The ‘ethic of knowledge’ and responsible science: Responses to genetically motivated racism

This study takes off from the ethical problem that racism grounded in population genetics raises. It is an analysis of four standard scientific responses to the problem of genetically motivated racism, seen in connection with the Human Genome Diversity Project (HGDP): (1) Discriminatory uses of scientific facts and arguments are in principle ‘misuses’ of scientific data that the researcher cannot be further responsible for. (2) In a strict scientific sense, genomic facts ‘disclaim racism’, which means that an epistemically correct grasp of genomics should be ethically justified. (3) Ethical difficulties are issues to be ‘resolved’ by an ethics institution or committee, which will guarantee the ethical quality of the research scrutinized. (4) Although population genetics occasionally may lead to racism, its overall ‘value’ for humankind justifies its cause as a desirable pursuit. I argue that these typical responses to genetically motivated racism supervene on a principle called the ‘ethic of knowledge’, which implies that an epistemically correct account has intrinsic ethical value. This principle, and its logically related ideas concerning the ethic of science, effectively avoids a deeper ethical question of responsibility in science from being raised.

The Concept of “Judicial Doctrine” in Russian Jurisprudence (General Notes)

The paper aims to address the totality of individual terms based on the generic concept of “doctrine”: “legal doctrine”, “scientific doctrine”, “judicial doctrine” the way they are interpreted in modern Russian legal science. Substantially and conceptually, the work anticipates an approach to another subject that is an integral part of the Russian judicial doctrine and the process of its formation, namely the application of the principles and norms of international law in the administration of justice. The paper focuses on some ambiguous interpretations of the understanding of the phenomena that are combined with each other due to the interweaving of the above concepts found in modern domestic and foreign literature, sometimes mixing their external and internal sides, proposed corresponding original solutions or paradoxical qualifications. Two extremes are emphasized in the course of revealing the essence of the analyzed concepts: either an almost arbitrary — mechanical — connection of all the elements present in one case or another into a kind of artificial “complex”, or a declination in favor of only one component as a central (or supporting) component while ignoring the others. Analyzing the legal doctrine as a concept the author differentiates between a category of science and judicial doctrine, and assumes that it is worth avoiding hyperbolization of differentiation between them. On the other hand, it would be fruitless to draw direct lines of their influence on each other. At the same time, when using the term “judicial doctrine”, it is impossible to abstract from the concept of “doctrine” in the general scientific sense. Their mutual intersection with each other, “penetration” into each other are objective. Formulating the conclusions on the problems of the concepts of legal, scientific and judicial doctrine, the author advocates greater caution in making proposals and, at the same time, greater criticism in assessing the already existing conclusions of legal theorists and practitioners.

inhabiting blue

<p>Architects by in large employ physical materials to generate and define space. Materials such as timber, stone, bricks, and mortar envelop and contain. Yet when described in a purely scientific sense, the visible world can be defined by light, or the absence of light and variations in between. Seminal author and investigator of the senses, Juhani Pallasmaa writes, ‘The experiences of matter, space and light are inseparable ... there is no true architectural experience without light’ (2016, p. 7). Extending this statement, the use of light generates space, creating an architectural experience. The research proposition becomes: Using a reductivist approach, and employing only hue, saturation, and brightness to replace physical materials, this creative body of work explores how colour can be used to evoke a response in mixed realities. The research methodology is Design-Led research, following similar beliefs to Peter Dowton, that by doing, knowing is enhancing knowledge. Literature reviews indicated that there are two main approaches to colour psychology and therapy. From this, the research aims to bridge the gap between popular culture claims and heavily scientific or psychology-based research, to explore the effects of colour through architectural design. Following this, colour theory was researched, followed by a feasibility study of design tests. In the sketch design phase, light at the wavelength frequency of blue was tapped into, and its effects researched. Unique blues were created from nature: flora and fauna were sourced and boiled into pigments. The final outcome is mixed media; Virtual Realities, physical works, and a unique experience. Throughout this project, tests were executed including reviews to gain an indication of whether a response was evoked. The results of this architectural portfolio, which leans into the artistic vein of architecture, show that various saturations and brightness of hues in the blue range can indeed evoke responses.</p>

inhabiting blue

<p>Architects by in large employ physical materials to generate and define space. Materials such as timber, stone, bricks, and mortar envelop and contain. Yet when described in a purely scientific sense, the visible world can be defined by light, or the absence of light and variations in between. Seminal author and investigator of the senses, Juhani Pallasmaa writes, ‘The experiences of matter, space and light are inseparable ... there is no true architectural experience without light’ (2016, p. 7). Extending this statement, the use of light generates space, creating an architectural experience. The research proposition becomes: Using a reductivist approach, and employing only hue, saturation, and brightness to replace physical materials, this creative body of work explores how colour can be used to evoke a response in mixed realities. The research methodology is Design-Led research, following similar beliefs to Peter Dowton, that by doing, knowing is enhancing knowledge. Literature reviews indicated that there are two main approaches to colour psychology and therapy. From this, the research aims to bridge the gap between popular culture claims and heavily scientific or psychology-based research, to explore the effects of colour through architectural design. Following this, colour theory was researched, followed by a feasibility study of design tests. In the sketch design phase, light at the wavelength frequency of blue was tapped into, and its effects researched. Unique blues were created from nature: flora and fauna were sourced and boiled into pigments. The final outcome is mixed media; Virtual Realities, physical works, and a unique experience. Throughout this project, tests were executed including reviews to gain an indication of whether a response was evoked. The results of this architectural portfolio, which leans into the artistic vein of architecture, show that various saturations and brightness of hues in the blue range can indeed evoke responses.</p>

Benford’s Law in Forensic Analysis of Registered Turnover

Forensic accounting in scientific sense is the part of accounting that assumes the practice of scientific techniques and methods in conducting investigations and detecting criminal activities in financial statements, business statements and companies. One such tool in detecting anomalies in accounting records is the Benford’s Law, which gives the expected pattern of digit frequencies in numeric data sets according to their position in numbers. Because of this property, Benford’s law has become a significant forensic tool for the detection of anomalies, especially in financial business. One of the most important sources is account turnover data in the observed period, which has a debt and credit side. A classic way of analyzing these liabilities is to merge them and then look for a pattern of leading digits. In such approach, it is not possible to properly determine the source of anomalies, which are a guide to deeper analysis. For such purposes, a variant of the Hosmer-Lemeshow test is designed.

Bioactivity—Symphony or Cacophony? A Personal View of a Tangled Field

In the pursuit of better treatments, the concept of a chemically-active material, responding to local conditions by causing reactions, or reacting to produce substances that are deemed beneficial, seems laudable. Ultimately, the goal appears to be to recruit natural biological processes such that a natural ‘repair’ is effected. This goal seems to be the reason for prefixing “bio-” to many terms with a view to advertising the desire, yet without presenting evidence that it has occurred, or indeed that it is capable of occurring, relying instead on non-biological processes to justify the claims. The dogma is such that all work where local ‘responsive’ chemistry is involved must receive the label “bioactive” to legitimize and promote. Nevertheless, the primary evidence adduced is flawed, and the claim must fail. A rethink to restore scientific sense and confidence in the endeavour is essential if real progress is to be made.

Bioactivity – Symphony or Cacophony?

In the pursuit of better treatments, the concept of a chemically-active material, responding to local conditions by causing reactions, or reacting to produce substances that are deemed beneficial, seems laudable. Ultimately, the goal appears to be to recruit natural biological processes such that a natural &lsquo;repair&rsquo; is effected. This goal seems to be the reason for prefixing &ldquo;bio-&ldquo; to many terms with a view to advertising the desire, yet without presenting evidence that it has occurred, or indeed that it is capable of occurring, relying instead on non-biological processes to justify the claims. The dogma is such that all work where local &lsquo;responsive&rsquo; chemistry is involved must receive the label &ldquo;bioactive&rdquo; to legitimize and promote. Nevertheless, the primary evidence adduced is flawed, and the claim must fail. A rethink to restore scientific sense and confidence in the endeavour is essential if real progress is to be made.

The Development of a Questionnaire for Measuring the Quality of the Work of the PR Department in Organizations

This paper presents the development of a questionnaire for measuring the quality of the work of the PR department (office, sector) in organizations. For this purpose, the necessary research was carried out with experts in the field of public relations, and the statistical methods of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used. The research was conducted in Serbia. As a result of these procedures and analysis, a questionnaire was prepared for measuring the quality of the work of the PR department in organizations. The questionnaire consists of 5 dimensions and 16 items. The dimensions are as follows: ethical and responsible action, proactive and quality action, strategic and effective action, media relations and internal public relations. The questionnaire can be widely applied, both in practical terms and in a theoretical (scientific) sense. The basic practical application of the questionnaire involves evaluating PR department according to the set items and dimensions. In a scientific sense, the questionnaire can be used to examine the impact of various aspects of organizational behaviour on the quality of the work of the PR department, as well as the impact of the quality of the work of the PR department on different aspects of financial and organizational performance.