Improvised Explosive Research Articles

A Novel Therapeutic Approach With Sodium Pyruvate on Vital Signs, Acid-Base, and Metabolic Disturbances in Rats With a Combined Blast and Hemorrhagic Shock.

BackgroundBlast injuries from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are known to cause blast traumatic brain injuries (bTBIs), hemorrhagic shock (HS), organ damage, mitochondrial dysfunction, and subsequent free radical production. A pre-citric acid cycle reagent, pyruvate, is suggested to improve mitochondrial ATP production through the activation of the mitochondrial gatekeeper enzyme “pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDH).” Our study aimed to investigate the role of physiologic, metabolic, and mitochondrial effects of hypertonic sodium pyruvate resuscitation in rats with a combined blast and HS injury.MethodsA pre-clinical rat model of combined injury with repetitive 20 PSI blast exposure accompanied with HS and fluid resuscitation (sodium pyruvate as metabolic adjuvant or hypertonic saline as control), followed by transfusion of shed blood was used in this study. Control sham animals (instrumental and time-matched) received anesthesia and cannulation, but neither received any injury nor treatment. The mean arterial pressure and heart rate were recorded throughout the experiment by a computerized program. Blood collected at T0 (baseline), T60 (after HS), and T180 (end) was analyzed for blood chemistry and mitochondrial PDH enzyme activity.ResultsSodium pyruvate resuscitation significantly improved the mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), pulse pressure (PP), hemodynamic stability (Shock index), and autonomic response (Kerdo index) after the HS and/or blast injury. Compared with the baseline values, plasma lactate and lactate/pyruvate ratios were significantly increased. In contrast, base excess BE/() was low and the pH was also acidotic <7.3, indicating the sign of metabolic acidosis after blast and HS in all animal groups. Sodium pyruvate infusion significantly corrected these parameters at the end of the experiment. The PDH activity also improved after the sodium pyruvate infusion.ConclusionIn our rat model of a combined blast and HS injury, hypertonic sodium pyruvate resuscitation was significantly effective in hemodynamic stabilization by correcting the acid–base status and mitochondrial mechanisms via its pyruvate dehydrogenase enzyme.

Reinforced Concrete Building with IED Detonation: Test and Simulation

There is growing concern about the possibility of a suicide bomber being immolated when the army forces or the law enforcement agencies discover the place where they prepare their material or simply find themselves inside a building. To study the possible effects that these improvised explosive devices (IEDs) would have on the structures, eight tests were carried out with various configurations of IEDs with vest bombs inside a reinforced concrete (including walls and roof) building constructed ad hoc for these tests. These vests were made with different explosives (black powder, ANFO, AN/AL, PG2). For the characterization of these tests, a high-speed camera and pressure and acceleration sensors were used. The structure behaved surprisingly well, as it withstood all the first seven detonations without apparent structural damage. In the last detonation, located on the ground and with a significant explosive charge, the structural integrity of the roof and some of the walls was compromised. The simulation of the building was carried out with the LS-DYNA software with a Lagrangian formulation for the walls, using the LBE (based on CONWEP) module for the application of the charge. Despite the difficulty of this simulation, the results obtained, in terms of applied pressures and measured accelerations, are acceptable with differences of about 20%.

Application of deep raman spectroscopy to detect ammonium nitrate concealed in color fabrics

Detection of concealed Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) is a prerequisite for forensic and homeland security investigations. In this case, fabrics are common barriers for hidden explosives to be seen or detected. Deep Raman spectroscopy is a well-known detection method that provides detailed vibrational information about the depth profiling of Raman-active materials. In this research, a combination of space-resolved and time-resolved Raman techniques was successfully used to acquire high-quality ammonium nitrate Raman spectra concealed in white and brown synthetic fabric as a highly fluorescing barrier. The signal-to-background noise ratio was calculated in all the experiments. Concerning the result for white synthetic fabric, the optimum value was at 180 ns gate delay and 2 mm offset. These values were at 100 ns gate delay and 3 mm offset for brown synthetic fabrics. The role of retarded Raman photons in offset and gate delay variations was discussed too. As the results showed, implementing TR-SORS to identify the IEDs concealed in color fabrics caused the accelerated rejection of high fluorescence from the container surface and led to improved Raman signal.

Establishing Zion in the Heat of Battle

Establishing Zion in the Heat of Battle

Different Drummers: Military Culture and Its Discontents

Different Drummers: Military Culture and Its Discontents

Contributions to the Calculation and Testing of Explosive Materials to Improve Blast Protection Equipment

Abstract The experience of recent years shows us in very clear terms that in areas where small or large-scale military conflicts have taken place, a wide variety of standardized or improvised explosive devices are discovered and continue to be used. Due to their predominantly improvised nature, the methods and techniques of countering the authorities are extremely difficult, with a high degree of complexity and not without risks. The paper should be a concrete and scientifically based support for the efforts to find the best solutions for individual protection against explosions, through the contribution of knowledge in the field of the effect of the explosion on a metal pipe.

Safety Concerns and Chemical Aspects of Improvised Explosive Devices and Homemade Explosives

Safety Concerns and Chemical Aspects of Improvised Explosive Devices and Homemade Explosives

Improvements in GPR-SAR imaging focusing and detection capabilities of UAV-mounted GPR systems

In recent years there has been an increasing research interest in the development of airborne-based Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) systems for safe and fast detection of buried threats such as landmines and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Compared to other sensors such as metal detectors or magnetometers, GPR is able to detect either metallic and non-metallic targets. Besides, the use of Ultra Wide Band (UWB) radiofrequency hardware allows retrieving high resolution images of the subsoil, thus improving the detection capabilities. Airborne-based GPR systems are affected by uncertainties that need to be characterized and corrected. This contribution focuses on the following three issues: (i) influence of the height information in the GPR-Synthetic Aperture Radar (GPR-SAR) images, determining which sensors provide better quality images; (ii) distortion of the imaged targets in along-track axis due to small tilting of the UWB antennas on board the UAV, proposing a co-registration technique to correct it; and (iii) revision of SVD filtering techniques, assessing a criterion to classify the different eigenimages. The analysis of these issues, as well as the validation of the proposed correction methods, are conducted using measurements taken during validation campaigns of the implemented airborne-based GPR system. For this purpose, two validation scenarios with different soil characteristics have been selected. Metallic and non-metallic targets with different shapes and sizes have been buried in them. In the case of the first scenario (wet loamy soil), detection capabilities improved from 50% (5 out of 10 targets were detected) to 80%. For the second validation scenario (loamy soil, but less humid than the first scenario), not only a 100% detection is achieved, but also the targets are clearly imaged in the GPR-SAR images obtained with the improvements presented in this contribution.

The “Evolution” of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) in the Light of Technical Development

In today’s conflicts of war, the various bombings, which are perpetrated against military or civilian targets, have been directed against members of the regular armies considered to be “occupying”, as well as against the locals who collaborated with them or assisted them. In the military, such acts are mentioned as an element of asymmetric warfare, and on various interpretations, they are sometimes classified as a terrorist acts. In case of “peaceful” countries, it can only be interpreted according to the latter concept, which can be aimed at a specific person, political orientation, intimidation, revenge or other criminal activity. The explosive devices used fall into the so-called “home-made” category in terms of their design. The assassin’s primary purpose is to achieve a devastating effect. In this article I deal primarily with improvised explosive devices appearing in so-called “civilian” life.

Delayed return of urinary continence following the removal of neglected sacral shrapnel

BackgroundGlobalisation of terrorism has led to an increase in the number of injuries from the explosion of improvised explosive devices, with complications resulting from the retained shrapnel. It had been found that a third of those who sustained penetrating spinal cord injuries are from explosions. Retained foreign body in the sacral canal segment is rare, especially shrapnel presenting with urinary incontinence. Moreover, the one who had a dramatic recovery of urinary continence following removal of neglected sacral canal shrapnel. We report a case of a delayed improvement (recovery) in urinary continence following removal of neglected sacral canal shrapnel remotely aided by a pelvic floor exercise.Case presentationOur patient was a 14-year-old male who presented with a 3-year history of trauma to the lower back from an Improvised Explosive Device. He was initially associated with difficulty in walking that improved over eight months. However, the urinary incontinence persisted. He was found to be preserved with no neurological deficit in the lower limb. There was a lower back, midline wound, discharging pus. Lumbosacral imaging revealed a sacral (S2) canal Shrapnel. As a case of urinary incontinence from sacral shrapnel, he had the removal of the shrapnel, did well postoperatively, commenced on pelvic floor exercise. He became continence of urine over time.ConclusionsRetained foreign bodies in the spinal canal are associated with complications that include neurological deficit. Neglected (long-standing) sacral shrapnel with urinary incontinence is rare; moreover, the recovery of the continence with the removal of the shrapnel is aided by the commencement of pelvic floor exercise.

Measurements of Micro-Doppler Signals Induced by Acoustic Stimulation

The detection of concealed objects is a concern in multiple domains, especially in areas of defense and security where hidden threats pose an ever-present danger. The measurement and analysis of micro-Doppler signals from concealed targets is a promising approach to this challenge. In this paper, a new detection technique is presented which measures the micro-Doppler signature of object vibrations that are actively induced using acoustic energy. This would permit the detection of stationary threats, such as improvised explosive devices. An exploratory system is set up and measurements are performed and assessed on non-concealed target objects. The results show a clear detection of targets for certain acoustic frequencies, along with favorable noise characteristics. This promising outcome has spurred the continuing development of a next generation system.

Threat object detection and analysis for explosive ordnance disposal robot

Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) robots are useful in military applications like the safe disposal of explosives. However, many of these robots do not have the capability to identify threat objects using their onboard vision system due to data unavailability for training an improvised explosive device (IED) detector. As a solution, this study used image processing and object detection algorithms to detect and analyze threat objects inside the baggage. A threat object detector was developed and composed of two separate modules such as baggage detection and IED detection and analysis modules. The experiments showed that baggage detection achieved 22.82% mean average precision (mAP) using Single Shot Detector (SSD) in the Microsoft Common Objects in Context (COCO) dataset, while IED detection achieved 77.59% mAP using Faster R-CNN in the X-ray dataset. The threat objects from the X-ray image were also analyzed using image processing techniques to get the dimension of the object and the distance from a reference object. Also, the baggage detection module was successfully deployed in Jetson TX2, which runs at a frame rate of 12 frames per second (FPS).

The Radio Jammer Against Remote Controlled Improvised Explosive Devices

This paper deals with the radio jammer for protection of VIP person, manpower and material resources against remotely controlled improvised explosive devices. The jammer is completely the result of domestic development in the Institute IRITEL.

Towards a cultural perspective on the absorption of emerging technologies in military organizations

ABSTRACT Absorbing emerging technologies is crucial to the success of intelligence and security organizations. Scholars, however, tend to overlook the role of cultural traits in this process. Focusing on military organizations, this paper questions how military organizational culture shapes the absorption of emerging technologies. It draws upon literatures of military innovation, technology absorption and military sociology and empirically studies the absorption of counter improvised explosive devices technologies within the Netherlands Armed Forces. This paper argues that cultural influence on technology absorption becomes apparent in the innovation drivers, the distinction between war- and peacetime and the gradual shift of organizational identities.

Characterization and comparison of smokeless powders by on-line two-dimensional liquid chromatography

Smokeless powders (SPs) are one of the most commonly used propellants for ammunition but can also be abused as energetic material in improvised explosive devices (IEDs) such as pipe bombs. After a shooting or explosion, unburnt or partially burnt particulates may be observed which can be used for forensic investigation. SPs comprise mainly nitrocellulose (NC) and additives. Therefore, the characterization of both NC and the additives is of significant forensic importance. Typically, the identification, classification, and chemical profiling of smokeless powders are based exclusively on the analysis of the additives. In this study, information regarding the NC base component was combined with the chemical analysis of the additives using two-dimensional liquid chromatography (2D-LC). The system combines size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) and reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) in an on-line heart-cut 2D-LC configuration. In the first dimension, the NC is characterized by its molecular-weight distribution (MWD) while being separated from the additives. The additives are then transferred to the second-dimension separation using a novel analyte-transfer system. In the second dimension, the additives are separated to obtain a detailed profile of the low-molecular-mass compounds in the SP. With this approach, the MWD of the NC and the composition of the additives in SP have been obtained within an hour. A discrimination power of 90.53% was obtained when studying exclusively the NC MWD, and 99.47% for the additive profile. This novel combination enables detailed forensic comparison of intact SPs. Additionally, no extensive sample preparation is required, making the developed method less labor intensive.

Combat injury profiles among U.S. military personnel who survived serious wounds in Iraq and Afghanistan: A latent class analysis

BackgroundThe U.S. military conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan had the most casualties since Vietnam with more than 53,000 wounded in action. Novel injury mechanisms, such as improvised explosive devices, and higher rates of survivability compared with previous wars led to a new pattern of combat injuries. The purpose of the present study was to use latent class analysis (LCA) to identify combat injury profiles among U.S. military personnel who survived serious wounds.MethodsA total of 5,227 combat casualty events with an Injury Severity Score (ISS) of 9 or greater that occurred in Iraq and Afghanistan from December 2002 to July 2019 were identified from the Expeditionary Medical Encounter Database for analysis. The Barell Injury Diagnosis Matrix was used to classify injuries into binary variables by site and type of injury. LCA was employed to identify injury profiles that accounted for co-occurring injuries. Injury profiles were described and compared by demographic, operational, and injury-specific variables.ResultsSeven injury profiles were identified and defined as: (1) open wounds (18.8%), (2) Type 1 traumatic brain injury (TBI)/facial injuries (14.2%), (3) disseminated injuries (6.8%), (4) Type 2 TBI (15.4%), (5) lower extremity injuries (19.8%), (6) burns (7.4%), and (7) chest and/or abdominal injuries (17.7%). Profiles differed by service branch, combat location, year of injury, injury mechanism, combat posture at the time of injury, and ISS.ConclusionLCA identified seven distinct and interpretable injury profiles among U.S. military personnel who survived serious combat injuries in Iraq or Afghanistan. These findings may be of interest to military medical planners as resource needs are evaluated and projected for future conflicts, and medical professionals involved in the rehabilitation of wounded service members.

Two Poems

Crazy Horse was not a crazy horse. He was an Apache child who ran faster than the windso his mother called him “Crazy Horse.” He hastened the seasons to grow up and defend the Apache. At night he dreamed of one thing: to be a strong bird, to soar in the belly of the sky, to nest in clouds, to pounce on the white man who hunted his ancestors like deer and scattered them in Arizona. But fever chased his soul from his body. It settled in a passing cloud. His body slept in a ditch. He never became that fierce bird.It was three years before the Apache's final defeat. When five thousand soldiers besieged Geronimo and dragged him and his men in shackles (Skeleton Canyon, Arizona, September 4, 1886).. . .Do dreams die with their dreamers? Or do they roam the night searching for someone to dream them all over again? Perhaps they become nightmares inhabiting the sleep of others.“Apaches” hover in distant skies.And the hunt goes on.Haditha, Al-Anbar Province, IraqKilo Company, Third Battalion, First Marine Division. . .Twenty-four unarmed Iraqi civiliansIncluding:A seventy-six-year-old amputeeIn a wheelchairHolding a Qur'anA mother and child bent overSix children ranging in age from one to fourteen. . .Execution styleThe US military paid $2,500 (condolence payments2) per victim to families of fifteen of the dead Iraqis. A total of $38,000.“Shoot first, ask questions later” were Sgt. Wuterich's orders to his men as they searched nearby homes after a roadside bomb attack killed one Marine and injured two others.Eight marines are charged.Six had their cases dropped and a seventh was found not guilty.Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, 31, of Meridien, Connecticut, pleaded guilty to negligent dereliction of duty as the leader of the squad. The manslaughter charges were dropped.Wuterich was sentenced to a reduction in rank. He received a general discharge under honorable conditions. No jail time.Asked if he would have done anything differently that day, Salinas, one of the witnesses, said: “I would have just utilized my air to just level the house.”Another witness, Dela Cruz, admitted that he urinated on the skull of one of the Iraqis he and Wuterich had shot.Meridien, ConnecticutWuterich, who lives in California, returned home to Meridien, Connecticut, for a golf tournament organized by local veterans for his benefit.“The tournament was organized by veterans’ groups including the Polish Legion of American Veterans, the American Legion and Marine Corps League Silver City Detachment.”Bill Zelinsky, commander of the Polish Legion Sons Detachment, said combat veterans he's spoken with don't find fault with Wuterich's actions in Haditha.“Any of the veterans in this club that I spoke to said they would have handled the situation the same way Frank did,” Zelinsky said. “I have to believe he did the right thing.”Haditha, Al-Anbar Province, IraqThe twenty-four corpses are at homein The Martyrs’ GraveyardGraffition a wall in one of the deserted homesof one of the families reads:“Democracy assassinated the family that was here.”[Anamorphosis: a distorted projection or drawing that appears normal when viewed from a particular point or with a suitable mirror or lens (OED).]

Fragments velocity distribution and estimating method of thin-walled cylindrical improvised explosive devices with different length-to-diameter ratios

The fragment velocity distribution of the improvised explosive device (IED) that is commonly made of thin-walled casings filled with explosives is an important parameter in the development of protection structures. In this study, the axial fragment velocity distributions of 10 thin-walled cylindrical casings with different L/D ratios filled with charges were measured and analyzed by orthogonal flash X-ray radiography. The results suggest that the axial rarefaction waves significantly affect the fragment velocity distribution at the L/D ratios less than 1.5. A bivariate 3D empirical model for calculating axial fragment velocity distribution was then constructed by fitting the experimental data with the coupled effect of the axial rarefaction waves included. The general applicability of the estimating method was verified with the experimental data of another set of 7 charges. The average relative error between the calculation results and experiment results is only 4.33%, suggesting that the model is reliable for estimating the fragment velocity distributions of the charges with different L/D ratios. Furthermore, the estimating method has also been verified based on numerical simulation. The numerical results show that the estimating method can be used for the casing with C/M of 0.2∼1.9, which means the potential of the estimating method in engineering applications. Our work can provide a practical guide in assessing the hazards of IEDs in the framework of anti-terrorism engineering.

An analysis framework for clustering algorithm selection with applications to spectroscopy.

Cluster analysis is a valuable unsupervised machine learning technique that is applied in a multitude of domains to identify similarities or clusters in unlabelled data. However, its performance is dependent of the characteristics of the data it is being applied to. There is no universally best clustering algorithm, and hence, there are numerous clustering algorithms available with different performance characteristics. This raises the problem of how to select an appropriate clustering algorithm for the given analytical purposes. We present and validate an analysis framework to address this problem. Unlike most current literature which focuses on characterizing the clustering algorithm itself, we present a wider holistic approach, with a focus on the user’s needs, the data’s characteristics and the characteristics of the clusters it may contain. In our analysis framework, we utilize a softer qualitative approach to identify appropriate characteristics for consideration when matching clustering algorithms to the intended application. These are used to generate a small subset of suitable clustering algorithms whose performance are then evaluated utilizing quantitative cluster validity indices. To validate our analysis framework for selecting clustering algorithms, we applied it to four different types of datasets: three datasets of homemade explosives spectroscopy, eight datasets of publicly available spectroscopy data covering food and biomedical applications, a gene expression cancer dataset, and three classic machine learning datasets. Each data type has discernible differences in the composition of the data and the context within which they are used. Our analysis framework, when applied to each of these challenges, recommended differing subsets of clustering algorithms for final quantitative performance evaluation. For each application, the recommended clustering algorithms were confirmed to contain the top performing algorithms through quantitative performance indices.

Remote Monitoring of a bomb detection robot interfaced with IP camera for real time surveillance and detection of Improvised explosive Devices (IEDs) in an environment Using wireless sensor Networks (WSNs).

Remote Monitoring of a bomb detection robot interfaced with IP camera for real time surveillance and detection of Improvised explosive Devices (IEDs) in an environment Using wireless sensor Networks (WSNs).