University of California, Davis

About: University of California, Davis is a education organization based out in Davis, California, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Gene. The organization has 78770 authors who have published 180033 publications receiving 8064158 citations. The organization is also known as: UC Davis & UCD.

An institutional explanation of the democratic peace

Abstract: We examine formally the link between domestic political institutions and policy choices in the context of eight empirical regularities that constitute the democratic peace. We demonstrate that democratic leaders, when faced with war, are more inclined to shift extra resources into the war effort than are autocrats. This follows because the survival of political leaders with larger winning coalitions hinges on successful policy. The extra effort made by democrats provides a military advantage over autocrats. This makes democrats unattractive targets, since their institutional constraints cause them to mobilize resources for the war effort. In addition to trying harder, democrats are more selective in their choice of targets. Because defeat is more likely to lead to domestic replacement for democrats than for autocrats, democrats only initiate wars they expect to win. These two factors lead to the interaction between polities that is often referred to as the democratic peace.

On the Use of Surrogate Species in Conservation Biology

Abstract: Conservation biologists have used surrogate species as a shortcut to monitor or solve conservation problems. Indicator species have been used to assess the magnitude of anthropogenic disturbance, to monitor population trends in other species, and to locate areas of high regional biodiversity. Umbrella species have been used to delineate the type of habitat or size of area for protection, and flagship species have been em- ployed to attract public attention. Unfortunately, there has been considerable confusion over these terms, and several have been applied loosely and interchangeably. We attempt to provide some clarification and guide- lines for the application of these different terms. For each type of surrogate, we briefly describe the way it has been used in conservation biology and then examine the criteria that managers and researchers use in select- ing appropriate surrogate species. By juxtaposing these concepts, it becomes clear that both the goals and se- lection criteria of different surrogate classes differ substantially, indicating that they should not be conflated. This can be facilitated by first outlining the goals of a conservation study, explicitly stating the criteria in- volved in selecting a surrogate species, identifying a species according to these criteria, and then performing a pilot study to check whether the choice of species was appropriate before addressing the conservation prob- lem itself. Surrogate species need to be used with greater care if they are to remain useful in conservation biology.

Association of systemic lupus erythematosus with C8orf13-BLK and ITGAM-ITGAX.

Abstract: Background Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a clinically heterogeneous disease in which the risk of disease is influenced by complex genetic and environmental contributions Alleles of HLA-DRB1, IRF5, and STAT4 are established susceptibility genes; there is strong evidence for the existence of additional risk loci Methods We genotyped more than 500,000 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in DNA samples from 1311 case subjects with SLE and 1783 control subjects; all subjects were North Americans of European descent Genotypes from 1557 additional control subjects were obtained from public data repositories We measured the association between the SNPs and SLE after applying strict quality-control filters to reduce technical artifacts and to correct for the presence of population stratification Replication of the top loci was performed in 793 case subjects and 857 control subjects from Sweden Results Genetic variation in the region upstream from the transcription initiation site of the gene encod

Measuring the Unmeasurable: Urban Design Qualities Related to Walkability

Abstract: This study attempts to comprehensively and objectively measure subjective qualities of the urban street environment. Using ratings from an expert panel, it was possible to measure five urban design qualities in terms of physical characteristics of streets and their edges: imageability, enclosure, human scale, transparency and complexity. The operational definitions do not always comport with the qualitative definitions, and provide new insights into the nature of these urban design qualities. The immediate purpose of this study is to arm researchers with operational definitions they can use to measure the street environment and test for significant associations with walking behaviour. A validation study is currently underway in New York City. Depending on the outcome of this and other follow-up research, the ultimate purpose would be to inform urban design practice.