The principle of the double effect is one of the most practical in the study of moral theology. As a principle it is important not so much in purely theoretical matters as in the application of theory to practical cases. It is especially necessary in the subject matter of scandal, material cooperation, illicit pleasure and of injury done to oneself or to another. Although it is a fundamental principle, it is far from a simple one; and moralists readily admit its (...) complexity. Moreover, it is not an inflexible rule or mathematical formula, but rather an efficient guide to prudent moral judgment in solving the more difficult cases. (shrink)

This paper investigates how global coherence is represented in consciousness. It summarizes various lines of research that I have developed over the last twenty years, employing a method that intersects phenomenological with bio-functional analysis. The phenomenological analysis derives from William James's treatment of the fringe, especially a component feeling he called 'right direction'and I call 'rightness'. My bio-functional analysis centres on the limitations of consciousness, and the design strategies that have evolved to finesse these limitations. I argue that fringe phenomenology, (...) in general, has been shaped by its cognitive functions. The function of rightness, in particular, is to represent degrees of fit between a conscious content and the vast body of relevant non-conscious context information. Rightness, then, signals degrees of global positive evaluation. Phenomenologically, rightness is the common element in our feeling that something is a coherent whole: that it is meaningful, correct, fits together, makes sense. It is at the heart of the Aha! experience and, when intense, aesthetic and mystical experience. This analysis also provides a new argument for the efficacy of conscious volition, and a general view of consciousness as a biological information bearing medium. (shrink)

P/A (Block's phenomenal/access) confounds a logical distinction with an empirical claim. Success of P/A in its logical role has almost no bearing on its plausibility as an empirical thesis (i.e., that two kinds of consciousness exist). The advantage of P/A over a single-consciousness assumption is unclear, but one of Block's analogies for P (liquid in a hydraulic computer) may be used to clarify the notion of consciousness as cognitive “hardware.”.

O'Brien & Opie's (O&O's) theory demands a view of unconscious processing that is incompatible with virtually all current PDP models of neural activity. Relative to the alternatives, the theory is closer to an AI than a parallel distributed processing (PDP) perspective, and its treatment of phenomenology is ad hoc. It raises at least one important question: Could features of network relaxation be the “switch” that turns an unconscious into a conscious network?

[first paragraph]: Robert Forman's theory outlined in `Mysticism, language and the via negativa' reacts against an earlier account of mysticism which he calls constructivism'. Constructivism grew from a book of collected papers, Mysticism and philosophical analysis , contributed to and edited by Steven Katz. According to Forman, `the constructivist approach is, roughly, that of the historian [of ideas]' . But this characterization is much too generous.

Many spectacular claims about psychopaths are circulated. This contribution aims at providing the reader with the more complex reality of the phenomenon (or phenomena), and to point to issues of particular interest to philosophers working in moral psychology and moral theory. I first discuss the current evidence regarding psychopaths’ deficient empathy and decision-making skills. I then explore what difference it makes to our thinking whether we regard their deficit dimensionally (as involving abilities that are on or off) and whether we (...) focus on primary or secondary psychopathy. My conclusion is that most grand claims about psychopathy settling long-standing debates in moral philosophy and psychology are overblown, but there is much to be learnt from this disorder when it comes to formulating modern theories of moral psychology. (shrink)

In ‘The Science of Art’ Ramachandran and Hirstein have written a vigorous, thought provoking paper. It raises many issues, but in the interest of brevity, I can only consider a few of them here.

This study explores the interface between conscious and nonconscious mental processes using phenomenological analysis, information processing cognitive psychology, connectionism and traditional aesthetic theories. It attempts to explain how global, evaluative information--especially the primitive feeling of 'rightness' or 'making sense'--is represented in consciousness. ;Many lines of evidence confirm and extend William James' nucleus/fringe model of consciousness: surrounding clear experience in focal attention is a fringe of vague experience. Context information in general, and the feeling of rightness in particular, occupy the fringe. (...) The fringe is vague because it works to finesse consciousness' limited capacity to articulate experience, and the fringe is elusive or 'ungraspable' because it helps to call new information into consciousness. The phenomenology of the fringe is thus a consequence of its cognitive functions. ;Meaningfulness is proposed to be a summary index of cognitive integration, signalling consciousness about the degree of global compatibility or 'fit' between a given content in the focus of attention and its nonconscious context. Though very similar to goodness-of-fit in a connectionist network, Meaningfulness is proposed to play an active feedback role in cognition, while goodness-of-fit, as currently used, is a passive measure of network integration. ;This analysis predicts that an intense feeling of Meaningfulness will have a characteristic 'profile,' and this profile is evident in many accounts of aesthetic experience: a feeling of unity and coherence that cannot be captured adequately in words, but which nevertheless seems to be a source of profound, and often "spiritual," knowledge. ;Many philosophical theories try to explain the unistic, ineffable, noetic, and transcendent aspects of the aesthetic. Platonic and Aristotelian traditions are considered, but the primary focus is on Kant. The Critique of Judgment created modern aesthetics, and in many ways it is remarkably compatible with current cognitive analysis. ;Beyond clarifying the cognitive foundation of aesthetic experience, this study offers new arguments against epiphenomenalism, provides further reason to doubt rule-based accounts of nonconscious processing, explains the isomorphism in aesthetic and mystical phenomenology, and develops a method to investigate consciousness called convergent phenomenology. (shrink)

My aim in this paper is to show that the existence of empty names raise problems for the Millian that go beyond the traditional problems of accounting for their meanings. Specifically, they have implications for Millian strategies for dealing with puzzles about belief. The standard move of positing a referent for a fictional name to avoid the problem of meaning, because of its distinctly Millian motivation, implies that solving puzzles about belief, when they involve empty names, do in fact hang (...) on Millian assumptions after all. (shrink)

It is common for philosophers to argue that psychopaths are not morally responsible because they lack some of the essential capacities for morality. In legal terms, they are criminally insane. Typically, however, the insanity defense is not available to psychopaths. The primary reason is that they appear to have the knowledge and understanding required under the M’Naghten Rules. However, it has been argued that what is required for moral and legal responsibility is ‘deep’ moral understanding, something that psychopaths do not (...) have either due to their lacking empathy or practical reason. In the first part of the paper, I argue that psychopaths do not lack the abilities required for deep moral understanding, although they have deficits in those areas. According the M’Naghten Rules, therefore, psychopaths are not insane. Under a less strict formulation of the insanity plea, like the Model Penal Code, however, there is a good case to be made for their lacking substantial capacity. I argue that because psychopathy is an essentially moral disorder, and because of the nature of psychopathic violence, psychopaths should not be excused under the insanity plea. It would be tantamount to excusing someone for committing a crime because they are bad. Arguably, this contravenes the entire system of law. (shrink)

Fictional names present unique challenges for semantic theories of proper names, challenges strong enough to warrant an account of names different from the standard treatment. The theory developed in this paper is motivated by a puzzle that depends on four assumptions: our intuitive assessment of the truth values of certain sentences, the most straightforward treatment of their syntactic structure, semantic compositionality, and metaphysical scruples strong enough to rule out fictional entities, at least. It is shown that these four assumptions, taken (...) together, are inconsistent with referentialism, the common view that names are uniformly associated with ordinary individuals as their semantic value. Instead, the view presented here interprets names as context-sensitive expressions, associated in a context of utterance with a particular act of introduction, or dubbing, which is then used to determine their semantic value. Some dubbings are referential, which associate names with ordinary individuals as their semantic values; others are fictional, which associate names, instead, with sets of properties. Since the semantic values of names can be of different sorts, the semantic rule interpreting predication must be complex as well. In the body of the paper, I show how this new treatment of names allows us to solve our original puzzle. I defend the complexity of the semantic predication rule, and address additional worries about ontological commitment. (shrink)

This paper offers a defence of metaphysical naturalism, in the context of the Fine Tuning argument. Theistic objections to the Multiverse (MV) hypothesis are considered, specifically the claim that the MV hypothesis commits the Inverse Gambler’s Fallacy (IGF) and, as per the This Universe Objection (TUO), that it violates the Requirement of Total Evidence. It is argued that the IGF claim moved the goalposts when it comes to assessing the validity of the MV hypothesis. The Cosmic Slot Machine analogy will (...) be used to demonstrate how the This Universe Objection (TUO), fails to adequately account for the anthropic principle (or selection effect) and how the MV hyptothesis does satisfy the Requirement for Total Evidence. -/- With respect to the Naturalistic Single Universe (NSU), the implications of the ex-nihilonihil- fit principle, for evaluating the epistemic probability of a Life Permitting Universe (LPU)under the NSU hypothesis, are considered. It is argued that the ex nihilo nihil fit principle entails that an LPU is not improbable under the NSU hypothesis. (shrink)

Abstract: Many, if not most philosophers, deny that a sentence like ‘Sherlock Holmes smokes’ could be true. However, this attitude conflicts with the assignment of true to that sentence by natural language speakers. Furthermore, this process of assigning truth values to sentences like ‘Sherlock Holes smokes’ seems indistinguishable from the process that leads speakers to assign true to other sentences, those like ‘Bertrand Russell smokes’. I will explore the idea that when speakers assign the value true to the first sentence, (...) they are not mistaken or confused — that we ought to take these assignments at face value. I show how the most popular alternative to this idea is inadequate for explaining various sentences involving fictional names. In addition, I offer evidence that these truth value assignments to sentences are tracking semantic content rather than pragmatic effects. (shrink)

In “Semantics of Fictional Terms,” Garcia-Carpintero critically surveys the most recent literature on the topic of fictional names. One of his targets is realism about fictional discourse. Realists about fictional discourse believe that: (a) it contains true sentences that have fictional names as their subjects; (b) sentences containing names can be true only if those names have referents; (c) fictional names have fictional characters – abstract objects – as their referents. The fundamental problem that arises for realists is that not (...) all true sentences containing fictional names are plausibly about abstract objects. This leads to the need to introduce disjunctive conceptions of property attribution that Garcia-Carpintero claims are implausible, and that realism should therefore be rejected. He also maintains, however, that (a) is correct. I agree. Furthermore, I am also committed to anti-realism about fictional discourse – that fictional names have no referents. Garcia-Carpintero claims that my view is simply a notational variant of realism. I argue that this is false – that my view could not possibly be a notational variant of any extant realist theory. (shrink)

This paper will attempt to offer a defence of to the Multiverse (MV) hypotheses, in the context of the theistic Fine Tuning Argument (FTA). It will be argued that theistic proponents of the FTA who argue that the MV hypothesis commits the Inverse Gambler’s Fallacy (IGF) are, themselves, guilty of moving the goalposts when it comes to assessing the validity of the MV hypothesis. The Cosmic Slot Machine analogy will be used to demonstrate how the This Universe Objection (TUO), first (...) outlined by White (2000) and further clarified by Draper et al (2007), fails to adequately account for the anthropic principle (or selection effect). (shrink)

There are many examples offered as evidence that proper names are predicates. Not all of these cases speak to a name’s semantic content, but many of them do. Some of these include attributive, quantifier, and ambiguity cases. We will explore those cases here, and we will see that none of them conclusively show that names are predicates. In fact, all of these constructions can be given alternative analyses that eliminate the predicative characteristics of names they feature. These analyses do not (...) involve having names functioning as predicates in any way at all. In attributive cases, the names within them are to be understood as occurring in a comparative construction, not an attributive construction. In the last two sorts of cases, the names that occur are analyzed as part of a more complex referring device for a specific domain, rather than functioning as predicates. Both paraphrases can be given plausible semantic treatments that have significant advantages over their competitors. For this reason, there is less motivation to focus on predicative views of proper names. (shrink)

What makes a person the same over time is a question dealt with by many philosophers. I too offered a purely metaphysical answer in a different work, however, as with many other theorists, I offered an answer outside of considering the political consequences of the theory I offered. Upon reflection, I now see that this was a mistake in need of correction. This is because I believe that conceptually a theory about how a person remains one and the same over (...) time presupposes an understanding of the nature of personhood as an ontological kind. That is, to remain the same person over time logically requires remaining a person. While being a counting as a person is a purely metaphysical matter, the fact is having the status of being a person is highly significant both morally and politically, as any social movement fighting for being granted this status to groups of individuals who have been denied it. To ignore the moral and political consequences of a metaphysical theory of persons is therefore ethically irresponsible. I argue that many of the assumptions concerning personhood are ethically and politically biased in favor of a conception of persons that disadvantages certain individuals, and that examining and correcting these biases is essential to be ethically responsible theorists of personhood. (shrink)

Empty names vary in their referential features. Some of them, as Kripke argues, are necessarily empty -- those that are used to create works of fiction. Others appear to be contingently empty -- those which fail to refer at this world, but which do uniquely identify particular objects in other possible worlds. I argue against Kripke's metaphysical and semantic reasons for thinking that either some or all empty names are necessarily non-referring, because these reasons are either not the right reasons (...) for thinking that a name necessarily must fail to refer, or they are too broad -- they make every empty name necessarily non-referential. Plausibly, the explanation for the necessary non-reference of fictional names should be semantic, yet the explanation should not rule out a priori the contingent non-reference of certain other empty names. In light of this, I argue that a name's semantic value needs to carry information about its referential potential. I claim that names do so by encoding information about the way they were introduced into discourse. Names that are fictional will be marked as being non-referential -- they will fail to refer as a matter of their semantics. In contrast, names that are contingently empty will be marked as referential, but they will be failed referential names that could have been successful. The reason, then, for the non-referential status of a fictional name, will be semantic, as our intuitions suggest it should be. Likewise, the reason for the non-referential status of other empty names, those created by acts of failed attempts to refer, will be metaphysical, again, in keeping with our intuitions. (shrink)

This is what I hope is an illuminating, and to a certain degree, novel exposition of Montague Grammar. It is against many standard interpretations, and perhaps even against things Montague himself says at times. However, it makes more sense of how his various commitments fit together in a systematic way. Why, for instance, is it called "Montague Grammar" rather than "Montague Semantics," and what role does his commitment to Fregeanism plays in his conception of language? It is clear that he (...) is committed to the idea that function application is the fundamental mode of semantic composition, and that he is committed to an intensional framework. However, intensions have, since Carnap, been understood as nearly conceptually equivalent to functions from possible worlds to sets of individuals. But, in truth, possible worlds semantics is just dressed up extensional semantics. There are just more objects to go around to serve as inputs for functions, whatever we think of their ontological status. That is, possible worlds semantics is really a semantic reduction of intensional semantics achieved by expanding our ontological commitments. It would be difficult to make sense of Montague's strong commitment to Fregean semantics, if his notion of intension was that of Carnap's. According to my interpretation, Montague's notion of intension must be distinct from the version adopted by possible world semantics. Montague took seriously the idea that intensional semantics was something quite different from extensionalist semantics. The first was not reducible to the second semantically speaking. Just as Frege believed that meaning consisted of both sense and reference, so too did Montague. However, just as Frege also believed, Montague thought that sense and reference were systematically related. As I illustrate, interpreting Montague as adopting a different notion of intension can also resolve the apparent problem of distinguishing the difference in meaning between intensional equivalents. It might also enable us to draw a distinction in epistemic logic between an agent having contradictory beliefs and believing contradictions. (shrink)

This was a public talk given in the spring of 2013 during sexual assault awareness week. I believe roughly 800 attended. The philosophy dept was NOT expecting that but at any rate, this is the gist: While there are many different motivations for raising questions about the Sexual Assault Awareness Movement, at least one motivation comes from feminist controversies about what counts as consensual sex. Historically, this controversy arose between those known as "anti-pornography feminists", and "sex positive feminists" whose proponents (...) had very different understandings of what counts as sexual autonomy for women. It is important to understand that questioning the current definitions of what counts as an instance of sexual assault does not entail an anti-feminist agenda. There is not a unified feminist front on this topic. To assume otherwise is to risk silencing victims of sexual assault even further by imposing a particular conception of sexual assault upon them that they might themselves reject. If we are to properly address sexual assault as feminists we must listen to victims of sexual assault and develop a theory of consent in tandem with victims' own understanding of that concept. (shrink)

The Fine-Tuning Argument (FTA) is an argument put forward by proponents of theism, in which they attempt to make a case from Bayesian inference, that the [apparently] fine tuned constants of our universe is more likely given a theistic hypothesis, than a naturalistic one. Some naturalists argue that this is not the case given the Multiverse (MV) hypothesis (that our universe is one of a plurality in a broader multiverse). The MV hypothesis is rejected by theists who argue it commits (...) what Ian Hacking (1987) referred to as “the Inverse Gambler’s Fallacy”. In this paper I will attempt to demonstrate [what I perceive as] the errors in logic made by theists first in positing that a life-permitting universe (LPU) is improbable under the naturalistic-single-universe (NSU) hypothesis, and subsequently the errors in arguing that the MV hypothesis commits what Ian Hacking (1987) referred to as “the Inverse Gambler’s Fallacy”. First, I will attempt to demonstrate why an LPU is not improbable under the NSU. Second, I will attempt to demonstrate that if we ascribe a probability value to our LPU, we can directly infer either an MV or the existence of “Deeper Laws” (Barnes, 2020) from that probability value. (shrink)

Recently, and rather startlingly, given the history of the debate about a name's semantic content, some claim that names are in fact predicates -- predicativism. Some of predicativists claim that a name's semantic content involves the concept of being called -- calling accounts that have been traditionally meta-linguistic. However, these accounts fail to be informative. Inspired by Burge's claim that proper names are literally true of the individuals that have them, Fara develops a non-meta-linguistic concept of being called analysed in (...) terms of property attributions. I offer seven separate reasons for rejecting the account, one of which is that Fara's development of the view, at least, has implausible consequences for a theory of name acquisition. I sketch an alternative account of name acquisition that is meta-linguistic in nature, but because it is not offered as a theory of name's content, the standard worries fail to apply. In fact, I argue that an account of name acquisition must be meta-linguistic, and therefore a more nuanced conception of meta-linguistic speech acts is required. The account invokes Austin's performative-constative distinction. It analyses name acquisition as due to performative meta-linguistic speech acts. (shrink)

Standard rigid designator accounts of a name’s meaning have trouble accommodating what I will call a descriptive name’s “shifty” character -- its tendency to shift its referent over time in response to a discovery that the conventional referent of that name does not satisfy the description with which that name was introduced. I offer a variant of Kripke’s historical semantic theory of how names function, a variant that can accommodate the character of descriptive names while maintaining rigidity for proper names. (...) A descriptive name’s shiftiness calls for a semantic account of names that makes their semantic values bipartite, containing both traditional semantic contents and what I call "modes of introduction." Both parts of a name's semantic value are derived from the way a name gets introduced into discourse -- from what I refer to as its "context of introduction." Making a name's semantic value bipartite in this way allows for a definite description to be a part of proper name's meaning without thereby sacrificing that name’s status as a rigid designator. On my view, a definite description is part of descriptive name’s mode of introduction. That is, it is part of what determines the content assigned to that name. As it turns out, making a definite description part of a descriptive name’s mode of introduction allows for that definite description to play the role of a mere reference-fixer regarding that name’s content, as Kripke would have it. However, my account allows a definite description to fix a descriptive name’s content actively over time, thereby explaining its inherent shiftiness. (shrink)

This book is about whether reference to an individual is the essential feature of a proper name -- a widely held view -- or whether referring to an individual is simply a contingent feature. Three questions need resolving, then. First, whether all names in particular contexts are themselves referring devices. Second, whether recognizing names types and the consequent issue of their ambiguity can be resolved simply by distinguishing between name types and tokens thereof. Last, whether names are ever referential in (...) the way Kripke and others have convincingly argued. The answer to first two questions is negative. The answer to third is a qualified "yes." I explain the theory that allows for these answers in the manuscript, as well as addressing other issues such as: the problem of fictional names; descriptive names; empty names; what an act of naming consists of; an account of ontological commitment; and the data that suggests that names are predicates. (shrink)

It is often argued that the ability to imagine what others think and feel is central to moral functioning. In this paper, I consider to what extent this is true. I argue that neither the ability to think of others as having representational mental states, nor the ability to imagine being in their position, is necessary for moral understanding or moral motivation. I go on to argue that the area in which thinking about others’ thoughts and feelings appears to play (...) the largest role is that of supererogatory actions. Being able to get on well with others seems to be importantly predicated on our ability to think about their thoughts and feelings and being able to take up their perspective. However, when it comes to grosser moral norms and restrictions, such as harm norms, there is little reason to think that thinking about others’ thoughts and feelings plays a central role in understanding such norms or being motivated by them. (shrink)

According to EJ Lowe, diachronic necessity and synchronic necessity are logically independent. Diachronic possibility concerns what could happen to an object over time and therefore concerns future possibilities for that object given its past history. Synchronic possibility concerns what is possible for an object in the present or at a past present moment. These are logically independent, given certain assumptions. While it may true that because I am 38, it is impossible diachronically for me to be 30 (at least once (...) we restrict the degree of relevant possibility), it is possible, given that at some point in the past, I may have been conceived slightly earlier than I was, that I am now 37. Likewise, it is possible diachronically for me to be somewhere other than where I am, but given that one object cannot be in different places at the same time, it is impossible for me now to be somewhere other than where I am, and this is true at each past point in my history too. There are, then, two axis upon which to distinguish what is and is not possible: tensed possibilities and possibilities of degree, which include nomic, metaphysical, and logical necessities, among others. I examine the interactions between these possibilities and I come to the conclusion that logical necessity is not in fact logical necessity simpliciter. Whether something is logically necessary depends upon tensed possibilities. I argue that while synchronic logical necessity entails diachronic logical necessity, the reverse entailment does not hold. I explore the consequences of this for certain philosophical debates in semantics including the concept of rigid designation, and descriptive names. (shrink)

Psychopaths are the bugbears of moral philosophy. They are often used as examples of perfectly rational people who are nonetheless willing to do great moral wrong without regret; hence the disorder has received the epithet “moral insanity” (Pritchard 1835). But whereas philosophers have had a great deal to say about psychopaths’ glaring and often horrifying lack of moral conscience, their aesthetic capacities have received hardly any attention, and are generally assumed to be intact or even enhanced. Popular culture often portrays (...) psychopaths in ways that suggest a great gap between their amorality and their aesthetic sensitivity. In The Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1991), Hannibal Lecter appreciates fine art, fashion, and wine, while he eats his way through his enemies. His real-life counterparts, however, do not demonstrate the same sensitivities. There is no evidence that psychopaths are capable of real aesthetic appreciation, and some evidence that they are not. In this paper, we set out the limited evidence for the psychopath’s deficient aesthetic sensitivity. The best explanations of what the psychopath lacks turn out to implicate abilities that are also thought to be central to moral thought and action: an impaired capacity for empathizing with others and deficient ability to take a disinterested attitude towards things (socalled distance). We endorse the latter explanation. Thinking about what underlies the psychopath’s deficient aesthetic understanding turns out to throw light on a difficult problem: the connection between ethics and aesthetics. (shrink)

This article approaches the reflections of Paul Ricoeur regarding testimony to befound in his work Memory, History,Forgetting. Through reading of this work, we pos-tulate the idea that to consider others as readers or spectators of our actions forms animportant part of the construction of human subjectivity. The thesis that subjectivityarises as a discourse towards the other is proposed here, inasmuch as human experi-ences are transmitted narratively in the form of testimony, which stands as an examplefor the understanding of the experiences (...) of the past. (shrink)

The philosophical foundation of human rights has become more explicit, given that the presumption of peace in the Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights demands further development, both in its definition and in the conditions or requirements for its fulfillment. Based on the discussion of the human right to peace, we propose to reinterpret the Arendtine expression “The right to have rights” as the philosophical formula that calls for the ascension of peace to a legal enunciation; this is (...) based on the critique of Human Rights, the valuation of human singularity, and on believing in the merging of actions and discourses that characterize Hannah Arendt’s politics.Keywords: peace, human rights, stateless persons, philosophical foundation, the human right to peace. (shrink)

Nonviolent movements mainly characterized by not taking part in and resist-ing violent practices developed no multiple levels have had a significant contribution inputting an end to wars and oppressive systems. However, it is worth asking whether theyhave, consequently, contributed to the construction of peace. This article, centered onGandhi, reflects upon the general contribution of nonviolence for historical changes ar-ticulated through Paul Ricoeur’s critique and interpretation of the influence of these move-ments in the intricate relationship between politics and violence. -/- .

This paper concerns two topics which, I hope to show, are vitally connected. One is the distinctive importance of appellate adjudication in the legal system of United States. The other is the workings of entangled concepts in the law. That appellate adjudication is important in some sense may seem obvious to everybody (to a few it will seem obvious that appellate adjudication is unimportant). My point will be that via appellate adjudication courts engineer entangled legal concepts, and it is this (...) aspect of appellate adjudication that is both crucial and unique to it, at least in the U.S. legal system. Entangled concepts intertwine description and evaluation; entangled legal concepts facilitate and constrain legal reasoning and legal judgments, in ways that distinguish legal adjudication from pure politics or the implementation of public policy. In the paper itself, I demonstrate more fully what it is for a legal concept to be an entangled one and how entanglement supplies guidance in adjudication. I also broach how entanglement in legal concepts and engineered entanglement have significance for legal pedagogy; appellate adjudication; the respective roles of the judiciary, the legislature, and administrative agencies; the erosion of the distinction between so-called public law and so-called private law; and our understanding of the fact/value distinction. -/- Understanding more specifically the nature of the entanglement at work in appellate adjudication requires much closer scrutiny of appellate opinions than we usually give. I examine carefully the background to MacPherson v. Buick and Justice Benjamin Cardozo’s particular re-engineering of ‘negligence’ and ‘duty,’ entangled concepts belonging to the same legal taxonomy. Via this scrutiny, I demonstrate the flaws in the engineering of some concepts in the buildup to MacPherson, and how these flaws led to those concepts’ collapse and ultimately to Cardozo’s re-engineering of ‘negligence’ and ‘duty.’ I also explain why careful understanding of the engineering of entangled legal concepts can make us appreciate that even the most successful of such concepts have within in them the grounds for their own obsolescence. -/- To show that conceptual engineering of entangled concepts occurs outside the context of state common law, I also examine how the U.S. Supreme Court has engineered ‘commerce’, itself an entangled concept. The recent decision regarding the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act makes this example particularly timely. This secondary example also clarifies the nature of entanglement and engineering it. -/- This article concerns appellate adjudication in any area of law. I maintain that whether we are dealing with private law or public law, common law or statutory law or Constitutional law, the defining feature of appellate adjudication is its continuous engineering and reengineering of entangled legal concepts. The merger of fact and value in these concepts explains both the fertility of appellate adjudication and the constraints judges work with when they work with legal concepts that entangle fact and value. (shrink)

Some are skeptical about the possibility of objectivity in law. In this article, I argue that common law legal adjudication can yield objective judgments, based on a legitimate conception of objectivity, one that shares in the kind of objectivity available to scientific and ethical judgments.

Critics of Institutional Review Board (IRB) practices often base their charges on the claim that IRB review began with and is premised upon a "medical model" of research, and hence a "medical model" of risk. Based on this claim, they charge that IRB review, especially in the institutional Reviw boardsocial and behavioral sciences, has experienced "mission creep". This paper argues that this line of critique is fundamentally misguided. While it remains unclear what critics mean by "medical model", the point of (...) contemporary human research subjects regulation remains the same across all domains of research. That point is to protect the autonomy of human subjects, primarily through the use of informed consent. In fields as different as biomedical self-experimentation and ethnography there is the danger of losing sight of subjects' autonomy. Critiques of the so-called medical model are sometimes libertarian and sometimes utilitarian in spirit. Either way, such critiques have not yet demonstrated that these philosophical schools of thought have the resources to guard against the potential risk of harm that lexically prioritizing the autonomy of human subjects does. Precisely because IRB review recognizes that human subjects research occurs in different fields using different research methods, IRB review requires researchers to explain their particular methods, the particular risks of harm created by these methods, and the implementation of procedures by which subjects may autonomously consent to precisely those risks. (shrink)

Given the wide the range of legally available options for end-of-life care in recent decades: from aggressive, even experimental, treatment to active euthanasia, our ethical analysis struggles to keep pace with technology and law. In this essay I show that the principle of double effect (PDE) remains, and will continue to be, a useful tool for ethical analysis of end-of-life care. According to PDE, an agent may ethically perform an act that s/he foresees will have a significant bad effect (e.g., (...) death) in addition to a good effect (e.g., pain relief) only if s/he does not intend the bad effect, the act is not bad for reasons other than its causing the bad effect, and there is a proportionately serious reason to act. Following a brief explanation of PDE and preliminary considerations in favor of counting death as a bad effect, I analyze several end-of-life options in terms of the principle. I begin with those that enjoy significant consensus among proponents of PDE: active euthanasia, “passive euthanasia,” and palliative care. Then I consider the less-straightforward cases of drug provision, refusing food and water, and terminal sedation, arguing that participation in such actions is justifiable via PDE only under very limited conditions. (shrink)

—Commentary on Mikhalevich and Powell on invertebrate minds.— Whether or not arthropods are sentient, they can have moral standing. Appeals to sentience are not necessary and retard progress in human treatment of other species, including invertebrates. Other increasingly well-documented aspects of invertebrate minds are pertinent to their welfare. Even if arthropods are not sentient, they can be agents whose goals—and therefore interests—can be frustrated. This kind of agency is sufficient for moral status and requires that we consider their welfare.

An increasing number of European research projects return, or plan to return, individual genomic research results (IRR) to participants. While data access is a data subject’s right under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and many legal and ethical guidelines allow or require participants to receive personal data generated in research, the practice of returning results is not straightforward and raises several practical and ethical issues. Existing guidelines focusing on return of IRR are mostly project-specific, only discuss which results to (...) return, or were developed outside Europe. To address this gap, we analysed existing normative documents identified online using inductive content analysis. We used this analysis to develop a checklist of steps to assist European researchers considering whether to return IRR to participants. We then sought feedback on the checklist from an interdisciplinary panel of European experts (clinicians, clinical researchers, population-based researchers, biobank managers, ethicists, lawyers and policy makers) to refine the checklist. The checklist outlines seven major components researchers should consider when determining whether, and how, to return results to adult research participants: 1) Decide which results to return; 2) Develop a plan for return of results; 3) Obtain participant informed consent; 4) Collect and analyse data; 5) Confirm results; 6) Disclose research results; 7) Follow-up and monitor. Our checklist provides a clear outline of the steps European researchers can follow to develop ethical and sustainable result return pathways within their own research projects. Further legal analysis is required to ensure this checklist complies with relevant domestic laws. (shrink)

The “incel” phenomenon began after 2010 when like-minded young – mostly straight white – men started to share similar thoughts and worldviews on certain digital platforms and online forums leading to an exclusive community. The phenomenon is characterized by misogynism, racism and homophobia. The most extreme forms of the phenomenon have led to violent hate crimes. The aim of this paper is to understand this phenomenon and analyze it by applying the echo chamber theory.

The presented study introduces a new theoretical model of collapse for social, cultural, or political systems. Based on the current form of quantum anthropology conceptualized by Heidi Ann Russell, further development of this field is provided. The new theoretical model is called the spiral model of collapses, and is suggested to provide an analytical framework for collapses in social, cultural, and political systems. The main conclusions of this study are: 1) The individual crises in the period before a collapse (...) of social, cultural, and political systems form the trajectory of a conical helix similar to a vortex. 2) The occurrences of crises in the period before a collapse have the shape of the trajectory on the surface of the circular cone with a convex wall narrowing up to its peak. The shape of this cone is based on the Fibonacci sequence coiled into the three-dimensional space. 3) The constant circular movement along the trajectory of crises can occur in exceptional situations in the development of social, cultural, and political systems; however, such a state is always temporary. In such cases, the trajectory of the crisis does not follow the Fibonacci sequence, but the shape of a regular helix. Remaining on the trajectory of a regular helix in the long-term is highly improbable for social, cultural, and political systems. 4) The creation of new potentialities after the final collapse of a system is explained by the conception of topological inversion, when the heretofore embodied part of the energy-information field returns to the global, wave-particle energy-information potential. 5) The global, wave-particle energy-information potential is a source of energy-information for future embodiments in the sense of the future collapses of wave functions. (shrink)

The Self Beyond Itself is a defense of an incompatibilist, hard determinist view of free will. Free will is here defined in a very strong sense, as the existence of actions that do not result from any causes other than the agent herself. The question of how to define free will, especially whether it consists in the ability to do otherwise, and what the ability to do otherwise amounts to, is not given much consideration in this book.Ravven frames her work (...) in a broad historical context. The kind of determinism she favors is to be found in Aristotle, Maimonides, and Spinoza, as she interprets them. The main culprit responsible for the Western conception of free will is Augustine. Ravven finds elements of Augustine in a number of theories of free will, including those of Descartes and Kant. In her view, any proponent of free will is an unwitting Augustinian.Ravven’s tendency to see an Augustinian legacy in later views of free will result in her making some fairly implausible claims. Ravven .. (shrink)

In a recent publication Tom Douglas and Katrien Devolder have proposed a new account of genetic parenthood, building on the work of Heidi Mertes. Douglas and Devolder’s account aims to solve, among other things, the question of who are the genetic parents of an individual created through somatic cell nuclear transfer (i.e. cloning): (a) the nuclear DNA provider or (b) the progenitors of the nuclear DNA provider. Such a question cannot be answered by simply appealing to the folk account (...) of genetic parenthood, according to which the genetic parents of an individual are those individuals who produced the egg and sperm, respectively, which fused to create the embryo. It cannot be so as in cloning there is no fertilization as such. In this article I critically examine Douglas and Devolder’s new account of genetic parenthood and demonstrate that it is vulnerable to counterexamples that exploit the lack of a condition specifying that genetic parents should cause a child’s coming into existence. (shrink)

Relação e Efeitos Bioquímico-nutricionais Sobre o Aborto em Vacas -/- -/- E. I. C. da Silva Departamento de Agropecuária – IFPE Campus Belo Jardim -/- ABORTO EM BOVINOS -/- INTRODUÇÃO -/- O aborto é a expulsão involuntária do produto da gestação entre os 45 dias de gestação e os 250 dias. O aborto, tem diferentes origens, as mais frequentes são de caráter infeccioso, daqui, a pouca atenção dada aos abortos de outra origem, em especial os causados por problemas nutricionais. O (...) aborto é considerado um sinal inequívoco de um complexo de origem multifatorial (MONCADA, 2001). -/- 16.1 Contaminação dos alimentos -/- Um agente etiológico relacionado com o aborto nutricional são os alimentos contaminados por micotoxinas, estes são elementos tóxicos produzidos por fungos que crescem em plantas, fenos, silos, grãos, subprodutos e outros alimentos armazenados; existem diferentes tipos de micotoxinas, podem incluir-se, por exemplo, aflatoxinas e os metabolitos tóxicos produzidos por Aspergillus e Penicillium. São derivados difuranocumarínicos que atravessam a barreira placentária provocando cirrose hepática. Também provocam alterações na coagulação sanguínea devido a alterações na protrombina, fator VII e X, e possivelmente fator IX; interferem no metabolismo da síntese das proteínas devido a uma modificação no DNA padrão e RNA polimerase na fase de translação, e ácidos nucleicos. -/- Zearalenona: produzida por Fusarium graminearum, roseum e outros, produz perda de peso, exsudação vaginal, mortes embrionárias e abortos, uma vez que as lesões estão confinadas ao aparelho reprodutor, apresentam-se edema e hiperplasia do útero além de atrofia do ovário. -/- Trichotecenos: produzidos especialmente por Fusarium tricintum, tem ação citotóxica em tecidos de rápido crescimento e com rápida substituição, como a medula óssea, gônadas e tecido linfático. São teratogênicas e embriotóxicas. -/- -/- Ochratoxina: é embriotóxica, provocando abortos em vacas leiteiras. O trevo branco, e em menor quantidade o trevo amarelo, possuem cumarina, que sob a ação de certos fungos se transforma em dicumarina, substância com ação anticoagulante e tóxica que impede a formação de protrombina ou fator II no fígado; devido à sua competência com a vitamina K que intervém na síntese da protrombina, atravessa a barreira placentária, apresentando-se nascimentos de animais com hemorragias fatais em gengivas e umbigos. -/- A deficiência de manganês inibe a coagulação sanguínea, já que a protrombina e outras proteínas associadas ao fenômeno são glicoproteínas que requerem glicerol- transferase, que contém manganês, para sua síntese. -/- Esse é um dos elementos de grande importância na nutrição animal, uma vez que a qualidade do alimento, bem como a conservação do mesmo estão relacionados com a saúde e o bem-estar dos animais. Sendo assim, os pastos acometidos por fungos devem ser tratados com o auxílio de um agrônomo que avaliará as vantagens e/ou desvantagens da aplicação de fungicidas no pasto. Com as forragens em campo tratadas, deve-se atentar-se ao seu armazenamento, caso esse material seja disponível em feno e silagem. Porém, forragens ensiladas e fenadas são mais resistentes ao ataque de fungos, uma vez que no processo essas perdem quase senão toda a quantidade de água presente em sua composição. -/- 16.2 Minerais -/- 16.2.1 Manganês (Mn) -/- O manganês forma a parte primordial do superóxido dismutase, enzima localizada a nível mitocondrial. A enzima exibe grande atividade antioxidante dentro dos organismos, aumenta sua atividade paralelamente com a produção de progesterona no corpo lúteo dos mamíferos razão pela qual, considera-se que exerce um papel fundamental na manutenção da função de suporte da gestação, esteroides e integridade desta estrutura em muitas espécies animais. -/- O carácter antioxidante destas moléculas também foi evidenciado a nível do endométrio durante o curso normal dos ciclos estrais, o que favorece a regulação dos mesmos e a preparação destes tecidos para suportar e manter uma gravidez. Por esta razão, se houver uma deficiência deste elemento, haverá abortos. O Mn também está relacionado com o desenvolvimento e crescimento dos tecidos ósseos e cartilaginosos, por serem componentes importantes das enzimas galactotransferase e glicosiltransferase responsáveis por estimular a produção de muco polissacarídeo e glicoproteínas primordiais para o desenvolvimento de tais estruturas. -/- -/- Contribuições insuficientes do elemento na dieta têm sido relacionados diretamente com anestro, retorno irregular ao estro, pobre desenvolvimento folicular, cistos ovarianos, atraso na ovulação, redução nas taxas de concepção e aumento nas taxas de aborto entre outras. -/- Para que o criador possa se livrar de complicações que possuem relação direta com o Mn, deve-se fornecer forragens que possuem no mínimo 40 mg/kg de MS em sua composição e não mais que 1000 ppm (nível tóxico do Mn). Os métodos de suplementação são diversos, entre eles via alimento, água, ração ou com o sulfato de manganês injetável no animal, nota essa última opção torna-se mais cara, sendo a via alimentar a mais barata e acessível na propriedade. -/- Se as plantas da fazenda forem deficientes em Mn o agricultor pode optar pela adubação mineral de todo o terreno com o mineral e outros, desde que seja auxiliado pela consultoria de um agrônomo, uma vez que excessos podem tornar o solo inviável e podem ocasionar intoxicações no animal pela ingestão das plantas ou da água que contém excessos de minerais. -/- 16.2.2 Iodo (I) -/- O iodo (I) é o elemento constitutivo principal das hormonas tireóideas (tiroxina e triiodotironina) relacionadas com a termorregulação, metabolismo intermediário, reprodução, crescimento e desenvolvimento, hematopoese, circulação sanguínea e funcionamento neuromuscular. A nível reprodutivo, as deficiências deste elemento são reconhecidas por supressão da apresentação de cios, aumento do número de natimortos, abortos, aumento de casos de retenção de membranas fetais, gestações prolongadas etc. (MONCADA, 2001). -/- Foi demonstrado que o I e o selênio Se interagem na alteração da função da glândula tireoide. A adição de tiroxina exógena provoca um aumento significativo do tamanho e crescimento de fetos e membranas fetais, acompanhado de desenvolvimento acelerado a nível pulmonar e tecido adiposo. Níveis deficientes de I durante a gestação tardia induzem baixos níveis de hormônios nos recém-nascidos, o que aumenta a susceptibilidade à hipotermia e diminui notavelmente a viabilidade da cria. -/- As deficiências de I geralmente ocorrem quando os animais consomem pastos que possuem substâncias bociógenas, contidas por exemplo em Panicum coloratum e Paspalum dilatatum, assim como no Trifolium repens. Deficiências de I induzem hipotiroidismo, redução da taxa metabólica basal, atraso do crescimento, problemas cardíacos e redução das secreções apocrinas. -/- O I deve ser oferecido em quantidades entre 0,25 e 0,88 mg/kg diárias e que não ultrapassem as 50 ppm para todas as categorias animais. Pode-se suplementar os animais com I através dos métodos convencionais conhecidos como a administração de volumoso, concentrado, iodo presente na água ou via injetável. -/- O I ainda possui relação com o Se, e este não deve ser fornecido em quantidades que ultrapassem as 0,3 e 0,10 mg/kg de MS. Também pode-se evitar deficiências de Se mediante a injeção de selenito no animal em concentrações que não ultrapassem as 5 a 10 mg presentes no líquido da injeção. -/- 16.2.3 Cobalto (Co) e vitamina B12 -/- O Co é um componente essencial da vitamina B12. Os microrganismos ruminais são capazes de sintetizá-la, se houver a presença do Co. A enzima metilmalonil-CoA Mutase é essencial para o metabolismo do propionato e do succinato, isto é, com a regulação dos aportes de energia nos ruminantes. Sua deficiência, portanto, leva a uma deficiência energética, os sinais clínicos são semelhantes a um quadro subclínico de deficiência proteica e/ou energética. Quando o quadro se agrava aumenta-se a perda de peso, extrema inapetência, perda de massa muscular, abortos, anemia grave e até a morte. -/- O Co pode ser administrado aos animais via água, alimento ou injetável. A concentração permitida do mineral na dieta dos animais em qualquer idade ou categoria devem obedecer as 0,07 – 0,11 mg/kg de MS diariamente, o que evita todo e qualquer tipo de transtorno relacionada a deficiência do mesmo. -/- A deficiência de Co gera uma deficiência automática da vitamina B12. Possui 4,5% de Co em sua composição. A escassez dessa vitamina pode ser observada em animais que estão fracos, diminuem o consumo de alimentos e que apresentem anemia de todo caráter. Ocorre nas formas de adenosilcobalamina (figura 1) e metilcobalamina que estão presentes em plantas e no tecidos dos animais. A função geral dessa vitamina é a síntese de células vermelhas e da manutenção da integridade do sistema nervoso. -/- A deficiência de vitamina B12 impede a formação de hemoglobina e ocorrem lesões a nível do SNC, o que afeta seriamente o metabolismo de carboidratos, lipídios e ácidos nucléicos, logo afetando o desenvolvimento fetal e aumentando o risco de abortos. -/- REFERÊNCIAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS -/- BARRENHO, Gonçalo José Pinheiro. Nutrição e fertilidade em bovinos de leite. 2016. Dissertação de Mestrado. Universidade de Évora. -/- BERCHIELLI, Telma Teresinha; PIRES, Alexandre Vaz; OLIVEIRA, SG de. Nutrição de ruminantes. Jaboticabal: funep, 2006. -/- BINDARI, Yugal Raj et al. Effects of nutrition on reproduction-A review. Adv. Appl. Sci. Res, v. 4, n. 1, p. 421-429, 2013. -/- BOLAND, M. P. Efectos nutricionales en la reproducción del ganado. XXXI Jornadas Uruguayas de Buiatría, 2003. -/- DEHNING, R. Interrelaciones entre nutrición y fertilidad. In: Curso Manejo de la Fertilidad Bovina18-23 May 1987Medellín (Colombia). CICADEP, Bogotá (Colombia) Universidad de La Salle, Medellín (Colombia) Instituto Colombiano Agropecurio, Bogotá (Colombia) Sociedad Alemana de Cooperación Técnica-GTZ (Alemania), 1987. -/- DE LUCA, Leonardo J. Nutrición y fertilidad en el ganado lechero. XXXVI Jornadas Uruguayas de Buiatría, 2008. -/- DIAS, Juliano Cesar et al. Alguns aspectos da interação nutrição-reprodução em bovinos: energia, proteína, minerais e vitaminas. PUBVET, v. 4, p. Art. 738-743, 2010. -/- FRAZER, Grant S. Bovine theriogenology. Veterinary Clinics: Food Animal Practice, v. 21, n. 2, p. xiii-xiv, 2005. -/- GORDON, Ian. Controlled reproduction in farm animals series. Nova Iorque: CAB International, 1996. -/- MAAS, John. Relationship between nutrition and reproduction in beef cattle. The Veterinary Clinics of North America. Food Animal Practice, v. 3, n. 3, p. 633-646, 1987. -/- MONCADA, A. H. Implicaciones metabólicas en el aborto bovino. Seminario de Nutrición, Reproducción y Clínica de Bovinos. Universidad de Antioquia, Medellin. 2001. -/- PASA, Camila. Relação reprodução animal e os minerais. Biodiversidade, v. 9, n. 1, 2011. -/- PAVARINI, Saulo P. et al. Anomalias congênitas em fetos bovinos abortados no sul do Brasil. Pesquisa Veterinária Brasileira, v. 28, n. 3, p. 149-154, 2008. -/- RIVERA, Hermelinda. Causas frecuentes de aborto bovino. Revista de Investigaciones Veterinarias del Perú, v. 12, n. 2, p. 117-122, 2001. -/- SARTORI, Roberto; GUARDIEIRO, Monique Mendes. Fatores nutricionais associados à reprodução da fêmea bovina. Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia, v. 39, p. 422-432, 2010. -/- SHORT, Robert E.; ADAMS, D. C. Nutritional and hormonal interrelationships in beef cattle reproduction. Canadian Journal of Animal Science, v. 68, n. 1, p. 29-39, 1988. -/- TEIXEIRA, J. C.; TEIXEIRA, LFAC. Alimentação de bovinos leiteiros. FAEPE, Lavras, 1997. (shrink)

RELAÇÃO E EFEITOS BIOQUÍMICO-NUTRICIONAIS SOBRE OS CISTOS OVARIANOS EM VACAS Emanuel Isaque Cordeiro da Silva Departamento de Agropecuária – IFPE Campus Belo Jardim [email protected] ou [email protected] WhatsApp: (82)98143-8399 11. CISTOS OVÁRICOS Os cistos são cavidades anormais que às vezes possuem conteúdo de fluido biológico, ou podem ser cavidades ocas, com paredes sólidas refratárias à maioria dos compostos endógenos. Formam-se como alterações patológicas das células luteais ou foliculares do estroma ovárico. A presença de cistos altera o ciclo estral e obriga a (...) realização de tratamentos exógenos para remover o mesmo, fazendo com que a atividade cíclica da gônada retome sua normalidade (HATLER, et al. 2006). Alguns fatores de origem nutricional, tanto por deficiência de alguns compostos, como por excesso no fornecimento de outros, têm sido considerados como causas potenciais dos cistos, entre os principais fatores nutricionais podemos citar: 11.1 Fito-toxidade/fitoestrogênios Compostos vegetais, tais como plantas com elevado teor de flavonoides estrogênicos, encontram-se sob a forma de glicosídeos e têm a capacidade para modificar os processos reprodutivos devido à sua semelhança com os núcleos esteroides de hormônios femininos; são substâncias estruturais e funcionalmente semelhantes ao 17-ß-estradiol ou que produz efeitos estrogênicos (MENDOZA, et al. 2001). Pouco se sabe sobre os estrogênios presentes nas plantas e os níveis de fito-toxidade dos mesmos, logo na prática torna-se algo difícil de ser observado e atacado. Porém, a nível laboratorial, caso haja alguma complicação que afete o animal para além das capacidades reprodutivas, um diagnóstico aprofundado é o mais indicado. 11.2 Minerais 11.2.1 Iodo (I) Alimentos com baixo teor de iodo, provocam estros silenciosos nos animais e aumentam a incidência de quistos ováricos. O I é parte da molécula de tiroxina que estimula a produção de ATP na mitocôndria, a deficiência reduz a captação de oxigênio o que determina uma diminuição no metabolismo energético. Na tireoide existe um complexo de proteína-iodo, chamado tiroglobulina, essa molécula é uma glicoproteína. A maioria do I é reduzida a iodo inorgânico no trato gastrointestinal e a sua absorção é imediata. A função principal da tireoide é acumular I e fixá-lo, formando hormônios da tireoide sob o controle da adenohipófise por secreção (TSH). O I é convertido em iodeto no trato intestinal e então é transportado para a tireoide, aqui as células foliculares o prendem com efetividade através de um processo de transporte ativo, contra um gradiente de concentração, estimulado por TSH. Uma vez que as hormonas da tireoide controlam o metabolismo, uma deficiência em I diminui a taxa metabólica do organismo, isso afeta indiretamente a reprodução, uma vez que o funcionamento irregular da tireoide afeta a formação de lipídios, esses necessários para a produção de hormônios esteroides (estrogênios) e estes por sua vez influenciam a síntese das prostaglandinas F2-alfa necessária para o processo de luteólise o que faz com que o corpo lúteo não se rompa, perdure e forme um cisto. O I presente no alimento do animal deve estar presente e obedecer o intervalo de 0,34 a 0,88 mg/kg de MS em todos os alimentos que o animal viera a ingerir, seja forragens ou rações. A forma de suplementação são as mais conhecidas, via volumoso, concentrado, água ou pelo sistema SMI. 11.2.2 Manganês (Mn) Níveis elevados de manganês na dieta levam à depleção da absorção de ferro, bem como de outros minerais necessários para a síntese, metabolismo, ativação de enzimas e absorção de outros minerais. Essas interações com outros minerais e o papel do excesso de manganês na inibição da síntese dos precursores de hormonas necessárias para a reprodução, bem como dos metabolitos gerados durante o desdobramento ruminal são representados de forma indireta. Para além do efeito antagônico com outros minerais e enzimas, níveis elevados de manganês provocam uma alteração na população da flora ruminal, o que prejudica a produção de ácido propiônico e butírico a nível ruminal, tendo um efeito negativo no metabolismo dos lipídios com uma subsequente baixa de energia (derivado do metabolismo graxo diminuído ou inibido) e também da síntese de ácidos graxos. Por esta última razão, ocorre uma diminuição na síntese das hormonas esteroides, as quais, não estando presentes em níveis adequados, geram problemas no ciclo estral, uma vez que estas hormonas são essenciais para a síntese das prostaglandinas (PGF2-α) que são necessários para a lise do corpo lúteo, com sua posterior persistência, terminando na formação de um cisto luteal. Como sempre falado nos capítulos dessa compilação de trabalhos, o composto Mn é mais um mineral imprescindível para a alimentação do animal, manutenção normal dos seus mecanismos fisiológicos e relações com outros minerais. Sua disponibilidade para o animal deve ser de 12 a 50 mg/kg de MS das forragens, ou a mesma quantidade no conteúdo da ração balanceada. É um elemento que pode ser colocado na água para absorção pelos animais ou através da suplementação mineral injetável (SMI). 11.2.3 Sódio (Na) Os sinais de deficiência de Na são inespecíficos, mas os mais expressivos são sobre o crescimento e produção leiteira. Numa diminuição do consumo de Na, o organismo ativa os mecanismos de conservação mediados pela liberação de aldosterona que aumenta a reabsorção a nível dos túmulos renais deste mineral. A deficiência de Na afeta a produção de muco cervical, com consequências como problemas na formação de espermatozoides e aumento das infecções uterinas. Dado que a deficiência de Na é rara, apenas os sintomas clínicos desta deficiência mineral podem ser vagamente descritos é k caso da dificuldade de concepção, distorcias e bezerros fracos ao nascimento, além da inatividade ovárica e maior incidência de retenção de placenta. As causas de tais alterações foram motivo de numerosos estudos com resultados contraditórios, as vacas com deficiência de energia no início da amamentação têm diminuição nas concentrações de hormona luteinizante (LH), isto conclui que a alteração ovárica seria determinada por uma alteração da liberação pulsátil de LH devido a uma deficiência energética aguda. A intensidade e a duração do estro são de importância fundamental para a IA nos bovinos. Ao ocorrer uma deficiência de sódio, aumenta-se a estabilização das membranas celulares impedindo que o corpo lúteo se lise, formando-se um cisto, que continuará com a produção de progesterona, levando, por fim, a um anestro patológico. O sódio é um elemento que deve estar disponível aos animais de forma à vontade, ou seja, esse mineral é combinado com o Cl, fazendo o balanceamento eletrolítico e disponibilizado para os animais pelo conhecido sal. Sua administração, como é em sistema à vontade, não é muito controlada, mas o produtor poderá fornecer as quantidades na mistura alimentar do animal, tendo um maior controle da absorção do mesmo pelos animais. Sendo assim, o Na deve ser fornecido em quantidades que obedeçam 0,10 a 0,18% da MS no caso das forrageiras, ou a mesma quantidade misturada no todo da ração, quantidade essa encontrada por meios de cálculos, ou que já vêm na composição da ração industrial. Estudos apontam que um animal deve ingerir cerca de 50 gramas de NaCl por dia, no caso do sódio estar presente em 39% da composição desse cloreto de sódio. REFERÊNCIAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS BARRENHO, Gonçalo José Pinheiro. Nutrição e fertilidade em bovinos de leite. 2016. Dissertação de Mestrado. Universidade de Évora. BINDARI, Yugal Raj et al. Effects of nutrition on reproduction-A review. Adv. Appl. Sci. Res, v. 4, n. 1, p. 421-429, 2013. BOLAND, M. P. Efectos nutricionales en la reproducción del ganado. XXXI Jornadas Uruguayas de Buiatría, 2003. CHAMBA OCHOA, Hermógenes René; BENÍTEZ GONZÁLEZ, Edgar Enrique; PESÁNTEZ CAMPOVERDE, Manuel Teodoro. Factores predisponentes para la enfermedad quística ovárica bovina y su efecto en la eficiencia reproductiva. Revista de Medicina Veterinaria, v. 1, n. 35, p. 17-28, 2017. DEHNING, R. Interrelaciones entre nutrición y fertilidad. In: Curso Manejo de la Fertilidad Bovina18-23 May 1987Medellín (Colombia). CICADEP, Bogotá (Colombia) Universidad de La Salle, Medellín (Colombia) Instituto Colombiano Agropecurio, Bogotá (Colombia) Sociedad Alemana de Cooperación Técnica-GTZ (Alemania), 1987. DE LUCA, Leonardo J. Nutrición y fertilidad en el ganado lechero. XXXVI Jornadas Uruguayas de Buiatría, 2008. DIAS, Juliano Cesar et al. Alguns aspectos da interação nutrição-reprodução em bovinos: energia, proteína, minerais e vitaminas. PUBVET, v. 4, p. Art. 738-743, 2010. FERNANDES, C. A. C. et al. Fatores predisponentes para cistos ovarianos em vacas da raça holandesa. Ars Veterinaria, v. 21, n. 2, p. 287-296, 2008. GORDON, Ian. Controlled reproduction in farm animals series. Nova Iorque: CAB International, 1996. HATLER, T. B. et al. Effect of a single injection of progesterone on ovarian follicular cysts in lactating dairy cows. The Veterinary Journal, v. 172, n. 2, p. 329-333, 2006. KESLER, D. J.; GARVERICK, H. A. Ovarian cysts in dairy cattle: a review. Journal of animal science, v. 55, n. 5, p. 1147-1159, 1982. MAAS, John. Relationship between nutrition and reproduction in beef cattle. The Veterinary Clinics of North America. Food Animal Practice, v. 3, n. 3, p. 633-646, 1987. MENDOZA, R. Muñoz et al. Parámetros reproductivos en vacas Holstein alimentadas con alfalfa alta en cumestrol. Archivos de zootecnia, v. 51, n. 195, p. 373-376, 2002. PASA, Camila. Relação reprodução animal e os minerais. Biodiversidade, v. 9, n. 1, 2011. SARTORI, Roberto; GUARDIEIRO, Monique Mendes. Fatores nutricionais associados à reprodução da fêmea bovina. Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia, v. 39, p. 422-432, 2010. SHORT, Robert E.; ADAMS, D. C. Nutritional and hormonal interrelationships in beef cattle reproduction. Canadian Journal of Animal Science, v. 68, n. 1, p. 29-39, 1988. THATCHER, W. W. et al. Strategies for improving fertility in the modern dairy cow. Theriogenology, v. 65, n. 1, p. 30-44, 2006. TEIXEIRA, J. C.; TEIXEIRA, LFAC. Alimentação de bovinos leiteiros. FAEPE, Lavras, 1997. YOSHIOKA, Koji; IWAMURA, Shokichi; KAMOMAE, Hideo. Changes of ovarian structures, plasma LH, FSH, progesterone and estradiol-17β in a cow with ovarian cysts showing spontaneous recovery and relapse. Journal of veterinary medical science, v. 60, n. 2, p. 257-260, 1998. (shrink)

RELAÇÃO E EFEITOS BIOQUÍMICO-NUTRICIONAIS SOBRE OS CIOS OU ESTROS SILENCIOSOS EM VACAS E. I. C. da Silva Departamento de Agropecuária – IFPE Campus Belo Jardim Departamento de Zootecnia – UFRPE sede CIOS OU ESTROS SILENCIOSOS EM BOVINOS INTRODUÇÃO Um cio ou "estro silencioso" ocorre quando as mudanças ováricas são normais, mesmo com ovulação, mas não há comportamento estral. Isso não deve ser confundido com um estro não observado devido a falha na detecção do mesmo. A ocorrência do cio ou "estro (...) silencioso" é mais frequente durante o primeiro e segundo ciclo pós-parto (25 a 40 dias pós-parto). O acesso ao comportamento de atividade estral geralmente é gradual e ocorre em várias horas. Assim, a intensidade do estro e o padrão típico de comportamento em uma determinada vaca, variará do começo ao fim do mesmo. O conhecimento dessas mudanças graduais do estro servem como sinais e podem ser usados pelo produtor para indicar se uma vaca está manifestando o início ou a finalização do estro. (FRAZER, 2005; GORDON, 1996). O fracasso da detecção do estro é o problema mais sério e generalizado que afeta a eficácia do serviço nas vacas. Vários fatores de manejo contribuem para o fracasso no diagnóstico do estro, mas a incapacidade de reconhecer os sinais do estro é uma causa comum. A detecção do estro é necessária para um programa de inseminação das vacas leiteiras e é a chave do uso bem sucedido da inseminação artificial (AI) (THATCHER et al., 2006). As temperaturas ambientes quentes ou muito frias reduzem o comprimento dos períodos estrais em algumas vacas, e incrementam as dificuldades na detecção do estro. Quando a vaca manifesta o estro, exibe padrões de comportamento que são distintamente diferenciados do descanso do ciclo estral. Relaciona-se com o estro, o maior desenvolvimento folicular ovárico e a descarga reforçada de estrogênio. O estrogênio, hormônio sexual do ovário, atua na vaca causando a indução do comportamento estral. Cios/estros silenciosos podem ser difíceis de se manifestarem na vaca, uma vez que torna-se muito difícil não observar uma vaca, que mesmo tendo um cio silencioso, aceitando a monta ou montando em outras, o muco que escorre pela vulva, o comportamento de micção frequente, etc. Vários fatores podem ocasionar essa manifestação ociosa do cio, porém a mais relevante é a nutricional, em especial com a deficiência ou exagero de minerais essenciais e intimamente relacionados com a reprodução. 9.1 Minerais 9.1.1 Fósforo (P) Dentro das deficiências minerais, o baixo nível de fósforo afeta os mecanismos energéticos relacionados com as manifestações corporais do cio. Os hábitos de comportamento típico de montar e deixar-se montar, o evento de caminhadas errantes em busca de companheiros sexuais unido ao baixo consumo de alimento durante as horas de estro, leva a atentar que, sob condições de deficiência mineral de fósforo, o animal não mostre seu comportamento sexual esperado, já que outros processos fisiológicos, todos relacionados com as funções autônomas, devem ser favorecidos. Sempre enfatizando a prevenção por afecções relacionadas aos minerais que possuem relação direta com a fertilidade e reprodução dos bovinos, a suplementação do P pode ocorrer de diversas maneiras, dentre elas o fornecimento de 1,43 mg/kg de MS do mineral na dieta dos animais, tendo uma taxa percentual de 0,17 a 0,59% de P presente em kg/MS para todas as categorias animais, o que previne ou combaterá quaisquer anomalias que viera a acometer o rebanho. A administração dessa quantidade pode ocorrer em sistemas de fornecimento via SMI (suplementação mineral injetável), via água, forragens ou via ração. 9.1.2 Manganês (Mn) A maioria dos efeitos de deficiência do Mn deve-se à sua função na síntese de muco polissacarídeo, estes são imprescindíveis na matriz orgânica dos ossos e dos dentes. Outra função do Mn é a participação nos processos de oxido-redução, respiração tecidular, formação do osso, reprodução e funções endócrinas. Os bovinos que têm uma baixa ingestão de manganês nas suas dietas podem ter uma puberdade tardia, baixas porcentagens de gravidez, uma acentuada tendência aos abortos e bezerros fracos ao nascer. Como sempre falado, todos os minerais são essenciais para a manutenção e normalidade do corpo e dos mecanismos fisiológicos do mesmo, logo, como o Mn não é diferente, sua participação na dieta do animal deve obedecer os 40 mg/kg de MS e nunca superior a 1000 ppm, as concentrações desse mineral são mais abundantes em forragens e sua via de suplementação pode ser através da ração balanceada com todas as quantidades estabelecidas de macro e micro minerais ou através do sistema SMI. 9.1.3 Cobre (Cu) Outro mineral relacionado com o cio ou estro silencioso é o cobre. As vacas que consomem pastos deficientes em cobre podem apresentar uma infertilidade associada a cios atrasados ou suprimidos, falhas na nidificação, reabsorções embrionárias e transtornos na espermatogênese nos machos. Os bovinos que consomem pastagens contendo menos que 3 mg Cu/kg MS por dia apresentam sinais de deficiência. As desordens reprodutivas relacionadas com o cobre (Cu) podem estar relacionadas a uma deficiência, bem como a uma interferência na sua utilização. A disponibilidade desse elemento pode ser reduzida pelo excesso de outros, como exemplo o molibdênio, enxofre, ferro, cálcio, zinco e cádmio (QUIROZ-ROCHA & BOUDA, 2001; KINCAID, 1999). O Cu é um elemento primordial como outro qualquer, sendo assim, sua administração aos animais deve obedecer aos parâmetros estabelecidos por instituições de pesquisa agropecuária que ditam um fornecimento de Cu entre 10-18 mg/kg de MS para todas as categorias animais. A via de suplementação do cobre pode ser diversa, mas as mais aceitas são pelas forragens, pelo sistema SMI ou através do concentrado balanceado industrial. O excesso de Cu gera Mo, e a relação entre ambos não deve ser superior à 20. Por fim, em geral, cio/estro silencioso se apresentará em deficiências de energia pelos altos requerimentos desta durante o período do mesmo, e quando se apresentam os desequilíbrios eletrolíticos, uma vez que a homeostase básica faz com que os processos de regulação bioquímica sejam prioritários para o indivíduo, ainda sobrepondo suas necessidades reprodutivas. REFERÊNCIAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS BARRENHO, Gonçalo José Pinheiro. Nutrição e fertilidade em bovinos de leite. 2016. Dissertação de Mestrado. Universidade de Évora. BERCHIELLI, Telma Teresinha; PIRES, Alexandre Vaz; OLIVEIRA, SG de. Nutrição de ruminantes. Jaboticabal: funep, 2006. BINDARI, Yugal Raj et al. Effects of nutrition on reproduction-A review. Adv. Appl. Sci. Res, v. 4, n. 1, p. 421-429, 2013. BOLAND, M. P. Efectos nutricionales en la reproducción del ganado. XXXI Jornadas Uruguayas de Buiatría, 2003. DEHNING, R. Interrelaciones entre nutriión y fertilidad. In: Curso Manejo de la Fertilidad Bovina18-23 May 1987Medellín (Colombia). CICADEP, Bogotá (Colombia) Universidad de La Salle, Medellín (Colombia) Instituto Colombiano Agropecurio, Bogotá (Colombia) Sociedad Alemana de Cooperación Técnica-GTZ (Alemania), 1987. DE LUCA, Leonardo J. Nutrición y fertilidad en el ganado lechero. XXXVI Jornadas Uruguayas de Buiatría, 2008. DIAS, Juliano Cesar et al. Alguns aspectos da interação nutrição-reprodução em bovinos: energia, proteína, minerais e vitaminas. PUBVET, v. 4, p. Art. 738-743, 2010. FRAZER, Grant S. Bovine theriogenology. Veterinary Clinics: Food Animal Practice, v. 21, n. 2, p. xiii-xiv, 2005. FUCK, E. J.; MORAES, G. V.; SANTOS, G. T. Fatores nutricionais na reprodução das vacas leiteiras. I. Energia e proteína. Rev Bras Reprod Ani, v. 24, p. 147-161, 2000. GORDON, Ian. Controlled reproduction in farm animals series. Nova Iorque: CAB International, 1996. KINCAID, R. L. Assessment of trace mineral status of ruminants: A review. In: Proceedings of the American Society of Animal Science. 1999. p. 1-10. MAAS, John. Relationship between nutrition and reproduction in beef cattle. The Veterinary Clinics of North America. Food Animal Practice, v. 3, n. 3, p. 633-646, 1987. PASA, Camila. Relação reprodução animal e os minerais. Biodiversidade, v. 9, n. 1, 2011. QUIROZ-ROCHA, Gerardo F.; BOUDA, Jan. Fisiopatología de las deficiencias de cobre en rumiantes y su diagnóstico. Vet. Méx, v. 32, n. 4, p. 289, 2001. SARTORI, Roberto; GUARDIEIRO, Monique Mendes. Fatores nutricionais associados à reprodução da fêmea bovina. Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia, v. 39, p. 422-432, 2010. SHORT, Robert E.; ADAMS, D. C. Nutritional and hormonal interrelationships in beef cattle reproduction. Canadian Journal of Animal Science, v. 68, n. 1, p. 29-39, 1988. THATCHER, W. W. et al. Strategies for improving fertility in the modern dairy cow. Theriogenology, v. 65, n. 1, p. 30-44, 2006. TEIXEIRA, J. C.; TEIXEIRA, LFAC. Alimentação de bovinos leiteiros. FAEPE, Lavras, 1997. TEIXEIRA, J. C. Nutrição de ruminantes. Lavras: FAEPE, 1992. (shrink)