Common morality and moral reform.

The idea of moral reform requires that morality be more than a description of what people do value, for there has to be some measure against which to assess progress. Otherwise, any change is not reform, but simply difference. Therefore, I discuss moral reform in relation to two prescriptive approaches to common morality, which I distinguish as the foundational and the pragmatic. A foundational approach to common morality (e.g., Bernard Gert's) suggests that there is no reform of morality, but of beliefs, values, customs, and practices so as to conform with an unchanging, foundational morality. If, however, there were revision in its foundation (e.g., in rationality), then reform in morality itself would be possible. On a pragmatic view, on the other hand, common morality is relative to human flourishing, and its justification consists in its effectiveness in promoting flourishing. Morality is dependent on what in fact does promote human flourishing and therefore, could be reformed. However, a pragmatic approach, which appears more open to the possibility of moral reform, would need a more robust account of norms by which reform is measured.

Ethanol inhibition of NMDA currents in acutely dissociated medial septum/diagonal band neurons from ethanol dependent rats.

The effect of acutely applied ethanol and the impact of chronic ethanol treatment, sufficient to induce tolerance and physical dependence, on N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor function were studied in acutely isolated neurons from the medial septum/diagonal band (MS/DB) of adult rats using whole cell, patch-clamp electrophysiology. There was a small positive correlation for capacitance and current amplitude activated by 100 microM NMDA for all groups. Also, cell membrane capacitance was significantly smaller for Ethanol Dependent (approximately 80-84%) than either Naive or Control cells. Therefore NMDA-activated responses were normalized for capacitance (current density, pA/pF) across all three groups. NMDA-activated (30-1000 microM) responses were significantly larger in cells from Control and Ethanol Dependent rats relative to those from Naives. In addition, estimated maximal responses were significantly larger for Ethanol Dependent cells, compared to either Control or Naive, respectively, while EC50s and slopes were not significantly different. Acute 60 mM ethanol significantly inhibited responses to 100 microM NMDA in all three groups, however, mean ethanol inhibition was 12-25% smaller after ethanol dependence. There was no evidence of acute tolerance to ethanol inhibition for any group, but examination of patterns of inhibition for individual neurons showed a few cells were resistant to ethanol or exhibited progressive loss of ethanol inhibition. These results suggest that NMDA receptor function in acutely isolated MS/DB neurons is increased following in vivo chronic ethanol treatment, and shows resistance to acute ethanol inhibition suggesting NMDA receptor-mediated cellular tolerance.

Control and the elderly: "goodness-of-fit".

The present study is an investigation of the effects of person-environment fit on control in an elderly population. Person-environment fit theory predicts that a fit or a match between the characteristics of the person and the characteristic of the environment is important in determining positive outcomes. In the present study, a measure of the misfit (i.e., the mismatch) between an individual's perceptions of control and that individual's desire for control was used to predict life satisfaction, depression, and self-reported health. The misfit between these constructs was found to be a significant predictor of depression, suggesting that a person-environment fit model may be important in explaining this outcome variable. In contrast to the hypothesis, misfit did not significantly predict life satisfaction, and only approached significance in the physical health model. Possible interpretations and implications of these findings were discussed, and potential future research directions were suggested.

Diet and exercise patterns in pet dogs.

A study was conducted to provide baseline data on pet dog diet and exercise patterns. In addition, the repeatability of a telephone questionnaire to determine these patterns was evaluated. Dogs seen at the Texas Veterinary Medical Center that were less than 3 years old and of medium, large, or giant purebreeds or mixed-breeds were included. Information was collected about background variables, brands, quantities, and types of foods fed, and types and frequency of exercise. Daily intake of metabolizable energy, calcium, fat, and protein were calculated from the diet. Sixty-nine dog owners completed the study. Most dogs were kept as pets in an urban/suburban environment. Most were also fed dry food. About 60% were fed dog biscuits or some other dog snack or treat, and about half of the dogs in the study were fed twice daily. Meat scraps and bones were the table foods most commonly fed. Most owners considered their dogs to be moderately or very active. Greater than 70% of the dogs were confined to a fenced yard. About 65% of the owners took their dogs for walks. Forty percent of dogs in the study exercised with other dogs daily. More than half of the owners reported playing retrieving games with their dogs, including playing with a flying disk. The questionnaire was shown to be repeatable.

A feminist challenge to practices of medicine.

Susan Sherwin's No Longer Patient: Feminist Ethics and Health Care is a readable book that is accessible to a wide range of medical practitioners. It presupposes no prior training in ethics or feminism (and for just this reason, it may be somewhat less satisfying, although not necessarily less useful, for philosophers). The book is a feminist bioethics primer that introduces medical practitioners to issues that feminist theory makes prominent and that illuminate tensions in the structure and practice of medicine.

Evaluation of the human epidermal keratinocyte neutral red release and neutral red uptake assay using the first 10 MEIC test materials.

Two methodologies used in vitro to estimate cytotoxicity in cell culture systems were compared: these were the neutral red uptake assay (NRU), which is used to measure toxicity caused by an extended (48-hr) exposure to the test material, and the neutral red release assay (NRR), which is used to measure toxicity caused by a short-term (1-min) exposure to the test material. Both methodologies used the normal human epidermal keratinocyte (NHEK)-based NeutralRed Bioassay supplied by Clonetics Corporation (San Diego, CA, USA). 10 materials (paracetamol, acetylsalicylic acid, ferrous sulphate, diazepam, amitriptyline, digoxin, ethylene glycol, methanol, ethanol and isopropanol), which are part of the Multicenter Evaluation of In Vitro Cytotoxicity (MEIC) panel, were tested. NRU(50) values for the 10 compounds covered more than an eight-log range from 0.004 mum (digoxin) to 1.0 x 10(6) mum (methanol). Because of solubility limits, NRR(50) values for diazepam, digoxin, ferrous sulphate and paracetamol could not be determined. NRR(50) values for the remaining six compounds covered approximately a three-log range from 3.2 x 10(3) to 7.1 x 10(6) mum. When compared with documented values for either the human acute oral lethal dose or the human acute lethal blood concentration, the NRU assay was found to be much more useful in predicting human acute toxicity than was the NRR assay.