Ethical Considerations in Crowdfunding

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Sexual Abuse-Current Medico-legal, Forensic and Psychiatric Aspects

Abstract Violence against women and minors is a worldwide problem that has not yet been sufficiently acknowledged. There are many obstacles especially when sexual abuses have to be evaluated. These problems are present both when victims of sexual abuse are evaluated and when sex offenders are dealt with, especially when the offenders are juvenile sex offenders (JSO). These issues give cause for great concern about prognosis, and the resulting psychosocial implications, and call for a special effort from the scientific community in identifying appropriate prevention and treatment methods. This chapter is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the forensic and psychiatric features, such as diagnostic and therapeutic/rehabilitative strategies for JSO, while the second part analyzes the legal–medicine aspects related to rape/sexual assault in a European context

Canadian oncogenic human papillomavirus cervical infection prevalence: Systematic review and meta-analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) infection prevalence is required to determine optimal vaccination strategies. We systematically reviewed the prevalence of oncogenic cervical HPV infection among Canadian females prior to immunization.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We included studies reporting DNA-confirmed oncogenic HPV prevalence estimates among Canadian females identified through searching electronic databases (e.g., MEDLINE) and public health websites. Two independent reviewers screened literature results, abstracted data and appraised study quality. Prevalence estimates were meta-analyzed among routine screening populations, HPV-positive, and by cytology/histology results.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Thirty studies plus 21 companion reports were included after screening 837 citations and 120 full-text articles. Many of the studies did not address non-response bias (74%) or use a representative sampling strategy (53%).</p> <p>Age-specific prevalence was highest among females aged < 20 years and slowly declined with increasing age. Across all populations, the highest prevalence estimates from the meta-analyses were observed for HPV types 16 (routine screening populations, 8 studies: 8.6% [95% confidence interval 6.5-10.7%]; HPV-infected, 9 studies: 43.5% [28.7-58.2%]; confirmed cervical cancer, 3 studies: 48.8% [34.0-63.6%]) and 18 (routine screening populations, 8 studies: 3.3% [1.5-5.1%]; HPV-infected, 9 studies: 13.6% [6.1-21.1%], confirmed cervical cancer, 4 studies: 17.1% [6.4-27.9%].</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results support vaccinating females < 20 years of age, along with targeted vaccination of some groups (e.g., under-screened populations). The highest prevalence occurred among HPV types 16 and 18, contributing a combined cervical cancer prevalence of 65.9%. Further cancer protection is expected from cross-protection of non-vaccine HPV types. Poor study quality and heterogeneity suggests that high-quality studies are needed.</p

Developing international business relationships in a Russian context

The collapse of the former Soviet Union has opened up a wealth of business opportunities for companies seeking new markets in the Russian Federation. Despite this, firms intending to do business in Russia have found themselves hampered by cultural differences in business practices and expectations. As Russia integrates into the global economy, understanding such practices and the managerial mindset of business people is crucial for managers who hope to navigate Russia's complex markets. This study draws on the trust literature and adopts quantitative tools to deconstruct the Russian 'Sviazi' system of social capital business networking. We develop a model isolating three dimensions of Sviazi: one an affective or emotional component; the second, a conative component; and the third, a cognitive component. The model provides a useful guide for helping foreign firms to succeed in Russia, while also serving as a basis for further research in the field. Keywords

All-sky search for gravitational-wave bursts in the second joint LIGO-Virgo run

We present results from a search for gravitational-wave bursts in the data collected by the LIGO and Virgo detectors between July 7, 2009 and October 20, 2010: data are analyzed when at least two of the three LIGO-Virgo detectors are in coincident operation, with a total observation time of 207 days. The analysis searches for transients of duration < 1 s over the frequency band 64-5000 Hz, without other assumptions on the signal waveform, polarization, direction or occurrence time. All identified events are consistent with the expected accidental background. We set frequentist upper limits on the rate of gravitational-wave bursts by combining this search with the previous LIGO-Virgo search on the data collected between November 2005 and October 2007. The upper limit on the rate of strong gravitational-wave bursts at the Earth is 1.3 events per year at 90% confidence. We also present upper limits on source rate density per year and Mpc^3 for sample populations of standard-candle sources. As in the previous joint run, typical sensitivities of the search in terms of the root-sum-squared strain amplitude for these waveforms lie in the range 5 10^-22 Hz^-1/2 to 1 10^-20 Hz^-1/2. The combination of the two joint runs entails the most sensitive all-sky search for generic gravitational-wave bursts and synthesizes the results achieved by the initial generation of interferometric detectors.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures: data for plots and archived public version at https://dcc.ligo.org/cgi-bin/DocDB/ShowDocument?docid=70814&version=19, see also the public announcement at http://www.ligo.org/science/Publication-S6BurstAllSky

Non-affirmative Theory of Education as a Foundation for Curriculum Studies, Didaktik and Educational Leadership

This chapter presents non-affirmative theory of education as the foundation for a new research program in education, allowing us to bridge educational leadership, curriculum studies and Didaktik. We demonstrate the strengths of this framework by analyzing literature from educational leadership and curriculum theory/didaktik. In contrast to both socialization-oriented explanations locating curriculum and leadership within existing society, and transformation-oriented models viewing education as revolutionary or super-ordinate to society, non-affirmative theory explains the relation between education and politics, economy and culture, respectively, as non-hierarchical. Here critical deliberation and discursive practices mediate between politics, culture, economy and education, driven by individual agency in historically developed cultural and societal institutions. While transformative and socialization models typically result in instrumental notions of leadership and teaching, non-affirmative education theory, previously developed within German and Nordic education, instead views leadership and teaching as relational and hermeneutic, drawing on ontological core concepts of modern education: recognition; summoning to self-activity and Bildsamkeit. Understanding educational leadership, school development and teaching then requires a comparative multi-level approach informed by discursive institutionalism and organization theory, in addition to theorizing leadership and teaching as cultural-historical and critical-hermeneutic activity. Globalisation and contemporary challenges to deliberative democracy also call for rethinking modern nation-state based theorizing of education in a cosmopolitan light. Non-affirmative education theory allows us to understand and promote recognition based democratic citizenship (political, economical and cultural) that respects cultural, ethical and epistemological variations in a globopolitan era. We hope an American-European-Asian comparative dialogue is enhanced by theorizing education with a non-affirmative approach

acceptability of nudges as public policy tools : a theoretical and empirical analysis

Aquesta tesi presenta una anàlisi teòrica i empírica de l'acceptabilitat dels nudges com a eines de política pública. La primera part de la tesi discuteix la caracterització dels nudges com a instruments de política pública, considerant qüestions conceptuals, ètiques i teòriques. La tesi revisa la noció original de nudge, les seves bases teòriques i empíriques i les principals crítiques en els dos sentits. Exposant els problemes amb la noció de nudge de Thaler i Sunstein, proposa una definició alternativa del concepte que defensa deixar de banda les connotacions i intencions normatives i centrar-se en el seu valor pràctic com a eina de política pública. La segona part inclou tres estudis empírics d'actituds cap als nudges: una enquesta representativa (n = 617, i = 3,88) de l'acceptabilitat pública dels nudges a Espanya, i dos estudis experimentals que exploren l'acceptabilitat de dos tipus de nudges, els nudges automàtics, que són menys perceptibles i funcionen sense deliberació o consciència, i els nudges reflexius que són perceptibles, inclouen deliberació i produeixen una resposta conscient. La part empírica aborda les qüestions discutides en el debat teòric i emfatitza que la discussió sobre l'acceptabilitat dels nudges en política pública ha de considerar la seva acceptabilitat pública i, en particular, quins nudges es prefereixen i en quins contextos s'accepta la seva implementació. Els resultats indiquen tres qüestions principals. En primer lloc, l'acceptabilitat pública dels nudges és alta, els ciutadans aproven l'ús de diferents nudges en diferents àmbits i no s'oposen categòricament a la seva implementació. En segon lloc, el tipus de nudge és important. Les persones reconeixen diferències entre nudges i tendeixen a preferir els nudges reflexius als nudges automàtics. Tanmateix, els resultats dels tres estudis indiquen que l'oposició a la implementació de nudges automàtics no és categòrica i es recolza el seu ús en diversos casos. En tercer lloc, l'acceptabilitat dels nudges automàtics depèn del context en què s'apliquen; les persones donen suport al seu ús quan estan d'acord amb el seu objectiu i quan afecten decisions en àmbits de baix risc. Per contra, s'oposen a la seva implementació quan afecten decisions en dominis d'alt risc, per exemple, quan es fan servir en decisions que involucren assumptes sensibles o morals o decisions que involucren pèrdues econòmiques. En general, la tesi explora arguments a favor i en contra de l'ús de nudges i ofereix idees sobre com poden ser eines útils i acceptables per a la formulació de polítiques públiques.Esta tesis presenta un análisis teórico y empírico de la aceptabilidad de los nudges como herramientas de política pública. La primera parte de la tesis discute la caracterización de los nudges como instrumentos de política pública, con atención a cuestiones conceptuales, éticas y teóricas. La tesis revisa la noción original de nudge, sus bases teóricas y empíricas y las principales críticas en ambos sentidos. Exponiendo los problemas con la noción de nudge de Thaler y Sunstein, propone una definición alternativa del concepto que aboga por dejar de lado las connotaciones e intenciones normativas y centrarse en su valor práctico como herramienta de política pública. La segunda parte incluye tres estudios empíricos de actitudes hacia los nudges: una encuesta representativa (n = 617, e = 3,88) de la aceptabilidad pública de los nudges en España, y dos estudios experimentales que exploran la aceptabilidad de dos tipos de nudges, los nudges automáticos, que son menos perceptibles y funcionan sin deliberación o conciencia, y los nudges reflexivos que son perceptibles, incluyen deliberación y producen una respuesta consciente. La parte empírica aborda las cuestiones discutidas en el debate teórico y enfatiza que la discusión sobre la aceptabilidad de los nudges en política pública debe considerar su aceptabilidad pública y, en particular, qué nudges se prefieren y en qué contextos se acepta su implementación. Los resultados indican tres cuestiones principales. En primer lugar, la aceptabilidad pública de los empujones es alta, los ciudadanos aprueban el uso de diferentes nudges en diferentes ámbitos y no se oponen categóricamente a su implementación. En segundo lugar, el tipo de nudge es importante. Las personas reconocen diferencias entre nudges y tienden a preferir los nudges reflexivos a los nudges automáticos. No obstante, los resultados de los tres estudios indican que la oposición a la implementación de nudges automáticos no es categórica y, en varios casos, se apoya su uso. En tercer lugar, la aceptabilidad de los nudges automáticos depende del contexto en el que se apliquen; las personas apoyan su uso cuando están de acuerdo con su objetivo y cuando afectan decisiones en ámbitos de bajo riesgo. Por el contrario, su uso no está respaldado cuando afectan decisiones en dominios de alto riesgo, como decisiones que involucran asuntos sensibles o morales o decisiones que involucran pérdidas económicas. En general, la tesis explora argumentos a favor y en contra del uso de nudges y ofrece ideas sobre cómo los nudges pueden ser herramientas útiles y aceptables para la formulación de políticas públicas.This thesis is a theoretical and empirical analysis of the acceptability of nudges as policy tools. The first part of the thesis discusses the characterisation of nudges as a policy instrument, paying attention to conceptual, ethical and theoretical issues. The thesis looks at the original notion of nudges, their theoretical and empirical bases and the main criticisms of both dimensions. It goes on to outline the problems with Thaler and Sunstein's notion of nudges and proposes an alternative understanding of nudges, advocating dropping the normative connotations of nudges, and focusing on their practical value as a policy tool. The second part includes three empirical studies on attitudes towards nudges: a nationally representative survey (n= 617, e=3.88) of the public acceptability of nudges in Spain, and two experimental studies that explore the acceptability of two types of nudges, automatic nudges that are less noticeable, work with no deliberation and awareness, and reflective nudges that are noticeable, work by engaging deliberation and produce a more reflective response. The empirical part addresses some of the concerns discussed in the theoretical debate and emphasises that the discussion on the acceptability of nudges as policy tools should include considerations about whether people like nudges, which nudges they prefer and the contexts in which they accept their implementation. The results outline three main themes. Firstly, the public acceptability of nudges is high, people favour the use of different nudges applied to both pro-self and pro-social domains and the indication is that people do not categorically oppose nudges. Secondly, the type of nudge is important. People recognise differences between nudges and tend to preferer reflective nudges to automatic nudges. At the same time, the findings in the three studies indicate that people do not categorically oppose the implementation of automatic nudges and support their use in several cases. Thirdly, the acceptability of automatic nudges depends on the context in which they are applied; people support their use when they agree with the aim and when they affect behaviour in low-stake domains. By contrast, their use is not supported when they affect decisions in high-stake domains, such as decisions that involve sensitive or moral issues or decisions that involve economic losses. Overall, the thesis explores arguments in favour of and against nudges and offers ideas and conclusions to give an idea of how nudges could be useful and acceptable tools for policymaking.Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Programa de Doctorat en Sociologi