Modeling ethics

Greely, H.T., "The Ethics of the Human Genome Diversity Project The North American Regional Committee s Proposal Model Ethical Protocol," in Human DNA Sampling Law and Policy—International and Comparative Perspectives. Kluwer Law Inti, pp. 239-256 (1997b). 

North American Regional Committee, Human Genome Diversity Project, "Proposed Model Ethical Protocol for Collecting DNA Samples," Hous. L. Rev., 33, 1431-1473 (1997). 

Morrison-Velasco, S. (2000b). Wrapping around empathy The role of empathy in the wraparound model. Ethical Human Sciences and Services, 2, 109—117. 

The previous volume included articles on Aristotelean chemistry, Kant s views on chemistiy, and the normative-descriptive dimension in philosophy of science. There were articles on chemical modeling, ethics in chemistiy, downward causa-ti(Mi, the reduction of chemistry and chemical symmetiy. More specific issues included periodic systems of molecules, the computer-aided design of molecules and instrumental techniques used in surface chemistry. Finally some more obviously philosophical papers dealt with natural kinds in chemistiy, whether or not water is H2O and the relationship between metaphysics and meta-chemistiy. 

Some have argued that computer ethics is a subdiscipline of applied ethics [5,13]. As such, examining other subdisciplines of applied ethics would prove fruitful to resolving issues that arise in computer ethics. For instance, Wong and Steinke [13] argue that computer ethics shares many similarities with medical ethics and business ethics. They suggest that the fields of medical ethics and business ethics can be useful as models for computer ethics. 

The main pre-clinical species used for pharmacokinetic studies are the rat, mouse and dog. An examination of the Biosys database for 2000 and 2001 shows that of the abstracted papers, 6334 mapped to the subject heading Pharmacokinetics . Of these, the vast majority (70%) were studies on humans. Studies on rats constituted 14% of the reports, mice 7.5% and dogs 3.4% (Table 6.2). Nonhuman primates can also be important pharmacokinetic models, but ethical and practical considerations severely limit studies in these animals such that, within the same period, they represented less than 0.5% of the abstracted reports on PK. 

Further evidence to support the notion of a role for immunotoxic environmental contaminants in the 1988 outbreak came from two studies of laboratory rats carried out in tandem with the seal studies. PVG rats were fed the same two batches of herring used in the seal study, with a similar pattern of effects observed in the seals [63,64], However, there were additional indications of immunotoxicity that could not be evaluated in seals for ethical or technical reasons, including increased virus titers in a rat cytomegalovirus (RCMV) host resistance model, and reduced thymus cellularity in the rats fed Baltic Sea herring. A positive control group of rats in one of the studies was exposed to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, thereafter exhibiting an amplified pattern of the effects that had been observed in the Baltic group. The collective results from the captive seal studies and the laboratory animal studies were seen to implicate an AhR-mediated immunotoxicity, in which dioxin-like PCBs played a dominant role [64, 65],... 

The environmental impact of a new product needs to be assessed before it can be released for general use. Chemicals released into the environment can enter the food chain and be concentrated in plants and animals. Aquatic ecosystems are particularly sensitive, in this respect, since chemicals, when applied to agricultural land, can be transported in the ground water to rivers and then to the lakes, where they can accumulate in fish and plant life. The ecokinetic model presented here is based on a simple compartmental analysis and is based on laboratory ecosystem studies (Blau et ah, 1975). The model is useful in simulating the results of events, such as the accidental spillage of an agrochemical into a pond, where it is not ethical to perform actual experimental studies. 

In in vivo studies, an important issue is the quality of ECG recordings and the methods used for the analysis. A few years ago, a survey reported on the practice in the pharmaceutical industry to assess the potential for QT prolongation and concluded that the majority view in the industry is not necessarily best practice [153]. After this publication, a lot of work has been done to improve the performance of in vivo models, although it should be acknowledged that their cost (together with some ethical considerations on the rational use of animals) makes them unsuitable for large-scale screening. 

The Project s Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications (ELSI) program became the world s largest bioethics program and a model for other ELSI programs worldwide. 

Ethical issues as well as difficulty in obtaining enough human nasal tissue specimens have called for the need to use alternative in vitro and in vivo methods. Various in vivo animal models and in vitro excised tissue models have been described in the literature for nasal drug transport studies. However, due to the difficulty in both controlling the experimental conditions in in vivo animal models and obtaining intact excised tissue samples, in vitro cell culture models are also being actively developed. 

Toxic characteristics of industrial wastewater in many countries are still assessed using fish [106-108]. The standardized procedure describes testing with different species in different life stages. For ethical reasons, as well as those linked to cost- and time-effectiveness, labor-intensiveness, analytical output, and effluent sample volume requirements, there is unquestionable value in searching for alternative procedures that would ehminate the drawbacks associated with fish testing. Investigators therefore use an in vitro cell system, which can greatly decrease the need for the in vivo hsh model [37]. 

The FETAX has been in use as a screening test in our laboratory since 1999 and is based on the standard guide of the American Society for Testing and Materials (1). FETAX is conducted under the approval of our local ethical committee using Xenofus laevis embryos and constitutes an efficient developmental toxicity screening test when performed early in drug safety development. Its possible use as a mechanistic model is not discussed herein. 

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