When the Going Gets Tough… Monitoring Missions and a Changing Conflict Environment in Sri Lanka, 2002–2008

This article analyzes how the conflict environment in which a civilian monitoring mission is deployed influences the monitors' assessment of the operation. It draws on unique empirical material from the experience of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), deployed to oversee a ceasefire agreement in Sri Lanka 2002–2008. With material from a survey and in-depth interviews, experiences of the monitors are analyzed and changes over time are traced in relation to the monitors' assessment of the mandate and organizational set-up of the mission. The study points to the difficulty of monitoring missions to address escalation during an ongoing peace process. Its function is dependent on the goodwill of the parties. In essence, monitoring missions have the potential to strengthen peace when there is momentum in favor of progress, but when relations between the parties turn sour and the conflict escalates a civilian monitoring mission basically loses its potential. During the final stages of the war, which saw a very large number of civilian casualties, the war-torn areas were closed to international observers. Moreover, international pressure for a short-term ceasefire to alleviate the humanitarian situation was dismissed by the Sri Lankan government, which also saw the backing of several important actors, not the least China.     

分布式监测系统故障诊断功能模型分析

分布式监测系统长时间的连续监测,累计的数据量非常可观,为了数据实时传输及节省传输成本,对监测的数据现场预处理,采取一定的方法压缩数据量非常必要.目前,针对状态数据传输过程中的数据压缩与传输效率的研究还很少,一般采用黑匣子功能模型或白匣子功能模型,虽然具有减少数据冗余的作用,但是没有考虑数据流本身冗余特性,提出基于数据压缩的分布式监测系统功能模型,提高了通信速度和可靠性,满足了实时传输的要求.     

DAR ES SALAAM

Countries in transition often experience increased levels of crime, making their citizens vulnerable to the exploits of criminals. The lack of reliable statistics hampers the development of sound crime reduction strategies. This essay considers the value of victim surveys as additional sources of information to augment official police data. It presents the findings of such a survey undertaken in Dar es Salaam and compares them with findings obtained in similar surveys of Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria and Johannesburg. The information obtained in the survey conducted in Dar es Salaam provides valuable insights into crime rates and patterns. In comparing the results of the survey in Dar es Salaam, some interesting trends emerged around the theft of vehicle parts and vehicle theft, violent crimes, the levels of violence employed in burglaries and the use of weapons. The information gleaned from these surveys will go far in developing crime reduction strategies and measures that will be effective and appropriately targeted.     

Don't stop with Joint Forces Command … cut AFRICOM too

Abstract

The United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) has been a military success but a strategic messaging failure. The United States’ relationships across Africa cannot be boiled down to military affairs. This paper argues that Africa has many more opportunities than challenges and thus requires a more balanced foreign policy solution from Washington DC than a new military command. For the military engagement that does need to take place, a more low-profile approach would benefit the United States in Africa.     

Terrorism,insurgency, kidnapping,and security in Africa's energy sector

Energy continues to serve as the bedrock of modern economies and the main driver of modern society. For Africa, the production and supply of energy resources such as crude oil, natural gas, uranium, coal, biomass, biofuels and other renewables are an important source of employment, rents, taxes, royalties and profits. This sector brings in several tens of billions of dollars of revenue annually. The production and delivery of such resources, however, depend on critical infrastructures such as pipelines, refineries, processing plants, terminals, rigs, electrical energy pylons, substations, pump stations, vessels, and tankers. These infrastructures have been attacked by terrorists, insurgents, vandals and saboteurs, all of whom see them as targets against which to register their grievances and extract concessions from the state. This paper is a chronological account of some of the documented incidents of terrorism, insurgency, kidnapping, destruction, sabotage, and human casualties suffered in the oil and gas sectors in Africa between 1999 and 2012. It is based on data extracted from the databases of the RAND Database of World Terrorism Incidents and the University of Maryland's Global Terrorism Database (GTD).     

机动管线流量在线实时监测技术研究

输送流量在线实时监测是准确掌握机动管线运行工况、优化运行方案、分析判断泄漏的关键之一。分析了容积式、速度式和差压式等常用流量监测技术的技术特征与使用条件,根据机动管线的作业特点和要求,优选出涡街流量监测技术作为该管线系统的流量在线实时监测技术;分析了机动管线输送过程中管道振动对涡街流量计计量精度的影响,提出了几种不同的抗振防干扰技术,并应用于机动管线涡街流量监测装置的研制。样机试验表明,采用抗振技术的涡街流量监测装置检测精度能满足机动管线流量在线实时监测需求。     

刀具状态监测的模糊集方法

刀具状态监测技术一直是制约加工系统自动化和智能化水平提高的主要因素，本文采用模糊线性方程描述刀具状态与监测指标之间的关系，根据学习样本的可能分布和概率分布确定方程的参数，选用不同传感器信号特征组合进行对比实验，结果表明该方法可获得较高的识别率。     

柔性加工设备机电系统的动力学模型与辨识

在剖析柔性加工设备机电系统结构、信息传递链等基础上，建立柔性加工设备机电系统较精确的动力学模型，并研制相应硬件，实现实时在线模型参数辨识，排除变工况与加工过程的时变性对状态监测与故障诊断的影响，为实现柔性加工环境下多变工况加工过程的实时状态监测、故障诊断与故障预警打下基础。     

植物油交联共聚阻尼材料的研究

为扩大阻尼材料的原料来源,降低成本,提高阻尼性能,研究以植物油(蓖麻油、棉子油、桐油)为原料,合成环氧植物油及桐油酸酐,将桐油酸酐与环氧植物油进行本体聚合,制得了一系列 AB—交联共聚物。对试样进行动态力学测试,结果表明,该共聚物具有较高的阻尼因子(tanδ最高在1以上),较宽的阻尼温域。在40～60℃时,tanδ值持续大于0.3,是一类成本低廉、阻尼性能良好的新型阻尼材料。     

专家系统在船舶监控装置维修中的应用

针对目前船舶监控装置维修中存在的问题,对专家系统在监控装置维修领域的应用进行了探讨,并给出了基于数据库的维修专家系统构造方法.