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There are many arguments from many sides, which purport to give reasons for limiting access to reproductive technologies and to gene-based reproductive procedures. There is one reason to reject them all, and that is that they do not point to dangers or harms of sufficient seriousness, probability or proximity to justify the limitation on human freedom that they require. This paper shows why this is so and argues that reproductive liberty must also include the liberty to select against disability both for moral and for libertarian reasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the permissibility of stem cell research on early human embryos is defended. It is argued that, in order to have moral status, an individual must have an interest in its own wellbeing. Sentience is a prerequisite for having an interest in avoiding pain, and personhood is a prerequisite for having an interest in the continuation of one's own existence. Early human embryos are not sentient and therefore they are not recipients of direct moral consideration. Early human embryos do not satisfy the requirements for personhood, but there are arguments to the effect that they should be treated as persons nonetheless. These are the arguments from potentiality, symbolic value and the principle of human dignity. These arguments are challenged in this paper and it is claimed that they offer us no good reason to believe that early human embryos should be treated as persons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Rancho La Brea tar pit fossil collection includes Juniperus (C3) wood specimens that 14C date between 7.7 and 55 thousand years (kyr) B.P., providing a constrained record of plant response for southern California during the last glacial period. Atmospheric CO2 concentration ((CO2]) ranged between 180 and 220 ppm during glacial periods, rose to ∼280 ppm before the industrial period, and is currently approaching 380 ppm in the modern atmosphere. Here we report on δ13C of Juniperus wood cellulose, and show that glacial and modern trees were operating at similar leaf-intercellular (CO2] (ci)/atmospheric [CO2] (Ca) values. As a result glacial trees were operating at ci values much closer to the CO2-compensation point for C3 photosynthesis than modern trees, indicating that glacial trees were undergoing carbon starvation. In addition, we modeled relative humidity by using δ80O of cellulose from the same Juniperus specimens and found that glacial humidity was ∼10% higher than that in modern times, indicating that differences in vapor-pressure deficits did not impose additional constrictions on Ci/Ca in the past. By scaling ancient ci values to plant growth by using modern relationships, we found evidence that C3 primary productivity was greatly diminished in southern California during the last glacial period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is concerned with the media image of some of the women associated with professional football players in England. More specifically, a textual analysis of multiple media sources was conducted, the results of which connect media portrayals of, and narratives about, the image of football players' partners with the social (re)production of masculine hegemony. Media accounts of the heterosexual practices of a number of elite football players were examined. The focus of this examination was not the footballers per se, but the women implicated in their 'off the pitch' lives, whose media image, we posit, is constructed in accordance with a traditionally feminine, hetero-sexy, and 'expressive/supportive' role. Adopting a critical feminist perspective, two principal typologies were developed to explore this role: the beautiful, erotic woman and the devoted and supportive woman, both of which, we argue, are complicit to the stalwart hegemonic project happening in English football. A further typology was developed to incorporate the most media-visible of all footballers' partners, Victoria Beckham, whose 'image' is both complicit and contradictory. It is worth noting that certain articles referencing Victoria were the only challenge - in this study - to the hegemonic patterns apparent in the image of the footballer's wife. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European trend away from welfare statism and towards consumerism is usually regarded as a shift from social development to social delimitation. However, consumerism has the potential to promote procedural rights, to be responsive to individual needs and to treat service users as rational agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Withdrawal reflexes are the simplest centrally organized responses to painful stimuli, making them popular models for the study of nociception. Until recently, it was believed that withdrawal was a single reflex response involving excitation of all flexor muscles in a limb with concomitant inhibition of extensors. However, recent findings suggest that withdrawal reflexes are tailored to produce the most appropriate movement according the site at which the stimulus is applied, which could require extensors to act as the primary movers. This idea is supported by new evidence obtained from the direct measurement of limb movements, although these data indicate that differentiation of withdrawal reflexes is most readily seen from stimuli applied to the plantar surface of the foot. Injurious stimuli augment the protective function of reflexes by enhancing (sensitizing) reflexes that protect the injured site and inhibiting those reflexes that might exacerbate the insult. The areas from which a reflex can be sensitized closely match those from which the reflex itself can be evoked, provided that the spinal cord is intact. If descending pathways are interrupted, sensitization can be evoked from a much wider area. Thus, the exact movement made in a withdrawal reflex is determined by the location of the evoking stimulus and whether the reflex sensitized or inhibited after an injury depends on the relationship between the site of the injury and the movement made by the reflex. The factors should be borne in mind when designing experiments in which reflexes are used as the end point in studies of nociception. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper proposes, elaborates and defends a principle of genetic equity. In doing so it articulates, explains and justifies what might be meant by the concept of 'human dignity' in a way that is clear, defensible and consistent with, but by no means the same as, the plethora of appeals to human dignity found in contemporary bioethics, and more particularly in international instruments on bioethics. We propose the following principle of genetic equity: humans are born equal; they are entitled to freedom from discrimination and equality of opportunity to flourish; genetic information may not be used to limit that equality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mel frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC) are the most widely used speech features in automatic speech recognition systems, primarily because the coefficients fit well with the assumptions used in hidden Markov models and because of the superior noise robustness of MFCC over alternative feature sets such as linear prediction-based coefficients. The authors have recently introduced human factor cepstral coefficients (HFCC), a modification of MFCC that uses the known relationship between center frequency and critical bandwidth from human psychoacoustics to decouple filter bandwidth from filter spacing. In this work, the authors introduce a variation of HFCC called HFCC-E in which filter bandwidth is linearly scaled in order to investigate the effects of wider filter bandwidth on noise robustness. Experimental results show an increase in signal-to-noise ratio of 7 dB over traditional MFCC algorithms when filter bandwidth increases in HFCC-E. An important attribute of both HFCC and HFCC-E is that the algorithms only differ from MFCC in the filter bank coefficients: increased noise robustness using wider filters is achieved with no additional computational cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using radiotelemetry, we studied home range and movements of 32 adult female and 16 adult male Mohave ground squirrels (Spermophilus mohavensis) in the western Mojave Desert of California during 1990 and from 1994 to 1997. In 3 of the 5 years of study (1990, 1994, and 1996), early winter precipitation (October-January) was <30 mm, and no reproduction occurred at the study site. Postmating home ranges of females varied considerably among years, with annual medians for minimum convex polygons ranging from 0.29 to 1.90 ha. Females used the largest home ranges both during years of ample rainfall and reproduction (1995 and 1997) and during the year of most extreme drought and no reproduction (1990). We hypothesize that variation in homerange size among drought years may result from varying levels of food availability. In 1997, we also studied movements of adults during the mating season, from mid-February to mid-March. During this period, adult males made extensive movements, resulting in median minimum convex polygons much larger (6.73 ha) than those of females (0.74 ha). Such movements would have made it possible for males to locate adult females soon after their emergence from hibernation. Patterns of variation in home-range size and movements observed during this study may reflect adaptive responses of this small herbivore to a highly variable, arid environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the search for the Quark-Gluon Plasma, results from RHIC depict formation of a dense system at an energy density greater than 5 GeV/fm3, well above that where hadrons exist. Statistical models that describe RHIC data indicate a temperature and baryo-chemical potential at the deconfinement phase transition boundary predicted by lattice QCD calculations. The anisotropic collective flow observed in collisions at RHIC provides direct evidence of strong pressure gradients in the highly interacting dense medium. Hard-scattering, suppression of hadrons at large transverse momentum, and quenching of di-jets are observed in central Au + Au collisions and provide evidence for large energy loss of partons traversing the high density matter created at RHIC. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We sampled 143 individuals from Rancho La Brea (RLB) large faunal collections for bone collagen stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope ratios. These collections were recovered from asphalt seeps in the Los Angeles Basin, California, USA, and date from ∼40 to 12 ka. Our findings indicate that despite a slight reduction in collagen nitrogen content, RLB skeletal remains are relatively well preserved and most yield proteins diagnostic of diet. Herbivore δ13C and δ15N values covary with rumination and are consistent with changes in late Pleistocene vegetation reconstructed from pollen profiles. We find no evidence for reliance on C4 grasses at RLB, despite low atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Carnivore δ15N values indicate Canis dirus, Smilodon fatalis and Panthera leo atrox competed for similar prey sets and were equally reliant on ruminant and nonruminant prey types. The δ15N values of Mammut americanum indicate partial reliance on vegetation with lower δ15N values (such as nitrogen-fixing taxa), distinguishing them from the remainder of the study population. A comparison of RLB and European faunal δ15N values from the late Pleistocene suggests that coastal southern California experienced greater aridity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A general framework for modelling hierarchical spatial systems has been developed and implemented as the ECoS3 software package. The structure of this framework is described, and illustrated with representative examples. It allows the set-up and integration of sets of advection–diffusion equations representing multiple constituents interacting in a spatial context. Multiple spaces can be defined, with zero, one or two-dimensions and can be nested, and linked through constituent transfers. Model structure is generally object-oriented and hierarchical, reflecting the natural relations within its real-world analogue. Velocities, dispersions and inter-constituent transfers, together with additional functions, are defined as properties of constituents to which they apply. The resulting modular structure of ECoS models facilitates cut and paste model development, and template model components have been developed for the assembly of a range of estuarine water quality models. Published examples of applications to the geochemical dynamics of estuaries are listed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A simple, one-dimensional tide-ignoring model has been fitted to surface salinity measured at monthly intervals over 3 years on an extensive sampling grid in the Humber and tidal Ouse on the North Sea coast of the UK. With a constant and uniform axial dispersion, estimated at 296±7 m2 s−1 (95% confidence limits), model deviations vary systematically in space and time. Postulating an influx of dispersive tendency with fresh water largely eliminates the systematic variation in space. Deviations from the simple model (observations–predictions) show a significant seasonal cycle, with minima in the summer and maxima in the winter, and decline significantly over the 3 years of the study. A model that incorporates a homeostatic tendency for the estuary to revert to a constant salinity profile, independent of river flow, appears to eliminate both the seasonal cycle and the trend. The half time of the homeostatic process is estimated to be between 76 and 97 days (95% confidence limits). It is concluded that sediment movement might be the basis of such a mechanism. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Editorial. Argues that cadaver organs should be automatically available for people who need organ transplant. Similarity between automatic cadaver donation and jury service; Main objectives to the proposal that cadaver organ be automatically available.

Presents a study that documented the isotopic endmembers of vegetation found in modern ecosystems of East Africa, including xeric and mesic savannas and both open-canopy and closed-canopy forests. Results of a regional stable isotope survey of East African bovid based on field collections and museum archives; Materials and methods; Discussion.

The present study examined the possible contribution of endogenous opioids to inhibition of spinal reflexes by an α2-adrenoceptor agonist. In rabbits decerebrated and spinalised under halothane/nitrous oxide anaesthesia, the selective α2-adrenoceptor agonist dexmedetomidine (3–30 μg intrathecal) induced significant decreases in short- and long-latency reflex responses evoked in medial gastrocnemius (MG) motoneurones by stimulation of the sural nerve. After recovery from dexmedetomidine, the μ-opioid receptor antagonist β-funaltrexamine (β-FNA; 100 μg intrathecal) significantly enhanced short-latency but not long-latency MG reflex responses. After β-FNA, inhibition of all reflexes by dexmedetomidine was significantly weaker than in the control state, whereas the cardiovascular actions of dexmedetomidine were unaffected. These data confirm that activation of spinal α2-adrenoceptors depresses MG reflexes evoked by all groups of sural nerve afferent fibres, and shows that endogenous opioid tone supports the inhibitory action of α2 agonists, possibly by a synergistic interaction in the spinal cord. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper discusses the role of consent in decision making generally and its role in end of life decisions in particular. It outlines a conception of autonomy which explains and justifies the role of consent in decision making and criticises some misapplications of the idea of consent, particular the role of fictitious or "proxy" consents. Where the inevitable outcome of a decision must be that a human individual will die and where that individual is a person who can consent, then that decision is ethical if and only if the individual consents. In very rare and extreme cases such a decision will be ethical in the absence of consent where it would be massively cruel not to end life in order to prevent suffering which is in no other way preventable. Where, however, the human individual is not a person, as is the case with abortion, the death of infants like Mary (one of the conjoined twins in a case discussed in the paper), or in the very rare and extreme cases of those who have ceased to be persons like Tony Bland, such decisions are governed by the ethics of ending the lives of non-persons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of geographic factors on fertility-sparing treatment or assisted reproductive technology (ART) utilization among women with gynecologic or breast cancers. METHODS: We conducted a cohort study of reproductive-aged patients (18–45 years) with early-stage cervical, endometrial, or ovarian cancer or stage I–III breast cancer diagnosed between January 2000 and December 2015 using linked data from the California Cancer Registry, the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, and the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology. Generalized linear mixed models were used to evaluate associations between distance from fertility and gynecologic oncology clinics, as well as California Healthy Places Index score (a Census-level composite community health score), and ART or fertility-sparing treatment receipt. RESULTS: We identified 7,612 women with gynecologic cancer and 35,992 women with breast cancer. Among all patients, 257 (0.6%) underwent ART. Among patients with gynecologic cancer, 1,676 (22.0%) underwent fertility-sparing treatment. Stratified by quartiles, residents who lived at increasing distances from gynecologic oncology or fertility clinics had decreased odds of undergoing fertility-sparing treatment (gynecologic oncology clinics: Q2, odds ratio [OR] 0.76, 95% CI, 0.63–0.93, P=.007; Q4, OR 0.72, 95% CI, 0.56–0.94, P=.016) (fertility clinics: Q3, OR 0.79, 95% CI, 0.65–0.97, P=.025; Q4, OR 0.67, 95% CI, 0.52–0.88, P=.004), whereas this relationship was not observed among women who resided within other quartiles (gynecologic oncology clinics: Q3, OR 0.81 95% CI, 0.65–1.01, P=.07; fertility clinics: Q2, OR 0.87 95% CI, 0.73–1.05, P=.15). Individuals who lived in communities with the highest (51st–100th percentile) California Healthy Places Index scores had greater odds of undergoing fertility-sparing treatment (OR 1.29, 95% CI, 1.06–1.57, P=.01; OR 1.66, 95% CI, 1.35–2.04, P=.001, respectively). The relationship between California Healthy Places Index scores and ART was even more pronounced (Q2 OR 1.9, 95% CI, 0.99–3.64, P=.05; Q3 OR 2.86, 95% CI, 1.54–5.33, P<.001; Q4 OR 3.41, 95% CI, 1.83–6.35, P<.001). CONCLUSION: Geographic disparities affect fertility-sparing treatment and ART rates among women with gynecologic or breast cancer. By acknowledging geographic factors, health care systems can ensure equitable access to fertility-preservation services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This article is an examination of how femininity, masculinity and physicality are created and (re)presented within the English tabloid press. In identifying mechanisms for the construction and maintenance of (hegemonic) femininity and masculinity within sport, a gendered sports formula has been developed to analyse and explain sports coverage within this particular medium. Copies of the Sun and Mirror newspapers were collected and analysed over the course of the summer of 2000. The study highlights that idealized conceptualizations of femininity and masculinity are prevalent within the dominant narratives of both publications, not least through the disproportionate ratio of male/female sports coverage where only 5.9 percent of the sports reporting focused upon women's sport. Our analysis of this mechanism is explicated through focusing upon one of the most photographed athletes in the world today, the Russian tennis player Anna Kournikova. Kournikova, we posit, is the most powerful symbol of the masculinity/femininity nexus within media sport and accounted for one-third of all articles on women's sport. She is presented as the masculinists' transcendent image of the idiosyncratic sportswoman, whereby masculinity is maintained through ideological representations of femininity. While the analysis does not focus exclusively on Koumikova, it is argued that she, more than any other athlete, epitomizes the gendered sports formula within the tabloid press. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a letter in response to 'Contemporary Readings in Bioethics' editor, Walter Glannon on extended human life span. Effects of increasing population claimed by Glannon; Capability of human brain to store memories over the long term; View of Glannon on the benefits of extended life.

This paper argues that a precautionary approach to scientific progress of the sort advocated by Walter Glannon with respect to life-extending therapies involves both incoherence and irresolvable paradox. This paper demonstrates the incoherence of the precautionary approach in many circumstances and argues that with respect to life-extending therapies we have at present no persuasive reasons for a moratorium on such research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malalignment of the vertebrae, in patients suspected of blunt spinal trauma, is the quintessential sign of spinal injury. Malalignment is obvious in displaced fractures and dislocations but is rarely considered in the diagnosis because of the obvious injury. In patients with more subtle injuries such as those limited to ligamentous structures, vertebral malalignment is the only radiographic sign that leads one to the recognition of the injury. Equally important is the fact that vertebral malalignment may be congenital and may be due to physiologic movement as well as radiographic patient positioning. Recognition of the pattern of traumatic malalignment as distinguished from the appearance of non-traumatic malalignment is essential to accurate radiologic diagnosis. Because malalignment is critical to the radiographic assessment of blunt cervical spine injury, this presentation is limited to the cervical spine. The format of the article includes signs of physiologic and traumatic malaignment as seen on antero-posterior and lateral radiographs of the cervico-cranium and the lower cervical spine. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Provides information on a study which investigated the cross-disciplinary approaches in international development. Discussion on qualitative research and mathematical modelling in social science; Research methods used in the study of economics; Utilization of sociological and anthropological practice in economics.

Presents letters to the editor on medical topics as of February 6, 2002. Decisions about cervical spine radiography following trauma; Cost-effectiveness of aircraft safety measures; Public education about the risks of the drug ecstasy; Dry eye syndrome in post-menopausal women; Responsibility of physicians and pharmacists in preventing drug interactions; Others.

My critics in this symposium illustrate one principle and three fallacies of disability studies. The principle, which we all share, is that all persons are equal and none are less equal than others. No disability, however slight, nor however severe, implies lesser moral, political or ethical status, worth or value. This is a version of the principle of equality. The three fallacies exhibited by some or all of my critics are the following: (1) Choosing to repair damage or dysfunction or to enhance function, implies either that the previous state is intolerable or that the person in that state is of lesser value or indicates that the individual in that state has a life that is not worthwhile or not thoroughly worth living. None of these implications hold. (2) Exercising choice in reproduction with the aim of producing children who will be either less damaged or diseased, or more healthy, or who will have enhanced capacities, violates the principle or equality. It does not. (3) Disability or impairment must be defined relative either to normalcy, "normal species functioning" or "species typical functioning". It is not necessarily so defined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demonstrates the value of global thinking methodology and the problem of narrow thinking in the case of the British Westland Lysander P12 Ground Strafer aircraft. Reason for the construction of the aircraft; Overview of its construction.

The article provides an ethical analysis in the judgment on the case of Re A conjoined twins. According to the author, the parents of the conjoined twins together with the Official Solicitor appealed to oppose the operation on religious grounds. He concludes that there is a distinction drawn by criminal Law on mercy killing and the death was not unethical.

In the human central nervous system, the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) type A receptor complex undergoes changes with both acute and chronic exposure to sedative–hypnotic drugs. These changes contribute to both the acute effects of these drugs as well as the chronic effects of sedative–hypnotic dependence, withdrawal, and drug craving. Clinically these chronic effects are difficult to treat in patients dependent on ethanol or benzodiazepines. Valproate may return the GABA type A receptor function to a state more closely resembling its normal function. By this mechanism, it is possible to reduce the symptoms of sedative–hypnotic withdrawal and relapse. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Reports that some accrediting bodies, such as the American Academy for Liberal Education (AALE), have begun to develop profiles of institutions that make more limited requests for data but tie that information directly to constructs such as viability in ways that are innovative and informative. Development of a profile form that requests basic enrollment, staffing, and financial data from institutions or programs seeking accreditation by AALE; List of indicators that relate most clearly to institutional or program viability developed by AALE; Emphasis within the framework of the profile developed by AALE.

Presents information on a study which examined ways to use the electromechanical reciprocity relation to construct theoretical models of measurement processes in ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation. Background of the study; Imaging a fluid-solid interface and a thin solid film; Conclusions.

Is there such a thing as a social conception of disability? Recently two writers in this journal have suggested not only that there is a coherent social conception of disability but that all non-social conceptions, or "medical models" of disability are fatally flawed. One serious and worrying dimension of their claims is that once the social dimensions of disability have been resolved no seriously "disabling" features remain. This paper examines and rejects conceptions of disability based on social factors but notes that physical and mental conditions which disadvantage the individual have social dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts related to surgery including "Radiation oncology in Australia: the horns of the dilemma," by A. Langlands, "In situ saphenous vein bypass: technical aspects and results," by B. Bourke, and "Trans-sphenoidal hypophysectomy in carcinoma of the breast," by G. Gray.

Reprint of several articles are presented that were published in the previous issues of the periodical "ANZ Journal of Surgery." These articles includes "Current Perspectives in Staging Large Bowel Cancer" by P.H. Chapuis, R.C. Newland and O.F. Dent, "Carcinoma of the Gallbladder" by R.C. Bennett and R.P. Jepson and "Duplex ultrasound diagnosis of lower limb deep venous thrombosis" by D. Cavaye, A. Kelly and J. Graham.

The article focuses on medical ethics or bioethics. It examines how to start in medical ethics in terms of being its own academic discipline and talks about the use of postgraduate bioethics conferences in this endeavour. It comments on the role of mentoring and coauthoring in academic publishing. It analyzes the concepts of being good and being ethical, and considers the responsibility shared by moral agents.

The article presents abstracts on surgery topics which includes the electrohydraulic lithotripsy for biliary stones, carcinoid tumors diagnosed in Auckland, New Zealand during 1976-1987, and the restuls of lower limb amputation for atherosclerosis obliterans.

Background: Many assisted reproductive technology (ART) centers utilize satellite clinics to expand reach and access to clinical services, but their contribution to lowering geographic barriers in access to care has not been examined. This study's purpose is to determine the extent to which satellite clinics impact geographic access to ART and estimate the percentage of reproductive-age women who have geographic access to ART services.Methods: A systematic web-search collected the locations of all main and satellite ART clinics in the United States (US). Driving times were calculated between satellite clinics and main clinics. The percentage of women with geographic access to care was characterized by clinic type using US Census Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs). Logistic regression was used to statistically model the presence of main and satellite clinics as a function of CBSA median income and female reproductive-age population.Results: Four hundred sixty-nine main clinics with embryology labs and 583 satellite clinics were found in the US. Practices with satellite clinics tend to perform more ART cycles. Satellite clinics are located on average 66 minutes from their practice's main clinic and 31 minutes from any main clinic. 22% of satellite clinics were in CBSAs without a main clinic. 46 M (72%) US reproductive-age women live in a CBSA with a main clinic, 5.1 M (8%) women live in a CBSA without a main clinic but at least one satellite clinic, and 13 M (20%) women live in an area with no ART clinic of either type. Female reproductive-age population was found to be a more important predictor of clinic presence than median income.Conclusions: The majority of satellite clinics in the US are positioned in relative proximity to a main clinic. 85% of satellite clinics are located closer to the main clinic of other practices than to their own main clinic. Less than a quarter of ART satellite clinics expand geographic access to ART services by being located in areas without a main clinic, and the vast majority of practices with satellite clinics position their satellite clinics close to another practice's main clinic.Trial Registration: Not applicable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organ shortage is a major survival issue for millions of people worldwide. Globally 1.2 million people die each year from kidney failure. In this paper, we critically examine and find lacking extant proposals for increasing organ supply, such as opting in and opt out for deceased donor organs, and parochial altruism and paired kidney exchange for live organs. We defend two ethical solutions to the problem of organ shortage. One is to make deceased donor organs automatically available for transplant without requiring consent from the donor or their relatives. The other is for society to buy nonvital organs in a strictly regulated market and provide them to people in need for free. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A questionnaire was completed by 197 putative sufferers from Parkinson's disease (PD), 43 sufferers from rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and 73 normal age-matched controls. The study built on earlier work to explore further the PD sufferer's experience of perceptual problems, especially changes in visual perception of the environment. The responses of the RA group allowed investigation of the possibility that any reported problems in the PD group resulted from a chronic and debilitating illness which affects the motor systems, rather than from Parkinson's disease per se. The control and RA groups differed only on those questions that implicated motor problems (such as reaching for objects). The results suggest that, although the PD respondents are not abnormal in, for example, their descriptions of their own body image or judging the distance between nearby objects, they do notice significant changes in their perception of the world around them, reporting problems with judging distance and motion in the street and problems reaching for objects and moving through narrow spaces within the home. Finally, a factor analysis of the PD responses suggested that they grouped on four main factors, one relating to the motor symptoms of the disease, the second to the perception of peripersonal space, the third to retinal changes, and the fourth to the type of medication. The results of the study suggest visuospatial deficits in PD which may involve the parietal lobe and have implications for understanding the way in which PD patients interact with their environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The principle that each individual is entitled to an equal opportunity to benefit from any public health care system, and that this entitlement is proportionate neither to the size of their chance of benefitting, nor to the quality of the benefit, nor to the length of lifetime remaining in which that benefit may be enjoyed, runs counter to most current thinking about the allocation of resources for health care. It is my contention that any system of prioritisation of the resources available for healthcare or of rationing such resources must be governed by this principle. This can have apparently paradoxical conclusions in that it can seem wasteful to give someone with a very slim chance of a lifesaving treatment the same priority as someone with a much better chance. In an important and thoughtful recent paper, Julian Savulescu has concentrated on this apparent weakness and has argued for a particular conception of the good or benefit to be achieved by a healthcare system which purports to demonstrate the inadequacies of an equal opportunities approach to prioritisation and to replace it with an altogether better account. This paper will show that a rational 'reasons based consequentialism' is more in line with the equal opportunities approach, which I defended some time ago in these pages, than with that of Savulescu. I shall then examine more closely the conception of equal opportunities in health care and show that if we give weight to an individual's reasons, and what is expected to be good for them, we will opt for exactly the equality based account of distributive justice that I have recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optimal allocation of buffer capacity in unbalanced production lines with reliable but variable workstations is a complex and little-researched topic. Analytic formulas for the throughput of these lines do not exist, so simulation is the only practical alternative for estimating throughput. Exhaustive search over all possible buffer allocations quickly becomes impractical beyond short lines and few buffers. Thus an algorithm is needed to efficiently find optimal or near-optimal allocations. We develop a simple search algorithm for determining the optimal allocation of a fixed amount of buffer capacity in an n-station serial line. The algorithm, which is an adaptation of the Spendley-Hext and Neider -Mead simplex search algorithms, uses simulation to estimate throughput for every allocation considered. An important feature of the algorithm is that the simulation run length is adjusted during the running of the algorithm to save simulation run time when high precision in throughput estimates is not needed, and to ensure adequate precision when it is needed. We describe the algorithm and show that it can reliably find the known optimal allocation in balanced lines. Then we test the ability of the algorithm to find optimal allocations in unbalanced lines, first for cases in which the optimal allocation is known, and subsequently for cases in which the optimal allocation is not known. We focus particularly on lines with multiple imbalances in means and variances. In general, our algorithm proves highly efficient in finding a near-optimal allocation with short simulation run times. It also usually finds the true optimal allocation, but it is in the nature of this problem that many buffer allocations differ in throughput by small amounts that are difficult to resolve even with long simulation runs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explores the syllabic and segmental dimensions of phonological vowel disorder using a case study of an English-speaking child presenting with an impairment which can be shown to have a specifically syllabic basis. Syllabic universals and vowel disorder; Shortening, glide hardening and bisyllabification; Demarcating phonological impairment.

This article looks at the representation of women in football-related stories during the course of the 1996 European Championships. Through an analysis of a tabloid newspaper's football coverage, it traces the England team's progress to the semifinals of the competition and examines the portrayal of women in these reports. The findings suggest that despite the great strides forward being made by women in a number of sports including football, reporting in the popular press continues to promote sport as a predominantly male activity. The research also indicates that women remain subordinate and sexually objectified in the majority of sports coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), one or more hematopoietic stem cells that are defective in GPI anchor assembly as a result of mutation in the PIG-A gene preferentially expand in the bone marrow and give rise to peripheral blood elements that are deficient in GPI anchored protein expression. According to current concepts, 5–15% of PNH patients develop leukocyte dyscrasias which invariably are acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). In this review, the literature from 1962 to the present is analyzed regarding the type of leukocyte dyscrasia, incidence, and cytogenetic features of the abnormal cells that have been reported. Among a total of 119 cases that are well-documented, 104 myeloid dyscrasias involving several categories in addition to AML, as well as 15 lymphoid dyscrasias are described. Of 1,760 patients in 15 series that contain 20 or more patients, 16 (1%) are reported as having developed “acute leukemia.” However, of 288 listed as having died, 13 (5%) are recorded as having had “acute leukemia.” In 32 of the patients with hematological dyscrasias where karyotypes were analyzed, 7 were found to be normal and 25 found to harbor various alterations with the +8 abnormality present in 8. In 5 of 7 instances evidence indicates that the dyscratic cell arises from the PNH clone. Processes potentially involved in the evolution of the dyscratic cells from PNH clones are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on a study which discussed the development of the constant-statistics algorithm for nonuniformity correction of infrared focal point arrays and other imaging arrays. Details on novel deghosting method; Conclusion.

Features the inscriptions carved on monuments and structures at the Copan Site in Honduras that record the events in the life of Copan's dynastic founder Yax K'uk Mo'. Hieroglyphic texts on the Xukpi Stone; Inscriptions regarding the other successors; Establishment of the Quirigua dynasty under Yax K'uk Mo''s authority.

Discusses an objection to human cloning which appeals to the welfare of the child. How to respond to the interests of people not yet in existence; Paradigmatic examples of the objections to human cloning from child welfare offered by Ruth Deech, chairman of the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority; Criticisms against cloning; Conclusion.