The Unborn Victims of Violence Act: Expanding a Neoliberal, Carceral State

Fetal-protection laws, such as the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, are a contemporary means of upholding and spreading the neoliberal administrative state and mass incarceration within the United States. This act creates a political culture in which laws similar to the Unborn Victims of Violence Act can be applied to restrict mothers’ access to proper health services, and to even imprison expecting mothers. I argue these laws do not work to prevent domestic violence, but rather participate in the larger prison industrial complex. A second key finding is that fetal-protection laws stand as obstacles to achieving reproductive justice in policing the bodies of mothers and redefining the relationship between mother and fetus. Political, queer, and critical race theories combine to create a critical framework for analyzing fetal-protection laws present in the United States, alluding to the need for larger political and institutional changes within the United States that render prisons obsolete

Low Greenhouse Gas Agriculture: Mitigation and Adaptation Potential of Sustainable Farming Systems

Is low greenhouse gas emission (GHG) agriculture possible? Is it, in fact, desirable? In seeking answers to these two basic but extremely relevant questions, this study examines current farming practices, and incorporates scientific databases from longterm field experiments as case studies for low GHG agriculture. Further, the study examines the changes that will be needed for low greenhouse gas agriculture systems to become a reality. It also elucidates the adaptive capacity of agro-ecological farming system approaches, using organic system case studies from the scientific literature. Each year, agriculture emits 10 to 12 percent of the total estimated GHG emissions, some 5.1 to 6.1 Gt CO2 equivalents per year. Smith, et al. (2007) and Bellarby, et al. (2008) have proposed mitigation options for GHG emissions, finding that both farmers and policymakers will face challenges from the GHG-related changes needed in agriculture. Areas for improvement include increased use of no-till cropping, agro-forestry, and integrated crop and animal farming, and decreased use of external inputs in food and agriculture. The techniques offered by organic agriculture are valuable for consideration in these efforts

The Unrelated Business Taxable Income of Social Clubs: An Analysis of Section 512(a)(3)(A), Cleveland Athletic Club, Inc. v. United States, and Brook, Inc. v. C.I.R.

This article examines the unrelated business income taxation of social clubs, the Brook and the Cleveland Athletic Club cases, which opinion is correct and why, and the ramifications of these decisions

Diversity, relationships and conservation of Sicilian wild taxa of Brassica: an overview

Although lots of studies have been carried out through various analytical approaches and at different taxonomic levels, this overview reveals that actually a comprehensive biosystematic survey on the Mediterranean wild populations of Brassica oleracea group is still lacking

Inulin for Cancer Therapy: Present and Perspectives

Inulin is an extremely adaptable polysaccharides consisting of glucopyranose end-capped (\u3b2-1,2) fructose repeating units and, as it is, can be classified as an inherently multifunctional polymeric scaffold. It may be further functionalized employing mild conditions to give rise desired biological and physicochemical properties exploitable for targeted anticancer applications (e.g., active targeting toward specific cytotypes, self-assembling behavior, selective cytoxicity and hyperthermia features). In this review, the main chemical features and the inulin derivatives applications in the field of targeted anticancer therapy is reported and discusse

Conservation of forest biodiversity in Sicily: contribution of the University of Palermo Germplasm Bank (Italy)

Germplasm Banks dedicated to the wild plants seeds conservation play a unique role in integrating the in situ conservation of endemic, rare or endangered plant species. One of the missions of the Seed Bank of the University of Palermo (HBP-Bank) is to support the conservation of biodiversity with particular attention to the spectrum of genetic diversity of plants belonging to Mediterranean habitat. Abies nebrodensis (Lojac.) Mattei is an relict species, consisted of 30 natural individuals, gathered in a small area of the Madonie Natural Park in Sicily (1500 -1600 m above s.l.), recorded on the checklist \u201cTOP 50 Mediterranean Island Plants\u201d. It is also one of eight conifers species critically endangered because of reproductive biology issues. A. nebrodensis species has been monitored in situ in order to evaluate the state of conservation of natural population and to implement the number of individuals. Its preservation has been integrated since 1994 with ex situ conservation of 83 accessions in the HBP-Bank in the long-term conservation conditions. The scientific strength of HBP germplasm collection is supported by the results of several studies on taxonomy, seed biology and genetic diversity. The embryonic loss observed into the seeds produced in natural environment can reduce the genetic variability of germplasm collection. This study, carried out on the A. nebrodensis population, demonstrates that a five-year planning is needed to collect enough seed to represent the genetic variability intra-population. This seed collection scheme can represent a useful tool to apply on other forest endangered species spread in Sicily and in the Mediterranean area

Seed cryopreservation of Fraxinus angustifolia Vahl

Fraxinus angustifolia is used for afforestation and for production of both valuable timber and manna, a substance with pharmacological applications. The aim of this research was to establish the optimized condition for cryopreservation of F. angustifolia seeds, in order to protect the germplasm of this species. Germination percentage and mean time of germination of non-treated seeds (control) and liquid nitrogen-treated seeds were established in water or in 10-6 M gibberellic acid (GA3). The seeds could be cryopreserved with 3% of moisture content (MC) and germinated easily in water (70.0 \ub1 5.0%), while seeds cryopreserved with 6% MC showed a physiological dormancy. This state could be efficiently removed by addition of GA3, which increased germination to 76.0 \ub1 2.4%. Liquid nitrogen did not impair embryo viability, allowing a successful cryopreservation of seeds. The results are particularly useful for both germplasm conservation programs and in narrow leaved ash nurseries