Capital Influence. The Capital Ship in U.S. Naval Strategy

The purpose of this study is to explore the role of capital ships in U.S. naval strategy from the end of the Cold War until this day. The study analyses the capital ships’ role within U.S. naval strategy and how this has developed over time. Furthermore the study discusses the future of the supercarrier as the U.S. capital ship. An unambiguous definition of what a capital ship actually is does not exist. The study has therefore used a comparative historic approach in order to define the capital ship. The definition is: They are the most important ships of their time, they ensure conditions that permit other forces or functions to perform their respective role. In wartime, capital ships secure the use of the sea. The study is explorative and answers the research question through a qualitative approach and uses theory of naval strategy and Ken Booth’s Naval Trinity as the analytical framework. The results show, that the supercarrier has been elevated to almost mythological status in the U.S. Navy and institutions, and it will probably take a major war to challenge this status. The supercarrier has become a symbol of U.S. supremacy, and the pillar on which all U.S. naval strategic thinking is done. However, with the advent of near peer completion on the world’s oceans the Navy is now struggling to define its military role. Its role as a tool of diplomacy on the other hand is very well defined and value-laden. It was once stated, “capital ships are built to prevent war”, and the U.S. is certainly placing a lot of faith on this approach.Formålet med denne masteropgave er at studere the capital ships rolle i amerikansk flådestrategi siden den Kolde Krig. Opgaven analyserer the capital ships rolle i indenfor amerikansk flådestrategi samt, hvordan denne har udviklet sig over tid. Derudover, diskuteres supercarrier’ens fremtid som amerikansk capital ship. Der findes ikke en entydig definition på hvad et capital ship egentlig er. Opgaven har derfor gennem en historisk komparativ tilgang udarbejdet en definition. Definitionen lyder: De er deres samtids vigtigste skibe, de sikrer tilstande, som tillader andre styrker at gennemføre deres roller. I krigstid, er det capital ships der sikrer evnen til at benytte havet. Studien undersøger problemformuleringen gennem en kvalitativ tilgang og benytter maritim teori og Ken Booths maritime treenighed som analytisk rammeværk. Resultaterne viser, at supercarrier’en er blevet ophøjet til nærmest mytologisk status i den amerikanske flåde og i amerikanske institutioner. Det vil givetvis kræve en større krig hvis dette paradigme skal udfordres for alvor. Supercarrier’en er blevet symbolet på amerikansk overlegenhed og grundlaget for al amerikansk maritim strategisk tænkning. Det faktum at andre magter nu er trådt ind på den globale scene har medført, at den amerikanske flåde nu har vanskeligt ved at beskrive dette skibs militære rolle. Som et diplomatisk redskab er skibets rolle med veldefineret og værdiladet. Dr. Tim Benbow har en gang udtrykt, at ”capital ships bliver bygget med det formål at undgå krig”. Denne tilgang tillægger USA utvivlsomt stor betydning

Imaging ellipsometry of graphene

Imaging ellipsometry studies of graphene on SiO2/Si and crystalline GaAs are presented. We demonstrate that imaging ellipsometry is a powerful tool to detect and characterize graphene on any flat substrate. Variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry is used to explore the dispersion of the optical constants of graphene in the visible range with high lateral resolution. In this way the influence of the substrate on graphene's optical properties can be investigatedComment: 3 pages, 3 figure

Reassessment of Blood Gene Expression Markers for the Prognosis of Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis

Despite considerable advances in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, current drugs are only partially effective. Most patients show reduced disease activity with therapy, but still experience relapses, increasing disability, and new brain lesions. Since there are no reliable clinical or biological markers of disease progression, long-term prognosis is difficult to predict for individual patients. We identified 18 studies that suggested genes expressed in blood as predictive biomarkers. We validated the prognostic value of those genes with three different microarray data sets comprising 148 patients in total. Using these data, we tested whether the genes were significantly differentially expressed between patients with good and poor courses of the disease. Poor progression was defined by relapses and/or increase of disability during a two-year follow-up, independent of the administered therapy. Of 110 genes that have been proposed as predictive biomarkers, most could not be confirmed in our analysis. However, the G protein-coupled membrane receptor GPR3 was expressed at significantly lower levels in patients with poor disease progression in all data sets. GPR3 has therefore a high potential to be a biomarker for predicting future disease activity. In addition, we examined the IL17 cytokines and receptors in more detail and propose IL17RC as a new, promising, transcript-based biomarker candidate. Further studies are needed to better understand the roles of these receptors in multiple sclerosis and its treatment and to clarify the utility of GPR3 and IL17RC expression levels in the blood as markers of long-term prognosis

Capital Influence. The Capital Ship in U.S. Naval Strategy

The purpose of this study is to explore the role of capital ships in U.S. naval strategy from the end of the Cold War until this day. The study analyses the capital ships’ role within U.S. naval strategy and how this has developed over time. Furthermore the study discusses the future of the supercarrier as the U.S. capital ship. An unambiguous definition of what a capital ship actually is does not exist. The study has therefore used a comparative historic approach in order to define the capital ship. The definition is: They are the most important ships of their time, they ensure conditions that permit other forces or functions to perform their respective role. In wartime, capital ships secure the use of the sea. The study is explorative and answers the research question through a qualitative approach and uses theory of naval strategy and Ken Booth’s Naval Trinity as the analytical framework. The results show, that the supercarrier has been elevated to almost mythological status in the U.S. Navy and institutions, and it will probably take a major war to challenge this status. The supercarrier has become a symbol of U.S. supremacy, and the pillar on which all U.S. naval strategic thinking is done. However, with the advent of near peer completion on the world’s oceans the Navy is now struggling to define its military role. Its role as a tool of diplomacy on the other hand is very well defined and value-laden. It was once stated, “capital ships are built to prevent war”, and the U.S. is certainly placing a lot of faith on this approach

Capital Influence. The Capital Ship in U.S. Naval Strategy

The purpose of this study is to explore the role of capital ships in U.S. naval strategy from the end of the Cold War until this day. The study analyses the capital ships’ role within U.S. naval strategy and how this has developed over time. Furthermore the study discusses the future of the supercarrier as the U.S. capital ship. An unambiguous definition of what a capital ship actually is does not exist. The study has therefore used a comparative historic approach in order to define the capital ship. The definition is: They are the most important ships of their time, they ensure conditions that permit other forces or functions to perform their respective role. In wartime, capital ships secure the use of the sea. The study is explorative and answers the research question through a qualitative approach and uses theory of naval strategy and Ken Booth’s Naval Trinity as the analytical framework. The results show, that the supercarrier has been elevated to almost mythological status in the U.S. Navy and institutions, and it will probably take a major war to challenge this status. The supercarrier has become a symbol of U.S. supremacy, and the pillar on which all U.S. naval strategic thinking is done. However, with the advent of near peer completion on the world’s oceans the Navy is now struggling to define its military role. Its role as a tool of diplomacy on the other hand is very well defined and value-laden. It was once stated, “capital ships are built to prevent war”, and the U.S. is certainly placing a lot of faith on this approach.Formålet med denne masteropgave er at studere the capital ships rolle i amerikansk flådestrategi siden den Kolde Krig. Opgaven analyserer the capital ships rolle i indenfor amerikansk flådestrategi samt, hvordan denne har udviklet sig over tid. Derudover, diskuteres supercarrier’ens fremtid som amerikansk capital ship. Der findes ikke en entydig definition på hvad et capital ship egentlig er. Opgaven har derfor gennem en historisk komparativ tilgang udarbejdet en definition. Definitionen lyder: De er deres samtids vigtigste skibe, de sikrer tilstande, som tillader andre styrker at gennemføre deres roller. I krigstid, er det capital ships der sikrer evnen til at benytte havet. Studien undersøger problemformuleringen gennem en kvalitativ tilgang og benytter maritim teori og Ken Booths maritime treenighed som analytisk rammeværk. Resultaterne viser, at supercarrier’en er blevet ophøjet til nærmest mytologisk status i den amerikanske flåde og i amerikanske institutioner. Det vil givetvis kræve en større krig hvis dette paradigme skal udfordres for alvor. Supercarrier’en er blevet symbolet på amerikansk overlegenhed og grundlaget for al amerikansk maritim strategisk tænkning. Det faktum at andre magter nu er trådt ind på den globale scene har medført, at den amerikanske flåde nu har vanskeligt ved at beskrive dette skibs militære rolle. Som et diplomatisk redskab er skibets rolle med veldefineret og værdiladet. Dr. Tim Benbow har en gang udtrykt, at ”capital ships bliver bygget med det formål at undgå krig”. Denne tilgang tillægger USA utvivlsomt stor betydning

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AEB-071 has minimal impact on onset of autoimmune diabetes in NOD mice

Protein kinase C (PKC) is an important signaling enzyme in the activation and regulation of T lymphocytes. T-cell-mediated destruction of beta-cells is a characteristic feature of autoimmune (Type 1) diabetes. Here we explore the ability of PKC inhibition, using the PKC inhibitor AEB-071 (AEB), to reduce disease in two animal models of spontaneous autoimmune diabetes (non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse and biobreeding rat (BB)). NOD mice were treated with AEB for 4 weeks, starting at either 4 weeks of age (prior to the development of insulitis) or at 8 weeks of age, once insulitis is present. Animals treated with AEB during the effector phase of the disease (treatment onset at 8 weeks of age), showed a 2-week delay in diabetes onset (p < 0.05). In these animals, the extent of insulitis was lower than in vehicle-treated controls; however, neither serum autoimmune anti-GAD65 antibody levels nor pancreatic insulin content were different between experimental groups. Overall, inhibition of PKC can mildly reduce lymphocytic infiltrate of pancreatic islets and modestly delay onset of autoimmune diabetes in NOD mice. AEB, a T-cell-targeted immunosuppressive strategy, is only sufficient as a monothereapy to modestly delay onset of autoimmune disease in the NOD mouse