Explaining Support for Animal Rights: A Comparison of Two Recent Approaches to Humans, Nonhuman Animals, and Postmodernity

Questions on "animal rights" in a cross-national survey conducted in 1993 provide an opportunity to compare the applicability to this issue of two theories of the socio-political changes summed up in "postmodernity": Inglehart's (1997) thesis of "postmaterialist values" and Franklin's (1999) synthesis of theories of late modernity. Although Inglehart seems not to have addressed human-nonhuman animal relations, it is reasonable to apply his theory of changing values under conditions of "existential security" to "animal rights." Inglehart's postmaterialism thesis argues that new values emerged within specific groups because of the achievement of material security. Although emphasizing human needs, they shift the agenda toward a series of lifestyle choices that favor extending lifestyle choices, rights, and environmental considerations. Franklin's account of nonhuman animals and modern cultures stresses a generalized "ontological insecurity." Under postmodern conditions, changes to core aspects of social and cultural life are both fragile and fugitive. As neighborhood, community, family, and friendship relations lose their normative and enduring qualities, companion animals increasingly are drawn in to those formerly exclusive human emotional spaces. With a method used by Inglehart and a focus in countries where his postmaterialist effects should be most evident, this study derives and tests different expectations from the theories, then tests them against data from a survey supporting Inglehart's theory. His theory is not well supported. We conclude that its own anthropocentrism limits it and that the allowance for hybrids of nature-culture in Franklin's account offers more promise for a social theory of animal rights in changing times

Homeownership, Shareownership And Coalition Policy

The rise in private shareownership has been a striking feature of Australia's political economy over the last decade. This paper compares its implications with those arising from the widespread homeownership, that occurred from the Menzies years onwards

Comparison of markets for organic food in six EU states.

This report was presented at the UK Organic Research 2002 Conference. Recent research confirms that the decision to convert is now highly influenced by financial incentives arising from EU regulations but the exact mix of incentives depends on prevailing government policies and access to premium markets so that the organic sector in most countries is now referred to as either government-led or market-driven. The objective of the paper is to compare development of the sector along these two polarities but set within the context of "common elements of interest" within new agrifood methodologies: time, space, power, and meaning (Cooke, Uranga and Etxebarria 1998; Morgan and Murdoch 2000). The paper presents preliminary findings relating to six EU States: UK, Ireland, Austria, Denmark, Portugal and Italy, and through the application of "worlds of production" to market outlets and suggests discourses that define these outlets. The analysis aims to inform the further study of farmer marketing decisions and practices

Osteoradionecrosis of the cervical spine presenting with quadriplegia in a patient previously treated with radiotherapy for laryngeal cancer: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Osteoradionecrosis of the mandible and temporal bones has been extensively reported in literature, but cases of avascular necrosis of the cervical spine following radiotherapy to the larynx appear to be extremely rare. A review of the English language literature has shown only one other case where radiotherapy treatment of a laryngeal carcinoma has resulted in osteoradionecrosis of the cervical spine.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We present the case of a 65 year old male patient who suffered from osteoradionecrosis of the cervical spine 20 years after radiotherapy treatment for a T1aN0M0 laryngeal carcinoma resulting in quadriplegia.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Radiotherapy carries a long-term risk of complications, including osteoradionecrosis which may present 20 years later with significant implications.</p

Interventions early in school as a means to improve higher education outcomes for disadvantaged (particularly low SES) students

This document performs two functions. It provides a synopsis or abridged version of the research, Interventions early in school as a means to improve higher education outcomes for disadvantaged (particularly low SES) students, with emphasis on reviewing its major findings. It also provides an extension to the research, extrapolating from it through a meta‐analysis of the data to conceive of a matrix for designing and evaluating early interventions. The research was funded by the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) and undertaken from August 2008 to July 2009 by the Australian National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE). The research was prompted by concerns about the long‐term under‐representation of some population groups (particularly those of low socioeconomic status) within Australian higher education and by a growing conviction that, if they are to be successful, interventions to redress this situation need to be implemented earlier in schooling rather than later

Interventions early in school as a means to improve higher education outcomes for disadvantaged students

No abstract available

Laboratory Exposures to Staphylococcal Enterotoxin B

First report of symptoms after ocular exposure to staphylococcal enteroxin B in the laboratory is detailed

Iron in Glacial Systems: Speciation, Reactivity, Freezing Behavior, and Alteration During Transport

A more insightful view of iron in glacial systems requires consideration of iron speciation and mineralogy, the potential for iron minerals to undergo weathering in ice-water environments, the impact of freezing on concentration and speciation, and potential for glacial delivery to undergo alteration during transport into the ocean. A size fractionation approach improves recognition of iron speciation by separating dissolved Fe (&lt;0.2 or &lt;0.45 μm) into soluble Fe (&lt;0.02 μm) and colloidal/nanoparticulate Fe (0.02 to 0.2 or 0.45 μm). The ranges of soluble Fe concentrations in icebergs and meltwaters are similar (tens of nanomolar). The range of colloidal/nanoparticulate Fe concentrations in icebergs are an order of magnitude higher (hundreds of nanomolar) and up to thousands of nanomolar in meltwaters. The importance of particulate iron speciation in glacial sediments is also recognized by using carefully calibrated sequential extractions with ascorbic acid (FeA comprising fresh ferrihydrite which is potentially bioavailable) and dithionite (FeD comprising all remaining (oxyhydr)oxide Fe). Iceberg and glacier sediments contain lower concentrations of FeA (0.032 ± 0.024 and 0.042 ± 0.059 wt. %) than meltwater suspended sediments (FeA 0.12 ± 0.09 wt. %). Glacier sediments also contain low concentrations of FeD (0.060 ± 0.036) but concentrations of FeD are comparable in iceberg and meltwater sediments (0.38 ± 0.24 wt. % compared to 0.31 ± 0.09 wt.%). Reactions in ice-water systems produce potentially bioavailable Fe(II) and ferrihydrite by pyrite oxidation, iron mineral dissolution (aided by low pH and organic complexes) and reduction (aided by UV radiation). Some icebergs contain high concentrations of FeA (&gt;0.1 wt. %) which represent samples in which the on-going transformation of ferrihydrite to goethite/hematite is incomplete. Numerical models of freezing in subglacial systems show that the nanomolar levels of soluble Fe in icebergs cannot be achieved solely by freezing, and must indicate the presence of nanoparticulate Fe and/or iron desorbed from ice or sediments during melting. Models of freezing effects in sea ice show that nanomolar levels of soluble Fe are achievable because high concentrations of hydroxide and chloride ions maintain dissolved iron as soluble complexes. Delivery of iron through fjords is temporally and spatially variable due to circulation patterns, mixing of different sources, and aggregation through salinity gradients

Beryllium Technology Research in the United States

While most active research involving beryllium in the United States remains tied strongly to biological effects, there are several areas of technology development in the last two years that should be mentioned. (1) Beryllium disposed of in soil vaults at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC) has been encapsulated in-situ by high-temperature and pressure injection of a proprietary wax based material to inhibit corrosion. (2) A research program to develop a process for removing heavy metals and cobalt from irradiated beryllium using solvent extraction techniques has been initiated to remove components that prevent the beryllium from being disposed of as ordinary radioactive waste. (3) The JUPITER-II program at the INL Safety and Tritium Applied Research (STAR) facility has addressed the REDOX reaction of beryllium in molten Flibe (a mixture of LiF and BeF2) to control tritium, particularly in the form of HF, bred in the Flibe by reactions involving both beryllium and lithium. (4) Work has been performed at Los Alamos National Laboratory to produce beryllium high heat flux components by plasma spray deposition on macro-roughened substrates. Finally, (5) corrosion studies on buried beryllium samples at the RWMC have shown that the physical form of some of the corroded beryllium is very filamentary and asbestos-like. This form of beryllium may exacerbate the contraction of chronic beryllium disease