Vegetarianism

Ethical vegetarians maintain that vegetarianism is morally required. The principal reasons offered in support of ethical vegetarianism are: (i) concern for the welfare and well-being of the animals being eaten, (ii) concern for the environment, (iii) concern over global food scarcity and the just distribution of resources, and (iv) concern for future generations. Each of these reasons is explored in turn, starting with a historical look at ethical vegetarianism and the moral status of animals

Estimation of emission rate from experimental data

The estimation of the source pollutant strength is a relevant issue for atmospheric environment. This characterizes an inverse problem in the atmospheric pollution dispersion studies. In the inverse analysis, a time-dependent pollutant source is considered, where the location of such source term is assumed known. The inverse problem is formulated as a non-linear optimization approach, whose objective function is given by the least-square difference between the measured and simulated by the mathematical model, pollutant concentration, associated with a regularization operator. The forward problem is addressed by a Lagrangian model, and a quasi-Newton method is employed for minimizing the objective function. The second-order Tikhonov regularization is applied and the regularization parameter is computed by using the L-curve scheme. The inverse-problem methodology is verified with data from the tracer Copenhagen experiment

Brave New World versus Island — Utopian and Dystopian Views on Psychopharmacology

Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World is a famous dystopia, frequently called upon in public discussions about new biotechnology. It is less well known that 30 years later Huxley also wrote a utopian novel, called Island. This paper will discuss both novels focussing especially on the role of psychopharmacological substances. If we see fiction as a way of imagining what the world could look like, then what can we learn from Huxley’s novels about psychopharmacology and how does that relate to the discussion in the ethical and philosophical literature on this subject? The paper argues that in the current ethical discussion the dystopian vision on psychopharmacology is dominant, but that a comparison between Brave New World and Island shows that a more utopian view is possible as well. This is illustrated by a discussion of the issue of psychopharmacology and authenticity. The second part of the paper draws some further conclusions for the ethical debate on psychopharmacology and human enhancement, by comparing the novels not only with each other, but also with our present reality. It is claimed that the debate should not get stuck in an opposition of dystopian and utopian views, but should address important issues that demand attention in our real world: those of evaluation and governance of enhancing psychopharmacological substances in democratic, pluralistic societies

A model based on Heisenberg’s theory for the eddy diffusivity in decaying turbulence applied to the residual layer

The problemof the theoretical derivation of a parameterization for the eddy diffusivity in decaying turbulence is addressed. This derivation makes use of the dynamical equation for the energy spectrum density and the classical statistical diffusion theory. The starting point is Heisenberg’s elementary decaying turbulence theory. The main assumption is related to the identification of a frequency, lying in the inertial subrange, characterizing the inertial energy transfer among eddies of different size. The resulting eddy diffusivity parameterization is then applied to the decay of convective turbulence in the residual layer. Besides the intrinsic scientific interest, this topic has relevance for mesoscale transport and diffusion simulations. The resulting expression for the eddy diffusivity cannot be solved analytically. For this reason an algebraic approximated formulation, giving nearly the same results as the exact expression, is also proposed

An automatic methodology for estimating eddy diffusivities from experimental data

A technique for estimating eddy diffusivities in a turbulent atmospheric layer is presented; the scheme adopted is based on an inverse-problem methodology. The inverse problem is formulated as a nonlinear constrained optimization problem, where the objective function is defined through the square differences between experimental and model data. The direct mathematical model is given by the advection-diffusion equation, which is solved by second-order finite-difference method. In the presence of noise it is necessary to use some regularization term; the Tikhonov function and an entropic regularization of zeroth, first and second orders are used in this paper. In addition, two inversion strategies are used: alternate and simultaneous eddy diffusivities estimation. Numerical experiments show a good performance of the proposed methodology

The hypothetical consent objection to anti-natalism

Abstract: A very common but untested assumption is that potential children would consent to be exposed to the harms of existence in order to experience its benefits (if it were possible for us to ask and for them to respond). And so, would-be parents might appeal to the following view: Procreation is all-things-considered permissible, as it is morally acceptable for one to knowingly harm an unconsenting patient if one has good reasons for assuming her hypothetical consent—and procreators can indeed reasonably rely on some notion of hypothetical consent. I argue that this view is in error. My argument appeals to a consent-based version of anti-natalism advanced by Seana Valentine Shiffrin. Anti-natalism is the view that it is (almost) always wrong to bring people (and perhaps all sentient beings) into existence. While, like Shiffrin, I stop short of advocating a thoroughgoing anti-natalism, I nevertheless argue that procreators cannot appeal to hypothetical consent to justify exposing children to the harms of existence. I end by suggesting a more promising route by which this justification might be achieved

Moral enhancement: do means matter morally?

One of the reasons why moral enhancement may be controversial, is because the advantages of moral enhancement may fall upon society rather than on those who are enhanced. If directed at individuals with certain counter-moral traits it may have direct societal benefits by lowering immoral behavior and increasing public safety, but it is not directly clear if this also benefits the individual in question. In this paper, we will discuss what we consider to be moral enhancement, how different means may be used to achieve it and whether the means we employ to reach moral enhancement matter morally. Are certain means to achieve moral enhancement wrong in themselves? Are certain means to achieve moral enhancement better than others, and if so, why? More specifically, we will investigate whether the difference between direct and indirect moral enhancement matters morally. Is it the case that indirect means are morally preferable to direct means of moral enhancement and can we indeed pinpoint relevant intrinsic, moral differences between both? We argue that the distinction between direct and indirect means is indeed morally relevant, but only insofar as it tracks an underlying distinction between active and passive interventions. Although passive interventions can be ethical provided specific safeguards are put in place, these interventions exhibit a greater potential to compromise autonomy and disrupt identity

Modelo euleriano semi-analítico para a dispersão de contaminantes na Camada Limite Planetária

An analytical air quality dispersion model based on a discretization of the planetary boundary layer in N sub-layers is presented. In each sub-layer the diffusion-advection equation is solved by the Laplace Transform techniques, considering an average value for the vertical exchange coefficient and the wind speed. As a consequence, the present approach allows to employ realistic semi-empirical profiles for the eddy diffusivity and wind speed, in such manner that the inhomogeneous turbulence can be handle. The model performance have been evaluated using the well-known Copenhagen and Prairie Grass datasets. Then, the application of the statistical evalution procedure (Hanna, 1989) over the out coming results has show that the proposed analytical dispersion model produces a good fitting of the observational data.Um modelo de dispersão analítico baseado na discretização da Camada Limite Planetária em N subcamadas é apresentado. Em cada subcamada a equação de difusão-adevcção é resolvida pelo emprego da transformada de Laplace, considerando um valor médio para o coeficiente de difusão e para a velocidade do vento. O presente modelo emprega perfis realísticos semi-empíricos para o coeficiente de difusão e velocidade do vento, de modo que a turbulência não homogênea pode ser utilizada. A performance do modelo é testada confrontando as simulações com os dados experimentais de Prairie Grass e Copenhagen. A aplicação de índices estatísticos (Hanna, 1989) mostra que o modelo analítico de dispersão proposto produz bons resultados

Retrospective harm benefit analysis of pre-clinical animal research for six treatment interventions

The harm benefit analysis (HBA) is the cornerstone of animal research regulation and is considered to be a key ethical safeguard for animals. The HBA involves weighing the anticipated benefits of animal research against its predicted harms to animals but there are doubts about how objective and accountable this process is.i. To explore the harms to animals involved in pre-clinical animal studies and to assess these against the benefits for humans accruing from these studies; ii. To test the feasibility of conducting this type of retrospective HBA.Data on harms were systematically extracted from a sample of pre-clinical animal studies whose clinical relevance had already been investigated by comparing systematic reviews of the animal studies with systematic reviews of human studies for the same interventions (antifibrinolytics for haemorrhage, bisphosphonates for osteoporosis, corticosteroids for brain injury, Tirilazad for stroke, antenatal corticosteroids for neonatal respiratory distress and thrombolytics for stroke). Clinical relevance was also explored in terms of current clinical practice. Harms were categorised for severity using an expert panel. The quality of the research and its impact were considered. Bateson's Cube was used to conduct the HBA.The most common assessment of animal harms by the expert panel was 'severe'. Reported use of analgesia was rare and some animals (including most neonates) endured significant procedures with no, or only light, anaesthesia reported. Some animals suffered iatrogenic harms. Many were kept alive for long periods post-experimentally but only 1% of studies reported post-operative care. A third of studies reported that some animals died prior to endpoints. All the studies were of poor quality. Having weighed the actual harms to animals against the actual clinical benefits accruing from these studies, and taking into account the quality of the research and its impact, less than 7% of the studies were permissible according to Bateson's Cube: only the moderate bisphosphonate studies appeared to minimise harms to animals whilst being associated with benefit for humans.This is the first time the accountability of the HBA has been systematically explored across a range of pre-clinical animal studies. The regulatory systems in place when these studies were conducted failed to safeguard animals from severe suffering or to ensure that only beneficial, scientifically rigorous research was conducted. Our findings indicate a pressing need to: i. review regulations, particularly those that permit animals to suffer severe harms; ii. reform the processes of prospectively assessing pre-clinical animal studies to make them fit for purpose; and iii. systematically evaluate the benefits of pre-clinical animal research to permit a more realistic assessment of its likely future benefits