The Cognitive Conditions Associated with Academic Dishonesty in University Students and Its Effect on Society

The problem of cheating in universities has existed as long as education itself; however, the problem has gotten exponentially worse in recent years. While consequences of cheating are not as noticeable today, the growing numbers of students cheating will have detrimental effects to the society of humans. The act of cheating to complete course work creates a mentality deprived of life satisfaction through hard work as well as incentives to live a dishonest life after college. The future society of the earth will depend upon competent innovators and strong leaders, of which are currently in college getting the education required to do so. Students who have cheated to get through college will be unprepared and unmotivated to continue leading the world on its current path towards a progressive future. It is up to current students to reduce the numbers of students cheating, such that, their graduating class will be full of intelligent innovators and motivational leaders instead of slackers that are desensitized to any form of satisfaction.

Tropical Cyclone Vulnerability of Atlantic Coastal Counties in the United States

Abstract Coastal populations along the Atlantic Coast of the United States face a persistent threat of tropical cyclones. Tropical cyclones of any strength can cause significant damages and losses to both life and property. As coastal populations continue to rise in a changing climate, the power of knowing which communities are the most and least vulnerable to future tropical cyclone events can assist in mitigating some of the losses. This paper explores the factors that make a coastal community more or less vulnerable to tropical cyclones based on prior natural hazards research and creates a relative index that will tell what counties along the Atlantic Coast are the most and least vulnerable to tropical cyclone events. This index uses normalized and standardized social demographic data as well as historical physical factors to create a summative index that is widely applicable. In this paper, the index was calculated for 2015 census data and 1980 census data in order to provide a look at changes in vulnerability over time. The index in both time periods highlights the relative greater vulnerability of counties that exhibit greater numbers of marginalized or poorer populations and experience tropical cyclone events more frequently. Those counties that are better prepared for tropical cyclones are primarily counties with greater levels of wealth. These patterns of vulnerability to tropical cyclones are clear and in a climate that has the possibility of producing increasingly more devastating storms, knowledge of these factors and patterns provide useful insights that can be used to help better respond to future events

A Buffet of Deserts: An Examination of the Underlying Principles of Desert in Job

Job challenges the theological milieu of retributive justice prevalent in Near- Eastern society by daring to ask the veritable question: can people deserve? This article examines the theories of desert, agency, and righteousness embedded within the Job manuscript. Bracketing the question of theodicy, this study utilizes contemporary philosophical, theological and exegetical considerations to examine what Job declares concerning the concept of Desert. This article uncovers a basic underlying Theory of Desert, which seems to correspond with the current compatibilist perspective in lieu of libertarianism or hard determinism. Though a basic moral desert finds a level of affirmation within the pages of Job, the book bears witness to the restricted nature of desert theories. Insofar as desert exists, God’s awesome power diminishes its significance. Human desert has boundaries and demands humility in light of the power and omnipotence of God. Humans are at once deserving, free, responsible agents and bounded, desert-less individuals without liberty before God

Biomechanical Evaluation of the Accuracy in Radiographic Assessment of Femoral Component Migration Measurement after Total Hip Arthroplasty

Introduction: Implant subsidence is one criteria utilized to monitor for prosthesis loosening after total hip arthroplasty (THA) with initial implant subsidence assessment often done utilizing plain radiographs. The specific aim of this study was to identify the most reliable references when using plain radiographs to establish an image magnification with the goals being easy to use, inexpensive, reliable, and accurate. Methods: Two femoral stem implants (stem lengths: 127mm, 207mm) were utilized to simulate hemiarthroplasty of the hip with composite femurs. Different combinations of femoral stem distances from the radiographic film (ODD), source-detector differences (SDD), hip rotation, and hip flexion were elected. Standardized anterior-posterior pelvis for each parameter combination setup were taken. Radiographic measurements (head diameter, stem length, stem seating length) were undertaken five times by three examiners. Radiographic image magnification factors were generated from two references (head diameter and stem length). Radiograph measurement reproducibility and stem seating length errors using these magnification factors were evaluated. Results: High level of repeated measurements reliability was found for head diameter (99 ± 0%) and stem length (90 ± 7%) measurements, whereas seating length measurements were less reliable (76 ± 6%). Stem length error using the femoral head magnification factor yielded 11% accuracy. Stem seating length error using both magnification factors were not reliable (< 7% accuracy). All parameters, except SDD, showed significant effect on calibrated measurement error. Conclusions: Current methods of assessing implant subsidence after THA using plain radiographs are inaccurate or reliable. Clinicians should recognize these limitations and be cautious when diagnosing implant stability using plain radiographs alone

Simplicial Multivalued Maps and the Witness Complex for Dynamical Analysis of Time Series

Topology based analysis of time-series data from dynamical systems is powerful: it potentially allows for computer-based proofs of the existence of various classes of regular and chaotic invariant sets for high-dimensional dynamics. Standard methods are based on a cubical discretization of the dynamics and use the time series to construct an outer approximation of the underlying dynamical system. The resulting multivalued map can be used to compute the Conley index of isolated invariant sets of cubes. In this paper we introduce a discretization that uses instead a simplicial complex constructed from a witness-landmark relationship. The goal is to obtain a natural discretization that is more tightly connected with the invariant density of the time series itself. The time-ordering of the data also directly leads to a map on this simplicial complex that we call the witness map. We obtain conditions under which this witness map gives an outer approximation of the dynamics, and thus can be used to compute the Conley index of isolated invariant sets. The method is illustrated by a simple example using data from the classical H\'enon map.Comment: laTeX, 9 figures, 32 page

Contextual influences in the relationship of perfectionism and anxiety: A multidimensional perspective.

The purpose of this study was to investigate contextual differences in anxiety and perfectionism in the context of academic performance. Two hundred and fifty-eight participants were recruited from an undergraduate psychology course in a public, south central university. These participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. The experimental condition was presented with an academic scenario using guided imagery, while the control condition was not. Both conditions completed a protocol consisting of the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (APS-R), the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS), and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). The experimental condition completed an additional survey, the Scenario Rating Scale, developed by the researcher. Cluster analyses were conducted to assign participants within each condition to Adaptive, Maladaptive, and Nonperfectionist groups. Analyses of Variance indicated significant differences in Standards, Discrepancy, and State and Trait Anxiety between the conditions and among perfectionism groups. Interactions between condition and perfectionism groups were indicated for two dependent variables: Standards and Trait Anxiety. Standards for Nonperfectionists were significantly higher in the experimental condition, while the other two groups did not change. These results are evident of a contextual dimension for perfectionism. Trait Anxiety for Maladaptive perfectionists was also significantly higher in the experimental group, while the other two groups did not change. This interaction clarified the main results, indicating that Adaptive perfectionism is a quality that serves as a protective agent, moderating the effect of trait anxiety in anxiety provoking situations. Conversely, Maladaptive perfectionism was found to be a factor of vulnerability to anxiety provoking situations

An Optimization Model for Minimization of Systemic Risk in Financial Portfolios

In this thesis, we study how sovereign credit default swaps are able to measure systemic risk as well as how they can be used to construct optimal portfolios to minimize risk. We define the clustering coefficient as a proxy for systemic risk and design an optimization problem with the goal of minimizing the mean absolute deviation of the clustering coefficient on a group of nine European countries. Additionally, we define a metric we call the diversity score that measures the diversification of any given portfolio. We solve this problem for a baseline set of parameters, then spend the remainder of the thesis modifying these parameters to investigate how the optimal solution and diversity score are impacted

The first law and Wald entropy formula of heterotic stringy black holes at first order in α

Tesis Doctoral inédita leída en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Física Teórica. Fecha de Lectura: 29-09-2022The project that gave rise to these results received the support of a fellowship from ”la Caixa” Foundation (ID 100010434). The fellowship code is LCF/BQ/DI18/11660042. This project has received funding from the European Union´s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 71367