Moral enhancement: do means matter morally?

One of the reasons why moral enhancement may be controversial, is because the advantages of moral enhancement may fall upon society rather than on those who are enhanced. If directed at individuals with certain counter-moral traits it may have direct societal benefits by lowering immoral behavior and increasing public safety, but it is not directly clear if this also benefits the individual in question. In this paper, we will discuss what we consider to be moral enhancement, how different means may be used to achieve it and whether the means we employ to reach moral enhancement matter morally. Are certain means to achieve moral enhancement wrong in themselves? Are certain means to achieve moral enhancement better than others, and if so, why? More specifically, we will investigate whether the difference between direct and indirect moral enhancement matters morally. Is it the case that indirect means are morally preferable to direct means of moral enhancement and can we indeed pinpoint relevant intrinsic, moral differences between both? We argue that the distinction between direct and indirect means is indeed morally relevant, but only insofar as it tracks an underlying distinction between active and passive interventions. Although passive interventions can be ethical provided specific safeguards are put in place, these interventions exhibit a greater potential to compromise autonomy and disrupt identity

In vitro and in vivo cytotoxic effects of chlorella against various types of cancer

Chlorella is one of the microalgae that had been studied intensively owing to its rapid growth and easily cultured at a large scale compared to other microalgae and valuable nutrient compositions. Numerous studies have observed that Chlorella possess various health benefit including antioxidant, anti-cholesterol, anti-inflammatory, and antiproliferative effect against many types of cancer. In this review paper, the effects of various Chlorella species against cancer cells and animal induced cancer are discussed and an overview on Chlorella is briefed. The Chlorella deleterious effect on cancer through various mechanisms such as enhancement of immune system and apoptosis; improving lipid peroxidation; synthesis and expression of the protein-degrading matrix; and preventing the formation of new blood vessels are elaborated as well. Based on the findings of many studies reported in this article, it can be suggested that Chlorella has the potential in supporting cancer therapy and may develop to become an anti-cancer agent

The Effect of Square Finned Conformal Cooling (SFCC) on Cycle Time for Plastic Injection Moulding / K. Kamarudin ...[et al.]

Cooling system is a significant factor in productivity and quality in the plastic injection moulding process. Numerous researchers demonstrated that conformal cooling channel yields significant improvement of productivity and quality of plastic injection moulding process. Apart from that, the advancement of Solid Free Form Technology (SFF) allows a mould designer to design a variety of conformal cooling channel geometry rather than conventional designs. This paper presents the research work to enhance the efficiency of square shaped groove conformal cooling channels which uses fins concept. Existing conformal cooling channel design that uses square shape groove was improved by incorporating fins to meet the best design that can reduce the cooling time. The effect of Square Finned Conformal Cooling (SFCC) design on cooling time was investigated by using Autodesk Moldflow Insight software. The simulation results indicated that different number of fins influences the cooling time. From the analysis, it was found that time to reach the ejection temperature was reduced by 19.4% for the cooling channels with 4 fins compared to existing cooling channel

Euro plus Med-Checklist Notulae, 11

This is the eleventh of a series of miscellaneous contributions, by various authors, where hitherto unpublished data relevant to both the Med-Checklist and the Euro+Med (or Sisyphus) projects are presented. This instalment deals with the families Anacardiaceae, Asparagaceae (incl. Hyacinthaceae), Bignoniaceae, Cactaceae, Compositae, Cruciferae, Cyperaceae, Ericaceae, Gramineae, Labiatae, Leguminosae, Orobanchaceae, Polygonaceae, Rosaceae, Solanaceae and Staphyleaceae. It includes new country and area records and taxonomic and distributional considerations for taxa in Bidens, Campsis, Centaurea, Cyperus, Drymocallis, Engem, Hoffmannseggia, Hypopitys, Lavandula, Lithraea, Melilotus, Nicotiana, Olimarabidopsis, Opuntia, Orobanche, Phelipanche, Phragmites, Rumex, Salvia, Schinus, Staphylea, and a new combination in Drimia.Peer reviewe

Effect Of Incubation Temperature On Ikta’s Quail Breed With New Rolling Mechanism System / Mohd Badli Ramli...[et al.]

Successful of hatching rates in incubation quails IKTA(Institut Kemahiran Ternakan Ayam) may differ between each hatchery. There is numerous factor that influence embryonic development, among the parameter is temperature, humidity, air movement, eggs placement etc., This factor may lead to high percentage of embryo hatching and healthy DOQ (day one quail). Nine incubations were performed with 3 set of different temperature to examine the effect of different setting temperature. For eggs placement, eggs were turns using rolling mechanism 360° for every hour. Eggs obtained from local breeder with same age broiler flocks and stored for 1 to 4 days prior to intimate other commercial ideal condition. All in and all out system was used in all incubation set, eggs were place 40 piece in tray from day one until day 17. Overall it was determined that the best setting temperature is 37°c 14day then 38°c 3day that can produce average 89.17% hatching, average first hatch is in the end of day 15 complete hatch in 16 day. Temperature set 38°c 14day, then 39°c3day is 84.17%, average first hatch is day 15.5 end 16 day, not harmful compared to 39°c14day, then 40°c3day with 76.67% hatching with average first hatch is day 15.5 end 16 day. With increasing setting temperature, up to 39°c to 40°c still not successful as 37°c to 38°c, excessive temperature did not affect hatchability neither drastically speed up the hatching days, but can cause detrimental effect, embryonic mortality to eggs development. First hatch in the end of day 14, average in day 15, complete hatching in the end of day 16 , this is faster than other incubator in the market that average 17 day/ cycle. This new faster cycle cause by the consistent heat flow and humidity inside incubation chamber surrounding the eggs shell. In conclusion, ideal setting temperature 37°c 14day 38°c 3day is the best setting temperature to incubate IKTA species quails, with the efficiency of machine supply consistence temperature, humidity and eggs movement are the main parameter to ensure high hatching rates of IKTA quails

Euro+Med-Checklist Notulae, 14

Abstract: This is the fourteenth of a series of miscellaneous contributions, by various authors, where hitherto unpublished data relevant to both the Med-Checklist and the Euro+Med (or Sisyphus) projects are presented. This instalment deals with the families Apocynaceae, Compositae, Crassulaceae, Cyperaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Gramineae, Leguminosae, Nyctaginaceae, Onagraceae, Orobanchaceae, Rubiaceae, Solanaceae and Umbelliferae. It includes new country and area records and taxonomic and distributional considerations for taxa in Acalypha, Bupleurum, Carex, Datura, Epilobium, Eragrostis, Galium, Leontodon, Mirabilis, Nerium, Orobanche, Phelipanche, Rhinanthus, Saccharum, Sedum, Trifolium, Tripleurospermum and Willemetia. Citation For the whole article: Raab-Straube E. von & Raus Th. (ed.) 2021: Euro+Med-Checklist Notulae, 14.-Willdenowia 51: 355-369. For a single contribution (example): Bergmeier E. 2021: Leontodon longirostris (Finch & P. D. Sell) Talavera-Pp. 356-357 in: Raab-Straube E. von & Raus Th. (ed.), Euro+Med-Checklist Notulae, 14.-Willdenowia 51: 355-369. https://doi.org/10.3372/wi.51.51304 Version of record first published online on 30 November 2021 ahead of inclusion in December 2021 issue

Euro+Med-Checklist Notulae, 13

This is the thirteenth of a series of miscellaneous contributions, by various authors, where hitherto unpublished data relevant to both the Med-Checklist and the Euro+Med (or Sisyphus) projects are presented. This instalment deals with the families Amaryllidaceae (incl. Alliaceae), Apocynaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Compositae, Crassulaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Gramineae, Hydrocharitaceae, Iridaceae, Labiatae, Liliaceae, Malvaceae, Meliaceae, Myrtaceae, Orobanchaceae, Oxalidaceae, Papaveraceae, Pittosporaceae, Primulaceae (incl. Myrsinaceae), Ranunculaceae, Rhamnaceae, Rubiaceae, Solanaceae and Umbelliferae. It includes new country and area records and taxonomic and distributional considerations for taxa in Allium, Anthemis, Atriplex, Centaurea, Chasmanthe, Chenopodium, Delphinium, Digitaria, Elodea, Erigeron, Eucalyptus, Hypecoum, Leptorhabdos, Luffa, Malvaviscus, Melia, Melica, Momordica, Nerium, Oxalis, Pastinaca, Phelipanche, Physalis, Pittosporum, Salvia, Scorzoneroides, Sedum, Sesleria, Silene, Spartina, Stipa, Tulipa and Ziziphus, new combinations in Cyanus, Lysimachia, Rhaponticoides and Thliphthisa, and the reassessment of a replacement name in Sempervivum

Outcome after failure of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in children with acute leukemia: a study by the Société Francophone de Greffe de Moelle et de Thérapie Cellulaire (SFGM-TC)

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (SCT) contributes to improved outcome in childhood acute leukemia (AL). However, therapeutic options are poorly defined in case of post-transplantation relapse. We aimed to compare treatment strategies in 334 consecutive children with acute leukemia relapse or progression after SCT in a recent ten-year period. Data could be analyzed in 288 patients (157 ALL, 123 AML and 8 biphenotypic AL) with a median age of 8.16 years at transplantation. The median delay from first SCT to relapse or progression was 182 days. The treatment consisted in chemotherapy alone (n=108), chemotherapy followed by second SCT (n=70), supportive/palliative care (n=67), combination of chemotherapy and DLI (n=30), or isolated reinfusion of donor lymphocytes (DLI) (n=13). The median OS duration after relapse was 164 days and differed according to therapy: DLI after chemotherapy = 385 d, second allograft = 391d, chemotherapy = 174d, DLI alone = 140d, palliative care = 43d. A second SCT or a combination of chemotherapy and donor lymphocytes infusion yielded similar outcome (HR=0.85, p=0.53) unlike chemotherapy alone (HR 1.43 p=0.04), palliative care (HR=4.24, p<0.0001) or isolated DLI (HR=1,94, p<0.04). Despite limitations in this retrospective setting, strategies including immunointervention appear superior to other approaches, mostly in AML

TFOS European Ambassador meeting: Unmet needs and future scientific and clinical solutions for ocular surface diseases

The mission of the Tear Film & Ocular Surface Society (TFOS) is to advance the research, literacy, and educational aspects of the scientific field of the tear film and ocular surface. Fundamental to fulfilling this mission is the TFOS Global Ambassador program. TFOS Ambassadors are dynamic and proactive experts, who help promote TFOS initiatives, such as presenting the conclusions and recommendations of the recent TFOS DEWS II™, throughout the world. They also identify unmet needs, and propose future clinical and scientific solutions, for management of ocular surface diseases in their countries. This meeting report addresses such needs and solutions for 25 European countries, as detailed in the TFOS European Ambassador meeting in Rome, Italy, in September 2019

Public Attitudes Towards Moral Enhancement. Evidence that Means Matter Morally

To gain insight into the reasons that the public may have for endorsing or eschewing pharmacological moral enhancement for themselves or for others, we used empirical tools to explore public attitudes towards these issues. Participants (N = 293) from the United States were recruited via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk and were randomly assigned to read one of several contrastive vignettes in which a 13-year-old child is described as bullying another student in school and then is offered an empathy-enhancing program. The empathy-enhancing program is described as either involving taking a pill or playing a video game on a daily basis for four weeks. In addition, participants were asked to imagine either their own child bullying another student at school, or their own child being bullied by another student. This resulted in a 2 × 2 between-subjects design. In an escalating series of morally challenging questions, we asked participants to rate their overall support for the program; whether they would support requiring participation; whether they would support requiring participation of children who are at higher risk to become bullies in the future; whether they would support requiring participation of all children or even the entire population; and whether they would be willing to participate in the program themselves. We found that people were significantly more troubled by pharmacological as opposed to non-pharmacological moral enhancement interventions. The results indicate that members of the public for the greater part oppose pharmacological moral bioenhancement, yet are open to non-biomedical means to attain moral enhancement. [248 words]