The fateful phoenix: the revival of Al-Qa’ida in Iraq

Although the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) is seen as a novel manifestation of Islamic extremism, it is in fact the latest, albeit perhaps the most effective, of a long line of revivalist movements in the Islamic and the Arab worlds. Its motivations – hisba and jihad – differ little from its predecessors and its ambitions – to create a state organised in accordance with the precepts of the Islamic caliphate – reflect a long-standing Islamic ambition. It differs, of course, in terms of the sophistication of its political and military strategies, which mirror the contemporary complexities of the world in which it operates, but its objectives recall long-standing Islamic ideals, even if articulated in radically brutal and extremist ways. More importantly, perhaps, ISIS or Da’ish, to give it its Arabic sobriquet, reflects the enormous degree of resentment inside the Middle East at the ways in which Western powers have intervened in regional affairs over recent years, particularly their support for regimes and economic systems there that have betrayed, in the popular imaginary, the essential principles of social justice that lie at the root of Islamic vision of ideal social order. Indeed, in many respects, its analysis of the world in which it operates and of the objectives it seeks differ little in essence from those any other resistance and rejectionist movement, whether religious or sectarian. More specifically, it has been the sectarian conflict that resulted from the reversal of political order in Iraq as a result of the 2003 American-led invasion that has driven the success of the movement in capturing widespread Sunni support. Whether it can manage the complexities of the administration of a state remains open to question.     

Historical and Political Background to the Erosion of the Rule of Law and Human Rights During Sri Lanka’s Civil War and the Way Forward

The Sri Lankan Civil War (1983–2009) is regarded as a violent reflection of deepening divides along political and ethnic lines. During this civil war the Sri Lankan Government and its security forces have been implicated in unlawful killings carried out in a pervasive manner against civilians, whilst at the same time specifically targeting ethnic Tamils, humanitarian workers and journalists. The human rights of all citizens suffered as a result and ultimately led to the weakening of the rule of law. With the end of the civil war, the Sri Lankan Government has made little progress in providing accountability for wartime abuses. Its absence of and reluctance to ensure justice is seen as a logical culmination of decades of impunity. The importance of acknowledging historical behaviour and taking accountability for past violations will be discussed. In an analysis for paving the way to a new democracy in Sri Lanka, the main outcomes of this article are calls for accountability arising out of the government’s actions during the war; an investigation into the present state of human rights, the rule of law and finally; an examination into the political solution going forward to ensure a process of reconciliation and peaceful co-existence.     

动态滑翔运动建模、机理分析与航迹优化

信天翁凭借动态滑翔的飞行技巧从梯度风中获取能量,从而在几乎不拍翅膀的情况下进行长时间、长距离飞行,这种技巧应用于小型无人机上可拓展其完成任务的能力。基于飞行器动力学对梯度风场中的无人机运动方程进行推导和简化处理;利用简化的运动方程,分别从非惯性参考系中的动能定理和机械能变化的角度,对动态滑翔获取能量的机理进行分析;利用微分平坦法,以最小平均控制输入变化率为目标函数,对徘徊模式和平移模式的动态滑翔航迹进行优化计算。分析结果表明:逆风爬升、顺风下滑是动态滑翔基本获能方式。优化结果表明:控制输入变得更加平滑,甚至出现阶段性的常值,使得控制更加简化;徘徊模式下,当风梯度作为决策变量时,优化过程可在[0,0.5 s-1]的区间上找到使得目标函数值最小的风梯度;平移模式下,目标函数值在该区间上单调递减。     

考虑载荷作用次数的多失效模式扭力轴灵敏度分析

机械构件的不同的失效模式之间具有一定的相关性,而且随机载荷作用次数对机械构件的可靠性有一定程度的影响。因此对机械构件进行可靠性灵敏度分析时,需要充分考虑其不同失效模式和载荷作用次数的影响。通过运用顺序统计量理论考虑载荷多次作用以及多种失效模式条件下机械构件可靠性及可靠性灵敏度的变化规律,运用随机摄动理论和四阶矩技术,建立一种考虑载荷作用次数的多失效模式机械构件可靠性灵敏度分析数值方法的应力强度干涉模型。在随机变量前四阶矩已知的情况下,结合灵敏度分析的梯度算法,推导出关于随机变量均值和方差的灵敏度计算公式。以某履带车辆底盘扭力轴为例进行计算,得到其可靠度随载荷作用次数、随机变量均值和方差而改变的可靠性灵敏度变化曲线,为扭力轴的可靠性优化提供一定的理论依据。研究成果可以推广到相关机械可靠性灵敏度设计和结构优化领域,具有非常重要的实用意义。     

武器装备体系能力矩阵评估方法

针对武器装备体系能力难以客观、定量评估的问题,引入复杂网络理论,提出了基于矩阵运算的武器装备体系能力评估方法。分析了武器装备体系能力的概念,建立了武器装备体系的复杂层次网络模型,描述了装备网络的组成、运行过程,定义了装备网络的矩阵描述方法和矩阵运算规则,提出了装备网络作战能力描述参数,给出了装备网络能力的矩阵计算方法,进行了影响因素分析,最后通过实例验证了方法可行性、有效性和灵活性。     

防空群对多批次小间隔目标射击效能评估

基于排队网络理论的适用性分析以及基本假设与适当简化,将防空群对多批次、小间隔目标射击问题转化、抽象为排队网络对顾客流的服务问题,建立了防空群对多批次、小间隔目标射击效能评估的"分布式协同排队网络"模型。在特定作战实例和假设条件下,应用所建模型,计算得出了典型火力配属方案下防空群对多批次、小间隔目标射击效能的量化结果,实现了防空群对多批次、小间隔目标的射击效能的定量化评估,验证了所建模型的可行性与有效性。     

一种改进的均方根容积粒子滤波算法

传统的粒子滤波算法在重要性采样估计时忽略了当前量测影响。在非线性场景下,传统的粒子滤波导致个别粒子具有大权值,造成估计结果精度差。针对该问题,结合均方根容积卡尔曼滤波(SCKF)算法和Gating技术,提出了一种新的重要性函数估计算法。本算法将后验概率作为重要性采样函数,通过利用SCKF和统计距离,建立粒子与量测的关联关系,实现对重要性采样函数的均值和协方差矩阵的估计。而后,使用粒子滤波算法,对多目标状态和数目进行估计。实验表明,在非线性跟踪场景下,本算法估计精度高,估计结果稳定。     

多光源并行化算法的实现

针对在绘制具有真实感的图形中光照处理模块串行处理速度慢的问题,提出多光源光照算法的并行化,采用负载均衡的并行策略,重新优化计算模型,单独计算环境光、散射光、镜面光及衰减因子后叠加在一起。计算不同的PE(处理单元)个数使用了不同的分配方案来提高处理速度。实验结果表明,将多光源光照算法并行化,可充分利用资源,发挥多核处理器的处理能力,提高了资源利用率。     

基于图像信息的多特征空间坦克姿态估计

坦克作为地面战场的主要目标,分析其姿态至关重要。根据坦克姿态估计的需要,在可见光条件下采集了坦克车体纵轴与瞄准镜光轴不同夹角的图像作为训练集。利用主成分分析法选取了目标的主要特征向量,每个训练子集用3个特征向量表示,利用少量的特征向量建立目标的8个特征空间,降低了空间的维数。设计判别准则将待识别目标向量与重构向量之间的余弦值进行比较,即确定目标所在的空间位置,完成了目标姿态的识别。实验结果表明,利用建立目标多特征空间的方法识别目标空间位置是有效的。     

基于χ~2检验的惯性/卫星紧耦合系统故障检测与隔离方法

研究了一种基于χ~2检验的惯性/卫星紧耦合系统故障检测与隔离方法,该方法可利用故障检测函数自动识别单个卫导故障,并实时剔除故障星重构观测信息序列,从而避免了对紧耦合系统的影响。构建数字化仿真环境对所研究的故障检测与隔离方法进行了仿真,仿真结果表明,该方法可在卫星发生故障时及时检测并隔离故障星,并自动实现观测信息重构,保证了紧耦合系统的精度和完好性。