The domain of authority

If the commands of authority are peremptory and content-independent directives, it is a great puzzle why any rational autonomous agent should accept them as morally binding, as Robert Paul Wolff and others have argued. I analyse the peremptory and content-independent quality of authoritative directives and argue that all earthly authorities operate within a specified domain. I investigate three candidates for the role of universally applicable boundary conditions–morality, harm to self, and absurdity. I conclude that commands are authoritative only when intra vires, i.e. issued within the proper domain of the authority. Wolff's challenge is not met, hut it is shown to be less forbidding

Do forage legumes have a role in modern dairy farming systems?

peer-reviewedIntensification in New Zealand dairy farming systems has placed greater pressure on clover performance and fitness and has highlighted the need to develop clover cultivars that are better adapted to intensive grazing systems. Increased stocking rates and increased use of nitrogen fertiliser have put enormous pressure on the contribution of clover to modern dairy systems. Future innovations such as semi-hybrid cultivars offer the potential to improve the competitiveness of legumes with nitrogen-fertilised forage grasses. Similarly, advances in condensed tannin research suggest that significant animal performance gains can be achieved in conjunction with reduced environmental impact. In order to capture these benefits, dairy farmers will need to reassess their grazing management to ensure that legumes can be maintained at economically useful levels. Novel grazing management systems that optimise the benefits provided by the grass and legume components need to be used in future dairy farming systems. Forage legumes, and especially white clover, have an important role to play in modern dairy systems

Design of object processing systems

Object processing systems are met rather often in every day life, in industry, tourism, commerce, etc. When designing such a system, many problems can be posed and considered, depending on the scope and purpose of design. We give here a general approach which involves graph theory, and which can have many applications. The generation of possible designs for an object processing system, known as synthesis in the engineering field, is reduced to first solving a graph embedding problem. We believe that our model could be successful and relatively easily implemented in a software tool, called Smart Synthesis Tool, so that the engineering design process will perform quicker. We propose three types of graph transformations which aid the way an object processing system can be designed. Future work will show to which extent these transformation types suffice for generating most of the layouts of the object processing systems

What is the capability approach?: its core, rationale, partners and dangers

development theory; human development; quality of life; social values; freedom;

Global ethics and global strangers : beyond the inter-national relations framework : an essay in descriptive ethics

ethics;globalization;boundaries;individuals;international relations

Corrosion and wear in moulding boxes

We assess the potential causes of damage to mould box ends and find that both HOT corrosion, due to burning of emitted volatiles, and COLD corrosion, due to the presence of high humidity (and possibly high chloride ion concentration), are likely to contribute to the damage. We suggest strategies to minimise the damage, including venting of the volatiles, ventilation of the pallet grooves during cooling and minimisation of brushing effects during cleaning. Some calculations are described in an attempt to quantify the various effects discussed, but we are unable to accurately estimate their significance

Influence of Stirrup-Tie Shape on Inelastic Cyclic Response of Flanged Reinforced Concrete Flexural Members

Three reinforced concrete flanged sections (T-sections) having different shapes of shear reinforcement were subjected to cyclic inelastic flexure representative of what framed structure members might-be forced to endure during a severe earthquake. The different types of shear reinforcement consisted of closed hoops and two types of U-shaped stirrups, neither having been supplemented with cap ties. This report documents the experimental work, presents data obtained during tests (including energy dissipation capacities) and discusses the implications of test results on possible changes in reinforcement details for frame structures in seismic regions

Mussel eggs as indicators of mutagen exposure in coastal and estuarine environments

The aim of this study was to develop a short-term genotoxicity assay for monitoring the marine environment for mutagens. Based on the developing eggs and embryos of the marine mussel Mytilus edulis, an important pollution indicator species, the test employs the sensitive sister chromatid exchange (SCE) technique as its end-point, and exploits the potential of mussel eggs to accumulate mutagenic pollutants from the surrounding sea water. Mussel eggs take up to 6 months to develop while in the gonad, which provides scope for DNA damage to be accumulated over an extended time interval; chromosome damage is subsequently visualised as SCEs in 2-cell-stage embryos after these have been spawned in the laboratory. Methods which measure biological responses to pollutant exposure are able to integrate all the factors (internal and external) which contribute to the exposure. The new cytogenetic assay allows the effects of adult exposure to be interpreted in cells destined to become part of the next generation