Arbitration Whack-A-Mole: The Federal Policy Favoring Arbitration Hammers the Rights of Individual Employees

In a country that protects the plaintiff\u27s right to a day in court, it only seems natural that Sally should have the opportunity to take her cause to the courthouse. But the strong fedral presumption that supports the enforcement of arbitration provisions is like a hammber that pushes plaintiffs like Sally and those if Huffman into the arbitration arena. In Huffman, the Sixth Circuit rescued an employwer from an ambiguous arbitration provision contained in the employer-drafted employment agreement and enforced the arbitration provision as one of the provisions to survive expiration of the contract, even though it was not listed in the survival clause

Justice, Rights, and Capabilities

My investigation of the capabilities approach as a burgeoning theory of global justice underlies the integrated-article format of this thesis, where each chapter treats a discrete but related problem. In Chapter One I survey the rapidly growing philosophical literature on global justice, focusing on contemporary rights-based approaches. I defend capabilities as central to global justice because justice demands that individuals be well positioned to enjoy the prospects of a decent life, measured by how well individuals are actually able to convert resources and opportunities into valuable functionings. In Chapter Two I explore what I take to be the most promising alternative philosophical approach to addressing pressing global challenges in terms of justice: the ethics of care. Just as capabilities help enrich and flesh out the depth and reach rights have, making capabilities a conceptually rich ally of rights, I argue rights signify a powerful ally to an increasingly global ethic of care. In Chapter Three I consider the as yet under examined connection between rights and well-being by exploring Sen’s pioneering work on capabilities. Capabilities provide us with an appropriate measurement for justice to the extent that the rights and well-being of individuals leave them empowered to enjoy a life of dignity that has at least a minimum set of opportunities. In Chapter Four I consider Hugo Grotius’s theory of rights as an important historical basis for developing a capability-based theory of global justice. In Chapter Five I argue that the status and treatment of nonhuman animals is not and cannot be a matter of justice within the structure of John Rawls’s theory, making it inadequate to this extent. I defend capabilities theory as better able to account for why the treatment of nonhuman animals is a matter of justice

Exploring a Mechanistic Approach to Experimentation in Computing

The mechanistic approach in philosophy of science contributes to our understanding of experimental design. Applying the mechanistic approach to experimentation in computing is beneficial for two reasons. It connects the methodology of experimentation in computing with the methodology of experimentation in established sciences, thereby strengthening the scientific reputability of computing and the quality of experimental design therein. Furthermore, it pinpoints the idiosyncrasies of experimentation in computing: computing deals closely with both natural and engineered mechanisms. Better understanding of the idiosyncrasies, which manifest in terms of a nonstandard role for experimentation, are interesting both for computer scientists and for philosophers of science. Computer scientists can think more clearly about their experimental choices. The role of experimentation elucidated by computer science merits further study from philosophers of science generally, as it highlights a role for experimentation hitherto unrecognized by philosophers: demonstration that activities exist

Muzeji, socioekološko razmišljanje in aktivistične pedagogike domišljije

This article explores the complex, “contact zone” nature of museums within the context of the current environmental crisis threatening our planet. Historically and even today, museums have engaged in a practice of “monocultural” thinking which is mired in a pretext to neutrality that has advanced the patriarchal capitalist neoliberal status quo and maintained a vision of a human/non-human binary of power, dominance, and control. However, there is also growing evidence that museums are shifting their approaches. Focusing on examples from Canada, we discuss how museums are using exhibitions and pedagogical and community outreach strategies to render visible deeply problematic and global “technofossil” practices, encourage activism through aesthetic engagement, encourage dialogue between community and industry as well as engage in imaginative decolonising initiatives that remap our understandings of who we are and where we need to go. We argue that in taking up environmental issues in politically intentional ways, museums create “oppositional views” that act as pedagogical sites of resistance.Preučujemo kompleksno naravo muzejev kot »območij stika« v kontekstu okoljske krize, ki ogroža naš planet. V preteklosti je v muzejih obstajala in tudi zdaj obstaja praksa »monokulturnega« razmišljanja, ki se izdaja za nevtralno, pravzaprav pa podpira patriarhalno kapitalistični in neoliberalni status quo ter ohranja binarij med človeškim in nečloveškim na področju delitve moči, prevlade in nadzora. Vendar pa vse več muzejev spreminja svoj pristop. Osredotočamo se na muzeje v Kanadi, ki z razstavami, pedagoškimi strategijami in vključevanjem lokalnih skupnosti omogočajo prepoznavanje globoko problematičnih globalnih praks »tehnofosilov«. Aktivizem spodbujajo tako, da obiskovalca estetsko pritegnejo, krepijo dialog med skupnostjo in industrijo ter se ukvarjajo z iznajdljivimi pristopi do dekolonizacije, ki na novo rišejo zemljevid našega razumevanja tega, kdo smo in kam gremo. Muzeji, ki intencionalno in politično obravnavajo vprašanja okoljevarstvene problematike, ustvarjajo »opozicijske poglede« in s tem pedagoška prizorišča upora

Correlating domain registrations and DNS first activity in general and for malware

From the date that a domain name is registered with a registrar, there should be a pattern in the amount of time it takes for that domain to be actively resolved on the Internet. We first attempt to describe that pattern in general terms by correlating data from registries for several top-level domains and a large passive DNS data source. This pattern is then used as a baseline for a comparison with the pattern of activity in domains that malicious software utilizes. While our quantitative results are not to be considered representative of the patterns exhibited by all types of malware, the malicious domains are found to have a significantly different pattern than the standard domains

Long-term Tennis Participation and Health Outcomes: An Investigation of “Lifetime” Activities

International Journal of Exercise Science 13(7): 1251-1261, 2020. Lifetime sports, such as tennis, provide opportunities for participation throughout the lifespan and has been linked with lower risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, and depression. The objective of this study was to consider the influence of chronic tennis participation on various parameters of health. Members of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) completed a survey consisting of questions from International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), Satisfaction With Life Survey (SWLS), and specific tennis participation questions. Descriptive characteristics were calculated for all variables and a chi-squared analysis was used to compare prevalence of health variables of this sample and recent BRFSS data. Compared to the BRFSS greater proportion of study participants 45yrs and older frequently reported being in good or better health (χ2=7.946, p = 0.005); lower obesity rates (χ2=19.92, p = 0.0001); and a lower prevalence of heart disease than those of similar age who completed BRFSS (χ2= 8.759, p = 0.003). This study highlights the importance of activities that continue throughout the lifespan such as tennis

Reward Value of Cigarette Smoking for Comparably Heavy Smoking Schizophrenic, Depressed, and Nonpatient Smokers

Objective: The study goal was to determine whether schizophrenic and depressed smokers perceive the reinforcement value of cigarette smoking differently from nonpsychiatric smokers who smoke as heavily. Method: The authors assessed the preferences for smoking cigarettes versus engaging in other pleasant activities, the perceived advantages and disadvantages of smoking, and the amount of reinforcement that would be needed to attain smoking abstinence among 26 schizophrenic, 26 depressed, and 26 nonpsychiatric heavy smokers. Results: Both schizophrenic and depressed participants chose smoking as their preferred activity more often than nonpsychiatric smokers, and they did not differ from each other. The patients also exceeded the comparison group in the benefits they ascribed to smoking and felt they would require more incentives to quit, but they attributed comparable drawbacks to smoking. Conclusions: Schizophrenic and depressed smokers recognize many drawbacks associated with smoking, but compared to nonpatients who smoke as heavily, they also perceive more benefits and find cigarettes more appealing than alternative rewards. The heightened reward value of smoking warrants attention in tailoring tobacco control interventions for schizophrenic and depressed smokers

A natural carbohydrate fraction Actigen™ from Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell wall: effects on goblet cells, gut morphology and performance of broiler chickens

A study was conducted to evaluate a natural carbohydrate fraction Actigen™ (NCF), derived from mannanoligosaccharide, in feed on growth performance, intestinal morphology and goblet cell number and area of male broilers'. Dietary treatments included: 1) control diet (antibiotic and NCF free), 2) NCF at 200g/t, 3) NCF at 400g/t, and 4) NCF 800g/t. Two hundred and forty birds were placed into 12 replicate pens per treatment (5 birds/pen), sixty birds per treatment. Body weight and feed intake were recorded weekly up to day 42. At this time a 2.5cm section of jejunum and duodenum were excised post mortem for morphological analysis. Birds fed 200g/t and 800g/t NCF were significantly (P<0.01) heavier from day 14 onwards than the control birds. Feed intake was significantly higher in birds fed 200g/t NCF compared to those fed the control at 21 and 35 days (P<0.05). Diets containing 200g/t and 800g/t of NCF significantly decreased broiler feed conversion ratio (FCR) compared to the control in the first phase (1-14 days) (P<0.01) and levels of NCF decreased FCR (P<0.05) in the second phase (15-28 days). NCF had no significant effect on villus height, villus width, crypt depth or villus to crypt ratio in either duodenum or jejunum. NCF did not significantly affect goblet cell area or goblet cell number in the duodenum, however, in the jejunum, 800g/t NCF significantly (P<0.05) increased goblet cell area over the control. In conclusion, NCF showed a positive effect on broiler performance in the starter and grower phases, and increased goblet cell area in the jejunum, suggesting higher levels of mucin production. This indicated that the performance benefit of NCF could be age-dependent, with younger birds responding more than the older ones. There were no additional benefits to performance when feeding NCF for a longer period (after 28 d of age), however it is postulated that birds fed NCF would have greater defence to pathogenic challenge through increased storage capacity of muci

History of Depression and Smoking Cessation Outcome: A Meta-Analysis

The authors conducted a meta-analysis of published studies to (a) evaluate the premise that a history of major depression is associated with failure to quit smoking and (b) identify factors that moderate the relationship between history of depression and cessation outcome. Fifteen studies met the selection requirements and were coded for various study methodology and treatment characteristics. DSTAT was used to calculate individual study effect sizes, determine the mean effect size across studies, and test for moderator effects. No differences in either short-term (≤ 3 months) or long-term abstinence rates (≥ 6 months) were observed between smokers positive versus negative for history of depression. Lifetime history of major depression does not appear to be an independent risk factor for cessation failure in smoking cessation treatment

The effects of dietary mannaoligosaccharides on cecal parameters and the concentrations of enteric bacteria in the ceca of salmonella-challenged broiler chicks

The ability of different enteric pathogens and coliforms to trigger agglutination of yeast cells (Saccharomyces cerevisiae, NCYC 1026) and a yeast cell wall preparation (MOS) was examined. Five of seven strains of Escherichia coli and 7 of 10 strains of Salmonella typhimurium and Salmonella enteritidis agglutinated MOS and Sac. cerevisiae cells. Strains of Salmonella choleraesuis, Salmonella pullorum, and Campylobacter did not lead to agglutination. Two strains that agglutinated MOS (S. typhimurium 29E and Salmonella dublin) and one nonagglutinating strain (S. typhimurium 27A) were selected as challenge organisms for in vivo studies in chicks under controlled conditions. In a series of three trials in which 3-d-old chicks were orally challenged with 10(4) cfu of S. typhimurium 29E, birds receiving 4,000 ppm of dietary MOS had reduced cecal S. typhimurium 29E concentrations (5.40 vs 4.01 log cfu/ g; P < 0.05) at Day 10. In a second series of three trials with S. dublin as challenge organism, the number of birds that tested salmonella positive in the ceca at Day 10 was less when MOS was part of the diet (90 vs 56%; P < 0.05). To test the effect of MOS on concentrations of bacteria that do not express Type 1 fimbriae, a challenge trial was conducted with S. typhimurium 27A. However, strain 27A did not colonize the birds sufficiently to evaluate whether MOS affected its cecal concentration. Mannanoligosaccharide did not significantly reduce the concentrations of cecal coliforms (P < 0.10) although they were numerically lower. It had no effect on cecal concentrations of lactobacilli, enterococci, anaerobic bacteria, lactate, volatile fatty acid, or cecal p