Major Weapon Research Articles

Un-repeal: Reviving the Arms Control Impact Statements

From the late 1970s into the early 1990s, U.S. federal law mandated the executive branch to prepare annual analytical documents known as Arms Control Impact Statements (ACIS). These instruments – obviously patterned after the Environmental Impact Statements (EIS), which had been inaugurated only a few years previously – were intended to prod the national security community to undertake more rigorous, multi-dimensional study of major weapons programs, and to provide Congress and the American public with enhanced information about key arms procurement decisions. However, unlike the EIS process – which rapidly became institutionalized, and which has proliferated to multiple tiers of government and around the world over the past fifty years – the ACIS process was a conspicuous failure. It was widely regarded as a meaningless exercise, consuming immense bureaucratic resources and hardly ever changing any outcomes – a colossal waste of time. The statute that had created the ACIS operation was amended to abolish the entire program after only a decade and half of fitful operation. This Article undertakes to compare the starkly different case histories of the ACIS and EIS programs, with an eye to revival of the former, in appropriately modified form. It analyzes the goals of the legislation and the key features accounting for success and failure, and makes recommendations for a modern revival of ACIS, based upon lessons learned in other contexts. The proposal seeks to underscore the concept that arms control is a key element in sound national security policy, to promote more systematic, wide-ranging analysis in support of key national decision-making, and to empower the legislative branch, as well as the public, to participate in policy debates in a more informed, timely manner.

Women With Regenerative Potential As Against Women With Destructive Potential (The Case Study Of Amma Darko’s “Faceless”)

The research looked at the woman with regenerative potentials and how reliable mentors they are to the benefit of society using Ama Darko’s Faceless. The purpose of the study was to use Ama Darko’s Faceless to showcase the position of the woman with regenerative potential irrespective education because though Education empowers women to have regenerative potentials other women who are uneducated also exhibit such traits in our societies. A qualitative approach was employed to look at views related to the African woman with regenerative potential and also adopted the traditional library research approach through the use of books, articles, journals and publications in as much as they contribute to the worth of the study. It was in-formed by the stiwanist theory. The main findings of the study indicate that the woes of irresponsible mothers who do not responsibly take care of the results of their pleasure with men are being disapproved. This disapproval is as a result of the pitiful portrayal of women with destructive potential as against positive up lifting portrayal of women with regenerative potential and making them reliable mentors of society. This change has come about as a result of women’s quest to assert themselves through education and contribute towards freeing their families from cultural and societal dogmas in which women were treated to subjugation and marginalization. A remarkable observation was the intentionality of ascribing to female characters more respectable roles in novels by various writers as the years go by. A conclusion drawn from the study is that education is still a major weapon of enhancing assertiveness in women but it is not the ultimate.

Company global competitive strategy and employee’s awareness

In the era of industrialization, the role of company's global strategy has a significant role in surviving in a competitive environment. The global strategy has the major weapon to compete with the competitors and achieve a higher level of performance. In this direction, the awareness of global strategy among employees has key importance. However, in most companies, the level of awareness among the employees is low, which has a negative effect on the global strategy. This study aims to examine the level of awareness among employees concerning the company's global strategy. This study selected large enterprises from Poland. Data were collected from the employees of large enterprises from Poland. A cross-sectional research design was used in the present study under a quantitative research approach. In this research, first-hand data was collected from one point in time. A total of 200 questionnaires were used to collect data and distribute it to employees, of which 82 valid responses were received for data analysis. It is an important investigation that is not documented in previous studies. Particularly, large enterprises from Poland were not considered by the previous studies. This study significantly contributed to the body of knowledge. Along with the theoretical implications, the current study also has practical implications. Results of the study highlighted valuable insights for the large enterprises to enhance the company's global strategy through employee awareness. It is also evident from the results that awareness about the global strategy could promote the employee motivational level. Therefore, employees want to adopt the global strategy. Employees also highlighted that global strategy is important for brand building, innovation, and expansion to the new market. According to the employees, the major benefits of the global strategy include increasing the product quality, increasing sales, brand recognition promotion, increasing the profit, increasing the customers, gaining competitive advantage, and reducing the cost. Thus, to achieve higher performance through global strategy benefits, a company must have well planned global strategy. Therefore, the study's findings have valuable importance for the practitioners to promote large enterprises in Poland.

Developmental pathways of myeloid-derived suppressor cells in neoplasia

Immunotherapy has become a major weapon against the war on cancer. This has culminated from decades of seminal work that led to the discovery of innovative approaches to drive adaptive immunity. Notably, was the discovery of immune checkpoint inhibitory receptors on T cells, and the subsequent development of monoclonal antibodies that target those receptors, known as immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Blocking those receptors using ICIs leads to sustained effector function, which has translated to enhanced antitumor responses across multiple human cancer types. However, these treatments are effective in subsets of patients, implicating significant barriers limiting therapeutic potential. While numerous mechanisms may hinder immunotherapy potency, one prominent mechanism is the production of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). MDSCs comprise monocytic and granulocytic cell types and mediate pro-tumorigenic and immune suppressive activities. Here, we summarize several pathways by which MDSCs arise in cancer, providing a conceptual framework for identifying unique combination therapeutic interventions.

A Dynamic Separable Network Model with Actor Heterogeneity: An Application to Global Weapons Transfers

AbstractIn this paper, we analyse the network of international major conventional weapons (MCW) transfers from 1950 to 2016, based on data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The dataset consists of yearly bilateral arms transfers between pairs of countries, which allows us to conceive of the individual relationships as part of an overall trade network. For the analysis, we extend the separable temporal exponential random graph model (STERGM) to account for time-varying effects on both the network level (trade network) and the actor level (country effects). Our investigation enables the identification of potentially differing driving forces that influence the formation of new trade relationships versus the persistence of existing ones. In accordance with political economy models, we expect security- and network-related covariates to be most important for the formation of transfers, whereas repeated transfers should prevalently be determined by the importers’ market size and military spending. Our proposed modelling approach corroborates the hypothesis and quantifies the corresponding effects. Additionally, we subject the time-varying heterogeneity effects to a functional principal component analysis. This analysis serves as an exploratory tool and allows us to identify countries with exceptional increases or decreases in their tendency to import and export weapons.

Efficient Decision Approaches for Asset-Based Dynamic Weapon Target Assignment by a Receding Horizon and Marginal Return Heuristic

The weapon-target assignment problem is a crucial decision support in a Command and Control system. As a typical operational scenario, the major asset-based dynamic weapon target assignment (A-DWTA) models and solving algorithms are challenging to reflect the actual requirement of decision maker. Deriving from the “shoot–look–shoot” principle, an “observe–orient–decide–act” loop model for A-DWTA (OODA/A-DWTA) is established. Focus on the decide phase of the OODA/A-DWTA loop, a novel A-DWTA model, which is based on the receding horizon decomposition strategy (A-DWTA/RH), is established. To solve the A-DWTA/RH efficiently, a heuristic algorithm based on statistical marginal return (HA-SMR) is designed, which proposes a reverse hierarchical idea of “asset value-target selected-weapon decision.” Experimental results show that HA-SMR solving A-DWTA/RH has advantages of real-time and robustness. The obtained decision plan can fulfill the operational mission in the fewer stages and the “radical-conservative” degree can be adjusted adaptively by parameters.

THE ROLE OF NON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN POVERTY ALLEVIATION AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

The aim of the study is to assess the contributions of Aisha Buhari Foundation in the alleviation of rural poverty in Nigeria. Population explosion was identified as one of the problems confronting poverty alleviation efforts in Nigeria. It goes without saying that uncontrolled population growth magnifies the problem of poverty and naturally, renders insignificant, poverty alleviation efforts. To check this menace, Nigerians, especially the rural folk should be enlightened on the imperative of birth control. The assistance of Aisha Buhari Foundation, other non-governmental organizations, institutions and government at all levels is needed in this regard. The rural folk need to be told that inasmuch as children are gifts from God, giving birth to as many children as God is willing to give one would merely compound the problem of poverty. Affordable family planning facilities should be provided for Nigerians especially the rural folk. Only when this is done can we hope to control the country’s population which according to the UNDP, is projected to grow to 230 million, that is double that present figure by 20152 (a mere 15 years away). Education is a very useful weapon against poverty. Ironically, poverty is a major weapon against education. In other words, poverty limits the ability of individuals to acquire education. Due to escalating costs of education in the face of dwindling income, many children are withdrawn from school by their parents to indulge in street hawking and unskilled labour. This tendency no doubt helps to compound the problem of poverty. Poverty alleviation efforts in Nigeria will receive a boost if educational opportunities are expanded to benefit as many people as possible.

A Model for Exogenous Learning on Department of Defense Procurement Programs

Evidence of exogenous learning on Department of Defense (DoD) procurement programs for major weapon systems acquisition can be demonstrated and explained with an investment strategy model that maximizes the manufacturer’s return on investment (ROI) over the life of the program. This article describes one such model. The model takes a list of investment and unit-cost-reduction pairs and a planned procurement profile and computes which investments should be made and in what order to maximize profit. Simulations conducted with this model explore the learning curve effects caused by regulatory lag (the period of time the contractor gets to keep the ROI before he has to pass savings onto the customer), the manufacturers’ expected profit, and changes to the procurement rate.

Comparing Serum Haemoglobin (Hb) Levels of Women who Received Intermittent Preventive Treatment (IPT) with Sulphadoxine Pyrimethamine (SP) and their Controls During Antenatal Care (ANC) in a Malaria Endemic Rural African Community

BackgroundThe importance of optimal serum Haemoglobin levels during pregnancy need not be further overemphasized since it is a major clinical weapon against the menace of anaemia in pregnancy. Optimal Hb status helps a pregnant woman to enjoy an uneventful pregnancy course as well as avert the problems of anaemia in pregnancy which may include intrauterine growth retardations, preterm births, neonatal anaemias, increased admissions into special care baby units and neonatal deaths.AimThis study compared the serum Haemoglobin levels of women who received Intermittent Preventive Treatment with Sulphadoxine Pyrimethamine and their controls during pregnancy.MethodThe study was conducted at Federal Medical Center Owerri, Nigeria. Owerri is typical for malaria endemicity in Africa. Ethical approval was gotten from the ethics committee of FMC, enabling commencement of longitudinal recruitment of participants after adequate counseling and informed consent for both groups. It was a laboratory based, cross‐sectional descriptive study involving 296 participants who satisfied the inclusion criteria for both study groups. Recruited participants were followed up through their antenatal course till delivery enabling collection of blood samples for Haemoglobin estimation which was done using the Cyanmethemoglobin method by Cook, 1985. The principle is that when blood is mixed with a solution containing potassium ferricyanide and potassium cyanide (Drabkin’s solution), the potassium ferricyanide oxidizes iron to form methemoglobin. Potassium cyanide then combines with methemoglobin to form cyanmethemoglobin (HiCN), which is a stable color pigment read photometrically at a wave length of 540nm.Data AnalysisThe data obtained was analyzed using the computer Software Package for Social Science version 20.0 (SPSS, Inc, 2007, Chicago). Descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, range, percentages etc) was determined for continuous variables. P‐value less than (<0.05) at 95% confidence interval was considered statistically significant.ResultThe mean haemoglobin value was higher among the study group than the control. Mean Hb of the study group was 14.70 ± 2.34 while the minimum and maximum serum Hb levels were 9.00 and 20.40 respectively. For the control group, the mean Hb was 11.95 ± 2.04 while the minimum and maximum serum Hb levels were 7.20 and 16.70 respectively. From the results, the mean difference of 2.75 was found to be statistically significant; p value= 0.0001; 95% CI =1.275 – 1.647. This implied that evidence of significant effects was found on the Hb levels between the women that took IPT‐SP compared to their controls.Support or Funding InformationNo external funding received for this research. Funds unds were contributed by the authors.

Military Technology and Human Loss in Intrastate Conflict: The Conditional Impact of Arms Imports

Although often conjectured, there is a lack of empirical evidence whether international inflows of military technology render intrastate conflicts more violent. We address this question and argue that expansions in governments’ ability to fight aggravate the lethality of intrastate war. However, we expect this effect to be conditioned by rebels’ military endowments and their choice of tactics. Where rebels are weak, they avoid open combat, and additional governmental arms imports have no effect on the number of casualties. In contrast, governmental arms imports cause human losses to multiply when rebels have achieved military parity or superiority and, as a consequence, use conventional combat tactics. This hypothesis is tested on the number of battle-related deaths in intrastate conflict, 1989 to 2011, using, for the first time, data on governmental imports of both major conventional weapons and small arms. Results support our propositions and are robust to instrumenting for imports of both types of weapons.

O português lá fora: algumas reflexões sobre a circulação da literatura de língua portuguesa

The dissemination of a literary work depends on several factors, but its availability to the public is a sine qua non and, for that reason, translation plays a capital role in this process. However, literary works from periph-eral systems will thus have particular difficulty in finding its way to their potential readers. We know that a translation into a central language may be a way for a work from a peripheral system to reach others of a similar dimension or condition (Sapiro 2008), but central systems do tend to leave little space for translated literature (Even-Zohar 1990). One should not be surprised, then, to learn that for Casanova “Translation is the major prize and weapon in international literary competition” (Casanova 2004: 133). How, in that case, can Portuguese language literature aspire to a place which could grant it more visibility? What are the main actors involved in the process? This paper tries to assess what circuits do these cultural products have access to, and how the selection of works and authors to be translated mirrors, if at all, a cultural project and/or policy.

Щодо визначення концепції побудови системи озброєння для потреб Збройних Сил України

Створення основних зразків озброєння повинно відбуватися у рамках концепції побудови системи озброєння для потреб Збройних Сил України, яка враховує економічні, воєнно-політичні та природно-географічні умови України.На сьогодні вона може бути сформульована таким чином: «Система озброєння ЗС України повинна бути орієнтована на захист території держави від економічно значно переважаючого противника». На жаль, реалізація концепції в такому формулюванні потребує відмови від завищених амбіцій, що є дуже важким не тільки для старшого, але і для великої частини середнього покоління. Однак, це дозволить перейти від створення одиничних високовартісних зразків до масового виробництва більш дешевих зразків.Основними її принципами повинні стати:1. Асиметричний підхід до визначення пріоритетів розвитку ОВТ шляхом створення не аналогів, а зразків, що здатні їм протидіяти або унеможливлювати їх функціонування.2. Максимальне застосування у зразках ОВТ цивільних комплектуючих.3. Проведення операцій технічного обслуговування та ремонту постачальниками комплектуючих та перенесення ремонтного фонду на їх базу (відмова від складування запасних частин).4. Диверсифікація постачальників комплектуючих за умови повної поблочної уніфікації.5. Принцип гарантованого забезпечення 100% штатної потреби.Розробка нових зразків озброєння у рамках запропонованої концепції дозволить вирішити, наприклад, проблему підвищення балістичного захисту легко- та важкоброньованої техніки.Показано, що проблема підвищення рівня балістичного захисту бойових броньованих машин виникає через відсутність концептуального підходу до їх бойового застосування, котрий має базуватися на розумінні асиметричності війни з існуючим противником.Зазначено, що усі елементи бойової машини повинні функціонувати як система захисту особового складу (екіпажу) і озброєння в залежності від призначення зразка. Водночас, існуючий підхід має за мету забезпечити збереження усіх елементів зразка шляхом розташування їх в заброньовому просторі, що збільшує його об’єм і не дає змоги збільшити його товщину, через значне зростання маси. Це, у свою чергу, призводить до необхідності застосування легкосплавних, керамічних броньових матеріалів та їх комбінацій незважаючи на те, що їх ціна переважає вартість сталевої броні у десятки разів.

Major weapons procurement: An efficiency‐based approach for the selection of fighter jets

This study applies the epsilon‐based measure method in data envelopment analysis (DEA) to evaluate processes in procuring fighter jets (FJs), which are indicative of the technology and capability of major weapons. Moreover, multidimensional scaling analysis and sensitivity analysis were included to assess the selection of FJs. The DEA analysis indicates that the overall efficiency of the sample of 26 FJs was 0.824 on average. Besides, procurers rely on price and capability to decide which FJ models to purchase. Overall, the evaluation results can be provided to procurement decision makers even in selecting other types of major weapon in a cost‐effective manner.

Evaluation of technological competence and operations efficiency in the defense industry: The strategic planning of South Korea

This research aims to contribute to efficiency improvement by providing the implications for decision-making on continuous defense R&D investment strategies and acquisition methods via analyzing the current position and measuring the efficiency of overall weapon systems on technological competence and operations. This research is distinctive in comparison to previous studies because it is structured in a two-stage DEA analysis for efficiency by distinguishing between the technology and operations of the current eight fields of weapon systems and by adding the external index for government competence and market competence. In 2016, in comparison to the year 2013, the eight major weapon systems’ efficiency fields of the overall system of Korea, efficiency of technological competence, and efficiency of operations all increased. This research introduced the input and output variable that fits in with the defense industry by connecting the weapon systems efficiency with the national innovation system and the sectoral innovation system that are both projected in this industry. It also formed the concepts of technological competence efficiency and operations efficiency using the two-stage Network DEA method.

Effector loading onto the VgrG carrier activates type VI secretion system assembly

The type VI secretion system (T6SS) is used by many bacteria to engage in social behavior and can affect the health of its host plant or animal. Because activities associated with T6SSs are often costly, T6SSs must be tightly regulated. However, our knowledge regarding how T6SS assembly and contraction are regulated remains limited. Using the plant pathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciens, we show that effectors are not just passengers but also impact on T6SS assembly. The A. tumefaciens strain C58 encodes one T6SS and two Tde DNase toxin effectors used as major weapons for interbacterial competition. Here, we demonstrate that loading of Tde effectors onto their cognate carriers, the VgrG spikes, is required for active T6SS secretion. The assembly of the TssBC contractile sheath occurs only in the presence of Tde effectors. The requirement of effector loading for efficient T6SS secretion was also validated in other A. tumefaciens strains. We propose that such a mechanism is used by bacteria as a strategy for efficacious T6SS firing and to ensure that effectors are loaded onto the T6SS prior to completing its assembly.

OPERATIONAL RISK MANAGEMENT OF SURABAYA MAIN NAVAL BASE V REPAIR AND MAINTENANCE FACILITY BASED ON ISO 31000 FRAMEWORK

Surabaya Main Naval Base V Repair and Maintenance Facility is one of the work units under the auspices of the Indonesian Navy that is tasked with carrying out the maintenance and repair of all major weapons systems of the Indonesian Navy. In carrying out their duties Surabaya Main Naval Base V Repair and Maintenance Facility has a big challenge and even there are various kinds of risks to prepare all the Indonesian Armed Forces defense equipment in accordance with the demands of need. Therefore, in this research, risk management will be carried out at the Surabaya Main Naval Base V Repair and Maintenance Facility Operational based on the ISO 31000: 2018 framework. Based on this framework, risk management will be carried out, namely how to carry out risk assessments in the form of risk identification, risk analysis, and risk evaluation for all risks in the operational field. Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) is also used to carry out in-depth risk management processes. One method used to solve existing problems is to use the House of Risk (HOR) method, which is divided into two stages. Stage 1 HOR focuses on ranking the Aggregate Risk Potential (ARP) value and with the help of the Pareto diagram the cumulative ARP value is obtained to determine the risk event (risk agent) selected, which then requires treatment on a priority scale. The results of this HOR phase 1 are then included in HOR phase 2 to rank the most effective prevention measures based on costs and resources. From the results of the HOR phase 2, further brainstorming was carried out with the Surabaya Main Naval Base V Repair and Maintenance Facility in accordance with the actions chosen for preventive actions that could be immediately carried out.Keywords: House of Risk, Enterprise Risk Management, SNI ISO 31000: 2018.

Type VII Secretion Substrates of Pathogenic Mycobacteria Are Processed by a Surface Protease.

Tuberculosis, one of the world's most severe infectious diseases, is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis A major weapon of this pathogen is a unique cell wall that protects the pathogen from eradication by the immune system. Mycobacteria have specialized secretion systems, e.g., type VII secretion or ESX systems, to transport substrates across this cell wall. The largest group of proteins that are secreted by these ESX systems are the PE proteins. Previously, it was shown that the N-terminal PE domain of about 100 amino acids is required for secretion. Here, we describe the identification of an aspartic protease, designated PecA, that removes (part of) this PE domain at the cell surface. Nearly all of the observed PE_PGRS proteins are processed by PecA. Interestingly, the protease itself is also a secreted PE protein and subject to self-cleavage. Furthermore, a defect in surface processing has no effect on the activity of the PE lipase protein LipY but does seem to affect the functioning of other virulence factors, as a pecA mutant strain of Mycobacterium marinum shows moderate attenuation in zebrafish larvae. In conclusion, our results reveal the presence of a functional aspartic acid protease in M. marinum that cleaves LipY, itself as well as other members of the PE_PGRS family. Finally, mutants lacking PecA show growth attenuation in vivo, suggesting that PecA plays a role during infection.IMPORTANCE Aspartic proteases are common in eukaryotes and retroviruses but are relatively rare among bacteria (N. D. Rawlings and A. Bateman, BMC Genomics 10:437, 2009, https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2164-10-437). In contrast to eukaryotic aspartic proteases, bacterial aspartic proteases are generally located in the cytoplasm. We have identified a surface-associated mycobacterial aspartic protease, PecA, which cleaves itself and many other type VII secretion substrates of the PE_PGRS family. PecA is present in most pathogenic mycobacterial species, including M. tuberculosis In addition, pathogenicity of M. marinum is reduced in the ΔpecA mutant, indicating that PecA contributes to virulence.

Defense Procurement and Public Utility Regulation

First published in 1968, this article examines possible change in the government procurement regulatory framework that could conceivably confer public utility status on the producers of major weapon systems. The author posits that applying public utility regulation could not ameliorate the regulatory problem, and the best solution to procurement regulation is to minimize the need for it.

New Mode of Governance: Governance through Technology

E-governance is the new as well as important form of governance in the twenty-first century. To be particular, in the system of e-governance Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is used to its processes as well as to the functioning of the government so that a kind of SMART governance can be brought which means ‘Transparent, Accountable, Responsive, Simple and Moral’ governance. In other words, it can be defined as the process of interaction between the government of a country and its citizens as well as internal governmental operations for effective implementation of different government policies with the application of ICT. It is believed that e-governance is a major weapon which is wielded to remove corruption and to make public delivery system clutter-free. The main purpose of this paper is to show the importance of the ICT in the processes of e-governance which will in turn ensure good governance.

Energy and the military: Convergence of security, economic, and environmental decision-making

Energy considerations are core to the missions of armed forces worldwide. The interaction between military energy issues and non-military energy issues is not often explicitly treated in the literature or media, although issues around clean energy have increased awareness of this interaction. The military has also long taken a leadership role on research and development (R&D) and procurement of specific energy technologies. More recently, R&D leadership has moved to the energy efficiency of home-country installations, and the development of renewable energy projects for areas as diverse as mini-grids for installations, to alternative fuels for major weapons systems. In this paper we explore the evolving relationship between energy issues and defense planning, and show how these developments have implications for military tactics and strategy as well as for civilian energy policy.