Challenges and perspectives of academic evaluation

A avaliação acadêmica constitui um componente essencial da ciência moderna, na medida em que esta evoluiu do mecenato individualizado para seu papel contemporâneo de pilar das sociedades contemporâneas e democráticas. O Brasil tem experimentado em anos recentes um crescimento consistente de sua produção científica, hoje plenamente compatível com seu status de país de renda média-alta, em vias de se tornar um país desenvolvido e igualitário nos anos por vir. Crescer é lidar com desafios e dilemas, e a avaliação acadêmica não está isenta deles. Em um país de dimensões continentais, profundamente heterogêneo, que conta com sistemas nacionais de avaliação e plataformas eletrônicas de disseminação da informação em diferentes campos do conhecimento, esses desafios se referem à necessidade de estar atento ao detalhe sem perder de vista a abrangência e lidar com a diversidade regional e social, sem abrir mão da excelência acadêmica como marco fundamental.Academic evaluation has been an essential component of modern science since its inception, as science has moved away from personalized patronage toward its contemporary role as an essential enterprise of contemporary, democratic societies. In recent years, Brazil has experienced sustained growth in its scientific output, which is nowadays fully compatible with its status as a high middle-income country striving to become a fully developed, more equitable country in the years to come. Growth usually takes place amidst challenges and dilemmas and, in Brazil as elsewhere, academic evaluation is not exempt from such difficulties. In a large, profoundly heterogeneous country with a national evaluation system and nationwide on-line platforms disseminating information on the most disparate fields of knowledge, the main challenges refer to how to pay attention to detail without losing sight of comprehensiveness and how to handle social and regional diversity while preserving academic excellence as the fundamental benchmark.La evaluación académica constituyó un componente esencial de la ciencia moderna, en la medida en que ésta evolucionó del mecenazgo individualizado para su papel contemporáneo de pilar de las sociedades contemporáneas y democráticas. Brasil ha experimentado en años recientes un crecimiento consistente de su producción científica, hoy plenamente compatible con su estatus de país de renta media-alta, en vías de convertirse en un país desarrollado e igualitario en los años por venir. Crecer es lidiar con desafíos y dilemas, y la evaluación académica no está exenta de ellos. En un país de dimensiones continentales, profundamente heterogéneo, que cuenta con sistemas nacionales de evaluación y plataformas electrónicas de diseminación de la información en diferentes campos del conocimiento, éstos desafíos se refieren a la necesidad de estar más atento al detalle sin perder de vista la amplitud y lidiar con la diversidad regional y social, sin abrir mano de la excelencia académica como marco fundamental

U.S. and European Freight Railways: The Differences That Matter

This paper examines the differences between the United States (U.S.) and European (EU27) freight railways. The inherent or structural factors influencing the railways modal share will be evaluated. It was found that nearly all of the disparity in modal share can be explained by structural or inherent differences, like the competitiveness of non-surface modes, shipment distances (both influenced by geography), and commodity mix (namely, coal). More striking are the differences in productivity, to move the same number of tons seven times, more trains are required in Europe compared with the U.S.. Operational revenues per ton-mile are around two times higher in Europe, while the operational expenses in the U.S. are four times lower than in Europe. It is argued that setting a goal for modal share similar to the U.S. is not realistic for the EU27. A key concern for European freight railways should be the reduction of operational costs, by increasing the trains’ sizes.Distinct policy answers were given to the railroads’ crisis in the post WWII years. Soon after 1980 when reforms were introduced in the U.S. there was a revival of the sector. The same has not happened in Europe, where questions regarding infrastructure financing or the coordination of network investments and operational needs remain

Multi-q Pattern Classification of Polarization Curves

Several experimental measurements are expressed in the form of one-dimensional profiles, for which there is a scarcity of methodologies able to classify the pertinence of a given result to a specific group. The polarization curves that evaluate the corrosion kinetics of electrodes in corrosive media are an application where the behavior is chiefly analyzed from profiles. Polarization curves are indeed a classic method to determine the global kinetics of metallic electrodes, but the strong nonlinearity from different metals and alloys can overlap and the discrimination becomes a challenging problem. Moreover, even finding a typical curve from replicated tests requires subjective judgement. In this paper we used the so-called multi-q approach based on the Tsallis statistics in a classification engine to separate multiple polarization curve profiles of two stainless steels. We collected 48 experimental polarization curves in aqueous chloride medium of two stainless steel types, with different resistance against localized corrosion. Multi-q pattern analysis was then carried out on a wide potential range, from cathodic up to anodic regions. An excellent classification rate was obtained, at a success rate of 90%, 80%, and 83% for low (cathodic), high (anodic), and both potential ranges, respectively, using only 2% of the original profile data. These results show the potential of the proposed approach towards efficient, robust, systematic and automatic classification of highly non-linear profile curves.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure

“Sex Sells”, but who’s buying? The effect of sexual appeals on purchase intention in influencer marketing

Over the last decade, Influencer Marketing has become an integral part of firms’ marketing plans. According to extant literature, brands-influencers collaborations may be more persuasive than traditional advertising. However, little is known about the factors that drive its effectiveness. The aphorism that “sex sells” pervades traditional advertising and seems to be perpetuated in social media platforms like Instagram, though little academic evidence supports it. The present study addresses this research gap by examining the effect of different modes of exhibition of the female body (inconspicuous vs. conspicuous) on consumers’ purchase intention. The analysis of the data collected through an online questionnaire administered to Portuguese Instagram users revealed that conspicuous exhibition of the female body negatively affects purchase intention. The effect is serially mediated by source credibility, endorsement attitude and brand attitude. By providing empirical evidence for the effect of different modes of self-presentation on attitudinal and behavioral change, this study contributes to the growing body of literature on Influencer Marketing and provides managers with important guidelines to select and design brand-influencers collaboration strategies.Na última década, o Marketing de Influência tornou-se parte integrante dos planos de marketing das empresas. De acordo com a literatura académica existente, as colaborações entre marcas e influenciadores digitais são mais persuasivas do que a publicidade tradicional. Contudo, pouco se conhece relativamente aos fatores que determinam a sua eficácia. O aforismo de que “sexo vende” domina a publicidade tradicional e parece perpetuar-se em redes sociais como o Instagram, apesar da falta de fundamentação académica. Este estudo pretende colmatar esta lacuna na literatura ao analisar o efeito de diferentes modos de apresentação do corpo feminino (inconspícua vs. conspícua) na intenção de compra dos consumidores. A análise dos dados recolhidos através de um questionário online administrado a utilizadores portugueses do Instagram sugere a existência de um efeito negativo da exibição conspícua do corpo feminino nas intenções de compra, mediado pela perceção de credibilidade da fonte, atitude em relação à colaboração e à marca. Ao demonstrar empiricamente a existência deste efeito, o presente estudo contribui para o crescente acervo de literatura dedicada ao Marketing de Influência e apresenta diretrizes estratégicas para a seleção e elaboração de parcerias com influenciadores digitais

How do work and public policies interact with child poverty?

Child poverty is a problem firmly recognized in the industrialized world. In the EU nearly one in every five children was poor in 2008 (for the population as a whole the risk of poverty was around 17 per cent). The dimension of the problem and its consequences point out for the importance of knowing the processes behind it. This paper aims to investigate how labour market issues and public policies have been impact on child poverty, over recent years. Based on microdata gathered by the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU_SILC) for the period 2004-08 we give a portrait of child income poverty in European Southern countries such as: Italy, Portugal and Spain and also in Poland. Moreover, we investigate the major changes in social policies that could impact on child poverty such benefits target on family and child allowances. The international comparison will allow the identification of children’s poverty profile and pattern across the countries analysed and also design the different compositions between labour market elements / public policies in such countries. This exercise of comparison also enables a first test of the efficiency of these policies. The methodological framework used varies from descriptive methods to econometric models in order to sustain the discussion of the subject under study

Sociogenèse d’une catégorie politique : l’introduction de « partis politiques au niveau européen » dans le droit communautaire

Cet article revient sur l’introduction dans le traité de Maastricht de 1992 d’une catégorie politique nouvelle, celle des « partis politiques au niveau européen ». S’intéressant prioritairement aux acteurs mobilisés en faveur de ce « label », il cherche à décrire le plus précisément possible leurs mobilisations, tout en mettant en évidence les conditions de possibilité de cette codification particulière. Fondé sur une enquête empirique approfondie, il propose les éléments d’une sociogenèse de cette catégorie politique.This article focuses on the introduction in the Maastricht Treaty (1992) of a new political category, namely the “political parties at the European level”. It primarily deals with the actors promoting this label, trying to describe as precisely as possible their mobilizations. It moreover brings to light the conditions that made possible this specific codification. The article is for that purpose based on an extensive empirical survey, which makes us able to sketch the sociogenesis of that political category