‘Child Soldiers: a threat to Irish Peace Support Operations?’

The Irish Defence Forces have been continuously involved in United Nations Peace Support Operations since 1958. When the 90th Infantry Battalion deployed to the United Nations Mission In Liberia (UNMIL) in November 2003, it represented the first time that Defence Forces personnel had been placed in a theatre in which the phenomenon of the Child Soldier existed. This thesis was undertaken to explore the phenomenon of the Child Soldier and to attempt to determine whether the Defence Forces adequately prepares their personnel for situations in which Child Soldiers may be encountered, both in pre-deployment training and in theatre. The research question was explored through a literary review of material available on the subject, through which the theoretical lens to be adopted of culture, globalisation and socialisation, was identified. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with a former Ugandan female Child Soldier and a number of senior Irish Army officers who have served in UNMIL in a variety of prominent appointments. The findings give the reader an understanding of the phenomenon of the Child Soldier; in particular an appreciation of why children become soldiers, what they are likely to experience at a very young age and why it can often be difficult for them to reintegrate back into society, post conflict. The findings also determine whether the levels of preparedness of our troops to deal with ‘live’ situations in which Child Soldiers may be encountered are adequate. It is estimated that there are somewhere in the region of 300,000 Child Soldiers worldwide and that up to 15,000 were located in Liberia at the outset of the UNMIL mission. As a Defence Forces, we have a duty to ensure the safety and protection of our troops both at home and abroad. Understanding the Child Soldier in Liberia and thoroughly preparing to deal effectively with situations in which armed children may be encountered will ultimately enhance the safety of our troops in this theatre

Components of Intergroup Hostility

A two-phase project investigated expressions of inter-group hostility across a real-world context identified as displaying prior and on-going manifestations of conflict. The views of white-British community members were accessed to explore how issues around problematic relations with a juxtaposed population of British South Asians were constructed, explained and interpreted. Following a review of theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of inter-group hostility, the initial phase of the study applied thematic analysis to a series of open-ended semi-structured interviews with 21 respondents. From this a range of perceived contributory factors (‘components’) to the generation and maintenance of inter-group hostility were identified. Observations were also made about how issues around the inter-group relationship were differentially evaluated from both lesser/non-hostile and more overtly hostile perspectives. Phase two then used material generated from these analyses to produce context-specific survey measures to enable the assessment of patterns of the relative importance attributed to various components of perceived influence on inter-group hostility by 205 participants from the same community. Findings from both phases were discussed in relation to the range of theoretical perspectives initially outlined, particularly the relative importance attributed to different contributory components in this specific social context. These most notably related to various forms of perceived threat (Riek et al., 2006; Runcimann, 1966; Sherif, 1966; Stephan & Stephan, 2000; Tajfel & Turner, 1986). The importance of in-group consensus and social facilitation were also highlighted in relation to accounts from more hostile perspectives (Bobo, 2008), particularly in terms of limits to the availability of explanatory resources and interpretive repertoires in such accounts (Wetherell & Potter, 1992). Perceptions of the out-group as being problematically different and receiving preferential treatment were also identified as sources of animosity from more hostile perspectives. Lesser/non-hostile perspectives were notable for identifying external forces (e.g., media and political influence, general social deprivation in the area) as the factors most responsible for inter-group hostility. This research makes contributions to existing knowledge in a number of ways: 1.) By incorporating a broader, multidimensional and more holistic synthesis of potential contributory elements to inter-group hostility than has been previously attempted. 2.) By placing greater emphasis on the contextual nature of specific inter-group conflicts across different situations. 3.) From the investigation of a specifically British context of inter-group hostility, and the role played by perceived threat in this particular intergroup dynamic. That these contributions were accomplished using in-depth qualitative analysis, which acknowledge the importance of consensual understandings of social reality and incorporate participants’ own subjective interpretations, also represents a strength. Suggestions for future research are also discussed

Emergence of an imaging biomarker for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: is the end point near?

A diagnostic and treatment biomarker for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) remains a holy grail.1 ,2 From a neuroimaging perspective, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has been increasingly utilised to identify brain-related upper motor neuron changes in ALS. In particular, the corticospinal tract, anterior corpus callosum and hippocampal fractional anisotropy (FA) white matter changes have been closely linked with ALS pathology3 ,4 and associated with the underlying neuropathological spread of TAR DNA binding protein 43 (TDP-43).5 Thus, DTI emerges as an ideal neuroimaging biomarker end point for disease-modifying trials in ALS. However, most advanced trials are run on a multicentre basis, and currently it is not clear how DTI signatures across centres in ALS hold-up, in particular with varying imaging sequences and scanner variabilities

On the t-Term Rank of a Matrix

For t a positive integer, the t-term rank of a (0,1)-matrix A is defined to be the largest number of 1s in A with at most one 1 in each column and at most t 1s in each row. Thus the 1-term rank is the ordinary term rank. We generalize some basic results for the term rank to the t-term rank, including a formula for the maximum term rank over a nonempty class of (0,1)-matrices with the the same row sum and column sum vectors. We also show the surprising result that in such a class there exists a matrix which realizes all of the maximum terms ranks between 1 and t.Comment: 18 page

Cyclic Matching Sequencibility of Graphs

We define the cyclic matching sequencibility of a graph to be the largest integer $d$ such that there exists a cyclic ordering of its edges so that every $d$ consecutive edges in the cyclic ordering form a matching. We show that the cyclic matching sequencibility of $K_{2m}$ and $K_{2m+1}$ equal $m-1$

Terra incognita—cerebellar contributions to neuropsychiatric and cognitive dysfunction in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia

Although converging evidence has positioned the human cerebellum as an important relay for intact cognitive and neuropsychiatric processing, changes in this large structure remain mostly overlooked in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), a disease which is characterized by cognitive and neuropsychiatric deficits. The present study assessed whether degeneration in specific cerebellar subregions associate with indices of cognition and neuropsychiatric performance in bvFTD. Our results demonstrate a relationship between cognitive and neuropsychiatric decline across various domains of memory, language, emotion, executive, visuospatial function, and motivation and the degree of gray matter degeneration in cerebellar lobules V–VII. Most notably, bilateral cerebellar lobule VII and the posterior vermis emerged as distinct for memory processes, the right cerebellar hemisphere underpinned emotion, and the posterior vermis was highlighted in language dysfunction in bvFTD. Based on cortico-cerebellar connectivity maps, these findings in the cerebellum are consistent with the neural connections with the cortices involved in these domains in patients with bvFTD. Overall, the present study underscores the significance of cortical-cerebellar networks associated with cognition and neuropsychiatric dysfunction in bvFTD

Occasional essay: upper motor neuron syndrome in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

The diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) requires recognition of both lower (LMN) and upper motor neuron (UMN) dysfunction.1 However, classical UMN signs are frequently difficult to identify in ALS.2 LMN involvement is sensitively detected by electromyography (EMG)3 but, as yet, there are no generally accepted markers for monitoring UMN abnormalities,4 the neurobiology of ALS itself, and disease spread through the brain and spinal cord,.5 Full clinical assessment is therefore necessary to exclude other diagnoses and to monitor disease progression. In part, this difficulty regarding detection of UMN involvement in ALS derives from the definition of ‘the UMN syndrome’. Abnormalities of motor control in ALS require reformulation within an expanded concept of the UMN, together with the neuropathological, neuro-imaging and neurophysiological abnormalities in ALS. We review these issues here