Separately together : A systems theoretical analysis of the structuration of Nordic defence cooperation within NORDEFCO

Pohjoismainen puolustusyhteistö on 2010-luvun toisella puoliskolla tiivistynyt merkittävästi. Tutkielma luo katsauksen pohjoismaisen puolustusyhteistyön rakentumiseen analysoimalla, miten sen keskeisin monenvälinen foorumi, Nordic Defense Cooperation (NORDEFCO) luo käsityksen ympäristöstään ja toimii sen puitteissa. Tutkielma valaisee monenvälisen puolustusyhteistyön puitteistumista pohjoismaisessa kontekstissa, joka on monella tapaa historiallisesti, poliittisesti ja kulttuurisesti uniikki alue. Analyysi perustuu Niklas Luhmannin systeemisen yhteiskuntateorian soveltamiseen maailmanpolitiikan tutkimuksessa. Teoriavalinta sijoittuu osaksi maailmanpolitiikan tutkimuksessa tapahtunutta käännettä relationaalisen yhteiskuntateorian pariin. Tässä huomio keskitetään tutkittavien objektien sisäisiin ja välisiin suhteisiin, sekä toimijoiden ja toimijuuden rakentumiseen näiden suhteiden kautta. Luhmannin yhteiskuntateoria tarjoaa tähän erittäin hienosyisen ja kattavan lähestymistavan, joka ottaa huomioon modernin yhteiskuntajärjestelmän globaalin luonteen ja pitkälle edenneen toiminnallisen eriytymisen. Tutkielman aineistona toimivat NORDEFCOn itse keskeisimmiksi määrittelemänsä julkiset asiakirjat sekä sen poliittisen ohjauskomitean (PSC) sihteeristössä toimivien, neljää Pohjoismaata edustavien virkahenkilöiden puolirakenteellisestut haastattelut. Aineisto koodattiin, analysoitiin ja teemoiteltiin laadullisin menetelmin, järjestelmäteoriaan pohjaavan tutkimussapluunan ohjaamana. Tutkielma osoittaa, miten NORDEFCOn toiminta mahdollistaa toiminnallisesti itsenäisten yhteiskunnallisten alajärjestelmien, kuten politiikan ja sotilasalan, välisen kommunikaation “kääntämisen” toiselle järjestelmälle ymmärrettävään muotoon. Kommunikaatioon liittyvät vahvasti valtion hallinnan haasteet globalisoituvassa ja territoriosta irtautuvassa toimintaympäristössä. Analyysi osoittaa kehityksen yhteyksiä itsenäiseen teknologiajärjestelmään, ja viittaa siihen, että hallintaa luodaan standardoinnin kautta. Esiin nousee myös, että yhteistyötä edesauttaa muilla sektoreilla tehty yhteistyö ja jaettujen kulttuuristen elementtien, kuten kielen, mahdollistama paikallinen ongelmanratkaisu

Inflammogenesis of Secondary Spinal Cord Injury

Spinal cord injury (SCI) and spinal infarction lead to neurological complications and eventually to paraplegia or quadriplegia. These extremely debilitating conditions are major contributors to morbidity. Our understanding of SCI has certainly increased during the last decade, but remains far from clear. SCI consists of two defined phases: the initial impact causes primary injury, which is followed by a prolonged secondary injury consisting of evolving sub-phases that may last for years. The underlying pathophysiological mechanisms driving this condition are complex. Derangement of the vasculature is a notable feature of the pathology of SCI. In particular, an important component of SCI is the ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) that leads to endothelial dysfunction and changes in vascular permeability. Indeed, together with endothelial cell damage and failure in homeostasis, ischemia reperfusion injury triggers full-blown inflammatory cascades arising from activation of residential innate immune cells (microglia and astrocytes) and infiltrating leukocytes (neutrophils and macrophages). These inflammatory cells release neurotoxins (proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines, free radicals, excitotoxic amino acids, nitric oxide (NO)), all of which partake in axonal and neuronal deficit. Therefore, our review considers the recent advances in SCI mechanisms, whereby it becomes clear that SCI is a heterogeneous condition. Hence, this leads towards evidence of a restorative approach based on monotherapy with multiple targets or combinatorial treatment. Moreover, from evaluation of the existing literature, it appears that there is an urgent requirement for multi-centered, randomized trials for a large patient population. These clinical studies would offer an opportunity in stratifying SCI patients at high risk and selecting appropriate, optimal therapeutic regimens for personalized medicine.Grant #NPRP 4-571-3-171 from the Qatar National Research Fund(a member of Qatar Foundation)

Invasive rat eradication strongly impacts plant recruitment on a tropical atoll.

Rat eradication has become a common conservation intervention in island ecosystems and its effectiveness in protecting native vertebrates is increasingly well documented. Yet, the impacts of rat eradication on plant communities remain poorly understood. Here we compare native and non-native tree and palm seedling abundance before and after eradication of invasive rats (Rattus rattus) from Palmyra Atoll, Line Islands, Central Pacific Ocean. Overall, seedling recruitment increased for five of the six native trees species examined. While pre-eradication monitoring found no seedlings of Pisonia grandis, a dominant tree species that is important throughout the Pacific region, post-eradication monitoring documented a notable recruitment event immediately following eradication, with up to 688 individual P. grandis seedlings per 100m2 recorded one month post-eradication. Two other locally rare native trees with no observed recruitment in pre-eradication surveys had recruitment post-rat eradication. However, we also found, by five years post-eradication, a 13-fold increase in recruitment of the naturalized and range-expanding coconut palm Cocos nucifera. Our results emphasize the strong effects that a rat eradication can have on tree recruitment with expected long-term effects on canopy composition. Rat eradication released non-native C. nucifera, likely with long-term implications for community composition, potentially necessitating future management interventions. Eradication, nevertheless, greatly benefitted recruitment of native tree species. If this pattern persists over time, we expect long-term benefits for flora and fauna dependent on these native species

Data from: Invasive rat eradication strongly impacts plant recruitment on a tropical atoll

Rat eradication has become a common conservation intervention in island ecosystems and its effectiveness in protecting native vertebrates is increasingly well documented. Yet, the impacts of rat eradication on plant communities remain poorly understood. Here we compare native and non-native tree and palm seedling abundance before and after eradication of invasive rats (Rattus rattus) from Palmyra Atoll, Line Islands, Central Pacific Ocean. Overall, seedling recruitment increased for five of the six native trees species examined. While pre-eradication monitoring found no seedlings of Pisonia grandis, a dominant tree species that is important throughout the Pacific region, post-eradication monitoring documented a notable recruitment event immediately following eradication, with up to 688 individual P. grandis seedlings per 100m2 recorded one month post-eradication. Two other locally rare native trees with no observed recruitment in pre-eradication surveys had recruitment post-rat eradication. However, we also found, by five years post-eradication, a 13-fold increase in recruitment of the naturalized and range-expanding coconut palm Cocos nucifera. Our results emphasize the strong effects that a rat eradication can have on tree recruitment with expected long-term effects on canopy composition. Rat eradication released non-native C. nucifera, likely with long-term implications for community composition, potentially necessitating future management interventions. Eradication, nevertheless, greatly benefitted recruitment of native tree species. If this pattern persists over time, we expect long-term benefits for flora and fauna dependent on these native species

'A Divided Soul'? the Cold War odyssey of O. John Rogge

In 1948 O. John Rogge, a prominent American liberal, was a contender for the Progressive Party's vice-presidential nomination. He was then a man of the Left: an activist in the international peace movement, a champion of radical causes and a defender of organizations deemed subversive by the Department of Justice. In 1951 he persuaded his\ud client to turn government witness in the Rosenberg espionage trial and was converted into 'Rogge the Rat' by his former allies. In tracing this transformation, this paper will argue that Rogge was neither a typical Cold War apostate nor a typical anti-Stalinist intellectual. Instead, his political trajectory was the outcome of a failed attempt to steer global politics away from Cold War dichotomies. The paper will therefore throw new light\ud both on the movement to find a 'third way' between East and West, and on the phenomenon of non-communist Left activism during the early Cold War

Invasive rat eradication strongly impacts plant recruitment on a tropical atoll

<div><p>Rat eradication has become a common conservation intervention in island ecosystems and its effectiveness in protecting native vertebrates is increasingly well documented. Yet, the impacts of rat eradication on plant communities remain poorly understood. Here we compare native and non-native tree and palm seedling abundance before and after eradication of invasive rats (<i>Rattus rattus</i>) from Palmyra Atoll, Line Islands, Central Pacific Ocean. Overall, seedling recruitment increased for five of the six native trees species examined. While pre-eradication monitoring found no seedlings of <i>Pisonia grandis</i>, a dominant tree species that is important throughout the Pacific region, post-eradication monitoring documented a notable recruitment event immediately following eradication, with up to 688 individual <i>P</i>. <i>grandis</i> seedlings per 100m² recorded one month post-eradication. Two other locally rare native trees with no observed recruitment in pre-eradication surveys had recruitment post-rat eradication. However, we also found, by five years post-eradication, a 13-fold increase in recruitment of the naturalized and range-expanding coconut palm <i>Cocos nucifera</i>. Our results emphasize the strong effects that a rat eradication can have on tree recruitment with expected long-term effects on canopy composition. Rat eradication released non-native <i>C</i>. <i>nucifera</i>, likely with long-term implications for community composition, potentially necessitating future management interventions. Eradication, nevertheless, greatly benefitted recruitment of native tree species. If this pattern persists over time, we expect long-term benefits for flora and fauna dependent on these native species.</p></div

Map of seedling recruitment survey locations on Palmyra Atoll.

<p>Map of Palmyra Atoll with locally rare tree seedling plots shown as colored circles and light green squares indicating seedling transects across the atoll.</p

Study site and two plant species that significantly increased post-eradication (<i>Pisonia grandis</i> and <i>Cocos nucifera</i>).

<p>(A) All research was conducted on the islets of Palmyra Atoll, (B) a tropical island located in the Line Islands Chain in the Central Pacific Ocean. (C) The highest density of <i>P</i>. <i>grandis</i> seedlings was observed one month post- rat eradication, in 2011 and (D) the highest density of non-native <i>C</i>. <i>nucifera</i> seedlings was observed in 2016, five years post- rat eradication. Reprinted under a CC BY license, with permission from Kydd Pollock (1A), Coral Wolf (1C), and Dena Spatz (1D), original copyright 2009 (1A) and 2016 (1C and 1D).</p

Changes in native species seedlings counts pre- and post- rat eradication.

<p>(A) Mean ± SE <i>Pisonia grandis</i> seedlings m^-2 counted on 55 Seedling Transects across Palmyra Atoll pre- (2007) and post- (2011, 2012, 2014, and 2016) rat eradication. (B–E) Seedlings (Mean ± SE) counted per native locally rare tree seedling plot pre- (2004) and post- (2011, 2012, 2014, and 2016) rat eradication. <i>A—C</i> indicate significantly different data within each species grouping (after post-hoc correction; α = 0.05).</p