Winning hearts and minds in the ‘war on terrorism’

Ten days after the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon US President George W Bush addressed a joint session of Congress. In an emotional speech he declared war on terrorism and vowed that the US would not rest until all of the perpetrators were brought to justice and A1 Qaeda destroyed. In virtually the next breath he hastened to add that the US-led campaign would not be a war on Islam, a promise Muslims might have found more reassuring had the President not sounded so much like a Baptist preacher. Whatever its propaganda value, the speech distorted the reality of the struggle facing the West while tacitly acknowledging an important truth. Since terror is merely a weapon in a larger struggle, there can be no war on terrorism per se. The West faces a counterinsurgency campaign on a global scale. Winning the hearts and minds of disaffected people in lands where terrorism thrives must be central to conducting this campaign.     

The British government and the end of French Algeria, 1958–62

Unlike France, Britain viewed the Algerian conflict from 1958 to 1962 primarily as a colonial war. The British government regarded Algérie française as an anachronism, which France would have to relinquish one day. Though Britain was no stranger to ‘dirty’ colonial wars, as simultaneous operations against EOKA nationalists in Cyprus continued to prove, it was not averse to displaying a certain smugness at having averted the kind of mess Algeria seemed to represent. Britain's interest in the latter stages of the Algerian conflict centred on four major areas: Perceptions of colonial warfare; de Gaulle's Algeria policy; Algeria and Britain's view of France in Europe and NATO; Negotiating the ceasefire and ending the conflict.     

考虑维修时间不确定性的维修任务选择模型

由于维修时间存在不确定性,如何在考虑维修时间不确定性的情况下确定任务间隔期的维修方案是一个值得探讨的问题.给出了一种考虑维修时间不确定性的维修任务选择模型及其求解算法,以在一定置信水平下获得最佳的维修方案.首先,给出了考虑维修时间不确定性的维修任务选择问题的假设条件,并建立了一种非线形的、离散的机会约束规划.其次,给出了一种基于随机模拟的粒子群求解算法,包括粒子的表示、适应度函数、更新公式、算法框架等.最后,给出了具体实例,证明了模型与算法的有效性.该模型非常适用于管理人员在维修时间存在不确定性的情况下作出合理的维修任务选择决策.     

一种改进的跳频信号频率估计算法

信号的信噪比较低时,旋转不变信号参数估计技术（Estimated Signal Parametersvia Rotational Invariance Technique,ESPRIT）算法的频率估计性能明显下降,针对这一问题,提出了一种基于ESPRIT的改进算法。该改进算法在基于ESPRIT的噪声抑制（Noise Suppressed based on ESPRIT,NS—ESPRIT）算法的基础上,利用DFT谱中的,个局部最大值点,缩小基于互相关矩阵迹模值曲线的ESPRIT算法中口的选择区域,在降低计算复杂度的同时,也有效地减弱了噪声对信号频率估计的影响。理论分析和仿真结果证明了该改进算法的可行性和有效性。     

Learning and costs in airframe production: A multiple-output production function approach

This article examines the influence of both production rate and learning on airframe program costs. A dynamic multiple-output production model is developed and is used to observe the cost impact of changes in production rate and learning. Several simulations are performed to demonstrate the sensitivity of the optimal time path of cost to changes in the model parameters. The model is applied by estimating parameters from the F102 airframe program.     

The outfit planning problem: Production planning in shipbuilding

Shipbuilding as currently practiced in U.S. commercial shipyards employs little quantitative modeling or analysis in production planning. This paper presents a brief discussion of the shipbuilding process and focuses on one major component which is referred to as outfitting. The outfit planning problem is described in detail and then formally modeled as a generalization of the resource constrained project scheduling problem. The value of the approach as well as barriers to its adoption are also discussed.     

Optimal maintenance models for systems subject to failure–A Review

This paper is a state-of-the-art review of the literature related to optimal maintenance models of systems subject to failure. The emphasis is on work appearing since the 1976 survey, “A Survey of Maintenance Models: The Control and Surveillance of Deteriorating Systems,” by W.P. Pierskalla and J.A. Voelker, published in this journal.