From 'Liberal War' to 'Liberal Militarism': United States security policy as the promotion of military modernity

The connection between liberalism and war has been a persistent recent focus in security studies. A large critical literature on liberal war has developed, ranging from viewing such wars as predicated on expanding spaces of capitalist accumulation to seeing them as techniques of a global liberal governmentality. However, this critical literature needs to be complemented by an institutional approach to militarism that links liberal war with broader societal dynamics of warfare. The article argues that the concept of ‘liberal militarism’ provides a means to better historicize and institutionalize liberal war beyond the sharp edge of military interventions, connecting liberal war to broader institutional manifestations of war preparations and war making, which are also fundamentally linked to liberal approaches to modernization. The article uses the example of the United States during the Cold War and after to demonstrate that liberal approaches to modernization were explicitly formulated as key to US foreign and security policy, a form of ‘military modernity’. The article further analyses US foreign policy in terms of the military modernity of ‘security assistance’ in the Obama administration. Seeing liberal militarism through the lens of US-led modernization efforts draws on important insights from the critical literature on liberalism and war, but emphasizes the historical institutionalization of military power as central to understanding its durability

Design and Synthesis of Hoogsteen-Binding Peptide Nucleic Acid Monomers with Extended Linkers for Triple Helical U-A Recognition in RNA

RNA provides many functions within biological systems. For example, noncoding RNA (ncRNA), a form of RNA that is not part of transcription or translation, serves a variety of unique roles, such as catalysis or gene regulation. ncRNA generally forms double helical motifs that are ripe for molecular recognition. Sequence selective recognition of double helical RNA (dhRNA) can be achieved using Peptide Nucleic Acids (PNA) through triple helical formation by Hoogsteen hydrogen bonding of PNA nucleobases in the major groove of dhRNA. However, strong, and selective recognition is typically limited to polypurine strands and pyrimidine recognition remains an unsolved problem. A promising solution uses extended nucleobases to reach across the Hoogsteen face of the RNA base pair, bypassing the pyrimidine, and binding with the distal purine. Using this strategy, we designed and synthesized new extended nucleobases to help uncover the ideal linker length and heterocyclic substitution for optimal molecular recognition

comparative lca of flocculation for the harvesting of microalgae for biofuels production

Abstract In recent years, the use of Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) to evaluate environmental benefits resulting from the production of biofuel from microalgae has continued to evolve. Literature in this field shows that one of the main challenges associated with the effect of biofuel production on the environment is the high energy consumption necessary in the microalgae harvesting phase to achieve the level of dewatering required to the next steps. Moreover, detailed LCAs specifically focused on the assessment of alternative technologies for the harvesting of microalgae have yet to be presented. As such, the aim of this paper is to analyze the potential environmental benefits and shortcomings arising from the use of flocculation for the harvesting of microalgae in the biofuel production process, with particular attention to the Canadian context. The method employed is a comparative LCA, where two alternative scenarios based on the application of two harvesting technologies are taken into account: (1) flocculation and centrifugation and (2) direct centrifugation (without flocculation). The calculations of environmental impact and the sensitivity analysis are performed with the SimaPro software

vHOG, a multispecies vertebrate ontology of homologous organs groups

Motivation: Most anatomical ontologies are species-specific, whereas a framework for comparative studies is needed. We describe the vertebrate Homologous Organs Groups ontology, vHOG, used to compare expression patterns between species

Upregulation of hepatic bile acid synthesis via fibroblast growth factor 19 is defective in gallstone disease but functional in overweight individuals

Background: Fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19) is an enteric hormone regulating bile acid de novo synthesis by sensing ileal bile acid flux. However, the role of FGF19 in cholelithiasis has not yet been elucidated and therefore is investigated in the present study. Methods: Total mRNA and protein were isolated from ileal biopsies and used for tissue expression analysis. FGF19, 7α-hydroxycholesterol (7α-OH-Chol), 27-hydroxycholesterol (27-OH-Chol), and different bile acids were determined in the blood samples. Results: FGF19 serum levels did not differ between gallstone carriers and controls but were significantly decreased in the overweight individuals (−32%, p = 0.0002), irrespective of gallstone status (normalweight to overweight controls −29%, p = 0.0017; normalweight to overweight gallstone carriers −44%, p = 0.0338), and correlated inversely with bodyweight (p < 0.0001, ρ = −0.3317). Compared to non-overweight controls, apical sodium-dependent bile acid transporter expression was significantly diminished in the non-overweight gallstone carriers (−42%, PmRNA = 0.0393; −52%, pprotein = 0.0169) as well as in the overweight controls (−24%, PmRNA = 0.0148; −43%, pprotein = 0.0017). FGF19 expression varied widely and was similar in all groups. A significant negative correlation was noted between 7α-OH-Chol, 27-OH-Chol, and FGF19 serum levels (p < 0.01; ρ7α-OH-Chol = −0.2155; ρ27-OH-Chol = −0.2144) in obesity. Conclusion: Upregulation of hepatic bile acid synthesis via FGF 19 is defective in gallstone disease but functional in overweight individuals

Re-imagining the Borders of US Security after 9/11: Securitisation, Risk, and the Creation of the Department of Homeland Security

The articulation of international and transnational terrorism as a key issue in US security policy, as a result of the 9/11 attacks, has not only led to a policy rethink, it has also included a bureaucratic shift within the US, showing a re-thinking of the role of borders within US security policy. Drawing substantively on the 'securitisation' approach to security studies, the article analyses the discourse of US security in order to examine the founding of the Department of Homeland Security, noting that its mission provides a new way of conceptualising 'borders' for US national security. The securitisation of terrorism is, therefore, not only represented by marking terrorism as a security issue, it is also solidified in the organisation of security policy-making within the US state. As such, the impact of a 'war on terror' provides an important moment for analysing the re-articulation of what security is in the US, and, in theoretical terms, for reaffirming the importance of a relationship between the production of threat and the institutionalisation of threat response. © 2007 Taylor & Francis