Rights of and over Animals in the Ius Naturae et Gentium (Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries)

De jure naturae et gentium, “The law of nature and of nations,” is the title of Samuel Pufendorf's eight-volume masterpiece of philosophical jurisprudence, first published in 1672. It provides the tag by which an entire discourse is known, one that dominated legal philosophy at European universities for over two hundred years. Pufendorf's Protestant articulation of its principles was pivotal both for transmitting it to the Eighteenth Century and for giving it a history, which in his eyes began with his fellow-Protestant Hugo Grotius. In fact, however, its roots stretch back to the early Sixteenth Century, to the lawyers whom Philip Melanchthon gathered around him at Wittenberg and (more importantly for the future structure of the discourse) to the Catholic scholastic theologians who were originally based at Salamanca in Spain but subsequently spread out over the whole of Counter-Reformation Europe. In the confessional conflict that would burn throughout the Sixteenth and Seventeenth centuries, theologians on all sides used law to define the space of the political, and used the idea of natural law to underpin that space, even while shaping it differently according to their divergent narratives of sin and redemption. While the ius naturae et gentium was an academic genre, therefore, its content was not. It was a theory and a legitimation of the state, and the arc of its reasoning from nature to the nations ran through the institution of political power. The state and its power are constructed not so much upon right (ius) per se but on the potential for the violation of right (iniuria), and the demand for such violation to be vindicated, by law or ultimately by war. At its very barest—although this is to traduce the richness and complexity of the discourse—the ius naturae et gentium is thus a theory of legitimate violence. When it comes to animals, what we find is that they are systematically excluded from the potential to suffer violation of right and therefore from political space and political justice. As we shall see, however, this did not always mean that they were totally excluded from any kind of right or that every act of violence against them was always legitimate

Nanoscale state-of-charge heterogeneities within polycrystalline nickel-rich layered oxide cathode materials

Nickel-rich cathodes (LiNixMnyCo1-x-yO2, x > 0.6) permit higher energy in lithium-ion rechargeable batteries but suffer from accelerated degradation at potentials above 4.1 V versus Li/Li+. Here, we present a proof-of-concept in situ pouch cell and methodology for correlative 2D synchrotron transmission X-ray microscopy with 3D lab-based micro-CT. XANES analysis of the TXM data enables tracking of Ni edge energy within and between the polycrystalline NMC811 particles embedded in the operating electrode through its initial delithiation. By using edge energy as a proxy, state-of-charge heterogeneities can be tracked at the nanoscale, revealing the role of cracked particles as potential nucleation points for failure and highlighting the challenges in achieving uniform (de-)lithiation. We propose, in future work, to leverage the pouch cell design presented here for longitudinal TXM-XANES studies of nickel-rich cathodes across multiple cycles and operating variables and investigate the effect of dopants and microstructural optimization in mitigating degradation

Rapid Preparation of Geometrically Optimal Battery Electrode Samples for Nano Scale X-ray Characterisation

Rechargeable lithium-based batteries are one of the key enabling technologies driving the shift to renewable energy, and research into novel technologies has intensified to meet growing demands in applications requiring higher energy and power density. The mechanisms behind battery degradation can be investigated across multiple length-scales with X-ray imaging methods; at the nanoscale severe constraints are imposed on sample size in order to obtain adequate signal to noise. Here, we present a novel lasermilling technique to prepare geometrically optimal samples for X-ray nano-tomography. Advantages of this technique include significantly reduced sample preparation time, and a suitable geometry for mosaic acquisition, enabling a larger field of view to be captured at high spatial resolution, thus improving statistics. The geometry of the resulting electrode remains highly suitable for nano-tomography, and yet permits in situ and operando experiments to be carried out on standard electrode coatings, providing new insights into transient phenomena whilst closely mimicking standard electrochemical cells

4D Bragg Edge Tomography of Directional Ice Templated Graphite Electrodes

Bragg edge tomography was carried out on novel, ultra-thick, directional ice templated graphite electrodes for Li-ion battery cells to visualise the distribution of graphite and stable lithiation phases, namely LiC12 and LiC6. The four-dimensional Bragg edge, wavelength-resolved neutron tomography technique allowed the investigation of the crystallographic lithiation states and comparison with the electrode state of charge. The tomographic imaging technique provided insight into the crystallographic changes during de-/lithiation over the electrode thickness by mapping the attenuation curves and Bragg edge parameters with a spatial resolution of approximately 300 µm. This feasibility study was performed on the IMAT beamline at the ISIS pulsed neutron spallation source, UK, and was the first time the 4D Bragg edge tomography method was applied to Li-ion battery electrodes. The utility of the technique was further enhanced by correlation with corresponding X-ray tomography data obtained at the Diamond Light Source, UK

Identifying the Origins of Microstructural Defects Such as Cracking within Ni‐Rich NMC811 Cathode Particles for Lithium‐Ion Batteries

The next generation of automotive lithium‐ion batteries may employ NMC811 materials; however, defective particles are of significant interest due to their links to performance loss. Here, it is demonstrated that even before operation, on average, one‐third of NMC811 particles experience some form of defect, increasing in severity near the separator interface. It is determined that defective particles can be detected and quantified using low resolution imaging, presenting a significant improvement for material statistics. Fluorescence and diffraction data reveal that the variation of Mn content within the NMC particles may correlate to crystallographic disordering, indicating that the mobility and dissolution of Mn may be a key aspect of degradation during initial cycling. This, however, does not appear to correlate with the severity of particle cracking, which when analyzed at high spatial resolutions, reveals cracking structures similar to lower Ni content NMC, suggesting that the disconnection and separation of neighboring primary particles may be due to electrochemical expansion/contraction, exacerbated by other factors such as grain orientation that are inherent in such polycrystalline materials. These findings can guide research directions toward mitigating degradation at each respective length‐scale: electrode sheets, secondary and primary particles, and individual crystals, ultimately leading to improved automotive ranges and lifetimes

Individual freedom versus collective responsibility: too many rights make a wrong?

Individuals might reasonably expect the freedom to make their own decisions regarding their health. However, what happens when an individual's wishes conflict with what is in that individual's best interests? How far should an individual's rights be restricted for his or her own benefit? Similarly, what limitations should be placed on an individual's behaviour when that person's wishes go against what is good for the population in general? Here we discuss the issues that can arise when the rights of individuals conflict with individual and population benefits in relation to infectious diseases

Threat of an influenza pandemic: family physicians in the front line

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The chance of an influenza pandemic is real and clinicians should keep themselves informed about the rationale and science behind preventive and therapeutic principles relating to an (impending) influenza pandemic.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Vaccination is considered the best prevention in case of a pandemic threat and first choice to contain the impact of a pandemic. Pending the availability of an effective pandemic vaccine, antivirals are likely the only effective agents for prevention and treatment. When an influenza pandemic is impending, all interventions aim to prevent people becoming infected and to suppress replication and transmission of the virus as much as possible. Antivirals will be prescribed to patients with laboratory confirmed pre-pandemic influenza as well as to their contacts (post-exposure prophylaxis) which may delay development of or even prevent a pandemic. During a manifest influenza pandemic, however, there is large-scale spreading of the influenza virus. Therefore, preventive use of antivirals is less efficient to prevent transmission. Delaying the pandemic is then important in order to prevent exhausting public health resources and disruption of society. Thus, during a manifest pandemic everyone with influenza symptoms should receive antivirals as quickly as possible, regardless of virological confirmation. To ensure optimal effectiveness of antivirals and to minimize development of drug resistant viral strains, the use of antivirals for annual influenza should be restrictive. The crucial position of family physicians during an (impending) influenza pandemic necessitates the development of primary health care guidelines on this topic for all countries.</p> <p>Summary</p> <p>Family physicians will play a key role in assessing and treating victims of a new influenza virus, and in reassuring the worried well. We outline various possible interventions in the event of an impending and a manifest influenza pandemic, such as non-medial measures, prescription of antivirals, and vaccination, and emphasize the need for pandemic influenza preparedness.</p

Identification of a Cardiac Specific Protein Transduction Domain by In Vivo Biopanning Using a M13 Phage Peptide Display Library in Mice

Background: A peptide able to transduce cardiac tissue specifically, delivering cargoes to the heart, would be of significant therapeutic potential for delivery of small molecules, proteins and nucleic acids. In order to identify peptide(s) able to transduce heart tissue, biopanning was performed in cell culture and in vivo with a M13 phage peptide display library. Methods and Results: A cardiomyoblast cell line, H9C2, was incubated with a M13 phage 12 amino acid peptide display library. Internalized phage was recovered, amplified and then subjected to a total of three rounds of in vivo biopanning where infectious phage was isolated from cardiac tissue following intravenous injection. After the third round, 60% of sequenced plaques carried the peptide sequence APWHLSSQYSRT, termed cardiac targeting peptide (CTP). We demonstrate that CTP was able to transduce cardiomyocytes functionally in culture in a concentration and cell-type dependent manner. Mice injected with CTP showed significant transduction of heart tissue with minimal uptake by lung and kidney capillaries, and no uptake in liver, skeletal muscle, spleen or brain. The level of heart transduction by CTP also was greater than with a cationic transduction domain. Conclusions: Biopanning using a peptide phage display library identified a peptide able to transduce heart tissue in vivo efficiently and specifically. CTP could be used to deliver therapeutic peptides, proteins and nucleic acid specifically to the heart. © 2010 Zahid et al

Theory of Low-Mass Stars and Substellar Objects

Since the discovery of the first bona-fide brown dwarfs and extra-solar planets in 1995, the field of low mass stars and substellar objects has considerably progressed, both from theoretical and observational viewpoints.Recent developments in the physics entering the modeling of these objects have led to significant improvements in the theory and to a better understanding of their mechanical and thermal properties. This theory can now be confronted with observations directly in various observational diagrams (color-color, color-magnitude, mass-magnitude, mass-spectral type), a stringent and unavoidable constraint which became possible only recently, with the generation of synthetic spectra. In this paper, we present the current state-of-the-art general theory of low-mass stars and sub-stellar objects, from one solar mass to one Jupiter mass, regarding primarily their interior structure and evolution. This review is a natural complement to the previous review on the atmosphere of low-mass stars and brown dwarfs (Allard et al 1997). Special attention is devoted to the comparison of the theory with various available observations. The contribution of low-mass stellar and sub-stellar objects to the Galactic mass budget is also analysed.Comment: 81 pages, Latex file, uses aasms4.sty, review for Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 38 (2000