Afghan Narcotrafficking Post-2014 Scenarios

As Afghanistan now faces an uncertain political and security environment following the drawdown of ISAF troops at the end of 2014, the potential for a worsening narcotrafficking threat is great. The report states that the potential for deterioration "underscores the imperative need for Russian and U.S. policymakers to find the political will to resume and perhaps even increase cooperation despite ongoing differences on other issues. Together with regional partners and international organizations, renewed Russian-U.S. cooperation presents the best hope for a brighter future.

Postglacial Uplift at Tanquary Fiord, Northern Ellesmere Island, Northwest Territories

Constructs a postglacial uplift curve for the upper part of Tanquary Fiord from radiocarbon ages of marine shells and peat. Data show the head of the fiord to be clear of glacier ice by at least 6500 yr BP. During 6500-5000 yr BP isostatic uplift was at a rate of about 3.5 m/century and subsequently about 25 cm/cent.On a construit, à partir d'échantillons de coquillages marins et de tourbe datés au radiocarbone, une courbe du relèvement postglaciaire pour la partie supérieure du fiord de Tanquary, dans le nord de l'île d'Ellesmere. Les données montrent que la partie amont du fiord était libre de glace il y a moins de 6,500 ans. Entre 6,500 et 5,000 av.p., le relèvement isostatique s'est produit au rythme d'environ 3,5 m par siècle : par la suite, le rythme a été d'environ 25 cm/siècle

First War Syndrome : military culture, professionalization, and counterinsurgency doctrine

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 2010.Vita. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references.Counterinsurgency was a persistent and important challenge to military organizations in the second half of the 20th century and seems likely to continue to pose a challenge in the 21st century. This makes understanding how military organizations respond to this challenge both an important policy question and a fruitful area for academic research on military doctrine. The involvement of the United States and the United Kingdom in counterinsurgency in Kenya, South Vietnam, and Iraq are used to test four competing hypotheses on the origin and development of military doctrine. The four hypotheses are doctrine as rational response to environment, doctrine as product of civilian intervention, doctrine as means to deal with generic organizational desires and problems, and doctrine as product of organizational culture. This latter hypothesis is developed extensively by examining the professionalization of military organizations through professional military education, which has its origin in a certain set of experiences termed "the first war." The next three chapters detail the formation and evolution of culture and professional education in three militaries (U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, and British Army). The case studies then test how these organizations responded in terms of doctrine and operations to the challenge of counterinsurgency in South Vietnam (U.S. Army and Marine Corps), Kenya (British Army) and Iraq (all three). It then presents, as an additional plausibility probe, a brief shadow case of Afghanistan and Pakistan (all three organizations, plus the Canadian and Pakistani armies). The evidence in these case studies indicates a strong role for organizational culture in military doctrine and operations when information from the environment is ambiguous (as it frequently is, especially in counterinsurgency) but that culture is substantially attenuated in effect when information from the environment becomes unambiguous. It then concludes by discussing both theoretical and policy implications and avenues for future research.by Austin Long.Ph.D

Daytime radiative cooling using near-black infrared emitters

Recent works have demonstrated that daytime radiative cooling under direct sunlight can be achieved using multilayer thin films designed to emit in the infrared atmospheric transparency window while reflecting visible light. Here, we demonstrate that a polymer-coated fused silica mirror, as a near-ideal blackbody in the mid-infrared and near-ideal reflector in the solar spectrum, achieves radiative cooling below ambient air temperature under direct sunlight (8.2 °C) and at night (8.4 °C). Its performance exceeds that of a multilayer thin film stack fabricated using vacuum deposition methods by nearly 3 °C. Furthermore, we estimate the cooler has an average net cooling power of about 127 Wm^(-2) during daytime at ambient temperature even considering the significant influence of external conduction and convection, more than twice that reported previously. Our work demonstrates that abundant materials and straight-forward fabrication can be used to achieve daytime radiative cooling, advancing applications such as dry cooling of thermal power plants

Datation au radiocarbone d’ossements de l’horizon tardomoustérien de la grotte de Belvis (Aude)

Introduction Les trois échantillons d’os qui nous ont été soumis par Dominique Sacchi, responsable des fouilles de la grotte de Belvis, ont été datés par spectrométrie de masse avec accélérateur (SMA). Selon cette méthode, le 14C des échantillons est directement mesuré par un spectromètre de masse couplé à un accélérateur de deux millions de volts, fournissant la source d’ions. Cette technique permet d’analyser des quantités beaucoup plus faibles de carbone (20 g à 1 mg) que la méthode tradit..

Datation au radiocarbone d’ossements de l’horizon tardomoustérien de la grotte de Belvis (Aude)

Introduction Les trois échantillons d’os qui nous ont été soumis par Dominique Sacchi, responsable des fouilles de la grotte de Belvis, ont été datés par spectrométrie de masse avec accélérateur (SMA). Selon cette méthode, le 14C des échantillons est directement mesuré par un spectromètre de masse couplé à un accélérateur de deux millions de volts, fournissant la source d’ions. Cette technique permet d’analyser des quantités beaucoup plus faibles de carbone (20 g à 1 mg) que la méthode tradit..

Health Risks and Emerging Trends with the Use of Electronic Cigarettes

Cigarette smoking is associated with many health risks and complications. Despite smokers\u27 strong desire to quit, most battle with nicotine withdrawal and relapse. Because electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) do not contain tobacco, some believe them to be safer than traditional cigarettes and have used them as a replacement or adjunct nicotine source to prevent withdrawal symptoms. Electronic cigarettes are designed to mimic traditional cigarettes and expel a vapor composed of nicotine, water, glycerol, propylene glycol and other flavorings. Many e-cigarette companies use appealing platforms, which promise smoking cessation and harm reduction, to attract consumers; however, several studies have found e-cigarettes actually contain ingredients that are harmful to one\u27s health. Studies have demonstrated that the use of e-cigarettes can be toxic to patients\u27 health if patients do not research the products they intend to purchase. The flavoring of e-cigarettes may be a major contributor to e-cigarette cytotoxicity. If flavoring and other cytotoxic contents of e-cigarettes can be eliminated, e-cigarettes may be useful in smoking reduction and cessation. Many clinicians today support traditional forms of nicotine replacement therapy for smoking cessation rather than e-cigarettes. Due to the lack of regulation and studies by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, e-cigarettes may not be as safe as users may perceive and should not be a preferred product for smoking cessation therapy until they are further studied and regulated

Oestrogen receptor alpha in pulmonary hypertension

Aims Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) occurs more frequently in women with mutations in bone morphogenetic protein receptor type 2 (BMPR2) and dysfunctional BMPR2 signalling underpinning heritable PAH. We have previously shown that serotonin can uncover a pulmonary hypertensive phenotype in BMPR2+/− mice and that oestrogen can increase serotinergic signalling in human pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (hPASMCs). Hence, here we wished to characterize the expression of oestrogen receptors (ERs) in male and female human pulmonary arteries and have examined the influence of oestrogen and serotonin on BMPR2 and ERα expression. Methods and results: By immunohistochemistry, we showed that ERα, ERβ, and G-protein-coupled receptors are expressed in human pulmonary arteries localizing mainly to the smooth muscle layer which also expresses the serotonin transporter (SERT). Protein expression of ERα protein was higher in female PAH patient hPASMCs compared with male and serotonin also increased the expression of ERα. 17β-estradiol induced proliferation of hPASMCs via ERα activation and this engaged mitogen-activated protein kinase and Akt signalling. Female mice over-expressing SERT (SERT+ mice) develop PH and the ERα antagonist MPP attenuated the development of PH in normoxic and hypoxic female SERT+ mice. The therapeutic effects of MPP were accompanied by increased expression of BMPR2 in mouse lung. Conclusion: ERα is highly expressed in female hPASMCs from PAH patients and mediates oestrogen-induced proliferation of hPASMCs via mitogen-activated protein kinase and Akt signalling. Serotonin can increase ERα expression in hPASMCs and antagonism of ERα reverses serotonin-dependent PH in the mouse and increases BMPR2 expression.</p

Thin liquid water clouds: their importance and our challenge

Many clouds important to the Earth’s energy balance contain small amounts of liquid water, yet despite many improvements, large differences in retrievals of their liquid water amount and particle size still must be resolved

Nietzsche and Amor Fati

This paper identifies two central paradoxes threatening the notion of amor fati [love of fate]: it requires us to love a potentially repellent object (as fate entails significant negativity for us) and this, in the knowledge that our love will not modify our fate. Thus such love may seem impossible or pointless. I analyse the distinction between two different sorts of love (eros and agape) and the type of valuation they involve (in the first case, the object is loved because we value it; in the second, we value the object because we love it). I use this as a lens to interpret Nietzsche?s cryptic pronouncements on amor fati and show that while an erotic reading is, up to a point, plausible, an agapic interpretation is preferable both for its own sake and because it allows for a resolution of the paradoxes initially identified. In doing so, I clarify the relation of amor fati to the eternal return on the one hand, and to Nietzsche?s autobiographical remarks about suffering on the other. Finally, I examine a set of objections pertaining both to the sustainability and limits of amor fati, and to its status as an ideal