Drift from the use of handheld knapsack pesticide sprayers in Boyacá (Colombian Andes)

Offsite pesticide losses in tropical mountainous regions have been little studied. One example is measuring pesticide drift soil deposition, which can support pesticide risk assessment for surface water, soil, bystanders, off target plants and fauna. This is considered a serious gap, given the evidence of pesticide-related poisoning in those regions. Empirical data of drift deposition of a pesticide surrogate, Uranine tracer, within one of the highest potato producing regions in Colombia, characterized by small plots and mountain orography, is presented. High drift values encountered in our study reflect the actual spray conditions using handled knapsack sprayers. Comparison between measured and predicted drift values using three existing empirical equations showed important underestimation. However, after their optimization based on measured drift information, the equations showed a strong predictive power for this study area and the study conditions. The most suitable curve to assess mean relative drift was the IMAG calculator after optimization.

Unraveling an antique subduction process from metamorphic basement around Medellin city, Central Cordillera of Colombian Andes

In the surroundings of Caldas and El Retiro cities (Colombia) metamorphic rocks derived from basic and pelitic protoliths comprise the Caldas amphibole schist and the Ancon schist respectively. Subordinated metamorphosed granite bodies (La Miel gneiss) are associated to these units, and The El Retiro amphibolites, migmatites and granulites crops out eastwards of these units, separated by shear zones. The Caldas amphibole schist and the Ancon schist protoliths could have been formed in a distal marine reduced environment and amalgamated to the South American continent in an apparent Triassic subduction event. The El Retiro rocks are akin to a continental basement and possible include impure metasediments of continental margin, whose metamorphism originated granulite facies rocks and migmatites as a result of the anatexis of quartz-feldspathic rocks. The metamorphism was accompanied by intense deformation, which has juxtaposed both migmatites and granulite blocks. Afterward, heat and fluid circulation associated with the emplacement of minor igneous intrusions resulted in intense fluid-rock interaction, variations in the grain size of the minerals and, especially, intense retrograde metamorphic re-equilibrium. Thermobarometric estimations for the Caldas amphibole schist indicate metamorphism in the Barrovian amphibolite fades. The metamorphic path is counter-clockwise, but retrograde evolution could not be precisely defined. The pressures of the metamorphism in these rocks range from 6.3 to 13.5 kbar, with narrow temperature ranging from 550 to 630 degrees C. For the Ancon schist metapelites the P-T path is also counter-clockwise, with a temperature increase evidenced by the occurrence of sillimanite and the cooling by later kyanite. The progressive metamorphism event occurred at pressures of 7.6-7.2 kbar and temperatures of 645-635 degrees C for one sample and temperature between 500 and 600 degrees C under constant pressure of 6 kbar. The temperature estimated for these rocks varies between 400 and 555 degrees C at pressures of 5-6 kbar in the retrograde metamorphic path. The El Retiro rocks evidence strong decompression with narrow variation in temperature, showing pressure values between 8.7 and 2.7 kbar at temperatures of 740-633 degrees C. These metamorphic fragments of the basement in the Central Cordillera of the Colombian Andes could represent a close relationship with an antique subduction zone. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Graduate School and University Center Archives Finding Aid - Record Group V-D: Presidents' Files: Kelly

This is part of the finding aid to the Graduate School and University Center (GSUC) Archives. Record Group V-D is the papers of William P. Kelly from when he was president of the GSUC (2005-2013).

Graduate School and University Center Archives Finding Aid - Record Group V-C: Presidents' Files: Horowitz

This is part of the finding aid to the Graduate School and University Center (GSUC) Archives. Record Group V-C is the papers of Frances Degen Horowitz from when she was president of the GSUC (1991-2005).

Graduate School and University Center Archives Finding Aid - Record Group V-B: Presidents' Files: Proshansky

This is part of the finding aid to the Graduate School and University Center (GSUC) Archives. Record Group V-B is the papers of Harold M. Proshansky from when he was president of the GSUC (1972-1990).

Graduate School and University Center Archives Finding Aid - Record Group V-A: Presidents' Files: Rees

This is part of the finding aid to the Graduate School and University Center (GSUC) Archives. Record Group V-A is the papers of Mina S. Rees from when she was president of the GSUC (1969-1972).

Graduate School and University Center Archives Finding Aid - Record Group V: Presidents' Files

This is part of the finding aid to the Graduate School and University Center (GSUC) Archives. Record Group V explains the record groups in the "Presidents' Files" series.

Presidents, assemblies, and accountability

Much research has explored the relationship between economics and elections, and scholars have begun to explore how institutions mediate that link. However, the relationship between presidential institutions and electoral accountability remains largely unexplored in comparative politics. Because voters in presidential systems can cast votes for executive and legislative elections separately, we have good reasons to suspect that the institutions of presidentialism might generate different forms or degrees of accountability than parliamentarism. Powell and Whitten (1993) suggest that the partisan or institutional “clarity of responsibility” might mediate the relationship between economics and elections: when responsibility for outcomes is clear, the relationship should be strong, and vice-versa. I develop this notion for use in presidential systems, and explore executive and legislative elections in 24 countries. The results indicate that economics always influences the incumbent vote in executive elections, regardless of the partisan or institutional clarity of responsibility. Economics also affects vote swings in legislative elections, but the institutional clarity of responsibility does mediate this relationship: legislative accountability for national economic outcomes is lowest when clarity of responsibility is highest, a situation that arises when the president is relatively more powerful and the bases for electing legislators and the president differ. By providing an empirical basis for a discussion of accountability under presidentialism, these findings contribute to important debates in comparative politics.

Detection of bovine herpesvirus 5 (BoHV-5) in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded bovine brain by nested PCR in Colombian cattle

Fifteen cases of viral meningoencephalitis in Colombian cattle were tested by nested PCR analysis for the detection of bovine herpesvirus 5 (BoHV-5). All fatal cases had shown severe neurological signs and had occurred following natural outbreaks of the disease. The neurological infection was histologically characterized by mild to moderate inflammatory changes in the brain and cerebellum, including meningitis, mononuclear perivascular cuffing, gliosis, haemorrhage, and the presence of Gitter cells (macrophages) accompanying large areas of malacia. No intranuclear inclusion bodies were seen in any of the cases. Results from BoHV-5 molecular extraction analyses showed there were five positive cases thus confirming the presence of the virus in Colombia.

Highly polymorphic in silico-derived microsatellite loci in the potato-infecting fungal pathogen Rhizoctonia solani anastomosis group 3 from the Colombian Andes

Fourteen polymorphic microsatellite DNA markers derived from the draft genome sequence of Rhizoctonia solani anastomosis group 3 (AG-3), strain Rhs 1AP, were designed and characterized from the potato-infecting soil fungus R. solani AG-3. All loci were polymorphic in two field populations collected from Solanum tuberosum and S. phureja in the Colombian Andes. The total number of alleles per locus ranged from two to seven, while gene diversity (expected heterozygosity) varied from 0.11 to 0.81. Considering the variable levels of genetic diversity observed, these markers should be useful for population genetic analyses of this important dikaryotic fungal pathogen on a global scale.

Growth Curves and Genetic Parameters in Colombian Buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis Artiodactyla, Bovidae)

Non-linear mathematical functions proposed by Brody, Gompertz, Richards, Bertalanffy and Verhulst were compared in several buffalo production systems in Colombia. Herds were located in three provinces: Antioquia, Caldas, and Cordoba. Growth was better described by the curves proposed by Brody and Gompertz. Using the datasets from herds from Caldas, heritabilities for traits such as weaning weight (WW), weight and maturity at one year of age (WY and MY, respectively), age at 50% and 75% of maturity (A50% and A75%, respectively), adult weight (beta(0)), and other characteristics, were also estimated. Direct and maternal heritabilities for WW were 0.19 and 0.12, respectively. Direct heritabilities for WY, MY, A50%, A75% and beta(0) were 0.39, 0.15, 0.09, 0.20 and 0.09, respectively. The genetic correlation for beta(0) and WY was -0.47, indicating that selection for heavy weight at one year of age will lead to lower weight at adult age. These data suggest that selection based on maturity traits can generate changes in characteristics of economic importance in beef-type buffalo farms.