The Wilderness Act of 1964 and the Wilderness Preservation Policy Network

ABSTRACT

This article surveys an unpublished piece in which Friedrich Engels examined the ecological conditions of Ireland in a chapter entitled the “Natural Conditions” in his unfinished History of Ireland. In interpreting Engels’s findings dialectically we are able to explicate a dialectical framework that gives us a greater insight into how Engels understands the way in which the dialectics of nature enfold in a particular bioregion and how, crucially, those same organic processes of nature provide the necessary ecological conditions for society to engage in agricultural cultivation. The geological system of Ireland and its particular sieve-like structure moderate the climatic condition of excessive rainfall so that cultivation can continue. This investigation by Engels can be seen as a concrete case study into the dynamic metabolising relationships between the diverse organic processes of Nature as they are appropriated by society in agricultural production. The conceptual trajectory of this dialectical analysis is to emphasise the inherent fluidity, mutual interaction and “universal connection” of the forces of nature. This particular work of Engels’s is a significant contribution to our understanding not only of the dialectics of nature but also of the methodology of dialectics as such.     

Intellectual property,indigenous knowledge,and biodiversity

ABSTRACT

This is Part 1 of an article arguing for an extended application of Karl Marx’s insight that the apparent reciprocity of free market exchange is to be understood as an ideology that obscures material processes of exploitation and accumulation. Rather than to confine this insight to the worker’s sale of his or her labor-power for wages, and basing it on the conviction that labor-power is uniquely capable of generating more value than its price, the article argues that capital accumulation also relies on asymmetric transfers of several other biophysical resources such as embodied non-human energy, land, and materials. It proposes that the very notions of “price” and “value” serve to obscure the material history and substance of traded commodities. Such a shift of perspective extends Marx’s foundational critique of mainstream economics by focusing on the unacknowledged role of ecologically unequal exchange, but requires a critical rethinking of the concept of “use-value.” It also suggests a fundamental reconceptualization of the ontology of technological progress, frequently celebrated in Marxist theory. Part 1 of the article introduces the argument on unequal exchange, the ideological function of money, some concerns of ecological Marxism, and the conundrum posed by three contradictory understandings of “use-value.”     

Threshold effects and the expected benefits of attracting middle‐income households to the central city

Abstract

This article looks at the two primary expected benefits of efforts to bring back, or retain, middle‐income households in the central city: (1) improved fiscal conditions caused by increasing the tax base and (2) decreased socioeconomic isolation of central‐city low‐income households. We examine the causal linkages reputed to produce these two benefits in light of the relatively limited relevant theoretical and empirical research.

Although stressing that this work is only tentative and intended to be provocative, we cautiously conclude that thresholds matter. That is, it is likely that the number of middle‐income households in a given area must exceed a certain threshold for significant benefits to accrue. The geographic scale of this area, the threshold that applies, and the time needed for benefits to appear depend on the particular causal linkage at issue. In the last section, we derive implications for research and policy evaluation.     

Bacterial Degradation of Risperidone and Paliperidone in Decomposing Blood

The stability of two benzisoxazole antipsychotics was determined in vitro in decomposing porcine blood inoculated with bacteria, utilizing a high‐performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet and fluorescence detection method for drug quantitation. Stability experiments for risperidone and paliperidone were conducted at 7, 20 and 37°C for 4 days using sterile and bacterially inoculated porcine blood. The drugs were stable in sterile blood at each temperature and in inoculated blood at 7°C, but degraded significantly in inoculated blood at 20 and 37°C. Complete loss occurred within 2 days when incubated at 37°C. The benzisoxazole‐cleaved degradation products for both drugs were identified as 2‐hydroxybenzoyl‐risperidone and 2‐hydroxybenzoyl‐paliperidone utilizing liquid chromatography quadrupole‐time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry and accurate mass measurements. The degradation products have been found in postmortem case studies, including one case where risperidone and paliperidone were not detected, indicating complete conversion can occur in situ.     

Analyzing Forensic Evidence Based on Density with Magnetic Levitation

This paper describes a method for determining the density of contact trace objects with magnetic levitation (MagLev). MagLev measurements accurately determine the density (±0.0002 g/cm³) of a diamagnetic object and are compatible with objects that are nonuniform in shape and size. The MagLev device (composed of two permanent magnets with like poles facing) and the method described provide a means of accurately determining the density of trace objects. This method is inexpensive, rapid, and verifiable and provides numerical values—independent of the specific apparatus or analyst—that correspond to the absolute density of the sample that may be entered into a searchable database. We discuss the feasibility of MagLev as a possible means of characterizing forensic‐related evidence and demonstrate the ability of MagLev to (i) determine the density of samples of glitter and gunpowder, (ii) separate glitter particles of different densities, and (iii) determine the density of a glitter sample that was removed from a complex sample matrix.     

John Locke’s America

This essay argues that John Locke’s thought has been a significant influence on how Americans understand public life and that this remains true despite contemporary conservative arguments that Progressivism is ascendant while our Lockean founding is in retreat. Many of the things conservatives bemoan—same-sex marriage, for example—can be understood in Lockean terms. Moreover, Lockean individualism can be consistent with a robust sense of community. Yet it is striking that a most Lockean virtue—responsibility—is altogether missing from critical accounts of Locke’s influence on American politics and culture.