Men's and women's experiences of violence and traumatic events in rural Cote d'Ivoire before, during and after a period of armed conflict.

OBJECTIVE: We assessed men's and women's experiences of gender based violence and other traumatic events in Côte d'Ivoire, a West African conflict-affected setting, before, during and after a period of active armed conflict (2000-2007). DESIGN: Cross-sectional, household survey. SETTING: 12 rural communities directly impacted by the Crisis in Côte d'Ivoire, spanning regions controlled by government forces, rebels and UN peacekeepers in 2008. PARTICIPANTS: 2678 men and women aged 15-49 years. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Violence exposures measured since age 15. Questions included intimate partner physical and sexual violence; physical and sexual violence by others (including combatants) and exposure to traumatic events before, during and after the Crisis period (2000-2007). RESULTS: Physical and/or sexual violence since age 15 was reported by 57.1% women and 40.2% men (p=0.01); 29.9% women and 12.3% men reported exposure to any violence in the past year. Nearly 1 in 10 women (9.9%) and 5.9% men (p=0.03) were forced to have sex by a non-partner since age 15, and 14.8% women and 3.3% men (p=0.00) reported their first sexual experience was forced. Combatants were rarely reported as sexual violence perpetrators (0.3% women). After the Crisis, intimate partner physical violence was the most frequently reported form of violence and highest among women (20.9% women, 9.9% men, p=0.00). Fearing for their life was reported by men and women before, during and after the Crisis. CONCLUSIONS: Sexual violence in conflict remains a critical international policy concern. However, men and women experience different types of violence before, during and after conflict. In many conflict settings, other forms of violence, including intimate partner violence, may be more widespread than conflict-related sexual violence. Alongside service provision for rape survivors, our findings underscore the need for postconflict reconstruction efforts to invest in programmes to prevent and respond to intimate partner violence and trauma

Room temperature spin Kondo effect and intermixing in Co/Cu non-local spin valves

The anomalous low temperature suppression of the spin accumulation signalDRNLin non-localspin valves (NLSVs) based on common ferromagnet (FM)/normal metal (N) pairings has recentlybeen shown to result from a manifestation of the Kondo effect. Local magnetic moments in the Ndue to even minor levels of FM/N interdiffusion depolarize the injected spin current, suppressingthe effective spin polarization around and below the Kondo temperatureTK. Previous studies havefocused on FM/N combinations that happen to have lowTKso that Kondo effects occur only wellbelow 300 K. Here, we study NLSVs based on Co/Cu, a materials combination that is not onlytechnologically relevant but also has a highTK, up to 500 K. Despite the negligibleequilibriumsol-ubility of Co in Cu, we find clear Kondo effects in bothDRNLand Cu resistivity, due to Co/Cuintermixing that we probeviaquantitative transmission electron microscopy. Most significantly,under certain conditions the spin Kondo effect suppresses the injected spin polarizationeven atroom temperature, with important technological implications. Studies as a function of the Cu thick-ness and annealing temperature reveal complex trends in interdiffusion lengths and Kondo effects,which we interpret in terms of the interplay between diffusion kinetics and thermodynamics, aswell as the thickness dependence of the Kondo effect

Origin of intermittent accretion-powered X-ray oscillations in neutron stars with millisecond spin periods

We have shown previously that many of the properties of persistent accretion-powered millisecond pulsars can be understood if their X-ray emitting areas are near their spin axes and move as the accretion rate and structure of the inner disk vary. Here we show that this "nearly aligned moving spot model" may also explain the intermittent accretion-powered pulsations that have been detected in three weakly magnetic accreting neutron stars. We show that movement of the emitting area from very close to the spin axis to about 10 degrees away can increase the fractional rms amplitude from less than about 0.5 percent, which is usually undetectable with current instruments, to a few percent, which is easily detectable. The second harmonic of the spin frequency usually would not be detected, in agreement with observations. The model produces intermittently detectable oscillations for a range of emitting area sizes and beaming patterns, stellar masses and radii, and viewing directions. Intermittent oscillations are more likely in stars that are more compact. In addition to explaining the sudden appearance of accretion-powered millisecond oscillations in some neutron stars with millisecond spin periods, the model explains why accretion-powered millisecond oscillations are relatively rare and predicts that the persistent accretion-powered millisecond oscillations of other stars may become undetectable for brief intervals. It suggests why millisecond oscillations are frequently detected during the X-ray bursts of some neutron stars but not others and suggests mechanisms that could explain the occasional temporal association of intermittent accretion-powered oscillations with thermonuclear X-ray bursts.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure; includes additional discussion and updated references; accepted for publication in ApJ

Outbreak of West Nile virus causing severe neurological involvement in children, Nuba Mountains, Sudan, 2002.

An atypical outbreak of West Nile virus (WNV) occurred in Ngorban County, South Kordophan, Sudan, from May to August 2002. We investigated the epidemic and conducted a case-control study in the village of Limon. Blood samples were obtained for cases and controls. Patients with obvious sequelae underwent cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sampling as well. We used enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and neutralization tests for laboratory diagnosis and identified 31 cases with encephalitis, four of whom died. Median age was 36 months. Bivariate analysis did not reveal any significant association with the risk factors investigated. Laboratory analysis confirmed presence of IgM antibodies caused by WNV in eight of 13 cases, indicative of recent viral infection. The unique aspects of the WNW outbreak in Sudan, i.e. disease occurrence solely among children and the clinical domination of encephalitis, involving severe neurological sequelae, demonstrate the continuing evolution of WNV virulence. The spread of such a virus to other countries or continents cannot be excluded

Seamounts

Definition: Seamounts are literally mountains rising from the seafloor. More specifically, they are “any geographically isolated topographic feature on the seafloor taller than 100 m, including ones whose summit regions may temporarily emerge above sea level, but not including features that are located on continental shelves or that are part of other major landmasses” (Staudigel et al., 2010). The term “guyot” can be used for seamounts having a truncated cone shape with a flat summit produced by erosion at sea level (Hess, 1946), development of carbonate reefs (e.g., Flood, 1999), or partial collapse due to caldera formation (e.g., Batiza et al., 1984). Seamounts <1,000 m tall are sometimes referred to as “knolls” (e.g., Hirano et al., 2008). “Petit spots” are a newly discovered subset of sea knolls confined to the bulge of subducting oceanic plates of oceanic plates seaward of deep-sea trenches (Hirano et al., 2006)

Static and dynamic characteristics of protein contact networks

The principles underlying protein folding remains one of Nature's puzzles with important practical consequences for Life. An approach that has gathered momentum since the late 1990's, looks at protein hetero-polymers and their folding process through the lens of complex network analysis. Consequently, there is now a body of empirical studies describing topological characteristics of protein macro-molecules through their contact networks and linking these topological characteristics to protein folding. The present paper is primarily a review of this rich area. But it delves deeper into certain aspects by emphasizing short-range and long-range links, and suggests unconventional places where "power-laws" may be lurking within protein contact networks. Further, it considers the dynamical view of protein contact networks. This closer scrutiny of protein contact networks raises new questions for further research, and identifies new regularities which may be useful to parameterize a network approach to protein folding. Preliminary experiments with such a model confirm that the regularities we identified cannot be easily reproduced through random effects. Indeed, the grand challenge of protein folding is to elucidate the process(es) which not only generates the specific and diverse linkage patterns of protein contact networks, but also reproduces the dynamic behavior of proteins as they fold. Keywords: network analysis, protein contact networks, protein foldingComment: Added Appendix

A model for the waveform behavior of accreting millisecond pulsars: Nearly aligned magnetic fields and moving emission regions

We investigate further a model of the accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars we proposed earlier. In this model, the X-ray-emitting regions of these pulsars are near their spin axes but move. This is to be expected if the magnetic poles of these stars are close to their spin axes, so that accreting gas is channeled there. As the accretion rate and the structure of the inner disk vary, gas is channeled along different field lines to different locations on the stellar surface, causing the X-ray-emitting areas to move. We show that this "nearly aligned moving spot model" can explain many properties of the accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars, including their generally low oscillation amplitudes and nearly sinusoidal waveforms; the variability of their pulse amplitudes, shapes, and phases; the correlations in this variability; and the similarity of the accretion- and nuclear-powered pulse shapes and phases in some. It may also explain why accretion-powered millisecond pulsars are difficult to detect, why some are intermittent, and why all detected so far are transients. This model can be tested by comparing with observations the waveform changes it predicts, including the changes with accretion rate.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures; includes 3 new sections, 14 additional pages, 4 additional figures with 11 new plots, and additional references; accepted for publication in Ap

Wild chimpanzees modify modality of gestures according to the strength of social bonds and personal network size

Primates form strong and enduring social bonds with others and these bonds have important fitness consequences. However, how different types of communication are associated with different types of social bonds is poorly understood. Wild chimpanzees have a large repertoire of gestures, from visual gestures to tactile and auditory gestures. We used social network analysis to examine the association between proximity bonds (time spent in close proximity) and rates of gestural communication in pairs of chimpanzees when the intended recipient was within 10 m of the signaller. Pairs of chimpanzees with strong proximity bonds had higher rates of visual gestures, but lower rates of auditory long-range and tactile gestures. However, individual chimpanzees that had a larger number of proximity bonds had higher rates of auditory and tactile gestures and lower rates of visual gestures. These results suggest that visual gestures may be an efficient way to communicate with a small number of regular interaction partners, but that tactile and auditory gestures may be more effective at communicating with larger numbers of weaker bonds. Increasing flexibility of communication may have played an important role in managing differentiated social relationships in groups of increasing size and complexity in both primate and human evolution

Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) do not develop contingent reciprocity in an experimental task

Chimpanzees provide help to unrelated individuals in a broad range of situations. The pattern of helping within pairs suggests that contingent reciprocity may have been an important mechanism in the evolution of altruism in chimpanzees. However, correlational analyses of the cumulative pattern of interactions over time do not demonstrate that helping is contingent upon previous acts of altruism, as required by the theory of reciprocal altruism. Experimental studies provide a controlled approach to examine the importance of contingency in helping interactions. In this study, we evaluated whether chimpanzees would be more likely to provide food to a social partner from their home group if their partner had previously provided food for them. The chimpanzees manipulated a barpull apparatus in which actors could deliver rewards either to themselves and their partners or only to themselves. Our findings indicate that the chimpanzees’ responses were not consistently influenced by the behavior of their partners in previous rounds. Only one of the 11 dyads that we tested demonstrated positive reciprocity. We conclude that contingent reciprocity does not spontaneously arise in experimental settings, despite the fact that patterns of behavior in the field indicate that individuals cooperate preferentially with reciprocating partners