Beyond the Prevention of Harm: Animal Disease Policy as a Moral Question

European animal disease policy seems to find its justification in a “harm to other” principle. Limiting the freedom of animal keepers—e.g., by culling their animals—is justified by the aim to prevent harm, i.e., the spreading of the disease. The picture, however, is more complicated. Both during the control of outbreaks and in the prevention of notifiable, animal diseases the government is confronted with conflicting claims of stakeholders who anticipate running a risk to be harmed by each other, and who ask for government intervention. In this paper, we first argue that in a policy that aims to prevent animal diseases, the focus shifts from limiting “harm” to weighing conflicting claims with respect to “risks of harm.” Therefore, we claim that the harm principle is no longer a sufficient justification for governmental intervention in animal disease prevention. A policy that has to deal with and distribute conflicting risks of harm needs additional value assumptions that guide this process of assessment and distribution. We show that currently, policies are based on assumptions that are mainly economic considerations. In order to show the limitations of these considerations, we use the interests and position of keepers of backyard animals as an example. Based on the problems they faced during and after the recent outbreaks, we defend the thesis that in order to develop a sustainable animal disease policy other than economic assumptions need to be taken into account.     

Fundamental Moral Attitudes to Animals and Their Role in Judgment: An Empirical Model to Describe Fundamental Moral Attitudes to Animals and Their Role in Judgment on the Culling of Healthy Animals During an Animal Disease Epidemic

In this paper, we present and defend the theoretical framework of an empirical model to describe people’s fundamental moral attitudes (FMAs) to animals, the stratification of FMAs in society and the role of FMAs in judgment on the culling of healthy animals in an animal disease epidemic. We used philosophical animal ethics theories to understand the moral basis of FMA convictions. Moreover, these theories provide us with a moral language for communication between animal ethics, FMAs, and public debates. We defend that FMA is a two-layered concept. The first layer consists of deeply felt convictions about animals. The second layer consists of convictions derived from the first layer to serve as arguments in a debate on animal issues. In a debate, the latter convictions are variable, depending on the animal issue in a specific context, time, and place. This variability facilitates finding common ground in an animal issue between actors with opposing convictions.     

Fast firing of tiles containing paper mill sludge, glass cullet and clay

The paper describes results obtained in the development of a previous research. We study here, in fast firing, the sintering behaviour and measure some properties of tiles containing a mixture of 60 wt% of paper mill sludge and 40 wt% of glass cullet. The behaviour of this material is compared to those displayed by materials obtained by the same mixture added with 10, 20 and 30 wt% of a natural red clay. In parallel, the same properties are measured also on a reference blend, which is presently used to produce commercial tiles. We show that powders containing 60 wt% of paper sludge and 40 wt% of glass cullet to which 30 wt% of clay is added give rise to materials that display a stable sintering process and have good hardness and strength and therefore could be used for the industrial production of tiles.     

Influence of content and particle size of waste pet bottles on concrete behavior at different w/c ratios

The goal of this work was to study the mechanical behavior of concrete with recycled Polyethylene Therephtalate (PET), varying the water/cement ratio (0.50 and 0.60), PET content (10 and 20 vol%) and the particle size. Also, the influence of the thermal degradation of PET in the concrete was studied, when the blends were exposed to different temperatures (200, 400, 600 °C). Results indicate that PET-filled concrete, when volume proportion and particle size of PET increased, showed a decrease in compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, modulus of elasticity and ultrasonic pulse velocity; however, the water absorption increased. On the other hand, the flexural strength of concrete-PET when exposed to a heat source was strongly dependent on the temperature, water/cement ratio, as well as on the PET content and particle size. Moreover, the activation energy was affected by the temperature, PET particles location on the slabs and water/cement ratio.     

Assessment of the status of municipal solid waste management in metro cities, state capitals, class I cities, and class II towns in India: an insight

Solid waste management is one of the most challenging issues in urban cities, which are facing a serious pollution problem due to the generation of huge quantities of solid waste. This paper presents an assessment of the existing situation of municipal solid waste management (MSWM) in major cities in India. The quantity and composition of MSW vary from place to place, and bear a rather consistent correlation with the average standard of living. Extensive field investigations were carried out for quantification, analysis of physical composition, and characterization of MSW in each of the identified cities. The MSW management status (per the MSW Rules, 2000) has also been assessed, and an action plan for better management has been formulated; both are presented in this paper. Studies carried out in 59 selected cities in India have revealed that there are many shortcomings in the existing practices used in managing the MSW. These shortcomings pertain mainly to inadequate manpower, financial resources, implements, and machinery required for effectively carrying out various activities for MSWM. To overcome the deficiencies in the existing MSWM systems, an indicative action plan has been presented incorporating strategies and guidelines. Based on this plan, municipal agencies can prepare specific action plans for their respective cities.     

Municipal solid waste management in Rasht City, Iran

Pollution and health risks generated by improper solid waste management are important issues concerning environmental management in developing countries. In most cities, the use of open dumps is common for the disposal of wastes, resulting in soil and water resource contamination by leachate in addition to odors and fires. Solid waste management infrastructure and services in developing countries are far from achieving basic standards in terms of hygiene and efficient collection and disposal. This paper presents an overview of current municipal solid waste management in Rasht city, Gilan Province, Iran, and provides recommendations for system improvement. The collected data of different MSW functional elements were based on data from questionnaires, visual observations of the authors, available reports and several interviews and meetings with responsible persons. Due to an increase in population and changes in lifestyle, the quantity and quality of MSW in Rasht city has changed. Lack of resources, infrastructure, suitable planning, leadership, and public awareness are the main challenges of MSW management of Rasht city. However, the present situation of solid waste management in this city, which generates more than 400tons/d, has been improved since the establishment of an organization responsible only for solid waste management. Source separation of wastes and construction of a composting plant are the two main activities of the Rasht Municipality in recent years.     

Study on Biodegradable Starch/OMMT Nanocomposites for Packaging Applications

The thermoplastic starch (TPS) and nanocomposite(TPS/OMMT) was prepared with 15% carbamide, 15% ethanolamine and different contents of organic activated montmorillonite (OMMT) by twin-screw extruder with a 130 °C barrel temperature. Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy and wide angle X-ray diffraction shown that the alkylamine in dodecyl benzyl dimethyl ammonium bromide could react with MMT via cation exchange reaction. After treated, the d(001)space distance of MMT increased from 1.5 to 1.7 nm. Scanning electron microscope revealed that the lower contents of OMMT could disperse well in the matrixes of TPS. The carbamide, ethanolamine and the OMMT could destroy the crystallization behavior of starch, but only the OMMT restrained this behavior for long-term storing. Mechanical properties investigation indicated that the tensile strength and modulus of TPS/OMMT nanocomposites were better than those of TPS, while the elongation at break was descended with the increasing of OMMT contents. When the content of OMMT was 4%, the tensile strength and modulus of TPS was improved from 4.2 and 42 MPa to 6.0 and 76 MPa, respectively.     

The Effect of Masterbatch Addition on the Mechanical, Thermal, Optical and Surface Properties of Poly(lactic acid)

There has been considerable interest in the use of the biodegradable polymer poly(lactic acid) (PLA) as a replacement for petroleum derived polymers due to ease of processability and its high mechanical strength. Other material properties have however limited its wider application. These include its brittle properties, low impact strength and yellow tint. In an attempt to overcome these drawbacks, PLA was blended with four commercially available additives, commonly known as masterbatches. The effect of the addition of 1.5 wt% of the four masterbatches on the mechanical, thermal, optical and surface properties of the polymer was evaluated. All four masterbatches had a slight negative effect on the tensile strength of PLA (3–5% reduction). There was a four fold increase in impact resistance however with the addition of one of the masterbatches. Differential scanning calorimetry demonstrated that this increase corresponded to a decrease in the polymer crystallinity. However there was an associated increase in polymer haze with the addition of this masterbatch. The clarity of PLA was improved through the addition of an optical brightener masterbatch, but the impact resistance remained low. The glass transition and melting temperatures of PLA were not affected by the addition of the masterbatches, and no change was observed in surface energy. Some delay in PLA degradation, in a PBS degradation medium at 50 °C, was observed due to blending with these masterbatches.     

聚丙烯酰胺助凝处理VAE乳液废水效能研究

为了获得醋酸乙烯-乙烯共聚乳液(VAE乳液)废水的有效处理方法,通过混凝试验比较了不同类型聚丙烯酰胺对FeCl3混凝-气浮工艺的助凝效果,重点研究了阳离子型聚丙烯酰胺CZ4060,确定了其最佳的投加时间、pH值及与FeCl3的复配投量.结果表明,CZ4060对FeCl3具有明显的助凝作用,其最佳的投加点是紧随FeCl3之后投加,最佳的pH值范围为7～9,最佳絮凝时间为8 min,与FeCl3的最佳复配投量为1.5 mg/L和100 mg/L.最佳实验条件下,原水COD为3 085 mg/L时,出水COD降为55.28 mg/L,达到<污水综合排放标准>(GB 8978-1996)要求的一级排放标准.