Fund Transfers – African Terrorists Blend Old and New: Hawala and Satellite Telecommunications

Attempts to disrupt the flow of funds through Africa used to finance terrorism have been hindered by terrorists utilizing satellite telecommunications in conjunction with hawala, an ancient system of fund transfers based on trust. This arrangement leaves few records for tracing transactions, a task made even more difficult by the general paucity of investigators trained in the languages commonly used for hawala. Acquiring personnel with the appropriate linguistic skills is one of the steps agencies can take to reduce the terrorist financing that occurs through this unique blend of an ancient system with modern technology.     

MILITARY SPENDING AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN SOUTH ASIA: COMMENT AND RECONSIDERATION

In a recent paper in this journal, Wijewerra and Webb study the connection between military spending and gross domestic product (GDP) in a group of five South Asian countries, finding a small but statistically significant positive relationship between military spending and GDP. This paper reviews their approach and proposes an alternative which tries to deal with the problems of omitted variables and variable construction. It finds, in contrast, that a higher share of military spending in GDP is associated with lower growth of GDP per capita.     

Noise and vibration measurements in a Viking military vehicle

Noise and whole-body vibration measurements were made in a Viking military vehicle to determine the variation that should be expected during repeat measures, the effect of speed (up to 60 km/h in 5 km/h increments), and during travel over different types of terrain (comprising concrete road, gravel track and rough cross-country). Measurements were made at various crew positions (including the driver and commander) in both the front and the rear cabs in the vehicles. Three translational axes of vibration were measured in each seat. Two speeds were investigated over road (35 km/h and 55–60 km/h) and gravel (20 km/h and 35 km/h) surfaces. The effect of varying speed of the vehicle on the measured noise and vibration magnitudes was also investigated. The highest sound pressure level (L_Aeq) of 104 dB(A) was measured at the commander’s standing position during travel over concrete road at 55 km/h. Higher noise levels occurred for a standing commander compared with when sitting on the seat. A maximum single axis frequency-weighted vibration magnitude of 1.0 m/s² r.m.s. was measured on the driver’s seat during travel over track at 35 km/h. Higher vibration magnitudes occurred during travel over track compared with travel over road. Both noise and vibration exposure of crew within the Viking vehicle increased with increasing speed of the vehicle.     

基于WSR和LSS的装甲装备维修质量管理模式

紧贴装备保障转型的需求,引进物理-事理-人理（WuLi-ShiLi-RenLi,WSR）系统方法论与精益六西格玛（Lean Six Sigma,LSS）管理理论,提出一种装甲装备维修质量全系统综合管理模式。从WSR与LSS管理的角度,阐述了这种管理模式的基本思想,详细分析了其基本特点;依据LSS管理模式,从整体上详细论述了装甲装备维修质量管理包含的内容;结合WSR与LSS的逻辑过程,论述了其基本管理方式。     

Group testing procedures with quantitative features and incomplete identification

We present a group testing model for items characterized by marker random variables. An item is defined to be good (defective) if its marker is below (above) a given threshold. The items can be tested in groups; the goal is to obtain a prespecified number of good items by testing them in optimally sized groups. Besides this group size, the controller has to select a threshold value for the group marker sums, and the target number of groups which by the tests are classified to consist only of good items. These decision variables have to be chosen so as to minimize a cost function, which is a linear combination of the expected number of group tests and an expected penalty for missing the desired number of good items, subject to constraints on the probabilities of misclassifications. We treat two models of this kind: the first one is based on an infinite population size, whereas the second one deals with the case of a finite number of available items. All performance measures are derived in closed form; approximations are also given. Furthermore, we prove monotonicity properties of the components of the objective function and of the constraints. In several examples, we study (i) the dependence of the cost function on the decision variables and (ii) the dependence of the optimal values of the decision variables (group size, group marker threshold, and stopping rule for groups classified as clean) and of the target functionals (optimal expected number of tests, optimal expected penalty, and minimal expected cost) on the system parameters.© 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2011     

Cinematic representations of the Mexican Narco War

This essay provides an overview of the eras of Mexican cinema followed by an analysis of 10 Spanish-language narco cinematic representations, an overview of the eras of American cinema followed by an analysis of 10 English language narco cinematic representations, and a conclusion that compares and contrasts the Mexican and US narco war cinematic experience. Due to divergent national trajectories – Mexico is engulfed in narco violence and corruption while the United States is not – more differences than similarities exist between these national cinematic genres. Dark spirituality themes are also increasingly evident in more recent narco war films.