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Good Science (good + science)
Selected AbstractsNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON TEACHING EVOLUTION: EVOLUTION IS GOOD SCIENCEEVOLUTION, Issue 6 2000Irene Eckstrand No abstract is available for this article. [source] EPA'S BASINS MODEL: GOOD SCIENCE OR SERENDIPITOUS MODELING?,JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION, Issue 3 2000Ray C. Whittemore ABSTRACT: Better Assessment Science Integrating Point and Non-point Sources (BASINS) is a geographic-based watershed assessment tool developed by EPA's Office of Water to help states more efficiently target and evaluate water-bodies that are not meeting water quality standards. BASINS (EPA, 1996a, 1998) brings together data on water quality and quantity, land uses, point source loadings, and other related spatial data with supporting nonpoint and water quality models at a quicker and more effective pace. EPA developed BASINS, to better integrate point and nonpoint source water quality assessments for the Nation's 2100+ watersheds. In its zeal to achieve this endpoint, EPA has initiated a simplistic approach that was expected to grow through scientific enhancements as TMDL developers become more familiar with modeling requirements. BASINS builds upon federal databases of water quality conditions and point source loadings for numerous parameters where quality assurance is suspect in some cases. Its design allows comprehensive assessments and modeling in typical Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) computations. While the TMDL utility is the primary reason BASINS was developed, other longer-range water quality assessments will become possible as the Agency expands the suite of assessment models and databases in future releases. The simplistic approach to modeling and user-friendly tools gives rise, however, to technical and philosophical concerns related to default data usage. Seamless generation of model input files and the failure of some utilities to work properly suggest to NCASI that serious problems may still exist and prompts the need for a more rigorous peer-review. Furthermore, sustainable training becomes paramount, as some older modelers will be unfamiliar with Geographic Information System (GIS) technology and associated computer skills. Overall, however, BASINS was judged to be an excellent beginning tool to meet the complex environmental modeling needs in the 21st Century. [source] Good Ethics Requires Good Science: Why Transplant Programs Should NOT Disclose Misattributed ParentageAMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 4 2010L. F. Ross In 1996, I argued that the recommendation by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to inform women when tests reveal misattributed paternity and not to disclose this information to the women's partners was morally wrong. I argued in favor of disclosure to both parties. It is a position that I still hold. But claims of misattributed paternity are not ,incidental findings' as it was called in the old genetics literature, but a rather serious indictment of biological infidelity. In this paper I argue that the tests used by transplant programs for living donor,recipient compatibility are inadequate to accurately determine misattributed paternity. Further I argue that it is not the responsibility of the transplant community to undertake such serious forensic evaluations. Genetic inconsistencies in ABO and HLA inheritance should be reported as variations. Families who want further clarification should be referred to a genetic professional. [source] Good science behind hepatitis C virus antiviral drug development: Necessary but not sufficient,,HEPATOLOGY, Issue 5 2007S. Chris Pappas M.D. No abstract is available for this article. [source] Not Enough Science or Not Enough Learning?HIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2008Exploring the Gaps between Leadership Theory, Practice This paper addresses the relationships between leadership theory, practice and development, drawing on both the higher education and wider leadership literature. It explores why challenges and problems exist within the contested field of leadership theory and why gaps remain between theory and practice after more than a century of research , and indeed, with increasing levels of research, scholarship and development in the last 25 years. After highlighting the importance of context for theory, practice and development, the first section of the paper examines a range of factors that contribute to theoretical ,contests' including different starting assumptions made by researchers, the different focus of studies, examination of different causal links to explain leadership, differences in values and cultural lenses and different constructs, terminology and perspectives. The second section examines the challenges faced by leadership practitioners, as individuals, and through exercising leadership as a collective responsibility in the context of changing operating environments within higher education institutions and across sectors and countries. The author highlights three areas where some re-thinking of the links between theory and practice are necessary , at the input stage, linking research findings and recruitment practices; in terms of outcomes, by researching links between leaders, leadership and performance; and in process terms, to examine more deeply complex and relational dynamic of leadership in action. The third section offers a number of specific suggestions as to how closer alignment between theory, practice and development can be achieved. The paper concludes by arguing for greater maturity (in research, practice and development) that acknowledges that leadership is played out in complex, dynamic and changing social systems. A stronger emphasis on ,leadership learning' should deliver both better science and better outcomes for leaders and led in higher education. [source] GOOD GIFTS FOR THE COMMON GOOD: Blood and Bioethics in the Market of Genetic ResearchCULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 3 2007DEEPA S. REDDY This article is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted with the Indian community in Houston, as part of a NIH,NHGRI-sponsored ethics study and sample collection initiative entitled "Indian and Hindu Perspectives on Genetic Variation Research." At the heart of this research is one central exchange,blood samples donated for genetic research,that draws both the Indian community and a community of researchers into an encounter with bioethics. I consider the meanings that come to be associated with blood donation as it passes through various hands, agendas, and associated ethical filters on its way to the lab bench: how and why blood is solicited, how the giving and taking of blood is rationalized, how blood as material substance is alienated, processed, documented, and made available for the promised ends of basic science research. Examining corporeal substances and asking what sorts of gifts and problems these represent, I argue, sheds some light on two imbricated tensions expressed by a community of Indians, on the one hand, and of geneticists and basic science researchers, on the other hand: that gifts ought to be free (but are not), and that science ought to be pure (but is not). In this article, I explore how experiences of bioethics are variously shaped by the histories and habits of Indic giving, prior sample collection controversies, commitments to "good science" and the common "good of humanity," and negotiations of the sites where research findings circulate. [source] REHABILITATION AND RELEASE OF MARINE MAMMALS IN THE UNITED STATES: RISKS AND BENEFITSMARINE MAMMAL SCIENCE, Issue 4 2007Michael Moore Abstract Rehabilitation of stranded marine mammals elicits polarized attitudes: initially done alongside display collections, but release of rehabilitated animals has become more common. Justifications include animal welfare, management of beach use conflict, research, conservation, and public education. Rehabilitation cost and risks have been identified that vary in degree supported by data rather than perception. These include conflict with fisheries for resources, ignorance of recipient population ecology, poor understanding of long-term survival, support of the genetically not-so-fit, introduction of novel or antibiotic-resistant pathogens, harm to human health, and cost. Thus facilities must balance their welfare appeal against public education, habitat restoration, human impact reduction, and other conservation activities. Benefits to rehabilitating marine mammals are the opportunity to support the welfare of disabled animals and to publish good science and so advance our understanding of wild populations. In specific cases, the status of a population may make conservation the main reason for rehabilitation. These three reasons for rehabilitation lead to contrasting, and sometimes conflicting, management needs. We therefore outline a decision tree for rehabilitation managers using criteria for each management decision, based on welfare, logistics, conservation, research, and funding to define limits on the number of animals released to the wild. [source] Ethics Beyond Moral TheoryPHILOSOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS, Issue 3 2009Timothy Chappell I develop an anti-theory view of ethics. Moral theory (Kantian, utilitarian, virtue ethical, etc.) is the dominant approach to ethics among academic philosophers. But moral theory's hunt for a single Master Factor (utility, universalisability, virtue . . .) is implausibly systematising and reductionist. Perhaps scientism drives the approach? But good science always insists on respect for the data, even messy data: I criticise Singer's remarks on infanticide as a clear instance of moral theory failing to respect the data of moral perceptions and moral intuitions. Moral theory also fails to provide a coherent basis for real-world motivation, justification, explanation, and prediction of good and bad, right and wrong. Consider for instance the marginal place of love in moral theory, compared with its central place in people's actual ethical outlooks and decision making. Hence, moral theory typically fails to ground any adequate ethical outlook. I propose that it is the notion of an ethical outlook that philosophical ethicists should pursue, not the unfruitful and distorting notion of a moral theory. [source] Integrating ecology with hydromorphology: a priority for river science and managementAQUATIC CONSERVATION: MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS, Issue 1 2009I.P. Vaughan Abstract 1.The assessment of links between ecology and physical habitat has become a major issue in river research and management. Key drivers include concerns about the conservation implications of human modifications (e.g. abstraction, climate change) and the explicit need to understand the ecological importance of hydromorphology as prescribed by the EU's Water Framework Directive. Efforts are focusing on the need to develop ,eco-hydromorphology' at the interface between ecology, hydrology and fluvial geomorphology. Here, the scope of this emerging field is defined, some research and development issues are suggested, and a path for development is sketched out. 2.In the short term, major research priorities are to use existing literature or data better to identify patterns among organisms, ecological functions and river hydromorphological character. Another early priority is to identify model systems or organisms to act as research foci. In the medium term, the investigation of pattern,processes linkages, spatial structuring, scaling relationships and system dynamics will advance mechanistic understanding. The effects of climate change, abstraction and river regulation, eco-hydromorphic resistance/resilience, and responses to environmental disturbances are likely to be management priorities. Large-scale catchment projects, in both rural and urban locations, should be promoted to concentrate collaborative efforts, to attract financial support and to raise the profile of eco-hydromorphology. 3.Eco-hydromorphological expertise is currently fragmented across the main contributory disciplines (ecology, hydrology, geomorphology, flood risk management, civil engineering), potentially restricting research and development. This is paradoxical given the shared vision across these fields for effective river management based on good science with social impact. A range of approaches is advocated to build sufficient, integrated capacity that will deliver science of real management value over the coming decades. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Biofuels: good science must precede good policyBIOFUELS, BIOPRODUCTS AND BIOREFINING, Issue 1 2009Bruce E. Dale ILUC analysis does not meet standards of scientific significance yet. © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd [source] | ||||||||||||||||