Ethical Expertise Research Articles

ANALYSIS OF DATA JOURNALISM IMPLEMENTATION: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN MODERN MEDIA

Data journalism has transformed the way media reports news, shifting from reliance on sources' opinions to a data-driven approach. In today's information era, this method is essential for enlightening the public. Technological advancements have made it easier for journalists to implement data journalism, but they also present challenges, such as limited access to data and a lack of analytical skills among journalists. This research analyzes the application of data journalism in various media organizations, identifying challenges and uncovering opportunities. The methods used include interviews with journalists, academics, and ethics experts. The findings indicate significant challenges, but also opportunities to enhance news quality, public trust, and reader engagement. The research recommends the need for intensive training in data analysis and the application of strict ethical standards. Thus, data journalism can be an effective tool in addressing challenges in the digital era and contributing positively to media development.

Partnering with the woman who declines recommended maternity care: Development of a statewide guideline in Queensland, Australia.

Choice, a fundamental pillar of woman-centred maternity care, depends in part on the right to decline recommended care. While professional guidance for midwives and obstetricians emphasises informed consent and respect for women's autonomy, there is little guidance available to clinicians or women about how to navigate maternity care in the context of refusal. To describe the process and outcomes of co-designing resources to support partnership between the woman who declines recommended maternity care and the clinicians and health services who provide her care. Following a participatory co-design process involving consumer representatives, obstetricians, midwives, maternal fetal medicine specialists, neonatologists, health service executives, and legal and ethics experts, implementation of the resources was trialled in seven Queensland Health services using Improvement Science's Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles. Resources for Partnering with the woman who declines recommended maternity care have now been implemented statewide, in Queensland, including a guideline, two consumer information brochures (available in 11 languages), clinical form, flowcharts, consumer video, clinician education, and culturally capable First Nations resources. Central to these resources is an innovative shared clinical form, that is accessible online, may be initiated and carried by the woman, and where she can document her perspective as part of the clinical notes. Queensland is the first Australian jurisdiction, and perhaps internationally, to formally establish this kind of guidance in clinical practice. Such guidance is identified as an enabler of choice in the national Australian strategy Woman-centred care: Strategic directions for Australian maternity services.

Moral courage of nursing: Bibliometric analysis.

Moral courage is a recognized virtue. Researchers have focused on various aspects of nursing moral courage, such as its conceptualization and influencing factors. Within these studies, various literature reviews have been conducted, but to our knowledge, bibliometric mapping has not been utilized. This article aims to analyze the production of literature within nursing moral courage research. To investigate publication patterns, we employed VOSviewer and CiteSpace software, focusing on publication dynamics, prolific research entities, and most cited articles. Additionally, we forecasted future research trends. In our study, ethical review was not required. A total of 105 information sources were identified in the WoS database. Overall, there has been a significant increase in research volume after 2020. The most prolific countries are the United States, Finland, and China, while the most prolific source title is "Nursing Ethics." Keywords are also related to moral dilemmas and ethics. However, there are further improvements needed in international cooperation. The results proposed in this paper can serve as a starting point for comprehensive or systematic literature reviews and seek more detailed data, information, and knowledge in the field of nursing moral courage. It can enable outsiders to quickly understand research on nursing moral courage, whether for in-depth exploration or simply to facilitate more effective collaboration with nursing ethics experts.

Brain Death Knowledge and Attitudes Among Fourth-Year Medical Students at Umm Al-Qura University.

Background Despite clear definitions of brain death, students and medical professionals may have varying understandings. This study investigated the knowledge and attitudes of medical students regarding brain death. Methods A cross-sectional survey was administered to 142 fourth-year medical students at Umm Al-Qura University. The survey used single-choice and Likert scale questions to assess knowledge of brain death definition, diagnosis procedures, and student attitudes. Prior to administration, the questionnaire underwent content validation by experts in medicine, ethics, and public health. Results A significant proportion of students lacked knowledge of the legal definition of brain death in Saudi Arabia (26.1%), brain death diagnostic procedures (43.7%), and prerequisites for declaring brain death (38%). While some students expressed confidence in diagnosing brain death, concerns about misdiagnosis were also present. Conclusion Fourth-year medical students in this study demonstrated significant knowledge gaps regarding brain death. Medical education programs may need to be revised to provide more comprehensive training on brain death and its implications. Additionally, public awareness campaigns could improve understanding and facilitate informed decision-making about organ donation. Further research, including multicenter studies, is warranted to confirm these findings and guide educational interventions.

Update on the ethical, legal and technical challenges of translating xenotransplantation

This manuscript reports on a landmark symposium on the ethical, legal and technical challenges of xenotransplantation in the UK. King’s College London, with endorsement from the British Transplantation Society (BTS),...

Review Mechanisms for Advanced Medical Therapies in Japan and Thailand: A Proposal for the Use of Expert Clinical Benefit Assessments at Designated Institutions

AbstractAdvanced new therapies, such as stem cell and gene therapies and xenotransplantation, represent challenges for regulatory and ethical review. Major drug agencies, such as in the U.S., India, and Europe, have asserted regulatory authority and require ethics review by local ethics review committees, using the same strict requirements as those for standard drug approvals. In spite of this, unapproved and undocumented stem cell clinics flourish in all of these places, suggesting that current approaches do not offer patients sufficient protection. Japan has attempted another approach, requiring approvals at local levels for all regenerative medical procedures, and a faster approval of promising new interventions. The Japanese approach has, however, also been criticized as not striking a proper balance between early access and a proper assessment of safety and effectiveness. For smaller and less-resourced countries, such as Thailand, one major challenge is limited expertise to conduct the evaluation of these advanced new therapies. This article provides an overview of the issues facing regulators and proposes that countries should restrict the early adoption of advanced new therapies to specialized clinics with appropriate scientific and ethical expertise for review. Review in these institutions should focus on expert clinical benefit assessments for individual patients being offered such interventions, independently of whether they are offered as research or therapy.

An ethical framework for human-robot collaboration for the future people-centric manufacturing: A collaborative endeavour with European subject-matter experts in ethics

Envisioning humans and (smart) robots collaboratively working on the manufacturing shop floor, sharing spaces, tasks and objectives, reflects the ambitious goal that the ideal factory of the future aspires to attain. However, ensuring the effective implementation of this novel form of labour organisation remains an ongoing area of research. Key aspects such as the future role of workers, potential psychological risks, and the overall ethical considerations of human-robot (H-R) collaboration warrant further investigation until the underpinning safety challenges have been addressed. This study presents a novel ethical framework for H-R collaboration in manufacturing, which involved 30 subject-matter experts in ethics within the European context in a collaborative design process conducted through a year-long three-round data collection qualitative Delphi study. The ethical framework adopts a human-centric approach, recognising the influences that expand beyond the specific context of H-R dynamics on the shop floor, towards organisational and societal governance for a more responsible integration of (smart) robotics into the professional settings. Ethics, in this regard, aims to foster ethical awareness and accountability in the processes and practices of design and innovation, involving all stakeholders who play a role in shaping the future of Industry 5.0.

Деятельность локального этического комитета по повышению качества биомедицинских исследований молодых сотрудников университета

The article is devoted to the issues of clinical research: their ethical and legal regulation at the present time, the history of ethical expertise in the Russian Federation and at Kazan State Medical University. The role of ethical committees as a structure responsible for quality of scientific research and a guarantor of compliance with the principles of ethics, protection of the rights, safety and well-being of research participants is considered. The article presents the working experience of the local ethics committee of Kazan State Medical University on ethical examination of research projects with human participation and analysis of the most common mistakes in preparation of research documentation made by young scientists of clinical departments. The digital information showing typical errors and inaccuracies in the formation of a package of documents for ethical examination, based on the analysis of 284 initiative papers of PhD candidates from clinical departments: every fifth protocol required revision in accordance with the ethical and legal framework adopted in the Russian Federation, in 1.5% of cases the documentation was submitted for already conducted studies (i.e. ost factum), when no changes to its design are possible anymore. Typical mistakes were the following: inability to form research and control groups, calculate a representative number of participants, write an information sheet for a participant in a clinical trial and a sheet of informed consent, going beyond the specialty, desire to prescribe drugs beyond the scope of registered indications, etc. The ways of increasing both the awareness of young researchers and quality of ethical expertise by specialists of the ethics committee are proposed.

Ethics, design, and implementation criteria of digital assistive technologies for people with dementia from a multiple stakeholder perspective: a qualitative study

BackgroundDementia impairs the ability of people with dementia to be autonomous and independent. They need support from third parties, who should ideally respect their autonomy and independence as much as possible. Supporting people with dementia can be very burdensome for caregivers and numbers of patients increase while numbers of potential caregivers decline. Digital assistive technologies (DATs) that directly support patients or their caregivers may help bridging the increasing gap between need of support and available resources. DATs have the potential to preserve the autonomy and independence of people with dementia and promote their abilities, if they are properly designed in close interaction with future users. In our study, we focused on ethical concerns, technological requirements, and implementation criteria for DAT in general and specifically to support outdoor mobility of people with dementia.MethodsWe applied a qualitative approach and conducted a World Café (2 tables, n = 7) and an online focus group (n = 6) with people with dementia, relatives, healthcare professionals, scientists, ethics experts, and experts for digitally-assisted medical care. We descriptively analyzed the data using a content analysis approach.ResultsThe participants reported technological (e.g., lack of Wi-Fi), financial (e.g., expensive devices or lack of budget for DATs), political (e.g., legal hurdles such as the European Medical Device Law or data protection regulations) as well as user-related hurdles (e.g., lack of digital competence) for the implementation of DAT in dementia care. Among the issues discussed were the importance of autonomy, independence, safety, privacy, and questions of decision making capacity in DAT’s use. Participants identified opportunities and benefits in self-learning, situation-aware DATs and wished for dementia-friendly communities. They emphasized the value of personal interaction that should not be replaced, but rather supported by DAT.ConclusionThe results revealed multiple hurdles and ethical concerns for DAT use and provided recommendations for designing and implementing DATs. Further investigations are needed on the impact of DAT on personal interactions in caregiving and the role of DAT in dementia-friendly communities.

Factors associated with Saudi physicians' utilization of clinical ethics consultation services.

Clinical Ethics Consultation (CEC) aims to resolve ethical dilemmas at the bedside. Through a structured process, CEC allows practitioners and patients to consult ethicists at times of moral conflict or uncertainty. Over the past few decades, CEC has become an invaluable part of healthcare practice. In Saudi Arabia, however, CEC services remain inexplicably underutilized. This study attempts to understand the factors associated with Saudi physicians' utilization of CEC to better meet the needs of practitioners and patients. Results indicate that although physicians routinely experience moral dilemmas, they seldom request a CEC. This is not due to unfamiliarity, lack of accessibility, or suspicion of ethical expertise. Rather, reluctance is likely due to an ingrained medical cultural stronghold that pressures practitioners to act heroically, and to resolve ethical dilemmas independently. Recommendations to improve the utilization of CEC services include wider availability, active collaborations with clinical practitioners, routine quality improvements, and managerial and national support.

재건축사업에서 사업주체자의 역량이 조직효과성에 미치는 영향

This study examined how the empowerment of housing reconstruction project leader affects organizational effectiveness in order to suggest improvement measures to prevent project delays in the process of housing reconstruction projects. To this end, a survey was conducted among members who have experienced housing reconstruction projects in Gwacheon, and descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis were conducted. The results showed that the ethical leadership, expertise, transparency, and participation of reconstruction project leader was significant in increasing organizational effectiveness. In addition, moral and ethical leadership was analyzed as an important factor in the organizational effectiveness of reconstruction project union, which are a special type of organization. This study is significant in that it examined the role of organizational effectiveness in the reconstruction project in the process of promoting the projects based on the trust of the members from the initial stage. The results of this study are expected to be used as a basis for policy improvement to improve the residential environment in old cities, including the first phase of new towns, and to improve the business satisfaction of landowners.

Towards a Human-Centered Innovation in Digital Technologies and Artificial Intelligence: The Contributions of the Pontificate of Pope Francis

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the contributions of Pope Francis toward human-centered AI and digital innovation. It draws from his numerous dialogues with experts in technology, medicine, science, ethics, law, philosophy, and theology. The papal engagements are based on the rich patrimony of Catholic Social Teaching that is being updated in the wake of the digital revolutions. The paper explores the Magisterium of Francis with the question of technological progress and inherent dangers for human society. It underscores some fundamental anthropological and ethical themes that the Pontiff considered necessary in making emerging technologies beneficial.

Ethical Discourse of Responsibility in The Covid19 Pandemic Humanitarian Disaster

This article aims to elaborate on how Emmanuel Levinas' discourse on the ethics of responsibility applies to the humanitarian crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Levinas offers a concrete ethical concept for addressing humanitarian issues, distinguishing himself from earlier ethical philosophy experts. The research method employed is qualitative, utilizing a literature review approach. The findings and discussion reveal that Levinas' perspective on the ethics of responsibility emphasizes concrete responsibility in encounters with the 'Face of the Other'. Furthermore, responsibility represents a form of human identity from a humanitarian perspective when facing the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Levinas, unconditional responsibility is not something we receive or a rule we agree to bind ourselves to, but rather something that exists before we make any decisions. Unconsciously, we already have unlimited responsibility towards others. The conclusion drawn is that adhering to health protocols is a concrete manifestation of Levinas' ethics of responsibility in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, as it is oriented towards the safety of others. Levinas' ethics of responsibility is asymmetrical. The ethical discourse on responsibility discussed in this study is limited to the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, thus it has limitations in broader explanations. Although Levinas' grand ideas may not suffice to solve all the ethical issues we face, their strength lies in reminding us of the inherent nature of ethical demands that should underpin all moral theories. Levinas invites us to reconsider the essence of ethical responsibility, which transcends formal rules and agreements, towards a deeper understanding of our relationships with others

Silently Navigating Ethical Paradoxes in the Israel-Hamas Conflict: A Short Note.

I embark on the writing of this short note not as an expert in ethics or a seasoned war analyst but rather as an involved observer nudged into the spotlight by a colleague's overestimation of my insight into the Israel-Hamas conflict. I approach this task with scepticism yet hoping to morph it into a form of therapy. My own therapy, a means to break the shackles of silence that have gripped not only myself but, I suspect, many others in Israel.

Bioethics of over- and undertreatment in older adults with cancer.

9046 Background: Over-/undertreatment are pervasive in older adults with cancer, despite oncologists prescribing with best intentions. What “ought” to be prescribed with limited evidence creates challenges in adhering to the principles of bioethics: beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice, and respect for autonomy. Our objective for this study was to elucidate whether and how tensions among these ethical principles can contribute to over-/undertreatment in older patients. Methods: We designed a modified Delphi study, convening a panel of 13 experts in biomedical ethics (5 male, 8 female; 4 MD, 4 PhD, 2 MD/MA, 1 MD/PhD, 1 JD/MDiv, 1 DNP) from U.S. and Canadian institutions for three iterative rounds of data collection. In the first round—an electronic questionnaire—we presented definitions of overtreatment and undertreatment in older adults with cancer (DuMontier, J Clin Oncol, 2020) and asked questions delineating which ethical principles related to each definition, followed by questions regarding how over-/undertreatment might occur from conflicts among different ethical principles. Consensus for each question was defined as ≥75% of experts answering “agree” or “strongly agree”. The second round consisted of a virtual synchronous focus group of 9 of the panel experts led by a qualitative researcher to review round one results and discuss questions that did not reach consensus, followed by a second questionnaire including these questions. Results: After the first round, experts reached consensus that bioethical principles applied to over-/undertreatment in older adults with cancer. Specifically, 92% felt that overtreatment can occur when oncologists overemphasize beneficence that values the potential benefit of cancer treatments, while underemphasizing non-maleficence with respect to treatment adverse effects. Moreover, 77% felt that overtreatment can also occur when oncologists prioritize patient autonomy (preference to be treated) over non-maleficence (oncologists' concerns that treatment harms outweigh benefits). 84% felt that undertreatment can occur due to a lack of justice in equitable consideration of cancer treatments that could provide similar benefits in older adults as they would in younger adults. Moreover, 77% felt that undertreatment can occur when oncologists underemphasize patient autonomy, failing to consider patient preferences regarding which benefits to pursue and risks to take. Data collection for the second questionnaire and qualitative analysis of the focus group are underway. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that tension in ethical principles can lead to over- and undertreatment in older adults with cancer. The “right” treatment in older patients in the context of limited evidence is not simply one that aims to aggressively target their cancer, but that balances both benefits and harms in light of the whole patient and their preferences, while not restricting therapies based on age alone.

The Impact of the EU AI Act on the UN Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 – A Text Analysis

Abstract This article conducts an analysis on the content of the Artificial Intelligence Act which has recently been passed by the European Parliament and which is expected to be implemented during a two-year stepped transition period. Artificial Intelligence has been praised for significantly increasing the efficiency with which businesses, institutions, and countries as an extension, have been able to develop their sustainable development goal scores towards the United Nations’ 2030 ambitions, especially in implementing sustainable business development, urban development, renewable energy, healthcare, education and more. Contrary to these contributions, a large number of researchers and international organizations have signaled the necessity of ensuring the application of ethical and legal considerations during the development and usage of artificial intelligence and machine learning models through the use of data management, protection, and ethical modeling experts within organizations. The article thus seeks to highlight the areas of sustainable development most impacted by the introduction of the Artificial Intelligence Act, both negatively in slowing down innovation, and positively in ensuring the safe and ethical use of these technologies. The methodology of research used involves sentiment analysis using Python’s Natural Language Toolkit followed by keyword mapping to enable a targeted view into the most positive/negative pages of the act, the most highly mentioned sustainable goals, and the mapping between this sentiment and the mention count.

Are HRM practitioners required to possess competence in corporate ethics? A content analysis of qualifications in Australia and Asia

Ethical cultures, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and sustainability strategies are increasingly being addressed through formal organisational policies and structures. This is evidenced by codes of ethics, conduct, whistle-blowing reporting lines, anti-bribery and corruption policies, and broader stakeholder and environmental engagement strategies. In the United States, corporate ethics managers are responsible for these functions, supported by specific professional and university-level qualifications. However, this is not the case in Australia and Asia where the role appears delegated to human resource personnel in organisations. Human resource management (HRM) is increasingly advanced as a formal profession, yet whether corporate ethics content features as a significant component of the HRM profession is unclear. Expert knowledge is a foundation of a profession along with the duty to act within the limits of that knowledge and expertise. This paper scopes what constitutes professional expert knowledge. It examines corporate ethics expertise and HRM within this context. Major Australian and Asian organisations are examined to verify that HRM Departments, and thus HRM practitioners, are responsible for managing corporate ethics. Given the seniority and strategic importance of this function, the content of selected Masters in HRM and related fields are examined to identify the extent of ethics content. This is considered in the light of the expertise required to manage corporate ethics, and conclusions are drawn whether the HRM discipline is appropriately qualified to manage this function. Finally, recommendations and further research towards advancing the role and function of corporate ethics managers in general are proposed.

Ethical and Legal Support for Technological Development in the Healthcare System

The article analyses the experience of a number of foreign countries (France, South Korea, China, Germany and Italy) in terms of developing special legislation in the field of ethical examination and creating specialised bodies to exercise relevant powers. Based on the analysis, the necessity of creating a National Council on Bioethics under the President of the Russian Federation in Russia in order to conduct an independent ethical assessment of new technologies in the field of healthcare is advocated. The author identifies the goal of strengthening the legal personality of medical workers in terms of an initial assessment of technological solutions built into practice. The work highlights the need to develop a procedural basis for conducting technological assessment by the medical community based on clearly established principles of legal and ethical expertise. It is emphasised that all technological solutions presented within the framework of strategic development should be aimed at health-saving ends. At the same time, it is advisable to consolidate the normatively established concept of health-saving technologies in order to carry out an examination of the quality of the implemented technological solutions.

Ethical Expertise for Gene Diagnostics and Gene Therapy Clinical Studies

Purpose of the study: to develop proposals for improving regulatory documentation on ethical expertise (EE) of gene diagnostics and gene therapy clinical studies.Materials and methods. We used general philosophical research methods, including the formal-logical, historical method, comparative method, systematic approach and axiological method. We analyzed 10 international acts, including acts of «soft law», 4 documents adopted at the level of interstate integration entities, 7 domestic normative legal acts, and a number of various doctrinal sources on the topic under consideration. In addition, we analyzed the regulatory documents for ethical committees (EC) acivities, including those from a historical perspective.Results. We formulated the concept of EE, defined the principles and main areas of EE, including the personalized medicine, and suggested the regulatory principles of EE operating.Conclusion. To improve the regulation of EE, the legal status and requirements for the activities of independent ECs should fit the scope of EE, differentially related to the area of a trial (non-interventional trials, clinical trials with a drug treatment); at the national level, independent ECs conducting EE of drug treatmemnt clinical trials should be institutionalized into a single system; to improve the activities of independent ECs in the field of clinical testing, the development of a special normative regulation is required.

Measuring adherence to AI ethics: a methodology for assessing adherence to ethical principles in the use case of AI-enabled credit scoring application

AbstractThis article discusses the critical need to find solutions for ethically assessing artificial intelligence systems, underlining the importance of ethical principles in designing, developing, and employing these systems to enhance their acceptance in society. In particular, measuring AI applications’ adherence to ethical principles is determined to be a major concern. This research proposes a methodology for measuring an application’s adherence to acknowledged ethical principles. The proposed concept is grounded in existing research on quantification, specifically, Expert Workshop, which serves as a foundation of this study. The suggested method is tested on the use case of AI-enabled Credit Scoring applications using the ethical principle of transparency as an example. AI development, AI Ethics, finance, and regulation experts were invited to a workshop. The study’s findings underscore the importance of ethical AI implementation and highlight benefits and limitations for measuring ethical adherence. A proposed methodology thus offers insights into a foundation for future AI ethics assessments within and outside the financial industry, promoting responsible AI practices and constructive dialogue.