Preventing Ultimate Harm as the Justification for Biomoral Modification

Most advocates of biogenetic modification hope to amplify existing human traits in humans in order to increase the value of such traits as intelligence and resistance to disease. These advocates defend such enhancements as beneficial for the affected parties. By contrast, some commentators recommend certain biogenetic modifications to serve social goals. As Ingmar Persson and Julian Savulescu see things, human moral psychology is deficient relative to the most important risks facing humanity as a whole, including the prospect of Ultimate Harm, the point at which worthwhile life is forever impossible on the planet. These risks can be mitigated, they say, by enhancing moral psychology in novel ways. Persson and Savulescu argue that some parents should modify the underlying biogenetics of their children's moral psychology, if such measures were safe and effective, but they admit these interventions may not decouple humanity from Ultimate Harm. Neither are these modifications the only options, they concede, for addressing risks to humanity. Even with these concessions, saving humanity from itself is a fairly poor reason to modify the moral psychology of children. In most ways, adults would be better candidates, morally speaking, for modifications of psychology. Even then, there is no direct link between morally enhanced human beings and the hoped‐for effect of better protection from Ultimate Harm. Asserting a general duty of all to contribute to the avoidance of Ultimate Harm is a better moral strategy than intervening in the moral psychology of some, even though meeting that duty may involve substantial interference with the free exercise of one's interests.     

非正式学习环境中幼儿的自发数量聚焦

大量从“能力”角度来探讨个体早期数学发展的研究仅专注于儿童早期的数学知识和技能, 而忽略了可能与儿童早期数学能力相关的方面。近年来, 数学认知发展研究者逐渐开始关注自发数量聚焦(Spontaneous focusing on numerosity, SFON), 即个体对环境中数量相关信息自发注意的认知倾向。SFON被视为其他数学聚焦倾向概念的基础, 但与自发数字聚焦(SAN)、自发阿拉伯数字聚焦(SFONS)和自发数量关系聚焦(SFOR)之间的联系仍需进一步明晰。作为数学表现的领域特异预测因子, 个体SFON的发展轨迹和作用机制是当前研究的重点所在。未来可从数学动机、数学焦虑等角度进一步探讨SFON的作用机制, 改良与创新SFON测量工具, 同时需深入推进家庭和学校场合的SFON干预研究。     

Images that remember us: photography and memory in Austerlitz

The poetry of Malaysian poet Muhammad Haji Salleh is underpinned by notions of an authentic, Malay place-based relationship with the environment and runs the risk of alienating non-Malay communities in the postcolonial land. Nevertheless, on closer inspection of his work, it becomes clear that the poet's representation of ancient Malays and the Malay sense of place as an indigenous model for an earth-honouring existence is in fact fraught with tensions and contradictions. Muhammad's grappling with the question of roots and a return to roots ultimately paves the way for a more transnational and inclusive ethics of place.     

透过语言学习看发展中的音乐学习

音乐和语言作为表达人类思想情感的物质媒介 ,在许多方面有相通之处。较好掌握一门语言 ,要求在听、说、读、写几方面展开学习活动。音乐学习同样应该是一个涉及学习环境、艺术实践、音乐修养及创造性能力培养的全面的学习过程。使音乐教育与其它学科一样更符合教育的客观规律 ,通过学习方法的改进使教育者的劳动和学习者的才能得以更加充分的发挥 ,是一个值得探索的问题     

Effect of ligand environment of rare-earth ions on temperature measurement performance of SrAO4:xEu3+ (A = Mo and W) phosphors

Molybdate and tungstate with scheelite-type structure are excellent self-luminescent materials, which can be used as ideal hosts for the doping of rare-earth ions. In this study, a series of Eu³⁺-activated SrAO₄ (A = Mo and W) phosphors were successfully synthesized, and their crystal structures, photoluminescence properties, and temperature measurement performance were analyzed in detail. These phosphors were excited by UV light (291 nm and 247 nm, respectively), with clear energy transfer (ET) (MoO₄^2?→Eu³⁺ or WO₄^2?→Eu³⁺). According to fluorescence intensity ratio (FIR) and Judd–Ofelt (J–O) theory, compared to SrWO₄:0.01Eu³⁺ phosphor, SrMoO₄:0.01Eu³⁺ phosphor exhibited better thermal stability, with relatively low Sa value (maximum values were 5.082 %K^?1 and 20.74 %K^?1, respectively), and their Sr values were not significantly different (maximum values were 0.864 %K^?1 and 0.83 %K^?1, respectively). Sa value was negatively correlated to central asymmetry of Eu³⁺, but the optimal Sr value tended to be more suitable for central asymmetry of Eu³⁺. In addition, Eu³⁺ exhibited stronger central asymmetry as well as covalency of Eu–O bond in SrMoO₄. Results reveal that SrMoO₄:xEu³⁺ and SrWO₄:xEu³⁺ can be used for luminescent thermometers.     

Principles of environmentally-sustainable anaesthesia: a global consensus statement from the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists

The Earth’s mean surface temperature is already approximately 1.1°C higher than pre-industrial levels. Exceeding a mean 1.5°C rise by 2050 will make global adaptation to the consequences of climate change less possible. To protect public health, anaesthesia providers need to reduce the contribution their practice makes to global warming. We convened a Working Group of 45 anaesthesia providers with a recognised interest in sustainability, and used a three-stage modified Delphi consensus process to agree on principles of environmentally sustainable anaesthesia that are achievable worldwide. The Working Group agreed on the following three important underlying statements: patient safety should not be compromised by sustainable anaesthetic practices; high-, middle- and low-income countries should support each other appropriately in delivering sustainable healthcare (including anaesthesia); and healthcare systems should be mandated to reduce their contribution to global warming. We set out seven fundamental principles to guide anaesthesia providers in the move to environmentally sustainable practice, including: choice of medications and equipment; minimising waste and overuse of resources; and addressing environmental sustainability in anaesthetists’ education, research, quality improvement and local healthcare leadership activities. These changes are achievable with minimal material resource and financial investment, and should undergo re-evaluation and updates as better evidence is published. This paper discusses each principle individually, and directs readers towards further important references.