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This book offers the policy-maker or decision-maker key insights and practical information regarding the features of ethics frameworks best suited to the ethical assessment of human cognitive enhancement (HCE) applications, such as pharmaceutical cognitive enhancers and noninvasive brain stimulation techniques. This book takes as its departure point the entrenched philosophical debate between opponents and proponents of HCE and the increased feasibility of some applications of HCE. Recent calls for policy-making in the area of human enhancement reflect the need to find a balance between addressing current ethical issues and issues that are more speculative in nature or are underpinned by abstract philosophical concepts. Practical ethical approaches for policy or decision-making should enable the development of an evidence base for the risks and benefits of HCE applications. Moreover, such practical approaches should also incorporate a broader range of value bases that would facilitate convergence regarding certain decisions and judgements. This book identifies and evaluate tools that help us to go beyond polarised philosophical debates in order to assist practical decision makers in concrete ethical deliberation and decision-making. The focus is on systematic methods with which to identify relevant ethical values and assess the impacts of an HCE application on those values in order to facilitate decision-making regarding the ethical acceptability or desirability of the application

The public profile of neurodevelopmental research has expanded in recent years. This paper applies social representations theory to explore how early brain development was represented in the UK print media in the first decade of the 21st century. A thematic analysis was performed on 505 newspaper articles published between 2000 and 2010 that discussed early brain development. Media coverage centred around concern with 'protecting' the prenatal brain (identifying threats to foetal neurodevelopment), 'feeding' the infant brain (indicating the patterns of nutrition that enhance brain development) and 'loving' the young child's brain (elucidating the developmental significance of emotionally nurturing family environments). The media focused almost exclusively on the role of parental action in promoting optimal neurodevelopment, rarely acknowledging wider structural, cultural or political means of supporting child development. The significance of parental care was intensified by deterministic interpretations of critical periods, which implied that inappropriate parental input would produce profound and enduring neurobiological impairments. Neurodevelopmental research was also used to promulgate normative judgements concerning the acceptability of certain gender roles and family contexts. The paper argues that media representations of neurodevelopment stress parental responsibility for shaping a child's future while relegating the contributions of genetic or wider societal factors, and examines the consequences of these representations for society and family life.

We examine international public opinion towards stem-cell research during the period when the issue was at its most contentious. We draw upon representative sample surveys in Europe and North America, fielded in 2005 and find that the majority of people in Europe, Canada and the United States supported stem-cell research, providing it was tightly regulated, but that there were key differences between the geographical regions in the relative importance of different types of ethical position. In the U.S., moral acceptability was more influential as a driver of support for stem-cell research; in Europe the perceived benefit to society carried more weight; and in Canada the two were almost equally important. We also find that public opinion on stem-cell research was more strongly associated with religious convictions in the U.S. than in Canada and Europe, although many strongly religious citizens in all regions approved of stem-cell research. We conclude that if anything public opinion or 'public ethics' are likely to play an increasingly important role in framing policy and regulatory regimes for sensitive technologies in the future.

A crucial objective of the Australian Government's Closing the Gap program is to improve Aboriginal health, and to achieve morbidity and mortality rates similar to those for non-Indigenous Australians. Reducing public health risks due to drinking water of unknown quality will help to close the gap. Factors such as hardness, taste, colour and odour of water may influence perceptions of risk and quality. Increased contact and familiarity with a hazard is associated with individuals becoming desensitised and habituated to its presence, so that their risk judgements may reflect their behavioural experiences. Consumption of water of unknown quality, such as rainwater, instead of treated town water in Australian Aboriginal communities may be a community norm, a part of a community's culture or a result of lack of trust in government water suppliers. Partnerships between service providers and communities can ensure that the service is responsive to community needs, is conducted in a culturally appropriate manner and is beneficial to the community. Governance of drinking water in Aboriginal communities cannot be comprehensive without active engagement of the communities involved, and greater understanding of cultural issues, perceptions and behaviours towards drinking water quality. This Perspective article reviews the literature to shed light on the need to consider New South Wales (NSW) Aboriginal perceptions about drinking water and its acceptability. We urge more dialogue and research, and a policy focus that includes partnerships with discrete NSW Aboriginal communities to develop a deeper understanding of perceptions of drinking water and encourage consumption of safe water.

Kako bi smo odgovorili na razna postavljena pitanja, koja predstavljaju temelj predmetnog rada, prije svega, treba se usredotočiti na sudionike dijaloga. Prvi sudionik konkretnog dijalog jest nacionalni sudac. Drugi jest luksemburški sudac, koji ima za misiju tumačenje pravnih propisa Unije. Nadalje se u radu razmatraju uvjeti dijaloga, te se dolazi do zaključka kako dijalog nije tako lak kao za ostatak primarnog zakona. Povelja o temeljnim pravima Europske unije ima istu vrijednost kao i ugovor, ali nema isti opseg na temelju članka 51. Ovo ograničenje utječe na prihvatljivost postavljenih pitanja. Na kraju samog rada i to na temelju konkretnih primjera autor ispituje učinke sudskih presuda na prirodu Unije i samog Suda. ; In order to answer various questions which represent the foundation of this paper, above all, one must focus on dialogue participants. The first participant of the dialogue in question is the national judge. The other is the Luxembourg judge, who has as their mission the interpretation of the legal regulations of the Union. Further in this paper dialogue conditions are considered and the conclusion is reached that dialogue is not so easy as for the rest of primary law. The Charter on the Fundamental Rights of the European Union has the same value as the contract, but does not have the same scope on the basis of article 51. This limitation influences the acceptability of posed questions. Finally, based on concrete examples, the very effects of these questions and Court judgements are examined on the very nature of the Union and nature of the Court.

A crucial objective of the Australian Government's Closing the Gap program is to improve Aboriginal health, and to achieve morbidity and mortality rates similar to those for non-Indigenous Australians. Reducing public health risks due to drinking water of unknown quality will help to close the gap. Factors such as hardness, taste, colour and odour of water may influence perceptions of risk and quality. Increased contact and familiarity with a hazard is associated with individuals becoming desensitised and habituated to its presence, so that their risk judgements may reflect their behavioural experiences. Consumption of water of unknown quality, such as rainwater, instead of treated town water in Australian Aboriginal communities may be a community norm, a part of a community's culture or a result of lack of trust in government water suppliers. Partnerships between service providers and communities can ensure that the service is responsive to community needs, is conducted in a culturally appropriate manner and is beneficial to the community. Governance of drinking water in Aboriginal communities cannot be comprehensive without active engagement of the communities involved, and greater understanding of cultural issues, perceptions and behaviours towards drinking water quality. This Perspective article reviews the literature to shed light on the need to consider New South Wales (NSW) Aboriginal perceptions about drinking water and its acceptability. We urge more dialogue and research, and a policy focus that includes partnerships with discrete NSW Aboriginal communities to develop a deeper understanding of perceptions of drinking water and encourage consumption of safe water. © 2016 Jaravani et al.

Background:Risk of suicide is notoriously difficult to assess, and no gold standard is available, in terms of an instrument of first choice. Many different instruments are in use, among which are some that are not properly psychometrically investigated.Aim:The aim of this study is to establish the psychometric properties of the Dutch version of the Nurses' Global Assessment of Suicide Risk scale (NGASR), and the feasibility of its use in assessing suicide risk. Therefore, our research questions are as follows: what is the reliability, validity, interpretability and feasibility of the NGASR?Methods:A psychometric study of acceptability, reliability and predictive validity among 252 patients making use of a concurrent instrument, the Suicide Intention Scale (SIS), concurrent assessment by a physician and 6-month follow-up.Results:Factor analysis identified five factors. Cronbach's alpha was .45. Intraclass correlation was .92 (95% confidence interval (CI) = .85–.95). Association between total NGASR and SIS was substantial and significant ( B = 0.66, standard error of mean (SE) = 0.19, ß = .66, p = .003). NGASR total score had a significant and moderately strong association with judgement by a physician on 'suicidal thoughts' (odds ratio (OR) = 1.24, p = < .001) or 'suicidal thoughts or plans' (OR = 1.35, p = .001). No significant association of NGASR scores and 6-month follow-up of suicidality was found.Conclusions:Internal consistency of the NGASR and most of the subscales identified was low. Other indicators of reliability of the NGASR were sufficient, although predictive validity was poor. The NGASR did not outperform other instruments but is easy to use, and may contribute to identification of risk factors, as well as to a more integral assessment of suicide risk.

Early fertility remains a public health concern in South Africa, with teenage pregnancy rates remaining high, and more significantly among black adolescent girls of low socioeconomic status. This indicates the unmet need of contraception for adolescent girls. Contraceptive use and non-use by young women of low socioeconomic status is a complex issue that reveals a range of political and socio-economic injustices. Barriers to contraceptive access and use have been identified to include: health care access, interaction with healthcare providers, genders norms, knowledge gaps, reproductive choices, socio-cultural attitudes and policing, intimate partner relationship dynamics, parental judgement, and side effects. To address this public health concern there has been an increase in the provision of contraceptives through the introduction of long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) methods. However, young women's response to LARC methods has been characterized by low and declining uptake and early removals. A tension exists between the way public health practitioners imagine meeting the contraceptive needs of young women of low-socio economic status and what it is acceptable as contraception by young women. This mini-dissertation aims to examine young women's perceptions of long-term contraception and LARC methods; specifically, the implant and intrauterine device (IUD) contraceptive methods in how they reveal young women's fertility attitudes and how it shapes their contraceptive decision-making. This examination foregrounds the individual, interpersonal relationships and social contexts that shape sexual and reproductive choices of young women. The mini dissertation is structured in two parts: the research protocol (Part A) and a manuscript for a journal article prepared for publication (Part B). Part A explores the factors that influence young women's contraceptive decision-making at three different levels, namely: the individual level, interpersonal relationship level and social and structural context level. For the aim of further understanding young women's contraceptive decision-making, PART B focusses on examining the tensions in the acceptability and uptake of LARC methods and long-term contraception use to explain low and ineffective contraceptive use by young women, which often result in unwanted pregnancies. The findings from this mini dissertation can add to the existing literature that examines why current contraceptive provision has been inadequate in meeting the contraceptive needs of young women of low socioeconomic status and significantly curbing early fertility. Additionally, they can provide valuable information to public health practitioners on how particular factors influence the acceptability of contraceptive methods and as well as the root causes of behaviors that result in ineffective contraceptive use resulting in early fertility. Therefore, providing clear points for public health intervention.

Extensive research on native speakers' attitudes towards foreign accents and their users carried out in immigrant-receiving countries such as, for example, Great Britain, the United States and Australia (e.g. Kalin and Rayko 1978; Lippi-Green 1997; Munro et al. 2006), has allowed specialists to formulate several cross-cultural generalizations concerning the perception and evaluation of accented speech. For instance, according to Lindemann (2002, 2010), the listeners' attitude towards foreign speakers, shaped by cultural stereotypes and prejudices, plays a crucial role in comprehending accented speech. It is also often claimed (e.g. Said 2006; Lev-Ari and Keysar 2010) that a heavy foreign accent has a negative impact on the listeners' assessment of speakers' personality traits, such as credibility, intelligence and competence. Moreover, this negative accent-based social evaluation, as shown by Lippi-Green (1997), might even lead to various kinds of foreign speakers' discrimination. Contemporary Poland, where Polish-speaking foreigners are still a relative rarity, constitutes an interesting and yet unexplored ground for testing the universality of claims concerning the relationship between the listeners' cultural prejudices and their evaluations of foreign speakers' accents, as well as personality traits. In this paper we report on an empirical study in which 40 Polish university students assessed 11 samples of foreign-accented Polish, both in terms of accent features and personal characteristics ascribed to the speakers, in order to find out whether these judgements are affected by Polish listeners' attitudes towards the speakers' cultural background and knowledge of their nationality. The results of the study indicate that, on the whole, the speakers' nationality does not significantly affect the participants' evaluation of foreign speakers' accent features (i.e. comprehensibility, foreign-accentedness and acceptability). Such relationship can, however, be found in the attribution of personal characteristics to foreign speakers, which, to some extent, is influenced by the information concerning their nationality and listeners' cultural prejudices.

Since the late 80s, 'business' and 'political scandals' involving the left as much as the right have attracted a lot of reactions in France. In the first place, the argument of 'all worthwhile' has grown steadily and has strengthened some of the citizens' mistrust towards staff and political institutions. More generally, most analyses agree that political corruption and all forms of harm to public probity are an indicator of a crisis in democracy. However, the political career and electoral results of elected representatives questioned and even condemned show that voting sanctions are far from automatic. Similarly, no collective protest has manifested itself on the occasion of these so-called 'cases' which are supposed to scandalise opinion. Would all French citizens become cynical or totally disused? To answer these questions, CEVIPOF carried out (after several qualitatives2 surveys) a survey of a representative sample of 2000 people. Its originality in relation to the existing work is to link the system of values of the persons surveyed and their policy design with their views on corruption and attacks on public probity. The relationship between 'politicians' (elected representatives and leaders) and citizens appears to be a fragile relationship, poorly framed, under influence, largely open to trade. It is a 'corrupt' relationship as it is often contradictory norms that, depending on individuals and circumstances, indicate what is acceptable and what is not. The traditional work on the political delegation makes this very difficult. More broadly, this survey makes it possible to deepen the various forms of discussion and criticism directed at the policy, its actors and its institutions. The results show that there is a lot of ambivalence in judgements about political activities and the importance of normative conflicts which, depending on individuals and situations, mitigate or accentuate 1 — the perception of the importance of transgressions (is there little or much corruption?), and 2 — their acceptability ...

Interventions aimed to change behavior (so called nudges) are becoming more and more popular among policymakers. However, in order to be able to effectively use nudges, it is important to understand when and why people find them acceptable. The objective of this thesis is therefore to improve the understanding of when nudges are judged to be acceptable. The thesis focuses on a model for behavioral change. The model contains two parts, nudge technique and acceptance of nudges. Nudge technique refers to how the nudge is designed to function in regard to psychological mechanism and functionality. The nudge technique part of the model is expanded and problematized from an ethical perspective in the first part of this thesis, by exemplifying psychological mechanisms behind different techniques and explaining why they might be intrusive to individuals' freedom of choice. In the second part of this thesis it is discussed why acceptance is an important component of making nudging legitimate and effective. This is followed by a discussion of how acceptance is empirically measured. The empirical part of the thesis is based on four papers which all use a quantitative online survey approach to study the judgements of nudges from the general public. Paper 1 was a first attempt to measure whether nudges which are common in the nudge literature are acceptable interventions according to the general public. We found that the nudges that were categorized as pro-self were more likely to be rated as acceptable and less likely to be perceived as intrusive to freedom of choice compared to pro-social nudges. Furthermore, the effect of decision styles and worldview on acceptance was explored. In paper 2, we explored whether the difference between acceptance found for pro-social nudges and proself nudges could be increased by framing nudges as beneficial for society or individuals. The framing had no effect on acceptance but, as in paper 1, pro-social nudges were found to be more intrusive to freedom of choice compared to pro-self framed nudges. Moreover, different nudge techniques had different rates of acceptance even with the same explicit goal for the nudges. In paper 3, we examined whether the alternative to nudges affects the perceived acceptability and intrusiveness of default-changing nudge techniques. The alternatives given to the nudges were either to enforce the intended behavioral change with legislation or to do nothing at all in order to change the behavior. We find no difference in aggregated acceptance, however, the judgements vary depending on individuals' worldview. Paper 4 explored if the choice architect's (the creator/proposer of the nudge) political affiliation affects acceptance rating for proposed nudge interventions and legislation. We find that acceptance of both nudges and legislation increases with the level of matching between people's political orientation and the choice architect's political affiliation. Taken together, the findings suggest that there is more to creating an acceptable nudge than to merely take a nudge technique that was acceptable in one context and apply it in another. Moreover, nudges that are rated as more beneficial towards individuals compared to society at large are in general more likely to be found acceptable and less intrusive to freedom of choice. It is important to have knowledge about the target population (e.g. their decision styles, world-views, and political orientation) to avoid backfires when implementing nudges.

The World Trade Organization was established in 1995 and the European Community and its Member States became thereby bound by an overwhelming number of international obligations in the field of international trade. The entering into force of the WTO Agreements has been followed by a flood of cases to the European Court of Justice where the applicants have attempted to challenge Community law provisions on the basis of the international obligations imposed on the Community by virtue of the provisions of the WTO Agreements and the decisions made in the framework of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism. The case law of the ECJ concerning the effect of WTO law in the Community legal order has been characterised by 'judicial self-restraint' and deference to the discretion of the political and executive institutions of the Community. As a general rule, the possibility of private parties to challenge Community measures on the basis of WTO law has been ruled out. Under some circumstances WTO provisions, however, may become available to private parties. The reluctance of the Court to let private parties to rely on WTO law may, however, sometimes lead to situations the acceptability of which can be questioned from the point of view of effective judicial protection of the rights of individuals. The transatlantic disputes concerning the banana import regime of the EC and the Community's ban on importation of beef from cattle treated with hormones are notorious. The WTO dispute settlement organs condemned the Community measures in the Bananas1 and Hormones2 cases but the EC failed to amend its legislation to comply with WTO law. As an European, one might to sympathise with the EC for protecting the health of its citizens and refusing to lift the ban on importation of hormone-treated meat. There is, however, more at stake than the respect of international commitments. The non-compliance by the Community also causes damage to private businesses operating within the Community. Most tangibly the consequences of the Community's WTO-illegal behaviour have affected the Community businesses that have suffered heavy losses in face of the retaliatory measures resorted to by the United States under the authorisation of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB). Article 288(2) EC provides that in the case of non-contractual liability, the Community shall be held liable for the damage caused by its institutions or by its servants in the performance of their duties. Recently, several actions for damages under this Article have been brought by private parties in order to claim compensation for the damage they have suffered due to the WTO-illegal behaviour of the Community. These cases are connected to the non-implementation of the international obligations imposed on the Community in the Bananas and Hormones cases by the WTO dispute settlement organs. Only a few of the cases have led to a judgement so far, and these are the first cases dealing with the issue of whether private entities can invoke WTO law in the context of actions for damages. These cases and their chances of success are the main subject of this article. The Court has rejected all the actions it has dealt with so far and the chances of success of the future actions do not seem very high. First, we are dealing with WTO law and the Court has been very reluctant to let private parties to rely on it. Second, it has been extremely rare that actions for damages under Article 288(2) EC have succeeded. The problem is, however, worth discussing. First of all, an Advocate General recently suggested that individuals should be allowed to rely on WTO law in liability actions under some circumstances where non-implementation by the Community of DSB decisions is involved3. The ECJ did not explicitly accept or reject such a suggestion but the question remains an open one. Moreover, there have recently been some signs of relaxation of the extremely strict criteria for Community liability.