Compensation as the moral foundation of Jus Post Bellum

Given how much harm can be done after the fighting part of wars end, and given recent failures to secure lasting peace after conflicts (e.g. in Afghanistan and Iraq), developing an account of the conditions of a just peace, or jus post bellum, is crucial. Unfortunately, jus post bellum has long been largely ignored by just war theorists. In this dissertation, I present and briefly defend a theory of what morality requires of us after a war, according to which the arrangements that we commonly think parties formerly at war are morally required to institute are actually just the best ways for those parties to compensate each other for the warrelated injustices they have exposed each other to. I call this the compensation theory of jus post bellum. Part of this theory is the claim, which I briefly defend, that any time we violate someone's moral rights, morality requires us to compensate our victims, even if we did so during a war, and were overall morally justified in doing so. By being clear on the moral foundations of jus post bellum, the compensation theory of jus post bellum is helpful both in evaluating the morality of peace settlements, and in settling conflict between competing postwar arrangements. While it focuses on what parties to a war owe each other once the war is over, the compensation theory of jus post bellum does not rule out the possibility that a just peace is everyone's concern. Indeed, parties not involved in a war may well have a moral duty to help prevent harm after the war has ended, or to ensure that the compensation that the compensation theory of jus post bellum claims is owed is given. What these universal duties are is a promising area for future research. If true, the compensation theory of jus post bellum has some interesting implications for what morality demands of states during wars, as well as for what international law (which should at least partly reflect morality) should look like. First, it entails that a just peace may require just victors to compensate their defeated opponents. Given that even states that go to war justly do not always fight justly, and that wars almost inevitably involve harm to bystanders and innocents, this should not be too surprising. But it bears repeating, as just victors have a tendency to think that they owe their enemies little. Second, the compensation theory of jus post bellum entails that attempts to overpower one's enemy with superior firepower is morally costly. This is because such attempts typically involve innocents being exposed to collateral damage, which they then have to be compensated for. More measured, targeted strategies are morally preferred. Lastly, accepting the compensation theory of jus post bellum means paying much more attention to what countries at war do to their own citizens. Wartime emergency measures are common, and can be horrific. Unfortunately, they are sometimes treated as an internal, political issue, rather than an issue of wartime justice, on par with the other principles of just war. According to the compensation theory of jus post bellum, internal wartime measures that infringe rights are wartime injustices like any other, and the victims of such measures are owed compensation for their injustices. Compensating for such injustices, and preventing future ones, is thus not merely a matter of politics or social stability, but a matter of justice

The Stigmatization of Disabilities in Africa and the Developmental Effects

Stigmatization still exists in large scale and leads to exclusion and continued poverty and poor standard of life for persons with disabilities, especially for those living in Africa. The main cause of stigmatization in Africa is a lack of education about disabilities and the needs of persons with disabilities. The unknown creates fear in society and exclusion for persons with disabilities, prohibiting them from obtaining decent education, proper health care and having access to jobs and financial support. Since the Convention for the Rights of Disabled Persons (CRPD) in 2006 societal education has been supplemented by implementation of development programs as a means of inclusion in education, health and employment programs, but there is still a ways to go. There is a gap between many countries’ ratification of the CRPD and execution of these programs. Those who are working for inclusion are primarily specialized organizations and NGOs. Issues faced by persons with disabilities need to be mainstreamed for true change to occur. This comes in the form of the Post 2015 Millennium Development Goals, which still do not fully acknowledge the marginalization of persons with disabilities. The focus needs to be on specific programs and assessments and better coordination between international and national governments

Alien plant species in the protected landscape area of the Odra river meanders: habitat preferences and threats

The protected landscape area of ÑThe Odra River Meandersî is located in the south-west part of the province of Silesia, along the Odra river, on the border with the Czech Republic. This meandering fragment of the Odra river is one of the few places in Europe where natural geomorphological processes are still preserved. During botanical investigations, the occurrence of 363 vascular plant species was confirmed, including 95 species of alien origin. The participation of archaeophytes was 12%, kenophytes 10% and diaphytes 4%. A high participation of these groups of species was noted in habitats transformed by human activities, such as fields, roadsides and hedges, as well as in natural ones, such as steep escarpments and gravel sandbanks which have been shaped by the dynamic flow of the river. The first group of habitats was characterised by the highest proportion of archaeophytes, whereas in more natural habitats, the ascendancy of kenophytes (= neophytes) over older adventives was noted, e.g. the most common and widespread in this area were species from the Reynoutria (Fallopia) genus. The number of alien species in each habitat type was quite high and ranged from 1 to 62

Neural prediction of cows’ milk yield according to environment temperature

Medium and maximum air temperatures around the milk cowsheds were measured and these empirical data were used to create a neural prediction model evaluating the cows’ milk yield under varying thermal conditions. We found out that artificial neural networks were an effective tool supporting the process of short-term milk yield forecasting. An analysis of sensitivity to input variables performed for the generated neural model allowed for identifying the dominant input variable for the proposed neural model. The dominant variable was the maximum temperature of the day, a key risk factor of the heat stress in cows.Keywords: Neural modeling, milk yield, cows, heat stress, prediction.African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(29), pp. 4707-471

A combination of transposable elements and magnetic cell sorting provides a very efficient transgenesis system for chicken primary erythroid progenitors

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Stable transgenesis is an undeniable key to understanding any genetic system. Retrovirus-based insertional strategies, which feature several technical challenges when they are used, are often limited to one particular species, and even sometimes to a particular cell type as the infection depends on certain cellular receptors. A universal-like system, which would allow both stable transgene expression independent of the cell type and an efficient sorting of transfected cells, is required when handling cellular models that are incompatible with retroviral strategies.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We report here on the combination of a stable insertional transgenesis technique, based on the Tol2 transposon system together with the magnetic cell sorting (MACS) technique, which allows specific selection of cells carrying the transgene in an efficient, reliable and rapid way.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This new Tol2/MACS system leads to stable expression in a culture of primary chicken erythroid cells highly enriched in cells expressing the transgene of interest. This system could be used in a wide variety of vertebrate species.</p

Allergenic invasive plant Ambrosia artemisiifolia in Poland : threat and selected aspects of biology

The study presents the current state of research on Ambrosia artemisiifolia in Poland within its wider scientific background and gives the results of some field and laboratory investigations. This annual plant is characterised by a high level of production of seeds, easily dispersed by different vectors. Ragweed pollen is a strong allergen considered to be one of the most dangerous pollen allergens in the world. Being a serious hazard to human health, it is also considered as an Ñenvironmental weedî causing economic threat. The main aim of the study is to verify the status of the species in the flora of Poland, to assess the threat and discuss possibilities to prevent its future spread

The combined effect of surface texturing and DLC coating on the functional properties of internal combustion engines

A reduction in frictional loss is an important aspect of efficiency in high-performance internal combustion engines. This can be achieved by the well-designed surface texturing of the cylinder bore, which can reduce friction at the ring/bore interface. In this work, dimples were created using plastic deformation on the cylinder surfaces of high-performance motorcycle engines. Prior to texturing, these cylinders had Nikasil coating. One cylinder was subjected to the deposition of DLC coating and then surface texturing. The results of the functional performance of internal combustion engines with textured cylinder surfaces were compared to untextured ones. The engine performance was analysed in terms of maximum power and maximum torque output. The results showed that cylinder surface texturing improved the functional properties of internal combustion engines. The maximum power increased by up to 5.8%. Best performance was achieved for internal combustion engines with textured cylinders and DLC coating. Such surface modification allows the powering of the motorbike with higher maximum speed and provides better vehicle dynamics at high speeds

Back pain as a lifestyle disease

The frequency in which back pain is diagnosed and treated has markedly increased in the recent years. At present, back pain and dysfunction syndrome is becoming a lifestyle disease, along with hypertension and diabetes. It affects more and more people. Low back pain is currently one of the most common complaints with which patients report to the doctor, including a primary care physician. Depending on the affected part of the spinal motion segment, we can distinguish: discogenic pain, radicular pain, facet joint pain and muscle pain. Unambiguous determination of its aetiology is generally difficult since, usually, several overlapping pathologies are involved. The aim of this paper is to draw attention to the problems associated with back pain and the complexity of its pathomechanism as treatment is adjusted to the site of pathology. This article is based on data from international, broadly cited literature on spinal dysfunctions. Back pain is not usually a very severe condition and can be treated conservatively in most cases. Despite this, it affects a vast number of people and constitutes a considerable financial burden for the state budget. This is associated with costs of medical procedures, but most of all, with absence at work and early opinions of incapacity for work

Influence of argon pollution on the weld surface morphology

In this paper the surfaces of butt welded joints in steel tubes were analyzed using an optical 3D measurement system to determine the morphology and topographic parameters. It was established that pollution of the argon shield gas with oxygen did not influence the width of the heat-affected zone. However, the composition of the shield gas significantly influenced the surface asymmetry, Ssk, and its inclination Sku. The measurement of these parameters enabled the selection of a higher quality surface, which was visually proven by the reduction in discoloration of the surface of the weld joint. High quality surfaces eliminate a potential habitat for bacteria and a future source of corrosion as well as providing less resistance to fluid flow