The Harm of Bioethics: A Critique of Singer and Callahan on Obesity

Debate concerning the social impact of obesity has been ongoing since at least the 1980s. Bioethicists, however, have been relatively silent. If obesity is addressed it tends to be in the context of resource allocation or clinical procedures such as bariatric surgery. However, prominent bioethicists Peter Singer and Dan Callahan have recently entered the obesity debate to argue that obesity is not simply a clinical or personal issue but an ethical issue with social and political consequences. This article critically examines two problematic aspects of Singer and Callahan's respective approaches. First, there is an uncritical assumption that individuals are autonomous agents responsible for health‐related effects associated with food choices. In their view, individuals are obese because they choose certain foods or refrain from physical activity. However, this view alone does not justify intervention. Both Singer and Callahan recognize that individuals are free to make foolish choices so long as they do not harm others. It is at this point that the second problematic aspect arises. To interfere legitimately in the liberty of individuals, they invoke the harm principle. I contend, however, that in making this move both Singer and Callahan rely on superficial readings of public health research to amplify the harm caused by obese individuals and ignore pertinent epidemiological research on the social determinants of obesity. I argue that the mobilization of the harm principle and corresponding focus on individual behaviours without careful consideration of the empirical research is itself a form of harm that needs to be taken seriously.     

The development of the critical theory of evolution: The scientific career of Wolfgang F. Gutmann

Summary The critical theory of evolution was developed by a group of scientists working together with Wolfgang F. Gutmann at the Senckenberg-Research-Institute in Frankfurt am Main. Gutmann worked at Senckenberg for 37 years. In this time he presented 247 contributions which are distributed over 47 periodicals and books. The ideas that were developed by Gutmann and his colleagues were innovative and pathbreaking for morphology and evolutionary biology. The large number of his morphological publications is indicative of the wide field that was opened up by the concepts of constructional morphology. As some of his colleagues have suggested, constructional morphology as an engineering approach to the study of organisms (i. e., engineering morphology) may replace the traditional concepts of morphology and anatomy and provides the observational base for the historical reconstruction of evolutionary pathways. Constructional morphology as a quasi-engineering approach can be the morphological pendant to the contemporary molecular approaches to biology, as it can provide the necessary morphological basis for the interpretation of the results of molecular studies in the light of evolution.     

Structural Characterization of Biomolecules through Atomistic Simulations Guided by DEER Measurements

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生态保护红线修复机制法治化: 定位、困境及其出路

生态保护红线以生态系统的完整性、生态系统服务功能的一致性与生态空间的连续性为核心, 致力于保护国家的生态安全。生态保护红线修复分区分类展开, 以修复受损生态系统为目标, 具有自然修复和社会修复双重内涵。生态保护红线存在脆弱性、敏感性、复杂性与极易破坏性等特征, 它在建立修复机制法治化过程中遇到空间不可置换、治理费用高昂和治理主体责任错乱等困境。生态保护红线修复机制应建立“明确预防为主原则为指导、成立修复专项资金为手段、确定修复主体顺位为责任保障”的法治化的基本路径, 以实现重要生态系统保护和修复重大工程, 构建生态廊道和生物多样性保护网络。     

Although there is no Physical Short‐Term Scarcity of Phosphorus,its Resource Efficiency Should be Improved

The German government has adopted a law that requires sewage plants to go beyond the recovery of phosphorus from wastewater and to promote recycling. We argue that there is no physical global short‐ or mid‐term phosphorus scarcity. However, we also argue that there are legitimate reasons for policies such as those of Germany, including: precaution as a way to ensure future generations’ long‐term supply security, promotion of technologies for closed‐loop economics in a promising stage of technology development, and decrease in the current supply risk with a new resource pool.     

Rice (<i>Oryza sativa</i> L.) Breeding among Hassawi Landrace and Egyptian Genotypes for Stem Borer (<i>Chilo agamemnon</i> Bles.) Resistance and Related Quantitative Traits

Rice stem borer (Chilo agamemnon Bles.) is a primary insect pest of rice and is a major limiting factor to rice production. Breeding for insect-resistant crop varieties has been an economic way of integrated pest management (IPM) as it offers a viable and ecologically acceptable approach. This study was aimed to evaluate rice genotypes for their resistance against rice stem borer. Seven parental genotypes with twenty one F1 crosses were evaluated for genotypic variation in field experiments. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences for the studied traits in almost all crosses and parents. In addition, the mean squares of parents versus their crosses were signifi- cant for stem borer resistance and other associated traits. Moreover, both general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) variances were highly significant for all characters studied in the F1 generation. Based on GCA, 4 genotypes (Sakha101, Gz6903-3-4-2-1, Gz9577-4-1-1 and Hassawi) exhibited highly significant negative values for stem borer resistance (–0.53, –1.06, –0.18 and –0.49, respectively) indicating they are the best combiners for stem borer resistance. Based on SCA analysis, nine cross combinations showed highly significant negative effects for stem borer resistance. Similarly, the cross Giza178 Hassawi was the best combination with significantly highest value for early maturity. In addition, seven crosses showed highly significant negative SCA for plant height trait. On the other hand, for panicle length, number of primary branches/panicle, panicle weight and 1000-grain weight, seven, four, eight and six crosses showed highly significant positive SCA, respectively. The result further revealed that the non-additive dominance genetic variance was higher than the additive variance for all evaluated traits indicating that non-additive genetic variances have a role in their inheritance. The broad-sense heritability estimates were high for all the studied traits. The stem borer resistance was significantly correlated with panicle weight and 1000-grain weight, which also showed a highly significant correlation with grain yield/plant. Thus these traits can be effectively employed in a breeding program to confer resistance against stem borer infestation in rice. It was further supported by biplot analysis, which clustered these potentially important traits into two quadrants showing their importance in any future breeding program to control stem borer infestation. This study has contributed valuable information for evaluation of genetic diversity in the local rice germplasm and its utilization in futuristic rice genetic improvement programs.     

基于方证相关探讨茵陈蒿汤调控库普弗细胞功能及MAPK通路抗肝纤维化的作用机制

目的：基于前期茵陈蒿汤类方抗肝硬化的方证病理基础结果,围绕“方-证相关”的学术内涵,提出了“方证相关时,方剂对机体基因的调控遵循‘无差错修复’原则”的假说;并探讨茵陈蒿汤对DMN诱导大鼠肝纤维化形成阶段肝组织库普弗细胞（Kupffer Cells,KCs）相关基因表达及对丝裂原活化蛋白激酶（MAPK）通路的影响。方法：采用wistar大鼠,于每周前3天连续腹腔注射0．5％二甲基亚硝胺（Dimethylnitrosamine,DMN）制备大鼠肝纤维化模型,2周末取模型组6只做动态观察。第3周初开始,在持续造模的同时给予茵陈蒿汤干预治疗到4周末,正常组与模型对照组给予等量生理盐水。4周末在3％戊巴比妥钠腹腔注射麻醉情况下,杀鼠取材,检测肝功能、肝组织病理、肝组织羟脯氨酸含量、胶原半定量,并采用基因芯片检测分析茵陈蒿汤对模型大鼠肝组织基因表达谱的影响。结果：与正常组比较,造模4周大鼠血清肝功能水平明显升高（P＜0．01）;病理观察肝组织炎细胞显著浸润,胶原显著沉积（P＜0．01）,肝组织白介素1（IL-1 b）、Cd68、肿瘤坏死因子受体超家族成员14（Tnfrsf14）、肿瘤坏死因子受体超家族成员9（Tnfrsf9）、TNF受体超家族成员6（Fas）、Cd14、结缔组织生长因子（Ctgf）、Ⅰ型胶原α2（Col1 a2）、胰岛素样生长因子结合蛋白（Igfals）、胰岛素样生长因子1（Igf1）、胰岛素样生长因子结合蛋白1（Igfbp1）、基质金属蛋白酶12（Mmp12）、基质金属蛋白酶2（Mmp2）、基质金属蛋白酶23（Mmp23）、趋化因子配体21（Ccl21）、蛋白激酶Cβ（Prkcb）基因表达明显上调,MAPK通路被激活。经2周治疗后茵陈蒿汤能显著降低DMN诱导的大鼠血清肝功能水平,抑制组织炎细胞的浸润与坏死,胶原沉积,并下调了肝组织IL-1 b、Cd68、Tnfrsf14、Tn-frsf9、Fas、Cd14、Ctgf、Col1 a2、Igfals、Igf1、Igfbp1、Mmp12、Mmp2、Mmp23、Ccl21、Prkcb 基因的表达,抑制了MAPK通路的活化。通过全基因芯片的分析,在茵陈蒿汤干预治疗后基因表达得到了不同程度的修复。结论：验证了“方证相关时,方剂对机体基因的调控遵循‘无差错修复’原则”的假说;茵陈蒿汤显著抑制DMN 诱导肝纤维化形成,其机制可能是调控了KCs,抑制相关炎症因子的释放,同时可能参与调控MAPK通路,从而达到抗肝纤维化的作用。