scholarly journals Coastal Adaptation and Uncertainties: The Need of Ethics for a Shared Coastal Future

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agustín Sánchez-Arcilla ◽  
Vicente Gracia ◽  
César Mösso ◽  
Iván Cáceres ◽  
Daniel González-Marco ◽  
...  

Coastal hydro-morphodynamics present significant uncertainties, one order of magnitude larger for sediment transport than for the driving hydrodynamics. Met-ocean factors (waves, currents, and levels essentially) are normally selected from a probability distribution, where only the central trend is considered, and then the analysis of hydro-morphodynamic processes is carried out within a deterministic framework. This analysis is often based on a non-updated topo-bathymetry, with implicit error intervals for many variables, which results in uncertainties that, unless presented from an ethical perspective, tend to hinder proactive decision making and thus result in growing coastal degradation. To address this challenge, the article starts with the uncertainty in water/sediment fluxes and resulting morphodynamic impacts under average and storm conditions, proving the need to include explicit error levels in the analysis and subsequent assessments. The article develops this approach for field and lab data, considering how they are extrapolated to estimate key variables in coastal sustainability and engineering decisions, illustrated in terms of the longshore sand transport. Such a key variable estimation presents large uncertainties and thus requires a stricter ethical approach for extreme events, which serves to illustrate the transmission of uncertainties. The article concludes with a short overview of the implications that these uncertainties may have for coastal risk assessments and proactive decision making, discussing how large error levels without a suitable ethical assessment may result in socio-economic mistrust, which will limit the necessary optimism to address future coastal sustainability.

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 272
Author(s):  
Yousef Hajim Al-Taie ◽  
Darwn Faraidun Abdulla ◽  
Wrya Najm Rasheed

The ethical  leadership is considered as one of the most  vital  practices , leadership styles and as an aspects of appropriate behavior to build organizational social relationships between the human capital in organization and its outside , and characterized their relationship by two-way , between the superior and subordinate from one way and  between them and the society on the other hand, in order to focus on strengthen relations processes and the appropriate decision making  in accordance with the behaviors of ethical  leadership Which focuses in its philosophy on credibility, trust and justice in the distribution of decision-making among individuals, and the most important thing that  individuals need is to encourage ethical values that limit the behavior of perverse action or negative behavior, and whenever  the leadership does ethically, they may  led to achieve organizational integrity, which emphasizes its philosophy to avoid negative behaviors or illegal and adhere by the behavior rules and ethical discipline  that would limit from the behavior of deviant corruption or rooted in the organizations. Organizational integrity it deliberated as the most significant aspects of the development of organizations in the third millennium, which focuses socially on the forces of work and highlight the positive side of the Organization activities and educating and training of individuals on such those kind of actions, taking into consideration its impact on the external environment and adherence to ethical standards and principles that they have a mental acceptance. Therefore, it can be said that through ethical leadership and organizational integrity, organizations can reduce the spread of administrative corruption and eliminate its nutrients and incubators by fostering a culture of ethical leadership and working with the principles of organizational integrity within the wholly organization. Hence, the current study focused on the three key variables.  The independent variable is the ethical leadership, according to the model of (Sajefert et al..2016), with its dimension which includes (Justice, ethical principles, orientation towards individuals, separation between authorities, classification and anxiety bearing), while the mediator variable is the organizational integrity which were applied based on the model of (Moon & Hamition: 2013), which its sub-dimensions consists of  (critical task, supervision, focus on the process, focus on efficiency, human resource, trust, learning and improvement, change management). However,  the dependent variable of our study is nutrients of administrative corruption including  the dimensions, which have been obtained from the preliminary study of a number of experts and academics, as identified as more than twenty dimensions and  then the following dimensions, which have been got the agreement between most of the experts, are  (mortal routine, job Infiltration during work, career lazing, partisan interest, multiple control points, lack Importance in specialization, carelessness, lack of commitment, lack of knowledge of the profession ethics, Competencies and incompetence Conflict, the lack of strict laws and regulations, linking salary to productivity). Questionnaires were designed and which have been pre-tested for data collection and measurements were developed using a random sampling method. The questionnaires were distributed for the sample of 70 employees in three important departments in Najaf Governorate (Tax Department, State Real Estate Department and Registration Department) to be a part of the current study. Numerical statistical methods were applied, including mean, standard deviation, percent weight, C.V, and simple and multiple linear regressions using SMART PLS program. The results showed a positive correlation among the three variables in varying proportions. Based on the results of the current study, a number of recommendations were suggested to strengthen the importance of ethical leadership in achieving organizational integrity as well as to reduce the spread of administrative corruption and eliminate its nutrients and incubators in other organizations.


Author(s):  
Jean-Louis Vincent ◽  
Jacques Creteur

Acute cardiac syndromes are common and responsible for considerable mortality and morbidity. Decision making in such patients can be difficult clinically but can also be complex and challenging from an ethical perspective. This chapter reviews some of the ethical problems, including organ donation and withholding/withdrawing, that can occur in the acutely ill adult cardiac patient, starting with a brief look at the ethical principles that should guide our decision making: beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, and distributive justice. The role of advance directives and considerations related to family presence during cardiopulmonary resuscitation will also be discussed. With the increasing incidence and prevalence of coronary artery disease worldwide, the number of patients with cardiac arrest and requiring acute cardiac care is going to increase, and doctors will increasingly be faced with difficult ethical decisions associated with these patients. Open discussion and debate about these issues and good communication among patients, family members, and members of the health care team are essential to ensure that all patients receive the best possible end-of-life care.


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 256-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shamsi Ahmadian ◽  
Abolfazl Rahimi ◽  
Ebrahim Khaleghi

Background: The families of brain-dead patients have a significant role in the process of decision making for organ donation. Organ donation is a traumatic experience. The ethical responsibility of healthcare systems respecting organ donation is far beyond the phase of decision making for donation. The principles of donation-related ethics require healthcare providers and organ procurement organizations to respect donor families and protect them against any probable harm. Given the difficult and traumatic nature of donation-related experience, understanding the outcomes of donation appears crucial. Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the outcomes of organ donation for the families of brain-dead patients. Methods: This was a qualitative descriptive study to which a purposeful sample of 19 donor family members were recruited. Data were collected through holding in-depth semi-structured interviews with the participants. Data analysis was performed by following the qualitative content analysis approach developed by Elo and Kyngäs. Findings: The main category of the data was “Decision to organ donation: a challenge from conflict to transcendence.” This main category consisted of 10 subcategories and 3 general categories. The general categories were “challenging outcomes,” “reassuring outcomes,” and “transcending outcomes.” Ethical considerations: The study was approved by the regional ethical review board. The ethical principles of informed consent, confidentiality, and non-identification were used. Conclusion: Donor families experience different challenges which range from conflict and doubtfulness to confidence, satisfaction, and transcendence. Healthcare providers and organ procurers should not discontinue care and support provision to donor families after obtaining their consent to donate because the post-decision phase is also associated with different complexities and difficulties with which donor families may not be able to cope effectively. In order to help donor families achieve positive outcomes from the tragedy of significant loss, healthcare professionals need to facilitate the process of achieving confidence and transcendence by them.


Author(s):  
Jean-Louis Vincent

Acute cardiac syndromes are common and responsible for considerable mortality and morbidity. Decision making in such patients can be difficult clinically but can also be complex and challenging from an ethical perspective. This chapter reviews some of the ethical problems, including organ donation and withholding/withdrawing, that can occur in the acutely ill adult cardiac patient, starting with a brief look at the ethical principles that should guide our decision making: beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, and distributive justice. The role of advance directives and considerations related to family presence during cardiopulmonary resuscitation will also be discussed. With the increasing incidence and prevalence of coronary artery disease worldwide, the number of patients with cardiac arrest and requiring acute cardiac care is going to increase, and doctors will increasingly be faced with difficult ethical decisions associated with these patients. Open discussion and debate about these issues and good communication among patients, family members, and members of the health care team are essential to ensure that all patients receive the best possible end-of-life care.


Author(s):  
Gumilang Aryo Sahadewo ◽  
Jeffrey Drope ◽  
Qing Li ◽  
Firman Witoelar ◽  
Raphael Lencucha

Understanding the variables that affect farmers’ decisions as to whether to grow tobacco and/or other crops provides important insights into their economic lives and can help to inform the development and implementation of policies that shape both tobacco production and tobacco control, such as increasing tobacco excise taxes. This study employs complementary quantitative and qualitative methodologies to identify variables that affect tobacco farmers’ economic decision making in Indonesia, a major tobacco producer. The research focuses on the variables that affect tobacco farmers’ decisions to continue tobacco farming or shift to non-tobacco farming. It finds that tobacco farmers’ decision making is complex but also predictable. The results of the quantitative analysis suggest that farming profits and positive rainfall shocks are two of the key variables that affect the decision to cultivate tobacco. The qualitative results confirm these findings and further illuminate that access to credit, education (agricultural and otherwise) and information play substantial roles in farmers’ economic decision making. Most of these variables are affected by the unequal relationship between the tobacco firms that buy tobacco and the farmers, wherein the farmers are consistently at a disadvantage in terms of negotiating key parameters such as prices and evaluation of leaf quality.


2014 ◽  
Vol 926-930 ◽  
pp. 3806-3811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shu Teng Zhang ◽  
Ya Jie Dou ◽  
Qing Song Zhao

The capability planning is a fundamental task when designing a Weapon System of Systems (WSOS). Uncertainties exist when building WSOS. It is difficult to select the most appropriate alternatives under the background of system operations. The programming of capability of WSOS is a multi-criteria decision-making problem. To resolve this problem, a scenario-based multi-criteria decision-making methodology is proposed. Scenario describes the future situation may occur, and also presents the uncertainty of reality. In this paper, scenario was modeled by the key variables in which experts and stakeholders are interested. TOPSIS was also improved based on multiple scenarios. Finally, the method is validated by an example of armored weapon systems.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
William N. Caballero ◽  
Roi Naveiro ◽  
David Ríos Insua

Whereas automated driving technology has made tremendous gains in the last decade, significant questions remain regarding its integration into society. Given its revolutionary nature, the use of automated driving systems (ADSs) is accompanied by myriad novel quandaries relating to both operational and ethical concerns that are relevant to numerous stakeholders (e.g., governments, manufacturers, and passengers). When considering any such problem, the ADS’s decision-making calculus is always a central component. This is true for concerns about public perception and trust to others regarding explainability and legal certainty. Therefore, in this manuscript, we set forth a general decision-analytic framework tailorable to multitudinous stakeholders. More specifically, we develop and validate a generic tree of ADS management objectives, explore potential attributes for their measurement, and provide multiattribute utility functions for implementation. Given the contention surrounding numerous ethical concerns in ADS operations, we explore how each of the aforementioned components can be tailored in accordance with the stakeholder’s desired ethical perspective. A simulation environment is developed upon which our framework is tested. Within this environment we illustrate how our approach can be leveraged by stakeholders to make strategic trade-offs regarding ADS behavior and to inform policymaking efforts. In so doing, our framework is demonstrated as a practical, tractable, and transparent means of modeling ADS decision making.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierfrancesco Biasetti ◽  
Barbara de Mori

Decision making-process in conservation can be very complex, having to deal with various value dimensions and potential conflicts. In fact, conflicts and competing interests between stakeholders are among the most quoted reasons for failure of projects. Ethical analysis can be helpful in this regard. In this paper we present a revision of the Ethical Matrix specifically tailored to decision-making processes in conservation. The Ethical Matrix is a conceptual tool devised to help decision-makers by supplying them with a framework of the ethically relevant aspects involved in decision-making process. It was originally developed for the ethical assessment of agri-food biotechnologies and later has been applied to other fields. The revised version we propose here has been designed for the ethical analysis of conservation priority-setting and impact. As conservation can raise many ethical relevant controversies, conceptual tools like the one presented here can be of help for conservationists, providing a map of the value demands involved. This map can be used to question the reasonableness of the value judgments, estimate the impact of different courses of actions, anticipate conflicts, and rank their severeness.


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