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Three Models Of Anthrax Toxin Effects On The Map-Kinase Pathway And Macrophage Survival, Daniel J. Schneider Mar 2008

Three Models Of Anthrax Toxin Effects On The Map-Kinase Pathway And Macrophage Survival, Daniel J. Schneider

Theses and Dissertations

Lethal factor (LF), a component of anthrax toxin, is the primary virulence factor that allows Bacillus anthracis to evade the immune response by blocking the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) enzymes. This research modifies three published MAPK models to reflect this signal inhibition and to estimate a first-order reaction rate by fitting the models to published viability data for two macrophage cell lines cultured with the LF-producing Bacillus anthracis-Vollum1B strain. One model appears to be ill-suited for this purpose because not all relevant MAPK components could be integrated into the inhibition equations. Despite different underlying parameters and values, the …


Blending The Battlefield: An Analysis Of Using Private Military Companies To Support Military Operations In Iraq, Heather L. Gallup Mar 2008

Blending The Battlefield: An Analysis Of Using Private Military Companies To Support Military Operations In Iraq, Heather L. Gallup

Theses and Dissertations

Over the past fifteen years, the Department of Defense has experienced an increasing trend in the outsourcing and privatization of military operations. Key factors contributing to the growth include declines in military budgets, reductions in active duty end-strength, increases in operational deployments, advancements in weapon system technology, and evolutions in the nature of warfare. However, the continued escalation of incorporating Private Military Companies (PMCs) on the battlefield creates unique challenges. The purpose of this exploratory and descriptive research is to identify utilization rates, describe the types of roles being fulfilled, and synthesize the challenges of augmenting military manpower with civilian …


Characterization Of A Fluorescent Protein Reporter System, Sandra J. Dias Mar 2008

Characterization Of A Fluorescent Protein Reporter System, Sandra J. Dias

Theses and Dissertations

Chemical and biological threats are ever present and attacks have occurred throughout the world in both war and peace-time. Multiple government agencies, academia, and private industry are developing detection capabilities to address such threats. The research presented in this paper supports development of a modular synthetic biology based system that detects and reports the presence of a threat agent. Synthetic biology builds upon past research in genetic engineering and seeks to combine broad applications within biotechnology in novel ways. This basic research project will help to demonstrate a proof-of-concept design which will guide future studies on the development of a …


Software Assurance Best Practices For Air Force Weapon And Information Technology Systems - Are We Bleeding?, Ryan A. Maxon Mar 2008

Software Assurance Best Practices For Air Force Weapon And Information Technology Systems - Are We Bleeding?, Ryan A. Maxon

Theses and Dissertations

In the corporate world, "bits mean money," and as the Department of Defense (DoD) becomes more and more reliant on net-centric warfare, bits mean national security. Software security threats are very real, as demonstrated by the constant barrage of Internet viruses, worms, Trojans, and hackers seeking to exploit the latest vulnerability. Most organizations focus their resources on reactive defenses such as firewalls, antivirus software, and encryption, however as demonstrated by the numerous attacks that are successful, those post facto measures are not enough to stop the bleeding. The DoD defines software assurance (SwA) as the "level of confidence that software …


A Static Aeroelastic Analysis Of A Flexible Wing Mini Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, Nathan A. Pitcher Mar 2008

A Static Aeroelastic Analysis Of A Flexible Wing Mini Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, Nathan A. Pitcher

Theses and Dissertations

The static aeroelastic behavior of the Nighthawk mini unmanned aerial vehicle is examined using a combined experimental and computational approach. Three wings are examined. In order of increasing stiffness they are: a flexible wing, a stiff wing, and a fictitious rigid wing with zero deflection. Photogrammetry is used during wind tunnel testing to measure the average deflected shape of the flexible and stiff wings during flight. The independent variables during wind tunnel tests are angle of attack (ranging from −5.1° through 13.4°) and velocity, which is 20 mph, 30 mph, and 40 mph. Roll angle and yaw angle are control …


C-5a Galaxy Systems Engineering Case Study, Air Force Center For Systems Engineering, John M. Griffin Mar 2008

C-5a Galaxy Systems Engineering Case Study, Air Force Center For Systems Engineering, John M. Griffin

AFIT Documents

The C-5 Systems Engineering Case Study captures the untold story of the application of systems engineering during the concept exploration, development, and production of the USAF C-5A and C-5B aircraft. The case study examines and dissects the systems engineering process as applied by the Air Force C-5 System Program Office and the prime contractor, Lockheed, Georgia, from the program s genesis in 1957 to the last delivery of the C-5A and the beginning of the C-5B program in 1973. Numerous interviews were conducted with the principals who managed and directed the program and a story of the systems engineering process …


Hubble Space Telescope Systems Engineering Case Study, Air Force Center For Systems Engineering, James J. Mattice Mar 2008

Hubble Space Telescope Systems Engineering Case Study, Air Force Center For Systems Engineering, James J. Mattice

AFIT Documents

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is an orbiting astronomical observatory operating in the spectrum from the near-infrared into the ultraviolet. Launched in 1990 and scheduled to operate through 2010, HST carries and has carried a wide variety of instruments producing imaging, spectrographic, astrometric, and photometric data through both pointed and parallel observing programs. Over 100,000 observations of more than 20,000 targets have been produced for retrieval. A macroscopic, cumulative representation of these observations is shown in the figure below to provide a sense of the enormous volume of astronomical data collected by the HST about our universe, our beginnings, and, …


Understanding The Emergence Of Disruptive Innovation In The Air Force Science And Technology Organizations, David E. Shahady Mar 2008

Understanding The Emergence Of Disruptive Innovation In The Air Force Science And Technology Organizations, David E. Shahady

Theses and Dissertations

Although innovation is widely discussed in both military and industry venues, many organizations continue to struggle with what it means to be creative as well as maintain a competitive advantage. The United States Air Force has specifically struggled with the balance between improving existing technologies and employing revolutionary technologies. The purpose of this thesis was to study the motivation, focus, barriers, and culture needed to foster disruptive innovation in Air Force Science and Technology (S&T) and to investigate how industry innovation strategies could improve breakthrough Air Force technology emergence. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), the primary organization responsible for …


Extending Cfd Modeling To Near-Continuum Flows Using Enhanced Thermophysical Modeling, Abram E. Claycomb Mar 2008

Extending Cfd Modeling To Near-Continuum Flows Using Enhanced Thermophysical Modeling, Abram E. Claycomb

Theses and Dissertations

The constitutive relations found in traditional Navier-Stokes-based computational fluid dynamics solvers are known to be limited in altitude. The presence of nonequilibrium phenomena beyond what these methods are able to predict becomes more prevalent at higher altitudes, or increasing Knudsen number. The bulk viscosity, normally assumed to be zero in most computational fluid dynamics applications, is examined as a means of increasing the range of applicability of computational fluid dynamics. The bulk viscosity model used was from recent calculations available in the literature, from a new anisotropic potential energy surface, and is restricted to temperatures below 2000 K. The normal …


Dialable Cryptography For Wireless Networks, Marnita T. Eaddie Mar 2008

Dialable Cryptography For Wireless Networks, Marnita T. Eaddie

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this research is to develop an adaptive cryptographic protocol, which allows users to select an optimal cryptographic strength and algorithm based upon the hardware and bandwidth available and allows users to reason about the level of security versus the system throughput. In this constantly technically-improving society, the ability to communicate via wireless technology provides an avenue for delivering information at anytime nearly anywhere. Sensitive or classified information can be transferred wirelessly across unsecured channels by using cryptographic algorithms. The research presented will focus on dynamically selecting optimal cryptographic algorithms and cryptographic strengths based upon the hardware and …


Developing A Reference Framework For Cybercraft Trust Evaluation, Shannon E. Hunt Mar 2008

Developing A Reference Framework For Cybercraft Trust Evaluation, Shannon E. Hunt

Theses and Dissertations

It should be no surprise that Department of Defense (DoD) and U.S. Air Force (USAF) networks are the target of constant attack. As a result, network defense remains a high priority for cyber warriors. On the technical side, trust issues for a comprehensive end-to-end network defense solution are abundant and involve multiple layers of complexity. The Air Force Research Labs (AFRL) is currently investigating the feasibility of a holistic approach to network defense, called Cybercraft. We envision Cybercraft to be trusted computer entities that cooperate with other Cybercraft to provide autonomous and responsive network defense services. A top research goal …


A Hybrid Communications Network Simulation-Independent Toolkit, David M. Dines Mar 2008

A Hybrid Communications Network Simulation-Independent Toolkit, David M. Dines

Theses and Dissertations

Net-centric warfare requires information superiority to enable decision superiority, culminating in insurmountable combat power against our enemies on the battlefield. Information superiority must be attained and retained for success in today’s joint/coalition battlespace. To accomplish this goal, our combat networks must reliably, expediently and completely deliver over a wide range of mobile and fixed assets. Furthermore, each asset must be given special consideration for the sensitivity, priority and volume of information required by the mission. Evolving a grand design of the enabling network will require a flexible evaluation platform to try and select the right combination of network strategies and …


Increasing Combat Aircraft Survivability Through Coherent Self-Protection Jammers, Soner Ozer Mar 2008

Increasing Combat Aircraft Survivability Through Coherent Self-Protection Jammers, Soner Ozer

Theses and Dissertations

When the battlefields were within the visual range, the objective of deception tactics in warfare was to deceive the human senses. In the battlefield of electromagnetic spectrum, the objective of deception is to deceive the sensors of the enemy weapon systems. The survivability of the aircraft operating in hostile environment is of prime importance to the mission planner. If the aircraft can deny its location information to the tracking radar of the radar guided threat missile system, this, in return, may increase its survivability. The deception, a tactic which stems from the wisdom of ancient battles, incarnated in the form …


Operationalizing Offensive Social Engineering For The Air Force, Bryan E. Skarda Mar 2008

Operationalizing Offensive Social Engineering For The Air Force, Bryan E. Skarda

Theses and Dissertations

Social engineering is the art and science of persuading individuals to bypass in place security mechanisms causing the unintended release of information. It is a low tech solution to a high tech problem and is as much an art as a science. As is true of many such solutions, social engineering is both ill-defined yet extremely effective. Its low cost, high payoff nature makes it an extremely attractive alternative to adversaries that do not have access to all the resources of a nation state. However, with full backing, the weapon can become that much more effective. Social engineering is something …


Feasibility Study Of Encoding Operational Mission Metadata Into Ipv6 Packet Headers, Timothy R. Policarpio Mar 2008

Feasibility Study Of Encoding Operational Mission Metadata Into Ipv6 Packet Headers, Timothy R. Policarpio

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to determine the feasibility of using the header fields and header extensions of IPv6 packets to encode mission metadata into computer network streams. Specifically, this thesis seeks to answer several research questions addressing the performance of different packet header encoding methods, specifically which method provides the least end-to-end delay of a file transfer over a hypothetical network as well as which method produces the least amount of additional network overhead during its operation in the hypothetical network. The research questions are answered through a comprehensive literature review and with the use of several network …


Improvement Of Ecm Techniques Through Implementation Of A Genetic Algorithm, James D. Townsend Mar 2008

Improvement Of Ecm Techniques Through Implementation Of A Genetic Algorithm, James D. Townsend

Theses and Dissertations

This research effective effort develops the necessary interfaces between the radar signal processing components and an optimization routine, such as genetic algorithms, to develop Electronic Countermeasure (ECM) waveforms under a Hardware-in-the-Loop (HILS) architecture. The various ECM waveforms are stored in an ECM library, where an operator selects the desired function to use against a particular system. This optimization works with modular components, compared to previous research that embedded a genetic algorithm into the Range Gate Pull-off (RGPO) waveform optimization loop, which can be interchanged based upon the operator's desired hardware/ software testing setup. The ECM library's first entries contain the …


Exploitation Of Self Organization In Uav Swarms For Optimization In Combat Environments, Dustin J. Nowak Mar 2008

Exploitation Of Self Organization In Uav Swarms For Optimization In Combat Environments, Dustin J. Nowak

Theses and Dissertations

This investigation focuses primarily on the development of effective target engagement for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarms using autonomous self-organized cooperative control. This development required the design of a new abstract UAV swarm control model which flows from an abstract Markov structure, a Partially Observable Markov Decision Process. Self-organization features, bio-inspired attack concepts, evolutionary computation (multi-objective genetic algorithms, differential evolution), and feedback from environmental awareness are instantiated within this model. The associated decomposition technique focuses on the iterative deconstruction of the problem domain state and dynamically building-up of self organizational rules as related to the problem domain environment. Resulting emergent …


Collision Avoidance For Uavs Using Optic Flow Measurement With Line Of Sight Rate Equalization And Looming, Paul J. Shelnutt Mar 2008

Collision Avoidance For Uavs Using Optic Flow Measurement With Line Of Sight Rate Equalization And Looming, Paul J. Shelnutt

Theses and Dissertations

A series of simplified scenarios is investigated whereby an optical flow balancing guidance law is used to avoid obstacles by steering an air vehicle between fixed objects/obstacles. These obstacles are registered as specific points that can be representative of features in a scene. The obstacles appear in the field of view of a single forward looking camera. First a 2-D analysis is presented where the rate of the line of sight from the vehicle to each of the obstacles to be avoided is measured. The analysis proceeds by initially using no field of view (FOV) limitations, then applying FOV restrictions, …


A Secure Group Communication Architecture For A Swarm Of Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Adrian N. Phillips Mar 2008

A Secure Group Communication Architecture For A Swarm Of Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Adrian N. Phillips

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the application of a secure group communication architecture to a swarm of autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). A multicast secure group communication architecture for the low earth orbit (LEO) satellite environment is evaluated to determine if it can be effectively adapted to a swarm of UAVs and provide secure, scalable, and efficient communications. The performance of the proposed security architecture is evaluated with two other commonly used architectures using a discrete event computer simulation developed using MatLab. Performance is evaluated in terms of the scalability and efficiency of the group key distribution and management scheme when the …


2007 Annual Report Of The Graduate School Of Engineering And Management, Air Force Institute Of Technology, Office Of Research And Sponsored Programs, Graduate School Of Engineering And Management, Afit Mar 2008

2007 Annual Report Of The Graduate School Of Engineering And Management, Air Force Institute Of Technology, Office Of Research And Sponsored Programs, Graduate School Of Engineering And Management, Afit

AFIT Documents

The Graduate School's Annual Report highlights research focus areas, new academic programs, faculty accomplishments and news, and provides top-level sponsor-funded research data and information.


Mission Impact Analysis Visualization For Enhanced Situational Awareness, Sean C. M. Carroll Mar 2008

Mission Impact Analysis Visualization For Enhanced Situational Awareness, Sean C. M. Carroll

Theses and Dissertations

This research effort examines the creation of mission impact analysis visualizations to enhance situational awareness. It focuses on using prefuse to create a visualization that allows the user to quickly understand the impact of the failure of any element needed directly or indirectly for a mission. The visualization correctly identifies the direct or indirect impact on physical requirements such as network links and servers as well as non-physical elements such as the generation of a report, or ability to perform a task. The visualization provides an overview of the situation, as well as including enhancements to allow for greater detail …


Dod Role For Securing United States Cyberspace, Jane J. Griffin Mar 2008

Dod Role For Securing United States Cyberspace, Jane J. Griffin

Theses and Dissertations

The cyber attacks on Estonia in late April and the early weeks of May 2007 significantly crippled the country, preventing it from performing banking, communications, news reporting, government transactions and command and control activities. Estonia is considered a “Wired Society”, much like the United States. Both countries rely on the cyberspace infrastructure economically and politically. Estonia sought assistance outside the country to recover from and to address the attacks. The cyber attacks on Estonia focused world-wide attention on the effects that cyberspace attacks could have on countries. If a cyber attack of national significance occurred against the United States, what …


Hot Swapping Protocol Implementations In The Opnet Modeler Development Environment, Mark E. Coyne Mar 2008

Hot Swapping Protocol Implementations In The Opnet Modeler Development Environment, Mark E. Coyne

Theses and Dissertations

This research effort demonstrates hot swapping protocol implementations in OPNET via the building of a dependency injection testing framework. The thesis demonstrates the externalization (compiling as stand-alone code) of OPNET process models, and their inclusion into custom DLL's (Dynamically Linked Libraries). A framework then utilizes these process model DLL's, to specify, or “inject,” process implementations post-compile time into an OPNET simulation. Two separate applications demonstrate this mechanism. The first application is a toolkit that allows for the testing of multiple routing related protocols in various combinations without code re-compilation or scenario re-generation. The toolkit produced similar results as the same …


Effects Of Multipath And Oversampling On Navigation Using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexed Signals Of Opportunity, Christopher M. Schexnayder Mar 2008

Effects Of Multipath And Oversampling On Navigation Using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexed Signals Of Opportunity, Christopher M. Schexnayder

Theses and Dissertations

The Global Positioning System (GPS) has become the primary system for navigation and precise positioning. GPS has limitations, though, and is not suitable in environments where a line-of-site (LOS) path to multiple satellites is not available. Reliable alternatives need to be developed to provide GPS-like positioning when GPS is unavailable. One such alternative is to use signals of opportunity (SoOP). This concept refers to navigation using signals which inherently exist in the environment and were developed for non-navigation applications. This research focuses on exploiting the Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexed (OFDM) signal for the purpose of navigation. An algorithm was developed …


Determining The Surface-To-Air Missile Requirement For Western And Southern Part Of The Turkish Air Defense System, Omer Alkanat Mar 2008

Determining The Surface-To-Air Missile Requirement For Western And Southern Part Of The Turkish Air Defense System, Omer Alkanat

Theses and Dissertations

An air defense system is vital for countries to protect their homelands. Today, air defense systems consist of integrated systems such as early warning radars, fighter aircraft, airborne early warning aircraft and surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems. The Turkish air defense system does not have long range SAM systems. Turkey plans to procure SAM systems to protect her borders. This research develops two location optimization models to optimally locate SAM sites to defend specified areas of the nation. One of the models finds the minimum number of SAM sites to cover the specified area; the other finds the maximum coverage for …


Forecasting Instability Indicators In The Horn Of Africa Region, Bryan R. Tannehill Mar 2008

Forecasting Instability Indicators In The Horn Of Africa Region, Bryan R. Tannehill

Theses and Dissertations

The forecasting of state failure and the associated indicators has been a topic of great interest to a number of different agencies. USAID, CENTCOM, the World Bank, the Center for Army Analyses, and others have all examined the subject based on their own specific objectives. Whether the goal is denying terrorists space in which to operate, deciding how to pre-position materials in anticipation of unrest, stabilizing foreign markets and trade, or preventing or mitigating humanitarian disasters, man made or otherwise, this topic has been of interest for over a decade. The Horn of Africa has been one of the least …


Comparative Kinetics And Distribution To Target Tissues Of Organophosphates Using Physiologically-Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling, Rick E. Vermillion Mar 2008

Comparative Kinetics And Distribution To Target Tissues Of Organophosphates Using Physiologically-Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling, Rick E. Vermillion

Theses and Dissertations

A physiologically-based pharmacokinetic model has been developed to examine the effects of organophosphates on the levels of acetylcholine in different tissues throughout the mammalian body. Many organophosphate-like chemical and kinetic characteristics are tested without reference to a specific chemical. Characteristics include partition coefficients, metabolic constants, the inhibition coefficient, the aging rate, and the regeneration rate. Two separate exposure scenarios are tested and compared against a baseline. The baseline consists of a direct inhalation exposure. The first exposure scenario examines the effects of bronchial scrubbing (via inhalation) and the second scenario is a study of dermal exposures and compares the levels …


Process Time Refinement For Reusable Launch Vehicle Regeneration Modeling, Joseph A. Servidio Mar 2008

Process Time Refinement For Reusable Launch Vehicle Regeneration Modeling, Joseph A. Servidio

Theses and Dissertations

To sustain operational effectiveness, the Air Force has invested in the research and development of space-based technologies. Certain ongoing spacelift research efforts are focused on developing operationally responsive Reusable Military Launch Vehicles (RMLV) capable of launching payloads into orbit within hours of a tasking notification. Previous Air Force Research Laboratory-sponsored AFIT studies have resulted in the development of the MILEPOST discrete-event simulation model. This model has enabled the ability to analyze the impacts to responsiveness and manpower requirements given different RMLV design alternatives. The focus of this thesis is to improve the fidelity of the MILEPOST model by developing parametric …


Discrete Event Simulation Of A Suppression Of Enemy Air Defenses (Sead) Mission, Ahmet Aydin Candir Mar 2008

Discrete Event Simulation Of A Suppression Of Enemy Air Defenses (Sead) Mission, Ahmet Aydin Candir

Theses and Dissertations

Contemporary military campaigns increasingly count on the use of air power. Suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) operations have been a crucial element of military air power for 50 years. Several developments and evolution in both air defense and attack systems suggest that SEAD missions will continue to have growing importance to air forces. Since SEAD operations have a significant impact on air campaigns, it is important to examine their efficiency and identify improvement opportunities. This study explores factors that influence SEAD operations through use of a discrete event simulation built in Arena and subsequent statistical analysis of the results.


Combat Identification Modeling Using Robust Optimization Techniques, Taeho Kim Mar 2008

Combat Identification Modeling Using Robust Optimization Techniques, Taeho Kim

Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of this research were: (1) the modeling of a CID situation and (2) the search for robust and controllable input variable settings. The inputs were defined as controllable and noise variables and the confusion matrices in ROC theory were adapted to act as controllable factors. In this research a simple virtual battlespace representation is employed. The experimental results of the CID system are summarized by a posterior confusion matrix and throughout the confusion matrix analysis we can obtain all various types of data such as accuracy, error cost, error rates, and so forth. To find the optimal parameters …