MORAL EXPERTISE: A PROBLEM IN THE PROFESSIONAL ETHICS OF PROFESSIONAL ETHICISTS

Philosophers, particularly moral philosophers, are increasingly being involved in public decision-making in areas which are seen to raise ethical issues. For example, Dame Mary Warnock chaired the ‘Committee of Inquiry into Human Fertilization and Embryology’ in the UK in 1982–4; the Philosophy Department at Auckland was commissioned by the Auckland Regional Authority to report on the ethical aspects of fluoridating the public water supply in 1990; and many of us are serving on ethics committees of various sorts. Not only are philosophers actually being called on or consulted, but many of us would argue that a philosophical contribution in such areas is essential. The involvement of moral philosophers in public policy decisions raises a question of professional ethics, viz, what role should a philosopher's own moral perspective or judgements play in the advice s/he gives, or contribution s/he makes, to public decision-making on ethical issues. Like most problems in professional ethics, this prompts reflection on the nature of the profession, and in particular on the expertise we take moral philosophy to offer. It also prompts reflection on how processes of public decision making in ethically problematic areas should be understood. I explore these issues in this paper.     

Wandering behaviour and pupariation in tsetse larvae

Abstract .Following parturition, the third instar larva of Glossina morsitans morsitans West begins a wandering period in which it crawls to the site of pupariation. The duration of wandering can be drastically shortened by pinching or by denying the larva physical contact with the substrate. Contact with water increases the wandering period. Duration of subsequent activities appears to be rigidly fixed. At the end of the wandering period, the larva quickly progresses through a stereotypic sequence of behaviours that include immobilization and excretion of a liquid from the anus, retraction of the anterior segments, cuticular shrinkage, and tanning. Muscular activity and mechanical changes in the cuticle are reflected in changes of haemocoelic pressure. Muscular contractions produce pressure pulses that gradually increase in frequency and intensity, reaching a peak during retraction of the anterior segments. Changes in the mechanical properties of the cuticle cause a more gradual elevation of baseline pressure as the cuticle shrinks and loses its plasticity. As tanning begins, muscular activity ceases and haemocoelic pressure gradually decreases. In spite of its unusual early development within the confines of the female's uterus, the free-living larva shows the full behavioural repertoire observed in other cyclor-rhaphous Diptera at pupariation.     

Germination and emergence of Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. under changing environmental conditions in China

Laboratory and greenhouse studies were conducted to determine the effects of key environmental factors on germination and seedling emergence of the invasive weed Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. (common ragweed) collected from Mudanjiang (temperate climate), Nanjing (temperate–subtropical) and Nanchang (subtropical) in China. Germination of seeds occurred at temperatures ranging from 5 to 40°C, under both a 12‐h photoperiod and continuous darkness. Germination success exceeded 48% in solutions with pH values between 4 and 12, with maximum rates occurring in distilled water at pH 5.57. Germination was greatly reduced in solutions with osmotic potentials below ?0.8 MPa. Accordingly, the final germination ratio exceeded 69% at <200 mmol/L NaCl, but only reached 8% at 400 mmol/L NaCl. Emergence was greater than 75% at burial seed depths of 1–4 cm; no seedlings emerged from a soil depth of 8 cm. Seeds collected from Mudanjiang, Nanjing and Nanchang had very similar germination traits, with the main differences occurring in relation to temperature. The great germination success of common ragweed over highly variable conditions throughout its Chinese distribution range explains its successful large‐scale invasion.     

Cyclic temperatures influence growth efficiency and biochemical body composition of vertically migrating fish

1. Diel vertical migrations (DVM) are frequently observed in pelagic fish and zooplankton populations. In addition to predator avoidance and foraging opportunity, bioenergetics optimisation has been hypothesised to cause the selective advantage of migrating fish. However, experimental confirmation of growth advantages of fish held at naturally observed cyclic temperatures, and food densities are surprisingly rare. 2. We compared growth rates, growth efficiencies and energy budgets of vendace (Coregonus albula, Salmoniformes) fed daily rations of 10% body mass and held at low (4.5 °C), high (8 °C) and cyclic (switch between 4.5 and 8 °C) temperatures over a period of 6 weeks. Biochemical body composition was evaluated by bioimpedance analyses and direct determination of water, lipid and protein content in a subset of fish. 3. Growth rate and food conversion efficiency were similar in fish held at high and cyclic temperatures, but higher than those found at low temperatures. Body condition of fish at cyclic temperatures was maximised, but these fish also had the highest water content. The proportion of lipids and proteins was slightly depleted in fish held at cyclic and low temperatures relative to the high temperature treatment. Accordingly, growth and biochemical composition of fish responded specifically to cyclic temperatures and were not simply intermediate between those found at low and high temperatures. 4. We could not confirm a bioenergetics advantage of fish switching between high and low temperatures. However, there were no substantial extra metabolic costs through exposure to cyclic temperatures, and hence, fish performing DVM may benefit from predation avoidance without compromising their metabolic balance and hence growth rates. These results suggest that the evolution of DVM is a multi‐faceted process with no single ultimate explanation.     

Unraveling the drivers of intensifying forest disturbance regimes in Europe

Natural disturbances like wildfire, windthrow and insect outbreaks are critical drivers of composition, structure and functioning of forest ecosystems. They are strongly climate‐sensitive, and are thus likely to be distinctly affected by climatic changes. Observations across Europe show that in recent decades, forest disturbance regimes have intensified markedly, resulting in a strong increase in damage from wind, bark beetles and wildfires. Climate change is frequently hypothesized as the main driving force behind this intensification, but changes in forest structure and composition associated with management activities such as promoting conifers and increasing standing timber volume (i.e. ‘forest change’) also strongly influence susceptibility to disturbances. Here, we show that from 1958 to 2001, forest change contributed in the same order of magnitude as climate change to the increase in disturbance damage in Europe's forests. Climate change was the main driver of the increase in area burnt, while changes in forest extent, structure and composition particularly affected the variation in wind and bark beetle damage. For all three disturbance agents, damage was most severe when conducive weather conditions and increased forest susceptibility coincided. We conclude that a continuing trend towards more disturbance‐prone conditions is likely for large parts of Europe's forests, and can have strong detrimental effects on forest carbon storage and other ecosystem services. Understanding the interacting drivers of natural disturbance regimes is thus a prerequisite for climate change mitigation and adaptation in forest ecosystem management.     

Molecular Characterization of Gregarines from Sand Flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) and Description of Psychodiella n. g. (Apicomplexa: Gregarinida)

ABSTRACT. Sand fly and mosquito gregarines have been lumped for a long time in the single genus Ascogregarina and on the basis of their morphological characters and the lack of merogony been placed into the eugregarine family Lecudinidae. Phylogenetic analyses performed in this study clearly demonstrated paraphyly of the current genus Ascogregarina and revealed disparate phylogenetic positions of gregarines parasitizing mosquitoes and gregarines retrieved from sand flies. Therefore, we reclassified the genus Ascogregarina and created a new genus Psychodiella to accommodate gregarines from sand flies. The genus Psychodiella is distinguished from all other related gregarine genera by the characteristic localization of oocysts in accessory glands of female hosts, distinctive nucleotide sequences of the small subunit rDNA, and host specificity to flies belonging to the subfamily Phlebotominae. The genus comprises three described species: the type species for the new genus— Psychodiella chagasi ( Adler and Mayrink 1961 ) n. comb., Psychodiella mackiei ( Shortt and Swaminath 1927 ) n. comb., and Psychodiella saraviae ( Ostrovska, Warburg, and Montoya-Lerma 1990 ) n. comb. Its creation is additionally supported by sequencing data from other gregarine species originating from the sand fly Phlebotomus sergenti . In the evolutionary context, both genera of gregarines from mosquitoes ( Ascogregarina ) and sand flies ( Psychodiella ) have a close relationship to neogregarines; the genera represent clades distinct from the other previously sequenced gregarines.