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Threat Assessment (threat + assessment)
Selected AbstractsINDIRECT GENETIC EFFECTS INFLUENCE ANTIPREDATOR BEHAVIOR IN GUPPIES: ESTIMATES OF THE COEFFICIENT OF INTERACTION PSI AND THE INHERITANCE OF RECIPROCITYEVOLUTION, Issue 7 2009Bronwyn H. Bleakley How and why cooperation evolves, particularly among nonrelatives, remains a major paradox for evolutionary biologists and behavioral ecologists. Although much attention has focused on fitness consequences associated with cooperating, relatively little is known about the second component of evolutionary change, the inheritance of cooperation or reciprocity. The genetics of behaviors that can only be expressed in the context of interactions are particularly difficult to describe because the relevant genes reside in multiple social partners. Indirect genetic effects (IGEs) describe the influence of genes carried in social partners on the phenotype of a focal individual and thus provide a novel approach to quantifying the genetics underlying interactions such as reciprocal cooperation. We used inbred lines of guppies and a novel application of IGE theory to describe the dual genetic control of predator inspection and social behavior, both classic models of reciprocity. We identified effects of focal strain, social group strain, and interactions between focal and group strains on variation in focal behavior. We measured ,, the coefficient of the interaction, which describes the degree to which an individual's phenotype is influenced by the phenotype of its social partners. The genetic identity of social partners substantially influences inspection behavior, measures of threat assessment, and schooling and does so in positively reinforcing manner. We therefore demonstrate strong IGEs for antipredator behavior that represent the genetic variation necessary for the evolution of reciprocity. [source] Perception and Politics in Intelligence Assessment: U.S. Estimates of the Soviet and "Rogue-State" Nuclear ThreatsINTERNATIONAL STUDIES PERSPECTIVES, Issue 4 2009James H. Lebovic United States estimates of Soviet nuclear goals and capabilities and the current "rogue-state" nuclear threat reflected prevailing beliefs about threat within the U.S. government and the relative influence of agencies charged with threat assessment. This article establishes that the patterns in formal Soviet threat assessment: (i) did not reflect a uniform response to "external threat," (ii) were inevitably tied to underlying assumptions about adversary intent, and (iii) were susceptible then to perceptual, organizational, and/or political influences within government. Thus, threat assessments reflected the optimism and pessimism,and political interests and ideologies,of those who participated in the estimating process. The article concludes by examining these lessons in light of the experiences and challenges of assessing threat from small states harboring nuclear ambitions. [source] Site-specific percutaneous absorption of methyl salicylate and VX in domestic swineJOURNAL OF APPLIED TOXICOLOGY, Issue 3 2002E. J. Scott Duncan Abstract The site specificity of the percutaneous absorption of methyl salicylate (MeS) and the organophosphate nerve agent VX (O -ethyl S -(2-diisopropylaminoethyl) methylphosphonothioate) was examined in anaesthetized domestic swine that were fully instrumented for physiological endpoints. Four different anatomical sites (ear, perineum, inguinal crease and epigastrium) were exposed to the MeS and the serum levels were measured over a 6-h time period. The dose absorbed at the ear region was 11 ,g cm,2 with an initial flux of 0.063 ,g cm,2min,1, whereas at the epigastrium region the dose absorbed was 3 ,g cm,2 with an initial flux of 0.025 ,g cm,2min,1. For this reason further studies were carried out with VX on the ear and the epigastrium only. In animals treated with agent on the epigastrium, blood cholinesterase (ChE) activity began to drop 90 min after application and continued to decline at a constant rate for the remainder of the experiment to ca. 25% of awake control activity. At this time there were negligible signs of poisoning and the medical prognosis was judged to be good. In contrast, the ChE activity in animals receiving VX on the ear decreased to 25% of awake control values within 45 min and levelled out at 5,6% by 120 min. Clinical signs of VX poisoning paralleled the ChE inhibition, progressing in severity over the duration of the exposure. It was judged that these animals would not survive. The dramatic site dependence of agent absorption leading to vastly different toxicological endpoints demonstrated in this model system has important ramifications for chemical protective suit development, threat assessment, medical countermeasures and contamination control protocols. Copyright © 2002 Crown in the right of Canada. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Classifying simulated air threats with fast and frugal heuristicsJOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL DECISION MAKING, Issue 1 2007David J. Bryant Abstract In three experiments, subjects learned to classify simulated aircraft using four probabilistic cues then classified test sets designed to contrast predictions of several compensatory and non-compensatory heuristics. Results indicated that a proportion of subjects appeared to use a non-compensatory fast and frugal heuristic but that significant proportions used less frugal compensatory decision rules. The relative proportions of subjects exhibiting responses consistent with the fast and frugal heuristic versus other decision rules was largely unaffected by manipulations of time pressure and perceived cue uncertainty. An extreme time constraint, however, did result in significant differences in the proportions of subjects who preferred non-compensatory to compensatory decision rules. These results suggest that it is possible to model multi-attribute decision tasks like threat assessment with a fast and frugal heuristic although no single heuristic is a general model for the simulated threat assessment task. Copyright © 2006 Crown in the right of Canada. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Assessment of violence potential among school children: Beyond profilingPSYCHOLOGY IN THE SCHOOLS, Issue 3 2001Matthew K. Burns The increasing level of public attention to violence in American schools makes the issue a top priority among educators. School psychologists could play an important role in identifying at-risk youth, and planning appropriate individual, school, and community interventions related to school violence. However, there is limited literature examining different assessment approaches that could be used to evaluate student risk for violence. This article reviews (a) characteristics of students "at risk" for violence, (b) informal checklists and matching student characteristics to profiles of typical violent students and (c) threat assessment based on Borum et al.'s (1999) model. Ethical and legal considerations are covered as well. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons. Inc. [source] Assessing violence risk in Tarasoff situations: a fact-based model of inquiry,BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES & THE LAW, Issue 3 2001Randy Borum Psy.D. Although significant advances in risk assessment research and practice have been made in recent years, there has not been any analysis in the professional literature regarding how and whether the emerging practice recommendations apply in Tarasoff -type situations. We suggest that, when faced with a Tarasoff -type situation, the appraisal of risk should be guided by a method that is primarily fact-based and deductive, rather than by the more inductive risk assessment approach for general violence recidivism, which is guided primarily by base rates and historical risk factors. We review the principles underlying a fact-based, or threat assessment, approach and outline six areas of inquiry that can guide the appraisal of risk: A,attitudes that support or facilitate violence, C,capacity, T,thresholds crossed, I,intent, O,other's reactions, and N,noncompliance with risk reduction interventions. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The changing landscape of European liberty and security: the mid-term report of the CHALLENGE projectINTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SCIENCE JOURNAL, Issue 192 2008Didier Bigo The article offers a critical assessment of the liberties of citizens and others living in the EU and the way in which they are affected by the proliferation of discourses about insecurity, and government and transnational agencies practices of reassurance, protection and coercion enacted in the name of the safety of citizen or their collective security, in which information about their identity is exchanged through new techniques of surveillance and control. It analyses first the apparent radicalisationisation of specific forms of transnational political violence and its effects on liberal policies. Next it assesses the threat assessments produced through technologies of risk management and the development of new technologies of surveillance. Third it describes the changing forms taken by the logic of suspicion and practices of exception and derogation, especially in relation to established understandings of the rule of law, to the multidimensional and continuous reframing of the enemy. It then discusses the impact of this on the rights and freedoms of citizens and foreigners, and finally it assesses the relation between the internal and external impact of illiberal practices, especially in the context of transatlantic relations but also of an increasingly interconnected world order, and the place of the EU in this world. [source] Perception and Politics in Intelligence Assessment: U.S. Estimates of the Soviet and "Rogue-State" Nuclear ThreatsINTERNATIONAL STUDIES PERSPECTIVES, Issue 4 2009James H. Lebovic United States estimates of Soviet nuclear goals and capabilities and the current "rogue-state" nuclear threat reflected prevailing beliefs about threat within the U.S. government and the relative influence of agencies charged with threat assessment. This article establishes that the patterns in formal Soviet threat assessment: (i) did not reflect a uniform response to "external threat," (ii) were inevitably tied to underlying assumptions about adversary intent, and (iii) were susceptible then to perceptual, organizational, and/or political influences within government. Thus, threat assessments reflected the optimism and pessimism,and political interests and ideologies,of those who participated in the estimating process. The article concludes by examining these lessons in light of the experiences and challenges of assessing threat from small states harboring nuclear ambitions. [source] Incidental catch of marine turtles by Italian trawlers and longliners in the central MediterraneanAQUATIC CONSERVATION: MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS, Issue 7 2007Paolo Casale Abstract 1.The fishing effort and turtle catch of vessels harbouring at Lampedusa island and fishing in the wider central Mediterranean area was monitored using a voluntary logbook programme. Two large trawlers were monitored between 2003 and 2005 and six small vessels using trawl nets, pelagic longline or bottom longline were monitored in the summer 2005. 2.The observed turtle catch rates of pelagic longline and bottom trawl were among the highest recorded in the basin, and high catch rates by bottom longline were observed too. This suggests that the area contains major oceanic and neritic habitats for the loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta in the Mediterranean Sea. 3.When fishing effort is considered, these results suggest a very high number of captures by Italian trawlers and longliners in the area, as well as by fleets from other countries. This is reason of concern for the conservation of the loggerhead turtle within the Mediterranean Sea. 4.Different fishing gear have different technical/operational characteristics affecting turtle catch and mortality and the present knowledge about associated parameters of these gear varies too. 5.All this considered, specific actions are recommended: (i) an awareness campaign to fishermen to reduce post-release mortality, (ii) technical modifications to pelagic longline gear to reduce turtle catch, (iii) further investigation into turtle bycatch in all fishing gear, with priority given to bottom longline fishing and quantification of mortality caused by trawlers, (iv) assessment of the turtle populations affected by fishing activity in the area, and (v) international cooperation in undertaking threat assessments, and implementing regulations, management measures and monitoring. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | |||||||||||||