"Overcoming Objectification: A Carnal Ethics," by Ann J. Cahill

The central argument of Ann Cahill’s Overcoming Objectification is that the concept of sexual objectification should be replaced by Cahill’s concept of derivatization in order to better capture the wrongness of degrading images and practices without depending on an objectionably narrow and disembodied conception of self. To derivatize someone is not to treat her as a non-person, but rather to treat her as a derivative person, reducing her to an aspect of another’s being. Although not perfect, Cahill’s approach advances the conversation about what we should find objectionable in certain types of sexual representations and interactions by helping us to talk about sex in a way that does not start from the presupposition that physical expressions of sexuality are inherently debasing. I describe the thesis of the book, how I used it in my Philosophy and Women course, and some criticisms that I have and that arose from class discussion

APPLYING RESOURCE SELECTION PROBABILITY FUNCTION (RSPF) TO UNDERSTAND FLORAL RESOURCE USE BY A COMMON BUMBLE BEE, BOMBUS VANCOUVERENSIS

Bumble bees (Hymenoptera: Bombus) are important pollinators in temperate ecosystems worldwide with seasonal caste variations involving queens, workers, and drones. Like all organisms, they must meet their nutrient requirements for successful growth and development by using several floral resources over time. When resource use is in greater proportion to its abundance on a landscape, that use is considered selective. To examine resource use within the context of abundance, a resource selection probability function (RSPF) was applied to examine floral resource use through a flowering season by a common bumble bee, Bombus vancouverensis. The RSPF framework was used to examine 1) resources used to meet nutritional requirements, 2) resources used by each caste, and 3) resources used during periods of high diversity. From June 3-August 10, 2022, floral resource abundance and phenology, and resource use by B. vancouverensis was collected at two sites in Western Montana, USA. Seven generalized linear models (GLM) were fit to examine early season (ES) and late season (LS) foraging. B. vancouverensis demonstrated selective use of two species during ES, and four species during LS. Selective use of these species may be the due to the superior or complementary nutrient profiles compared to other available resources. The use of RSPF in this study provides insights into resource use by B. vancouverensis and can be applied to other native pollinators and bumble bee ecology more generally. As land use alters floral resource availability and diversity and climate change and invasives alter plant community composition, understanding resource use may be crucial to bumble bee conservation

Predicting Huckleberry Habitat using Species Distribution Models

Geographic distribution of plants and animals is determined by a variety of overlapping habitat factors like soil type, elevation, or canopy cover. Understanding the complicated interactions between these factors and the impacts they have on species’ distributions is increasingly important in the face of changing environments and climates. Species distribution models (SDM) measure the importance of habitat variables in determining the spatial distribution of certain species. Because SDMs include a variety of habitat variables, they can be used to answer questions about habitat suitability, predict future distributions, and inform conservation efforts. Huckleberries (Vaccinium spp.) are a common understory shrub in the Western United States. They are culturally important to the indigenous people in the area as well as being ecologically important as a keystone species. Like all plants, huckleberries have a limited range of conditions they typically grow in, and as their habitat and abundance declines, understanding the factors that impact their distribution is vital to their conservation. Using locations across western Montana, an SDM was fit by collecting 13 biotic and abiotic habitat variables. The results of the model indicate that the most important variables for huckleberry presence were canopy cover, elevation, and precipitation. A useful application of SDMs is predicting species distributions based on future climate scenarios. With massive shifts in climatic variables expected in the near future, habitat ranges will begin to shift to areas that meet the requirements they have for successful growth. Using the results of the original SDM, a new model was fit using climate projections for annual temperature and precipitation to determine what areas will meet the habitat requirements of huckleberries in the future. SDMs provide land managers and scientists with species distributions that can be used to inform management decisions and target critical habitats. Finally, by incorporating future climate scenarios into predictions, we can understand how organisms might respond to climate change and be better prepared for an uncertain future

Effect of titanium dioxide as a mineralizer in silica brick

The magnitude of the thermal expansion of silica brick and its inability to withstand rapid temperature changes gives rise to problems of considerable importance in the manufacture of silica brick. In firing the silica brick, mineralogical changes occur in the quartzite from which the brick is made, in which minerals of lower specific gravity are formed. This results in a permanent expansion of the brick. These mineralogical changes have been thoroughly studied and considerable information is known on the different forms of silica produced at the higher temperatures. If the conditions of firing are such that these changes have progressed but little during the initial firing of the brick it is quite certain that if the brick are used in services where they are subjected to a high temperature, further permanent expansion will occur. This expansion results, generally, in buckling and racking of the silica brick walls. The changes causing this expansion are due to the quartz changing over into tridymite and cristobalite and due to the unconverted quartz changing from alpha to beta quartz. From the thermal expansion data for the different forms of silica, it is seen that tridymite has the most desirable thermal expansions characteristics for silica refractories, and for this reason it is desired to convert as much of the silica possible to the tridymite form in the initial firing of the silica brick --Introduction, page 1-3

Using classification trees to identify bumble bees

Identification of bumble bees is a time-consuming process that often involves lethal collections of specimens for microscopic identification. With declining bumble bee populations, new methods of identification are in demand. High resolution cameras have provided taxonomists with an alternative to lethal captures. High definition photographs provide a clear source of key identifying features, but still requires the evaluation of hundreds of combinations of features to correctly identify specimens. Machine learning uses decision trees to classify large amounts of data in short periods of time. Much like taxonomists, the program learns to identify a specimen using combinations of characteristics. Two methods of machine learning were compared to explore the effectiveness and accuracy of identification of bumble bee species using machine learning. Random forest modeling (RFM) builds a forest of decision trees to classify data based on the consensus of trees in the forest. Recursive partitioning (RP) builds a single tree that classifies data by sorting similar characteristics together until a majority is reached. In this experiment, RFM and RP were used to identify species of the bumble bee genus Bombus using characteristics such as thorax pattern, face length, and abdominal segment colors. RFM had an accuracy of 93% while RP had an accuracy of 88%. Ecological observation data is often not equally distributed with and this can affect the accuracy of some models. RFM showed no bias towards species with fewer observations in the data, suggesting it may be a better model for data sets with unequal distribution of observations. RP models showed significant bias towards species with more observations, suggesting it was less likely to correctly predict on species it encountered less frequently. My study indicates using machine learning may streamline identification of bumble bees and reduce or remove the need for lethal collections

What Factors Affect Income Inequality?

A major issue impacting the world economy today is income inequality. Our research examines the relationship that income inequality has on gross domestic product (GDP) and other contributing factors. Contrary to popular belief, income inequality may not be good for an economy. Low levels of inequality have a positive correlation with economic growth while high levels have a negative one. Our research analyzes the differences in income inequality between regions. Indicators from the world bank will be analyzed to validate our expectations

Conscience and Its Role in Moral Life

I give an account of conscience as a mental process that compares an agent’s considered actions to her internalized moral norms. The dictates of conscience sometimes conflict with both an agent’s reflectively endorsed moral beliefs and the requirements of objective morality. Despite these errors, conscience is useful as a moral heuristic that can quickly and effortless provide action-guidance in situations in which an agent is unable to deliberate or reflect. Further, it can alert us to the fact that something morally valuable is at stake, thus prompting further reflection when the circumstances allow. I argue that the fact that an agent acted on her conscience can affect others’ moral evaluation of her actions, but that sometimes morality requires the violation of conscience. In deciding how to act, an agent always ought to consider and properly weigh the dictates of her conscience. Discussions of freedom of conscience should be understood as referring to the subset of an agent’s conscience that concerns her reflectively endorsed moral values. I describe three closely related domains of freedom of conscience: the freedom to hold one’s own moral views, the freedom to express one’s conscience, and the freedom to act in accord with one’s conscience. I argue that there are moral limits to freedom within all three domains. Other agents acting as private citizens and outside of the bounds of special relationship-based obligations are sometimes permitted to interfere with another agent’s expression of conscience or conscience-based actions when doing so is necessary to prevent harm to others. Conscience-based freedoms are highly affected by context. Within the context of medical care, I argue that a physician is required not just to abide by the principles of medical ethics in action, but further to commit to and internalize these requirements such that they become a part of her conscience. A physician is sometimes morally permitted to refuse to provide patients with requested medical care when doing so would violate her conscience. However, health care institutions are permitted determine the scope of medical care that physicians may provide as a condition of their employment.Doctor of Philosoph

Descartes and the Danger of Irresolution

Descartes's approach to practical judgments about what is beneficial or harmful, or what to pursue or avoid, is almost exactly the opposite of his approach to theoretical judgments about the true nature of things. Instead of the cautious skepticism for which Descartes is known, throughout his ethical writings he recommends developing the habit of making firm judgments and resolutely carrying them out, no matter how doubtful and uncertain they may be. Descartes, strikingly, takes irresolution to be the source of remorse and repentance, of vice, and of a weak soul. In order to explain its dangerousness, this essay offers an analysis of irresolution as a failure of the will to determine itself to follow a judgment in the face of ignorance or uncertainty. This analysis connects irresolution to weakness of will and explains why Descartes regards resolution as an essential component of virtue

The Patient-Physician-Parent Relationship and Medical Decision-Making for Children

I consider how the deliberative model defended by Emanuel and Emanuel might be modified to accommodate cases in which the patient is a very young child whose parent is the presumed medical decision maker. Drawing on a parent-centered account of parents’ rights to explain why, in most cases, parents can justifiably make medical decisions for their children, I argue that on the modified version of the deliberative model, physicians should pressure or try to override a parent’s medical decision when this is necessary to preserve significant welfare or agency interests on behalf of the child. Importantly, this account is consistent with parents being justified in making medical decisions for a child that do not promote the child’s best interests.Master of Art