A cross-country evaluation of cheating in academia: is it related to ‘real world’ business ethics?

Today’s economics and business students are expected to be our future’s business people and potentially our tomorrow’s economic leaders and politicians. Thus, their beliefs and practices are likely to affect the definition of acceptable economics and business ethics. The empirical evaluation of the cheating phenomenon in academia has been almost exclusively focused on the US context, and the non-US studies involve, in general, a narrow scope of countries. In the present paper we perform a wide cross-country study on the determinants of economics and business undergraduate cheating which involves 21 countries from the American (4), European (14), Africa (2) and Oceania (1) Continents and 7213 students. We found that the average magnitude of copying among the economics and business undergraduates is quite high (62%) but with a significant cross-country heterogeneity. The probability of cheating is significantly lower in students enrolled in schools located in the Nordic or the US plus British Isles blocks when compared with their South Europe counterparts; quite surprisingly that probability is also lower for the African block. Distinctly, students enrolled in schools from the Western and especially from the Eastern Europe observe statistically significant higher propensities for perpetrating academic fraud. Our findings further suggest that average cheating propensity in academia is significantly correlated with ‘real world’ business corruption.cheating; corruption; university; economics; business; countries

Crime without punishment: An update review of the determinants of cheating among university students

The issue of cheating is a serious problem since it can call the efficiency of an education system into question. Furthermore, it is a devaluing factor in the country's stock of human capital. A student who copies is a free-rider, in the sense that he/she gains a higher grade than that merited by the actual amount of effort expended on study. In addition, it makes it impossible for teachers to fully achieve the goal of effective dissemination to, and acquisition of knowledge by, students. This paper conceptually and methodologically systematizes the phenomenon of academic fraud. Distinct forms of theorizing illegal behaviours are examined, adapting Becker’s crime model (1968) to cheating. A systematic review of the literature has allowed certain direct determinants of the probability of “copying”, not yet investigated, to be identified, viz: 1) the ‘advantages’, in terms of a higher grade, that students see themselves as gaining from fraudulent behaviour in comparison with not indulging in it; 2) the breakdown of students’ grades by nature of discipline - “reasoning” versus “cramming”; and 3) the existence or otherwise of a code of honour in universities. As a result, this paper proposes a new, ‘expanded’, econometric specification for estimating cheating (i.e., the probability of “copying”) based on an analysis of the expected cost-benefit, according to Becker’s model.crime, cheating, university, human capital

College cheating in Portugal: results from a large scale survey

The phenomenon of cheating among academics is of overwhelming importance in that the students engaging in it are most unlikely to have the skills necessary for their future professional life. Despite its relevance, the empirical evaluation of college cheating has been almost exclusively focused on the US context. Little is known about college cheating at the European level let alone Portugal. Less even in investigated at the regional level. In this paper we present evidence on cheating perception by Portuguese undergraduate students of economics and business courses. We undertake a large scale survey, involving 2675 students from all Portuguese mainland public universities. We found that (1) the likelihood of copying is increased when the expected benefit in terms of grade is positive; (2) copying-favourable environments – the high frequency with which students observe the act of copying, familiarity with someone that copies regularly, and the students’ opinion regarding copying – are associated with higher cheating propensity; (3) the higher and more serious students perceive sanctions, fewer incentives they have to perpetrate dishonest behaviours – in universities where ‘codes of honour’ exist, the propensity for copying among students is lower; (4) the propensity for copying seems to be highly influenced by regions’ cultural systems and social related factors - students who reside on a permanent basis in southern, inland regions, especially in Alentejo-related areas, present a significantly higher propensity to academic fraud than students from other areas of Portugal.cheating; university; cost/benefit; regions

Tribo-Corrosion behaviour of TiCxOy thin films in bio fluids

In recent years, the development of thin film systems for decorative applications has attracted significant attention in scientific research. These decorative coatings require, not only an attractive appearance for market applications, but also an ability to protect the surface underneath. Because of this, corrosion, wear and their combined effects (termed tribo-corrosion) are particularly important for lifetime prediction. The tribo-corrosion behaviour of a range of single layered titanium oxycarbide, TiCxOy,coatings, produced by DC reactive magnetron sputtering, has been studied and reported as a function of electrode potential (-0.9 V, -0.5 V, 0.0 V and +0.5 V) and applied load (3, 6 and 9 N). The study was conducted in a reciprocating sliding tribosystem (Plint TE 67/E) in a bio fluid (an artificial perspiration solution) at room temperature. During the wear tests, both the open-circuit potential and the corrosion current were monitored. The results showed that electrode potential and load have a significant influence on the total material loss. The variations in Rp (polarization resistance) and Cf(capacitance) before and after sliding, obtained by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) were evaluated in order to provide an understanding of the resistance of the film in such conditions. Tribo-corrosion maps were generated, based on the results, indicating the change in mechanisms of the tribological and corrosion parameters for such coatings

Cardiovascular risk profile of high school students: A cross-sectional study

INTRODUCTION: Disease prevention should begin in childhood and lifestyles are important risk determinants of cardiovascular disease. Awareness and monitoring of risk is essential in preventive strategies. AIM: To characterize cardiovascular risk and the relationships between certain variables in adolescents. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, 854 adolescent schoolchildren were surveyed, mean age 16.3±0.9 years. Data collection included questionnaires, physical examination, charts for 10-year relative risk of mortality, and biochemical assays. In the statistical analysis continuous variables were studied by the Student's t test and categorical variables by the chi-square test and Fisher's exact test, and each risk factor was entered as a dependent variable in logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Physical activity was insufficient in 81% of students. The daily consumption of soup, salad or vegetables, and fruit was, respectively, 37%, 39% and 21%. A minority (6%) took ≤3 and 77% took ≥5 meals a day. The prevalence of each risk factor was as follows: overweight 16%; smoking 13%; hypertension 11%; impaired glucose metabolism 9%; hypertriglyceridemia 9%; and hypercholesterolemia 5%. Out-of-school physical activity, hypertension and overweight were more prevalent in males (p<0.001). Females had higher levels of cholesterol (p<0.005) and triglycerides (p<0.001). A quarter of the adolescents had a relative risk score for 10-year cardiovascular mortality of ≥2. Overweight showed a positive association with blood pressure, changes in glucose metabolism and triglycerides, and a negative association with number of daily meals. CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrate the need for action in providing and encouraging healthy choices for adolescents, with an emphasis on behavioral and lifestyle changes aimed at individuals, families and communitie

Numerical study of augmented lagrangian algorithms for constrained global optimization

To cite this article: Ana Maria A.C. Rocha & Edite M.G.P. Fernandes (2011): Numerical study of augmented Lagrangian algorithms for constrained global optimization, Optimization, 60:10-11, 1359-1378This article presents a numerical study of two augmented Lagrangian algorithms to solve continuous constrained global optimization problems. The algorithms approximately solve a sequence of bound constrained subproblems whose objective function penalizes equality and inequality constraints violation and depends on the Lagrange multiplier vectors and a penalty parameter. Each subproblem is solved by a population-based method that uses an electromagnetism-like (EM) mechanism to move points towards optimality. Three local search procedures are tested to enhance the EM algorithm. Benchmark problems are solved in a performance evaluation of the proposed augmented Lagrangian methodologies. A comparison with other techniques presented in the literature is also reported

Aplicação de uma língua electrónica na classificação de méis monoflorais

Analisou-se o perfil polínico de 51 amostras de mel nacional. Os pólens mais frequentes no mel são originários das plantas dos géneros Lavandula, Cistus, Echium, Erica, Castanea, Thymus, Prunus, Cytisus, Carduus, Trifolium e Citrus. Considerando a classificação de mel monofloral de Lavandula (pólen predominante superior a 15%), de Erica e de Echium (pólen predominante superior a 45%) seleccionaram-se 38 méis monoflorais: 18, 9 e 11 destes méis foram classificados como méis monoflorais de Lavandula, Erica e Echium, respectivamente. Contudo há méis que podem ser classificados como mel monofloral de dois géneros de pólen (Lavandula-Echium, Erica-Lavandula, Echium-Lavandula). Os méis monoflorais foram analisados com um sistema de multi-sensores químicos não específicos de sensibilidade cruzada (Língua Electrónica) e os resultados foram tratados através da análise de componentes principais e análise discriminante. Verificou-se que é possível discriminar razoavelmente o mel monofloral de acordo com o género do pólen predominante

Avaliação da Ilha de calor de Bragança

O presente estudo, realizado no âmbito do projeto transfronteiriço POCTEP - BIOURB, tem por objetivo avaliar o efeito de ilha de calor urbana (ICU) na cidade de Bragança. Para o efeito, foi instalada uma rede de medição de temperatura e de humidade do ar, com vinte e três termo-higrómetros colocados em diferentes locais da cidade e no espaço rural, complementada com um estação meteorológica automática. Os resultados evidenciam a existência do efeito de ICU. Este efeito tem relevância nos pontos com uma urbanização mais densa e decresce nos pontos de menor densidade de edifícios. No período de inverno, a intensidade do efeito de ICU atinge em média os 2ºC, embora tenham sido registados máximos na ordem dos 5ºC. Tal como seria de esperar, é na época de verão que se verificaram as maiores diferenças entre zonas urbanas e zonas rurais, sendo que a média sobe para os 3ºC nas zonas mais urbanizadas, onde se registam máximos na ordem dos 6ºC. Em ambos os casos, os picos de intensidade observaram-se predominantemente uma a duas horas antes do nascer do sol, em particular em dias de vento fraco. Ao início da manhã registou-se ainda um efeito de ilha de frio

A shifted hyperbolic augmented Lagrangian-based artificial fish two swarm algorithm with guaranteed convergence for constrained global optimization

This article presents a shifted hyperbolic penalty function and proposes an augmented Lagrangian-based algorithm for non-convex constrained global optimization problems. Convergence to an ε-global minimizer is proved. At each iteration k, the algorithm requires the ε(k)-global minimization of a bound constrained optimization subproblem, where ε(k) → ε. The subproblems are solved by a stochastic population-based metaheuristic that relies on the artificial fish swarm paradigm and a two-swarm strategy. To enhance the speed of convergence, the algorithm invokes the Nelder–Mead local search with a dynamically defined probability. Numerical experiments with benchmark functions and engineering design problems are presented. The results show that the proposed shifted hyperbolic augmented Lagrangian compares favorably with other deterministic and stochastic penalty-based methods.This work was supported by COMPETE [POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007043]; FCT-Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia within the Project Scope [UID/CEC/00319/2013]; and partially supported by CMAT-Centre of Mathematics of the University of Minho

Characterisation of "Catalão" and "Salsichão" Portuguese traditional sausages with salt reduction

The present study evaluated the effect of salt reduction on traditional dry-cured sausages' safety, quality and product acceptance, comprising physicochemical and microbiological parameters, biogenic amines, fatty acids, texture profile and sensory analysis. According to our results, salt content had a major effect on microbiological counts, although not compromising the products' safety. Marked differences were identified regarding biogenic amines, in particular for histamine, tyramine and cadaverine, which were detected in larger amounts in products with 3%. Moreover, significant differences in the fatty acids profile have also been found, but only in less abundant components such as linoleic, lauric and heneicosanoic acids. Texture profile analysis of low-salt products, revealed a decrease in hardness and chewiness, along with an increase in adhesiveness values. Sensory evaluations revealed that despite the less intense aroma, products with 3% salt, had a more balanced salt perception. Our results suggest that salt content may be reduced to 50% in dry-cured products, with the obvious health-related advantages