Organ Markets, Options, and an Over-Inclusiveness Objection: On Rippon's Argument.

Human organs available for transplant are in short supply. One way to increase the supply of organs consists in legalizing a live donor market. Such a market is, however, controversial.

Distributive justice and the harm to medical professionals fighting epidemics.

The exposure of doctors, nurses and other medical professionals to risks in the context of epidemics is significant. While traditional medical ethics offers the thought that these dangers may limit the extent to which a duty to care is applicable in such situations, it has less to say about what we might owe to medical professionals who are disadvantaged in these contexts. Luck egalitarianism, a responsibility-sensitive theory of distributive justice, appears to fare particularly badly in that regard.

Optimised cantilever biosensor with piezoresistive read-out.

We present a cantilever-based biochemical sensor with piezoresistive read-out which has been optimised for measuring surface stress. The resistors and the electrical wiring on the chip are encapsulated in low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) silicon nitride, so that the chip is well suited for operation in liquids. The wiring is titanium silicide which-in contrast to conventional metal wiring-is compatible with the high-temperature LPCVD coating process.

Adsorption kinetics and mechanical properties of thiol-modified DNA-oligos on gold investigated by microcantilever sensors.

Immobilised DNA-oligo layers are scientifically and technologically appealing for a wide range of sensor applications such as DNA chips. Using microcantilever-based sensors with integrated readout, we demonstrate in situ quantitative studies of surface-stress formation during self-assembly of a 25-mer thiol-modified DNA-oligo layer. The self-assembly induces a surface-stress change, which closely follows Langmuir adsorption model.

Environmental sensors based on micromachined cantilevers with integrated read-out.

An AFM probe with integrated piezoresistive read-out has been developed and applied as a cantilever-based environmental sensor. The probe has a built-in reference cantilever, which makes it possible to subtract background drift directly in the measurement. Moreover, the integrated read-out facilitates measurements in liquid.