Lone-Actor Terrorism: Analysis Paper

Security and Global Affair

Analysing the Processes of Lone-Actor Terrorism: Research Findings

This Research Note presents the outcome of an investigation into the processes of lone-actor terrorism which was part of the Countering Lone-Actor Terrorism (CLAT) Project. The research is based on a database of both plots and attacks across the twenty-eight EU member states, plus Norway and Switzerland, in the period 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2014. The database covers more than 70 variables and includes information relating to 120 individuals. This Research Note outlines some of the key findings of the CLAT project pertaining to 1) attack methodology and logistics; 2) political engagement and online activity and 3) leakage and interactions with authorities. The results relating to the personal characteristics of lone-actor terrorists are presented in a different Research Note in this issue of Perspectives on Terrorism.Security and Global Affair

The mimetic politics of lone-wolf terrorism

Written at a time of crisis in the project of social and political modernity, Fyodor Dostoevsky’s 1864 novel Notes from Underground offers an intriguing parallel for the twenty-first century lone-wolf; it portrays an abject, outcast, spiteful unnamed anti-hero boiling with rage, bitter with resentment and on the verge of radicalisation. A Girardian reading of the poetic truths contained in Dostoevsky’s work is able to provide important keys to explain the contemporary transformation from ‘fourth-wave’ religious terrorism to ‘fifth-wave’ lone-wolf terrorism. Such a reading argues that it is mimetic rivalry – rather than much-trumpeted forms of religious violence or cultural differences – that fuels the triangular relation between governments, terrorists and civilian victims at heart of terrorist acts. This approach is further able to blend social inquiry with an account of the individual, in fact anthropological, conditions of lone-wolf terrorism by tracing the globalisation of resentment and the individualisation of violence to the hyper-mimeticism characterising the globalisation of late modernity. Finally, a mimetic reading of ‘fifth-wave’ terrorism accounts for the turbulence of a global politics in which victimhood and scapegoating no longer have the ability to stabilise social order and warns against a future where violence proliferates and escalates unchecked

Serving the same interests: The Wood Green ricin plot, media–state–terror relations and the ‘terrorism’ dispositif

This article analyses the representations of terrorism that arise out of the BBC’s coverage of the Wood Green ricin plot (2003), the first instance of al-Qaeda-related activity in the United Kingdom during the “war on terror”. Inspired by the work Michel Foucault, the article suggests that the BBC’s representations form part of an emergent “terrorism” dispositif, or apparatus, which draws together seemingly disparate and antagonistic groups into a strategic, mutually-sustaining alliance. The analysis focuses on two weeks’ worth of BBC “News at Ten” bulletins, alongside speeches and press releases issued by the Prime Minister and statements released by al-Qaeda’s leadership. In particular, the article suggests that the BBC’s representations inadvertently work to the advantage of elements within al-Qaeda and the British executive due to the fact that they portray the Wood Green events in ways that are tactically useful to both groups. As such, the article not only provides substantive new empirical insights into the way representations of terrorism were mobilised in the build up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but also shows how Foucauldian concepts can provide creative and innovative analytical tools for understanding the dynamics of the contemporary media-state-terrorism relationship

The use of Eudragit RS 100/cyclodextrin nanoparticles for the transmucosal administration of glutathione.

The aim of this work was to develop and characterize new nanoparticle systems based on Eudragit RS 100 and cyclodextrins (CDs) for the transmucosal administration of glutathione (GSH). For this purpose, nanoparticles (NPs) with the mucoadhesive properties of Eudragit RS 100 and the penetration enhancing and peptide protective properties of CDs were prepared and evaluated. The quasi-emulsion solvent diffusion technique was used to prepare the NPs with natural and chemically modified (HP-β-CD and Me-β-CD) CDs. The NPs prepared showed homogeneous size distribution, mean diameters between 99 and 156 nm, a positive net charge and spherical morphology. Solid state FT-IR, thermal analysis (DSC), and X-ray diffraction studies suggest that the nanoencapsulation process produces a marked decrease in crystallinity of GSH. The encapsulation efficiency of the peptide was found to be between 14.8% and 24%. The results indicate that mean diameters, surface charges and drug-loaded NPs were not markedly affected by the CD, whereas the presence of the latter influences drug release and to some extent peptide stability and absorption. Finally, it has been shown that CD/Eudragit RS 100 NPs may be used for transmucosal absorption of GSH without any cytotoxicity using the epithelial human HaCaT and murine monocyte macrophage RAW264.7 cell lines

The use of Eudragit RS100/cyclodextrin nanoparticles for the transmucosal administration of glutathione

The aim of this work was to develop and characterize new nanoparticle systems based on Eudragit RS 100 and cyclodextrins (CDs) for the transmucosal administration of glutathione (GSH). For this purpose, nanoparticles (NPs) with the mucoadhesive properties of Eudragit RS 100 and the penetration enhancing and peptide protective properties of CDs were prepared and evaluated. The quasi-emulsion solvent diffusion technique was used to prepare the NPs with natural and chemically modified (HP-b-CD and Me-b-CD) CDs. The NPs prepared showed homogeneous size distribution, mean diameters between 99 and 156 nm, a positive net charge and spherical morphology. Solid state FT-IR, thermal analysis (DSC), and X-ray diffraction studies suggest that the nanoencapsulation process produces a marked decrease in crystallinity of GSH. The encapsulation efficiency of the peptide was found to be between 14.8% and 24%. The results indicate that mean diameters, surface charges and drug-loaded NPs were not markedly affected by the CD, whereas the presence of the latter influences drug release and to some extent peptide stability and absorption. Finally, it has been shown that CD/Eudragit RS 100 NPs may be used for transmucosal absorption of GSH without any cytotoxicity using the epithelial human HaCaT and murine monocyte macrophage RAW264.7 cell lines

Development of a multilevel approach for the evaluation of nanomaterials toxicity

Aim: To develop a multilevel approach that includes different toxicity tests and gene-expression studies for toxicity evaluation of engineered nanomaterials developed for biomedical applications. Materials & methods: K-562, MCF-7 and U-937 human-derived cell lines were used as models for in vitro toxicity tests. These tests included viability assays (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-5-[3-carboxymethoxyphenyl]-2-[4-sulfophenyl]-2H-tetrazolium [MTS] assay); evaluation of apoptosis/necrosis by propidium iodide staining and DNA laddering assay; evaluation of mitochondrial toxicity (5,5´,6,6´-tetrachloro-1,1´,3,3´-tetraethyl-benzimidazolcarbocyanine iodide [JC-1] assay); transmission electron microscopy analysis and gene expression analysis by DNA microarray. For in vivo toxicity evaluation, Swiss mice were used for monitoring acute or chronic effects. Two superparamagnetic contrast agents approved for human use (Resovist® and Primovist®) and two new lanthanide-based luminescent nanoparticles were tested. Results & discussion: The nanomaterials approved for human use did not show significant toxicities in our assays. Toxicity studies performed on lanthanide-based nanoparticles (EDTA120 and EDTA120D) complexed with the chelating agent EDTA revealed that these nanomaterials induced necrosis in U-937 and K-562 cells while no toxicity was observed in MCF-7 cells. Moreover, no in vivo effects have been observed. The comparative analysis of the nanomaterials and their separated components showed that the toxicity in U-937 and K-562 cells was mainly due to the presence of EDTA. Conclusion: The multilevel approach proved to be useful for nanomaterial toxicity characterization. In particular, for the lanthanide-based nanoparticles tested in this work, the EDTA was identified as the main cause of the toxicity in vitro, suggesting a possible applicability of these nanoparticle suspensions for in vivo optical imagin