COIN is dead - long live transformation

Donald Rumsfeld was right. Force transformation works. The techniques that led to the initial victories in Afghanistan in 2001 were precisely those that produced success in Libya in 2011.1 Small-scale deployments of special forces backed by precision strike and deep attack capabilities used to support an allied indigenous armed group proved an effective military tool for achieving specific strategic outcomes. In contrast, the results of large-scale troop deploy- ments as part of counterinsurgency (COIN), stabilization and nation-building activities over the past ten years in Iraq and Afghanistan have been less defini- tive. Despite intensive investment in blood, treasure, and military effort, the precise long-term outcomes of these two campaigns remain unclear and will be open to debate for years to come. This challenging operational experience has, however, highlighted some necessary and enduring truths about the use of military force. This paper explores those in light of the last ten years of counterinsurgenc

Affordances for learning in a non-linear narrative medium

A multimedia CD makes an impressive resource for the scholar-researcher, but students unfamiliar with the subject-matter may not always work so effectively with such a resource. Without any narrative structure, how does the novice cope? The paper describes how we are investigating the design features that 'afford' activities that generate learning: What are the design features that encourage students to practise the role of the scholar? What encourages them to explore, but also to reflect on their analysis of the data they find? What kind of learning takes place when students are allowed to explore at will? The paper goes on to compare the learning experiences of students using commercial CDs with those using material with contrasting designs, in an attempt to identify the design features that afford constructive learning activities. It concludes with an interpretation of the findings, comparing them with work in related educational media, and situating the findings in the context of a conversational framework for learning

Leadership, Communication & Basketball: A Case Study on the Differences and Similarities in Leadership and Coaching Styles Between a Collegiate Basketball Coach and a Professional Basketball Coach

So you consider yourself a fan of basketball. You have a favorite college team and player as well as a favorite professional team and player. You\u27ve been to tons of professional and college basketball games in your lifetime, but have you ever stopped to notice the differences between the two? For example, why do college players foul out of the game after five fouls and pros after six? If a professional player behaves in a negative manner, he gets a fine. If a college player does the same, there\u27s no fine, he gets suspended. Are the punishments equal? If you think hard enough, you\u27ll come up with some things that you never took the time to notice before. Here is one question that I\u27ve been wondering for a while. Why are some coaches always so active, excited and in-your-face, while others rarely leave their seat on the bench? What\u27s the difference between the two and does it really matter if a coach is animated or calm and laid back? The following study will investigate these questions and uncover some of the factors leading to a coach\u27s behavior, choices, communication style and leadership. Peters and Austin (1985 p. 326) had this to say about coaching: Coaching is face-to-face leadership that pulls together people with diverse backgrounds, talents, experiences and interests, encourages them to step up to responsibility and continued achievement, and treats them as full-scale partners and contributors. Coaching is not about memorizing techniques or devising the perfect game plan. It is about really paying attention to people ---really believing them, really caring about them, really involving them

Prisoners and Public Employees: Bridges to a New Future in Prisoners\u27 Free Speech Retaliation Claims

In Bridges v. Gilbert, the Seventh Circuit considered the question of whether prisoners\u27 free speech, like the free speech of public employees, must involve a matter of public concern to receive First Amendment protection against governmental retaliation. Instead of holding that a prisoner\u27s speech must involve a matter of public concern, the Seventh Circuit drew on the Supreme Court\u27s unexamined and indeterminate test in Pell v. Procunier to hold that prisoners retained those free speech rights not inconsistent with their status as a prisoner or the legitimate penological objectives of the corrections system. This Comment traces the evolution of the Court\u27s prisoner and public employee free speech jurisprudence. Then, it discusses the approaches taken by the federal circuits, especially the Seventh Circuit, to prisoners\u27 free speech retaliation claims. Finally, this Comment argues that while the Seventh Circuit\u27s decision in Bridges arguably conformed to Court precedent, the Seventh Circuit should have considered developing a test balancing the prisoner\u27s speech on a matter of public-penological concern against the government\u27s legitimate penological interests in restricting the prisoner\u27s speech

Digital integration for monitoring acceleration signals

When testing turbine engines at Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC), vibration measurements are some of the most critical data taken. The present vibration monitoring system (VMS) consists of a charge producing accelerometer sensor, a charge amplifier, and a recording and analysis system. Currently the charge amplifier and the recording and analysis system are located in a data conditioning room which is approximately 150 feet from the accelerometer. If the signal processing equipment were moved closer to the test cell near the accelerometer, the fidelity of the acquired data could be greatly improved. An ideal system for this purpose would acquire acceleration data, digitize it, and send a digital data stream to a recording and analysis system outside the test cell. This type of system would minimize noise pickup and eliminate much of the hardware used in the current analog system. The digitizing hardware needed for a new system currently is available but a digital integrating filter is needed to produce velocity and displacement data. This thesis will study 8 candidate digital integrator designs to replace the analog integrator. These digital integrators will be compared to the ideal integrator by their mean square error. Actual accelerometer test data have been processed with the candidate digital filters for comparison to the mathematically correct solution of the integral. The thesis also describes the development of a digital filter to remove all DC offset for stability purposes. The combined digital filters will allow for the completion of the digital VMS and represent a significant increase in accuracy over the analog charge amplifier

Hobbes, empire and the politics of the cabal : political thought and policymaking in the Restoration

This article explores a sizable and largely unknown manuscript treatise from the 1670s, “Pax et Obedientia,” which discusses the Civil Wars, trade, the origins of government, toleration, plantations (especially Jamaica), and the royal supremacy, embedding within it a distinctive engagement with Hobbes and a particular vision of imperial composite monarchy. This first analysis of what “Pax” said, who wrote it, and why he did so in the way that he did nuances the present understanding of Restoration debates over a centralizing empire; it reveals the different forms that policy makers thought that empire might take, while also capturing a moment of transition between different meanings of imperium. The anonymous author's engagement with Hobbes further suggests how questions that later fell into the realm of political economy were discussed at the time, using the language of natural jurisprudence. In demonstrating the methodological necessity of utilizing both linguistic and institutional contexts, the authors argue that the apparent incoherence of “Pax” reflects an essential although ineptly executed strategy on the part of its author. Inchoate though the manuscript is, it offers a significant opportunity to understand the intellectual world of junior members of the government and to reconsider the intersection of political thinking and political action.PostprintPeer reviewe

Molecular basis of gene-environment interactions in the pathogenesis of asthma and COPD

The origins of respiratory disease, such as asthma in childhood and COPD in later life are unclear. Maternal smoking during pregnancy and low birth weight is associated with increased risk of asthma, poor lung function in adults and COPD in old age. Exposure to oxidative stress and poor nutrition in utero is thought to cause damage to the lung and alter the normal course of lung development.Glutathione S-transferases (GST) are potent antioxidants. In this work, genetic polymorphisms that alter GST enzyme activity were genotyped in a family-based childhood asthma cohort (341 families, n = 1508) and analysed to investigate whether they alter the risk of developing asthma when individuals are exposed to environmental tobacco smoke. Real-time PCR based copy number variation methodology was developed to genotype the common gene deletion polymorphism of GSTT1 and GSTM1 genes, for other GST genes (GSTP1 and GSTO2) SNP haplotypes were constructed. A rare GSTO2 haplotype was negatively associated with asthma susceptibility, atopy severity, and FEV1 values. Asthmatic children with a GSTT1 gene deletion, or a common GSTP1 haplotype, developed more severe asthma compared to individuals with a GSTT1 gene or non-carriers of the GSTP1 haplotype. Total IgE levels were increased in GSTT1*0 individuals when exposed to tobacco smoke in early life, suggesting a gene-environment interaction. GSTO2 may be a shared susceptibility locus for asthma in childhood and COPD in later life.Animal models of maternal protein-restriction during pregnancy can induce hypertension, diabetes and endothelial dysfunction in offspring and in some of these models alterations to lung gene expression and lung architecture have been reported. This work established that a rat model of maternal dietary protein-restriction during pregnancy known to induce hypertension in the offspring, results in persistent alterations to the expression of genes in the lungs of adult offspring (120 days), including genes involved in glucocorticoid action (Hsd11b2), growth (Igf1 & 2 and Pcdh1) and alveolar development (Tp53). Lung microRNA expression profiles were also altered in response to exposure to protein restriction in utero. These findings suggest a role for nutritional programming in respiratory disease susceptibility in later life and a role for microRNAs in the study of the developmental origins of health and disease in general. Further work will include the investigation of epigenetic mechanisms that control nutritional programming in lungs of animals exposed to protein-restriction in utero.This work has demonstrated that GST polymorphism is a risk factor for childhood asthma and certain genotypes can offer some protection against the development of severe asthma. There was little evidence to suggest that GST polymorphism modulates the effects of smoke exposure in early life. In addition, we have demonstrated that maternal diets that are poor in nutrition could predispose her offspring to respiratory disease in later life by altering the course of normal lung development in early life or response to environmental stimuli in later life