178 research outputs found
Paternalism, Consent, and the Use of Experimental Drugs in the Military
Modern military organizations are paternalistic organizations. They typically recognize a duty of care toward military personnel and are willing to ignore or violate the consent of military personnel in order to uphold that duty of care. In this paper, we consider the case for paternalism in the military and distinguish it from the case for paternalism in medicine. We argue that one can consistently reject paternalism in medicine but uphold paternalism in the military. We consider two well-known arguments for the conclusion that military organizations should not be entitled to use experimental drugs on troops without first obtaining the informed consent of those troops. We argue that both of these are unsuccessful, in the absence of an argument for the rejection of paternalism in the military altogether. The case for military paternalism is widely accepted. However, we consider three ways in which it could be challenged
Dyslexia-friendly schools and parent partnership: inclusion and home-school relationships
This is a postprint of an article whose final and definitive form has been published in the European Journal of Special Needs Education© 2005 Copyright Taylor & Francis; European Journal of Special Needs Education is available online at http://www.informaworld.comThis paper summarizes an action research project in five local areas in the south-west of England which aimed to support parents of children with dyslexic difficulties who were experiencing problems in obtaining appropriate provision in mainstream schools. It was based on the importance of effective parental partnership and quality inclusive practice for children having dyslexic difficulties. A development officer worked over two years in the five participating LEAs that were selected to represent a range of professional practice with a mix of urban and rural populations. As part of the evaluation, the authors also examined longitudinally the educational experiences of a sample of parents. The paper includes a conceptual framework of parental agency in this field in terms of knowledge, identity and parental strategies, and the conditions under which parents escalate their strategies to secure appropriate provision for their children. The support provided by the development officer is analysed in terms of the kinds of support requests received, the kinds of support offered and qualitative evidence of the impact of this support. This research is theorized in terms of current ideas about parent-partnership and theories about parent-teacher relations in terms of the diversity of parents. It highlights the significance of thinking about inclusive schooling and parent-school relations in terms of the interconnections between general systems for all, for those with special educational needs and those with specific difficulties. The policy and practice implications are interpreted in terms of the importance of a system of extended professionalism, which is inclusive of parents with learning difficulties and disabilities.The research project this paper summarises was funded by the British Dyslexia Association (BDA) and the Buttle Trust
Testing the proposed link between cosmic rays and cloud cover
A decrease in the globally averaged low level cloud cover, deduced from the
ISCCP infra red data, as the cosmic ray intensity decreased during the solar
cycle 22 was observed by two groups. The groups went on to hypothesise that the
decrease in ionization due to cosmic rays causes the decrease in cloud cover,
thereby explaining a large part of the presently observed global warming. We
have examined this hypothesis to look for evidence to corroborate it. None has
been found and so our conclusions are to doubt it. From the absence of
corroborative evidence, we estimate that less than 23%, at the 95% confidence
level, of the 11-year cycle change in the globally averaged cloud cover
observed in solar cycle 22 is due to the change in the rate of ionization from
the solar modulation of cosmic rays
Light Nuclei solving Auger puzzles. The Cen-A imprint
Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR) map at 60 EeV have been found recently
by AUGER group spreading anisotropy signatures in the sky. The result have been
interpreted as a manifestation of AGN sources ejecting protons at GZK edges
mostly from Super-galactic Plane. The result is surprising due to the absence
of much nearer Virgo cluster. Moreover, early GZK cut off in the spectra may be
better reconcile with light nuclei (than with protons). In addition a large
group (nearly a dozen) of events cluster suspiciously along Cen-A. Finally,
proton UHECR composition nature is in sharp disagreement with earlier AUGER
claim of a heavy nuclei dominance at 40 EeV. Therefore we interpret here the
signals as mostly UHECR light nuclei (He, Be, B, C, O), very possibly mostly
the lightest (He,Be) ones, ejected from nearest AGN Cen-A, UHECR smeared by
galactic magnetic fields, whose random vertical bending is overlapping with
super-galactic arm. The eventual AUGER misunderstanding took place because of
such a rare coincidence between the Super Galactic Plane (arm) and the smeared
(randomized) signals from Cen-A, bent orthogonally to the Galactic fields. Our
derivation verify the consistence of the random smearing angles for He, Be and
B, C, O, in reasonable agreement with the AUGER main group events around Cen-A.
Only few other rare events are spread elsewhere. The most collimated from Cen-A
are the lightest. The most spread the heavier. Consequently Cen-A is the best
candidate UHE neutrino tau observable by HEAT and AMIGA as enhanced AUGER array
at tens-hundred PeV energy. This model maybe soon tested by new events
clustering around the Cen-A and by composition imprint study.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures
Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray production in the polar cap regions of black hole magnetospheres
We develop a model of ultra-high energy cosmic ray (UHECR) production via
acceleration in a rotation-induced electric field in vacuum gaps in the
magnetospheres of supermassive black holes (BH). We show that if the poloidal
magnetic field near the BH horizon is misaligned with the BH rotation axis,
charged particles, which initially spiral into the BH hole along the equatorial
plane, penetrate into the regions above the BH "polar caps" and are ejected
with high energies to infinity. We show that in such a model acceleration of
protons near a BH of typical mass 3e8 solar masses is possible only if the
magnetic field is almost aligned with the BH rotation axis. We find that the
power of anisotropic electromagnetic emission from an UHECR source near a
supermassive BH should be at least 10-100 times larger then UHECR power of the
source. This implies that if the number of UHECR sources within the 100 Mpc
sphere is ~100, the power of electromagnetic emission which accompanies proton
acceleration in each source, erg/s, is comparable to the typical
luminosities of active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the local Universe. We also
explore the acceleration of heavy nuclei, for which the constraints on the
electromagnetic luminosity and on the alignment of magnetic field in the gap
are relaxed
Alert but less alarmed: a pooled analysis of terrorism threat perception in Australia
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Previous Australian research has highlighted disparities in community perceptions of the threat posed by terrorism. A study with a large sample size is needed to examine reported concerns and anticipated responses of community sub-groups and to determine their consistency with existing Australian and international findings.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Representative samples of New South Wales (NSW) adults completed terrorism perception questions as part of computer assisted telephone interviews (CATI) in 2007 (N = 2081) and 2010 (N = 2038). Responses were weighted against the NSW population. Data sets from the two surveys were pooled and multivariate multilevel analyses conducted to identify health and socio-demographic factors associated with higher perceived risk of terrorism and evacuation response intentions, and to examine changes over time.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In comparison with 2007, Australians in 2010 were significantly more likely to believe that a terrorist attack would occur in Australia (Adjusted Odd Ratios (AOR) = 1.24, 95%CI:1.06-1.45) but felt less concerned that they would be directly affected by such an incident (AOR = 0.65, 95%CI:0.55-0.75). Higher perceived risk of terrorism and related changes in living were associated with middle age, female gender, lower education and higher reported psychological distress. Australians of migrant background reported significantly lower likelihood of terrorism (AOR = 0.52, 95%CI:0.39-0.70) but significantly higher concern that they would be personally affected by such an incident (AOR = 1.57, 95%CI:1.21-2.04) and having made changes in the way they live due to this threat (AOR = 2.47, 95%CI:1.88-3.25). Willingness to evacuate homes and public places in response to potential incidents increased significantly between 2007 and 2010 (AOR = 1.53, 95%CI:1.33-1.76).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>While an increased proportion of Australians believe that the national threat of terrorism remains high, concern about being personally affected has moderated and may reflect habituation to this threat. Key sub-groups remain disproportionately concerned, notably those with lower education and migrant groups. The dissonance observed in findings relating to Australians of migrant background appears to reflect wider socio-cultural concerns associated with this issue. Disparities in community concerns regarding terrorism-related threat require active policy consideration and specific initiatives to reduce the vulnerabilities of known risk groups, particularly in the aftermath of future incidents.</p
Implications of the cosmic ray spectrum for the mass composition at the highest energies
The significant attenuation of the cosmic-ray flux above eV
suggests that the observed high-energy spectrum is shaped by the so-called GZK
effect. This interaction of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) with the
ambient radiation fields also affects their composition. We review the effect
of photo-dissociation interactions on different nuclear species and analyze the
phenomenology of secondary proton production as a function of energy. We show
that, by itself, the UHECR spectrum does not constrain the cosmic-ray
composition at their extragalactic sources. While the propagated composition
(i.e., as observed at Earth) cannot contain significant amounts of intermediate
mass nuclei (say between He and Si), whatever the source composition, and while
it is vastly proton-dominated when protons are able to reach energies above
eV at the source, we show that the propagated composition can be
dominated by Fe and sub-Fe nuclei at the highest energies, either if the
sources are very strongly enriched in Fe nuclei (a rather improbable
situation), or if the accelerated protons have a maximum energy of a few
eV at the sources. We also show that in the latter cases, the
expected flux above eV is very much reduced compared to the case
when protons dominate in this energy range, both at the sources and at Earth.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure
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