Luggage screening

WALK-THROUGH PORTALS AND SYSTEMS FOR LUGGAGE SCREENING... 

Barringer Research had produced a series of portable IMS-based instruments for detection of drugs and explosives, known as the lONSCAN, and a handheld analyzer. Similarly, Ion Track Instruments had built an instrument family based on IMS to meet the same requirements for aviation safety. The core technology for these instruments is integrated into the prototype luggage-screening systems and portals for human screening. ... 

X-ray fluoroscopy is used for direct on-line examination. A fluorescent screen is used to convert x-ray photons into visible light photons. A television camera receives the visible image and displays it on a television screen (see Fig. 19). This type of system is used for security screening of carry-on luggage at airports. 

Detection of explosives is of major importance in several applications related to homeland security, such as detecting hidden explosives in airport luggage, in vehicles and in mail and screening of personnel for concealed explosives. 

After the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center, the American Federal Government passed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act. It requires 100% inspection of hold luggage ( 109 suitcases per year in the USA) by the Transportation and Security Administration (TSA) by the end of 2002. A similar deadline has been set by the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) for its member states to implement 100% screening of hold baggage at all international airports in the European Union. 

The real world of chemical analysis is often quite different from what students do in the typical university laboratory. In the real world chemical analysis must be done quickly, accurately, economically, and often outside the laboratory setting. Analytical accuracy is crucial. A career can hinge on accuracy when a drug test is involved, and sometimes accuracy is truly a life-or-death matter, as in the screening of air travelers luggage for explosives. 

X-ray intensifying screens are used in radiological diagnosis and in industrial non-destructive testing. X-ray fluoroscopic screens are used mainly in health examinations and in radiological examination of luggage... 

Scientists are now developing a screening procedure that bom- a pollution control bards the luggage with high- the oxygen content... 

The widespread deployment of walk-through portals for humans or for automatic screening of luggage is pending. Two of the major manufacturers of IMS equipment. Smiths Detection (formerly Barringer Research) and Morpho Detection (Safran) (which acquired GE Interlogix and was formerly called Ion Track Instruments) have put forth experimental models for testing in realistic scenarios. 

Take another example. Consider that you are checking in at Zagreb Airport for a return flight to London. You are unhappy to find a long queue. You have discovered that in addition to normal procedures the central computer was down and a screening machine was installed to X-ray all types of luggage as an extra security precaution. In this case, (he supply chain is obviously more complex... 

HH Save your screen. Tuck laptops and tablets into your hand luggage, when possible. You ll have to present these at security, so try not to have to dig deep. If you don t need a laptop on the trip, and you re checking a bag, pack it in the middle of your soft clothing. 

We have accepted the fluoridation of our water in the interests of our dental health, and security screening of our persons and our luggage at airports as reasonable interventions by government. We must seek to better understand what permits some interventions and not others. 

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