How Common is Common Human Reason?:The Plurality of Moral Perspectives and Kant’s Ethics

In his practical philosophy, Kant aims to systematize and ground a conception of morality that every human being already in some form is supposedly committed to in virtue of her common human reason. While Kantians especially in the last few years have explicitly acknowledged the central role of common human reason for a correct understanding of Kant’s ethics, there has been very little detailed critical discussion of the very notion of a common human reason as Kant envisages it. Sticker critically discusses in what ways Kant is committed to the notion that there are certain rational insights and rational capacities that all humans share, and thus investigates critically how Kant thinks moral normativity appears to the common human being, the rational agent who did not enjoy special education or philosophical training

Didactical use of a remote lab: a qualitative reflection of a teacher

This work describes the teacher reflections about a didactical implementation using a remote laboratory and their impact on his practice. These reflections are analyzed from three different perspectives: how the literature review influenced the design of the didactical implementation (namely the first); how his reflection upon his practice influenced its modifications; how his research activity impacted and affected his teaching practices in the subsequent implementations and guided the modifications made. The remote lab was introduced in a Physics Course in an Engineering degree and was intended to be a learning space where students had the opportunity to practice before the lab class, supporting the development of experimental competences, fundamental in an engineer profile. After the first implementation in 2016/17 academic year it has undergone two subsequent editions with adjustments and modifications. Some features previously reported in literature such as: teacher’s experience with VISIR, the importance of an introductory activity and defining VISIR tasks objectives, were corroborated by the teacher during his practice and research. Others, such as the difficulty some students have in understanding the difference between simulation and remote labs appeared directly from his practice and were pursued in his research in order to deeply understand its implications

Nutritional status of Lusitano broodmares on extensive feeding systems: body condition, live weight and metabolic indicators

Articles in International JournalsThe present research aimed to evaluate the effects of foaling season and feeding management in extensive systems on the nutritional status of Lusitano broodmares throughout the gestation/lactation cycle, by assessment of body condition (BC), body weight (BW), and some blood metabolic indicators. Four groups of Lusitano broodmares (A, B, C, D) were monitored during four years, in a total of 119 gestation/lactation cycles. All mares were kept on pasture, and A and B mares were daily supplemented. Monthly, mares were weighed and BC evaluated. Suckling foals from these mares were also monitored for BW and withers height. Glucose, non-esterified fatty acids, urea and albumin concentrations were determined in blood. BW changes were influenced by reproductive stage and foaling season (P<0.001), reflecting also pasture availability. Changes on BC were observed (P<0.05), although with small amplitudes within each group. Higher scores were reached at the end of spring, decreasing 0.25 point until late summer. Early foaling had also a marked effect, hindering the recovery of BC along the cycle. Glucose values decreased from late gestation to early lactation (P<0.05) and lower levels were recorded during the summer months. Uremia was mainly influenced by the reproductive stage (P<0.05). Under nutrition was not detected. Foals born in February-March had higher average daily gain than those born in April-May (P<0.05), probably reflecting differences in milk production of the mares. BC and BW changes and, particularly, blood indicators showed an overall balanced nutritional status, reflecting an adaptation to feed availability and climate.Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technolog

The changing global distribution and prevalence of canine transmissible venereal tumour.

BACKGROUND: The canine transmissible venereal tumour (CTVT) is a contagious cancer that is naturally transmitted between dogs by the allogeneic transfer of living cancer cells during coitus. CTVT first arose several thousand years ago and has been reported in dog populations worldwide; however, its precise distribution patterns and prevalence remain unclear. RESULTS: We analysed historical literature and obtained CTVT prevalence information from 645 veterinarians and animal health workers in 109 countries in order to estimate CTVT's former and current global distribution and prevalence. This analysis confirmed that CTVT is endemic in at least 90 countries worldwide across all inhabited continents. CTVT is estimated to be present at a prevalence of one percent or more in dogs in at least 13 countries in South and Central America as well as in at least 11 countries in Africa and 8 countries in Asia. In the United States and Australia, CTVT was reported to be endemic only in remote indigenous communities. Comparison of current and historical reports of CTVT indicated that its prevalence has declined in Northern Europe, possibly due to changes in dog control laws during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Analysis of factors influencing CTVT prevalence showed that presence of free-roaming dogs was associated with increased CTVT prevalence, while dog spaying and neutering were associated with reduced CTVT prevalence. Our analysis indicated no gender bias for CTVT and we found no evidence that animals with CTVT frequently harbour concurrent infectious diseases. Vincristine was widely reported to be the most effective therapy for CTVT. CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide a survey of the current global distribution of CTVT, confirming that CTVT is endemic in at least 90 countries worldwide. Additionally, our analysis highlights factors that continue to modify CTVT's prevalence around the world and implicates free-roaming dogs as a reservoir for the disease. Our analysis also documents the disappearance of the disease from the United Kingdom during the twentieth century, which appears to have been an unintentional result of the introduction of dog control policies.This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final version of this article has been published by BioMed Central: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1746-6148/10/168

An Environment-Sensitive Synthetic Microbial Ecosystem

Microbial ecosystems have been widely used in industrial production, but the inter-relationships of organisms within them haven't been completely clarified due to complex composition and structure of natural microbial ecosystems. So it is challenging for ecologists to get deep insights on how ecosystems function and interplay with surrounding environments. But the recent progresses in synthetic biology show that construction of artificial ecosystems where relationships of species are comparatively clear could help us further uncover the meadow of those tiny societies. By using two quorum-sensing signal transduction circuits, this research designed, simulated and constructed a synthetic ecosystem where various population dynamics formed by changing environmental factors. Coherent experimental data and mathematical simulation in our study show that different antibiotics levels and initial cell densities can result in correlated population dynamics such as extinction, obligatory mutualism, facultative mutualism and commensalism. This synthetic ecosystem provides valuable information for addressing questions in ecology and may act as a chassis for construction of more complex microbial ecosystems

Race, circulation, and the city: the case of the Chicago city sticker controversy

The city sticker controversy began when an anonymous, openly racist blog accused a Latino boy of smuggling gang imagery into his contest-winning design for the 2012 Chicago vehicle sticker. It continued when mainstream media outlets repeatedly cited the blog’s accusations without acknowledging its racism. I argue that a form of circulation that contains bodies of color and promotes the mobility of other bodies helped to secure the credibility of the blog’s claims, consolidating the association of bodies of color with gang violence. I explore the relationships among the processes and practices of urban circulation, race, digital media, and mainstream media