499 research outputs found
Fundamental Moral Attitudes to Animals and Their Role in Judgment: An Empirical Model to Describe Fundamental Moral Attitudes to Animals and Their Role in Judgment on the Culling of Healthy Animals During an Animal Disease Epidemic
In this paper, we present and defend the theoretical framework of an empirical model to describe peopleâs fundamental moral attitudes (FMAs) to animals, the stratification of FMAs in society and the role of FMAs in judgment on the culling of healthy animals in an animal disease epidemic. We used philosophical animal ethics theories to understand the moral basis of FMA convictions. Moreover, these theories provide us with a moral language for communication between animal ethics, FMAs, and public debates. We defend that FMA is a two-layered concept. The first layer consists of deeply felt convictions about animals. The second layer consists of convictions derived from the first layer to serve as arguments in a debate on animal issues. In a debate, the latter convictions are variable, depending on the animal issue in a specific context, time, and place. This variability facilitates finding common ground in an animal issue between actors with opposing conviction
Beyond the Prevention of Harm: Animal Disease Policy as a Moral Question
European animal disease policy seems to find its justification in a âharm to otherâ principle. Limiting the freedom of animal keepersâe.g., by culling their animalsâis justified by the aim to prevent harm, i.e., the spreading of the disease. The picture, however, is more complicated. Both during the control of outbreaks and in the prevention of notifiable, animal diseases the government is confronted with conflicting claims of stakeholders who anticipate running a risk to be harmed by each other, and who ask for government intervention. In this paper, we first argue that in a policy that aims to prevent animal diseases, the focus shifts from limiting âharmâ to weighing conflicting claims with respect to ârisks of harm.â Therefore, we claim that the harm principle is no longer a sufficient justification for governmental intervention in animal disease prevention. A policy that has to deal with and distribute conflicting risks of harm needs additional value assumptions that guide this process of assessment and distribution. We show that currently, policies are based on assumptions that are mainly economic considerations. In order to show the limitations of these considerations, we use the interests and position of keepers of backyard animals as an example. Based on the problems they faced during and after the recent outbreaks, we defend the thesis that in order to develop a sustainable animal disease policy other than economic assumptions need to be taken into accoun
Validity of the Generalized Second Law of Thermodynamics of the Universe Bounded by the Event Horizon in Holographic Dark Energy Model
In this letter, we investigate the validity of the generalized second law of
thermodynamics of the universe bounded by the event horizon in the holographic
dark energy model. The universe is chosen to be homogeneous and isotropic and
the validity of the first law has been assumed here. The matter in the universe
is taken in the form of non-interacting two fluid system- one component is the
holographic dark energy model and the other component is in the form of dust.Comment: 8 page
Scalar-Tensor Theory of Gravity and Generalized Second Law of Thermodynamics on the Event Horizon
In blackhole physics, the second law of thermodynamics is generally valid
whether the blackhole is a static or a non-static one. Considering the universe
as a thermodynamical system the second law of blackhole dynamics extends to the
non-negativity of the sum of the entropy of the matter and the horizon, known
as generalized second law of thermodynamics(GSLT). Here, we have assumed the
universe to be bounded by the event-horizon or filled with perfect fluid and
holographic dark energy in two cases. Thus considering entropy to be an
arbitrary function of the area of the event-horizon, we have tried to find the
conditions and the restrictions over the scalar field and equation of state for
the validity of the GSLT and both in quintessence-era and in phantom-era in
scalar tensor theory.Comment: 8 page
Advances in the Epidemiological Study of Oral-Facial Diseases
Both demographic patterns and disease distribution are changing rapidly in the United States. These developments have led to the recognition that the epidemiology of many conditions is poorly understood, and that other research has thus been hindered. Four areas of epidemiological study were chosen for detailed analysis of how new technology will affect the conduct of future research. These areas, selected because information about them will be increasingly needed in an aging society, were periodontitis, temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and other orofacial pain, salivary gland disturbances, and health services research. The potential effect of new technology was examined in the short, intermediate, and long term. While the nature of epidemiological study is unlikely to change with the advent of new technology, the scope of potential studies will become broader. Advances in diagnostic techniques from elsewhere will permit far more precise diagnosis than is possible at present. Computer technology will permit an efficient system of epidemiological surveillance to provide current data on trends in tooth loss, caries, and periodontitisâdata which will complement the results of national surveys. Analytical studies to produce hypotheses on the etiology of oral conditions, especially in such poorly-understood areas as chronic pain and TMD, will help direct clinical research in those areas.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66664/2/10.1177_08959374890030010301.pd
A mental number line in human newborns
Humans represent numbers on a mental number line with smaller numbers on the
left and larger numbers on the right side. A left\u2010to\u2010right oriented spatial\u2013numerical
association, (SNA), has been demonstrated in animals and infants. However, the possibility
that SNA is learnt by early exposure to caregivers\u2019 directional biases is still
open. We conducted two experiments: in Experiment 1, we tested whether SNA is
present at birth and in Experiment 2, we studied whether it depends on the relative
rather than the absolute magnitude of numerousness. Fifty\u2010five\u2010hour\u2010old newborns,
once habituated to a number (12), spontaneously associated a smaller number (4)
with the left and a larger number (36) with the right side (Experiment 1). SNA in neonates
is not absolute but relative. The same number (12) was associated with the left
side rather than the right side whenever the previously experienced number was
larger (36) rather than smaller (4) (Experiment 2). Control on continuous physical variables
showed that the effect is specific of discrete magnitudes. These results constitute
strong evidence that in our species SNA originates from pre\u2010linguistic and
biological precursors in the brain
Universality of the critical conductance distribution in various dimensions
We study numerically the metal - insulator transition in the Anderson model
on various lattices with dimension (bifractals and Euclidian
lattices). The critical exponent and the critical conductance
distribution are calculated. We confirm that depends only on the {\it
spectral} dimension. The other parameters - critical disorder, critical
conductance distribution and conductance cummulants - depend also on lattice
topology. Thus only qualitative comparison with theoretical formulae for
dimension dependence of the cummulants is possible
Evolution of wave packets in quasi-1D and 1D random media: diffusion versus localization
We study numerically the evolution of wavepackets in quasi one-dimensional
random systems described by a tight-binding Hamiltonian with long-range random
interactions. Results are presented for the scaling properties of the width of
packets in three time regimes: ballistic, diffusive and localized. Particular
attention is given to the fluctuations of packet widths in both the diffusive
and localized regime. Scaling properties of the steady-state distribution are
also analyzed and compared with theoretical expression borrowed from
one-dimensional Anderson theory. Analogies and differences with the kicked
rotator model and the one-dimensional localization are discussed.Comment: 32 pages, LaTex, 11 PostScript figure
Class of correlated random networks with hidden variables
We study a class models of correlated random networks in which vertices are
characterized by \textit{hidden variables} controlling the establishment of
edges between pairs of vertices. We find analytical expressions for the main
topological properties of these models as a function of the distribution of
hidden variables and the probability of connecting vertices. The expressions
obtained are checked by means of numerical simulations in a particular example.
The general model is extended to describe a practical algorithm to generate
random networks with an \textit{a priori} specified correlation structure. We
also present an extension of the class, to map non-equilibrium growing networks
to networks with hidden variables that represent the time at which each vertex
was introduced in the system
Statefinder diagnostic and stability of modified gravity consistent with holographic and new agegraphic dark energy
Recently one of us derived the action of modified gravity consistent with the
holographic and new-agegraphic dark energy. In this paper, we investigate the
stability of the Lagrangians of the modified gravity as discussed in [M. R.
Setare, Int. J. Mod. Phys. D 17 (2008) 2219; M. R. Setare, Astrophys. Space
Sci. 326 (2010) 27]. We also calculate the statefinder parameters which
classify our dark energy model.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, accepted by Gen. Relativ. Gravi
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