Socialisation of the Islamic Terrorist: The Case of Indonesia

As the world\u27s largest Muslim country, the resurgence of Islamist religiosity in Indonesia over the past 10 years has been a source of great concern for security and terrorism analysts. In an effort to shift away from the sort of discourse the explains violent Islamist religiosity in Indonesia as an offshoot of Middle East politics and the policy demands of the Global War on Terror, my specific field of interest in this thesis surrounds processes of political socialization and what exactly drives the transformation process from those nominally influenced by various kinds of revisionist conservative theology to those that become willing to commit acts of violence Indonesia. Thus I will draw from the current situation in Indonesia to argue that the vast and complex trajectories involved in the radicalization processes of Islamist terrorists demands a level of discourse that transcends simple theoretical typologies. All too often analysis in this field of inquiry ascribes \u27the drivers\u27 of the radicalization process to rest in either societal grievances or a version of flawed theology. Certainly, in the wake of attacks on western targets in Bali as well as the Jakarta Mariott and Australian Embassy bombings there was some justification for the assessment that Indonesia had the potential to become another violent flashpoint in the global war on terror. In addition to the attacks themselves, many cited the growing traction of various Islamist groups in the post New Order strategic environment as prima facie evidence that Indonesia was Islamizing (and thus radicalizing) at an alarming rate. But five years on there is a clear need to reassess both the traction of neofundamentalist Islamism and patterns of radicalization in Indonesia. While the Indonesian authorities deserve praise for the professional manner in which they have taken down Jemmah Islamiyah cells, the reason that flashpoint Indonesia hasn\u27t evolved as some terrorism analysts predicted is because they fundamentally misunderstood the threat from the outset. Thus I will demonstrate that while the political socialization of the Islamic terrorist in Indonesia is tied to some extra-regional phenomena, the most potent dynamics driving violent transformation in the socialization process are in fact intimately tied to a well-established pattern of structural violence \u27hardwired\u27 into the political discourse of the nation-state

Characterization and application of PEO-containing triblock copolymer surfactants

The action of pendant, polyethylene oxide (PEO) brush layers as nonfouling coatings for biomedical materials is well understood. However progress toward clinical application of stable, high density PEO coatings has historically been impeded by the lack of cost effective, noninvasive methods for their preparation. Triblock polymers featuring a hydrophobic, polypropylene oxide (PPO) or polybutadiene (PB) centerblock flanked by two PEO side chains can be used to coat the surfaces of hydrophobic biomedical materials, and in this way render them less prone to protein adsorption and bacterial adhesion. Optimal coating requires awarenesss of triblock aggregation properties, and for this purpose pyrene fluorescence quenching was used to determine the critical aggregation concentration of the triblocks used in this work. Coatings produced by radiolytic grafting of PEO-PB-PEO triblocks to polyacrylonitrile membranes used in hemodialysis were evaluated in relation to impact on urea permeability through the membrane. Neither the PEO-PBD-PEO triblocks nor the irradiation process was observed to have any effect on membrane permeability to urea. Beyond issues surrounding biocompatibility, PEO coatings can potentially be used to entrap and later release bioactive peptides for short-term medical device applications. In this context pyrene fluorescence quenching was used to determine the existence of a hydrophobic inner region of PEO layers based on PEO-PPO-PEO triblocks, substantially explaining the high affinity for entrapment previously recorded for amphiphilic peptides

Conversion of the West Hackberry geological site characterization report to a three-dimensional model.

The West Hackberry salt dome, in southwestern Louisiana, is one of four underground oil-storage facilities managed by the U. S. Department of Energy Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) Program. Sandia National Laboratories, as the geotechnical advisor to the SPR, conducts site-characterization investigations and other longer-term geotechnical and engineering studies in support of the program. This report describes the conversion of two-dimensional geologic interpretations of the West Hackberry site into three-dimensional geologic models. The new models include the geometry of the salt dome, the surrounding sedimentary layers, mapped faults, and a portion of the oil storage caverns at the site. This work provides a realistic and internally consistent geologic model of the West Hackberry site that can be used in support of future work

Description of Discordance Between LDL Cholesterol, Non-HDL Cholesterol, and LDL Particle Number Among Patients of a Lipid Clinic

Background: While LDL cholesterol measures the cholesterol content within an LDL particle (LDL-P), it may not reflect LDL-P concentrations. If discordance exists, LDL-P may better predict cardiovascular events compared to LDL-C and non-HDL cholesterol (non-HDL-C). In primary prevention patients, discordance has been associated with diabetes, ethnicity, gender, metabolic syndrome, and smoking history. Objective: To describe discordance in patients of a lipid clinic by exploring associations between patient characteristics and discordance among LDL-C, non-HDL-C, or LDL-P. Secondarily to compare proportion of patients with baseline concordance versus discordance who have ASCVD events, diagnoses of new onset diabetes or death. Methods: A retrospective, single-center cohort study at a large academic medical center was conducted. Patients establishing care from January 2009 through December 2012 with complete initial labs were included. Logistic regression models were used to explore associations between discordance and patient characteristics. Results: Of 603 patients screened, the final cohort included 166 patients with 104 (62.7%) discordant. LDL-P was the most common discordant value. Discordance was associated with gender, smoking status, use of lipid lowering medications, and achieving patient specific LDL-C goals. In terms of any event observed after initial measurements, no significant differences were detected between discordant and concordant groups. Conclusion: Within a lipid clinic population, discordance was associated with male gender, smoking status, lipid-lowering therapy, and being at patient specific LDL-C goal. While associations were found in our population, clinicians should consider measuring LDL-P to fully assess presence or extent of discordance. Conflict of Interest We declare no conflicts of interest or financial interests that the authors or members of their immediate families have in any product or service discussed in the manuscript, including grants (pending or received), employment, gifts, stock holdings or options, honoraria, consultancies, expert testimony, patents and royalties.    Type: Original Researc

Tumorâ Selective Altered Glycosylation and Functional Attenuation of CD73 in Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151913/1/hep41410_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151913/2/hep41410.pd

Estimating yield-contributing physiological parameters of cotton using UAV-based imagery

Lint yield in cotton is governed by light intercepted by the canopy (IPAR), radiation use efficiency (RUE), and harvest index (HI). However, the conventional methods of measuring these yield-governing physiological parameters are labor-intensive, time-consuming and requires destructive sampling. This study aimed to explore the use of low-cost and high-resolution UAV-based RGB and multispectral imagery 1) to estimate fraction of IPAR (IPARf), RUE, and biomass throughout the season, 2) to estimate lint yield using the cotton fiber index (CFI), and 3) to determine the potential use of biomass and lint yield models for estimating cotton HI. An experiment was conducted during the 2021 and 2022 growing seasons in Tifton, Georgia, USA in randomized complete block design with five different nitrogen treatments. Different nitrogen treatments were applied to generate substantial variability in canopy development and yield. UAV imagery was collected bi-weekly along with light interception and biomass measurements throughout the season, and 20 different vegetation indices (VIs) were computed from the imagery. Generalized linear regression was performed to develop models using VIs and growing degree days (GDDs). The IPARf models had R2 values ranging from 0.66 to 0.90, and models based on RVI and RECI explained the highest variation (93%) in IPARf during cross-validation. Similarly, cotton above-ground biomass was best estimated by models from MSAVI and OSAVI. Estimation of RUE using actual biomass measurement and RVI-based IPARf model was able to explain 84% of variation in RUE. CFI from UAV-based RGB imagery had strong relationship (R2 = 0.69) with machine harvested lint yield. The estimated HI from CFI-based lint yield and MSAVI-based biomass models was able to explain 40 to 49% of variation in measured HI for the 2022 growing season. The models developed to estimate the yield-contributing physiological parameters in cotton showed low to strong performance, with IPARf and above-ground biomass having greater prediction accuracy. Future studies on accurate estimation of lint yield is suggested for precise cotton HI prediction. This study is the first attempt of its kind and the results can be used to expand and improve research on predicting functional yield drivers of cotton

Select Atrophied Regions in Alzheimer disease (SARA): An improved volumetric model for identifying Alzheimer disease dementia

INTRODUCTION: Volumetric biomarkers for Alzheimer disease (AD) are attractive due to their wide availability and ease of administration, but have traditionally shown lower diagnostic accuracy than measures of neuropathological contributors to AD. Our purpose was to optimize the diagnostic specificity of structural MRIs for AD using quantitative, data-driven techniques. METHODS: This retrospective study assembled several non-overlapping cohorts (total n = 1287) with publicly available data and clinical patients from Barnes-Jewish Hospital (data gathered 1990-2018). The Normal Aging Cohort (n = 383) contained amyloid biomarker negative, cognitively normal (CN) participants, and provided a basis for determining age-related atrophy in other cohorts. The Training (n = 216) and Test (n = 109) Cohorts contained participants with symptomatic AD and CN controls. Classification models were developed in the Training Cohort and compared in the Test Cohort using the receiver operating characteristics areas under curve (AUCs). Additional model comparisons were done in the Clinical Cohort (n = 579), which contained patients who were diagnosed with dementia due to various etiologies in a tertiary care outpatient memory clinic. RESULTS: While the Normal Aging Cohort showed regional age-related atrophy, classification models were not improved by including age as a predictor or by using volumetrics adjusted for age-related atrophy. The optimal model used multiple regions (hippocampal volume, inferior lateral ventricle volume, amygdala volume, entorhinal thickness, and inferior parietal thickness) and was able to separate AD and CN controls in the Test Cohort with an AUC of 0.961. In the Clinical Cohort, this model separated AD from non-AD diagnoses with an AUC 0.820, an incrementally greater separation of the cohort than by hippocampal volume alone (AUC of 0.801, p = 0.06). Greatest separation was seen for AD vs. frontotemporal dementia and for AD vs. non-neurodegenerative diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS: Volumetric biomarkers distinguished individuals with symptomatic AD from CN controls and other dementia types but were not improved by controlling for normal aging

Hybrid CMOS/memristor circuits

Abstract — This is a brief review of recent work on the prospective hybrid CMOS/memristor circuits. Such hybrids combine the flexibility, reliability and high functionality of the CMOS subsystem with very high density of nanoscale thin film resistance switching devices operating on different physical principles. Simulation and initial experimental results demonstrate that performance of CMOS/memristor circuits for several important applications is well beyond scaling limits of conventional VLSI paradigm. I

Differential Regulation of Microtubule Severing by APC Underlies Distinct Patterns of Projection Neuron and Interneuron Migration

Coordinated migration of distinct classes of neurons to appropriate positions leads to the formation of functional neuronal circuitry in the cerebral cortex. Two major classes of cortical neurons, interneurons and projection neurons, utilize distinctly different modes (radial vs. tangential) and routes of migration to arrive at their final positions in the cerebral cortex. Here, we show that adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) modulates microtubule (MT) severing in interneurons to facilitate tangential mode of interneuron migration, but not the glial-guided, radial migration of projection neurons. APC regulates the stability and activity of the MT severing protein p60-katanin in interneurons to promote the rapid remodeling of neuronal processes necessary for interneuron migration. These findings reveal how severing and restructuring of MTs facilitate distinct modes of neuronal migration necessary for laminar organization of neurons in the developing cerebral cortex