Central Asia: Fractured region, illiberal regionalism

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from JSTOR via the DOI in this record.Central Asia is a region that lacks meaningful regional institutions, has a weak regional identity, and is beset by a complex litany of political, economic, and social divisions, both within and between states. While acknowledging the significance of these underlying fractures, in this chapter I suggest a more complex, multilevel reading of regional interactions in which a focus on the role of shared ideas, norms, and beliefs provides a framework for some limited regional cooperation within a common discourse that is sharply at odds with the liberal norms that underpin most Western theories of regionalism. The result is a form of “illiberal regionalism,” which does not offer a resolution of fundamental fractures within and between societies but often provides an effective means to suppress their political articulation

The Contested State in Post-Soviet Armenia

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from University of Pittsburgh Press via the link in this record

Why Russia is Back in Afghanistan

This is the final version. Available from The Conversation Trust (UK) Limited via the link in this record. Three decades after a humiliating military defeat in Afghanistan, Russia has returned to the scene. The Kremlin is covertly supporting the Taliban and other groups, and hosting regional talks with Pakistan, Iran and China. Whereas Moscow was strongly opposed to the Taliban throughout Afghanistan’s civil war in the 1990s, it seems a U-turn is underway

Tackling corruption in Uzbekistan: a "White Paper"

This is the final version of the article. Available from Open Society Foundations via the link in this record.In February 2016, the Amsterdam-based telecoms company Vimpelcom paid almost US$800 million in fines to settle charges of paying bribes to operate in Uzbekistan. The case came on top of several other investigations, and highlights the elaborate system of corruption and bribery that undermines business, governance, and the economy in this Central Asian state. Tackling Corruption in Uzbekistan provides a detailed account of these problems, and chronicles how they became endemic in the country’s political and economic life. It is an environment of informal decision making, opaque regulations, and a lack of independent oversight. These conditions contribute to growing inequality, and fuel power struggles among Uzbekistan’s economic and political leaders. All of this poses a grave threat to the country’s long-term stability. The Uzbek government’s anticorruption campaigns do little to address systemic problems. Instead, they are used by officials to settle scores and consolidate power through selective prosecutions. The government also uses harassment, persecution, and imprisonment to stifle independent journalists and civil society activists who monitor and report on corruption. Up to now, international technical assistance programs have had limited impact. Tackling Corruption in Uzbekistan provides analysis and recommendations to help the international community strengthen its efforts to investigate allegations of money laundering and corporate malpractice, and support those who challenge corruption both inside and outside the country.Open Society Foundation

Corruption, patronage, and illiberal peace: forging political settlement in post-conflict Kyrgyzstan

This is the final version. Available on open access from Taylor & Francis via the DOI in this recordEconomic and Social Research Council (ESRC

Return to Kabul? Russian Policy in Afghanistan

This is the final version. Available from the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies via the link in this recordExecutive Summary Afghanistan looms large in Russia’s strategic culture. Since the 19th century, Russia has viewed Afghanistan as its southernmost strategic flank and as an arena for competition with the West. After a long hiatus, Russia has resumed this historical position, reemerging as a significant player in the complex geopolitics of Afghanistan. Russia has reportedly developed ties with a wide range of political parties and armed groups inside Afghanistan, including the Taliban. Russia convened its own intra-Afghan talks in Moscow in 2019, before the United States and the Taliban resumed their own peace talks. Although Moscow publicly supports the U.S. initiative, it will seek a leading role in any post-conflict political settlement. Russia has also convened regional powers in “Moscow format” talks, which are designed to produce a regional consensus on a solution to the conflict. One of Russia’s key aims is to ensure that any peace agreement enhances its own geopolitical position in the region. Both the United States and Russia are committed to stability in Afghanistan; therefore, there has been some cooperation despite strained U.S.-Russian relations elsewhere. But although Russia’s primary aim in Afghanistan is to ensure security on its southern flank, over the long term it also aims to ensure that the United States withdraws from the region.US Department of Defens

Sri Lanka

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Routledge via the link in this record

Identification and classification of host cell proteins during biopharmaceutical process development

As significant improvements in volumetric antibody productivity have been achieved by advances in upstream processing over the last decade, and harvest material has become progressively more difficult to recover with these intensified upstream operations, the segregation of upstream and downstream processing has remained largely unchanged. By integrating upstream and downstream process development, product purification issues are given consideration during the optimization of upstream operating conditions, which mitigates the need for extensive and expensive clearance strategies downstream. To investigate the impact of cell culture duration on critical quality attributes, CHO-expressed IgG1 was cultivated in two 2 L bioreactors with samples taken on days 8, 10, 13, 15, and 17. The material was centrifuged, filtered and protein A purified on a 1 ml HiTrap column. Host cell protein (HCP) identification by mass spectrometry (MS) was applied to this system to provide insights into cellular behavior and HCP carryover during protein A purification. It was shown that as cultivation progressed from day 8 to 17 and antibody titer increased, product quality declined due to an increase in post-protein A HCPs (from 72 to 475 peptides detected by MS) and a decrease in product monomer percentage (from 98% to 95.5%). Additionally, the MS data revealed an increase in the abundance of several classes of post-protein A HCPs (e.g., stress response proteins and indicators of cell age), particularly on days 15 and 17 of culture, which were associated with significant increases in total overall HCP levels. This provides new insight into the specific types of HCPs that are retained during mAb purification and may be used to aid process development strategies

tele-Substitution Reactions in the Synthesis of a Promising Class of 1,2,4-Triazolo[4,3-a]pyrazine-Based Antimalarials

We have discovered and studied a tele-substitution reaction in a biologically important heterocyclic ring system. Conditions that favor the tele-substitution pathway were identified: the use of increased equivalents of the nucleophile or decreased equivalents of base or the use of softer nucleophiles, less polar solvents, and larger halogens on the electrophile. Using results from X-ray crystallographic and isotope labeling experiments, a mechanism for this unusual transformation is proposed. We focused on this triazolopyrazine as it is the core structure of the in vivo active antiplasmodium compounds of Series 4 of the Open Source Malaria consortium

Labrador retrievers under primary veterinary care in the UK: demography, mortality and disorders

Abstract Background Labrador retrievers are reportedly predisposed to many disorders but accurate prevalence information relating to the general population are lacking. This study aimed to describe demography, mortality and commonly recorded diseases in Labrador retrievers under UK veterinary care. Methods The VetCompass™ programme collects electronic patient record data on dogs attending UK primary-care veterinary practices. Demographic analysis covered all33,320 Labrador retrievers in the VetCompass™ database under veterinary care during 2013 while disorder and mortality data were extracted from a random sample of 2074 (6.2%) of these dogs. Results Of the Labrador retrievers with information available, 15,427 (46.4%) were female and 15,252 (53.6%) were male. Females were more likely to be neutered than males (59.7% versus 54.8%, P <  0.001). The overall mean adult bodyweight was 33.0 kg (SD 6.1). Adult males were heavier (35.2 kg, SD 5.9 kg) than adult females (30.4 kg, SD 5.2 kg) (P <  0.001). The median longevity of Labrador retrievers overall was 12.0 years (IQR 9.9–13.8, range 0.0–16.0). The most common recorded colours were black (44.6%), yellow (27.8%) and liver/chocolate (reported from hereon as chocolate) (23.8%). The median longevity of non-chocolate coloured dogs (n = 139, 12.1 years, IQR 10.2–13.9, range 0.0–16.0) was longer than for chocolate coloured animals (n = 34, 10.7 years, IQR 9.0–12.4, range 3.8–15.5) (P = 0.028). Of a random sample of 2074 (6.2%) Labrador retrievers under care in 2013 that had full disorder data extracted, 1277 (61.6%) had at least one disorder recorded. The total number of dogs who died at any date during the study was 176. The most prevalent disorders recorded were otitis externa (n = 215, prevalence 10.4%, 95% CI: 9.1–11.8), overweight/obesity (183, 8.8%, 95% CI: 7.6–10.1) and degenerative joint disease (115, 5.5%, 95% CI: 4.6–6.6). Overweight/obesity was not statistically significantly associated with neutering in females (8.3% of entire versus 12.5% of neutered, P = 0.065) but was associated with neutering in males (4.1% of entire versus 11.4% of neutered, P < 0.001). The prevalence of otitis externa in black dogs was 12.8%, in yellow dogs it was 17.0% but, in chocolate dogs, it rose to 23.4% (P < 0.001). Similarly, the prevalence of pyo-traumatic dermatitis in black dogs was 1.1%, in yellow dogs it was 1.6% but in chocolate dogs it rose to 4.0% (P = 0.011). Conclusions The current study assists prioritisation of health issues within Labrador retrievers. The most common disorders were overweight/obesity, otitis externa and degenerative joint disease. Males were significantly heavier females. These results can alert prospective owners to potential health issues and inform breed-specific wellness checks