Ethical Aspects of Insurance

The nature and ethical basis for insurance in general will be briefly discussed. Reference will then be made to alternatives to insurance as a means for meeting the cost of medical care. Finally, the ethical aspects of private insurance and social insurance will be analyzed as means for paying for health services

Major management factors associated with the variation in reproductive performance of Irish dairy herds

End of project reportThe results highlight the importance of BCS in achieving good reproductive performance. The likelihood of reproductive success was best predicted by BCS around the time of breeding and, for cows calving in good BCS (3.0 or greater) the level of BCS loss between calving and first service. A low BCS pre-calving (3.5) results in excessive BCS loss (>0.5) post-calving. On the basis of these findings a pre-calving BCS of no greater than 3.25 is a sensible target for pasture-based spring calving systems in Ireland. It is necessary to maintain BCS at 2.75 or greater during the breeding season, and loss of body condition between calving and first service should be restricted to 0.5 BCS units.National Development Plan (NDP

Brain Localisation of Memory Chunks in Chessplayers

Chess experts store domain-specific representations in their long-term memory; due to the activation of such representations, they perform with high accuracy in tasks that require the maintenance of previously seen information. Chunk-based theories of expertise (chunking theory: Chase & Simon, 1973; template theory: Gobet & Simon, 1996) state that expertise is acquired mainly by the acquisition and storage in long-term memory of familiar chunks that allow quick recognition. We tested some predictions of these theories by using fMRI while chessplayers performed a recognition memory task. These theories predict that chessplayers access long-term memory chunks of domain-specific information, which are presumably stored in the temporal lobes. We also predicted that the recognition memory tasks would activate working memory areas in the frontal and parietal lobes. These predictions were supported by the data

QUANTIFYING THE TOXICOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF THE ORGANIC UV FILTERS AVOBENZONE AND HOMOSALATE ON ACROPORA CERVICORNIS

Reports of the environmental effects of organic UV filters such as oxybenzone have led to the marketing of “reef-safe” sunscreen ingredients, including avobenzone and homosalate. Avobenzone provides broad-spectrum UV protection which blocks higher wavelength UV rays, the leading cause of aging and skin cancer. However, as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), organic UV filters have similar structures to crude oil and estrogens, some of which have been labeled endocrine disrupters. Common in personal care products, UV filters enter marine ecosystems via wastewater effluent and swimmers. Significant stress and mortality have been observed in juvenile and some adult scleractinian corals after exposure to several UV filters, leading to bans in some coastal regions. This study evaluated the individual effects of avobenzone and homosalate on the Atlantic staghorn coral Acropora cervicornis using 96 h assays in a static renewal exposure system. Acropora cervicornis exposed to avobenzone exhibited severe responses, including tissue attenuation, reduced growth rates, hypertrophied mucocytes, and mortality with an EC50 of 324.5 μg/L and an LC50 of 407.6 μg/L. Acropora cervicornis exposed to homosalate also showed tissue attenuation and hypertrophied mucocytes but to a lesser degree, with an EC10 of 629.9 μg/L. Avobenzone exhibited higher acute toxicity levels to adult coral than the previously banned organic UV filters, including oxybenzone and octinoxate. However, toxicity threshold concentrations were above the estimated solubility of each UV filter and quantified levels detected in coastal waters. Additional research is needed regarding chronic exposure to lower concentrations present in marine environments