‘Fighting for peace’

In Africa, most of the present conflicts are civil, intra-state wars where belligerent groups use guerrilla tactics to achieve various political, economic or ideological objectives. The atrocities and the effect of these on-going wars on innocent civilians, human suffering, poverty and development are beyond comprehension. Not surprisingly, the majority of current peace operations are in Africa, with more than 70 countries contributing forces to these conflict zones. On the continent, South Africa has come to assume a leading role in peace operations and is now a major troop-contributing country to UN and AU missions. In the past 11 years, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has taken part in no fewer than 14 peace missions. This article provides a brief background of the conflicts in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sudan, the different United Nations (UN) and African Union (AU) mandates under which peacekeepers had to operate as well as their objectives, and the extent of South Africa's involvement in the various missions. In the last section, the major challenges, that these operations have posed are highlighted.     

Jihad or qatal? Examining Al Qaeda's modus operandi

There is widespread acknowledgment that the modus operandi of jihadis affiliated with Al Qaeda and associated movements (AQAM) relies on brutal terror-inducing tactics which, more often than not, target Muslim and non-Muslim non-combatants. This article comparatively analyzes the AQAM modus operandi within the traditional stipulations of Islamic precepts with respect to waging jihad al saghir. The purpose is to glean whether or not such tactics such as suicide bombings, declaring fellow Muslim apostates in order to kill them, use of IEDs and EFPs to target civilians, constitute legitimate rules of engagement in jihad al saghir.     

一种新的双输入多通道直流变换器

在传统的含储能单元分布式供电系统中,一般都需要多个单向直流变换器和双向直流变换器才能实现其功能。提出一种新的双输入多通道直流变换器,它的功能等效于一个单向直流变换器和一个双向直流变换器。分析了双输入多通道直流变换器的工作原理,给出了变换器的稳态关系式以及能量管理方法,并运用Saber软件进行仿真,验证了理论分析的正确性。该直流变换器除具有双输入Buck直流变换器的优点外,还能实现可再生能源向储电输入源充电。     

Coordination mechanisms for a three‐stage reverse supply chain to increase profitable returns

In this article, we consider a generic electronic product that can be remanufactured or recycled at the end of its life cycle to generate new profit. We first describe the product return process and then present a customer segmentation model to capture consumers' different behaviors with respect to product return so that the retailer can work more effectively to increase the return volume. In regard to the collaboration between the retailer and the manufacturer, we explore a revenue‐sharing coordination mechanism for achieving a win‐win outcome. The optimality and sensitivity of the critical parameters in four strategies are obtained and examined both theoretically and numerically, which generate insights on how to manage an efficient consumer‐retailer‐manufacturer reverse supply chain, as well as on the feasibility of simplifying such a three‐stage chain structure. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2013     

Should competing firms reveal their capacity?

In this article, we explore when firms have an incentive to hide (or reveal) their capacity information. We consider two firms that aim to maximize profits over time and face limited capacity. One or both of the firms have private information on their own capacity levels, and they update their beliefs about their rival's capacity based on their observation of the other firm's output. We focus on credible revelation mechanisms—a firm may signal its capacity through overproduction, compared to its myopic production levels. We characterize conditions when high‐capacity firms may have the incentive and capability to signal their capacity levels by overproduction. We show that prior beliefs about capacity play a crucial, and surprisingly complex, role on whether the firm would prefer to reveal its capacity or not. A surprising result is that, despite the fact that it may be best for the high‐capacity firm to overproduce to reveal its capacity when capacity information is private, it may end up with more profits than if all capacity information were public knowledge in the first place. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2013     

‘Immediate redress’: USS Potomac and the pirates of Quallah Batoo

Maritime interests in the twenty-first century are not immune to the growing number of irregular challenges and hybrid threats that have come to dominate land warfare. In order to better understand these challenges a study of naval history can help provide a vital foundation. In the early 1830s the United States Navy dispatched the frigate USS Potomac to Sumatra to investigate a pirate attack on the spice trader Friendship. Potomac's crew of sailors and Marines conducted a landing at the village Quallah Batoo and fought a pitched battle. As the navies of the world approach naval irregular warfare in the new century, studying past examples like Potomac's mission can help illuminate the principles of successful naval irregular warfare.     

简析政府职能转变之明确性原则——以消防法律文本为视域

政府职能转变是一项浩大、复杂的系统工程,不仅需要正确的方向,也更需要科学的方法.其中,明确性就是一个必须遵守的原则.审视政府消防管理职能50年的文本变迁,对政府职能转变与明确性原则关系进行了现实考察,进而分析明确性原则与政府职能转变关系进路.     

模糊综合评判的装备研制风险评估

装备研制风险评估是在风险分析的基础上对所研究阶段的风险性进行评估,计算该阶段的风险得分,最终确定其风险等级,对结果进行比较分析,为下一步工作的开展确定方向,具有重要的指导意义.对装备研制的风险管理进行了研究.针对装备研制项目阶段特点,从风险管理工作的现实需求出发,以风险管理的基本理论为基础,结合其他领域已有的风险管理模型,建立了装备研制风险管理的针对性模型,并结合事例对装备研制风险管理模型的具体应用进行了说明.     

中小学校长治校漫话——由“钱学森之问”引发的思考

“钱学森之问”是广大校长必须直面的一个严峻课题。校长作为一所学校教学业务的指导者和教育行政的管理者,应以教学、管理、学生、教师及社会为基本职业维度,在工作中以“五心”标准要求自己。导致校长履职失范的因素包括校长自我认知错位、上级行政主管单位制度缺位及学校教职工角色异位等方面。人格自觉与制度跟进是加强校长队伍建设、规范校长治校理教的根本和正途。     

人工神经网络在管理信息系统中的应用

在传统管理信息系统的基础上,增加专家系统模块,即基于人工神经网络技术的预测分析模块,完成复杂的非线性预测以提高MIS智能化、自动化水平。该模块选用反向传输(BP:BackPropagation)神经网络模型来实现,通过网络的自适应学习和训练,找出输入和输出之间的内在联系,从而求得问题的解答。利用该专家系统对出版社图书市场销量进行预测。结果表明:该方法性能好,可作为预测图书售量的一种有效手段。