Getting what you want

It is commonly accepted that if an agent wants p, then she has a desire that is satisfied in exactly the worlds where p is true. Call this the ‘Satisfaction-is-Truth Principle’. We argue that this principle is false: an agent may want p without having a desire that is satisfied when p obtains in any old way. For example, Millie wants to drink milk but does not have a desire that is satisfied when she drinks spoiled milk. Millie has a desire whose satisfaction conditions are what we call ways-specific. Fara (Philos Perspect 17(1):141–163, 2003, Noûs 47(2):250–272, 2013) and Lycan (Philos Perspect 26(1):201–215, 2012, In what sense is desire a propositional attitude?, Unpublished manuscript) have also argued for this conclusion, but their claims about desire satisfaction rest solely on contested intuitions about when agents get what they want. We set these intuitions to one side, instead arguing that desire satisfaction is ways-specific by appealing to the dispositional role of desire. Because agents are disposed to satisfy their desires, dispositions provide important evidence about desire satisfaction. Our argument also provides new insight on the dispositional role of desire satisfaction

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Wanting to Do What's Right

It may seem obvious that good people want to do what is right. But moral philosophers disagree about whether it is virtuous to be motivated to do what is right as such. Some, inspired by Kant, argue that wanting to do what is right as such is always morally praiseworthy. Others claim that such a desire amounts to a kind of moral fetishism. This dissertation lays out the groundwork for a new way of thinking about what it is to want to do what is right as such. The central task (which is the topic of chapter 1) is to provide a new account of moral fetishism that allows us to maintain what I take to be the natural view: it is not always wrong to want to do what is right as such (though it sometimes is). I argue that whether wanting to do what is right as such is virtuous or morally fetishistic depends on the deeper structure of the agent’s motivations. What makes the fetishist a fetishist, I argue, is that they want to do what is right whatever rightness might be. By contrast, the good person’s desire to do what is right is conditional on their substantive conception of right action being at least approximately correct. This account allows us to resolve seemingly conflicting intuitions about cases of wanting to do what is right, and also suggests a more general account of how the contents of our desires depend on our beliefs together with further features of our underlying motivational states. Chapter 2 takes a deeper dive into the nature of desire contents, providing an independent, disposition-based argument for a thesis on which my account of moral fetishism depends: that two people can both want p, but in wanting p, nonetheless have desires with different contents. Chapter 3 then shows how my account of moral fetishism creates trouble for prominent theories of moral worth. The upshot is that any adequate account of moral worth will need to place additional constraints on the content of the desires that ultimately explain why the agent acts as she does.Ph.D

Validation of respiratory inductive plethysmography (LifeShirt) in obesity hypoventilation syndrome

Validation of respiratory inductive plethysmography (LifeShirt system) (RIPLS) for tidal volume (VT), minute ventilation , and respiratory frequency (fB) was performed among people with untreated obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS) and controls. Measures were obtained simultaneously from RIPLS and a spirometer during two tests, and compared using Bland Altman analysis. Among 13 OHS participants (162 paired measures), RIPLS-spirometer agreement was unacceptable for VT: mean difference (MD) 3 mL (1%); limits of agreement (LOA) −216 to 220 mL (±36%); MD 0.1 L min−1 (2%); LOA −4.1 to 4.3 L min−1 (±36%); and fB: MD 0.2 br min−1 (2%); LOA −4.6 to 5.0 br min−1 (±27%). Among 13 controls (197 paired measures), RIPLS-spirometer agreement was acceptable for fB: MD −0.1 br min−1 (−1%); LOA −1.2 to 1.1 br min−1 (±12%), but unacceptable for VT: MD 5 mL (1%); LOA −160 to 169 mL (±20%) and : MD 0.1 L min−1 (1%); LOA −1.4 to 1.5 L min−1 (±20%). RIPLS produces valid measures of fB among controls but not OHS patients, and is not valid for quantifying respiratory volumes among either group

Validity of arterialised-venous PCO2, pH and bicarbonate in obesity hypoventilation syndrome

This prospective study investigated the validity of arterialised-venous blood gases (AVBG) for estimating arterial carbon dioxide (PCO2 ), pH and bicarbonate (HCO3 −) in people with obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS). AVBGs were obtained from an upper limb vein, after heating the skin at 42–46 ◦C. Arterial blood gas (ABG) and AVBG samples were taken simultaneously and compared using Bland Altman analysis. Between-group differences were assessed with independent t-tests or Mann–Whitney U tests. Forty-two viable paired samples were analysed, including 27 paired samples from 15 OHS participants, and 15 paired samples from 16 controls. AVBG–ABG agreement was not different between groups, or between dorsal hand, forearm and antecubital AVBG sampling sites, and was clinically acceptable for PCO2 : mean difference (MD) 0.4 mmHg (0.9%), limits of agreement (LOA) −2.7–3.6 mmHg (±6.6%); pH: MD −0.008 (−0.1%), LOA −0.023–0.008 (±0.2%); and HCO3 −: MD −0.3 mmol L−1 (−1.0%), LOA −1.8–1.2 mmol L−1 (±5.3%). AVBG provides valid measures of PCO2 , pH, and HCO3 − in OHS

Hunter & Central Coasts New South Wales - Vulnerability to climate change impacts: Report to the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Australia

This study assesses the vulnerability of the NSW Central Coast and Lower Hunter region (NSW) to the impacts of climate change. The primary objective was an interdisciplinary appraisal of the vulnerability of infrastructure and natural ecosystems to the impact of sea level rise, storm surge and intense rainfall. It uses climate change projections produced by the IPCC and CSIRO for the years 2030 and 2070. Under this scenario the projected value of sea level rise in 2030 is 146mm and in 2070 it is 471mm, relative to 1990 levels. In an effort to assess the vulnerabilities that might be faced by the region, this investigation undertook a past-present-future landscape analysis to allow a more integrated understanding of changing landscape-scale social-ecological parameters. The investigation also examined alternative future landscapes that minimised adverse impacts. Predicted future landscapes for 2030 and 2070 showed considerably larger areas of urban settlement than at present, and reductions in natural ecosystems areas and beach/dune areas. Ecosystems vulnerable to future urban expansion include coastal heath, coastal banksia/mahogany complex, scribbly gum/banksia complex and paperbark forest. Seven coastal beach-dune areas are vulnerable to considerable beach recession by 2070. There is a 'threshold' risk that 2070 sea level rises combined with a storm event could cause a total breach of a dune area causing enormous disruption. The area occupied by human built environment will increase in the coming decades. Without adaptation, it's expected the areas affected by climate change will also increase. In 2030 the area of human built environment vulnerable to combined sea level rise and flood extremes is likely to be about 6,316ha for the Newcastle Local Government Area (LGA), 2022ha for the Lake Macquarie LGA and 3,399ha for the Wyong LGA. As an example, an alternative future landscape for 2030 was designed and analysed. It sought to reduce the vulnerability of urban areas and ecosystems and demonstrates that vulnerable urban areas could be reduced by 46.4 per cent, while protecting coastal ecosystems as buffers. Other alternative future scenarios should be evaluated to assess landscape change and vulnerability trade-offs. An analysis of social vulnerability suggests that concentrations of socio-economic vulnerability within the study area were generally associated with retiree communities and Housing Commission neighbourhoods. The study finds that the landscape futures method is a useful approach for the integration of sociol-economic and ecological vulnerability information. It also revealed a range of data issues that will need to be addressed in the future