Book review: the end of American world order by Amitav Acharya

In The End of American World Order, Amitav Acharya proposes that the world may never again see the US dominance which characterised the 20th and early 21st centuries. His proposed multiplex solution, a multi-screened cinema of global governance, offers a compelling vision of the post-American world, writes Lauren Young

Book review: the Gestapo: power and terror in the third reich by Carsten Dams and Michael Stolle

The Gestapo aims to trace the story of the Nazis’ secret police force, mostly remembered as the infamous epitome of Nazi terror and oppression. Tracing the history of the organization from its origins in the Weimar Republic, through the crimes of the Nazi period, to the fate of former Gestapo officers after World War II, Carsten Dams and Michael Stolle question the myths that have long surrounded the Gestapo. This serves as a cautionary tale about the extremes of preventative policing and the role of intelligence in today’s troubled world, writes Lauren Young

Effects of Local Plant Neighborhood on Plant Herbivory in Perennial Polyculture Cropping Systems

Thesis (Ph.D.) - Indiana University, Biology, 2015Perennializing grain cropping systems has been proposed as a way to mitigate the challenges facing agriculture in the future due to crop intensification. Crop intensification is characterized by utilizing more land and inputs, less crop diversity, and greater crop density. Perennial cropping systems use native prairie as a model and model diverse prairie communities with perenniality and polyculture. Perennial cropping systems allow for complex planting arrangements (e.g. crop frequency, intercrops, and row spacings) that could confer specialist insect pest resistance via reduced host plant apparency, changes in herbivore attraction, and host plant tissue quality. The three chapters in this dissertation examine these themes of perennial polyculture and effects of spatial heterogeneity on insect abundance. The first chapter compares insect herbivore, predator and parasitoid, pollinator, and detritivore abundance, morphospecies richness, and biovolume among hayed grasslands, and wheat fields. Pollinators and detritivores were more abundant, had greater biovolume, and were more species-rich in hayed grasslands than in wheat fields. Therefore, insects may provide more pollination and decomposition ecosystem services in hayed grasslands. However, grasslands and wheat fields supported comparable numbers of herbivores, suggesting that herbivore densities in grasslands are not any more limited by predators and parasitoids than herbivore densities in wheat fields. The second chapter examined insect herbivore foliar feeding on a legume, Desmanthus illinoensis, which is in the early stages of development as a perennial grain crop. Insect herbivory was examined in the context of prairies. Local neighborhood grass cover strongly influenced insect herbivore foliar feeding; greater grass cover within the plant neighborhood resulted in lesser foliar herbivory. Our results suggest that incorporation of crop diversity, through the addition of a grass, in perennial agroecosystems with D. illinoensis could result in reduced foliar feeding by a specialist herbivore. The third chapter examined a legume (D. illinoensis)-grass (Thinopyrum intermedium) intercrop with row spacing and initial frequency of legume seed treatments. The bicultures were productive which suggests that incorporating crop diversity could benefit perennial polyculture. However, row spacing and seeding frequency had little effect on plant herbivory in this agroecosystem, most likely due to dominance of generalist herbivores

Understanding the characteristics and role of refuges in the persistence of the plains mouse (Pseudomys australis) in arid landscapes

Many desert-swelling small mammals increase in abundance in response to rainfall driven resource pulses and decline as the landscape dries. While the response of species to resource pulses is widely studied, less is known about how they persist through the dry periods. My research focused on drought refuges; one strategy by which small mammal populations persist throughout the long dry periods. Refuges have a more consistent supply of resources than the surrounding landscape, respite from threatening processes, or a combination of these, and promote the persistence of species through dry periods. I studied the refuge-use of the plains mouse, Pseudomys australis. I aimed to gain insight into the temporal dynamics and spatial ecology of P. australis during a time when populations were confined to refuge habitat, and how resources influence the occurrence of P. australis in the landscape. The capture rate of P. australis was related positively to antecedent rainfall. Density-dependent habitat selection was apparent, whereby P. australis favours areas of cracking clay until densities increase, subsequent to which individuals occupy the stony plain more frequently. Radiotracked P. australis had small short-term home ranges that were entirely within the cracking clay. All individuals had a core area of use, centred on frequently used burrows. Soil cracks were used less frequently than burrows. The occurrence of P. australis in the landscape was consistently and most strongly influenced by the presence of cracks. Food resources were also important, but the strength of influence varied temporally. Species distribution modelling using remotely-sensed mineral indices was useful for mapping the potential occurrence of P. australis. Model predictions corresponded well with the known distribution of P. australis across the study area, and provide a means to focus management efforts to areas where populations have the best chance of persistence when they are most vulnerable

Limits of the Inevitable Discovery Doctrine in United States v. Young: The Intersection of Private Security Guards, Hotel Guests, and the Fourth Amendment

This Note analyzes the Young court’s opinion and the potential consequences of the majority’s cursory rejection of the government’s inevitable discovery argument. This Note also reconciles the differing applications of the inevitable discovery doctrine by the Young majority and dissent and highlights the speculative nature of employing the inevitable discovery doctrine based on the facts of Young. Part I of this Note presents the background of the case and the historical development of Fourth Amendment jurisprudence, focusing on the inevitable discovery doctrine as articulated by the Supreme Court in Nix v. Williams. Part II outlines the Young decision and analyzes Young’s expectation of privacy in comparison with other cases involving similar facts and the inevitable discovery doctrine. Part II also discusses the dissent’s vigorous, but misguided, argument in favor of applying the inevitable discovery doctrine to Young’s case. Part III discusses the potential consequences of the majority’s cursory examination of the inevitable discovery doctrine and presents a more in-depth analysis of why the inevitable discovery doctrine does not apply in this case

High fidelity sorting of remarkably similar components via metal-mediated assembly.

Subtle differences in ligand coordination angle and rigidity lead to high fidelity sorting between individual components displaying identical coordination motifs upon metal-mediated self-assembly. Narcissistic self-sorting can be achieved between highly similar ligands that vary minimally in rigidity and internal coordination angle upon combination with Fe(ii) ions and 2-formylpyridine. Selective, sequential cage formation can be precisely controlled in a single flask from a mix of three different core ligands (and 33 total components) differing only in the hybridization of one group that is uninvolved in the metal coordination process

Evaluating Education in Pregnant Women with Gestational Diabetes in Relation to Patient and Infant Outcomes

Metabolic control and gestational diabetes can have significant impact on the health outcomes of new mothers and their newborns. This literature review focused on specifically on prenatal education and the impact to achieve adequate glycemic and metabolic control that affect health outcomes of women and their newborn. The goal of this literature review is to highlight the impact education has on gestational diabetes, and to promote positive health outcomes during pregnancy and postpartum. The CINAHL database was used to search the literature using keywords gestational diabetes, education, and patient outcomes. Exclusion criteria included women previously diagnosed with diabetes mellitus, and publications prior to 2017. The literature supports that with routine prenatal checkups that included prenatal education, there is a decrease in gestational diabetes occurring either during pregnancy or in the postpartum period. Recommendations include providing education and resources to the patient during routine checkups to optimize their health. Adequate metabolic control in women with gestational diabetes has been directly related to proper patient teaching. Patients who have achieved a better understanding of their condition were associated with better health outcomes throughout pregnancy and postpartum. Patient teaching directly involves conversation about dietary restrictions, activity levels and monitoring glucose levels. Prenatal education provides the patient with an opportunity to learn about predisposed conditions, such as gestational diabetes. With education and awareness, the patient and healthcare team allows for a proactive care plan