...Gender and the Biological Sciences Kathleen Okruhlik –Philosophy of science professor and Dean of Arts at Western. –This paper was published in 1994. –Offers a sophisticated feminist critique of the philosophy of science. Feminist critiques of biology are politically important Because biologically determinist arguments are often cited to ‘explain’ women’s oppression. E.g., genes, hormones, and evolution ‘explain’ why it is ‘natural’ for women to function in a socially subordinate role, why men are smarter and more aggressive than women, why women are designed to be homebodies, and why men rape. Thus, promoting a more equalitarian and just society is useless or counterproductive. Feminist critiques of biology are also epistemically important. Because of the status of biology among the sciences. Social sciences are often dismissed as not real sciences, so to criticise them is not as effective. But biology is not easily dismissed as a pseudo-science, and so to criticise it can teach us something about the nature of science (i.e., its rationality, objectivity, degree of insulation from social influences, etc.) Some cases studies: (1) gender and reproduction The Sleeping Beauty/Prince Charming model of the relationship between egg and sperm in reproduction. –Just as women are seen as passive and men as active, the egg and sperm are traditionally assigned these roles. –The sperm is the one doing all the work to get to the egg and penetrate it, while the egg merely ...
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...Biological Weapons: Threat of the 21st Century Michele Tallman Ashford University Principle & Theory of Security Issues CRJ433 Alicia Dembowski January 12, 2014 Biological Weapons: Threat of the 21st Century Biological Warfare is morally and inhumanely wrong, it is the wrongful killing of men, women, and children and it should be stopped no matter what the circumstances are. For the past 50 years or so the world has lived under the shadow of atomic weapons, threatening a “nuclear nightmare” that would bomb us back to the Stone Age. Now in the 21st Century, there is a new nightmare, called Biological Weapons. These types of weapons deliver toxins and microorganisms, such as viruses and bacteria, so as to deliberately infect disease among people, animals, as well as the destruction of crops leading to food shortages. The way that a biological weapon is used depends on several factors, these include the agent, its preparation; its durability in the environment, and route of infection. Some agents can be disbursed as an aerosol, which can be inhaled or can infect a susceptible spot on the skin, like a cut or wound. With the recent revolution in molecular biology, this may have incidentally unleashed a new threat to a peaceful night’s sleep. Even though there has been talk concerning the disarming of certain countries from nuclear weapons, terrorist factions and "nations of concern" have sought ways to continue their wars, by using biological weapons. Asymmetric...
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...Bioterrorism Countermeasures: Utilizing Intelligence Agencies over Biological Research ABSTRACT: The 21st century has seen a revolutionary biotechnology force, one that has led to developments in healthcare and other industries around the United States. Coupled with the growing development of biotechnology, however, is a force hoping to harness its power to create biological weapons. Presently, there are several nations pursuing biological weapons programs, making it easier for terrorist groups to gain access and attain advanced weaponry. Recently, terrorists have demonstrated their ability to execute acts of bio-terror without any moral repugnance or regret. Though these weapons have been taboo in past centuries, known for their sneakiness and deception, the use of biological weapons and the incidence of biological attack in the present century has –relatively speaking– dramatically increased. It is for this reason that congress and the federal government must intervene to prevent future bio-attack. The best method to stall further biological development within terrorist groups is by infiltration and detection via the Intelligence Community (IC). Unfortunately, we have diverted all our resources towards bio-terrorism research, without realizing that it is the further development and accessibility of biological weapons information that has promoted the spread of deadly knowledge within the terrorist community. Instead of trying to develop research plans for specific pathogenic...
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...manipulated to have the ability to cause serious diseases: Anthrax, Small Pox, Cholera, and Malaria are some of the examples of biological agents. All of these biological agents cause social disruption and require special action to prepare for defense. Terrorists may use some of these diseases to distract their predators, because they are extremely difficult to detect and take several days to recognize; therefore...
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...Finland in 1916.(Wikipedia) The Japanese Kwantung army had recorded testing of Anthrax as a weapon in the 1930’s.This new form of bio-terrorism was tested on Prisoners of war during the time. some of this testing involved intentional infection of prisoners of war, thousands of whom died. From then to about 1972, (When the U.S Signed the “Biological Weapons Convention”) the United States had stockpiled “Weaponized Anthrax” (FBI.gov) These “Weaponized stocks of anthrax in the US” were destroyed after President Nixon ordered the U.S Bio-warfare program to be stopped. The stock was eliminated in 1972. Later on, the Soviet Union created 200 tons of anthrax spores and stockpiled them at Vozrozhdeniya Island in Kantubek. “The stockpile was abandoned in 1992 and destroyed in 2002.” (Wikipedia). After the terrible day of September 11, Anthrax - laced letters started appearing in the U.S Postal Service. “Five Americans were killed and 17 were sickened in what became the worst biological attacks in U.S. history.” Because of this incident, the FBI created a specialized task force called “The Amerithrax Task Force” which spends countless hours in counter biological warfare. In recent years, Multiple types of Anthrax Vaccines have been researched and developed for those who might be exposed to the deadly infection. The Anthrax Vaccine is made with a strain of “Inactive” Anthrax bacteria (which isn’t whole, living or dead) which can not cause the infection. The main portion of the vaccine is...
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...Perspective on The Hot Zone The Hot Zone by Richard Preston is a nonfiction book with aspects of a novel. Sometimes called a bio-thriller, it is about the Ebola virus in America. It was written to address a time of fear about viruses in the United States in a time of increased international interaction. Although its impact is negligible, it reflects the nervous attitude of the time. Richard Preston writes narrative nonfiction. Narrative nonfiction is a hybrid style of writing that utilizes the framework of nonfiction with aspects of a novel, dialogue, for instance. Preston favors this style and wrote his dissertation on it during his graduate studies in Princeton. Previously, Preston wrote non-fiction on science such as Astronomy and on History; later his focus shifts to the science of Microbiology. In 1992 Richard Preston wrote an article in The New Yorker, entitled “Crisis in the Hot Zone.” Two years later, this article became the foundation for his non-fiction book, The Hot Zone, which documents the appearance of Ebola in the United States during the late eighties. At the time The Hot Zone was conceived, free trade policies during President George H. W. Bush’s administration were still making an impact worldwide. Bush set forth global objectives, renewing an interest in globalization under the belief that a global market will alleviate America’s growing deficit. Furthermore, he spearheaded the construction of North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. Later, the Internet...
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...beneficial purposes it is ultimately not worth the risk and outweighed by its dangers. Dual Use is beneficial in advancing science or improving public health but is often misused for malevolent ends such as bioterrorism. Bioterrorism is not a new threat, Pathogens and micro organisms have been used as weapons for hundreds of years, dating back to the fourteenth century when Tartars threw the corpses of plague victims over the city walls of Kaffa before its siege and in the eighteenth century when British soldiers distributed blankets used by smallpox victims to Native Americans with the objective of contaminating them (SERB). This history of vile behavior in regards to bioweapons has not seemed to stop as technology advanced, some would say it has even gotten worse. When discussing the issue of bioterrorism one must keep in mind that it doesn’t mean all dual use scientists are bioterrorist, legitimate scientists typically conduct a research that is in the dual use field for positive purposes. “Just because a research project may have dual use concerns, that doesn’t mean that it will be misused as a bioweapon or that the researchers conducting the research are bioweaponeers” (SERB). However as research continues and advances on dual use the greater we risk-assisting bioterrorist succeed in their plans. This is because if the new research many responsible science professionals come up ends up getting in the wrong hands, the study could be a guideline on how the substance in question...
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...NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA THESIS ANTHRAX VACCINE AS A COMPONENT OF THE STRATEGIC NATIONAL STOCKPILE: A DILEMMA FOR HOMELAND SECURITY by Thomas L. Rempfer December 2009 Thesis Advisor: Second Reader: Stanley Supinski Dean Lynch Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instruction, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302, and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (0704-0188) Washington DC 20503. 1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank) 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 2. REPORT DATE December 2009 3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED Master’s Thesis 5. FUNDING NUMBERS Anthrax Vaccine as a Component of the Strategic National Stockpile: A Dilemma for Homeland Security 6. AUTHOR(S) Thomas L. Rempfer 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, CA 93943-5000...
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...gather information, watch your inferences, check your assumptions, clarify your concepts, understand your point of view, and think through the implications. These eight elements of thought come from Dr. Linda Elder and Dr. Richard Paul. We will use Dr. Elder’s and Dr. Paul’s eight elements of thought to analyze and discuss about The Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction. This is also known as the overview of the WMD Report. The main purpose of this report is to determine and expose the lack of critical thinking that was used by each of the intelligence agencies that assumed that Iraq’s leader, Saddam Hussein, had reconstituted his nuclear weapons program, had biological weapons, had mobile biological weapon production facilities, and had stockpiled and was producing chemical weapons. The coverage of the most public and most damaging intelligence failure in recent American history will be used by the authors to offer their conclusions on what needs to be done to avoid such disastrous misinterpretations and misconceptions. There are several key questions addressed by the authors in this report. First, what led...
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... 2 Without conducting any research, I realize that I have never really thought about the subject of nature vs. nurture. By knowing a little of what the controversy is about, I am able to ask myself the right questions to complete my thoughts and come to a proper opinion. Usually I am an extremist by going with one side and not lingering with thoughts in the middle. However, this is a subject that does not deserve one end. By looking and observing those around me, many may notice that people share similar traits. Some traits are the result of nature and others are the result of nurture. There is no 50:50 ratio that is involved in the deciding factor of how much of each side contributes to the individuals we are today. Because biological factors and conformity are two different subjects, there is no scientific way to measure an accurate ratio of nature to nurture. Instead, I believe that each and every person is the product of 100 percent nature as well as 100 percent nurture. As my boyfriend and I are out to lunch, I throw my thoughts at him about nature vs. nurture and he makes me realize that tofu is a great example of both nature and nurture. He asks me how I am able to eat something so bland and tasteless. I tell him that tofu does have sort of a creamy nutty taste to it and is delicious plain uncooked. However, when tofu is cooked, it conforms to and picks up the flavor of the food or sauce that is being cooked with. “Tofu or bean curd is a food made by coagulating...
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...Bioterrorism in the United States of America Bioterrorism in the United States of America Since the events of September 11, 2001, the United States has made great strides in emergency response preparedness for terrorist attacks, however, one area that is still lacking is preparedness for a widespread biological terrorist attack. The threat of a bioterrorist attack in the United States is a very real and potentially convenient method of attack for numerous terrorist organizations. An attack of this type could go unnoticed in many public areas. Major transportation hubs throughout the United States are major targets for such an attack. An act of bioterrorism is a major threat to the United States that could occur unnoticed and must be dealt with immediately by providing a nationwide vaccination against all agents, better education programs for the general public, and most importantly, the prevention of such an act from happening. In October, 2001, the first confirmed case of inhalation anthrax was confirmed in Florida, which brought the word bioterrorism to mainstream America (Jernigan, 2001, p. 934). Throughout the fall of that year many people’s fears were stoked by this anthrax scare following shortly after the events of September 11, 2001. This anthrax scare highlighted that while the hospital system throughout the United States may not be completely prepared for a widespread bioterrorism attack, these hospitals could handle a small number of cases and brought bioterrorism...
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...to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission. There are currently no licensed Ebola vaccines. As times progress threats to national security are constantly increasing with threats such as climate change, transnational crime, espionage, cyber terrorism and bio-terrorism. This paper is going to look at Ebola as a threat to national security. Weaponization Ebola's exponential spread has rekindled fears that terrorists may seek to turn the virus into a powerful weapon of mass destruction. Ebola virus is classified as a biosafety level 4 agent, as well as a Category A bioterrorism agent by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. It has the potential to be weaponized for use in biological warfare, National security and infectious disease experts agree the obstacles to a large-scale assault with Ebola are formidable. For starters, a bioterrorist would have to obtain the virus and be able to grow a massive supply in large vats, an extremely costly endeavour. Already there is historical precedent for states trying—and failing—to tap the virus for bioterror. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union was “growing up large amounts of microbes for potential use in bioterrorism. The Soviets attempted to cultivate smallpox, anthrax, tularaemia, botulism and haemorrhagic fevers including...
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...spills fails to report to the housekeeping about the health hazard that can be caused by the chemical (human error). The housekeeping who is assigned to clean the spill has A maintenance supervisor calls in a temporary worker from third-party recruiting company to handle housekeeping tasks for a day. The temporary worker is assigned the task of mopping the floors. The supervisor assigns him the list of rooms to be cleaned that also includes a research laboratory, where the staff work on chemical and biological agents (situational factor). The supervisor provides required instructions and provides a PPE, which is an overalls and a pair of gloves that is to be used while cleaning the laboratory. The worker follows the instruction and cleans the laboratory but doesn’t dispose off his overalls and gloves properly instead he keeps it back in the room where housekeeping things are stored (human error). Now, anyone that is going to wear it again is at a risk of exposure to biological and chemical agents that could pose a health risks (environmental...
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...------------------------------------------------- Species in the environment, r and K selection K and r selection: * r - the intrinsic rate of increase * K - the carrying capacity for the organism in that environment * r and K selection was an early attempt to identify life-history distinctions * r-selected species do well at low population density, and are at an advantage in frequently disturbed habitats * K-selected species do well at high population density and are at an advantage in constant or predictable habitats * Heuristically very useful as it allows use to predict the types of species likely to occur under different disturbance regimes R selection: * r-selected species have a rapid rate of population increase. * This is typical of species that colonise short-lived environments or of populations that undergo large fluctuations * Eg. Weeds, aphids, bacteria K selection: * K - selected species have superior competitive ability in stable environments where rapid population growth is unimportant as the population is maintained near K Ways to categorize/class species: * By biome or community type * By life history strategy * By life reproductive strategy * By basic approach to the environment What governs the distribution of species? * Evolutionary factors populations separated on to geographically distinct regions have different evolutionary trajectories * Dispersal constraints species may not have...
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...Nature Nurture D 1 http://s2.hubimg.com/u/3627189_f520.jpg(1 August 2011) Some scientists like George Howe Colt think that people behave as they do according to genetic predisposition this is known as the nature theory of human behaviour. Other scientists believe that people think and behave in certain ways because they are taught to do so, this is known as the nurture theory of human behaviour. For Nelson Mandela in his childhood stage he was able to build a house for himself, looking after cattle, playing different types of games. This allowed him to exercise helping him physically in his childhood stage, so I think you are not born strong but you train yourself to be strong which is nurture. From the earliest moments of life, the interaction of heredity and the environment works to shape who children are and who they will become. While the genetic instructions says that a child inherits from his parents which may set out a road map for development, the environment can impact how these directions are expressed, shaped or event silenced. The complex interaction of nature and nurture does not just occur at certain moments or at certain periods of time it is persistent and lifelong. Clearly, social and emotional development can begin as early as birth, but these developments tend to be primordial and limited until the child is no longer a toddler. This is the period when children begin to develop the abilities to interact with others. These interactions can range...
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