Bioethics 101 | NWABR.ORG Bioethics 101 provides a systematic, five-lesson introductory course to support educators in incorporating bioethics into the classroom through the use of sequential, day-to-day lesson plans. This curriculum is designed to help science teachers in guiding their students to analyze issues using scientific facts, ethical principles, and reasoned judgment. These lessons represent a "best of" compilation from our popular Ethics Primer. Through the use of case studies, ethical principles, decision-making frameworks and stakeholder role-play, students are fully supported in learning how to justify an answer to an ethical question. If you’ve been looking for a structured way to introduce bioethics into your classroom, this resource is for you! Click here to download the entire curriculum. In order for us to measure how our curriculum resources are being used, please take a moment to contact us and let us know the class or classes in which you're using our lessons.
Imperial Festival Materials, microbes, maths and medicine. Explore Imperial's ground breaking research with a packed schedule of activities, talks and performances for all ages. This year's Festival will take place on Friday 9 and Saturday 10 May 2014. The Festival will be open to the public at the following times:16.00 - 22.00 on Friday12.00 - 18.00 on Saturday The Festival is free and open to all, so drop in to put your questions to hundreds of scientists and engineers, take part in hands-on science demonstrations, peek behind the scenes of Imperial’s most exciting labs, and enjoy music, dance and comedy. This will be the third annual Imperial Festival and there will be even more activities, performances and demonstrations, and three new venues: Light Zone: From optical illusions to an invisibility cloak, explore the science of light, polarization and thermal cameras in an all new pop-up marquee. The Festival takes place at Imperial’s South Kensington Campus which is situated in London’s museum quarter.
Music's potentially healing powers in treatment of afflictions (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los…) Yes, yes, it hath charms to soothe a savage breast (or beast, if you prefer to repeat a common mistake). But researchers are finding that music may be an effective balm for many other afflictions: the isolation of conditions such as autism and Alzheimer's disease, the disability that results from stroke, the physical stress of entering the world too early. The hope of music's curative powers has spawned a community in the United States of some 5,000 registered music therapists, who have done post-college study in psychology and music to gain certification. While music therapists use a mix of improvisation and proven techniques to help patients, neuroscientists are looking to uncover the scientific basis for music's healing powers. By doing so, they hope to better identify which patients might respond best to music and what musical techniques might best help them to regain lost or compromised function.
Faith-Based Activism on Climate Change | June 19, 2015 | Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly KIM LAWTON, correspondent: Deep in the bayous of south Louisiana, residents have little doubt about the impact of climate change. THERESA DARDAR: We live here, so we see it happening. We see the land sinking, sea level rise, we see it all. LAWTON: Theresa Dardar is part of a small Native American fishing community whose families have been here for generations. On a boat ride down the bayou, she shows me where her grandfather lived. DARDAR: This used to be full of trees, and they used to have a lot of cattle here. LAWTON: Today, water has overtaken much of the marshland, and little can grow here. DARDAR: Ghost trees or skeletons. LAWTON: Most scientists who study this area say changes in climate fueled by growing amounts of carbon emissions have led to rising sea levels. REV. LAWTON: Kristina Peterson is a Presbyterian pastor, professor of environmental planning at the University of New Orleans, and coordinator of the interfaith Wetlands Theological Project.
What are confounding factors and how do they affect studies? What are confounding factors and how do they affect studies? Designing a study is not easy. Suppose we want to understand the relationship between obesity and morbidity. Do obese people die earlier than normal-weight people? If we just compare the numbers – i.e. compare the rates of death for these two groups – we might find a misleading story. What if obese people are also more likely to drive rather than walk, increasing the rate of deaths due to car accidents? Confounding factors can have a huge impact on the results of both controlled and observational studies. While there are standard statistical techniques to adjust for these confounding factors, at times it’s not clear whether some factor is confounding or not. In this case, illness was a confounding factor that had not been considered by the CDC. Confounding factors can be accounted for using statistical techniques.
Science Weekly Extra: An extended interview with Ben Goldacre on Bad Pharma | Science We presented some edited highlights of Alok Jha's interview with science writer, broadcaster, doctor and academic Ben Goldacre in the show on 8 October. In today's Science Weekly Extra we bring you the full interview. Goldacre's new book Bad Pharma is a forensic investigation into how the pharmaceutical industry – which invests millions in the high-stakes process of drug development and clinical trials – ensures its products reach the market. Goldacre discusses the central thesis of Bad Pharma, that drug development and evidence-based medical research are not working for the benefit of patients and may even be endangering lives. Goldacre also explains why he thinks there is a need for more transparency in the patient-doctor relationship and why science journals and regulatory authorities need to rethink the evidence threshold and seek full and open disclosure of both positive and negative drug trials.
Top Ten Takeaways from 'Laudato Si'' | America Magazine Pope Francis’ revolutionary new encyclical calls for a “broad cultural revolution” to confront the environmental crisis. “Laudato Si” is also quite lengthy. Can it be summarized? 1) The spiritual perspective is now part of the discussion on the environment. The greatest contribution of “Laudato Si” to the environmental dialogue is, to my mind, its systematic overview of the crisis from a religious point of view. 2) The poor are disproportionately affected by climate change. The disproportionate effect of environmental change on the poor and on the developing world is highlighted in almost every section of the encyclical. 3) Less is more. Pope Francis takes aim at what he calls the “technocratic” mindset, in which technology is seen as the “principal key” to human existence (No. 110). 4) Catholic social teaching now includes teaching on the environment. 5) Discussions about ecology can be grounded in the Bible and church tradition. 6) Everything is connected—including the economy.
Disaster mitigation: a community based approach. | POPLINE.org Source: Oxford, England, Oxfam, 1989. x, 100 p. (Development Guidelines No. 3) Abstract: This book recounts the author's experiences with programs developed in Peru for lessening the impact of natural disasters. Add to My Documents PNIRS - Home Francis puts environment above short-term politics Sometime in April 1226, lying acutely ill in the grounds of St Clare’s San Damiano convent, St Francis of Assisi wrote the Cantico di fratre sole, the Canticle of Brother Sun. Nowadays we sing it as ‘All Creatures of Our God and King’. It is a cosmic hymn of praise to God in which the whole natural world joins. Pope Francis encyclical, Laudatio si (‘Praise Be’), quotes it at length (87). Francis’ biographer, Thomas of Celano, says that all God’s creatures ‘filled Francis with wondrous and unspeakable joy as he beheld the sun, or raised his eyes to the moon, or gazed on the stars, and the firmament...Even towards little worms he glowed with exceeding love... he used to pick them up...and put them in a safe place, that they might not be crushed.’ Conscious of his own approaching death, the saint sings: ‘Praise to thee, O Lord, for our sister mortal death, from whom no one may escape.’ Laudatio si gives no comfort to global warming deniers. Laudatio si needs a good editor. Comments
Podcasts and Downloads - The Infinite Monkey Cage The Placebo Effect A placebo (or dummy pill) is an inert substance, typically a tablet, capsule or other dose form that does not contain an active drug ingredient. For example, placebo pills or liquids may contain starch, sugar, or saline. Physical placebo, or “sham” treatments have also been used, such as inactive acupuncture devices. Placebos are often used in clinical trials as an inactive control so that researchers can better evaluate the true overall effect of the experimental drug treatment under study. Conducting a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial helps to eliminate any bias that might occur due to knowledge of who receives which treatments. What is the placebo effect? Research has shown that a placebo treatment can have a positive therapeutic effect in a patient, even though the pill or treatment is not active. A nocebo effect is the opposite of the placebo effect - a negative psychological effect of a treatment with no pharmacologic activity. References 1. 2. 3. 4.