Causation: Linguistic, Philosophical, Legal and Economic

Causation plays an essential role in attributions of legal responsibility. How-ever, considerable confusion has been generated in philosophy, law and economics by the use of causal language to refer not merely to causation in its basic (actual/factual/natural) sense, which refers to the operation of the laws of nature, but also to the quite different normative issue of appropriate legal responsibility. To reduce such confusion, we argue that causal language in these disciplines should be used to refer solely to causation in its basic sense. While it is often said that the law need not and should not concern itself with philosophical analyses of causation, we demonstrate that this is incorrect with respect to causation in its basic sense. After surveying the philosophical foundations of the modern analyses of causa-tion, we discuss the inadequacy of the counterfactual strong necessity (sine qua non, but for) criterion for a condition to be a cause in a specific instance, which is dominant in modern philosophy, law and economics. We argue instead for the need to employ the more comprehensive, factual, weak necessity/strong suffi-ciency criterion, which is based on the “covering law” account elaborated by John Stuart Mill and has been developed in the modern legal literature as the “NESS” (necessary element of a sufficient set) criterion. We discuss the importance of un-derstanding the required standards of persuasion for proving causation (or any other required fact) as generally requiring a warranted belief rather than a mere statistical probability. We note the confusion and paradoxes that result from some courts’ employing the statistical probability interpretation of the standards of per-suasion in certain situations involving inherent uncertainty regarding causation, rather than acknowledging the inherent uncertainty and explicitly addressing the normative responsibility issue. Finally, we criticize the efficiency theorists’ attempt to explain the causation requirement for legal responsibility, despite causation’s being irrelevant under their theories

Attitudes toward Abortion: A Comparative Analysis of Correlates for 1973 and 1975

This paper contains an analysis of both the level of support for abortion and the correlates of such support for both 1973 and 1975, as indicated by National Opinion Research Center data. In comparison to previous research, which focused primarily on bivariate analyses of demographic variables, we examine the role of demographic and other variables (such as work status, unemployment history, receipt of government aid, and belief in an afterlife) at both the bivariate and multivariate levels of analysis. The result indicates an abatement of the previously increasing level of support; this datum plus the increase in persons responding don\u27t know suggest the occurrence of a reappraisal of support for abortion. The bivariate analysis indicates that support is highest among those who: are white, never married, or higher socioeconomic status, with no religious affiliation, seldom attend church, live in the Northeast or West, or have lower exposure to children. Multivariate analysis indicates that religion and socioeconomic status are the most salient variables. A comparison between the 1973 and 1975 data indicate reduced support among men and increased support among women, reduced support among the never married, and increased support among blacks, Catholics, Southerners, and those with less than a high school education

Microbiology in nuclear waste disposal: interfaces and reaction fronts

It is now generally acknowledged that microbial populations will be present within nuclear waste repositories and that the consequences of such activity on repository performance must be assessed. Various modelling approaches - based either on mass balance/thermodynamics or on kinetics - have been developed to provide scoping estimates of the possible development of these populations. Past work has focused on particular areas of the repository which can be considered relatively homogeneous and hence can be represented by some kind of ‘box' or ‘mixing tank'. In reality, however, waste repositories include a range of engineering materials (steel, concrete, etc.) which are emplaced at depth in a rock formation. Strong chemical gradients - of the type which may be exploited by lithoautotrophic microbial populations - are likely to be found at the contacts between different materials and at the interface between the engineered structures and the host rock. Over the long timescales considered, solute transport processes will cause the locations of strong chemical gradients to move, forming reaction fronts. The high-pH plume resulting from the leaching of cement/concrete in some repository types is a particularly important example of such a reaction front. Redox fronts, which may occur in different areas of all kinds of repositories, also play an important role and would be locations where microbial activity is likely to be significant. In this paper, the key microbial processes expected at (or around) interfaces and fronts will be discussed, with particular emphasis on the development of quantitative models. The applicability of the models used will be tested by considering similar fronts which can be found in natural system

The Process of Establishing a Green Climate: Face-To-Face Interaction between Leaders and Employees in the Microsystem

This study explores the processes of establishing a green organizational climate in small-scale companies. Previous studies have primarily focused on factors associated with pro-environmental behaviour in large organizations. The role of a green organizational climate—specifically, the interactional processes involved in the construction of a green climate—has largely been unexplored. Entrepreneurial small companies constitute an ideal arena in which to study the initial phase of greening processes. The present study examined the process of establishing a green organizational climate in seven small-scale Norwegian companies. This article presents a systems model that was developed to analyse how processes at different levels interact in the shaping of the green climate. The design was a longitudinal mixed-methods approach, consisting of focus-group interviews conducted in the field, a questionnaire and follow-up interviews with the leaders. Findings indicate that the construction of a green climate had a strong practise-based approach. The company founders were driven by environmental values; they sparked the initial green measures, influenced the employees—directly and indirectly—and also invited dialogue around and co-construction of the green climate. Frequent face-to-face interactions within the microsystem of the leaders/employees were decisive to the development of the green climate. The present study contributes to the understanding of the process of greening an organization: specifically, how green practice relates to the construction of a shared green climate. Contrary to previous research and theorizing, this study indicates that it is possible to “go green” without a superordinate green strategy.publishedVersio

Does virulence assessment of Vibrio anguillarum using sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) larvae correspond with genotypic and phenotypic characterization?

Background: Vibriosis is one of the most ubiquitous fish diseases caused by bacteria belonging to the genus Vibrio such as Vibrio (Listonella) anguillarum. Despite a lot of research efforts, the virulence factors and mechanism of V. anguillarum are still insufficiently known, in part because of the lack of standardized virulence assays. Methodology/Principal Findings: We investigated and compared the virulence of 15 V. anguillarum strains obtained from different hosts or non-host niches using a standardized gnotobiotic bioassay with European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.) larvae as model hosts. In addition, to assess potential relationships between virulence and genotypic and phenotypic characteristics, the strains were characterized by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and repetitive extragenic palindromic PCR (rep-PCR) analyses, as well as by phenotypic analyses using Biolog's Phenotype MicroArray (TM) technology and some virulence factor assays. Conclusions/Significance: Virulence testing revealed ten virulent and five avirulent strains. While some relation could be established between serotype, genotype and phenotype, no relation was found between virulence and genotypic or phenotypic characteristics, illustrating the complexity of V. anguillarum virulence. Moreover, the standardized gnotobiotic system used in this study has proven its strength as a model to assess and compare the virulence of different V. anguillarum strains in vivo. In this way, the bioassay contributes to the study of mechanisms underlying virulence in V. anguillarum

Absence of platelet phenotype in mice lacking the motor protein myosin Va.

BACKGROUND: The motor protein myosin Va plays an important role in the trafficking of intracellular vesicles. Mutation of the Myo5a gene causes Griscelli syndrome type 1 in humans and the dilute phenotype in mice, which are both characterised by pigment dilution and neurological defects as a result of impaired vesicle transport in melanocytes and neuroendocrine cells. The role of myosin Va in platelets is currently unknown. Rab27 has been shown to be associated with myosin Va cargo vesicles and is known to be important in platelet dense granule biogenesis and secretion, a crucial event in thrombus formation. Therefore, we hypothesised that myosin Va may regulate granule secretion or formation in platelets. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Platelet function was studied in vitro using a novel Myo5a gene deletion mouse model. Myo5a(-/-) platelets were devoid of myosin Va, as determined by immunoblotting, and exhibited normal expression of surface markers. We assessed dense granule, α-granule and lysosomal secretion, integrin α(IIb)β(3) activation, Ca(2+) signalling, and spreading on fibrinogen in response to collagen-related peptide or the PAR4 agonist, AYPGKF in washed mouse platelets lacking myosin Va or wild-type platelets. Surprisingly, Myo5a(-/-) platelets showed no significant functional defects in these responses, or in the numbers of dense and α-granules expressed. CONCLUSION: Despite the importance of myosin Va in vesicle transport in other cells, our data demonstrate this motor protein has no non-redundant role in the secretion of dense and α-granules or other functional responses in platelets