scholarly journals Commercial DNA tests and police investigations: a broad bioethical perspective

2021 ◽  
pp. medethics-2021-107568
Author(s):  
Nina F de Groot ◽  
Britta C van Beers ◽  
Gerben Meynen
Keyword(s):  
Individual Based Model ◽  
Dna Test ◽  
Ethical Concerns ◽  
Criminal Investigations ◽  
Ethical Debate ◽  
Police Investigations ◽  
Disease Predisposition ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Genetic Context ◽  
At Home

Over 30 million people worldwide have taken a commercial at-home DNA test, because they were interested in their genetic ancestry, disease predisposition or inherited traits. Yet, these consumer DNA data are also increasingly used for a very different purpose: to identify suspects in criminal investigations. By matching a suspect’s DNA with DNA from a suspect’s distant relatives who have taken a commercial at-home DNA test, law enforcement can zero in on a perpetrator. Such forensic use of consumer DNA data has been performed in over 200 criminal investigations. However, this practice of so-called investigative genetic genealogy (IGG) raises ethical concerns. In this paper, we aim to broaden the bioethical analysis on IGG by showing the limitations of an individual-based model. We discuss two concerns central in the debate: privacy and informed consent. However, we argue that IGG raises pressing ethical concerns that extend beyond these individual-focused issues. The very nature of the genetic information entails that relatives may also be affected by the individual customer’s choices. In this respect, we explore to what extent the ethical approach in the biomedical genetic context on consent and consequences for relatives can be helpful for the debate on IGG. We argue that an individual-based model has significant limitations in an IGG context. The ethical debate is further complicated by the international, transgenerational and commercial nature of IGG. We conclude that IGG should not only be approached as an individual but also—and perhaps primarily—as a collective issue.

Using At-Home DNA Tests for Criminal Investigations – A Call for a Collective Approach to Investigative Genetic Genealogy

2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (Special Issue) ◽  
pp. 61-61
Author(s):  
Nina de Groot ◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Target Population ◽  
Genetic Profile ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Genetic Genealogy ◽  
Dna Test ◽  
Ethical Concerns ◽  
Ethical Debate ◽  
Criminal Suspects ◽  
Disease Risks ◽  
At Home

"Tens of millions of people worldwide have taken a commercial at-home DNA test out of interest in their genetic ancestry, disease risks, cilantro taste aversion, or athletic performance capacities. Yet, this consumer DNA data is also of interest to law enforcement: the data can be used to identify criminal suspects. By uploading a genetic profile from an unknown suspect, found at the crime scene, to a database with consumer’s genetic data, one could find a distant relative of the suspect. Through the mapping of this relative’s family tree, police can eventually zero in on the actual perpetrator. However, this investigative genetic genealogy (IGG) raises ethical concerns. In this presentation, I aim to contribute to the bioethical analysis of IGG by exploring the limitations of an individual-based model for IGG. I discuss two ethical concerns of IGG: privacy and informed consent. However, I argue that IGG raises specific ethical challenges that extend beyond these two autonomy-related concepts. Because of the far-reaching scope to identify even very distant relatives, IGG could identify a vast majority of a target population, thus making it also a collective issue. I explore how the ethical approach of individual consent and relatives in the biomedical genetic context can be helpful for the debate on IGG. Additional ethical concerns arise from the international, transgenerational, and commercial nature of IGG. I call for a more collective approach to IGG in the ethical debate. "

Acquiring variable commands at home and abroad: Examining optatives and imperatives in L1 and L2 Spanish

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-113
Author(s):  
Farrah Neumann ◽  
Matthew Kanwit
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Individual ◽  
At Home

AbstractSince many linguistic structures are variable (i. e. conveyed by multiple forms), building a second-language grammar critically involves developing sociolinguistic competence (Canale and Swain. 1980. Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics 1(1). 1–47), including knowledge of contexts in which to use one form over another (Bayley and Langman. 2004. Variation in the group and the individual: Evidence from second language acquisition. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 42(4). 303–318). Consequently, researchers interested in such competence have increasingly analyzed the study-abroad context to gauge learners’ ability to approximate local norms following a stay abroad, due to the quality and quantity of input to which learners may gain access (Lafford. 2006. The effects of study abroad vs. classroom contexts on Spanish SLA: Old assumptions, new insights and future research directions. In Carol Klee & Timothy Face (eds.), Selected proceedings of the 7th conference on the acquisition of Spanish and Portuguese as first and second languages, 1–25. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project). Nevertheless, the present study is the first to examine native or learner variation between imperative (e. g. ven ‘come’) and optative Spanish commands (e. g. que vengas ‘come’). We first performed a corpus analysis to determine the linguistic factors to manipulate in a contextualized task, which elicited commands from learners before and after four weeks abroad in Alcalá de Henares, Spain. Their overall rates of selection and predictive factors were compared to local native speakers (NSs) and a control group of at-home learners.Results revealed that the abroad learners more closely approached NS rates of selection following the stay abroad. Nonetheless, for both learner groups conditioning by independent variables only partially approximated the NS system, which was more complex than previously suggested.

Predicting Psycho-educational Problems in Childhood

1978 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 148-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard S. Adelman
Keyword(s):  
State Of The Art ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Health Maintenance ◽  
Ethical Concerns ◽  
Current State ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Assessment Procedures ◽  
Mass Identification ◽  
Ethical Perspectives

Presented are (1) a brief synthesis of several key conceptual and methodological concerns and some ethical perspectives related to identification of psycho-educational problems and (2) conclusions regarding the current state of the art. The conceptual discussion focuses on differentiating prediction from identification and screening from diagnosis; three models used in developing assessment procedures also are presented. Methodologically, the minimal requirements for satisfactory research are described and current problems are highlighted. Three ethical perspectives are discussed; cost-benefit for the individual, models-motives-goals underlying practices, and cost-benefit for the culture. The current state of the art is seen as not supporting the efficacy of the widespread use of currently available procedures for mass screening. Given this point and the methodological and ethical concerns discussed, it is suggested that policy makers reallocate limited resources away from mass identification and toward health maintenance and other approaches to prevention and early-age intervention.

Effect of EPS on biofilm structure and function as revealed by an individual-based model of biofilm growth

2001 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 135-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.-U. Kreft ◽  
J. W. Wimpenny
Keyword(s):  
Dimensional Space ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Individual Based Model ◽  
Biofilm Growth ◽  
Rate Dependent ◽  
Binding Forces ◽  
The Individual ◽  
And Function ◽  
Biofilm Structure

We have simulated a nitrifying biofilm with one ammonia and one nitrite oxidising species in order to elucidate the effect of various extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) production scenarios on biofilm structure and function. The individual-based model (IbM) BacSim simulates diffusion of all substrates on a two-dimensional lattice. Each bacterium is individually simulated as a sphere of given size in a continuous, three-dimensional space. EPS production kinetics was described by a growth rate dependent and an independent term (Luedeking-Piret equation). The structure of the biofilm was dramatically influenced by EPS production or capsule formation. EPS production decreased growth of producers and stimulated growth of non-producers because of the energy cost involved. For the same reason, EPS accumulation can fall as its rate of production increases. The patchiness and roughness of the biofilm decreased and the porosity increased due to EPS production. EPS density was maximal in the middle of the vertical profile. Introduction of binding forces between like cells increased clustering.

scholarly journals Managing children and adolescents on parenteral nutrition: challenges for the nutritional support team

2006 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 217-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracey Johnson ◽  
Elaine Sexton
Keyword(s):  
Parenteral Nutrition ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Nutritional Support ◽  
Intestinal Failure ◽  
Home Care Services ◽  
Cholestatic Liver Disease ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Child Assessments ◽  
The Individual ◽  
At Home

Managing infants, children and adolescents, ranging from premature infants to 18-year-old adolescents, on parenteral nutrition (PN) is a challenge. The ability of children to withstand starvation is limited and, unlike adults, children require nutrition for growth. PN in children is often required secondary to a congenital bowel problem rather than because of an acquired condition. Conditions requiring PN include motility disorders, congenital disorders of the intestinal epithelium and short-bowel syndrome (SBS). Intestinal failure may be temporary and children with SBS may be weaned from PN. However, other children require permanent PN. There are no comprehensive guidelines for the nutritional requirements of children and adolescents requiring PN. Practice in individual centres is based on clinical experience rather than clinical trials. Requirements are assessed on an individual basis according to age, nutritional status and clinical condition. These requirements need regular review to ensure that they remain appropriate for the changing age and weight of the child. Assessments of intakes use different methods, e.g. reference tables and predictive equations. Complications of PN include infection, accidental damage to, or removal of, the line and cholestatic liver disease. Home parenteral nutrition (HPN) is associated with fewer line infections and allows continuation of nutritional support in a more normal environment, encouraging normal development and participation in family activities. However, having a child at home on HPN is associated with physical and psychological stresses. A feeling of depression, loneliness and social isolation is common amongst children and their families. Home-care services are essential to supporting children at home and should be tailored to, and sensitive to, the individual needs of each family.

scholarly journals Creative Potential is Differentially Expressed in School, at Home, and the Natural Environment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Runco ◽  
Ahmed M. Abdulla Alabbasi ◽  
Selcuk Acar ◽  
ALaa Eldin A. Ayoub
Keyword(s):  
Natural Environment ◽  
Statistical Test ◽  
Differentially Expressed ◽  
Creative Activity ◽  
Creative Potential ◽  
Method Variance ◽  
Creative Products ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Home And School ◽  
At Home

Creative potential is one of the very most important topics for research. It is difficult to study because, unlike creative products, potential is by definition latent. There are several methods. One involves comparing creative activity expressed in various settings. Previous research has, for example, compared creativity expressed in school with that expressed by the same individuals when they are outside of school. There tends to be more creative activity outside of school, suggesting that the individual has creative potential, but it is only allowed to be expressed in certain settings. The present investigation extended this line of research by comparing creative activity in school, at home, and that occurring outside of school and home. Results indicated that the activity scores from the three settings shared less than 52% of their variance. The measures used were highly reliable, so the conclusion was that, as in previous research, various settings do indeed differentially allow the expression of creative potential. Comparisons of means also supported this finding. Interestingly, creative activity at home was significantly more common than creative activity at school and when outside of the home and school. A statistical test of method variance indicated that it was not a notable contribution nor confound. Limitations are discussed at the end of the manuscript.

Teaching Literature in Schools for Democratic Citizenship

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Heilbronn
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Democratic Citizenship ◽  
Creative Arts ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Teaching Literature ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Individual ◽  
United Nations Charter ◽  
At Home

Education is a human right and benefits both the individual and the whole society. Education that encourages debate and discussion and acknowledges complexity and ambiguity is essential for people to develop a respect for others and for democracy—that is, to participate as citizens. This concept is encapsulated in the United Nations Charter of Human Rights. The humanities and the creative arts are important curriculum areas that can encompass diversity and complexity and support the development of a necessary critical disposition. Study in these areas helps to create people who are at home in a culture in which openness to others and criticality in receiving ideas are paramount. Literature plays a key role in attaining these curriculum aims.

Discomforting bodies: French survivor testimony from the Algerian War

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 351-363
Author(s):  
Amy L. Hubbell
Keyword(s):  
Disability Studies ◽  
Algerian War ◽  
Open Letter ◽  
Political Climate ◽  
The People ◽  
The Individual ◽  
At Home

From 2012 to 2016, three French women published autobiographies about surviving bombings as children during the Algerian War (1954-1962). Danielle Michel-Chich who survived the Milk Bar bombing in Algiers in 1956 published an open letter to Zohra Drif, the woman who placed the bomb in the restaurant (Lettre à Zohra D., 2012), and Pied-Noir artist Nicole Guiraud who survived the same event published her diary Algérie 1962: Journal de l’Apocalypse in 2013. Nicole Simon who survived a bombing at a concert in Mostaganem, Algeria published her autobiography, La Bombe: Mostaganem, j’avais quinze ans, in 2016. In these works, the women relate in different ways how they negotiated their injured bodies at home in Algeria as well as in a tense political climate in France during and after the war. In this article I analyze survivor autobiographies to elucidate how transformed bodies impact the individual who survived the trauma but also how and why these women alternately hide their wounds to accommodate the people around them or accept and respond to the stares upon their bodies. By engaging with disability studies, I examine how the discomfort of the transformed body, for both the victims and the people who see them, exemplifies the much larger tensions surrounding the painful memory of the Algerian War.

Integrating variable traits and inheritance into the individual-based model LAVESI for evaluation of their importance for larch forest performance under future adverse conditions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josias Gloy ◽  
Stefan Kruse ◽  
Ulrike Herzschuh
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Drought Resistance ◽  
Migration Rate ◽  
Extinction Risk ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
The South ◽  
Trait Variation ◽  
Individual Based Model ◽  
Future Projections ◽  
The Individual

<p>With changing climate boreal forest need to shift their distribution further north and become threatened by droughts in the south. However, whether boreal forest species can adapt to novel situations and reduce their extinction risk is largely unknown but crucial to predict future performance of populations. Exploring variable traits and ultimately trait inheritance in an individual-based model could improve our understanding and help future projections.</p><p> </p><p>Hence, we updated the individual-based spatially explicit vegetation model LAVESI to allow for variation in traits values that are normally distributed and the option of determining the trait values based on the parental values, thus allowing full inheritance.</p><p> </p><p>Using historical climate data and future projections, we ran simulation experiments of <em>Larix gmelinii</em> stands in the two areas of interest, the northern treeline expanding due to increasing temperatures, and the southern area experiencing increased drought. At these regions, the trait of ‘seed weight’ regulate migration further north and the ‘drought resistance’ protecting stands in the south, a comparison of the model variants: uniform, variable and inherited traits is being performed.</p><p>The results will be presented and will allow to disentangle how far migration rate and survival rate are influenced by this. In preliminary tests, it was already shown that both the allowing trait variation and inheritance led to an increase in migration rate, with the latter having a stronger impact. Similarly, the early tests for the drought resistance show that in changing temperatures leading to droughts the trait variation allows for adaption and leads to better surviving populations.</p><p> </p><p>We expect that variable traits ensure that if the environment changes necessary trait variants are available. Inheritance could let the populations adapt to environments and promote successful trait values and therefore lead to more optimised populations, that are able to spread faster and be as resilient as needed.</p><p> </p><p>With this, we show that implementing trait variation and inheritance may contribute to creating more accurately predicting models and understanding responses of boreal forests to global change.</p>

‘May God Bless You and All at Home’: Mid-Nineteenth Century Irish Views on Italy through the Letters of Albert Delahoyde, 1860–1870

2019 ◽  
pp. 126-138
Author(s):  
Florry O’Driscoll
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Papal States ◽  
Writing Identity ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Individual ◽  
At Home

This chapter explores the case-study of Dublin-born Albert Delahoyde as an instance of transnational language learning. Delahoyde was not yet eighteen years of age when he volunteered to fight with the Papal Battalion of St Patrick in 1860, in an ultimately futile attempt to maintain Pope Pius IX’s control over the Papal States. Through his letters, one can assess the individual, but also the communal significance of both the Papal Battalion and the Papal Zouaves, and the many contacts between Ireland and Italy in the mid-nineteenth century. Delahoyde provides a perfect example of practical literacy in action, as the correspondence of the Irish soldier reveals much about the links between writing, identity, and nation at the midpoint of the nineteenth century.

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