When some animals are more equal than others

Mikhalevich & Powell (2020) argue that we should attribute moral standing not only to vertebrates but also to certain invertebrates. M&P also object on ethical grounds to policies of scientific funding agencies that encourage scientists to replace vertebrates by invertebrates in research. M&P do allow that some invertebrates with brains may have lower levels of moral status than some vertebrates, but this seems to conflict with their case against replacement policies

INQUIRE: a case study in evaluating the potential of online MCQ tests in a discursive subject

There has been a wealth of investigation into the use of online multiple-choice questions as a means of summative assessment, however the research into the use of formative MCQs by the same mode of delivery still remains patchy. Similarly, research and implementation has been largely concentrated within the Sciences and Medicine rather than the more discursive subjects within the Humanities and Social Sciences. The INQUIRE (Interactive Questions Reinforcing Education) Evaluation Project was jointly conducted by two groups at the University of Oxford-the Said Business School and the Academic Computing Development Team to evaluate the use of online MCQs as a mechanism to reinforce and extend student learning. This initial study used a small set of highly focused MCQ tests that were designed to complement an introductory series of first-year undergraduate management lectures. MCQ is a simple and well-established technology, and hence the emphasis was very much on situating the tests within the student experience. The paper will cover how the online MCQs are intended to fit into the Oxford Undergraduate study agenda, and how a simple evaluation was executed and planned to investigate their usage and impact. The chosen method of evaluation was to combine focus groups with automated online methods of tracking, and the paper discusses the findings of both of these

Disability, partnership and parenting

Partnerships and parenthood can have important effects on economic, social and psychological well-being. We provide new long-term analysis of how disability affects both parental status and partnerships. Analysis of the new Life Opportunities Survey, which is based on social model approaches, demonstrates that disabled people are more likely than non-disabled people to face disadvantages in terms of family formation. Disabled people are more likely to remain single over time, although there is less evidence for any differences in rates of relationship breakdown for those who enter them. Allied to these conclusions, disabled adults are less likely to form households where there are dependent children. These conclusions are supported by longitudinal results from the British Household Panel Survey. © 2013 © 2013 Taylor & Francis

Chapter 1 Rethinking our Assumptions about Moral Status

Recent technological developments and potential technological developments of the near future require us to try to think clearly about what it is to have moral status and about when and why we should attribute moral status to beings and entities. What should we say about the moral status of human non-human chimeras, human brain organoids, artificial intelligence, cyborgs, post-humans, and human minds that have been uploaded into a computer, or onto the internet? In this introductory chapter we survey some key assumptions ordinarily made about moral status that may require rethinking. These include the assumptions that all humans who are not severely cognitively impaired have equal moral status, that possession of the sophisticated cognitive capacities typical of human adults is necessary for full moral status, that only humans can have full moral status, and that there can be no beings with higher moral status than ordinary adult humans. We also need to consider how we should treat beings and entities when we find ourselves uncertain about their moral status

Chapter 1 Rethinking our Assumptions about Moral Status

Recent technological developments and potential technological developments of the near future require us to try to think clearly about what it is to have moral status and about when and why we should attribute moral status to beings and entities. What should we say about the moral status of human non-human chimeras, human brain organoids, artificial intelligence, cyborgs, post-humans, and human minds that have been uploaded into a computer, or onto the internet? In this introductory chapter we survey some key assumptions ordinarily made about moral status that may require rethinking. These include the assumptions that all humans who are not severely cognitively impaired have equal moral status, that possession of the sophisticated cognitive capacities typical of human adults is necessary for full moral status, that only humans can have full moral status, and that there can be no beings with higher moral status than ordinary adult humans. We also need to consider how we should treat beings and entities when we find ourselves uncertain about their moral status

Railway track asset management modelling

Railways are an important type of transport infrastructure but can be expensive to run with the UK railway costing \pounds 1.525~billion to maintain in 2018/19. To reduce the cost without reducing the quality of the infrastructure improved asset management is required. To enable the impact of possible decisions to be understood, and the optimum ones chosen, a railway track asset management model, such as the one developed in this thesis, is required. This thesis first studies the degradation and maintenance of railway track. The UK railways network actual geometry and maintenance data was used to understand track degradation. This data covered 8 years of the whole UK rail network, a much greater length of time and track than previous research has considered. Many aspects were shown to have a significant impact on the rate such as track speed, sleeper type and maintenance history. The methodology of singling out factors showed that rail types have less of an impact on track geometry than previous research had shown. Weibull distributions were then used to characterise the rates of degradation of separate combinations of these significant aspects. The improvement in geometry from maintenance is also explored, with the effectiveness reducing with each further maintenance action. The improvement in geometry from maintenance is modelled using a linear fit with a stochastic element added to model the effectiveness variability. Maintenance output rate, which has previously not been considered in literature, has also been analysed and modelled, utilising Weibull distributions, allowing working window lengths for maintenance to be incorporated within models. The likelihood of different rail faults occurring was also explored using data from the UK railway. The analysis showed that the rail type, joint and age were not only linked to the rate of faults but also the track geometry. This link has been mentioned in literature but has previously not been proved or quantified. The link between rail faults and track geometry shows how the railway tracks assets are interlinked and hence need to be modelled as such. Saving money by reducing the amount of track geometry maintenance will increase the quantity and hence the cost of rail faults. Rail faults have been modelled using probabilities within this thesis, with the fault rates of each fault type related to the track geometry. The second part of this thesis develops a Colour Petri-Net (CPN) model which incorporates the analysis and models developed. A CPN has been used in a novel way of acting as a decision framework, joining the separate degradation and maintenance models together and allowing them to interact. This removes some shortcomings of state based modelling techniques such as requiring discrete states of degradation. The model predicts, over any given line of track and time period, the number of inspections, maintenance actions, track quality and number of speed restrictions. Utilising the model the user can assess the impact of decisions such as maintenance thresholds, asset upgrades and traffic changes. Additional aspects such as opportunistic maintenance, as well as maintenance productivity and work windows lengths are considered. This allows aspects like opportunistic maintenance thresholds and varying the maintenance window length to be analysed, which previous models in literature have not. Different scenarios can be run through the model and the outputs compared to enable evidence based asset management decisions to be made

Railway track asset management modelling

Railways are an important type of transport infrastructure but can be expensive to run with the UK railway costing \pounds 1.525~billion to maintain in 2018/19. To reduce the cost without reducing the quality of the infrastructure improved asset management is required. To enable the impact of possible decisions to be understood, and the optimum ones chosen, a railway track asset management model, such as the one developed in this thesis, is required. This thesis first studies the degradation and maintenance of railway track. The UK railways network actual geometry and maintenance data was used to understand track degradation. This data covered 8 years of the whole UK rail network, a much greater length of time and track than previous research has considered. Many aspects were shown to have a significant impact on the rate such as track speed, sleeper type and maintenance history. The methodology of singling out factors showed that rail types have less of an impact on track geometry than previous research had shown. Weibull distributions were then used to characterise the rates of degradation of separate combinations of these significant aspects. The improvement in geometry from maintenance is also explored, with the effectiveness reducing with each further maintenance action. The improvement in geometry from maintenance is modelled using a linear fit with a stochastic element added to model the effectiveness variability. Maintenance output rate, which has previously not been considered in literature, has also been analysed and modelled, utilising Weibull distributions, allowing working window lengths for maintenance to be incorporated within models. The likelihood of different rail faults occurring was also explored using data from the UK railway. The analysis showed that the rail type, joint and age were not only linked to the rate of faults but also the track geometry. This link has been mentioned in literature but has previously not been proved or quantified. The link between rail faults and track geometry shows how the railway tracks assets are interlinked and hence need to be modelled as such. Saving money by reducing the amount of track geometry maintenance will increase the quantity and hence the cost of rail faults. Rail faults have been modelled using probabilities within this thesis, with the fault rates of each fault type related to the track geometry. The second part of this thesis develops a Colour Petri-Net (CPN) model which incorporates the analysis and models developed. A CPN has been used in a novel way of acting as a decision framework, joining the separate degradation and maintenance models together and allowing them to interact. This removes some shortcomings of state based modelling techniques such as requiring discrete states of degradation. The model predicts, over any given line of track and time period, the number of inspections, maintenance actions, track quality and number of speed restrictions. Utilising the model the user can assess the impact of decisions such as maintenance thresholds, asset upgrades and traffic changes. Additional aspects such as opportunistic maintenance, as well as maintenance productivity and work windows lengths are considered. This allows aspects like opportunistic maintenance thresholds and varying the maintenance window length to be analysed, which previous models in literature have not. Different scenarios can be run through the model and the outputs compared to enable evidence based asset management decisions to be made