Globalisation, security and international order after 11 September

This article advances the discussion of the contentious question of links between global inequalities of power and violent responses, focussing on globalisation and non-inclusive forms of governance. Drawing on international political economy, the article criticises the nationstate-centrism in much political discourse, suggesting that both authority and security need to be reconsidered - to account for less plausible national borders and controls. It suggests that human security (including issues of development and equality) ought to replace national security as the primary focus of public policy. It draws attention to the intractability of difference, insisting that the terrorism of 2001 has complex transnational antecedents. Realist approaches to international order have become part of a problem to be overcome through further intellectual debate.

First- and second-order stimulus length selectivity in New World monkey striate cortex

Motion is a powerful cue for figure-ground segregation, allowing the recognition of shapes even if the luminance and texture characteristics of the stimulus and background are matched. In order to investigate the neural processes underlying early stages of the cue-invariant processing of form, we compared the responses of neurons in the striate cortex (V1) of anaesthetized marmosets to two types of moving stimuli: bars defined by differences in luminance, and bars defined solely by the coherent motion of random patterns that matched the texture and temporal modulation of the background. A population of form-cue-invariant (FCI) neurons was identified, which demonstrated similar tuning to the length of contours defined by first- and second-order cues. FCI neurons were relatively common in the supragranular layers (where they corresponded to 28% of the recorded units), but were absent from layer 4. Most had complex receptive fields, which were significantly larger than those of other V1 neurons. The majority of FCI neurons demonstrated end-inhibition in response to long first- and second-order bars, and were strongly direction selective, Thus, even at the level of V1 there are cells whose variations in response level appear to be determined by the shape and motion of the entire second-order object, rather than by its parts (i.e. the individual textural components). These results are compatible with the existence of an output channel from V1 to the ventral stream of extrastriate areas, which already encodes the basic building blocks of the image in an invariant manner.

Using pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics in the treatment of psychiatric disorders: some ethical and economic considerations"

Current pharmacotherapies for psychiatric disorders are generally incompletely effective. Many patients do not respond well or suffer adverse reactions to these drugs, which can result in poor patient compliance and poor treatment outcome. Adverse drug reactions and non-response are likely to be influenced by genetic polymorphisms. Pharmacogenetics holds some promise for improving the treatment of mood disorders by utilising information about genetic polymorphisms to match patients to the drug therapy that is the most effective with the fewest side effects. Pharmacogenomics promises to facilitate the development of new drugs for treatment. However, these technologies raise many ethical, economic and regulatory issues that need to be addressed before they can be integrated into psychiatry, and medicine more generally. We discuss ethical and policy issues arising from pharmacogenetic testing and pharmacogenomics research, such as informed consent, privacy and confidentiality, research on vulnerable persons and discrimination; and economic viability of pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics. We conclude with recommendations for the regulation and distribution of pharmacogenetic testing services and pharmacogenomic drugs.

Genetic and economic analysis of a targeted marker-assisted wheat breeding strategy

The advent of molecular markers as a tool to aid selection has provided plant breeders with the opportunity to rapidly deliver superior genetic solutions to problems in agricultural production systems. However, a major constraint to the implementation of marker-assisted selection (MAS) in pragmatic breeding programs in the past has been the perceived high relative cost of MAS compared to conventional phenotypic selection. In this paper, computer simulation was used to design a genetically effective and economically efficient marker-assisted breeding strategy aimed at a specific outcome. Under investigation was a strategy involving the integration of both restricted backcrossing and doubled haploid (DH) technology. The point at which molecular markers are applied in a selection strategy can be critical to the effectiveness and cost efficiency of that strategy. The application of molecular markers was considered at three phases in the strategy: allele enrichment in the BC1F1 population, gene selection at the haploid stage and the selection for recurrent parent background of DHs prior to field testing. Overall, incorporating MAS at all three stages was the most effective, in terms of delivering a high frequency of desired outcomes and at combining the selected favourable rust resistance, end use quality and grain yield alleles. However, when costs were included in the model the combination of MAS at the BC1F1 and haploid stage was identified as the optimal strategy. A detailed economic analysis showed that incorporation of marker selection at these two stages not only increased genetic gain over the phenotypic alternative but actually reduced the over all cost by 40%.

Do open-cycle hatcheries relying on tourism conserve sea turtles? Sri Lankan developments and economic-ecological considerations

By combining economic analysis of markets with ecological parameters, this article considers the role that tourism-based sea turtle hatcheries (of an open-cycle type) can play in conserving populations of sea turtles. Background is provided on the nature and development of such hatcheries in Sri Lanka. The modeling facilitates the assessment of the impacts of turtle hatcheries on the conservation of sea turtles and enables the economic and ecological consequences of tourism, based on such hatcheries, to be better appreciated. The results demonstrate that sea turtle hatcheries serving tourists can make a positive contribution to sea turtle conservation, but that their conservation effectiveness depends on the way they are managed. Possible negative effects are also identified. Economic market models are combined with turtle population survival relationships to predict the conservation impact of turtle hatcheries and their consequence for the total economic value obtained from sea turtle populations.

The effect of life expectancy on fertility, saving, schooling and economic growth: theory and evidence

We construct a simple growth model where agents with uncertain survival choose schooling time, life-cycle consumption and the number of children. We show that rising longevity reduces fertility but raises saving, schooling time and the growth rate at a diminishing rate. Cross-section analyses using data from 76 countries support these propositions: life expectancy has a significant positive effect on the saving rate, secondary school enrollment and growth but a significant negative effect on fertility. Through sensitivity analyses, the effect on the saving rate is inconclusive, while the effects on the other variables are robust and consistent. These estimated effects are decreasing in life expectancy. Copyright The editors of the Scandinavian Journal of Economics 2005.

Financial and economic performance of long-rotation hardwood plantation investments in Queensland, Australia

In Queensland, Australia, there is presently a high level of interest in long-rotation hardwood plantation investments for sawlog production, despite the consensus in Australian literature that such investments are not financially viable. Continuing genetics, silviculture and processing research, and increasing awareness about the ecosystem services generated by plantations, are anticipated to make future plantings profitable and socio-economically desirable in many parts of Queensland. Financial and economic models of hardwood plantations in Queensland are developed to test this hypothesis. The economic model accounts for carbon sequestration, salinity amelioration and other ecosystem service values of hardwood plantations. A carbon model estimates the value of carbon sequestered, while salinity and other ecosystem service values are estimated by the benefit transfer method. Where high growth rates (20-25 m(3) ha(-1) year(-1)) are achievable, long-rotation hardwood plantations are profitable in Queensland Hardwood Regions 1, 3 and 7 when rural land values are less than $2300/ha. Under optimistic assumptions, hardwood plantations growing at a rate of 15 in 3 ha-1 year 1 are financially viable in Hardwood Regions 2, 4 and 8, provided land values are less than $1600/ha. The major implication of the economic analysis is that long-rotation hardwood plantation forestry is socio-economically justified in most Hardwood Regions, even though financial returns from timber production may be negative. (c) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.