A theory of prudential values and a rule utilitarian theory of morality

Ethics can be divided into a theory of prudential values and a theory of morality in a narrower sense. My paper proposes a utilitarian — a rule-utilitarian — theory of morality. But it deviates from most of the utilitarian tradition by rejecting the hedonistic and subjectivistic accounts of prudential values favored by many utilitarian writers. While economists tend to define people's utility levels in terms of their actual preferences, ethics must define them in terms of their informed preferences. To prefer A over B does not mean to have a stronger desire for A than for B. Rather, it means to regard one's access to A as being more important than one's access to B. Even though different people often have quite different preferences, their basic desires seem to be much the same. We must choose our moral rules, and our society's moral code as a whole, by their social utility. An important factor in determining their social utility are their expectation effects. Unlike the rule — utilitarian more code, the act — utilitarian moral code would be unable to give proper weight to these expectation effects. It would also unduly restrict our individual freedom. Finally, I shall argue against Kant that morality is primarily a servant of many other human values rather than itself the highest value of human life.     

应用神经元控制器的实时控制装置和实验

针对平衡倒立摆这一非线性控制问题，设计了神经元控制器和控制装置，编制了实时控制程序．控制装置运行良好，成功地平衡了倒立摆．实时控制实验显示，当倒立摆的参数变化时，神经元控制器比一般的控制器具有强得多的自适应能力．     

几组复合麻醉方法对犬麻醉效果比较

复方846、静松灵/氯胺酮、氯丙嗪/氯胺酮、氯丙嗪/乙醚、氯丙嗪/静松灵,均可使犬获得一定时间的麻醉效果。通过麻醉前、后体温(T℃)、呼吸(R),脉搏(P),镇痛反应,麻醉维持时间的检测;通过麻醉后手术安静顺利情况;从伤口愈合情况,以及术前、术后3天、7天白细胞、淋巴细胞、T淋巴细胞的变化表明:几组药物作用于犬后,体温间差异不显著(P>0.05),呼吸、脉搏部分呈显著性变化(P>0.05),各组术前、术后3天、7天的白细胞、淋巴细胞、T淋巴细胞变化组间差异不显著(P>0.05)。镇痛作用以复方846为好,其次为静松灵/氯胺酮、氯丙嗪/静松灵、氯丙嗪/氯胺酮、氯丙嗪/乙醚;麻醉维持时间复方846最长(133.70±9.66),其次为静松灵/氯胺酮(89±9.9);从手术安静顺利情况看,复方846、静松灵/氯胺酮优于其它组;从伤口愈合情况看,静松灵/氯胺酮优于其它组。综合比较:复方846、静松灵/氯胺酮用于大的临床麻醉,效果确实。     

The psychodynamically oriented clinical social worker as sports consultant: A preliminary report

This paper explores an unusual and innovative application of psychodynamically oriented clinical social work method to the sports area. The coach of a national Olympics team requested a clinical consultation because he suspected that there might be psychosocial reasons why a certain number of world class atheletes he was coaching were not performing up to their full potential.     

Correlates of female crime

This article discusses the complexity of developing correlates of female crime in the comparative context of Western and Indian literature. It selectively reviews the findings of American and Indian studies of female crime and concludes with the author’s own findings from a study of 120 women prisoners conducted in a federal women’s prison in India. The author’s main contention is that whereas broad contours of offender profiles can be drawn, it is difficult to draw statistically significant relationships and infer from them predictable variables of criminality.     

Summary of the Workshop on Issues in Risk Assessment: Quantitative Methods for Developmental Toxicology

This report summarizes the proceedings of a conference on quantitative methods for assessing the risks of developmental toxicants. The conference was planned by a subcommittee of the National Research Council's Committee on Risk Assessment Methodology ⁴ in conjunction with staff from several federal agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission, and Health and Welfare Canada. Issues discussed at the workshop included computerized techniques for hazard identification, use of human and animal data for defining risks in a clinical setting, relationships between end points in developmental toxicity testing, reference dose calculations for developmental toxicology, analysis of quantitative dose-response data, mechanisms of developmental toxicity, physiologically based pharmacokinetic models, and structure-activity relationships. Although a formal consensus was not sought, many participants favored the evolution of quantitative techniques for developmental toxicology risk assessment, including the replacement of lowest observed adverse effect levels (LOAELs) and no observed adverse effect levels (NOAELs) with the benchmark dose methodology.     

Significance of the Dermal Route of Exposure to Risk Assessment

The skin is a route of exposure that needs to be considered when conducting a risk assessment. It is necessary to identify the potential for dermal penetration by a chemical as well as to determine the overall importance of the dermal route of exposure as compared with inhalation or oral routes of exposure. The physical state of the chemical, vapor or liquid, the concentration, neat or dilute, and the vehicle, lipid or aqueous, is also important. Dermal risk is related to the product of the amounts of penetration and toxicity. Toxicity involves local effects on the skin itself and the potential for systemic effects. Dermal penetration is described in large part by the permeability constant. When permeability constants are not known, partition coefficients can be used to estimate a chemical's potential to permeate the skin. With these concepts in mind, a tiered approach is proposed for dermal risk assessment. A key first step is the determination of a skin-to-air or skin-to-medium partition coefficient to estimate a potential for dermal absorption. Building a physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model is another step in the tiered approach and is useful prior to classical in vivo toxicity tests. A PBPK model can be used to determine a permeability constant for a chemical as well as to show the distribution of the chemical systemically. A detailed understanding of species differences in the structure and function of the skin and how they relate to differences in penetration rates is necessary in order to extrapolate animal data from PBPK models to the human. A study is in progress to examine anatomical differences for four species.