Book Summary: This work is the fourth Small Wars Journal anthology focusing on radical Sunni Islamic terrorists and insurgent groups. It covers this professional journals writings for 2016 and is a compliment to the earlier Global Radical Islamist Insurgency anthologies that were produced as Vol. I: 2007-2011 (published in 2015) and Vol. II: 2012-2014 (published in 2016) and Jihadi Terrorism, Insurgency, and the Islamic State spanning 2015 (published in 2017). This anthology, which offers well over 900 pages of focused analysis, follows the same general conceptual breakdown as the earlier works and is divided into two major thematic sectionsone focusing on Al Qaeda and Islamic state activities in 2016 and the other focusing on US-Allied policies and counterinsurgent strategies.

Book Summary: This work is the fourth Small Wars Journal anthology focusing on radical Sunni Islamic terrorists and insurgent groups. It covers this professional journals writings for 2016 and is a compliment to the earlier Global Radical Islamist Insurgency anthologies that were produced as Vol. I: 2007-2011 (published in 2015) and Vol. II: 2012-2014 (published in 2016) and Jihadi Terrorism, Insurgency, and the Islamic State spanning 2015 (published in 2017). This anthology, which offers well over 900 pages of focused analysis, follows the same general conceptual breakdown as the earlier works and is divided into two major thematic sectionsone focusing on Al Qaeda and Islamic state activities in 2016 and the other focusing on US-Allied policies and counterinsurgent strategies.

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The long-term complications of diabetes can be dramatically reduced with tight glycemic control. Although the current invasive technology for measuring blood glucose is effective, it not well suited for the real-time measurements necessary for tight control. Near infrared (NIR) absorption spectroscopy, coupling with multivariate calibration modeling, can potentially provide portable, rugged and low-cost instrumentation for continuous glucose sensing. An optical microsensor that can be used in conjunction with an ultrafiltration sampling probe is under development for continuous glucose measurements in interstitial fluid (ISF) collected from subcutaneous tissue. The first part of this research focused on the development of an algorithm for eliminating of effect of temperature variance on NIR glucose measurements. Spectra of 80 bovine blood ultrafiltrate samples were collected under five different temperatures by using a Fourier transform (FT) NIR spectrometer. Based on the fundamental properties of digital Fourier filtering, baseline variations created by difference in the temperature of the blood ultrafiltrate samples were shown to be eliminated by using an optimized Gaussian shape filter response function. PLS calibration models combined with digital Fourier filtering provided standard errors of prediction in the range of 0.3-0.4 mM for sample with temperatures between 25-40 °C. Before applying the microsensor to animal or human measurements, a testing platform was designed and constructed for the eventual purpose of evaluating the ability of the microsensor to follow glucose concentration transients. A series of computer-controlled pumps were used in combination with an ultrafiltration probe to create glucose transients and deliver the corresponding samples to the spectrometer for analysis. NIR spectra were collected continuously as the concentrations of glucose, urea, and lactate were varied independently. Glucose transients were followed over periods of days by using either partial least squares (PLS) or net analyte signal (NAS) calibration methods. The NAS calibration method and a modified Hybrid Linear Analysis (HLA) method were investigated for monitoring the concentrations of glucose and lactate during microbial fermentations. An UF-sampling probe is used to collect samples of the fermentation broth and deliver these samples to the spectrometer for continuous analysis. The established NAS and modified-HLA calibration models provided glucose and lactate concentration measurements with mean percentage errors of 2 and 3%, respectively. These calibration functions were demonstrated capable of accurate concentration measurements several days beyond the formal calibration process. Lastly, NIR spectra of whole bovine blood samples were used to demonstrate the ability to measure glucose in blood with different levels of hematocrit. Calibration functions were based on PLS modeling and the effective models were developed for measurements from absorbance and single-beam NIR spectra. The method of multiplicative scatter correction was found to be particularly effective in reducing the impact of light scattering caused by the red blood cells at different hematocrit levels. These findings imply that nondestructive NIR spectroscopy has the potential to measure glucose without consuming blood, thereby reducing phlebotomy blood loss in neonates and potentially decreasing the frequency of red blood cell transfusion for this fragile patient population.

Noninvasive glucose monitoring has been the subject of considerable research because of the high number of diabetes patients who must monitor their glucose levels daily by taking blood samples. Among methods being evaluated for possible use in this application, near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has received significant attention because of available glucose absorption bands that can be observed in the presence of the large aqueous background found in tissue spectra. The objective of the research presented here is to evaluate the potential for implementing a noninvasive nocturnal hypoglycemic alarm with NIR spectroscopy. Such an alarm would be used by a diabetic to detect potentially dangerous occurrences of hypoglycemia during sleep. The approach used is to collect spectra continuously from the patient during the sleep period, followed by the application of pattern recognition methods to determine if a spectrum represents a blood glucose level that exceeds a hypoglycemic threshold. A reference spectrum is collected and a conventional finger-stick glucose concentration measurement is made at the start of the sleep period. The ratio is then taken of each subsequent spectrum to the collected reference, forming a differential spectrum corresponding to the signed difference in concentration relative to the reference. The identification of these differential spectra as "alarm" or "non-alarm" is performed with a classification model computed with piecewise linear discriminant analysis. This methodology is initially tested with in vitro laboratory data that simulated the glucose excursions that occur during sleep. The performance of the hypoglycemic alarm methodology in the presence of varying levels of urea, glyceryl triacetate, and L-lactate as potential spectral interferents is tested. The robustness of the methodology with respect to time is also evaluated. The thesis further discusses an experimental procedure to prepare tissue phantoms composed of two main proteins that exist in human skin tissue, keratin and collagen. A new methodology is developed to produce varying-thickness films that allowed the simulation of changes in the content of skin tissue proteins present within the optical path of the NIR measurement. The prepared films are incorporated into in vitro laboratory measurements in which varying levels of glucose, urea, keratin, and collagen are introduced in order to provide a test of the hypoglycemic alarm algorithm that simulates the spectral properties of human tissue. Finally, the hypoglycemic alarm algorithm is tested with in vivo data collected with rat animal models. Data are presented for single-day experiments performed with anesthetized rats, as well as for multiple-day experiments conducted with awake rats. The results obtained from both the in vitro and in vivo studies confirm that if high-quality spectral data are attainable, the alarm methodology can work effectively to identify hypoglycemic events while exhibiting a low rate of false detections.

Noninvasive glucose sensing has been studied widely. Near infrared (NIR) absorption spectroscopy and Raman scattering spectroscopy are proposed individually and combined as methods for glucose measurement in a three component sample matrix. In both techniques, the light transmits through human skin and a spectrum is collected. The research described in this thesis is like this. The use of individual NIR spectra data and individual Raman spectra data can give a good prediction ability of the partial least-squares (PLS) calibration model. Since the NIR and Raman spectroscopies have complementary nature of molecular vibrations, the research tried to prove the prediction ability of the PLS calibration model can be improved by combining NIR and Raman spectra data. Two approaches are investigated to ascertain the benefits of combining these spectral methods. First, NIR and Raman spectral data collected from a set of 60 samples concated and used to compute multivariate models based on PLS and net analyte signal (NAS) methods. The performance of models based on concated NIR-Raman spectra are compared to conventional models based on only NIR and only Raman spectra. The second strategy reported in this chapter is the simulated NIR and Raman spectra and computing PLS and NAS models by concating these simulated spectra. Spectral simulation permits systematic variations in noise levels. In both cases, various preprocessing methods are explored to find a suitable way to combine the different spectral types. The result from the real spectra data is that adding low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) to high SNR spectra would make the calibration models worse. The result from the simulated spectra data is that with the same SNR and the same magnitude of the two spectra, the prediction ability of the calibration model can be improved.

The ability to measure glucose transcutaneously and noninvasively is an exciting prospect. Such a procedure will offer a painless way of glucose self-monitoring improving the lives of people with diabetes by lowering the barriers to optimal glycemic control. The noninvasive measurements involve collecting near-infrared spectra (4000–5000 cm-1; 2.0–2.5 µm) of skin with two optical fibers in a transmission geometry. Previous results indicate that repositioning of the fiber optic interface adversely affects both precision and accuracy of such measurements. Slight movements of the interface increase prediction errors more than 2.5–fold when performed with a stationary rat model. In this dissertation, the chemical heterogeneity of skin tissue is explored as a possible cause for the sensitivity of the measurement to the position of the optical interface. Rat and human skin tissues are mapped by using combination near infrared spectra the to provide distributions of the major components of skin: water, collagen type I protein, fat, keratin protein, and two scattering terms of constant and slope. On the basis of the measured heterogeneity, sets of rat and human skin spectra are simulated to investigate the impact of repositioning the fiber-optic interface. Glucose predictions are analyzed for each location of the interface for a series of partial least squares (PLS) calibration vectors established for different locations on the skin. Significant increases in the measurement errors are observed for the situation where the PLS calibration models are generated from spectra associated with one location of the interface while subsequent measurements are performed at slightly locations of the skin matrix. These increases in prediction errors match the 2.5–fold increase observed in vivo. The impact of replacing the spectrum of bovine fat with spectra of native fat for both rat and human skin samples is established. Principal component analysis (PCA) of the spectral residuals reveals that the magnitude of the spectral residuals and the effects of tissue fat content on the quality of the linear regression were decreased. The key implication of the research detailed in this dissertation is that chemical heterogeneity of skin tissue must be considered in multivariate models intended for noninvasive glucose measurements.

This thesis is intended to be an analysis of a book entitled "Important Counsels to Kings and Imams." It is, in the same time, a research on the book's author, named Alwan Ibn Atiyyah al-Hamawi. Alwan was a Syrian muslim scholar, who lived in the sixteenth century. Alwan witnessed the Ottoman conquering of Syria, so, he wrote his book, Important Counsels to Kings and Imams, as a reflection of his views toward the Ottoman regime. Alwan addressed his book to Sultan Selim I, encouraging him to establish justice through the religious law, the Sharia. The thesis is composed of four main sections; which are the following: The Middle East in the time of Alwan. This section contains a short history of the Islamic states and the political relations among them. Those states were the Ottoman Turks in Anatolia, the Safawid Dynasty in Persia and the Mamluks' State in Egypt. Life and career of Shaykh Alwan, his education and his influence upon his society and students. Analysis and commentaries on the manuscript, “Important Counsels to Kings and Imams.” This section discusses the causes and goals of writing the book, the issues, which Alwan talked about, and finally the style of writing and organizing of the book. Complete English translation of the Arabic copy including all those chapters which are arranged by the author of the book, Shaykh Alwan. The writer of this thesis has faced several problems with collecting information about Alwan's life, tracing prophetic hadiths and Quranic ayats, that Alwan included in his book, also translating an old manuscript, written in a classic language. Although, Alwan was one of the leading sixteenth century scholars and mystics, he has not been well-known to editors and publishers in this time in the Arab world. Only two books, out of twenty-four books and essays, are published. All those references which I have used at Portland State University Library and al-Zahiriyya Library in Damascus, mention little information about the life and career of Alwan; especially his family and early life. As for Quranic ayats and prophetic hadiths, which Alwan included in his book, all were mentioned without references or footnotes. Therefore, the writer footnoted every aya, but in the case of those hadiths, it was almost impossible to trace every hadith used in Alwan's book, and evaluate them according to texts, because of the writer's limited knowledge of the "Science of Hadith." Alwan's book, which exists in manuscript form only, is grammatically correct in language, and the style of writing is generally good. However, the translation was difficult because some ideas are not clear and some classic Arabic words must be fully understood by using old Arabic dictionaries, then English dictionaries. It seems that Alwan penned his thoughts haphazardly because the book seems rather unorganized in its contents. Alwan divided his book into twenty-seven chapters. In fact some of those chapter titles are not necessary. He, sometimes, discussed some issues more than once, such as alcohol and adultery. Alwan in his book discussed numerous social problems. and issues, i.e., alms, commanding good, forbidding evils, adultery, alcohol, wearing pure gold for men, decorations of cities for the Sultan's joy, land taxes, and enslaving free people, all attempting to set rules for the Sultan's judgment. At any rate the manuscript "Important Counsels to Kings and Imams" reflects the attitudes of a Syrian Arab scholar toward the new Ottoman regime that conquered Syria and Egypt between 1516-1517. Alwan and his book are a significant commentary of Islamic history of Syria and Egypt in the beginning of the sixteenth century. This research shows that Alwan felt that the regime of Sultan Selim I was not following its responsibilities toward the Sharia and the, only law of the Empire. The most important consideration for Alwan, in his manuscript, was his concern for justice for the subjects of the Ottoman Empire. His goal in writing that book was that all people should benefit from the Quran and Sharia, and that justice would be established through only the religious law (Sharia) within the Ottoman Empire.

Tip Enhanced Near-field Optical Microscopy (TENOM) is a method for optically imaging at resolutions far below the diffraction limit. This technique requires optical nano-probes with very specialized geometries, in order to obtain large, localized enhancements of the electromagnetic field, which is the driver behind this imaging method. Traditional methods for the fabrication of these nano-probes involve electrochemical etching and subsequent FIB milling. However, this milling process is non-trivial, requiring multiple cuts on each probe. This requires multiple rotations of the probe within the FIB system, which may not be possible in all systems, meaning the sample must be removed from vacuum, rotated by hand and placed back under vacuum. This is time consuming and costly and presents a problem with reproducibility. The method presented here is to replace multiple cuts from a side profile with a small number of cuts from a top down profile. This method uses the inherent imaging characteristics of the FIB, by assigning beam dwell times to specific locations on the sample, through the use of bitmap images. These bitmaps are placed over the sample while imaging and provide a lookup table for the beam while milling. These images are grayscale with the color of each pixel representing the dwell time at that pixel. This technique, combined with grayscale gradients, can provide probes with a symmetric geometry, making the system polarization independent.