Assessing Male vs. Female Business Student Perceptions of Plagiarism at a Southern Institution of Higher Education

Plagiarism, cheating, and academic dishonesty affect institutions of higher education. This study examines student perceptions of plagiarism within a Southern, Division-II teaching institution. This study employed a five-point Likert-scale to examine differences of perceptions between male versus female business students. Two statistically significant outcomes were observed between males and females involving the notions that plagiarism is perceived as a necessary evil and that plagiarism is illegal. Respectively, the analyses of the means showed that both male and female respondents tended toward disagreement concerning whether plagiarism is a necessary evil and neutrality regarding whether plagiarism is illegal

Cortisol as an Acute Stress Biomarker in Young Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Patients/Caregivers: Active Music Engagement Protocol

Objective: Primary aims of the proposed protocol are to determine the feasibility/acceptability of the active music engagement intervention protocol during hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and clinical feasibility/acceptability of the biological sample collection schedule. Design: The authors propose a single-case, alternating treatment design to compare levels of child and caregiver cortisol in blood and saliva collected on alternating days, when the dyad receives and does not receive AME sessions. Included are the scientific rationale for this design and detailed intervention and sample collection schedules based on transplant type. Setting/Location: Pediatric inpatient HSCT unit. Subjects: Eligible participants are dyads of children 3-8 years old, hospitalized for HSCT, and their caregiver. Children with malignant and nonmalignant conditions will be eligible, regardless of transplant type. Intervention: AME intervention is delivered by a board-certified music therapist who tailors music-based play experiences to encourage active engagement in, and independent use of, music play to manage the inter-related emotional distress experienced by children and their caregivers during HSCT. Dyads will receive two 45-min AME sessions each week during hospitalization. Outcome Measures: Eight collections of blood (child) and saliva (child/caregiver) will be performed for cortisol measurement. The authors will also collect self-report and caregiver proxy measures for dyad emotional distress, quality of life, and family function. At study conclusion, qualitative caregiver interviews will be conducted. Results: Planned analyses will be descriptive and evaluate the feasibility of participant recruitment, cortisol collection, planned evaluations, and AME delivery. Analysis of qualitative interviews will be used to gain an understanding about the ease/burden of biological sample collection and any perceived benefit of AME. Conclusions: Behavioral intervention studies examining biological mechanisms of action in pediatric transplant populations are rare. Findings will provide important information about the feasibility/acceptability of collecting cortisol samples during a high-intensity treatment and advance understanding about the use of active music interventions to mitigate child/caregiver distress during the transplant period

Assessing Domestic vs. International Student Perceptions and Attitudes of Plagiarism

The authors examined students’ perceptions of plagiarism from a higher education teaching institution within the U.S. southeast. This study employed a five-point Likert-scale to examine differences of perceptions between domestic versus international students. Statistically significant outcomes were observed regarding the notions that plagiarism is a necessary evil and that plagiarism is illegal. Respectively, the analyses of the means showed that respondents tended toward disagreement concerning the former notion and neutrality regarding the latter notion

Badanie modelu dojrzałości procesu jako paradygmatu doskonalenia procesu reklamowego

This article examined a variant of the Capability Maturity Model integrated (CMMi) through the lens of advertising process improvement. The population and sample were taken from a national array of U.S. marketing organizations. Using ANOVA, a 0.05 significance level, and a stratification of service marketing organizations versus product marketing organizations, the study showed a statistically significant difference (F(1, 304) = 4.03; p = 0.04; ω2 = 0.00) regarding the hypothesis representing the notion that processes were potentially sporadic, chaotic, and ad hoc. This notion corresponded to the first maturity level of the examined process maturity framework. With respect to the Likert-scale data representing the first maturity level, the successive means analysis showed that both service marketing firms (M = 2.99) and product marketing firms (M = 2.74) reported neutrality regarding whether processes were deemed sporadic, chaotic, and ad hoc. Thus, the respondents perceived no evidence of the first maturity level among the queried work settings. Future studies may examine different stratifications of marketing firms (e.g., for-profit versus non-profit; domestic versus international; and so on) to better explore the proposed advertising maturity model.Niniejszy artykuł poświęcony jest badaniu wariantu modelu Capability Maturity Model integrated (CMMi) z perspektywy doskonalenia procesu reklamowego. Populacja i próba zostały pozyskane z narodowego zasobu amerykańskich organizacji marketingowych. Z zastosowaniem ANOVA, poziomu istotności 0.05 oraz stratyfikacji organizacji usług marketingowych, badanie wykazało statystycznie istotną różnicę (F(1, 304) = 4.03; p = 0.04; ω2 = 0.00) w odniesieniu do hipotezy reprezentującej twierdzenie, że procesy były sporadyczne, chaotyczne i nieprzygotowane. To twierdzenie odpowiada pierwszemu poziomowi dojrzałości badanego schematu dojrzałości procesu. W odniesieniu do danych na skali Likerta reprezentujących pierwszy poziom dojrzałości, analiza kolejnych średnich wykazała, że zarówno firmy dostarczające usługi marketingowe (M = 2.99) jak też firmy zajmujące się marketingiem produktu (M = 2.74) wskazywały na neutralność w odniesieniu do tego czy procesy były uważane za sporadyczne, chaotyczne i nieprzygotowane. Zatem, respondenci nie dostrzegli dowodów na pierwszy poziom dojrzałości w badanych układach pracy. Przyszłe analizy mogą zbadać inne stratyfikacje firm marketingowych (n.p. dla zysku kontra non-profit; narodowe kontra międzynarodowe; i tak dalej) w celu lepszego zbadania proponowanego modelu dojrzałości reklamowej

Assessing the Recovery Aftermaths of Selected Disasters in the Gulf of Mexico

This research examined quantitatively in-port grain loading levels during the periods preceding and succeeding selected human-made and natural disasters among U.S. Gulf Coast ports. The array of selected disasters consisted of the 2010 British Petroleum oil spill, the 2011 Mississippi River flood, Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Gustav, and Hurricane Isaac. The outcomes of the analyses showed that the examined in-port Gulf Coast grain loading activities have not fully recovered and achieved the level of normalcy that existed before the examined cataclysms

Assessing Male vs. Female Business Student Perceptions of Plagiarism at a Southern Institution of Higher Education

Plagiarism, cheating, and academic dishonesty affect institutions of higher education. This study examines student perceptions of plagiarism within a Southern, Division-II teaching institution. This study employed a five-point Likert-scale to examine differences of perceptions between male versus female business students. Two statistically significant outcomes were observed between males and females involving the notions that plagiarism is perceived as a necessary evil and that plagiarism is illegal. Respectively, the analyses of the means showed that both male and female respondents tended toward disagreement concerning whether plagiarism is a necessary evil and neutrality regarding whether plagiarism is illegal

Active Music Engagement and Cortisol as an Acute Stress Biomarker in Young Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Patients and Caregivers: Results of a Single Case Design Pilot Study

This paper reports the results of a single case design pilot study of a music therapy intervention (the Active Music Engagement, or AME) for young children undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCST) and their caregivers. The primary aims of the study were to determine feasibility/acceptability of the AME intervention protocol and data collection in the context of HCST. Secondary aims were to examine caregivers’ perceptions of the benefit of AME and whether there were changes in child and caregiver cortisol levels relative to the AME intervention. Results indicated that the AME could be implemented in this context and that data could be collected, though the collection of salivary cortisol may constitute an additional burden for families. Nevertheless, data that were collected suggest that families derive benefit from the AME, which underscores the need for devising innovative methods to understand the neurophysiological impacts of the AME