Journal articles on the topic 'United States. Defense Manufacturing Board'

According to conventional wisdom accepted at the end of the 20th century, the United States had to move to a "post-industrial" economy, transfer production offshore and concentrate on research, software and finance. However, over time, real national costs of that strategy have become obvious. Not only has the U.S. manufacturing sector lost 5 million jobs in 20 years. Its persistent pattern of weakness is indicated by weak productivity growth, production increases in just a few industries, decreasing numbers of small and medium-sized enterprises, shortages of skilled personnel, expanding trade deficits in advanced technologies and increased risks for defense sector.

Defence cooperation between Poland and the United States significantly affects the security agenda of Russia, the Baltic region, and Europe as a whole. On the one hand, Poland intends to become a key partner of the US in ensuring European security. On the other hand, it has ambitions to take the leading position in the security area among the Baltic States. The Polish leadership sees an additional advantage in expanding military cooperation with the United States, regarding it as a jumping board to accelerating its economic and technological development. This article examines a mechanism underlying defence cooperation between the US and Poland, i.e. lobbying Poland’s interests in another state. This allows Warsaw to actively promote its interests in the US. The research methodology employed includes the periodisation of Polish lobbying activities in the US and an empirical study of lobbying based on analysis of original documents, many of which have been analysed for the first time. It is shown that, under the existing party system, Poland will not abandon strategic partnership with the United States, primarily in security and defence. Over the study period, Poland quickly gained experience in promoting its interests in the US through direct lobbying, showing flexibility in negotiations, relying on the two-party support in the US Congress, successfully coordinating the activities of its governing bodies and various corporations which are submitted to tight state control.

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) played an important role in the emerging conservative movement in the United States, both before and after World War II, but its contribution to the increasing militarism of that movement has received little scrutiny. Between 1958 and 1975, a combination of organizational changes peculiar to NAM and political pressures from both the right and the left led NAM to adopt and maintain a militaristic posture. In the late 1950s, a decline in the organization's membership resulted in a take over by larger corporations, which purged the board of its ultraconservative leadership. The reorganized board established a National Defense Committee (NDC) in order to promote defense industry membership and, by 1962, had selected a new permanent president, Werner Gullander. Under Gullander, the NDC moved NAM in the direction of support for defense expansion during the early 1960s.

As the electronics in our daily lives proliferate, they continue to be largely limited to rigid form factors with bulky packaging dictated by traditional electronics manufacturing processes and fragile components. Yet for applications ranging from wireless, low-profile medical devices to smart food labels to aircraft with embedded stress sensors, there's a need for high-performance electronics that conform to the shape of our bodies, vehicles, and consumer goods. Flexible Hybrid Electronics (FHE), which combine additive manufacturing processes with flexible silicon will enable these capabilities. To move these concepts from the lab to the manufacturing floor in the United States, the Department of Defense established NextFlex, America's Flexible Hybrid Electronics Manufacturing Institute in 2015. Based in San Jose, CA, NextFlex is a $170M public-private partnership that is building a domestic FHE manufacturing ecosystem by developing manufacturing processes and tools with its member companies and universities, standing up an FHE manufacturing pilot line in Silicon Valley, and establishing education and workforce development programs to train tomorrow's workforce. This presentation will focus on the FHE opportunity, the NextFlex FHE manufacturing roadmaps, and NextFlex projects in areas such as device integration & packaging, modeling & design tools, and printed flexible components.

The California Air Resources Board has mandated that by 1998 2% of new vehicles sold in California must be zero emission, effectively, electric vehicles. This requirement is largely responsible for the electric vehicle development programs run by almost every global automobile manufacturer that does business in the United States. At present, no single electric vehicle technology, from battery type, to propulsion system, to vehicle design, represents a standard for a protoelectric vehicle industry. In this paper competing electric vehicle technologies are reviewed, leading public and private electric vehicle research programs worldwide are summarized, and the barriers faced by competing technological systems in terms of manufacturing and infrastructural requirements are examined.

United States citizen scientist, researcher, and anti-geoengineering activist, Rosalind Peterson of Mendocino, California, proved both pioneer and prophet. She helped catalyze a global grassroots anti-geoengineering movement through her decades-long work crusading for clearer skies, cleaner water, healthier trees and plants, and a more resilient planet free of geoengineering fallout. Peterson combined scientific data collection and research, publishing, public speaking, and political advocacy to educate the world about the many negative environmental consequences of clandestine geoengineering. Founder of the California Skywatch in 2002 and the Agricultural Defense Coalition in 2006, Peterson built an extensive collection of multimedia materials over three decades, now being archived and curated through Our Geoengineering Age for public use by the global scientific community. As an initial “sort” of her extensive archival collection reveals, Peterson proved a tenacious and courageous citizen scientist who wore many hats: environmentalist, photographer, field scientist/researcher, writer, speaker, and activist/publicist. Peterson’s decades-long effort to uncover the myriad toxic environmental impacts of clandestine geoengineering also provides a compelling, scientifically researched alternative to the widely accepted theory advanced by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that global warming is primarily caused by anthropogenically released carbon dioxide.

PurposeOne of the goals of educational institutions is to prepare their graduates to be workplace-ready. The purpose of this paper is to identify the employability skills lacking in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) industry from employers' perspectives to assist STEM educational institutions in creating more relevant programs inclusive of employability skills.Design/methodology/approachThis study addresses 16 job-specific skills based on data deriving from the responses of 250 Human Resource Managers (HRMs) who represent five manufacturing industries (Aerospace and Defense, Automotive, Consumer Products, Electronics and Industrial Manufacturing) located in five regions (Northeast, Midwest, Southeast, West-Mountain and Pacific) of the United States.FindingsThe median scores for all 16 skills confirmed their importance for employability in the five manufacturing industries. The five highest ranking skills were team player, self-motivation, verbal communication, problem-solving and being proactive, which align with previous studies on workplace skills.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper is a call to all STEM educational institution stakeholders, both internal and external, to re-assess current curriculum and programs and collaborate to narrow the gap between graduate competencies and the practical needs of the workplace.Originality/valueThis paper attempts to bridge the gap between the competencies gained in STEM educational institutions and the competencies needed for the future workplace, as confirmed by HRM professionals. Although this study is focused on STEM educational institutions in the United States, it will be of interest to all STEM educational institutions worldwide who play a significant role in preparing the next generation of employees for the global workplace.

The name attached to a scientific instrument may identify the scientist(s) who contributed most to its design or, as was the case with the first successful long-period seismographs, the scientist(s) who captured credit for this achievement. These notable instruments were developed at the Lamont Geological Observatory in the early 1950s and funded by the Department of Defense. They were used to understand the structure of the earth and to detect underground bomb tests. Maurice Ewing and Frank Press, the principal investigators, were alpha males whose competition with each other resembled the Cold War relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union. Press moved to the Seismological Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology in 1955. Lehner and Griffith, a small Pasadena firm that was closely connected with the Seismo Lab, began manufacturing "Press-Ewing" seismographs in 1958, and Press was soon applying this term to all devices of this sort, even those that had gone before.

CHIEF EDITOR Ahmad Faris Ismail, IIUM, Malaysia TECHNICAL EDITOR Sany Izan Ihsan, IIUM, Malaysia EXECUTIVE EDITOR AHM Zahirul Alam, IIUM, Malaysia ASSOCIATE EDITOR Nor Farahidah Za’bah, IIUM, Malaysia LANGUAGE EDITOR Lynn Mason, Malaysia COPY EDITOR Hamzah Mohd. Salleh, IIUM, Malaysia EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Abdullah Al-Mamun, IIUM, Malaysia Abdumalik Rakhimov, IIUM, Malaysia Ali Sophian, IIUM, Malaysia Erwin Sulaeman, IIUM, Malaysia Hanafy Omar, Saudi Arabia Hazleen Anuar, IIUM, Malaysia Konstantin Khanin, University of Toronto, Canada Ma'an Al-Khatib, IIUM, Malaysia Md Zahangir Alam, IIUM, Malaysia Meftah Hrairi, IIUM, Malaysia Mohamed B. Trabia, United States Mohammad S. Alam, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, United States Mustafizur Rahman, National University Singapore, Singapore Ossama Abdulkhalik, Michigan Technological University, United States Othman O Khalifa, IIUM, Malaysia Razi Nalim, IUPUI, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States Rosminazuin AB. Rahim, IIUM, Malaysia Waqar Asrar, IIUM, Malaysia INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE Anwar, United States Abdul Latif Bin Ahmad, Malaysia Farzad Ismail, USM, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia Hanafy Omar, Saudi Arabia Hany Ammar, United States Idris Mohammed Bugaje, Nigeria K.B. Ramachandran, India Kunzu Abdella, Canada Luis Le Moyne, ISAT, University of Burgundy, France M Mujtaba, United Kingdom Mohamed AI-Rubei, Ireland Mohamed B Trabia, United States Syed Kamrul Islam, United States Tibor Czigany, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary Yiu-Wing Mai, The University of Sydney, Australia. AIMS & SCOPE OF IIUM ENGINEERING JOURNAL The IIUM Engineering Journal, published biannually (January and July), is a carefully refereed international publication of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). Contributions of high technical merit within the span of engineering disciplines; covering the main areas of engineering: Electrical and Computer Engineering; Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering; Automation and Mechatronics Engineering; Material and Chemical Engineering; Environmental and Civil Engineering; Biotechnology and Bioengineering; Engineering Mathematics and Physics; and Computer Science and Information Technology are considered for publication in this journal. Contributions from other areas of Engineering and Applied Science are also welcomed. The IIUM Engineering Journal publishes contributions under Regular papers and Invited review papers. It also welcomes contributions that address solutions to the specific challenges of the developing world, and address science and technology issues from an Islamic and multidisciplinary perspective. REFEREES’ NETWORK All papers submitted to IIUM Engineering Journal will be subjected to a rigorous reviewing process through a worldwide network of specialized and competent referees. Each accepted paper should have at least two positive referees’ assessments. SUBMISSION OF A MANUSCRIPT A manuscript should be submitted online to the IIUM-Engineering Journal website at http://journals.iium.edu.my/ejournal. Further correspondence on the status of the paper could be done through the journal website. Whilst every effort is made by the publisher and editorial board to see that no inaccurate or misleading data, opinion or statement appears in this Journal, they wish to make it clear that the data and opinions appearing in the articles and advertisement herein are the responsibility of the contributor or advertiser concerned. Accordingly, the publisher and the editorial committee accept no liability whatsoever for the consequence of any such inaccurate or misleading data, opinion or statement. IIUM Engineering Journal ISSN: 1511-788X E-ISSN: 2289-7860 Published by: IIUM Press, International Islamic University Malaysia Jalan Gombak, 53100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Phone (+603) 6421-5014, Fax: (+603) 6421-6298

Improving the quality, value, and safety of national food supplies is the common mission of several Federal agencies. Under different authorities, these agencies conduct basic and applied research, develop curriculum at higher educational institutions, and disseminate new scientific knowledge about food processing, formulation, and preservation to a broad range of stakeholders. Emerging food processing technologies, including various thermal and nonthermal processes, as well as chemical processes, have received increased attention and investment in recent years. Some agencies dealing with Emerging Technologies include the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), and Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS), and all of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The U.S. Army Natick Research Center of Department of Defense (DOD), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Department of Human Health Service (DHHS) also are involved in this research area. These agencies have their vision, mission, strategic goals, and current programs and activities related to emerging food processing technologies. The synergy of effective collaboration and cooperation among all stakeholders is the key to generating an impact greater than the simple sum of all.

Technological innovations in the 􀏐ield of informatics, rapid developments in subjects such as arti􀏐icial intelligence and robotic engineering have put Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and Armed Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UCAV) into the battle􀏐ield of the 21st century. At this point, states whose common concerns are security have taken the path of both obtaining intelligence and developing unmanned aerial systems, whose use is rapidly increasing in the 􀏐ield of war-defense. It is known that many countries are currently working on developing and producing UAVs, beside United States of America (USA) and Israel which both have advanced unmanned aerial systems. Because states that are developing and manufacturing their own unmanned aerial systems are aware that this situation will provide a strategic advantage in terms of their military, political and economic interests. In this context, Turkey didn’t stay indifferent to the developments of unmanned aerial systems emerging in each passing day, it has made considerable momentum towards the last 􀏐ifteen years to develop national and indigenous UAV systems. Especially since mid-2010, these systems have been used ef􀏐iciently in both intra border operations and crossborder operations The main question of this article is how Turkey’s UAV/UCAV power is re􀏐lected in global politics and in this direction, world press will be scanned. In this context, this study will primarily explained by Turkey’s domestic and national development of unmanned aerial systems adventure in general terms; then Turkey’s use of these vehicles in where and for what purpose will be evaluated. Afterward it will be evaluated that how Turkey’s power of UAV/UCAV is perceived by other states in economic and military-political aspects by examining the relevant state press and publishing organizations Keywords: Turkey, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles, Press- Publishing Organizations.

With increasing economic globalization, CEOs with overseas study or work experience play a crucial role in corporate strategic decision making, especially in emerging economies. Using Chinese manufacturing companies publicly listed on the Shanghai or Shenzhen Stock Exchanges, we explore the influence of CEO overseas experience on corporate social responsibility (CSR), based on the upper echelons theory and behavioral theory of the firm. We find that CEOs with overseas experience have a stronger CSR thinking concept and are more inclined to fulfill CSR than CEOs without overseas experience. We also analyze the effects of the organization’s external environment (market competition intensity) and internal resources (organizational slack resources) on this relationship, and find that all of these factors can strengthen the relationship. We find that the effect of CEO overseas study experience is stronger than that of overseas work experience; CEOs with overseas experience from developed countries such as Europe and the United States have a stronger effect on CSR; CEO overseas experience leads to better performance in state-owned enterprises; but when the CEO is also the chairman of the board, the effect of CEO overseas experience on CSR is weaker; female CEOs’ overseas experience has a stronger positive effect on CSR than male CEOs’; and the effect of CEO overseas experience on CSR is greater when the CEO is highly educated.

Almost all of the asbestos used in Brazil is mined by an enterprise wholly owned by two European multinational companies, which also produce and market over two-thirds (by weight of asbestos) of the products made from asbestos. About 80 percent of the asbestos used in Brazil is finally consumed in the form of asbestos cement: for roof tiles and roofing panels, wall-board, and domestic and industrial water tanks. A survey of consumer literature and advertising printed by Eternit, S.A., and Brasilit, S.A., disclosed no mention of a potential danger from exposure to asbestos dust, and no recommendations for cutting down exposure to that dust. The situation at smaller, Brazilian-owned firms is reputed to be disastrous from the standpoint of workers' exposure to asbestos dust at the point of production. At a large asbestos-cement manufacturing plant owned by Eternit, however, exposure to asbestos dust (according to company records) seemed to be kept under 2.0 fibers per cc., the present standard for the United States.

During the period between 1870 and 1920, the gross national product of the United States increased more than sixfold, as revolutions in transportation, communications, and manufacturing sparked growth in the economy. Large industrial corporations emerged, and their growing power presented grave challenges for social policy, while their wealth enriched an unprecedented number of millionaires and multi-millionaires, whose contributions prompted an enormous increase in philanthropy across the nation. In particular, Andrew Carnegie sold his steel companies for $480,000,000 in 1901 and founded the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1902, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in 1905, and the Carnegie Corporation of New York in 1911. Even more prominent, oil magnate John D. Rockefeller, “the most famous American of his day,” devoted $447,000,000 to endowing the Rockefeller Institute of Medical Research in 1901, the General Education Board in 1903, the Rockefeller Foundation in 1913, and the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial in 1918.

Abstract Abstract 4754 Background. BCR-ABL transcript monitoring is a guideline recommended component of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) management. BCR-ABL monitoring in the U.S. is mainly done using laboratory developed tests (LDTs). Studies found accuracy and reliability problems with LDTs which may lead to undesirable health and economic impacts (Gabert et al, Leukemia, 2003, Zhang et al, J Mol Diagn 2007, Muller et al, Leukemia 2008). There are ongoing efforts to standardize BCR-ABL LDTs in the U.S. and globally (Hughes et al, Blood 2006, Branford et al Blood 2006). A standardized BCR-ABL monitoring test (SBAT) may be an effective method to propagate standardization and improve quality of BCR-ABL testing. A standardized BCR-ABL monitoring test is one which minimizes operator error, and is stringently reviewed and shown to be validated under health authorities’ quality systems regulations (principally Food and Drug Administration's Quality Systems Regulations and European Union's In-Vitro Diagnostics Directive), ensuring the safety and effectiveness of the test, as well as its reliable performance across multiple operators and labs through a thorough examination of its initial design, manufacturing, and associated processes. Our study qualitatively assessed potential benefits and drawbacks of adopting a SBAT, compared to current LDTs. Methods. We conducted peer-reviewed and grey literature review to answer questions: (1) How may the shortcomings of current BCR-ABL LDTs be impacting patient care, outcomes and quality of life? (2) How may adoption of a SBAT address the LDT shortcomings and propagate standardization? (3) What are potential health, economic and care process benefits and drawbacks of SBAT adoption for healthcare stakeholders? Results. We identified BCR-ABL LDT shortcomings: (a) methodologic shortcomings resulting in suboptimal test accuracy; (b) process shortcomings (e.g. operator error; batch to batch variation in materials) leading to suboptimal reproducibility and (c) variability in methods across labs leading to incomparability of results. Three key results are: (1) Inaccurate over-quantitation of BCR-ABL results may lead to unnecessary further testing (e.g. mutation testing; bone marrow cytogenetic testing) and misinformed therapy decisions, e.g. drug dose escalation. False under-quantitation may lead to missed indications of relapse, resistance to therapy, or problems with therapy compliance. Due to result incomparability, patients often cannot change providers without losing testing history which may impact life decisions such as relocation. (2) A SBAT may address most LDT process shortcomings and important methodologic shortcomings. Consequently, if a SBAT is adopted broadly it may reduce inter- and intra-lab variability. It may also address limitations of standardization efforts, such as minimizing operator error and increasing compliance with harmonization guidelines. (3) SBAT adoption is likely to provide substantial benefits in health outcomes and quality of life to patients who may otherwise receive inaccurate results. Benefits in care process are anticipated to outweigh drawbacks. Benefits include faster results, increased confidence in results, ability to get a second opinion or transition patient care to different providers. Drawbacks may include implementation efforts, and getting used to new report formats by patients and physicians. BCR-ABL testing history may potentially be incomparable for some existing patients if laboratories do not implement effective data transition. We anticipate that the economic impact of SBAT adoption on the healthcare system will be limited due to the relatively small CML patient population. A significant financial impact may be on labs. Some labs may benefit by bringing BCR-ABL test in-house, but this may reduce test volume for labs that provide this as a centralized service. Conclusions. Implementing a standardized BCR-ABL monitoring test (SBAT) is likely to significantly benefit CML patients’ health and quality of life and provide better utility to providers than LDTs. A SBAT will contribute to addressing the broader quality of diagnostics challenge recognized by payers, providers, guideline bodies and government authorities. A SBAT represents an incremental improvement in a field that has relatively few patients, but potentially paves the way to similar developments in other blood cancers and beyond. Disclosures: Trosman: Novartis: Consultancy. Weldon:Novartis: Consultancy. Tsongalis:Novartis: Consultancy. Phillips:Novartis: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.

(IIUMEJ) IIUM ENGINEERING JOURNAL ISSN: 1511-788X E-ISSN: 2289-7860 Volume 19, Issue 2, December 2018 https://doi.org/10.31436/iiumej.v19i2 CHIEF EDITOR Ahmad Faris Ismail, IIUM, Malaysia TECHNICAL EDITOR Erry Yulian Triblas Adesta, IIUM, Malaysia EXECUTIVE EDITOR AHM Zahirul Alam, IIUM, Malaysia ASSOCIATE EDITOR Anis Nurashikin Nordin, IIUM, Malaysia LANGUAGE EDITOR Lynn Mason, Malaysia COPY EDITOR Hamzah Mohd. Salleh, IIUM, Malaysia EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Abdullah Al-Mamun, IIUM, Malaysia Abdumalik Rakhimov, IIUM, Malaysia Amir Akramin Shafie, IIUM, Malaysia Erwin Sulaeman, IIUM, Malaysia Hanafy Omar, Saudi Arabia Hazleen Anuar, IIUM, Malaysia Konstantin Khanin, University of Toronto, Canada Ma'an Al-Khatib, IIUM, Malaysia Md Zahangir Alam, IIUM, Malaysia Meftah Hrairi, IIUM, Malaysia Mohamed B. Trabia, United States Mohammad S. Alam, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, United States Muataz Hazza Faizi Al Hazza, IIUM, Malaysia Mustafizur Rahman, National University Singapore, Singapore Nor Farahidah Binti Za'bah, IIUM, Malaysia Ossama Abdulkhalik, Michigan Technological University, United States Rosminazuin AB. Rahim, IIUM, Malaysia Waqar Asrar, IIUM, Malaysia INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE A. Anwar, United States Abdul Latif Bin Ahmad, Malaysia Farzad Ismail, USM, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia Hanafy Omar, Saudi Arabia Hany Ammar, United States Idris Mohammed Bugaje, Nigeria K.B. Ramachandran, India Kunzu Abdella, Canada Luis Le Moyne, ISAT, University of Burgundy, France M Mujtaba, United Kingdom Mohamed AI-Rubei, Ireland Mohamed B Trabia, United States Mohammad S. Alam, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, United States Nazmul Karim Ossama Abdulkhalik, Michigan Technological University, United States Razi Nalim, IUPUI, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States Syed Kamrul Islam, United States Tibor Czigany, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary Yiu-Wing Mai, The University of Sydney, Australia. AIMS & SCOPE OF IIUMENGINEERING JOURNAL The IIUM Engineering Journal, published biannually, is a carefully refereed international publication of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). Contributions of high technical merit within the span of engineering disciplines; covering the main areas of engineering: Electrical and Computer Engineering; Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering; Automation and Mechatronics Engineering; Material and Chemical Engineering; Environmental and Civil Engineering; Biotechnology and Bioengineering; Engineering Mathematics and Physics; and Computer Science and Information Technology are considered for publication in this journal. Contributions from other areas of Engineering and Applied Science are also welcomed. The IIUM Engineering Journal publishes contributions under Regular papers, Invited review papers, Short communications, Technical notes, and Letters to the editor (no page charge). Book reviews, reports of and/or call for papers of conferences, symposia and meetings, and advances in research equipment could also be published in IIUM Engineering Journal with minimum charges. REFEREES’ NETWORK All papers submitted to IIUM Engineering Journal will be subjected to a rigorous reviewing process through a worldwide network of specialized and competent referees. Each accepted paper should have at least two positive referees’ assessments. SUBMISSION OF A MANUSCRIPT A manuscript should be submitted online to the IIUM-Engineering Journal website: http://journals.iium.edu.my/ejournal. Further correspondence on the status of the paper could be done through the journal website and the e-mail addresses of the Executive Editor: zahirulalam@iium.edu.my Faculty of Engineering, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Jan Gombak, 53100, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Phone: (603) 6196 4529, Fax:(603) 6196 4488. Table of Content EDITORIAL............................................................................................... i CHEMICAL AND BIOTECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING CHLORELLA VULGARIS LOGISTIC GROWTH KINETICS MODEL IN HIGH CONCENTRATIONS OF AQUEOUS AMMONIA................... 1 Azlin Suhaida Azmi, Nurain Atikah Che Aziz, Noor Illi Mohamad Puad, Amanatuzzakiah Abdul Halim, Faridah Yusof, Suzana Yusup SYNTHETIC ANTIMICROBIAL AGENT AND ANTIMICROBIAL FABRICS: PROGRESS AND CHALLENGES............. 10 Norashikin Binti Mat Zain, John Olabode Akindoyo, Mohammad Dalour Hossen Beg CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING PERFORMANCE OF HIGH STRENGTH LIGHTWEIGHT CONCRETE USING PALM WASTES................................... 30 Md. Nazmul Huda, Mohd Zamin Jumaat, Abul Bashar Mohammad Saiful Islam, Walid Abubaker Al-Kutti ELECTRICAL, COMPUTER AND COMMUNICATIONS ENGINEERING WIDE RANGE MODULATION INDEXES FEATURED CARRIER-BASED PWM STEPPED WAVEFORM FOR HALF- BRIDGE MODULAR MULTILEVEL CONVERTERS......................................................................................... 43 Majdee Tohtayong, Sheroz Khan, Mashkuri Yaacob, Siti Hajar Yusoff, Nur Shahida Midi, Musse Muhamud Ahmed A NOVEL METHOD TO ESTIMATE ECONOMIC REPLACING TIME OF TRANSFORMER USING MONTE CARLO ALGORITHM AND ANN............................................................................................... 54 Mehdi Zareian Jahromi, M. Hossein Mehrabanjahromi, Mohsen Tajdinian, Mehdi Allahbakhshi ADAPTIVE TRIMMED MEAN AUTOREGRESSIVE MODEL FOR REDUCTION OF POISSON NOISE IN SCINTIGRAPHIC IMAGES.......... 68 Khan Bahadar Khan, Muhammad Shahid, Hayat Ullah, Eid Rehman, Muhammad Mohsin Khan EVALUATION OF THE W-METRIC ROUTING USING RPL PROTOCOL IN LLNS........................................................................ 80 Rosminazuin Ab Rahim, Abdallah M. Awwad, Aisha Hasan Abdalla, Aliza Aini Md Ralib INVESTIGATION ON NEED FOR SPECIFIC PROPAGATION MODEL FOR SPECIFIC ENVIRONMENT BASED ON DIFFERENT TERRAIN CHARACTERISTICS...................90 Jide Julius Popoola, Akinlolu Adediran Ponnle, Yekeen Olajide Olasoji, Samson Adenle Oyetunji A STUDY ON LOW-COMPLEXITY TRANSMIT ANTENNA SELECTION FOR GENERALIZED SPATIAL MODULATION.................................................................................. 105 Simeon Olumide Ajose, Adewale Akanbi Alafia, Agbotiname Lucky Imoize A NEW SPECTRUM AND ENERGY AWARE ROUTING PROTOCOL IN COGNITIVE RADIO SENSOR NETWORK.............................. 118 Sara Moshtaghi, Sayyed Majid Mazinani RECENT TRENDS IN DENGUE DETECTION METHODS USING BIOSENSORS................................................................................ 134 Ahmad Anwar Zainuddin, Anis Nurashikin Nordin, Rosminazuin Ab Rahim NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF TUNNEL LED LIGHTING MAINTENANCE FACTOR.......................................................................... 154 Mehmet Sait Cengiz, Çiğdem Cengiz ENGINEERING MATHEMATICS AND APPLIED SCIENCE ABOUT THE SILICON SENSITIVITY OF THE DEEP LEVEL WITH ALTERNATING PRESSURE................................... 164 Ikrom Gulamovich Tursunov, Abdurahim Abduraxmonovich Okhunov, Odiljon Oxundadaevich Mamatkarimov THE HYDRODYNAMIC COEFFICIENTS FOR OSCILLATING 2D RECTANGULAR BOX USING WEAKLY COMPRESSIBLE SMOOTHED PARTICLE HYDRODYNAMICS (WCSPH) METHOD................................................................................. 172 Muhammad zahir ramli AN ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUE TO OBTAIN HIGHER-ORDER APPROXIMATE PERIODS FOR THE NONLINEAR OSCILLATOR................... 182 Md Sazzad Hossien Chowdhury, Md. Alal Hosen, Mohammad Yeakub Ali, Ahmad Faris Ismail MATERIALS AND MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING EFFECT OF POLY (ETHYLENE GLYCOL) ON THE INJECTABILITY, SETTING BEHAVIOR AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF CALCIUM PHOSPHATE BONE CEMENT.........................................................192 Sufiamie Hablee, Iis Sopyan, Maizirwan Mel, Hamzah Mohd. Salleh, Md. Mujibur Rahman MECHANICAL AND AEROSPACE ENGINEERING STUDY OF MESH QUALITY IMPROVEMENT FOR CFD ANALYSIS OF AN AIRFOIL................................................ 203 Farah Aqilah, Mazharul Islam, Franjo Juretic, Joel Guerrero, David Wood, Farid Nasir Ani MECHATRONICS AND AUTOMATION ENGINEERING COLOR RECOGNITION WEARABLE DEVICE USING MACHINE LEARNING FOR VISUALY IMPAIRED PERSON................................... 213 Tarek Mohamed Bolad , Nik Nur Wahidah Nik Hashim, Noor Hazrin Hany Mohamad Hanif COMBINATION OF FUSED DEPOSITION MODELLING WITH ABRASIVE MILLING FOR ATTAINING HIGHER DIMENSIONAL ACCURACY AND BETTER SURFACE FINISH ..................................... 221 Abu Naser Mohammad Amanullah Tomal, Tanveer Saleh, Md Raisuddin Khan Whilst every effort is made by the publisher and editorial board to see that no inaccurate or misleading data, opinion or statement appears in this Journal, they wish to make it clear that the data and opinions appearing in the articles and advertisement herein are the responsibility of the contributor or advertiser concerned. Accordingly, the publisher and the editorial committee accept no liability whatsoever for the consequence of any such inaccurate or misleading data, opinion or statement. Published by: IIUM Press, International Islamic University Malaysia Jalan Gombak, 53100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Phone (+603) 6196-5014, Fax: (+603) 6196-6298 Website: http://www.iium.edu.my/office/iiumpress

A large amount of research is being carried out to increase the use of renewable and eco-friendly resources like plant fibres for manufacturing new products in order to reduce energy consumption and improve their environmental impact. The almond is a deciduous tree that is native to Mediterranean areas, although nowadays the United States is the world’s main almond producer. The almond fruit has three distinct parts: the inner core or flesh, the hard middle part or shell, and the outer covering of the shell, called the hull (exocarp and mesocarp). This work analyses the use of almond residues for producing eco-friendly particleboards. The ground hull of the almond has been used as a raw material, obtaining 4 different particle sizes. Eight type of board has been manufactured without using any kind of adhesive. The particle size influences some physical and mechanical properties. With particle sizes <0.25 mm it is possible to achieve greater strength in terms of modulus of rupture (MOR): 14.01 N/mm2, modulus of elasticity (MOE): 2295.32 N/mm2 and internal bonding strength (IB): 0.57 N/mm2. This study shows that it is technically possible to manufacture boards with this material without using adhesives.

IIUM ENGINEERING JOURNAL CHIEF EDITOR Ahmad Faris Ismail, IIUM, Malaysia TECHNICAL EDITOR Erry Yulian Triblas Adesta, IIUM, Malaysia EXECUTIVE EDITOR AHM Zahirul Alam, IIUM, Malaysia ASSOCIATE EDITOR Anis Nurashikin Nordin, IIUM, Malaysia LANGUAGE EDITOR Lynn Mason, Malaysia COPY EDITOR Hamzah Mohd. Salleh, IIUM, Malaysia EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Abdullah Al-Mamun, IIUM, Malaysia Abdumalik Rakhimov, IIUM, Malaysia Amir Akramin Shafie, IIUM, Malaysia Erwin Sulaeman, IIUM, Malaysia Hanafy Omar, Saudi Arabia Hazleen Anuar, IIUM, Malaysia Konstantin Khanin, University of Toronto, Canada Ma'an Al-Khatib, IIUM, Malaysia Md Zahangir Alam, IIUM, Malaysia Meftah Hrairi, IIUM, Malaysia Mohamed B. Trabia, United States Mohammad S. Alam, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, United States Muataz Hazza Faizi Al Hazza, IIUM, Malaysia Mustafizur Rahman, National University Singapore, Singapore Nor Farahidah Binti Za'bah, IIUM, Malaysia Ossama Abdulkhalik, Michigan Technological University, United States Rosminazuin AB. Rahim, IIUM, Malaysia Waqar Asrar, IIUM, Malaysia AIMS & SCOPE OF IIUMENGINEERING JOURNAL The IIUM Engineering Journal, published biannually, is a carefully refereed international publication of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). 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Published by: IIUM Press, International Islamic University Malaysia Jalan Gombak, 53100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Phone (+603) 6196-5014, Fax: (+603) 6196-6298 Website: http://iiumpress.iium.edu.my/bookshop Whilst every effort is made by the publisher and editorial board to see that no inaccurate or misleading data, opinion or statement appears in this Journal, they wish to make it clear that the data and opinions appearing in the articles and advertisement herein are the responsibility of the contributor or advertiser concerned. Accordingly, the publisher and the editorial committee accept no liability whatsoever for the consequence of any such inaccurate or misleading data, opinion or statement. IIUM Engineering Journal ISSN: 1511-788X E-ISSN: 2289-7860 Volume 19, Issue 1, June 2018 https://doi.org/10.31436/iiumej.v19i1 Table of Content CHEMICAL AND BIOTECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING ADSORPTION OF HEAVY METALS AND RESIDUAL OIL FROM PALM OIL MILL EFFLUENT USING A NOVEL ADSORBENT OF ALGINATE AND MANGROVE COMPOSITE BEADS COATED WITH CHITOSAN IN A PACKED BED COLUMN... 1 Rana Jaafar Jawad, Mohd Halim Shah Ismail, Shamsul Izhar Siajam INVESTIGATION OF BIOFLOCCULANT AS DEWATERING AID IN SLUDGE TREATMENT........................................ 15 Mohammed Saedi Jami, Maizirwan Mel, Aysha Ralliya Mohd Ariff, Qabas Marwan Abdulazeez HYDROGEN PRODUCTION FROM ETHANOL DRY REFORMING OVER LANTHANIA-PROMOTED CO/AL2O3 CATALYST............................. 24 Fahim Fayaz, Nguyen Thi Anh Nga, Thong Le Minh Pham, Huong Thi Danh, Bawadi Abdullah, Herma Dina Setiabudi, Dai-Viet Nguyen Vo OPTIMIZATION OF RED PIGMENT PRODUCTION BY MONASCUS PURPUREUS FTC 5356 USING RESPONSE SURFACE METHODOLOGY......................................................... 34 Nor Farhana Hamid And Farhan Mohd Said PRODUCTION AND STABILITY OF MYCO-FLOCCULANTS FROM LENTINUS SQUARROSULUS RWF5 AND SIMPLICILLIUM OBCLAVATUM RWF6 FOR REDUCTION OF WATER TURBIDITY.............................................................................. 48 Nessa Jebun, Md. Zahangir Alam, Abdullah Al-Mamun, Raha Ahmad Raus ROLE OF SUBSTRATE BINDING ON THE PROTEIN DYNAMICS OF AN ENDOGLUCANASE FROM FUSARIUM OXYSPORUM AT DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES .............................................................307 Abdul Aziz Ahmad, Ibrahim Ali Noorbatcha, Hamzah Mohd. Salleh CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING DIMINISHING SEISMIC EFFECT ON BUILDINGS USING BEARING ISOLATION....................................................... 59 A. B. M. Saiful Islam ELECTRICAL, COMPUTER AND COMMUNICATIONS ENGINEERING A DISTRIBUTED ENERGY EFFICIENT CLUSTERING ALGORITHM FOR DATA AGGREGATION IN WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS.................................................................................. 72 Seyed Mohammad Bagher Musavi Shirazi, Maryam Sabet, Mohammad Reza Pajoohan POWER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT WITH CASCADED MULTILEVEL CONVERTER BASED STATCOM................. 91 Mahdi Heidari, Abdonnabi Kovsarian, S. Ghodratollah Seifossadat THE EFFECTS OF CABLE CHARACTERISTICS ON MAXIMUM OVERVOLTAGE IN COMBINED OVERHEAD/CABLE LINES PROTECTED BY SURGE ARRESTERS.............................................................................. 104 Reza Alizadeh, Mohammad Mirzaie SMART PORTABLE CRYOTHERAPY SYSTEM REPHRASED I.E. WITH CONTROLLED THERMOELECTRIC COOLING MODULES FOR MEDICAL APPLICATIONS................................................................................................ 117 Abbas Rahmani, Reza Hassanzadeh Pack Rezaee, Naser Kordani STATIC PIPELINE NETWORK PERFORMANCE OPTIMISATION USING DUAL INTERLEAVE ROUTING ALGORITHM 129 Siva Kumar Subramaniam1, Shariq Mahmood Khan, Anhar Titik, Rajagopal Nilavalan A MODIFIED MODEL BASED ON FLOWER POLLINATION ALGORITHM AND K-NEAREST NEIGHBOR FOR DIAGNOSING DISEASES........................................................................ 144 Mehdi Zekriyapanah Gashti A SINGLE LC TANK BASED ACTIVE VOLTAGE BALANCING CIRCUIT FOR BATTERY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM .158 A K M Ahasan Habib, S. M. A. Motakabber, Muhammad Ibn. Ibrahimy, A. H. M. Zahirul Alam ENGINEERING MATHEMATICS AND APPLIED SCIENCE ON THE CONTROL OF HEAT CONDUCTION.......................................... 168 Fayziev Yusuf Ergashevich MATERIALS AND MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING GREEN SYNTHESIS OF SILVER NANOPARTICLES USING SAGO (METROXYLON SAGU) VIA AUTOCLAVING METHOD......178 Aliyah Jamaludin, Che Ku Mohammad Faizal EFFECT OF ALKALINE TREATMENT ON PROPERTIES OF RATTAN WASTE AND FABRICATED BINDERLESS PARTICLEBOARD....185 Zuraida Ahmad, Maisarah Tajuddin, Nurul Farhana Fatin Salim, Zahurin Halim AMORPHOUS STRUCTURE IN CU-ZN-V-AL OXIDE COMPOSITE CATALYST FOR METHANOL REFORMING..... 197 Mohd Sabri Mahmud, Zahira Yaakob, Abu Bakar Mohamad, Wan Ramli Wan Daud, Vo Nguyen Dai Viet PERFORMANCE OF ELECTRICAL DISCHARGE MACHINING (EDM) WITH NICKEL ADDED DIELECTRIC FLUID....215 Ahsan Ali Khan, Muataz Hazza Faizi Al Hazza, A K M Mohiuddin, Nurfatihah Abdul Fattah, Mohd Radzi Che Daud ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION OF DURIAN SKIN NANOFIBRE BIOCOMPOSITE.......................................... 233 Siti Nur E’zzati Mohd Apandi, Hazleen Anuar, Siti Munirah Salimah Abdul Rashid MECHANICAL AND AEROSPACE ENGINEERING A REVIEW ON RHEOLOGY OF NON-NEWTONIAN PROPERTIES OF BLOOD....................................................... 237 Esmaeel Fatahian, Naser Kordani, Hossein Fatahian NUMERICAL STUDY OF THERMAL CHARACTERISTICS OF FUEL OIL-ALUMINA AND WATER-.......................... 250 Hossein Fatahian, Hesamoddin Salarian, Majid Eshagh Nimvari, Esmaeel Fatahian A PARAMETRIC STUDY ON CONTROL OF FLOW SEPARATION OVER AN AIRFOIL IN INCOMPRESSIBLE REGIME....270 Lakshmanan Prabhu, Jonnalagadda Srinivas OPTIMIZATION OF BOX TYPE GIRDER WITH AND WITHOUT INDUSTRIAL CONSTRAINTS................................ 289 Muhammad Abid, Shahbaz Mahmood Khan, Hafiz Abdul Wajid

This study compared language choices made by Vietnamese speakers in a circuit-board manufacturing company in California with utterances constructed for similar situations by Vietnamese speakers in Hanoi, Vietnam. Particular attention was paid to how both groups of speakers signaled social relationships during talk at work, primarily through their selection or omission of Vietnamese address forms and other honorific markers. The California supervisor and assistant, during high-pressure problem-solving events, bypassed the use of kinship terms and, instead, chose non-honorific terms and other markers of informality, thus invoking a normative frame of teamwork and open debate about courses of action that pervade the contemporary American workplace. Excerpts of videotaped interactions between these California workers were shown to the Hanoi participants, after which they were asked to imagine a context in Hanoi similar to the one that they observed. Their constructed utterances were found to contain a variety of address forms — mostly personal names and kinship terms — along with other honorific and politeness forms. The Hanoi participants tended to incorporate these forms even within the economy of talk found in high-pressure moments. In including these forms, they highlighted the hierarchical relationship between the interlocutors as elder and younger, superior and subordinate. Their inclusion of these expressions reflects a cultural norm: the salience of maintaining interpersonal relationships in the workplace, which are managed elegantly through the Vietnamese person-reference system. The findings in this study suggest evidence of a shift in the norms of language use by Vietnamese immigrants living and working in the United States.

Abstract Introduction Parents who have been diagnosed with depression often report that their children have poor sleep behaviors. This relationship may occur because the children of parents with depression are more likely experience poor psychosocial functioning, which can negatively impact their sleep. Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are particularly at risk for sleep difficulties, and it is important to better understand these relationships as scant to no research has been done which investigates parental depression, child psychosocial functioning, and child sleep among children with ASD. The current study examined whether parental perception of their child’s psychosocial functioning mediated the relationship between parental depression and their child’s sleep behaviors. Methods The sample (N=36) consisted of parents (81% female) reporting on their children aged 6–12 (M=8.56, SD = 1.86; 75% male). All children were diagnosed with ASD and had sleep complaints as reported by their parents. Children and their parents were recruited because they expressed interest in a behavioral treatment sleep study and these data come from the baseline data collection associated with that study. Measures included Sleep Behaviors factor from the Child Sleep Health Questionnaire (CSHQ), the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC), and a question asking if the parent had been diagnosed with depression. Results Analyses were conducting using AMOS 27.0. Child psychosocial functioning significantly mediated (β = .12) the relation between parental depression and child sleep behavior. Parents who had been diagnosed with depression were more likely to report greater child psychosocial difficulties (β =.39, p = .01) and child psychosocial difficulties were associated with a greater likelihood of the child having worse sleep behavior (β =.32, p = .04). The direct effect between parental depression and child sleep behavior was not significant. Conclusion These results indicate that child psychosocial functioning may help to explain the connection between diagnosed parental depression and poor child sleep behavior among children with ASD. This suggests that psychosocial functioning may be an important aspect to target in sleep interventions, particularly for children with ASD. Support (if any) University of Missouri Research Board Grant (McCrae, PI); United States Department of Defense USAMRAA Autism Research Program (McCrae, PI; CTA AR190047).

Abstract Introduction Parents who have been diagnosed with depression often report that their children are not compliant and have difficulty falling asleep. Parents with depression are less likely to be consistent or enforce bedtimes resulting in the child having less bedtime rules and getting less sleep. Overtime this may mean the child develops poor sleep habits and difficulty falling asleep. Although these relationships have yet to be studied in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), it is an important area given the high prevalence of children with ASD who have sleep difficulties. The current study examined whether parent-reported child sleep onset latency mediated the relationship between parental depression and child non-compliance. Methods The sample (N=50) consisted of parents (81% female) reporting on their children aged 6–12 (M=8.63, SD = 2.00; 76% male). All children were diagnosed with ASD and had parent reported sleep complaints. Children and their parents were recruited because they expressed interest in a behavioral treatment sleep study and these data come from the baseline data collection associated with that study. Measures included sleep onset latency on the Child Sleep Health Questionnaire (CSHQ), an item on the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC) which asked if a child follows rules, and a question asking if the parent had been diagnosed with depression. Results Analyses were conducting using AMOS 27.0. Slightly less than half (45%) of parents reported having been diagnosed with depression. Parent-reported child sleep onset latency significantly mediated (β =.13) the relation between parental depression and non-compliance. Parents who had been diagnosed with depression were associated with greater child sleep onset latency (β =.32, p = .04) and greater child sleep onset latency was associated with greater non-compliance (β =.40, p = .01). The direct effect between parental depression and non-compliance was not significant. Conclusion These results suggest that difficulty falling asleep may help to explain why children of parents who have depression are not compliant. Future research should utilize longitudinal and experimental methodology to determine the causality of these relationships. Support (if any) University of Missouri Research Board Grant (McCrae, PI); United States Department of Defense USAMRAA Autism Research Program (McCrae, PI; CTA AR190047).

BackgroundColorectal cancer (CRC) presents a significant public health burden, responsible for the second most cancer-related deaths in the United States, with an increasing incidence in young adults observed globally.1,2 While the blockade of immune checkpoints received FDA approval as a CRC therapeutic, only patients with microsatellite instability, accounting for 15% of sporadic cases, demonstrate partial or complete responses.3 We present a third-generation chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell directed towards the extracellular domain of the mucosal antigen guanylyl cyclase C (GUCY2C), which is over-expressed in 80% of CRC cases, as a therapeutic alternative for late stage disease. Here, we demonstrate that human GUCY2C CAR-T cells can selectively kill GUCY2C-expressing colorectal cancer cells in vitro and produce inflammatory cytokines in response to antigenic stimulation.MethodsPeripheral blood mononuclear (PBMCs) cells were isolated from leukoreduction filters obtained from the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Blood Donor Center (IRB #18D.495). Magnetic Activated Cell Sorting (MACS) technology was used to negatively select pan-T cells (Miltenyi Biotec), followed by activation and expansion using anti-CD3, anti-CD28, and anti-CD2 coated microbeads (Miltenyi Biotec) and supplemented with IL-7 and IL-15 (Biological Resources Branch Preclinical Biologics Repository – NCI). T-cells were transduced with a lentiviral vector encoding the anti-GUCY2C CAR. Our CAR utilizes a single chain variable fragment of human origin directed towards the extracellular domain of GUCY2C, the CD28 hinge, transmembrane, and intracellular signaling domain (ICD), 4-1BB (CD137) ICD, and CD3ζ ICD. CAR-T cells were used for experiments between 10 to 14 days after activation in vitro using the xCELLigence real time cytotoxicity assay and intracellular cytokine staining.ResultsGUCY2C-directed CAR-T cells specifically lysed the GUCY2C-expressing metastatic CRC cell line T84, while the control CAR did not. GUCY2C-negative CRC cells were not killed by either. In addition to cell killing, GUCY2C-directed CAR-T cells of both the CD8+ and CD4+ co-receptor lineage produced the inflammatory cytokines IFN-γ and TNFα in response to GUCY2C antigen.ConclusionsWe demonstrate that human GUCY2C-directed CAR-T cells can selectively target GUCY2C-expressing cancer cells. We hypothesize that GUCY2C-directed CAR-T cells present a viable therapeutic option for metastatic CRC. In vivo animal models to examine this potential are currently on-going.AcknowledgementsThis work was supported by the Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (W81XWH-17-1-0299, W81XWH-191-0263, and W81XWH-19-1-0067) to AES and Targeted Diagnostic & Therapeutics to SAW. AES is also supported by a DeGregorio Family Foundation Award. SAW is supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (R01 CA204881, R01 CA206026, and P30 CA56036), and the Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program W81XWH-17-PRCRP-TTSA. SAW and AES were also supported by a grant from The Courtney Ann Diacont Memorial Foundation. SAW is the Samuel M.V. Hamilton Professor of Thomas Jefferson University. JS, EC, and AZ were supported by an NIH institutional award T32 GM008562 for Postdoctoral Training in Clinical Pharmacology.Ethics ApprovalThis study was approved by the Thomas Jefferson University Institutional Review Board (IRB Control #18D.495) and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (Protocol #01529).ReferencesSiegel RL, Miller KD, Jemal A. Cancer statistics, 2020. CA Cancer J Clin2020;70: 7–30. doi:10.3322/caac.21590Araghi M, Soerjomataram I, Bardot A, Ferlay J, Cabasag CJ, Morrison DS, et al. Changes in colorectal cancer incidence in seven high-income countries: a population-based study. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol 2019;4: 511–518. doi:10.1016/S2468-1253(19)30147-5Overman MJ, McDermott R, Leach JL, Lonardi S, Lenz H-J, Morse MA, et al. Nivolumab in patients with metastatic DNA mismatch repair-deficient or microsatellite instability-high colorectal cancer (CheckMate 142): an open-label, multicentre, phase 2 study. Lancet Oncol 2017;18: 1182–1191. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(17)30422-9

Abstract Background Bacteriophage therapy (BT) is a re-emerging strategy to treat antibiotic-resistant infections. Here, we describe our initial experience with intravenous (IV) and inhaled BT to treat life-threatening Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections not responding to antibiotic therapy. Emergency Investigational New Drug application approvals (United States) or Special Access Scheme Category A notifications (Australia) and informed consent from the patients were obtained. Methods Patients were treated with AB-SA01 (3-phage product targeting S. aureus) and AB-PA01 (4-phage product targeting P. aeruginosa) produced in a Good Manufacturing Practice-certified facility. Pre- and posttreatment bacterial isolates were tested for phage susceptibility during BT. In all cases, concomitant antibiotics were continued. Safety was assessed clinically and using laboratory parameters with up to 90 days of follow-up. Samples to assess bacterial loads, bacteriophage kinetics in blood, and immune responses to phage were collected. Results As of April 2018, 8 patients were treated with BT; 5 with AB-SA01 (bacteremia, n = 4; endocarditis, n = 1) and 3 with AB-PA01 (lung infection, n = 3). Median duration of BT was 14 days and treated patients received over 90 IV doses of AB-SA01 (3 × 109 PFU/dose) and over 490 IV and nebulized doses of AB-PA01 (4 × 109 PFU/dose). BT was well tolerated, with no treatment-related adverse events. Clinical treatment success was documented in 75% of patients. Isolates collected during therapy showed ongoing susceptibility to the BT products with changes in sensitivity to the individual phage components observed in some cases. Bacteriophage kinetics revealed bloodstream clearance within a few hours after IV infusion, with an inferred initial bacteria:bacteriophage ratio of ~200 for the bacteremia patients. Conclusion BT was well tolerated as an adjunct to antibiotics, with several examples presented of microbiological eradication and improvement of objective clinical criteria. BT appears to be a safe adjunct to antibiotic therapy in life-threatening S. aureus and P. aeruginosa infections and is a promising candidate for controlled clinical trials. Disclosures S. Morales, AmpliPhi Biosciences: Employee, Salary. S. Lehman, AmpliPhi Biosciences: Employee, Salary. S. Branston, AmpliPhi Biosciences: Employee, Salary. A. Petrovic Fabijan, AmpliPhi Biosciences: Collaborator, Research support. C. L. Langlais Furr, AmpliPhi Biosciences: Employee, Salary. F. Rosas, AmpliPhi Biosciences: Employee, Salary. I. Bilinsky, AmpliPhi Biosciences: Employee and Shareholder, Salary. P. Grint, AmpliPhi Biosciences: Board Member, Employee and Shareholder, Salary. J. Iredell, AmpliPhi Biosciences: Collaborator, Research support.

Background: Tisagenlecleucel is an anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy approved for pediatric and young adult patients with relapsed/refractory (r/r) B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) and adult patients with r/r diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The ELIANA trial showed efficacy (81% overall remission rate [ORR]; 60% complete remission [CR]) and safety of tisagenlecleucel in r/r B-ALL (Maude et al. N Engl J Med. 2018). In the ELIANA trial, sustained remissions were associated with B-cell aplasia, an expected on-target effect of tisagenlecleucel and a pharmacodynamic marker for tisagenlecleucel persistence. In some patients who demonstrated short CAR-T cell persistence, reinfusion with 1 or more additional doses of tisagenlecleucel has restored B-cell aplasia and produced a 60% CR rate in patients who were reinfused with humanized CD19-targeted CAR-T cell therapy (Maude et al. J Clin Oncol. 2016). This prolongs the period of tisagenlecleucel activity and immunosurveillance and may therefore prolong durable remission. We introduce a trial in progress investigating the efficacy and safety of tisagenlecleucel reinfusion in pediatric and young adult patients with B-ALL experiencing a loss of B-cell aplasia. Study Design and Methods: HESTER (NCT04225676) is a phase II, open-label, multicenter trial to determine the efficacy and safety of tisagenlecleucel reinfusion in pediatric and young adult patients with B-ALL experiencing loss of B-cell aplasia. Eligible patients must be ≤25 years of age with a confirmed diagnosis of CD19(+) leukemia. Patients must have been previously infused with commercial tisagenlecleucel and have at least 1 additional dose of commercial tisagenlecleucel prescribed to them in the course of medical practice. Commercial tisagenlecleucel must be given for reinfusion within 9 months of the initial manufacturing date. Patients must have loss of B-cell aplasia defined as peripheral blood (PB) absolute B lymphocyte count ≥50/μL or PB B lymphocyte ≥10% of the total lymphocytes; patients are not required to be minimal residual disease negative (MRD)(-). Karnofsky (age ≥16 years) or Lansky (age &lt;16 years) performance status must be ≥50 at screening. Patients treated with prior gene/adoptive T-cell therapy other than tisagenlecleucel and patients with active central nervous system involvement by malignancy are excluded. The primary efficacy endpoint is the proportion of patients who reestablish B-cell aplasia within 12 months of reinfusion as measured by circulating B lymphocytes (&lt;50/μL) and presence of tisagenlecleucel cells by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) in the PB. Secondary outcomes include the ORR (CR + CR with incomplete blood count recovery) during the 12 months post reinfusion, event-free survival, overall survival, MRD status, and safety; immunogenicity and tisagenlecleucel persistence (by qPCR) are exploratory endpoints. Subgroup analysis of efficacy outcomes will include patients with a loss of B-cell aplasia within 9 months of first infusion who are MRD(+) at time of enrollment, as well as patients with very early (&lt;3 mo), early (≤3 to &lt;6 mo), and later (≥6 mo) loss of B-cell aplasia following first infusion. Safety will be assessed throughout the trial. For the primary analysis, a minimum of 10% of patients reestablishing B-cell aplasia within 12 months after reinfusion is expected with an estimated true rate of 25%. All secondary and exploratory variables will be summarized descriptively. Estimated enrollment is about 54 patients in the United States. Clinical Trial Information: NCT04225676 Disclosures Boyer: Thunder Biotech Inc: Consultancy. Grupp:Servier: Research Funding; Cellectis: Other; Roche: Consultancy; Adaptimmune: Other: SAB; Jazz: Other: SSC; TCR2: Other: SAB; GlaxoSmithKline: Consultancy; CRISPR Therapeutics/Vertex Pharmaceuticals: Other; Juno/BMS: Other; Janssen/JnJ: Consultancy; Humanigen: Consultancy; CBMG: Consultancy; Kite/Gilead: Research Funding; Allogene: Other; Novartis: Consultancy, Other: SSC, Research Funding. Hermiston:Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Sobi: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Kovacs:Novartis: Current Employment. Magley:Novartis: Current Employment. Myers:Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: ELIANA trial Steering Committee, Speakers Bureau. Phillips:Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Pulsipher:Bellicum: Honoraria; Mesoblast: Honoraria; Miltenyi: Honoraria, Research Funding; Adaptive: Research Funding; Novartis: Honoraria; Jasper: Honoraria. Purkayastha:Novartis: Current Employment. Willert:Novartis: Current Employment.

Abstract Up to 30 % of Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphomas carry the Epstein Barr virus (EBV) genome and express the viral latency type 2 proteins EBNA-1, LMP-1, LMP-2 and BARF-1 in a pattern termed Type 2 latency. We have previously shown that Epstein-Barr virus-specific T-cells (EBVSTs) can be expanded from the peripheral blood of lymphoma patients by stimulation with dendritic cells and autologous EBV-transformed lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) modified with an adenoviral vector encoding LMP1 and LMP2. These EBVSTs induce complete clinical responses in over 50% of patients with active disease (Bollard et al J Clin Oncol 2014). Since the requirement for an LCL as an antigen-presenting cell added 3-4 months to the manufacturing time, we shortened and simplified the process. We replaced the LCL with autologous, activated T-cells together with HLA-negative K562 costimulatory cells as a source of antigen-presenting cell and replaced live virus (EBV) and adenoviral-vector components as a source of antigen with overlapping peptide libraries (pepmixes) spanning the all 4 Type 2 latency antigens (EBNA1, LMP1, LMP2 and BARF1). We also added IL4 and IL7, cytokines that increased the repertoire and expansion of EBVSTs as previously demonstrated by Gerdemann et al. (Mol Ther 2012) These changes reduced the manufacturing time to 3-4 weeks and increased the number of eligible patients, since patients with a short life expectancy were previously excluded and LCLs could not be generated from patients who had received the B-cell depleting antibody rituximab. However the majority of the first 14 EBVSTs generated from patients demonstrated low antigen-specificity. We hypothesized this poor response resulted from T-cell anergy and therefore replaced IL-4 with IL-15, which was reported to reverse tumor-specific anergy (Teague et al Nat Med 2006). This change increased the proliferative capacity and antigen specificity of patient EBVSTs by up to 10-fold, indicating a "rescue effect" of IL-15 on tolerant or anergized T-cells, and correlated with increased in vitro cytotoxicity against EBV antigen-positive target cells from 5% to 66%(n=5). In a Phase 1 clinical trial, we have infused 2 doses of EBVSTs generated with IL7 and IL15 into 24 patients with multiply-relapsed, EBV-positive Hodgkin or non-Hodgkin lymphoma, either as adjuvant therapy (after stem cell transplantation or chemotherapy (n=17) or as treatment for active disease (n=7). There were no immediate or delayed adverse events attributed to the cell infusion. Of 17 patients who received EBVSTs as adjuvant therapy, 15 remain in remission with follow up of 2 to 28 months while 2 subsequently progressed. Of 7 patients with active disease who received EBVSTs, two patients had complete responses (CRs) (sustained for 24+ and 18+ months so far), two had partial responses (PRs), one had stable disease and two patients progressed. The antitumor activity we observed was associated with increases not only in circulating EBVSTs in 14 of 22 patients followed for 3 months or more, but also in T-cells specific for one or more of the non-viral tumor associated antigens, MAGE-A4, SSX2, survivin, NY-ESO1 or PRAME. This antigen spreading was seen in 13 of the 14 patients with increased EBVSTs. In an effort to enhance T-cell mediated antitumor effects, we plan to incorporate PD-1 inhibition into the therapy for patients who have had a PR to this therapy, and evaluate lymphodepletion. This cell therapy product is also being tested in a multicenter Phase II trial (CITADEL, Cell Medica, NCT01948180), being run in the European Union, South Korea and the United States, in which patients with EBV positive NK-T lymphoma receive autologous EBVSTs grown with IL7 and IL15. Albeit early in the study, preliminary indications of activity have been observed. Of 2 evaluable patients with active disease at baseline, one had a PR at the 8 week follow up scan, based on independent radiological assessment, and of 2 patients with non-measurable disease at baseline, one remains in remission at 9+ month follow up. In addition, increases in circulating EBVSTs have been observed in 6 of 7 patients (minimum 2 week follow up). Disclosures Bollard: Cell Medica: Patents & Royalties. Inman:Cell Medica: Employment. Hodgkin:Cell Medica: Employment. Gunter:Cell Medica: Employment. Brenner:Viracyte: Equity Ownership; Cell Medica: Patents & Royalties. Heslop:Cell Medica: Patents & Royalties; Viracyte: Equity Ownership. Rooney:Viracyte: Equity Ownership; Cell Medica: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Patents & Royalties.

JISIB continues to publish Case Studies. In addition we also publish in this issue Patents Analyses. Patent analyses can be read both as examples of how to perform such analyses, but may also find interest within specific industries. Professor Henri Dou, who is a founding father of this journal, was one of the pioneers in this area, also with the development of patent analyses software. We have also included a conceptual and theoretical paper. All of the contributions in this issue show that scientific work does not have to be limited to more narrowly defined empirical studies.The second paper by Salavdor et al. is dedicated to Associate Professor Jonas Rundquist, a colleague at Halmstad University and at the same time a great admirer of the Spanish speaking Americas, who passed away in December 2014. He will be greatly missed.The first article by Salvador and Léon is a patent analysis of the industry for hybrid vehicules. The paper shows that the company with the highest patent activity also has a strong focus on collaborative technology development. The analysis further shows that research on parallel hybrid vehicle predominate, followed by series-hybrid and series-parallel hybrid type. The findings support the strategic decision process for organizations, companies, institutes and other stakeholders involved in this sector. The analysis and procedure presented can be used for analyses in other industries.The second paper by Salador et al. is also a patent analysis, but this time for the Additive Manufacturing industry. Unlike the first paper this one identifies a number of trends through a keyword patent analysis. “The main areas of research are focused on shaping of plastics and after-treatment of shaped products and working metallic powder and manufacture articles from this material”. The leading countries on additive manufacturing research are United States, Great Britain and Switzerland.The third article by Vriens and Solberg Søilen is an attempt to show the implication of disruptive innovation on Intelligence Studies. It is a theoretical paper. Through a broad discussion of disruptive innovation theory the authors arrive at what they coin”Disruptive Intelligence”. In addition they describe ‘biases’ which may impair the production of ‘disruptive intelligence’.The Fourth article is a case study written by Calof. It is about how the National Research Council’s Technical Intelligence Unit work with intelligence. The study shows that intelligence users understood and could appreciate a combination of hard and soft intelligence type measures. A survey in the form of an intelligence evaluation instrument was developed to gather data for the paper.The last article by Avner is a case study about CI in the Israeli defense industry. It confirms previous assumption that the industry in general and especially in Israel is using CI intensively to support the decision making process.As always we would first of all like to thank the authors for their contributions to this issue of JISIB.On behalf of the Editorial Board,Sincerely Yours,Prof. Dr. Klaus Solberg SøilenEditor-in-chief

Tribal sovereignty has been recognized by the American government since the establishment of the United States and tribal sovereign immunity has been a part of American jurisprudence for over a century. Tribal sovereign immunity continues to play an important role in modern times, especially in the last few years with the rise of inter partes review (IPR) proceedings stemming from the America Invents Act of 2011. IPR proceedings are filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and heard by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) as an alternative to or in conjunction with traditional patent litigation in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Therefore, patent owners may have to defend their patents both at PTAB and in federal court.PTAB has recently granted its first motion to consider the issue of tribal sovereign immunity as it relates to patents covering the branded drug Restasis®. This case involves two giants of the pharmaceutical industry: Allergan PLC (Allergan), a brand name drug manufacturer who holds the Restasis® patents, and Mylan N.V. (Mylan), a generic pharmaceutical company.

How quickly one forgets. On Sunday, July 3, 1988, an Iran Air A300 Airbus, with 290 persons on board, was shot out of the sky by two surface-to-air missiles launched from the U.S.S. Vincennes, a guided-missile cruiser on duty with the United States Persian Gulf/Middle East Force. The first reports from Washington were that the Vincennes had acted in self-defense against hostile Iranian aircraft. Some 12 hours later, the Pentagon admitted that the Vincennes had made a mistake, that the aircraft it saw approaching was a wide-bodięd airliner on a regularly scheduled flight, not an F-14 Tomcat with hostile intent and capability.

In September 2010 Suresh Krishna, vice president of operations and integration at Polaris Industries Inc., a manufacturer of all-terrain vehicles, Side-by-Sides, and snowmobiles, needed to recommend a location for a new plant to manufacture the company's Side-by-Side vehicles.The economic slowdown in the United States had put considerable pressure on Polaris's profits, so the company was considering whether it should follow the lead of other manufacturers and open a facility in a country with lower labor costs. China and Mexico were shortlisted as possible locations for the new factory, which would be the first Polaris manufacturing facility located outside the Midwestern United States. By the end of the year Krishna needed to recommend to the board whether Polaris should build a new plant abroad (near-shored in Mexico or off-shored in China) or continue to manufacture in its American facilities. Evaluate tradeoffs between different geographic locations when establishing a manufacturing facility (off-shoring, near-shoring, and on-shoring) Run a sensitivity analysis on total cost Assess the impact of transportation costs, exchange rates, labor cost rates, lead times, and other assumptions on total costs Identify qualitative factors to be considered when deciding between non-U.S. facility locations, transportation time variability, consumer perceptions, and cultural differences

CHIEF EDITOR Ahmad Faris Ismail, IIUM, Malaysia EXECUTIVE EDITOR AHM Zahirul Alam, IIUM, Malaysia ASSOCIATE EDITOR Nor Farahidah Za’bah, IIUM, Malaysia LANGUAGE EDITOR Lynn Mason, Malaysia COPY EDITOR Hamzah Mohd. Salleh, IIUM, Malaysia EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Abdullah Al-Mamun, IIUM, Malaysia Abdumalik Rakhimov, IIUM, Malaysia Ali Sophian, IIUM, Malaysia Amir Akramin Shafie, IIUM, Malaysia Anis Nurashikin Nordin, IIUM, Malaysia Erry Yulian Triblas Adesta, IIUM, Malaysia Erwin Sulaeman, IIUM, Malaysia Hanafy Omar, Saudi Arabia Hazleen Anuar, IIUM, Malaysia Konstantin Khanin, University of Toronto, Canada Ma'an Al-Khatib, IIUM, Malaysia Md Zahangir Alam, IIUM, Malaysia Meftah Hrairi, IIUM, Malaysia Mohamed B. Trabia, United States Mohammad S. Alam, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, United States Mustafizur Rahman, National University Singapore, Singapore Ossama Abdulkhalik, Michigan Technological University, United States Razi Nalim, IUPUI, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States Rosminazuin AB. Rahim, IIUM, Malaysia Waqar Asrar, IIUM, Malaysia AIMS & SCOPE OF IIUMENGINEERING JOURNAL The IIUM Engineering Journal, published biannually, is a carefully refereed international publication of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). Contributions of high technical merit within the span of engineering disciplines; covering the main areas of engineering: Electrical and Computer Engineering; Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering; Automation and Mechatronics Engineering; Material and Chemical Engineering; Environmental and Civil Engineering; Biotechnology and Bioengineering; Engineering Mathematics and Physics; and Computer Science and Information Technology are considered for publication in this journal. Contributions from other areas of Engineering and Applied Science are also welcomed. The IIUM Engineering Journal publishes contributions under Regular papers and Invited review papers. It also welcomes contributions that address solutions to the specific challenges of the developing world, and address science and technology issues from an Islamic and multidisciplinary perspective. REFEREES’ NETWORK All papers submitted to IIUM Engineering Journal will be subjected to a rigorous reviewing process through a worldwide network of specialized and competent referees. Each accepted paper should have at least two positive referees’ assessments. SUBMISSION OF A MANUSCRIPT A manuscript should be submitted online to the IIUM-Engineering Journal website at http://journals.iium.edu.my/ejournal. Further correspondence on the status of the paper could be done through the journal website. INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE A. Anwar, United States Abdul Latif Bin Ahmad, Malaysia Farzad Ismail, USM, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia Hanafy Omar, Saudi Arabia Hany Ammar, United States Idris Mohammed Bugaje, Nigeria K.B. Ramachandran, India Kunzu Abdella, Canada Luis Le Moyne, ISAT, University of Burgundy, France M Mujtaba, United Kingdom Mohamed AI-Rubei, Ireland Mohamed B Trabia, United States Syed Kamrul Islam, United States Tibor Czigany, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary Yiu-Wing Mai, The University of Sydney, Australia. Published by: IIUM Press, International Islamic University Malaysia Jalan Gombak, 53100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Phone (+603) 6421-5014, Fax: (+603) 6421-6298 Whilst every effort is made by the publisher and editorial board to see that no inaccurate or misleading data, opinion or statement appears in this Journal, they wish to make it clear that the data and opinions appearing in the articles and advertisement herein are the responsibility of the contributor or advertiser concerned. Accordingly, the publisher and the editorial committee accept no liability whatsoever for the consequence of any such inaccurate or misleading data, opinion or statement. IIUM Engineering Journal ISSN: 1511-788X E-ISSN: 2289-7860

Clinical research is necessary to advance medical knowledge and to test new drugs or devices. It is therefore vital to society, and ethically imperative, that clinical studies be performed if patients are to have access to safe and effective treatments. However, clinical research by its very nature involves risk. Subjects who volunteer in clinical studies may receive no benefit; in fact, they may be seriously harmed or even die as a result of their participation. Indeed, research-related injuries and deaths, though relatively few in number (1), have become the subject of much controversy in recent years (2). Thus, the protection of human research subjects must be given the highest priority by researchers, their institutions, and the government and regulatory bodies charged with overseeing the clinical research process. Central to this process is the institutional review board (IRB) in the United States (U.S.), or research ethics board as it is known in Canada. (For the purpose of this paper, the term "IRB" will be used to refer to both American and Canadian boards.) The IRB has frequently been referred to as the "first line of defense" in research subject protection (3), yet the specific roles and responsibilities of this board and its members are not clear (4). Defining these roles and responsibilities is more important now than ever before, for several reasons.

CHIEF EDITOR Ahmad Faris Ismail, IIUM, Malaysia TECHNICAL EDITOR Sany Izan Ihsan, IIUM, Malaysia EXECUTIVE EDITOR AHM Zahirul Alam, IIUM, Malaysia ASSOCIATE EDITOR Nor Farahidah Za’bah, IIUM, Malaysia LANGUAGE EDITOR Lynn Mason, Malaysia COPY EDITOR Hamzah Mohd. Salleh, IIUM, Malaysia MALAY TRANSLATOR Nurul Arfah Che Mustapha, IIUM, Malaysia EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Abdullah Al-Mamun, IIUM, Malaysia Abdumalik Rakhimov, IIUM, Malaysia Ali Sophian, IIUM, Malaysia Erwin Sulaeman, IIUM, Malaysia Hanafy Omar, Saudi Arabia Hazleen Anuar, IIUM, Malaysia Konstantin Khanin, University of Toronto, Canada Ma'an Al-Khatib, IIUM, Malaysia Md Zahangir Alam, IIUM, Malaysia Meftah Hrairi, IIUM, Malaysia Mohamed B. Trabia, United States Mohammad S. Alam, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, United States Mustafizur Rahman, National University Singapore, Singapore Ossama Abdulkhalik, Michigan Technological University, United States Othman O Khalifa, IIUM, Malaysia Razi Nalim, IUPUI, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States Rosminazuin AB. Rahim, IIUM, Malaysia Sharifah Imihezri Syed Shaharuddin, IIUM, Malaysia Waqar Asrar, IIUM, Malaysia INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE Anwar, United States Abdul Latif Bin Ahmad, Malaysia Farzad Ismail, USM, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia Hanafy Omar, Saudi Arabia Hany Ammar, United States Idris Mohammed Bugaje, Nigeria K.B. Ramachandran, India Kunzu Abdella, Canada Luis Le Moyne, ISAT, University of Burgundy, France M Mujtaba, United Kingdom Mohamed AI-Rubei, Ireland Mohamed B Trabia, United States Syed Kamrul Islam, United States Tibor Czigany, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary Yiu-Wing Mai, The University of Sydney, Australia. AIMS & SCOPE OF IIUM ENGINEERING JOURNAL The IIUM Engineering Journal, published biannually (January and July), is a carefully refereed international publication of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). Contributions of high technical merit within the span of engineering disciplines; covering the main areas of engineering: Electrical and Computer Engineering; Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering; Automation and Mechatronics Engineering; Material and Chemical Engineering; Environmental and Civil Engineering; Biotechnology and Bioengineering; Engineering Mathematics and Physics; and Computer Science and Information Technology are considered for publication in this journal. Contributions from other areas of Engineering and Applied Science are also welcomed. The IIUM Engineering Journal publishes contributions under Regular papers and Invited review papers. It also welcomes contributions that address solutions to the specific challenges of the developing world, and address science and technology issues from an Islamic and multidisciplinary perspective. REFEREES’ NETWORK All papers submitted to IIUM Engineering Journal will be subjected to a rigorous reviewing process through a worldwide network of specialized and competent referees. Each accepted paper should have at least two positive referees’ assessments. SUBMISSION OF A MANUSCRIPT A manuscript should be submitted online to the IIUM-Engineering Journal website at http://journals.iium.edu.my/ejournal. Further correspondence on the status of the paper could be done through the journal website. Whilst every effort is made by the publisher and editorial board to see that no inaccurate or misleading data, opinion or statement appears in this Journal, they wish to make it clear that the data and opinions appearing in the articles and advertisement herein are the responsibility of the contributor or advertiser concerned. Accordingly, the publisher and the editorial committee accept no liability whatsoever for the consequence of any such inaccurate or misleading data, opinion or statement. IIUM Engineering Journal ISSN: 1511-788X E-ISSN: 2289-7860 Published by: IIUM Press, International Islamic University Malaysia Jalan Gombak, 53100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Phone (+603) 6421-5014, Fax: (+603) 6421-6298

ABSTRACT Introduction Obstetric fistulae are a leading scourge for women in developing countries resulting, in severe individual suffering and devastating socio-economic repercussions for her family and community. The underlying causes of obstetric fistula stem from multiple factors to include poor nutrition, early marriage, insufficient education and inferior social status of women as well as substandard medical care. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has invested more than $100 million globally since 2004 to address these factors as well as support women suffering with fistulae. The ultimate goal is to eradicate obstetric fistula in Bangladesh in the next 20 years. Despite these efforts, nearly 20,000 women in Bangladesh, still suffer with this malady. Methods To close this gap, USAID and the Department of Defense (DOD) developed a novel Interagency Agreement (IAA) leveraging the surgical skills of military health professionals to scale-up the ongoing fistula care program. The agreement outlined three lines of effort: (1) treat existing fistulae by bolstering surgical capacity of the existing USAID fistula care program; (2) promote fistula mitigation with lectures and hands-on teaching of obstetric care as well as safe gynecologic surgery; and (3) assist with advocacy at higher levels of the Bangladesh government. A Bangladesh Fistula Mission Partnership working group was formed to design and implement this IAA. Critical partners from the US Embassy in Dhaka included USAID (Health, Legal, Contracting), the DOD (Office of Defense Cooperation), and Department of State (Regional Security Officer). Partners from the US Army included United States Army-Pacific Command (Surgeon, Legal, Finance, Security Cooperation, Contracting), Regional Health Command-Pacific (Operations, Legal, Public Affairs), and Tripler Army Medical Center (Department of OBGYN, Operations, Public Affairs). Institutional Review Board approval was not required as the treatments offered were standard of care. Results The Tripler Army Medical Center (TAMC) health professionals executed the IAA with one pre-deployment site survey and two surgical missions in 2016–2017. The military team supported the surgical repair of 40 pelvic fistulae and perineal tears and provided operative management for an additional 25 patients with pelvic organ prolapse. Furthermore, the team conducted 19 professional lectures and multiple educational forums at hospitals in Kumudini, Khulna and the premier medical university in Dhaka for over 800 attendees including physicians, nurses and students to help prevent obstetric and surgical fistulae. Importantly, the team assisted USAID as subject matter experts in its advocacy to the Bangladesh Ministry of Health for improved maternity care and regulatory oversight. During the missions, the team enhanced their readiness by exercising individual and collective tasks while exposing personnel to the cultural context of the region. Conclusion This IAA was the first USAID funded and DoD-executed health mission in the US Indo-Pacific Command Area of Responsibility. Direct participation in the IAA enabled TAMC to support the US Indo-Pacific Command Theater Campaign Plan, the Department of Defense Instruction 2000.30 on Global Health Engagements, the USAID Country Development Cooperation Strategy, and the US Ambassadors Integrated Country Strategy Objectives in Bangladesh. This effort can serve as a model for future cooperation between USAID and the DoD.

Abstract Background The stay-at-home orders imposed in early April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in various states complicated mosquito control activities across the United States (US), and Florida was no exception. Mosquito control programs are the first line of defense against mosquito-borne pathogens. The purpose of this study was to examine the capabilities of Florida mosquito programs to implement key mosquito measures during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Methods Using a self-administered online survey, we examined the capabilities of all Florida mosquito control programs (both state-approved mosquito districts, N = 63; and open programs, N = 27) at a time when the state of Florida was still under heightened awareness of, stay-at-home orders and planning a phase 1 reopening over the COVID-19 pandemic (June to July 2020). The final sample included mosquito control programs structured as the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) (n = 42), independent tax district (n = 16), municipal (n = 10), and health or emergency department (n = 5). We used descriptive statistics to summarize information about the characteristics of responding programs, their implemented mosquito control and surveillance activities. wWe used bivariate analysis to compare the characteristics of responding programs and the self-reported mosquito measures. Results Of the recruited mosquito control programs, 73 completed the survey (81.1% response rate; 73/90). Of these, 57.5% (n = 42) were Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) mosquito control programs, 21.9% (n = 16) were independent tax district programs, 13.7% (n = 10) were municipal mosquito control programs, and only 6.8% (n = 5) were either health or emergency department mosquito control programs. Except for arbovirus surveillance, most programs either fully or partially performed larval (61.8%) and adult (78.9%) surveillance; most programs conducted species-specific control for Aedes aegypti (85.2%, n = 54), Aedes albopictus (87.3%, n = 55), Culex quinquefasciatus (92.1%, n = 58), and Culex nigripalpus (91.9%, n = 57). Conclusions Findings underscore the importance of ongoing mosquito control activities, and suggest that Florida mosquito control programs are vigilant and have significant capability to handle potential mosquito-borne disease threats, but arbovirus surveillance systems (laboratory testing of mosquito pools and testing of human and nonhuman specimens for arboviruses) are needed during pandemics as well.

CHIEF EDITOR Ahmad Faris Ismail, IIUM, Malaysia EXECUTIVE EDITOR AHM Zahirul Alam, IIUM, Malaysia ASSOCIATE EDITOR Anis Nurashikin Nordin, IIUM, Malaysia LANGUAGE EDITOR Lynn Mason, Malaysia COPY EDITOR Hamzah Mohd. Salleh, IIUM, Malaysia EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Abdullah Al-Mamun, IIUM, Malaysia Abdumalik Rakhimov, IIUM, Malaysia Amir Akramin Shafie, IIUM, Malaysia Erry Yulian Triblas Adesta, IIUM, Malaysia Erwin Sulaeman, IIUM, Malaysia Hanafy Omar, Saudi Arabia Hazleen Anuar, IIUM, Malaysia Konstantin Khanin, University of Toronto, Canada Ma'an Al-Khatib, IIUM, Malaysia Md Zahangir Alam, IIUM, Malaysia Meftah Hrairi, IIUM, Malaysia Mohamed B. Trabia, United States Mohammad S. Alam, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, United States Muataz Hazza Faizi Al Hazza, IIUM, Malaysia Mustafizur Rahman, National University Singapore, Singapore Nor Farahidah Binti Za'bah, IIUM, Malaysia Ossama Abdulkhalik, Michigan Technological University, United States Rosminazuin AB. Rahim, IIUM, Malaysia Waqar Asrar, IIUM, Malaysia INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE Anwar, United States Abdul Latif Bin Ahmad, Malaysia Farzad Ismail, USM, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia Hanafy Omar, Saudi Arabia Hany Ammar, United States Idris Mohammed Bugaje, Nigeria K.B. Ramachandran, India Kunzu Abdella, Canada Luis Le Moyne, ISAT, University of Burgundy, France M Mujtaba, United Kingdom Mohamed AI-Rubei, Ireland Mohamed B Trabia, United States Mohammad S. Alam, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, United States Nazmul Karim Ossama Abdulkhalik, Michigan Technological University, United States Razi Nalim, IUPUI, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States Syed Kamrul Islam, United States Tibor Czigany, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary Yiu-Wing Mai, The University of Sydney, Australia. AIMS & SCOPE OF IIUMENGINEERING JOURNAL The IIUM Engineering Journal, published biannually, is a carefully refereed international publication of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). Contributions of high technical merit within the span of engineering disciplines; covering the main areas of engineering: Electrical and Computer Engineering; Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering; Automation and Mechatronics Engineering; Material and Chemical Engineering; Environmental and Civil Engineering; Biotechnology and Bioengineering; Engineering Mathematics and Physics; and Computer Science and Information Technology are considered for publication in this journal. Contributions from other areas of Engineering and Applied Science are also welcomed. The IIUM Engineering Journal publishes contributions under Regular papers, Invited review papers, Short communications, Technical notes, and Letters to the editor (with publication charge). REFEREES’ NETWORK All papers submitted to IIUM Engineering Journal will be subjected to a rigorous reviewing process through a worldwide network of specialized and competent referees. Each accepted paper should have at least two positive referees’ assessments. SUBMISSION OF A MANUSCRIPT A manuscript should be submitted online to the IIUM-Engineering Journal website: https://journals.iium.edu.my/ejournal. Further correspondence on the status of the paper could be done through the journal website and the e-mail addresses of the Executive Editor: zahirulalam@iium.edu.my Faculty of Engineering, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Jan Gombak, 53100, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Phone: (603) 6196 4529, Fax:(603) 6196 4488. Published by International Islamic University Malaysia Jalan Gombak, 53100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Phone (+603) 6196-5018, Fax: (+603) 6196-6298 Website: http://www.iium.edu.my/office/iiumpress Whilst every effort is made by the publisher and editorial board to see that no inaccurate or misleading data, opinion or statement appears in this Journal, they wish to make it clear that the data and opinions appearing in the articles and advertisement herein are the responsibility of the contributor or advertiser concerned. Accordingly, the publisher and the editorial committee accept no liability whatsoever for the consequence of any such inaccurate or misleading data, opinion or statement. IIUM ENGINEERING JOURNAL ISSN: 1511-788X E-ISSN: 2289-7860 Volume 20, Issue 1, June 2019 Table of Content Editorial Page COVER PAGE CHEMICAL AND BIOTECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING COMPARATIVE METAGENOMICS ANALYSIS OF PALM OIL MILL EFFLUENT (POME) USING THREE DIFFERENT BIOINFORMATICS PIPELINES Adibah parmen, MOHD NOOR MAT ISA, FARAH FADWA BENBELGACEM, Hamzah Mohd Salleh, Ibrahim Ali Noorbatcha 1 - 11 PDF LIPASE IMMOBILIZATION ON FIBERS GRAFTED WITH POLYGLYCIDYL METHACHRYLATE Maan Alkhatib, Nik Adlin Bahrudin, HAMZAH M. SALLEH, Teo M. Ting 12 - 23 PDF COLONY COMPOSITION AND BIOMASS OF MACROTERMES GILVUS HAGEN (BLATTODEA: TERMITIDAE) IN INDONESIA NIKEN SUBEKTI, Priyantini Widiyaningrum, Dodi Nandika, Dedy Duryadi Solihin 24 - 28 PDF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING A SURVEY OF MATLAB EFFICIENCY IN DAMAGE DETECTION OF CONCRETE GRAVITY IN CONCRETE GRAVITY DAMS Sajad Esmaielzadeh, Hassan Ahmadi, Seyed Abbas Hosseini 29 - 48 PDF IMPLEMENTATION OF GOVERNMENT ASSET MANAGEMENT USING TERRESTRIAL LASER SCANNER (TLS) AS PART OF BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING (BIM) Asep Yusup Saptari, S. Hendriatiningsih, Dony Bagaskara, Levana Apriani 49 - 69 PDF THE ANALYSIS OF LIQUEFACTION PHENOMENON OF THE FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT USING SEISMIC MONITORING EQUIPMENT RINI KUSUMAWARDANI, Untoro Nugroho, Sri Handayani, Mareta Aspirilia Fananda 70 - 78 PDF ELECTRICAL, COMPUTER AND COMMUNICATIONS ENGINEERING PSG DYNAMIC CHANGES IN METHAMPHETAMINE ABUSE USING RECURRENCE QUANTIFICATION ANALYSIS Sayyed Majid Mazinani, GHASEM SADEGHI BAJESTANI 79 - 89 PDF FINITE ELEMENT SIMULATION OF MEMS PIEZOELECTRIC ENERGY SCAVENGER BASED ON PZT THIN FILM Aliza Aini Md Ralib, Nur Wafa Asyiqin Zulfakher, Rosminazuin Ab Rahim, Nor Farahidah Za'bah, Noor Hazrin Hany Mohamad Hanif 90 - 99 PDF Evaluation on the Effectiveness of Visual Learning Environment on Programming Course From Students’ Perspectives Nasa Zata Dina, Eto Wuryanto, Rachman Sinatriya Marjianto 100 - 107 PDF TOWARDS AN EFFICIENT TRAFFIC CONGESTION PREDICTION METHOD BASED ON NEURAL NETWORKS AND BIG GPS DATA Wiam Elleuch, Ali Wali, Adel M. Alimi 108 - 118 PDF AUGMENTATIVE AND ALTERNATIVE COMMUNICATION METHOD BASED ON TONGUE CLICKING FOR MUTE DISABILITIES NIK NUR WAHIDAH NIK HASHIM, MUHAMMAD AMIRUL AMIN AZMI, HAZLINA MD. YUSOF 119 - 128 PDF A COMBINED DEEP LEARNING MODEL FOR PERSIAN SENTIMENT ANALYSIS Zahra Bokaee Nezhad, Mohammad Ali Deihimi 129 - 139 PDF MODIFIED CAPACITOR ASSISTED EXTENDED BOOST QUASI Z-SOURCE INVERTER FOR THE GRID-CONNECTED PV SYSTEM N Hemalatha, Seyezhai Ramalingam 140 - 157 PDF A NOVEL USER PROFILE-BASED FUZZY APPROACH FOR EVALUATING TRUST IN SEMANTIC WEB SOMAYEH ASHTARI, MALIHE DANESH, hossein shirgahi 158 - 176 PDF PLL-BASED 3?; INVERTER CIRCUIT FOR MICROGRID SYSTEM OPERATED BY ELECTROSTATIC GENERATOR S.M.A Motakabber, Tawfikur Rahman, Muhammad I. Ibrahimy, A. H. M. Zahirul Alam 177 - 193 PDF INTELLIGENT CONTROL SYSTEM OF A WHEELCHAIR FOR PEOPLE WITH QUADRIPLEGIA PARALYSIS hayder Fadhil; Saif Hussam; Yasseen Sadoon 194 - 201 PDF MATERIALS AND MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING Adsorptive removal of Pb (II) using exfoliated graphite adsorbent:influence of experimental conditions and magnetic CoFe2O4 decoration Thi Thuong Nguyen, Thi Ngoc Thu Nguyen, Long Giang Bach, Duy Trinh Nguyen, Thi Phuong Quynh Bui 202 - 215 PDF Grease Quality Issues on Middle Voltage Switchgear: Corrosivity, Resistivity, Safety and Ageing Mohd Sabri Mahmud, Sanuri Ishak, Mohd Najib Razali, Mohd Aizudin Abdul Aziz, Musfafikri Musa 216 - 228 PDF MECHANICAL AND AEROSPACE ENGINEERING A RANS K-? SIMULATION OF 2D TURBULENT NATURAL CONVECTION IN AN ENCLOSURE WITH HEATING SOURCES mehdi ahmadi, Seyed Ali Agha Mirjalily, Seyed Amir Abbas Oloomi 240 - 255 PDF MECHATRONICS AND AUTOMATION ENGINEERING MAGNETICALLY INDUCED PIEZOELECTRIC ENERGY HARVESTER VIA HYBRID KINETIC MOTION Huda Azam, Noor Hazrin Hany Mohamad Hanif, Aliza Aini Md Ralib 256 - 268 PDF

Photograph by Gonzalo Echeverria (2010)Declaring War Soon after Al Qaeda’s terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001, the Bush Administration described its new grand strategy: the “Global War on Terror”. This underpinned the subsequent counter-insurgency in Afghanistan and the United States invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Media pundits quickly applied the Global War on Terror label to the Madrid, Bali and London bombings, to convey how Al Qaeda’s terrorism had gone transnational. Meanwhile, international relations scholars debated the extent to which September 11 had changed the international system (Brenner; Mann 303). American intellectuals adopted several variations of the Global War on Terror in what initially felt like a transitional period of US foreign policy (Burns). Walter Laqueur suggested Al Qaeda was engaged in a “cosmological” and perpetual war. Paul Berman likened Al Qaeda and militant Islam to the past ideological battles against communism and fascism (Heilbrunn 248). In a widely cited article, neoconservative thinker Norman Podhoretz suggested the United States faced “World War IV”, which had three interlocking drivers: Al Qaeda and trans-national terrorism; political Islam as the West’s existential enemy; and nuclear proliferation to ‘rogue’ countries and non-state actors (Friedman 3). Podhoretz’s tone reflected a revival of his earlier Cold War politics and critique of the New Left (Friedman 148-149; Halper and Clarke 56; Heilbrunn 210). These stances attracted widespread support. For instance, the United States Marine Corp recalibrated its mission to fight a long war against “World War IV-like” enemies. Yet these stances left the United States unprepared as the combat situations in Afghanistan and Iraq worsened (Ricks; Ferguson; Filkins). Neoconservative ideals for Iraq “regime change” to transform the Middle East failed to deal with other security problems such as Pakistan’s Musharraf regime (Dorrien 110; Halper and Clarke 210-211; Friedman 121, 223; Heilbrunn 252). The Manichean and open-ended framing became a self-fulfilling prophecy for insurgents, jihadists, and militias. The Bush Administration quietly abandoned the Global War on Terror in July 2005. Widespread support had given way to policymaker doubt. Why did so many intellectuals and strategists embrace the Global War on Terror as the best possible “grand strategy” perspective of a post-September 11 world? Why was there so little doubt of this worldview? This is a debate with roots as old as the Sceptics versus the Sophists. Explanations usually focus on the Bush Administration’s “Vulcans” war cabinet: Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield, and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, who later became Secretary of State (Mann xv-xvi). The “Vulcans” were named after the Roman god Vulcan because Rice’s hometown Birmingham, Alabama, had “a mammoth fifty-six foot statue . . . [in] homage to the city’s steel industry” (Mann x) and the name stuck. Alternatively, explanations focus on how neoconservative thinkers shaped the intellectual climate after September 11, in a receptive media climate. Biographers suggest that “neoconservatism had become an echo chamber” (Heilbrunn 242) with its own media outlets, pundits, and think-tanks such as the American Enterprise Institute and Project for a New America. Neoconservatism briefly flourished in Washington DC until Iraq’s sectarian violence discredited the “Vulcans” and neoconservative strategists like Paul Wolfowitz (Friedman; Ferguson). The neoconservatives' combination of September 11’s aftermath with strongly argued historical analogies was initially convincing. They conferred with scholars such as Bernard Lewis, Samuel P. Huntington and Victor Davis Hanson to construct classicist historical narratives and to explain cultural differences. However, the history of the decade after September 11 also contains mis-steps and mistakes which make it a series of contingent decisions (Ferguson; Bergen). One way to analyse these contingent decisions is to pose “what if?” counterfactuals, or feasible alternatives to historical events (Lebow). For instance, what if September 11 had been a chemical and biological weapons attack? (Mann 317). Appendix 1 includes a range of alternative possibilities and “minimal rewrites” or slight variations on the historical events which occurred. Collectively, these counterfactuals suggest the role of agency, chance, luck, and the juxtaposition of better and worse outcomes. They pose challenges to the classicist interpretation adopted soon after September 11 to justify “World War IV” (Podhoretz). A ‘Two-Track’ Process for ‘World War IV’ After the September 11 attacks, I think an overlapping two-track process occurred with the “Vulcans” cabinet, neoconservative advisers, and two “echo chambers”: neoconservative think-tanks and the post-September 11 media. Crucially, Bush’s “Vulcans” war cabinet succeeded in gaining civilian control of the United States war decision process. Although successful in initiating the 2003 Iraq War this civilian control created a deeper crisis in US civil-military relations (Stevenson; Morgan). The “Vulcans” relied on “politicised” intelligence such as a United Kingdom intelligence report on Iraq’s weapons development program. The report enabled “a climate of undifferentiated fear to arise” because its public version did not distinguish between chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons (Halper and Clarke, 210). The cautious 2003 National Intelligence Estimates (NIE) report on Iraq was only released in a strongly edited form. For instance, the US Department of Energy had expressed doubts about claims that Iraq had approached Niger for uranium, and was using aluminium tubes for biological and chemical weapons development. Meanwhile, the post-September 11 media had become a second “echo chamber” (Halper and Clarke 194-196) which amplified neoconservative arguments. Berman, Laqueur, Podhoretz and others who framed the intellectual climate were “risk entrepreneurs” (Mueller 41-43) that supported the “World War IV” vision. The media also engaged in aggressive “flak” campaigns (Herman and Chomsky 26-28; Mueller 39-42) designed to limit debate and to stress foreign policy stances and themes which supported the Bush Administration. When former Central Intelligence Agency director James Woolsey’s claimed that Al Qaeda had close connections to Iraqi intelligence, this was promoted in several books, including Michael Ledeen’s War Against The Terror Masters, Stephen Hayes’ The Connection, and Laurie Mylroie’s Bush v. The Beltway; and in partisan media such as Fox News, NewsMax, and The Weekly Standard who each attacked the US State Department and the CIA (Dorrien 183; Hayes; Ledeen; Mylroie; Heilbrunn 237, 243-244; Mann 310). This was the media “echo chamber” at work. The group Accuracy in Media also campaigned successfully to ensure that US cable providers did not give Al Jazeera English access to US audiences (Barker). Cosmopolitan ideals seemed incompatible with what the “flak” groups desired. The two-track process converged on two now infamous speeches. US President Bush’s State of the Union Address on 29 January 2002, and US Secretary of State Colin Powell’s presentation to the United Nations on 5 February 2003. Bush’s speech included a line from neoconservative David Frumm about North Korea, Iraq and Iran as an “Axis of Evil” (Dorrien 158; Halper and Clarke 139-140; Mann 242, 317-321). Powell’s presentation to the United Nations included now-debunked threat assessments. In fact, Powell had altered the speech’s original draft by I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, who was Cheney’s chief of staff (Dorrien 183-184). Powell claimed that Iraq had mobile biological weapons facilities, linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. However, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Mohamed El-Baradei, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the State Department, and the Institute for Science and International Security all strongly doubted this claim, as did international observers (Dorrien 184; Halper and Clarke 212-213; Mann 353-354). Yet this information was suppressed: attacked by “flak” or given little visible media coverage. Powell’s agenda included trying to rebuild an international coalition and to head off weather changes that would affect military operations in the Middle East (Mann 351). Both speeches used politicised variants of “weapons of mass destruction”, taken from the counterterrorism literature (Stern; Laqueur). Bush’s speech created an inflated geopolitical threat whilst Powell relied on flawed intelligence and scientific visuals to communicate a non-existent threat (Vogel). However, they had the intended effect on decision makers. US Under-Secretary of Defense, the neoconservative Paul Wolfowitz, later revealed to Vanity Fair that “weapons of mass destruction” was selected as an issue that all potential stakeholders could agree on (Wilkie 69). Perhaps the only remaining outlet was satire: Armando Iannucci’s 2009 film In The Loop parodied the diplomatic politics surrounding Powell’s speech and the civil-military tensions on the Iraq War’s eve. In the short term the two track process worked in heading off doubt. The “Vulcans” blocked important information on pre-war Iraq intelligence from reaching the media and the general public (Prados). Alternatively, they ignored area specialists and other experts, such as when Coalition Provisional Authority’s L. Paul Bremer ignored the US State Department’s fifteen volume ‘Future of Iraq’ project (Ferguson). Public “flak” and “risk entrepreneurs” mobilised a range of motivations from grief and revenge to historical memory and identity politics. This combination of private and public processes meant that although doubts were expressed, they could be contained through the dual echo chambers of neoconservative policymaking and the post-September 11 media. These factors enabled the “Vulcans” to proceed with their “regime change” plans despite strong public opposition from anti-war protestors. Expressing DoubtsMany experts and institutions expressed doubt about specific claims the Bush Administration made to support the 2003 Iraq War. This doubt came from three different and sometimes overlapping groups. Subject matter experts such as the IAEA’s Mohamed El-Baradei and weapons development scientists countered the UK intelligence report and Powell’s UN speech. However, they did not get the media coverage warranted due to “flak” and “echo chamber” dynamics. Others could challenge misleading historical analogies between insurgent Iraq and Nazi Germany, and yet not change the broader outcomes (Benjamin). Independent journalists one group who gained new information during the 1990-91 Gulf War: some entered Iraq from Kuwait and documented a more humanitarian side of the war to journalists embedded with US military units (Uyarra). Finally, there were dissenters from bureaucratic and institutional processes. In some cases, all three overlapped. In their separate analyses of the post-September 11 debate on intelligence “failure”, Zegart and Jervis point to a range of analytic misperceptions and institutional problems. However, the intelligence community is separated from policymakers such as the “Vulcans”. Compartmentalisation due to the “need to know” principle also means that doubting analysts can be blocked from releasing information. Andrew Wilkie discovered this when he resigned from Australia’s Office for National Assessments (ONA) as a transnational issues analyst. Wilkie questioned the pre-war assessments in Powell’s United Nations speech that were used to justify the 2003 Iraq War. Wilkie was then attacked publicly by Australian Prime Minister John Howard. This overshadowed a more important fact: both Howard and Wilkie knew that due to Australian legislation, Wilkie could not publicly comment on ONA intelligence, despite the invitation to do so. This barrier also prevented other intelligence analysts from responding to the “Vulcans”, and to “flak” and “echo chamber” dynamics in the media and neoconservative think-tanks. Many analysts knew that the excerpts released from the 2003 NIE on Iraq was highly edited (Prados). For example, Australian agencies such as the ONA, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the Department of Defence knew this (Wilkie 98). However, analysts are trained not to interfere with policymakers, even when there are significant civil-military irregularities. Military officials who spoke out about pre-war planning against the “Vulcans” and their neoconservative supporters were silenced (Ricks; Ferguson). Greenlight Capital’s hedge fund manager David Einhorn illustrates in a different context what might happen if analysts did comment. Einhorn gave a speech to the Ira Sohn Conference on 15 May 2002 debunking the management of Allied Capital. Einhorn’s “short-selling” led to retaliation from Allied Capital, a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation, and growing evidence of potential fraud. If analysts adopted Einhorn’s tactics—combining rigorous analysis with targeted, public denunciation that is widely reported—then this may have short-circuited the “flak” and “echo chamber” effects prior to the 2003 Iraq War. The intelligence community usually tries to pre-empt such outcomes via contestation exercises and similar processes. This was the goal of the 2003 NIE on Iraq, despite the fact that the US Department of Energy which had the expertise was overruled by other agencies who expressed opinions not necessarily based on rigorous scientific and technical analysis (Prados; Vogel). In counterterrorism circles, similar disinformation arose about Aum Shinrikyo’s biological weapons research after its sarin gas attack on Tokyo’s subway system on 20 March 1995 (Leitenberg). Disinformation also arose regarding nuclear weapons proliferation to non-state actors in the 1990s (Stern). Interestingly, several of the “Vulcans” and neoconservatives had been involved in an earlier controversial contestation exercise: Team B in 1976. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) assembled three Team B groups in order to evaluate and forecast Soviet military capabilities. One group headed by historian Richard Pipes gave highly “alarmist” forecasts and then attacked a CIA NIE about the Soviets (Dorrien 50-56; Mueller 81). The neoconservatives adopted these same tactics to reframe the 2003 NIE from its position of caution, expressed by several intelligence agencies and experts, to belief that Iraq possessed a current, covert program to develop weapons of mass destruction (Prados). Alternatively, information may be leaked to the media to express doubt. “Non-attributable” background interviews to establishment journalists like Seymour Hersh and Bob Woodward achieved this. Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange has recently achieved notoriety due to US diplomatic cables from the SIPRNet network released from 28 November 2010 onwards. Supporters have favourably compared Assange to Daniel Ellsberg, the RAND researcher who leaked the Pentagon Papers (Ellsberg; Ehrlich and Goldsmith). Whilst Elsberg succeeded because a network of US national papers continued to print excerpts from the Pentagon Papers despite lawsuit threats, Assange relied in part on favourable coverage from the UK’s Guardian newspaper. However, suspected sources such as US Army soldier Bradley Manning are not protected whilst media outlets are relatively free to publish their scoops (Walt, ‘Woodward’). Assange’s publication of SIPRNet’s diplomatic cables will also likely mean greater restrictions on diplomatic and military intelligence (Walt, ‘Don’t Write’). Beyond ‘Doubt’ Iraq’s worsening security discredited many of the factors that had given the neoconservatives credibility. The post-September 11 media became increasingly more critical of the US military in Iraq (Ferguson) and cautious about the “echo chamber” of think-tanks and media outlets. Internet sites for Al Jazeera English, Al-Arabiya and other networks have enabled people to bypass “flak” and directly access these different viewpoints. Most damagingly, the non-discovery of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction discredited both the 2003 NIE on Iraq and Colin Powell’s United Nations presentation (Wilkie 104). Likewise, “risk entrepreneurs” who foresaw “World War IV” in 2002 and 2003 have now distanced themselves from these apocalyptic forecasts due to a series of mis-steps and mistakes by the Bush Administration and Al Qaeda’s over-calculation (Bergen). The emergence of sites such as Wikileaks, and networks like Al Jazeera English and Al-Arabiya, are a response to the politics of the past decade. They attempt to short-circuit past “echo chambers” through providing access to different sources and leaked data. The Global War on Terror framed the Bush Administration’s response to September 11 as a war (Kirk; Mueller 59). Whilst this prematurely closed off other possibilities, it has also unleashed a series of dynamics which have undermined the neoconservative agenda. The “classicist” history and historical analogies constructed to justify the “World War IV” scenario are just one of several potential frameworks. “Flak” organisations and media “echo chambers” are now challenged by well-financed and strategic alternatives such as Al Jazeera English and Al-Arabiya. Doubt is one defence against “risk entrepreneurs” who seek to promote a particular idea: doubt guards against uncritical adoption. Perhaps the enduring lesson of the post-September 11 debates, though, is that doubt alone is not enough. What is needed are individuals and institutions that understand the strategies which the neoconservatives and others have used, and who also have the soft power skills during crises to influence critical decision-makers to choose alternatives. Appendix 1: Counterfactuals Richard Ned Lebow uses “what if?” counterfactuals to examine alternative possibilities and “minimal rewrites” or slight variations on the historical events that occurred. The following counterfactuals suggest that the Bush Administration’s Global War on Terror could have evolved very differently . . . or not occurred at all. Fact: The 2003 Iraq War and 2001 Afghanistan counterinsurgency shaped the Bush Administration’s post-September 11 grand strategy. Counterfactual #1: Al Gore decisively wins the 2000 U.S. election. Bush v. Gore never occurs. After the September 11 attacks, Gore focuses on international alliance-building and gains widespread diplomatic support rather than a neoconservative agenda. He authorises Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan and works closely with the Musharraf regime in Pakistan to target Al Qaeda’s muhajideen. He ‘contains’ Saddam Hussein’s Iraq through measurement and signature, technical intelligence, and more stringent monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Minimal Rewrite: United 93 crashes in Washington DC, killing senior members of the Gore Administration. Fact: U.S. Special Operations Forces failed to kill Osama bin Laden in late November and early December 2001 at Tora Bora. Counterfactual #2: U.S. Special Operations Forces kill Osama bin Laden in early December 2001 during skirmishes at Tora Bora. Ayman al-Zawahiri is critically wounded, captured, and imprisoned. The rest of Al Qaeda is scattered. Minimal Rewrite: Osama bin Laden’s death turns him into a self-mythologised hero for decades. Fact: The UK Blair Government supplied a 50-page intelligence dossier on Iraq’s weapons development program which the Bush Administration used to support its pre-war planning. Counterfactual #3: Rogue intelligence analysts debunk the UK Blair Government’s claims through a series of ‘targeted’ leaks to establishment news sources. Minimal Rewrite: The 50-page intelligence dossier is later discovered to be correct about Iraq’s weapons development program. Fact: The Bush Administration used the 2003 National Intelligence Estimate to “build its case” for “regime change” in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. Counterfactual #4: A joint investigation by The New York Times and The Washington Post rebuts U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell’s speech to the United National Security Council, delivered on 5 February 2003. Minimal Rewrite: The Central Intelligence Agency’s whitepaper “Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Programs” (October 2002) more accurately reflects the 2003 NIE’s cautious assessments. Fact: The Bush Administration relied on Ahmed Chalabi for its postwar estimates about Iraq’s reconstruction. Counterfactual #5: The Bush Administration ignores Chalabi’s advice and relies instead on the U.S. State Department’s 15 volume report “The Future of Iraq”. Minimal Rewrite: The Coalition Provisional Authority appoints Ahmed Chalabi to head an interim Iraqi government. Fact: L. Paul Bremer signed orders to disband Iraq’s Army and to De-Ba’athify Iraq’s new government. Counterfactual #6: Bremer keeps Iraq’s Army intact and uses it to impose security in Baghdad to prevent looting and to thwart insurgents. Rather than a De-Ba’athification policy, Bremer uses former Baath Party members to gather situational intelligence. Minimal Rewrite: Iraq’s Army refuses to disband and the De-Ba’athification policy uncovers several conspiracies to undermine the Coalition Provisional Authority. AcknowledgmentsThanks to Stephen McGrail for advice on science and technology analysis.References Barker, Greg. “War of Ideas”. PBS Frontline. Boston, MA: 2007. ‹http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/newswar/video1.html› Benjamin, Daniel. “Condi’s Phony History.” Slate 29 Aug. 2003. ‹http://www.slate.com/id/2087768/pagenum/all/›. Bergen, Peter L. The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict between America and Al Qaeda. New York: The Free Press, 2011. Berman, Paul. Terror and Liberalism. W.W. Norton & Company: New York, 2003. Brenner, William J. “In Search of Monsters: Realism and Progress in International Relations Theory after September 11.” Security Studies 15.3 (2006): 496-528. Burns, Alex. “The Worldflash of a Coming Future.” M/C Journal 6.2 (April 2003). ‹http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0304/08-worldflash.php›. Dorrien, Gary. Imperial Designs: Neoconservatism and the New Pax Americana. New York: Routledge, 2004. Ehrlich, Judith, and Goldsmith, Rick. The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers. Berkley CA: Kovno Communications, 2009. Einhorn, David. Fooling Some of the People All of the Time: A Long Short (and Now Complete) Story. Hoboken NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2010. Ellison, Sarah. “The Man Who Spilled The Secrets.” Vanity Fair (Feb. 2011). ‹http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2011/02/the-guardian-201102›. Ellsberg, Daniel. Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers. New York: Viking, 2002. Ferguson, Charles. No End in Sight, New York: Representational Pictures, 2007. Filkins, Dexter. The Forever War. New York: Vintage Books, 2008. Friedman, Murray. The Neoconservative Revolution: Jewish Intellectuals and the Shaping of Public Policy. New York: Cambridge UP, 2005. Halper, Stefan, and Jonathan Clarke. America Alone: The Neo-Conservatives and the Global Order. New York: Cambridge UP, 2004. Hayes, Stephen F. The Connection: How Al Qaeda’s Collaboration with Saddam Hussein Has Endangered America. New York: HarperCollins, 2004. Heilbrunn, Jacob. They Knew They Were Right: The Rise of the Neocons. New York: Doubleday, 2008. Herman, Edward S., and Noam Chomsky. Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media. Rev. ed. New York: Pantheon Books, 2002. Iannucci, Armando. In The Loop. London: BBC Films, 2009. Jervis, Robert. Why Intelligence Fails: Lessons from the Iranian Revolution and the Iraq War. Ithaca NY: Cornell UP, 2010. Kirk, Michael. “The War behind Closed Doors.” PBS Frontline. Boston, MA: 2003. ‹http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/iraq/›. Laqueur, Walter. No End to War: Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century. New York: Continuum, 2003. Lebow, Richard Ned. Forbidden Fruit: Counterfactuals and International Relations. Princeton NJ: Princeton UP, 2010. Ledeen, Michael. The War against The Terror Masters. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2003. Leitenberg, Milton. “Aum Shinrikyo's Efforts to Produce Biological Weapons: A Case Study in the Serial Propagation of Misinformation.” Terrorism and Political Violence 11.4 (1999): 149-158. Mann, James. Rise of the Vulcans: The History of Bush’s War Cabinet. New York: Viking Penguin, 2004. Morgan, Matthew J. The American Military after 9/11: Society, State, and Empire. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. Mueller, John. Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe Them. New York: The Free Press, 2009. Mylroie, Laurie. Bush v The Beltway: The Inside Battle over War in Iraq. New York: Regan Books, 2003. Nutt, Paul C. Why Decisions Fail. San Francisco: Berrett-Koelher, 2002. Podhoretz, Norman. “How to Win World War IV”. Commentary 113.2 (2002): 19-29. Prados, John. Hoodwinked: The Documents That Reveal How Bush Sold Us a War. New York: The New Press, 2004. Ricks, Thomas. Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq. New York: The Penguin Press, 2006. Stern, Jessica. The Ultimate Terrorists. Boston, MA: Harvard UP, 2001. Stevenson, Charles A. Warriors and Politicians: US Civil-Military Relations under Stress. New York: Routledge, 2006. Walt, Stephen M. “Should Bob Woodward Be Arrested?” Foreign Policy 10 Dec. 2010. ‹http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/12/10/more_wikileaks_double_standards›. Walt, Stephen M. “‘Don’t Write If You Can Talk...’: The Latest from WikiLeaks.” Foreign Policy 29 Nov. 2010. ‹http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/11/29/dont_write_if_you_can_talk_the_latest_from_wikileaks›. Wilkie, Andrew. Axis of Deceit. Melbourne: Black Ink Books, 2003. Uyarra, Esteban Manzanares. “War Feels like War”. London: BBC, 2003. Vogel, Kathleen M. “Iraqi Winnebagos™ of Death: Imagined and Realized Futures of US Bioweapons Threat Assessments.” Science and Public Policy 35.8 (2008): 561–573. Zegart, Amy. Spying Blind: The CIA, the FBI and the Origins of 9/11. Princeton NJ: Princeton UP, 2007.

It is time for the truth to be brought out ... . Behind the scenes high-ranking Air Force officers are soberly concerned about the UFOs. But through official secrecy and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe the unknown flying objects are nonsense. -- Rear Admiral Roscoe Hillenkoetter, Director of Central Intelligence (1947-50), signed statement to Congress, 22 Aug. 1960 As an avid UFO enthusiast, an enduring subject of frustration for me is the complacency and ignorance that tends to characterise public knowledge of the phenomenon itself and its social repercussions. Its hard for people like myself to understand how anyone could not be interested in UFOs, let alone Congressional statements from ex-Directors of the Central Intelligence Agency testifying to an official policy of secrecy and ridicule (in other words, propaganda), which aims to suppress public interest and belief in UFOs. As a student of cultural studies who also happens to be a conspiracy theorist, the idea of the Central Intelligence Agency seeking to manipulate one of the twentieth century's most significant icons -- the UFO -- is a fascinating one, because it allows for the possibility that the ways in which the UFO has come to be understood by the public may involve more than the everyday cultural processes described by cultural studies. A review of the history of the CIA's interest in UFO phenomena actually suggests, quite compellingly I think, that since the 1950s, American culture (and, indirectly and to a lesser degree, the rest of the western world) may have been subjected to a highly sophisticated system of UFO propaganda that originated from the Central Intelligence Agency. This is, of course, a highly contentious claim which would bring many important repercussions should it turn out to be true. There is no point pretending that it doesn't sound like a basic premise of The X-Files -- of course it does. So to extract the idea from its comfortable fictional context and attempt to place it into a real historical one (a completely legitimate endeavour) one must become familiar with the politics of the UFO phenomenon in Cold War America, a field of history which is, to understate the matter, largely ignored by academia. A cursory glance at the thousands of (now declassified) UFO-related documents that once circulated through some of the highest channels of US intelligence reveal that, rather than the nonsense topic it is often considered, the UFO phenomenon has been a matter of great concern for the US government since 1947. To get a sense of just how seriously UFOs were taken by the CIA in the 1950s, consider this declassified 'Secret' memorandum from H. Marshall Chadwell, Assistant Director of Scientific Intelligence, to the Director of Central Intelligence, General Walter Bedell Smith, dated 24 September 1952: a world-wide reporting system has been instituted and major Air Force bases have been ordered to make interceptions of unidentified flying objects ... . Since 1947, ATIC [Air Technical Intelligence Center, a branch of the US Air Force] has received approximately 1500 official reports of sightings ... . During 1952 alone, official reports totalled 250. Of the 1500 reports, Air Force carries 20 percent as unexplained and of those received from January through July 1952 it carries 28 percent as unexplained. (qtd. in Good 390) Fifteen-hundred reports in five years is roughly three-hundred reports per year, which is dangerously close to one per day. Although only twenty percent, or one-fifth of these reports were unexplained, equalling about 60 unexplained sightings per year, this still equalled more than one unexplained sighting per week. But these were just the unexplained, official sightings collected by ATIC, which was by no means a comprehensive database of all sightings occurring in the United States, or the rest of the world, for that matter. Extrapolation of these figures suggested that the UFO problem was probably much more extensive than the preliminary findings were indicating, hence the erection of a world-wide reporting system and the interception of UFOs by major US Air Force bases. The social consequences of the UFO problem quickly became a matter of major importance to the CIA. Chadwell went on to point out that: The public concern with the phenomena, which is reflected both in the United States press and in the pressure of inquiry upon the Air Force, indicates that a fair proportion of our population is mentally conditioned to the acceptance of the incredible. In this fact lies the potential for the touching-off of mass hysteria and panic. (qtd. in Good 393) By "acceptance of the incredible" Chadwell was probably referring to acceptance of the existence of intelligently controlled, disc-shaped craft which are capable of performing aerial manoeuvres far in excess of those possible with contemporary technology. Flying saucers were, and remain, incredible. Yet belief in them had permeated the US government as early as 1947, when a 'Secret' Air Materiel Command report (now declassified) from Lieutenant General Nathan Twining to the Commanding General, Army Air Forces, announced that: It is the opinion that: (a) The phenomenon reported is something real and not visionary and fictitious. There are objects probably approximating the shape of a disc, of such appreciable size as to appear to be as large as man-made aircraft. There is a possibility that some of the incidents may be caused by natural phenomena, such as meteors. (b) The reported operating characteristics such as extreme rates of climb, manoeuvrability (particularly in roll), and action which must be considered evasive when sighted or contacted by friendly aircraft or radar, lend belief to the possibility that some of the objects are controlled either manually, automatically, or remotely. -- (qtd. in Good 313-4) This report was compiled only two months after the term flying saucer had been invented, following pilot Kenneth Arnold's historic sighting of nine saucer-like objects in June 1947. The fact that a phenomenon which should have been ignored as a tabloid fad was being confirmed, extremely quickly, by the Air Materiel Command Headquarters suggested that those people mentally conditioned to accept the impossible were not restricted to the public domain. They also, apparently, held positions of considerable power within the government itself. This rapid acceptance, at the highest levels of America's defense agencies, of the UFO reality must have convinced certain segments of the CIA that a form of hysteria had already begun, so powerful that those whose job it was to not only remain immune from such psychosocial forces, but to manage them, were actually succumbing to it themselves. What the CIA faced, then, was nothing short of a nation on the verge of believing in aliens. Considering this, it should become a little clearer why the CIA might develop an interest in the UFO phenomenon at this point. Whether aliens were here or not did not, ultimately, matter. What did matter was the obvious social phenomenon of UFO belief. Walter Bedell Smith, Director of Central Intelligence, realised this in 1952, and wrote to the Executive Secretary of the National Security Council (in a letter previously classified 'Secret'): It is my view that this situation has possible implications for our national security which transcend the interests of a single service. A broader, coordinated effort should be initiated to develop a firm scientific understanding of the several phenomena which apparently are involved in these reports, and to assure ourselves that the incidents will not hamper our present efforts in the Cold War or confuse our early warning system in case of an attack. I therefore recommend that this Agency and the agencies of the Department of Defense be directed to formulate and carry out a program of intelligence and research activities required to solve the problem of instant positive identification of unidentified flying objects ... . This effort shall be coordinated with the military services and the Research and Development Board of the Department of Defense, with the Psychological Strategy Board and other Governmental agencies as appropriate. (qtd. in Good 400-1) What the Director was asserting, basically, was that the UFO problem was too big for the CIA to solve alone. Any government agencies it was deemed necessary to involve were to be called into action to deal with the UFOs. If this does not qualify UFOs as serious business, it is difficult to imagine what would. In the same year, Chadwell again reported to the CIA Director in a memo which suggests that he and his colleagues were on the brink of believing not only that UFOs were real, but that they represented an extraterrestrial presence: At this time, the reports of incidents convince us that there is something going on that must have immediate attention ... . Sightings of unexplained objects at great altitudes and traveling at high speeds in the vicinity of major US defense installations are of such nature that they are not attributable to natural phenomena or known types of aerial vehicles. (qtd. in Good 403) In 1953, these concerns eventually led to the CIA's most public investigation of the UFO phenomenon, the Robertson Panel. Its members were Dr H. P. Robertson (physics and radar); Dr Lloyd V. Berkner (geophysics); Dr Samuel Goudsmit (atomic structure and statistical problems); and Dr Thornton Page (astronomy and astrophysics). Associate members were Dr J. Allen Hynek (astronomy) and Frederick C. Durant (missiles and rockets). Twelve hours of meetings ensued (not nearly enough time to absorb all of the most compelling UFO data gathered at this point), during which the panel was shown films of UFOs, case histories and sightings prepared by the ATIC, and intelligence reports relating to the Soviet Union's interest in US sightings, as well as numerous charts depicting, for example, frequency and geographic location of sightings (Good 404). The report (not fully declassified until 1975) concluded with a highly skeptical, and highly ambiguous, view of UFO phenomena. Part IV, titled "Comments and Suggestions of the Panel", stated that: Reasonable explanations could be suggested for most sightings ... by deduction and scientific method it could be induced (given additional data) that other cases might be explained in a similar manner. (qtd. in Good 404) However, even if the panel's insistence that UFOs were not of extraterrestrial origin seemed disingenuous, it still noted the subjectivity of the public to mass hysteria and greater vulnerability to possible enemy psychological warfare (qtd. in Good 405). To remedy this, it recommended quite a profound method of propaganda: The debunking aim would result in reduction in public interest in flying saucers which today evokes a strong psychological reaction. This education could be accomplished by mass media such [as] television, motion pictures, and popular articles. Basis of such education would be actual case histories which had been puzzling at first but later explained. As in the case of conjuring tricks, there is much less stimulation if the secret is known. Such a program should tend to reduce the current gullibility of the public and consequently their susceptibility to clever hostile propaganda. The panel noted that the general absence of Russian propaganda based on a subject with so many obvious possibilities for exploitation might indicate a possible Russian official policy ... . It was felt strongly that psychologists familiar with mass psychology should advise on the nature and extent of the program ... . It was believed that business clubs, high schools, colleges, and television stations would all be pleased to cooperate in the showing of documentary type motion pictures if prepared in an interesting manner. The use of true cases showing first the mystery and then the explanation would be forceful ... . The continued emphasis on the reporting of these phenomena does, in these parlous times, result in a threat to the orderly functioning of the protective organs of the body politic ... . [It is recommended that] the national security agencies take immediate steps to strip the Unidentified Flying Objects of the special status they have been given and the aura of mystery they have unfortunately acquired; that the national security agencies institute policies on intelligence, training, and public education designed to prepare the material defenses and the morale of the country to recognise most promptly and to react most effectively to true indications of hostile intent or action. We suggest that these aims may be achieved by an integrated program designed to reassure the public of the total lack of evidence of inimical forces behind the phenomena, to train personnel to recognize and reject false indications quickly and effectively, and to strengthen regular channels for the evaluation of and prompt reaction to true indications of hostile measures. (qtd. in Good 405-6) The general aim of the Robertson Panel's recommendations, then, was to not only stop people believing in UFOs, but to stop people seeing UFOs, which constitutes an extreme manipulation of the public consciousness. It was the intention of the CIA to ensure, as subtly as was possible, that most people interpreted specific visual experiences (i.e. UFO sightings) in terms of a strict CIA-developed criterion. This momentous act basically amounts to an attempt to define, control and enforce a particular construction of reality which specifically excludes UFOs. In an ironic way, the Robertson Panel report advocated a type of modern exorcism, and may have been the very birthplace of the idea that such an obvious icon of wonder and potential as the UFO is, it can never be more than a misidentification or a hoax. We cannot be certain to what extent the recommendations of the Robertson Panel were put into practice, but we can safely assume that its findings were not ignored by the CIA. For example, Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, Chief of the ATIC's Aerial Phenomena Branch, has testified that "[We were] ordered to hide sightings when possible, but if a strong report does get out, we have to publish a fast explanation -- make up something to kill the report in a hurry, and also ridicule the witnesses, especially if we can't find a plausible answer. We even have to discredit our own pilots" (Good 407). Comments like these make one wonder just how extensive the program of debunking and ridicule actually was. What I have suggested here is that during the 1950s, and possibly throughout the four decades since, an objective of the CIA has been to downplay its own interest in the UFO phenomenon to the public whilst engaging in secret, complex investigations of the phenomenon itself and its social repercussions. If this is the case, as the evidence -- the best of which can be found in the government's own files (even though such evidence, as tens of thousands of conspiracy theorists continue to stress, can hardly be taken simply at face value) -- indicates, then the construction of the UFO in western popular culture will have to be revised as a process involving more than just the projection of popular hopes, desires and anxieties onto an abstract, mythical object. It will also need to be seen as involving the clandestine manipulation of this process by immeasurably powerful groups within the culture itself, such as the CIA. And since the CIAs major concerns about UFOs haved traditionally been explicitly related to the Cold War, the renewed prominence of the UFO in western popular culture since the demise of the Soviet Union requires immediate, serious investigation in a political context. For the UFO issue is, and has always been, a political issue. I suggest that until this fascinating chapter of American domestic history is explored more thoroughly, the cultural function of the UFO will remain just as poorly understood as its physical nature. References Good, Timothy. Beyond Top Secret: The Worldwide UFO Security Threat. London: MacMillan, 1996. Citation reference for this article MLA style: Adam Dodd. "Making It Unpopular: The CIA and UFOs in Popular Culture." M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 2.4 (1999). [your date of access] <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/9906/cia.php>. Chicago style: Adam Dodd, "Making It Unpopular: The CIA and UFOs in Popular Culture," M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 2, no. 4 (1999), <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/9906/cia.php> ([your date of access]). APA style: Adam Dodd. (1999) Making it unpopular: the CIA and UFOs in popular culture. M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 2(4). <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/9906/cia.php> ([your date of access]).

On the morning of Thursday, 4 May 2006, the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence held an open hearing entitled “Terrorist Use of the Internet.” The Intelligence committee meeting was scheduled to take place in Room 1302 of the Longworth Office Building, a Depression-era structure with a neoclassical façade. Because of a dysfunctional elevator, some of the congressional representatives were late to the meeting. During the testimony about the newest political applications for cutting-edge digital technology, the microphones periodically malfunctioned, and witnesses complained of “technical problems” several times. By the end of the day it seemed that what was to be remembered about the hearing was the shocking revelation that terrorists were using videogames to recruit young jihadists. The Associated Press wrote a short, restrained article about the hearing that only mentioned “computer games and recruitment videos” in passing. Eager to have their version of the news item picked up, Reuters made videogames the focus of their coverage with a headline that announced, “Islamists Using US Videogames in Youth Appeal.” Like a game of telephone, as the Reuters videogame story was quickly re-run by several Internet news services, each iteration of the title seemed less true to the exact language of the original. One Internet news service changed the headline to “Islamic militants recruit using U.S. video games.” Fox News re-titled the story again to emphasise that this alert about technological manipulation was coming from recognised specialists in the anti-terrorism surveillance field: “Experts: Islamic Militants Customizing Violent Video Games.” As the story circulated, the body of the article remained largely unchanged, in which the Reuters reporter described the digital materials from Islamic extremists that were shown at the congressional hearing. During the segment that apparently most captured the attention of the wire service reporters, eerie music played as an English-speaking narrator condemned the “infidel” and declared that he had “put a jihad” on them, as aerial shots moved over 3D computer-generated images of flaming oil facilities and mosques covered with geometric designs. Suddenly, this menacing voice-over was interrupted by an explosion, as a virtual rocket was launched into a simulated military helicopter. The Reuters reporter shared this dystopian vision from cyberspace with Western audiences by quoting directly from the chilling commentary and describing a dissonant montage of images and remixed sound. “I was just a boy when the infidels came to my village in Blackhawk helicopters,” a narrator’s voice said as the screen flashed between images of street-level gunfights, explosions and helicopter assaults. Then came a recording of President George W. Bush’s September 16, 2001, statement: “This crusade, this war on terrorism, is going to take a while.” It was edited to repeat the word “crusade,” which Muslims often define as an attack on Islam by Christianity. According to the news reports, the key piece of evidence before Congress seemed to be a film by “SonicJihad” of recorded videogame play, which – according to the experts – was widely distributed online. Much of the clip takes place from the point of view of a first-person shooter, seen as if through the eyes of an armed insurgent, but the viewer also periodically sees third-person action in which the player appears as a running figure wearing a red-and-white checked keffiyeh, who dashes toward the screen with a rocket launcher balanced on his shoulder. Significantly, another of the player’s hand-held weapons is a detonator that triggers remote blasts. As jaunty music plays, helicopters, tanks, and armoured vehicles burst into smoke and flame. Finally, at the triumphant ending of the video, a green and white flag bearing a crescent is hoisted aloft into the sky to signify victory by Islamic forces. To explain the existence of this digital alternative history in which jihadists could be conquerors, the Reuters story described the deviousness of the country’s terrorist opponents, who were now apparently modifying popular videogames through their wizardry and inserting anti-American, pro-insurgency content into U.S.-made consumer technology. One of the latest video games modified by militants is the popular “Battlefield 2” from leading video game publisher, Electronic Arts Inc of Redwood City, California. Jeff Brown, a spokesman for Electronic Arts, said enthusiasts often write software modifications, known as “mods,” to video games. “Millions of people create mods on games around the world,” he said. “We have absolutely no control over them. It’s like drawing a mustache on a picture.” Although the Electronic Arts executive dismissed the activities of modders as a “mustache on a picture” that could only be considered little more than childish vandalism of their off-the-shelf corporate product, others saw a more serious form of criminality at work. Testifying experts and the legislators listening on the committee used the video to call for greater Internet surveillance efforts and electronic counter-measures. Within twenty-four hours of the sensationalistic news breaking, however, a group of Battlefield 2 fans was crowing about the idiocy of reporters. The game play footage wasn’t from a high-tech modification of the software by Islamic extremists; it had been posted on a Planet Battlefield forum the previous December of 2005 by a game fan who had cut together regular game play with a Bush remix and a parody snippet of the soundtrack from the 2004 hit comedy film Team America. The voice describing the Black Hawk helicopters was the voice of Trey Parker of South Park cartoon fame, and – much to Parker’s amusement – even the mention of “goats screaming” did not clue spectators in to the fact of a comic source. Ironically, the moment in the movie from which the sound clip is excerpted is one about intelligence gathering. As an agent of Team America, a fictional elite U.S. commando squad, the hero of the film’s all-puppet cast, Gary Johnston, is impersonating a jihadist radical inside a hostile Egyptian tavern that is modelled on the cantina scene from Star Wars. Additional laughs come from the fact that agent Johnston is accepted by the menacing terrorist cell as “Hakmed,” despite the fact that he utters a series of improbable clichés made up of incoherent stereotypes about life in the Middle East while dressed up in a disguise made up of shoe polish and a turban from a bathroom towel. The man behind the “SonicJihad” pseudonym turned out to be a twenty-five-year-old hospital administrator named Samir, and what reporters and representatives saw was nothing more exotic than game play from an add-on expansion pack of Battlefield 2, which – like other versions of the game – allows first-person shooter play from the position of the opponent as a standard feature. While SonicJihad initially joined his fellow gamers in ridiculing the mainstream media, he also expressed astonishment and outrage about a larger politics of reception. In one interview he argued that the media illiteracy of Reuters potentially enabled a whole series of category errors, in which harmless gamers could be demonised as terrorists. It wasn’t intended for the purpose what it was portrayed to be by the media. So no I don’t regret making a funny video . . . why should I? The only thing I regret is thinking that news from Reuters was objective and always right. The least they could do is some online research before publishing this. If they label me al-Qaeda just for making this silly video, that makes you think, what is this al-Qaeda? And is everything al-Qaeda? Although Sonic Jihad dismissed his own work as “silly” or “funny,” he expected considerably more from a credible news agency like Reuters: “objective” reporting, “online research,” and fact-checking before “publishing.” Within the week, almost all of the salient details in the Reuters story were revealed to be incorrect. SonicJihad’s film was not made by terrorists or for terrorists: it was not created by “Islamic militants” for “Muslim youths.” The videogame it depicted had not been modified by a “tech-savvy militant” with advanced programming skills. Of course, what is most extraordinary about this story isn’t just that Reuters merely got its facts wrong; it is that a self-identified “parody” video was shown to the august House Intelligence Committee by a team of well-paid “experts” from the Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), a major contractor with the federal government, as key evidence of terrorist recruitment techniques and abuse of digital networks. Moreover, this story of media illiteracy unfolded in the context of a fundamental Constitutional debate about domestic surveillance via communications technology and the further regulation of digital content by lawmakers. Furthermore, the transcripts of the actual hearing showed that much more than simple gullibility or technological ignorance was in play. Based on their exchanges in the public record, elected representatives and government experts appear to be keenly aware that the digital discourses of an emerging information culture might be challenging their authority and that of the longstanding institutions of knowledge and power with which they are affiliated. These hearings can be seen as representative of a larger historical moment in which emphatic declarations about prohibiting specific practices in digital culture have come to occupy a prominent place at the podium, news desk, or official Web portal. This environment of cultural reaction can be used to explain why policy makers’ reaction to terrorists’ use of networked communication and digital media actually tells us more about our own American ideologies about technology and rhetoric in a contemporary information environment. When the experts come forward at the Sonic Jihad hearing to “walk us through the media and some of the products,” they present digital artefacts of an information economy that mirrors many of the features of our own consumption of objects of electronic discourse, which seem dangerously easy to copy and distribute and thus also create confusion about their intended meanings, audiences, and purposes. From this one hearing we can see how the reception of many new digital genres plays out in the public sphere of legislative discourse. Web pages, videogames, and Weblogs are mentioned specifically in the transcript. The main architecture of the witnesses’ presentation to the committee is organised according to the rhetorical conventions of a PowerPoint presentation. Moreover, the arguments made by expert witnesses about the relationship of orality to literacy or of public to private communications in new media are highly relevant to how we might understand other important digital genres, such as electronic mail or text messaging. The hearing also invites consideration of privacy, intellectual property, and digital “rights,” because moral values about freedom and ownership are alluded to by many of the elected representatives present, albeit often through the looking glass of user behaviours imagined as radically Other. For example, terrorists are described as “modders” and “hackers” who subvert those who properly create, own, legitimate, and regulate intellectual property. To explain embarrassing leaks of infinitely replicable digital files, witness Ron Roughead says, “We’re not even sure that they don’t even hack into the kinds of spaces that hold photographs in order to get pictures that our forces have taken.” Another witness, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy and International Affairs, Peter Rodman claims that “any video game that comes out, as soon as the code is released, they will modify it and change the game for their needs.” Thus, the implication of these witnesses’ testimony is that the release of code into the public domain can contribute to political subversion, much as covert intrusion into computer networks by stealthy hackers can. However, the witnesses from the Pentagon and from the government contractor SAIC often present a contradictory image of the supposed terrorists in the hearing transcripts. Sometimes the enemy is depicted as an organisation of technological masterminds, capable of manipulating the computer code of unwitting Americans and snatching their rightful intellectual property away; sometimes those from the opposing forces are depicted as pre-modern and even sub-literate political innocents. In contrast, the congressional representatives seem to focus on similarities when comparing the work of “terrorists” to the everyday digital practices of their constituents and even of themselves. According to the transcripts of this open hearing, legislators on both sides of the aisle express anxiety about domestic patterns of Internet reception. Even the legislators’ own Web pages are potentially disruptive electronic artefacts, particularly when the demands of digital labour interfere with their duties as lawmakers. Although the subject of the hearing is ostensibly terrorist Websites, Representative Anna Eshoo (D-California) bemoans the difficulty of maintaining her own official congressional site. As she observes, “So we are – as members, I think we’re very sensitive about what’s on our Website, and if I retained what I had on my Website three years ago, I’d be out of business. So we know that they have to be renewed. They go up, they go down, they’re rebuilt, they’re – you know, the message is targeted to the future.” In their questions, lawmakers identify Weblogs (blogs) as a particular area of concern as a destabilising alternative to authoritative print sources of information from established institutions. Representative Alcee Hastings (D-Florida) compares the polluting power of insurgent bloggers to that of influential online muckrakers from the American political Right. Hastings complains of “garbage on our regular mainstream news that comes from blog sites.” Representative Heather Wilson (R-New Mexico) attempts to project a media-savvy persona by bringing up the “phenomenon of blogging” in conjunction with her questions about jihadist Websites in which she notes how Internet traffic can be magnified by cooperative ventures among groups of ideologically like-minded content-providers: “These Websites, and particularly the most active ones, are they cross-linked? And do they have kind of hot links to your other favorite sites on them?” At one point Representative Wilson asks witness Rodman if he knows “of your 100 hottest sites where the Webmasters are educated? What nationality they are? Where they’re getting their money from?” In her questions, Wilson implicitly acknowledges that Web work reflects influences from pedagogical communities, economic networks of the exchange of capital, and even potentially the specific ideologies of nation-states. It is perhaps indicative of the government contractors’ anachronistic worldview that the witness is unable to answer Wilson’s question. He explains that his agency focuses on the physical location of the server or ISP rather than the social backgrounds of the individuals who might be manufacturing objectionable digital texts. The premise behind the contractors’ working method – surveilling the technical apparatus not the social network – may be related to other beliefs expressed by government witnesses, such as the supposition that jihadist Websites are collectively produced and spontaneously emerge from the indigenous, traditional, tribal culture, instead of assuming that Iraqi insurgents have analogous beliefs, practices, and technological awareness to those in first-world countries. The residual subtexts in the witnesses’ conjectures about competing cultures of orality and literacy may tell us something about a reactionary rhetoric around videogames and digital culture more generally. According to the experts before Congress, the Middle Eastern audience for these videogames and Websites is limited by its membership in a pre-literate society that is only capable of abortive cultural production without access to knowledge that is archived in printed codices. Sometimes the witnesses before Congress seem to be unintentionally channelling the ideas of the late literacy theorist Walter Ong about the “secondary orality” associated with talky electronic media such as television, radio, audio recording, or telephone communication. Later followers of Ong extend this concept of secondary orality to hypertext, hypermedia, e-mail, and blogs, because they similarly share features of both speech and written discourse. Although Ong’s disciples celebrate this vibrant reconnection to a mythic, communal past of what Kathleen Welch calls “electric rhetoric,” the defence industry consultants express their profound state of alarm at the potentially dangerous and subversive character of this hybrid form of communication. The concept of an “oral tradition” is first introduced by the expert witnesses in the context of modern marketing and product distribution: “The Internet is used for a variety of things – command and control,” one witness states. “One of the things that’s missed frequently is how and – how effective the adversary is at using the Internet to distribute product. They’re using that distribution network as a modern form of oral tradition, if you will.” Thus, although the Internet can be deployed for hierarchical “command and control” activities, it also functions as a highly efficient peer-to-peer distributed network for disseminating the commodity of information. Throughout the hearings, the witnesses imply that unregulated lateral communication among social actors who are not authorised to speak for nation-states or to produce legitimated expert discourses is potentially destabilising to political order. Witness Eric Michael describes the “oral tradition” and the conventions of communal life in the Middle East to emphasise the primacy of speech in the collective discursive practices of this alien population: “I’d like to point your attention to the media types and the fact that the oral tradition is listed as most important. The other media listed support that. And the significance of the oral tradition is more than just – it’s the medium by which, once it comes off the Internet, it is transferred.” The experts go on to claim that this “oral tradition” can contaminate other media because it functions as “rumor,” the traditional bane of the stately discourse of military leaders since the classical era. The oral tradition now also has an aspect of rumor. A[n] event takes place. There is an explosion in a city. Rumor is that the United States Air Force dropped a bomb and is doing indiscriminate killing. This ends up being discussed on the street. It ends up showing up in a Friday sermon in a mosque or in another religious institution. It then gets recycled into written materials. Media picks up the story and broadcasts it, at which point it’s now a fact. In this particular case that we were telling you about, it showed up on a network television, and their propaganda continues to go back to this false initial report on network television and continue to reiterate that it’s a fact, even though the United States government has proven that it was not a fact, even though the network has since recanted the broadcast. In this example, many-to-many discussion on the “street” is formalised into a one-to many “sermon” and then further stylised using technology in a one-to-many broadcast on “network television” in which “propaganda” that is “false” can no longer be disputed. This “oral tradition” is like digital media, because elements of discourse can be infinitely copied or “recycled,” and it is designed to “reiterate” content. In this hearing, the word “rhetoric” is associated with destructive counter-cultural forces by the witnesses who reiterate cultural truisms dating back to Plato and the Gorgias. For example, witness Eric Michael initially presents “rhetoric” as the use of culturally specific and hence untranslatable figures of speech, but he quickly moves to an outright castigation of the entire communicative mode. “Rhetoric,” he tells us, is designed to “distort the truth,” because it is a “selective” assembly or a “distortion.” Rhetoric is also at odds with reason, because it appeals to “emotion” and a romanticised Weltanschauung oriented around discourses of “struggle.” The film by SonicJihad is chosen as the final clip by the witnesses before Congress, because it allegedly combines many different types of emotional appeal, and thus it conveniently ties together all of the themes that the witnesses present to the legislators about unreliable oral or rhetorical sources in the Middle East: And there you see how all these products are linked together. And you can see where the games are set to psychologically condition you to go kill coalition forces. You can see how they use humor. You can see how the entire campaign is carefully crafted to first evoke an emotion and then to evoke a response and to direct that response in the direction that they want. Jihadist digital products, especially videogames, are effective means of manipulation, the witnesses argue, because they employ multiple channels of persuasion and carefully sequenced and integrated subliminal messages. To understand the larger cultural conversation of the hearing, it is important to keep in mind that the related argument that “games” can “psychologically condition” players to be predisposed to violence is one that was important in other congressional hearings of the period, as well one that played a role in bills and resolutions that were passed by the full body of the legislative branch. In the witness’s testimony an appeal to anti-game sympathies at home is combined with a critique of a closed anti-democratic system abroad in which the circuits of rhetorical production and their composite metonymic chains are described as those that command specific, unvarying, robotic responses. This sharp criticism of the artful use of a presentation style that is “crafted” is ironic, given that the witnesses’ “compilation” of jihadist digital material is staged in the form of a carefully structured PowerPoint presentation, one that is paced to a well-rehearsed rhythm of “slide, please” or “next slide” in the transcript. The transcript also reveals that the members of the House Intelligence Committee were not the original audience for the witnesses’ PowerPoint presentation. Rather, when it was first created by SAIC, this “expert” presentation was designed for training purposes for the troops on the ground, who would be facing the challenges of deployment in hostile terrain. According to the witnesses, having the slide show showcased before Congress was something of an afterthought. Nonetheless, Congressman Tiahrt (R-KN) is so impressed with the rhetorical mastery of the consultants that he tries to appropriate it. As Tiarht puts it, “I’d like to get a copy of that slide sometime.” From the hearing we also learn that the terrorists’ Websites are threatening precisely because they manifest a polymorphously perverse geometry of expansion. For example, one SAIC witness before the House Committee compares the replication and elaboration of digital material online to a “spiderweb.” Like Representative Eshoo’s site, he also notes that the terrorists’ sites go “up” and “down,” but the consultant is left to speculate about whether or not there is any “central coordination” to serve as an organising principle and to explain the persistence and consistency of messages despite the apparent lack of a single authorial ethos to offer a stable, humanised, point of reference. In the hearing, the oft-cited solution to the problem created by the hybridity and iterability of digital rhetoric appears to be “public diplomacy.” Both consultants and lawmakers seem to agree that the damaging messages of the insurgents must be countered with U.S. sanctioned information, and thus the phrase “public diplomacy” appears in the hearing seven times. However, witness Roughhead complains that the protean “oral tradition” and what Henry Jenkins has called the “transmedia” character of digital culture, which often crosses several platforms of traditional print, projection, or broadcast media, stymies their best rhetorical efforts: “I think the point that we’ve tried to make in the briefing is that wherever there’s Internet availability at all, they can then download these – these programs and put them onto compact discs, DVDs, or post them into posters, and provide them to a greater range of people in the oral tradition that they’ve grown up in. And so they only need a few Internet sites in order to distribute and disseminate the message.” Of course, to maintain their share of the government market, the Science Applications International Corporation also employs practices of publicity and promotion through the Internet and digital media. They use HTML Web pages for these purposes, as well as PowerPoint presentations and online video. The rhetoric of the Website of SAIC emphasises their motto “From Science to Solutions.” After a short Flash film about how SAIC scientists and engineers solve “complex technical problems,” the visitor is taken to the home page of the firm that re-emphasises their central message about expertise. The maps, uniforms, and specialised tools and equipment that are depicted in these opening Web pages reinforce an ethos of professional specialisation that is able to respond to multiple threats posed by the “global war on terror.” By 26 June 2006, the incident finally was being described as a “Pentagon Snafu” by ABC News. From the opening of reporter Jake Tapper’s investigative Webcast, established government institutions were put on the spot: “So, how much does the Pentagon know about videogames? Well, when it came to a recent appearance before Congress, apparently not enough.” Indeed, the very language about “experts” that was highlighted in the earlier coverage is repeated by Tapper in mockery, with the significant exception of “independent expert” Ian Bogost of the Georgia Institute of Technology. If the Pentagon and SAIC deride the legitimacy of rhetoric as a cultural practice, Bogost occupies himself with its defence. In his recent book Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames, Bogost draws upon the authority of the “2,500 year history of rhetoric” to argue that videogames represent a significant development in that cultural narrative. Given that Bogost and his Watercooler Games Weblog co-editor Gonzalo Frasca were actively involved in the detective work that exposed the depth of professional incompetence involved in the government’s line-up of witnesses, it is appropriate that Bogost is given the final words in the ABC exposé. As Bogost says, “We should be deeply bothered by this. We should really be questioning the kind of advice that Congress is getting.” Bogost may be right that Congress received terrible counsel on that day, but a close reading of the transcript reveals that elected officials were much more than passive listeners: in fact they were lively participants in a cultural conversation about regulating digital media. After looking at the actual language of these exchanges, it seems that the persuasiveness of the misinformation from the Pentagon and SAIC had as much to do with lawmakers’ preconceived anxieties about practices of computer-mediated communication close to home as it did with the contradictory stereotypes that were presented to them about Internet practices abroad. In other words, lawmakers found themselves looking into a fun house mirror that distorted what should have been familiar artefacts of American popular culture because it was precisely what they wanted to see. References ABC News. “Terrorist Videogame?” Nightline Online. 21 June 2006. 22 June 2006 http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=2105341>. Bogost, Ian. Persuasive Games: Videogames and Procedural Rhetoric. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2007. Game Politics. “Was Congress Misled by ‘Terrorist’ Game Video? We Talk to Gamer Who Created the Footage.” 11 May 2006. http://gamepolitics.livejournal.com/285129.html#cutid1>. Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York UP, 2006. julieb. “David Morgan Is a Horrible Writer and Should Be Fired.” Online posting. 5 May 2006. Dvorak Uncensored Cage Match Forums. http://cagematch.dvorak.org/index.php/topic,130.0.html>. Mahmood. “Terrorists Don’t Recruit with Battlefield 2.” GGL Global Gaming. 16 May 2006 http://www.ggl.com/news.php?NewsId=3090>. Morgan, David. “Islamists Using U.S. Video Games in Youth Appeal.” Reuters online news service. 4 May 2006 http://today.reuters.com/news/ArticleNews.aspx?type=topNews &storyID=2006-05-04T215543Z_01_N04305973_RTRUKOC_0_US-SECURITY- VIDEOGAMES.xml&pageNumber=0&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc= NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage2>. Ong, Walter J. Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word. London/New York: Methuen, 1982. Parker, Trey. Online posting. 7 May 2006. 9 May 2006 http://www.treyparker.com>. Plato. “Gorgias.” Plato: Collected Dialogues. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1961. Shrader, Katherine. “Pentagon Surfing Thousands of Jihad Sites.” Associated Press 4 May 2006. SonicJihad. “SonicJihad: A Day in the Life of a Resistance Fighter.” Online posting. 26 Dec. 2005. Planet Battlefield Forums. 9 May 2006 http://www.forumplanet.com/planetbattlefield/topic.asp?fid=13670&tid=1806909&p=1>. Tapper, Jake, and Audery Taylor. “Terrorist Video Game or Pentagon Snafu?” ABC News Nightline 21 June 2006. 30 June 2006 http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/Technology/story?id=2105128&page=1>. U.S. Congressional Record. Panel I of the Hearing of the House Select Intelligence Committee, Subject: “Terrorist Use of the Internet for Communications.” Federal News Service. 4 May 2006. Welch, Kathleen E. Electric Rhetoric: Classical Rhetoric, Oralism, and the New Literacy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1999. Citation reference for this article MLA Style Losh, Elizabeth. "Artificial Intelligence: Media Illiteracy and the SonicJihad Debacle in Congress." M/C Journal 10.5 (2007). echo date('d M. Y'); ?> <http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0710/08-losh.php>. APA Style Losh, E. (Oct. 2007) "Artificial Intelligence: Media Illiteracy and the SonicJihad Debacle in Congress," M/C Journal, 10(5). Retrieved echo date('d M. Y'); ?> from <http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0710/08-losh.php>.

When George Orwell encountered ideas of a technological utopia sixty-five years ago, he acted the grumpy middle-aged man Reading recently a batch of rather shallowly optimistic “progressive” books, I was struck by the automatic way in which people go on repeating certain phrases which were fashionable before 1914. Two great favourites are “the abolition of distance” and “the disappearance of frontiers”. I do not know how often I have met with the statements that “the aeroplane and the radio have abolished distance” and “all parts of the world are now interdependent” (1944). It is worth revisiting the old boy’s grumpiness, because the rhetoric he so niftily skewers continues in our own time. Facebook features “Peace on Facebook” and even claims that it can “decrease world conflict” through inter-cultural communication. Twitter has announced itself as “a triumph of humanity” (“A Cyber-House” 61). Queue George. In between Orwell and latter-day hoody cybertarians, a whole host of excitable public intellectuals announced the impending end of materiality through emergent media forms. Marshall McLuhan, Neil Postman, Daniel Bell, Ithiel de Sola Pool, George Gilder, Alvin Toffler—the list of 1960s futurists goes on and on. And this wasn’t just a matter of punditry: the OECD decreed the coming of the “information society” in 1975 and the European Union (EU) followed suit in 1979, while IBM merrily declared an “information age” in 1977. Bell theorized this technological utopia as post-ideological, because class would cease to matter (Mattelart). Polluting industries seemingly no longer represented the dynamic core of industrial capitalism; instead, market dynamism radiated from a networked, intellectual core of creative and informational activities. The new information and knowledge-based economies would rescue First World hegemony from an “insurgent world” that lurked within as well as beyond itself (Schiller). Orwell’s others and the Cold-War futurists propagated one of the most destructive myths shaping both public debate and scholarly studies of the media, culture, and communication. They convinced generations of analysts, activists, and arrivistes that the promises and problems of the media could be understood via metaphors of the environment, and that the media were weightless and virtual. The famous medium they wished us to see as the message —a substance as vital to our wellbeing as air, water, and soil—turned out to be no such thing. Today’s cybertarians inherit their anti-Marxist, anti-materialist positions, as a casual glance at any new media journal, culture-industry magazine, or bourgeois press outlet discloses. The media are undoubtedly important instruments of social cohesion and fragmentation, political power and dissent, democracy and demagoguery, and other fraught extensions of human consciousness. But talk of media systems as equivalent to physical ecosystems—fashionable among marketers and media scholars alike—is predicated on the notion that they are environmentally benign technologies. This has never been true, from the beginnings of print to today’s cloud-covered computing. Our new book Greening the Media focuses on the environmental impact of the media—the myriad ways that media technology consumes, despoils, and wastes natural resources. We introduce ideas, stories, and facts that have been marginal or absent from popular, academic, and professional histories of media technology. Throughout, ecological issues have been at the core of our work and we immodestly think the same should apply to media communications, and cultural studies more generally. We recognize that those fields have contributed valuable research and teaching that address environmental questions. For instance, there is an abundant literature on representations of the environment in cinema, how to communicate environmental messages successfully, and press coverage of climate change. That’s not enough. You may already know that media technologies contain toxic substances. You may have signed an on-line petition protesting the hazardous and oppressive conditions under which workers assemble cell phones and computers. But you may be startled, as we were, by the scale and pervasiveness of these environmental risks. They are present in and around every site where electronic and electric devices are manufactured, used, and thrown away, poisoning humans, animals, vegetation, soil, air and water. We are using the term “media” as a portmanteau word to cover a multitude of cultural and communications machines and processes—print, film, radio, television, information and communications technologies (ICT), and consumer electronics (CE). This is not only for analytical convenience, but because there is increasing overlap between the sectors. CE connect to ICT and vice versa; televisions resemble computers; books are read on telephones; newspapers are written through clouds; and so on. Cultural forms and gadgets that were once separate are now linked. The currently fashionable notion of convergence doesn’t quite capture the vastness of this integration, which includes any object with a circuit board, scores of accessories that plug into it, and a global nexus of labor and environmental inputs and effects that produce and flow from it. In 2007, a combination of ICT/CE and media production accounted for between 2 and 3 percent of all greenhouse gases emitted around the world (“Gartner Estimates,”; International Telecommunication Union; Malmodin et al.). Between twenty and fifty million tonnes of electronic waste (e-waste) are generated annually, much of it via discarded cell phones and computers, which affluent populations throw out regularly in order to buy replacements. (Presumably this fits the narcissism of small differences that distinguishes them from their own past.) E-waste is historically produced in the Global North—Australasia, Western Europe, Japan, and the US—and dumped in the Global South—Latin America, Africa, Eastern Europe, Southern and Southeast Asia, and China. It takes the form of a thousand different, often deadly, materials for each electrical and electronic gadget. This trend is changing as India and China generate their own media detritus (Robinson; Herat). Enclosed hard drives, backlit screens, cathode ray tubes, wiring, capacitors, and heavy metals pose few risks while these materials remain encased. But once discarded and dismantled, ICT/CE have the potential to expose workers and ecosystems to a morass of toxic components. Theoretically, “outmoded” parts could be reused or swapped for newer parts to refurbish devices. But items that are defined as waste undergo further destruction in order to collect remaining parts and valuable metals, such as gold, silver, copper, and rare-earth elements. This process causes serious health risks to bones, brains, stomachs, lungs, and other vital organs, in addition to birth defects and disrupted biological development in children. Medical catastrophes can result from lead, cadmium, mercury, other heavy metals, poisonous fumes emitted in search of precious metals, and such carcinogenic compounds as polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxin, polyvinyl chloride, and flame retardants (Maxwell and Miller 13). The United States’ Environmental Protection Agency estimates that by 2007 US residents owned approximately three billion electronic devices, with an annual turnover rate of 400 million units, and well over half such purchases made by women. Overall CE ownership varied with age—adults under 45 typically boasted four gadgets; those over 65 made do with one. The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) says US$145 billion was expended in the sector in 2006 in the US alone, up 13% on the previous year. The CEA refers joyously to a “consumer love affair with technology continuing at a healthy clip.” In the midst of a recession, 2009 saw $165 billion in sales, and households owned between fifteen and twenty-four gadgets on average. By 2010, US$233 billion was spent on electronic products, three-quarters of the population owned a computer, nearly half of all US adults owned an MP3 player, and 85% had a cell phone. By all measures, the amount of ICT/CE on the planet is staggering. As investigative science journalist, Elizabeth Grossman put it: “no industry pushes products into the global market on the scale that high-tech electronics does” (Maxwell and Miller 2). In 2007, “of the 2.25 million tons of TVs, cell phones and computer products ready for end-of-life management, 18% (414,000 tons) was collected for recycling and 82% (1.84 million tons) was disposed of, primarily in landfill” (Environmental Protection Agency 1). Twenty million computers fell obsolete across the US in 1998, and the rate was 130,000 a day by 2005. It has been estimated that the five hundred million personal computers discarded in the US between 1997 and 2007 contained 6.32 billion pounds of plastics, 1.58 billion pounds of lead, three million pounds of cadmium, 1.9 million pounds of chromium, and 632000 pounds of mercury (Environmental Protection Agency; Basel Action Network and Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition 6). The European Union is expected to generate upwards of twelve million tons annually by 2020 (Commission of the European Communities 17). While refrigerators and dangerous refrigerants account for the bulk of EU e-waste, about 44% of the most toxic e-waste measured in 2005 came from medium-to-small ICT/CE: computer monitors, TVs, printers, ink cartridges, telecommunications equipment, toys, tools, and anything with a circuit board (Commission of the European Communities 31-34). Understanding the enormity of the environmental problems caused by making, using, and disposing of media technologies should arrest our enthusiasm for them. But intellectual correctives to the “love affair” with technology, or technophilia, have come and gone without establishing much of a foothold against the breathtaking flood of gadgets and the propaganda that proclaims their awe-inspiring capabilities.[i] There is a peculiar enchantment with the seeming magic of wireless communication, touch-screen phones and tablets, flat-screen high-definition televisions, 3-D IMAX cinema, mobile computing, and so on—a totemic, quasi-sacred power that the historian of technology David Nye has named the technological sublime (Nye Technological Sublime 297).[ii] We demonstrate in our book why there is no place for the technological sublime in projects to green the media. But first we should explain why such symbolic power does not accrue to more mundane technologies; after all, for the time-strapped cook, a pressure cooker does truly magical things. Three important qualities endow ICT/CE with unique symbolic potency—virtuality, volume, and novelty. The technological sublime of media technology is reinforced by the “virtual nature of much of the industry’s content,” which “tends to obscure their responsibility for a vast proliferation of hardware, all with high levels of built-in obsolescence and decreasing levels of efficiency” (Boyce and Lewis 5). Planned obsolescence entered the lexicon as a new “ethics” for electrical engineering in the 1920s and ’30s, when marketers, eager to “habituate people to buying new products,” called for designs to become quickly obsolete “in efficiency, economy, style, or taste” (Grossman 7-8).[iii] This defines the short lifespan deliberately constructed for computer systems (drives, interfaces, operating systems, batteries, etc.) by making tiny improvements incompatible with existing hardware (Science and Technology Council of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 33-50; Boyce and Lewis). With planned obsolescence leading to “dizzying new heights” of product replacement (Rogers 202), there is an overstated sense of the novelty and preeminence of “new” media—a “cult of the present” is particularly dazzled by the spread of electronic gadgets through globalization (Mattelart and Constantinou 22). References to the symbolic power of media technology can be found in hymnals across the internet and the halls of academe: technologies change us, the media will solve social problems or create new ones, ICTs transform work, monopoly ownership no longer matters, journalism is dead, social networking enables social revolution, and the media deliver a cleaner, post-industrial, capitalism. Here is a typical example from the twilight zone of the technological sublime (actually, the OECD): A major feature of the knowledge-based economy is the impact that ICTs have had on industrial structure, with a rapid growth of services and a relative decline of manufacturing. Services are typically less energy intensive and less polluting, so among those countries with a high and increasing share of services, we often see a declining energy intensity of production … with the emergence of the Knowledge Economy ending the old linear relationship between output and energy use (i.e. partially de-coupling growth and energy use) (Houghton 1) This statement mixes half-truths and nonsense. In reality, old-time, toxic manufacturing has moved to the Global South, where it is ascendant; pollution levels are rising worldwide; and energy consumption is accelerating in residential and institutional sectors, due almost entirely to ICT/CE usage, despite advances in energy conservation technology (a neat instance of the age-old Jevons Paradox). In our book we show how these are all outcomes of growth in ICT/CE, the foundation of the so-called knowledge-based economy. ICT/CE are misleadingly presented as having little or no material ecological impact. In the realm of everyday life, the sublime experience of electronic machinery conceals the physical work and material resources that go into them, while the technological sublime makes the idea that more-is-better palatable, axiomatic; even sexy. In this sense, the technological sublime relates to what Marx called “the Fetishism which attaches itself to the products of labour” once they are in the hands of the consumer, who lusts after them as if they were “independent beings” (77). There is a direct but unseen relationship between technology’s symbolic power and the scale of its environmental impact, which the economist Juliet Schor refers to as a “materiality paradox” —the greater the frenzy to buy goods for their transcendent or nonmaterial cultural meaning, the greater the use of material resources (40-41). We wrote Greening the Media knowing that a study of the media’s effect on the environment must work especially hard to break the enchantment that inflames popular and elite passions for media technologies. We understand that the mere mention of the political-economic arrangements that make shiny gadgets possible, or the environmental consequences of their appearance and disappearance, is bad medicine. It’s an unwelcome buzz kill—not a cool way to converse about cool stuff. But we didn’t write the book expecting to win many allies among high-tech enthusiasts and ICT/CE industry leaders. We do not dispute the importance of information and communication media in our lives and modern social systems. We are media people by profession and personal choice, and deeply immersed in the study and use of emerging media technologies. But we think it’s time for a balanced assessment with less hype and more practical understanding of the relationship of media technologies to the biosphere they inhabit. Media consumers, designers, producers, activists, researchers, and policy makers must find new and effective ways to move ICT/CE production and consumption toward ecologically sound practices. In the course of this project, we found in casual conversation, lecture halls, classroom discussions, and correspondence, consistent and increasing concern with the environmental impact of media technology, especially the deleterious effects of e-waste toxins on workers, air, water, and soil. We have learned that the grip of the technological sublime is not ironclad. Its instability provides a point of departure for investigating and criticizing the relationship between the media and the environment. The media are, and have been for a long time, intimate environmental participants. Media technologies are yesterday’s, today’s, and tomorrow’s news, but rarely in the way they should be. The prevailing myth is that the printing press, telegraph, phonograph, photograph, cinema, telephone, wireless radio, television, and internet changed the world without changing the Earth. In reality, each technology has emerged by despoiling ecosystems and exposing workers to harmful environments, a truth obscured by symbolic power and the power of moguls to set the terms by which such technologies are designed and deployed. Those who benefit from ideas of growth, progress, and convergence, who profit from high-tech innovation, monopoly, and state collusion—the military-industrial-entertainment-academic complex and multinational commandants of labor—have for too long ripped off the Earth and workers. As the current celebration of media technology inevitably winds down, perhaps it will become easier to comprehend that digital wonders come at the expense of employees and ecosystems. This will return us to Max Weber’s insistence that we understand technology in a mundane way as a “mode of processing material goods” (27). Further to understanding that ordinariness, we can turn to the pioneering conversation analyst Harvey Sacks, who noted three decades ago “the failures of technocratic dreams [:] that if only we introduced some fantastic new communication machine the world will be transformed.” Such fantasies derived from the very banality of these introductions—that every time they took place, one more “technical apparatus” was simply “being made at home with the rest of our world’ (548). Media studies can join in this repetitive banality. Or it can withdraw the welcome mat for media technologies that despoil the Earth and wreck the lives of those who make them. In our view, it’s time to green the media by greening media studies. References “A Cyber-House Divided.” Economist 4 Sep. 2010: 61-62. “Gartner Estimates ICT Industry Accounts for 2 Percent of Global CO2 Emissions.” Gartner press release. 6 April 2007. ‹http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=503867›. Basel Action Network and Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition. Exporting Harm: The High-Tech Trashing of Asia. Seattle: Basel Action Network, 25 Feb. 2002. Benjamin, Walter. “Central Park.” Trans. Lloyd Spencer with Mark Harrington. New German Critique 34 (1985): 32-58. Biagioli, Mario. “Postdisciplinary Liaisons: Science Studies and the Humanities.” Critical Inquiry 35.4 (2009): 816-33. Boyce, Tammy and Justin Lewis, eds. Climate Change and the Media. New York: Peter Lang, 2009. Commission of the European Communities. “Impact Assessment.” Commission Staff Working Paper accompanying the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) (recast). COM (2008) 810 Final. Brussels: Commission of the European Communities, 3 Dec. 2008. Environmental Protection Agency. Management of Electronic Waste in the United States. Washington, DC: EPA, 2007 Environmental Protection Agency. Statistics on the Management of Used and End-of-Life Electronics. Washington, DC: EPA, 2008 Grossman, Elizabeth. Tackling High-Tech Trash: The E-Waste Explosion & What We Can Do about It. New York: Demos, 2008. ‹http://www.demos.org/pubs/e-waste_FINAL.pdf› Herat, Sunil. “Review: Sustainable Management of Electronic Waste (e-Waste).” Clean 35.4 (2007): 305-10. Houghton, J. “ICT and the Environment in Developing Countries: Opportunities and Developments.” Paper prepared for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2009. International Telecommunication Union. ICTs for Environment: Guidelines for Developing Countries, with a Focus on Climate Change. Geneva: ICT Applications and Cybersecurity Division Policies and Strategies Department ITU Telecommunication Development Sector, 2008. Malmodin, Jens, Åsa Moberg, Dag Lundén, Göran Finnveden, and Nina Lövehagen. “Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Operational Electricity Use in the ICT and Entertainment & Media Sectors.” Journal of Industrial Ecology 14.5 (2010): 770-90. Marx, Karl. Capital: Vol. 1: A Critical Analysis of Capitalist Production, 3rd ed. Trans. Samuel Moore and Edward Aveling, Ed. Frederick Engels. New York: International Publishers, 1987. Mattelart, Armand and Costas M. Constantinou. “Communications/Excommunications: An Interview with Armand Mattelart.” Trans. Amandine Bled, Jacques Guot, and Costas Constantinou. Review of International Studies 34.1 (2008): 21-42. Mattelart, Armand. “Cómo nació el mito de Internet.” Trans. Yanina Guthman. El mito internet. Ed. Victor Hugo de la Fuente. Santiago: Editorial aún creemos en los sueños, 2002. 25-32. Maxwell, Richard and Toby Miller. Greening the Media. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. Nye, David E. American Technological Sublime. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1994. Nye, David E. Technology Matters: Questions to Live With. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. 2007. Orwell, George. “As I Please.” Tribune. 12 May 1944. Richtel, Matt. “Consumers Hold on to Products Longer.” New York Times: B1, 26 Feb. 2011. Robinson, Brett H. “E-Waste: An Assessment of Global Production and Environmental Impacts.” Science of the Total Environment 408.2 (2009): 183-91. Rogers, Heather. Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage. New York: New Press, 2005. Sacks, Harvey. Lectures on Conversation. Vols. I and II. Ed. Gail Jefferson. Malden: Blackwell, 1995. Schiller, Herbert I. Information and the Crisis Economy. Norwood: Ablex Publishing, 1984. Schor, Juliet B. Plenitude: The New Economics of True Wealth. New York: Penguin, 2010. Science and Technology Council of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Digital Dilemma: Strategic Issues in Archiving and Accessing Digital Motion Picture Materials. Los Angeles: Academy Imprints, 2007. Weber, Max. “Remarks on Technology and Culture.” Trans. Beatrix Zumsteg and Thomas M. Kemple. Ed. Thomas M. Kemple. Theory, Culture [i] The global recession that began in 2007 has been the main reason for some declines in Global North energy consumption, slower turnover in gadget upgrades, and longer periods of consumer maintenance of electronic goods (Richtel). [ii] The emergence of the technological sublime has been attributed to the Western triumphs in the post-Second World War period, when technological power supposedly supplanted the power of nature to inspire fear and astonishment (Nye Technology Matters 28). Historian Mario Biagioli explains how the sublime permeates everyday life through technoscience: "If around 1950 the popular imaginary placed science close to the military and away from the home, today’s technoscience frames our everyday life at all levels, down to our notion of the self" (818). [iii] This compulsory repetition is seemingly undertaken each time as a novelty, governed by what German cultural critic Walter Benjamin called, in his awkward but occasionally illuminating prose, "the ever-always-the-same" of "mass-production" cloaked in "a hitherto unheard-of significance" (48).