Janes Intelligence Review

Al-Qaeda's stated aim of focusing operations on hard economic targets allied to a rise in incidents of energy terrorism in regions where there has been a growth in Islamist groups indicates that the risk of attacks on energy sector infrastructure has increased significantly in recent months.

In February 2003 the internet site arabforum.net - allegedly popular among Al-Qaeda supporters - published a call to the mujahideen of all Arab and Muslim countries in which the West has military bases or are involved in the energy industry to rise against these interests in the name of the Muslim Ummah.

In light of the recent attacks on the petroleum supply chain, such as the bombing of the French-flagged supertanker Limburg off the coast of Yemen in October 2002, and the rising vulnerability of Saudi Arabia to acts of terrorism - as illustrated by the Riyadh bombings on 12 May - it appears that this call to target the oil industry is more than mere rhetoric.

Given rising global, and particularly Western, dependence on oil and natural gas resources, such a trend could bring significant economic disruption. With European and US dependence on oil imports likely to grow to more than 70% and 60% by 2010 and 2020 respectively, the security of African and Middle Eastern reserves will become increasingly important, but the very knowledge of Western dependence on these reserves makes attacks more likely. Even alternative sources currently under development, such as those in the Caspian Sea, have proven vulnerable to terrorism.

Characteristics of energy terrorism

The oil and gas industry is not a new target for terrorists. On the contrary, terrorist groups have always been aware of the economic and political benefits of attacking these strategic resources. In addition to contributing to economic instability, the energy industry has been targeted as a symbol of resistance to national governments, and as a means of placing pressure on foreign powers and multinational corporations with a strategic interest in oil and gas producing regions. Furthermore, terrorist groups have commonly targeted oil and gas pipelines as a source of financing; or as a way to increase their own influence among communities they seek to control.

Although energy terrorism does not elicit the same level of attention as the spectre of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear terrorism, the economic implications of this terrorist strategy are potentially enormous. With a plethora of targets, including depots, gas stations, personnel, pipelines, production plants, tankers, terminals and refineries, the energy infrastructure is intrinsically vulnerable, and the knock-on effects of disruptions in production or distribution can have severe and immediate effects on economies, as was seen in the blockade of petroleum distribution in the UK in 2001 and during the strike in Venezuela at the end of 2002.

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A 'New and Improved' Cavity-Fighting Paste
Posted by click at 12:31 AM Story Archive (Page 109 of 637)
Adamant: Hardest metal

By Jamie Talan <a href=www.newsday.com>News Day STAFF WRITER May 27, 2003

There is no doubt that fluoride helps fight cavities, but Stony Brook oral biologist Dr. Israel Kleinberg has developed what he believes is a better cavity- fighting substance - and he now has evidence to support his theory.

The results from a two-year study of the substance - called CaviStat - suggest that children who brushed with the bacteria-fighting substance had 96 percent fewer cavities than those who used a common fluoride paste.

"CaviStat skunked fluoride," said Kleinberg, who will present the findings next month at the International Association for Dental Research in Sweden.

Kleinberg is chairman of oral biology and pathology at the Stony Brook University and has spent his 36-year career unraveling the infectious disease process that leads to tooth decay. With 300 different types of bacteria crowding the mouth, many bacteria clump into plaque that sticks to the tooth's surface. Sugar and carbohydrates from food interact with this bacteria to form acid, which dissolves the tooth's enamel. With enamel chipping away, bacteria have room to invade the tooth. Hence, a cavity.

Decades ago, Kleinberg found in saliva a number of peptides that interact with bacteria and plaque. One peptide in particular - arginine - protects teeth from bacterial damage. It works by neutralizing acids. Kleinberg also identified another compound in saliva called precipitin that pulls together calcium and phosphate. CaviStat is part calcium builder and part bad-bacteria blocker.

"This substance shows a lot of promise," said David Pashley, a regents professor of oral biology at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. "The Stony Brook scientists are very rigorous in their studies."

Stony Brook partnered with scientists at Venezuela's Central University in Caracas to test the compound in a double-blind trial against fluoride. Almost 725 Venezuelan children were divided into two groups to receive either CaviStat or a fluoride toothpaste to be used three times a day. Each brushing lasted a minute, followed by a 30-second rinse.

The children who brushed with the CaviStat paste had significantly fewer cavities after the first year, and the scientists even saw a reversal of tooth decay. By the second year, the fluoride group had almost twice the number of cavities, Kleinberg said.

The study was funded by Ortek Therapeutics, a company based in Roslyn Heights that has been developing Kleinberg's findings for more than a decade.

Dental experts had hoped that fluoride, a mineral, would end tooth decay. Now that fluoride is in toothpastes and in 70 percent of the country's water supplies, cavity rates are down about 30 percent, compared with rates before fluoride's widespread use.

"We think we have something that is much better," said Kleinberg. Last year, the Food and Drug Administration approved a CaviStat polishing paste for dental offices to be used for the treatment of tooth sensitivity, a problem for millions of Americans. Now, the company is working on a paste that people can use at home for tooth sensitivity, said Mitch Goldberg of Ortek.

In time, Kleinberg says that he envisions a series of bacteria-fighting drinks, candy, gum and toothpaste designed to fight cavities.

Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.

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