How Can the United States Move toward Gender-Neutral Special Forces?: Lessons from the Norwegian Military

Militaries serve as cornerstones of many nations, and often behaviors within these militaries are reflected in society, and vice-versa. This article discusses key instances of female soldiers serving in the U.S. military and, more specifically, U.S. special operations forces. Team Lioness, Female Engagement Teams (FETs), and Cultural Support Teams (CSTs) have demonstrated not only that women are capable of serving in frontline roles but also that there exists a need for them to serve in those roles. This leads to an examination of whether a separate system of training and education for female soldiers could add value to the U.S. military’s current training systems. This article also takes a close look at the Norwegian Special Operations Forces all-female unit Jegertroppen, or Hunter Troop, to assess its advantages and drawbacks. The article concludes that despite some drawbacks regarding long-term deployment, the Jegertroppen program confirms the advantages of a separate system of training and education for female soldiers that could perhaps benefit the U.S. military

Military Culture 2.0: The Female Cadet’s Approach, Feminine Competencies, and Pan-Critical Feminism - Drawing examples from American and Norwegian Special Forces

Military values of honour, courage and loyalty are synonymous to male soldiers due to the association of the military with the alpha-male narrative. However, the everchanging nature of war urges for a new approach. One that is identified with female cadets and feminine competencies. The article explores examples from the U.S. and Norway to show practically how military training and education can benefit from the female soldiers’ approach. To back this argument, the author, explores feminist institutionalism and body politics. The author then suggests a new theoretical tool, pan-critical feminism, as the means to incorporate female values and competencies to represent the changing cohort of military institutions. The article finally discusses military culture through the lens of organisational culture to show that there is space for testing this idea, even though social perceptions create barriers to its implementatio

Dynamiques Socio-Economiques de l’Adoption de la Culture de l’Anacarde en Milieu Rural Ivoirien : Cas de la Sous-Préfecture de Languibonou

Résumé - La culture de l’anacarde en Côte d’Ivoire occupe une place importante dans l’économie rurale. Depuis les politiques de valorisation de cette culture, elle se présente comme la culture traditionnelle pour les populations du centre et du nord à la substitution du vivrier et du maraîcher. Tout en privilégiant l’approche mixte, l’étude a mobilisé la recherche documentaire, un questionnaire et un guide d’entretien pour la collecte des données sur le terrain. La théorie du changement social et celle de l’acteur stratégique ont servi de fondement théorique à l’analyse des données. Comme résultat, on retient que malgré les contraintes du marché liées aux fluctuations des prix bord-champ, l’anacarde fournit des revenus importants aux paysans et contribue au développement local à travers la création d’emplois directs et indirects. Face aux contraintes du marché, ils développent des stratégies d’extension des surfaces dans le but d’accroître leur production agricole. Celles-ci servent de stratégie de captation du foncier et constitue une menace pour l’économie alimentaire.Abstract – the cultivation of cashews in the Ivory Coast occupies an important place in the rural economy. Since the promotion policies of this culture, it presents itself as the traditional culture for the populations of the center and north in the substitution of the food crop and the market gardener. While favoring the mixed approach, the study mobilized documentary research, a questionnaire and an interview guide for collecting data in the field.the theory of social change and that of strategic actor served as the theoretical basis for the analysis of the data. As a result, we note that despite the market constraints linked to price fluctuations on the field, the cashew nut provides significant income to farmers and contributes to local development through the creation of direct and indirect jobs. Faced with market constraints, they are developing land extension strategies in order to increase their agricultural production. These serve as a land capture strategy and pose a threat to the food economy.Keywords – Agriculture, Cashew, Peasant, Economic Change,  Local developmen

Combining organophosphate-treated wall linings and long-lasting insecticidal nets fails to provide additional control over long-lasting insecticidal nets alone against multiple insecticide-resistant <i>Anopheles gambiae</i> in Côte d’Ivoire: an experimental hut trial

&lt;b&gt;Background&lt;/b&gt; Insecticide-treated wall lining (ITWL) is a new concept in malaria vector control. Some &lt;i&gt;Anopheles gambiae&lt;/i&gt; populations in West Africa have developed resistance to all the main classes of insecticides. It needs to be demonstrated whether vector control can be improved or resistance managed when non-pyrethroid ITWL is used alone or together with long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) against multiple insecticide-resistant vector populations.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Methods&lt;/b&gt; Two experimental hut trials were carried out as proofs of concept to evaluate pirimiphos methyl (p-methyl)-treated plastic wall lining (WL) and net wall hangings (NWH) used alone and in combination with LLINs against multiple insecticide-resistant &lt;i&gt;An. Gambiae&lt;/i&gt; in Tiassalé, Côte d’Ivoire. Comparison was made to commercial deltamethrin WL and genotypes for &lt;i&gt;kdr&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;ace-1R&lt;/i&gt; resistance were monitored.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Results&lt;/b&gt; The &lt;i&gt;kdr&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;ace-1R&lt;/i&gt; allele frequencies were 0.83 and 0.44, respectively. &lt;i&gt;Anopheles gambiae&lt;/i&gt; surviving discriminating concentrations of deltamethrin and p-methyl in WHO resistance tests were 57 and 96%, respectively. Mortality of free-flying &lt;i&gt;An. Gambiae&lt;/i&gt; in huts with p-methyl WL and NWH (66 and 50%, respectively) was higher than with pyrethroid WL (32%; P &lt; 0.001). Mortality with LLIN was 63%. Mortality with the combination of LLIN plus p-methyl NWH (61%) or LLIN plus p-methyl WL (73%) did not significantly improve upon the LLIN alone or p-methyl WL or NWH alone. Mosquitoes bearing the &lt;i&gt;ace-1R&lt;/i&gt; were more likely to survive exposure to p-methyl WL and NWH. Selection of heterozygote and homozygote &lt;i&gt;ace-1R&lt;/i&gt; or &lt;i&gt;kdr&lt;/i&gt; genotypes was not less likely after exposure to combined LLIN and p-methyl treatments than to single p-methyl treatment. Blood-feeding rates were lower in huts with the pyrethroid LLIN (19%) than with p-methyl WL (72%) or NWH (76%); only LLIN contributed to personal protection.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Conclusions&lt;/b&gt; Combining p-methyl WL or NWH with LLINs provided no improvement in &lt;i&gt;An. Gambiae&lt;/i&gt; control or personal protection over LLIN alone in southern Côte d’Ivoire; neither did the combination manage resistance. Additional resistance mechanisms to &lt;i&gt;kdr&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;ace-1R&lt;/i&gt; probably contributed to the survival of pyrethroid and organophophate-resistant mosquitoes. The study demonstrates the challenge that malaria control programmes will face if resistance to multiple insecticides continues to spread.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt

Molecular Characterization of the Resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to Second Line Drugs in Côte d’Ivoire

Purpose: To characterize the resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to second line drugs using a line probe assay.Methods: Multi-drug resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolated between December 2008 and December 2009 were tested for resistance to fluoroquinolones and second-line injectable drugs using GenoType® MTBDRsl.Results: Thirty eight strains gave interpretable results. None of them had a mutation in the gyrA gene. Regarding second-line injectable drugs, 4 strains (11 %) were resistant to aminoglycosides/ capreomycin and all of them harbored A1401G mutation.Conclusion: No extensive drug resistant strains were observed. A relatively high proportion of strains were resistant to at least one second-line injectable drug. Resistance mechanism seemed similar for all of them.Keywords: Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Line probe assay, GenoType® MTBDRsl, Aminoglycosides Capreomycin, Mutatio