A mixed Bentham–Rawls criterion for intergenerational equity: Theory and implications

This paper proposes a welfare criterion that balances the need for development and the concern for the least advantaged generations, and explores its implications. This criterion, called the mixed Bentham–Rawls criterion, moderates the effect of discounting, yet permits some degree of intertemporal trade-off. It is a weighted average of two terms: (a) the sum of discounted utilities and (b) the utility level of the least advantaged generation. We derive necessary conditions to characterize growth paths that satisfy our criterion, and show that in some models with familiar dynamic specifications, an optimal path exists and displays appealing characteristics.     

Assessing the acidification risk in the Lake Baikal region

Data from 3-year-long observations on the chemical composition of precipitation, atmospheric gases, aerosols, soils, and surface waters at three monitoring stations in the Baikal region are presented. The stability of terrestrial ecosystems and surface waters to acidification has been estimated quantitatively. It has been shown that, unlike soils, surface waters of the Baikal watershed are more sensitive to acid deposition. The permissible acidity load for soils and surface waters of the territory varied from 0.30 to 20.00 keq ha^-1 yr^-1, whereas the maximal contemporary acidity load attains 0.50 keq ha^-1 yr^-1.     

Prenatal sonographic diagnosis of the 49,XXXXY syndrome

The 49,XXXXY syndrome is a rare sex chromosome anomaly with an approximate incidence of 1 in 85 000 male live births. The diagnosis is usually ascertained postnatally by the association of mental retardation, variable growth deficiency, Down syndrome-like facial dysmorphy, hypogenitalism and other malformations, especially involving the heart and skeleton. Prenatal diagnosis of the pentasomy 49,XXXXY is generally fortuitous and sonographic features have rarely been described in the literature. We report here on two cases of 49,XXXXY syndrome diagnosed prenatally because of sonographic abnormalities. In the first, amniocentesis was performed at 26 weeks' gestation for polyhydramnios, unilateral clubfoot and micropenis. In the second, a karyotype was carried out on chorionic villi at 13 weeks' gestation for cystic hygroma. These observations and the six previously reported cases demonstrate that cystic hygroma in first or second trimester of pregnancy may be associated with sex chromosome aneuploidy other than Turner syndrome. Moreover, they emphasize the importance of detailed sonographic examination in the second trimester, as small penis and abnormal posturing of the lower extremities are very suggestive of the 49,XXXXY syndrome. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Energy Requirements for Loss of Viral Infectivity

Food and Environmental Virology - Outside the host, viruses will eventually lose their ability to infect cells due to conformational changes that occur to proteins on the viral capsid. In order to...     

Prenatal diagnosis of cystic fibrosis using a monoclonal antibody specific for intestinal alkaline phosphatase

A monoclonal antibody (AAP-1), specific for the intestinal isoenzyme of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), has been used to develop an immunoassay for amniotic fluid samples. Values in the immunoassay correlated closely with those obtained by direct determination of phenylalanine-inhibitable ALP. A panel of 124 control second-trimester amniotic fluids and 21 fluids with a 1 in 4 risk of a cystic fibrosis fetus were examined in the immunoassay. Eight of 10 affected cases had values below an arbitrary cut-off of one third median, while all the non-affected cases were above this level. Almost identical results were obtained by enzymatic determination of phenylalanine-inhibitable ALP. However, in both systems the false positive rate (control fluids with values below one third median), was unacceptably high. It is pointed out that at present the most effective system for the prenatal diagnosis of cystic fibrosis is achieved by measuring the ratio of intestinal to total ALP in amniotic fluid supernatants. This is probably best effected by enzymatic assay in the presence of phenylalanine and homoarginine inhibition.     

Host location by the pearlfish Carapus bermudensis

The symbiotic pearlfish Carapus bermudensis (Jones) demonstrates the ability, as an adult, to relocate the host sea cucumber Actinopyga agassizi in the laboratory. Host location behavior is effected unimodally with chemically mediated information of host orgin. Positive orientation of pearlfish to host “odor” does not involve chemically-elicited rheotaxis.