Escalation in International Conflict Management: A Foreign Policy Perspective

Efforts to resolve interstate disputes are often characterized by repeated engagement and evolving strategies. What explains a state’s decision to continue conflict resolution efforts but escalate their management strategy? Drawing from foreign policy literature, I argue third parties escalate policies both in response to past failures, shifting conflict dynamics, and their relationship with the disputants. Analysis of management efforts from 1946 to 2001 reveals that the changing nature of the conflict, policy failures and relationships between the third party and disputants are integral to understanding the management decision process, but the effects of these factors depend on the management history

An SZ/X-ray galaxy cluster model and the X-ray follow-up of the Planck clusters

Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) cluster surveys will become an important cosmological tool over next few years, and it will be essential to relate these new surveys to cluster surveys in other wavebands. We present an empirical model of cluster SZ and X-ray observables constructed to address this question and to motivate, dimension and guide X-ray follow-up of SZ surveys. As an example application of the model, we discuss potential XMM-Newton follow-up of Planck clusters.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures. To appear in the proceedings of the XXXXIIIrd Rencontres de Morion

GABAergic compensation in connexin36 knock-out mice evident during low-magnesium seizure-like event activity

Gap junctions within the cerebral cortex may facilitate cortical seizure formation by their ability to synchronize electrical activity. To investigate this, one option is to compare wild-type (WT) animals with those lacking the gene for connexin36 (Cx36 KO); the protein that forms neuronal gap junctions between cortical inhibitory cells. However, genetically modified knock-out animals may exhibit compensatory effects; with the risk that observed differences between WT and Cx36 KO animals could be erroneously attributed to Cx36 gap junction effects. In this study we investigated the effect of GABAA-receptor modulation (augmentation with 16 μM etomidate and blockade with 100 μM picrotoxin) on low-magnesium seizure-like events (SLEs) in mouse cortical slices. In WT slices, picrotoxin enhanced both the amplitude (49% increase, p = 0.0006) and frequency (37% increase, p = 0.005) of SLEs; etomidate also enhanced SLE amplitude (18% increase, p = 0.003) but reduced event frequency (25% decrease, p < 0.0001). In Cx36 KO slices, the frequency effects of etomidate and picrotoxin were preserved, but the amplitude responses were abolished. Pre-treatment with the gap junction blocker mefloquin in WT slices did not significantly alter the drug responses, indicating that the reduction in amplitude seen in the Cx36 KO mice was not primarily mediated by their lack of interneuronal gap junctions, but was rather due to pre-existing compensatory changes in these animals. Conclusions from studies comparing seizure characteristics between WT and Cx36 KO mice must be viewed with a degree of caution because of the possible confounding effect of compensatory neurophysiological changes in the genetically modified animals

Commitment Problems: Understanding Variation in the Frequency of International Conflict Management Efforts

Why do some militarized interstate disputes involve multiple third party attempts to resolve the dispute, while others seemingly end before movement towards peace is possible? This paper examines third party commitment to international conflict resolution. I argue that a third party’s commitment reflects strategic interests, barriers to entry and the conflict’s prospects for peace, which encourage third party involvement while having a dampening effect on their commitment. I also explore the role of bias in management onset and third party commitment. Analysis of conflict management in militarized interstate disputes from 1946 to 2001 offers significant support for the hypotheses

When States Mediate

Militarized conflict is one of the most devastating of all human activities. The international community’s response to conflict occurrence can significantly affect the number of casualties, the extent of resulting devastation and even the outcome of the conflict. State responses range from conflict management, whereby third parties actively engage in resolving the conflict; joining, whereby states become an additional disputant; or remaining uninvolved. One of the most common active third-party responses is to act as a mediator, a role using consensual, nonbinding and nonviolent means of conflict management and resolution. This paper explores the policy of state-led mediation, its strengths and weaknesses, and where and how it can be encouraged as a tool for peaceful conflict resolution

When States Mediate

Militarized conflict is one of the most devastating of all human activities. The international community’s response to conflict occurrence can significantly affect the number of casualties, the extent of resulting devastation and even the outcome of the conflict. State responses range from conflict management, whereby third parties actively engage in resolving the conflict; joining, whereby states become an additional disputant; or remaining uninvolved. One of the most common active third-party responses is to act as a mediator, a role using consensual, nonbinding and nonviolent means of conflict management and resolution. This paper explores the policy of state-led mediation, its strengths and weaknesses, and where and how it can be encouraged as a tool for peaceful conflict resolution

Diagnosing eating disorders in men: a clinical challenge

Eating disorders are far more prevalent in women than men, with only 10% of cases occurring in males. This discrepancy may be partially explained by biological and cultural factors, but it also suggests diagnostic difficulties. This article compares diagnostic features of eating disorders in both genders, emphasizing the most common pitfalls to its recognition in men, in order to reduce the number of undiagnosed cases.Poucos transtornos na medicina em geral e na psiquiatria em particular têm uma distribuição por gênero tão assimétrica quanto os transtornos alimentares (TA), com apenas 10% dos casos ocorrendo no sexo masculino. Esta disparidade pode ser atribuída a fatores biológicos e culturais, mas também indica a existência de dificuldades no diagnóstico dos TA em homens. Embora tenha crescido o interesse pelos TA nas últimas décadas, seu reconhecimento no sexo masculino ainda é pobre e limitado por estereótipos. O presente estudo tem como objetivo discutir as semelhanças e diferenças dos TA em homens e mulheres, enfatizando os tópicos que têm implicações práticas para os profissionais de saúde mental.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM)Santa Casa de Misericórdia do Rio de Janeiro Serviço de Psiquiatria Setor de Transtornos Alimentares e ObesidadeUNIFESP, EPMSciEL

Seasonal Variability In The Ionosphere Of Uranus

Infrared ground-based observations using IRTF, UKIRT, and Keck II of Uranus have been analyzed as to identify the long-term behavior of the H-3(+) ionosphere. Between 1992 and 2008 there are 11 individual observing runs, each recording emission from the H-3(+) Q branch emission around 4 mu m through the telluric L' atmospheric window. The column-averaged rotational H-3(+) temperature ranges between 715 K in 1992 and 534 K in 2008, with the linear fit to all the run-averaged temperatures decreasing by 8 K year(-1). The temperature follows the fractional illumination curve of the planet, declining from solstice (1985) to equinox (2007). Variations in H-3(+) column density do not appear to be correlated to either solar cycle phase or season. The radiative cooling by H-3(+) is similar to 10 times larger than the ultraviolet solar energy being injected to the atmosphere. Despite the fact that the solar flux alone is incapable of heating the atmosphere to the observed temperatures, the geometry with respect to the Sun remains an important driver in determining the thermospheric temperature. Therefore, the energy source that heats the thermosphere must be linked to solar mechanisms. We suggest that this may be in the form of conductivity created by solar ionization of atmospheric neutrals and/or seasonally dependent magnetospherically driven current systems.STFC PP/E/000983/1, ST/G0022223/1RCUKGemini ObservatoryNational Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) NXX08A043G, NNX08AE38AAstronom