90 research outputs found
A proposal for the classification of biological weapons sensu lato
Due to historical and legislation reasons, the
category of bioweapons is rather poorly
defined. Authors often disagree on involvin
g or excl
uding agents like hor
mones,
psychochemicals,
certain
plants
and
animals
(such
as weeds or pests) or synthetic
organisms. Applying a wide definition apparently threatens by eroding the regime of
international legislation, while narrow definitions abandon se
veral important issues.
Therefore, I propose a category of ‘biological
weapons
sensu
lato’
(BWsl)
that
is
defined
here
as any
tool
of
human
aggression
whose
acting
principle
is
based on disciplines of
biology in
cluding particularly microbiol
ogy, epidemiolo
gy, medica
l biology, physiology,
psychol
ogy, pharmacology and ecology, but excluding those based on inorganic agents.
Synthetically produced equivalents (not necessarily exact copies) a
nd mock weapons are
also inclu
ded. This definition does not involve any
claim to subject all these weapons to
international legislation but serves a purely scholarly purpose. BWsl may be properly
categorized on the base of the magnitude of the human population potentially targeted
(4 levels: individuals, towns, countries, glo
bal) and the biological nature of the weapons’
intended effects (4 levels: agricultural
-
ecological agents, and non
-
pathogenic,
pathogenic, or lethal agents against humans
A pszichokémiai fegyverek kutatási programja a Magyar Népköztársaságban (1962-1972)
A Magyar Királyság a II. Világháború során
ambiciózus biofegyver-fejlesztési programot
működtetett, mely a háború végén megsemmisült.
A program újraindítására tett erőfeszítések
1955-ben nem jártak sikerrel, vélhetően azért,
mert a Szovjetunió tiltotta szövetségeseinek,
hogy tömegpusztító fegyverekkel kapcsolatos
kutatásfejlesztést folytassanak. Ez a moratórium
azonban nem vonatkozott a pszichokémiai
fegyverekkel kapcsolatos kutatásokra. A Magyar
Országos Levéltár közelmúltban kutathatóvá
tett dokumentumai beszámolnak arról, hogy
a Varsói Szerződés tagállamainak katonaorvosi
szolgálatai 1962-től évente találkoztak, hogy a
kutatási feladatokat és eredményeket megosszák
egymással. Az első évben hazánk feladatul kapta
a pszichokémiai fegyverek elleni hatóanyagok kifejlesztését,
majd ezt mindjárt a következő évben
lemondta. Két évvel később mégis csatlakozott
a közben beindult kutatásokhoz, amelyet végül
1971-ben eredménytelenül zárt le. A projekt
során előbb metamfetamint szintetizáltak az
MTA Kísérletes Orvostudományi Kutató Intézetében
és a Budapesti Orvostudományi Egyetem
Gyógyszertani Intézetében, majd 1969-től a
kutatásba bevonták az Országos Ideg- és Elmegyógyintézetet
is. A fennmaradt dokumentumok
egy védelmi jellegű kutatási programot
körvonalaznak, mely szervesen illeszkedett a
hidegháborús korszak pszichokémiai fegyverkezési
programjaihoz
Co-extinct and critically co-endangered species of parasitic lice, and conservation-induced extinction: should lice be reintroduced to their hosts?
The co
-
extinction of parasitic taxa and their host species isconsideredacommon
phenomenon inthecurrent global extinction crisis. However, information about the
conservation status of parasitic taxa is scarce. We prese
nt a global list of co
-
extinct and
critically co
-
endangered parasitic lice (Phthiraptera), based on published data on their
host
-
specificity and their hosts’ conservation status according to the IUCN Red List. We
list six co
-
extinct and 40 (possibly 41) cr
itically co
-
endangered species. Additionally, we
recognize 2
–
4 species that went extinct as a result of conservation efforts to save their
hosts. Conservationists should consider preserving host
-
specific lice as part of their
efforts to save species
Concepts in Animal Parasitology, Chapter 64: Phthiraptera (Order): Lice
Chapter 64 in Concepts in Animal Parasitology on lice, order Phthiraptera, by Lajos Rózsa and Haylee J. Weaver. 2024. S. L. Gardner and S. A. Gardner, editors. Zea Books, Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. doi: 10.32873/unl.dc.ciap06
Comparing radio-tracking and visual detection methods to quantify group size measures
1. Average values of animal group sizes are prone to be overestimated in traditional field studies because small groups and singletons are easier to overlook than large ones. This kind of bias also applies for the method of locating groups by tracking previously radio-collared individuals in the wild. If the researcher randomly chooses a collared animal to locate a group to visit, a large group has higher probability to be selected than a small one, simply because it has more members.2. The question arises whether location of groups by means of finding collared animals has smaller or greater bias than searching for groups by visual observation. If the bias is smaller or same, this method can be recommended for finding groups. However, such a comparison cannot be made by speculation, only by empirical investigation.3. The present study compares the two methods empirically, by statistically comparing group size measures (mean, median, quantiles, frequency distribution, and ‘typical group size’) between two data sets. These data sets comprise of Rocky Mountain mule deer group size values collected in the same area during the same period of time, referring either to groups located by the traditional ‘search and observe method’ or located by tracking formerly collared individuals.4. All group size measures are statistically similar in the two samples, thus we conclude that the two methods yielded similar biases. Although the true group size measures are not known, we presume that both methods have overestimated them. We propose that these results do not necessary apply to other species, thus cannot be generalized. The reason for this is that bias may depend on factors specific to the species: bias of visual observation may depend on how well the species conceals itself in the existing habitat, and the bias associated with finding groups using collared animals is likely dependent on group size distribution and also on the proportion of collared animals in the population
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