Transparent reporting for a successful Arms Trade Treaty

The ATT needs a reporting mechanism that increases transparency of the international arms trade. Transparency is a precondition to monitoring the adherence of signatory states to the criteria of the ATT and pro vides the basis for the further development of international norms for arms transfers. At a minimum, states parties to the ATT should aim to report on authorised and actual exports of conventional arms covered under Article 2 (1) of the ATT. information provided should include the numbers and description of transferred weapons, the financial value of the licence, transit countries and the recipient country. A standardised reporting template should provide the opportunity to offer additional information, such as more details on the end­users and on the condition of the weapons. Such a voluntary segment should further include the exports of ammunition/munitions, parts and components, production licences, technologies and equipment for the manufacturing of conventional arms. Creating incentives is vital for such an approach. A commitment to voluntary reporting should have a positive effect on the level of assistance that states receive in the framework of the ATT. furthermore, participation in the reporting system should be taken as an indicator for the trustworthiness of states as partners on the international arms market. States parties to the ATT should discuss how a system of denial reporting could look like. States could start to pro vide information on denials of arms export licences confidentially and on a voluntary, rather informal, basis, possibly leading to a more standardised process in the future. later on stage, this might be complemented by an aggregated report on denials that would be made public

Global Militarisation Index 2015

Compiled by BICC, the Global Militarisation Index (gmi) presents on an annual basis the relative weight and importance of a country’s military apparatus in relation to its society as a whole. The 2015 GMI covers 152 states and is based on the latest available figures (in most cases data for 2014). The index project is financially supported by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (bmz). There are numerous sources of conflict around the world that are driving militarisation in many regions and inducing states to modernise their armed forces or increase defence budgets. Among the ten countries with the highest level of militarisation—namely Israel, Singapore, Armenia, Jordan, South Korea, Russia, Cyprus, Azerbaijan, Kuwait and Greece—three are in the Middle East, two in Asia and five in Europe. The United States and China are absent from the GMI Top 10, despite being global leaders in military spending. This is because when their military expenditures are measured as a proportion of gross domestic product (gdp), and their military headcount and heavy weapon system numbers are measured per 1,000 inhabitants, the situation looks rather different. Nevertheless, they are following the trend towards restructuring and modernisation of the armed forces. The region with the highest level of militarisation is again the Middle East. This upward trend must be seen in connection with the violent conflicts across the region—the Israel–Palestine conflict, the war in Yemen, the civil war in Syria and the regional threat posed by so-called Islamic State (is). In Europe, too, we find high levels of militarisation. Current crises, not least the war in eastern Ukraine, could become the factor that will push up defence budgets in the future. There is also a local arms race between Armenia and Azerbaijan triggered by the Nagorno–Karabakh conflict. Included for the first time in the 2015 GMI report is an examination of the relationships between militarisation and human development by considering the Human Development Index (hdi). For stronger economies, we find that a high GMI ranking is often accompanied by a high HDI value (Israel, Singapore). The relationship between militarisation and human development may again differ in countries where a high GMI is combined with a low HDI, such as Chad, or Mauretania. Here, disproportionately high spending on the armed forces may be taking critical resources away from development

Native Languages Revitalization Resource Directory

The goal of this project was to work with the Indigenous Language Institute in Santa Fe, NM and provide accessible, up-to-date resources that will help revitalize endangered indigenous languages. This was done by creating a digital resource directory website in MediaWiki format to host informational pages for language programs, funding sources, and coordinating organizations. The team wrote programs to automatically convert the updated information to wiki-pages, and created a mechanism f or organizations to keep their information updated and available

Photoreceptor Outer Segment-like Structures in Long-Term 3D Retinas from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells.

The retinal degenerative diseases, which together constitute a leading cause of hereditary blindness worldwide, are largely untreatable. Development of reliable methods to culture complex retinal tissues from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) could offer a means to study human retinal development, provide a platform to investigate the mechanisms of retinal degeneration and screen for neuroprotective compounds, and provide the basis for cell-based therapeutic strategies. In this study, we describe an in vitro method by which hPSCs can be differentiated into 3D retinas with at least some important features reminiscent of a mature retina, including exuberant outgrowth of outer segment-like structures and synaptic ribbons, photoreceptor neurotransmitter expression, and membrane conductances and synaptic vesicle release properties consistent with possible photoreceptor synaptic function. The advanced outer segment-like structures reported here support the notion that 3D retina cups could serve as a model for studying mature photoreceptor development and allow for more robust modeling of retinal degenerative disease in vitro

A Model Analysis of Mechanisms for Radial Microtubular Patterns at Root Hair Initiation Sites

Plant cells have two main modes of growth generating anisotropic structures. Diffuse growth where whole cell walls extend in specific directions, guided by anisotropically positioned cellulose fibers, and tip growth, with inhomogeneous addition of new cell wall material at the tip of the structure. Cells are known to regulate these processes via molecular signals and the cytoskeleton. Mechanical stress has been proposed to provide an input to the positioning of the cellulose fibers via cortical microtubules in diffuse growth. In particular, a stress feedback model predicts a circumferential pattern of fibers surrounding apical tissues and growing primordia, guided by the anisotropic curvature in such tissues. In contrast, during the initiation of tip growing root hairs, a star-like radial pattern has recently been observed. Here, we use detailed finite element models to analyze how a change in mechanical properties at the root hair initiation site can lead to star-like stress patterns in order to understand whether a stress-based feedback model can also explain the microtubule patterns seen during root hair initiation. We show that two independent mechanisms, individually or combined, can be sufficient to generate radial patterns. In the first, new material is added locally at the position of the root hair. In the second, increased tension in the initiation area provides a mechanism. Finally, we describe how a molecular model of Rho-of-plant (ROP) GTPases activation driven by auxin can position a patch of activated ROP protein basally along a 2D root epidermal cell plasma membrane, paving the way for models where mechanical and molecular mechanisms cooperate in the initial placement and outgrowth of root hairs.This work was funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation via grant ShapeSystems (KAW 2012.0050) to MG and HJ, the Swedish Research Council (VR2013-4632) to HJ, and the Gatsby Charitable Foundation (GAT3395/PR4) to HJ

Globaler Militarisierungsindex 2015

Der Globale Militarisierungsindex des BICC bildet alljährlich das relative Gewicht und die Bedeutung des Militärapparats von Staaten im jeweiligen Verhältnis zur Gesellschaft als Ganzes ab. Der GMI 2015 umfasst 152 Staaten und basiert auf den aktuellsten vorliegenden Zahlen, in der Regel sind das die Daten des Jahres 2014. Der Index wird durch das Bundesministerium für Wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (bmz) gefördert. Zahlreiche Konfliktherde in der Welt treiben weiterhin die Aufrüstung in vielen Regionen an und veranlassen Staaten zur Modernisierung ihrer Streitkräfte oder zur Erhöhung der Verteidigungshaushalte. Unter den zehn Ländern mit dem höchsten Militarisierungsgrad befinden sich mit Israel, Singapur, Armenien, Jordanien, Südkorea, Russland, Zypern, Aserbaidschan, Kuwait und Griechenland drei Staaten aus dem Nahen und Mittleren Osten, zwei aus Asien sowie fünf aus Europa. Dass die USA und China als die Länder, die weltweit führend in den Militärausgaben sind, in den TOP 10 fehlen, liegt am niedrigeren Verhältnis der Militärausgaben zum Bruttoinlandsprodukt (bip) sowie der Anzahl des Militärpersonals bzw. der schweren Waffensysteme zur Gesamtbevölkerung dort. Gleichwohl teilen sie mit vielen anderen Ländern die Tendenz, Umstrukturierungen und Modernisierungen der Streitkräfte anzustreben. Der Nahe und Mittlere Osten bleibt die Region mit den höchsten Militarisierungsgraden. Dieser Trend muss auch im Zusammenhang mit den dortigen Gewaltkonflikten – Nahost- und Jemenkonflikt, Auswirkungen des Bürgerkriegs in Syrien und die regionale Bedrohung durch IS – betrachtet werden. Auch in Europa finden sich hohe Militarisierungsgrade. Aktuelle Krisen, besonders der Krieg in der Ukraine, könnten sich zur Triebfeder für zukünftige Erhöhungen der Verteidigungsausgaben entwickeln. Der Nagorny Karabach Konflikt heizt weiterhin ein Wettrüsten zwischen Armenien und Aserbaidschan an. Erstmals untersucht der GMI 2015 unter Einbeziehung des Human Development Index (hdi) den Zusammenhang zwischen Militarisierung und menschlicher Entwicklung. In starken Volkswirtschaften fallen oft hohes GMIRanking und hoher HDI-Wert zusammen (z. B. Israel, Singapur). Ist jedoch ein hoher GMI- mit einem niedrigen HDI-Wert kombiniert (z. B. Tschad, Mauretanien) könnte dies darauf hindeuten, dass durch überproportionale Zuwendung an die Streitkräfte wichtige Ressourcen für die Entwicklung fehlen

Lama1 mutations lead to vitreoretinal blood vessel formation, persistence of fetal vasculature, and epiretinal membrane formation in mice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Valuable insights into the complex process of retinal vascular development can be gained using models with abnormal retinal vasculature. Two such models are the recently described mouse lines with mutations in <it>Lama1</it>, an important component of the retinal internal limiting membrane (ILM). These mutants have a persistence of the fetal vasculature of vitreous (FVV) but lack a primary retinal vascular plexus. The present study provides a detailed analysis of astrocyte and vascular development in these <it>Lama1 </it>mutants.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Although astrocytes and blood vessels initially migrate into <it>Lama1 </it>mutant retinas, both traverse the peripapillary ILM into the vitreous by P3. Once in the vitreous, blood vessels anastomose with vessels of the vasa hyaloidea propria, part of the FVV, and eventually re-enter the retina where they dive to form the inner and outer retinal capillary networks. Astrocytes continue proliferating within the vitreous to form a dense mesh that resembles epiretinal membranes associated with persistent fetal vasculature and proliferative vitreoretinopathy.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p><it>Lama1 </it>and a fully intact ILM are required for normal retinal vascular development. Mutations in <it>Lama1 </it>allow developing retinal vessels to enter the vitreous where they anastomose with vessels of the hyaloid system which persist and expand. Together, these vessels branch into the retina to form fairly normal inner retinal vascular capillary plexi. The <it>Lama1 </it>mutants described in this report are potential models for studying the human conditions persistent fetal vasculature and proliferative vitreoretinopathy.</p