On vegetarianism,morality, and science: A counter reply

I recently took issue with Kathryn George's contention that vegetarianism cannot be a moral obligation for most human beings, even assuming that Tom Regan's stringent thesis about the equal inherent value of humans and many sentient nonhumans is correct. I argued that both Regan and George are incorrect in claiming that his view would permit moral agents to kill and eat innocent, non-threatening rights holders. An unequal rights view, by contrast, would permit such actions if a moral agent's health or life is at stake. I then argued that current nutritional research does not support Professor George's claim that some wealthy adult males (and many fewer wealthy women) are the only persons whose health does not require the consumption of nonhuman animals and their products. In her 1992 response to my critique, George did not address my moral argumentation. She concentrated her entire paper on a wholesale rejection of my discussion of nutrition. Although she now takes a somewhat more moderate position on who can safely contemplate strict vegetarianism, she still believes that most people are not in a position to follow such a diet. In my counter-reply, I argue that her rejection is based upon numerous distortions, omissions, and false charges of fallacy. She even devotes a substantial section of her paper to criticizing me for saying the opposite of what I actually wrote. As I did in my earlier paper, I cite current research, including George's own preferred source on the topic of vegetarianism, to support my view. I conclude that Professor George has still not shown that for most human beings it is dangerous to follow a diet that omits nonhuman animals and their products. Moral agents who take the rights of humansand nonhumans seriously will find vegetarianism well worth considering.     

When is it morally acceptable to kill animals?

Professor Hugh Lehman has recently argued that the rights view, according to which nonhuman animals have a prima facie right to life, is compatible with the killing of animals in many circumstances, including killing for food, research, or product-testing purposes. His principle argument is an appeal to life-boat cases, in which certain lives should be sacrificed rather than others because the latter would allegedly be made worse-off by death than the former. I argue that this reasoning would apply to so-called inferior humans just as much as to animals, and that this appeal is unsuccessful in any case. I distinguish two versions of the rights view: the equal and the unequal rights views. Although the unequal rights view, unlike the equal rights view, would sanction the killing of animals (and some humans) for food under severely restricted circumstances, neither rights view sanctions the raising of animals for their meat. Moreover, neither rights view would sanction the killing of animals for research or product-testing purposes. I conclude with a brief discussion of the merits of phasing out the meat production industry.     

Fungal contamination of stored automobile-fuels in a tropical environment

Because of the lack of reports, the base levels of microbial contamination on stored fuels are unknown in tropical regions and it is unclear whether these levels have some influence on fuel quality parameters. Therefore, fungal quality in automobile fuels stored across Costa Rican territory was evaluated during two years according to the standard ASTM D6974-04. For a total of 96 samples, counts and identification of molds and yeasts were performed on regular gas, premium gas and diesel taken from the bottom and superior part of the container tanks. The highest contamination was found on the bottom of the tanks, where an aqueous phase was usually identified, showing populations over the ones present in the hydrocarbon itself (up to 108 CFU/L). Diesel was the most contaminated fuel (up to 107 CFU/L); however, an alteration on the physicochemical parameters was not observed in any kind of fuel. Seventy-five mold strains were isolated, Penicillium sp. being the most common genus (45.8% of the samples), and ten yeast strains, from the genera Candida sp. and Rhodotorula sp. Four of the yeasts were able to grow on diesel as the sole carbon source, at concentrations ranging from 0.5% to 25%. Increasing the frequency of tank cleaning, adding antimicrobial agents and monitoring microbial populations are recommended strategies to improve microbial quality of stored fuels.     

Future soil loss in highland Ethiopia under changing climate and land use

Regional Environmental Change - Donors, governments, non-government organisations and humanitarian agencies are increasingly investing in disaster risk reduction (DRR) but there is limited...     

Single-cell sequencing and mini-sequencing for preimplantation genetic diagnosis

There is increasing interest in the use of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) as an alternative to routine prenatal diagnosis. However, the costs associated with development and testing of new PGD protocols have forced some PGD centres to limit the number of diseases for which PGD is offered. One of the main factors in the design of new protocols, which affects cost and accuracy, is the choice of the mutation-detection technique. We have assessed the reliability of DNA sequencing and mini-sequencing for clinical diagnosis at the single-cell level and have found them to be rapid and accurate. Extensive optimisation for individual mutations is not usually necessary when employing these versatile techniques and consequently a smaller investment of time and resources should be required during development of new protocols. Additionally, we report single-cell protocols for the diagnoses of cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anaemia and β-thalassaemia, which utilise mini-sequencing. Unlike most mutation-detection techniques, mini-sequencing permits analysis of very small DNA fragments. Small amplicons experience low allele dropout (ADO) rates, and consequently this approach could potentially improve the reliability of PGD. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Poor efficacy of herbicides in biochar-amended soils as affected by their chemistry and mode of action

We evaluated wheat straw biochar produced at 450 °C for its ability to influence bioavailability and persistence of two commonly used herbicides (atrazine and trifluralin) with different modes of action (photosynthesis versus root tip mitosis inhibitors) in two contrasting soils. The biochar was added to soils at 0%, 0.5% and 1.0% (w/w) and the herbicides were applied to those soil-biochar mixes at nil, half, full, two times, and four times, the recommended dosage (H₄). Annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum) was grown in biochar amended soils for 1 month. Biochar had a positive impact on ryegrass survival rate and above-ground biomass at most of the application rates, and particularly at H₄. Within any given biochar treatment, increasing herbicide application decreased the survival rate and fresh weight of above-ground biomass. Biomass production across the biochar treatment gradient significantly differed (p < 0.01) and was more pronounced in the case of atrazine than trifluralin. For example, the dose-response analysis showed that in the presence of 1% biochar in soil, the value of GR₅₀ (i.e. the dose required to reduce weed biomass by 50%) for atrazine increased by 3.5 times, whereas it increased only by a factor of 1.6 in the case of trifluralin. The combination of the chemical properties and the mode of action governed the extent of biochar-induced reduction in bioavailability of herbicides. The greater biomass of ryegrass in the soil containing the highest biochar (despite having the highest herbicide residues) demonstrates decreased bioavailability of the chemicals caused by the wheat straw biochar. This work clearly demonstrates decreased efficacy of herbicides in biochar amended soils. The role played by herbicide chemistry and mode of action will have major implications in choosing the appropriate application rates for biochar amended soils.     

Graham Scholars Program: sustainability education through an interdisciplinary international case study

A course for upper division undergraduate students was developed in response to a request for a cross-disciplinary course in environmental sustainability with an emphasis on an international issue. The topic selected for the course focused on the energy needs for Chile and a proposal for five hydropower projects on the Baker and Pascua Rivers in the Patagonia area. Collaborations between the University of Michigan (USA) and the University of Concepción (Chile) to develop the course led to a plan to offer a parallel course at both universities, with the students of both courses participating in a site visit to Patagonia. The courses were structured to enhance learning through interdisciplinary team-based activities. The courses were taught in a seminar format, with invited lecturers to provide background information on technical, environmental, economic, social, and political issues surrounding hydropower development in general and the proposed projects in particular. The students combined this information with insights obtained during the site visit to prepare a variety of course products, notably an assessment of the concerns of the various affected stakeholder groups. Assessment of the course outcomes is discussed.     

Evaluation of the best compromise between the urban air quality monitoring resolution by diffusive sampling and resource requirements

The need to collect data representative of overall urban pollution is all-important in order to monitor the population exposure. High spatial resolution monitoring using diffusive samplers allows studying of the urban pollutant distribution, thus enabling deeper investigation of their generation and diffusion mechanisms. Nevertheless, such a monitoring campaign has a certain cost. In this study we point out how to find the best compromise between the number of necessary measurements and the affordable costs for monitoring campaigns. We also describe an innovative method for the proper design of a fixed urban monitoring network by means of preliminary high spatial resolution campaigns using diffusive samplers. Four European capital cities (Dublin, Madrid, Paris and Rome) were monitored six times, each time for seven days. Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes (BTEX) and NO(2) concentrations were measured at 146 sites in Dublin, 293 in Madrid, 339 in Paris and 290 in Rome. Multiscale grids have been drawn which ranged in mesh size from 500 m to 2 km. The statistical processing of data produced a twofold result: the creation of isoconcentration maps with geostatistical procedures, and an algorithm aimed at locating the minimum number of sampling sites where the fixed monitoring stations should be placed. Average urban levels estimated on the basis of these selected sites differ by less than 8% from those calculated on the whole populations of the sampled points. The aim of this work is to investigate how far the resolution of a monitoring campaign of urban pollution by diffusive sampling can be reduced, thus making the monitoring less expensive in terms of human and financial resources, while preserving the same quality of the results that could be achieved with a higher resolution. We found that there is no significant loss of information when the resolution of the monitoring grid for BTEX is lowered to a mesh size of 1.85 km, that is a sampling site each 3.4 km(2), and that the minimum number of sampling sites to be used is N = 0.29 A, where A is the urban surface to be monitored (in km(2)). As the spatial distribution of NO(2) is less sensitive to the distance from the emission source than that of BTEX, this relationship could be retained as a valid lower limit for the mesh grid size also for NO(2) monitoring.