U.S. Military Aid to Central Asia: Who Benefits?

U.S. military aid to Central Asia has substantially increased over the past 10 years with an increasingly large percentage going toward the training and equipping of Central Asian special forces units. In several cases, funding has been misappropriated by host governments, while the United States has tended to look the other way at such abuses. Military aid can have varying goals, but increases in funding and ambivalence by U.S, officials toward possible abuse of funds by Central Asian governments suggest that the primary motive of U.S. aid is to "buy" access to regional governments and militaries for cooperation in Afghanistan, rather than to improve defense institutions and militaries

Mitochondrial physiology

As the knowledge base and importance of mitochondrial physiology to evolution, health and disease expands, the necessity for harmonizing the terminology concerning mitochondrial respiratory states and rates has become increasingly apparent. The chemiosmotic theory establishes the mechanism of energy transformation and coupling in oxidative phosphorylation. The unifying concept of the protonmotive force provides the framework for developing a consistent theoretical foundation of mitochondrial physiology and bioenergetics. We follow the latest SI guidelines and those of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) on terminology in physical chemistry, extended by considerations of open systems and thermodynamics of irreversible processes. The concept-driven constructive terminology incorporates the meaning of each quantity and aligns concepts and symbols with the nomenclature of classical bioenergetics. We endeavour to provide a balanced view of mitochondrial respiratory control and a critical discussion on reporting data of mitochondrial respiration in terms of metabolic flows and fluxes. Uniform standards for evaluation of respiratory states and rates will ultimately contribute to reproducibility between laboratories and thus support the development of data repositories of mitochondrial respiratory function in species, tissues, and cells. Clarity of concept and consistency of nomenclature facilitate effective transdisciplinary communication, education, and ultimately further discovery

Mitochondrial physiology

As the knowledge base and importance of mitochondrial physiology to evolution, health and disease expands, the necessity for harmonizing the terminology concerning mitochondrial respiratory states and rates has become increasingly apparent. The chemiosmotic theory establishes the mechanism of energy transformation and coupling in oxidative phosphorylation. The unifying concept of the protonmotive force provides the framework for developing a consistent theoretical foundation of mitochondrial physiology and bioenergetics. We follow the latest SI guidelines and those of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) on terminology in physical chemistry, extended by considerations of open systems and thermodynamics of irreversible processes. The concept-driven constructive terminology incorporates the meaning of each quantity and aligns concepts and symbols with the nomenclature of classical bioenergetics. We endeavour to provide a balanced view of mitochondrial respiratory control and a critical discussion on reporting data of mitochondrial respiration in terms of metabolic flows and fluxes. Uniform standards for evaluation of respiratory states and rates will ultimately contribute to reproducibility between laboratories and thus support the development of data repositories of mitochondrial respiratory function in species, tissues, and cells. Clarity of concept and consistency of nomenclature facilitate effective transdisciplinary communication, education, and ultimately further discovery

Recent Impacts and Discoveries Arising from the use of Cloud-Hosted Real-time Data Services for the Geosciences (CHORDS)

<p> p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify; font: 11.0px 'Trebuchet MS'} </p><p>CHORDS, an EarthCube Building Block, addresses the growing importance of real-time scientific data, particularly in mission critical scenarios where informed decisions must be made rapidly. Many of the phenomenon occurring with the geosciences, ranging from hurricanes and severe weather, to earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and floods, can benefit from continuous sampling of real-time data so that transient signals may be detected. In many regions of the world, valuable real-time measurements are sparse or non-existent. We highlight new science and societal impacts enabled by CHORDS, particularly in the African continent.</p