Circulating extracellular RNAs (exRNAs) have the potential to serve as biomarkers for a wide range of medical conditions. However, limitations in existing exRNA isolation methods and a lack of ...knowledge on parameters affecting exRNA variability in human samples may hinder their successful discovery and clinical implementation. Using combinations of denaturants, reducing agents, proteolysis, and revised organic extraction, we developed an automated, high-throughput approach for recovery of exRNAs and exDNA from the same biofluid sample. We applied this method to characterize exRNAs from 312 plasma and serum samples collected from 13 healthy volunteers at 12 time points over a 2-month period. Small RNA cDNA library sequencing identified nearly twofold increased epithelial-, muscle-, and neuroendocrine-cell–specific miRNAs in females, while fasting and hormonal cycle showed little effect. External standardization helped to detect quantitative differences in erythrocyte and platelet-specific miRNA contributions and in miRNA concentrations between biofluids. It also helped to identify a study participant with a unique exRNA phenotype featuring a miRNA signature of up to 20-fold elevated endocrine-cell–specific miRNAs and twofold elevated total miRNA concentrations stable for over 1 year. Collectively, these results demonstrate an efficient and quantitative method to discern exRNA phenotypes and suggest that plasma and serum RNA profiles are stable over months and can be routinely monitored in long-term clinical studies.
How has the United Nations dealt with the question of terrorism before and after September 11? What does it mean that the UN itself has become a target of terrorism? Terrorism and the UN analyzes how ...the UN's role in dealing with terrorism has been shaped over the years by the international system, and how events such as September 11 and the American intervention in Iraq have reoriented its approach to terrorism. The first half of the book addresses the international context. Chapters in this part consider the impact of September 11 on the UN's concern for the rights and security of states relative to those of individuals, as well as the changing attitudes of various Western powers toward multilateral vs. unilateral approaches to international problems. The second half of the book focuses more closely on the UN, its values, mechanisms, and history and its future role in preventing and reacting to terrorism. The Security Council's position on and reactions to terrorist activities are contrasted with the General Assembly's approach to these issues. What role the UN might play in suppressing the political economy of terrorism is considered. A concluding chapter looks at broader, more proactive strategies for addressing the root causes of terrorism, with an emphasis on social justice as a key to conflict prevention, a primary concern of the UN, particularly the General Assembly, before September 11. Contributors are Jane Boulden, Chantal de Jonge Oudraat (Georgetown University), Edward C. Luck (Columbia University), S. Neil MacFarlane (University of Oxford), Rama Mani (Geneva Centre for Security Policy), M. J. Peterson (University of Massachusetts, Amherst), Nico Schrijver (Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam), Mónica Serrano (Colegio de México and University of Oxford), Thierry Tardy (Geneva Centre for Security Policy), Karin von Hippel (King's College, London), and Thomas G. Weiss.
Humanitarianism Contested Barnett, Michael; Weiss, Thomas G.
2011, 20130301, 2011-02-01, 2013-03-01, 20110101, Letnik:
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This book provides a succinct but sophisticated understanding of humanitarianism and insight into the on-going dilemmas and tensions that have accompanied it since its origins in the early nineteenth ...century. Combining theoretical and historical exposition with a broad range of contemporary case studies, the book:
provides a brief survey of the history of humanitarianism, beginning with the anti-slavery movement in the early nineteenth century and continuing to today's challenge of post-conflict reconstruction and saving failed states
explains the evolution of humanitarianism. Not only has it evolved over the decades, but since the end of the Cold War, humanitarianism has exploded in scope, scale, and significance
presents an overview of the contemporary humanitarian sector, including briefly who the key actors are, how they are funded and what they do with their money
analyses the ethical dilemmas confronted by humanitarian organization, not only in the abstract but also, and most importantly, in real situations and when lives are at stake
examines how humanitarianism poses fundamental ethical questions regarding the kind of world we want to live in, what kind of world is possible, and how we might get there.
An accessible and engaging work by two of the leading scholars in the field, Humanitarianism Contested is essential reading for all those concerned with the future of human rights and international relations.
Este artículo trata de los muy numerosos individuos que hacen posible la gobernanza global. Indaga el papel de intermediarios ocultos, por lo general alejados de la mirada académica: profesionales, ...equipos de servicio y otros que actúan entre bastidores. No están en la cima de las organizaciones públicas y privadas (donde imperan “gobernantes es decir, líderes globales”; global governors en la bibliografía especializada), pero ayudan a mantener firme la pirámide. Realizan el trabajo político, operativo y de apoyo para impulsar las instituciones de gobernanza en todos los planos, del local al mundial. Estos elementos, en gran medida invisibles y olvidados en los escritos académicos y políticos, hacen posible la gobernanza global. Las aportaciones de los intermediarios ocultos, o “sector medio desconocido”, no se circunscriben al ámbito de las entidades intergubernamentales, porque la gobernanza global contemporánea no es sinónimo de organización internacional, que atañe más bien a la coordinación de autoridades públicas, que pueden o no incluir secretarías o estados.
This article focuses on the vast number of people who make global governance happen. It probes the role of the unknown people in the “middle” who are largely absent from scholarly gaze: professionals, service teams, and others who act behind the scenes. They are not at the top of public and private organizations (“global governors” in the literature), but they keep the lights on. They accomplish the policy, operational, and support work to move the needle of global governance institutions of all varieties from the local to global. These largely invisible and unheard populations — at least in the scholarly and policy literatures — make global governance work. The “missing middle” is not confined to the everyday contributions of professionals in intergovernmental secretariats because contemporary global governance is not synonymous with international organization, but concerns networked forms of public authority that may or may not include secretariats or states.
Cet article porte sur les nombreux individus qui rendent possible la gouvernance mondiale. Il explore le rôle des intermédiaires cachés, généralement éloignés du regard académique : professionnels, équipes de service et autres qui agissent dans les coulisses. Ils ne sont pas au sommet des organisations publiques et privées (où «des gouvernants mondiaux c’est-à-dire des dirigeants prédominent)» ; global governors dans la bibliographie spécialisée), mais ils contribuent à maintenir la fermeté de la pyramide. Ils font le travail politique, opérationnel et de soutien pour faire progresser les institutions de gouvernance à tous les niveaux, du local au mondial. Ces éléments, largement invisibles et oubliés dans la littérature académique et politique, rendent possible la gouvernance mondiale. Les apports des intermédiaires cachés, ou «secteur intermédiaire caché», ne se limitent pas à la sphère des entités intergouvernementales, car la gouvernance mondiale contemporaine n’est pas synonyme d’organisation internationale, mais concerne plutôt la coordination des pouvoirs publics, qui peuvent ou non inclure des ministères ou des états.
The DHBD quantity represents the hydroxyl group density of alcoholic solvents or water. DHBD is purely physically defined by the product of molar concentration of the solvent (N) and the factor ...Σn=n×f which reflects the number n and position (f‐factor) of the alcoholic OH groups per molecule. Whether the hydroxyl group is either primary, secondary or tertiary is taken into account by f. Σn is clearly linearly correlated with the physical density or the refractive index of the alcohol derivative. Relationships of solvent‐dependent UV/Vis absorption energies as ET(30) values, 129Xe NMR shifts and kinetic data of 2‐chloro‐2‐methylpropane solvolysis with DHBD are demonstrated. It can be shown that the ET(30) solvent parameter reflects the global polarity of the hydrogen bond network rather than specific H‐bond acidity. Significant correlations of the log k1 rate constants of the solvolysis reaction of 2‐chloro‐2‐methylpropane with DHBD show the physical reasoning of the approach.
The density of the hydroxyl groups and the molar concentration primarily determine the global polarity of the alcohols and water. To identify this effect, the polar dissolved Reichardt dye (ET(30) value), the nonpolar xenon atom (129 Xe chemical shift) and the solvolysis of the weakly dipolar 2‐chloro‐2‐methylpropane (lgk1 of solvolysis) are introduced, discussed and compared as suitable probes.
The fourth volume of the J. Paul Getty Trust Occasional Papers in Cultural Heritage Policy series is the result of a multi-day discussion on the issue of cultural heritage under siege. It features an ...edited collection of papers and discussions by nineteen scholars and practitioners of different specialties in the field of cultural heritage. This paper, along with the other Occasional Papers, is free and downloadable online.
In the throes of war, protecting such cultural heritage as the Bamiyan Buddhas, the Mostar Bridge, the Timbuktu libraries and Palmyra supposedly is a priority on the international public policy ...agenda; but government responses so far have been limited to deploring such destruction. This article explores the evolving, albeit contested, norm of the 'responsibility to protect' (R2P) and its relevance for cultural heritage. There is no need for a hierarchy of protection - civilians or culture - because the juxtaposition is as erroneous as choosing between people and the environment. This essay begins with a discussion of cultural heritage and defines the scope for the application of any new international normative consensus. It then explores why R2P, in the original concept of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS), is an appropriate framework for thinking about cultural protection, despite considerable political headwinds. It then examines the current opportune political moment and existing legal tools. Finally, there is a brief consideration of the obstacles facing the creation of a better framework for cultural protection in zones of armed conflict.
What happened to the idea of world government, so central in the United States to public debate of the 1930s and 1940s, and why has it been replaced by " global governance"? This article reviews the ...reasons behind that evolution—the need to incorporate interdependence and nonstate actors into analytical frameworks along with a lack of imagination from analysts—as well as the pluses and minuses of both concepts. When states still could solve or attenuate most problems, world government remained a possible objective and not far from the mainstream. Paradoxically, now that states visibly cannot address a growing number of transboundary threats, world government is unimaginable; and even more robust international organizations are often looked upon askance. Could the same far-sighted American political commitment that created a new generation of international organizations after World War II re-emerge under the Obama administration, if not in 2009, then at least by the end of a second term?
If the United Nations system is to remain relevant, or even survive, the thinking to re‐imagine and redesign contemporary global governance will come from the Third UN. This article focuses on the ...ecology of supportive non‐state actors – intellectuals, scholars, consultants, think tanks, NGOs, the for‐profit private sector, and the media – that interacts with the intergovernmental machinery of the First UN and international civil servants of the Second UN to formulate and refine ideas and decision‐making in policy processes. Despite the growth in analyses of non‐state actors in global governance, the ‘other’ or ‘Third’ UN is poorly understood, often ignored, and normally discounted. Some advocate for particular ideas, others help analyze or operationalize their testing and implementation; in any case, many help the UN ‘think’ and have an impact on how we think about the United Nations.
In the midst of an economic calamity and fears about additional waves of COVID‐19, it is hard to imagine that one needs to make the case for urgently rethinking global problem‐solving. But we do. Current efforts, in both the scholarly and policy worlds, are too bound to the constraints of the contemporary international system – including the feeble UN system. The world has figuratively if not literally shut down.
We aimed to understand the association between maternal stress in the first year of life and childhood body mass index (BMI) from 2 to 4 years of age in a large, prospective United States-based ...consortium of cohorts.
We used data from the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes program. The main exposure was maternal stress in the first year of life measured with the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). The main outcome was the first childhood BMI percentile after age 2 until age 4 years. We used an adjusted linear mixed effects model to examine associations between BMI and PSS quartile.
The mean BMI percentile in children was 59.8 (SD 30) measured at 3.0 years (SD 1) on average. In both crude models and models adjusted for maternal BMI, age, race, ethnicity, infant birthweight, and health insurance status, no linear associations were observed between maternal stress and child BMI.
Among 1694 maternal-infant dyads, we found no statistically significant relationships between maternal perceived stress in the first year of life and child BMI after 2 through 4 years.
Although existing literature suggests relationships between parental stress and childhood BMI, we found no linear associations between maternal stress in the first year of life and childhood BMI at 2-4 years of age among participants in ECHO cohorts. Higher maternal stress was significantly associated with Hispanic ethnicity, Black race, and public health insurance. Our analysis of a large, nationally representative sample challenges assumptions that maternal stress in the first year of life, as measured by a widely used scale, is associated with offspring BMI.
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