Academic economists behaving badly? A survey on three areas of unethical behavior

This article measures the degree to which academic economists have engaged in unethical behavior and the degree to which academic economists believe the profession as a whole engages in unethical behavior. Three main types of unethical behavior are examined: (1) falsification of research; (2) expropriation of graduate student research or including an undeserving co-author on a research paper; and (3) exchange of grades for gifts, money, or sex. Using a unique data set gathered at the 1998 American Economic Association (AEA) meetings, we find that there is a significant amount of misconduct, particularly in the second category.     

Aging of the human adrenal cortex

The most striking age-related change in the human adrenal cortex is the decline in secretion of dehydroepiandrosterone and its sulfate, steroids synthesized by the inner zone of the cortex, the zona reticularis. Because these steroids are of essentially unknown function, the importance of this age-related change is the subject of considerable debate. It is likely that the age-related change in these steroids results from loss of zona reticularis cells or impairment of their function. During aging, cumulative damage to the zona reticularis could occur through ischemia-related infarcts and other causes of cell death. Cellular senescence could contribute to a loss of the ability of the tissue to replace lost cells. In contrast, feedback mechanisms that regulate adrenocortical growth cause compensatory local tissue hyperplasias called nodules. The effect of imperfect repair of damage combined with compensatory overgrowth in the form of nodules leads to an increasingly abnormal tissue architecture.     

Mouse and human cells versus oxygen

Mice and humans are at opposite ends of the mammalian spectrum of longevity. A major question in biology is whether this difference can be accounted for by differences in the properties of cells from these two species. A new publication from Judith Campisi's lab reports that human cells in culture are more resistant than mouse cells to the damaging effects of 20% oxygen. The greater burden of DNA damage sustained by mouse cells causes them to rapidly enter a phase of culture in which most cells enter permanent growth arrest (replicative senescence). However, some mouse cells usually escape from senescence and then grow into an immortal cell line. This never happens in human fibroblast cell cultures. Human cells also eventually enter replicative senescence in culture, but this phenomenon is caused by shortening of telomeres and not by DNA damage of the type responsible for mouse cell senescence. Human fibroblasts never spontaneously escape from senescence. This Perspective reviews differences between mouse and human cells that could account for these differences in behavior. Some evidence indicates that human cells are generally more resistant than mouse cells to oxidative damage to DNA, but more needs to be done to confirm this finding and to understand the underlying mechanisms. Whether or not there are differences in the amount of DNA damage caused by oxygen or in the early phase of repair, there may be important differences in the later consequences of DNA damage. Mouse cells appear to be able to continue to divide with DNA damage that has not been repaired or has been misrepaired, and becomes fixed in the form of chromosomal abnormalities. The checkpoints that cause cells to stop dividing when chromosomes develop abnormalities (aberrations or shortened telomeres) appear to operate more efficiently in human cells. Much more work is needed to understand the basis for these differences and the implications for aging and cancer.     

Social networks and support in social work

Following the recommendations of the Barclay Report for a move on the part of social work towards supporting helping networks in the community, it is necessary to look more closely at the components of ‘social support’ and to be clearer about which social networks social workers are being asked to support. It is suggested that sociology, although criticised for its remoteness from the daily experience of the social worker, could offer through social network analysis some useful measures of the support networks of social work clients.     

Chivalry and solidarity in ultimatum games

We report the results of ultimatum game experiments designed to test for differences in the behavior of women and men. Women's proposals are on average more generous than men's, regardless of the sex of the partner, and women respondents are more likely to accept an offer of a given amount. A given offer is more likely to be accepted if it comes from a woman; we term this result chivalry . Women paired with women almost never fail to reach an agreement; we term this result solidarity . Age, earnings, and race also significantly affect proposals and the rates of rejection.     

The simulation of industrial robot systems

This paper describes the GRASP computer aided design system for modelling and evaluating industrial robot workplaces. GRASP satisfies a range of simulation needs within the context of designing, implementing and operating industrial robotic systems. The GRASP software may be used to investigate robots operating by themselves or, more likely, as part of an integrated cell. Facilities within GRASP assist workplace layout, position and velocity evaluations, clash detection and co-ordination between items. A robot library exists and is being extended, and an embryo off-line programming facility has been used under restricted conditions. GRASP has been used to help solve a wide range of practical industrial robot problems and has proved itself technically, and also as an educational tool, by showing how a proposed system would operate. The paper describes the facilities within GRASP.     

Beyond privacy: bodily integrity as an alternative framework for understanding non-consensual pornography

ABSTRACT

Activists and legal scholars seeking remedies to non-consensual pornography (known colloquially as ‘revenge porn’) have generally framed it as a violation of privacy; however, the concept of privacy a fraught history, linked to women’s exclusion from the public sphere, denial of their sexual expression, and impunity for abusers. I argue that the concept of body integrity better maps onto the experiences described by victims, who seldom distinguish between digital representations of their body and the body itself and who often liken non-consensual pornography to sexual assault. However, a feminist approach to bodily integrity (rather than one rooted in classical liberalism) is require in order to account for the disproportionately negative consequences non-consensual pornography has for women.