Issues involving the use of human subjects converge at the intersection of research in engineering, science, ethics, medicine, and technology and society. Questions arise about risks and benefits to research participants and society and the governance of science. By law a group of individuals known as the institutional review board (IRB) must be established by research organizations to decide whether to approve research protocols with human participants. Approximately 6600 IRBs exist in the U.S. Previous research on IRBs, mostly quantitative, has not studied the relationship between member characteristics (such as role and gender) and member perceptions of the IRB process. In this research I draw primarily on participatory democratic theory to frame the central research questions and the resulting analysis. I examine IRB members roles, participation, and expertise on the IRB and how these relate to their perception of the IRB decision-making processes at seven leading U.S. research universities. Policymakers and researchers alike increasingly are focusing on the adequacy of the existing system that oversees research studies involving human participants. As tension continues to mount over the applicability of the current guidelines to all research involving human participants, federally funded or not, it is timely to examine this oversight system to increase our understanding of how these committees actually decide whether to approve or disapprove human subjects research in their organizations. In this study, data are collected from personal interviews with scientist, nonscientist and nonaffiliated members serving on IRBs at each of the participating universities and from observation of an IRB meeting in session at each site. The findings of this research provide a scientific assessment of the relationship between IRB member composition and members perceptions of the IRB process. This research contributes to our understanding of the decision-making process that takes place within IRBs. Furthermore it utilizes the IRB as a mechanism for expanding our understanding of larger questions about the interfaces of science and policy and science and society. By questioning who are the experts and how do different members attribute value to a research protocol on an IRB, we can begin to address broader issues of expertise and public understanding of science and research.

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In 2002, members of the U.S. Congress requested the Department of Defense (DoD) investigate the issue of 'human trafficking' after Fox News and an ensuing Time Asia article suggested to the American public that their soldiers had been buying the sexual services of women who had been 'trafficked' to work at the clubs in Korean camptowns. The result of the DoD investigation was their adoption of a zero tolerance policy for human trafficking and prostitution. In this thesis I examine why the zero tolerance policy is likely to be as unsuccessful in South Korea as it has been found to be in the Balkans. I do this by exploring two primary questions: (1) has the U.S. military facilitated the prostitution and/or trafficking of women in South Korea?; (2) how do patriarchal constructions of masculinity influence attitudes toward trafficking and prostitution among military commanders and soldiers? To answer these questions, I use a multi-method qualitative approach including a historical analysis of primary and secondary sources, a discourse analysis of letters to the editor in Stars and Stripes newspaper, and a computer-mediated discourse analysis of texts on an online forum for U.S. military in South Korea. Due to questions surrounding the ethics of Internet research, I also examine the Canadian Tri-Council Policy Statement and the Code of Federal Regulations in the United States that covers the 'Protection of Human Subjects' in research. I argue that not all Internet research constitutes research involving 'human subjects'. I further look at current ethics review policies relevant to Internet research and discuss the ways in which ethics review boards can engage in "academic gate-keeping". The findings of my research indicate that the DoD has failed to consider sufficiently the various cultural contexts that USFK members bring with them to South Korea, as well as those they encounter once they are there. Without providing USFK members with the background needed to understand the complex phenomenon of human trafficking, the DoD's policies will do little to affect the most important element in the trafficking nexus in South Korean camptowns, that is, the attitudes and behaviours of USFK members. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2009-04-22 17:23:39.409

Thesis (M.A.)--Indiana University, 2008. / Title from screen (viewed on June 2, 2009). Department of Philosophy, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Advisor(s): Eric Mark Meslin, John J. Tilley, Timothy D. Lyons. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 48-52).

Charnov's (1976) marginal value theorem has had success in predicting that animals will optimize net rate of gain when foraging in a patchy environment. The present study attempts to apply the marginal value theorem (MVT) to human behavior in a business setting in 3 Experiments. Businesses also attempt to optimize net rate of gain when choosing to discontinue one product in lieu of another using a product life cycle (PLC). Experiments 1 & 2 attempted to assess human behavior in a business context by varying time necessary to retool and monetary cost of retooling respectively. Experiment 3 attempted to add ecological validity by introducing variability to the PLC. The results of Experiments 1, 2, & 3 indicate that the MVT does not accurately predict human behavior in a business context, though methodological issues may have affected these results. Future research must be conducted in this area.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Currently, the predominant view in research ethics maintains that physicians can morally justify offering randomized clinical trial enrollment to their patients only if some form of equipoise is present. Thus, the physician must experience (either individually or communally) a state of reasoned uncertainty concerning the relative merits of two or more competing treatments for a given disease before she may recommend that her patient participate in a clinical trial. Increasingly, however, this position has been subject to critical attention and considerable negative scrutiny. My argument engages this trend by turning to the history of philosophy; here I claim that the use of the term “equipoise” in the medical research context is extremely similar to terms and concepts from the philosophical tradition of skepticism, and as a result of this similarity it is possible to understand the principle of equipoise’s vulnerability to already published criticisms. A comparison of the criticisms of equipoise within the medical research literature to criticisms of philosophical skepticism reveals a potentially grim future for equipoise as a legitimate guiding principle for the ethical conduct of clinical research.

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abstract: With new trends in drug development and testing, it must be determined whether the current state of balance of ethos (the moral norm) and regula (the legal framework) can successfully protect patients while keeping the door to scientific innovation open. The rise of the Clinician Investigator (CI) in both academic and private research introduces a challenge to the protection of subjects in the conflicting dual role of physician and scientist. Despite the constant evolution of regulation and ethical standards, questions about the roles' combined effectiveness in relation to this challenge persist. Carl Elliot describes the suicide of a patient-subject enrolled in an industry-funded physician-run anti-psychotic pharmaceutical drug trial in a 2010 Mother Jones article. Elliot provides a personal account of discrepancies seen in the ethical principles of beneficence, respect for subjects and justice. Through analysis of the problems presented in the case as a model for potential dangers in clinical research, the effectiveness of ethics and law in protecting human subjects is examined. While the lag between ethical standard and regulation has historically shown to cause similar issues, the misconception of current regulation and ethical standards may be contributing to the decrease in subject protections. After IRB approval of subject protections in the research protocol, CIs have been shown to downgrade their responsibility to maintaining ethos through the course of the trial. And, despite their experience in patient-centered ethos as a physician, CIs may be inclined to substitute these values for the ethos of a researcher, with the goal to avoid therapeutic misconception. Maintaining personal responsibility for subjects beyond regulatory structure, and promoting the welfare of the subjects in regards to the ethical standard of research investigators, will provide added security for subjects and decrease opportunity for exploitation in future research. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Biology 2012

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La prédiction des conditions thermiques confortables à l'intérieur d'une cabine de véhicule reste un défi en raison du comportement transitoire de cet environnement. Le développement des modèles d'écoulement reste toujours une préoccupation pour les chercheurs en raison de la géométrie complexe de la cabine et de la complexité du système de ventilation (débit, emplacement et géométrie des diffuseurs d'air). Le confort thermique a été largement étudié dans le bâtiment, alors que le confort thermique dans les véhicules est un sujet relativement nouveau, avec peu d'études qui y sont dédiées. La norme actuellement disponible destinée à l'évaluation de l'environnement thermique du véhicule, EN ISO 14505, propose des modèles d'évaluation des bâtiments, qui ne répondent pas aux exigences de l'évaluation de l'environnement cabine. Contrairement à l'environnement intérieur des bâtiments, le climat de la cabine de véhicule est dominé par des conditions transitoires thermiques: environnement thermique fortement non uniforme associé aux vitesses élevées de l'air localisé, des niveaux plus élevés d'humidité relative, le flux de chaleur solaire et le flux de chaleur radiatif des surfaces intérieures, l'intensité solaire et sa diffusion sur les différents types de matériaux et niches de surface de la cabine, les angles d'incidence du rayonnement solaire, etc. En l'absence de modèles d'évaluation adaptés à cet environnement, la littérature disponible est dispersée autour des articles traitant des conditions environnementales dans le véhicule susceptible d'affecter le confort thermique de l'homme ainsi que de celles concernant la réaction de l'homme et la perception de son interaction avec l'environnement. Dans ce contexte, nous avons décidé d'orienter le sujet de la thèse autour de la problématique complexe de l'environnement thermique de la cabine et de ses effets sur l'état thermique du conducteur et du passager. Le manuscrit présente des études numériques et expérimentales des effets de différentes grilles passives sur le confort thermique des passagers. Ainsi, les objectifs généraux du projet de recherche doctorale pourraient être résumés comme suit: approfondir les connaissances et comprendre les phénomènes thermiques qui se produisent dans l'environnement thermique de la cabine; développer un mannequin thermique avancé capable d'évaluer le confort thermique de la cabine; développer et valider un modèle numérique complexe afin de mieux comprendre les phénomènes complexes précédemment évoqués. Ces trois objectifs généraux visaient à soutenir l'objectif principal de la recherche doctorale, à savoir: l'amélioration de la sensation thermique des occupants du véhicule, par la mise en œuvre de diffuseurs d'air innovants. À cette fin, nous avons orienté nos recherches vers des diffuseurs à géométrie spéciale permettant des mécanismes de contrôle du débit et permettant d'améliorer le mélange entre l'alimentation en air par le système de ventilation et l'air ambiant dans la cabine. Au cours de la quête complexe, nous pourrions avoir l'opportunité de nous familiariser avec les phénomènes thermiques, afin d'analyser le rôle réel joué par les paramètres d'environnement transitoires, dans la perception du confort thermique et dans son estimation. Pendant toute cette quête, nous avons essayé de rester sur une ligne qui permettrait finalement de répondre à un ensemble de questions fondamentales, à savoir: dans quelle mesure ce type de paramètres peut affecter la perception du confort, ainsi que les conséquences d'une évaluation "incomplète" proposée par les modèles existants ? Dans ce contexte, comment la conception de la ventilation et de la climatisation est-elle affectée par l'utilisation des modèles actuels pour pré-évaluer le bon fonctionnement des systèmes CVC - en particulier pour les véhicules – et un environnement acceptable pour ses utilisateurs ? / Prediction of comfortable thermal conditions inside a vehicle cabin is still a challenge due to the transient behavior of this environment. Understanding flow patterns is still difficult nowadays for researchers due to the complexity of the interior cabin geometry and of the ventilation system (flow rate, location and geometry of the air diffusers). Thermal comfort has been widely studied in build environments, while thermal comfort in vehicles is a relatively new subject, with fairly few extensive studies that are exploring all possibilities of investigation in this direction. The currently available standard intended for the evaluation of vehicle thermal environment, EN ISO 14505, propose models extensively used for buildings, which do not seem to be entirely adapted for the vehicular space. Unlike the indoor environment from buildings, the vehicular cabin climate is dominated by thermal transient conditions: the strongly non-uniform temperature distributions, both in air and on the surfaces, associated with the high localized air speeds, the relatively higher levels of relative humidity compared to the buildings, the solar radiation intensity, and the radiative heat exchange from the interior surfaces, the angles of incidence of the solar radiation etc. In the absence of the evaluation models adapted to this environment, the available literature is dispersed around those papers dealing with environmental conditions inside the vehicle that might affect the human thermal comfort and those concerning the human’s response and perception of its interaction with the environment. In this context, we decided to orient the research work in this thesis around the complex problematic of cabin thermal environment and its effect on driver’s and passenger’s thermal state. The thesis presents numerical and experimental studies of the effects of an improved set of dashboard air diffusers over passengers’ thermal comfort. The general objectives of the doctoral research project could be summarized as following: to deepen the knowledge and to understand thermal phenomena that occur in cabin thermal environment; to develop and validate a complex numerical model in order to get insight into the complex phenomena previously evoked. These three general objectives were intended to sustain the main goal of the doctoral research that is: improvement of thermal sensation of vehicle occupants, by implementation of innovative air diffusers. To this end we oriented our research towards diffusers with a special geometry that allows flow control mechanisms resulting in the improvement of mixing between air supply by the ventilation system and the ambient air in the cabin. During the complex quest, we could have the opportunity to become familiar to the intricate thermal phenomena, to analyze the real role played by transient environment parameters perceiving thermal comfort and in its estimation. During all this quest we tried to stay on a line that would ultimately allow to respond to a set of fundamental questions, namely: To what extent this kind of parameters can affect the perceiving of comfort, and also the consequences of an "incomplete" assessment proposed by the existing evaluation models ? How is, in this context, affected the ventilation and air conditioning design due to the use of current models for pre-evaluating a good functioning of the HVAC systems – in particular for vehicles - and an acceptable environment for their users ?