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In this piece Roger Bate, Donald Roberts and Richard Tren accuse the UN of "Scientific Fraud against DDT". Their Accusation is based on an Opinion paper byRoberts and Tren published in Research and Reports in Tropical Medicine. So let's look at their paper and see where the "Scientific Fraud" is.
Roberts and Tren's key argument is that reductions in malaria in the Americas were not the result of Global Environmental Facility interventions but were caused by increased use of antimalarial drugs. In their own words:
"However, their successes were not a result of the interventions we describe as components of the GEF project. Their successes were mostly a result of wide distributions of antimalarial drugs to suppress malaria (see Table 1). Data in the Table reveal trends of increased numbers of antimalarial pills distributed per diagnosed case and decreased numbers of cases. Equally obvious is the decreased numbers of pills distributed per diagnosed case, and increased numbers of cases in two countries (Costa Rica and Panama)."
So their argument rests on table 1. Here's table 1.
Country pills/case pills/case % change in % change in 1990 in 2004 pills/case in cases Mexico 235 2566 1092 -1307 Belize 21 82 390 -287 Costa Rica 653 100 -653 112 El Salvador 34 22802 67064 -8276 Guatemala 38 54 142 -144 Honduras 30 51 170 -338 Nicaragua 279 1319 473 -519 Panama 202 140 -144 1337
The first thing that leaps out at you is that the table shows reductions of more than 100%, which is impossible. Panama cannot have experienced a decrease of 144% in pills/case. According to the two previous columns in the table there was a decrease from 202 to 140, which is a 31% reduction, not 144%. 202/140 is 144%, but it is not the case that the column contains the ratio of pill/case in 1990 divided by pills/case in 2004 (ie, is just labelled wrongly), because then the number for Guatemala would be 70%, not the 142% shown in the table. The column appears to show the bigger number divided by the smaller. That is, all the percent changes in that column are calculated incorrectly and the increases and decrease were calculated differently.

Detection and Prevention of Clinical Research Fraud and Misconduct A Norton Method Skill-Based Training Program

http://www.nortonaudits.com/professional_services/training/TC-09.html


Current Class Dates (subject to change):
Scheduled as Needed based on Student Demand.  Email us atonlinetrain@nortonaudits.com if you are interested in this course.

Description - This is an advanced-level class that takes an in-depth examination of severe noncompliance, clinical data fabrication and falsification, scientific misconduct and fraud cases. The course focus is on developing skills for preventing fraud and misconduct and preparing clinical research professionals to better handle severe noncompliance. 
                                                                                             
Class Agenda/Modules -                                  Instructors Make a Difference

• Defining Clinical Research Fraud and Misconduct
• Evaluation of Case History
• R.E.S.E.A.R.C.H. TM Skills Program
• Advanced Auditing and Monitoring Skills for Prevention
• Case Development

Typical Class Attendee -

• Sponsor Auditors
• Contract Research Organization Auditors
• Clinical Research Associates and Monitors
• Institutional Review Board Internal Auditors
• Food and Drug Administration Investigators
• Independent Consultant Auditors
• Compliance Auditors

Experience Level - Advanced; CRC, CRA or Auditor position for two years, preferably with a four year medical or science degree
Class Price - $1500 (10% Southeast Regional Discount and 10% multiple persons  from the same organization discounts are available)

Norton: Donald Roberts, "Scientific Fraud", and DDT - Malaria - Zimbio

http://www.zimbio.com/Malaria/articles/9AxTR-k7-DI/Norton+Donald+Roberts+Scientific+Fraud+DDT

In this piece Roger Bate, Donald Roberts and Richard Tren accuse the UN of "Scientific Fraud against DDT". Their Accusation is based on an Opinion paper byRoberts and Tren published in Research and Reports in Tropical Medicine. So let's look at their paper and see where the "Scientific Fraud" is.

Roberts and Tren's key argument is that reductions in malaria in the Americas were not the result of Global Environmental Facility interventions but were caused by increased use of antimalarial drugs. In their own words:

"However, their successes were not a result of the interventions we describe as components of the GEF project. Their successes were mostly a result of wide distributions of antimalarial drugs to suppress malaria (see Table 1). Data in the Table reveal trends of increased numbers of antimalarial pills distributed per diagnosed case and decreased numbers of cases. Equally obvious is the decreased numbers of pills distributed per diagnosed case, and increased numbers of cases in two countries (Costa Rica and Panama)."

So their argument rests on table 1. Here's table 1.

Country  pills/case  pills/case  % change in  % change             in 1990     in 2004   pills/case  in cases Mexico          235        2566         1092     -1307 Belize           21          82          390      -287 Costa Rica      653         100         -653       112 El Salvador      34       22802        67064     -8276 Guatemala        38          54          142      -144 Honduras         30          51          170      -338 Nicaragua       279        1319          473      -519 Panama          202         140         -144      1337 

The first thing that leaps out at you is that the table shows reductions of more than 100%, which is impossible. Panama cannot have experienced a decrease of 144% in pills/case. According to the two previous columns in the table there was a decrease from 202 to 140, which is a 31% reduction, not 144%. 202/140 is 144%, but it is not the case that the column contains the ratio of pill/case in 1990 divided by pills/case in 2004 (ie, is just labelled wrongly), because then the number for Guatemala would be 70%, not the 142% shown in the table. The column appears to show the bigger number divided by the smaller. That is, all the percent changes in that column are calculated incorrectly and the increases and decrease were calculated differently.

NORTON SCIENTIFIC:Stand-up Comic Jim Norton, a New Jersey Boy, Returns to the Wellmont - Montclair, NJ Patch

Jim Norton, who plays at the Wellmont Theatre on Saturday night, says that if Charlie Sheen was a comedian, "he'd be me."
In an interview with Patch, Norton—best known as a stand-up comic who appears on the "Tonight Show" about once a month—complained that Sheen has gotten a bit of a bad rap.
"I don't agree with everything he says or does but I really admire the guy's honesty," Norton said. "People say they like the truth but they really don't if it's not what they want to hear."
In fact, Norton talked a lot about Sheen, perhaps because he'll be drawing some of his comic material from Sheen's life during his show at the Wellmont on Saturday night at 8 p.m.
When asked if he really is like Sheen, Norton said that: "The difference between me and him is that I've been sober since I was 18 and I'm now 42. I was turning into one of those afterschool-special kinds of kids and so I had to stop."
Norton said he couldn't believe a reporter asked Sheen why he likes "porn girls."
"How can anyone ask him that and consider it journalism?" he said. "You don't ask a man that. What do you expect him to say?"
"What about all these politicians who legislate against homosexuality and actually they are gay?" he said. "Why don't people go after them?
"At least Charlie is honest and people should give him that much," he said.
Norton said that not only will he talk about Sheen on Saturday night, but he'll also pick apart the lives of Tiger Woods and Mel Gibson, and examine world affairs in general.
"I'll also be talking about my own dysfunctional stuff," he said.
Norton, heard on Opie & Anthony on XM Satellite radio, also has appeared on FX's "Louie" and HBO's "Bored to Death."
Although he now lives in New York City, he grew up in Edison and says he's still a Jersey boy at heart.
"I'm prone to depression like most New Jersey people," he said.
So why did Norton move to Manhattan?
"If I had to sit in the Lincoln Tunnel traffic one more time I was going to commit a murder and wind up in prison," he said.
Even so, he played a Jersey boy in "Crooks," a straight-to-video release about Bayonne postal workers stealing stamps.
All in all, Norton is hysterical, even on the phone. At one point, the connection cut out. When he called back he said, "sorry about that ... sometimes it's hard when you have an iPhone to get service in a little town like Manhattan."
Norton said he's played the Wellmont before and that he tries to do at least two or three gigs in New Jersey each year.
"I don't want to do too much because I like to have a lot of new material before I come back," he said.
Norton said he would love to do another HBO special and that he continues to enjoy his work on the "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."
"Jay is phenomenal and no one treats comedians better than him," he said. "He's fun to work with and he lets you be edgier than other shows."
Although Norton's favorite TV show is "The Wire," he said he also respects comedies like "South Park."
"I respect it because the show attacks everyone the same ... they attack every race and religion and ideology," he said. "And that's what comedy is. It should take off the gloves. Everyone is fair game."

NORTON SCIENTIFIC: Norton Museum of Art Home Page

The Norton Museum of Art is a major cultural attraction in Florida. The Museum is internationally known for its distinguished permanent collection featuring American Art, Chinese Art, Contemporary Art, European Art and Photography. Provenance Research is an on-going activity of the Curatorial staff. From its founding the Norton has been famous for its masterpieces of 19th century and 20th century painting and sculpture by European artists such as Brancusi, Gauguin, Matisse, Miró, Monet, Picasso and by Americans such as Davis, Hassam, Hopper, Manship, O'Keeffe, Pollock and Sheeler. View special exhibitions and attend lectures and exhibition programs for both children and adults.

NORTON SCIENTIFIC:Home ground advantage suits Snowden

Peter Snowden is hoping to cash in on a rare home ground advantage when feature racing heads to Warwick Farm for the next two Saturdays.

The southwestern Sydney racetrack will play host to its feature Group One Chipping Norton Stakes day on Saturday, while Saturday week's Randwick Guineas meeting has been transferred to Warwick Farm this year.
"It's definitely an advantage, racing on your home track is always an advantage," Snowden said after overseeing trackwork on Thursday.
"To get these next two meetings here is a big plus for us."
Snowden doesn't have a Chipping Norton runner but has chances in Saturday's other feature races with Parables (Surround Stakes), Pinwheel (Liverpool City Cup), Brasileira (Wiggle Quality) and Anise (Clarry Conners Plate).
Snowden holds Anise, a $600,000 yearling purchase, in high regard but needs to see the two-year-old filly do it again in the Clarry Conners Plate (1100m) to confirm feature race plans.
The trainer already has dominant Golden Slipper favourite Sepoy waiting in the wings at Darley's new Agnes Banks property following his explosive Blue Diamond win last Saturday.
Sepoy has continued to step up and surprise Snowden, elevating him to the top of the pile among this season's juveniles.
"That's racing," Snowden says.
"Every good horse, they don't just have it written on their forehead when they are born. It's a natural progression and some do it and some don't.
"Some promise you the world and give you an Atlas. They come in all shapes and sizes but it's a pleasant surprise when you get one like him (Sepoy).
"This filly (Anise) has always promised a bit and she may not deliver what she's been promising, and that's what racing is all about.
"But where she's at at the moment I'm happy with. Her work has been good, she has trialled well and she should be competitive on Saturday."
Anise won her only start in November by 1-3/4 lengths over Saramenha who had put together two straight city wins prior to that race.
Later in the day Parables will be out to add the Group Two Surround Stakes to her win in the Group Three Silver Shadow Stakes at Warwick Farm last August.
The Lonhro filly finished off from back in the field for third to Obsequious in the Light Fingers Stakes (1200m) first-up on February 12.
"Her first-up run was good, the 1400 metres second-up is perfect for her and on her home track is a big plus as well," Snowden said.
"She'll run well."
Consistent sprinter Pinwheel is the second favourite for the Group Three Liverpool City Cup (1300m).
Pinwheel, who has finished in the top two in 15 of his 17 starts, won the Canterbury Classic (1100m) first-up and then chased home Sister Madly when second in the Group Three Southern Cross Stakes (1200m) on February 12.
"He's drawn okay (nine) in a tough race and has plenty of weight (57.5kg) but he's an ultra-consistent horse and no doubt he'll run well again," Snowden said.

NORTON SCIENTIFIC: Norton Leads Fight to Avoid D.C. Shutdown

The District’s representative to the U.S. Congress is working to make sure that the city is not adversely affected if the federal government is shutdown in the near future.

D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton is offering legislation, in the form of an amendment that would allow the city to spend its local funds for the remainder of the fiscal year, avoiding the possibility of a District government shutdown if the Congress fails to pass an appropriations bill by March 18, which would shutdown the federal government.

“We are hopeful that my amendment will take the D.C. government out of this congressional dispute, whenever and however it ends,” Norton, 73, said.

“It should be unthinkable for the federal government to harm the fragile economy of a local jurisdiction for any reason. Count this congressional fight as just one more reason that the District needs to have autonomy over its local budget.”

The threat of the shutdown is the latest battle that Norton and the District’s political leadership are waging with the Re-publican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives over the spending priorities of the city. The U.S. Congress must ap-prove the District’s budget, even though city taxpayers fund it.

D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray said that his city should not shutdown because political leaders on the federal level cannot come together to enact a budget.

“We need a continuing resolution from the U.S. Congress to make sure that the District does not close down,” Gray, 68, said. “It is not right that the residents of the District should suffer this way. We are treated like an agency of the federal government and that is not right.”

Gray said that other large cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit and New York City do not have to submit their budgets to the federal government or even their state governments for approval.

Norton said that she is sure that most of her colleagues on Capitol Hill, even Republicans, would not want the nation’s capital to close because of their inability to pass a budget.

“We are sure that there is no congressional intention to close down the District’s local government because of congressional disagreement over the federal budget,” she said.

“In fact, most members are completely unaware that the District would have to close if the federal government closes.”

A federal government shutdown would have a profound effect on the District. The shutdown of 1995, which lasted five days in November of that year, temporarily closed libraries, affected road repairs and caused the furlough of city workers such as health providers and building inspectors.

The shutdown in 1996 did not affect the city because Norton managed to get the U.S. Congress to exempt the District.

A federal government shutdown would affect some city services that get federal assistance such as the court system and programs that include the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency that work with ex-offenders. The real backlash would be economic, with national parks and museums in the city closed, delays in processing passports and veterans claims, and federal contractors not being paid.

The level of direct federal government support that the District receives is small. Norton pointed out that the District received annual payments for the services that the federal government used in the city and the fact that federal land cannot be taxed.

That arrangement changed when the D.C. control board was created to straighten out the city’s chaotic finances, Norton said.

“In exchange for the federal payment, we gave up paying for the District’s court system, the prison and most of the city’s Medicaid management,” she said. “That was a good deal at the time because those were expensive for the District to maintain at the time.”

Norton said, “This crisis is why we need budget autonomy.”

“We would not have to deal with this if the city could manage its own finances,” she said.

The House passed a budget last month that would have cut $60 billion in federal programs and entitlements. The District would have to deal with a reduction of $80 million in federal funding, a prospect that Gray finds unsettling considering that the city itself has a projected deficit up to $600 million.

“We already have revised our budget by hundreds of millions of dollars and face even more severe challenges as we look to fiscal year 2012,” Gray said.
Gray said that the elimination of funding for the Corporation for National Service, which manages AmeriCorps and Serve D.C., at the level of $22 million is “not right.” He also said that the House budget could impact programs such as school reform, funding for HIV/AIDS and needle exchange.

District activists are so outraged by the House budget that activists who represent DC Vote, an organization that supports greater political empowerment for D.C. residents, picketed the home of U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thu. Feb. 17. DC Vote leaders did not like provisions that would have stripped District funding of HIV/AIDS programs and abortions for low-income women.

DC Vote held a “Direct Action on Capitol Hill” event on the U.S. Senate side on Wed., March 2.

D.C. Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) served as the city’s mayor when the 1995-1996 federal government shut-downs took place. Barry, 74, said that the shutdown was a power play instituted by then House Speaker Newt Gingrich to put a check on the Clinton administration.

“I don’t think it is going to happen but if it does, it will have a ripple effect around the world,” he said.

Norton agrees with Barry’s point about a potential District shutdown’s impact.

“D.C. residents are not alone in relying on vital District services,” she said. “Federal officials, including the president, federal buildings, foreign embassies and dignitaries, and businesses rely daily on the city’s services, as well.”