, the TPP could set the stage for decades of higher living standards and deeper friendships across the region. That’s the world we want. And that’s the world I think you want too.

As we build this future, we should be clear. We are not just fighting for American businesses – although that is certainly a priority. America’s economic renewal depends on the strength of the global economy. And the global economy depends on the strength of the American economy. And both—let me add—depend on a strong, vibrant Japanese economy and a full recovery. So, we are striving to build a global, rules-based system in which all businesses stand a chance to succeed. Secretary Clinton laid out our vision at the APEC meetings in Washington almost a year ago. Economic competition should be open, free, transparent, and fair.

What do we mean by open? We mean a system where any person, in any part of the world, can access markets. If you have a good idea for a new product or service, nothing should prevent you from sharing it with the world.

What do we mean by free? We mean that every company can move their goods, money, and ideas around the globe without facing unnecessary roadblocks.

By transparent, we mean that regulations are developed in the open, with everyone’s input, and everyone knows what the rules are.

And, by fair, we mean that those rules apply equally to everyone. Fairness makes sure that people are willing to compete in the first place.

These four simple words cover an incredibly complex economic agenda. And in some of these areas, we face great challenges. For example, we must do a better job of protecting intellectual property. We can disagree about how to best enforce intellectual property laws, but we cannot afford to ignore them. Our 21st century economies rely on innovation and invention to drive economic growth and job creation. We must do all we can to protect that.

So, to my last point: we can and must do much more in the coming years to advance this economic statecraft agenda, and we need the business community to be our full partner. We need to sit down together, in forums like this one and the State Department Global Business Conference, or at gatherings like APEC. Building sustainable global growth and creating jobs at home is a joint venture. The private sector innovates and allocates capital, and the government opens doors to new markets and ensures that the system is fair. Given the economic hardship Americans and our international friends are suffering today, we must bring the partnership between business and government to the next level.

We are relying on you to think big, to generate new ideas, to open doors with jobs and capital. And the government will be right beside you – knocking down barriers, connecting partners, protecting everyone’s interests. Together, we can build a system of healthy economic competition that will be sustainable and profitable for many years to come.

I hope that we come away from these next two days with a newfound sense of purpose and possibility. Starting now, we should all be asking: What can the government and the State Department do to improve opportunities for business in the Asia-Pacific region? How can we do better? How can businesses support our national interests in tying the United States and Asia closer together?

If we are successful in finding more ways to work together to build an open, free, transparent, and fair economic system, the future of U.S.-Asia cooperation is unlimited. The impact on our global economic output will be enormous. And the benefit to people’s lives and opportunities will see no limits.

Thank you.

IRREGULAR OPTIONS TRADING IN FRONT OF H.J. HEINZ CO. ACQUSITION LEADS TO ASSET FREEZE

FROM: U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C., Feb. 15, 2013 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today obtained an emergency court order to freeze assets in a Zurich, Switzerland-based trading account that was used to reap more than $1.7 million from trading in advance of yesterday’s public announcement about the acquisition of H.J. Heinz Company.

The SEC’s immediate action ensures that potentially illegal profits cannot be siphoned out of this account while the agency’s investigation of the suspicious trading continues.

In a complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan, the SEC alleges that prior to any public awareness that Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital had agreed to acquire H.J. Heinz Company in a deal valued at $28 billion, unknown traders took risky bets that Heinz’s stock price would increase. The traders purchased call options the very day before the public announcement. After the announcement, Heinz’s stock rose nearly 20 percent and trading volume increased more than 1,700 percent from the prior day, placing these traders in a position to profit substantially.

"Irregular and highly suspicious options trading immediately in front of a merger or acquisition announcement is a serious red flag that traders may be improperly acting on confidential nonpublic information," said Daniel M. Hawke, Chief of the Division of Enforcement’s Market Abuse Unit.

Sanjay Wadhwa, Senior Associate Director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office, added, "Despite the obvious logistical challenges of investigating trades involving offshore accounts, we moved swiftly to locate and freeze the assets of these suspicious traders, who now have to make an appearance in court to explain their trading if they want their assets unfrozen."

The SEC alleges that the unknown traders were in possession of material nonpublic information about the impending acquisition when they purchased out-of-the-money Heinz call options the day before the announcement. The timing and size of the trades were highly suspicious because the account through which the traders purchased the options had no history of trading Heinz securities in the last six months. Overall trading activity in Heinz call options several days before the announcement had been minimal.

The emergency court order obtained by the SEC freezes the traders’ assets and prohibits them from destroying any evidence. The SEC’s complaint charges the unknown traders with violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5. In addition to the emergency relief, the SEC is seeking a final judgment ordering the traders to disgorge their ill-gotten gains with interest, pay financial penalties, and be permanently barred from future violations.

The SEC’s expedited investigation is being conducted by Market Abuse Unit members Megan Bergstrom, David S. Brown, and Diana Tani in the Los Angeles Regional Office with substantial assistance from Charles Riely, Market Abuse Unit member in the New York Regional Office who will handle the SEC’s litigation. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Options Regulatory Surveillance Authority (ORSA).

U.S. MILITARY AND CYBER THREATS

Graphic Credit:  U.S. Air Force.

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Military Works to Counter Cyber Threats
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 19, 2013 - The United States military is working diligently to beef up cyber defenses against all threats, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said here today.

In a meeting with Pentagon reporters, Little said the United States believes in an all-of-government approach to cybersecurity, which includes diplomatic, economic and military measures.

The U.S. government "will continue to draw upon the capabilities of all our agencies and departments to strengthen our cyber defenses," he added.

Recent attention has focused on China since a private firm accused a Chinese army unit in Shanghai of launching cyberattacks against U.S. firms. Little declined to comment on the allegation, saying the Pentagon does not comment on intelligence matters. But he noted that Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta raised concerns about cyber issues during his visit to the nation last year.

"We have repeatedly raised our concerns at the highest levels about cyber theft with Chinese officials, including the military, and we will continue to do so," Little said.

The United States is a target of cyberattacks from around the world, the press secretary noted.

"I'm not commenting on any particular state actor," he said. "We see cyber threats emanate from a number of places. We have discussed the cyber threat with many countries around the world."

The U.S. publication "Chinese Military Power" said the U.S. government "appeared to be the target of intrusions, some of which appear to have originated within the People's Republic of China. These intrusions were focused on exfiltrating information."

U.S. PROVIDES ADDITIONAL $19 MILLION IN HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE FOR SYRIAN PEOPLE

Photo:  Roman Ruins In Syria.  Credit:  CIA World Factbook.

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
U.S. Announces Additional Funding in Response to Syria Crisis
Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
February 19, 2013
　

Today in Geneva, Switzerland, at the Syria Humanitarian Forum, U.S. Agency for International Development Assistant Administrator for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance, Nancy Lindborg announced that the United States is providing an additional $19 million in humanitarian assistance in response to urgent needs emanating from the brutal conflict in Syria. On January 29, President Obama announced an additional $155 million to help those suffering inside Syria and refugees in the neighboring countries. Today’s announcement brings the United States total contribution of humanitarian support in response to this crisis to nearly $385 million.

U.S. funding has helped train nearly 875 medical personnel, treat over 410,000 patients, and perform over 29,000 surgeries in Syria. This new funding will provide additional medical supplies and emergency medical care for those in need in Syria.

This additional funding will also allow the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to continue providing life-saving assistance, in particular rehabilitation and upkeep of water and sanitation systems, provision of medical care, and the distribution of food and non-food items in all of Syria’s 14 governorates, including in opposition-controlled and contested areas. ICRC’s reputation as a neutral and independent actor continues to help gain access and outreach to those affected by conflict; this role is essential in any conflict.

This funding will also provide food vouchers for more than 50,000 additional Syrian refugees in Jordan. The vouchers can be redeemed for approved items at designated local markets. Given that many of these refugees are living in host communities and not in camp settings, voucher assistance provides beneficiaries with the dignity and freedom of selecting what is best for their families while also stimulating the local economy.

The United States remains committed to supporting humanitarian assistance for all those in need inside Syria and to working with a wide range of international partners and Syrian humanitarian organizations whose dedicated staff are taking great risks to ensure aid is directly reaching those in need. The U.S. Government is coordinating closely with the Syrian Opposition Coalition in helping identify and reach those in need of humanitarian assistance where access is constrained.

Over 870,000 Syrians have fled to neighboring countries since the beginning of the conflict. Just since January 1, over one-quarter of a million Syrians have fled the country, with the majority seeking refuge in Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq, and Egypt. Nearly $170 million of our assistance is provided to help those seeking refuge in these countries.

The United States recognizes and applauds the generosity of the governments and people of Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey, who continue to keep their borders open to those fleeing the violence, and we urge them to continue doing so for all those in need—including Palestinian and Iraqi refugees. We also express appreciation to all countries, including Iraq as well as countries in North Africa and Europe that are hosting and providing assistance to these vulnerable populations.

NEW ADVANCE IN "SLOW LIGHT" MAY BRING INCREASED SPEEDS IN OPTICAL COMPUTING, TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Los Alamos National Laboratory.  Credit: Wikimedia Commons/DOE  

FROM: LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY
"Slow Light’ Advance Could Speed Optical Computing, Telecommunications
Metamaterials provide active control of slow-light devices
LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Feb. 12, 2013—Wireless communications and optical computing could soon get a significant boost in speed, thanks to "slow light" and specialized metamaterials through which it travels.

Researchers have made the first demonstration of rapidly switching on and off "slow light" in specially designed mate¬rials at room temperature. This work opens the possibility to design novel, chip-scale, ultrafast devices for applications in terahertz wireless communications and all-optical computing.

Significance of the research

In slow light, a propagating light pulse is substantially slowed down, compared with the velocity of light in a vacuum. This is accomplished by the light’s interaction with the medium through which it is shining. Slow light has potential applications in telecommunications because it could lead to a more orderly traffic flow in networks.

Like cars slowing down or speeding up to negotiate an intersection, packets of information are better managed if their transmission speed is changeable. Another potential application is the storage of information carried by light pulses, leading to a potential all-optical computing system. Current semiconductor materials used in computing devices are reaching some of their limits, and an all-optical system would potentially enable improvements in size reduction and calculation speeds.

The effects of strong light-matter coupling used in slowing down light might create entangled photon pairs that lead to quantum computing capabilities beyond those of modern computers, the researchers say.

Giving classical optical structures a quantum twist

Electromagnetically induced transparency is a quantum interference effect that produces a sharp resonance with extremely low loss and dispersion. However, implementing electromagnetically induced transparency in chip-scale applications is difficult due to the demands of stable gas lasers and low-temperature environments. The key to success is the use of metamaterials, engineered artificial materials containing structures that are smaller than the wavelength of the waves they affect.

Researchers integrated photoconductive silicon into the metamaterial unit cell. This material enables a switching of the transparency resonance window through the excitation of ultrafast, femto-second optical pulses. This phenomenon causes an optically tunable group delay of the terahertz light. The "slow light" behavior can be controlled at an ultrafast time scale by integrating appropriate semiconductor materials with conventional metamaterial designs.

In this research, the medium is an active metamaterial that supports a sharp resonance, which leads to a rapid change in the refractive index of the medium over a small range of frequencies. This phenomenon causes a dramatic reduction in the velocity of terahertz light propagation. The resonance can be switched on and off on a time scale of a few pico-seconds. When the resonance transparency is on, the system produces slow light. When the resonance is off, the slow light behavior disappears. This on and off process happens on an ultrafast (pico-second) time scale when a femto-second laser pulse excites the metamaterial. Nature Communications published the research. Link to paper:


http://www.nature.com/ncomms/journal/v3/n10/full/ncomms2153.html

The research team

Researchers include Ranjan Singh of High Power Electrodynamics, Abdul K. Azad and Hou-Tong Chen of the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Antoinette Taylor of Materials Physics and Applications, collaborators from Tianjin University, Oklahoma State University, and Imperial College, London. The U.S. Department of Energy supported the LANL research, which was performed, in part, at the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, a DOE Office of Science user facility. The work supports the Laboratory’s global- and energy-security mission areas.

Additional information

Slow light is just that, light that has been slowed from the traditionally understood standard, 299,792,458 meters per second. While faster-than-light speeds are considered impossible, it is entirely reasonable to guide light through a material that slows or delays the motion of the photons as they move through the medium. The photons are absorbed and then re-emitted, slowing the transmission from one area to another, and in some experiments the light has been stopped altogether. The measurement of how much light is slowed in a material is known as its refractive index. In a vacuum, there is no delay. Through a diamond, with a refractive index of 2.4, the light lingers for a small time.

Metamaterials are assemblies of multiple individual elements fashioned from conventional microscopic materials arranged in periodic patterns. The precise shape, geometry, size, orientation and arrangement of the structures can affect waves of light in an unconventional manner, creating material properties that are unachievable with conventional materials.

Image caption: Schematic of active optical control of terahertz waves in electromagnetically induced transparency metamaterials.

About the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies

The Center for Nanoscale Materials is one of the five DOE Nanoscale Science Research Centers, premier national user facilities for interdisciplinary research at the nanoscale supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science. Together the NSRCs comprise a suite of complementary facilities that provide researchers with state-of-the-art capabilities to fabricate, process, characterize and model nanoscale materials, and constitute the largest infrastructure investment of the National Nanotechnology Initiative. The NSRCs are located at DOE's Argonne, Brookhaven, Lawrence Berkeley, Oak Ridge, Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories.

NEWS FROM AFGHANISTAN FOR FEBRUARY 19, 2013

U.S. Army Capt. Andrew Jenkins uses the optic lens on his weapon to scan the valley below for signs of insurgents while on a security patrol in Khowst province, Afghanistan, Jan. 31. 2013. Jenkins is the commander of the 101st Airborne Division’s Troop B, 1st Squadron, 33rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Zach Holden

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Precision Strike Kills Insurgents in Kunar Province

Compiled from International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Releases

WASHINGTON, Feb. 19, 2013 - A precision strike in the Ghaziabad district of Afghanistan's Kunar province yesterday killed two insurgents, military officials reported.

Afghan and coalition forces saw the two men engaging in insurgent activity and called in the strike, officials said.

In other Afghanistan operations yesterday:

-- A combined Afghan and coalition security force in Kandahar province's Panjwai district arrested a Taliban leader who was believed to be responsible for coordinating improvised explosive device operations against local police. He also was responsible for IED attacks against Afghan and coalition forces and Afghan civilians.

-- In Kandahar province's Arghistan district, a combined force arrested a Taliban leader who allegedly is responsible for an IED attack network in the province's Spin Boldak, Arghistan and Maruf districts. He also is believed to have distributed ammunition and heavy weapons to insurgents.

-- Also in Kandahar's Arghistan district, a combined force detained three insurgents during a search for a Taliban leader believed to be responsible for acquiring and distributing weapons and conducting attacks against Afghan and coalition forces.

-- A combined force ordered a precision strike that killed an insurgent in Ghazni province's Andar district.

-- A combined force in Kunduz province's Aliabad district arrested six insurgents associated with a Taliban IED expert who allegedly oversees attacks on Afghan and coalition forces.

-- In Paktia province's Gardez district, a combined force arrested a Haqqani network facilitator who allegedly has been involved with vehicle-borne IED attacks in Khost and Paktia provinces. He also is accused of conducting the movement of insurgent fighters between Gardez and Jalalabad districts for attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. The security force also detained two suspected insurgents and seized a rifle and ammunition.

-- A combined force in Nangarhar province's Khugyani district arrested a Taliban leader who allegedly provided operational guidance to other local Taliban leaders and oversaw 10 insurgents who used heavy weapons and explosives to attack Afghan and coalition forces. The security force also detained another suspect and seized ammunition.

-- In Logar province's Charkh district, a combined force arrested two insurgents while searching for a senior Taliban leader suspected of directing attacks against Afghan and coalition forces and supplying weapons and IEDs to insurgents. The security force also seized a rifle and ammunition as a result.

In Feb. 17 operations:

-- A combined force killed senior Taliban leader Khan Mohammad and another insurgent after seeing them engaged in insurgent activity in Helmand province's Musa Qalah district. Khan Mohammad, also known as Shams, coordinated direct attacks against Afghan and coalition forces and participated in Taliban kidnapping operations. He facilitated the supply of weapons to insurgents.

-- In Baghlan province's Baghlan-e Jadid district, a combined force arrested a Taliban leader who allegedly oversaw the gathering and coordinating of munitions, fighters and logistics for higher-level Taliban leaders. He is suspected of facilitating the movement of fighters and heavy weapons for a planned attack against Afghan and coalition forces. The security force also detained two other suspected insurgents.

-- A combined force in Helmand province's Nad-e Ali district detained four insurgents while searching for a Taliban leader suspected of overseeing insurgents responsible for attacks against Afghan and coalition forces.

-- In Logar province's Charkh district, a combined force killed two insurgents during a search for a Taliban leader believed to transport weapons and explosives and oversee IED operations in the district. The security force also seized assault rifles with ammunition and several grenades in the operation.

-- A combined force in Nangarhar province's Sherzad district killed an insurgent during a search for a Taliban leader who oversees 20 insurgents responsible for attacks against Afghan and collation forces. The security force also seized assault rifles with associated gear and several grenades in the operation.

-- In Kandahar province's Panjwai district, a combined force killed a Taliban leader who coordinated and executed attacks against Afghan local police checkpoints and personnel. He was a weapons expert, and recently involved in taking three local police officers hostage, officials said.

-- A combined force in Helmand province's Nad-e Ali district arrested a Taliban leader believed to oversee insurgents responsible for attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. He oversaw procurement and delivery of weapons and IEDs to insurgents and is suspected of personally executing high-profile IED attacks, officials said. The security force also detained three other suspected insurgents.

In Feb. 16 operations:

-- A combined force in Khost province's Khost district arrested a high-profile attack facilitator believed to be associated with both Taliban and Haqqani insurgent networks. He is accused of assisting in the transfer and delivery of heavy weapons, equipment and ammunition and of coordinating a vehicle-borne IED attack targeting Afghan and coalition forces. The security force also detained two other suspected insurgents and seized firearms and ammunition.

-- In Logar province's Pul-e Alam district, a combined force arrested a Haqqani network facilitator believed to be responsible for planning and preparing attacks targeting Afghan and coalition forces and facilitating the acquisition of IEDs and other weapons. He also allegedly produced and transported homemade explosives and executed IED attacks. The security force also detained two other suspected insurgents.

SCENERIO: COMPUTER CRASH AT NORTHCOM

Assured access to secure networks is vital to the homeland defense mission of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, and to Northcom's key role in providing military support to civil authorities as requested. Here, Army Master Sgt. Dale Lee and James Skidmore from U.S. Army North, Northcom's Army component, rely on networks at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., to plan military support to Hurricane Irene relief efforts, Aug. 27, 2011. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Samuel Goodman

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, NORTHCOM, MILITARY COMPUTER CRASH

Secure Network Access Vital to Northcom's Mission
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo., Feb. 13, 2013 - Who doesn't hate when their computer crashes, gets infected with a virus or, worst of all, flashes them the dreaded "blue screen of death"?

Navy Rear Adm. Thomas "Hank" Bond Jr. worries about that problem more than most. That's because, as director of command-and-control systems at U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, he's responsible for the networks vital to the dual commands' homeland defense mission.

Operating in a "no-fail" environment where a mistake can cost American lives, Bond and his staff in the commands' "J-6" directorate run the architectures and networks that deliver critical sensor data -- some that would need to be acted on immediately to prevent an attack on the United States.

"We provide the connective tissue across the command to get the job done," Bond told American Forces Press Service at the Northcom/NORAD headquarters here.

Information is critical across the organization, he said, but particularly at the NORAD and Northcom Current Operations Center that maintains an around-the-clock watch, seven days a week, 365 days a year. "That data needs to get to people who can make decisions about it," and ultimately to Army Gen. Charles H. Jacoby Jr., the NORAD and Northcom commander, who would make the call for action, Bond explained.

"This is a mission that requires that you be able to talk, to get the message out and to assign the forces to do what you need them to do," he said. "You can't say 'I'm sorry' because you are rebooting the system."

To ensure that never happens, Bond and his team are exploring more efficient and whenever possible, less costly ways to assure secure network access across the commands.

Rather than coming up with expensive new "gee-whiz" technologies, they are tapping some of the best concepts emerging in the commercial marketplace. "We're looking for new and better solutions that are also lower cost, still providing all the services, but still reliable and redundant," Bond said. "That is our big trend."

For example, the team is exploring better ways to present data to decision-makers. One idea is to make the two-dimensional display screens that dominate the command center 3-D to better reflect the real world. Another is to identify improved ways to portray activities in the air, space, land, maritime and cyber domains to help operators "connect the dots" and develop better situational awareness.

"It all boils down to that age-old problem of knowing what is going on in your operating area and knowing what is going on in the enemy's operating area and being able to use that to your advantage," Bond said. Information technology alone can't deliver that, he said, but it can go a long way in empowering well-trained operators with finely tuned processes.

"We are thinking about how to visualize data differently, and present it in a way that can be more useful for our commander and for the operators to understand," Bond said. "I want to be able to provide them the framework that might save them 30 seconds thinking about one particular part of the problem, which will give them more time to think about that harder thing over there."

In another major, but less apparent effort, the J-6 directorate is studying ways to take advantage of Internet protocol. Migrating to "everything over IP," a popular trend in the commercial world, would enable the commands to share and store a full range of data over one infrastructure in lieu of myriad independent systems, Bond explained.

It would eliminate the cost of running multiple services, he said. But by eliminating redundancy, it also creates some inherent risk.

"That's something we can't accept with our no-fail communications missions," Bond said. "So we continue to watch this, to see if there is a way to embrace it in our effort to identify new solutions."

One solution already in the works involves improvements to the NORAD Enterprise Network used to share secret-level information between the United States and Canada. The network runs parallel to the U.S. Secure Internet Protocol Router Network, or SIPRNET, and its Canadian equivalent.

Particularly during tough budget times, maintaining these separate networks is simply too costly, Bond said. "So we are looking for a new way to employ an old system, and working through all the policy issues to figure out how we can more economically operate with our partners north of the border in a way that can be sustained into the future," he said.

Looking to the future, Bond said, he expects increasing challenge in protecting against cyber attacks that threaten the command's networks and, by extension, its ability to accomplish its mission.

Toward that end, his directorate is involved heavily in the new NORAD/Northcom Joint Cyber Center that stood up in May. Operating under the command's operations directorates, the new center has a threefold mission: extend situational awareness across the cyber domain; improve defense of the commands' networks; and stay postured to provide cyber consequence response and recovery support to civil authorities, when requested.

As the Joint Cyber Center matures and begins to form a network with other combatant commands' JCCs, Bond said he sees tremendous potential in the power of information technology in promoting situational awareness across the board.

"It is coming," he said. "We are growing in our ability to do this."

MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO LACY ACT VIOLATIONS IN COLORADO

North American Elk.  Credit:  Wikiomedia Commons.

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Colorado Big Game Outfitter Sentenced to Prison for Six Lacey Act Felonies

Big game hunting outfitter Dennis Eugene Rodebaugh, 72, of Meeker, Colo., was sentenced in Denver today to 41 months in prison to be followed by three years supervised release for six felony counts of violating the Lacey Act, announced the Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Colorado Parks and Wildlife. District Judge Christine M. Arguello also sentenced Rodebaugh, to pay a $7,500 fine to the Lacey Act reward fund and $37,390 in restitution to the state of Colorado for the value of illegally taken elk and deer.

Rodebaugh was found guilty by a jury in September 2012 of aiding and abetting six violations of the Lacey Act by providing outfitting and guiding services from salt-baited tree-stands between 2005 and 2007. Beginning in 1988, Mr. Rodebaugh began offering multi-day elk and deer hunts to out-of-state clients on the White River National Forest through his outfitting business, called "D&S Guide and Outfitter," for between $1,200 and $1,600.

Rodebaugh's assistant guide, Brian Kunz, was also sentenced today. He previously pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of violating the Lacey Act while working for Rodebaugh. Based on his acceptance of responsibility and the government’s motion for downward departure based on his cooperation, the court sentenced Mr. Kunz to time served (one day) and one year of probation plus a $2,000 fine

Each spring and summer, Mr. Rodebaugh placed hundreds of pounds of salt as bait near the tree-stands from which his clients would hunt deer and elk with archery equipment. The placement and use of salt to aid in the taking of big game is unlawful in Colorado. The interstate sale of big game outfitting and guiding services for the unlawful taking of big game with the aid of bait constitutes a violation of the Lacey Act.

This case was investigated by Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney J. Ronald Sutcliffe and Trial Attorney Mark Romley, of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section of the Environment and Natural Resources Division.

BIODIVERSITY AND DISEASE

Credit:  CIA World Factbook.

FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Biodiversity Protects Against Disease, Scientists Find
The richer the assortment of amphibian species in a pond, the more protection that community of frogs, toads and salamanders has against a parasitic infection that can cause severe deformities, including the growth of extra legs.

The findings, published in a paper in this week's issue of the journal Nature, support the idea that greater biodiversity in large-scale ecosystems, such as forests or grasslands, may also provide greater protection against diseases, including those that affect humans.

A larger number of mammal species in an area may curb cases of Lyme disease, while a larger number of bird species may slow the spread of West Nile virus.

"How biodiversity affects the risk of infectious diseases, including those of humans and wildlife, has become an increasingly important question," said Pieter Johnson, an ecologist and evolutionary biologist at the University of Colorado Boulder, and the lead author of the paper.

"But as it turns out, solidly testing these links with realistic experiments has proven very challenging in most systems."

Researchers have struggled to design comprehensive studies that could illuminate the possible connection between disease transmission and the number of species living in complex ecosystems.

Part of the problem is the enormous number of organisms that may need to be sampled, and the vast areas over which those organisms may roam.

This study overcame that problem by studying smaller, easier-to-sample ecosystems, the scientists say.

"The research reaches the surprising conclusion that the entire set of species in a community affects susceptibility to disease," said Doug Levey, program director in the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s Division of Environmental Biology, which funded the research. "Biodiversity matters."

Johnson and colleagues visited hundreds of ponds in California, recording the types of amphibians living there as well as the number of snails infected by the pathogen Ribeiroia ondatrae.

Snails are an intermediate host used by the parasite during part of its life cycle.

"One of the great challenges in studying the diversity-disease link has been collecting data from enough replicate systems to differentiate the influence of diversity from background 'noise,'" Johnson said.

"By collecting data from hundreds of ponds and thousands of amphibian hosts, we were able to provide a rigorous test of this hypothesis, which has relevance to a wide range of disease systems."

The researchers buttressed field observations with laboratory tests designed to measure how prone to infection each amphibian species is, and by creating pond replicas using large plastic tubs stocked with tadpoles that were exposed to a known number of parasites.

All the experiments told the same story.

Greater biodiversity reduced the number of amphibian infections and the number of deformed frogs.

The scientists spent three years sampling 345 wetlands and recording malformations--which include missing, misshapen or extra sets of hind legs--caused by parasitic infections in 24,215 amphibians.

The results showed that ponds with half a dozen amphibian species had a 78 percent reduction in parasite transmission compared to ponds with just one amphibian species.

The reason for the decline in parasitic infections as biodiversity increases is likely related to the fact that ponds add amphibian species in a predictable pattern, with the first species to appear being the most prone to infection and the later species to appear being the least prone.

The researchers found that in a pond with just one type of amphibian, that amphibian was almost always the Pacific chorus frog, a creature that's able to rapidly reproduce and quickly colonize wetland habitats, but which is also especially vulnerable to infection and parasite-induced deformities.

On the other hand, the California tiger salamander was typically one of the last species to be added to a pond community--and also one of the most resistant to parasitic infection.

Therefore, in a pond with greater biodiversity, parasites have a higher chance of encountering an amphibian that is resistant to infection, lowering the overall success rate of transmission between infected snails and amphibians.

This same pattern--of less diverse communities being made up of species that are more susceptible to disease infection--may well play out in more complex ecosystems, Johnson said.

That's because species that disperse quickly across ecosystems appear to trade off the ability to quickly reproduce with the ability to develop disease resistance.

The recent study also reinforces the connection between deformed frogs and parasitic infection.

In the mid-1990s reports of frogs with extra, missing or misshapen legs skyrocketed, attracting widespread attention in the media and motivating scientists to try to figure out the cause.

Johnson was among the researchers who found evidence of a link between infection with Ribeiroia and frog deformities, though the apparent rise in reports of deformations, and its underlying cause, remained controversial.

While the new study has implications beyond parasitic infections in amphibians, it does not mean that an increase in biodiversity always results in a decrease in disease, Johnson said.

Other factors also affect rates of disease transmission.

For example, a large number of mosquitoes hatching in a particular year increases the risk of contracting West Nile virus, even if there has been an increase in the biodiversity of the bird population.

Birds act as "reservoir hosts" for West Nile virus, harboring the pathogen indefinitely with no ill effects, then passing on the pathogen.

"Our results indicate that higher diversity reduces the success of pathogens in moving between hosts," Johnson said.

"But if infection pressure is high, there will still be a significant risk of disease. Biodiversity will simply dampen transmission success."

Co-authors of the paper are Dan Preston and Katie Richgels of the University of Colorado Boulder, and Jason Hoverman of Purdue University.

In addition to NSF, the research was funded by the National Geographic Society and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

-NSF-

CYBERSECURITY AND U.S. CYBER COMMAND

CYBER COMMANDER GEN. ALEXANDER

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Cybercom Commander Calls Cybersecurity Order First Step
By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13, 2013 - The cybersecurity policy President Barack Obama announced during his annual State of the Union address is a step toward protecting the nation's critical infrastructure, the commander of U.S. Cyber Command said here today.

Army Gen. Keith B. Alexander, also director of the National Security Agency, joined senior U.S. officials from the White House and the Commerce and Homeland Security departments to discuss strengthening the cybersecurity of the country's critical infrastructure.

"We need a way of sharing information between government and industry -- both for information sharing and hardening our networks," he said. "I think what we're doing in the executive order tackles, perhaps, the most difficult issue facing our country: How do we harden these networks when, across all of industry and government, those networks are in various states of array? We've got to have a way of reaching out with industry and with government to solve that kind of problem."

The general said the new cybersecurity policy is important to strengthening the country's defenses against cyberattacks. "The systems and assets that our nation depends on for our economy, for our government, even for our national defense, are overwhelmingly owned and operated by industry," he explained. "We have pushed hard for information sharing."

Private-sector companies have the information they need to defend their own networks in a timely manner, he said. "However, information sharing alone will not solve this problem," he added. "Our infrastructure is fragile." The executive order Obama signed to put the new cybersecurity policy into effect sets up a process for government and industry to start to address the problem, the general said.

But although the president's new executive order helps to bring about some solutions, Alexander said, it isn't comprehensive.

"This executive order is only a down payment on what we need to address the threat," he said. "This executive order can only move us so far, and it's not a substitute for legislation. We need legislation, and we need it quickly, to defend our nation. Agreeing on the right legislation actions for much-needed cybersecurity standards is challenging."

The executive order is a step forward, though, because it creates a voluntary process for industry and government to establish that framework, Alexander said.

"In particular, with so much of the critical infrastructure owned and operated by the private sector, the government is often unaware of the malicious activity targeting our critical infrastructure," he said. "These blind spots prevent us from being positioned to help the critical infrastructure defend itself, and it prevents us from knowing when we need to defend the nation."

The general noted government can share threat information with the private sector under this executive order and existing laws, but a "real-time" defensive posture for the military's critical networks will require legislation removing barriers to private-to-public sharing of attacks and intrusions into private-sector networks.

"Legislation is also necessary to create incentives for better voluntary cooperation in cyber standards, developments and implementation," he said, "and to update and modernize government authorities to address these new cyber threats."

Alexander warned that potential cyber threats to the United States are very real, pointing to recent examples.

"You only have to look at the distributed denial-of-service attacks that we've seen on Wall Street, the destructive attacks we've seen against Saudi Aramco and RasGas, to see what's coming at our nation," Alexander said. Now is the time for action, he said, and the new executive order takes a step in implementing that action.

In his role as director of the NSA, Alexander said, he is fully committed to the development of the cybersecurity framework.


"We do play a vital role in all of this, and in protecting DOD networks and supporting our combatant commands and defending the nation from cyber-attacks," he said. "But we can't do it all. No one agency here can do it all. It takes a team in the government."

And the government cannot do it by itself, either, he added. "We have to have government and industry working together as a team," he said.

Il Canale di Panama visto dal satellite

Il Canale di Panama visto dal satellite

COURT ENTERS DEFAULT JUDGEMENT AGAINST PSYCHIC AND HIS COMPANIES

FROM: U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 22619 / February 15, 2013
District Court Grants Securities and Exchange Commission's Motions for Default Judgment against a Nationally Known Psychic and his Corporate Entities in Multi-Million Dollar Offering Fraud


The Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission) announced today that on February 11, 2013 the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered default judgments against Sean David Morton (Morton), a nationally-recognized psychic who bills himself as "America's Prophet," his wife, relief defendant Melissa Morton, and corporate shell entities co-owned by the Mortons. In addition to ordering permanent injunctions from violating antifraud and registration statutes and rule, each defendant was ordered to disgorge, jointly and severally, $5,181,135.82, along with prejudgment interest of $1,171,110.54, and pay a penalty of $5,181,135.82 for a total of $11,533,382.18. Relief defendants Melissa Morton and the Prophecy Research Institute, the Mortons' nonprofit religious organization, were ordered to disgorge $468,281 plus prejudgment interest of $105,847.23, for a total of $574,128.23.

On March 4, 2010, the Commission filed a civil injunctive action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York charging Morton and his corporate shell entities for engaging in a multi-million offering fraud. According to the Commission's complaint, Morton fraudulently raised more than $5 million from more than 100 investors for his investment group, which he called the Delphi Associates Investment Group (Delphi Investment Group).

Beginning in or around the summer of 2006, the complaint alleged, Morton solicited individuals to invest in one of several companies he and Melissa Morton controlled under the umbrella of the Delphi Investment Group. According to the Commission's complaint, Morton used his monthly newsletter, his website, his appearances on a nationally syndicated radio show called Coast to Coast AM, and appearances at public events, to promote his alleged psychic expertise in predicting the securities markets, and to solicit investors for the Delphi Investment Group. During these solicitations, Morton made numerous materially false representations. For example, Morton falsely told potential investors that he has called all the highs and lows of the stock market, on their exact dates, over a fourteen year period. Morton further falsely asserted that the alleged profits in the accounts were audited and certified by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PWC) who he claimed certified that the accounts had profited by 117%. Morton also falsely asserted that the investor funds would be used exclusively for foreign currency investments, and that any other use of the funds would be considered a criminal act. Morton further falsely claimed that he would use the pooled funds to trade in foreign currencies and distribute pro rata the trading profits among the investors. In private one-on-one correspondence with potential investors, Morton was even more aggressive in his solicitation. For example, Morton wrote to a potential investor urging he invest more money in the Delphi Investment Group "RIGHT NOW…[Because] [o]nce the DOLLAR starts to DROP, which will happen soon, we are set to make a FORTUNE!"

However, the complaint alleged, Morton lied to investors about his past successes, and about key aspects of the Delphi Investment Group, including the use of investor funds and the liquidity of the funds. According to the complaint, Morton did not have the successful track record picking stocks in which he claimed, and that he in fact was simply wrong in many of his securities predictions. Further, PWC never audited the Delphi Investment Group, let alone certify any profits. Also, unbeknownst to the investors, instead of investing all of the funds into foreign currency trading firms, the Mortons diverted some of the investor funds, including nearly half a million dollars to themselves through their own shell entities.

The defendants never properly answered the allegations in the complaint. Instead, the Mortons filed dozens of papers with the Court claiming, for instance, that the Commission is a private entity that has no jurisdiction over them, and that the staff attorneys working on the case do not exist.

On February 11, 2013, United States District Judge Forrest issued default judgments against all of the defendants and relief defendants. With the entry of the default judgments, the Commission received full relief requested in its complaint. The complaint charged each of the defendants with violations of Sections 5(a), 5(c) and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The complaint further charged that the relief defendants were unjustly enriched by receiving investor funds. The complaint sought a final judgment permanently restraining and enjoining the defendants from future violations of the above provisions of the federal securities laws.

The SEC's litigation team was led by Bennett Ellenbogen, Alexander Vasilescu, Todd Brody, Elzbieta Wraga, and Roshonda Ledbetter. Amelia Cottrell, Stephen Johnson, Jacqueline Fine, and Elizabeth Baier assisted during the investigation.

A LOOK AT A VOLCANO ISLAND BY NASA

FROM: NASA

Although the summit of Paluweh (also known as Rokatenda) is shrouded by clouds, evidence of a recent eruption is visible in this satellite image of the Indonesian volcanic island. After rumbling for months, Paluweh released an explosive eruption on February 2 and 3, 2013.

Gray ash covers the southern slopes of the peak in this natural-color image. A lighter gray swath running from the summit (shrouded by the plume) to the ocean traces the path of a volcanic landslide, likely the remnants of a pyroclastic flow. A new delta extends into the Flores Sea at the foot of the flow. To the northwest, airborne ash swirls around the island. Green vegetation appears relatively untouched, but ash has destroyed many of the island’s crops, according to The Jakarta Globe.

Erik Klemetti, author of the Eruptions Blog, suggested that the eruption at Paluweh may have been caused by the collapse of an unstable lava dome. The number of small tremors and emissions of ash increased in October 2012 and continued into February 2013, perhaps indicating growth of the lava dome.

The image above was collected on February 12, 2013, by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on the Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite. According to the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC), Paluweh has experienced minor ash and gas emissions almost daily since the initial blast.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, using EO-1 ALI data from the NASA EO-1 team. Caption by Robert Simmon.

GREEN FLEET

Credit:  U.S. Navy.

Reconsidering Energy Use In 2013

Posted in:
Energy & Environment, Operating Forward, Sailors, Warfighting First

By Rear Adm. Kevin Slates
Director, Energy & Environmental Readiness Division

Given the current fiscal environment, I’ve been thinking a lot about energy and what I can do, and hoping you and your command have ideas about how the Navy can use energy smarter as we navigate recent budgetary issues.

What can you do and how will you think about energy differently this year? We want to hear your good ideas —what individuals can do and what we, the Navy, can help with. Send your ideas to us online at Energy Efficiency Ideas. We are waiting to hear from you.

You know how important it is to turn off lights, computers and equipment when they’re not in use. These simple actions and behavior changes, along with new technologies, really do reduce energy use and can make a big difference—but we still need your help. New technologies take time and money to develop and install, but changing our behavior to save energy in our daily jobs —just like we do at home—can make a difference now. We need every Sailor, civilian and family member on our team to view energy as a vital resource that enables our combat capability—not something we just take for granted.

Last year, the entire nation braced against rising fuel costs. Increases in petroleum prices created a $500 million increase in fuel costs for the Department of the Navy. That’s half a billion dollars that could have gone to maintenance, new equipment or training. That number could have been much smaller if we had an affordable alternative to fossil fuels or were efficient enough to avoid using that fuel in the first place.

Another example that put energy in perspective was Superstorm Sandy. Many of us in the northeastern United States were affected by the storm last fall, which knocked out power for millions of people for weeks. The storm was a stark reminder of just how dependent we all are on the commercial power grid for our basic comforts and to support our missions.

In 2012, the Navy demonstrated that we can successfully operate and carry on our mission while relying on alternative and renewable energy sources. In July, during the Rim of the Pacific exercise in Hawaii, we demonstrated the "Great Green Fleet," a carrier strike group fueled by alternative sources of energy. During the Great Green Fleet demonstration, Navy ships and aircraft were powered by a 50/50 blend of biofuel and conventional fuels, and some of our new energy efficient technologies were deployed. This was the first time biofuels were demonstrated in an operational setting of this scale.

Large scale solar energy farms on our bases from California to Virginia were connected to generate clean, renewable energy. Renewable energy can help the Navy stay online if the grid goes down. Additionally, the Navy reached agreements with two renewable energy developers in south Texas near Naval Air Station Corpus Christi and Naval Air Station Kingsville. These agreements allow new wind farms to be built while minimizing the potential for interference with our radar and pilot training. The Navy does not want to inhibit renewable energy development, but it must ensure that it can effectively maintain its training mission.

We’re also developing energy awareness courses for all personnel. This year, the Naval Post Graduate School will graduate the first class of officers with an energy Master’s degree—helping to ensure our combat capability is not held hostage by our lack of knowledge.

In 2013, we’ll continue to build on our successes. We’ll keep developing and deploying energy efficient technologies across the Navy, such as hybrid electric drives, stern flaps and energy dashboards on ships. When possible, we’ll keep working with communities and industry to allow renewable energy projects near our bases to proceed while protecting our training and operations. And we’ll keep looking for new ideas from all parts of the Navy about how to be energy efficient—and translate that efficiency into greater capability for our warfighters.

THE DEATH OF THE ELKHORN CORAL MYSTERY



Photo: Elkhorn Coral Credit: National Park Service-Wikimedia Commons

FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Underwater Whodunit: What's Killing Florida's Elkhorn Coral?
Scientists solve Caribbean coral mystery: human pathogens cause marine invertebrate deaths
Take one wastewater treatment plant and place it anywhere along the Caribbean coast. Then--by a means unknown to science--kill coral reefs near the plant.

"You'd have all the makings of a great mystery novel," says ecologist James Porter of the University of Georgia.

Except that, in this case, the story would be true.

Coral killer on the loose

"Between 1996 and 2012, more than half of all corals in the Florida Keys alone had died," says Porter.

The greatest decline was in elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata). The species disappeared from more than 90 percent of its former habitat.

Elkhorn coral was once the most common coral in the Caribbean. It's now protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

"Most elkhorn coral that died in the Keys had signs of a disease known as white pox before its demise," says Porter.

Hot on the trail of where the white pox was coming from, Porter and other scientists ultimately identified human sewage outflows as the source of a pathogen that causes the disease.

Along with colleagues Kathryn Sutherland of Rollins College and Erin Lipp of the University of Georgia, Porter discovered that the bacterium killing the coral is also found in humans.

The mystery deepens

But where was it coming from? From the land, it turned out, not the sea: in human waste.

"When we first identified the bacterium Serratia marcescens as the cause of white pox," says Sutherland, "we could only speculate that human waste was the source of the pathogen because it's also found in the wastes of other animals."

Serratia marcescens is in the gut of humans and in that of other land-based animals.

To trace the source, the researchers collected and analyzed samples from a wastewater treatment facility in Key West, and samples from animals such as deer and seagulls.

While Serratia marcescens showed up in these non-human animals, genetic analyses demonstrated that only the strain from people matched that found in white pox-diseased corals.

Investigators on the scene

"The final piece of the puzzle," says Porter, "was to determine whether it was pathogenic to corals."

The scientists exposed fragments of elkhorn coral to the strain found in humans to find out if it would cause the disease.

The experiments were carried out in a laboratory in closed seawater tanks to eliminate any risk of infection to wild populations of corals.

"Within five days, the human strain caused the disease in elkhorn coral," says Sutherland. "We then had definitive evidence that people were the source of the pathogen."

Adds Porter, "These bacteria didn't come from the ocean. They came from us."

In humans, Serratia marcescens results in respiratory, wound and urinary tract infections, as well as in meningitis and pneumonia.

Human diseases caused by the bacterium are often linked with hospital-acquired infections in newborn infants and in immune-compromised adults.

Further studies underway

"Humans are affecting the rest of the living world in many ways, including sharing our diseases," says Sam Scheiner, National Science Foundation (NSF) director of the joint NSF-National Institutes of Health (NIH) Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (EEID) Program, which funds the research. "This work demonstrates that such sharing may be happening in ways we would never have predicted."

The five-year NSF-NIH EEID study is supported by NSF's Division of Ocean Sciences. Its focus is on how the coral pathogen is transmitted and the factors that drive the emergence of white pox outbreaks, including water quality, climate variability and human population density.

"We're concerned that disease incidence or severity may increase with rising temperatures," Lipp says, "so it's important to protect near-shore water quality in a changing climate."

Research uncovers new disease pathway

To date, the study has revealed a disease pathway--from humans to wildlife--that's the "opposite" of the traditional wildlife-to-human disease transmission model. The results have been published in the journal PLOS ONE.

The movement of pathogens from wildlife to humans is well-documented--in, for example, bird flu--but the transfer of disease-causing microbes from humans to marine invertebrates has never before been proved.

"This is the first time a human disease has been shown to cause deaths of a marine invertebrate," says Porter. "Bacteria from humans kill corals--that's the bad news. But the good news is that we can resolve it with advanced wastewater treatment facilities."

The Florida Keys region is in the process of upgrading its wastewater treatment plants. The measure, the scientists hope, will eliminate this source of the bacterium.

"We need to address the water quality conditions that favored the establishment and survival of this pathogen in the marine environment," says Porter.

For now, who's the only culprit in the "Caribbean Coral Mystery"? Surprisingly, says Scheiner, "it's none other than ourselves."

LAUNCH OF NATIONAL COMMISSION ON FORENSIC SCIENCE ANNOUNCED

Credit:  U.S. Army.

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Friday, February 15, 2013
Department of Justice and National Institute of Standards and Technology Announce Launch of National Commission on Forensic Science

The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced today the establishment of a National Commission on Forensic Science as part of a new initiative to strengthen and enhance the practice of forensic science.

The National Commission on Forensic Science will be composed of approximately 30 members, bringing together forensic science service practitioners, academic researchers, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and other relevant stakeholders to develop policy recommendations for the Attorney General. The commission will consider guidance on practices for federal, state and local forensic science laboratories developed by groups of forensic science practitioners and academic researchers administered by NIST.

"Forensic science is an essential tool in the administration of justice and needs to be continually evaluated as science progresses," said Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole. "Forensic science helps identify perpetrators, convict the guilty, exonerate the innocent, and protect public safety. This initiative is led by the principle that scientifically valid and accurate forensic analysis strengthens all aspects of our justice system."

"The Department of Justice and the National Institute of Standards and Technology have a history of successful collaboration," said Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Patrick Gallagher. "Through this initiative, we will work even more closely with the forensic science community to strengthen the forensic science system."

The commission will have responsibility for developing guidance concerning the intersections between forensic science and the courtroom and developing policy recommendations, including uniform codes for professional responsibility and requirements for training and certification.

The new initiative provides a framework for coordination across forensic disciplines under federal leadership, with state and local participation. The Department of Justice, through its involvement in the commission, will take an active role in developing policy recommendations and coordinating implementation. The NIST-administered guidance groups will develop and propose discipline-specific practice guidance that will become publicly available and be considered for endorsement by the commission and the Attorney General. This coordinated effort will help to standardize national guidance for forensic science practitioners. Additionally, NIST will continue to develop methods for forensic measurements and validate select existing forensic science standards.

Specific criteria for membership will be announced in an upcoming Federal Register notice, and applicants will have 30 days from the publication of the notice to submit their applications.

As a non-regulatory agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, NIST promotes U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life.