Necroeconomics: Power, Ethics, and the Political Economy of Human-Animal Relations

This paper is an innovative addition to the ongoing debate about human-animal relations. It approaches the topic from the perspective of political economy rather than moral philosophy and seeks to provide an explanatory framework combining commodification of animals and death in the global economy. While acknowledging the importance of the ongoing debate about animal rights, it seeks to shift the focus of analysis of industries which create value through the killing of animals toward one based on the Foucauldian notions of power as biopolitics and governance. In order to reconceptualise the relations of power which exist between human business interests and animal life, it introduces the notion that animals killed for meat, by-products, or research purposes are treated as necrocommodities; that is, commodities whose value is created as a direct result of death. By challenging the prevalent notions of speciesist hierarchisation and property rights, it seeks to cast a new light on the tangible power relations which exist between humans and animal species which are hunted or fished for profit. In doing so, this paper challenges the notion that the economy is amoral. Instead, it presents a preliminary picture of an economy rooted in inter-species power relations which is necessarily subject to a moral critique. The case study of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and ongoing "scientific" whaling is used to elucidate and introduce the concept of necroeconomics, but the main goal is to present an analytical framework that has a bearing on wider moral and structural issues in the international animal and animal product industry. Moreover, it situates animal-human relations within broader problems of modernity, thereby broadening its scope and calling for more academic focus on the place of animals in the modern political economy and its attendant circuits of power

Cross cultural adaptation of the English version of the IOF-QLQ to Polish, to assess the health-related quality-of-life of patients after a distal radius fracture

BACKGROUND: A distal radius fracture (DRF) is a common injury that can cause significant pain and lead to a prolonged decrease in physical, emotional, and social functioning. In modern randomized clinical trials, assessing outcomes after a DRF, health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) is a “must-be” endpoint. Additionally, HRQoL assessments are essential in the clinical decision-making process. The aim of this study to cross-culturally adapt the International Osteoporosis Foundation Quality of Life Questionnaire (IOF QLQ) for patients with a DRF to Polish. METHODS: A standard forward-backward translation procedure and pilot-testing were used to prepare the Polish version of the IOF QLQ for use in this case–control study. Patients were eligible if they were between 18–80 years and were within 1–3 days after a non-comminuted DRF. The study group was gender and aged matched with healthy controls. All DRF patients filled out the Polish version of the IOF QLQ, the SF-36 and a demographic questionnaire. Assessment points were set as soon as possible after the fracture, 7 days, 6 weeks, 3, 6, 12, and 18 months after the fracture. Standard validity and reliability analyses were performed. RESULTS: Ninety-seven patients (73 women – 75.3 %) with a mean age of 62.4 ± 7.1 years agreed to take part in the study. The control group consisted of 81 patients (60 women – 74.1 %) with a mean age 63.9 ± 8.2 years. No significant differences were found between the mean age of patients and controls (p = 0.19). Cronbach’s alpha coefficients showed positive internal consistency (0.79–0.89). The interclass correlations for the IOF QLQ domains and the overall score ranged from 0.85 to 0.92. Satisfactory convergent and discriminant validity of the IOF QLQ was seen. CONCLUSIONS: The Polish version of the IOF QLQ for patients with a DRF is a reliable and valid tool for measuring HRQoL. It can be fully recommended for use in clinical settings in the Polish population. When combined with the SF-36 the IOF QLQ allows to obtain a comprehensive HRQoL assessment in patients with a DRF

Influence of uniaxial pressure on dielectric properties of (1-x)Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3–xSrTiO3 for x = 0.01, 0.04, and 0.1 ceramics

The publication costs of this article were covered by the Estonian Academy of Sciences and the University of Tartu.The conventional solid-state sintering was applied to synthesized (1-x)Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3-xSrTiO3 (x = 0.01, 0.04, and 0.1) ceramics. Dielectric measurements of these ceramics were taken in the temperature range from 20 to 600 °C, in the frequency range from 1 kHz to 2 MHz and under uniaxial pressure ranging from 10 to 1100 bar. The study of the dielectric behaviour showed that the influence of uniaxial pressure on the investigated properties was considerable. The peaks εm gradually decreased and shifted towards lower temperatures with an increase of uniaxial pressure for all samples. The first effect developed with an increase of the strontium ion concentration. Experimental results revealed most interesting properties of the material in the context of its potential applications.Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART

Vliv vícenásobné plastické deformace na mechanické vlastnosti a strukturu hliníkových slitin

Article is devoted to analysis of ECAP (Equal Channel Angular Pressing) method, which uses a high degree of deformation to achieve a very fine-grained structure of formed material. Utilization of The ECAP technology enables attainment of required properties of selected materials by using of severe plastic deformation (SPD methods). In the experimental part the influence of the number of passes through forming tool with classical geometry (angle of 90° between channels) was studied to achieve maximum hardening (expressed by deformation resistance and achieved value of hardness HV10). Also the metallographic analysis (detection of achieved grain refinement) was carried out. From comparison of results achieved at both alloys it can be stated that for given forming by ECAP method the EN AW-8006 alloy is preferable, because higher strength degree was obtained by achieving of very fine grained structure. When using the same method of forming by ECAP method the EN AW-2024 alloy has lower hardening and structure refinement.Příspěvek je zaměřen na rozbor vlivu metody ECAP (Equal Channel Angular Pressing), která využívá vysokého stupně vnesené deformace, na dosažení velmi jemnozrnné struktury tvářeného materiálu. Použití technologie ECAP umožňuje docílení požadovaných vlastností u vybraných materiálů použitím vícenásobné plastické deformace (SPD metody, tj. Severe Plastic Deformation). V experimentální části by l zkoumán vliv počtu průchodů tvářecím nástrojem s úhlem mezi kanály 90° na dosažení maximálního zpevnění (vyjádřeného přetvárným odporem a dosaženou hodnotou tvrdosti HV10). Rovněž by la provedena metalografická analýza (zjištění dosaženého zjemnění zrna). Z porovnání dosažených výsledků u obou slitin lze konstatovat, že pro dané procesní parametry tváření metodou ECAP je vhodnější slitina EN AW-8006, protože dosahuje vyšší zpevnění vytvořením jemnozrnné struktury. Při použití shodného způsobu tváření metodou ECAP slitina EN AW-2024 vykazuje nižší zpevnění

Universities should lead on the plant-based dietary transition

National audienc

Toxic effect in the lungs of rats after inhalation exposure to benzalkonium chloride

Background: Benzalkonium chloride (BAC) is a quaternary ammonium compound (QAC) toxic to microorganisms. Inhalation is one of the major possible routes of human exposure to BAC. Materials and Methods: Experiments were performed on female Wistar rats. The rats were exposed to aerosol of BAC water solution at the target concentration of 0 (control group) and 35 mg/m3 for 5 days (6 h/day) and, after a 2-week interval, the animals were challenged (day 21) with BAC aerosol at the target concentration of 0 (control group) and 35 mg/m3 for 6 h. Results: Compared to the controls, the animals exposed to BAC aerosol were characterized by lower food intake and their body weight was significantly smaller. As regards BAC-exposed group, a significant increase was noted in relative lung mass, total protein concentration, and MIP-2 in BALF both directly after the termination of the exposure and 18 h afterwards. Significantly higher IL-6 and IgE concentrations in BALF and a decrease in the CC16 concentration in BALF were found in the exposed group immediately after the exposure. The leukocyte count in BALF was significantly higher in the animals exposed to BAC aerosol compared to the controls. In the lungs of rats exposed to BAC the following effects were observed: minimal perivascular, interstitial edema, focal aggregates of alveolar macrophages, interstitial mononuclear cell infiltrations, thickened alveolar septa and marginal lipoproteinosis. Conclusion: Inhalation of BAC induced a strong inflammatory response and a damage to the blood-air barrier. Reduced concentrations of CC16, which is an immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory protein, in combination with increased IgE concentrations in BALF may be indicative of the immuno-inflammatory response in the animals exposed to BAC aerosol by inhalation. Histopathological examinations of tissue samples from the BAC-exposed rats revealed a number of pathological changes found only in the lungs

“Postmodernism,” Politics, and Pigs

Book Symposium on Gary Steiner's Animals and the Limits of Postmodernism. New York: Columbia University Press, 2013