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9/11 and its aftermath was to have a dramatic impact on the visual arts and the artistic response to the War on Terror. This study surveys the evolution of these responses from the dramatic events of 11 September 2001 to the longer term reactions generated by the two-decade long encounter with the so-called War on Terrorism, primarily via the Imperial War Museum's Age of Terror/Art Since 9/11 exhibition of 2017–2018. The analysis suggests that the visual artistic response moved from the initial amazement at the destruction of the Twin Towers, through satirical caricature of the terrorist persona, to a trite predictability that mirrored official equivocation about the threat posed by violent jihadist activism. Artistic endeavor on these terms became notable only for its moral ambiguity and complicity in self-censorship rather than contributing to the creation of artwork of enduring value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Popular music was the most immediate way in which the cultural response to 9/11 manifested itself. Initially music offered a way of mourning and coping with grief. As the United States moved toward the invasion of Iraq, pop music also began to reflect the divisions in society between patriot-artists who supported the invasion, most notably in country music, and protest-artists who articulated critical attitudes to war. These anti-war songs did not attain the stature of those that characterized the era of protest during the Vietnam War, nor did they offer a musical accompaniment to a social movement with any enduring political significance. One little observed dissonance that a longitudinal survey of the musical response to political violence reveals, however, is that over time the attitudes of protest songwriters and the patriots transvalued. Ironically, interventionist "rednecks" became disillusioned with the endless wars of intervention, whilst the "protest" writers lost their voices after President Obama came to power. Ironically, icons of popular music instead turned their ire on those who voted for an anti-establishment President Trump who vowed not to involve the U.S. in further military adventures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In theory, the idea of strategy is easy to comprehend but in practice it is a hard taskmaster because it often involves calculations of political values that are rarely amenable to the kind of rationalistic application of "expert" opinion to which Western nations invariably default when considering overseas interventions. Based on remarks to the Oxford Changing Character of War Centre, this research note argues that foreign policy experts frequently find themselves out of touch with the sentiments of their own populations, which in part is responsible for the poor strategic outcomes that Western foreign policies have incurred in recent years. A number of remedies are suggested, based principally on returning Western policy making to a tradition of prudential realism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines what factors cause states to withdraw from foreign territorial interventions. Scholarly analyses of withdrawal are rare, whilst within the broader research area of territorial conflict, studies are often dichotomized into neorealist or constructivist-inspired works, emphasizing a select few variables and one level of analysis alone. We argue these excessive simplifications of international politics lack utility for understanding territorial withdrawal. Instead, we employ the principles of strategic theory informed by a Clausewitzian paradigm, and construct a framework of three "arenas of bargaining," spanning multiple variable-types and levels of analysis, to explain territorial withdrawal. In so doing, the analysis delineates a comprehensible and novel theoretical framework for understanding an under-researched policy problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the imperative of 'prevention', the process of information production for investigatory purposes forms a crossover between intelligence gathering and law enforcement. Digital surveillance programmes collect personal data prior to any probable cause of suspicion, whereas law enforcement activities are concerned with collecting evidence of crimes after the event. When future looking preventative approaches to the prosecution of crimes are forced into the linear, temporal narrative by which criminal investigations unfold, a tension emerges. The article demonstrates the ultimate incompatibility between 'out of the ordinary' intelligence activities and 'ordinary' criminal investigations by unearthing the procedural character behind evidence laundering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tragedy is one of the oldest metaphorical lenses of International Relations. The tragic vision of politics, from Thucydides to contemporary realist theorists, lies at the core of classical realism. However, it is striking how rarely the concept of tragedy has been applied to the discourse of humanitarian intervention. This lacuna is a weakness on both the intellectual and political levels, as nowhere are clashes between competing ethical perspectives more glaring. An examination of the concept of tragedy, as conceived from its Greek origins, can illuminate an understanding of the morally contradictory imperatives created by armed intervention. Using the Bosnian War as a case study, Greek classical tragedy provides a framework to grasp the agonising choices and insoluble ethical dilemmas brought about by humanitarian intervention, in contrast to mere narratives of salvation. The argument conveyed in this article seeks to reconcile a tragic vision with the idea of progress and political action. It concludes by suggesting that the fundamental lessons that lie at the heart of tragedy should be associated with another major concept in Greek culture, namely, the Aristotelian idea of phronesis or 'practical wisdom'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

P-type InAs excited by ultrashort optical pulses has been shown to be a strong emitter of terahertz radiation. In a direct comparison between a p-InAs emitter and conventional thermal radiation sources, we demonstrate that under typical excitation conditions p-InAs produces more radiation below 1.2 THz than a globar. By treating the globar as a blackbody emitter we calibrate a silicon bolometer which is used to determine the power of the p-InAs emitter. The emitted terahertz power was found to be 98±10 nW in this experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few academically rigorous accounts exist of the financial activities that sustained the rise of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) during the Northern Ireland Troubles. Through a sustained methodology this study seeks to challenge some popular preconceptions and address omissions in the limited historical record. The article explores the organization's evolving financial sophistication by analyzing PIRA's acquisition of capital rather than its arms dealings. Using a new quantitative evaluation, this investigation confronts the prevailing understanding that Irish-American funds were of unrivaled significance to PIRA. It points to an array of domestic fund-raisers that collectively provided the overwhelming bulk of revenue. The study reveals also how PIRA developed an extensive reliance on criminal gangs for its expertise in illegal fund-raising, suggesting that moneymaking schemes were perceived as a necessary but unpopular byproduct of the greater political objective. Finally, this article briefly explores how the British authorities sought to interdict PIRA's funding. While the general perception is that little was done to counteract PIRA's financing initiatives in the early phases of its violent campaign, this study, nevertheless, reveals that a subtle counterfinance initiative did take place in Belfast across the 1970s. Overall, the analysis enables a more rounded comprehension of the group's financial resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Terahertz emission has been observed from (100) Zn-acceptor-doped InAs under illumination by fs pulses of near-infrared radiation. Turning the crystal about the surface normal produces two maxima per rotation, whether the angle of incidence is 45° or 75°, in contrast to (111) p-InAs, where three maxima per rotation have been reported. The emitted terahertz power has a quadratic variation with the pump power and decreases with increasing temperature in the range 20–300 K. This behavior is consistent with a photocurrent surge being the dominant terahertz generating mechanism at low excitation fluences. The p-type InAs generates about two orders of magnitude more power than the standard unbiased terahertz emitter, 1mm thick ZnTe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effect of a chemical additive on the fermentation and aerobic stability of high-moisture corn (HMC). Ground HMC (~63% dry matter) was untreated, or treated with an additive containing sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, and sodium nitrite as active ingredients, at 0, 2, 3, or 4 L/t of fresh matter. Laboratory silos (7.5 L) were prepared and ensiled for 21 and 90 d (4 silos/treatment per d of ensiling). Small bag silos were prepared for untreated HMC and HMC treated with 4 L/t of the additive and analyzed for nitrate-N and nitrite-N after 0, 3, and 7 d of ensiling. The concentration of nitrate-N was similar between these 2 treatments and was below levels considered problematic for ruminants. Nitrite-N was greater in HMC treated with the high level of additive but was also very low for both treatments. Numbers of yeasts were similar among treatments in fresh HMC and decreased substantially after ensiling. Numbers of yeasts were similar among treatments after 21 d of ensiling but after 90 d they were lower in treated versus untreated HMC. Concentrations of organic acids (lactic, acetic, and propionic) and pH were not different among treatments at any time of ensiling. In contrast, treatment with the additive markedly decreased the concentration of ethanol in HMC after 21 and 90 d when compared with untreated HMC. Treatment with all levels of the additive markedly improved the aerobic stability and improved the recovery of dry matter compared with untreated HMC. Overall, our findings suggest that the chemical additive used in this study has the potential to improve the fermentation and aerobic stability of HMC after a relatively short period (21 d) and after a moderate length (90 d) of ensiling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty-first-century political crises stretching from Europe to the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific have undermined the worldview that governed post-Cold War western thinking about a liberal end of history. This worldview assumed that shared norms and transnational institutions would transform the state based-order. In this context, the use of force is considered appropriate only for humanitarian ends meeting a set of predetermined axioms laid down in chapter 7 of the UN Charter. Yet for any strategy to be effective-in an international order subject to change-a clear political aim is required, which might deviate from the general rule. Preoccupied with universal postulates, legal normativism has lost sight of the particular. The argument put forth in this article is that the failure of contemporary western foreign policy in the twenty-first century to address this limitation or to prioritize political ends has led to strategic confusion from Afghanistan to Syria and Ukraine. In this context, it might be useful to reappraise the utility of abstract rationalist approaches to global governance and return instead to an earlier understanding of statecraft that avoided premature generalizations and treated norms as maxims of prudence rather than axioms requiring universal application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is widely accepted that photosynthetic bacteria played a crucial role in Fe( II) oxidation and the precipitation of iron formations ( IF) during the Late Archean-Early Paleoproterozoic (2.7-2.4 Ga). It is less clear whether microbes similarly caused the deposition of the oldest IF at ca. 3.8 Ga, which would imply photosynthesis having already evolved by that time. Abiological alternatives, such as the direct oxidation of dissolved Fe( II) by ultraviolet radiation may have occurred, but its importance has been discounted in environments where the injection of high concentrations of dissolved iron directly into the photic zone led to chemical precipitation reactions that overwhelmed photooxidation rates. However, an outstanding possibility remains with respect to photochemical reactions occurring in the atmosphere that might generate hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), a recognized strong oxidant for ferrous iron. Here, we modeled the amount of H2O2 that could be produced in an Eoarchean atmosphere using updated solar fluxes and plausible CO2, O2, and CH4 mixing ratios. Irrespective of the atmospheric simulations, the upper limit of H2O2 rainout was calculated to be <106 molecules cm−2 s−1. Using conservative Fe( III) sedimentation rates predicted for submarine hydrothermal settings in the Eoarchean, we demonstrate that the flux of H2O2 was insufficient by several orders of magnitude to account for IF deposition (requiring ~1011 H2O2 molecules cm−2 s−1). This finding further constrains the plausible Fe( II) oxidation mechanisms in Eoarchean seawater, leaving, in our opinion, anoxygenic phototrophic Fe( II)-oxidizing micro-organisms the most likely mechanism responsible for Earth's oldest IF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rhino-poaching crisis in South Africa raises questions about whether it should be tackled through judicial processes or by the application of hard-power methods. The poaching of wildlife has traditionally been met with a harsh response to send a clear message of punitive deterrence. While the reaction of the South African authorities has been no different, the contemporary threat posed by poaching intersects with, and is complicated by, wider concerns such as border security and immigration. In many respects, this has led to what can be termed the 'rhinofication' of South African security. South Africa has a long political tradition that relies on force rather than dialogue, negotiation and reform. Yet, the hard-power response to protect the rhino and other large fauna, though necessary at one level, often runs up against the economic frustrations and temptations of a large, predominantly black, under-class, which for generations has been excluded from wildlife management and conservation by white 'exceptionalism'. Poachers are thus transformed through their counter-cultural actions into what Eric Hobsbawm termed 'social bandits'. While this social chasm lies at the heart of the 'rhino wars', it is clear that in practical terms the lack of a political/poaching settlement in the form of a racially inclusive conservation strategy almost certainly guarantees their continuation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although much has been written on the Sri Lankan state's civil war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), less has been said about how the conflict's dynamics evolved. How did the parties come to utilize the methods they did? Why did the war become so brutal, characterized by a predisposition toward extreme violence on both sides? Using the typology of “dirty war,” this investigation seeks to address such questions, demonstrating how the strategic choices of the main belligerents shaped the conflict. The analysis shows that while the conflict emerged out of deep-rooted social and ethnic divisions, these factors do not account for how the war came to be defined so comprehensively by the methods of dirty war. It finds that dirty war developed from a sporadic tactic to advance political goals to dominant military practice by a reciprocal process of escalation that eventually internalized dirty war as the accepted mode of strategic communication. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article examines the piracy problem off the coast of East Africa based on a political economy framework. The British Army "Influence" doctrine developed in Afghanistan is extended to an analysis and understanding of the piracy problem, broadening the contemporary nautical view of the piracy threat to the execution of land warfare as well as providing a deeper understanding of the actions of the local populace in conflict areas. The efficacy of counter-piracy operations is also analyzed.

Pseudocirrhosis is a rare form of liver disease that can cause clinical symptoms and radiographic signs of cirrhosis; however, its histologic features suggest a distinct pathologic process. In the setting of cancer, hepatic metastases and systemic chemotherapy are suspected causes of pseudocirrhosis. Here, we present a patient with medullary thyroid carcinoma metastatic to the liver who developed pseudocirrhosis while on maintenance sunitinib after receiving 5-fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) in combination with sunitinib. Cirrhotic change in liver morphology was accompanied by diffusely infiltrative carcinomatous disease resembling the primary tumor. We discuss the diagnosis of pseudocirrhosis in this case and review the literature regarding pseudocirrhosis in cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much analytical commentary implies that a generic West is the principal target of jihadist activism. This study contends that this is a misconception fostered by jihadist groups like Al Qaeda in order to accentuate their stature in the Islamic world and to obscure their true aims, which are first and foremost to secure the dominance of the Salafist interpretation of Islam. The analysis situates Al Qaeda in the tradition of Islamic reform movements and shows that a violent Sufi/Salafist conflict pervades nearly all current examples of strife within the Muslim world. In these conflicts, the role of the 'West' is instrumental, not central to the struggle. Consequently, this study offers a qualification to notions of a 'global jihad' and suggests this has important considerations for policymakers in determining the nature of the threat posed by Islamist militancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carl von Clausewitz might seem an unusual thinker to invoke in the name of wildlife protection but his insights into the nature of war provide a unique perspective into an arena that arguably poses more complex moral questions of responsibility to protect than with humans. The increasingly dangerous world of wildlife conservation offers a prism for examining many issues linked to sovereignty, especially in developing countries. This study highlights how the commercial rewards of the wildlife trade have fed into problems surrounding national security such as corruption, sub-state insurgency and state legality. These factors have led to the growing militarization of wildlife protection and, in turn, raise a fundamental question: is it ever right for an outside actor to ignore international convention to save a species from extinction? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the attacks on the World Trade Center and Washington, D.C. in 2001 the Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication devised a new classification. The category, September 11 Terrorist Attacks 2001-Fiction, responds to a distinct genre of political novels. In the light of the philosopher Richard Rorty's contention that the Western novel can clarify the moral and political options that confront the West, the article examines what insight, if any, into the motive for violence, and the capacity to recuperate a sense of liberal progressive purpose, the novels of 11 September afford? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human protease plasmin plays a crucial role in the capacity of the group A streptococcus (GAS; Streptococus pyogenes) to initiate invasive disease. The GAS strain NS88.2 was isolated from a case of bacteremia from the Northern Territory of Australia, a region with high rates of GAS invasive disease. Mutagenesis of the NS88.2 plasminogen binding M protein Prp was undertaken to examine the contribution of plasminogen binding and cell surface plasmin acquisition to virulence. The isogenic mutant NS88.2prp was engineered whereby four amino acid residues critical for plasminogen binding were converted to alanine codons in the GAS genome sequence. The mutated residues were reverse complemented to the wild-type sequence to construct GAS strain NS88.2prpRC. In comparison to NS88.2 and NS88.2prpRC, the NS88.2prp mutant exhibited significantly reduced ability to bind human plasminogen and accumulate cell surface plasmin activity during growth in human plasma. Utilizing a humanized plasminogen mouse model of invasive infection, we demonstrate that the capacity to bind plasminogen and accumulate surface plasmin activity plays an essential role in GAS virulence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The melanocortin system together with other appetite-related systems plays a significant role in appetite regulation. The appetite-related effects of one such melanocortin, β-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH), are well documented in rodents; however, its effects in the avian class are not thoroughly understood. Thus, we designed a study to determine the effects of i.c.v. β-MSH injection on food and water intake, plasma corticosterone concentration, ingestive and non-ingestive behaviours, and hypothalamic neuronal activation using Cobb-500 chicks. Chicks responded to β-MSH-treatment with a reduction in food and water intake; however when water intake was measured independently of food intake, it was not affected. β-MSH-treated chicks also had increased plasma corticosterone concentrations and increased c-Fos reactivity in the periventricular, paraventricular and infundibular nuclei, and the ventromedial hypothalamus; however, the lateral hypothalamus was not affected. The effect on food intake is primary because behaviours that may be competitive with food intake were not increased in β-MSH-treated chicks. Based on these results, we conclude that β-MSH causes anorexigenic effects that are likely primarily mediated via stimulation of satiety-related hypothalamic nuclei in broiler-type chicks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at the theory of guerre revolutionnaire, frequently translated in English as counterrevolutionary war. An evaluation of the theory particularly its views of urban terrorism is offered. The methods employed by the French in the Battle of Algiers are assessed in the context of the theory. Finally, the conduct of the battle was examined to determine whether those involved were influenced by theory or other factors.

Recent terrorist events in the UK, such as the security alerts at British airports in August 2006 and the London bombings of July 2005 gained extensive media and academic analysis. This study contends, however, that much of the commentary demonstrated a wide degree of failure among government agencies, academic and analytic experts and the wider media, about the nature of the threat and continues to distort comprehension of the extant danger. The principal failure, this argument maintains, was, and continues to be, one of an asymmetry of comprehension that mistakes the still relatively limited means of violent jihadist radicals with limited political ends. The misapprehension often stems from the language that surrounds the idea of ‘terrorism’, which increasingly restricts debate to an intellectually redundant search for the ‘root causes’ that give rise to the politics of com placency. In recent times this outlook has consistently underestimated the level of the threat to the security of the UK. This article argues that a more realistic appreciation of the current security condition requires abandoning the prevailing view that the domestic threat is best prosecuted as a criminal conspiracy. It demands instead a total strategy to deal with a totalizing threat. The empirical evidence demonstrates the existence of a physical threat, not merely the political fear of threat. The implementation of a coherent set of social policies for confronting the threat at home recognizes that securing state borders and maintaining internal stability are the fi rst tasks of government. Fundamentally, this requires a return to an understanding of the Hobbesian conditions for sovereignty, which, despite the delusions of post-Cold War cosmopolitan multiculturalism, never went away. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Angularity is a critically important property in terms of the performance of natural particulate materials. It is also one of the most difficult to measure objectively using traditional methods. Here we present an innovative and efficient approach to the determination of particle angularity using image analysis. The direct use of three-dimensional data offers a more robust solution than the two-dimensional methods proposed previously. The algorithm is based on the application of mathematical morphological techniques to range imagery, and effectively simulates the natural wear processes by which rock particles become rounded. The analysis of simulated volume loss is used to provide a valuable measure of angularity that is geometrically commensurate with the traditional definitions. Experimental data obtained using real particle samples are presented and results correlated with existing methods in order to demonstrate the validity of the new approach. The implementation of technologies such as these has the potential to offer significant process optimisation and environmental benefits to the producers of aggregates and their composites. The technique is theoretically extendable to the quantification of surface texture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Operation Motorman – the ending of the ‘no-go’ areas in Belfast and Londonderry – was one the biggest deployments of British forces since 1945, yet few analysts have grasped its enduring significance. This article argues that Motorman helped break the vicious circle of violence and atrocity that characterised the most violent years of the early troubles. In hindsight we can see that the aftermath of the operation irrevocably altered the strategic setting in Northern Ireland that, in time, enabled constitutional unionism and nationalism to slowly become more tractable towards each other. While Motorman can in no sense be regarded as the proximate cause of the current Northern Ireland peace process, it can be argued that in removing the most important factor that made the IRA a potent threat, Motorman shattered the IRA's military bargaining strategy, the long-term effect of which was eventually to propel the republican movement down a path that would ultimately lead it to question the value of its armed struggle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the paradoxical effects of the 7 July bombings in London was to expose the ambivalence in the British government's attempt to wage war on terror by forcefully prosecuting war against those who resort to jihad abroad, actively participating in coalitions of the willing whether in Afghanistan or Iraq, while affording some of Islamism's key ideologists and strategists a high degree of latitude in the United Kingdom itself. This indicates a number of contradictions in official policy that simultaneously recognizes the globalized threat from violent Islamic militancy while, under the rubric of multiculturalism, tolerating those very strains of Islamist radicalism, some of which draw upon the interdependent and transnational character of conflict, to render the UK vulnerable to those very same violent forces. Consequently, the British authorities displayed a studied indifference towards this developing transnational phenomenon both during the 1990s and in some respects even after the London bombings. To explore the curious character of the government's response to the Islamist threat requires the examination of the emergence of this radical ideological understanding and what it entails as a reaction to modernization and secularism in both thought and practice. The analysis explores how government policies often facilitated the non-negotiable identity politics of those promoting a pure, authentic and regenerated Islamic order both in the UK and abroad. This reflected a profound misunderstanding of the growing source and appeal of radical Islam that can be interpreted as a consequence of the slow-motion collision between modernity in its recent globalized form and an Islamic social character, which renders standard western modernization theory, and indeed, the notion of a ‘social science’ itself, deeply questionable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to lay out a comprehensive framework by which those who utilize a campaign of strategic terrorism seek to attain their ends. It identifies a distinctive modus operandi: 1) disorientation: to alienate the authorities from their citizens, reducing the government to impotence in the eyes of the population; 2) target response: to induce a target to respond in a manner that is favorable to the insurgent cause; 3) gaining legitimacy: to exploit the emotional impact of the violence to insert an alternative political message. By elucidating the strategy of terrorism, the analysis also reveals its inherent limitations. Resting on the premise that a militarily more powerful adversary will in some way feel restrained from bringing the full force of its military superiority to bear, the strategy relies exclusively on the exploitation of the psychological effects of armed action, thereby rendering it vulnerable to those who are willing to view the resolution of clashes of interest principally in terms of the tangibles of military power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the failure of the intelligence community and discourse analysis, as revealed by a recent U.S. Congressional inquiry. It is stated that the intelligence community failed to act accordingly to the terrorist threat leading up to the September 11, 2001 attacks in the U.S. and the community's inability to determine the scope of Iraqi weapon's of mass destruction before the invasion of the country by the U.S. The Western intelligence agencies treated the growing incidence of militant Islamist violence and suicide bombings as unrelated events. As stated, it reflects a breakdown of intelligence and an atmosphere of complacent at work in the West. There was also a discourse failure which had practical effects that crucially influenced decision-making.

The article focuses on the problems associated with political control in the strategy of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). There are four main reasons regarding the political control over the means of coercion and violence. One of the reason is theoretical, while the other three reasons are related to the Irish republican political tradition. They present an interesting set of problems with which Irish republicanism has suffered during its history. The first reason is that no armed conflict ever presented between exactly equal combatants. The second reason is that the IRA has been charged with a sense of military forerunner.

This article critically appraises Malachi O'Doherty, book "The Trouble With Guns: Republican Strategy and the Provisional IRA." It is with pieces of outstanding historical revisionism like "The Trouble With Guns" that doubts about one's chosen profession arise. This book is the first to offer a serious reinterpretation of the Provisional IRA and Northern Ireland history since 1969. In a way, we have waited over twenty years for such a study that questions the popular imagery surrounding this small, but still controversial, and highly written about, civil conflict. Yet the disturbing truth for an academic pro- fession that cherishes its freedom of inquiry is that a book of this nature should have been written long ago by one of their number. The fact that a journalist, Malachi O'Doherty, has accomplished this task is evidence not only of his intellectual rigor, but also of the academic neglect of the military and strategic dimensions of the conflict, the result of which has been to allow partial, ill-formed images to flourish unchallenged.

The article focuses on the book "The Fight for Peace: The Inside Story of the Irish Peace Process," 2nd ed., by Eamonn Mallie and David McKittrick. The authors of The Fight for Peace dig deep into the complex workings of the current so-called peace process in Northern Ireland and examine the events lead- ing up to the declaration of the IRA and loyalist paramilitary cease-fires in 1994. Eamonn Mallie and David McKittrick evaluate the peace process as "an initiative which emerged from within Irish nationalism and republicanism" and focus on the changing perceptions of the republican movement toward its traditional strategy of obtaining the goal of a united Ireland through physical force. The book's predisposition has a ready empathy with the modem Irish political tradition, which has periodically away nationalist elements from violence and enfolded them in constitutional politics. Yet there is no corresponding appreciation that this is a concept largely alien to the British political experience and therefore always likely to inform British wariness of engaging with, as they see it, representatives of an armed grouping that has waged twenty-five years of unrelenting violent subversion.

This article analyses the way in which the group calling itself the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (Islamic State) manages cultural heritage sites under its control. By drawing on three different cases--Palmyra; Sufi, Shi'a and Sunni heritage sites; and Mosul--it examines the way in which the logic of Islamic State's iconoclasm might also be considered a strategy. To be considered strategic the contention is that three factors need to prevail: the degradation and delegitimization of the existing societal fabric, the removal of all reference to the previous society, and an attempt to reconstruct society in keeping with a new ideological vision. When these three factors are present and interconnected then iconoclasm as a strategy can be said tobe manifest. In the case of Islamic State, this article also seeks to illustrate that its actions may broadly be categorized as either pragmatic or dogmatic, thus creating an inconsistent dichotomy within Islamic State's rhetoric. The article frames such a dichotomy within the context of a strategic narrative both in order to be able to connect pragmatic Islamic State policy to action and to show that when rigid doctrine clashes with the exceptionality of war an irresolvable paradox is created. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leukemia (2003) 17, 274–275. doi:10.1038/sj.leu.2402787 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The growing prevalence of chronic conditions in the ageing workforce has been shown to have a negative impact in terms of optimal work performance and quality of life. It is therefore important to understand the factors associated with sickness absence due to health problems. Aims To examine the socio-demographics, health status indicators, barriers to self-care and social support associated with working adults missing work because of chronic conditions. Methods We analysed data from working adults in the USA with one or more chronic conditions who completed the National Council on Aging (NCOA) Chronic Care Survey. Analyses were performed using SPSS version 22; independent sample t-tests and chi-squared tests were used to compare sample characteristics and logistic regression was used to assess factors associated with missed work as a dichotomous outcome variable. Results Among the 250 study subjects, employees who reported poorer general health status [odd ratio (OR) = 1.62, P < 0.05], more physician visits (OR = 1.45, P < 0.01), not having enough money for their health (OR = 3.69, P < 0.01) and a higher reliance on their co-workers (OR = 1.71, P < 0.05) were significantly more likely to report sickness absence due to their chronic conditions. Conclusions To reduce absences among employees with chronic conditions, employers need to understand the importance of factors such as employee income, resources and knowledge of disease self-care. US employers should explore opportunities for employees to offset health care costs, apply appropriate time-flexible work policies and encourage employees' participation in health knowledge enhancing interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Most patients with metastatic breast cancer are treated with chemotherapies and/or targeted therapies. These therapies have toxicity profiles that vary with agent(s) used. Patient attitudes towards different adverse events (AE's) may vary and factor into treatment decisions. Different patients may have specific feelings about tolerable and unacceptable AE's, especially when balanced against possible treatment benefit. As more agents/combinations become available, it becomes increasingly important to understand which adverse events impact treatment decisions. Previous research has shown that conjoint analysis (CA) is a valid methodology that allows patients to express preferences and is particularly useful when designed based on specific treatment profiles (Smith, ASCO 2011; Smith, ASCO 2012). Methods: The objective of this study was to assess patient preferences using CA based on profiles of two MBC regimens (trastuzumab+docetaxel and T-DM1). Patients were presented pairs of hypothetical treatments (describing benefit, AE's, and cost) and asked what their preferred alternative was; a follow-up question asked if they would take the treatment if it were the only option available. Five AE's (alopecia, peripheral neuropathy, diarrhea, fatigue, and neutropenia) with differing likelihood, severity, and/or duration were included. There were 3 stages in preparing the CA survey: the first comprised two online focus groups conducted with patients with metastatic disease. Stage 2 included the development of the CA survey using patient language to describe the AE's and their impact, as well as images to represent likelihoods, progression-free survival (PFS), and costs. Stage 3 is initiating and will recruit patients with the assistance of several breast cancer organizations (target n= 600). Analysis of response patterns allows study of the influence of each variable and provides a basis for prediction of treatment choice for any combination of benefit, AE's, and cost. Final analysis will be complete in September 2012. Results: Findings from the focus groups facilitated an understanding of PFS, of experience with and impact of the AE's on decision-making, and of attitudes. In Stage 2, the survey was pretested with seven patients and took approximately 20 minutes to complete. Feedback suggested the questions were relevant and realistic. Suggestions allowed for improvement of the CA explanatory material, as well as refinement of a few answer choices to questions outside the CA section of the survey. Final study results will present the proportion of patients who are predicted to prefer each of two treatment profiles, the impact of each attribute level on treatment preference and differing preferences seen in patient subgroups. This information will provide valuable insight into patient preferences and inform future development of new therapies. In addition, these results may generate discussion and consideration of patient preferences in conversations about patient care and treatment selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuropeptide AF (NPAF), a member of the RFamide family, is encoded by the same gene as neuropeptide FF (NPFF), which causes short-term anorexia. However, reports on the role of NPAF on appetite-related process are lacking. Thus, i.c.v. injections of 4.0, 8.0 and 16.0 nmol NPAF were administered to chicks to observe its effect on food and water intake. Chicks treated with 8.0 and 16.0 nmol i.c.v. NPAF decreased both their food and water intake. Additionally, all doses of NPAF injected caused a similar reduction in whole blood glucose concentration 180 min after injection. In a second experiment, chicks that received i.c.v. NPAF had an increased number of c-Fos immunoreactive cells in the dorsomedial, paraventricular (magnocellular and parvicellular parts) and ventromedial nuclei. The arcuate nucleus and lateral hypothalamic area were not affected. In a third experiment, NPAF-treated chicks exhibited fewer feeding pecks and spent less time perching, whereas they spent an increased time in deep rest. Other behaviours, including exploratory pecking, escape attempts, defecations, distance moved, and time spent standing, sitting and preening, were not affected by NPAF injection. We conclude that NPAF causes anorectic effects that are associated with the hypothalamus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monte Carlo simulations have been performed of the decay of a [sup198]Au solid source within a 4πβ-γ coincidence detector. Calculations of the proportional counter efficiency to both beta and gamma emissions are simulated. A comparison of results obtained using the MCNP-5 and Geant4 simulation packages indicates that Geant4 better evaluates the K correction to the coincidence equation than MCNP-5 predictions. This difference can be accounted for in terms of how the codes handle the physical interactions occurring in the foil and surrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The anorexigenic 20 amino acid neuropeptide S (NPS) has not been studied in an animal model of hypo- or hyperphagia. The present study aimed to elucidate whether central NPS appetite-related effects are different in lines of chickens that had undergone long-term divergent selection for low (LWS) or high (HWS) body weight and that were hypo- and hyperphagic, respectively. It took a longer time for food intake to be reduced in LWS than HWS chicks administered the lowest dose of NPS tested (0.14 nmol) and, at the highest dose tested (0.56 nmol), they had a greater reduction in food intake than did HWS chicks. HWS chicks responded with a similar magnitude of food intake reduction that was independent of NPS dose. Although water intake was reduced concurrently with food intake after central NPS in both lines, blood glucose concentrations were not affected. Hypothalamic signalling was different between the lines. Although both lines respond to central NPS with decreased c-Fos immunoreactivity in the lateral hypothalamus, the periventricular nucleus had increased c-Fos immunoreactivity in LWS but not HWS chicks. After central NPS treatment, there was increased c-Fos immunoreactivity in the paraventricular nucleus in HWS but not LWS chicks. These data support the notion of differences in the central NPS system between the LWS and HWS lines and infer that central NPS may differentially affect appetite-related processes in other species that contain hypo- and hyperphagic individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives To develop an encapsulation method for delivery of vaccines to feral pigs, and quantify the effect of iophenoxic acid on captive feral pig blood iodine concentrations to assist in investigation of factors affecting vaccine uptake. Design and methods Feral pigs were administered iophenoxic acid by oral gavage, and consumption was assessed for different encapsulation methods in baits. Blood iodine concentrations were monitored for eight days after consumption. The relationship between dose rate, time since dosing and blood iodine concentration was assessed for gavaged and baited captive feral pigs. Wild feral pigs were baited with PIGOUT® baits containing 20 mg of encapsulated iophenoxic acid to simulate a vaccination program. Using knowledge from the pen studies, bait uptake and factors affecting bait uptake were investigated. Results Bait-delivered iophenoxic acid led to variable and inconsistent changes in blood iodine concentrations, in contrast to pigs receiving iophenoxic acid by gavage. This precluded accurate assessment of the quantity consumed, but still allowed a conservative determination of bait uptake. Iophenoxic acid in smaller capsules was consumed readily. Increasing baiting intensity appeared to increase bait uptake by wild feral pigs, and pigs of varying sexes, ages and weights appeared equally likely to consume baits. Conclusions Encapsulated liquids can be delivered to feral pigs within baits, should the need to vaccinate feral pigs for fertility or disease management arise. High baiting intensities may be required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The direct retrieval of canopy height and the estimation of aboveground biomass are two important measures of forest structure that can be quantified by airborne laser scanning at landscape scales. These and other metrics are central to studies attempting to quantify global carbon cycles and to improve understanding of the spatial variation in forest structure evident within differing biomes. Data acquired using NASA''s Laser Vegetation Imaging Sensor (LVIS) over the Bartlett Experimental Forest (BEF) in central New Hampshire (USA) was used to assess the performance of waveform lidar in a northern temperate mixed conifer and deciduous forest. Using coincident plots established for this study, we found strong agreement between field and lidar measurements of height (r 2 =0.80, p <0.000) at the footprint level. Allometric calculations of aboveground biomass (AGBM) and LVIS metrics (AGBM: r 2 =0.61, PRESS RMSE=58.0 Mg ha−1, p <0.000) and quadratic mean stem diameter (QMSD) and LVIS metrics (r 2 =0.54, p =0.002) also showed good agreement at the footprint level. Application of a generalized equation for determining AGBM proposed by to footprint-level field data from Bartlett resulted in a coefficient of determination of 0.55; RMSE=64.4 Mg ha−1; p =0.002. This is slightly weaker than the strongest relationship found with the best-fit single term regression model. Relationships between a permanent grid of USDA Forest Service inventory plots and the mean values of aggregated LVIS metrics, however, were not as strong. This discrepancy suggests that validation efforts must be cautious in using pre-existing field data networks as a sole means of calibrating and verifying such remote sensing data. Stratification based on land-use or species composition, however, did provide the means to improve regression relationships at this scale. Regression models established at the footprint level for AGBM and QMSD were applied to LVIS data to generate predicted values for the whole of Bartlett. The accuracy of these models was assessed using varying subsets of the USFS NERS plot data. Coefficient of determinations ranged from fair to strong with aspects of land-use history and species composition influencing both the fit and the level of error seen in the predicted relationships. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Patterns of habitat use by some passerines change after the young leave the nest, and thus our understanding of habitat selection derived from counts of singing males earlier in the nesting cycle may not adequately represent the breeding habitat requirements of these species. Post-fledging changes in habitat use may have important conservation implications if the survival of fledglings is affected by characteristics of the habitat; however, there have been relatively few systematic studies of the post-fledging ecology of forest passerines and, of these, even fewer have incorporated analyses of the relationship between habitat characteristics and fledgling survival. We studied the post-fledging habitat selection and survival of ovenbirds Seiurus aurocapilla in northern New Hampshire, USA during two breeding seasons using radio telemetry. Habitat at sites used by radio-marked fledgling ovenbirds was characterized by fewer large trees and greater vertical structure 0–3 m above ground than ovenbird nest sites. Similarly, habitat at sites used by fledgling ovenbirds was characterized by fewer large trees and greater vertical structure than unused sites. Most (80%) of the 15 mortalities that we observed were due to predation. Nine (70%) of these occurred within the first 3 days of fledging, resulting in a significant drop in survival during this period. Fledgling survival increased significantly with increased vegetation structure. Our observations that fledgling ovenbirds are selective in their habitat use, that they select different habitat features than adult ovenbirds select for nesting and that fledgling survival is positively associated with these habitat features suggest that the use of habitat models based on counts of singing males before fledging does not adequately represent the habitat needs of this species. Conceivably, mortality during the post-fledging period could limit recruitment to levels insufficient to maintain the viability of ovenbird population even if adequate nesting habitat were available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Release of an annual global terrestrial net primary production (NPP) data layer has begun in association with the Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor, a component of the NASA Earth Observing System. The task of validating this product will be complicated by the mismatch in scale between ground-based NPP measurements and the coarse resolution (1 km) of the NPP product. In this paper we describe three relevant approaches to scaling NPP from the plot level to the approximately 25-km 2 footprint of the sensor, and discuss issues associated with operational comparisons to the MODIS NPP product. All approaches revealed considerable spatial heterogeneity in NPP at scales less than the resolution of the MODIS NPP product. The effort to characterize uncertainty in the validation data layers indicated the importance of treating the combination of classification error, sampling error, and measurement error. Generally, the optimal procedure for scaling NPP to a MODIS footprint will depend on local vegetation type, the scale of spatial heterogeneity, and available resources. In all approaches, high resolution remote sensing can play a critical role in characterizing land cover and relevant biophysical variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]