Principles In Regard Research Articles

Relational Egalitarianism and Intergenerational Justice: Reply to Sommers

AbstractIt is often argued that relational egalitarianism has a fundamental problem with intergenerational justice when compared to other theories of justice such as utilitarianism, prioritarianism, and luck egalitarianism. Recently, Timothy Sommers argued that there is no such comparative disadvantage for relational egalitarianism. His argument is quite modest: it merely aims to reject the claim that there could be no way to extend relational egalitarianism to intergenerational justice. This may be called the ‘No Comparative Disadvantage Thesis’. The present article challenges Sommers’s argument in two ways. First, I show that Sommers fails to provide a reasonable constraint on causal efficacy, which is crucial to his argument for our relation (not relationship) to future generations. Second, I show that the chain-relatedness problem casts a shadow over Sommers’s argument for the No Comparative Disadvantage Thesis. More specifically, compared to the other theories of justice, relational egalitarianism (as it stands) can less easily justify that present persons have duties to future others. This is because relational egalitarianism cannot appeal to a specific principle in regard to the duties in question, because its principle is sensitive to current context and practice. I conclude that the No Comparative Disadvantage Thesis does not hold much promise.

Paper-Mill Wastes for Bioethanol Production in Relation to Circular Economy Concepts: A Review

This review explores circular economy principles in regard to ethanol production from paper-mill sludge. Environmental sustainability and renewability over fossil fuels make second generation ethanol an attractive energy source in a rapidly growing population and consumption world. Paper sludge (PS), a by-product of the pulp and paper (P&P) industry, can no longer be recycled for paper production and is mainly disposed of in landfills. Therefore, it poses a major environmental challenge. However, it has shown potential as a valuable raw material for ethanol production, along with other pulp and paper products, due to its abundant availability and high cellulosic content. This waste-to-energy (WtE) technology for ethanol production is proposed as an alternative, aligning with circular economy concepts to maximize resource efficiency and minimize waste. This review underlines the circular economy aspects of bioethanol production within paper mill sludge management systems. Circular economy principles applied to ethanol production from PS offer a promising avenue for sustainable biofuel development that not only addresses waste management challenges but also enhances the overall environmental performance of biofuel production. Furthermore, economic benefits are described, highlighting the potential for job creation and community development.

Gaps in global wildlife trade monitoring leave amphibians vulnerable.

As the biodiversity crisis continues, we must redouble efforts to understand and curb pressures pushing species closer to extinction. One major driver is the unsustainable trade of wildlife. Trade in internationally regulated species gains the most research attention, but this only accounts for a minority of traded species and we risk failing to appreciate the scale and impacts of unregulated legal trade. Despite being legal, trade puts pressure on wild species via direct collection, introduced pathogens, and invasive species. Smaller species-rich vertebrates, such as reptiles, fish, and amphibians, may be particularly vulnerable to trading because of gaps in regulations, small distributions, and demand of novel species. Here, we combine data from five sources: online web searches in six languages, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) trade database, Law Enforcement Management Information System (LEMIS) trade inventory, IUCN assessments, and a recent literature review, to characterise the global trade in amphibians, and also map use by purpose including meat, pets, medicinal, and for research. We show that 1215 species are being traded (17% of amphibian species), almost three times previous recorded numbers, 345 are threatened, and 100 Data Deficient or unassessed. Traded species origin hotspots include South America, China, and Central Africa; sources indicate 42% of amphibians are taken from the wild. Newly described species can be rapidly traded (mean time lag of 6.5 years), including threatened and unassessed species. The scale and limited regulation of the amphibian trade, paired with the triptych of connected pressures (collection, pathogens, invasive species), warrants a re-examination of the wildlife trade status quo, application of the precautionary principle in regard to wildlife trade, and a renewed push to achieve global biodiversity goals.

Revisiting the Intelligibility and Nativeness Principles

Abstract Levis (2005) named two conflicting approaches to pronunciation teaching, the Nativeness Principle and the Intelligibility Principle. This paper revisits those two principles to argue for the superiority of the Intelligibility Principle in regard to where pronunciation fits within the wider field of language teaching, in how it effectively addresses teaching goals, in how it best addresses all contexts of L2 pronunciation learning, and in how it recognizes the reality of social consequences of pronunciation differences. In contrast, the Nativeness Principle, despite its long pedigree and many defenders, falls short by advocating native pronunciation for L2 learners, which is both unlikely to be achieved and unnecessary for effective communication in the L2.

Between ideology and pragmatism: polemic on the civil rights of Christians in the socialist Slovenia of the 1970s

In this article I discuss the controversy concerning the rights of believers which developed among younger theologians, some laymen and some representatives of the faithful on the one hand, and communist politicians and Marxist theorists on the other, in Slovenia in the 1970s. In comparison with other socialist countries, the level of religious freedoms in multireligious Yugoslavia was relatively high; the same can be said about the country’s relations with the Holy See, with which diplomatic relations at the highest level were restored in 1970. The controversy opened key questions about the relationship between Marxism and atheism under Yugoslav self-management socialism and touched some of the basic ideological postulates on which the League of Communists (LC) built its social engagement. Demands for greater equality for believers were rejected as unfounded in the vast majority of cases and did not trigger a change in the established understanding of religion by the ruling communist party. However, the awareness of everyday discrimination against believers in their public life spread amongst the younger generation of more liberal-oriented communist leaders. At a time when the Yugoslav party was preparing for the difficult period following the imminent death of President Tito and in this period was counting on the loyalty of believers, communist leaders were willing to condemn the most outstanding examples of ‘sectarianism’, of which there was no scarcity in the ranks of the LC, while at the same time a change in programming principles in regard to religion remained out of the question. The prevailing conviction remained that religion would die out of its own accord, but that in the meantime it was necessary to ensure full equality for nonbelievers and believers alike.

Psychological principles in regard to the interview with the deceased donor's family.

The purpose of this article is to present the most important rules of the interview process with the family of a patient who has been diagnosed with brain death. Based on data from the literature and their own clinical experience, the authors also describe the psychological mechanisms that make contact with the family of a potential donor particularly difficult. The paper also discusses successive stages in the process of building contact with the family from the perspective of the dual advocacy approach that, in the light of recent data from the literature, can significantly increase the likelihood of the family's acceptance of organ donation, offering both the specific theoretical foundations as well as the strict principles in regard to the interview. The article contains practical suggestions for dealing with difficulties that can arise at all stages of contact with the family: making contact, providing information, providing information about brain death and talking with the family about organ donation from a deceased relative.

Wahrnehmungsbezogene Erfahrungssätze im Lauterkeitsrecht

Empirical principles are abstract logical rules of the general experience of life or specific expertise. They are extremely important for the judicial decision-making process. Empirical principles are especially helpful in finding facts. As part of this, empirical principles gain significance in the judicial praxis with fair trading law. Especially the public's perception is determined by recruitment of empirical principles. The detection of the public's perception could also be effected by demoscopic surveys. However demoscopic surveys are very expensive and time-consuming. Because of this demoscopic surveys are an exemption in the judicial praxis. Disputes based on fair trading law depend on a quick remedy. Hence all disputes were normally represented in temporary relief. Empirical principles are an alternative determination method to satisfy these needs. They are a present evidence for detection of unobservable events. Because empirical principles are flexible and revocable, there are several risks of using them. Empirical principles, as rules for an indefinite number of cases, are very close to legal rules. In the absence of a legislative act and a mandatory application they can not be equated with legal rules. Empirical principles help to suggest facts. Unlike legal facts empirical principles cannot be classified in a regional and chronological manner. As a mix between legal facts and legal rules they cannot be definitely classified into the juristic syllogism. In particular, this has a significant effect on the treatment of empirical principles by higher courts. This article shows challenges, risks and benefits of using empirical principles in regard to fair trading law.

Physicality in Australian Patent Law

It is generally understood that the patent system exists to encourage the conception and disclosure of new and useful inventions embodied in machines and other physical devices, along with new methods that physically transform matter from one state to another. What is not well understood is whether, and to what extent, the patent system is to encourage and protect the conception and disclosure of inventions that are non-physical methods — namely those that do not result in a physical transformation of matter. This issue was considered in Grant v Commissioner of Patents. In that case the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia held that an invention must involve a physical effect or transformation to be patentable subject matter. In doing so, it introduced a physicality requirement into Australian law. What this article seeks to establish is whether the court’s decision is consistent with the case law on point. It does so by examining the key common law cases that followed the High Court’s watershed decision in National Research Development Corporation v Commissioner of Patents, the undisputed authoritative statement of principle in regard to the patentable subject matter standard in Australia. This is done with a view to determining whether there is anything in those cases that supports the view that the Australian patentable subject matter test contains a physicality requirement.

RESOURCE RECOVERY AND MATERIALS FLOW IN THE CITY

Beyond energy efficiency, there are now urgent challenges around the supply of resources, materials, food and water. After debating energy-efficiency for the last decade, the focus has shifted to include resource and material-efficiency. In this context, urban farming has emerged as a valid urban design strategy in Europe, where food is produced and consumed locally within city boundaries, turning disused sites into productive urban landscapes and community gardens. Agricultural activities allow for effective composting of organic waste, returning nutrients to the soil and improving biodiversity in the urban environment. Urban farming will help to feed the 9 billion by 2050 (predicted population growth, UN-Habitat forecast 2009). This paper reports on best practice of urban design principles in regard to materials flow, material recovery, adaptive re-use of building elements and components (‘design for disassembly’; prefabrication of modular building components), and other relevant strategies to implement zero waste by avoiding waste creation, reducing harmful consumption and changing behaviour. The paper touches on two important issues in regard to the rapid depletion of the world's natural resources: the construction sector and the education of architects and designers. The construction sector: Prefabricated multi-story timber buildings for inner-city living can set new benchmarks for minimizing construction wastage and for sustainable on-site assembly. Today, the construction and demolition (C&D) sector is one of the main producers of waste; it does not engage enough with waste minimization, waste avoidance and recycling. Education and research: It's still unclear how best to introduce a holistic understanding of these challenges and to better teach practical and affordable solutions to architects, urban designers, industrial designers, and so on. One of the findings of this paper is that embedding ‘zero-waste’ requires strong industry leadership, new policies and effective education curricula, as well as raising awareness (education) and refocusing research agendas to bring about attitudinal change and the reduction of wasteful consumption.

Optimizing Urban Material Flows and Waste Streams in Urban Development through Principles of Zero Waste and Sustainable Consumption

Beyond energy efficiency, there are now urgent challenges around the supply of resources, materials, energy, food and water. After debating energy efficiency for the last decade, the focus has shifted to include further resources and material efficiency. In this context, urban farming has emerged as a valid urban design strategy, where food is produced and consumed locally within city boundaries, turning disused sites and underutilized public space into productive urban landscapes and community gardens. Furthermore, such agricultural activities allow for effective composting of organic waste, returning nutrients to the soil and improving biodiversity in the urban environment. Urban farming and resource recovery will help to feed the 9 billion by 2050 (predicted population growth, UN-Habitat forecast 2009). This paper reports on best practice of urban design principles in regard to materials flow, material recovery, adaptive re-use of entire building elements and components (‘design for disassembly’; prefabrication of modular building components), and other relevant strategies to implement zero waste by avoiding waste creation, reducing wasteful consumption and changing behaviour in the design and construction sectors. The paper touches on two important issues in regard to the rapid depletion of the world’s natural resources: the built environment and the education of architects and designers (both topics of further research). The construction and demolition (C&D) sector: Prefabricated multi-story buildings for inner-city living can set new benchmarks for minimizing construction wastage and for modular on-site assembly. Today, the C&D sector is one of the main producers of waste; it does not engage enough with waste minimization, waste avoidance and recycling. Education and research: It’s still unclear how best to introduce a holistic understanding of these challenges and to better teach practical and affordable solutions to architects, urban designers, industrial designers, and so on. How must urban development and construction change and evolve to automatically embed sustainability in the way we design, build, operate, maintain and renew/recycle cities? One of the findings of this paper is that embedding zero-waste requires strong industry leadership, new policies and effective education curricula, as well as raising awareness (through research and education) and refocusing research agendas to bring about attitudinal change and the reduction of wasteful consumption.

What Is the Role of Theories in the Study of Schizophrenia?

As an epilogue to the themed papers on "Theories of Schizophrenia" in this issue of Schizophrenia Bulletin, this article reviews some basic philosophy of science principles in regard to the role of theories in the evolving state of a natural science discipline. While in early phases inductive and abductive logic are the primary vehicles for organizing observations and developing models, when a critical set of "facts" have been elucidated which can be explained by competing theoretical perspectives, hypothetico-deductive logic provides a more robust and efficient approach to scientific progress. The key principle is to determine where two or more theories predict different observations and then to devise studies that collect critical observations-correlations or experimental outcomes that are predicted differentially by the competing theories. To a large extent, current theories of schizophrenia (eg, focusing on aberrant dopaminergic signaling, neural dysconnectivity, and disrupted neural development) are not (and are not intended by their authors to be) mutually exclusive of each other. Rather, they provide explanations that differ in relative emphases, eg, on distal vs proximal causes and on broad vs narrow behavioral end points. It is therefore possible for all of them to be "right" at least in a general sense. This non-exclusivity is problematic when considered in light of the strong inferences principles characteristic of a mature natural science discipline. The contrast points are likely to be found in constructions that integrate influences across different levels of analysis, as in additive vs interactive models, direct effects vs mediation models, and developmental vs deteriorative models.

Time–temperature dependency of mode II fracture toughness for bisphenol A type epoxy resin

AbstractWe investigated the mode II fracture toughness (KIIc) with time and temperature dependence of the bisphenol A type of epoxy resin. We performed an asymmetric four‐point bending test under various conditions of temperature and displacement rate. We found that KIIc strongly depended on the displacement rate and the temperature, even at room temperature. Moreover, it was governed by the time–temperature equivalence principle in regard to the fracture time. The time–temperature dependency of KIIc was similar to that of the loss modulus (E″), and the transition of brittle to ductile fractures occurred nearly simultaneously when E″ peaked. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 96: 51–55, 2005

Sulla possibilità di misurare la solidarietà

The author proposes to verify the hypothesis implicit in the title of the study: whether solidarity present in a social order is measurable in the sense that it is possible to verify the presence of more or less solidarity and therefore the compatibility of solidarity and other principles, in particular that of the free market. In the first part of the study the author defines the notion of solidarity which he intends to inform his own research, specifically a system of social protection, but different from that utilized in investigations of a sociological or historical character. He excludes, therefore, the protection of health from his own field of research, considering this inspired by principles in part diverse from those which inform other compartments of the social security order. He then deals with the central theme of the study, evaluating the »quantity« of solidarity present in the pension systems, both public and complementary, and in the forms of tutelage for the conditions of general need in the labour market. Having received a positive reply to the question posed in the title, the author finally passes in review the normative principles in regard to solidarity present in the text of the Constitution for Europe in the recently signed treaty, concluding with a positive note on the possibility – where supported by political will and capacity – that from this text the presence of solidarity in the social orders of the continent will be reinforced. Recommended citation: Balandi, Gian Guido, Sulla possibilità di misurare la solidarietà, in: Rechtsgeschichte - Legal History Rg 06 (2005) 14-28, online: http://dx.doi.org/10.12946/rg06/014-028

Multiple Principles of Political Obligation

Scholars who doubt the existence of general political obligations typically criticize and reject theories of obligation based on individual moral principles, for example, consent, fairness, or a natural duty of justice. Astronger position can result fromcombining different principles in a single theory. I develop a multiprinciple theory of political obligation, based on the principle of fairness, a natural duty of justice, and what I call the “common good” principle. The three principles interact in three main ways: “cumulation,” combining the separate state services that different principles cover; “mutual support,” combining the force of different principles in regard to the same state services; and simple overlap. The resulting theory is able to satisfy the main conditions for an adequate theory of obligation: demonstrating that all or nearly all inhabitants of society have moral requirements to obey the law, and that these extend to the full range of state services.

Ethical Issues in Forensic Rehabilitation

Topics examined in this manuscript include identification and application of ethical issues and principles in regard to forensic rehabilitation. Principles for ethical consulting are presented. An examination of multicultural issues for the Vocational Expert is also made.

African American History and the Frontier Thesis

Frederick Jackson Turner and other historians of the Progressive Era, such as Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr., and Charles Beard, found no place for race or gender in their perspectives on American history. To these historians, even slavery and Reconstruction were important primarily because of their impact on white America and white institutions. Schlesinger ignored black history in his writings but served on the Council of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History and encouraged his black students, Rayford Logan and John Hope Franklin, who chose black history topics. In his scholarship, Charles Beard dismissed egalitarian and humanistic principles in regard to the Fourteenth Amendment, interpreting it merely as a conspiratorial move to promote and protect corporations; yet according to Richard Hofstadter, Beard boasted of a liberal Quaker heritage, a grandfather who harbored fugitive slaves, and a father who challenged racial prejudice. On the other hand, Turner came from unreconstructed Jacksonian stock (his father was named Andrew Jackson

Initiators, promoters and the uncertainty principle.

The development of cancer in humans and in animals including experimental animals is almost always a multistep process. With carcinogenic chemicals and probably with some other etiological agents as well (e.g. radiations, DNA viruses), the first few steps require exogenous stimuli to induce the requisite tissue changes. However, the known agents are now being shown to have different and even antagonistic or contradictory effects depending upon when and how they are used. This uncertainty principle in regard to agents in cancer development, although complicating the analysis, may facilitate a more rational scientific analysis of the fundamental nature of the different steps as cancer develops and could lead to new approaches to cancer prevention and/or therapy.

Carbocationic Polymerization in the Presence of Sterically Hindered Bases. X. Summary and Quantitative Kinetic Confirmation of the Mechanism

Abstract The findings presented in the preceding articles of this special issue have been organized, analyzed, and summarized. Commonalities among the various polymerization systems investigated in detail have been identified and phenomena of general validity were found. Increased insight into the mechanism of initiation and chain transfer processes led to the development of a comprehensive kinetic model which was used to describe the assembled data. Excellent quantitative agreement between experimental and calculated data indicates the validity of the mechanistic/kinetic model developed from chemical principles in regard to fast-initiated nonstationary carbocationic polymerizations in the absence and presence of proton traps.

Death education--where is thy sting?

We are not free to choose whether anyone will learn about death, though we have some choice about how they will learn. The author discusses the basic questions that need to be answered in planning death education at any level, and the possible goals, in terms of cognitive gain, skills, and attitudinal objectives. Some principles in regard to teaching methods and evaluation are described, with illustrations from the experiences of medical students and others. It is important that the teacher should be able to deal with the problems that such programs may arouse. Cheap emotional arousal is easy to produce, but trivial, unless creatively used for a valued purpose and adequately resolved. Death is infinitely exploitable, and the growth of death voyeurism via "education" is alarming. The capacity to recognize and avoid being exploited or exploiting others must be one of our principle educational objectives.

Rotation of Principal Stresses in Granular Material During Simple Shear

ABSTRACT On the basis of the experimental evidences for the simple shear test of two-dimensional granular model and for the direct shear test of sand, some fundamental problems such as (1) the orientation of the principal stress axes and (2) the relation between the principal axes of stress and those of strain increment are discussed to make the deformation and strength behaviours of granular material clear from a theoretical point of view. The distribution law of contact force, which makes the determination of mean contact force at each contact possible, is successfully applied to calculate the theoretical value with respect to the mobilized stress ratio and the inclination angle of the maximum principal stress axis in the simple shear test. The rotation of the principal stress axes during simple shear occurs in the process of increasing stress ratio, and the principal axes of stress and of strain increment do not generally coincide with each other, at least up to the peak stress ratio. The equations obtained theoretically accord well with the experimental results performed by the present authors and Roscoe, et al. The same principle in regard to the mechanism of strain hardening is also applicable to the direct shear test of sand.