bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Inclusion of yeast waste as a protein source to replace soybean meal in concentrate mixture on ruminal fermentation and gas kinetics using in vitro gas production technique
Authors: Cherdthong Anusorn , Prachumchai Rittikeard , Supapong Chanadol , Khonkhaeng Benjamad , Wanapat Metha , Foiklang Suban , Milintawisamai Nipa , Gunun Nirawan , Gunun Pongsatorn , Chanjula Pin , Polyorach Sineenart
Published: December 2018

This experiment was conducted to investigate the utilisation of yeast waste as protein source to replace soybean meal in concentrate mixture on kinetic of gas, rumen ammonia-nitrogen and digestibility of nutrients by using in vitro gas production technique. The experimental design was a completely randomised design and the dietary treatments were replacing soybean meal with yeast wastein concentrate at the ratio of 100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75 and 0:100, respectively. Yeast waste was obtained from KSL Green Innovation Public Co. Limited, Thailand. The gas production was recorded at 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 24, 48, 72 and 96 h of incubation. The yeast waste contained 26.4% crude protein. Gas production from soluble fractions (a), gas production from the insoluble fraction (b), potential extent of gas production (a+b) and the gas production rate constants for the insoluble fraction (c) were not altered when increasing concentration of yeast waste replacing soybean meal (P > 0.05). Cumulative gas production (at 96 h of incubation) ranged from 69.3 to 72.8 mL and was similar among treatments. Ruminal NH3-N concentration was linearly increased (P < 0.05) whereas ruminal pH did not alter when inclusion various levels of yeast waste replacing soybean meal, which ranged from 15.2 to 19.1 mg/dL and 6.90 to 6.94, respectively. In vitro dry matter digestibility and in vitro organic matter digestibility did not changed by increasing levels of yeast waste in the diets (P > 0.05), except only in vitro dry matter digestibility at 12 h, which higher in soybean meal:yeast waste at 25:75 ratio (P < 0.05). Furthermore, propionate (C3) molar was linearly higher when compared between inclusion yeast waste and the control group whereas acetate was decreased quadratically (P < 0.05) and protozoal population tended to be decreased (P = 0.07) when increasing the level of replacing yeast waste. In conclusion, yeast waste could replace soybean meal in concentrate mixture with no negative effect on gas kinetics, rumen fermentation and in vitro digestibility, and therefore its use in animal feeding would contribute to a reduction in environmental pollution.
Evolution of Geosiris (Iridaceae): historical biogeography and plastid-genome evolution in a genus of non-photosynthetic tropical rainforest herbs disjunct across the Indian Ocean
Authors: Joyce Elizabeth M. , Crayn Darren M. , Lam Vivienne K. Y. , Gerelle Wesley K. , Graham Sean W. , Nauheimer Lars
Published: December 2018

Mycoheterotrophs, i.e. plants that acquire carbon from root-associated soil fungi, often have highly degraded plastomes, reflecting relaxed selective constraints on plastid genes following the loss of photosynthesis. Geosiris Baill. is the only mycoheterotrophic genus in Iridaceae and comprises two species in Madagascar and nearby islands, and a third recently discovered species in north-eastern Australia. Here, we characterise the plastomes of the Australian and one Madagascan species to compare patterns of plastome degradation in relation to autotrophic and other mycoheterotrophic taxa and investigate the evolutionary and biogeographical history of the genus in Iridaceae. Both examined species have lost approximately half their plastid-encoded genes and a small but significant reduction in purifying selection in retained non-photosynthetic genes was observed. Geosiris is confirmed as monophyletic, with initial divergence of the genus occurring c. 53 million years ago, and subsequent diversification occurring c. 30 million years ago. Africa (including Madagascar) is reconstructed as the most likely ancestral area of the genus, implying a major range-expansion event of one lineage to Australia after its divergence in the Oligocene. Our study has highlighted the dynamic evolutionary history of Geosiris, contributed to the characterisation of mycoheterotrophic plastomes, and furthered our understanding of plastome structure and function.
Species limits and cryptic biogeographic structure in a widespread complex of Australian monsoon tropics trees (broad-leaf paperbarks: Melaleuca, Myrtaceae)
Authors: Edwards Robert D. , Crisp Michael D. , Cook Lyn G.
Published: December 2018

The Australian monsoon tropics are currently dominated by savanna and tropical woodland biomes that have arisen in response to a cooling and drying trend within the past ~3 million years. It is expected that organisms well adapted to these conditions have expanded into available habitats, leading to the differentiation of populations and species across this landscape, a process that could be magnified by the presence of several biogeographic barriers. The broad-leaved paperbark (Melaleuca leucadendra (L.) L.) complex is one such group of plants, with 14 poorly morphologically differentiated species occupying large overlapping distributions across the region, and across several recognised biogeographic barriers. Using phylogenetic and network analyses of nuclear and plastid sequences, we tested species limits among currently described species within the complex and for phylogeographic structure within species across seven of these barriers. Overall, our data suggested patterns of differentiation among species consistent with the early to middle stages of incomplete lineage sorting, and evidence for an idiosyncratic cryptic response of species to biogeographic barriers. Unexpectedly, we found a deep molecular split across all species, broadly coinciding with the northern part of the Great Dividing Range, a feature not typically considered to be a barrier to dispersal. Our study has offered one of the first insights into the dynamics within and among widespread species across the north of Australia, suggesting considerably more geographic structure than was previously recognised.
Yeast require redox switching in DNA primase
Authors: O’Brien Elizabeth , Salay Lauren E. , Epum Esther A. , Friedman Katherine L. , Chazin Walter J. , Barton Jacqueline K.
Published: December 2018

Eukaryotic DNA primases contain a [4Fe4S] cluster in the C-terminal domain of the p58 subunit (p58C) that affects substrate affinity but is not required for catalysis. We show that, in yeast primase, the cluster serves as a DNA-mediated redox switch governing DNA binding, just as in human primase. Despite a different structural arrangement of tyrosines to facilitate electron transfer between the DNA substrate and [4Fe4S] cluster, in yeast, mutation of tyrosines Y395 and Y397 alters the same electron transfer chemistry and redox switch. Mutation of conserved tyrosine 395 diminishes the extent of p58C participation in normal redox-switching reactions, whereas mutation of conserved tyrosine 397 causes oxidative cluster degradation to the [3Fe4S]
+
species during p58C redox signaling. Switching between oxidized and reduced states in the presence of the Y397 mutations thus puts primase [4Fe4S] cluster integrity and function at risk. Consistent with these observations, we find that yeast tolerate mutations to Y395 in p58C, but the single-residue mutation Y397L in p58C is lethal. Our data thus show that a constellation of tyrosines for protein-DNA electron transfer mediates the redox switch in eukaryotic primases and is required for primase function in vivo.
MITO-Tag Mice enable rapid isolation and multimodal profiling of mitochondria from specific cell types in vivo
Authors: Bayraktar Erol C. , Baudrier Lou , Özerdem Ceren , Lewis Caroline A. , Chan Sze Ham , Kunchok Tenzin , Abu-Remaileh Monther , Cangelosi Andrew L. , Sabatini David M. , Birsoy Kıvanç , Chen Walter W.
Published: December 2018

Significance

Mitochondria are intracellular hubs of metabolism that play critical roles in mammals, but knowledge of the metabolic landscape within mitochondria in mammalian tissues remains incomplete. Prior studies have often relied on interrogating metabolites within whole tissue, but this approach does not reveal the behavior of metabolites within specific organelles and cell types. To address this, we generated a transgenic mouse that can express a mitochondrially localized epitope tag (MITO-Tag) with spatiotemporal control to allow for rapid, cell-type-specific immunoisolation of mitochondria from tissues. We demonstrate that these MITO-Tag Mice can be utilized for profiling a variety of molecular components of mitochondria, such as proteins, lipids, and polar metabolites, and thus believe that MITO-Tag Mice will be useful for studying mitochondrial physiology.
Cultural system.
Authors: Vásquez Jiménez J. , Sanewski G. M. , Reinhardt D. H. , Bartholomew D. P.
Published: December 2018

This chapter discusses culture of pineapple, starting from land selection (focusing on temperature, topography, soil types, sunlight and water quality), soil surveys, soil sampling, soil analyses, land and soil preparation, treatment of previous crop residues, to planting, irrigation, crop scheduling, fertilizer application, and pest, disease and weed control. Other cultural practices are also mentioned, including slip removal, sucker removal and trimming, crown removal, and leaf pruning (trimming). The chapter also described preharvest fruit treatments, harvesting, transportation of harvested fruit, ratooning and farm efficiency.
Environmental Ethics: A Very Short Introduction
Authors: Attfield Robin
Published: December 2018

Environmental ethics studies the values and principles involved in combating environmental problems such as pollution, loss of species and habitats, and climate change. Environmental Ethics: A Very Short Introduction traces the discipline’s origins and considers how it defends the independent value of living creatures and the need to make decisions informed by the needs and interests of future generations. Exploring the diverse approaches to ethical decisions and judgements, it highlights the importance of making production and consumption sustainable, and of addressing human population levels, together with policies for preserving species, sub-species, and their habitats. It also discusses the different social and political movements involved and considers the environmental attitudes of the world’s religions.
Clinical Performance of (1,3) Beta-D Glucan for the Diagnosis of Pneumocystis Pneumonia (PCP) in Cancer Patients Tested With PCP Polymerase Chain Reaction
Authors: Morjaria Sejal , Frame John , Franco-Garcia Alexandra , Geyer Alexander , Kamboj Mini , Babady N Esther
Published: December 2018

Background

Serum (1,3)-beta-D glucan (BDG) is increasingly used to guide the management of suspected Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP). BDG lacks specificity for PCP, and its clinical performance in high-risk cancer patients has not been fully assessed. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for PCP detection is highly sensitive, but cannot differentiate between colonization and infection. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of serum BDG in conjunction with PCP PCR on respiratory samples in patients with cancer and unexplained lung infiltrates.

Methods

We performed a retrospective analysis of adult patients evaluated for PCP at our institution from 2012 to 2015, using serum BDG and PCP PCR. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of the serum BDG at different thresholds were evaluated using PCP PCR alone or in conjunction with clinical presentation in PCP PCR–positive patients.

Results

With PCP PCR alone as the reference method, BDG (≥80 pg/mL) had a sensitivity of 69.8%, specificity of 81.2%, PPV of 34.6%, and NPV of 95.2% for PCP. At ≥200 pg/mL in patients with a positive PCR and a compatible PCP clinical syndrome, BDG had a sensitivity of 70%, specificity of 100%, PPV of 100%, and NPV of 52.0% for PCP.

Conclusions

Patients negative by both BDG and PCR were unlikely to have PCP. In patients with a compatible clinical syndrome for PCP, higher BDG values (>200 pg/mL) were consistently associated with clinically-significant PCP infections among PCP PCR–positive oncology patients.
Ontology-Oriented Software Effort Estimation System for E-commerce Applications Based on Extreme Programming and Scrum Methodologies
Authors: Adnan Muhammad , Afzal Muhammad , Asif Khadim Hussain
Published: December 2018

Presently, software industry is severely suffering from inaccurate effort estimation and inadequate unstructured or semi-structured project history management. In fact, both are difficult to accomplish and hence badly impact the software projects. We proposed improvements in the effort estimation and the project history management of e-commerce projects focusing on Extreme Programing (XP) and Scrum methodologies using ontology models in our software effort estimation system. Proposed system infers suitable estimate in the form of time, resources and lessons learnt as per the project leader’s requirements by using description logic and HermiT reasoner. To validate our approach, we have performed a case study comprising 20 Business-to-Consumer (B2C) web projects and performed comparative analysis on the collected efforts in both XP and Scrum contexts by applying (Mean Magnitude of Relative Error) MMRE and PRED(25) prediction accuracy measures. Likewise, software functional size of understudy e-commerce projects was measured using COSMIC functional size measurement methodology. Regression analysis of relations among actual COSMIC function points, estimated effort, and actual effort spent for the projects show better significance-F and R2 values for our approach. The comparative results show that overall proposed approach provides accurate estimates and significantly improves over planning poker and delphi methods by 10% and 30%, respectively.
Honeybees prefer novel insect-pollinated flower shapes over bird-pollinated flower shapes
Authors: Howard Scarlett R , Shrestha Mani , Schramme Juergen , Garcia Jair E , Avarguès-Weber Aurore , Greentree Andrew D , Dyer Adrian G
Published: December 2018

Plant–pollinator interactions have a fundamental influence on flower evolution. Flower color signals are frequently tuned to the visual capabilities of important pollinators such as either bees or birds, but far less is known about whether flower shape influences the choices of pollinators. We tested European honeybee Apis mellifera preferences using novel achromatic (gray-scale) images of 12 insect-pollinated and 12 bird-pollinated native Australian flowers in Germany; thus, avoiding influences of color, odor, or prior experience. Independent bees were tested with a number of parameterized images specifically designed to assess preferences for size, shape, brightness, or the number of flower-like shapes present in an image. We show that honeybees have a preference for visiting images of insect-pollinated flowers and such a preference is most-likely mediated by holistic information rather than by individual image parameters. Our results indicate angiosperms have evolved flower shapes which influence the choice behavior of important pollinators, and thus suggest spatial achromatic flower properties are an important part of visual signaling for plant–pollinator interactions.
Neighborhood environment, self-rated health and quality of life in Latin America
Authors: Gomez Luis F , Soto-Salazar Carolina , Guerrero José , Garcia María , Parra Diana C
Published: December 2018

To conduct a systematic review examining the associations between neighborhood environments and self-rated health (SRH) and health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) in the urban context of Latin America. We conducted a structured search of quantitative studies in three bibliographic databases published in Spanish, English, Portuguese and French from January 1990 to December 2015. We restricted the search to studies conducted in Latin-American cities with one million and more inhabitants. Eleven studies were finally included in the analysis. Ten were cross-sectional studies and one was a cohort follow-up study. Two studies found positive associations between accessibility to parks and HR-QOL. One study found that high neighborhood social capital was positively associated with SRH. Neighborhood socioeconomic status was positively associated with both HR-QOL and SRH in two studies. A walkable neighborhood was positively associated with SRH in two studies. Three studies included attributes related with neighborhood security perception and road safety, with higher scores of HR-QOL, both in the physical and mental dimensions, while high levels of street noise were negatively associated. Narrowness and slope of streets were negatively associated with SRH. No association was found between the perception of neighborhood security and SRH. The results of this systematic review show that several studies conducted in Latin America have found significant associations between neighborhood environment and SRH and HRQOL. However, the relatively small number of studies and the heterogeneity among them require further studies to better understand this topic in the region.
Developmental and Life-Course Criminology
Authors: Kazemian Lila , Farrington David P. , Piquero Alex R.
Published: December 2018

This chapter provides a brief overview of developmental and life-course criminology. These approaches are concerned with the study of the development of offending over the course of one's life, from onset to persistence and, eventually, desistance. Although these two theoretical approaches share many common features, they have distinctive focal concerns. Stemming from the field of sociology, the life-course perspective focuses attention on social structure and life events. The developmental approach, on the other hand, stems from the field of psychology and generally emphasizes the role of individual and psychological factors in the explanation of developmental processes. Moreover, the developmental approach investigates the onset of offending as well as the role of early risk and protective factors in the explanation of future offending. Meanwhile, the life-course framework examines the influence of turning points in offending trajectories and in the process of desistance from crime.
Developmental Influences of Substance Use on Criminal Offending
Authors: White Helene Raskin
Published: December 2018

This chapter investigates how substance use might increase the risk of offending with an emphasis on developmental trajectories of substance use and their influence on offending. It describes three models that explain how substance use directly influences criminal offending: the psychopharmacological model, the economic motivation model, and the socio-environmental/contextual model. The chapter then provides an overview of empirical studies examining developmental influences of substance use on criminal behavior. First, studies examining contemporaneous and lagged associations are briefly summarized. Then, studies that have examined how trajectories of alcohol and marijuana use predict later criminal offending are reviewed, along with a brief discussion of the effects of substance use on desistance and persistence of criminal offending. Last, the chapter recommends areas for future research.
The Effects of Juvenile System Processing on Subsequent Delinquency Outcomes
Authors: Petrosino Anthony , Petrosino Carolyn , Guckenburg Sarah , Terrell Jenna , Fronius Trevor A. , Choo Kyungseok
Published: December 2018

This chapter summarizes nearly 30 randomized controlled trials (as reported through 2008) that collectively provide evidence on the effectiveness of alternative methods for handling juveniles using meta-analytic techniques. It first discusses the theoretical and empirical literature on the impact of juvenile criminal justice processing on subsequent juvenile criminal behavior. The chapter also discusses the policy question of interest. Next, the chapter discusses how the research team systematically gathered and analyzed reports of randomized trials that tested the efficacy of justice-processing on subsequent juvenile outcomes. The results of this meta-analysis and the implications for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners are then explained.
Developmental Preschool and School Programs Against Violence and Offending
Authors: Zych Izabela , Farrington David P.
Published: December 2018

This chapter reviews knowledge on school programs against violence and offending, providing clues on features and components that were found to be the most effective. Interventions to prevent violence have been conducted for more than 50 years. The effectiveness of programs designed in the 1960s was limited, and therefore new programs appeared afterward focusing on specific predictors of problem behaviors. Later interventions started to consider several predictors at the same time and also aimed to promote positive behaviors. This approach is very useful since many social problems share similar risk and protective factors. This chapter describes the most important meta-analytic findings and gives examples of programs that have proved to be effective in reducing violence or delinquency. Examples of interventions found to be successful in reducing bullying, violence, or delinquency are described.
Auditor Selection and IPO Underpricing
Authors: Koning Miriam
Published: December 2018

This chapter focuses on the selection of an audit firm by UK initial public offering (IPO) firms. It documents that many IPO firms switch to an audit firm in a different segment (big, midsize, or small), which suggests that IPO firms carefully select an audit firm of a particular quality level before they go public. It examines whether the selection of an auditor by IPO firms is driven by the demand for certification or insurance. The authors find that IPO firms are more likely to choose a high-quality auditor when the uncertainty of the firm’s future prospects is higher and they want to signal quality (certification driven by signaling). In addition, they find that firms with riskier IPO offerings select higher-quality auditors, in line with the insurance hypothesis. They find mixed results for the certification hypotheses when testing for the effect of auditor reputation on initial returns.
Initial Public Offerings in Germany between 1997 and 2015
Authors: Oehler Andreas , Herberger Tim , Horn Matthias
Published: December 2018

This chapter focuses on the German IPO market from 1997 to 2015. More specifically, it provides a descriptive overview of the IPO activities in Germany in the last two decades, and analyzes the IPO market’s dependence on the yearly return and turnover of the German stock market. It shows that most IPOs and highest volumes were observed during the dot-com bubble phase (1997–2000) and that the German IPO market’s liquidity shows a stable development in the last years after the subprime crisis. The results of the regression analyses show that the IPO market activity strongly depends on the overall stock market turnover. But the stock market returns play a subordinated role for the IPO market liquidity in Germany.
Is Exchange Regulation Effective for Junior Public Equity Markets?
Authors: Pandes J. Ari , Robinson Michael
Published: December 2018

In this chapter the authors examine the effectiveness of an exchange-regulated junior public equity market in the development of early-stage firms. They focus specifically on a regulated blind-pool market in Canada known as the Capital Pool Company program and show that the exchange-regulated program has increased the number of junior public firms in Canada, with over 10% graduating to a more senior stock exchange within three years on average. They also show that the firms experience strong secondary market performance pre-graduation, but that the post-graduation performance is worse than the market index in the three- and five-year periods after the graduation.
IPO Regulators Gone Wild
Authors: Boeh Kevin K. , Dunbar Craig
Published: December 2018

A complex set of regulations is intended to guide and control the capital markets and the equity initial public offering (IPO) process, with the goal of creating efficient markets for equity capital and investor protection. Often in response to market innovations, regulators impose new, and reinterpret existing, regulations. This chapter documents key US securities regulations over the past two decades that have affected the IPO process. While motivated by good intentions, many of these regulations have led to burdens on issuing firms and have had deleterious effects on US capital markets. The authors posit that these effects are driven by the burdens placed on firms, the incentives of firms to pursue alternatives to an IPO, the disincentives for banks to conduct IPOs, and the attractiveness of more profitable (and less regulated) alternative activities available to banks. This suggests questions for IPO researchers concerning the effects of such regulations.
Regulatory Arbitrage in Cross-Border Crowdfunding
Authors: Majumdar Arjya B.
Published: December 2018

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, small businesses found it increasingly difficult to raise funds. As a response, equity crowdfunding has emerged as a viable alternative for sourcing capital to support innovative, entrepreneurial ideas and ventures. A number of securities regulators across the world have dealt with, or are in the process of dealing with, equity crowdfunding as a disruptive innovation to established processes of corporate fundraising. However, most equity crowdfunding regulations do not take into account one critical aspect of crowdfunding—that of cross-border crowdfunding. Using a comparative analysis of a number of jurisdictions around the world in their treatment of equity crowdfunding, this chapter argues that in jurisdictions where crowdfunding activities are unregulated or have a low threshold of regulations, the opportunities arising from the resultant regulatory arbitrage could then be used by fund-seeking companies based in jurisdictions where crowdfunding is prohibited or highly regulated.
IPO Valuation
Authors: Bhagat Sanjai , Lu Jun , Rangan Srinivasan
Published: December 2018

This chapter studies the valuation of 6,199 IPOs during 1998–2015 for Australia, Canada, China, Germany, India, Japan, United Kingdom, and United States. Net income is positively related to initial public offering (IPO) valuation in each of the eight countries. The economic impact of net income is largest for Chinese IPOs and smallest for Australian IPOs. Book value is positively and significantly related to IPO valuation in Canada, Germany, India, and the United States. Capital expenditure is significantly and positively related to IPO valuation in Canada, Germany, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States. There is a positive and statistically significant relation between insider retention and IPO valuation in China, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States; positive but marginally significant relationship for India and Japan. Underwriter reputation has a positive and statistically significant relationship for IPOs in China, Germany, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Democracy
Authors: Scholte Jan Aart
Published: December 2018

This chapter explores democracy as a key normative challenge for global research and global action. It asks how “people’s power” can and should be conceived and practiced in respect of global spaces. This question is examined from both institutional and deeper structural perspectives. In terms of institutions, the discussion summarizes and critically assesses six suggested organizational designs for democratic global politics: communitarianism, multilateralism, world federalism, multistakeholder initiatives, deliberative forums, and resistance struggles. In terms of deeper structures, the analysis considers matters of resource distribution, cultural diversity, and political ecology. The chapter concludes that reinvented democracy for today’s global world requires both institutional and structural transformations, in combinations that will likely vary according to the specific context at hand. It is a key normative task for global studies to foster these new ideas and practices.
Multiculturalism
Authors: Sharma Nandita
Published: December 2018

This chapter discusses the politics of multiculturalism, which is intimately related to the politics of (im)migration. It is argued that state policies of multiculturalism are best regarded as part of the neoliberal governmentality of managing and containing anti-racist demands for justice. Far from realizing these goals, official multiculturalism policies further empowered those racialized as White to continue to imagine the “nation” as “theirs.” This was how nation-states attempted to regain their legitimacy in the face of neoliberal reforms that granted greater power to a globally operative capital. With recent calls for the “end of multiculturalism” by heads of state, there is a reversion to previous policies of (im)migrant assimilation as well as a hardening of the nationalist politics of citizenship into a politics of “native-ness” or autochthony. These, too, are state efforts to address the continuing crisis of legitimacy caused by neoliberalism.
Media Industry
Authors: Lule Jack
Published: December 2018

The media industry, this chapter argues, has become a subject of global concern. The media industry has played a crucial role in fostering an uneven globalization, creating and maintaining indiscriminate conditions for global capitalism and too often promoting uncritical and unstudied narratives of the world’s market economy. In addition, the media industry is an oligopoly with less than a dozen corporations controlling content worldwide and attention paid to shareholder profits rather than social responsibility. Finally, the global media industry threatens local and regional culture and traditions. Although new, digital media seem to promise multiple, varied, and independent voices, new media are too often co-opted and controlled by the very same forces that make the media industry a source of worldwide concern.
What Works (and Fails) in Protection
Authors: Dönges Hannah Elena , Kullenberg Janosch
Published: December 2018

Over the last fifteen years, the Protection of Civilians (POC) has become a central task of peacekeeping operations. Despite this prominent role and the mediatized criticism on protection failures, knowledge about how protection functions in practice is actually quite limited. This chapter, therefore, examines protection practices on the ground in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) and South Sudan (UNMISS) and connects the findings to the existing literature. In this way, the chapter identifies a number of operational issues in the administration, planning, and coordination of protection, and describes how these issues have contributed to the success and/or failure of specific protection efforts across missions. This chapter argues that despite the practical overlap and implications for the physical security of populations in armed conflict, the POC, and Women, Peace, and Security agendas have evolved in rather disconnected ways. At the same time, we observe that the emergence of the WPS agenda has facilitated increased recognition of gendered vulnerabilities in protection.
WPS and SEA in Peacekeeping Operations
Authors: Westendorf Jasmine-Kim
Published: December 2018

In the past fifteen years, despite the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security and the Secretary-General’s Bulletin on Zero Tolerance of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) by peacekeepers, abuse by interveners remains prevalent in peace operations. SEA is not only perpetrated by peacekeepers, but also aid workers, diplomats, private contractors, and others associated with interventions. This chapter maps the extent and main characteristics of SEA in peace operations, and investigates the ways the international community has attempted to prevent and hold individuals accountable for SEA. It provides an assessment of the weaknesses in the existing WPS framework regarding SEA, particularly in terms of its engagement with masculinities, capital, and other permissive factors that make SEA such a central feature of peacekeeping operations.
WPS and the Human Rights Council
Authors: Manjoo Rashida
Published: December 2018

This chapter explores the role of the Human Rights Council (HRC) in the conceptualization, interpretation, and monitoring of the WPS agenda. To do so, it examines its policy activities, including the adoption of resolutions on thematic or specific country situations, and also through the reports emanating from selected Commissions of Inquiry. Moreover, it considers the reports presented to the HRC by mandate holders in the Special Procedures system. Drawing on these documents, this chapter provides insights into the HRCs level of engagement and monitoring of the WPS agenda. In doing so, it highlights their capacity to hold states accountable for ensuring the human rights of citizens, and women’s human rights in particular. Analysis of the HRCs monitoring and reporting mechanisms suggests that while the intrinsic link between human rights and WPS is acknowledged, the implications of this relationship are not effectively addressed. This chapter argues, therefore, that a lack of consistency in developing a coherent and integrated approach to reporting and accountability work has resulted in gaps with regards to HRCs commitment to WPS.
WPS and the Association of South East Asian Nations
Authors: Veneracion-Rallonza Ma. Lourdes
Published: December 2018

All ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have their own structures and mechanisms to advance women’s human rights. Further, all ASEAN member states are parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Collectively, they have likewise enshrined and sought to guarantee the rights outlined in CEDAW through regional declarations and mechanisms. When it comes to acknowledging women’s human rights in conflict situations, however, with the exception of the Philippines, ASEAN member states have largely failed to uphold their obligations under these mechanisms. Accordingly, both as individuals and as a regional collective, these states have proven unable to design and implement appropriate institutional responses to violence and instability. This chapter critically examines the institutional and political causes of these failures and assesses the challenges and benefits of invoking CEDAW General Recommendation 30 to advance the WPS agenda in the region.
Securing Participation and Protection in Peace Agreements
Authors: Marín Carvajal Isabela , Álvarez-Vanegas Eduardo
Published: December 2018

Women’s participation in the Colombian peace process constitutes an outstanding case in comparison with other peace negotiations processes, due to the efforts made by unofficial actors. Nevertheless, during the negotiation period, selective violence against social leaders increased, affecting their mobilizations and capacity to meaningful contribute. This chapter critically evaluates developments in scholarship and policymaking that considers the WPS pillars of participation and protection and their inclusion in peace agreements. To do so, the chapter draws upon the case of the Havana peace process, led by the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC), between 2012 and 2016. The analysis derives from a research experience at the Fundación Ideas para la Paz (Bogotá, Colombia), exploring women’s participation in Columbia’s peace negotiations. Drawing on examples from the Colombian case, the chapter demonstrates the importance of accounting for women’s preexisting forms of participation and knowledge. It also argues that affirmative measures that encourage women’s meaningful participation in peace negotiations will be ineffective if the underlying structural factors that exclude women from decision-making processes more broadly remain unaddressed.
Women in Rebellion
Authors: Marks Zoe
Published: December 2018

A key objective for the women, peace, and security agenda going forward is to disaggregate the experiences of women as a group, and to understand how gender functions in conflict contexts. This chapter focuses on the diverse roles of female combatants in rebel groups to gain insight into how power is distributed, not only between men and women, or combatants and civilians, but within groups. Rebel groups are characterized by military and political apparatuses that are built side by side and often entangled. Organizational power structures are often dominated by men, but not exclusively so. Using interviews and archival data from the Sierra Leone Civil War case study, this chapter delivers an analysis of women’s experiences in rebel movements. It explores the individual trajectories of mobilization and victimization in Sierra Leone. Next, it examines the unique experiences of female combatants, before situating them in the broader political context. Finally, the chapter considers cases of sexual violence, intimate partnerships, conflict among women, and the political entrepreneurship of elite women to understand female participation in rebellion in its entirety.
Mainstreaming WPS in the Armed Forces
Authors: Wittwer Jennifer
Published: December 2018

The release of the Australian Government’s Nation Action Plan (NAP) in 2012 signaled the recognition by the Australian Defence Force (ADF) that implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 was imperative to improving military capability and increasing operational effectiveness. Since then, the ADF has made considerable inroads toward ensuring that the practical implementation of the NAP achieves the WPS outcomes being sought by the Australian Government. Moreover, this chapter observes that the ADF have in recent times employed the NAP to ensure that its political, social, aid, and diplomatic actions align closely with those of allied armed forces with respect to gender mainstreaming. Indeed, the ADF has focused on gender as an important element in the planning and conduct of national and international military peace and security efforts. This chapter argues that since the adoption of Resolution 1325, Australia has been actively involved in, and supported, a large number of high-level commitments to addressing the role of women in peace and security. In the main, this has been focused on political, social, diplomatic, and aid responses to crisis and conflict management, human rights, gender equality, and peacekeeping.
WPS and Sustainable Development Goals
Authors: Balakrishnan Radhika , Dharmaraj Krishanti
Published: December 2018

This chapter suggests that achieving sustainable development requires a change in the current economic system. Moreover, it advances the idea that an economic system based on the fulfillment of human rights and a peace and security agenda must consider what polices are needed to achieve sustainable peace, beyond the absence of war and violence. The chapter observes that in order to examine the issues surrounding women, peace, and security it is critical to unpack the relationship between existing economic policy and violent conflicts, and to consider how women are disproportionately affected at this intersection. If the fulfillment of human rights was at the center of economic policymaking, the chapter argues, the way in which the state gets and distributes resources would be very different.
Pursuing Gender Security
Authors: Swaine Aisling
Published: December 2018

This chapter considers scholarly and practical attempts to advance notions of gender security. Human rights and inclusivity are central to the pursuit of comprehensive gender security. With this in mind, this chapter argues that going forward, the isolation of the WPS agenda within the confines of the UN Security Council and its mandate requires unshackling. Furthermore, it concludes that comprehensive approaches to gendered security need to be advanced across all initiatives relating to peace and security. Pursuing gender security is a complex endeavor that requires understanding security, war, and gender as concepts in and of themselves in disaggregated ways, and at the same time illuminating the impossibility of disaggregating one from the other. To that end, this chapter concludes that war and insecurity cannot be understood without understanding their gendered nature, while the dynamics of contemporary gender relations are inseparable from the insidious influence of norms of militarism and militarized masculinities, that overtly and covertly infuse our societies.
Women’s Peacemaking in South Asia
Authors: Gopinath Meenakshi , Manchanda Rita
Published: December 2018

This chapter demonstrates the complex interplay between victimhood and agency when viewed through a gender lens. Understanding the diverse ways in which women experience conflict provides a solid foundation for the production of a more inclusive dialogue on peace and security. Indeed, greater consideration needs to be given to how structural constraints and enabling spaces impact women’s capacity to participate substantively in peacemaking. As demonstrated throughout this chapter, women not only confront overt gender-based violence that strips them of bodily integrity, they also experience structural violence that exacerbates social and political discrimination. Drawing on the experience and research of WISCOMP, a South Asian initiative that seeks to facilitates women’s participation and leadership in conflict transformation and peace-building, this chapter highlights efforts by women’s civil society to mobilize and claim their rights and assert agency. It is also reveals the obstacles faced by women as they seek to claim substantive citizenship, and impact the public discourse following conflict.
WPS, Gender, and Disabilities
Authors: Stienstra Deborah
Published: December 2018

One of the key gaps, in the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) is found at the intersections of women and disability. This chapter demonstrates that women and girls with disabilities are disproportionately vulnerable to violence in conflicts and remain invisible and excluded from most post-conflict processes, including peace-building. Resolution 1325 provides a significant opportunity to ensure the full participation of women with disabilities in peace-building and post-conflict transitions. The normative framework adopted in the 2015 Global Study on the implementation of 1325 is an intersectional approach. Yet, the type of intersectionality adopted is a “gender-first” approach. As the chapter argues, in relation to Canadian foreign and development policies (2017), a gender-first approach assumes that gender is the predominant factor and deals with other intersecting power relations in this context, which often obscures the unique experiences of women with disabilities. Thus, this chapter concludes that implementing an intersectional approach to WPS in practice requires the support and participation of women with disabilities to ensure that their specific needs are acknowledged and institutionalized.
The Production of the 2015 Global Study
Authors: Olsson Louise , Gizelis Theodora-Ismene
Published: December 2018

This chapter considers the politics associated with measuring the success and failures of UN Security Council Resolution 1325. The first UN resolution on Women, Peace, and Security adopted by the Security Council in 2000 collected and encapsulated a range of elongated policy processes on a vast number of themes. These processes had been pushed by a substantial number of divergent actors with varying ideological visions. Given this, the resolution resonated predominately as a symbolic mechanism, rather than a roadmap for the implementation of the WPS agenda. In fact, reporting has been one of a few tools available for pushing implementation of what is otherwise a toothless document. Based on previous research, this article highlights existing points of contestation in order to analyze the 2015 report on the Global Study. It problematizes the assumed neutrality associated with measuring this contested and vague norm. This chapter argues that the limited effects of the Global Study to date should be viewed in the context of the diverging ideological positions held by vested actors who have pushed for or against implementation over the last fifteen years.
De Se Assertion
Authors: Stojanovic Isidora
Published: December 2018

De se attitudes, that is, attitudes that we have about ourselves in a first-personal way, have long been recognized as interestingly different from other attitudes. However, speech acts and, in particular, assertions that we make about ourselves have barely begun to draw philosophers’ attention. This chapter discusses some recent proposals that aim to bridge the gap between the significance of the de se phenomena in thought and the way that we express those attitudes in language. Section 1 provides some background on the de se and the essential indexical. Section 2 surveys proposals that make use of centered contents in modeling assertion and communication. Section 3 discusses the main motivations for the idea that centered contents are not only the contents of de se attitudes but also of the corresponding assertions.
Adoption Versus Alternative Forms of Care
Authors: Sloan Brian
Published: December 2018

This chapter, which focuses on English law, considers preference for adoption in some circumstances from a comparative law perspective, before comparing the treatment of adoption to that of other forms of care: parental care, kinship care, foster care, and institutional care. It argues that although adoption is the most satisfactory outcome for some children, it should not be considered a panacea. While a range of options is available for children in England whose parents encounter difficulties in looking after them, the government has a stronger preference for adoption than is the case in many other jurisdictions. I view this preference with a critical eye, given that it is likely to be “easier” than investing properly in foster care services and other forms of lesser intervention.
Consumption as Production
Authors: Mejias Ulises A. , Couldry Nick
Published: December 2018

This chapter examines the capitalist relations that are formed when we consume our own social lives via the production of digital data. The central argument is that participation in a digitized social domain is exploitative, since it entails new forms of commodified self-consumption. We argue that datafication or social quantification represents an expansionary phase of capitalism that we call data colonialism. Through it, we enter into specific social relations that normalize dispossession, and that subsume the once sharp separation between a bounded production process and an open-ended space of consumption into a larger process of continuous production/consumption. Data colonialism is thus a form of extraction and appropriation that seeks to colonize new domains of existence for capitalism, transforming quantified social life into a new type of resource that can be mined and processed by corporations.
Branding National Identity in an Unequal World
Authors: Aronczyk Melissa
Published: December 2018

Market intermediaries such as location consultants, tourism promoters, and branding specialists exploit the symbolic value of national territories to promote economic development. Although these practices are often justified as a way to “level the global playing field” of market interactions, they typically achieve the opposite effect, reinforcing or creating inequality and status differences. This chapter reviews some of the theoretical assumptions and pragmatic features of place-based marketing and branding, with particular emphasis on the role of judgment adopted by market intermediaries in the cultural economy. The argument advanced here is that symbolic and material systems are co-constitutive in the production of place; and that market intermediaries engage in ongoing practices of valuation to link national identity with material advantage.