Promises to Keep: Reflections from the 2016 UN Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security

Dr Laura J. Shepherd reflects on the most recent United Nations Security Council open debate on Women and Peace and Security, exploring the role such events play in global politics and identifying common rhetorical themes in member state contributions

The New Politics of Women, Peace and Security

The LSE Centre for Women, Peace and Security Working Paper Series is an outlet for articles, position papers and policy briefs. It showcases work in progress by academics and researchers from any discipline and sector in the field of women, peace and security research and practice. On publication of the first two papers, lead editors Paul Kirby and Laura J. Shepherd introduce the context and aims of the series

Historic record of pasture soil water and the influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation in south-west England

The North Wyke Farm Platform is a National Capability funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council in the UK (project number BB/J004308/1). Climate data were measured at the MIDAS Land Surface Station DLY3208 DEVON, UK, a weather station of the UK Meteorological Office. We would especially like to thank Dr Melannie Hartmann, NREL, Colorado State University for the inclusion and use of the DayCent model, and advice on preparation of model parameters.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

‘Frustrated’ hydrogen bond mediated amphiphile self-assembly – a solid state study

Herein, we present the synthesis of ten structurally related ‘frustrated’ amphiphiles, from which were obtained eleven single crystal X-ray structures, allowing observation of the hydrogen bonding modes present in the solid state. We previously reported the synthesis of a novel amphiphilic salt which contains both hydrogen bond donating (HBD) and hydrogen bond accepting (HBA) functionalities. This amphiphilic salt was shown to self-associate in the solution state, aided by the formation of hydrogen bonds. The exact nature of the hydrogen bonding modes involved in this self-association process remains unclear due to the combination of HBD and HBA groups present in the amphiphile structure. This results in a ‘frustrated’ system with access to a variety of possible hydrogen bonding modes

Validation of a Low Cost Flow Measurement System for Monitoring Vegetative Treatment System Performance

In 2006, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources issued National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits to six feedlots participating in research on the use of vegetative treatment systems (VTSs) to control beef feedlot runoff. While Iowa State University monitors releases from the research portion of these sites, the producers are required to monitor releases from the non-research portions. Additionally, non-research site producers with VTSs and NPDES permits are required to monitor system releases. They are required to measure release volume and collect a sample for analysis. Automated, research oriented open channel flow measurement systems typically cost $7,500 to employ. Muhlbauer et. al (2007) developed a low cost monitoring system (LMS) designed to measure open channel flow from a VTS with a total cost of$1,600. Testing of the LMS by Muhlbauer et. al. (2007) across flow events ranging from one to six hours indicated a mean accuracy of 90.6% in comparison to a flow meter equipped ISCO 6712 portable sampler using a .46m (18”) fiberglass H-flume. Further cost reduction options for a producer include fabrication of a metal H-flume, reducing total system cost to $850. This paper compares the performance of the LMS for estimating both short and longer duration flow events and performance of the fabricated metal flume. The LMS flow measurements were compared to an ISCO 6712 portable sampler and a Krohne Optiflux 4000 flow meter in twelve field tests lasting one and six hours with an accuracy of 88.5% in comparison to the Krohne. Relative to a commercial fiberglass flume, the three fabricated flumes had a mean percent accuracy of 98%

Radio Sources in Galaxy Clusters at 28.5 GHz

We present serendipitous detections of radio sources at 28.5 GHz (1 cm), which resulted from our program to image thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect in 56 galaxy clusters. We find 64 radio sources with fluxes down to 0.4 mJy, and within 250 arcseconds from the pointing centers. The spectral indices (S ~ \nu^-\alpha) of 54 sources with published low frequency flux densities range from -0.6 to 2 with a mean of 0.77, and a median of 0.84. Extending low frequency surveys of radio sources towards galaxy clusters CL 0016+16, Abell 665, and Abell 2218 to 28.5 GHz, and selecting sources with 1.4 GHz flux density greater than 7 mJy to form an unbiased sample, we find a mean spectral index of 0.71 and a median of 0.71. We find 4 to 7 times more sources predicted from a low frequency survey in areas without galaxy clusters. This excess cannot be accounted for by gravitational lensing of a background radio population by cluster potentials, indicating most of the detected sources are associated with galaxy clusters. For the cluster Abell 2218, the presence of unsubtracted radio sources with 28.5 GHz flux densities less than 0.5 mJy, can only contribute to temperature fluctuations at a level of 10 to 25 \muK. The corresponding error due to radio point source contamination in the Hubble constant derived through a combined analysis of 28.5 GHz SZ images and X-ray emission observations ranges from 1% to 6%.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, to appear in April 1998 issue of A

The process of setting micronutrient recommendations: a cross-European comparison of nutrition-related scientific advisory bodies

Copyright @ The Authors 2010Objective: To examine the workings of the nutrition-related scientific advisory bodies in Europe, paying particular attention to the internal and external contexts within which they operate. Design: Desk research based on two data collection strategies: a questionnaire completed by key informants in the field of micronutrient recommendations and a case study that focused on mandatory folic acid (FA) fortification. Setting: Questionnaire-based data were collected across thirty-five European countries. The FA fortification case study was conducted in the UK, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Czech Republic and Hungary. Results: Varied bodies are responsible for setting micronutrient recommendations, each with different statutory and legal models of operation. Transparency is highest where there are standing scientific advisory committees (SAC). Where the standing SAC is created, the range of expertise and the terms of reference for the SAC are determined by the government. Where there is no dedicated SAC, the impetus for the development of micronutrient recommendations and the associated policies comes from interested specialists in the area. This is typically linked with an ad hoc selection of a problem area to consider, lack of openness and transparency in the decisions and over-reliance on international recommendations. Conclusions: Even when there is consensus about the science behind micronutrient recommendations, there is a range of other influences that will affect decisions about the policy approaches to nutrition-related public health. This indicates the need to document the evidence that is drawn upon in the decisions about nutrition policy related to micronutrient intake.This work has been carried out within the EURRECA Network of Excellence (www.eurreca.org) which is financially supported by the Commission of the European Communities, specific Research, Technology and Development (RTD) Programme Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources, within the Sixth Framework Programme, contract no. 036196