Pacifism, Politics, and Feminism

This anthology explores the many and varied connections between pacifism, politics, and feminism. Each topic is often thought about in academic isolation; however, when we consider how they intersect and interact, it opens up new areas for discussion and analysis.; Readership: All interested in social and political philosophy, ethnic and gender studies, and peace studies, and anyone concerned to understand their interrelations in order to create a more just, peaceful world

Pacifism, Politics, and Feminism

This anthology explores the many and varied connections between pacifism, politics, and feminism. Each topic is often thought about in academic isolation; however, when we consider how they intersect and interact, it opens up new areas for discussion and analysis.; Readership: All interested in social and political philosophy, ethnic and gender studies, and peace studies, and anyone concerned to understand their interrelations in order to create a more just, peaceful world

Everyone's got something they just can't give up: a challenge to Feinberg's adherence to the Volenti maxim

In this paper, I challenge Joel Feinberg's in-principle unconditional adherence to the Volenti maxim, which states, roughly, that to he who consents, no wrong is done. Given the resources available in his theory of when a community can legitimately use the criminal law to prohibit actions, it seems that Feinberg need not hold that a person's consent always nullifies the wrong done to her. Through the lens of a particularly troubling case, I attempt to demonstrate that Feinberg can and should accept, given his prioritization of the doctrine of sovereign self-rule, that there are limits to consent's ability to nullify wrongdoing. I conclude by showing that accepting limitations on the Volenti maxim is not only consistent with Feinberg's theory, but actually enables his theory to consider a range of problematic cases in a fresh light

The State Right of Self-Defense: A Claim in Need of Justification

My dissertation focuses on the nature and conditions of the state right of self-defense. The claim that states have rights of self-defense that sometimes justify going to war is supported by appeal to the so-called domestic analogy, which likens states to individuals. Just as individuals have rights of self-defense that sometimes justify the use of lethal force, so too do states have rights of self-defense that sometimes justify going to war. But while the domestic analogy is both intuitively persuasive and a pervasive idea in the study of international relations, it does not succeed in justifying the claim that states have rights of self-defense. Whatever reasons we have for accepting that individuals have rights of self-defense, such reasons do not provide grounds for concluding that states have rights of self-defense as well. I consider Locke's natural law theory of individual rights and the associated theory of state rights, Mill's instrumentalist theory of individual rights and the associated theory of state rights, and Rawls' theory of individual rights and the associated theory of state rights, and conclude that these different ways of cashing out the domestic analogy all fail to justify the claim that states have rights of self-defense. However, this does not mean that we must conclude that states do not have rights of self- defense. States do have rights of self-defense when they fulfill one of their primary roles, namely, when they are organized so as to provide the protection that their populations deserve. Such protection involves the state recognizing and respecting the dignity of its individuals, considered as rational autonomous agents, via its deliberative processes, laws, institutions, and policies. When states fail to recognize and respect the dignity of the members of their populations in these ways, they do not have rights of self-defense. Thus, inter-state interventions against such states are not straightforwardly ruled out as rights violations, but instead may be justified in certain circumstances.Doctor of Philosoph

Proud Vermin: Modern Militias and the State

Contemporary arguments about private paramilitary organizations often focus on the threat of physical violence that they pose to the state: if such organizations garner enough physical power, then they can overtake the state via violent coup. Inspired by the legalist scholar Han Feizi’s position, we contend that such organizations also represent a sociopolitical, existential threat to the state. Specifically, their tendency for ideological expansion and subsequent gathering of political influence undermines state institutions, even without the use of overt physical force. Consequently, the sociopolitical enterprise of having a unified, stable state is incompatible with the existence of, and public political support for, private paramilitary organizations, regardless of their actual or potential physical power. This argument succeeds regardless of the moral status of such paramilitary groups. Such groups, when they match the essential components of the description Han Feizi provides, are practically and politically antithetical to the integrity of the stat

Poster Session - STREAMS: Improving Student Success in STEM at Bridgewater State University

STREAMS, an NSF-STEP grant held by Bridgewater State University, implements best-practice approaches to increasing the number of STEM graduates. STREAMS interventions include a summer bridge program, a mentoring program, curricular changes promoting inquiry-based teaching, Structured Learning Assistance in gateway courses, a Residential Learning Community, and better transfer student advising and articulation. This presentation will focus on the assessment strategies that encourage curricular change and evidence of increased student success in science and math at Bridgewater

Evaluating testcross performance and genetic divergence of lines derived from reciprocal tropical maize composites

The development of hybrids with enhanced expression of heterosis depends on the genetic background of the source population and the effectiveness of a breeding scheme used to identify and use divergent inbred lines with good combining ability. The present study was conducted to examine the potential of improved tropical reciprocal composites as sources of inbred lines for developing productive hybrids. Thirty-six S₄ lines derived from the third RRS cycle of each composite were crossed in pairs to form 36 testcrosses, which were evaluated along with commonly grown commercial hybrids in Nigeria across nine test environments. Results showed consistent ranking of testcrosses for grain yield and other traits across the diverse test environments. The best 22 testcrosses produced 21% to 51% more grain yields than the highest yielding commercial hybrid. Several testcrosses combined high grain yields with other desirable agronomic traits. The SSR and SNP markers used in the present study detected a broad range of genetic diversity among the 72 S₄ lines, which was structured along the two composites. The two markers portrayed similar trends in determining genetic distance estimates and detecting composite-specific alleles in the S₄ lines. These results highlight the potential of improved reciprocal composites as sources of new and divergent parents for developing productive hybrids and as sources of novel alleles for broadening and diversifying the genetic base of adapted germplasm to sustain genetic gain in productivity of hybrids in WCA

SlabaughMaryCropSoilSciGenesAffectingNovelSupp3TableS2.pdf

The seed oil of meadowfoam, a new crop in the Limnanthaceae family, is highly enriched in very long chain fatty acids that are desaturated at the Δ5 position. The unusual oil is desirable for cosmetics and innovative industrial applications and the seed meal remaining after oil extraction contains glucolimnanthin, a methoxylated benzylglucosinolate whose degradation products are herbicidal and anti-microbial. Here we describe EST analysis of the developing seed transcriptome that identified major genes involved in biosynthesis and assembly of the seed oil and in glucosinolate metabolic pathways. mRNAs encoding acyl-CoA Δ5 desaturase were notably abundant. The library was searched for simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Fifty-four new SSR markers and eight candidate gene markers were developed and combined with previously developed SSRs to construct a new genetic map for Limnanthes alba. Mapped genes in the lipid biosynthetic pathway encode 3-ketoacyl-CoA synthase (KCS), Δ5 desaturase (Δ5DS), lysophosphatidylacyl-acyl transferase (LPAT), and acyl-CoA diacylglycerol acyl transferase (DGAT). Mapped genes in glucosinolate biosynthetic and degradation pathways encode CYP79A, myrosinase (TGG), and epithiospecifier modifier protein (ESM). The resources developed in this study will further the domestication and improvement of meadowfoam as an oilseed crop.Keywords: LPAT, Desaturase, KCS, Limnanthes, Meadowfoam, GlucolimnanthinKeywords: LPAT, Desaturase, KCS, Limnanthes, Meadowfoam, Glucolimnanthi

Genes affecting novel seed constituents in Limnanthes alba Benth: transcriptome analysis of developing embryos and a new genetic map of meadowfoam

The seed oil of meadowfoam, a new crop in the Limnanthaceae family, is highly enriched in very long chain fatty acids that are desaturated at the Δ5 position. The unusual oil is desirable for cosmetics and innovative industrial applications and the seed meal remaining after oil extraction contains glucolimnanthin, a methoxylated benzylglucosinolate whose degradation products are herbicidal and anti-microbial. Here we describe EST analysis of the developing seed transcriptome that identified major genes involved in biosynthesis and assembly of the seed oil and in glucosinolate metabolic pathways. mRNAs encoding acyl-CoA Δ5 desaturase were notably abundant. The library was searched for simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Fifty-four new SSR markers and eight candidate gene markers were developed and combined with previously developed SSRs to construct a new genetic map for Limnanthes alba. Mapped genes in the lipid biosynthetic pathway encode 3-ketoacyl-CoA synthase (KCS), Δ5 desaturase (Δ5DS), lysophosphatidylacyl-acyl transferase (LPAT), and acyl-CoA diacylglycerol acyl transferase (DGAT). Mapped genes in glucosinolate biosynthetic and degradation pathways encode CYP79A, myrosinase (TGG), and epithiospecifier modifier protein (ESM). The resources developed in this study will further the domestication and improvement of meadowfoam as an oilseed crop.This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by the author(s) and published by PeerJ. The published article can be found at: https://peerj.com/.Keywords: Desaturase, KCS, Meadowfoam, Glucolimnanthin, Limnanthes, LPA