Academic Dishonesty: Recommendations for the Future of Higher Education

The culture of academic dishonesty has become a common practice among students across numerous college campuses. It is imperative to address the policies designed to clearly define plagiarism and academic integrity, as they are not universally understood. The authors explore how academic dishonesty and academic integrity are defined at varying institutions and compare and contrast how such policy violations are addressed by campus administrators. The authors propose recommendations for campus administrators and policymakers to redefine best practices for faculty and staff to instill a culture of academic integrity on college campuses

ASSISTED DYING: JUDICIAL WRONG TURNS IN THE RIGHTS-BASED REVIEW OF THE SUICIDE ACT 1961 AND PROPOSALS FOR REFORM

Assisted dying is legally and ethically controversial. This thesis will argue that the Suicide Act 1961, which prohibits assisted dying, is inadequate for its stated purpose of protecting vulnerable individuals. This is partially because the Suicide Act is incoherent in its treatment of different categories of individuals who wish to end their life. This thesis begins by examining the current standard of human rights protection surrounding assistance to die, to argue that the domestic judgments which uphold the prohibition of assisted dying lack coherence. Then, Article 14 ECHR (prohibition of discrimination) and Article 8 (right to private and family life) are applied to assisted dying to novelly demonstrate that some disabled individuals must be exceptionally allowed to be assisted to die on account of their different experience of the law. As a result, it is indefensible to prohibit assistance to die where it removes the choice to do so for those who are unable to end their life without assistance. The increasing duty of protection under Article 14 is therefore argued to undermine political arguments against judicial intervention in matters of assisted dying, especially including those which debate the constitutional separation of governmental powers. This thesis then makes the ethical case for allowing individuals to be assisted to die, if they so choose. In doing so, Gewirth’s Principle of Generic Consistency is defended and applied as the supreme principle of morality. By extension, this thesis demonstrates possible avenues for reform by suggesting an incremental approach to statutory amendment, in spite of the rejection of previously introduced Assisted Dying Bills

Extending The Millimeter/submillimeter Rotational Spectrum Of Ground State Pyruvic Acid

Pyruvic acid (C$_{3}$H$_{4}$O$_{3}$, or HOOCOCCH$_{3}$) is one of the main reactants in the Krebs Cycle of biological systems where sugar is metabolized and glucose is converted to lactic acid. Its presence in carbonaceous meteorites has already been confirmed, and its abiotic formation in experimental ice analogs implies the potential for exogenous delivery to planets via comets and asteroids. Therefore, it is important to have a complete experimental spectrum within the same wavelengths of astronomical telescopes to facilitate detections of pyruvic acid. Previous work on pyruvic acid reported the spectrum from 160 GHz to 314 GHz. At room temperature, these measurements only cover part of the Boltzmann peak. Additionally, with the spectral coverage now available at telescopes ranging up to and beyond 1 THz, measurements covering a significantly broader region of the molecular spectrum are required. Newly-developed experimental capabilities and sensitivities have since allowed for more sensitive measurement of the rotational transitions in this same wavelength regime and beyond. This work remeasures and extends the spectrum of pyruvic acid from 90 GHz up to 1 THz. Spectral prediction and fitting was conducted using the ERHAM program based on the previous work. Reanalysis using XIAM was then performed due to key advantages and disadvantages in each program. The results of the spectral study and analysis of pyruvic acid from 90 GHz to 1 THz will be presented

Promoting consistent use of prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMP) in outpatient pharmacies: Removing administrative barriers and increasing awareness of Rx drug abuse

Background Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) are proving to be valuable resources in fighting the prescription drug abuse epidemic through improved access to patient drug histories. Ninety-four percent of Indiana pharmacists have heard of Indiana's PDMP (INSPECT), only 71% of them reported using the program in 2012. Objective To identify barriers to PDMP use in outpatient pharmacies and determine the impact these barriers have on utilization. Methods A cross-sectional study examined pharmacists' knowledge and use of INSPECT. Bivariate analyses on utilization and perceived barriers were conducted using cross-tabulations and chi-squared tests. Multiple logistic regression examined the relationship between pharmacists' level of concern with prescription drug abuse and reported utilization. Results Pharmacists were significantly less likely to use INSPECT if they reported at least one barrier and 3 times more likely to use INSPECT if they reported no barrier. Pharmacists were 10 times more likely to use INSPECT and 18 times more likely to use it more consistently if they were extremely concerned about prescription drug abuse in their community as compared to those not at all concerned. Conclusion Strategies to improve utilization of PDMPs should look for innovative ways to limit barriers and build outpatient pharmacists' awareness of prescription drug abuse and misuse within their community

Integration of prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMP) in pharmacy practice: Improving clinical decision-making and supporting a pharmacist's professional judgment

Background Pharmacists have shared responsibility to investigate the validity of controlled substance prescriptions (CSPs) that raise concerns, or red flags, and subsequently exercise their right to refuse to dispense a CSP if its validity cannot be verified. Improving access to clinical practice tools, such as prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs), may increase availability of a patient's drug history, which is critical to making informed clinical decisions about dispensing CSPs. Objectives The purpose of this study was to examine how integration and consistent use of a PDMP in pharmacy practice impacts pharmacists' dispensing practices related to CSPs. Methods A cross-sectional study examined pharmacists' knowledge and use of Indiana's (US State) PDMP (INSPECT) and dispensing practices of CSPs. Three outcome measures were analyzed using multiple logistic regression so as to examine the relationship between PDMP use and pharmacists' controlled substance dispensing behaviors. Results Pharmacists were 6.4 times more likely to change their dispensing practice to dispense fewer CSPs if they reported that INSPECT provides increased access to patient information. Pharmacists who always use INSPECT refused an average of 25 CSPs annually compared to an average of 7 refusals for pharmacists not using INSPECT. Pharmacists using INSEPCT consistently (at every visit) were 3.3 times more likely to refuse to dispense more CSPs than pharmacists who report never using INSPECT. Conclusions Integration of PDMPs in pharmacy practice may improve a pharmacist's ability to make informed clinical decisions and exercise sound professional judgment. Providing clinical practice tools to both prescribers and pharmacists is important to preventing drug diversion and prescription drug abuse. Future research should focus on understanding the barriers and challenges to successful integration of PDMPs in pharmacy practice

Trustworthy AI Alone Is Not Enough

The aim of this book is to make accessible to both a general audience and policymakers the intricacies involved in the concept of trustworthy AI. In this book, we address the issue from philosophical, technical, social, and practical points of view. To do so, we start with a summary definition of Trustworthy AI and its components, according to the HLEG for AI report. From there, we focus in detail on trustworthy AI in large language models, anthropomorphic robots (such as sex robots), and in the use of autonomous drones in warfare, which all pose specific challenges because of their close interaction with humans. To tie these ideas together, we include a brief presentation of the ethical validation scheme for proposals submitted under the Horizon Europe programme as a possible way to address the operationalisation of ethical regulation beyond rigid rules and partial ethical analyses. We conclude our work by advocating for the virtue ethics approach to AI, which we view as a humane and comprehensive approach to trustworthy AI that can accommodate the pace of technological change

EXTENDING THE MILLIMETER/SUB-MILLIMETER SPECTRUM OF PROTONATED FORMALDEHYDE (H2COH+) FOR COMPARISON TO ASTRONOMICAL DATA

Molecular ions have long been known to drive rich, complex chemistry in the interstellar medium (ISM). Of particular interest is the protonated formaldehyde ion (H$_{2}$COH$^{+}$) as it is the main reactant in the formation and destruction of formaldehyde (H$_{2}$CO) and a precursor to protonated methanol (H$_{3}$COH$_{2}$$^{+}$) as well as the simplest amino acid, glycine (NH$_{2}$CH$_{2}$COOH). Using a pulsed supersonic expansion discharge source to produce the ion, the expansion was probed with millimeter/sub-millimeter light. The known 3$_{0,3}$ $\leftarrow$ 2$_{0,2}$ transition at 190079.131 MHz has been previously detected in our lab utilizing a multipass optical set-up and the fast-sweep technique. However, in an effort to increase the signal-to-noise ratio of the transition with fewer averages, the experimental set up was changed and the signal has not been recovered. Here we will present the status of the experiment and the results obtained thus far in the context of the experimental design and possible future improvements. Once this transition is detected again, the spectrum will be extended past 385 GHz up to 1 THz and compared to astronomical observations in order to more confidently determine its presence in the ISM and to provide a spectral catalog that can guide future high frequency observations