| 1. |
- German, C, et al.
(författare)
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Hydrothermal impacts on trace element and isotope ocean biogeochemistry
- 2016
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Ingår i: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 1364-503X .- 1471-2962. ; 374:2081
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Hydrothermal activity occurs in all ocean basins, releasing high concentrations of key trace elements and isotopes (TEIs) into the oceans. Importantly, the calculated rate of entrainment of the entire ocean volume through turbulently mixing buoyant hydrothermal plumes is so vigorous as to be comparable to that of deep-ocean thermohaline circulation. Consequently, biogeochemical processes active within deep-ocean hydrothermal plumes have long been known to have the potential to impact global-scale biogeochemical cycles. More recently, new results from GEOTRACES have revealed that plumes rich in dissolved Fe, an important micronutrient that is limiting to productivity in some areas, are widespread above mid-ocean ridges and extend out into the deep-ocean interior. While Fe is only one element among the full suite of TEIs of interest to GEOTRACES, these preliminary results are important because they illustrate how inputs from seafloor venting might impact the global biogeochemical budgets of many other TEIs. To determine the global impact of seafloor venting, however, requires two key questions to be addressed: (i) What processes are active close to vent sites that regulate the initial high-temperature hydrothermal fluxes for the full suite of TEIs that are dispersed through non-buoyant hydrothermal plumes? (ii) How do those processes vary, globally, in response to changing geologic settings at the seafloor and/or the geochemistry of the overlying ocean water? In this paper, we review key findings from recent work in this realm, highlight a series of key hypotheses arising from that research and propose a series of new GEOTRACES modelling, section and process studies that could be implemented, nationally and internationally, to address these issues. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Biological and climatic impacts of ocean trace element chemistry’.
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| 2. |
- Parthemore, Joel, et al.
(författare)
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Moral agency, moral responsibility, and artefacts
- 2012
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Ingår i: [Host publication title missing]. ; , s. 8-17
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Abstract--- This paper follows directly from our forthcoming paper in International Journal of Machine Consciousness, where we discuss the requirements for an artefact to be a moral agent and conclude that the artefactual question is ultimately a red herring. As we did in the earlier paper, we take moral agency to be that condition in which an agent can, appropriately, be held responsible for her actions and their consequences. We set a number of stringent conditions on moral agency. A moral agent must be embedded in a cultural and specifically moral context, and embodied in a suitable physical form. It must be, in some substantive sense, alive. It must exhibit self-conscious awareness: who does the “I” who thinks “I” think that “I” is? It must exhibit a range of highly sophisticated conceptual abilities, going well beyond what the likely majority of conceptual agents possess: not least that it must possess a well-developed moral space of reasons. Finally, it must be able to communicate its moral agency through some system of signs: a “private” moral world is not enough. After reviewing these conditions and pouring cold water on a number of recent claims for having achieved “minimal” machine consciousness, we turn our attention to a number of existing and, in some cases, commonplace artefacts that lack moral agency yet nevertheless require one to take a moral stance toward them, as if they were moral agents. Finally, we address another class of agents raising a related set of issues: autonomous military robots.
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| 3. |
- Rautio, Jorma, et al.
(författare)
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Scandcleft randomised trials of primary surgery for unilateral cleft lip and palate: 2. Surgical results
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery. - : TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD. - 2000-656X .- 2000-6764. ; 51:1, s. 14-20
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Longstanding uncertainty surrounds the selection of surgical protocols for unilateral cleft lip and palate, and randomised trials have only rarely been performed. The Scandcleft Project consists of three trials commenced in 1997 involving ten centres in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the UK. Three groups of centres tested a newly-defined common technique for palatal repair (Arm A) against their local protocols (Arms B, C, D). Arm A was familiar to most of the surgeons in Trial 1, but not to the surgeons in the other Trials. Aim: To evaluate surgical events and complications of the 448 (293 boys, 155 girls) patients with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) enrolled in the three trials. Method: The three trials were carried out in parallel in adherence with a fully developed, ethically approved protocol. Operative time, bleeding, complications, and major dehiscence during and after both primary surgeries were recorded by the surgeon. Rates of fistula and surgery for velopharyngeal incompetence (VPI) were assessed until the youngest patient of the study had reached the age of 9 years. Pearson Chi-square statistical analysis was used to compare the outcomes. Results: No significant differences in bleeding, infection, anaesthetic complications or length of hospital stay between the different arms were found for Trial 1. However, in Trials 2 and 3 there were more airway problems in Arm A than with the traditional local protocols (Arms C or D). In Trial 3 fistula and VPI surgery rates were also higher in Arm A. Conclusions: The results do not provide statistical evidence that any technique is better than others, but indicate that surgery was more problematic for surgeons who were still gaining experience with an unfamiliar surgical protocol.
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| 4. |
- Semb, Gunvor, et al.
(författare)
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A Scandcleft randomised trials of primary surgery for unilateral cleft lip and palate: 1. Planning and management.
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery. - : Taylor & Francis. - 2000-656X .- 2000-6764. ; 51:1, s. 2-13
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Longstanding uncertainty surrounds the selection of surgical protocols for the closure of unilateral cleft lip and palate, and randomised trials have only rarely been performed. This paper is an introduction to three randomised trials of primary surgery for children born with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP). It presents the protocol developed for the trials in CONSORT format, and describes the management structure that was developed to achieve the long-term engagement and commitment required to complete the project.METHOD: Ten established national or regional cleft centres participated. Lip and soft palate closure at 3-4 months, and hard palate closure at 12 months served as a common method in each trial. Trial 1 compared this with hard palate closure at 36 months. Trial 2 compared it with lip closure at 3-4 months and hard and soft palate closure at 12 months. Trial 3 compared it with lip and hard palate closure at 3-4 months and soft palate closure at 12 months. The primary outcomes were speech and dentofacial development, with a series of perioperative and longer-term secondary outcomes.RESULTS: Recruitment of 448 infants took place over a 9-year period, with 99.8% subsequent retention at 5 years.CONCLUSION: The series of reports that follow this introductory paper include comparisons at age 5 of surgical outcomes, speech outcomes, measures of dentofacial development and appearance, and parental satisfaction. The outcomes recorded and the numbers analysed for each outcome and time point are described in the series.TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN29932826.
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