Improvised Explosive Research Articles

Technology: Negotiating Tomorrow’s Armed Conflict and Terrorism in West Africa

This paper, using the case of Boko Haram in Nigeria, examines the impact of technology on future armed conflicts and violent extremism in Nigeria and West Africa. As Africa enters the new digital age, characterized by increasing access to mobile telephoning, internet penetration, 3D printing and the Internet of Things; networking between and among groups with similar ideologies will improve. Results from the author’s recent fieldwork in north-eastern Nigeria are used to shed light on Boko Haram’s activities across border communities in that region where Nigeria’s borders meet those of Niger and Cameroon. Those activities include tactical efforts like mobilizing crowds, disseminating ideologies, recruiting strategic assets, and sharing technical know-how, and have facilitated the transformation of Boko Haram from a dagger-wielding, arrow-shooting group into a deployer of mobile-phone-triggered IEDs, coordinating simultaneous attacks on multiple targets. Undoubtedly, the new digital age guarantees cultural cohesiveness and a more robust outside support that will serve in recruitment, financing, logistics and training. With mobile telephony and internet access providing (dangerous) information and resources to aspiring insurgents, what future awaits Nigeria, West Africa and Africa should Boko Haram gain access to remote controlled flying drones, quadcopters, and other ‘toys’ fitted with homemade bombs and IEDs? What new level of domestic terror would emerge if Boko Haram develops a capacity for cyberterrorism, especially since cyberterrorism affects data and cash, guarantees no risk of personal bodily harm, involves minimal resources commitment, and affords opportunities to inflict a higher level of damage? This study examines these issues and type of responses available to government in dealing with a technology-driven armed conflict and terrorism.

Emergency Cases at Countering Improvised Explosive Devices (C-IED), and their Potential Management

Abstract During the military operations in Iraq and later in Afghanistan, the capability of force protection, of providing defence against improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and the organization of training courses aimed at enhancing the knowledge of personnel became increasingly important. Previous analyses clearly pointed out that the largest number of military and civil casualties were claimed by such devices.

Identification of inorganic oxidizing salts in homemade explosives using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

Recently, inorganic low explosives, such as pyrotechnic composition, black powder, and ammonium nitrate, are commonly used in improvised explosive devices (IEDs) by the rioter or terrorists since these energetic materials can be obtained easily and legally from civilian markets. Identification of inorganic oxidizing salts in these homemade explosives, including nitrates, chlorates, and perchlorates, is a necessary procedure for forensic investigators to provide criminal evidences. In this article, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was used to discriminate NO3-, CO32-, ClO3-, ClO4-, SO42-, and NH4+, whose characteristic absorption bands were explained by vibration modes of the covalent bonds. Then the spectral absorption features of nitrate salts with monovalent or divalent cations were discussed. Furthermore, it was studied whether nitrates or perchlorates can be unequivocally distinguished with the presence of carbonate and sulfate impurities through FTIR technique. Finally, the feasibility of this method was verified through an analytical case of homemade explosives.

Fingerprinting of Nitroaromatic Explosives Realized by Aphen-functionalized Titanium Dioxide

Developing sensing materials for military explosives and improvised explosive precursors is of great significance to maintaining homeland security. 5-Nitro-1,10-phenanthroline (Aphen)-modified TiO2 nanospheres are prepared though coordination interactions, which broaden the absorption band edge of TiO2 and shift it to the visible region. A sensor array based on an individual TiO2/Aphen sensor is constructed by regulating the excitation wavelength (365 nm, 450 nm, 550 nm). TiO2/Aphen shows significant response to nitroaromatic explosives since the Aphen capped on the surface of TiO2 can chemically recognize and absorb nitroaromatic explosives by the formation of the corresponding Meisenheimer complex. The photocatalytic mechanism is proved to be the primary sensing mechanism after anchoring nitroaromatic explosives to TiO2. The fingerprint patterns obtained by combining kinetics and thermodynamics validated that the single TiO2/Aphen sensor can identify at least six nitroaromatic explosives and improvised explosives within 8 s and the biggest response reaches 80%. Furthermore, the TiO2/Aphen may allow the contactless detection of various explosives, which is of great significance to maintaining homeland security.

Improved STR profiles from improvised explosive device (IED): fluorescence latent DNA detection and direct PCR

Bombing accounts for the largest share of terrorist incidents worldwide. Most involve an improvised explosive device (IED): a bomb made from household items. Touch DNA may be left on parts of an IED during assembly. However, an IED conflagration degrades DNA, and there has never been a way to locate where touch DNA may remain. To solve this problem, we combined the use of fluorescent dye to locate latent DNA and direct PCR to improve STR profiles of DNA obtained from IEDs. Six fluorescent DNA-binding dyes were evaluated at various concentrations for the purpose of staining latent DNA. SYBR® Green I and Diamond™ Nucleic Acid dye were able to visualize touch DNA on IED substrates. Inhibition studies with extracted DNA and touch DNA using both dyes revealed that Diamond™ dye inhibited direct STR amplification, while SYBR® Green I did not. Stability studies at three temperatures showed optimum performance of SYBR® Green I up to 24 h after formulation. As such, only SYBR® Green I was further used to develop a “visualized-direct PCR” method. Using the conventional approach and the novel “visualized-direct PCR” approach in a single-blind investigation of mock IED evidence, the “visualized-direct PCR” approach had a 98.6% chance of obtaining more alleles (95% highest density interval (HDI): 0.7 to 10.0 alleles). A decrease in non-donor’s alleles (mixed profiles) was also observed. The developed approach has the potential to revolutionize the process of STR typing from touch DNA.

Indirect Traumatic Optic Neuropathy in Mild Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury.

To analyze the clinical presentation and optical coherence tomography (OCT) findings in indirect traumatic optic neuropathy (ITON) in veterans with chronic mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). This retrospective study is the first to describe the OCT pattern of subclinical to mild ITON in veterans with chronic mTBI. The thicknesses of the macular ganglion cell layer (mGCL), peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL), and subfoveal choroidal layer were analyzed in young veterans who had mTBI of >6 months' duration and either blunt head injury or improvised explosive device (IED) concussions. Three major OCT findings were demonstrated: (1) temporal pRNFL thinning was associated with subclinical TON in the eyes of chronic mTBI patients compared with controls; within mTBI subjects, nasal mGCL thinning at the 3-mm modified Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study circle diameter distance from the fovea correlated with the corresponding temporal retinal nerve fiber layer thinning; (2) inner (1 mm) superior thinning was greater than that of the temporal mGCL in blunt head injury and could potentially distinguish it from IED concussive head trauma; and (3) subfoveal choroidal thinning was significantly worse in eyes of mTBI patients compared with those of controls. These OCT findings may contribute to the understanding of the spectrum of visual injuries resulting from head trauma.

The mechanical behavior of brain surrogates manufactured from silicone elastomers

The ongoing conflict against terrorism has resulted in an escalation of blast-induced traumatic brain injuries (bTBI) caused by improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The destructive IEDs create a blast wave that travels through the atmosphere. Blast-induced traumatic brain injuries, attributed to the blast wave, can cause life-threatening injuries and fatalities. This study aims to find a surrogate brain material for assessing the effectiveness of head protection systems designed to mitigate bTBI. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is considered as the surrogate brain material. The stiffness of PDMS (Sylgard 184, Dow Corning Corp.) can be controlled by varying the ratio of base and curing agent. Cylindrical PDMS specimen with ratios of 1:10, 1:70, and 1:80 were subjected to unconfined compression experiments at linear rates of 5 mm/min, 50 mm/min, and 500 mm/min. A ramp-hold strain profile was used to simulate a stress relaxation experiment. The fractional Zener viscoelastic model was used to describe the stress relaxation response, after optimization of the material constants for the brain surrogate and shock wave exposure brain tissue. The results show that the low cost PDMS can be used as a surrogate brain material to study the dynamic brain response to blast wave exposure.

One Minute in Haditha: Ethics and Non-Conscious Decision-Making

ABSTRACTIn November 2005, U.S. Marine Sergeant Frank Wuterich fired on and killed five unarmed Iraqi men standing by a car near the site of an improvised explosive device explosion (IED) in Haditha, Iraq. Moments earlier, the IED had destroyed a vehicle in the convoy that Wuterich led, killing one of the men in it. This article argues that analyzing Wuterich's conduct as a rapid non-conscious response captured by the model of Recognition-Primed Decision-Making (RPD) allows us to reconstruct his implicit decision-making in ways that provide insight into psychological processes that may operate during combat. Emerging research in neuroscience suggests that RPD in situations with moral significance involves a complex neural computational process in which emotion plays a powerful role. This article maintains that incorporating these insights can provide greater understanding of the moral psychology of behavior in combat, and may help guide military-ethics training for asymmetric conflicts that pose difficult significant challenges in distinguishing combatants from civilians.

On decision optimality of terrorism risk mitigation measures for iconic bridges

This paper describes the assessment of the cost efficiency of risk mitigation strategies for terrorist attacks with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) for an iconic bridge structure. The assessment is performed with a decision theoretical framework building upon very recent advances in the COST Action TU1402 on Quantifying the Value of Structural Heath Monitoring. The decision scenario is formulated for a decision maker constituting an authority responsible for the societal safety of the infrastructure and consequently the direct risks for the infrastructure owner and the indirect risk due to fatalities and importance of the infrastructure are considered. The mitigation strategies are classified within the decision theoretical context as prior analyses for the assessment of protection strategies and as control strategies requiring a pre-posterior decision analysis. The identification of efficient risk mitigation strategies is based (1) on the risk and expected cost based optimization of actions and information and their combination before implementation, (2) on quantifying and ensuring the significance in risk and expected cost reduction and (3) on quantifying and ensuring a high probability of cost efficiency. These criteria, i.e. the optimality, significance and efficiency ensure the performance of the strategies at the decision point in time before implementation. It is found that the strategies are relying on the identification of the threat level and that control strategies are in favor as their significance and probability of efficiency are higher and their costs are adjustable. However, for high threat levels, both the bridge protection strategies and control strategies are cost efficient.

Vapor Pressure of Linear Nitrate Esters Determined by Transpiration Method in Combination with VO‐GC/MS

AbstractGas phase detection of explosives is an ongoing trend in the detection sciences. The conception of gas phase detection devices requires knowledge about gas phase concentration of the target analytes. Nitrate esters are well performing explosives with a high potential for misuse in improvised explosive devices that need to be detected at vulnerable infrastructures. With respect to this the six nitrate esters, ethyl nitrate (1), ethylene glycol dinitrate (2), glycerol trinitrate (3), meso‐erythritol tetranitrate (4), d‐mannitol hexanitrate (5) and pentaerythritol tetranitrate (6) were investigated in terms of detectability by vacuum outlet‐GC/MS as potential components in improvised explosive devices. All compounds besides 5 could be detected using vacuum outlet GC/MS and their limits of detection were determined according to DIN 32645 : 2008. The vapor pressure of 2–4 was measured using the transpiration method. It was observed that the introduction of a CHONO2 unit lowers the vapor pressure of the nitrate esters by about two orders of magnitude. For compound 4 the saturation concentration (73 ng L−1) was compared with a vapor pressure based estimation of its concentration in diffusion equilibrium (0.385 pg L−1).

Variation in the headspace of bulk hexamethylene triperoxide diamine (HMTD): Part II. Analysis of non-detonable canine training aids

Detection canines are a major source of protection against the powerful peroxide explosive hexamethylene triperoxide diamine (HMTD), as well as other homemade explosives (HMEs). However, HMTD is an extremely unstable molecule, which makes it difficult to safely obtain and use for the purposes of canine training and testing. To address this challenge, several non-detonable canine training aids have been designed for canine training. Bulk HMTD has a complex headspace, as shown by previous studies. This makes it a difficult odor to mimic and, in turn, makes evaluations and comparison of such training aids essential. In this work, five non-detonable HMTD canine training aids that are either commercially available or under development were evaluated with the goal of determining which most accurately represents the headspace of bulk HMTD. Of the five training aids, two were observed to reasonably mimic HMTD. While the remaining three training aids contained similar headspace components as HMTD, they did not exhibit the complexity of the bulk compound headspace. While none of the tested training aids exactly mirrored the bulk HMTD samples, they may have use in maintenance training when no bulk material is available.

LEFT ATRIAL INTRAMYOCARDIAL DISSECTING HEMATOMA FROM BLUNT TRAUMA MIMICKING LEFT ATRIAL TUMOR

Intramyocardial dissecting hematoma is a rare clinical entity. We report a combat veteran who had served in Iraq and his vehicle had been blown up by an improvised explosive device 6 years prior to presentation. A 27 year-old man presented with atypical chest pain of several years’ duration,

Rapid screening for smokeless powders using DART-HRMS and thermal desorption DART-HRMS

Smokeless powders are a form of trace evidence that may be present at the scene of a shooting or explosive event, i.e. the explosion of an improvised explosive device (IED). Thermal desorption – direct analysis in real time – high resolution mass spectrometry (TD-DART-HRMS) is a novel technique in which an independent thermal desorption unit is coupled to a DART-HRMS. In this study, TD-DART-HRMS is compared with traditional DART-HRMS for smokeless powder analysis. Samples were extracted to minimize sample variability and allow for simple, direct comparison between techniques. Chemometric statistical approaches were applied for the comparison of TD-DART-HRMS and DART-HRMS. Sorensen correlation was applied for direct comparison of spectra, and positive ionization mode mass spectra were found to be more highly correlated than the negative ionization mode spectra, indicating greater similarity among DART-HRMS and TD-DART-HRMS spectra in the positive ionization mode. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) was utilized for the formation of groupings based on underlying features in the spectra, and classification modeling was performed using linear discriminant analysis (LDA) along with introducing an external test set to the LDA model. High potential for classification was observed in the LDA modeling with 20% withheld cross validation. External test set validation demonstrated that the TD-DART-HRMS model was a more robust model than the DART-HRMS model, with a higher classification accuracy observed. This study established the utility of TD-DART-HRMS for the analysis of smokeless powders, and demonstrated the complementary nature of TD-DART-HRMS associated with DART-HRMS.

AbSRiM: An Agent-Based Security Risk Management Approach for Airport Operations.

Security risk management is essential for ensuring effective airport operations. This article introduces AbSRiM, a novel agent‐based modeling and simulation approach to perform security risk management for airport operations that uses formal sociotechnical models that include temporal and spatial aspects. The approach contains four main steps: scope selection, agent‐based model definition, risk assessment, and risk mitigation. The approach is based on traditional security risk management methodologies, but uses agent‐based modeling and Monte Carlo simulation at its core. Agent‐based modeling is used to model threat scenarios, and Monte Carlo simulations are then performed with this model to estimate security risks.The use of the AbSRiM approach is demonstrated with an illustrative case study. This case study includes a threat scenario in which an adversary attacks an airport terminal with an improvised explosive device. The approach provides a promising way to include important elements, such as human aspects and spatiotemporal aspects, in the assessment of risk. More research is still needed to better identify the strengths and weaknesses of the AbSRiM approach in different case studies, but results demonstrate the feasibility of the approach and its potential.

DNA recovery from fired hollow point ammunition

ABSTRACTFirearm-related exhibits are often found at crime scenes. These exhibits may include the firearm, cartridges, cartridges cases or bullets. As ammunition needs to be handled to load the weapon, regardless of the action or loading type, DNA may be deposited onto the ammunition via touch. As reproducible DNA profiles have been obtained from fired cartridge casings and Improvised Explosive Device (IED) fragments, it is possible that quantifiable amounts of DNA could be recovered from fired bullets. A series of 40 Winchester PowerPoint 22LR 42 grain HP Copper Plated bullets were loaded with serially diluted cell suspensions obtained from a female donor. These were shot into 500 sheet reams of A3 paper for capture and returned to a sterile DNA laboratory for removal, extraction and quantification of DNA. Repeatable partial profiles with five reportable loci pairs consistent with the cell donor were obtained in one replicate of the neat sample. Weak partial profiles were also present in 1:2, 1:5 and 1:10 dilutions. To our knowledge, this is the first reported evidence of DNA surviving the cycle of fire and being recovered from a fired bullet under controlled conditions.

Mild blast-related TBI in a mouse model alters amygdalar neurostructure and circuitry

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) continues to be a signature injury of our modern conflicts. Due in part to increased use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), we have seen blast trauma make up a significant portion of TBIs sustained by deployed troops and civilians. In addition to the physical injury, TBI is also a common comorbidity with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Previous research suggests that PTSD is often associated with increased signaling within the amygdala, leading to feelings of fear and hyperarousal. In our study, we utilized a mouse model of mild blast-related TBI (bTBI) to investigate how TBI induces changes within the amygdala, which may provide favorable conditions for the development of PTSD. To do this, we performed Golgi staining on the stellate neurons of the basolateral amygdala and quantified dendritic amount, distribution, and complexity. We found increases in dendritic branching and in the density of dendritic spines in injured mice. Increases in spine density appears to be primarily due to increases in memory associated mushroom type dendritic spines. These changes observed in our bTBI model that are consistent with chronic stress models, suggesting an important connection between the physical changes induced by TBI and the neurological symptoms of PTSD.

Agent-based modelling and analysis of security and efficiency in airport terminals

Both security and efficiency are important performance areas of air transport systems. Several methods have been proposed to assess security risks and estimate efficiency independently, but only few of these methods identify relationships between security risks and efficiency performance indicators. To analyze security, efficiency, and the relationships relations between them, an agent-based methodology was proposed in this work. This methodology combines an agent-based security risk assessment approach with agent-based efficiency estimation. The methodology was applied to a case study that analyzes security regarding an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack, different commonly used efficiency performance indicators in the aviation domain, such as queuing time for passengers, and the relationships between them. Results showed that reducing security risks and improving efficiency were not always conflicting objectives. Reducing the number of passengers before the security checkpoint was found to be an effective measure to reduce security risks and improve efficiency aspects. Furthermore, results showed that airports should attempt to spread passengers across the available space as much as possible to reduce the impact of an IED attack.

Post-blast detection of human DNA on improvised explosive device fragments

ABSTRACTMany terrorist attacks employ the use of improvised explosive devices such as pipe bombs. In these circumstances, the perpetrator may be absent from the scene, necessitating the need for a quick resolution. Forensic DNA analysis is one of the key disciplines utilized to identify possible offenders in terror-related crimes; however, its success in post-blast environments is unpredictable. Through using a known quantity of human DNA on pre-blast samples, post-blast DNA results can be assessed for STR profiling suitability. In this study, two pipe bombs were constructed and doped with varying concentrations of human blood. The samples were extracted using the DNA IQ System extraction kit and quantified using the Quantifiler Trio DNA Quantification Kit. The results obtained from this analysis confirm the presence of DNA post-blast. The variation between post-blast and pre-blast samples was not found to be statistically significantly different. Furthermore, the results indicate that 55% of the samples quantified post-blast could produce partial or full profiles in downstream DNA testing.

ECDNet: Efficient Siamese Convolutional Network for Real-Time Small Object Change Detection from Ground Vehicles

Change detection from ground vehicles has various applications, such as the detection of roadside Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Although IEDs are hidden, they are often accompanied by visible markers, which can be any kind of object. Because of this, any suspicious change in the environment compared to an earlier moment in time, should be detected. Little work has been published to solve this ill-posed problem using deep learning. This paper shows the feasibility of applying convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to HD video, to accurately predict the presence and location of such markers in real time. The network is trained for the detection of pixel-level changes in HD video, compared to an earlier reference recording. We investigate Siamese CNNs in combination with an encoder-decoder architecture and introduce a modified double-margin contrastive loss function, to achieve pixel-level change detection results. Our dataset consists of seven pairs of challenging real-world recordings with geo-tagged test objects. The proposed network architecture is capable of comparing two images of 1920×1440 pixels in 150 ms on a GTX1080Ti GPU. The proposed network significantly outperforms state-of-the-art networks and algorithms on our dataset in terms of F-1 score, on average by 0.28.

Influence of energy absorbers on Malgaigne fracture mechanism in lumbar-pelvic system under vertical impact load

Malgaigne fractures are the most common and widespread pelvic injuries resulting from the shear forces the action mechanism of which has not been explained in the literature yet. Military accidents with improvised explosive devices (IED) perfectly reflect this type of pelvic fracture. The finite element (FE) model of lumbar-pelvic complex (LPC) was developed based on computed tomography (CT) scans with the seat including steel frame, padding and soft tissue. The correlation coefficients of both low (100 N) and high (500 N) loads were greater than that currently obtained in the literature due to the presence of muscle force, pubic symphysis and joint cartilage. The dynamic analysis was performed to determine the influence of varying kinds of foam materials i.e. polyurethane, aluminium honeycomb structured and polyurethane auxetic foam on the stress/strain distribution in LPC under vertical impact load with the velocity of 7 m/s. Performed analysis showed the first fracture occurred in the L5 vertebrae resulting in the sacroiliac ligaments disruption and stress concentration in the pelvic ring causing further fractures of the wing of ilium, pubis and ischium bones. This results clearly explain the inconclusive findings about the second fracture that occurs in the pelvic area under a vertical impact load. The applied seat padding foam significantly reduced the stresses transmitted to the anatomical structures, thereby avoiding the risk of pelvic fracture. The analysis has proven that the auxetic polyurethane foam can be used as a good energy absorber.