Anticoagulant baiting for jackrabbit control

The jackrabbit, Lepus californicus, is properly called a hare rather than a rabbit, because the young are born fully furred and with eyes open. Hares differ from rabbits in anatomy and in the lack of burrowing, although individual hares often have a more or less regular retreat or "form" at the base of a bush or clump of grass. Jackrabbits rely upon speed and dodging to escape enemies. They live chiefly in open places, seldom inhabiting dense brush or woods. Black-tailed hares or jackrabbits are classed as game mammals by the California Fish and Game Code, but when found to be injuring growing crops or other property may be taken at anytime or in any manner by the owner or tenant of the premises. They also may be taken by employees of the Department of Food and Agriculture or by county employees when acting in their official capacities pursuant to the provisions of the California Food and Agriculture Code pertaining to pests. In recent years large roving populations of jackrabbits on airports have created serious problems to approaching aircraft. One such problem occurred at the Hayward Municipal Airport in Alameda County when jackrabbits caused a traffic hazard to approaching aircraft. The problem was compounded by domestic dogs chasing rabbits across the runways and dead rabbits being fed upon by scavenger birds such as gulls and turkey vultures

Beyond Power over Ethernet : the development of Digital Energy Networks for buildings

Alternating current power distribution using analogue control and safety devices has been the dominant process of power distribution within our buildings since the electricity industry began in the late 19th century. However, with advances in digital technology, the seeds of change have been growing over the last decade. Now, with the simultaneous dramatic fall in power requirements of digital devices and corresponding rise in capability of Power over Ethernet, an entire desktop environment can be powered by a single direct current (dc) Ethernet cable. Going beyond this, it will soon be possible to power entire office buildings using dc networks. This means the logic of “one-size fits all” from the existing ac system is no longer relevant and instead there is an opportunity to redesign the power topology to be appropriate for different applications, devices and end-users throughout the building. This paper proposes a 3-tier classification system for the topology of direct current microgrids in commercial buildings – called a Digital Energy Network or DEN. The first tier is power distribution at a full building level (otherwise known as the microgrid); the second tier is power distribution at a room level (the nanogrid); and the third tier is power distribution at a desktop or appliance level (the picogrid). An important aspect of this classification system is how the design focus changes for each grid. For example; a key driver of the picogrid is the usability of the network – high data rates, and low power requirements; however, in the microgrid, the main driver is high power and efficiency at low cost

Unions against governments: explaining general strikes in Western Europe, 1980-2006

Across Western Europe, unions have increasingly engaged in staging general strikes against governments since 1980. This increase in general strikes is puzzling as it has occurred at the same time as economic strikes have been on the decline. We posit that theories developed to explain economic strikes hold little explanatory power in accounting for variation in general strikes across countries and over time. Instead, we develop a framework based on political variables; in particular, whether governments have included or excluded unions in framing policy reforms; the party position of the government; and the type of government. Our empirical analysis, based on a conditional fixed-effects logit estimation of 84 general strikes between 1980 and 2006, shows that union exclusion from the process of reforming policies, government strength, and the party position of the government can provide an initial explanation for the occurrence of general strikes

Co-governance or meta-bureaucracy? Perspectives of local governance 'partnership' in England and Scotland

This article assesses the nature of partnerships through the research site of local governance in England and Scotland, engaging a range of debates and literature around governance and meta-governance. The research used secondary data of local authority partnership working in England and Scotland as well as primary qualitative data from participant observation and interviews with senior officials of local authorities and partner organisations. There is little to suggest that English and Scottish practices are significantly at variance and the article advances an argument of meta-bureaucracy to describe partnerships' activities: that is to say, partnerships do not represent a growth of autonomous networks and governance arrangements but rather an extension of bureaucratic controls. State actors remain pre-eminent within increasingly formalised systems of 'partnership'