Government Regulations of Shechita (Jewish Religious Slaughter) in the Twenty-First Century: Are They Ethical?

Human beings have engaged in animal husbandry and have slaughtered animals for food for thousands of years. During the majority of that time most societies had no animal welfare regulations that governed the care or slaughter of animals. Judaism is a notable exception in that from its earliest days it has included such rules. Among the Jewish dietary laws is a prohibition to consume meat from an animal that dies in any manner other than through the rigorously defined method of slaughter known as shechita. In recent decades more and more attempts have been initiated by governments around the world to either outright ban or to control and modify the practice of shechita. This paper presents the requisite background about shechita and then analyzes the ethics of some of the recent legislation. The analysis includes a rebuttal of the assertion that shechita is an inhumane method of slaughter. It further presents the consequences on the Jewish community of legislation to impose pre-slaughter stunning and explains why such legislation is unethical. The actual effect of labeling laws is discussed and it is shown why such laws are also un-ethical.     

Sorbent-based devices for the removal of spilled oil from water: a review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Always, oil spills do cause serious and dire consequences for the environment, nature, and society that it consumes much time and socio-economic...     

Complexity of the relationship between 2D/3D urban morphology and the land surface temperature: a multiscale perspective

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Urban morphology is a crucial contributor to urban heat island (UHI) effects. However, few studies have explored the complex effect of 2D/3D urban...     

Status of water use and potential of rainwater harvesting for replacing centralized supply system in remote mountainous areas: a case study

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The failure of the centralized water supply system forced XY community to become more dependent on uncertain and unstable water sources. The results...     

多层填料生物转鼓去除NO废气的效能比较研究

生物转鼓过滤器能有效去除一氧化氮(NO)废气,为进一步提高生物转鼓过滤器的去除效能,实验改变了生物转鼓的填料结构,并与单层填料的生物转鼓进行了比较研究.结果表明,多层填料生物转鼓比单层填料生物转鼓更能有效去除NO,运行也更加稳定.8个月的连续运行实验表明,多层填料生物转鼓对NO去除率稳定在53.9％ ～93.4％之间,平均去除效率79.8％,而单层填料生物转鼓的平均去除率仅有68.7％;在相同实验条件下,空床停留时间(EBRT)可从单层填料生物转鼓的86.4 s降至多层填料生物转鼓的57.6 s.多层填料生物转鼓的最优工艺条件为,营养液量为1.3～3L,转速为0.75 r·min-1,在以葡萄糖为碳源时,TOC＞ 1250 mg·L-1后,去除效率增长幅度趋于平缓.     

河套灌区土壤水和地下水动态变化及水平衡研究

为探究田间土壤水及地下水在不同作物种植区、不同灌期等情况下的动态变化规律与水平衡特征,以春小麦、玉米、向日葵为典型作物,在河套灌区选取4块2亩的试验田,于2009年4-11月采集田间土壤及地下水样品进行研究.结果表明,不同作物地块间土壤含水率的变化差别主要集中在5-9月的作物生长期.夏灌灌水量不足,土壤含水率呈下降趋势,田间土壤水分变化属于“蒸腾蒸发消耗型”;秋浇期内水量充足,各地块各土层含水率均明显增加,田间土壤水分呈“入渗补给型”.各地块地下水埋深月均变化趋势基本一致,由于优先流的存在,地下水对灌溉降水响应快.本文定量研究了区域土壤水和地下水的变化规律,揭示了灌区水平衡要素间的相互转换关系,可为灌区科学合理的水资源管理提供理论依据.     

Context dependency and generality of fever in insects

Fever can reduce mortality in infected animals. Yet, despite its fitness-enhancing qualities, fever often varies among animals. We used several approaches to examine this variation in insects. Texas field crickets (Gryllus texensis) exhibited a modest fever (1 °C increase in preferred body temperature, T _pref) after injection of prostaglandin, which putatively mediates fever in both vertebrates and invertebrates, but they did not exhibit fever during chronic exposure to heat-killed bacteria. Further, chronic food limitation and mating status did not affect T _pref or the expression of behavioural fever, suggesting limited context dependency of fever in G. texensis. Our meta-analysis of behavioural fever studies indicated that behavioural fever occurs in many insects, but it is not ubiquitous. Thus, both empirical and meta-analytical results suggest that the fever response in insects ‘is widespread, although certainly not inevitable’ (Moore 2002). We highlight the need for future work focusing on standardizing an experimental protocol to measure behavioural fever, understanding the specific mechanism(s) underlying fever in insects, and examining whether ecological or physiological costs often outweigh the benefits of fever and can explain the sporadic nature of fever in insects.     

2种生物反硝化法去除地下水中硝酸盐的研究

采用砂柱装置,在实验室研究了自养微生物和异养微生物2种生物反硝化方法对地下水中硝酸盐的去除效果。自养反硝化反应在以硫作为电子供体的硫/石灰石/细沙反应柱中进行,异养反硝化反应在石灰石/细沙反应柱中进行,进水增加乙醇作为外加碳源。实验结果用以比较2种反硝化方法在硝酸盐去除率、微生物反应动力学和反应产物三者的异同。结果表明,自养反硝化反应中NO3--N去除率达95.4%,异养反硝化反应去除率可达99.3%;分别与Monod微生物0级、1/2级和1级反应动力学方程进行拟合,2种反硝化反应均符合1/2级微生物反应动力学,适合用1/2级微生物反应方程描述;在反应结束阶段,自养反硝化主要反应产物SO42-出水浓度低于250mg/L,异养反硝化副产物CH3OO-易成为二次污染源,异养反硝化的反硝化速率明显高于自养反硝化反应。     

上海市疏浚泥资源化可利用性分析

对上海市不同区域疏浚泥的颗粒粒径、化学成分、毒性、养分等理化性质进行测定,继而对其资源化可利用性进行了分析。结果表明,上海市疏浚泥可定性为粘质粉土和粉质粘土;3个采样区的样品均没有达到清洁疏浚泥的标准。内河航道疏浚泥养分充足但镉污染稍显严重,采取重金属预防措施后适宜作为农作地和湿地矿山修复用地;黄浦江码头前沿和长江码头前沿疏浚泥有机质严重不足,仅适于在绿地、绿化带、防护林等处使用;3处疏浚泥均可制陶粒和制砖,亦可用于围内吹填工程,但需事先对疏浚泥里的重金属成分进行固化。