Scientific Ethics Research Articles

Sailors’ fear of the stigma of HIV/AIDS

Introduction. Seafarers face many occupational, health and psychosocial problems on a daily basis. Maritime as a profession has a special combination of conditions that have a strong impact on the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STIs) and make prevention programs difficult to succeed.Objective. To study the attitudes towards sharing and attitudes towards HIV-positive people among seafarers in the workplace.Material and methods. 100 persons practicing the maritime profession were surveyed using an anonymous questionnaire, approved by the Commission on Scientific Ethics at the Medical University — Varna.The results were statistically processed with SPSS v. 20.0, using variation, comparison and correlation analyzes.Results and discussion. Most of the respondents have sufficient experience in their profession, have higher education and have an equal distribution in deck and machine command (41% each), 18% are from the executive staff. All respondents are adamant that they would share the result of the HIV test with their family or partner, with only 24.0% stating that they would share the positive result with colleagues and 26.0% with the employer. We found a significant difference (c2 39.47; p<0.001) and a moderate dependence (r=0.34; p=0.001) on the behavior of respondents regarding the sharing of the positive result of the HIV test with members of their professional environment (colleagues and managers).The sailors are afraid to work with HIV-seropositive colleagues because their knowledge about the prevalence, risk factors and perceptions about the transmission and prevention of HIV infection have a lot of gaps.Conclusion. Despite training from unions, medical organizations and governments, the dreaded myths about HIV/AIDS persist. The degree of ignorance of the reality around HIV/AIDS is directly proportional to the stigmatization of the problem.

What Are ILK in Relation to Science? Using the ‘Ethic of Equivocation’ to Co-Produce New Knowledge for Conservation

Attention to epistemological relationships between Indigenous and local knowledges (ILK) and conservation science is increasing. Some approaches for doing so have been developed, but in general, serious engagement between ILK and science still feels experimental and does not have broad uptake. Here we address some of the main issues that arise when considering the epistemological relationships between ILK and conservation or ecological science. A key issue is the relationship between ILK and science that sets the expectations for how they may form dialogues, collaborations, or co-production. After reviewing several perspectives on this relationship, and their limitations, we suggest that a focus on shared meanings within an ‘ethic of equivocation’ is a productive path forward. In an ethic of equivocation, neither ILK nor science validates the other, yet meaning can be created. We explain and develop the concepts of meanings and equivocation in the ILK-science context. We, thus, argue for a broad and rich understanding of the joint roles of ILK and science, which goes beyond treating ILK as a data source. We argue that diverse styles of reasoning exist in science, and scientists may already treat observations, models, and collaborations in the ways that we discuss, providing ready-made analogies for thinking about ILK. We also discuss how to avoid abuses of power while engaging with ILK to co-produce new knowledge.

A Review of Scientific Ethics Issues Associated with the Recently Approved Drugs for Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD), the devastating and most prevailing underlying cause for age-associated dementia, has no effective disease-modifying treatment. The last approved drug for the relief of AD symptoms was in 2003. The recent approval of sodium oligomannate (GV-971, 2019) in China and the human antibody aducanumab in the USA (ADUHELM, 2021) therefore represent significant breakthroughs, albeit ones that are fraught with controversy. Here, we explore potential scientific ethics issues associated with GV-971 and aducanumab's development and approval. While these issues may be belied by socioeconomic and political complexities in the heady business of commercial drug development, they are of fundamental importance to scientific integrity and ultimately, welfare of patients. We posit that the push for approval of both AD drugs based on incomplete research and unconvincing marginal effectiveness is ethically unsound. Regardless of how both these drugs shall perform in the market for the years to come, the scientific ethics issues and potentially questionable research practices should therefore be duly noted and lessons learned.

The ethical agency of AI developers

Public and academic discourse about the ethics of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science has largely focused on the algorithms and the companies deploying them. Little attention has been paid to the ethical agency of the developers. This study is the first of its kind that centers developers in the ethical environment. Semi-structured interviews with 40 developers about the ethics of being a developer revealed more than 20 themes, 3 of which are the subject of this paper: ethics in the occupational ecosystem, developer ethical agency, and the characteristics of an ethical developer. These themes reveal significant gaps between how developers perceive themselves and the reality of their work experiences. Their ethical agency is likewise variable. They have some authority to intervene for ethical reasons in systems they work on, but they often do not realize just how many ethical decisions they make. Nonetheless, this study reveals a growing ethical wisdom in this community, one that needs to be surfaced and nurtured by engaging with developers.

SCIENTIFIC VALUES INCLUDED IN SCIENCE BOOK OF THE FIRST INTERMEDIATE GRADE

The current research aims to find out the extent to which science books for the intermediate stage include scientific values for the academic year 2020/2021. For the purpose of achieving the goal of the research, a list of the main scientific values and their sub-indicators to be included in the science books for the intermediate level was prepared after the researcher reviewed a set of educational basics and previous studies related to the current research which helped in preparing a list that included (10) main scientific values and (39) behavioral indicators distributed on the main scientific values in their initial form. To be sure about this list, it evaluated by special experts. On their recommendations, two scientific values and their behavioral indicators were removed and some amendments were made to the list, so that the list consisted of (8) main scientific value and (31) behavioral indicators in its final form. After verifying the validity of the research tool, the reliability of the tool was extracted through an analysis of (20%) of the pages of the research sample to be analyzed, and the calculation of the percentage of agreement between the researcher and himself over time, as well as between the first analysis of the researcher and another analyst and between the second analysis of the researcher and the other analyst by using (Holsti) equation, and then presenting the analysis sample and the results obtained to two specialized experts, and after confirming the characteristics of the psychometric tool, the content of science books for the intermediate stage was analyzed in the light of the list of scientific values, and among the most important results that were reached: 1- Proposing eight scientific values. They are: curiosity, scientific honesty, acceptance of criticism, and patience in making judgments, ethics of science, scientific thinking, appreciation of science, and appreciation of scholars. 2- The behavioral appearance (attention to new attitudes) came to the scientific value of curiosity in: - A- The content of the science book for the first intermediate grade, with a total of (104) iterations and a percentage rate of (13.38%), ranked first

Why Do We Need the Ethics of History?

The purpose of this article is to analyze the intellectual prerequisites for the formation of the discourse of the ethics of history in the modern philosophy of history and the ethics of science. An analysis of the transformation of the ethics of responsibility, the value attitude to the past in philosophy and the theory of history, as well as the axiological component of historical didactics in the 20th century testifies to the growth of theoretical interest in ethical reflection on past events. It is substantiated that the further development of the ethics of history as an independent discipline requires a unified conceptual approach in understanding its subject, theoretical and methodological foundations, and basic values. It is concluded that the ethics of history as a branch of applied ethics is wider than the “ethos” of historical science. A position is put forward on the consequential and socially oriented specifics of the ethics of history. Its subject is the ethical problems of referring to the past in the historical culture of society.The externalist interpretation of the ethics of history allows us to consider the latter as an important factor in the circulation of ideas about the past in historical culture. An analysis of the project of transcendental history by H.M.Baumgartner points to an important trend of overcoming descriptivism by the ethics of history, a movement towards its normative definition, and also emphasizes its interdisciplinary nature.

Research on the Evaluation System of Scientific Research Ethics Based on AHP-Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation

Scientific research ethics is the value concept and code of conduct to be followed in scientific research, technological development and other scientific and technological activities. However, in recent years, some researchers have ignored ethical constraints in scientific research activities, resulting in more prominent ethical issues in scientific research. This study takes China Southern Power Grid Corporation as an example, based on ISO9000 standards, uses AHP-fuzzy comprehensive evaluation theory to establish a scientific research ethics evaluation system, aiming at improving the timeliness and targeting of scientific research ethics management.

On the need to creation an effective system to fight violations of the norms of scientific ethics at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

It is proposed to take concrete steps to create, first in the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and later in all Ukrainian science, an effective system of approval of scientific ethics by adopting specific recommendations regarding the response of the scientific community and the management of scientific institutions to violations of the principles and norms of the Code of Ethics of the Scientist of Ukraine, approved by the General Assembly of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in April 2009. Based on the analysis of the experience of foreign scientific organizations, such as the Max Planck society (Germany) was developed for the first time in Ukraine, the main provisions of the draft annex to the aforementioned Code of Ethics and possible mechanisms for their implementation were developed. In particular, it is proposed to highlight separately the violations that occur in the process of communication and cooperation in the research team, related to the assignment of intellectual property, responsibility for the reliability of the obtained results, and manifestations of corruption in scientific institutions. In order to organize the ethical education of scientific youth, study suspicions regarding specific violations of the norms of scientific ethics, and formulate proposals for appropriate sanctions, it is advisable to select an authoritative consultant in each scientific team, who, upon approval, will submit them for consideration by the head of the institute (similar to the way it is done in Germany). To coordinate the work of such a system, a Commission on Scientific Ethics and Academic Integrity under the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine should be established.

Etik ve Hukuk Boyutuyla Tezden Üretilen Yayınlarda Haksız Yazarlık

The research examines the issue of unfair authorship, considered within the scope of scientific publication ethics and the law on intellectual property rights, by analysing the order of the authors of publications derived from the dissertations. To this tendency, tags of one hundred and sixty-one dissertations published in 2015-2019 by the De- partment of Business Administration-Management & Organization categorized by document analysis. The publications derived from those are determined using certain search criteria. In the last stage, descriptive statistics applied by SPSS to see the ethical reflection of the publications. Results show that unethical authorship is approximately 17%. The doctoral students are not the first author though they are the first carrier of the research. Out of 30 universities, 11 had unfair authorship practices and clustered mainly in 5. Discussing results with the gender of the authors and supervisors, titles, and universities show that the subject needs to consider both personal ethical values and the organizational culture. In this respect, the research will practically contribute to raising awareness about ethical violations, developing mechanisms for preventing unethical practices, and shed light on future studies which investigate the causes of unethical situations.

Наука как человеческий капитал и ресурс

Social philosophy of science views science as a public good in cognitive, political-economic and moral terms, and as a humanistic project. The author attempts to combine the economics of science and the social philosophy of science into a single exchange zone. The article discusses this problem in relation to technoscience with an emphasis on pragmatically oriented resource-efficient issues. The author transfers the experience of economics, management, engineering and industry to the level of philosophical reflections of science and technology. Innovative activity in technoscience can be imagined using Aristotle's universal scheme of underlying causes. Science as a cognitive resource is involved in socio-cultural construction using material and cultural resources. The author poses the problem of resource efficiency, which means a balanced interconnected set of resources of social practices. The installation of resource efficiency in the engineering environment is thought as the basis of material culture. Economists identify five main types of resources – material, financial, labor, temporary, information. Information and communication resources play a key role in the digital society. Analyzing the problems of technoscience as a public good leads to the allocation of cognitive resources and moral resources. Cognitive resources in science are associated with the intellectual potential of teams of researchers, individual scientists and engineers. The author poses the problem of moral resources in the aspect of the ethics of science, the role of responsibility for the formation of ideas and projects, research and their consequences. The problem of material, financial, labor, temporary, information and communication, cognitive and moral resources in the field of science has a socio-philosophical dimension. The article discusses the criteria for effectively engaging the potential of a cognitive resource in science in social practices. The author considers the problem of cognitive resources using examples of cooperation between scientists and representatives of the tradition, the movement of scientific volunteers.

Effect of the GLP-1 receptor agonist semaglutide on metabolic disturbances in clozapine-treated or olanzapine-treated patients with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder: study protocol of a placebo-controlled, randomised clinical trial (SemaPsychiatry)

IntroductionClozapine and olanzapine are some of the most effective antipsychotics, but both are associated with weight gain and relevant metabolic disturbances, including pre-diabetes and diabetes. Non-pharmacological/behavioural interventions have had limited...

Книга в книге: «Физиология обыденной жизни» Д.Г. Льюиса в романе «Преступление и наказание»

The novel Crime and Punishment, created by Dostoevsky in the era of liberal reforms and scientific discoveries, is an encyclopedia of public life in Russia in the 60s of the 19th century. It was the time of the most furious polemics around the numerous writings and articles of European and, above all, German philosophers and scientists. However, in most cases, scientific discoveries were interpreted very superficially, introducing an exclusively atheistic interpretation of them into the minds of people, creating a confrontation between science and religion. In the novel Crime and Punishment Dostoevsky expresses his position in this dispute, using the book by Henry Lewes Physiology of Common Life as an unspoken interlocutor. The reference to Lewes’ book can be traced throughout the novel. First of all, Dostoevsky projects the symptoms of chronic starvation described by Lewes onto the mental and spiritual state of Raskolnikov. However, speaking about the impact of hunger on human consciousness, Lewes meant the release of primitive instincts. And any crime in this case can be considered as an external or internal influence of the physiological reactions of the organism. Agreeing with Lewes regarding the existence of a connection between the physical and mental state of a person, Dostoevsky categorically argues that the “primitive instinct” can and should not be the need for crime, but the law of morality. Dostoevsky was not worried about scientific progress as such, but about questions of scientific ethics, the widespread, violent and senseless transfer of the laws of organic nature to the field of social and religious-moral relations. Sonya’s religious consciousness, her natural mind, capable of comprehending the scientific realities of the new world, is one of the possibilities for the coexistence of science and religion, this is what Dostoevsky aspired to. These and some other issues are discussed in detail in this article.

Демографические процессы в Центральном Черноземье России в период голода 1932–1933 гг.: историография вопроса

The paper presents the results of a historiographical analysis of the demographic processes in the Central Chernozem region of the Soviet Union during the famine of 1932–1933. This subject was chosen because the demographic processes that took place in this territory at that time are of particular interest, since it was one of the principal grain-producing regions of Russia, which in modern Russian historiography are considered one of the most strongly affected by the famine. Scientific study of this topic began in the post-Soviet period, as this topic was taboo for many years. The problems of demography and famine of the 1930s in the Central Chernozem region have been considered both in Russian and regional fact-based studies by Russian researchers. Papers by foreign researchers – primarily American, Ukrainian and Ukrainian-American – are also considered. We found that different methods were used to calculate the number of people who were starved or died of hunger, birth rate, and mortality, but they primarily used tentative prognoses data and summary reports, the results of which do not always coincide and raise questions. The papers of Ukrainian historians are quite difficult to analyze, as they are abound in value judgments that do not conform to scientific ethics, or they use somewhat incorrect demographic models. It has been ascertained that the demography of the famine of 1932–1933 in the Central Chernozem region is examined through initial approximation and only at the level of large administrative territorial units; the geography of the famine has discrepancies and has not yet been fully clarified. Urban and rural birth rate, mortality, and natural population increase have not been considered in detail, while the ethnic component of the famine of the Russian Central Chernozem region is extremely politicized and also not yet fully clarified.

Teacher talk in English-medium instruction classes in Japanese universities

Abstract English-medium instruction (EMI) courses in higher education have increased dramatically over the past decade and Japan is no exception. In the implementation of EMI courses, the role of English and the local language (Japanese) during content education is a subject of debate. The present study analyses EMI teacher talk by looking at aspects such as speech structure, and the role of language during content-education. Twelve undergraduate classes from four academic subjects in Economics, Ethics in Science, Project Planning, and Development Studies (three classes from each subject) were observed and recorded. Transcripts from these classes were analysed using Christie’s (1989) classroom discourse approach of curriculum genre, and Bernstein’s (1996) notion of horizontal and vertical discourses. Research findings revealed that there are similarities in EMI teachers’ classroom speech structure. However, the learning context has an effect on the role of English language which in turn influences content education.

Fifty Years of Critical Care Medicine: The Editors' Perspective.

Fifty Years of Critical Care Medicine: The Editors' Perspective.

Community Bioethics: Provocations for Institutionalized Ethics from Community-Based Biology

In the United States, institutions of scientific and medical ethics developed out of histories that continue to shape their principles and scope of concerns. Many have identified that the movement of practitioners identifying as community-based biologists (or any of several overlapping labels) presents challenges for institutionalized ethics. Community-based biology has been the subject of ethical controversies, but it has also taken proactive measures to establish ethics of its own. We argue that the challenges that community-based biology poses for establishment, institutionalized ethics are just as significant as their challenges to establishment science more generally, and that the two are inextricable. We also assert that these challenges are more profound than either existing literature suggests or that efforts to establish ethics within community-based biology so far are equipped to address. Drawing on our experiences as social scientists working with the Open Insulin Project and community-based biology more broadly, we demonstrate several ways that community-based biology efforts problematize established approaches to institutionalized research ethics. We describe how, at the same time, efforts to institutionalize ethics in community-based biology risk reproducing features of institutionalized ethics seemingly at odds with the critiques community-based biology itself embodies. Through a series of three empirically grounded provocations, we argue that community-based biology should evolve in tandem with a community bioethics that more consciously engages critiques of institutionalized ethics and embraces the diversity and pluralism of community-based biology.

Le don du corps à la science enfin encadré juridiquement

Until very recently, the decision to donate a body to science was governed solely by the funeral policy. There was no legal framework setting out how such bodies were to be used. The Descartes mass grave scandal set in motion a process of reflection that led to the introduction of several provisions in the French Public Health Code. Reception facilities must now be licensed and have governance in place. Use may only be made of bodies once plans have been reviewed by scientific and educational ethics committees, and donors must be better informed as to how their bodies will be used. Families are given wider scope for inclusion, meaning that they can be notified of the wishes of the deceased, and of the possibility of having the body returned to them for burial. These long-awaited legal provisions are a real step forward. However, it is unfortunate that this work did not provide an opportunity for wider reflection on the use of bodies, particularly for research purposes. In fact, the provisions and supervisory bodies change according to whether the ultimate goal is research on bodies arising from a donation, research on samples, or research on brain-dead persons. It would have been worthwhile to standardize procedures and control bodies, and perhaps to include research on antique corpses in this reflection.

Ethiek van participatief actieonderzoek

Ethics of participatory action research Participatory action research, (extreme) citizen science, living labs or other forms of research with patients or citizen participation continues to grow in popularity. While these research approaches embrace inclusiveness, social justice, and co-ownership, they are not necessarily “ethical”. Ethical issues regularly arise in everyday practice, surrounding partnership, collaboration and power. My PhD made me aware that researchers who conduct participatory research should be mindful of the daily ethical considerations and attention to do the “right” thing. Reflection on dilemmas (together with co-researchers) helps raise awareness and provides direction for appropriate actions.

Examining the barriers, facilitators and attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccine and public health measures for black communities in Canada: a qualitative study protocol

IntroductionBlack communities claim the highest number of cases and deaths due to COVID-19 in Canada. Generating culturally/contextually appropriate public health measures and strategies for vaccine uptake in black communities within...

From Durkheim to Jellinek

Abstract In his 1887 report about the positivist science of morals in Germany, Durkheim referred to two books: Der Zweck im Recht by Rudolf von Jhering and Die socialetische Bedeutung von Recht, Unrecht und Strafe by Georg von Jellinek. Despite the absence of commentary from Durkheim about this 1878 book from the ‘young’ Jellinek (later known as a master of public law), the analysis of this dissertation (rejected by the University of Vienna) shows that it contained a claim for a social-science-inspired understanding of crime and penalty and had some points of contact with Durkheim's argumentation, notably about the importance of religious feelings in the social reaction against crimes. The article proposes to deepen this comparison between Jellinek's and Durkheim's books with an investigation about their indirect sources.