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.     

Agroecology in context

Agriculture and medicine palpably manifest a culture's world view. Correspondingly, changes in agriculture and medicine may be barometers of change in a culture's overall outlook. Conventional industrial agriculture and modern surgical/chemical medicine clearly express the Newtonian mechanical model of nature. The modern classical world view represents nature to be an externally related, atomic, reductive, material, and mechanical aggregate. Modern medicine, correspondingly, treats the body as an elaborate mechanism and industrial agriculture regards soil as a substratum for monocultures assembled from fossil fuels, synthetic fertilizers, and chemical pesticides. The nascent agroecology and wellness movements each express and reflect the new paradigm variously emerging from ecology and quantum physics. Ecology and the new physics, each in its own way, represent nature to be an internally related, systemic, integrated, organic whole. Agroecology translates this abstract new vision into a concrete agricultural vocabulary: The farmstead is regarded as an artificial ecosystem with a multiplicity of diverse plant and animal constituents interacting with one another and with environing natural ecosystems in complex and mutually supporting ways.     

The rise and fall of the nature conservation movement in Japan in relation to some cultural values

The Japanese are traditionally regarded as nature-loving people, living in “harmony” with nature. However, this assumption is difficult to accept when observing the environmental problems in Japan. How can one explain the incongruities? Has the Japanese people's attitude toward nature changed as Japan has modernized? Is the concept of the nature-loving Japanese merely a myth? Is there another reason to explain this contradiction? This study shows political and economic origins of the paradox. The origin of the Japanese traditional idea of nature is fear and reverence of nature based on a primitive religion that developed in a rural subsistence living situation. Aesthetic and spiritual values of nature for cultural, educational, and intellectual entertainment were developed by the ruling class in the seventh century. Japan's first nature conservation movement, imported from the West, developed among the intellectual community and was advocated and promoted by the elite in the Meiji period (1868–1911). However, because deep commitment was lacking, the movement was abused by the military government before World War II. In the early 1970s the nature conservation movement seemed to be on the ascendancy, mainly because it was combined with the antipollution movement claiming the basic rights of survival. The Japanese nature conservation movement is still in the embryonic stage; in the future, the blending of some traditional resource management with the scientific philosophy of nature conservation may help promote the new wave of nature conservation in Japan.     

GRADUATE EDUCATION IN WATER RESOURCES: AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH Part II: Post-Production Techniques1

ABSTRACT: The production of a documentary video in a graduate seminar offers advantages over the traditional term paper. These advantages derive from the nature of the videotape medium. The most distinct difference between a written document and a video production is the use of the video camera to record events. In using the camera, the student is required to become involved both in front of the video camera, for example, as an interviewer, and behind the camera as a camera operator. Next, as an editor, the student is required to review the events that she/he has taped for inclusion in the final product. By participating in these three roles, the student has the opportunity to learn interviewing skills while interacting with professionals in the field, to learn videotaping skills, and to see him/herself as he/she appears to others. The student can use the video feedback to improve his/her professional presentation; posture, dress, gestures, speech, and facial expressions all have an impact on how we are perceived by others. Additionally, the painstaking process of reviewing the taped material leads to an intimate knowledge of the topic, and the process of choosing portions out of entire interviews hones the ability to select the crucial or central themes and ideas from any discussion. Finally, the power of video lies in its ability to communicate information to a wide audience. Although the nature of video for the general public does not permit highly detailed or rigorous coverage of any topic, it is a major source of information. Accordingly, video is an important tool that can be used to inform the public about the importance of wise water resource management.     

三峡水库正常蓄水后支流沉积物的污染特征

为研究三峡水库不同时期沉积物污染变化规律,采集三峡库区175 m正常蓄水后7条支流表层沉积物样品,分析营养盐、重金属含量和污染特征,结果表明:7条支流表层沉积物均存在营养盐含量超标现象,但仍处于多数底栖生物可承受水平,其中龙溪河21号断面w(TN)和19号断面w(TP)最高,分别为1.97、2.03 g/kg;采用EF(富集因子)和RI(潜在生态风险指数)评价了重金属富集程度和污染水平,重金属EF表现为Hg>As>Cd>Pb>Cu>Zn>Mn>Cr,仅Mn和Cr的EF小于1,未受污染;RI平均值为160±35,处于中度生态风险. 沉积物中TN、TP来源以农业面源污染为主,TOM主要来源于浮游动物和浮游植物;重金属污染则以流域工业污水排放和农业活动为主. 研究显示,三峡库区蓄水后沉积物中营养盐和重金属含量总体呈上升趋势,建议划分优先控制区域,重点解决农业面源污染,强化农村生活污水治理,并以严格的环境准入制度防控和削减流域工业污染.      

A reliability evaluation method based on the weakest failure modes for side-by-side offloading mooring system of FPSO

Offshore structures are complex systems, and numerous failure modes must be taken into consideration when reliability analysis in different loads and environment conditions are conducted on them. It is difficult to obtain structural system reliability with respect to complicated systems with numerous failure modes and dependency consideration among them. This paper applies the combination of the weakest failure modes theory with structural reliability theory to conduct reliability analysis on of side-by-side offloading mooring system of FPSO. Firstly, the numerical simulation of the system in different conditions is addressed to acquire the statistical data of time-history stress of components including hawsers, fenders and yoke, based on which, the reliability indexes of all the failure modes and correlation coefficient matrix are derived. Then the weakest failure modes, i.e. the representative failure modes that have significant impact on the system, are located through Probability Network Evaluation Technique. The probability of structural system is estimated through the weakest failure modes by considering the system as series. The analysis results indicate that two environment conditions (0°&0°&0° and 0°&30°&45° in combinations of wave, wind and current) are relative dangerous, which is in good correspondence with the practical expertise. The method is verified to be an effective and convenient evaluation approach for structural reliability analysis in terms of complex systems. It is beneficial for the identification of structure indicators from the weakest failure mode group and conduct optimum of structural system configurations in the design stage.     

基于ISODATA法的三峡库区生态区划

在可持续发展思想的指导下,以生态学理论为基本依据,探讨了生态区划的原则、指标和方法。采用ISODATA法结合SPSS100中的层次聚类分析软件包,选择生态环境指标、社会发展指标和经济发展指标等20个定性、定量指标,利用数量化评分标准将三峡库区划分为4个生态类型区,并对各生态类型区的主要特征进行分析,应用ArcGIS绘制出三峡库区生态区划图,结果表明第I区生态类型较好。研究指出三峡地区生活在生态安全质量较高的人口约有28万多人,只占库区总人口的17%;此外通过对各区生态经济特征的综合评价结果,可以看出各区主要以山地、丘陵地为主,而且水土流失面积占60%左右,三峡库区生态安全形势十分严峻。旨在为生态分区评价以及三峡库区生态安全建设提供参考,提出加强山地丘陵的综合治理、控制水土流失及降低污染是优化三峡库区生态状况的关键。     

等高绿篱技术保水抗旱效益研究

季节性干旱与水土流失并存是目前三峡库区面临的重要生态问题之一,严重影响了库区社会经济的可持续发展。等高绿篱技术是目前国内外广泛采用的一种十分有效的坡耕地植被恢复和水土保育技术,被认为是三峡库区农业生态系统持续发展的有效途径之一。选择新银合欢、黄荆和马桑3种绿篱,探讨其水土保育功效及抗旱效益。结果显示,等高绿篱具有显著的拦沙淤土效益,10年左右的时间,土坎高度增至近80 cm,减缓坡度20°左右。与对照相比,栽种绿篱后,土壤有机质增加52%~65%,土壤容重减小14%~17%,尤其是非毛管孔隙增幅达135%~216%,等高绿篱模式下土壤保肥增肥效益显著,土壤结构改善明显。在旱季绿篱处理下地表土壤含水量高于对照达123%,蓄水保墒能力大大增强。按等高绿篱模式增加有效土层60 cm计算,新银合欢、黄荆和马桑3个处理增加土壤水总库容分别为271、257和247 mm,有力增强了土壤的抗旱性能。在绿篱-桔园系统下柑桔座果率比对照增加12%,其平均单产比对照高15%。     

A note on the measurement of agglomeration economies with compensation for urban disamenities

The net agglomeration and disamenities approaches to the measurement of agglomeration economies are merged. The net agglomeration view is represented by a labor demand function derived from Segal (D. Segal, Rev. Econ. Stat. 48, 339–350 (1976)). The disamenities view is represented by an upward-sloping labor supply function derived from Izraeli (O. Izraeli, Urban Stud. 14, 275–290 (1977)). Three cases are simulated. Case I is the benchmark case and assumes a linear homogeneous production function, no agglomeration economies, and no perceived environmental quality differences between cities. Cases II and III combine Segal and Izraeli by introducing agglomeration economies, an upward-sloping labor supply function, and a change in the level of air pollution. The results demonstrate the feasibility of isolating the output of market goods and environmental goods within a common framework.     

Characteristics of Environmental Geochemistry in the Arseniasis Area of the Inner Mongolia of China

In China, endemic arseniasis attributable to the geological-geochemistry environment is mainly found in the plain of the Great Bend of the Yellow River and the Hu-Bao plain in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, in the Datong basin of Shanxi Province, the floodplain of the northern side of the Tian Mountain of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and in the southwest coastal plain of Taiwan. These areas share many similar characteristics including widespread occurrences, a large population being affected, and the magnitude of risk involved. The population living in these areas is estimated to be around 5.5 × 10⁵, of which of 2.5 × 10⁵ are resident in Inner Mongolia. Based on our systematic research and comparison of various areas, we found the different types of arseniasis are often associated with different regions. The neural arseniasis is distributed in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Shanxi Province, caused by inorganic arsenic in drinking water while the cycling-obstacle arseniasis is mainly found in Inner Mongolia and Taiwan, associated with organic arsenic in water. The distribution of arsenic affected villages in Inner Mongolia exhibits orientation and focus on low-lying land in the subsiding centre of the Great Bend basin, which was enriched with humus in the lake and limnetic deposits. Much CH₄ gas can be detected in the water of shallow and deep wells in these villages. Some of the wells with higher concentrations of CH₄ can even be ignited. This is a typical reductive geochemical environment. We tested the total amount of arsenic (As), As³⁺, and methyl arsenate in all types of water sources. It is found that the number of arseniasis cases is not clearly related to the total amount of arsenic (As) in the water. However, it is related to the ratio of As³⁺ plus methyl arsenic to the total amount of arsenic (As). The higher the ratio, the higher the number of people affected and the more serious the illness. The statistical results also indicate that good drinking water accounts for 60% of the drinking water source while the arsenic contaminated water makes up about 25% of the drinking water in the study area. This research reveals that the local geochemical environment is responsible for the spreading of the endemic arseniasis in the area and thus suggests a new direction of how to prevent such disease.