The Perks and Problems of Being Department Chair

Many faculty members find the opportunity to serve as chair of their department at a point of their career. How does the chair position differ from a faculty position? Of what should a faculty member be aware before agreeing to serve as chair? Is it possible to prosper in the chair’s position? This special session will involve a candid discussion if the chair’s position – its perks and its problems. Four marketing faculty, both present chairs and former chairs, will present a clear picture of the chair’s position, and will address such issues as chair selection and appointment, dealing with faculty, dealing with administration, etc

Student’s Attitudes toward Academic Dishonesty: An Exploration

Academic dishonesty in college/university classrooms is widely recognized as a serious problem (Offstein and Chory 2017). Studies indicate that academic dishonesty is pervasive. Klein, Levenburg, McKendall, and Mothersell (2007), report 40-80 percent of college students are involved in academic dishonesty, whereas McCabe, Butterfield, and Treviňo (2012), report 65-87 percent involvement. Studies also report that cheating activity is increasing (Forsha 2017; Pérez-Peňa 2012), facilitated by increasing levels of tolerance (where instances of academic dishonesty are overlooked by classroom instructors (Coren 2011)), and advances in technology (Best and Shirley 2018). Consequently, academic dishonesty has become an increasingly important area of concern and, likewise, an important area of study (Robinson and Glanzer 2017). Academic dishonesty is not a victimless activity. With the growth of cheating activity, the integrity of higher education is increasingly being questioned (Drye, Lomo-David, and Snyder 2018). Pervasive academic dishonesty prevents academic institutions from being able to certify that graduates have gained a specific level of knowledge and ability from their education (Yu, Glanzer, Johnson, Sriram, and Moore 2018). Academic dishonesty has also been connected with a number of other undesirable activities (Biswas 2014), including unethical work behaviors (Harding, Carpenter, Finelli, and Passow 2004). Several studies suggest that academic dishonesty primes students for continuing dishonesty in their subsequent employment (e.g., Harding, Carpenter, Finelli, and Passow 2004; Hsiao and Yang 2011; Nonis and Swift 2001; Yang, Huang, and Chen 2013). Consequently, recent highly publicized business scandals have focused renewed attention on cheating activities in the classroom (Rakovski and Levy 2007). Past ethics research has explored many important issues involving academic dishonesty, including the effectiveness of various tactics to reduce the incidence of academic dishonesty. Examples of these tactics include the implementation/enforcement of honor codes (McCabe, Treviño, and Butterfield 2001; Tatum and Schwartz 2017), required ethics courses (Medeiros et al. 2017), ethics instruction integrated into discipline-specific coursework (Desplaces, Melchar, Beauvais, and Bosco 2007), campus climate (Molar 2015), and the activities of faculty to fight dishonesty (Coalter, Lim, and Wanorie 2007). The attitudes of students toward academic dishonesty have also received a significant amount of research attention (e.g., Johns and Strand 2007). An area that has not received the same level of research attention involves the effects that students’ perceptions of the ethicality of their academic environment have on their attitudes toward academic dishonesty. Specifically, do students’ perceptions of the ethicality of their college/university, their faculty, and their student body affect their attitudes toward academic dishonesty? This is an important area of study since if students’ attitudes toward academic dishonesty are affected by their perceptions of the ethicality of their institution and their colleagues, it may be possible to affect students’ participation in academic dishonesty by affecting their perceptions of their school environment. To explore this issue, first, student academic dishonesty in higher education is examined. Second, hypotheses are developed and tested. Finally, conclusions are drawn

Routes to improving the reliability of low level DNA analysis using real-time PCR

BACKGROUND: Accurate quantification of DNA using quantitative real-time PCR at low levels is increasingly important for clinical, environmental and forensic applications. At low concentration levels (here referring to under 100 target copies) DNA quantification is sensitive to losses during preparation, and suffers from appreciable valid non-detection rates for sampling reasons. This paper reports studies on a real-time quantitative PCR assay targeting a region of the human SRY gene over a concentration range of 0.5 to 1000 target copies. The effects of different sample preparation and calibration methods on quantitative accuracy were investigated. RESULTS: At very low target concentrations of 0.5–10 genome equivalents (g.e.) eliminating any replicates within each DNA standard concentration with no measurable signal (non-detects) compromised calibration. Improved calibration could be achieved by eliminating all calibration replicates for any calibration standard concentration with non-detects ('elimination by sample'). Test samples also showed positive bias if non-detects were removed prior to averaging; less biased results were obtained by converting to concentration, including non-detects as zero concentration, and averaging all values. Tube plastic proved to have a strongly significant effect on DNA quantitation at low levels (p = 1.8 × 10(-4)). At low concentrations (under 10 g.e.), results for assays prepared in standard plastic were reduced by about 50% compared to the low-retention plastic. Preparation solution (carrier DNA or stabiliser) was not found to have a significant effect in this study. Detection probabilities were calculated using logistic regression. Logistic regression over large concentration ranges proved sensitive to non-detected replicate reactions due to amplification failure at high concentrations; the effect could be reduced by regression against log (concentration) or, better, by eliminating invalid responses. CONCLUSION: Use of low-retention plastic tubes is advised for quantification of DNA solutions at levels below 100 g.e. For low-level calibration using linear least squares, it is better to eliminate the entire replicate group for any standard that shows non-detects reasonably attributable to sampling effects than to either eliminate non-detects or to assign arbitrary high Ct values. In calculating concentrations for low-level test samples with non-detects, concentrations should be calculated for each replicate, zero concentration assigned to non-detects, and all resulting concentration values averaged. Logistic regression is a useful method of estimating detection probability at low DNA concentrations

The Inmates Are Running the Asylum: The Role of a Consumer Mentality in Higher Education and Exploring How it Can be Overcome

Serving and satisfying customers is often viewed as the primary function of businesses. Consequently, a customer orientation, or a focus on determining customers’ wants and needs and designing and offering products to satisfy them, is a key concept within marketing. Is the importance of a customer orientation also true in higher education? Several believe that it is. The answer to the question of who is the customer in higher education, however, is less clear. Historically, society was viewed to be the primary customer of higher education – the purpose of higher education was viewed to produce educated individuals who possess the knowledge and skills to serve society by serving as leaders in society and its primary institutions, including government and business. Arguably, this view of the purpose of higher educations has changed. Today, students are most often viewed as the customers of higher education. Indeed, when viewing the activities of colleges and universities, the extent to which a consumer mentality has been accepted and employed quickly becomes obvious. The promise of consumer (student) satisfaction is viewed to be key to attracting students and is an essential component of most university marketing programs. Not all agree with this assessment of the role of a consumer mentality in higher education, however. Several believe that a consumer mentality is antithetical to higher education, which logically raises an important question: Why would a customer mentality be appropriate for most organizations, but not higher education? The focus of this special session is to explore this issue

Gap Detection for Genome-Scale Constraint-Based Models

Constraint-based metabolic models are currently the most comprehensive system-wide models of cellular metabolism. Several challenges arise when building an in silico constraint-based model of an organism that need to be addressed before flux balance analysis (FBA) can be applied for simulations. An algorithm called FBA-Gap is presented here that aids the construction of a working model based on plausible modifications to a given list of reactions that are known to occur in the organism. When applied to a working model, the algorithm gives a hypothesis concerning a minimal medium for sustaining the cell in culture. The utility of the algorithm is demonstrated in creating a new model organism and is applied to four existing working models for generating hypotheses about culture media. In modifying a partial metabolic reconstruction so that biomass may be produced using FBA, the proposed method is more efficient than a previously proposed method in that fewer new reactions are added to complete the model. The proposed method is also more accurate than other approaches in that only biologically plausible reactions and exchange reactions are used

Imaging Glaucomatous Damage Across the Temporal Raphe

PURPOSE. To image and analyze anatomical differences at the temporal raphe between normal and glaucomatous eyes using adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (AOSLO) and optical coherence tomography (OCT), and to relate these differences to visual field measurements. METHODS. Nine glaucomatous eyes of 9 patients (age 54-78 years, mean deviation of visual field [MD] À5.03 to À0.20 dB) and 10 normal eyes of 10 controls (age 54-81, MD À1.13 to þ1.39 dB) were enrolled. All the participants were imaged in a region that was centered approximately 98 temporal to the fovea. The size of imaging region was at least 108 vertically by 48 horizontally. The raphe gap, defined as the distance between the superior and inferior retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) bundles, was measured. A bundle index was computed to quantify the relative reflectivity and density of the nerve fiber bundles. We also measured thickness of the ganglion cell complex (GCC) and RNFL. RESULTS. The raphe gap was larger in glaucomatous eyes than control eyes. Specifically, eight glaucomatous eyes with local averaged field loss no worse than À3.5 dB had larger raphe gaps than all control eyes. The bundle index, GCC thickness, and RNFL thickness were on average reduced in glaucomatous eyes, with the first two showing statistically significant differences between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS. Structural changes in the temporal raphe were observed and quantified even when local functional loss was mild. These techniques open the possibility of using the raphe as a site for glaucoma research and clinical assessment

Monolithic integrated high-T.sub.c superconductor-semiconductor structure

A method for the fabrication of active semiconductor and high-temperature superconducting device of the same substrate to form a monolithically integrated semiconductor-superconductor (MISS) structure is disclosed. A common insulating substrate, preferably sapphire or yttria-stabilized zirconia, is used for deposition of semiconductor and high-temperature superconductor substructures. Both substructures are capable of operation at a common temperature of at least 77 K. The separate semiconductor and superconductive regions may be electrically interconnected by normal metals, refractory metal silicides, or superconductors. Circuits and devices formed in the resulting MISS structures display operating characteristics which are equivalent to those of circuits and devices prepared on separate substrates

Method for making a monolithic integrated high-T.sub.c superconductor-semiconductor structure

A method for the fabrication of active semiconductor and high-temperature perconducting devices on the same substrate to form a monolithically integrated semiconductor-superconductor (MISS) structure is disclosed. A common insulating substrate, preferably sapphire or yttria-stabilized zirconia, is used for deposition of semiconductor and high-temperature superconductor substructures. Both substructures are capable of operation at a common temperature of at least 77 K. The separate semiconductor and superconductive regions may be electrically interconnected by normal metals, refractory metal silicides, or superconductors. Circuits and devices formed in the resulting MISS structures display operating characteristics which are equivalent to those of circuits and devices prepared on separate substrates

Climate-induced speleothem radiocarbon variability on Socotra Island from the Last Glacial Maximum to the Younger Dryas

In this study, the dead carbon fraction (DCF) variations in stalagmite M1-5 from Socotra Island in the western Arabian Sea were investigated through a new set of high-precision U-series and radiocarbon (14C) dates. The data reveal an extreme case of very high and also climate-dependent DCF. For M1-5, an average DCF of 56.2±3.4% is observed between 27 and 18kyrBP. Such high DCF values indicate a high influence of aged soil organic matter (SOM) and nearly completely closed-system carbonate dissolution conditions. Towards the end of the last glacial period, decreasing Mg/Ca ratios suggest an increase in precipitation which caused a marked change in the soil carbon cycling as indicated by sharply decreasing DCF. This is in contrast to the relation of soil infiltration and DCF as seen in stalagmites from temperate zones. For Socotra Island, which is influenced by the East African-Indian monsoon, we propose that more humid conditions and enhanced net infiltration after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) led to dense vegetation and thus lowered the DCF by increasing 14CO2 input into the soil zone. At the onset of the Younger Dryas (YD) a sudden change in DCF towards much higher, and extremely variable, values is observed. Our study highlights the dramatic variability of soil carbon cycling processes and vegetation feedback on Socotra Island manifested in stalagmite DCF on both long-term trends and sub-centennial timescales, thus providing evidence for climate influence on stalagmite radiocarbon. This is of particular relevance for speleothem studies that aim to reconstruct past atmospheric 14C (e.g., for the purposes of 14C calibration), as these would rely on largely climate-independent soil carbon cycling above the cave. © 2020 Copernicus GmbH. All rights reserved