Varieties of Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in Iraq, 2003–2009

Varieties of Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in Iraq, 2003-2009 offers a useful analytical framework for understanding how and why rebellions either grow or diminish. This case study was created to focus on two specific challenges that operators and practitioners faced in Iraq: how to understand the actors and the complex irregular warfare environment; and how to manage interaction, adaptation, and reassessment in irregular warfare.https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/ciwag-case-studies/1004/thumbnail.jp

Does breastfeeding affect the risk of childhood obesity?

Q: Does breastfeeding affect the risk of childhood obesity? Evidence-based answer: Yes. Even having breastfed during the first year of life is associated with a 15% lower risk of overweight or obesity over the next 2 to 14 years compared with never having breastfed. Breastfeeding exclusively for 6 months is associated with a 30% to 50% reduction in risk (strength of recommendation [SOR]: B, meta-analysis of cohort studies and subsequent cohort studies). However, interventions that increase breastfeeding rates during the first 3 to 6 months of life don't appear to alter body mass index (BMI) at 11 to 12 years of age (SOR: B, randomized clinical trial [RCT]). Introducing complementary (solid) foods before 3 months is associated with a 30% greater risk of childhood obesity than later introduction; starting solid foods after 4 months isn't linked to increased obesity. High caloric density of complementary feedings may be associated with greater childhood obesity (SOR: C, systematic reviews of heterogeneous cohort studies). Scheduled feeding doubles the risk of rapid infant weight gain compared with on-demand feeding, although it's unclear whether a direct relationship exists between rapid infant weight gain and childhood obesity (SOR: B, cohort study)

Neoliberalism, Communal Learning and Entrepreneurism Their Effect Educational Systems - For Nititham SOC 333

Jon Adams, Adrian Beeler, Nathaniel Connell, Brianna Lindsay Dr. Nititham Sociology of Education: SOC 333 March 28, 2019 Neoliberalism, Communal Learning and Entrepreneurism Their Effect Educational Systems In “Learning to Share: Pedagogy, open learning, and the sharing economy”, Carfagna ( 2018) discusses class conflict, consciousness and consumption through open learning and pedagogic discourse. Carfagna rejects common beliefs held of how an educational experience holds value and how one should be administered. In our poster and presentation, our group will examine some of the main points of Carfagna’s article in the context of neoliberal approaches to education in the sharing economy, how students learn entrepreneurial and communal approaches through non-traditional education, and finally, how pedagogic discourse effects educational settings. We will discuss the scholarship in the field, decisions made in teaching the material, and directions for future research. 10 keywords for the presentation Pedagogy: The method or type of teaching. Curriculum: multiple topics or subjects that are brought together to create an outline for education Sociology of Education: The study of how both macro level factors (such as institutions) and micro level factors (such as individuals in the system) affect education outcomes and effectiveness Neoliberalism: a frame which favors free market and capitalism Communalism: A form of self-segregation where people come together by race, religion, or some other separator for the purpose of education Shared learning: a practice that utilizes free or low cost resources for learning that entail some combination of open-access, peer-driven, share-able, and digitally mediated Sharing Economy: an economic system in which assets or services are shared between private individuals, either free or for a fee, typically by means of the Internet. Entrepreneurism: Frame that encourages individual success through the means of business operations. In the article it is described as a skill which can help a person “accomplish anything” Conflict Theory: Made Famous by Karl Marx, it is the idea that society is in a constant state of conflict as a result of limited resources. This then forces society into two major groups, the property owners (bourgeoisie), and the exploited workers (proletariat) Capitalism: A form of political system which is dependent on the idea of wage and labor. Furthering this point, the country\u27s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state

War Upon the Map: The Politics of Military User Innovation

While military personnel are often involved in the design of information technology, the literature on military innovation generally assumes defense contractors are the primary producers. Furthermore, general organizational theories of user innovation have only been tested on cases involving corporate employees or private citizens in substantially less regulated environments than military users. This paper examines user innovation theory in a military context through a historical study of the user-led development of FalconView, the popular standard for digital mapping applications throughout the U.S. military and some other government organizations. This paper finds that while user innovation theory can explain aspects of the emergence and diffusion of military user innovation, existing theory understates the challenges involved with generating and sustaining user innovation within a complex bureaucracy. Successfully innovating users must be creative with organizational as well as technical resources.National Science Foundation, IGERT Progra

Information technology and military performance

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 2011.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 519-544).Militaries have long been eager to adopt the latest technology (IT) in a quest to improve knowledge of and control over the battlefield. At the same time, uncertainty and confusion have remained prominent in actual experience of war. IT usage sometimes improves knowledge, but it sometimes contributes to tactical blunders and misplaced hubris. As militaries invest intensively in IT, they also tend to develop larger headquarters staffs, depend more heavily on planning and intelligence, and employ a larger percentage of personnel in knowledge work rather than physical combat. Both optimists and pessimists about the so-called "revolution in military affairs" have tended to overlook the ways in which IT is profoundly and ambiguously embedded in everyday organizational life. Technocrats embrace IT to "lift the fog of war," but IT often becomes a source of breakdowns, misperception, and politicization. To describe the conditions under which IT usage improves or degrades organizational performance, this dissertation develops the notion of information friction, an aggregate measure of the intensity of organizational struggle to coordinate IT with the operational environment. It articulates hypotheses about how the structure of the external battlefield, internal bureaucratic politics, and patterns of human-computer interaction can either exacerbate or relieve friction, which thus degrades or improves performance. Technological determinism alone cannot account for the increasing complexity and variable performances of information phenomena. Information friction theory is empirically grounded in a participant-observation study of U.S. special operations in Iraq from 2007 to 2008. To test the external validity of insights gained through fieldwork in Iraq, an historical study of the 1940 Battle of Britain examines IT usage in a totally different structural, organizational, and technological context.(cont.) These paired cases show that high information friction, and thus degraded performance, can arise with sophisticated IT, while lower friction and impressive performance can occur with far less sophisticated networks. The social context, not just the quality of technology, makes all the difference. Many shorter examples from recent military history are included to illustrate concepts. This project should be of broad interest to students of organizational knowledge, IT, and military effectiveness.by Jon Randall Lindsay.Ph.D

Nutritional and Non-nutritional Strategies in Bodybuilding: Impact on Kidney Function

© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)Bodybuilders routinely engage in many dietary and other practices purported to be harmful to kidney health. The development of acute kidney injury, focal segmental glomerular sclerosis (FSGS) and nephrocalcinosis may be particular risks. There is little evidence that high-protein diets and moderate creatine supplementation pose risks to individuals with normal kidney function though long-term high protein intake in those with underlying impairment of kidney function is inadvisable. The links between anabolic androgenic steroid use and FSGS are stronger, and there are undoubted dangers of nephrocalcinosis in those taking high doses of vitamins A, D and E. Dehydrating practices, including diuretic misuse, and NSAID use also carry potential risks. It is difficult to predict the effects of multiple practices carried out in concert. Investigations into subclinical kidney damage associated with these practices have rarely been undertaken. Future research is warranted to identify the clinical and subclinical harm associated with individual practices and combinations to enable appropriate and timely advicePeer reviewedFinal Published versio

Randomised trial of cord clamping at very preterm birth: outcomes at 2 years

Objective: To report outcomes at 2 years corrected age for children of women recruited to a trial comparing alternative policies for timing of cord clamping and immediate neonatal care at very preterm birth. Design: Parallel group randomised (1:1) trial. Setting: Eight UK tertiary maternity units. Participants: Two hundred and seventy six babies born to 261 women expected to have a livebirth before 32+0 weeks gestation. Interventions: Deferred cord clamping (≥2 minutes) and immediate neonatal care with cord intact, or immediate (≤20 seconds) clamping and immediate neonatal care after clamping. Main outcome measure: Composite of death or adverse neurodevelopmental outcome at 2 years corrected age. Results: Six babies born after 35+6 weeks were excluded. At 2 years corrected age, outcome data were not available for a further 52 children, leaving 218 for analysis (115 deferred clamping, 103 immediate clamping). Overall, 24/115 (21%) children allocated deferred clamping died or had an adverse neurodevelopmental outcome compared with 35/103 (34%) allocated immediate clamping; relative risk (RR) 0.61 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.39 to 0.96); risk difference (RD) -13% (95% CI -25% to -1%). Multiple imputation for missing data gave a RR 0.69 (95% CI 0.44 to 1.09) and RD -9% (95% CI -21% to 2%). Conclusions: Deferred clamping and immediate neonatal care with cord intact may reduce the risk of death or adverse neurodevelopmental outcome at 2 years of age for children born very premature. Confirmation in larger studies is needed to determine the real benefits and harms

Evaluating the role of a galanin enhancer genotype on a range of metabolic, depressive and addictive phenotypes

Funded by •ERC. Grant Number: 284167 •NIH. Grant Number: 1RO1DK0921127-01 •NWO. Grant Numbers: 463-06-001, 451-04-034Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Summer crops: relative water use efficiencies and legacy impacts in farming systems

Take home message • While summer crops offer rotational options in the farming system, choose the correct crop to match your available soil water and crop history • Sorghum is a reliable performer often exceeding other options in terms of $returned per mm used • Cotton and maize require higher water availability and produce less reliable WUE ($/mm). However, cotton has legacy impacts on water availability for subsequent crops that should be considered • Mungbean can produce higher $/mm in low water availability situations ( 150 mm of plant available water will maximise crop WUE and profitability. Every extra mm at sowing could be worth as much as$35-70 extra return/ha • Higher density sorghum crops may provide greater crop competition against weeds and potential upside yield benefits in good season. We have seen limited legacy benefits (e.g. improved ground cover) or costs (e.g. greater soil water/nutrient extraction) for soil water or nutrient availability