Demandingness, Integrity, and Consequentialism: How Consequentialist Theories Can Avoid the Demandingness Objection

One of the most prominent arguments against act consequentialism is that it generates extreme demands that agents find intuitively objectionable. This extreme demand is generated by a combination of its requirement that one must always act in whatever way would make things go best, and the fact that there are a great many people with extreme needs whom a well-off person may easily be able to help. In this thesis I argue that our intuitions regarding demandingness are not enough to motivate this problem, and that a baseline of acceptable demand is necessary in order to be able to determine whether or not act consequentialism is too demanding. Referencing Williams’ infamous integrity problem, I argue that the intuitions that agents have regarding high levels of demand are an expression of their attitudes towards their integral projects, and that a suitable baseline for demand ought to be expressed in terms of the effect an action would have on the agent’s integrity. In light of this assertion, I examine Scheffler’s use of an agent-centred prerogative to avoid the integrity problem and argue that, while agent-centred prerogatives are promising as a means to avoid the objection, Scheffler fails to adequately limit the scope of his prerogative. After a brief exploration of various possible maximising strategies, I offer an alternative solution which incorporates the importance of an agent’s integrity into a consequentialist framework. This is achieved by combining a revised maximisation strategy with an agent-centred prerogative which utilises the process of reflective equilibrium to determine a set of protected integral projects which the agent may choose to protect over making things go best impersonally. I conclude that this solution adequately resolves both the integrity objection and demandingness objection to consequentialism

Thickened renewal processes

AbstractLet {ti, i ⩾ 0} be an ordinary renewal process and assume the lifetime distribution function has the form F(x) = cxα (1 + λx + o(x)) near 0+. The asymptotic conditional distribution as n→∞ of {nti, i⩾0}, given that tn ⩽ 1, is that of a renewal process with a gamma lifetime distribution depending only on α

Pressurized solid oxide fuel cell/gas turbine combined cycle systems

Over the last 10 years, Westinghouse Electric Corporation has made great strides in advancing tubular solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology towards commercialization by the year 2001. In 1993, Westinghouse initiated a program to develop pressurized solid oxide fuel cell/gas turbine (PSOFC/GT) combined cycle power systems because of the ultra-high electrical efficiencies, 60-75% (net AC/LHV CH4), inherent with these systems. This paper will discuss SOFC technology advancements in recent years, and the final phase development program which will focus on the development and demonstration of PSOFC/GT power systems for distributed power applications

Reducing the Manufacturing Cost of Tubular SOFC Technology

In recent years, Westinghouse Electric Corporation has made great strides in advancing tubular solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology towards commercialization by the year 2001. In 1993, Westinghouse initiated a program to develop a `MWe Class` (1-3 MWe) pressurized SOFC (PSOFC) gas turbine (GT) combined cycle power system for distributed power applications because of its: (1) ultra high efficiency (approx. 63% net AC/LHV CH{sub 4}), (2) its compatibility with a factory packaged, minimum site work philosophy, and (3) its cost effectiveness. Since then two cost studies on this market entry product performed by consultants to the U.S. Department of Energy have confirmed Westinghouse cost studies that fully installed costs of under $1300/kWe can be achieved in the early commercialization years for such small PSOFC/GT power systems. The paper will present the results of these cost studies in the areas of cell manufacturing cost, PSOFC generator manufacturing cost, balance-of-plant (BOP) cost, and system installation cost. In addition, cost of electricity calculations will be presented

Formation of Boron Enolates by Nucleophilic Substitution

Enolates have proven to be one of the key building blocks available to the synthetic chemist. Here we summarize a novel strategy for their preparation, involving the addition of α-borylated nucleophiles to esters to yield boron enolates. The enolates prepared by the addition of lithiated geminal bis(boron) compounds to esters can be trapped with two equivalents of halogen and alkyl electrophiles to yield α,α-difunctionalized compounds

Pest status of termites on different Eucalyptus species in Afaka, Nigeria

Eucalyptus is one of the exotic tree species used for fuel wood and utility pole purposes in Northern Nigeria. The early stages of its plantation establishment face the challenges of insect attack, especially the subterranean termites. The pest status of termites on Eucalyptus tree species is a prerequisite for effective management strategies. This study assessed the pest status of termites on four Eucalyptus tree species: Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Eucalyptus citriodora, Eucalyptus cloeziana and Eucalyptus tereticornis in Afaka, Kaduna State, Nigeria. The four Eucalyptus species were planted in the field in a Randomized Complete Block Design and replicated three times. Seedling mortality counts were taken at 1, 2, 3, 6 and 12 months after transplanting. Mortality data were subjected ANOVA and significant means were separated using Tukey’s HSD (p = 0.05). The results showed that lower significant seedling mortality (9.66 ± 5.3%) was observed in E. camaldulensis at 1 month after transplanting. Seedling mortalities within a period of 1 – 12 months after transplanting ranged from 9.66±5.43 – 74.65±8.97%, 34.29±4.80 - 66.87±1.72%, 27.32±2.08 - 61.24±5.85% and 18.01±3.05 - 63.61±2.49% in E. camaldulensis, E. citriodora, E. cloeziana and E. tereticornis, respectively. It is therefore concluded from this study that the first year of Eucalyptus plantation establishment is critical for termite infestation and requires a prompt decision to embark on termite management strategies

Targeting the Progression of Parkinson’s Disease

By the time a patient first presents with symptoms of Parkinson’s disease at the clinic, a significant proportion (50-70%) of the cells in the substantia nigra (SN) has already been destroyed. This degeneration progresses until, within a few years, most of the cells have died. Except for rare cases of familial PD, the initial trigger for cell loss is unknown. However, we do have some clues as to why the damage, once initiated, progresses unabated. It would represent a major advance in therapy to arrest cell loss at the stage when the patient first presents at the clinic. Current therapies for Parkinson’s disease focus on relieving the motor symptoms of the disease, these unfortunately lose their effectiveness as the neurodegeneration and symptoms progress. Many experimental approaches are currently being investigated attempting to alter the progression of the disease. These range from replacement of the lost neurons to neuroprotective therapies; each of these will be briefly discussed in this review. The main thrust of this review is to explore the interactions between dopamine, alpha synuclein and redox-active metals. There is abundant evidence suggesting that destruction of SN cells occurs as a result of a self-propagating series of reactions involving dopamine, alpha synuclein and redox-active metals. A potent reducing agent, the neurotransmitter dopamine has a central role in this scheme, acting through redox metallo-chemistry to catalyze the formation of toxic oligomers of alpha-synuclein and neurotoxic metabolites including 6-hydroxydopamine. It has been hypothesized that these feed the cycle of neurodegeneration by generating further oxidative stress. The goal of dissecting and understanding the observed pathological changes is to identify therapeutic targets to mitigate the progression of this debilitating disease

General mutation databases : analysis and review

Databases of mutations causing Mendelian disease play a crucial role in research, diagnostic and genetic health care and can play a role in life and death decisions. These databases are thus heavily used, but only gene or locus specific databases have been previously reviewed for completeness, accuracy, currency and utility. We have performed a review of the various general mutation databases that derive their data from the published literature and locus specific databases. Only two&mdash;the Human Gene Mutation Database (HGMD) and Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM)&mdash;had useful numbers of mutations. Comparison of a number of characteristics of these databases indicated substantial inconsistencies between the two databases that included absent genes and missing mutations. This situation strengthens the case for gene specific curation of mutations and the need for an overall plan for collection, curation, storage and release of mutation data.<br /

Analysis of Gene Sets Based on the Underlying Regulatory Network

Networks are often used to represent the interactions among genes and proteins. These interactions are known to play an important role in vital cell functions and should be included in the analysis of genes that are differentially expressed. Methods of gene set analysis take advantage of external biological information and analyze a priori defined sets of genes. These methods can potentially preserve the correlation among genes; however, they do not directly incorporate the information about the gene network. In this paper, we propose a latent variable model that directly incorporates the network information. We then use the theory of mixed linear models to present a general inference framework for the problem of testing the significance of subnetworks. Several possible test procedures are introduced and a network based method for testing the changes in expression levels of genes as well as the structure of the network is presented. The performance of the proposed method is compared with methods of gene set analysis using both simulation studies, as well as real data on genes related to the galactose utilization pathway in yeast.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78147/1/cmb.2008.0081.pd

Design of Frequency Reconfigurable Multiband Compact Antenna using two PIN diodes for WLAN/WiMAX Applications

YesIn this paper, we present a simple reconfigurable multiband antenna with two PIN diode switches for WiMAX/WLAN applications. The antenna permits reconfigurable switching in up to ten frequency bands between 2.2 GHz and 6 GHz, with relative impedance bandwidths of around 2.5% and 8%. The proposed antenna has been simulated using CST microwave studio software and fabricated on an FR-4 substrate. It is compact, with an area of 50 × 45 mm2, and has a slotted ground substrate. Both measured and simulated return loss characteristics of the optimized antenna show that it satisfies the requirement of 2.4/5.8 GHz WLAN and 3.5 GHz WiMAX antenna applications. Moreover, there is good agreement between the measured and simulated result in terms of radiation pattern and gain.Engineering and Physical Science Research Council through Grant EP/E022936A