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ROV operators often encounter challenges with orientation awareness while operating underwater, primarily due to relying solely on 2D camera feeds to manually control the ROV robot arm. This limitation in underwater visibility and orientation awareness, as observed among Malaysian ROV operators, can compromise the accuracy of arm placement, and pose a risk of tool damage if not handle with care. To address this, a 3D orientation monitoring system for ROVs has been developed, leveraging measurement sensors with nine degrees of freedom (DOF). These sensors capture crucial parameters such as roll, pitch, yaw, and heading, providing real-time data on the ROV's position along the X, Y, and Z axes to ensure precise orientation. These data are then utilized to generate and process 3D imaging and develop a corresponding 3D model of the operational ROV underwater, accurately reflecting its orientation in a visual representation by using an open-source platform. Due to constraints set by an agreement with the working class ROV operators, only short-term tests (up to 1 min) could be performed at the dockyard. A video demonstration of a working class ROV replica moving and reflecting in a 3D simulation in real-time was also presented. Despite these limitations, our findings demonstrate the feasibility and potential of a cost-effective 3D orientation visualization system for working class ROVs. With mean absolute error (MAE) error less than 2%, the results align with the performance expectations of the actual working ROV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Convict labourers in Bermuda formed part of a uniquely mixed workforce that challenged racial and class-based divisions of labour in the British Empire. Following the War of 1812, investment poured into Bermuda's royal naval dockyard to secure its strategic position; convicts arrived in 1824, working alongside enslaved people, free black workers, and colonial soldiers. This article reveals the nature of interactions between different types of free and unfree labourers in Bermuda between 1824 – when convicts arrived – and 1838, when a change in governance took place. It examines racial diversity in the dockyards and the arrival of convict labourers, before considering perceived threats of racial intermixing and opposition to convict labour deployment in Caribbean colonies. The final section examines perceptions of convicts – moments where they equated their experiences to slavery, and administrative unease over interactions with white military workers. What the article shows is that although there were concerns over racial intermixing, officials objected most strongly to interactions between white workers of different classes, fearing their alliances would alter the island's power balance. In detailing the coexistence and interactions between contrasting labour types, this article provides a greater sense of the nuances of labour deployment and administrative anxiety in colonial locales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The US Air Force must retain the capacity to deploy bombers extensively into the Pacific to deter a potentially hostile People's Republic of China, despite the increasing threat of antiaccess/area denial measures hindering naval and conventional basing operations. Tankers play a crucial role in facilitating the operations of long-range bombers. Therefore, the Air Force should prioritize enhancing its air refueling fleet capability and capacity by garnering congressional support to transition entirely from the KC-135, procuring additional KC-46s, and expediting the acquisition of the next-generation tanker. Through analysis of unclassified sources and the Fiscal Year 24 National Defense Authorization Act, this article asserts that revitalizing the development and funding for the Air Force's aging air refueling fleet is imperative. Strengthening the US tanker fleet will guarantee a credible conventional strike deterrence capability over long distances, while also meeting the demands of joint force operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transformative social change occurred in the Chesapeake region with the intensification of oyster harvesting and the establishment of central places in estuarine settings at the outset of the Middle Woodland period (ca. A.D. 200). Accompanying the pivot toward estuarine living was the spread of shelltempered ceramics indexing regional social networks from the Delaware Bay to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Survey and excavation data from the Naval Weapons Station Yorktown (NWSY) on the York River trace this process on Virginia's lower York River. Here, Middle Woodland populations established central places around the lower embayed portions of tidal creeks. Communal shell middens anchoring these central places offer evidence of intensive oyster harvesting and a history of periodic overharvesting, adjustment, and long-term sustainability. We hypothesize that common pool resource management, i.e., collective action and stewardship in the management of the oyster fishery, was an important part of Native societies' settling down in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the shifting dynamics of US-Thai relations, emphasizing missed opportunities and potential areas of collaboration. Recent Thai elections could have rekindled US enthusiasm as a victory for democracy, but the conservative establishment's actions led to a less democratic outcome. Yet, with a new Thai government and foreign minister, opportunities arise for increased cooperation. Potential areas of focus include safeguarding the Mekong River ecosystem, addressing climate change, and strengthening economic ties in mainland Southeast Asia. Additionally, this shift presents a chance for more constructive dialogue on Myanmar, especially in terms of cross-border humanitarian assistance. In the realm of defense and security, discussions on transforming U-Tapao Air Base into a regional disaster relief hub and addressing potential security concerns, such as Chinese access to Ream Naval Base in Cambodia, are on the horizon. While a return to the alliance's heyday may seem improbable, this article argues that patience, persistence, and an acknowledgment of new geopolitical realities can pave the way for a more productive relationship between these long-standing allies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1684, La Salle proposed to establish a naval base for France on the doorstep of New Spain by sea. The site he chose was a fork in the Mississippi River 180 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. This was where Bayou Lafourche formed a western branch, a distributary of the great river. When the difficult captain of his frigate escort vanished in a fog and headed south in January 1685, La Salle was forced to pursue him for more than 2 weeks down the Texas coast. Presented with a short calendar to achieve the possible invasion of Mexico, and facing contrary winds back to Galveston Bay, where he imagined the mouths of the main channel to be, La Salle headed into Matagorda Bay, where he hoped to find his western branch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The salt marsh bird’s beak (Chloropyron maritimum subsp. maritimum) is an endangered plant thought to be dependent on large-bodied pollinators for effective pollination and reproduction. Thirty-three years after an initial survey (Lincoln 1985), we returned to the Naval Base Ventura County, California, to repeat surveys and quantify changes in the C. maritimum subsp. maritimum pollinator community. We found similar pollinator abundance, richness, and nesting preference in both years. However, in terms of pollinator composition, we found significantly different communities—those found in 2017 being composed of pollinators with significantly smaller bodies (i.e., shorter intertegula distances [mm]) than those found in 1984. We hypothesize that changes in pollinator size are the result of differential persistence of the pollinator community and may have significant effects on the rare plant’s reproduction. While ramifications could be substantial, anecdotal evidence suggests that smaller-bodied bees may also serve as adequate pollinators of C. maritimum subsp. maritimum. Future work will quantify changes in reproductive output. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a summary of a letter book containing official government correspondence from the governor of Tangier, Percy Kirke, during the years 1681 to 1683. The text discusses the history of Tangier, a city in Morocco, during the 17th century. It highlights the English interest in acquiring Tangier as a naval base and the challenges they faced in maintaining it. The text also mentions the difficulties in communication between Tangier and England, as well as the cultural differences and misunderstandings that arose during negotiations with the Moroccan government. The letter book provides insights into the diplomatic relations between England and Morocco during this time, including the signing of a treaty, concerns about the sultan's intentions, and the decision to evacuate and destroy Tangier. The letter book was eventually acquired by Yale University. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Systems Engineering & Electronics is the property of Journal of Systems Engineering & Electronics Editorial Department and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article explores the leaked security agreement between China and the Solomon Islands, which has significant implications for the geopolitical landscape of the South Pacific region. China's first-known bilateral security arrangement in the area enables potential deployment of its forces near vital shipping lanes, raising concerns about a future Chinese military base. The agreement's leaked details reveal provisions for Chinese personnel to assist in maintaining social order and providing humanitarian aid. Australia, New Zealand, and the United States have expressed apprehension, with Washington reopening the US embassy in the Solomon Islands and negotiating exclusive military use rights with other nations. This move by Beijing expands China's maritime strategic presence and bolsters its hard power in the region, while also enhancing its soft power through similar agreements with other Pacific Island nations. The establishment of Chinese naval bases in the Solomon Islands would be a significant development with far-reaching implications for the Indo-Pacific. Urgent proactive measures are needed to mitigate potential conflicts and uphold regional stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The military detention facility at the Guantánamo Bay naval base is the most enduring manifestation of the US "war on terror." It is also materially and symbolically central to US torture, war crimes, and other egregious violations of law in the post-9/11 era. Since the first detainees arrived in 2002, Guantánamo has been the subject of controversy and debate, as well as a key setting for legal challenges to government policies. This article traces the legacy of the prison and the military commissions across four administrations. It demonstrates that the lack of a common understanding or shared narrative about what Guantánamo means or has meant is a product of entrenched partisanship that characterizes contemporary US politics more broadly. Guantánamo's confounding legacy reflects the lack of a national consensus about the role of laws and courts as guarantors of even the most basic rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evacuation modelling is continuously open to new scenarios and applications. This study examines the possibility to simulate and predict the evacuation of workers aboard vessels in dockyards. First, we provide new data for a better understanding and quantification of workers' evacuation performance. Second, we use an existing model (STEPS) and apply a validation protocol from the observed evacuation of 150 workers during an unannounced evacuation drill of a Ro-Pax ferry during the repair period in a dry dock. Despite the uncertainty of initial conditions to configure the scenario, the model accurately represents the observed evacuation (e.g. functional analysis ERD = 0.08; EPC = 1; SC = 0.89) suggesting that current agent-based evacuation models, with appropriate inputs and small adaptations, could be applied to these new challenging scenarios. Overall, this study provides evidence for this new application opportunity to model developers, model users and the research community and promotes the use of evacuation modelling for assessing fire safety in shipyards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior to 7 December 1941, Pearl Harbor was perhaps best known for its associations with the Hawaiian Shark Goddess, its pearl-producing oysters and as a strategically important US naval base. It was not until 1962, some twenty years after its attack during World War II, that it emerged as a place of heritage, when the USS Arizona Memorial was first opened to the public. Transformed from a place of war to a place of heritage and finally into a prepared touristic experience, Pearl Harbor today transmits, absorbs and constructs a range of personal and nationally based meanings about the past. It thus provides a vivid case study through which to interrogate the construction of heritage in a politically charged, contested and institutionally mediated environment. Drawing on the reflexive responses of 73 visitors, collected through in-depth, onsite interviews with domestic tourists, the paper unfolds around two key themes: (1) the varied ways in which visitors come to terms with a 'dark' national past; and (2) the affective entanglements that emerge from such efforts and concomitant attempts to understand their visit as a performance of national identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Russia is using the Black Sea as a diplomatic tool in its foreign policy to achieve its maritime and foreign policy objectives, which are also linked with the country's strategic culture. This research investigates the significance of the Black Sea in Russia's Maritime Strategy for achieving its foreign policy objectives by using the balance of interest theory. This research employs two conceptual schemas. Firstly, with the help of maritime diplomacy, it analyses a tool to achieve foreign policy objectives in the waters. Secondly, the research uses the concept of strategic culture, which helps explore the diplomatic importance of the Black Sea in Russian foreign policy through the perspective of history and attitudes of decision-makers. This research highlights the case of the Black Sea for Russian maritime strategy, which also has a great economic significance for the region and world. It also highlights the importance of the Black Sea in the Russian maritime doctrine (2022) and links between maritime strategic culture and foreign policy objectives. It concludes that Russia is successfully pursuing its cooperative, coercive, and persuasive maritime diplomacy in the Black Sea region by providing humanitarian assistance, blocking Ukrainian access, and operating a stronghold at Sevastopol port as its naval base. In conclusion, this paper argues that strategic culture plays a vital role in employing the three diplomatic dimensions for achieving maritime objectives in the Black Sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The USVs attack on the Russian Black Sea Fleet naval base in Sevastopol opened a new chapter in warfare at sea through the appearance of a new weapon and the consequences of this attack on the conduct of the war in Ukraine. A primary analysis of the attack and the weapon, as well as its consequences at the tactical, operative and strategic level provides us with the first lessons regarding the new way of fighting at sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. With Romania's accession to CISM in 1992, the Romanian naval pentathlon had to adapt and modernize in order to reach the level of international military and political requirements. In order to achieve the priority objective of the Romanian Army, that of creating a small, flexible, highly mobile, professional army, equipped with modern equipment, capable of fulfilling its mission as a guarantor of the sovereignty, independence, and unity of the state, of territorial integrity of the country, and constitutional democracy, and to participate in the general efforts to strengthen and maintain security and peace in Europe and the world. (T.C.Military Penthatlon, Appendix, 1987). Methods. Driven by the created conjuncture and forced to form a national team of naval pentathlon, we face many shortages in terms of training periodization, organization of specific trainings, and training bases for naval pentathlon trials. The Romanian naval pentathlon has become a necessity imposed by the modernization and connection of the military system to international political and social requirements. Determined by these circumstances, in the composition of a national naval pentathlon team, we are faced with several deficiencies, regarding the periodization as structure and content of a specific training system in order to participate in the World Championships. (Hugi T., 1980). The specific approach of the research will contribute to the design of the content of the training process during a macrocycle and the elaboration of the selection and competition model in the naval pentathlon. Conclusions. This work highlights the preparation process in the naval pentathlon and its importance. Training periodization is an important part of this. The theme of the paper addresses the issue of the periodization of training in the utility swimming test in the Romanian military naval pentathlon, both from a theoretical point of view and especially from a practical point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the 20 years before the outbreak of the Pacific War, Great Britain based its grand strategy in the Far East around the presence – and potential – of the Singapore Naval Base. The Americans, for a time, agreed in the project's potential in the face of increasing Japanese belligerence. This analysis examines the place of the Singapore Naval Base in Anglo-American planning for the defence of Southeast Asia. It focuses on British efforts to lobby the Americans to deploy the Pacific Fleet to Singapore to deter Japan, the evolution of American plans for the defence of the Far East, and how all these interacted. It argues that the British desire to use the Pacific Fleet as a deterrent force based at Singapore, and the American assessments of how the Pacific Fleet would actually fight Japan from Singapore, represented a conceptual disconnect they could not overcome until faced with imminent hostilities. Scrutinizing the discussions and plans related to this understudied episode provides additional understanding not only how the aspirant allies viewed the growing threat from Japan, but also how they viewed each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of ports for military purposes has led to the emergence of the term naval base over time. As a matter of fact, military naval bases can generally be considered as places that meet the manufacturing, maintenance, repair and housing needs of ships, ensure effective operations in remote areas and respond to the necessary needs of the navy. At this point, Sinop Port is among the best naval bases of the Black Sea due to its geographically very favorable features. During the Ottoman Empire, the most active period in which Sinop was used as a military naval base was undoubtedly the XVIII century. Because in this period, the struggles with Russia are one of the problems that make the Ottoman Empire struggle the most beyond its borders. Due to the proximity of Sinop to the north of the country, especially to Crimea, the fact that the transfer of soldiers, ammunition and rations from Anatolia was made by sea from Sinop and that it had the capacity to meet all kinds of needs of the Ottoman navy brought this place to the forefront in the Ottoman-Russian wars. As a result, Sinop became an important military naval base for the Ottoman Empire in the XVIII century with its geographical location, natural sheltered ports and shipyard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the 1877-1878 Ottoman-Russian War, Britain abandoned the territorial integrity policy of the Ottoman Empire, which it had been pursuing for nearly a century, and first reached Cyprus (1878) through a contract for the security of the eastern trade route in the Eastern Mediterranean, then occupied Egypt. He settled in (1882). Although Cyprus did not have enough infrastructure to be a naval base for the UK, which took its power from its navy at the first stage, it was accepted that it could be used for the purposes and activities of the UK with its strategic location and developable ports and storage areas to be built. However, with the occupation of Egypt a few years later, the British plans and intentions regarding Cyprus lost their effect. Britain, which was responsible for the administration of Cyprus since June 4, 1878, included Cyprus under the domination of the British Empire with the unilateral annexation decision on November 5, 1914, as a result of the Ottoman Empire's involvement in the First World War. Subsequently, Cyprus was indirectly involved in the war as part of the warring British Empire. During the First World War, Britain's war effort and burden were largely borne by the dominions and colonies. Even though the great war was lived in small dimensions for Cyprus, it also had its share of the war burden. With the start of World War I, the process of the British unilaterally changing the legal status of Cyprus and the inclusion of Cyprus in sharing the war burden of the British Empire are discussed in this study. Thus, both the developments that took place in Cyprus during the war were discussed and when the studies on Cyprus were taken into account, a contribution to the literature was made regarding the War and Cyprus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fishing in coastal waters can significantly intersect with state efforts to secure maritime borders. Recent cases of illegal fishing, maritime militia operation and piracy, especially in regions such as the South China Sea, have exposed the unpredictable and elusive nature of the ways in which fisheries and the mobility of fishing boats can complicate border security agenda. The current discussions of these topics are, however, largely episodic, scattered, and state-centric, risking poorly-informed policy/naval responses based on a partial understanding of security dynamics involving fishers and fishing boats. This paper identifies the multiple, and at times simultaneous, makeup of fishing entanglement with maritime border security by synthesising and organising its diverse forms into a typology. Supported by the practice theory and the civilian focus in critical border studies scholarship, this review examines eight types under three broad categories, namely: (1) fishing to pose security threat – 'resource scarcity', 'redrawn boundaries', 'Trojan horse'; (2) fishing to aid security objectives – 'civilian scout', 'peace broker'; and (3) security of fishers under threat – 'direct preying', 'coping response', 'alert system'. The results provide further substance to the understanding that civilian movement has functions and meanings that can significantly shape the security trajectories of borders. It is suggested that a widened purview of fishing involvement is engaged in security analyses to enhance the comprehension and handling of this widespread but under-studied maritime border phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of TYB Akademi Dil Edebiyat & Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi is the property of Turkiye Yazarlar Birligi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Maritime trade and shipbuilding have flourished in India since the Indus Valley civilisation. Of these, shipbuilding developed in India more as an art rather than being a science and hence has largely remained undocumented. The art has been passed down from one generation to another through training and hands-on experience. When Europeans came to India, Bombay was neither a trading centre nor a city of importance. Shipbuilding was then mainly controlled from Surat by the Parsis, however, the English found it difficult to get their vessels built here due to monopolistic control of the Portuguese. Once the English got control of Bombay, they focused on developing it for trade and shipbuilding but found the process slow. With great effort, they managed to get a Parsi shipbuilder or 'Wadia' (shipbuilder in Gujarati) who brought shipbuilding to Bombay and helped continue the shipbuilding legacy of India at the Bombay Dockyard. The article intends to discuss the shipbuilders' family of Bombay, the 'Wadia' family. It will look at how the Wadias are considered instrumental in keeping the shipbuilding legacy of India alive in India for over 150 years and their contribution to shipbuilding in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is the first of two that examine the influence of naval geostrategy in Russian policy and military action in the Black Sea region. Following the dissolution of the USSR, the Russian Federation inherited an unfavorable geostrategic position in the Black Sea theater. Applying models used in naval geostrategy, this article interprets Russian efforts during the twenty-first century's first decade and a half that aimed at improving the country's geostrategic position in this region. In a series of consecutive steps, the Kremlin secured and expanded Russian access to sea zones and naval bases at the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea and, simultaneously, minimized Georgia's and Ukraine's conditions to develop sea power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pakistan's naval modernization efforts and response to India's naval strategy demonstrate a commitment to regional security and stability. Indian naval strategic vision is expansionist in nature. Indian is race for hegemony and dominance in the Indian Ocean Region has direct implications on the security of Pakistan. This study will include an examination of the modernization of Pakistan's naval fleet, the development of new naval bases, and the cooperation with other countries to enhance Pakistan's naval capabilities. The article tries to explore Pakistan's naval strategy and its response to India's naval capabilities. To measure the behaviors involved in this study, two theoretical frameworks have been used. To highlight the geo-politics of Indian Ocean, Sea Power theory of Alfred Mahan has been used. To explore the essence behind the conducts of actors, broader framework of realism has been employed. The research methodology adopted for this study is qualitative in nature. Being an important state actor and due to its strategic location Pakistan’s response carry far reaching impacts on the peace and stability of the Indian Ocean Region. The article concludes with the finding that Indian frantic efforts for domination in the IOR is disturbing balance of power in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weak coastal states often lack an adequate, sustained naval presence to monitor and police their territorial waters. Unpatrolled waters, both territorial and otherwise, may provide pirates with substantial financial opportunities that go far beyond any single country. Maritime piracy costs the global economy on average USD 24 billion per year. This research explores the impact of naval bases on acts of piracy to determine if naval presence can decrease the likelihood of piracy. To examine this important economic and national security issue, our research employs a zero-inflated negative binomial regression model. We also rely upon a newly constructed time-series dataset for the years 1992–2018. Our study shows that the presence of naval bases is essential in helping maritime forces combat piracy. Policymakers searching for options to combat piracy should find the results of this study especially useful in creating prescriptive approaches that aid in solving offshore problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Historia Contemporanea is the property of Historia Contemporania and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In 2020 Russia acquired a new naval base or logistic support centre off Sudan's coast in Port Sudan. This base represents the culmination to date of Moscow's quest for bases in and around the Mediterranean, Horn of Africa, and even the Indian Ocean. While the politics of obtaining and developing this base pertain largely to Moscow's Africa policy; this paper focuses upon Russia's overall naval strategy and its linked power projection programme. These strategies have hitherto been insufficiently appreciated abroad and it is hoped that this assessment will galvanise greater attention to them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Russia–Ukraine conflict is also being fought in the maritime dimension. Regarding methods of warfare, of particular note has been the possible existence of a Russian naval blockade in the Sea of Azov and off the coast of Odessa in the Black Sea. The blockade played a significant role in the emergence of the grain crisis, and has been opined to be the main reason why vessels were not able to safely sail out of the Black Sea and deliver grain to areas in other parts of the world that were in much need thereof. This paper explores whether Russia imposed a blockade in a legal sense based on the law of naval warfare—allowing belligerent rights to be exercised—or whether the Russian activities should in fact be regarded as another form of maritime control or dominance over certain maritime areas during an international armed conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors explore a novel interdisciplinary approach to researching, collecting and communicating local site-specific data on recent sea-level rise using persistent black-zone biotic levels evident on historical coastal stone structures by a stable community of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) at the Royal Naval Dockyard in Bermuda. Photographs taken at the Dockyard in 1870, 2007 and 2017 show an upward shift in this living cyanobacterial community. A spatio-temporal digital twin computed from historical and contemporary photo assets was created to test the viability of these black-zone lines as a proxy for sea-level-rise measurements in Bermuda. Black-zone cyanobacteria are highly sensitive to sea-level rise and, over long timescales, comparative imagery of black zones could present a proper indicator of average sea-level rise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Militärgeschichtliche Zeitschrift is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of New Architecture is the property of New Architecture Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

John Harrison was a significant figure in early Anglo-Moroccan relations, and made repeated visits to Morocco as a royal envoy. This article explores his career and places it within its broader context. A militant Calvinist, Harrison viewed Morocco as a potential ally against Spain and the Roman Antichrist, and dreamed of the conversion of its Moriscos and Jews, but his world-view proved alien to the early Stuart monarchs. The article further explores his wish to see British naval bases established around the Mediterranean, and his rare, principled condemnation of slavery, whether practised by Europeans or Moors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco, California was deemed a Superfund site by the USEPA in 1989 due to chemical and radiological contamination resulting from U.S. Navy operations from 1939 to 1974. During characterization and remediation efforts, over 50,000 radiological soil samples and 19,000 air samples were collected. This risk assessment, conducted in accordance with federal guidelines, represents the first comprehensive evaluation of past, present, and future health risks associated with radionuclides present at the site. The assessment indicated that before site remediation, most radionuclide soil concentrations were at or near local background concentrations. Had such low remedial goals not been established, significant remediation of surface soils would not have been necessary to protect human health. The pre-remediation lifetime incremental cancer morbidity risks for on-site workers and theoretical on-site residents due to radionuclide contamination were found to be 1.3 × 10−6 and 3.2 × 10−6, respectively. The post-remediation risks to future on-site residents were found to be 6.3 × 10−8 (without durable cover) and 3.7 × 10−8 (with durable cover), while post-remediation risks to on-site workers were found to be 2.6 × 10−8 (without durable cover) and 1.6 × 10−8 (with durable cover). Risk estimates for all scenarios were found to be significantly below the acceptable risk of 3 × 10−4 approved by regulatory agencies. Upwind and downwind air samples collected during remediation indicate that remediation activities never posed a measurable risk to off-site residents. This risk assessment emphasizes the importance of establishing clear and scientifically rigorous soil remedial goals at sites as well as understanding local radionuclide background concentrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is the key problem for naval command and control to schedule the anti-submarine teams between naval support bases. A zero sum game model with imperfect information and corresponding payoff matrix for the anti-submarine scheduling is designed through the analysis of attack and defense strategies with constraints of both sides in maritime conflict of interest. The linear programming algorithms for exact solution of small-scale problems and the improved iteration algorithms for approximate solution of large-scale problems are respectively proposed to consider the hostile forces are rational opponents and irrational opponents. The mixed strategy of anti-submarine scheduling can be obtained through the proposed computation procedure of Nash equilibrium and best response. The simulation results verified the complexity, feasibility and effectiveness of the algorithms and the application environment of the mixed strategy is analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]