The Cold Peace: Russo-Western Relations as a Mimetic Cold War

In 1989–1991 the geo-ideological contestation between two blocs was swept away, together with the ideology of civil war and its concomitant Cold War played out on the larger stage. Paradoxically, while the domestic sources of Cold War confrontation have been transcended, its external manifestations remain in the form of a ‘legacy’ geopolitical contest between the dominant hegemonic power (the United States) and a number of potential rising great powers, of which Russia is one. The post-revolutionary era is thus one of a ‘cold peace’. A cold peace is a mimetic cold war. In other words, while a cold war accepts the logic of conflict in the international system and between certain protagonists in particular, a cold peace reproduces the behavioural patterns of a cold war but suppresses acceptance of the logic of behaviour. A cold peace is accompanied by a singular stress on notions of victimhood for some and undigested and bitter victory for others. The perceived victim status of one set of actors provides the seedbed for renewed conflict, while the ‘victory’ of the others cannot be consolidated in some sort of relatively unchallenged post-conflict order. The ‘universalism’ of the victors is now challenged by Russia's neo-revisionist policy, including not so much the defence of Westphalian notions of sovereignty but the espousal of an international system with room for multiple systems (the Schmittean pluriverse)

Cold Start for the Green Innovation Machine

This Policy Contribution accompanies the Policy Brief, Â?No Green Growth Without InnovationÂ?. Written by Senior Non-Resident Fellow Philippe Aghion, Senior Resident Fellow Reinhilde Veugelers and Researcher Clément Serre, this paper discusses the state of green innovation and goes into more depth in discussing the current problems in the area. Examining research and development, patent, and venture capital data, the authors point out that there is momentum for private investment in green technologies. However, they argue that, thus far, the implicit tax rate on energy in the EU27 is too low and fragmented, the carbon price in the EU Emissions Trading System is too volatile, and the public R&D expenditures dedicated to energy and environment are too low. They conclude that immediate state intervention is necessary, at least at the onset, to ensure that the Â?green innovation machineÂ? gets properly started.

Consequences of a short pulse of pesticide exposure for survival and reproduction of \u3ci\u3eGammarus pulex\u3c/i\u3e

The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of a short and environmentally realistic pulse exposure of different life stages of the freshwater amphipod, Gammarus pulex, to the pyrethroid insecticide, esfenvalerate. We were particularly interested in determining the extent to which detectable effects on key life-history traits persisted following cessation of a brief exposure to this pesticide. Our results indicate that environmentally realistic exposure concentrations of this widely used insecticide can have a significant effect on the survival and reproduction of Gammarus pulex. Comparison of LC50 values indicates that G. pulex has a similar sensitivity to esfenvalerate as the standard test invertebrate, Daphnia magna and is more sensitive than other common stream invertebrates. Despite 100% survival during pulses of up to 2 μg l−1, mortality increased, in some cases markedly, following transfer to clean conditions. Pulse exposure to esfenvalerate at concentrations in the range 0.1–0.6 μg l−1 for as little as 1 h can have effects on G. pulex survival, pairing behavior, and reproductive output that can still be detected at least 2 weeks following the pulse. Reproductive traits were very sensitive to esfenvalerate, and exposure to 0.05 μg l−1 for 1 h led to immediate disruption of reproducing pairs, release of eggs or offspring from the brood pouch, and substantial delays in pair formation and subsequent reproduction following transfer to clean water. The kinds of effects on reproductive behavior observed in this study could potentially impact the population dynamics of G. pulex in the field. Whether such effects occur will depend on the frequency, duration, timing, and spatial extent of pesticide exposure in freshwater stream ecosystems, about which relatively little is known. Such information is essential if effects on non-target aquatic species are to be more accurately assessed

Cold galaxies

We use 350 mu angular diameter estimates from Planck to test the idea that some galaxies contain exceptionally cold (10-13 K) dust, since colder dust implies a lower surface brightness radiation field illuminating the dust, and hence a greater physical extent for a given luminosity. The galaxies identified from their spectral energy distributions as containing cold dust do indeed show the expected larger 350 mu diameters. For a few cold dust galaxies where Herschel data are available we are able to use submillimetre maps or surface brightness profiles to locate the cold dust, which as expected generally lies outside the optical galaxy.Comment: 9 pages, 15 figures. Accepted for publication MNRA

Response of Saddled Prominent (Lepidoptera: Notodontidae) Pupae to Desiccation, Cold Treatment, and Post-Cold Treatment Incubation Temperature

Saddled prominent, Heterocampa guttivitta, pupae were placed at 1.5oC for 50 to 200 days, then incubated at one of four post-cold temperatures ranging from 10° to 26.7°C. Adults emerged from pupae exposed to all cold treatment periods. A few adults also emerged from pupae that were not exposed to cold. The time required for adult emergence following cold treatment declined with longer periods of cold treatment and higher post-cold incubation temperature. The interaction between these two main effects was also significant. Adult morphogenesis begins immediately after pupation, and continues until interrupted by cold temperature. When pupae were subjected to desiccating conditions prior to cold treatment, weight loss due to desiccation was accompanied by increased mortality. Desiccation occurred faster at IS.6° than at 18.0°C. Our results identify a physical factor which might contribute to pupal overwintering mortality: prolonged excessive drought conditions between time of pupation and the onset of cold

Cold hardening and dehardening in Salix

The variation in cold hardiness in Salix in the autumn was investigated using clones of different geographic origins. In late growing season, the variation was small and inversely related to a phenotypic variation in potential growth rate. When growth had stopped in response to the reduction in daylength, however, large differences in cold hardiness developed. Northern/continental clones started cold hardening up to two months earlier and showed up to three times higher inherent rates of cold hardening than the southern/maritime ones. The two components of cold hardening, the timing of onset and the inherent rate, seemed to be separately inherited traits, as judged from analyses of the prodigy of a crossing between an early-and-rapidly hardening clone and a late-and-slowly hardening one. This suggests that cold hardiness can be improved without adversely affecting growth by selecting for a late onset of cold hardening combined with a rapid rate. Also, in the early stages, cold hardening was more sensitive to low, non-freezing temperatures in the southern/maritime clones than in the northern/continental ones. Cold hardening of stems in the autumn could be monitored from the accumulation of sugars, most predominantly sucrose, raffinose and stachyose. The accumulation of sucrose started already with the cessation of growth, whilst the accumulation of raffinose and stachyose started later and was stimulated by cool temperatures. Multivariate models using sugar data could explain 76% of the variation in cold hardiness in the early stages of hardening. Changes in levels of sugars and other compounds during cold hardening could be assessed non-intrusively from the visible and infrared reflectance spectra of stems. Multivariate models using spectral data could predict up to 96% of the variation in cold hardiness. This technique is expected to greatly facilitate breeding for improved cold hardiness by allowing rapid screening of large populations. The variation in cold hardiness in spring was also investigated. Loss of cold hardiness in spring was closely related to the bursting of buds. A relatively large genetic variation in the temperature requirement for bud burst was demonstrated indicating that this might be modified in sensitive clones to improve their cold hardiness in spring