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As a matter of fact, avoiding unexpected events with an undesired outcome is an element of survival strategies.
Such events are encountered unexpectedly mainly because they occur rarely. Both, safety and security measures are the main pillars to prevent them by appropriate inspections. Common tools in both areas e.g. are radiological technologies enabling an insight into objects to detect suspicious features without even touching them. Since any of these measures is linked to efforts, costs or even obstructions of ongoing processes, it needs a rationale to invest into an appropriate activity. A putative objection to take action in this direction always could be the question 'when and how often it could happen'. This gave rise to find approaches how to define 'rare events' and how to deal with them. Since they entail both, the frequency of occurrence and the unpleasantness of the possible outcome make them to have something in common with the definition of risk: a combination of the probability of occurrence of harm and the severity of that harm. Tackling putative consequences is one side of the coin whereas understanding the rareness of an event is the other, an aspect that worries but not always fully understood.
As a first step in approaching the subject 'rare events', the putative occurrence rate is considered in terms of probability distribution functions or their cumulative ones, resp. The problems of estimating an incidence of such an event will be tackled subsequently with the problem of assessing the reliability of diagnostic measures.
Any numeric approach of dealing with rare events inevitably remains an ill defined or 'ill-posed' problem that needs additional information for a reasonably satisfying solution. Ways to ease this situation can be found in utilizing additional information, also commonly called prior knowledge, that might be introduced via the Bayesian inference or by regularization algorithms. Simplified models will demonstrate how to apply such tools.
As a consequence, there are ways helping to avoid unexpected ad 'surprises' by taking adequate measures in due time upon the correct perception of certain indications.
EFNDT working group 5 'NDT technology for public security and safety', two areas with the same aim
(2014)
It is a quite common and understandable wish to make the world a safer place. This entails both freedom from danger, and thus encompasses both, safety and security. However, it is a trivial fact that public security and technical safety are commitments to distinct social entities that might be quite understandable due to the various kinds of threats. On the other hand, it is a common justifiable interest to have effective methodologies to detect them in time, i.e., before something disastrous might happen. It is rather obvious that particularly non-destructive inspection technologies, namely radiological methods, are applied in both areas. As a logical consequence, sharing the technical knowledge and experiences could be of benefit for both of them. However, the different areas of activities cleave the information exchange between them. In order to overcome this gap, the EFNDT Working Group 5 'NDT Technology for Public Security and Safety' (EFNDT WG 5) has taken an initiative to bring together actors of both areas of activities, symbolized as building a 'bridge'. The activities of the EFNDT WG 5 range from identifying features exhibiting certain threats that are detectable with available NDT technologies, adapting and improving them according to their specified applications and to search for alternative technologies or ways of applications where deemed to be applicable. Successful exchanges of information and experiences have been achieved in recent workshops, where also new ideas have been raised for future common projects. This kind of work is far from being completed; it is more or less at its beginning. In future workshops it is intended to follow up these ideas and to pave the way for future common interdisciplinary projects. Therefore, all groups involved in such projects are welcome, not only researchers and NDT-specialists, but also all endusers of the respective technologies as well as theoreticians for risk assessment, performance evaluation, modelling, statistics etc. All the addressed areas are deemed to play an important role in making the world a safer place, cooperatively.
Wooden artworks residing in churches for centuries inevitably suffered from decaying processes such as Wood worm infestation. About 100 years ago, this process was ceased with a polluting coal tar extract 'Carbolineum', a treatment usually applied to railway sleepers. Nowadays, this lead to undesired effects not only of causing dark stains on the surface of the treated sculptures but also in unimpaired release of traces of harmful substances into the atmosphere perceptible as the typical smell of coal tar oil. To resolve this problem, the knowledge of the internal structure could provide a support for this effort. As an example, sculptures from an epitaph in a church in northern Germany were subjected to X-ray and neutron computed tomography (CT). The purpose of using neutrons was to get information about the distribution of the impregnant Carbolineum. It consists of a mixture of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons which should increase the absorption of neutrons. In contrast, X-rays are rather poorly absorbed by such substances as compared to the wood matrix. All radiographic approaches
revealed traces of previous conservation measures that were not always documented in detail. Comparing the neutron images with those from the X-ray interrogation some differences became obvious indicating varied material compositions. Nails e.g. were clearly visible in the X-ray images rather than in the neutron ones. Some less visibly stained parts of the sculptures correspond with obviously replaced materials in the inside. These results will be used to identify ways how to treat the infested artworks.
For the radiographic investigation of large cargo Containers the energies of conventional Xray tubes are inadequately for certain layer thicknesses. In that case the high energy radiation sources like electron accelerators and gamma radiators (60CO) are adequate for the non invasive inspection of large Containers because of the high penetration through thick materials. Multiple imaging even enables to distinguish between different materials. The main challenging task in air and sea cargo Container inspection is to improve the detectability of contraband and dangerous materials which are hidden in the heterogeneously packed Containers by detailed analysis of cluttered radiographic images. So it is to be expected that objects of organic substances like certain explosives or their precursors are hard to identify behind thick walls of heavy metal objects such as engine-blocks with flat bottom holes. The primary aim here is to investigate the detectability of dangerous materials (typically of light elements) in cargo Containers using high energy X-ray digital radiography.
Zur Durchstrahlung großer, dichter Objekte reichen die Energien, die mit normalen Röntgenröhren erzielt werden können, ab gewissen Schichtdicken nicht mehr aus. Als hochenergetische Strahlenquellen stehen Kobalt-60 und Elektronenbeschleuniger zur Verfügung. Als Einschränkung der Hochenergieradiographie ist der geringere Kontrast besonders beim Vorhandensein leichterer Objekte umgeben von Körpern bestehend aus schweren Elementen anzusehen. Es ist daher zu erwarten, dass Objekte aus organischen Substanzen hinter dicken Schwermetallwänden oder in Bohrungen von Metallblöcken schwer zu erkennen sind. Im Gegensatz zu einem Gammastrahler wie Kobalt-60 mit den beiden Spektrallinien um 1,3 MeV besitzt die Bremsstrahlung aus einem Beschleuniger einen wesentlichen Anteil an niederenergetischer Strahlung, der fließend zu höheren Energien übergeht. Es wird hier untersucht, welche Signaturen von leichten Materialien in einer Umgebung aus Schwermetall bis zu welcher Dicke und bis zu welchem Komplexizitätsgrad erkennbar sind. Mit einem Betatron (JME X-ray Betatron 7,5 MeV) und einem Matrixdetektor (Perkin Elmer XRD 1621) wurden Aufnahmen von unterschiedlichen leichten Objekten angefertigt, die zunehmend in eine Umgebung aus Schwermetallen gestellt wurden. Mit unterschiedlichen Energieeinstellungen wurde untersucht, inwieweit eine Materialerkennung hinter welcher Abschirmung möglich ist. Die experimentellen Ergebnisse werden mit Simulationen verglichen, die mit einer Software zur Modellierung von Durchstrahlungsverfahren (aRTist) erzeugt wurden. Dabei wird dem Problem der Aufhärtung bei Anwendung von Bremsstrahlung Rechnung getragen. Die Ergebnisse können sowohl zur Erkennung von Fremdkörpern in Maschinen oder Pumpen als auch zur Überprüfung von Frachtladungen im Bereich der öffentlichen Sicherheit und bei Zollkontrollen dienen.
Die Arbeitsgruppe 5 der Europäischen Föderation für Zerstörungsfreie Prüfung (EFNDT Working Group 5 „Public Security and Safety“, EFNDT WG 5) verfolgt weiterhin das Ziel, organisatorisch weit auseinanderliegende Zuständigkeiten und Arbeitsgebiete zusammenzuführen, die weitgehend mit gleichen, zumindest ähnlichen Prinzipien und Methoden arbeiten.
Auf der Suche nach neuen Wegen stoßen beide Seiten auf Gemeinsamkeiten. Dies gilt auch für neue Ansätze und Bewertungsmethoden von Techniken, mit denen Risiken vermindert werden sollen. Hierzu hat in Berlin ein Workshop im Oktober 2012 stattgefunden, auf dem parallele Projekte zur Container- und Frachtsicherheit zusammengeführt werden konnten. Herausgestellt wurde die Komplementarität der laufenden Projekte, gemeinsame Aspekte sollen künftig auch zusammen bearbeitet werden. Darüber hinaus wurden neue Methoden und Vorgehensweisen vorgestellt, aber auch die Sichtweise der Europäischen Kommission mit ihren Vorstellungen zu einem europäischen Markt für Sicherheitstechnik dargestellt. Angesprochen wurden bestehende und vorgeschlagene europaweite Regulierungen und das europäische Referenznetz zum Schutz kritischer Infrastrukturen (ERNCIP), welches ein Netzwerk von Laboratorien für den Test von Sicherheitstechnik zum Ziel hat. Auf technischem Sektor standen Methoden im Vordergrund, mit denen die Gesamtmenge eines Gefahrstoffes wie z.B. Sprengstoff erkannt werden können, und nicht nur Spuren als indirektem Hinweis. Die Arbeitsgruppe konnte somit erstmalig ein neutrales Forum für parallel laufende Projekte zur öffentlichen Sicherheit zur Verfügung stellen. Die auf den Workshops 2010 bis 2012 in Berlin gehaltenen Vorträge sind auf der EFNDT WG 5 – Webseite im geschützten Bereich zu finden.
Nicht alles davon ist geeignet, es der allgemeinen Öffentlichkeit zugänglich zu machen. Deshalb sind alle Vorträge aus den Workshops in einem passwortgeschützten Verzeichnis abgelegt. Die Erteilung des Passwortes erfolgt über den Convenor der Arbeitsgruppe durch die EFNDT. Eine Erweiterung dieser Struktur zu einem Austauschforum ist vorgeschlagen. Zur Teilnahme daran sind nicht nur Mitglieder in den Gesellschaften für zerstörungsfreien Prüfung eingeladen, sondern auch diejenigen, die in den Anwendungsgebieten zur öffentlichen Sicherheit tätig sind.
Reducing risks and confining them to an acceptable level can be regarded as an essential commitment of technical applications for safety purposes and the public security measures.
Rating the efficiency of such measures requires an assessment of the risk that is supposed to be reduced. However, approaching this subject means to face a plethora of existing literature and an ongoing discussion if and how this can be achieved. On one hand, it remains a rather uncertain estimate particularly if it comes to rare interrupting events. On the other hand, making a decision responsibly requires a certain rational base. Several approaches exist for assessing risks, from verbal to quantitative, depending on the individual case. The frequently quoted Delphi technique represents the verbal one, others such as the Bayesian statistics a quantitative one or the consequence/probability matrix in-between.
A problem remains with understanding probability. Even if an event is highly unlikely it may happen right now.
The ultimate purpose of digital image filtering is to support the visual identification of certain features expressed
by characteristic shapes and patterns. Numerous recipes, algorithms and ready made programs exist nowadays
that predominantly have in common that users have to set certain parameters. Particularly if processing is fast
and shows results rather immediately, the choice of parameters may be guided by making the image 'looking
nice'. However, in practical situations most users are not in a mood to 'play around' with a displayed image,
particularly if they are in a stressy situation as it may encountered in security applications. The requirements for
the application of digital image processing under such circumstances will be discussed with an example of automatic
filtering without manual parameter settings that even entails the advantage of delivering unbiased results.
Safety and security both entail freedom from danger, i.e. unacceptable risk, whatever the cause might be. This
entails an understanding of the term 'risk' that is broadly used in areas such as economics, health, insurance etc.
According a rather popular definition used in the economical sciences for a long time (KNIGHT), risk has a lot
in common with uncertainty while the former is regarded quantifiable and the latter one is not. However, it has
to be taken into account that there are other understandings of 'uncertainty'. Particularly encountering rare
events never experienced before and recent contemporary definitions are weakening Knightfs differentiation.
This is reflected in some recent standard definitions. Attempts have been made to define a risk as common as
possible covering not only societal, ecological and financial areas but also natural and technical, ones. This is of
particular concern in non-destructive testing. This raises the question how far this can be achieved in a common
understanding, i.e. the discussion on this term seems not at all finished yet.
It is a common ambition to lower the risk by several actions including detection technologies. This entails that a
risk could be estimated somehow. The existence of numerous approaches indicates the complexity of this question.
The EFNDT (European Federation for Non-Destructive Testing) Working Group 5 took a commitment
also to tackle this central aspect of safety and security in its understanding as a bridging forum between these
two areas.
Abweichend von der gängigen Vorgehensweise, mit einem Bleistiftstrahl
die Lage eines Bildpunktes festzulegen und die rückgestreute Strahlung großflächig aufzunehmen, bietet die neu entwickelte Kamera Unabhängigkeit von Einstrahl- und Blickrichtung. Ausgestattet mit einer 'Optik' für hochenergetische Strahlung, wie die bereits beschriebene Schlitzblendenkamera, ist die variable Gestaltung von Einstrahl- und Blickrichtung möglich. Damit eröffnet sich die
Chance, Strahlung absorbierende Details in einem Objekt sichtbar werden zu lassen, die sonst von einer streuenden Umgebung überstrahlt würden. Zudem wird gezeigt, wie sich das Erscheinungsbild von Objekten umgebungsbedingt im Rückstreubild ändern kann.