A Christian theological response to human gene patenting

The publication of the draft of the complete human genome is likely to prove to be one of the most significant breakthroughs for the medical sciences in this millennium because of the potential information it will yield. Patenting of human genetic material is permissible if these are can be shown to meet the four standard criteria applicable to all patents, which are that they are novel, involve an inventive step, are non-obvious and possess an industrial application. This dissertation addresses the main theological issue concerning patents, which is property as well as the ownership and use of such. It is argued that in the Bible, though a well-defined scriptural doctrine of property is absent, the right to property is tenable provided that it is in principle subordinate to the obligation to care for the weaker members of society. Property, in that regard, is to be used in fulfilment of the common good. I show that patenting human DNA can lead to injustice and therefore does not serve the common good. As this is contrary to the Christian theological understanding of the objective of property, I advocate that the correct response is to reject the practice. As a second line of argument, I also argue that because of its bi-elemental non-dual nature, human DNA is a metonymy for the human person since both possess a material and an immaterial component. These components are nonetheless inseparable without altering the overall nature of the DNA or the person. In this sense, human DNA is symbolic of the human person and on this account also should not be subjects of patents

Car Ownership and Status

Research on ‘happiness’ suggests that once an average per capita income of around US$ 10,000 is achieved in a country, further increases in income will not lead to a significant increase in happiness. Additional income will probably often be spent on the satisfaction of mainly ‘relative’ needs, of which ‘status goods’ would be one example. From that perspective, an overall shift to more fuel-efficient cars (i.e. smaller cars with less power) would not necessarily, or only to a limited extent, result in less happiness. From a welfare economic perspective, the satisfaction of the relative needs pertaining to consumption can be considered as a form of consumption externalities. This creates a welfare economic basis for government intervention. A model in which these consumption externalities are studied is presented here. Government intervention would include stimulating consumption of lowerstatus goods and discouraging consumption of higher-status ones. We speculate, however, that to achieve a significant increase in the fuel efficiency of a country’s car fleet through pricing policies, huge price increases may often be needed. As acceptance of price increases as a policy instrument is often low, ‘fee-bates’ and tradeable permits may be more preferable instruments

Land-use/transport Interaction Models as Tools for Sustainability Impact Assessment of Transport Investments

Interest in the appraisal of the sustainability impacts of transport policies has grown the last few years, expressing the need for a balanced treatment of economic, environmental and social impacts. This paper represents a first step in creating a framework for Sustainability Impact Assessments; it will also review operational land-use/transport interaction models as assessment tools. An in-depth analysis of the potential impacts of land-use and transport policies, and scenarios, on the economy, society and the environment will present new challenges to land-use/transport interaction models. The first challenge is related to modelling behaviour: i.e. the model should estimate land-use, transport and accessibility impacts in a theoretically sound and consonant manner, and consistently link the full set of (long-term) land-use and (short-term) travel-behavioural responses to these policies. The second challenge is to improve methodologies to (better) include the wider (macro-)economic effects and the passive values. The third challenge is to generate more knowledge for understanding ecological and social impacts, and for the development of related indicators and methodologies to calculate them. A fourth, and final, challenge is related to the presentation and integration of the sustainability impacts, not only including the economic, ecological and social impacts, but also finding the ‘right’ balance between them. Although recent model developments facilitate a far more comprehensive analysis than is common practice today, there is certainly a need for theoretical and practical research for conducting Sustainability Impact Assessments of land use and transport policies and scenarios.&nbsp

Foreign exchange exposure: Evidence from the U.S. insurance industry

We study the foreign exchange exposure of U.S. insurers. The evidence shows that no systematic difference exists in the currency risk profiles of life and non-life segments within the insurance industry. This suggests that life and non-life insurers have similar risk exposure management strategies arising from similar risk pooling and financial intermediary functions. The empirical results reveal that a sizable proportion of U.S. insurers are exposed to foreign exchange movements against the seven largest U.S. trade partners in insurance services (U.K., Japan, Switzerland, Netherlands, France, Germany and Canada). Significant operational and size effects are also documented and we find that the frequency of foreign exchange exposure increases with time horizon

Understanding E-Service Failures: Formation, Impact and Recovery

Despite the ‘dangers’ posed by e-service failures, there has not been a study to-date that explores how failures emerge within an online transactional environment and what can be done to address them. An integrated model of e-service failure and recovery is constructed together with testable propositions. Essentially, the model serve to inform both academics and practitioners on: (1) how different types of e-service failure manifest on e-commerce websites; (2) the impact of these failures on consumers’ expectations about transactional outcome, process and cost, and; (3) what kind of e-service recovery technology would be beneficial in alleviating negative failure consequences

Towards Understanding the Formation and Impact of E-service Failures

E-service failure has been the bane of e-commerce by compelling consumers to abandon transactions entirely or to switch to brick-and-mortar establishments. Yet, despite the downsides of e-service failures, there has not been a study to-date that systematically investigates how perceptions of failure arise within online transactional environments and their impacts on consumer behavior. Departing from the multi-attribute utility approach prevalent in conventional consumer research, this study advances a typology of e-service failure from a goal-directed perspective. Assimilating Lee and Ariely’s (2006) shopping goal theory with Van Osselaer et al.’s (2005) classification of consumer goals, it is the contention of this study that when transacting online, consumers are not only motivated to (1) purchase a product suited to their extrinsic requirements (i.e., consumption goals) and personal preferences (i.e., criterion goals) while enjoying the transactional experience (i.e., process goals), but they are also seeking ways to (2) translate what are often elusive intentions into tangible objectives (goal activation) and achieve those objectives in the most efficacious manner (i.e., goal implementation). Consequently, e-service failures can be delineated according to the type of consumer goal (i.e., consumption, criterion or process) they target and the transactional stage (i.e., activation or implementation) at which they occur. A research model of e-service failure is then constructed and testable hypotheses are derived. To empirically validate the model, a 3x3 experimental design is proposed and elaborated. The experiment employs a 3 (Type of Failure: Activation Success + Implementation Failure; Activation Failure + Implementation Failure or Activation Failure + Implementation Success) x 3 (Type of Goal: Consumption; Criterion; or Process) between-subjects factorial design will be conducted. A totally separate control group without any form of e-service deficiency (Activation Success + Implementation Success) across the three goal categories will also be incorporated into the experimental design to contrast differences in consumers’ perceptions, attitudes and behaviors arising from the distinction between the presence and absence of implementation failures given the successful activation of consumer goals. It is anticipated that the empirical findings from our experiment will serve to inform academics and practitioners on: (1) how consumer perceptions of different types of e-service failure manifest on e-commerce websites, and; (2) their impact on transactional attitudes and intentions. Conceptually, our proposed experimental study is designed to not only verify the veracity of our research model, but to also challenge the premise underlying past research into consumer behavior. Theories like the EDT have contended that expectations constructed from previous transactional experiences form the baseline from which consumers assess future transactions. Yet, if we were to establish goal activation as a prerequisite for perceptions of implementation failure to arise, it will imply that while prior transactional experiences might be pertinent in affecting consumer behavior, goals—which are activated through immediate interactions with the e-commerce website—may be a more salient influence. Additionally, the experiment represents an opportunity to validate our typology of e-service failures by demonstrating how they might occur in reality and explaining why each e-service failure type might be more or less effective in affecting online consumer behavior. Pragmatically, empirical findings can offer cautionary advice to practitioners to be vigilant in web interface design so as to avoid activating unwanted goals, especially when the website is ill-equipped to fulfill them. Further, the typology of e-service failures can provide guidelines for practitioners to establish benchmarks for designing error-free e-commerce websites. Finally, this study acts as a pre-requisite to uncovering corresponding e-service recovery mechanisms that can be offered on e-commerce websites to alleviate consumers’ disappointment and feelings of dissatisfaction in the event of e-service failures

Structural and electronic properties of Al nanowires: an ab initio pseudopotential study

The stability and electronic structure of a single monatomic Al wire has been studied using the ab initio pseudopotential method. The Al wire undergoes two structural rearrangements under compression, i.e., zigzag configurations at angles of $140^o$ and $60^o$. The evolution of electronic structures of the Al chain as a function of structural phase transition has been investigated. The relationship between electronic structure and geometric stability is also discussed. The 2p bands in the Al nanowire are shown to play a critical role in its stability. The effects of density functionals (GGA and LDA) on cohesive energy and bond length of Al nanostructures (dimmer, chains, and monolayers) are also examined. The link between low dimensional 0D structure (dimmer) to high dimensional 3D bulk Al is estimated. An example of optimized tip-suspended finite atomic chain is presented to bridge the gap between hypothetical infinite chains and experimental finite chains.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

Age-Related Gene Expression Differences in Monocytes from Human Neonates, Young Adults, and Older Adults.

A variety of age-related differences in the innate and adaptive immune systems have been proposed to contribute to the increased susceptibility to infection of human neonates and older adults. The emergence of RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) provides an opportunity to obtain an unbiased, comprehensive, and quantitative view of gene expression differences in defined cell types from different age groups. An examination of ex vivo human monocyte responses to lipopolysaccharide stimulation or Listeria monocytogenes infection by RNA-seq revealed extensive similarities between neonates, young adults, and older adults, with an unexpectedly small number of genes exhibiting statistically significant age-dependent differences. By examining the differentially induced genes in the context of transcription factor binding motifs and RNA-seq data sets from mutant mouse strains, a previously described deficiency in interferon response factor-3 activity could be implicated in most of the differences between newborns and young adults. Contrary to these observations, older adults exhibited elevated expression of inflammatory genes at baseline, yet the responses following stimulation correlated more closely with those observed in younger adults. Notably, major differences in the expression of constitutively expressed genes were not observed, suggesting that the age-related differences are driven by environmental influences rather than cell-autonomous differences in monocyte development