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

Tumour T1 changes in vivo are highly predictive of response to chemotherapy and reflect the number of viable tumour cells – a preclinical MR study in mice

BACKGROUND: Effective chemotherapy rapidly reduces the spin–lattice relaxation of water protons (T(1)) in solid tumours and this change (ΔT(1)) often precedes and strongly correlates with the eventual change in tumour volume (TVol). To understand the biological nature of ΔT(1), we have performed studies in vivo and ex vivo with the allosteric mTOR inhibitor, everolimus. METHODS: Mice bearing RIF-1 tumours were studied by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to determine TVol and T(1), and MR spectroscopy (MRS) to determine levels of the proliferation marker choline and levels of lipid apoptosis markers, prior to and 5 days (endpoint) after daily treatment with vehicle or everolimus (10 mg/kg). At the endpoint, tumours were ablated and an entire section analysed for cellular and necrotic quantification and staining for the proliferation antigen Ki67 and cleaved-caspase-3 as a measure of apoptosis. The number of blood-vessels (BV) was evaluated by CD31 staining. Mice bearing B16/BL6 melanoma tumours were studied by MRI to determine T(1) under similar everolimus treatment. At the endpoint, cell bioluminescence of the tumours was measured ex vivo. RESULTS: Everolimus blocked RIF-1 tumour growth and significantly reduced tumour T(1) and total choline (Cho) levels, and increased polyunsaturated fatty-acids which are markers of apoptosis. Immunohistochemistry showed that everolimus reduced the %Ki67(+) cells but did not affect caspase-3 apoptosis, necrosis, BV-number or cell density. The change in T(1) (ΔT(1)) correlated strongly with the changes in TVol and Cho and %Ki67(+). In B16/BL6 tumours, everolimus also decreased T(1) and this correlated with cell bioluminescence; another marker of cell viability. Receiver-operating-characteristic curves (ROC) for everolimus on RIF-1 tumours showed that ΔT(1) had very high levels of sensitivity and specificity (ROC(AUC) = 0.84) and this was confirmed for the cytotoxic patupilone in the same tumour model (ROC(AUC) = 0.97). CONCLUSION: These studies suggest that ΔT(1) is not a measure of cell density but reflects the decreased number of remaining viable and proliferating tumour cells due to perhaps cell and tissue destruction releasing proteins and/or metals that cause T(1) relaxation. ΔT(1) is a highly sensitive and specific predictor of response. This MRI method provides the opportunity to stratify a patient population during tumour therapy in the clinic

Experiment to measure the electron neutrino mass using a frozen tritium source

We are performing an experiment to determine the electron neutrino mass with the precision of a few eV by measuring the tritium beta decay energy distribution near the endpoint. Key features of the experiment are a 2 eV resolution electrostatic spectrometer and a high-activity frozen tritium source. It is important that the source have electronic wavefunctions which can be accurately calculated. These calculations can be precisely made for tritium and the HeT/sup +/ daughter ion and allow determination of branching fractions to 0.1% and energy of the excited states to 0.1 eV. We discuss the excited final molecular state calculations and describe the experimental apparatus. 2 references, 6 figures

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

An experiment to measure the electron neutrino mass using a cryogenic tritium source

An experiment has been performed to determine the electron neutrino mass with the precision of a few eV by measuring the tritium beta decay energy distribution near the endpoint. Key features of the experiment are a 2 eV resolution electrostatic spectrometer and a high-activity frozen tritium source. It is important that the source have electronic wavefunctions which can be accurately calculated. These calculations have been made for tritium and the HeT/sup +/ daughter ion and allow determination of branching fractions to 0.1% and energy of the excited states to 0.1 eV. The excited final molecular state calculations and the experimental apparatus are discussed. 4 refs., 5 figs

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

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