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The Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, associated with the United Nations Security Council resolutions of a similar name, is widely recognized as the most significant and wide-reaching global framework for advancing gender equality in military affairs, conflict resolution and security governance. The first of these resolutions, UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325, bound the international community to ensure, among other provisions, greater participation of women in decision making in national, regional and international institutions; their further involvement in peacekeeping, field operations, mission consultation and peace negotiations; increased funds and other support to the gender work of UN entities; enhanced state commitments to the human rights of women and girls and the protection of those rights under international law; the introduction of special measures against sexual violence in armed conflict; and due consideration to the experiences and needs of women and girls in humanitarian, refugee, disarmament and postconflict settings. As such, it was a ground-breaking commitment by the Security Council, the intergovernmental body charged with maintenance of international peace and security and widely regarded as a bastion of masculinized power and privilege (see Cohn, 2008), to acknowledge the significance of gender dynamics in active conflict situations and in peace and security governance. Nine subsequent resolutions, focused on varying themes and mechanisms, have been added to the agenda since then (the resolutions are summarized on p. xx of this volume).
In the 20 years since the passage of the foundational resolution, academics, advocates and independent analysts have produced a significant volume of scholarship on the WPS agenda. This literature has sought to justify the aims of the agenda through research on various aspects of women's vulnerability and women's agency; innovated metrics of progress on the agenda's multiple goals; assessed the nature of its implementation in diverse parts of the world; proposed modifications to policy; and occasionally sounded a dissonant note in critiquing the international politics of WPS. More recently, attention has been drawn to new themes, such as the intersections between countering violent extremism and WPS, the invisibility of race and sexuality in WPS discourse and practice, and the engagement of men within and alongside WPS.
Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA), the cryogenic infrared space telescope recently pre-selected for a ‘Phase A’ concept study as one of the three remaining candidates for European Space Agency (ESA's) fifth medium class (M5) mission, is foreseen to include a far-infrared polarimetric imager [SPICA-POL, now called B-fields with BOlometers and Polarizers (B-BOP)], which would offer a unique opportunity to resolve major issues in our understanding of the nearby, cold magnetised Universe. This paper presents an overview of the main science drivers for B-BOP, including high dynamic range polarimetric imaging of the cold interstellar medium (ISM) in both our Milky Way and nearby galaxies. Thanks to a cooled telescope, B-BOP will deliver wide-field 100–350
$\mu$
m images of linearly polarised dust emission in Stokes Q and U with a resolution, signal-to-noise ratio, and both intensity and spatial dynamic ranges comparable to those achieved by Herschel images of the cold ISM in total intensity (Stokes I). The B-BOP 200
$\mu$
m images will also have a factor
$\sim $
30 higher resolution than Planck polarisation data. This will make B-BOP a unique tool for characterising the statistical properties of the magnetised ISM and probing the role of magnetic fields in the formation and evolution of the interstellar web of dusty molecular filaments giving birth to most stars in our Galaxy. B-BOP will also be a powerful instrument for studying the magnetism of nearby galaxies and testing Galactic dynamo models, constraining the physics of dust grain alignment, informing the problem of the interaction of cosmic rays with molecular clouds, tracing magnetic fields in the inner layers of protoplanetary disks, and monitoring accretion bursts in embedded protostars.
To measure the outcomes of laser treatment of cholesteatoma covering cochlear and vestibular fistulas.
Methods
Cholesteatoma matrix over the fistula was denatured; the power density was sufficient only to gradually heat, but not vaporise, the keratin-forming matrix. The denaturing speed was controlled so that the integrity of the fistula cover was maintained. The change in bone conduction threshold and the residual rate of cholesteatoma at the fistula were measured.
Results
Thirty-six fistulas were assessed. There were seven cochlear fistulas. All were 5 mm or less in maximum length. For the entire group, the average change in bone conduction threshold was −0.3 dB. For cochlear fistulas, the average change in bone conduction was + 0.2 dB. The distribution of hearing results for the entire group was Gaussian; the apparent changes in hearing could be attributed to errors associated with testing. All patients underwent second-stage surgery. In all cases, the cholesteatoma was completely cleared from the fistula site. There were no facial palsies.
Conclusion
Laser denaturing of cholesteatoma matrix over fistulas measuring 5 mm or less of vestibular apparatus and the cochlea is effective at eliminating cholesteatoma, and is not associated with cochlear hearing loss or facial palsy.