Capsicum oleoresin: development of an in-soil repellent for pocket gophers

A pre- and post-monitoring study was conducted of the potential use of capsicum oleoresin as an in-soil repellent for northern pocket gophers (Thomomys talpoides). Pocket gophers were captured in irrigated alfalfa (Medicago sativa L), affixed with radio transmitters, and monitored daily for location. Six plots (4.87 × 4.87m) each were randomly assigned to capsicum oleoresin and soybean oil treatments; these were set up based upon the centers of initial core areas of gophers. Mean (±SD) volumes of capsicum oleoresin and water and soybean oil and water mixtures (10 + 90 by volume) dispensed onto plots equaled 178.5 (±4.7) and 175.7 (±14.0) liters, respectively. Movements (m) of the radio-transmitted gophers from plot centers were computed for four daily readings (i.e., 0801–1000, 1101–1300, 1501–1700 and 1801–2000 h). Spectrophotometric analysis of soil samples from capsicum oleoresin plots validated the presence of capsicum on plots and the absence of capsicum on placebo- and off-plot locations. Analysis of variance for movement distances of gophers yielded a Date main effect [F(11, 103) = 2.08, P ≤ 0.03] and a Date × Reading (time) interaction [F(32, 299) = 3.21, P ≤ 0.01]. Results showed that gophers were located farther from plot centers for the 0801–1000 and 1501–1700 h telemetry readings for ≤3days postchemical application—a probable ‘disturbance’ effect rather than a chemical-induced avoidance. In a prior laboratory study, capsicum oleoresin and soil treatments of 1.5% w/w capsicum caused nearly a 50% decrease in soil contact time by gophers relative to placebo-exposed control animals. This implies that procedural variables warrant revision before abandoning this approach. The potential for soil insertion of repellents as a technique for expelling pocket gophers from territories and some methodological changes for future research of the technique are discussed

Re-imagining the Borders of US Security after 9/11: Securitisation, Risk, and the Creation of the Department of Homeland Security

The articulation of international and transnational terrorism as a key issue in US security policy, as a result of the 9/11 attacks, has not only led to a policy rethink, it has also included a bureaucratic shift within the US, showing a re-thinking of the role of borders within US security policy. Drawing substantively on the 'securitisation' approach to security studies, the article analyses the discourse of US security in order to examine the founding of the Department of Homeland Security, noting that its mission provides a new way of conceptualising 'borders' for US national security. The securitisation of terrorism is, therefore, not only represented by marking terrorism as a security issue, it is also solidified in the organisation of security policy-making within the US state. As such, the impact of a 'war on terror' provides an important moment for analysing the re-articulation of what security is in the US, and, in theoretical terms, for reaffirming the importance of a relationship between the production of threat and the institutionalisation of threat response. © 2007 Taylor & Francis

Evaluating 17 methods incorporating biological function with GWAS summary statistics to accelerate discovery demonstrates a tradeoff between high sensitivity and high positive predictive value

Where sufficiently large genome-wide association study (GWAS) samples are not currently available or feasible, methods that leverage increasing knowledge of the biological function of variants may illuminate discoveries without increasing sample size. We comprehensively evaluated 17 functional weighting methods for identifying novel associations. We assessed the performance of these methods using published results from multiple GWAS waves across each of five complex traits. Although no method achieved both high sensitivity and positive predictive value (PPV) for any trait, a subset of methods utilizing pleiotropy and expression quantitative trait loci nominated variants with high PPV (\u3e75%) for multiple traits. Application of functionally weighting methods to enhance GWAS power for locus discovery is unlikely to circumvent the need for larger sample sizes in truly underpowered GWAS, but these results suggest that applying functional weighting to GWAS can accurately nominate additional novel loci from available samples for follow-up studies

Re-thinking Regionalism: Europe and East Asia in Comparative Historical Perspective

Regionally-based processes of political and economic integration, security cooperation, and even social identification have become increasingly important and prominent parts of the international system. Nowhere have such processes gone further than in Western Europe. Somewhat surprisingly, similar patterns of regional integration have been steadily developing in East Asia - a region many observers consider unlikely to replicate the European experience. What are the factors that encourage regional political cooperation and economic integration? Are there common forces encouraging such outcomes in very different geographical areas and at very different moments in history? This paper uses an historically grounded comparative approach to examine the historical pre-conditions that underpinned the formation of the European Union, and then contrasts them with the situation in East Asia today. While the overall geopolitical and specific national contexts are very different, the East Asian experience may ultimately generate relationships and structures that are more like the European Union's than some of the sceptics imagine

Geology of the Victoria quadrangle (H02), Mercury

Mercury’s quadrangle H02 ‘Victoria’ is located in the planet’s northern hemisphere and lies between latitudes 22.5° N and 65° N, and between longitudes 270° E and 360° E. This quadrangle covers 6.5% of the planet’s surface with a total area of almost 5 million km2. Our 1:3,000,000-scale geologic map of the quadrangle was produced by photo-interpretation of remotely sensed orbital images captured by the MESSENGER spacecraft. Geologic contacts were drawn between 1:300,000 and 1:600,000 mapping scale and constitute the boundaries of intercrater, intermediate and smooth plains units; in addition, three morpho-stratigraphic classes of craters larger than 20 km were mapped. The geologic map reveals that this area is dominated by Intercrater Plains encompassing some almost-coeval, probably younger, Intermediate Plains patches and interrupted to the north-west, north-east and east by the Calorian Northern Smooth Plains. This map represents the first complete geologic survey of the Victoria quadrangle at this scale, and an improvement of the existing 1:5,000,000 Mariner 10-based map, which covers only 36% of the quadrangle

Annual summary report of the Decontamination and Decommissioning Surveillance and Maintenance Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory for period ending September 30, 1994

The Surplus Facilities Management Program (SFMP) was established at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in 1976 to provide collective management of all surplus sites under ORNL`s control on the Oak Ridge Reservation. Presently, over 50 facilities, grouped into projects, are currently managed by the Decontamination and Decommissioning Program, the successor program to the SFMP. Support includes (1) surveillance and maintenance planning; (2) routine surveillance and maintenance; and (3) special maintenance projects. This report documents routine surveillance and maintenance, special projects, and special maintenance performed on these facilities for the period of October 1993 through September 1994

Water

Meta-analysis can be a powerful tool for demonstrating the applicability of a concept beyond the context of individual clinical trials and observational studies, including exploration of effects across different subgroups. Meta-analysis avoids Simpson's paradox, in which a consistent effect in constituent trials is reversed when results are simply pooled. Meta-analysis in critical care medicine is made more complicated, however, by the heterogeneous nature of critically ill patients and the contexts within which they are treated. Failure to properly adjust for this heterogeneity risks missing important subgroup effects in, for example, the interaction of treatment with varying levels of baseline risk. When subgroups are defined by characteristics that vary within constituent trials (such as age) rather than features constant within each trial (such as drug dose), there is the additional risk of incorrect conclusions due to the ecological fallacy. The present review explains these problems and the strategies by which they are overcome

Parallels, prescience and the past: analogical reasoning and contemporary international politics

Analogical reasoning has held a perpetual appeal to policymakers who have often drafted in historical metaphor as a mode of informing decision-making. However, this article contends that since the beginning of the ‘War on Terror’ we have arguably seen the rise of a more potent form of analogy, namely ones that are selected because they fulfil an ideological function. Analogical reasoning as a tool of rational decision-making has increasingly become replaced by analogical reasoning as a tool of trenchant ideologically-informed policy justification. This article addresses three key areas which map out the importance of analogical reasoning to an understanding of developments in contemporary international politics: the relationship between history and politics, in intellectual and policy terms; a critical assessment of the appeal that analogical reasoning holds for policymakers; and the development of a rationale for a more effective use of history in international public policymaking