Gabriel Marcel\u27s Metaphysics of Hospitality

This project emerges at the intersection of Gabriel Marcel’s metaphysics and philosophical anthropology. I present a phenomenological inquiry of Marcel’s notion of the metaphysics of hospitality and how he believes it heals the broken world. To illustrate this notion of the broken world, I place Marcel in dialogue with the social philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre which is characterized by alienation and despair and show how antithetical it is to Marcel’s healing notion of hospitality. I also explore the concept of hospitality from a sociological and historical perspective and as it is considered in the philosophies of Emmanuel Levinas and Jacques Derrida. The thesis explores the ontological framework of these two recent thinkers in order to show that their accounts of absolute alterity and unconditionality have problematic implications for their claims regarding hospitality. By presenting Marcel’s ontological framework and his belief that alterity is relative, I show how his metaphysics of hospitality offers an attitude of reverence for the human person. The Marcelian concepts of disponibilité, presence, participation, sacredness and human dignity enrich the understanding of a metaphysics of hospitality, which both respects the value of otherness and fosters genuine communion

Characteristics of a Sampling of New York State Composts

Composting and marketing of composted products is an option for managing organic residuals. Composting is an environmentally sound and energy efficient way of managing manure, yard waste, food scraps, paper residuals, and even animal mortality. However, the resulting product should be used in order for it to also be profitable. Many farms, schools and other composters have difficulty finding markets for their composts as consumers have little knowledge of compost qualities and sources. This document summarizes the characteristics that pertain to compost quality and relates them to compost sampled in New York State. The appendix provides means, standard deviations, minimum, maximum and median values for each of the parameters. All individual values can be found in this excel file

Health Impacts and Economics of Using Dried Manure Solids in the Northeast

Six farms using different types of dried manure solid (DMS) strategies, including a farm that had side-by-side pens using sand and DMS, participated in a study to assess the impact on herd health of using DMS as bedding on dairy farms in the Northeast. Samples of unused and used bedding were taken over the course of a year and analyzed for bacterial content and physical properties. Mastitis and somatic cell count (SCC) records were analyzed in relation to those properties. Although mastitis differed among farm/bedding strategies (FBS), bacteria levels and properties of bedding had no effect on mastitis incidence. Lactation number, stage of lactation and SCC were the significant variables. Decreased levels of Klebsiella in the used bedding increased the odds of having an abnormal SCC for one FBS, and decreased moisture and fine particles in the used bedding increased the odds of having an abnormal SCC for a different FBS. For all others, abnormal cell counts were affected only by season, lactation number and milk production. Economic analysis showed a savings of between 1 and 26 cents per hundred weight of milk produced through the use of manure solids as bedding on five farms. This study suggests that properly managed DMS can provide an economic benefit without compromising herd health

Cornell Farm Services Compost Facility

The compost program at Cornell University was started to manage manure from livestock in Cornell’s care. In the past, when manure could not be daily spread, it was piled and spread when weather conditions improved. These piles were unsightly, had no leachate control, and produced objectionable odors when spread. In 1992, Cornell Farm Services started composting the manure and bedding from the large animal hospital at Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine.Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; Cornell Cooperative Extensio

Composting at Home - The Green and Brown Alternative

Cornell Cooperative Extension; Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Science

Evaluation of Solids and Liquids from Anaerobic Digesters for Use as Bedding and Fertilizer

Summary: Solids and liquids from digestion of manure at 17 farms were analyzed for bacterial concentration, physical properties and/or metal concentrations. Four of these farms digested manure only and the rest accepted some type of food or food processing waste as co-digestion material. As expected, bacterial concentrations were variable and no clear trends were discovered for higher populations in solids that were digested with food and food processing waste versus those that came from manure only. In addition, no single type of waste yielded higher bacterial concentration than any other. Season played a much larger part in bacterial concentration than did co-digestion. Physical properties (% moisture and % of fine particles) of the solids were not significantly different whether digested with a co-digestion material or not. Organic matter, which may lead to increased bacterial growth in the bedding, but could be helpful for conditioning of the soil, was significantly lower in solids that were digested with manure only versus co-digestion. There were differences in the chemical properties of the solids that were co-digested versus those that were not. However, co-digestion should not affect the fertilizer value of the solids in normal farm operations as the difference favors them as fertilizer. The only one that may be of concern is increased phosphorus in runoff. Bacterial concentration in liquid digestate was similar to that of solids. Rather than co-digestion, differences in bacterial concentration were based on season, with summer having the highest bacterial load. Concentration of metals in all liquid digestate was well-below regulatory limits set for sewage sludge. Liquid digestate from co-digestion with food and food processing waste had higher concentrations of copper and zinc than liquid from digestion of manure only, but were still 5 and 10 times lower, respectively, than the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation sludge and sludge product maximum (NYSDEC 360 Rules). There was no difference in fertilizer value (N, P, K) of liquid digestate from digestion with or without co-digestion materials. The concentration of boron, a micronutrient, was significantly lower in digestate from co-digestion of all wastes studied versus manure alone and the concentration of Zn was significantly higher from co-digestion with grocery store waste than any other liquid digestate. However, neither of these would result in deficiency or toxicity. Many of the other micronutrients found in the liquid digestate, regardless of co-digestion, were above limits set by EPA for use as irrigation water. The objective of this study was to see if the addition of food and food processing wastes to agricultural digesters has an adverse or positive effect on the end products. Taking into account all of the above information, it appears that co-digestion does not change either the solid or liquid digestate and thus can be used as animal bedding and for fertilization/irrigation of farm fields.New York State Department of Environmental Conservatio

Three-dimensional cell to tissue assembly process

The present invention relates a 3-dimensional cell to tissue and maintenance process, more particularly to methods of culturing cells in a culture environment, either in space or in a gravity field, with minimum fluid shear stress, freedom for 3-dimensional spatial orientation of the suspended particles and localization of particles with differing or similar sedimentation properties in a similar spatial region

Prevalence and Persistence of Pathogens in New York State Road-Kill Disposed of Through Composting: A Literature Review

Summary: Composting is being investigated by New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) as a tool for managing road-killed animals in New York State, particularly white-tailed deer. As part of a project to evaluate the effectiveness of static pile composting to inactivate pathogens in road-killed carcasses, the Cornell Waste Management Institute conducted a literature review and consulted with experts to identify the pathogens that might be present and to assess their sensitivity to inactivation by heating.New York State Department of Transportatio

Campus & alumni news

Boston University Medicine was published by the Boston University Medical Campus, and presented stories on events and topics of interest to members of the BU Medical Campus community. It followed the discontinued publication Centerscope as Boston University Medicine from 1991-2005, then continued as Campus & Alumni News from 2006-2013 before returning to the title Boston University Medicine from 2014-present