[Integrity in science: a constant concern]. / Integriteit in de wetenschap: een voortdurende zorg.

Recently many academies, science foundations and university associations have placed scientific integrity high on the agenda. 'Scientific integrity' falls within the category internal ethical problems in science as opposed to the category external ethical problems (e.g. justification of the choice of the subject of research, independence of research, responsibility for possible applications) and differs from intrinsic ethical problems such as those generated by stemcell research, nuclear fusion, xenotransplantation a.o. Crucial for science is trust by colleagues and peers as well as the wider public. Trust is weakened by published cases of misconduct: fraud, deceit, and infringement of intellectual property. Scientific misconduct and fraud have been a worldwide phenomenon of all times. The borderline between acceptable and unacceptable conduct is often vague. Causes of scientific misconduct include pressure from powerful institutions, economic and financial motives, and own ambition and vanity of the scientists. Hard data on the occurrence of misconduct is lacking, but a present-day increase of misconduct is not inconceivable. Prevention of misconduct include corrective and antecipatory measures, but most important is the fostering of a scientific conscience and at a sense of proper values and standards.

Effects of iodine deficiency on mental and psychomotor abilities.

Severe iodine deficiency may lead to endemic cretinism, which is characterized by a number of abnormalities, such as mental retardation, neurological abnormalities and hearing disorders. These abnormalities may occur in various combinations, but impaired mental development is always a component. The present study was attempted to determine whether there is also evidence of mental retardation, perhaps to a lesser degree, in that part of the population that manifest no symptoms of cretinism, the non-cretins, in an iodine-deficient area. Results of an extensive test battery have been collected in two village populations: one village in an area with severe iodine deficiency and a control village in a non-iodine-deficient area. Both villages were situated in Central Java, Indonesia. In the selected villages the total population between the ages of 6 and 20 years participated in this study. No evidence of significant mental retardation has been detected in the non-cretin group in the severely iodine-deficient area. Significant differences between the two populations, however, have been found with regard to a number of perceptual and neuro-motor abilities.