The Link between Subsistence and Human Rights

Under embargo until: 2022-02-01This chapter constitutes an exploration and evaluation of the so-called “linkage argument” in support of the inclusion of a right to subsistence among human rights. While it is uncontroversial that avoiding poverty is hugely important for all humans, the human right to subsistence and other socioeconomic human rights are often regarded as social goals rather than genuine rights. The linkage argument aims to show that a commitment to the existence of any human rights at all entails a commitment to the inclusion of a right to subsistence among them. I argue that the linkage argument does not succeed in vindicating the inclusion of a right to subsistence among moral human rights, but I conclude that a modified version of it might support the justification of a legal human right to subsistence.acceptedVersio

Remedial responsibility for severe poverty: justice or humanity?

Remedial responsibility is the prospective responsibility to assist those in great need. With tens of millions of people worldwide suffering from severe poverty, questions about the attribution of remedial responsibility and the nature of the relevant duties of assistance are among the most pressing of our time. This article concerns the question of whether remedial responsibility for severe poverty is a matter of justice or of humanity. I discuss three kinds of situation in which an agent owes remedial responsibility to another suffering from severe poverty. In the first, the remedially responsible agent foreseeably and avoidably caused the poverty. In the second, the poverty was caused by forces outside the control of any agent, such as natural disaster. And in the third situation, the agent who was originally attributed remedial responsibility fails to fulfil it, and so remedial responsibility for the poverty in question is acquired by a secondary bearer. According to David Miller, remedial responsibility is a matter of justice in the first two situations, but not in the third. I argue that his grounds for thinking that remedial responsibility in the second situation are in tension with his view that remedial responsibility is not a matter of justice in the third situation. This has important implications in our world in which remedial responsibilities too often go unfulfilled.acceptedVersio

Human Rights and the Broken World

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Justifying International Legal Human Rights

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Planning for sustainable urban development

iv, 75 p., digital fileThe scope of urban policy for sustainable development depends on one's definition of sustainability. Formulating policy in the narrow sense of the term would involve seeking to minimize the environmental impacts of human settlements. A recognition of the multi-dimensional nature of sustainability would lead to attention being paid to the use of settlement policy to advance a variety of aims-ecological, economic, and social-or what Pearce (1992) has identified as three hallmarks of sustainable development: survival, equity and welfare. 1 In this review of literature relevant to urban policy for sustainable development, we consider both empirical writings and more "visionary" work. The bulk of the empirical writing has been done in the last 25 years, whereas much of the visionary work is historical. However, as modern ecological thought in many cases draws direct inspiration from the visionary planners and urbanists of the past, some of the writings we consult in the visionary section are also contemporary

Remedial responsibility for global poverty : individual motivation and institutional capacity

Tens of thousands of people worldwide die each day from poverty-related causes. More staggering than the statistics is the fact that these deaths, and the appalling living conditions surrounding them, are avoidable yet largely ignored. Not only have concrete strategies for poverty relief and sustainable development been suggested, but their implementation would require minimal sacrifice on the part of individuals in affluent nations. The normative implications of these facts are not, however, obvious. Do the "global rich" have responsibilities of assistance towards those suffering severe deprivation? I take for granted that the global rich have what David Miller refers to as "remedial responsibility" for global poverty. That is, they have a special responsibility to contribute to remedying the situations of the worst-off. A separate but related question has to do with how remedial responsibility is to be distributed. I argue that, although several factors can contribute to the assignment of remedial responsibility, an agent's capacity to act in accordance with the requirements of remedial responsibility imposes a minimum constraint its assignment. With this in mind, I evaluate the claim that institutional agents should be treated as the primary bearers of remedial responsibility in the case of global poverty. I argue that because institutional agency depends on the motivation of individuals, the motivation of the individual constituents of an institutional agent constrain its capacity to act. In order to argue that institutional agents should be treated as the main bearers of remedial responsibility for global poverty, it must be the case that at least some of their individual constituents are sufficiently motivated to pursue the eradication of global poverty. The assignment of remedial responsibility for global poverty thus requires sensitivity to the constraints on the capacities of the potential bearers of that responsibility

Transcriptional Response to Acute Thermal Exposure in Juvenile Chinook Salmon Determined by RNAseq.

Thermal exposure is a serious and growing challenge facing fish species worldwide. Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) living in the southern portion of their native range are particularly likely to encounter warmer water due to a confluence of factors. River alterations have increased the likelihood that juveniles will be exposed to warm water temperatures during their freshwater life stage, which can negatively impact survival, growth, and development and pose a threat to dwindling salmon populations. To better understand how acute thermal exposure affects the biology of salmon, we performed a transcriptional analysis of gill tissue from Chinook salmon juveniles reared at 12° and exposed acutely to water temperatures ranging from ideal to potentially lethal (12° to 25°). Reverse-transcribed RNA libraries were sequenced on the Illumina HiSeq2000 platform and a de novo reference transcriptome was created. Differentially expressed transcripts were annotated using Blast2GO and relevant gene clusters were identified. In addition to a high degree of downregulation of a wide range of genes, we found upregulation of genes involved in protein folding/rescue, protein degradation, cell death, oxidative stress, metabolism, inflammation/immunity, transcription/translation, ion transport, cell cycle/growth, cell signaling, cellular trafficking, and structure/cytoskeleton. These results demonstrate the complex multi-modal cellular response to thermal stress in juvenile salmon

Transarterial Chemoembolization of Metastatic Colorectal Carcinoma with Drug-Eluting Beads, Irinotecan (DEBIRI): Multi-Institutional Registry

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the patient tolerance and efficacy of delivering locoregional chemotherapy to metastatic colorectal (MC) hepatic metastases via hepatic trans-arterial approach using irinotecan loaded drug eluting beads. This open-label, multi-center, single arm study included 30 MC patients, who had failed first line therapy. Of the 57 total embolization sessions, 12 (21% of sessions) were associated with adverse reactions during or after the treatment. After a median followup of 9 months, response rates by modified RECIST were 75% at 3 months and 66% at 6 months. Hepatic trans-arterial therapy using Irinotecan loaded DC BeadTM was safe and effective in the treatment of MCC as demonstrated by a minimal complication rate and acceptable tumor response

Valuation of Green Walls and Green Roofs as Soundscape Measures: Including Monetised Amenity Values Together with Noise-attenuation Values in a Cost-benefit Analysis of a Green Wall Affecting Courtyards

Economic unit values of soundscape/acoustic effects have been based on changes in the number of annoyed persons or on decibel changes. The normal procedure has been the application of these unit values to noise-attenuation measures affecting the noisier façade of a dwelling. Novel modular vegetation-based soundscape measures, so-called green walls, might be relevant for both noisy and quieter areas. Moreover, their benefits will comprise noise attenuation as well as non-acoustic amenity effects. One challenge is to integrate the results of some decades of non-acoustic research on the amenity value of urban greenery into design of the urban sound environment, and incorporate these non-acoustic properties in the overall economic assessment of noise control and overall sound environment improvement measures. Monetised unit values for green walls have been included in two alternative cases, or demonstration projects, of covering the entrances to blocks of flats with a green wall. Since these measures improve the noise environment on the quiet side of the dwellings and courtyards, not the most exposed façade, adjustment factors to the nominal quiet side decibel reductions to arrive at an estimate of the equivalent overall acoustic improvement have been applied. A cost-benefit analysis of the green wall case indicates that this measure is economically promising, when valuing the noise attenuation in the quieter area and adding the amenity/aesthetic value of the green wall