The Power of the NPT: International Norms and Ukraine's Nuclear Disarmament

ABSTRACT

There is a lingering disagreement among scholars on how the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) affects nonproliferation and disarmament outcomes. Drawing on constructivist scholarship on international norms, this article examines the extent of the NPT's effect in the case of Ukraine's nuclear disarmament. In the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse, Ukraine found itself host to the world's third largest nuclear arsenal. Despite Ukraine's initial commitment to become a non-nuclear state, it proceeded along a difficult path toward NPT accession. Most controversial and directly at odds with the NPT was Ukraine's claim to ownership of its nuclear inheritance as a successor state of the Soviet Union. This article argues that, while much domestic discourse about the fate of these nuclear weapons was embedded in the negotiation of Ukraine's new identity as a sovereign state vis-à-vis Russia and the West, the NPT played an important, structural role by outlining a separate normative space for nuclear weapons and providing the grammar of denuclearization with which Ukraine's decision makers had to grapple.     

MILITARY EXPENDITURE AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: EVIDENCE FROM SYSTEM GMM ESTIMATES

The effect of military expenditure on economic growth in developing countries has been investigated by many empirical literatures. However, there is little consensus of that effect and the diversity seems to come from the use of different models and different estimators. This article applies the Augmented Solow Growth Model to examine the influence of military expenditure on economic growth for 35 developing countries over the period of 1975–2009. By using the system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimators, empirical results indicate that defence has a negative and significant effect on economic growth in the sample countries.     

Home-Grown Fighting: A Response to the Argument for a Byzantine Influence on MS I.33

Abstract

In an earlier issue, Dr. Timothy Dawson suggested that the fighting techniques found in Royal Armouries MS I.33 may have been influenced by earlier Byzantine sword and shield combat. For evidence, he cites a series of 9th-century ivory carvings depicting similar positions found in I.33. This article is a response to Dr. Dawson’s, in which it is argued that there is ample evidence for similar combat positions being found in Western Europe that both pre-date and are contemporary with I.33.     

基于OLS算法的导弹气动系数模型优选

针对导弹控制系统中的气动力建模问题,将正交最小二乘法用于模型结构优选,并提出一种候选模型集预处理方法,用以剔除模型中的相关项在此基础上建立了导弹气动力模型优选方法。将其应用于一种导弹滚转力矩系数模型,进行了仿真计算,取得了与风洞试验数据一致的计算结果。结果显示该方法在导弹气动力建模中有效可行,为构建最优化的模型结构提供指导。     

Comparison between constant‐stress and step‐stress accelerated life tests under Time Constraint

By running life tests at higher stress levels than normal operating conditions, accelerated life testing (ALT) quickly yields information on the lifetime distribution of a test unit. The lifetime at the design stress is then estimated through extrapolation using a regression model. In constant‐stress testing, a unit is tested at a fixed stress level until failure or the termination time point of test, whereas step‐stress testing allows the experimenter to gradually increase the stress levels at some prefixed time points during the test. In this work, the optimal k‐level constant‐stress and step‐stress ALTs are compared for the exponential failure data under complete sampling and Type‐I censoring. The objective is to quantify the advantage of using the step‐stress testing relative to the constant‐stress one. Assuming a log‐linear life–stress relationship with the cumulative exposure model for the effect of changing stress in step‐stress testing, the optimal design points are determined under C/D/A‐optimality criteria. The efficiency of step‐stress testing to constant‐stress one is then discussed in terms of the ratio of optimal objective functions based on the information matrix. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 00: 000–000, 2013     

基于双目视觉定位技术的无人船航迹跟踪控制室内模型实验

水面无人系统的航向控制与航迹跟踪技术在研究开发阶段一般在室内环境进行调试与运行,该过程需要定位系统进行辅助.实船常用的定位技术难以在室内发挥作用,现有的几种室内定位技术存在成本高、信号传播不稳定等问题.设计了一种基于双目视觉定位技术的船模航迹跟踪控制系统.结合实验场地和实验对象,通过在船模上布置特征物、图像预处理、图像...     

复杂场景下基于自适应多特征融合的跟踪算法

在复杂的场景下,单特征对目标描述不够充分,很难稳健地跟踪目标,针对这个问题,提出了一个基于自适应多特征融合的粒子滤波跟踪算法。该算法采用灰度和边缘特征表示目标,从目标观测似然模型构建的角度融合两种特征,利用粒子似然分布的香农熵动态地评价特征的可靠性,进而确定特征融合权重,以提高算法对场景的适应能力;同时,改进了线性加权的模型更新策略,通过对加权系数的在线调整来抑制模型漂移。实验表明,本文算法可以实现部分遮挡和背景干扰等复杂场景下的跟踪。     

基于可组合服务的陆军作战仿真模型集成

陆军仿真模型体系的复杂性决定了其建模与集成的复杂度,本文基于模型组件化技术,设计了模型组件库、对象库,通过逻辑组合实现了基本库和作战单元库,并以可组合的模型服务实现不同分辨率、异构模型的聚合集成目标,使得陆军作战仿真模型具备模块化、可复用、可扩展和可控制的应用特点和战技术性能。     

基于信息论的C3I系统决策性能的评价

信息熵是描述信息系统的一种比较成功的方法.采用信息论的方法对决策系统进行描述,在考虑了决策者的有界合理性限制和达到满意性能指标的要求下,分析了单人指挥决策系统的系统性能,并在此基础上分析了多人指挥决策系统的系统性能,最后得出采用决策系统的误差概率P和相互一致性度量Q作为评价C3I系统决策性能标准的结论.     

高炮情报指挥系统维修模拟训练器设计实现

针对某型高炮情报指挥系统,提出了具有虚拟操作面板和实际对外接口的半实物仿真模型,用于对原系统进行操作和维修训练。从系统结构、硬件组成、软件组成三个方面详细介绍了该维修模拟训练器的设计方案和实现方法。