In the Service of Conscience

This professional project consists of three magazine style articles examining the motives and the process of a relatively small group of American soldiers who have sought conscientious objector status since the end of conscription. Those who decide to become conscientious objectors in the all-volunteer military must have courage to face the scrutiny of a military tribunal, and, sometimes, flak from those who see their act as a betrayal. The first story is a portrait—a close-up of the process one man went through and what he learned along the way. The reader will meet Trey Kindlinger, who joined the Navy because he was not sure what to do instead. Like many, in the military he found a welcome structure and a steady, if slight, source of income. What stands out about Kindlinger is that he started thinking seriously about the moral implications of his job along the way. The second story is an overview of the phenomenon of conscientious objection in a volunteer military and the ways the military handles soldiers who have a change of heart. The story highlights important court cases and discusses a number of the challenges facing COs from without and within. The final story is about conscientious objectors and anti-war activists who take it upon themselves to help teens decide how they feel about military service before they are wearing boots and holding guns. A small but tenacious group of activists is going into some of America’s schools to try and make sure recruiters are following the rules and to provide kids with the information they need to make informed choices about their futures. While recruiter access to public high schools is specifically granted by law, it is not always easy for these counter-recruiting activists to get into schools. Access can be a battle in its own right

Constitutionality of Furnishing Publicly Financed Transportation to Private and Parochial School Students in Missouri

It is the purpose of this article to set forth those matters which are relevant to consideration of the constitutional question involved in connection with furnishing publicly-financed transportation to private and parochial school students in order to delineate that area of controversy with which any intelligible opinion on this question must deal. The objective of this article is to present an unbiased analysis of the legal factors involved, giving neither succor to those who raise the specter of papal tyranny nor assuagement to those who asseverate the progressing “godlessness” of this country

The hegemony of representation: democracy and Indigenous self-government in Bolivia

En el Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia, la Constitución de 2009 articula una concepción multidimensional de democracia, reflejando un legado de movilizaciones de movimientos sociales que demandaban inclusión política y propulsaron al poder a un presidente que se auto-identifica como indígena. Muchos anticiparon que Bolivia podía presentar un ambiente propicio para una democracia vigorizada y post-liberal. Este artículo evalúa las tres dimensiones de la democracia consagradas en la Constitución -representativa, participativa y comunitaria- con el objetivo de entender la relación entre ellas. Me concentro en dos sitios importantes de práctica democrática: el proceso de elaboración y aprobación de la Constitución, y la construcción de las "autonomías indígenas"; es decir, las instituciones de autogobierno indígena basadas en la democracia comunitaria. Mientras la democracia boliviana es más estable e inclusiva bajo el actual gobierno que bajo los gobiernos previos, este estudio encuentra que la expansión de procesos democráticos participativos y comunitarios sancionados ha sido limitada frente al sistema hegemónico de representación.In the Plurinational State of Bolivia, the 2009 Constitution articulates a multidimensional conception of democracy, reflecting a legacy of social movement mobilizations that demanded political inclusion and propelled to power a president who self-identifies as Indigenous. Many anticipated that Bolivia could present a propitious environment for an invigorated and post-liberal democracy. This article evaluates the three dimensions of democracy enshrined in the Constitution -representative, participatory, and communitarian- with the aim of understanding the relationship among them. I focus on two important sites of democratic practice: the process of drafting and approving the Constitution, and the construction of "Indigenous autonomies"; that is, institutions of Indigenous self-government based on communitarian democracy. While Bolivian democracy is more stable and inclusive under the current government than under previous ones, this study finds that the expansion of sanctioned participatory and communitarian democratic processes has been limited vis-à-vis the hegemonic system of representation

Complexity of Simple Folding of Mixed Orthogonal Crease Patterns

Continuing results from JCDCGGG 2016 and 2017, we solve several new cases of the simple foldability problem -- deciding which crease patterns can be folded flat by a sequence of (some model of) simple folds. We give new efficient algorithms for mixed crease patterns, where some creases are assigned mountain/valley while others are unassigned, for all 1D cases and for 2D rectangular paper with orthogonal one-layer simple folds. By contrast, we show strong NP-completeness for mixed orthogonal crease patterns on 2D rectangular paper with some-layers simple folds, complementing a previous result for all-layers simple folds. We also prove strong NP-completeness for finite simple folds (no matter the number of layers) of unassigned orthogonal crease patterns on arbitrary paper, complementing a previous result for assigned crease patterns, and contrasting with a previous positive result for infinite all-layers simple folds. In total, we obtain a characterization of polynomial vs. NP-hard for all cases -- finite/infinite one/some/all-layers simple folds of assigned/unassigned/mixed orthogonal crease patterns on 1D/rectangular/arbitrary paper -- except the unsolved case of infinite all-layers simple folds of assigned orthogonal crease patterns on arbitrary paper.Comment: 20 pages, 13 figures. Presented at TJCDCGGG 2021. Accepted to Thai Journal of Mathematic

MCM2 - a promising marker for premalignant lesions of the lung: a cohort study

BACKGROUND: Because cells progressing to cancer must proliferate, marker proteins specific to proliferating cells may permit detection of premalignant lesions. Here we compared the sensitivities of a classic proliferation marker, Ki-67, with a new proliferation marker, MCM2, in 41 bronchial biopsy specimens representing normal mucosa, metaplasia, dysplasia, and carcinoma in situ. METHODS: Parallel sections were stained with antibodies against MCM2 and Ki-67, and the frequencies of staining were independently measured by two investigators. Differences were evaluated statistically using the two-sided correlated samples t-test and Wilcoxon rank sum test. RESULTS: For each of the 41 specimens, the average frequency of staining by anti-MCM2 (39%) was significantly (p < 0.001) greater than by anti-Ki-67 (16%). In metaplastic lesions anti-MCM2 frequently detected cells near the epithelial surface, while anti-Ki-67 did not. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that MCM2 is detectable in 2-3 times more proliferating premalignant lung cells than is Ki-67. The promise of MCM2 as a sensitive marker for premalignant lung cells is enhanced by the fact that it is present in cells at the surface of metaplastic lung lesions, which are more likely to be exfoliated into sputum. Future studies will determine if use of anti-MCM2 makes possible sufficiently early detection to significantly enhance lung cancer survival rates

Serum methylarginines and spirometry-measured lung function in older adults

Rationale: Methylarginines are endogenous nitric oxide synthase inhibitors that have been implicated in animal models of lung disease but have not previously been examined for their association with spirometric measures of lung function in humans. Objectives: This study measured serum concentrations of asymmetric and symmetric dimethylarginine in a representative sample of older community-dwelling adults and determined their association with spirometric lung function measures. Methods: Data on clinical, lifestyle, and demographic characteristics, methylated arginines, and L-arginine (measured using LC-MS/MS) were collected from a population-based sample of older Australian adults from the Hunter Community Study. The five key lung function measures included as outcomes were Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second, Forced Vital Capacity, Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second to Forced Vital Capacity ratio, Percent Predicted Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second, and Percent Predicted Forced Vital Capacity. Measurements and Main Results: In adjusted analyses there were statistically significant independent associations between a) higher asymmetric dimethylarginine, lower Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second and lower Forced Vital Capacity; and b) lower L-arginine/asymmetric dimethylarginine ratio, lower Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second, lower Percent Predicted Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second and lower Percent Predicted Forced Vital Capacity. By contrast, no significant associations were observed between symmetric dimethylarginine and lung function. Conclusions: After adjusting for clinical, demographic, biochemical, and pharmacological confounders, higher serum asymmetric dimethylarginine was independently associated with a reduction in key measures of lung function. Further research is needed to determine if methylarginines predict the decline in lung function