Sustaining the Peace After Civil War

Since the end of World War II, there have been four times as many civil wars as interstate wars. For a small subset of nations civil war is a chronic condition: about half of the civil war nations have had at least two and as many as six conflicts. This book presents an analytical framework that has been used to identify a set of factors that make civil war more or less likely to recur in a nation where a civil war has recently terminated. The outcome of the previous civil war--whether it ended in a government victory, a rebel victory or a negotiated settlement--as well as the duration and deadliness of the conflict affect the durability of the peace after civil war. The introduction of peacekeeping forces, investment in economic development and reconstruction, and the establishment of democratic political institutions tailored to the configuration of ethnic and religious cleavages in the society also affect the durability of peace after civil war. The book closes by applying these propositions in an analysis of the civil war in Iraq: what can be done to bring the Iraq conflict to an earlier, less destructive, and more stable conclusion?https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1019/thumbnail.jp

Evolving UK policy on diversity in the armed services: multiculturalism and its discontents

Reflecting a generally multiculturalist rhetoric, UK policy in this area has hitherto focussed on enhancing the degree to which the armed services represent or reflect the ethnic makeup of the UK population. Ambitious targets have been set and some progress made in moving towards them. However, the dynamics of population change, together with the diverse preferences of ethno-religious minorities, have meant that the goal of representativeness has remained out of reach. At the same time, the armed services have continued to struggle with an ongoing recruitment problem while the volume of operational commitments has shown little sign of reducing

The Radicalization of Brexit Activists

© 2021 Mason, Winter, Schmeer and Berrington. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Brexit activists demonstrating outside the British Houses of Parliament were studied in situ to examine their potential for pro-group extreme behavior. This involved activists of two polarized, opposing views; those of Leave and Remain. The research engaged concepts linking the different theoretical perspectives of identity fusion and personal construct psychology. The study measured participants' degree of fusion to their group using a verbal measure. Willingness to undertake extreme acts was assessed in several ways: a measure of willingness to fight for the group, adaptations of the trolley dilemma and questions regarding political violence. Individual construing was examined using repertory grid technique and a semi-structured interview. Results were similar for both Leave and Remain participants. The majority of activists identified as “fused” to their group and, if so, were more likely to undertake hypothetical extreme behavior compared to those who did not identify as “fused.” Repertory grid technique indicated that becoming an activist provided individuals with a clearer and more positive view of themselves. Opposition activists were construed more negatively and extremely than fellow activists, and this construal was associated with an increased willingness to undertake extreme pro-group behavior. This was consistent with the personal construct model of radicalization and was heightened in those who were “fused.” Interview data provided support for the constructivist model and revealed characteristics and concerns of the two groups. Overall, the findings indicate that campaigning organizations contain fused individuals, who are more likely to undertake hypothetical pro-group violence including self-sacrifice. This has broader implications which may be particularly pertinent, given the violent impact of extremist activists around the globe.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

The anatomy of exhumed river-channel belts: Bedform to belt‐scale river kinematics of the Ruby Ranch Member, Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation, Utah, USA

Many published interpretations of ancient fluvial systems have relied on observations of extensive outcrops of thick successions. This paper, in contrast, demonstrates that a regional understanding of palaeoriver kinematics, depositional setting and sedimentation rates can be interpreted from local sedimentological measurements of bedform and barform strata. Dune and bar strata, channel planform geometry and bed topography are measured within exhumed fluvial strata exposed as ridges in the Ruby Ranch Member of the Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation, Utah, USA. The ridges are composed of lithified stacked channel belts, representing at least five or six re‐occupations of a single‐strand channel. Lateral sections reveal well‐preserved barforms constructed of subaqueous dune cross‐sets. The topography of palaeobarforms is preserved along the top surface of the outcrops. Comparisons of the channel‐belt centreline to local palaeotransport directions indicate that channel planform geometry was preserved through the re‐occupations, rather than being obscured by lateral migration. Rapid avulsions preserved the state of the active channel bed and its individual bars at the time of abandonment. Inferred minimum sedimentation durations for the preserved elements, inferred from cross‐set thickness distributions and assumed bedform migration rates, vary within a belt from one to ten days. Using only these local sedimentological measurements, the depositional setting is interpreted as a fluvial megafan, given the similarity in river kinematics. This paper provides a systematic methodology for the future synthesis of vertical and planview data, including the drone‐equipped 2020 Mars Rover mission, to exhumed fluvial and deltaic strata

Positive autoregulation of the transcription factor Pax6 in response to increased levels of either of its major isoforms, Pax6 or Pax6(5a), in cultured cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Pax6 is a transcription factor essential for normal development of the eyes and nervous system. It has two major isoforms, Pax6 and Pax6(5a), and the ratios between their expression levels vary within narrow limits. We tested the effects of overexpressing either one or other isoform on endogenous Pax6 expression levels in Neuro2A and NIH3T3 cells.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found that both isoforms caused an up-regulation of endogenous Pax6 expression in cells with (Neuro2A) or without (NIH3T3) constitutive Pax6 expression. Western blots showed that cells stably transfected with constructs expressing either Pax6 or Pax6(5a) contained raised levels of both Pax6 and Pax6(5a). Quantitative RT-PCR confirmed an increase in levels of <it>Pax6(5a) </it>mRNA in cells containing Pax6-expressing constructs and an increase in levels of <it>Pax6 </it>mRNA in cells containing Pax6(5a)-expressing constructs. The fact that the introduction of constructs expressing only one isoform increased the cellular levels of not only that isoform but also the other indicates that activation of the endogenous <it>Pax6 </it>locus occurred. The ratio between the levels of the two isoforms was maintained close to physiological values. The overexpression of either isoform in neuroblastoma (Neuro2A) cell lines also promoted morphological change and an increase in β-III-tubulin expression, indicating an increase in neurogenesis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results demonstrate that Pax6 can up-regulate production of Pax6 protein from an entire intact endogenous <it>Pax6 </it>locus in its genomic environment. This adds to previous studies showing that Pax6 can up-regulate reporter expression driven by isolated <it>Pax6 </it>regulatory elements. Furthermore, our results suggest that an important function of positive feedback might be to stabilise the relative levels of Pax6 and Pax6(5a).</p

Regulation of the Pax6 : Pax6(5a) mRNA ratio in the developing mammalian brain

BACKGROUND: Early in mammalian brain development cell proliferation generates a population of progenitor cells whose subsequent divisions produce increasing numbers of postmitotic neurons. Pax6 affects both processes and it has been suggested that this changing role is due at least in part to changes in the relative concentrations of its two main isoforms, (i) Pax6 and (ii) Pax6(5a), created by insertion of a 42 bp exon (exon 5a) into one of the two DNA-binding domains. Crucially, however, no previous study has determined whether the ratio between Pax6 and Pax6(5a) transcripts alters during mammalian neurogenesis in vivo. RESULTS: Using RNase protection assays, we show that Pax6 transcripts are 6–10 times more prevalent than Pax6(5a) transcripts early in neurogenesis in the murine telencephalon, diencephalon and hindbrain and that the ratio later falls significantly to about 3:1 in these regions. CONCLUSION: These changes in vivo are similar in magnitude to those shown previously to alter target gene activity in vitro and might, therefore, allow the single mammalian Pax6 gene to carry out different functions at different times in mammalian brain development

MRI: ID-Development of a Hybrid Scanning Fluorescence and Sum Frequency Spectroscopy Imaging Microscope

With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation program (MRI), Michael Mason and colleagues from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Maine will develop a hybrid scanning fluorescence (FL) and sum frequency (SF) spectroscopy imaging microscope. The instrument will be constructed by the addition of sample scanning and FL capability to an existing broadband SF spectrometer. The SF NIR pump source will be used to excite SF at the sample interface, while a modulated Argon ion CW laser will excite FL. These collinear sources will give rise to spatially and temporally correlated SF and FL signals which will be separated and individually detected. The instrument will simultaneously measure the fluorescence and sum frequency to yield information about the localized dynamics of a single particle, i.e. protein, and spatially correlated structural information about the bulk material containing the particle. This yields information about the interaction between the particle and the bulk not accessible by any other method. The proposal will initially investigate test projects including the study of membrane domain structure and membrane-membrane interactions, e,g., correlation of the structure and dynamics of lipid and protein molecules within planar supported lipid bilayers. Successful development of this instrument could lead to major breakthroughs in several fields ranging from surface chemistry and biophysics to nanotechnology and cellular biology

Normal ventral telencephalic expression of Pax6 is required for normal development of thalamocortical axons in embryonic mice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In addition to its well-known expression in dorsal telencephalic progenitor cells, where it regulates cell proliferation and identity, the transcription factor Pax6 is expressed in some ventral telencephalic cells, including many postmitotic neurons. Its functions in these cells are unknown.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We generated a new floxed allele of <it>Pax6 </it>and tested the consequences of a highly specific ventral telencephalic depletion of Pax6. We used the <it>Six3</it>^{<it>A1A2</it>}-<it>Cre </it>allele that drives production of Cre recombinase in a specific region of Pax6-expression close to the internal capsule, through which thalamic axons navigate to cerebral cortex. Depletion in this region caused many thalamic axons to take aberrant routes, either failing to turn normally into ventral telencephalon to form the internal capsule or exiting the developing internal capsule ventrally. We tested whether these defects might have resulted from abnormalities of two structural features proposed to guide thalamic axons into and through the developing internal capsule. First, we looked for the early pioneer axons that project from the region of the future internal capsule to the thalamus and are thought to guide thalamocortical axons to the internal capsule: we found that they are present in conditional mutants. Second, we examined the development of the corridor of Islet1-expressing cells that guides thalamic axons through ventral telencephalon and found that it was broader and less dense than normal in conditional mutants. We also examined corticofugal axons that are thought to interact with ascending thalamocortical axons, resulting in each set providing guidance to the other, and found that some are misrouted to lateral telencephalon.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These findings indicate that ventral telencephalic Pax6 is important for formation of the Islet1-expressing corridor and the thalamic and cortical axons that grow through it. We suggest that Pax6 might affect thalamic axonal growth indirectly via its effect on the corridor.</p

Equitability revisited: why the “equitable threat score” is not equitable

In the forecasting of binary events, verification measures that are “equitable” were defined by Gandin and Murphy to satisfy two requirements: 1) they award all random forecasting systems, including those that always issue the same forecast, the same expected score (typically zero), and 2) they are expressible as the linear weighted sum of the elements of the contingency table, where the weights are independent of the entries in the table, apart from the base rate. The authors demonstrate that the widely used “equitable threat score” (ETS), as well as numerous others, satisfies neither of these requirements and only satisfies the first requirement in the limit of an infinite sample size. Such measures are referred to as “asymptotically equitable.” In the case of ETS, the expected score of a random forecasting system is always positive and only falls below 0.01 when the number of samples is greater than around 30. Two other asymptotically equitable measures are the odds ratio skill score and the symmetric extreme dependency score, which are more strongly inequitable than ETS, particularly for rare events; for example, when the base rate is 2% and the sample size is 1000, random but unbiased forecasting systems yield an expected score of around −0.5, reducing in magnitude to −0.01 or smaller only for sample sizes exceeding 25 000. This presents a problem since these nonlinear measures have other desirable properties, in particular being reliable indicators of skill for rare events (provided that the sample size is large enough). A potential way to reconcile these properties with equitability is to recognize that Gandin and Murphy’s two requirements are independent, and the second can be safely discarded without losing the key advantages of equitability that are embodied in the first. This enables inequitable and asymptotically equitable measures to be scaled to make them equitable, while retaining their nonlinearity and other properties such as being reliable indicators of skill for rare events. It also opens up the possibility of designing new equitable verification measures