Corruption Kills: Estimating the Global Impact of Corruption on Children Deaths

PubMed Central

Hanf, Matthieu; Van-Melle, Astrid; Fraisse, Florence; Roger, Amaury; Carme, Bernard; Nacher, Mathieu

2011-01-01

Background Information on the global risk factors of children mortality is crucial to guide global efforts to improve survival. Corruption has been previously shown to significantly impact on child mortality. However no recent quantification of its current impact is available. Methods The impact of corruption was assessed through crude Pearson's correlation, univariate and multivariate linear models coupling national under-five mortality rates in 2008 to the national “perceived level of corruption” (CPI) and a large set of adjustment variables measured during the same period. Findings The final multivariable model (adjusted R2 = 0.89) included the following significant variables: percentage of people with improved sanitation (p.value<0.001), logarithm of total health expenditure (p.value = 0.006), Corruption Perception Index (p.value<0.001), presence of an arid climate on the national territory (p = 0.006), and the dependency ratio (p.value<0.001). A decrease in CPI of one point (i.e. a more important perceived corruption) was associated with an increase in the log of national under-five mortality rate of 0.0644. According to this result, it could be roughly hypothesized that more than 140000 annual children deaths could be indirectly attributed to corruption. Interpretations Global response to children mortality must involve a necessary increase in funds available to develop water and sanitation access and purchase new methods for prevention, management, and treatment of major diseases drawing the global pattern of children deaths. However without paying regard to the anti-corruption mechanisms needed to ensure their proper use, it will also provide further opportunity for corruption. Policies and interventions supported by governments and donors must integrate initiatives that recognise how they are inter-related. PMID:22073233

The Topography of Corruption: Explorations in a Comparative Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heidenheimer, Arnold J.

1996-01-01

Analyzes how corruption is linked to scandalization in the traditions of European countries and how this has helped shape contemporary perceptions. Compares and contrasts levels of tolerance and manifestations of corruption. Includes a table of nations ranked on reputation for corrupt public services. (MJP)

Preventing corruption in humanitarian assistance: perceptions, gaps and challenges.

PubMed

Maxwell, Daniel; Bailey, Sarah; Harvey, Paul; Walker, Peter; Sharbatke-Church, Cheyanne; Savage, Kevin

2012-01-01

Corruption is a threat to the purpose of humanitarian assistance. Until fairly recently, humanitarian assistance has not been considered an important arena in broader efforts aimed at curbing corruption, and corruption has not always been considered a particularly important concern for humanitarian assistance despite the obviously challenging nature of the context of humanitarian emergencies. Corruption, though, is a threat to humanitarian action because it can prevent assistance from getting to the people who most need it, and because it can potentially undermine public support for such assistance. This paper examines perceptions of corruption and its affects, documents best practices, and outlines gaps in understanding. It suggests recommendations for improving the capacity of humanitarian agencies to prevent and manage the risk of corruption. Agencies have taken steps to combat corruption and improve accountability--downwards and upwards--but scope remains for improvement and for greater sharing of learning and good practice. © 2012 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2012.

The impact of HIV prevalence, conflict, corruption, and GDP/capita on treatment cascades: data from 137 countries.

PubMed

Levi, Jacob; Pozniak, Anton; Heath, Katherine; Hill, Andrew

2018-04-01

In 2014, UNAIDS and partners set the 90-90-90 targets for the HIV treatment cascade. Multiple social, political and structural factors might influence progress towards these targets. We assessed how close countries and regions are to reaching these targets, and compared cascade outcomes with HIV prevalence, gross domestic product (GDP)/capita, conflict and corruption. Country-level HIV cascade data on diagnosis, ART coverage and viral suppression, from 2010 to 2016 were extracted from national reports, published papers and the www.AIDSinfoOnline database, and analysed. Weighted least-squares regression was used to assess predictors of cascade achievement: region, HIV prevalence, GDP/capita, the 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), which is an international ranking system, and the 2016 Global Peace Index (GPI), which ranks all countries based on three main categories: societal safety, militarisation and conflict. Data were available for diagnosis for 84 countries, ART coverage for 137 countries, and viral suppression for 94 countries. Regions with the lowest ART coverage were South-east Asia and Pacific (36%), Eastern Europe and Central Asia (17%), and Middle East and North Africa (13%). Lower HIV prevalence was associated with poorer cascade results. Countries with higher GDP/capita achieved higher ART coverage ( P <0.001). Furthermore, countries with lower levels of peace and higher corruption had lower ART coverage ( P <0.001). Countries with a GPI >2.5 all had ART coverage of <40%. Only one country has reached the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets. International comparison remains difficult due to heterogeneous data reporting. Difficulty meeting UNAIDS targets is associated with lower GDP/capita, lower HIV prevalence, higher corruption and conflict levels.

The Cost of Corruption in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heyneman, Stephen P.; Anderson, Kathryn H.; Nuraliyeva, Nazym

2008-01-01

Corruption was symptomatic of business and government interactions in Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union before and during the economic transition of the 1990s. Corruption is difficult to quantify, but the perception of corruption is quantifiable. Nations can even be arranged along a hierarchy by the degree to which they are…

Preparing for Upheaval in North Korea: Assuming North Korean Regime Collapse

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-12-01

social and economic integration of former combatants, the importance of the role of women and children and health and HIV--, IDDRS suggested the key...by paying bribes.36 Indeed, the Corruption Perceptions Index 2012 indicates that North Korea is ranked 174 out of 176 countries in terms of public...education, employment, housing, healthcare and so on. In this context, the presence of the songbun system implies institutionalized inequality among the

Tuberculosis in Asia and the pacific: the role of socioeconomic status and health system development.

PubMed

Wu, Jie; Dalal, Koustuv

2012-01-01

To identify the relationship between socioeconomic status, health system development and the incidence, prevalence and mortality of tuberculosis in Asia and the Pacific. Incidence, prevalence and mortality rates of tuberculosis and 20 variables of socioeconomic, health system and biological-behavioral issues were included in the study involving all 46 countries of the Asian Development Bank region (2007 data). Both univariate and multivariate linear regressions were used. The worst three tuberculosis affected countries were Cambodia, India and Indonesia, while the least affected was Australia. Tuberculosis incidence, prevalence and mortality rate were higher in countries with lower human development index, corruption perception index, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and countries with more people under minimum food supplements. Among the health system variables, total health expenditure per capita, governmental health expenditure per capita, hospital beds, and access to improved water and sanitation were strongly associated with tuberculosis. Socioeconomic determinants and health system development have significant effect on the control of tuberculosis in Asia and the Pacific region. The study has some policy implications by means of lowering the corruption and improving the sanitation.

Tuberculosis in Asia and the Pacific: The Role of Socioeconomic Status and Health System Development

PubMed Central

Wu, Jie; Dalal, Koustuv

2012-01-01

Objective: To identify the relationship between socioeconomic status, health system development and the incidence, prevalence and mortality of tuberculosis in Asia and the Pacific. Methods: Incidence, prevalence and mortality rates of tuberculosis and 20 variables of socioeconomic, health system and biological–behavioral issues were included in the study involving all 46 countries of the Asian Development Bank region (2007 data). Both univariate and multivariate linear regressions were used. Results: The worst three tuberculosis affected countries were Cambodia, India and Indonesia, while the least affected was Australia. Tuberculosis incidence, prevalence and mortality rate were higher in countries with lower human development index, corruption perception index, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and countries with more people under minimum food supplements. Among the health system variables, total health expenditure per capita, governmental health expenditure per capita, hospital beds, and access to improved water and sanitation were strongly associated with tuberculosis. Conclusions: Socioeconomic determinants and health system development have significant effect on the control of tuberculosis in Asia and the Pacific region. The study has some policy implications by means of lowering the corruption and improving the sanitation. PMID:22355472

Belief in a just world lowers perceived intention of corruption: the mediating role of perceived punishment.

PubMed

Bai, Bao-Yu; Liu, Xiao-Xiao; Kou, Yu

2014-01-01

Corruption can be unfair and detrimental to societies; however, little is known regarding how individuals perceive corruption. We aim to understand how psychological factors, such as lay belief of the world, influence perceived intention of corruptive behavior. As corruption undermines justice, we hypothesize that belief in a just world to others (BJW-others) reduces perceived intention of corruptive behaviors. We conducted two correlational studies and one experimental study in China. Using hypothetical scenarios, perception toward bribery taking and nepotistic practices were assessed. In Study 1 and Study 2, we consistently found that BJW-others negatively predicted perceived intention of corruption, and this pattern was mediated by perceived likelihood of punishment. We further replicate this result in Study 3 by priming BJW-others, demonstrating its causal effect. The results indicate that BJW as one lay belief can be important in influencing people's attitudes toward corruption. Implications for future research and anti-corruption policies are also discussed.

Belief in a Just World Lowers Perceived Intention of Corruption: The Mediating Role of Perceived Punishment

PubMed Central

Bai, Bao-yu; Liu, Xiao-xiao; Kou, Yu

2014-01-01

Corruption can be unfair and detrimental to societies; however, little is known regarding how individuals perceive corruption. We aim to understand how psychological factors, such as lay belief of the world, influence perceived intention of corruptive behavior. As corruption undermines justice, we hypothesize that belief in a just world to others (BJW-others) reduces perceived intention of corruptive behaviors. We conducted two correlational studies and one experimental study in China. Using hypothetical scenarios, perception toward bribery taking and nepotistic practices were assessed. In Study 1 and Study 2, we consistently found that BJW-others negatively predicted perceived intention of corruption, and this pattern was mediated by perceived likelihood of punishment. We further replicate this result in Study 3 by priming BJW-others, demonstrating its causal effect. The results indicate that BJW as one lay belief can be important in influencing people’s attitudes toward corruption. Implications for future research and anti-corruption policies are also discussed. PMID:24835428

Economic Dimensions of Security in Central Asia

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-01-01

are minimal prospects for gainful employment and entrepreneurship in the formal economy. Corruption Corruption is the use of public office for private...perception among southern elites that former President Akayev’s patronage networks were resulting in their economic disen- franchisement and a widening

Corruption, inequality and population perception of healthcare quality in Europe

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Evaluating the quality of healthcare and patient safety using general population questionnaires is important from research and policy perspective. Using a special wave of the Eurobarometer survey, we analysed the general population’s perception of health care quality and patient safety in a cross-country setting. Methods We used ordered probit, ordinary least squares and probit analysis to estimate the determinants of health care quality, and ordered logit analysis to analyse the likelihood of being harmed by a specific medical procedure. The models used population weights as well as country-clustered standard errors. Results We found robust evidence for the impact of socio-demographic variables on the perception of quality of health care. More specifically, we found a non-linear impact of age on the perception of quality of health care and patient safety, as well as a negative impact of poverty on both perception of quality and patient safety. We also found robust evidence that countries with higher corruption levels were associated with worse perceptions of quality of health care. Finally, we found evidence that income inequality affects patients’ perception vis-à-vis safety, thus feeding into the poverty/health care quality nexus. Conclusions Socio-demographic factors and two macro variables (corruption and income inequality) explain the perception of quality of health care and likelihood of being harmed by adverse events. The results carry significant policy weight and could explain why targeting only the health care sector (without an overall reform of the public sector) could potentially be challenging. PMID:24215401

Corruption, inequality and population perception of healthcare quality in Europe.

PubMed

Nikoloski, Zlatko; Mossialos, Elias

2013-11-11

Evaluating the quality of healthcare and patient safety using general population questionnaires is important from research and policy perspective. Using a special wave of the Eurobarometer survey, we analysed the general population's perception of health care quality and patient safety in a cross-country setting. We used ordered probit, ordinary least squares and probit analysis to estimate the determinants of health care quality, and ordered logit analysis to analyse the likelihood of being harmed by a specific medical procedure. The models used population weights as well as country-clustered standard errors. We found robust evidence for the impact of socio-demographic variables on the perception of quality of health care. More specifically, we found a non-linear impact of age on the perception of quality of health care and patient safety, as well as a negative impact of poverty on both perception of quality and patient safety. We also found robust evidence that countries with higher corruption levels were associated with worse perceptions of quality of health care. Finally, we found evidence that income inequality affects patients' perception vis-à-vis safety, thus feeding into the poverty/health care quality nexus. Socio-demographic factors and two macro variables (corruption and income inequality) explain the perception of quality of health care and likelihood of being harmed by adverse events. The results carry significant policy weight and could explain why targeting only the health care sector (without an overall reform of the public sector) could potentially be challenging.

Hunger influenced life expectancy in war-torn Sub-Saharan African countries.

PubMed

Uchendu, Florence N

2018-04-27

Malnutrition is a global public health problem especially in developing countries experiencing war/conflicts. War might be one of the socio-political factors influencing malnutrition in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. This study aims at determining the influence of war on corruption, population (POP), number of population malnourished (NPU), food security and life expectancy (LE) in war-torn SSA countries (WTSSA) by comparing their malnutrition indicators. Fourteen countries in WTSSA were stratified into zones according to war incidences. Countries' secondary data on population (POP), NPU, Food Security Index (FSI), corruption perceptions index (CPI), Global Hunger Index (GHI) and LE were obtained from global published data. T test, multivariate and Pearson correlation analyses were performed to determine the relationship between CPI, POP, GHI, FSI, NPU, male LE (MLE) and female LE (FLE) in WTSSA at p < .05. Data were presented in tables, means, standard deviation and percentages. Mean NPU, CPI, GHI, POP, FSI, MLE and FLE in WTSSA were 5.0 million, 28.3%, 18.2%, 33.8 million, 30.8%, 54.7 years and 57.1 years, respectively. GHI significantly influenced LE in both male and female POP in WTSSA. NPU, CPI, FSI, GHI and FLE were not significantly different according to zones except in MLE. Malnutrition indicators were similarly affected in WTSSA. Hunger influenced life expectancy. Policies promoting good governance, equity, peaceful co-existence, respect for human right and adequate food supply will aid malnutrition eradication and prevent war occurrences in Sub-Saharan African countries.

Mainlandization, the ICAC, and the Seriousness Attached by Local Politicians to Corruption in Post-1997 Hong Kong.

PubMed

Li, Li; Lo, T Wing

2018-05-01

To date, few studies have focused on how the public has perceived the effectiveness of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). Furthermore, little is known about how the public has assessed the functions of the ICAC during the political-economic convergence between Hong Kong and mainland China since 1997. This study attempts to explore local politicians' perceptions towards the ICAC in post-1997 Hong Kong. The quantitative data show that the important historical juncture of mainlandization has been politicized in Hong Kong and has deeply influenced the seriousness attached by local politicians to corruption. Moreover, a mediating path of the effect of "Conflict of Interest" on the "Perceived Seriousness of Corruption" has been found, that is, mainlandization is found to have brought about increased levels of conflict of interest among government officials, which has weakened the symbolic anti-corruption function of the ICAC and, in turn, has affected the perceived seriousness attached to corruption.

Composite measures of women's empowerment and their association with maternal mortality in low-income countries.

PubMed

Lan, Chiao-Wen; Tavrow, Paula

2017-11-08

Maternal mortality has declined significantly since 1990. While better access to emergency obstetrical care is partially responsible, women's empowerment might also be a contributing factor. Gender equality composite measures generally include various dimensions of women's advancement, including educational parity, formal employment, and political participation. In this paper, we compare several composite measures to assess which, if any, are associated with maternal mortality ratios (MMRs) in low-income countries, after controlling for other macro-level and direct determinants. Using data from 44 low-income countries (half in Africa), we assessed the correlation of three composite measures - the Gender Gap Index, the Gender Equity Index (GEI), and the Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) - with MMRs. We also examined two recognized contributors to reduce maternal mortality (skilled birth attendance (SBA) and total fertility rate (TFR)) as well as several economic and political variables (such as the Corruption Index) to see which tracked most closely with MMRs. We examined the countries altogether, and disaggregated by region. We then performed multivariate analysis to determine which measures were predictive. Two gender measures (GEI and SIGI) and GDP per capita were significantly correlated with MMRs for all countries. For African countries, the SIGI, TFR, and Corruption Index were significant, whereas the GEI, SBA, and TFR were significant in non-African countries. After controlling for all measures, SBA emerged as a predictor of log MMR for non-African countries (β = -0.04, P = 0.01). However, for African countries, only the Corruption Index was a predictor (β = -0.04, P = 0.04). No gender measure was significant. In African countries, corruption is undermining the quality of maternal care, the availability of critical drugs and equipment, and pregnant women's motivation to deliver in a hospital setting. Improving gender equality and SBA rates is unlikely to reduce MMR in Africa unless corruption is addressed. In other regions, increasing SBA rates can be expected to lower MMRs.

[Income inequality, corruption, and life expectancy at birth in Mexico].

PubMed

Idrovo, Alvaro Javier

2005-01-01

To ascertain if the effect of income inequality on life expectancy at birth in Mexico is mediated by corruption, used as a proxy of social capital. An ecological study was carried out with the 32 Mexican federative entities. Global and by sex correlations between life expectancy at birth were estimated by federative entity with the Gini coefficient, the Corruption and Good Government Index, the percentage of Catholics, and the percentage of the population speaking indigenous language. Robust linear regressions, with and without instrumental variables, were used to explore if corruption acts as intermediate variable in the studied relationship. Negative correlations with Spearman's rho near to -0.60 (p < 0.05) and greater than -0.66 (p < 0.05) between life expectancy at birth, the Gini coefficient and the population speaking indigenous language, respectively, were observed. Moreover, the Corruption and Good Government Index correlated with men's life expectancy at birth with Spearman's rho -0.3592 (p < 0.05). Regressions with instruments were more consistent than conventional ones and they show a strong negative effect (p < 0.05) of income inequality on life expectancy at birth. This effect was greater among men. The findings suggest a negative effect of income inequality on life expectancy at birth in Mexico, mediated by corruption levels and other related cultural factors.

The competitiveness versus the wealth of a country.

PubMed

Podobnik, Boris; Horvatić, Davor; Kenett, Dror Y; Stanley, H Eugene

2012-01-01

Politicians world-wide frequently promise a better life for their citizens. We find that the probability that a country will increase its per capita GDP (gdp) rank within a decade follows an exponential distribution with decay constant λ = 0.12. We use the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) and the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) and find that the distribution of change in CPI (GCI) rank follows exponential functions with approximately the same exponent as λ, suggesting that the dynamics of gdp, CPI, and GCI may share the same origin. Using the GCI, we develop a new measure, which we call relative competitiveness, to evaluate an economy's competitiveness relative to its gdp. For all European and EU countries during the 2008-2011 economic downturn we find that the drop in gdp in more competitve countries relative to gdp was substantially smaller than in relatively less competitive countries, which is valuable information for policymakers.

The competitiveness versus the wealth of a country

PubMed Central

Podobnik, Boris; Horvatić, Davor; Kenett, Dror Y.; Stanley, H. Eugene

2012-01-01

Politicians world-wide frequently promise a better life for their citizens. We find that the probability that a country will increase its per capita GDP (gdp) rank within a decade follows an exponential distribution with decay constant λ = 0.12. We use the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) and the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) and find that the distribution of change in CPI (GCI) rank follows exponential functions with approximately the same exponent as λ, suggesting that the dynamics of gdp, CPI, and GCI may share the same origin. Using the GCI, we develop a new measure, which we call relative competitiveness, to evaluate an economy's competitiveness relative to its gdp. For all European and EU countries during the 2008–2011 economic downturn we find that the drop in gdp in more competitve countries relative to gdp was substantially smaller than in relatively less competitive countries, which is valuable information for policymakers. PMID:22997552

The competitiveness versus the wealth of a country

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Podobnik, Boris; Horvatić, Davor; Kenett, Dror Y.; Stanley, H. Eugene

2012-09-01

Politicians world-wide frequently promise a better life for their citizens. We find that the probability that a country will increase its per capita GDP (gdp) rank within a decade follows an exponential distribution with decay constant λ = 0.12. We use the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) and the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) and find that the distribution of change in CPI (GCI) rank follows exponential functions with approximately the same exponent as λ, suggesting that the dynamics of gdp, CPI, and GCI may share the same origin. Using the GCI, we develop a new measure, which we call relative competitiveness, to evaluate an economy's competitiveness relative to its gdp. For all European and EU countries during the 2008-2011 economic downturn we find that the drop in gdp in more competitve countries relative to gdp was substantially smaller than in relatively less competitive countries, which is valuable information for policymakers.

Killing the canary: the international epidemiology of the homicide of media workers.

PubMed

Riddick, L; Thomson, G; Wilson, N; Purdie, G

2008-08-01

To describe the international epidemiology of the homicide of media workers, and investigate country-level risk factors. Data on the homicides occurring from 2002 to 2006 were collected and collated from five international databases. Analyses included consideration of seven existing international indices relating to human development, and to the social and political functioning of states. During the 5-year period, 370 deaths in 54 countries met our definitions of homicides and media workers. Almost all (89%) were nationals of the country in which they died. The annual number of such homicides globally has more than doubled, from 41 in 2002 to 104 in 2006 (including 49 in Iraq in 2006). Less than 25% of the homicides of media workers over the last 5 years have resulted in an arrest or prosecution. Statistically significant associations (p<0.001; Political Terror Scores, OR 1.15; Corruption Perceptions Index, OR 0.53; Overall Failed State Index, OR 1.05; Failed State Index 7, OR 1.52; Failed State Index 9, OR 1.55; Failed State Index 10, OR 1.61) were found on logistic regression between the occurrence of the homicide of media workers in countries and scoring on six of the seven indices associated with country-level sociopolitical development. These indices reflected high levels of political terror and corruption, low government legitimisation, poor human rights, and uncontrolled armed groups. However, in terms of the homicide rate for countries, these associations were significant for only four of the seven indices (the general functionality of government, ability of governments to control armed groups, the level of political terror, and the level of violation of rights). The homicide of media workers increased substantially in this 5-year period and was found to be particularly concentrated in selected countries such as Iraq. The authors were able to identify specific sociopolitical risk factors for homicide occurrence, and for homicide rates at the country level.

Does corruption undermine trust in health care? Results from public opinion polls in Croatia.

PubMed

Radin, Dagmar

2013-12-01

Health and health care provision are one of the most important topics in public policy, and often a highly debated topic in the political arena. The importance of considering trust in the health care sector is highlighted by studies showing that trust is associated, among others, with poor self-related health, and poorer health outcomes. Similarly, corruption has shown to create economic costs and inefficiencies in the health care sector. This is particularly important for a newly democratized country such as Croatia, where a policy responsive government indicates a high level of quality of democracy (Roberts, 2009) and where a legacy of corruption in the health care sector has been carried over from the previous regime. In this study, I assess the relationship between health care corruption and trust in public health care and hypothesize that experience with health care corruption as well as perception of corruption has a negative effect on trust in public care facilities. Data were collected in two surveys, administered in 2007 and 2009 in Croatia. Experience with corruption and salience with corruption has a negative effect on trust in public health care in the 2007 survey, but not in the 2009 survey. While the results are mixed, they point to the importance of further studying this relationship. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The impact of corruption on the sustainable development of human capital

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Absalyamova, Svetlana; Absalyamov, Timur; Khusnullova, Asiya; Mukhametgalieva, Chulpan

2016-08-01

The article explains the use of the human capital sustainable development index (HCSDI) to assess the quality of the reproduction of human capital. The paper provides the algorithm for calculating HCSDI and its components. Authors estimated cross-country differences of HCSDI and developed econometric model of the impact of corruption on HCSDI. The use of this model has allowed to reveal the mechanism and assess the impact of corruption on HCSDI and its components. The results of econometric analysis revealed a negative multiplier effect: an increase in the corruption of the socio-economic system of the state by 1% caused HCSDI reduce by more than 1%. The results and conclusions may be proxy-assessments of the socio-economic consequences of violations of the stability of reproduction of human capital in the conditions of the growth of corruption in the country

Compliance and leadership: the susceptibility of leaders to the risk of corruption in organizations.

PubMed

dos Santos, Renato Almeida; Guevara, Arnoldo José de Hoyos; Amorim, Maria Cristina Sanches; Ferraz-Neto, Ben-Hur

2012-01-01

In the field of organizational management, the term "compliance" designates the set of actions to mitigate risk and prevent corruption. Programs are composed by formal control systems, codes of ethics, educational actions, ombudsmen, and reporting channels--to mention the most recurrent, which vary according to the sector, the institutional culture, and the strategy. Leadership has a fundamental role in the process of compliance, not only due to its power to implement it, but precisely because it exercises this power, in itself, the object of reflections on ethics. The goal of this research was to evaluate the susceptibility of leaders to the risk of breaching organizational rules that involve ethical aspects. For quantitative investigation, we used social and descriptive statistical analysis of secondary data provided by ICTS Global, a company specialized in risk reduction. The study analyzed deals with non-probabilistic sampling by convenience, carried out between the years 2004 and 2008 with employees and candidates of 74 private companies located in Brazil. The final number of individuals studied is 7,267. The indicators analyzed are contained in the index of moral perception of comprehension of individual vision of the concerning hypotheses of ethical conflicts. According to the information obtained in the investigation, leaders are more willing to fail to comply. Paradoxically, the data also show that leaders are more loyal to organizations, raising the hypothesis that the bent toward moral integrity and loyalty to the organization are not necessarily simultaneous behaviors (it is possible that, motivated by loyalty, a leader might break away from individual principles). Based on the data and on bibliographic references, our final considerations point to the importance of considering systems from which leadership is recruited, compensated, promoted, developed, etc., in the prevention of corruption. Our data do not show that leaders are more corrupt, but that they have a greater disposition towards relaxing principles in professional circumstances.

Corruption and use of antibiotics in regions of Europe.

PubMed

Rönnerstrand, Björn; Lapuente, Victor

2017-03-01

The aim of this article is to investigate the association between corruption and antibiotic use at sub-national level. We explore the correlation between, on the one hand, two measures of corruption (prevalence of corruption in the health sector and prevalence of bribes in the society) at regional level from the European Quality of Government Index; and, on the other, the consumption of antibiotics in those European regions from a 2009 Special Euro Barometer. In a multivariate regression model, we control for potential confounders: purchasing power of standardized regional gross domestic product, inhabitants per medical doctor and age-standardized all-cause mortality rates. We find that there is a strong positive association between both measures of corruption (i.e. in the health sector, and in the society at large) and antibiotics use; and that this association is robust to the introduction of the control variables. These results support previous findings in the literature linking corruption to higher antibiotic use at cross-national level. We show that corruption does seem to account for some of the remarkable between-region variation in antibiotic consumption in Europe. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Opportunities for corruption across Flood Disaster Management (FDM)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nordin, R. Mohd; Latip, E.; Zawawi, E. M. Ahmad; Ismail, Z.

2018-02-01

Flood is one of the major disasters in the world. Despite flood resulted in loss of life and damaged properties, it naturally imparts people to assist the victims that affected by the disaster. Malaysia has experienced many serious flooding events and proper flood disaster management need to be developed and adopted occasionally. Flood Disaster Management (FDM) seemed to be not working effectively especially during the Kelantan prodigious flood in December 2014. There were negative perceptions among victims and Malaysian citizens regarding the disaster management and government authorities in relation to corrupt practices. The FDM can be divided into four phases (i.e., prevention, preparedness, response and recovery) which undoubtedly corruption is perceived to exists in every phase. The aim of this study is to identify opportunities of corruption across FDM phases. The study presents a case study of Kelantan using the quantitative research approach which utilises questionnaire with government and private agencies. Further to that, this paper proved that opportunities for corruption may occur at every phase, undoubtedly response and recovery phase especially activities involving fund and donation are riskier. The findings are hoped to assist in developing an improved FDM in term of increased transparency.

Analysis of the nexus between population, water resources and Global Food Security highlights significance of governance and research investments and policy priorities.

PubMed

Yunusa, Isa A M; Zerihun, Ayalsew; Gibberd, Mark R

2018-05-10

Analyses of sensitivity of Global Food Security (GFS) score to a key set of supply or demand factors often suggest population and water supply as being the most critical and on which policies tend to focus. To explore other policy options, we characterised the nexus between GFS and a set of supply or demand factors including defining including population, agricultural and industrial water-use, agricultural publications (as a surrogate for investment in agricultural research and development [R&D]), and corruption perception index (CPI), to reveal opportunities for attaining enduring GFS. We found that despite being the primary driver of demand for food, population showed no significant correlation with GFS scores. Similarly agricultural water-use was poorly correlated with GFS scores, except in countries where evaporation exceeds precipitation and irrigation is significant. However, GFS had a strong positive association with industrial water-use as a surrogate for overall industrialisation. Recent expansions in cultivated land area failed to yield concomitant improvements in GFS score since such expansions have been mostly into marginal lands with low productivity and also barely compensated for lands retired from cropping in several developed economies. However, GFS was positively associated with agricultural R&D investments, as it was with the CPI scores. The apparent and relative strengths of these drivers on GFS outcome amongst countries were in the order: industrial water-use ≈ publication rate ≈ corruption perception > agricultural water-use > population. We concluded by suggesting that to enshrine enduring food security, policies should prioritise (1) increased R&D investments that address farmer needs, and (2) governance mechanisms that promote accountability in both research and production value chains. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Serial Dependence across Perception, Attention, and Memory.

PubMed

Kiyonaga, Anastasia; Scimeca, Jason M; Bliss, Daniel P; Whitney, David

2017-07-01

Information that has been recently perceived or remembered can bias current processing. This has been viewed as both a corrupting (e.g., proactive interference in short-term memory) and stabilizing (e.g., serial dependence in perception) phenomenon. We hypothesize that this bias is a generally adaptive aspect of brain function that leads to occasionally maladaptive outcomes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Governance in managing public health resources in Brazilian municipalities.

PubMed

Avelino, George; Barberia, Lorena G; Biderman, Ciro

2014-09-01

This study contributes to the health governance discussion by presenting a new data set that allows for comparisons of the management of health resources among Brazilian municipalities. Research on Brazil is particularly important as the provision of health services was decentralized in 1988 and since then municipalities have been given greater responsibilities for the management of fiscal resources for public health service provision. Based on detailed information on corruption practices (such as over-invoicing, illegal procurement and fake receipts) from audit reports of health programmes in 980 randomly selected Brazilian municipalities, this study deepens understanding of the relationship between health governance institutions and the incidence of corruption at the local level by exploring the extent to which horizontal and vertical accountabilities contribute to reducing the propensity of municipal government officials to divert public health resources for private gain. The results of our multiple regression analysis suggest that the experience of health municipal councils is correlated with reductions in the incidence of corruption in public health programmes. This impact is significant over time, with each additional year of health council experience reducing corruption incidence levels by 2.1% from baseline values. The findings reported in this study do not rely on the subjectivity of corruption measures which usually conflate the actual incidence of corruption with its perception by informants. Based on our results, we provide recommendations that can assist policy makers to reduce corruption. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine © The Author 2013; all rights reserved.

Be Careful Where You Smile: Culture Shapes Judgments of Intelligence and Honesty of Smiling Individuals.

PubMed

Krys, Kuba; -Melanie Vauclair, C; Capaldi, Colin A; Lun, Vivian Miu-Chi; Bond, Michael Harris; Domínguez-Espinosa, Alejandra; Torres, Claudio; Lipp, Ottmar V; Manickam, L Sam S; Xing, Cai; Antalíková, Radka; Pavlopoulos, Vassilis; Teyssier, Julien; Hur, Taekyun; Hansen, Karolina; Szarota, Piotr; Ahmed, Ramadan A; Burtceva, Eleonora; Chkhaidze, Ana; Cenko, Enila; Denoux, Patrick; Fülöp, Márta; Hassan, Arif; Igbokwe, David O; Işık, İdil; Javangwe, Gwatirera; Malbran, María; Maricchiolo, Fridanna; Mikarsa, Hera; Miles, Lynden K; Nader, Martin; Park, Joonha; Rizwan, Muhammad; Salem, Radwa; Schwarz, Beate; Shah, Irfana; Sun, Chien-Ru; van Tilburg, Wijnand; Wagner, Wolfgang; Wise, Ryan; Yu, Angela Arriola

Smiling individuals are usually perceived more favorably than non-smiling ones-they are judged as happier, more attractive, competent, and friendly. These seemingly clear and obvious consequences of smiling are assumed to be culturally universal, however most of the psychological research is carried out in WEIRD societies (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) and the influence of culture on social perception of nonverbal behavior is still understudied. Here we show that a smiling individual may be judged as less intelligent than the same non-smiling individual in cultures low on the GLOBE's uncertainty avoidance dimension. Furthermore, we show that corruption at the societal level may undermine the prosocial perception of smiling-in societies with high corruption indicators, trust toward smiling individuals is reduced. This research fosters understanding of the cultural framework surrounding nonverbal communication processes and reveals that in some cultures smiling may lead to negative attributions.

Professional orientation and pluralistic ignorance among jail correctional officers.

PubMed

Cook, Carrie L; Lane, Jodi

2014-06-01

Research about the attitudes and beliefs of correctional officers has historically been conducted in prison facilities while ignoring jail settings. This study contributes to our understanding of correctional officers by examining the perceptions of those who work in jails, specifically measuring professional orientations about counseling roles, punitiveness, corruption of authority by inmates, and social distance from inmates. The study also examines whether officers are accurate in estimating these same perceptions of their peers, a line of inquiry that has been relatively ignored. Findings indicate that the sample was concerned about various aspects of their job and the management of inmates. Specifically, officers were uncertain about adopting counseling roles, were somewhat punitive, and were concerned both with maintaining social distance from inmates and with an inmate's ability to corrupt their authority. Officers also misperceived the professional orientation of their fellow officers and assumed their peer group to be less progressive than they actually were.

Power Corrupts, but Control Does Not: What Stands Behind the Effects of Holding High Positions.

PubMed

Cislak, Aleksandra; Cichocka, Aleksandra; Wojcik, Adrian Dominik; Frankowska, Natalia

2018-06-01

People seek high positions not to gain influence over others but to satisfy their need for personal control. Personal control tends to have positive interpersonal consequences. If this is the case, does power indeed corrupt? We argue that holding a high position is associated both with perceptions of power (influence over others) and personal control (influence over one's life). Three studies showed that these two aspects might have opposite consequences: Power over others positively predicted aggressiveness (Study 1, N = 793) and exploitativeness (Study 2, N = 445), whereas personal control predicted these outcomes negatively. In Study 3 ( N = 557), conducted among employees at various organizational positions, the effects of holding a high position on exploitativeness and aggressiveness were differentially mediated by power over others and personal control. We discuss these findings in light of contradicting evidence on the corruptive effects of power.

Power Corrupts, but Control Does Not: What Stands Behind the Effects of Holding High Positions

PubMed Central

Cichocka, Aleksandra; Wojcik, Adrian Dominik; Frankowska, Natalia

2018-01-01

People seek high positions not to gain influence over others but to satisfy their need for personal control. Personal control tends to have positive interpersonal consequences. If this is the case, does power indeed corrupt? We argue that holding a high position is associated both with perceptions of power (influence over others) and personal control (influence over one’s life). Three studies showed that these two aspects might have opposite consequences: Power over others positively predicted aggressiveness (Study 1, N = 793) and exploitativeness (Study 2, N = 445), whereas personal control predicted these outcomes negatively. In Study 3 (N = 557), conducted among employees at various organizational positions, the effects of holding a high position on exploitativeness and aggressiveness were differentially mediated by power over others and personal control. We discuss these findings in light of contradicting evidence on the corruptive effects of power. PMID:29484921

Reducing corruption in a Mexican medical school: impact assessment across two cross-sectional surveys.

PubMed

Paredes-Solís, Sergio; Villegas-Arrizón, Ascensio; Ledogar, Robert J; Delabra-Jardón, Verónica; Alvarez-Chávez, José; Legorreta-Soberanis, José; Nava-Aguilera, Elizabeth; Cockcroft, Anne; Andersson, Neil

2011-12-21

Corruption pervades educational and other institutions worldwide and medical schools are not exempt. Empirical evidence about levels and types of corruption in medical schools is sparse. We conducted surveys in 2000 and 2007 in the medical school of the Autonomous University of Guerrero in Mexico to document student perceptions and experience of corruption and to support the medical school to take actions to tackle corruption. In both 2000 and 2007 medical students completed a self-administered questionnaire in the classroom without the teacher present. The questionnaire asked about unofficial payments for admission to medical school, for passing an examination and for administrative procedures. We examined factors related to the experience of corruption in multivariate analysis. Focus groups of students discussed the quantitative findings. In 2000, 6% of 725 responding students had paid unofficially to obtain entry into the medical school; this proportion fell to 1.6% of the 436 respondents in 2007. In 2000, 15% of students reported having paid a bribe to pass an examination, not significantly different from the 18% who reported this in 2007. In 2007, students were significantly more likely to have bribed a teacher to pass an examination if they were in the fourth year, if they had been subjected to sexual harassment or political pressure, and if they had been in the university for five years or more. Students resented the need to make unofficial payments and suggested tackling the problem by disciplining corrupt teachers. The university administration made several changes to the system of admissions and examinations in the medical school, based on the findings of the 2000 survey. The fall in the rate of bribery to enter the medical school was probably the result of the new admissions system instituted after the first survey. Further actions will be necessary to tackle the continuing presence of bribery to pass examinations and for administrative procedures. The social audit helped to draw attention to corruption and to stimulate actions to tackle it.

Adaptive iterated function systems filter for images highly corrupted with fixed - Value impulse noise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shanmugavadivu, P.; Eliahim Jeevaraj, P. S.

2014-06-01

The Adaptive Iterated Functions Systems (AIFS) Filter presented in this paper has an outstanding potential to attenuate the fixed-value impulse noise in images. This filter has two distinct phases namely noise detection and noise correction which uses Measure of Statistics and Iterated Function Systems (IFS) respectively. The performance of AIFS filter is assessed by three metrics namely, Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR), Mean Structural Similarity Index Matrix (MSSIM) and Human Visual Perception (HVP). The quantitative measures PSNR and MSSIM endorse the merit of this filter in terms of degree of noise suppression and details/edge preservation respectively, in comparison with the high performing filters reported in the recent literature. The qualitative measure HVP confirms the noise suppression ability of the devised filter. This computationally simple noise filter broadly finds application wherein the images are highly degraded by fixed-value impulse noise.

Reducing corruption in a Mexican medical school: impact assessment across two cross-sectional surveys

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Corruption pervades educational and other institutions worldwide and medical schools are not exempt. Empirical evidence about levels and types of corruption in medical schools is sparse. We conducted surveys in 2000 and 2007 in the medical school of the Autonomous University of Guerrero in Mexico to document student perceptions and experience of corruption and to support the medical school to take actions to tackle corruption. Methods In both 2000 and 2007 medical students completed a self-administered questionnaire in the classroom without the teacher present. The questionnaire asked about unofficial payments for admission to medical school, for passing an examination and for administrative procedures. We examined factors related to the experience of corruption in multivariate analysis. Focus groups of students discussed the quantitative findings. Results In 2000, 6% of 725 responding students had paid unofficially to obtain entry into the medical school; this proportion fell to 1.6% of the 436 respondents in 2007. In 2000, 15% of students reported having paid a bribe to pass an examination, not significantly different from the 18% who reported this in 2007. In 2007, students were significantly more likely to have bribed a teacher to pass an examination if they were in the fourth year, if they had been subjected to sexual harassment or political pressure, and if they had been in the university for five years or more. Students resented the need to make unofficial payments and suggested tackling the problem by disciplining corrupt teachers. The university administration made several changes to the system of admissions and examinations in the medical school, based on the findings of the 2000 survey. Conclusion The fall in the rate of bribery to enter the medical school was probably the result of the new admissions system instituted after the first survey. Further actions will be necessary to tackle the continuing presence of bribery to pass examinations and for administrative procedures. The social audit helped to draw attention to corruption and to stimulate actions to tackle it. PMID:22376281

Transparency in Nigeria's public pharmaceutical sector: perceptions from policy makers

PubMed Central

Garuba, Habibat A; Kohler, Jillian C; Huisman, Anna M

2009-01-01

Background Pharmaceuticals are an integral component of health care systems worldwide, thus, regulatory weaknesses in governance of the pharmaceutical system negatively impact health outcomes especially in developing countries [1]. Nigeria is one of a number of countries whose pharmaceutical system has been impacted by corruption and has struggled to curtail the production and trafficking of substandard drugs. In 2001, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) underwent an organizational restructuring resulting in reforms to reduce counterfeit drugs and better regulate pharmaceuticals [2]. Despite these changes, there is still room for improvement. This study assessed the perceived level of transparency and potential vulnerability to corruption that exists in four essential areas of Nigeria's pharmaceutical sector: registration, procurement, inspection (divided into inspection of ports and of establishments), and distribution. Methods Standardized questionnaires were adapted from the World Health Organization assessment tool and used in semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders in the public and private pharmaceutical system. The responses to the questions were tallied and converted to scores on a numerical scale where lower scores suggested greater vulnerability to corruption and higher scores suggested lower vulnerability. Results The overall score for Nigeria's pharmaceutical system was 7.4 out of 10, indicating a system that is marginally vulnerable to corruption. The weakest links were the areas of drug registration and inspection of ports. Analysis of the qualitative results revealed that the perceived level of corruption did not always match the qualitative evidence. Conclusion Despite the many reported reforms instituted by NAFDAC, the study findings suggest that facets of the pharmaceutical system in Nigeria remain fairly vulnerable to corruption. The most glaring deficiency seems to be the absence of conflict of interest guidelines which, if present and consistently administered, limit the promulgation of corrupt practices. Other major contributing factors are the inconsistency in documentation of procedures, lack of public availability of such documentation, and inadequacies in monitoring and evaluation. What is most critical from this study is the identification of areas that still remain permeable to corruption and, perhaps, where more appropriate checks and balances are needed from the Nigerian government and the international community. PMID:19874613

Transparency in Nigeria's public pharmaceutical sector: perceptions from policy makers.

PubMed

Garuba, Habibat A; Kohler, Jillian C; Huisman, Anna M

2009-10-29

Pharmaceuticals are an integral component of health care systems worldwide, thus, regulatory weaknesses in governance of the pharmaceutical system negatively impact health outcomes especially in developing countries 1. Nigeria is one of a number of countries whose pharmaceutical system has been impacted by corruption and has struggled to curtail the production and trafficking of substandard drugs. In 2001, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) underwent an organizational restructuring resulting in reforms to reduce counterfeit drugs and better regulate pharmaceuticals 2. Despite these changes, there is still room for improvement. This study assessed the perceived level of transparency and potential vulnerability to corruption that exists in four essential areas of Nigeria's pharmaceutical sector: registration, procurement, inspection (divided into inspection of ports and of establishments), and distribution. Standardized questionnaires were adapted from the World Health Organization assessment tool and used in semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders in the public and private pharmaceutical system. The responses to the questions were tallied and converted to scores on a numerical scale where lower scores suggested greater vulnerability to corruption and higher scores suggested lower vulnerability. The overall score for Nigeria's pharmaceutical system was 7.4 out of 10, indicating a system that is marginally vulnerable to corruption. The weakest links were the areas of drug registration and inspection of ports. Analysis of the qualitative results revealed that the perceived level of corruption did not always match the qualitative evidence. Despite the many reported reforms instituted by NAFDAC, the study findings suggest that facets of the pharmaceutical system in Nigeria remain fairly vulnerable to corruption. The most glaring deficiency seems to be the absence of conflict of interest guidelines which, if present and consistently administered, limit the promulgation of corrupt practices. Other major contributing factors are the inconsistency in documentation of procedures, lack of public availability of such documentation, and inadequacies in monitoring and evaluation. What is most critical from this study is the identification of areas that still remain permeable to corruption and, perhaps, where more appropriate checks and balances are needed from the Nigerian government and the international community.

Societal characteristics and health in the former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union: a multilevel analysis.

PubMed

Bobak, Martin; Murphy, Mike; Rose, Richard; Marmot, Michael

2007-11-01

To examine whether, in former communist countries that have undergone profound social and economic transformation, health status is associated with income inequality and other societal characteristics, and whether this represents something more than the association of health status with individual socioeconomic circumstances. Multilevel analysis of cross-sectional data. 13 Countries from Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Population samples aged 18+ years (a total of 15 331 respondents). Poor self-rated health. There were marked differences among participating countries in rates of poor health (a greater than twofold difference between the countries with the highest and lowest rates of poor health), gross domestic product per capita adjusted for purchasing power parity (a greater than threefold difference), the Gini coefficient of income inequality (twofold difference), corruption index (twofold difference) and homicide rates (20-fold difference). Ecologically, the age- and sex-standardised prevalence of poor self-rated health correlated strongly with life expectancy at age 15 (r = -0.73). In multilevel analyses, societal (country-level) measures of income inequality were not associated with poor health. Corruption and gross domestic product per capita were associated with poor health after controlling for individuals' socioeconomic circumstances (education, household income, marital status and ownership of household items); the odds ratios were 1.15 (95% confidence interval 1.03 to 1.29) per 1 unit (on a 10-point scale) increase in the corruption index and 0.79 (95% confidence interval 0.68 to 0.93) per $5000 increase in gross domestic product per capita. The effects of gross domestic product and corruption were virtually identical in people whose household income was below and above the median. Societal measures of prosperity and corruption, but not income inequalities, were associated with health independently of individual-level socioeconomic characteristics. The finding that these effects were similar in persons with lower and higher income suggests that these factors do not operate exclusively through poverty.

Perceptions of Effectiveness and Fairness of Chinese Higher Education Admissions Policy Reformed

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sun, Jing

2010-01-01

Since 1949 when the People's Republic of China was established, China adopted the single criterion higher education admissions policy. That is, admissions only looked at the Gao Kao scores. The test-score-centered admissions policy undermined students' health, distorted instructions and curricula and also resulted in corruption. As a result, China…

Noise Estimation and Quality Assessment of Gaussian Noise Corrupted Images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamble, V. M.; Bhurchandi, K.

2018-03-01

Evaluating the exact quantity of noise present in an image and quality of an image in the absence of reference image is a challenging task. We propose a near perfect noise estimation method and a no reference image quality assessment method for images corrupted by Gaussian noise. The proposed methods obtain initial estimate of noise standard deviation present in an image using the median of wavelet transform coefficients and then obtains a near to exact estimate using curve fitting. The proposed noise estimation method provides the estimate of noise within average error of +/-4%. For quality assessment, this noise estimate is mapped to fit the Differential Mean Opinion Score (DMOS) using a nonlinear function. The proposed methods require minimum training and yields the noise estimate and image quality score. Images from Laboratory for image and Video Processing (LIVE) database and Computational Perception and Image Quality (CSIQ) database are used for validation of the proposed quality assessment method. Experimental results show that the performance of proposed quality assessment method is at par with the existing no reference image quality assessment metric for Gaussian noise corrupted images.

"They make money off of us": a phenomenological analysis of consumer perceptions of corruption in Kenya's HIV response system.

PubMed

Kagotho, Njeri; Bunger, Alicia; Wagner, Kristen

2016-09-05

Problems with misallocation and redirection of critical resources and benefits intended for PLHIV are not uncommon in Kenya. This study explores corruption in Kenya's HIV response system and the implications for health outcomes from the perspective of people living with HIV (PLHIV). Although they might not be directly responsible for health care fund management, PLHIV and their advocacy efforts have been central to the development of HIV system response and they have a vested interest in ensuring proper governance. This phenomenological study was conducted in 2012 in Kiambu County in Kenya. The study was designed to capture the experiences of a select group of individuals living with HIV and AIDS and subsequent effects on intergenerational wealth transmission. Four focus groups were conducted with self-convened HIV/AIDS peer support groups. Findings related to corruption emerged unexpectedly, albeit consistently, across all four focus groups. To validate core themes within the data, including corruption, two coders independently reviewed and coded the data. Participants described incidences of resource misallocation, theft, and denial of services across three thematic levels namely at the interpersonal, provider, and institutional levels. Participants described the negative influence of corruption on their health and financial well-being, and propose: (1) strengthening legal protections for assets belonging to PLHIV, (2) direct representation of PLHIV within service agencies, (3) and addressing information asymmetries to inject transparency into the response system. Our findings add to the growing literature that identifies advocacy among individuals and families impacted by HIV and AIDS to be a useful tool in drawing attention to harmful practices in the HIV response infrastructure; consistent with this movement, communities in Kenya demand greater control over programmatic interventions both at the national and local levels.

Societal characteristics and health in the former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union: a multilevel analysis

PubMed Central

Bobak, Martin; Murphy, Mike; Rose, Richard; Marmot, Michael

2007-01-01

Objectives To examine whether, in former communist countries that have undergone profound social and economic transformation, health status is associated with income inequality and other societal characteristics, and whether this represents something more than the association of health status with individual socioeconomic circumstances. Design Multilevel analysis of cross‐sectional data. Setting 13 Countries from Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Participants Population samples aged 18+ years (a total of 15 331 respondents). Mean outcome measures Poor self‐rated health. Results There were marked differences among participating countries in rates of poor health (a greater than twofold difference between the countries with the highest and lowest rates of poor health), gross domestic product per capita adjusted for purchasing power parity (a greater than threefold difference), the Gini coefficient of income inequality (twofold difference), corruption index (twofold difference) and homicide rates (20‐fold difference). Ecologically, the age‐ and sex‐standardised prevalence of poor self‐rated health correlated strongly with life expectancy at age 15 (r = −0.73). In multilevel analyses, societal (country‐level) measures of income inequality were not associated with poor health. Corruption and gross domestic product per capita were associated with poor health after controlling for individuals' socioeconomic circumstances (education, household income, marital status and ownership of household items); the odds ratios were 1.15 (95% confidence interval 1.03 to 1.29) per 1 unit (on a 10‐point scale) increase in the corruption index and 0.79 (95% confidence interval 0.68 to 0.93) per $5000 increase in gross domestic product per capita. The effects of gross domestic product and corruption were virtually identical in people whose household income was below and above the median. Conclusion Societal measures of prosperity and corruption, but not income inequalities, were associated with health independently of individual‐level socioeconomic characteristics. The finding that these effects were similar in persons with lower and higher income suggests that these factors do not operate exclusively through poverty. PMID:17933958

[A global view of population health in Colombia: role of social macro-determinants].

PubMed

Idrovo, Alvaro J; Ruiz-Rodríguez, Myriam

2007-09-01

The social environment is an important determinant of population and individual health. However, its impact is often not considered in national health policies and generally its attributes are considered as constants. For this reason, contemporary health policies place greater emphasis on individual risk factors. Colombias position in the world ranking is described with respect to several social macro-determinants of health, previously characterized as components of class/welfare regime model. The exploratory study included all countries with comparable data including the following: (1) economic development [gross domestic product per capita adjusted for purchasing power parity], (2) income inequality [Gini coefficient], (3) social capital corruption perceptions index and generalized trust, and (4) political regime index of freedom. First, correlations between these macro-determinants were estimated, and second, the relationship between them and life expectancy at birth was explored. Finally, the position of Colombia in global context was determined. Important correlations occurred among the macro-determinants. Colombia tended to have intermediate to low positions in the global context in all macro-determinants, with the exception of gross domestic product per capita adjusted for purchasing power parity. The macro-determinant of population health with the highest potential of effecting improvement in health conditions is to modify income inequality.

On the Intermediary Effect of Organizational Policy: The Effect of Perceived Ethical Climate on Corruption Behavior of Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Özen, Fatmanur

2018-01-01

Employees want to benefit from more sources of the organization to achieve their own goals in the direction of individual desires, which made them rivals in the sharing of income, responsibility, and promotion regarding the organization; thus, in organizations, political processes began to appear. Perceptions of what is considered ethically…

Examining the Relationship of Follower Perceptions of Leaders' Servant Leadership Behaviors to Leader Immunity to Corruption: Perspectives from Kenya

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muriuki, Nancy Nkirote

2017-01-01

The philosophy of servant leadership differentiates servant leaders as those who put the well-being of those served in the larger society as their highest priority. Servant leadership behaviors are manifestations of inner-directed choices that compel one to want to serve first as opposed to leaders who may desire to exercise power and accumulate…

MS-QI: A Modulation Spectrum-Based ECG Quality Index for Telehealth Applications.

PubMed

Tobon V, Diana P; Falk, Tiago H; Maier, Martin

2016-08-01

As telehealth applications emerge, the need for accurate and reliable biosignal quality indices has increased. One typical modality used in remote patient monitoring is the electrocardiogram (ECG), which is inherently susceptible to several different noise sources, including environmental (e.g., powerline interference), experimental (e.g., movement artifacts), and physiological (e.g., muscle and breathing artifacts). Accurate measurement of ECG quality can allow for automated decision support systems to make intelligent decisions about patient conditions. This is particularly true for in-home monitoring applications, where the patient is mobile and the ECG signal can be severely corrupted by movement artifacts. In this paper, we propose an innovative ECG quality index based on the so-called modulation spectral signal representation. The representation quantifies the rate of change of ECG spectral components, which are shown to be different from the rate of change of typical ECG noise sources. The proposed modulation spectral-based quality index, MS-QI, was tested on 1) synthetic ECG signals corrupted by varying levels of noise, 2) single-lead recorded data using the Hexoskin garment during three activity levels (sitting, walking, running), 3) 12-lead recorded data using conventional ECG machines (Computing in Cardiology 2011 dataset), and 4) two-lead ambulatory ECG recorded from arrhythmia patients (MIT-BIH Arrhythmia Database). Experimental results showed the proposed index outperforming two conventional benchmark quality measures, particularly in the scenarios involving recorded data in real-world environments.

PRESAGE: Protecting Structured Address Generation against Soft Errors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sharma, Vishal C.; Gopalakrishnan, Ganesh; Krishnamoorthy, Sriram

Modern computer scaling trends in pursuit of larger component counts and power efficiency have, unfortunately, lead to less reliable hardware and consequently soft errors escaping into application data ("silent data corruptions"). Techniques to enhance system resilience hinge on the availability of efficient error detectors that have high detection rates, low false positive rates, and lower computational overhead. Unfortunately, efficient detectors to detect faults during address generation (to index large arrays) have not been widely researched. We present a novel lightweight compiler-driven technique called PRESAGE for detecting bit-flips affecting structured address computations. A key insight underlying PRESAGE is that any addressmore » computation scheme that flows an already incurred error is better than a scheme that corrupts one particular array access but otherwise (falsely) appears to compute perfectly. Enabling the flow of errors allows one to situate detectors at loop exit points, and helps turn silent corruptions into easily detectable error situations. Our experiments using PolyBench benchmark suite indicate that PRESAGE-based error detectors have a high error-detection rate while incurring low overheads.« less

PRESAGE: Protecting Structured Address Generation against Soft Errors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sharma, Vishal C.; Gopalakrishnan, Ganesh; Krishnamoorthy, Sriram

Modern computer scaling trends in pursuit of larger component counts and power efficiency have, unfortunately, lead to less reliable hardware and consequently soft errors escaping into application data ("silent data corruptions"). Techniques to enhance system resilience hinge on the availability of efficient error detectors that have high detection rates, low false positive rates, and lower computational overhead. Unfortunately, efficient detectors to detect faults during address generation have not been widely researched (especially in the context of indexing large arrays). We present a novel lightweight compiler-driven technique called PRESAGE for detecting bit-flips affecting structured address computations. A key insight underlying PRESAGEmore » is that any address computation scheme that propagates an already incurred error is better than a scheme that corrupts one particular array access but otherwise (falsely) appears to compute perfectly. Ensuring the propagation of errors allows one to place detectors at loop exit points and helps turn silent corruptions into easily detectable error situations. Our experiments using the PolyBench benchmark suite indicate that PRESAGE-based error detectors have a high error-detection rate while incurring low overheads.« less

When will collective action be effective? Violent and non-violent protests differentially influence perceptions of legitimacy and efficacy among sympathizers.

PubMed

Thomas, Emma F; Louis, Winnifred R

2014-02-01

Collective action will be effective in achieving broader social change goals to the extent that it influences public opinion yet the degree to which collective action "works" in changing opinion is rarely studied. Experiment 1 (n = 158) showed that, consistent with a logic of strategic non-violence, non-violent collective action more effectively conveys a sense of the illegitimacy of the issue and the efficacy of the group, thereby promoting support for future non-violent actions. Experiment 2 (n = 139) explored the moderating role of allegations of corruption. A social context of corruption effectively undermined the efficacy and legitimacy of non-violent collective action, relative to support for violence, thereby promoting (indirectly) support for future extreme action. The implications of this research, for the logic of strategic non-violence and mobilizing supportive public opinion, are discussed.

"Who Doesn't?"--The Impact of Descriptive Norms on Corruption.

PubMed

Köbis, Nils C; van Prooijen, Jan-Willem; Righetti, Francesca; Van Lange, Paul A M

2015-01-01

Corruption poses one of the major societal challenges of our time. Considerable advances have been made in understanding corruption on a macro level, yet the psychological antecedents of corrupt behavior remain largely unknown. In order to explain why some people engage in corruption while others do not, we explored the impact of descriptive social norms on corrupt behavior by using a novel behavioral measure of corruption. We conducted three studies to test whether perceived descriptive norms of corruption (i.e. the belief about the prevalence of corruption in a specific context) influence corrupt behavior. The results indicated that descriptive norms highly correlate with corrupt behavior--both when measured before (Study 1) or after (Study 2) the behavioral measure of corruption. Finally, we adopted an experimental design to investigate the causal effect of descriptive norms on corruption (Study 3). Corrupt behavior in the corruption game significantly drops when participants receive short anti-corruption descriptive norm primes prior to the game. These findings indicate that perceived descriptive norms can impact corrupt behavior and, possibly, could offer an explanation for inter-personal and inter-cultural variation in corrupt behavior in the real world. We discuss implications of these findings and draw avenues for future research.

A Brief Psychology of Corruption.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roldan, Antonio C., Jr.

1989-01-01

Examines types of corruption (white-collar crime) in Philippine society, including political, bureaucratic, and corporate corruption. Identifies three major causes of corruption, individuals most prone to corruption, organizations most vulnerable to corruption, and societies most supportive of corruption. (Author/NB)

“Who Doesn’t?”—The Impact of Descriptive Norms on Corruption

PubMed Central

Köbis, Nils C.; van Prooijen, Jan-Willem; Righetti, Francesca; Van Lange, Paul A. M.

2015-01-01

Corruption poses one of the major societal challenges of our time. Considerable advances have been made in understanding corruption on a macro level, yet the psychological antecedents of corrupt behavior remain largely unknown. In order to explain why some people engage in corruption while others do not, we explored the impact of descriptive social norms on corrupt behavior by using a novel behavioral measure of corruption. We conducted three studies to test whether perceived descriptive norms of corruption (i.e. the belief about the prevalence of corruption in a specific context) influence corrupt behavior. The results indicated that descriptive norms highly correlate with corrupt behavior—both when measured before (Study 1) or after (Study 2) the behavioral measure of corruption. Finally, we adopted an experimental design to investigate the causal effect of descriptive norms on corruption (Study 3). Corrupt behavior in the corruption game significantly drops when participants receive short anti-corruption descriptive norm primes prior to the game. These findings indicate that perceived descriptive norms can impact corrupt behavior and, possibly, could offer an explanation for inter-personal and inter-cultural variation in corrupt behavior in the real world. We discuss implications of these findings and draw avenues for future research. PMID:26121127

Use of intonation contours for speech recognition in noise by cochlear implant recipients.

PubMed

Meister, Hartmut; Landwehr, Markus; Pyschny, Verena; Grugel, Linda; Walger, Martin

2011-05-01

The corruption of intonation contours has detrimental effects on sentence-based speech recognition in normal-hearing listeners Binns and Culling [(2007). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 122, 1765-1776]. This paper examines whether this finding also applies to cochlear implant (CI) recipients. The subjects' F0-discrimination and speech perception in the presence of noise were measured, using sentences with regular and inverted F0-contours. The results revealed that speech recognition for regular contours was significantly better than for inverted contours. This difference was related to the subjects' F0-discrimination providing further evidence that the perception of intonation patterns is important for the CI-mediated speech recognition in noise.

Corruption in law enforcement: a paradigm of occupational stress and deviancy.

PubMed

McCafferty, F L; McCafferty, M A

1998-01-01

In the closed society of a law enforcement agency, factors such as the conspiracy of silence, authoritarian supervision, and police discretion contribute to corruption. This article describes various types of corrupt behavior by police officers, reports the incidence of corruption in law enforcement agencies, discusses psychiatric conditions that may arise from corruption and also contribute to further corruption, and reviews proposed remedies for corruption. It also suggests that an understanding of corruption in law enforcement might be helpful in understanding, correcting, and preventing corruption in other professions, including medicine.

An inter-country comparison of unofficial payments: results of a health sector social audit in the Baltic States

PubMed Central

Cockcroft, Anne; Andersson, Neil; Paredes-Solís, Sergio; Caldwell, Dawn; Mitchell, Steve; Milne, Deborah; Merhi, Serge; Roche, Melissa; Konceviciute, Elena; Ledogar, Robert J

2008-01-01

Background Cross-country comparisons of unofficial payments in the health sector are sparse. In 2002 we conducted a social audit of the health sector of the three Baltic States. Methods Some 10,320 household interviews from a stratified, last-stage-random, sample of 30 clusters per country, together with institutional reviews, produced preliminary results. Separate focus groups of service users, nurses and doctors interpreted these findings. Stakeholder workshops in each country discussed the survey and focus group results. Results Nearly one half of the respondents did not consider unofficial payments to health workers to be corruption, yet one half (Estonia 43%, Latvia 45%, Lithuania 64%) thought the level of corruption in government health services was high. Very few (Estonia 1%, Latvia 3%, Lithuania 8%) admitted to making unofficial payments in their last contact with the services. Around 14% of household members across the three countries gave gifts in their last contact with government services. Conclusion This social audit allowed comparison of perceptions, attitudes and experience regarding unofficial payments in the health services of the three Baltic States. Estonia showed least corruption. Latvia was in the middle. Lithuania evidenced the most unofficial payments, the greatest mistrust towards the system. These findings can serve as a baseline for interventions, and to compare each country's approach to health service reform in relation to unofficial payments. PMID:18208604

An inter-country comparison of unofficial payments: results of a health sector social audit in the Baltic States.

PubMed

Cockcroft, Anne; Andersson, Neil; Paredes-Solís, Sergio; Caldwell, Dawn; Mitchell, Steve; Milne, Deborah; Merhi, Serge; Roche, Melissa; Konceviciute, Elena; Ledogar, Robert J

2008-01-21

Cross-country comparisons of unofficial payments in the health sector are sparse. In 2002 we conducted a social audit of the health sector of the three Baltic States. Some 10,320 household interviews from a stratified, last-stage-random, sample of 30 clusters per country, together with institutional reviews, produced preliminary results. Separate focus groups of service users, nurses and doctors interpreted these findings. Stakeholder workshops in each country discussed the survey and focus group results. Nearly one half of the respondents did not consider unofficial payments to health workers to be corruption, yet one half (Estonia 43%, Latvia 45%, Lithuania 64%) thought the level of corruption in government health services was high. Very few (Estonia 1%, Latvia 3%, Lithuania 8%) admitted to making unofficial payments in their last contact with the services. Around 14% of household members across the three countries gave gifts in their last contact with government services. This social audit allowed comparison of perceptions, attitudes and experience regarding unofficial payments in the health services of the three Baltic States. Estonia showed least corruption. Latvia was in the middle. Lithuania evidenced the most unofficial payments, the greatest mistrust towards the system. These findings can serve as a baseline for interventions, and to compare each country's approach to health service reform in relation to unofficial payments.

Individual and Institutional Corruption in European and US Healthcare: Overview and Link of Various Corruption Typologies.

PubMed

Sommersguter-Reichmann, Margit; Wild, Claudia; Stepan, Adolf; Reichmann, Gerhard; Fried, Andrea

2018-06-01

In recent years, the fight against healthcare corruption has intensified. Estimates from the European Healthcare Fraud and Corruption Network calculate an approximate €56 billion annual loss to Europe as a result of corruption. To promote understanding of the complexity and interconnection of corrupt activities, we aim to present healthcare-related corruption typologies of the European Union and European Healthcare Fraud and Corruption Network. We subsequently link them to the typology of individual and institutional corruption introduced by Dennis Thompson in the context of investigating misconduct of US Congressional members. According to Thompson, individual corruption is the personal gain of individuals performing duties within an institution in exchange for nurturing private interests, while institutional corruption pertains to the failure of the institution in directing the individual's behaviour towards the achievement of the institution's primary purpose because the institutional design promotes the pursuit of individual goals. Effective anti-corruption activities not only require the enactment of anti-corruption laws but also the monitoring and, where appropriate, revision of institutional frameworks to prevent the undermining of the primary purposes of health systems or institutions. To gain further understanding of the similarities and differences of the three typologies, prime examples of corrupt activities in the health sector in the European Union and USA (along with their potential remedies) are provided. Linking corruption cases to Thompson's typology revealed that many corrupt activities may show elements of both individual and institutional corruption because they are intertwined, partly overlap and may occur jointly. Hence, sanctioning individual actors only does not target the problem.

Does contracting of health care in Afghanistan work? Public and service-users' perceptions and experience

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background In rebuilding devastated health services, the government of Afghanistan has provided access to basic services mainly by contracting with non-government organisations (NGOs), and more recently the Strengthening Mechanism (SM) of contracting with Provincial Health Offices. Community-based information about the public's views and experience of health services is scarce. Methods Field teams visited households in a stratified random sample of 30 communities in two districts in Kabul province, with health services mainly provided either by an NGO or through the SM and administered a questionnaire about household views, use, and experience of health services, including payments for services and corruption. They later discussed the findings with separate community focus groups of men and women. We calculated weighted frequencies of views and experience of services and multivariate analysis examined the related factors. Results The survey covered 3283 households including 2845 recent health service users. Some 42% of households in the SM district and 57% in the NGO district rated available health services as good. Some 63% of households in the SM district (adjacent to Kabul) and 93% in the NGO district ordinarily used government health facilities. Service users rated private facilities more positively than government facilities. Government service users were more satisfied in urban facilities, if the household head was not educated, if they had enough food in the last week, and if they waited less than 30 minutes. Many households were unwilling to comment on corruption in health services; 15% in the SM district and 26% in the NGO district reported having been asked for an unofficial payment. Despite a policy of free services, one in seven users paid for treatment in government facilities, and three in four paid for medicine outside the facilities. Focus groups confirmed people knew payments were unofficial; they were afraid to talk about corruption. Conclusions Households used government health services but preferred private services. The experience of service users was similar in the SM and NGO districts. People made unofficial payments in government facilities, whether SM or NGO run. Tackling corruption in health services is an important part of anti-corruption measures in Afghanistan. PMID:22376191

Does contracting of health care in Afghanistan work? Public and service-users' perceptions and experience.

PubMed

Cockcroft, Anne; Khan, Amir; Md Ansari, Noor; Omer, Khalid; Hamel, Candyce; Andersson, Neil

2011-12-21

In rebuilding devastated health services, the government of Afghanistan has provided access to basic services mainly by contracting with non-government organisations (NGOs), and more recently the Strengthening Mechanism (SM) of contracting with Provincial Health Offices. Community-based information about the public's views and experience of health services is scarce. Field teams visited households in a stratified random sample of 30 communities in two districts in Kabul province, with health services mainly provided either by an NGO or through the SM and administered a questionnaire about household views, use, and experience of health services, including payments for services and corruption. They later discussed the findings with separate community focus groups of men and women. We calculated weighted frequencies of views and experience of services and multivariate analysis examined the related factors. The survey covered 3283 households including 2845 recent health service users. Some 42% of households in the SM district and 57% in the NGO district rated available health services as good. Some 63% of households in the SM district (adjacent to Kabul) and 93% in the NGO district ordinarily used government health facilities. Service users rated private facilities more positively than government facilities. Government service users were more satisfied in urban facilities, if the household head was not educated, if they had enough food in the last week, and if they waited less than 30 minutes. Many households were unwilling to comment on corruption in health services; 15% in the SM district and 26% in the NGO district reported having been asked for an unofficial payment. Despite a policy of free services, one in seven users paid for treatment in government facilities, and three in four paid for medicine outside the facilities. Focus groups confirmed people knew payments were unofficial; they were afraid to talk about corruption. Households used government health services but preferred private services. The experience of service users was similar in the SM and NGO districts. People made unofficial payments in government facilities, whether SM or NGO run. Tackling corruption in health services is an important part of anti-corruption measures in Afghanistan.

Corruption in Afghanistan - Somebody Else’s Problem?

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-03-18

of corruption, the Afghan population as a whole paid twice as much in bribes in 2009 as it had paid in 2006.‖11 IWA‘s 2010 Corruption Report shows...chances. Corruption thrives on inefficiency and increased trade for the corrupt politician means more opportunities for bribes .‖ 39  ―If...Corruption: Nature and Ethical Suggestions.‖43 These economic professors suggest that although corruption is widely studied, significant

[Heath and political regimes: presidential or parliamentary government for Colombia?].

PubMed

Idrovo, Alvaro J

2007-01-01

Changing the presidential regime for a parliamentarian one is currently be-ing discussed in Colombia. This preliminary study explores the potential effects on health of both presidential and parliamentary regimes by using world-wide data. An ecological study was undertaken using countries from which comparable information concerning life-expectancy at birth, political regime, economic development, inequality in income, social capital (as measured by general-ised trust or Corruption Perceptions Index), political rights, civil freedom and cultural diversity could be obtained. Life-expectancy at birth and macro-determinants were compared between both political regimes. The co-relationship between these macro-determinants was estimated and the relationship between political regimen and life-expectancy at birth was estimated using robust regression. Crude analysis revealed that parliamentary countries have greater life-expectancy at birth than countries having a presidential regime. Significant co-relationships between all macro-determinants were observed. No differential effects were observed between both political regimes regarding life-expectancy at birth in multiple robust regressions. There is no evidence that presidential or parliamentary regimes provide greater levels of health for the population. It is suggested that public health policies be focused on other macro-determinants having more known effects on health, such as income inequality.

W.a.w (we are watching) smart app: accommodating social perception towards public officers’ performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Widhoyoko, S. A.; Sasmoko; Nasir, L. A.; Manalu, S. R.; Indrianti, Y.

2018-03-01

This research is a continuation of previous research that is corruption early prevention is expanded by using expert system to analyze data and produce information to build decision. The research method used is neuroresearch method through three stages of research, namely exploratory stage, explanatory stage and confirmatory stages. The exploratory research finds W.aW’s Principles and W.a.W’s Units of Assessment as the basis for the preparation of the application. Stages of explanatory research in the form of W.a.W’s design of IT and confirmatory research stages are the design of expert system W.a.W. Expert System uses this formulation to generate dynamic standard value for each category and current social perception.

Corruption in Higher Education: Conceptual Approaches and Measurement Techniques

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osipian, Ararat L.

2007-01-01

Corruption is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon. Forms of corruption are multiple. Measuring corruption is necessary not only for getting ideas about the scale and scope of the problem, but for making simple comparisons between the countries and conducting comparative analysis of corruption. While the total impact of corruption is indeed…

Performance appraisal & promotion process: A measured approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Jitendra

2012-06-01

Most of the companies have yearly performance appraisal process for their employees. This process involves rating of employees by their manager. And Companies rely purely on managerís state of thinking and perception. Humans have tendency to become biased, corrupt, give favor to some employees whom they like. This favor is due to some other reasons e.g. personal reason, social reason, political reason, flattering. All these reasons are not related to the work that the employee is doing for the organization.

Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-07-30

FOCUS ON DIYALA Governance Relations between the provincial govern- ment and Baghdad remain somewhat contentious.This quarter, Diyala’s gover - nor... Tourism Communications Electricity, Gas, Oil Source: USAID, Tijara, “Market Assessment: Business Constraints and Opportunities at the Business...Corruption,” 2009, info.worldbank.org/ gover - nance/wgi/mc_chart.asp, accessed 5/19/2011. Iraq Stock Exchange vs. S&PPan-ArabCom- posite Index: Standard

Evolution of cooperation in a hierarchical society with corruption control.

PubMed

Huang, Feng; Chen, Xiaojie; Wang, Long

2018-07-14

Punishment is widely recognized as a potential promoter in sustaining or even enhancing public cooperation, but it meanwhile induces the problem of second-order free-riders. Particularly, recent evidence shows that costly punishment can be maintained if punishers may engage in corruption. However, how to reduce or eliminate incidents of corruption has been the enduring conundrum in human society. As power asymmetries are associated with hierarchies, we investigate how costly punishment affects the evolution of cooperation in the cases without and with corruption control. In the absence of corruption control, altruistic punishers are incapable of punishing corrupt punishers. Corrupt punishment maintains civilian cooperation but undermines the evolution of altruistic punishment. Otherwise, altruistic punishers can enforce symmetrical or asymmetrical punishment on both corrupt punishers and civilian defectors. In this case, both civilian cooperation and altruistic punishment can be promoted. And as an instrument of corruption control, the policy of asymmetrical punishment is more effective in fostering public cooperation and improving social welfare than symmetrical punishment. Moreover, no matter whether corruption control is considered or not, spiteful corruption that non-cooperative punishers penalize defectors is a more effective form for enhancing cooperation compared with bribery. Our work may thus offer an insight into the effects of corruption on public cooperation and the policy of anti-corruption. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exploring corruption in the South African health sector.

PubMed

Rispel, Laetitia C; de Jager, Pieter; Fonn, Sharon

2016-03-01

Recent scholarly attention has focused on weak governance and the negative effects of corruption on the provision of health services. Employing agency theory, this article discusses corruption in the South African health sector. We used a combination of research methods and triangulated data from three sources: Auditor-General of South Africa reports for each province covering a 9-year period; 13 semi-structured interviews with health sector key informants and a content analysis of print media reports covering a 3-year period. Findings from the Auditor-General reports showed a worsening trend in audit outcomes with marked variation across the nine provinces. Key-informants indicated that corruption has a negative effect on patient care and the morale of healthcare workers. The majority of the print media reports on corruption concerned the public health sector (63%) and involved provincial health departments (45%). Characteristics and complexity of the public health sector may increase its vulnerability to corruption, but the private-public binary constitutes a false dichotomy as corruption often involves agents from both sectors. Notwithstanding the lack of global validated indicators to measure corruption, our findings suggest that corruption is a problem in the South African healthcare sector. Corruption is influenced by adverse agent selection, lack of mechanisms to detect corruption and a failure to sanction those involved in corrupt activities. We conclude that appropriate legislation is a necessary, but not sufficient intervention to reduce corruption. We propose that mechanisms to reduce corruption must include the political will to run corruption-free health services, effective government to enforce laws, appropriate systems, and citizen involvement and advocacy to hold public officials accountable. Importantly, the institutionalization of a functional bureaucracy and public servants with the right skills, competencies, ethics and value systems and whose interests are aligned with health system goals are critical interventions in the fight against corruption. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Education and Corruption

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heyneman, Stephen P.

2004-01-01

This paper will draw on standard international definitions of "corruption" and apply them to the education sector. It will define corruption in education, explain why it is important, and describe various types of corruption and their causes. Emphasis will be placed on the role of higher education institutions in educational corruption, but the…

Improving the Transparency/Anti-corruption Efforts in Defense Procurement: Recommendations from Global Practices

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-12-01

64 1. General Law on Bribery and Corruption...64 2. U.S. Federal Law on Bribery and Corruption (The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act...65 3. U.S. State Law on Bribery and Corruption .....................................65 4. United States Defense Industry Initiative (DII) on

Quantitative relations between corruption and economic factors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shao, Jia; Ivanov, Plamen Ch.; Podobnik, Boris; Stanley, H. Eugene

2007-03-01

We report quantitative relations between corruption level and economic factors, such as country wealth and foreign investment per capita, which are characterized by a power law spanning multiple scales of wealth and investment per capita. These relations hold for diverse countries, and also remain stable over different time periods. We also observe a negative correlation between level of corruption and long-term economic growth. We find similar results for two independent indices of corruption, suggesting that the relation between corruption and wealth does not depend on the specific measure of corruption. The functional relations we report have implications when assessing the relative level of corruption for two countries with comparable wealth, and for quantifying the impact of corruption on economic growth and foreign investment.

The disease of corruption: views on how to fight corruption to advance 21st century global health goals.

PubMed

Mackey, Tim K; Kohler, Jillian Clare; Savedoff, William D; Vogl, Frank; Lewis, Maureen; Sale, James; Michaud, Joshua; Vian, Taryn

2016-09-29

Corruption has been described as a disease. When corruption infiltrates global health, it can be particularly devastating, threatening hard gained improvements in human and economic development, international security, and population health. Yet, the multifaceted and complex nature of global health corruption makes it extremely difficult to tackle, despite its enormous costs, which have been estimated in the billions of dollars. In this forum article, we asked anti-corruption experts to identify key priority areas that urgently need global attention in order to advance the fight against global health corruption. The views shared by this multidisciplinary group of contributors reveal several fundamental challenges and allow us to explore potential solutions to address the unique risks posed by health-related corruption. Collectively, these perspectives also provide a roadmap that can be used in support of global health anti-corruption efforts in the post-2015 development agenda.

Higher Education Corruption in the World Media: Prevalence, Patterns, and Forms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osipian, Ararat L.

2007-01-01

Corruption in higher education is a newly emerging topic in the field of education research. There is a phenomenal growth in the number of media reports on corruption in higher education over the last decade. However, the rigorous systematic research on education corruption is virtually nonexistent. This paper considers corruption in higher…

The Effectiveness of Counterterrorist Policies in Uzbekistan

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-12-01

ABBREVIATIONS AI – Amnesty International APK – Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (Justice and Development Party of Turkey) CIA – Central Intelligence Agency...Using StockMarket Data,” The Journal of Economic Perspectives 20, No. 2 (2006): 193–206; Ceasefires, unemployment rates, and price indexes in...Uzbekistan as well. The worsening economic conditions, high rates of unemployment , large and growing numbers of young males, repressive and corrupt

Causal Factors of Corruption in Construction Project Management: An Overview.

PubMed

Owusu, Emmanuel Kingsford; Chan, Albert P C; Shan, Ming

2017-11-11

The development of efficient and strategic anti-corruption measures can be better achieved if a deeper understanding and identification of the causes of corruption are established. Over the past years, many studies have been devoted to the research of corruption in construction management (CM). This has resulted in a significant increase in the body of knowledge on the subject matter, including the causative factors triggering these corrupt practices. However, an apropos systematic assessment of both past and current studies on the subject matter which is needful for the future endeavor is lacking. Moreover, there is an absence of unified view of the causative factors of corruption identified in construction project management (CPM). This paper, therefore, presents a comprehensive review of the causes of corruption from selected articles in recognized construction management journals to address the mentioned gaps. A total number of 44 causes of corruption were identified from 37 publications and analyzed in terms of existing causal factors of corruption, annual trend of publications and the thematic categorization of the identified variables. The most identifiable causes were over close relationships, poor professional ethical standards, negative industrial and working conditions, negative role models and inadequate sanctions. A conceptual framework of causes of corruption was established, after categorizing the 44 variables into five unique categories. In descending order, the five constructs are Psychosocial-Specific Causes, Organizational-Specific Causes, Regulatory-Specific Causes, Project-Specific Causes and Statutory-Specific Causes. This study extends the current literature of corruption research in construction management and contributes to a deepened understanding of the causal instigators of corruption identified in CPM. The findings from this study provide valuable information and extended knowledge to industry practitioners and policymakers as well as anti-corruption agencies in the formulation and direction of anti-corruption measures. To corruption researchers in CM, this study is vital for further research.

The perils of payoff: corruption as a threat to global biodiversity.

PubMed

Laurance, William F

2004-08-01

Corruption is a worldwide phenomenon, particularly in many developing countries, which contain a large proportion of global biodiversity. Most alarming, from a biodiversity-conservation perspective, is the frequent corruption of government officials who manage valuable natural resources, such as timber, oil and precious minerals. A recent study by Joyotee Smith and colleagues describes rampant corruption in the timber industry of Indonesia, and shifts in the prevalence of different types of corruption as the country has become destabilized politically. By placing corruption into a conceptual framework, Smith et al. provide important insights into how developing nations and their natural resources can be besieged by corruption.

[Corruption as individual and organizational sinking].

PubMed

Cecchinato, Fabio

2015-04-01

The article qualifies the nature of psychosociological perspective in analysing corruption in organizations. Corruption is analysed as a mental event and social conditions of corruption are investigated. In particular six social and organizational factors are identified as relevant in determining the diffusion of corruption: meaning, work wellbeing, consistency, social recognition, reflexivity, social relations. The main hypothesis explored in the article is that to take managerial care of the organisational factors above mentioned is a strong and active prevention of the risk of corruption.

Corruption as a Propensity: Personality and Motivational Determinants Among Nigerians.

PubMed

Agbo, Aaron Adibe; Iwundu, Emmanuel Ifeanyi

2016-01-01

Psychologically oriented studies on corruption are lacking despite the fact that psychology has contributed enormously to the understanding of criminal behaviors over the past decades. Part of this problem relates to the lack of psychological tone in the definition and measurement of corruption. Taking a clue from the extensive psychological discourse on crime, which provides strong evidence for the existence of criminal tendencies, we conceptualized corruption here in terms of propensity. Possible personality and motivation determinants of this propensity were then explored. Results revealed that extraversion and conscientiousness positively and inversely predicted corruption tendencies, respectively. Results further showed that extrinsic motivation positively potentiates corruption tendencies, whereas intrinsic motivation was inversely related to corruption tendencies. Analysis of demographic variables revealed that males were more likely to be corrupt than their female counterparts. In general, findings here are consistent with the criminal behavior literature, which strongly suggests that the study of corruption is indeed amenable to psychological theories and methods and that individual differences variables constitute important explanatory variables in this regard.

The Road to Bribery and Corruption.

PubMed

Köbis, Nils C; van Prooijen, Jan-Willem; Righetti, Francesca; Van Lange, Paul A M

2017-03-01

Major forms of corruption constitute a strong threat to the functioning of societies. The most frequent explanation of how severe corruption emerges is the slippery-slope metaphor-the notion that corruption occurs gradually. While having widespread theoretical and intuitive appeal, this notion has barely been tested empirically. We used a recently developed paradigm to test whether severely corrupt acts happen gradually or abruptly. The results of four experimental studies revealed a higher likelihood of severe corruption when participants were directly given the opportunity to engage in it (abrupt) compared with when they had previously engaged in minor forms of corruption (gradual). Neither the size of the payoffs, which we kept constant, nor evaluations of the actions could account for these differences. Contrary to widely shared beliefs, sometimes the route to corruption leads over a steep cliff rather than a slippery slope.

Modelling of corruption repression by Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi in Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nugraha, Muhammad Ridwan Reza; Nuraini, Nuning

2017-03-01

Based on data from transparency.org, in 2015 Indonesia was ranked 88 out of 168 most corrupt countries in the world, with a score of 36 (high corruption levels 0 - 100 free of corruption). Scores of corruption in Indonesia increased from 32 to 36 since 2012 until 2015. Since 2002, the eradication of corruption in Indonesia conducted by Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi. The number of legal actions undertaken by the Commission since 2002 to 2015 increased. In the mathematical model, we want to know the tendency of many legal actions carried out by the Commission for the foreseeable future. By knowing these trends, we can take a variety of strategies that can make Indonesia free from corruption.

Demographic Variables of Corruption in the Chinese Construction Industry: Association Rule Analysis of Conviction Records.

PubMed

Yu, Yao; Martek, Igor; Hosseini, M Reza; Chen, Chuan

2018-05-02

Corruption in the construction industry is a serious problem in China. As such, fighting this corruption has become a priority target of the Chinese government, with the main effort being to discover and prosecute its perpetrators. This study profiles the demographic characteristics of major incidences of corruption in construction. It draws on the database of the 83 complete recorded cases of construction related corruption held by the Chinese National Bureau of Corruption Prevention. Categorical variables were drawn from the database, and 'association rule mining analysis' was used to identify associations between variables as a means of profiling perpetrators. Such profiling may be used as predictors of future incidences of corruption, and consequently to inform policy makers in their fight against corruption. The results signal corruption within the Chinese construction industry to be correlated with age, with incidences rising as managers' approach retirement age. Moreover, a majority of perpetrators operate within government agencies, are department deputies in direct contact with projects, and extort the greatest amounts per case from second tier cities. The relatively lengthy average 6.4-year period before cases come to public attention corroborates the view that current efforts at fighting corruption remain inadequate.

Evolving Righteousness in a Corrupt World

PubMed Central

Duéñez-Guzmán, Edgar A.; Sadedin, Suzanne

2012-01-01

Punishment offers a powerful mechanism for the maintenance of cooperation in human and animal societies, but the maintenance of costly punishment itself remains problematic. Game theory has shown that corruption, where punishers can defect without being punished themselves, may sustain cooperation. However, in many human societies and some insect ones, high levels of cooperation coexist with low levels of corruption, and such societies show greater wellbeing than societies with high corruption. Here we show that small payments from cooperators to punishers can destabilize corrupt societies and lead to the spread of punishment without corruption (righteousness). Righteousness can prevail even in the face of persistent power inequalities. The resultant righteous societies are highly stable and have higher wellbeing than corrupt ones. This result may help to explain the persistence of costly punishing behavior, and indicates that corruption is a sub-optimal tool for maintaining cooperation in human societies. PMID:22984510

Corruption: Engineers are Victims, Perpetrators or Both?

PubMed

Pecujlija, M; Cosic, I; Nesic-Grubic, L; Drobnjak, S

2015-08-01

This study was conducted in Serbian companies on licensed engineers and in its first part included a total of 336 licensed engineers who voluntarily completed the questionnaires about their ethical orientation and attitudes toward corruption and in the second part 214 engineers who participated in the first survey, who voluntarily evaluated their company's business operations characteristics. This study has clearly shown that there is a direct significant influence of the engineer's ethical orientations and attitudes toward corruption on their evaluation of the characteristics of their respective companies regarding business operations. This research also clearly shows that only engineers with a strong deontological orientation, low ethical subjectivity, and strong readiness to fight corruption, low corruption acceptance and high awareness of corruption can successfully fight corruption, improve the business operations of their companies and make beneficial changes to society. Otherwise, they should be considered as corruption perpetrators, not just as its victims.

[Corruption and health care system].

PubMed

Marasović Šušnjara, Ivana

2014-06-01

Corruption is a global problem that takes special place in health care system. A large number of participants in the health care system and numerous interactions among them provide an opportunity for various forms of corruption, be it bribery, theft, bureaucratic corruption or incorrect information. Even though it is difficult to measure the amount of corruption in medicine, there are tools that allow forming of the frames for possible interventions.

The assessment of corruption impact on the inflow of foreign direct investment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gasanova, Ayshan; Medvedev, Alexander N.; Komotskiy, Evgeny I.

2017-06-01

The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of corruption on the inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI). The data, taken from official sources, Transparency International and the Heritage Foundation, have been treated in a special program "Deductor Studio Academic" by the method of Machine Learning (cluster analysis using Kohonen Self-Organizing Maps). There was composed a Kohonen map, in which the countries were divided into 4 clusters: countries with low levels of corruption and high level of FDI inflow, countries with low level of corruption and FDI above average, countries with average level of corruption and the average level of FDI, and countries with high level of corruption and low level of FDI. The research has shown that corruption influences the investment attractiveness of the host country. This means that in countries where the level of corruption is low and economic environment is attractive, the level of foreign direct investment is high, and in those countries where the level of corruption is high and and economic attractiveness is low - the level of investment is low. However, the study identified countries which have high level of corruption and high FDI inflow - China, India, Brazil and Russia (BRIC countries). These countries are the exception from the rule due to the wide domestic market, cheap labour, the wealth of natural resources - all these factors increase the investment attractiveness of these countries. It was found that corruption in BRIC countries has similarity being a controlled and predictable phenomenon. This allows calculating the cost of corruption for accounting it in business projects.

5 CFR 6701.107 - Reporting waste, fraud, abuse and corruption.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... corruption. 6701.107 Section 6701.107 Administrative Personnel GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION SUPPLEMENTAL..., fraud, abuse and corruption. GSA employees shall disclose immediately any waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption to appropriate authorities, such as the Office of Inspector General. ...

5 CFR 6701.107 - Reporting waste, fraud, abuse and corruption.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... corruption. 6701.107 Section 6701.107 Administrative Personnel GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION SUPPLEMENTAL..., fraud, abuse and corruption. GSA employees shall disclose immediately any waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption to appropriate authorities, such as the Office of Inspector General. ...

Corruption and population health outcomes: an analysis of data from 133 countries using structural equation modeling.

PubMed

Factor, Roni; Kang, Minah

2015-09-01

The current study aims to develop a theoretical framework for understanding the antecedents of corruption and the effects of corruption on various health indicators. Using structural equation models, we analyzed a multinational dataset of 133 countries that included three main groups of variables--antecedents of corruption, corruption measures, and health indicators. Controlling for various factors, our results suggest that corruption rises as GDP per capita falls and as the regime becomes more autocratic. Higher corruption is associated with lower levels of health expenditure as a percentage of GDP per capita, and with poorer health outcomes. Countries with higher GDP per capita and better education for women have better health outcomes regardless of health expenditures and regime type. Our results suggest that there is no direct relationship between health expenditures and health outcomes after controlling for the other factors in the model. Our study enhances our understanding of the conceptual and theoretical links between corruption and health outcomes in a population, including factors that may mediate how corruption can affect health outcomes.

Return Migrants' Experience of Access to Care in Corrupt Healthcare Systems: The Bosnian Example.

PubMed

Neerup Handlos, Line; Fog Olwig, Karen; Bygbjerg, Ib Christian; Norredam, Marie

2016-09-19

Equal and universal access to healthcare services is a core priority for a just health system. A key societal determinant seen to create inequality in access to healthcare is corruption in the healthcare system. How return migrants' access to healthcare is affected by corruption is largely unstudied, even though return migrants may be particularly vulnerable to problems related to corruption due to their period of absence from their country of origin. This article investigates how corruption in the healthcare sector affects access to healthcare for refugees who repatriated to Bosnia, a country with a high level of corruption, from Denmark, a country with a low level of corruption. The study is based on 18 semi-structured interviews with 33 refugees who returned after long-term residence in Denmark. We found that the returned refugees faced greater problems with corruption than was the case for those who had not left the country, as doctors considered them to be better endowed financially and therefore demanded larger bribes from them than they did from those who had remained in Bosnia. Moreover, during their stay abroad the returnees had lost the connections that could have helped them sidestep the corruption. Returned refugees are thus particularly vulnerable to the effects of corruption.

Return Migrants’ Experience of Access to Care in Corrupt Healthcare Systems: The Bosnian Example

PubMed Central

Neerup Handlos, Line; Fog Olwig, Karen; Bygbjerg, Ib Christian; Norredam, Marie

2016-01-01

Equal and universal access to healthcare services is a core priority for a just health system. A key societal determinant seen to create inequality in access to healthcare is corruption in the healthcare system. How return migrants’ access to healthcare is affected by corruption is largely unstudied, even though return migrants may be particularly vulnerable to problems related to corruption due to their period of absence from their country of origin. This article investigates how corruption in the healthcare sector affects access to healthcare for refugees who repatriated to Bosnia, a country with a high level of corruption, from Denmark, a country with a low level of corruption. The study is based on 18 semi-structured interviews with 33 refugees who returned after long-term residence in Denmark. We found that the returned refugees faced greater problems with corruption than was the case for those who had not left the country, as doctors considered them to be better endowed financially and therefore demanded larger bribes from them than they did from those who had remained in Bosnia. Moreover, during their stay abroad the returnees had lost the connections that could have helped them sidestep the corruption. Returned refugees are thus particularly vulnerable to the effects of corruption. PMID:27657096

Correlates of compliance with national comprehensive smoke-free laws.

PubMed

Peruga, Armando; Hayes, Luminita S; Aguilera, Ximena; Prasad, Vinayak; Bettcher, Douglas W

2017-12-05

To explore correlates of high compliance with smoking bans in a cross-sectional data set from the 41 countries with national comprehensive smoke-free laws in 2014 and complete data on compliance and enforcement. Outcome variable: compliance with a national comprehensive smoke-free law in each country was obtained for 2014 from the WHO global report on the global tobacco epidemic. Explanatory variables: legal enforcement requirements, penalties, infrastructure and strategy were obtained through a separate survey of governments. Also, country socioeconomic and demographic characteristics including the level of corruption control were included. an initial bivariate analysis determined the significance of each potentially relevant explanatory variable of high compliance. Differences in compliance were tested using the exact logistic regression. High compliance with the national comprehensive smoke-free law was associated with the involvement of the local jurisdictions in providing training and/or guidance for inspections (OR=10.3, 95% CI 1.7 to 117.7) and a perception of high corruption control efforts in the country (OR=7.2, 95% CI 1.1 to 85.8). The results show the importance of the depth of the enforcement infrastructure and effort represented by the degree to which the local government is involved in enforcement. They also show the significance of fighting corruption in the enforcement process, including the attempts of the tobacco industry to undermine the process, to achieve high levels of compliance with the law. The results point out to the need to invest minimal but essential enforcement resources given that national comprehensive smoke-free laws are self-enforcing in many but not all countries and sectors.

75 FR 6590 - Coordinated Communications

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-10

... corruption or the appearance of corruption,'' the Court explained that `` `[t]he absence of prearrangement... opportunity for, quid pro quo corruption? The Court further held that the governmental interest in ``[l]aws that burden political speech'' is ``limited to quid pro quo corruption,'' and that ``[i]ngratiation and...

Corruption in health-care systems and its effect on cancer care in Africa.

PubMed

Mostert, Saskia; Njuguna, Festus; Olbara, Gilbert; Sindano, Solomon; Sitaresmi, Mei Neni; Supriyadi, Eddy; Kaspers, Gertjan

2015-08-01

At the government, hospital, and health-care provider level, corruption plays a major role in health-care systems in Africa. The returns on health investments of international financial institutions, health organisations, and donors might be very low when mismanagement and dysfunctional structures of health-care systems are not addressed. More funding might even aggravate corruption. We discuss corruption and its effects on cancer care within the African health-care system in a sociocultural context. The contribution of high-income countries in stimulating corruption is also described. Corrupt African governments cannot be expected to take the initiative to eradicate corruption. Therefore, international financial institutions, health organisations, and financial donors should use their power to demand policy reforms of health-care systems in Africa troubled by the issue of corruption. These modifications will ameliorate the access and quality of cancer care for patients across the continent, and ultimately improve the outcome of health care to all patients. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Corruption costs lives: a cross-country study using an IV approach.

PubMed

Lio, Mon-Chi; Lee, Ming-Hsuan

2016-04-01

This study quantitatively estimates the effects of corruption on five major health indicators by using recent cross-country panel data covering 119 countries for the period of 2005-2011. The corruption indicators provided by the World Bank and Transparency International are used, and both the two-way fixed effect and the two-stage least squares approaches are employed for our estimation. The estimation results show that, in general, corruption is negatively associated with a country's health outcomes. A lower level of corruption or a better control of corruption in a country can lead to longer life expectancy, a lower infant mortality rate and a lower under-five mortality rate for citizens. However, our estimation finds no significant association between corruption and individual diseases including human immunodeficiency virus prevalence and tuberculosis incidence. The findings suggest that corruption reduction itself is an effective method to promote health. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Complex noise suppression using a sparse representation and 3D filtering of images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kravchenko, V. F.; Ponomaryov, V. I.; Pustovoit, V. I.; Palacios-Enriquez, A.

2017-08-01

A novel method for the filtering of images corrupted by complex noise composed of randomly distributed impulses and additive Gaussian noise has been substantiated for the first time. The method consists of three main stages: the detection and filtering of pixels corrupted by impulsive noise, the subsequent image processing to suppress the additive noise based on 3D filtering and a sparse representation of signals in a basis of wavelets, and the concluding image processing procedure to clean the final image of the errors emerged at the previous stages. A physical interpretation of the filtering method under complex noise conditions is given. A filtering block diagram has been developed in accordance with the novel approach. Simulations of the novel image filtering method have shown an advantage of the proposed filtering scheme in terms of generally recognized criteria, such as the structural similarity index measure and the peak signal-to-noise ratio, and when visually comparing the filtered images.

Taxonomy of Corruption in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rumyantseva, Nataliya L.

2005-01-01

This article explores the phenomenon of corruption that has become common in higher education in developing countries around the world. Cases of educational corruption include, among others, paying bribes for grades, buying diplomas, and admissions to universities. An available body of literature on educational corruption does not provide…

Does Everyday Corruption Affect How Russians View their Political Leadership

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-02-22

corruption are less, not more, happy with the regime. Street-level corruption is corrosive of the body politic. Our 1. REPORT DATE (DD-MM-YYYY) 4...most citizens’ lives: the country’s political leadership. In Russia, those who frequently encounter corruption are less, not more, happy with the...Russia, those who frequently encounter corruption are less, not more, happy with the regime. The effect on the regime’s public support is not, of course

The environmental Kuznets curve in the presence of corruption in developing countries.

PubMed

Masron, Tajul Ariffin; Subramaniam, Yogeeswari

2018-05-01

Environmental degradation is at an alarming level in developing economies. The present paper examines the direct and indirect impacts of corruption on environmental deterioration using the panel data of 64 developing countries. Adopting the generalized method of moments (GMM) technique, the paper finds evidence that corruption exhibits a positive impact on pollution. Subsequently, there is also evidence indicating that the level of pollution tends to be higher in countries with a higher level of corruption, eliminating the effectiveness of income effect on environmental preservation. These results also suggest that environmental degradation is monotonically increasing with higher corruption and invalidate the presence of the EKC. Hence, a policy focuses that an anti-corruption particularly in the environmental and natural resources sector needs to be emphasized and enforced in order to reduce or possibly to totally eliminate the rent for corruption.

Youths' views on corruption control in China: politics and social censure.

PubMed

Jiang, Guoping; Lo, T Wing; Li, Carrie

2013-12-01

It has been asserted that criminal law and common morality are not sufficient terms to describe specific behaviors as corruption because those in power have the capacity to include or exclude certain behavior as a category in the law. Thus, corruption should not be just treated as an objective behavioral category but as a form of social censure. This article reports on a quantitative and qualitative study that collected the views of Chinese youth on the control of corruption in China. It was found that they agreed with the moral-negative judgements behind the censure of corruption, and that bureaucratic forces can be mobilised to punish the corrupt and degrade their status. Mediation analysis discovered that political functions mediate the association between the moral-negative nature and bureaucratic form of the censure of corruption and status degradation of the censured.

"It Keeps Us from Putting Drugs in Pockets": How a Public-Private Partnership for Hospital Management May Help Curb Corruption.

PubMed

Vian, Taryn; Mcintosh, Nathalie; Grabowski, Aria

2017-01-01

Health care sector corruption diverts resources that could otherwise be used to improve access to health services. Use of private-sector practices such as a public-private partnership (PPP) model for hospital governance and management may reduce corruption. In 2011, a government-run hospital in Lesotho was replaced by a PPP hospital, offering an opportunity to compare hospital systems and practices. To assess whether a PPP model in a hospital can help curb corruption. We conducted 36 semistructured interviews with key informants between February 2013 and April 2013. We asked about hospital operations and practices at the government-run and PPP hospitals. We performed content analysis of interview data using a priori codes derived from the Corruption in the Health Sector framework and compared themes related with corruption between the hospitals. Corrupt practices that were described at the government-run hospital (theft, absenteeism, and shirking) were absent in the PPP hospital. In the PPP hospital, anticorruption mechanisms (controls on discretion, transparency, accountability, and detection and enforcement) were described in four management subsystems: human resources, facility and equipment management, drug supply, and security. The PPP hospital appeared to reduce corruption by controlling discretion and increasing accountability, transparency, and detection and enforcement. Changes imposed new norms that supported personal responsibility and minimized opportunities, incentives, and pressures to engage in corrupt practices. By implementing private-sector management practices, a PPP model for hospital governance and management may curb corruption. To assess the feasibility of a PPP, administrators should account for cost savings resulting from reduced corruption.

The Search for Definitions: The Vitality of Politics and the Issue of Corruption.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnston, Michael

1996-01-01

Attempts to reconcile classical and modern ways of thinking about corruption by emphasizing the connection between the idea of corruption and the vitality of the political process. Discusses the differences between behavior-specific conceptions of corruption and those emphasizing social and political processes. (MJP)

On Certain Aspects of Acts of Corruption Countermeasures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mamitova, Zhanat A.; Kumarbekkyzy, Zhaniya; Tapenova, Asem R.; Mahanov, Talgat G.

2016-01-01

One of the biggest problems of developing countries, including Kazakhstan, is corruption. Corruption significantly decelerates the development of economic and social institutions, which may cause distrust in the authorities and a social crisis. Therefore, fighting corruption is a top-priority task of the government of Kazakhstan; this task…

Corruption and Educational Outcomes: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huang, Francis Lim

2008-01-01

Corruption is a problem that continues to plague developed and developing countries worldwide. Previous studies have explored the negative implications of corruption on several aspects of human development, but, despite its serious and long-lasting consequences, the impact of corruption on educational outcomes has started to receive attention only…

32 CFR 516.67 - Overseas cases of fraud or corruption.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 32 National Defense 3 2011-07-01 2009-07-01 true Overseas cases of fraud or corruption. 516.67... AUTHORITIES AND PUBLIC RELATIONS LITIGATION Remedies in Procurement Fraud and Corruption § 516.67 Overseas cases of fraud or corruption. (a) Commanders of overseas major commands will establish procedures...

The corruption process of a law enforcement officer: a paradigm of occupational stress and deviancy.

PubMed

McCafferty, F L; Souryal, S; McCafferty, M A

1998-01-01

The public does not want all laws enforced. In the closed society of law enforcement institutions, police discretion, the conspiracy of silence, the lack of an administration with integrity, and susceptible law enforcement officers contribute to the development of corruption from occupational deviance. Corruption in law enforcement agencies may have similar roots in business, law, medicine, and other professions. Understanding the law enforcement corruption paradigm may therefore be helpful in correcting and curbing corruption in other professions.

Corruption costs lives: evidence from a cross-country study.

PubMed

Li, Qiang; An, Lian; Xu, Jing; Baliamoune-Lutz, Mina

2018-01-01

This paper investigates the effect of corruption on health outcomes by using cross-country panel data covering about 150 countries for the period of 1995 to 2012. We employ ordinary least squares (OLS), fixed-effects and two-stage least squares (2SLS) estimation methods, and find that corruption significantly increases mortality rates, and reduces life expectancy and immunization rates. The results are consistent across different regions, gender, and measures of corruption. The findings suggest that reducing corruption can be an effective method to improve health outcomes.

Walking the Straight and Narrow: The Moderating Effect of Evaluation Apprehension on the Relationship between Collectivism and Corruption

PubMed Central

Huang, Zhen-wei; Liu, Li; Zheng, Wen-wen; Tan, Xu-yun; Zhao, Xian

2015-01-01

Previous studies obtained mixed results regarding the association between collectivism and corruption. To make sense of the mixed results, the current research examined the moderating role of evaluation apprehension on the relationship between collectivism and corruption. Study 1, using a bribery scenario, indicated that collectivism facilitated corruption only when evaluation apprehension was low. Study 2, using a real money bribery game, confirmed the moderated model found in Study 1. Study 3 further demonstrated the different effects of vertical/horizontal collectivism on corruption. Our results suggest that a society may effectively combat corruption by increasing its social costs while, at the same time, retaining its collectivistic values. PMID:25815819

Walking the straight and narrow: the moderating effect of evaluation apprehension on the relationship between collectivism and corruption.

PubMed

Huang, Zhen-wei; Liu, Li; Zheng, Wen-wen; Tan, Xu-yun; Zhao, Xian

2015-01-01

Previous studies obtained mixed results regarding the association between collectivism and corruption. To make sense of the mixed results, the current research examined the moderating role of evaluation apprehension on the relationship between collectivism and corruption. Study 1, using a bribery scenario, indicated that collectivism facilitated corruption only when evaluation apprehension was low. Study 2, using a real money bribery game, confirmed the moderated model found in Study 1. Study 3 further demonstrated the different effects of vertical/horizontal collectivism on corruption. Our results suggest that a society may effectively combat corruption by increasing its social costs while, at the same time, retaining its collectivistic values.

Corruption: Taking into account the psychological mimicry of officials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kolesin, Igor; Malafeyev, Oleg; Andreeva, Mariia; Ivanukovich, Georgiy

2017-07-01

A mathematical model of corruption with regard to psychological mimicry in the administrative apparatus with three forms of corruption is constructed. It is assumed that the change of officials forms of corruption is due to situational factors, and anti-corruption laws imply the change of the dominant form. Form's changing is modeled by the system of four differential equations (including groups of corrupt officials), describing the number of groups. The speed of the transition from group to group is expressed through the frequency of meetings. The controlling influence is expressed through the force of anticorruption laws. Two cases are discussed: strictly constant and variable (depending on the scope of one or another form). The equilibrium states that allow to specify the dominant form and investigate its stability, depending on the parameters of the psychological mimicry and rigor of anti-corruption laws are found and discussed.

Interventions to reduce corruption in the health sector.

PubMed

Gaitonde, Rakhal; Oxman, Andrew D; Okebukola, Peter O; Rada, Gabriel

2016-08-16

Corruption is the abuse or complicity in abuse, of public or private position, power or authority to benefit oneself, a group, an organisation or others close to oneself; where the benefits may be financial, material or non-material. It is wide-spread in the health sector and represents a major problem. Our primary objective was to systematically summarise empirical evidence of the effects of strategies to reduce corruption in the health sector. Our secondary objective was to describe the range of strategies that have been tried and to guide future evaluations of promising strategies for which there is insufficient evidence. We searched 14 electronic databases up to January 2014, including: CENTRAL; MEDLINE; EMBASE; sociological, economic, political and other health databases; Human Resources Abstracts up to November 2010; Euroethics up to August 2015; and PubMed alerts from January 2014 to June 2016. We searched another 23 websites and online databases for grey literature up to August 2015, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, Transparency International, healthcare anti-fraud association websites and trial registries. We conducted citation searches in Science Citation Index and Google Scholar, and searched PubMed for related articles up to August 2015. We contacted corruption researchers in December 2015, and screened reference lists of articles up to May 2016. For the primary analysis, we included randomised trials, non-randomised trials, interrupted time series studies and controlled before-after studies that evaluated the effects of an intervention to reduce corruption in the health sector. For the secondary analysis, we included case studies that clearly described an intervention to reduce corruption in the health sector, addressed either our primary or secondary objective, and stated the methods that the study authors used to collect and analyse data. One review author extracted data from the included studies and a second review author checked the extracted data against the reports of the included studies. We undertook a structured synthesis of the findings. We constructed a results table and 'Summaries of findings' tables. We used the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach to assess the certainty of the evidence. No studies met the inclusion criteria of the primary analysis. We included nine studies that met the inclusion criteria for the secondary analysis.One study found that a package of interventions coordinated by the US Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Justice recovered a large amount of money and resulted in hundreds of new cases and convictions each year (high certainty of the evidence). Another study from the USA found that establishment of an independent agency to investigate and enforce efforts against overbilling might lead to a small reduction in overbilling, but the certainty of this evidence was very low. A third study from India suggested that the impacts of coordinated efforts to reduce corruption through increased detection and enforcement are dependent on continued political support and that they can be limited by a dysfunctional judicial system (very low certainty of the evidence).One study in South Korea and two in the USA evaluated increased efforts to investigate and punish corruption in clinics and hospitals without establishing an independent agency to coordinate these efforts. It is unclear whether these were effective because the evidence is of very low certainty.One study from Kyrgyzstan suggested that increased transparency and accountability for co-payments together with reduction of incentives for demanding informal payments may reduce informal payments (low certainty of the evidence).One study from Germany suggested that guidelines that prohibit hospital doctors from accepting any form of benefits from the pharmaceutical industry may improve doctors' attitudes about the influence of pharmaceutical companies on their choice of medicines (low certainty of the evidence).A study in the USA, evaluated the effects of introducing a law that required pharmaceutical companies to report the gifts they gave to healthcare workers. Another study in the USA evaluated the effects of a variety of internal control mechanisms used by community health centres to stop corruption. The effects of these strategies is unclear because the evidence was of very low certainty. There is a paucity of evidence regarding how best to reduce corruption. Promising interventions include improvements in the detection and punishment of corruption, especially efforts that are coordinated by an independent agency. Other promising interventions include guidelines that prohibit doctors from accepting benefits from the pharmaceutical industry, internal control practices in community health centres, and increased transparency and accountability for co-payments combined with reduced incentives for informal payments. The extent to which increased transparency alone reduces corruption is uncertain. There is a need to monitor and evaluate the impacts of all interventions to reduce corruption, including their potential adverse effects.

Corruption in Higher Education: Does It Differ across the Nations and Why?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osipian, Ararat L.

2008-01-01

Corruption in higher education is a newly emerging topic in the field of education research. Some aspects of corruption in education have been addressed in recent works by Eckstein, Hallak & Poisson, Heyneman, Noah & Eckstein, Segal, and Washburn. However, rigorous systematic research is lacking. This article considers corruption in higher…

Analysis of the Reasons and Countermeasures for Academic Corruption

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jin, Xia; Bin, Feng

2007-01-01

This paper presents a perspective of the various types of academic corruption that is currently running rife in society, a theoretical analysis of the roots of academic corruption, and proposals for a number for countermeasures to put a stop to academic corruption. (Contains 3 notes.) [This article was translated by Ted Wang.

Corruptness in Education: A Tentative Discussion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dongping, Yang

2004-01-01

With more and more instances of corruptness coming to light in the field of education, corruptness in education has become an intense "hot point" of concern in society. This article is a tentative exploration into this matter. In this article, the author discusses the categories of the corruptness in education that has found widespread…

Foreign Experience of Formation of Anti-Corruption Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Almaganbetov, Pernebay; Kenzhibekova, Elmira; Khvedelidze, Teimuraz; Buranbayeva, Saliman; Sailibayeva, Zhanel

2016-01-01

Corruption is the main obstacle on the way toward state's economic and political growth. Corrupt practices are one of the oldest forms of crime that arose with an appearance of nationhood. Nowadays, corruption harms the economies of developing countries that are undergoing a process of an economic model transformation. Kazakhstan is among these…

Higher Education Corruption in Ukraine as Reflected in the Nation's Media

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osipian, Ararat L.

2007-01-01

This paper considers corruption in higher education in Ukraine as reflected in the national media, including such aspects as corruption in admissions to higher education institutions and corruption in administering the newly introduced standardized test. The major focus is on the opinions of the leading figures of the education reform on…

Corruption in Russian Higher Education as Reflected in the Media

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osipian, Ararat L.

2008-01-01

This paper considers corruption in higher education in Russia as reflected in the national media, including such aspects as corruption in admissions to higher education institutions and corruption in administering the newly introduced standardized test. The major focus is on the opinions of the leading figures of the education reform as related to…

Corruption in Higher Education: Causes, Consequences, Reforms. The Case of Georgia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Orkodashvili, Mariam

2009-01-01

Certain cases from any single country might provide examples for consideration of corruption issues for other countries or regions. Corruption cases and the strategies of fighting them in Georgian flagship universities might be noteworthy and useful for other countries facing similar problems. The paper discusses the features of corruption in…

An Archeology of Corruption in Medicine.

PubMed

Little, Miles; Lipworth, Wendy; Kerridge, Ian

2018-07-01

Corruption is a word used loosely to describe many kinds of action that people find distasteful. We prefer to reserve it for the intentional misuse of the good offices of an established social entity for private benefit, posing as fair trading. The currency of corruption is not always material or financial. Moral corruption is all too familiar within churches and other ostensibly beneficent institutions, and it happens within medicine and the pharmaceutical industries. Corrupt behavior reduces trust, costs money, causes injustice, and arouses anger. Yet it persists, despite all efforts since the beginnings of societies. People who act corruptly may lack conscience and empathy in the same way as those with some personality disorders. Finding ways to prevent corruption from contaminating beneficent organizations is therefore likely to be frustratingly difficult. Transparency and accountability may go some way, but the determined corruptor is unlikely to feel constrained by moral and reporting requirements of this kind. Punishment and redress are complicated issues, unlikely to satisfy victims and society at large. Both perhaps should deal in the same currency-material or social-in which the corrupt dealing took place.

“It Keeps Us from Putting Drugs in Pockets”: How a Public-Private Partnership for Hospital Management May Help Curb Corruption

PubMed Central

Vian, Taryn; McIntosh, Nathalie; Grabowski, Aria

2017-01-01

Introduction Health care sector corruption diverts resources that could otherwise be used to improve access to health services. Use of private-sector practices such as a public-private partnership (PPP) model for hospital governance and management may reduce corruption. In 2011, a government-run hospital in Lesotho was replaced by a PPP hospital, offering an opportunity to compare hospital systems and practices. Objective To assess whether a PPP model in a hospital can help curb corruption. Methods We conducted 36 semistructured interviews with key informants between February 2013 and April 2013. We asked about hospital operations and practices at the government-run and PPP hospitals. We performed content analysis of interview data using a priori codes derived from the Corruption in the Health Sector framework and compared themes related with corruption between the hospitals. Results Corrupt practices that were described at the government-run hospital (theft, absenteeism, and shirking) were absent in the PPP hospital. In the PPP hospital, anticorruption mechanisms (controls on discretion, transparency, accountability, and detection and enforcement) were described in four management subsystems: human resources, facility and equipment management, drug supply, and security. Conclusion The PPP hospital appeared to reduce corruption by controlling discretion and increasing accountability, transparency, and detection and enforcement. Changes imposed new norms that supported personal responsibility and minimized opportunities, incentives, and pressures to engage in corrupt practices. By implementing private-sector management practices, a PPP model for hospital governance and management may curb corruption. To assess the feasibility of a PPP, administrators should account for cost savings resulting from reduced corruption. PMID:28746025

Corruption in Higher Education: Some Findings from the States of the Former Soviet Union

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Temple, Paul; Petrov, Georgy

2004-01-01

Many observers have noted that corruption in higher education is widespread in the states of the former Soviet Union. Little empirical evidence is available, however. This article examines some theoretical approaches to the study of corruption, and presents empirical data on corruption in higher education from Russia and Azerbaijan, collected by…

Why Do People Engage in Corruption? The Case of Estonia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tavits, Margit

2010-01-01

This study uses survey data for 2004 on the general public (N = 788) and public officials (N = 791) in the young post-communist democracy of Estonia to examine individual-level determinants of corruption. The results indicate that both public officials and citizens are more likely to engage in corruption when they do not define corruption as…

18 CFR 3c.3 - Reporting fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption and cooperation with official inquiries.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

..., abuse, and corruption and cooperation with official inquiries. 3c.3 Section 3c.3 Conservation of Power... OF CONDUCT § 3c.3 Reporting fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption and cooperation with official..., abuse, and corruption in Commission programs, including on the part of Commission employees, contractors...

"Feed from the Service": Corruption and Coercion in the State--University Relations in Central Eurasia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osipian, Ararat L.

2007-01-01

Education in Central Eurasia has become one of the industries, most affected by corruption. Corruption in academia, including bribery, extortions, embezzlement, nepotism, fraud, cheating, and plagiarism, is reflected in the region's media and addressed in few scholarly works. This paper considers corruption in higher education as a product of…

18 CFR 3c.3 - Reporting fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption and cooperation with official inquiries.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

..., abuse, and corruption and cooperation with official inquiries. 3c.3 Section 3c.3 Conservation of Power... OF CONDUCT § 3c.3 Reporting fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption and cooperation with official..., abuse, and corruption in Commission programs, including on the part of Commission employees, contractors...

"Feed from the Service": Corruption and Coercion in State-University Relations in Central Eurasia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osipian, Ararat L.

2009-01-01

Education in Central Eurasia has become one of the services most affected by corruption. Corruption in academia, including bribery, extortion, embezzlement, nepotism, fraud, cheating, and plagiarism, is reflected in the region's media and addressed in a few scholarly works. This article considers corruption in higher education as a product of…

Using Supply, Demand, and the Cournot Model to Understand Corruption

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hayford, Marc D.

2007-01-01

The author combines the supply and demand model of taxes with a Cournot model of bribe takers to develop a simple and useful framework for understanding the effect of corruption on economic activity. There are many examples of corruption in both developed and developing countries. Because corruption decreases the level of economic activity and…

AIDS NGOS and corruption in Nigeria

PubMed Central

Smith, Daniel Jordan

2011-01-01

Using two ethnographic case studies, the intersecting dynamics of inequality, morality, and corruption are examined as they play out in Nigerian AIDS NGOs. To the Nigerian public, local AIDS organizations are widely seen as conduits for corruption. But local opinions of particular NGOs and their leaders turn less on whether donor resources were misused and more on the ways that people who accumulate the benefits of corruption use them socially. Nevertheless, discontent swirls about corruption in general, a fact that suggests a gradual change in people's understandings of the processes that produce inequality in Nigeria. PMID:22469532

Inviting In the Private Sector

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-10-01

private sector . After all, corruption does not just involve government. Business people and lawyers and citizens pay the bribes, even as they condemn bribery. They should be invited to become part of the solution. But how? The first point to note is that business people and citizens know where corruption exists and how corrupt systems work. Citizens understand how bribery shapes the services they receive or don’t receive. Accountants know the illicit games played with audits and taxes. Lawyers understand corrupt legal practices. Business people know all about corrupt

The Effect of Self-Esteem on Corrupt Intention: The Mediating Role of Materialism

PubMed Central

Liang, Yuan; Liu, Li; Tan, Xuyun; Huang, Zhenwei; Dang, Jianning; Zheng, Wenwen

2016-01-01

The present set of studies aimed to explore the effect of self-esteem on corrupt intention and the mediating role of materialism in generating this effect. In Study 1, we used questionnaires to investigate the correlation among self-esteem, materialism, and corrupt intention. In Study 2, we manipulated self-esteem to explore the causal effect of self-esteem on materialism and corrupt intention. In Study 3, we manipulated materialism to examine whether inducing materialism can reduce the relationship between self-esteem and corrupt intention. The three studies converged to show that increased self-esteem caused a low level of materialism, which in turn decreased corrupt intention. The theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed. PMID:27462297

Good veterinary governance: definition, measurement and challenges.

PubMed

Msellati, L; Commault, J; Dehove, A

2012-08-01

Good veterinary governance assumes the provision of veterinary services that are sustainably financed, universally available, and provided efficiently without waste or duplication, in a manner that is transparent and free of fraud or corruption. Good veterinary governance is a necessary condition for sustainable economic development insomuch as it promotes the effective delivery of services and improves the overall performance of animal health systems. This article defines governance in Veterinary Services and proposes a framework for its measurement. It also discusses the role of Veterinary Services and analyses the governance dimensions of the performance-assessment tools developed by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). These tools (OIE PVS Tool and PVS Gap Analysis) track the performance of Veterinary Services across countries (a harmonised tool) and over time (the PVS Pathway). The article shows the usefulness of the OIE PVS Tool for measuring governance, but also points to two shortcomings, namely (i) the lack of clear outcome indicators, which is an impediment to a comprehensive assessment of the performance of Veterinary Services, and (ii) the lack of specific measures for assessing the extent of corruption within Veterinary Services and the extent to which demand for better governance is being strengthened within the animal health system. A discussion follows on the drivers of corruption and instruments for perception-based assessments of country governance and corruption. Similarly, the article introduces the concept of social accountability, which is an approach to enhancing government transparency and accountability, and shows how supply-side and demand-side mechanisms complement each other in improving the governance of service delivery. It further elaborates on two instruments--citizen report card surveys and grievance redress mechanisms--because of their wider relevance and their possible applications in many settings, including Veterinary Services. Also, central to improving transparency and accountability is access to information and a discussion on the appropriate level of decentralisation of Veterinary Services. Bringing Veterinary Services into compliance with OIE international standards would contribute to improving governance and providing economic benefits through increased animal productivity, the expansion of trade and improved food security. It would also help to increase public health benefits, through greater food safety and better prevention and control of zoonoses.

Effects of perceived descriptive norms on corrupt intention: The mediating role of moral disengagement.

PubMed

Zhao, Huanhuan; Zhang, Heyun; Xu, Yan

2017-01-31

The present study attempts to examine the effect of perceived descriptive norms on corrupt intention (e.g., bribe-taking intention) and then further explore the psychological mechanism underlying this effect. Based on social cognitive theory, we established a mediation model in which moral disengagement partially mediated the link between perceived descriptive norms and corrupt intention. In Study 1, participants (N = 690) completed a series of questionnaires, and the results demonstrated that, while perceived descriptive norms were positively associated with corrupt intention, it was partially mediated by moral disengagement. In Study 2, we conducted a priming experiment (N = 161) to test the causal relationship and psychological mechanism between perceived descriptive norms and corrupt intention. The results revealed that perceived descriptive norms triggered the propensity of individuals to morally disengage, which in turn, partially increased their corrupt intention. This study not only extends previous research by providing evidence that moral disengagement may be one of the reasons why perceived descriptive norms facilitate corrupt intention, but also suggests that reshaping normative beliefs and preventing the moral disengagement of individuals may be the effective ways to curb corrupt behaviours. © 2017 International Union of Psychological Science.

Radiation effects and risks: overview and a new risk perception index.

PubMed

Rehani, M M

2015-07-01

Uncertainty provides opportunities for differences in perception, and radiation risks at low level of exposures involved in few computed tomography scans fall in this category. While there is good agreement among national and international organisations on risk probability of cancer, risk perception has barely been dealt with by these organisations. Risk perception is commonly defined as the subjective judgment that people make about the characteristics and severity of a risk. Severity and latency are important factors in perception. There is a need to connect all these. Leaving risk perception purely as a subjective judgement provides opportunities for people to amplifying risk. The author postulates a risk perception index as severity divided by latency that becomes determining factor for risk perception. It is hoped that this index will bring rationality in risk perception. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Introduction: Institutional corruption and the pharmaceutical policy.

PubMed

Rodwin, Marc A

2013-01-01

Today, the goals of pharmaceutical policy and medical practice are often undermined due to institutional corruption - that is, widespread or systemic practices, usually legal, that undermine an institution's objectives or integrity. In this symposium, 16 articles investigate the corruption of pharmaceutical policy, each taking a different look at the sources of corruption, how it occurs, and what is corrupted. We will see that the pharmaceutical industry's own purposes are often undermined. Furthermore, pharmaceutical industry funding of election campaigns and lobbying skews the legislative process that sets pharmaceutical policy. Moreover, certain practices have corrupted medical research, the production of medical knowledge, the practice of medicine, drug safety, the Food and Drug Administration's oversight of the pharmaceutical market, and the trustworthiness of patient advocacy organizations. © 2013 American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Inc.

AIDS NGOS and corruption in Nigeria.

PubMed

Smith, Daniel Jordan

2012-05-01

Using two ethnographic case studies, the intersecting dynamics of inequality, morality, and corruption are examined as they play out in Nigerian AIDS NGOs. To the Nigerian public, local AIDS organizations are widely seen as conduits for corruption. But local opinions of particular NGOs and their leaders turn less on whether donor resources were misused and more on the ways that people who accumulate the benefits of corruption use them socially. Nevertheless, discontent swirls about corruption in general, a fact that suggests a gradual change in people's understandings of the processes that produce inequality in Nigeria. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Joint Strategic Oversight Plan for Afghanistan Reconstruction FY13

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-07-01

programs within its ministries and made progress in deterring corruption by investi­ gating, prosecuting, sanctioning or removing corrupt officials from...within its ministries and made progress in deterring corruption by investigat­ ing, prosecuting, sanctioning or removing corrupt officials from office...of oversight and Lodin’s credibility. • Department of Justice and the Justice Sector Support Program continued their suspension of training the

Review of corruption in the health sector: theory, methods and interventions.

PubMed

Vian, Taryn

2008-03-01

There is increasing interest among health policymakers, planners and donors in how corruption affects health care access and outcomes, and what can be done to combat corruption in the health sector. Efforts to explain the risk of abuse of entrusted power for private gain have examined the links between corruption and various aspects of management, financing and governance. Behavioural scientists and anthropologists also point to individual and social characteristics which influence the behaviour of government agents and clients. This article presents a comprehensive framework and a set of methodologies for describing and measuring how opportunities, pressures and rationalizations influence corruption in the health sector. The article discusses implications for intervention, and presents examples of how theory has been applied in research and practice. Challenges of tailoring anti-corruption strategies to particular contexts, and future directions for research, are addressed.

Evaluating the Impact of Disseminating of Information in Learners on Fighting Corruption in Kenya through a Kiswahili Set Book Mstahiki Meya

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuyuni, Stephen Muhala

2017-01-01

Corruption has been a worldwide issue in the contemporary world today. Many parts the world including Kenya is affected by corruption. Many writers and critics have shown that it's spreading at a very high rate just like HIV/AIDS and environmental degradation. They have noted that corruption is caused by the following factors: poor governance,…

The complex links between governance and biodiversity.

PubMed

Barrett, Christopher B; Gibson, Clark C; Hoffman, Barak; McCubbins, Mathew D

2006-10-01

We argue that two problems weaken the claims of those who link corruption and the exploitation of natural resources. The first is conceptual and the second is methodological. Studies that use national-level indicators of corruption fail to note that corruption comes in many forms, at multiple levels, that may affect resource use quite differently: negatively, positively, or not at all. Without a clear causal model of the mechanism by which corruption affects resources, one should treat with caution any estimated relationship between corruption and the state of natural resources. Simple, atheoretical models linking corruption measures and natural resource use typically do not account for other important control variables pivotal to the relationship between humans and natural resources. By way of illustration of these two general concerns, we used statistical methods to demonstrate that the findings of a recent, well-known study that posits a link between corruption and decreases in forests and elephants are not robust to simple conceptual and methodological refinements. In particular, once we controlled for a few plausible anthropogenic and biophysical conditioning factors, estimated the effects in changes rather than levels so as not to confound cross-sectional and longitudinal variation, and incorporated additional observations from the same data sources, corruption levels no longer had any explanatory power.

Analysis of teaching materials of civic education is characterized by the value of character in building an anti-corruption culture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sarmini; Suyanto, Totok; Nadiroh, Ulin

2018-01-01

In general, corruption is very harmful to society. One of the efforts in preventing corruption is by the culture of Anti-Corruption Education in the young generation through teaching materials in schools. The research method used is qualitative description. The sample in this research is 60 junior high school teachers of Citizenship Education in Surabaya. Data analysis technique used in this research is descriptive statistic with percentage technique. The result of this research is that it is very important that the value of the character of anti-corruption education in teaching materials to grow in the young generation.

Corruption and research.

PubMed

Luna, Florencia

1999-07-01

Last year there was a heated debate regarding clinical trials with AZT carried out in developing countries. AIDS vaccine trials also posed various dilemmas and ethical problems. In this paper I will consider the possibility of corruption in bioethics, and international multi-centre research will be taken as an example. International clinical trials will be seen from another perspective. I will try to show that the possibility of systemic corruption should be considered when designing an international multi-centre research trial which may involve countries in very different situations regarding corruption. I will analyze three different approaches to this problem and suggest some strategies regarding their capacity to exclude the possibility of corruption.

Corruption dynamics model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malafeyev, O. A.; Nemnyugin, S. A.; Rylow, D.; Kolpak, E. P.; Awasthi, Achal

2017-07-01

The corruption dynamics is analyzed by means of the lattice model which is similar to the three-dimensional Ising model. Agents placed at nodes of the corrupt network periodically choose to perfom or not to perform the act of corruption at gain or loss while making decisions based on the process history. The gain value and its dynamics are defined by means of the Markov stochastic process modelling with parameters established in accordance with the influence of external and individual factors on the agent's gain. The model is formulated algorithmically and is studied by means of the computer simulation. Numerical results are obtained which demonstrate asymptotic behaviour of the corruption network under various conditions.

Does the Wage Gap between Private and Public Sectors Encourage Political Corruption?

PubMed Central

Podobnik, Boris; Vukovic, Vuk; Stanley, H. Eugene

2015-01-01

We present a dynamic network model of corrupt and noncorrupt employees representing two states in the public and private sector. Corrupt employees are more connected to one another and are less willing to change their attitudes regarding corruption than noncorrupt employees. This behavior enables them to prevail and become the majority in the workforce through a first-order phase transition even though they initially represented a minority. In the model, democracy—understood as the principle of majority rule—does not create corruption, but it serves as a mechanism that preserves corruption in the long run. The motivation for our network model is a paradox that exists on the labor market. Although economic theory indicates that higher risk investments should lead to larger rewards, in many developed and developing countries workers in lower-risk public sector jobs are paid more than workers in higher-risk private sector jobs. To determine the long-run sustainability of this economic paradox, we study data from 28 EU countries and find that the public sector wage premium increases with the level of corruption. PMID:26495847

A Decision-Based Modified Total Variation Diffusion Method for Impulse Noise Removal

PubMed Central

Zhu, Qingxin; Song, Xiuli; Tao, Jinsong

2017-01-01

Impulsive noise removal usually employs median filtering, switching median filtering, the total variation L1 method, and variants. These approaches however often introduce excessive smoothing and can result in extensive visual feature blurring and thus are suitable only for images with low density noise. A new method to remove noise is proposed in this paper to overcome this limitation, which divides pixels into different categories based on different noise characteristics. If an image is corrupted by salt-and-pepper noise, the pixels are divided into corrupted and noise-free; if the image is corrupted by random valued impulses, the pixels are divided into corrupted, noise-free, and possibly corrupted. Pixels falling into different categories are processed differently. If a pixel is corrupted, modified total variation diffusion is applied; if the pixel is possibly corrupted, weighted total variation diffusion is applied; otherwise, the pixel is left unchanged. Experimental results show that the proposed method is robust to different noise strengths and suitable for different images, with strong noise removal capability as shown by PSNR/SSIM results as well as the visual quality of restored images. PMID:28536602

Does the Wage Gap between Private and Public Sectors Encourage Political Corruption?

PubMed

Podobnik, Boris; Vukovic, Vuk; Stanley, H Eugene

2015-01-01

We present a dynamic network model of corrupt and noncorrupt employees representing two states in the public and private sector. Corrupt employees are more connected to one another and are less willing to change their attitudes regarding corruption than noncorrupt employees. This behavior enables them to prevail and become the majority in the workforce through a first-order phase transition even though they initially represented a minority. In the model, democracy-understood as the principle of majority rule-does not create corruption, but it serves as a mechanism that preserves corruption in the long run. The motivation for our network model is a paradox that exists on the labor market. Although economic theory indicates that higher risk investments should lead to larger rewards, in many developed and developing countries workers in lower-risk public sector jobs are paid more than workers in higher-risk private sector jobs. To determine the long-run sustainability of this economic paradox, we study data from 28 EU countries and find that the public sector wage premium increases with the level of corruption.

Fractional order integration and fuzzy logic based filter for denoising of echocardiographic image.

PubMed

Saadia, Ayesha; Rashdi, Adnan

2016-12-01

Ultrasound is widely used for imaging due to its cost effectiveness and safety feature. However, ultrasound images are inherently corrupted with speckle noise which severely affects the quality of these images and create difficulty for physicians in diagnosis. To get maximum benefit from ultrasound imaging, image denoising is an essential requirement. To perform image denoising, a two stage methodology using fuzzy weighted mean and fractional integration filter has been proposed in this research work. In stage-1, image pixels are processed by applying a 3 × 3 window around each pixel and fuzzy logic is used to assign weights to the pixels in each window, replacing central pixel of the window with weighted mean of all neighboring pixels present in the same window. Noise suppression is achieved by assigning weights to the pixels while preserving edges and other important features of an image. In stage-2, the resultant image is further improved by fractional order integration filter. Effectiveness of the proposed methodology has been analyzed for standard test images artificially corrupted with speckle noise and real ultrasound B-mode images. Results of the proposed technique have been compared with different state-of-the-art techniques including Lsmv, Wiener, Geometric filter, Bilateral, Non-local means, Wavelet, Perona et al., Total variation (TV), Global Adaptive Fractional Integral Algorithm (GAFIA) and Improved Fractional Order Differential (IFD) model. Comparison has been done on quantitative and qualitative basis. For quantitative analysis different metrics like Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR), Speckle Suppression Index (SSI), Structural Similarity (SSIM), Edge Preservation Index (β) and Correlation Coefficient (ρ) have been used. Simulations have been done using Matlab. Simulation results of artificially corrupted standard test images and two real Echocardiographic images reveal that the proposed method outperforms existing image denoising techniques reported in the literature. The proposed method for denoising of Echocardiographic images is effective in noise suppression/removal. It not only removes noise from an image but also preserves edges and other important structure. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Conduct problems in a sample of institutionalized minors with previous mistreatment].

PubMed

Carrasco-Ortiz, M A; Rodríguez-Testal, J F; Hesse, B M

2001-06-01

The present study tries to analyse the maltreatment effects and the expected relation, according to the reviewed literature, with behaviour problems in a sample of children in residential care in a protection centre in Seville county (Spain). The sample was conformed by a group of maltreated subjects in a protection setting (n = 30) and two groups of equivalent comparison (n = 30 and n = 30). The first group was conformed by subjects living in a marginal area of Sevilla, similar to the origin setting of the study group, and the second group comes from a wealthy area of this city. The behaviour problems index CBC of Achenbach (1978; 1979; Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1983) was used. No significant differences between groups in the CBC total score was found. However, significant differences were found in the extemalising dimension and in the delinquency, somatic anxiety, somatic problems, and social withdrawal dimensions. Victims of corruption presented higher scores on the CBC total score, extemalising dimension, and delinquency. Young people, victims of child maltreatment and living in an institution, showed problems of withdrawal. Victims of corruption or emotional abuse presented more psychopathological problems.

Corruption and economic growth with non constant labor force growth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brianzoni, Serena; Campisi, Giovanni; Russo, Alberto

2018-05-01

Based on Brianzoni et al. [1] in the present work we propose an economic model regarding the relationship between corruption in public procurement and economic growth. We extend the benchmark model by introducing endogenous labor force growth, described by the logistic equation. The results of previous studies, as Del Monte and Papagni [2] and Mauro [3], show that countries are stuck in one of the two equilibria (high corruption and low economic growth or low corruption and high economic growth). Brianzoni et al. [1] prove the existence of a further steady state characterized by intermediate levels of capital per capita and corruption. Our aim is to investigate the effects of the endogenous growth around such equilibrium. Moreover, due to the high number of parameters of the model, specific attention is given to the numerical simulations which highlight new policy measures that can be adopted by the government to fight corruption.

Corruption and Local Democratization in Indonesia: The Role of Islamic Parties1

PubMed Central

Henderson, J. Vernon; Kuncoro, Ari

2013-01-01

Indonesia has a tradition of corruption among local officials who harass and collect bribes from firms. This paper examines whether corruption is affected by a change in institutions introducing local democratization and by party composition of local assemblies. Democratization occurred in 1999 and decentralization in 2001. We have firm-level data for 2001 and 2004. The 2001 data benchmark corruption at the time of decentralization, but for a limited sample of districts. We find that corruption declines between 2001 and 2004 overall, but much less [more] so in districts with more secular [Islamic] party representatives in district assemblies. For a larger sample of districts, correspondingly, we find that corruption in 2004 is more in districts which voted more in favor of secular party representatives in the first elections in 1999. We argue that the effects seem to be causal, over above any effects of changing religiosity and economic circumstances across districts. PMID:25083023

Combating Memory Corruption Attacks On Scada Devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bellettini, Carlo; Rrushi, Julian

Memory corruption attacks on SCADA devices can cause significant disruptions to control systems and the industrial processes they operate. However, despite the presence of numerous memory corruption vulnerabilities, few, if any, techniques have been proposed for addressing the vulnerabilities or for combating memory corruption attacks. This paper describes a technique for defending against memory corruption attacks by enforcing logical boundaries between potentially hostile data and safe data in protected processes. The technique encrypts all input data using random keys; the encrypted data is stored in main memory and is decrypted according to the principle of least privilege just before it is processed by the CPU. The defensive technique affects the precision with which attackers can corrupt control data and pure data, protecting against code injection and arc injection attacks, and alleviating problems posed by the incomparability of mitigation techniques. An experimental evaluation involving the popular Modbus protocol demonstrates the feasibility and efficiency of the defensive technique.

Control of corruption in healthcare.

PubMed

Ahmed, Armin; Azim, Afzal

2015-01-01

A recently published article on corruption in Indian healthcare in the BMJ has triggered a hot debate and numerous responses (1, 2, 3, 4). We do agree that corruption in Indian healthcare is a colossal issue and needs to be tackled urgently (5). However, we want to highlight that corruption in healthcare is not a local phenomenon confined to the Indian subcontinent, though India does serve as a good case study and intervention area due to the magnitude of the problem and the country's large population (6). Good governance, strict rules, transparency and zero tolerance are some of the strategies prescribed everywhere to tackle corruption. However, those entrusted with implementing good governance and strict rules in India need to go through a process of introspection to carry out their duties in a responsible fashion. At present, it looks like a no-win situation. In this article, we recommend education in medical ethics as the major intervention for dealing with corruption in healthcare.

Corruption and Local Democratization in Indonesia: The Role of Islamic Parties.

PubMed

Henderson, J Vernon; Kuncoro, Ari

2011-03-01

Indonesia has a tradition of corruption among local officials who harass and collect bribes from firms. This paper examines whether corruption is affected by a change in institutions introducing local democratization and by party composition of local assemblies. Democratization occurred in 1999 and decentralization in 2001. We have firm-level data for 2001 and 2004. The 2001 data benchmark corruption at the time of decentralization, but for a limited sample of districts. We find that corruption declines between 2001 and 2004 overall, but much less [more] so in districts with more secular [Islamic] party representatives in district assemblies. For a larger sample of districts, correspondingly, we find that corruption in 2004 is more in districts which voted more in favor of secular party representatives in the first elections in 1999. We argue that the effects seem to be causal, over above any effects of changing religiosity and economic circumstances across districts.

[Corruption risks in relations between doctor and patient ].

PubMed

Kolwitz, Marcin; Gąsiorowski, Jakub

2014-01-01

The article describes the problem of corruption occurring in the relationship between doctor and patient. The doctor-patient relationship, including the provision of health services, is one of several potential areas of corruption in the health care system. Among the reasons for the existence of corruption in these relationships are the need to obtain better healthcare for the patient, and higher earnings in the case of a doctor. Indications of corruption are utilitarian (action for personal advantage without ethical aspects), but may also be (actually or in the patient's opinion) the only way to obtain services and save health and even life. Corruption between the doctor and the patient can be limited by better organization of the health care system, including the financing of benefits and education of medical personnel and patients, as well as traditional legal measures, such as prevention or the application of criminal sanctions.

The importance of anti corruption education teaching materials for the young generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sarmini; Made Swanda, I.; Nadiroh, Ulin

2018-01-01

Corruption is one of the most serious issues in many countries. The purpose of this paper is to identify the importance of anti-corruption education teaching materials for the younger generation. The research method used qualitative description with questionnaire as data collection tool. The sample in this research was 150 junior high school teachers in Surabaya. Data analysis technique used in this research was descriptive statistic with percentage technique. The result of this research was that Socisl Studies teachers in Surabaya realize that teaching materials on Anti-Corruption Education is very important in Social Studies learning activities. Recommendations for further research is to examine the antieducation teaching materials that contain the value of anti-corruption character. With anticorruption education is expected to give awareness and change to all the younger generation to understand and realize the importance of having the character of anti-corruption and can mengnglemlem in society.

Interventions to reduce corruption in the health sector

PubMed Central

Gaitonde, Rakhal; Oxman, Andrew D; Okebukola, Peter O; Rada, Gabriel

2016-01-01

Background Corruption is the abuse or complicity in abuse, of public or private position, power or authority to benefit oneself, a group, an organisation or others close to oneself; where the benefits may be financial, material or non-material. It is wide-spread in the health sector and represents a major problem. Objectives Our primary objective was to systematically summarise empirical evidence of the effects of strategies to reduce corruption in the health sector. Our secondary objective was to describe the range of strategies that have been tried and to guide future evaluations of promising strategies for which there is insufficient evidence. Search methods We searched 14 electronic databases up to January 2014, including: CENTRAL; MEDLINE; EMBASE; sociological, economic, political and other health databases; Human Resources Abstracts up to November 2010; Euroethics up to August 2015; and PubMed alerts from January 2014 to June 2016. We searched another 23 websites and online databases for grey literature up to August 2015, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, Transparency International, healthcare anti-fraud association websites and trial registries. We conducted citation searches in Science Citation Index and Google Scholar, and searched PubMed for related articles up to August 2015. We contacted corruption researchers in December 2015, and screened reference lists of articles up to May 2016. Selection criteria For the primary analysis, we included randomised trials, non-randomised trials, interrupted time series studies and controlled before-after studies that evaluated the effects of an intervention to reduce corruption in the health sector. For the secondary analysis, we included case studies that clearly described an intervention to reduce corruption in the health sector, addressed either our primary or secondary objective, and stated the methods that the study authors used to collect and analyse data. Data collection and analysis One review author extracted data from the included studies and a second review author checked the extracted data against the reports of the included studies. We undertook a structured synthesis of the findings. We constructed a results table and 'Summaries of findings' tables. We used the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach to assess the certainty of the evidence. Main results No studies met the inclusion criteria of the primary analysis. We included nine studies that met the inclusion criteria for the secondary analysis. One study found that a package of interventions coordinated by the US Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Justice recovered a large amount of money and resulted in hundreds of new cases and convictions each year (high certainty of the evidence). Another study from the USA found that establishment of an independent agency to investigate and enforce efforts against overbilling might lead to a small reduction in overbilling, but the certainty of this evidence was very low. A third study from India suggested that the impacts of coordinated efforts to reduce corruption through increased detection and enforcement are dependent on continued political support and that they can be limited by a dysfunctional judicial system (very low certainty of the evidence). One study in South Korea and two in the USA evaluated increased efforts to investigate and punish corruption in clinics and hospitals without establishing an independent agency to coordinate these efforts. It is unclear whether these were effective because the evidence is of very low certainty. One study from Kyrgyzstan suggested that increased transparency and accountability for co-payments together with reduction of incentives for demanding informal payments may reduce informal payments (low certainty of the evidence). One study from Germany suggested that guidelines that prohibit hospital doctors from accepting any form of benefits from the pharmaceutical industry may improve doctors' attitudes about the influence of pharmaceutical companies on their choice of medicines (low certainty of the evidence). A study in the USA, evaluated the effects of introducing a law that required pharmaceutical companies to report the gifts they gave to healthcare workers. Another study in the USA evaluated the effects of a variety of internal control mechanisms used by community health centres to stop corruption. The effects of these strategies is unclear because the evidence was of very low certainty. Authors' conclusions There is a paucity of evidence regarding how best to reduce corruption. Promising interventions include improvements in the detection and punishment of corruption, especially efforts that are coordinated by an independent agency. Other promising interventions include guidelines that prohibit doctors from accepting benefits from the pharmaceutical industry, internal control practices in community health centres, and increased transparency and accountability for co-payments combined with reduced incentives for informal payments. The extent to which increased transparency alone reduces corruption is uncertain. There is a need to monitor and evaluate the impacts of all interventions to reduce corruption, including their potential adverse effects. Interventions to reduce corruption in the health sector What is the aim of this review? The aim of this Cochrane review is to assess the effectiveness of strategies to reduce corruption in the health sector. Cochrane researchers searched for all potentially relevant studies, and found nine studies that met their criteria. Key messages The review suggests that some strategies to fight corruption in the health sector can have an effect on corruption. These strategies include the use of independent agencies to investigate and punish corruption, telling healthcare workers that they are not allowed to accept payments from pharmaceutical companies, ensuring that information about healthcare prices is clear and accessible to the public together with increasing healthcare worker salaries. However, the certainty of this evidence varies. We need more high-quality studies that assess the effects of these and other strategies. What was studied in the review? Corruption can occur in any area of the health sector, and happens when people abuse their own position to benefit themselves, their organisation, or other people close to them. It can take many forms, including bribes, theft, or giving incorrect or inaccurate information deliberately. Healthcare officials, for instance, may steal healthcare funds, hospital administrators may change patient records to increase hospital payments, doctors may accept bribes from pharmaceutical companies in exchange for using their products, and patients may try to bribe hospital staff to avoid treatment queues. Corruption affects the health sector in many ways. It can take money away from healthcare, lead to poorer quality care and make access to healthcare unfair, and often affects poor people the hardest. What are the main results of the review? The review authors included nine relevant studies that used different strategies to stop corruption. • In a study from the USA, efforts to investigate and punish corruption in the health sector were also increased. An independent agency at the national level coordinated these efforts, which led to convictions and the recovery of large amounts of money (high certainty evidence). These efforts may also have led to substantial savings to the government (low certainty evidence). In another study from the USA establishment of an independent agency to investigate and enforce efforts against overbilling was established, but the effects of these efforts are unclear because the evidence was of very low certainty. In India, there were efforts to stop corruption through the appointment of an ombudsman in one state. However, the effect of this strategy is unclear because the evidence was of very low certainty. • In one study in South Korea and two in the USA, efforts to investigate and punish corruption in clinics and hospitals were increased, without establishing an independent agency. However, it is unclear whether these were effective because the evidence is of very low certainty. • In a study in Kyrgyzstan, the government carried out a number of strategies, including giving patients and the public information about how much they should be paying, and increasing healthcare workers' salaries. This study shows that these strategies may have led to fewer patients giving their doctors informal payments (low certainty evidence). • In a study in Germany, hospital doctors were given guidelines telling them that they were not allowed to accept money or gifts from pharmaceutical companies. The study suggests that this may have changed doctors' attitudes about the influence of pharmaceutical companies on their choice of medicines (low certainty evidence). • In one study in the USA, the authorities introduced a law that required pharmaceutical companies to report the gifts they gave to healthcare workers. In another USA-based study, community health centres attempted to stop corruption using a variety of internal control mechanisms. However, the effect of these strategies is unclear because the evidence was of very low certainty. We don't know what the effects of these strategies have on healthcare or people's health, or if these strategies had any harmful effects. This is because the studies only assessed the effects of the strategies on corruption and the use of resources, or because the evidence was of very low certainty. How up to date is this review? The review authors searched for studies that had been published up to 06 June 2016. PMID:27528494

Corruption and the Other(s): Scope of Superordinate Identity Matters for Corruption Permissibility.

PubMed

Pisor, Anne C; Gurven, Michael

2015-01-01

The decision to engage in corruption-public and private corruption, nepotism, and embezzlement-is often attributed to rational actors maximizing benefits to themselves. However, the importance of reciprocal relationships in humans suggests that an actor may weigh the costs of harms of her corrupt behavior to individuals who may generate future benefits for her. We hypothesize that actors who have a larger circle of actual and potential social partners will have more individuals to consider when generating harms and will thus be less likely to find corrupt acts permissible than actors with smaller circles of valued others. Using data from the World Values Survey and European Values Study (WVS), we explore whether participants with a larger geographic identity or a greater number of group memberships (i.e. a larger scope of actual and potential social partners) are less likely to find accepting bribes permissible. We find mixed support for our hypotheses, but consistently find that WVS participants with local, country, continent, or world geographic identities are less likely to find accepting a bribe permissible than those with regional identities-that is, actors whose primary identities that encompass more than their region find corruption less permissible. We discuss the importance of considering an actor's valuation of others when modeling corruption persistence, noting that establishing scopes of positive valuation is a precursor to predicting where actors will target benefits and shunt costs.

Tackling corruption in the pharmaceutical systems worldwide with courage and conviction.

PubMed

Cohen, J C; Mrazek, M; Hawkins, L

2007-03-01

Poor drug access continues to be one of the main global health problems. Global inequalities in access to pharmaceuticals are caused by a number of variables including poverty, high drug prices, poor health infrastructure, and fraud and corruption--the latter being the subject of this article. There is growing recognition among policy makers that corruption in the pharmaceutical system can waste valuable resources allocated to pharmaceutical products and services. This, in turn, denies those most in need from life-saving or life-enhancing medicines. As a result, international organizations, including the World Health Organization and the World Bank are beginning to address the issue of corruption in the health sector broadly and the pharmaceutical system specifically. This is encouraging news for improving drug access for the global poor who are most harmed by corruption as they tend to purchase less expensive drugs from unqualified or illegal drug sellers selling counterfeit or sub-standard drugs. In our paper, we illuminate what are the core issues that relate to corruption in the pharmaceutical sector. We argue that corruption in the pharmaceutical system can be detrimental to a country's ability to improve the health of its population. Moreover, unless policy makers deal with the issue of corruption, funding allocated to the pharmaceutical system to treat health conditions may simply be wasted and the inequality between rich and poor in access to health and pharmaceutical products will be aggravated.

Democracy and "Grand" Corruption.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rose-Ackerman, Susan

1996-01-01

Defines "grand" corruption as that occurring at the higher levels of a political system and involving large sums of money. Discusses the impact and incentives for this level of corruption as well as various government responses. Identifies multinational corporations as the major malefactors. (MJP)

Bioethics and corruption: a personal struggle.

PubMed

Blasszauer, Bela

2013-01-01

The author attempts to give a general picture of corruption, especially in the area of healthcare. Corruption ranges from fraud, through deceit, bribery and dehumanisation, to immeasurable moral decay. As a bioethicist who has challenged corruption in various ways, the author approaches this worldwide plague mainly on the basis of his personal experience. He does not offer a recipe for successfully combating corruption, but tries to provide some ways and means to fight immorality without self-defeat. Bioethics is not a discipline whose task is to investigate, expose, or punish corrupt people. A number of agencies exist for this "noble" job. Nevertheless, an ethics teacher should not be completely indifferent to obvious and harmful immoral behaviour, regardless of his/her personal compulsions. It is not the "patient rights" that threaten the prestige of the medical profession; it is rather the bad apples that infiltrate the moral mission of this esteemed work. It seems that the hardest challenges in the struggle against corruption are bad laws-laws that provide loopholes and immunity to immoral dealings. In a stable, strong democracy, morally unfounded laws can, and will be changed. Where real democracy exists, they would not even have come into effect.

Social values and the corruption argument against financial incentives for healthy behaviour

PubMed Central

Brown, Rebecca C H

2017-01-01

Financial incentives may provide a way of reducing the burden of chronic diseases by motivating people to adopt healthy behaviours. While it is still uncertain how effective such incentives could be for promoting health, some argue that, even if effective, there are ethical objections that preclude their use. One such argument is made by Michael Sandel, who suggests that monetary transactions can have a corrupting effect on the norms and values that ordinarily regulate exchange and behaviour in previously non-monetised contexts. In this paper, I outline Sandel's corruption argument and consider its validity in the context of health incentives. I distinguish between two forms of corruption that are implied by Sandel's argument: efficiency corruption and value corruption. While Sandel's thought-provoking discussion provides a valuable contribution to debates about health policies generally and health incentives specifically, I suggest the force of his criticism of health incentives is limited: further empirical evidence and theoretical reasoning are required to support the suggestion that health incentives are an inappropriate tool for promoting health. While I do not find Sandel's corruption argument compelling, this only constitutes a partial defence of health incentives, since other criticisms relating to their use may prove more successful. PMID:27738254

32 CFR 516.58 - Policies.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... LITIGATION Remedies in Procurement Fraud and Corruption § 516.58 Policies. (a) Procurement fraud and... administrative remedies in significant cases of fraud or corruption relating to Army procurement. (d) The key... of fraud or corruption involving procurement. (g) Coordination on the status and disposition of cases...

A model of interaction between anticorruption authority and corruption groups

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Neverova, Elena G.; Malafeyef, Oleg A.

The paper provides a model of interaction between anticorruption unit and corruption groups. The main policy functions of the anticorruption unit involve reducing corrupt practices in some entities through an optimal approach to resource allocation and effective anticorruption policy. We develop a model based on Markov decision-making process and use Howard’s policy-improvement algorithm for solving an optimal decision strategy. We examine the assumption that corruption groups retaliate against the anticorruption authority to protect themselves. This model was implemented through stochastic game.

[Sponsorship, conflict of interest and corruption: promoting science in discussion of medical ethics].

PubMed

Frewer, A

2002-01-01

Even in health care systems corruption is an increasing problem. Since the German Anti-Corruption-Law (1997) the areas of financial support, sponsoring and corruption in medicine are analyzed much more intensively. This article sketches the crucial points of the debate on medical funding and shows the consequences of the new jurisdiction. Most important is the balance between a transparent documentation and a too-far-reaching bureaucracy, which hinders medical research. Finally, this article presents core principles as helpful rules in practice.

U.S. and Department of Defense Building Partnership Capacity and Counter/Anti-Corruption: A Symbiotic Relationship or One at Odds

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-02-16

AIR WAR COLLEGE AIR UNIVERSITY U.S. AND DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE BUILDING PARTNERSHIP CAPACITY AND COUNTER/ANTI-CORRUPTION: A SYMBIOTIC ...Extortion,” DoD BPC and counter/anti-corruption have resulted in both a symbiotic relationship and one at odds. This uncomfortable dichotomy has led to...extraversion as “Soft Extortion” have all led DoD BPC and counter/anti-corruption efforts into a relationship that is both symbiotic and one at odds

Games of corruption: how to suppress illegal logging.

PubMed

Lee, Joung-Hun; Sigmund, Karl; Dieckmann, Ulf; Iwasa, Yoh

2015-02-21

Corruption is one of the most serious obstacles for ecosystem management and biodiversity conservation. In particular, more than half of the loss of forested area in many tropical countries is due to illegal logging, with corruption implicated in a lack of enforcement. Here we study an evolutionary game model to analyze the illegal harvesting of forest trees, coupled with the corruption of rule enforcers. We consider several types of harvesters, who may or may not be committed towards supporting an enforcer service, and who may cooperate (log legally) or defect (log illegally). We also consider two types of rule enforcers, honest and corrupt: while honest enforcers fulfill their function, corrupt enforcers accept bribes from defecting harvesters and refrain from fining them. We report three key findings. First, in the absence of strategy exploration, the harvester-enforcer dynamics are bistable: one continuum of equilibria consists of defecting harvesters and a low fraction of honest enforcers, while another consists of cooperating harvesters and a high fraction of honest enforcers. Both continua attract nearby strategy mixtures. Second, even a small rate of strategy exploration removes this bistability, rendering one of the outcomes globally stable. It is the relative rate of exploration among enforcers that then determines whether most harvesters cooperate or defect and most enforcers are honest or corrupt, respectively. This suggests that the education of enforcers, causing their more frequent trialing of honest conduct, can be a potent means of curbing corruption. Third, if information on corrupt enforcers is available, and players react opportunistically to it, the domain of attraction of cooperative outcomes widens considerably. We conclude by discussing policy implications of our results. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Investing in threatened species conservation: does corruption outweigh purchasing power?

PubMed

Garnett, Stephen T; Joseph, Liana N; Watson, James E M; Zander, Kerstin K

2011-01-01

In many sectors, freedom in capital flow has allowed optimization of investment returns through choosing sites that provide the best value for money. These returns, however, can be compromised in countries where corruption is prevalent. We assessed where the best value for money might be obtained for investment in threatened species that occur at a single site, when taking into account corruption. We found that the influence of corruption on potential investment decisions was outweighed by the likely value for money in terms of pricing parity. Nevertheless global conservation is likely to get best returns in terms of threatened species security by investing in "honest" countries than in corrupt ones, particularly those with a high cost of living.

Investing in Threatened Species Conservation: Does Corruption Outweigh Purchasing Power?

PubMed Central

Garnett, Stephen T.; Joseph, Liana N.; Watson, James E. M.; Zander, Kerstin K.

2011-01-01

In many sectors, freedom in capital flow has allowed optimization of investment returns through choosing sites that provide the best value for money. These returns, however, can be compromised in countries where corruption is prevalent. We assessed where the best value for money might be obtained for investment in threatened species that occur at a single site, when taking into account corruption. We found that the influence of corruption on potential investment decisions was outweighed by the likely value for money in terms of pricing parity. Nevertheless global conservation is likely to get best returns in terms of threatened species security by investing in “honest” countries than in corrupt ones, particularly those with a high cost of living. PMID:21818383

Evolutionary Paths to Corrupt Societies of Artificial Agents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nasrallah, Walid

Virtual corrupt societies can be defined as groups of interacting computer-generated agents who predominantly choose behavior that gives short term personal gain at the expense of a higher aggregate cost to others. This paper focuses on corrupt societies that, unlike published models in which cooperation must evolve in order for the society to continue to survive, do not naturally die out as the corrupt class siphons off the resources. For example, a very computationally simple strategy of avoiding confrontation can allow a majority of "unethical" individuals to survive off the efforts of an "ethical" but productive minority. Analogies are drawn to actual human societies in which similar conditions gave rise to behavior traditionally defined as economic or political corruption.

75 FR 5502 - Belarus Sanctions Regulations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-03

... to engage in public corruption, including by diverting or misusing Belarusian public assets or by... responsible for or has engaged in public corruption related to Belarus; (iv) to have materially assisted... responsible for or has engaged in public corruption related to Belarus; (iv) To have materially assisted...

Political Corruption in Japan.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reed, Steven R.; And Others

1996-01-01

Provides an overview of political corruption and its place in Japanese culture and society. Discusses recent scandals and efforts at political reform. These efforts are moving Japan from a "boss-patronage" system to a "civic-culture." Includes a table of post-war Japanese prime ministers and corruption scandals. (MJP)

Another Discussion about Academic Corruption

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Changgeng, Li

2007-01-01

Academic corruption is a commonplace matter about which all people are clearly aware. However, people often overlook many hidden or latent manifestations of academic corruption. This article discusses eight of these manifestations: indiscriminate use of the academic team spirit, the proliferation of "word games," deliberate attacks on…

78 FR 78463 - Summary of the Certification Related to the Khmer Rouge Tribunal

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-26

... taking credible steps to address allegations of corruption and mismanagement within the Extraordinary... allegations of corruption and mismanagement within the tribunal. MEMORANDUM OF JUSTIFICATION FOR CERTIFICATION... allegations of corruption and mismanagement within the ECCC. Deputy Secretary Burns has signed the...

Video quality assessment method motivated by human visual perception

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Meiling; Jiang, Gangyi; Yu, Mei; Song, Yang; Peng, Zongju; Shao, Feng

2016-11-01

Research on video quality assessment (VQA) plays a crucial role in improving the efficiency of video coding and the performance of video processing. It is well acknowledged that the motion energy model generates motion energy responses in a middle temporal area by simulating the receptive field of neurons in V1 for the motion perception of the human visual system. Motivated by the biological evidence for the visual motion perception, a VQA method is proposed in this paper, which comprises the motion perception quality index and the spatial index. To be more specific, the motion energy model is applied to evaluate the temporal distortion severity of each frequency component generated from the difference of Gaussian filter bank, which produces the motion perception quality index, and the gradient similarity measure is used to evaluate the spatial distortion of the video sequence to get the spatial quality index. The experimental results of the LIVE, CSIQ, and IVP video databases demonstrate that the random forests regression technique trained by the generated quality indices is highly correspondent to human visual perception and has many significant improvements than comparable well-performing methods. The proposed method has higher consistency with subjective perception and higher generalization capability.

Fuzzy Filtering Method for Color Videos Corrupted by Additive Noise

PubMed Central

Ponomaryov, Volodymyr I.; Montenegro-Monroy, Hector; Nino-de-Rivera, Luis

2014-01-01

A novel method for the denoising of color videos corrupted by additive noise is presented in this paper. The proposed technique consists of three principal filtering steps: spatial, spatiotemporal, and spatial postprocessing. In contrast to other state-of-the-art algorithms, during the first spatial step, the eight gradient values in different directions for pixels located in the vicinity of a central pixel as well as the R, G, and B channel correlation between the analogous pixels in different color bands are taken into account. These gradient values give the information about the level of contamination then the designed fuzzy rules are used to preserve the image features (textures, edges, sharpness, chromatic properties, etc.). In the second step, two neighboring video frames are processed together. Possible local motions between neighboring frames are estimated using block matching procedure in eight directions to perform interframe filtering. In the final step, the edges and smoothed regions in a current frame are distinguished for final postprocessing filtering. Numerous simulation results confirm that this novel 3D fuzzy method performs better than other state-of-the-art techniques in terms of objective criteria (PSNR, MAE, NCD, and SSIM) as well as subjective perception via the human vision system in the different color videos. PMID:24688428

77 FR 27109 - Certification Related to the Khmer Rouge Tribunal; Correction

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-08

... Cambodia are taking credible steps to address allegations of corruption and mismanagement within the... Authority 245-1. Factors Justifying Determination and Certification Allegations of corruption were abundant... steps to protect the integrity of its proceedings against allegations of corruption. In August 2009 the...

32 CFR 516.62 - PFD and HQ USACIDC coordination.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... AUTHORITIES AND PUBLIC RELATIONS LITIGATION Remedies in Procurement Fraud and Corruption § 516.62 PFD and HQ... procurement fraud or corruption investigations being conducted by USACIDC and possible remedies. These... affected by a significant investigation of fraud or corruption that relates to DOD procurement activities...

Economic assessment of the construction industry: A construction-economics nexus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barber, Herbert Marion, Jr.

The purpose of this study was to conduct an economic assessment of the construction industry. More specifically, this study addresses ambiguities within the literature that are associated with the construction-economics nexus. The researcher 1) investigated the relationships between economic indicators and stock prices of U.S. construction equipment manufacturers, 2) investigated the relationships between energy production, consumption, and corruption, and 3) determined the economic effect electricity generation and electricity consumption has on economies of scale. The researcher used descriptive and inferential statistics in this study and determined that economists, researchers, policy-makers, and others should have predicted the 2007-08 world economic collapse 5-6 years prior to realization of the event given that construction indices and GDP grossly regressed from statistically acceptable trends as early as 2002 and perhaps 2000. Substantiating this claim, the effect of the cost of construction materials and labor, i.e. construction index, on GDP was significant for years leading up to the collapse (1970-2007). Additionally, it was determined that energy production and consumption are predictors of governmental corruption in some countries. In the Republic of Botswana, for example, the researcher determined that energy production and consumption statistically jointly effected governmental corruption. In addition to determining statistical effect, a model for predicting governmental corruption was developed based on energy production and consumption volumes. Also, the researcher found that electricity generation in the 25 largest world economies had a statistically significant effect on GDP. Electricity consumption also had an effect on GDP, as well, but not on other economic indicators. More importantly than the quantitative findings, the researcher concluded that the construction-economics nexus is far more complex than most policy-makers realize. As such, infrastructure spending may, or may not, be an answer to the current world economic collapse, as much more research remains to be completed by researchers to address known ambiguities within various associated findings. Until a collective agreement can be reached among researchers as to the effect that construction spending has on economic output under known, specific parameters, policy-makers should exercise extreme caution when leveraging infrastructure spending as a solution for overcoming the world economic collapse.

Corruption and Coercion: University Autonomy versus State Control

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osipian, Ararat L.

2008-01-01

A substantial body of literature considers excessive corruption an indicator of a weak state. However, in nondemocratic societies, corruption--whether informally approved, imposed, or regulated by public authorities--is often an indicator of a vertical power rather than an indicator of a weak state. This article explores the interrelations between…

Atypical Corruption at Institutions of Higher Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Li

2007-01-01

This article describes an incident involving twelve teachers at Anhui Haozhou Normal Junior College who used purchased dissertations to apply for professional titles over three consecutive years. Academic corruption is not merely today's problem, and the academic corruption at the institutions of higher learning that the author discloses in this…

"Fin de Siecle" Corruption: Change, Crisis, and Shifting Values.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meny, Yves

1996-01-01

Defines corruption as a violation of the duties of office and a negation of the values that should underlie the democratic political and administrative system founded on the rule of law. Examines the reasons for the increase in corruption over the last decade and its internationalization. (MJP)

Corruption in Education Sector Development: A Suggestion for Anticipatory Strategy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tanaka, Shinichiro

2001-01-01

Proposes an anticipatory strategy that will help protect education sector development from corruption. The strategy, which may exist as a "hidden agenda" within a project, focuses on diagnosing rather than redressing a system thought to be corrupt, adopting prevention rather than punishment, informal rather than formal approaches, and…

Strengthening Integrity and Fighting Corruption in Education: Serbia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

OECD Publishing (NJ3), 2012

2012-01-01

Education matters. It is a gateway to prosperity of individuals and economies alike. Integrity in education matters too. Corruption hinders prosperity, causes long-term damage to societies, and diminishes the efficiency of investment in their human potential. Driven by the insight that corruption in education can undermine even the best of…

The Rhetoric of Political Corruption: Sociolinguistic, Dialectical, and Ceremonial Processes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gronbeck, Bruce E.

1978-01-01

Examines the public discourse surrounding political corruption by arguing that the ritualistic deposition of corrupters is based in a sociolinguistic process of assigning meanings to acts, a dialectical process of contrapositioning competing voices, and a ceremonial process of acting out the drama of purgation before the affected institutions…

Leading bureaucracies to the tipping point: An alternative model of multiple stable equilibrium levels of corruption

PubMed Central

Caulkins, Jonathan P.; Feichtinger, Gustav; Grass, Dieter; Hartl, Richard F.; Kort, Peter M.; Novak, Andreas J.; Seidl, Andrea

2013-01-01

We present a novel model of corruption dynamics in the form of a nonlinear optimal dynamic control problem. It has a tipping point, but one whose origins and character are distinct from that in the classic Schelling (1978) model. The decision maker choosing a level of corruption is the chief or some other kind of authority figure who presides over a bureaucracy whose state of corruption is influenced by the authority figure’s actions, and whose state in turn influences the pay-off for the authority figure. The policy interpretation is somewhat more optimistic than in other tipping models, and there are some surprising implications, notably that reforming the bureaucracy may be of limited value if the bureaucracy takes its cues from a corrupt leader. PMID:23565027

Leading bureaucracies to the tipping point: An alternative model of multiple stable equilibrium levels of corruption.

PubMed

Caulkins, Jonathan P; Feichtinger, Gustav; Grass, Dieter; Hartl, Richard F; Kort, Peter M; Novak, Andreas J; Seidl, Andrea

2013-03-16

We present a novel model of corruption dynamics in the form of a nonlinear optimal dynamic control problem. It has a tipping point, but one whose origins and character are distinct from that in the classic Schelling (1978) model. The decision maker choosing a level of corruption is the chief or some other kind of authority figure who presides over a bureaucracy whose state of corruption is influenced by the authority figure's actions, and whose state in turn influences the pay-off for the authority figure. The policy interpretation is somewhat more optimistic than in other tipping models, and there are some surprising implications, notably that reforming the bureaucracy may be of limited value if the bureaucracy takes its cues from a corrupt leader.

Investigating the Underlying Factors of Corruption in the Public Construction Sector: Evidence from China.

PubMed

Shan, Ming; Le, Yun; Yiu, Kenneth T W; Chan, Albert P C; Hu, Yi

2017-12-01

Over recent years, the issue of corruption in the public construction sector has attracted increasing attention from both practitioners and researchers worldwide. However, limited efforts are available for investigating the underlying factors of corruption in this sector. Thus, this study attempted to bridge this knowledge gap by exploring the underlying factors of corruption in the public construction sector of China. To achieve this goal, a total of 14 structured interviews were first carried out, and a questionnaire survey was then administered to 188 professionals in China. Two iterations of multivariate analysis approaches, namely, stepwise multiple regression analysis and partial least squares structural equation modeling were successively utilized to analyze the collected data. In addition, a case study was also conducted to triangulate the findings obtained from the statistical analysis. The results generated from these three research methods achieve the same conclusion: the most influential underlying factor leading to corruption was immorality, followed by opacity, unfairness, procedural violation, and contractual violation. This study has contributed to the body of knowledge by exploring the properties of corruption in the public construction sector. The findings from this study are also valuable to the construction authorities as they can assist in developing more effective anti-corruption strategies.

Parties heed (with caution)

PubMed Central

Fisher, Justin

2011-01-01

Despite comprehensive reform (Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act) and recent review (Phillips Review in 2007) of party finance in Britain, public opinion of party finance remains plagued by perceptions of corruption, undue influence from wealthy donors, carefree and wasteful spending and, more generally, from the perception that there is just ‘too much money’ in politics. In this article we argue that knowledge of and attitudes to party finance matter, not least because advocates of reform have cited public opinion as evidence for reform. However, because attitudes to party finance are part of a broader attitudinal structure, opinion-led reforms are unlikely to succeed in increasing public confidence. Using data generated from YouGov’s online panel (N=2,008), we demonstrate that the public know little of the key provisions regulating party finance and attitudes to party finance can be explained along two underlying dimensions – Anti-Party Finance and Reformers. As such, we consider whether parties and politicians should be freed from the constraints of public opinion in reforming party finance. PMID:29097904

The role of physical activity, body mass index and maturity status in body-related perceptions and self-esteem of adolescents.

PubMed

Altıntaş, A; Aşçı, F H; Kin-İşler, A; Güven-Karahan, B; Kelecek, S; Özkan, A; Yılmaz, A; Kara, F M

2014-01-01

Adolescence represents a transitional period which is marked by physical, social and psychological changes. Changes in body shape and physical activity especially alter and shape the psychological well-being of adolescents. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of physical activity level, body mass index and maturity status in body-related perception and self-esteem of 11-18 years old adolescents. A total of 1012 adolescents participated in this study. The "Social Physique Anxiety Scale", "Body Image Satisfaction Scale", "Physical Self-Perception Profile for Children" and "Rosenberg Self-Esteem Inventory" were administered. Physical activity level and body mass index were assessed using the "Physical Activity Questionnaire" and "Bioelectrical Impedance Analyzer", respectively. Regression analysis indicated that body mass index was the only predictor of perceived body attractiveness, social physique anxiety, body image satisfaction and self-esteem for female adolescents. For male adolescents, both physical activity and body mass index were correlated with perceived body attractiveness and social physique anxiety. Pubertal status were not correlated with self-esteem and body-related perceptions for both males and females adolescents. In summary, body mass index and physical activity plays an important role in body-related perceptions and self-esteem of adolescents.

32 CFR 516.67 - Overseas cases of fraud or corruption.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 32 National Defense 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Overseas cases of fraud or corruption. 516.67 Section 516.67 National Defense Department of Defense (Continued) DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY AID OF CIVIL AUTHORITIES AND PUBLIC RELATIONS LITIGATION Remedies in Procurement Fraud and Corruption § 516.67 Overseas...

Educating Accountants in Corruption Pervasive Societies: A Focus on Nigeria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Idialu, Jeremiah Uwaifo; Oghuma, Richard Iyere

2007-01-01

There has been widespread corruption in almost all societies and a general belief that without the involvement of Accountants, or if accountants carry out their duties effectively, there will be no corruption. Therefore this paper is designed to look at the current approach educating accountants in order to discover the educational arrangement put…

An Analysis of the Mechanisms of the Social Control of Corruption in the Higher Education System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Borisova, E. A.

2014-01-01

Corruption in the system of higher education in Russia is a barrier to fair access to the labor market for educated specialists, and a survey of programs to combat this type of corruption shows that it needs to be taken more seriously as a problem.

In Russia, Corruption Plagues the Higher-Education System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nemtsova, Anna

2008-01-01

From the top down, says the writer, Russia's universities are impoverished by bribery and insider deals large and small. A new president's dorm at Nizhniy Novgorod is one example of what anti-corruption watchdogs say is widespread mismanagement, and in some cases outright corruption, throughout the country's higher-education system. Presidents use…

Crime and Corruption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duong, Deborah; Turner, Robert; Selke, Karl

Like intergroup violence (Chap. 7) and insurgency (Chap. 8), crime and ­corruption are nearly inevitable companions of an international intervention. Both contribute to the reasons why the intervention occurs, and both may even grow and fester as side-effects of an intervention. Moreover, crime and corruption frequently serve as obstacles to a successful termination of an intervention.

On the Causes for and Countermeasures against Academic Corruption

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yongning, Yuan; Jian, Zhang; Haibo, Wang

2007-01-01

Combating corruption is an important condition for bringing about the flourishing of academic research. There are many reasons for the emergence and proliferation of academic corruption today. These are closely related to the long-term lack of training among our country's scholars in modern academic standards and the absence of an academic spirit…

The Hippo Generation and the Vampire State: The Impact of Corruption on Failing Nations

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-04-13

state institutions and processes, and the growth of crime syndicates linked to ruling elites.൵ ’When corruption is prolific in a given country, the...kind of checks and balances required to eliminate widespread corruption and protect their people. As New York Times columnist Nicholas Christoff

The Corruption Bogey in South Africa: Is Public Education Safe?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Serfontein, Erika; de Waal, Elda

2015-01-01

Corruption is a constant global phenomenon, which is becoming more complex and intense as competition for resources increases. It is even more so amongst those living in developing countries, particularly emerging economies such as South Africa. Acts of corruption directly contest the basic principles of South Africa's Constitution, which aims at…

On How Editors of Academic Journals at Institutions of Higher Learning Should Resist Academic Corruption

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jing, Xiao

2007-01-01

Academic corruption is a hot issue in today's society. "Academic corruption" means that certain individuals in academic circles, driven by the desire for personal gain, resort to various kinds of nonnormative and unethical behavior in academic research activities. These include: academic self-piracy, academic piracy, copying and…

Updating the Potential of Culture in the Prevention of Corruption

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dorozhkin, Evgenij M.; Kislov, Alexander G.; Syuzeva, Natalya V.; Ozhegova, Anna P.; Kuznetsov, Andrey V.

2016-01-01

The urgency of the problem under investigation is due to the danger and at the same time the prevalence of corruption, so special attention is given to the need to supplement the repressive state and awareness-raising measures forming, especially in educational institutions of special subculture, raising a categorical rejection of corruption. The…

Corruption Hierarchies in Higher Education in the Former Soviet Bloc

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osipian, Ararat L.

2009-01-01

Corruption in higher education is known but not described theoretically. Decentralization and privatization of higher education and the increasing scale and scope of corruption in higher education in the former Soviet Bloc, as well as numerous other countries, urges better understanding of the problem within the context of socio-economic…

Fighting against Academic Corruption: A Critique of Recent Policy Developments in China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ren, Kai

2012-01-01

Academic corruption in China's higher education institutions has become a serious issue in the last decade. This paper provides a critical discussion of the Chinese Ministry of Education's policy developments aimed to strengthen academic ethics and control academic corruption. It suggests that while the reactions of policy-makers to the apparent…

On the Development of Students' Attitudes towards Corruption and Cheating in Russian Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Denisova-Schmidt, Elena; Huber, Martin; Leontyeva, Elvira

2016-01-01

Based on empirical data from selected public universities in Khabarovsk, Russia, this paper compares first- and fifth-year students regarding their attitudes towards corruption in general and university corruption in particular. Even after making both groups of students comparable with respect to a range of socio-economic characteristics by a…

Image Size Variation Influence on Corrupted and Non-viewable BMP Image

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Azmi, Tengku Norsuhaila T.; Azma Abdullah, Nurul; Rahman, Nurul Hidayah Ab; Hamid, Isredza Rahmi A.; Chai Wen, Chuah

2017-08-01

Image is one of the evidence component seek in digital forensics. Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) format is most popular used in the Internet because JPEG files are very lossy and easy to compress that can speed up Internet transmitting processes. However, corrupted JPEG images are hard to recover due to the complexities of determining corruption point. Nowadays Bitmap (BMP) images are preferred in image processing compared to another formats because BMP image contain all the image information in a simple format. Therefore, in order to investigate the corruption point in JPEG, the file is required to be converted into BMP format. Nevertheless, there are many things that can influence the corrupting of BMP image such as the changes of image size that make the file non-viewable. In this paper, the experiment indicates that the size of BMP file influences the changes in the image itself through three conditions, deleting, replacing and insertion. From the experiment, we learnt by correcting the file size, it can able to produce a viewable file though partially. Then, it can be investigated further to identify the corruption point.

Effect of corruption on healthcare satisfaction in post-soviet nations: A cross-country instrumental variable analysis of twelve countries.

PubMed

Habibov, Nazim

2016-03-01

There is the lack of consensus about the effect of corruption on healthcare satisfaction in transitional countries. Interpreting the burgeoning literature on this topic has proven difficult due to reverse causality and omitted variable bias. In this study, the effect of corruption on healthcare satisfaction is investigated in a set of 12 Post-Socialist countries using instrumental variable regression on the sample of 2010 Life in Transition survey (N = 8655). The results indicate that experiencing corruption significantly reduces healthcare satisfaction. Copyright © 2016 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Combating healthcare corruption and fraud with improved global health governance.

PubMed

Mackey, Tim K; Liang, Bryan A

2012-10-22

Corruption is a serious threat to global health outcomes, leading to financial waste and adverse health consequences. Yet, forms of corruption impacting global health are endemic worldwide in public and private sectors, and in developed and resource-poor settings alike. Allegations of misuse of funds and fraud in global health initiatives also threaten future investment. Current domestic and sectorial-level responses are fragmented and have been criticized as ineffective. In order to address this issue, we propose a global health governance framework calling for international recognition of "global health corruption" and development of a treaty protocol to combat this crucial issue.

Networks in Social Policy Problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vedres, Balázs; Scotti, Marco

2012-08-01

1. Introduction M. Scotti and B. Vedres; Part I. Information, Collaboration, Innovation: The Creative Power of Networks: 2. Dissemination of health information within social networks C. Dhanjal, S. Blanchemanche, S. Clemençon, A. Rona-Tas and F. Rossi; 3. Scientific teams and networks change the face of knowledge creation S. Wuchty, J. Spiro, B. F. Jones and B. Uzzi; 4. Structural folds: the innovative potential of overlapping groups B. Vedres and D. Stark; 5. Team formation and performance on nanoHub: a network selection challenge in scientific communities D. Margolin, K. Ognyanova, M. Huang, Y. Huang and N. Contractor; Part II. Influence, Capture, Corruption: Networks Perspectives on Policy Institutions: 6. Modes of coordination of collective action: what actors in policy making? M. Diani; 7. Why skewed distributions of pay for executives is the cause of much grief: puzzles and few answers so far B. Kogut and J.-S. Yang; 8. Networks of institutional capture: a case of business in the State apparatus E. Lazega and L. Mounier; 9. The social and institutional structure of corruption: some typical network configurations of corruption transactions in Hungary Z. Szántó, I. J. Tóth and S. Varga; Part III. Crisis, Extinction, World System Change: Network Dynamics on a Large Scale: 10. How creative elements help the recovery of networks after crisis: lessons from biology A. Mihalik, A. S. Kaposi, I. A. Kovács, T. Nánási, R. Palotai, Á. Rák, M. S. Szalay-Beko and P. Csermely; 11. Networks and globalization policies D. R. White; 12. Network science in ecology: the structure of ecological communities and the biodiversity question A. Bodini, S. Allesina and C. Bondavalli; 13. Supply security in the European natural gas pipeline network M. Scotti and B. Vedres; 14. Conclusions and outlook A.-L. Barabási; Index.

Social values and the corruption argument against financial incentives for healthy behaviour.

PubMed

Brown, Rebecca C H

2017-03-01

Financial incentives may provide a way of reducing the burden of chronic diseases by motivating people to adopt healthy behaviours. While it is still uncertain how effective such incentives could be for promoting health, some argue that, even if effective, there are ethical objections that preclude their use. One such argument is made by Michael Sandel, who suggests that monetary transactions can have a corrupting effect on the norms and values that ordinarily regulate exchange and behaviour in previously non-monetised contexts. In this paper, I outline Sandel's corruption argument and consider its validity in the context of health incentives. I distinguish between two forms of corruption that are implied by Sandel's argument: efficiency corruption and value corruption While Sandel's thought-provoking discussion provides a valuable contribution to debates about health policies generally and health incentives specifically, I suggest the force of his criticism of health incentives is limited: further empirical evidence and theoretical reasoning are required to support the suggestion that health incentives are an inappropriate tool for promoting health. While I do not find Sandel's corruption argument compelling, this only constitutes a partial defence of health incentives, since other criticisms relating to their use may prove more successful. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Corruption and the Other(s): Scope of Superordinate Identity Matters for Corruption Permissibility

PubMed Central

Pisor, Anne C.; Gurven, Michael

2015-01-01

The decision to engage in corruption—public and private corruption, nepotism, and embezzlement—is often attributed to rational actors maximizing benefits to themselves. However, the importance of reciprocal relationships in humans suggests that an actor may weigh the costs of harms of her corrupt behavior to individuals who may generate future benefits for her. We hypothesize that actors who have a larger circle of actual and potential social partners will have more individuals to consider when generating harms and will thus be less likely to find corrupt acts permissible than actors with smaller circles of valued others. Using data from the World Values Survey and European Values Study (WVS), we explore whether participants with a larger geographic identity or a greater number of group memberships (i.e. a larger scope of actual and potential social partners) are less likely to find accepting bribes permissible. We find mixed support for our hypotheses, but consistently find that WVS participants with local, country, continent, or world geographic identities are less likely to find accepting a bribe permissible than those with regional identities—that is, actors whose primary identities that encompass more than their region find corruption less permissible. We discuss the importance of considering an actor’s valuation of others when modeling corruption persistence, noting that establishing scopes of positive valuation is a precursor to predicting where actors will target benefits and shunt costs. PMID:26650395

When Corruption Gets in the Way: Befriending Diaspora and EU-nionizing Bosnia's Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sabic-El-Rayess, Amra

2013-01-01

This article investigates the encounter of EU-unionization with a domesticated practice of corruption in Bosnian higher education. Relying on primary data collected in Bosnia's public higher education system, the study finds that the country's corrupt higher education is in conflict with the Bologna-themed reforms that would arguably help…

Corruption of the Politicized University: Lessons from the Orange Revolution in Ukraine

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osipian, Ararat L.

2005-01-01

This paper argues that corruption is used on a systematic basis as a mechanism of direct and indirect administrative control from the state level down to local authorities and administrations of public and private institutions. Informal approval of corrupt activities in exchange for loyalty and compliance with the regime is commonplace in many…

The Development of Anti-Corruption Education Course for Primary School Teacher Education Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Indawati, Ninik

2015-01-01

The purpose of this research was to develop learning tools as well as test the effectiveness of the implementation of anti-corruption education course for Primary School Teacher Education students, who must be able to transfer anti-corruption values to learners. The research method refers to the development of procedural models, which is…

Whither the Ivory Tower? Corruption and Development of Higher Education in Nigeria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oarhe, Osumah

2014-01-01

In the struggle to combat corruption in Nigeria, popular and intellectual discourse has essentially been devoted to the behaviour of public officials such as politicians. However, only little intellectual attention seems to have been cast on corruption in the education sector. This article attempts to fill this knowledge gap. Based on desk…

The Inevitable Corruption of Indicators and Educators through High-Stakes Testing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nichols, Sharon L.; Berliner, David C.

2005-01-01

This research provides lengthy proof of a principle of social science known as Campbell's law: "The more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decision-making, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes it is intended to monitor." Applying…

The Changing Faces of Corruption in Georgian Higher Education: Access through Times and Tests

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Orkodashvili, Mariam

2012-01-01

This article presents a comparative-historical analysis of access to higher education in Georgia. It describes the workings of corrupt channels during the Soviet and early post-Soviet periods and the role of standardized tests in fighting corruption in higher education admission processes after introduction of the Unified National Entrance…

Social Problems of Modern Russian Higher Education: The Example of Corruption

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fursova, Valentina; Simons, Greg

2014-01-01

Higher education is an essential element in developing a country's innovative potential, and this has been recognised as such by politicians and those who work in the industry. However, one of the blights of contemporary Russian society, corruption threatens the potential of the next generation. Corruption has permeated all levels of society,…

Corrupting Learning: Evidence from Missing Federal Education Funds in Brazil. NBER Working Paper No. 18150

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ferraz, Claudio; Finan, Frederico; Moreira, Diana B.

2012-01-01

This paper examines if money matters in education by looking at whether missing resources due to corruption affect student outcomes. We use data from the auditing of Brazil's local governments to construct objective measures of corruption involving educational block grants transferred from the central government to municipalities. Using variation…

Corruption in Higher Education in Russia-First Decade of the 21st Century

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shirin, Sergey Sergeevich

2015-01-01

The study is based on a methodology proposed by European Association for Education Law and Policy for their research conducted in 2009 and devoted to commercialization, competition and corruption in European education. In the article, the attempt is made to apply their methods to analyze the problems of corruption in Russian higher education…

External Quality Assurance in Higher Education: How Can It Address Corruption and Other Malpractices?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Michaela

2016-01-01

Corruption and malpractices in higher education are today a major concern in nearly all higher education systems worldwide. It is a multifaceted phenomenon and has become particularly visible in the academic domain. This paper represents an exploration of the possible role that quality assurance can play in addressing corruption and malpractices.…

Antimicrobial resistance: the major contribution of poor governance and corruption to this growing problem.

PubMed

Collignon, Peter; Athukorala, Prema-Chandra; Senanayake, Sanjaya; Khan, Fahad

2015-01-01

To determine how important governmental, social, and economic factors are in driving antibiotic resistance compared to the factors usually considered the main driving factors-antibiotic usage and levels of economic development. A retrospective multivariate analysis of the variation of antibiotic resistance in Europe in terms of human antibiotic usage, private health care expenditure, tertiary education, the level of economic advancement (per capita GDP), and quality of governance (corruption). The model was estimated using a panel data set involving 7 common human bloodstream isolates and covering 28 European countries for the period 1998-2010. Only 28% of the total variation in antibiotic resistance among countries is attributable to variation in antibiotic usage. If time effects are included the explanatory power increases to 33%. However when the control of corruption indicator is included as an additional variable, 63% of the total variation in antibiotic resistance is now explained by the regression. The complete multivariate regression only accomplishes an additional 7% in terms of goodness of fit, indicating that corruption is the main socioeconomic factor that explains antibiotic resistance. The income level of a country appeared to have no effect on resistance rates in the multivariate analysis. The estimated impact of corruption was statistically significant (p< 0.01). The coefficient indicates that an improvement of one unit in the corruption indicator is associated with a reduction in antibiotic resistance by approximately 0.7 units. The estimated coefficient of private health expenditure showed that one unit reduction is associated with a 0.2 unit decrease in antibiotic resistance. These findings support the hypothesis that poor governance and corruption contributes to levels of antibiotic resistance and correlate better than antibiotic usage volumes with resistance rates. We conclude that addressing corruption and improving governance will lead to a reduction in antibiotic resistance.

The direct and indirect effects of corruption on motor vehicle crash deaths.

PubMed

Hua, Law Teik; Noland, Robert B; Evans, Andrew W

2010-11-01

Recent empirical research has found that there is an inverted U-shaped or Kuznets relationship between income and motor vehicle crash (MVC) deaths, such that MVC deaths increase as national income increases and decrease after reaching a critical level. Corruption has been identified as one of the underlying factors that could affect this relationship, primarily by undermining institutional development and effective enforcement schemes. The total effect of corruption can be decomposed into two components, a direct and an indirect effect. The direct effect measures the immediate impact of corruption on MVC deaths by undermining effective enforcement and regulations, while the indirect effect captures the impact of corruption on hindering increases in per capita income and the consequent impact of reduced income on MVC deaths. By influencing economic growth, corruption can lead to an increase or decrease in MVC deaths depending on the income level. Using data from 60 countries between 1982 and 2003, these effects are estimated using linear panel and fixed effects negative binomial models. The estimation results suggest that corruption has different direct effects for less developed and highly developed countries. It has a negative (decreasing) effect on MVC deaths for less developed countries and a positive (increasing) effect on MVC deaths for highly developed countries. For highly developed countries, the total effect is positive at lower per capita income levels, but decreases with per capita income and becomes negative at per capita income levels of about US$ 38,248. For less developed countries, the total effect is negative within the sample range and decreases with increased per capita income. In summary, the results of this study suggest that reduction of corruption is likely a necessary condition to effectively tackle road safety problems. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Investigating the effectiveness of response strategies for vulnerabilities to corruption in the chinese public construction sector.

PubMed

Shan, Ming; Chan, Albert P C; Le, Yun; Hu, Yi

2015-06-01

Response strategy is a key for preventing widespread corruption vulnerabilities in the public construction sector. Although several studies have been devoted to this area, the effectiveness of response strategies has seldom been evaluated in China. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating the effectiveness of response strategies for corruption vulnerabilities through a survey in the Chinese public construction sector. Survey data obtained from selected experts involved in the Chinese public construction sector were analyzed by factor analysis and partial least squares-structural equation modeling. Analysis results showed that four response strategies of leadership, rules and regulations, training, and sanctions, only achieved an acceptable level in preventing corruption vulnerabilities in the Chinese public construction sector. This study contributes to knowledge by improving the understanding of the effectiveness of response strategies for corruption vulnerabilities in the public construction sector of developing countries.

Perceptions of Korean Pre-Service Special Educators Regarding Teaching Competencies for Students with Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Yu-Ri; Park, Jiyeon; Lee, Suk-Hyang

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study is to develop a Teaching competency index in special education and to investigate Korean pre-service special educators' (PSSEs') perceptions regarding each item of the index. Based on a review of the literature on exemplary instruction in special education, we developed an index composed of 44 items. The six sub-domains…

49 CFR 1103.32 - Discovery of imposition and deception and duty to report corrupt or dishonest conduct.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 8 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Discovery of imposition and deception and duty to report corrupt or dishonest conduct. 1103.32 Section 1103.32 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to... Litigants and the Public § 1103.32 Discovery of imposition and deception and duty to report corrupt or...

Ethics and Corruption in Education. Results from the Expert Workshop (Paris, France, November 28-29, 2001). Policy Forum on Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hallak, Jacques; Poisson, Muriel

This book summarizes the findings of a research workshop organized by the International Institute for Educational Planning on ethics and corruption in education. It makes a case for addressing the issue of corruption in education based on the experiences of the various participants of the workshop, representatives of various countries and…

The Inevitable Corruption of Indicators and Educators through High-Stakes Testing. Executive Summary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nichols, Sharon L.; Berliner, David C.

2005-01-01

This research provides lengthy proof of a principle of social science known as Campbell's law: "The more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decision-making, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes it is intended to monitor." Applying…

Relationship between collectivism and corruption in American and Chinese books: A historical perspective.

PubMed

Li, Yongshuai; Tan, Xuyun; Huang, Zhenwei; Liu, Li

2017-07-13

Previous research on the relationship between collectivism and corruption has not investigated their co-variation over time. In this study, we use Google Ngram Viewer to track the frequency of words related to collectivism and corruption in American books (1800-2000) and in Chinese Books (1970-2008). The results demonstrate that a positive association between the usage of these terms during the periods in both Chinese and American books, with changes in words related to collectivism preceding changes in words related to corruption in American books. The theoretical and practical implications are also discussed. © 2017 International Union of Psychological Science.

The role of corruption and unethical behaviour in precluding the placement of industry sponsored clinical trials in sub-Saharan Africa: Stakeholder views.

PubMed

Egharevba, Efe; Atkinson, Jacqueline

2016-08-15

Clinical trials still represent the gold standard in testing the safety and efficacy of new and existing treatments. However, developing regions including sub-Saharan Africa remain underrepresented in pharmaceutical industry sponsored trials for a number of reasons including fear of corruption and unethical behaviour. This fear exists both on the part of pharmaceutical companies, and investigators carrying out research in the region. The objective of this research was to understand the ethical considerations associated with the conduct of pharmaceutical industry sponsored clinical trials in sub-Saharan Africa. Corruption was identified as a significant issue by a number of stakeholders who participated in semi-structured interviews and completed questionnaires. Additionally, fear of being perceived as corrupt or unethical even when conducting ethically sound research was raised as a concern. Thus corruption, whether actual or perceived, is one of a number of issues which have precluded the placement of a greater number of pharmaceutical sponsored clinical trials in this region. More discussion around corruption with all relevant stakeholders is required in order for progress to be made and to enable greater involvement of sub-Saharan African countries in the conduct of industry sponsored clinical trials.

Power and corruption.

PubMed

Úbeda, Francisco; Duéñez-Guzmán, Edgar A

2011-04-01

Cooperation is ubiquitous in the natural world. What seems nonsensical is why natural selection favors a behavior whereby individuals would lose out by benefiting their competitor. This conundrum, for almost half a century, has puzzled scientists and remains a fundamental problem in biology, psychology, and economics. In recent years, the explanation that punishment can maintain cooperation has received much attention. Individuals who punish noncooperators thrive when punishment does not entail a cost to the punisher. However when punishment is costly, cooperation cannot be preserved. Most literature on punishment fails to consider that punishers may act corruptly by not cooperating when punishing noncooperators. No research has considered that there might be power asymmetries between punishers and nonpunishers that turn one of these type of individuals more or less susceptible to experiencing punishment. Here, we formulate a general game allowing corruption and power asymmetries between punishers and nonpunishers. We show that cooperation can persist if punishers possess power and use it to act corruptly. This result provides a new interpretation of recent data on corrupt policing in social insects and the psychology of power and hypocrisy in humans. These results suggest that corruption may play an important role in maintaining cooperation in insects and human societies. In contrast with previous research, we contend that costly punishment can be beneficial for social groups. This work allows us to identify ways in which corruption can be used to the advantage of a society. © 2010 The Author(s). Evolution© 2010 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

The Effective Integration of the ICGLR Towards Sustainable Security and Economic Development in the GLR of Africa

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-06-08

political stability and absence of violence, government effectiveness, and control of corruption (World Bank Institute 2010). These aggregates are...Accountability Political stability and absence of violence Government Effectiveness Control of Corruption Period in Years 2007-2010 in % Period in...of political stability and levels of violence, voice and accountability, government effectiveness, and control of corruption. The assessment goes

Libraries and the Fight against HIV/AIDS, Poverty, and Corruption. IFLA/FAIFE Theme Report, 2006. IFLA/FAIFE World Report Series Volume VI

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seidelin, Susanne, Ed.; Jensen, Thomas Skov, Ed.

2006-01-01

"Libraries and the fight against HIV/AIDS, poverty and corruption" takes up some of the big issues and major challenges facing the world: the HIV/AIDS pandemic, poverty and the reduction of it, and corruption and its counterpart transparency. The articles explore the role and responsibilities of libraries and information services, and…

Institutional Corruption in Higher Education: Analysis of Causes and Reforms at the Second-Largest Institution of Higher Education in Illinois

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kresse, William J.

2017-01-01

Corruption in higher education is an emerging topic in the field of education research. (Osipian 2008). Different aspects of such corruption have been addressed in numerous papers by various researchers. These papers indicate different aspects of the problem. Many of the papers evidence the global nature of this problem by highlighting corruption…

How Business Students View Corruption, and Why This Should Concern Us: Insights from Lebanon, Romania and the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neal, Mark; Finlay, Jim; Karkoulian, Silva; Catana, Doina; Pellegrino, Robert

2015-01-01

When seeking to understand corruption in its ongoing temporal context, it is useful to consider business students. Because of their high numbers and the kinds of jobs they enter, they have a key role to play in challenging or sustaining corruption in their societies. This exploratory study focuses on these people in three countries in different…

Will Bribery and Fraud Converge? Comparative Corruption in Higher Education in Russia and the USA

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osipian, Ararat L.

2014-01-01

This study analyses the issue of comparative corruption in the national higher education sectors in the United States of America (USA) and the Russian Federation (RF). Corruption in higher education, as well as the way it is addressed in legislation and court cases and reflected in the media, appears to be consistent with the trajectory and pace…

Execute-Only Attacks against Execute-Only Defenses

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-11-13

attacks that have been widely used to bypass randomization-based memory corruption defenses. A recent technique, Readactor, provides one of the... corruption defenses with various impacts. We analyze the prevalence of opportunities for such attacks in popular code bases and build two proof-of-concept...our countermeasures introduce only a modest additional overhead. I. INTRODUCTION Memory corruption has been a primary vector of attacks against

Corruption in Myanmar - Holding a Country and its People from Economic Prosperity

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-10-30

censorship laws and freedom to information by banning independent newspapers thereby repressing efforts towards democracy even further. 6 The SPP... censorship laws, insisting state officials return embezzled funds, signing and ratifying the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), and...instill a culture of change. For example, in Malaysia , the government formed the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), an independent watch

Corruption in Brazil and the Incentives for Change

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-03-01

money laundering schemes. The intent of this thesis is to identify the key changes that have recently empowered a judiciary that was previously...further implicated in a separate money - laundering scheme with ten members of congress. The 1980s and early 90s were very difficult economically for the...including “misappropriation of public funds, mismanagement, money laundering , inter-party corruption, bribery (active corruption), and tax evasion

Venezuela’s Corruption On the Rise: Fourteen Years of Chavismo

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-09-01

the Pérez administration, including increases in food and oil prices and decline in social programs.19 According to Julia Buxton, the austerity...level, and systematic corruption at the “interaction of the state and private actors in a contaminated social system.”45...corruption penetrating several aspects of Venezuelan society from food programs, healthcare, and the bureaucracies that control those basic goods

Corruption and internal fraud in the Turkish construction industry.

PubMed

Gunduz, Murat; Önder, Oytun

2013-06-01

The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding about the internal fraud and corruption problem in the Turkish construction industry. The reasons behind the internal fraud and corruption problem as well as the types of prevention methods were investigated; and as a result various recommendations were made. To this end, a risk awareness questionnaire was used to understand the behavioral patterns of the construction industry, and to clarify possible proactive and reactive measures against internal fraud and corruption. The type of fraud experienced by Turkish construction companies was also surveyed in the questionnaire. The questionnaire was sent to 89 firms; and depending on the collected data, certain recommendations for construction industry professionals were provided.

Masked ball: ethics, laws and financial contradictions in Hungarian health care.

PubMed

Szebik, Imre

2003-01-01

Corruption is a major problem in the societies of the post-communist Central European countries. Corruption in health care has some unique characteristics undermining the efficacy of and respect for Hungarian health care. One of the forms of corruption is tipping. This highly contested phenomenon is present in most of the patient/health professional's interactions in a sophisticated manner, raising serious ethical and legal dilemmas. The present paper analyzes tipping and other corruption-related factors, such as financial conflict of interest between industry and health care and argues that since ethical and legal considerations are often ignored in the country, patient care and clinical research are affected by these controversial issues to a great extent.

CORRUPTION IN MEDICAL PRACTICE: WHERE DO WE STAND?

PubMed

Yousafzai, Abdul Wahab

2015-01-01

Corruption in health care sector affects all countries, including the United States, China and India. Pakistan is no exception. It is preventing people from having access to the quality medical care. Corruption in medical practice include ordering unnecessary investigations, and procedures for kickbacks and commissions; significant absenteeism, which adversely affects patient care; and the conflict of interest within the physician-pharmaceutical nexus, which exploits patients. To overcome corruption there is need to establish a framework for accountability, eliminating the physician-pharmaceutical nexus; and emphasizing medical ethics at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It is also important to open a dialogue amongst health care professionals and encourage the establishment of an ethical health care system in Pakistan.

Impact of Health Research Systems on Under-5 Mortality Rate: A Trend Analysis.

PubMed

Yazdizadeh, Bahareh; Parsaeian, Mahboubeh; Majdzadeh, Reza; Nikooee, Sima

2016-11-26

Between 1990 and 2015, under-5 mortality rate (U5MR) declined by 53%, from an estimated rate of 91 deaths per 1000 live births to 43, globally. The aim of this study was to determine the share of health research systems in this decrease alongside other influential factors. We used random effect regression models including the 'random intercept' and 'random intercept and random slope' models to analyze the panel data from 1990 to 2010. We selected the countries with U5MRs falling between the first and third quartiles in 1990. We used both the total articles (TA) and the number of child-specific articles (CSA) as a proxy of the health research system. In order to account for the impact of other factors, measles vaccination coverage (MVC) (as a proxy of health system performance), gross domestic product (GDP), human development index (HDI), and corruption perception index (CPI) (as proxies of development), were embedded in the model. Among all the models, 'the random intercept and random slope models' had lower residuals. The same variables of CSA, HDI, and time were significant and the coefficient of CSA was estimated at -0.17; meaning, with the addition of every 100 CSA, the rate of U5MR decreased by 17 per 1000 live births. Although the number of CSA has contributed to the reduction of U5MR, the amount of its contribution is negligible compared to the countries' development. We recommend entering different types of researches into the model separately in future research and including the variable of 'exchange between knowledge generator and user.' © 2017 The Author(s); Published by Kerman University of Medical Sciences. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

And justice for all: Examining corruption as a contextual source of mental illness.

PubMed

van Deurzen, Ioana

2017-01-01

In the present study, I focus on the relationship between corruption and mental health as measured by the level of depressive symptoms. I use data collected by the European Social Survey in 2006, 2012 and 2014 from 99,159 individuals that lived in 24 European countries. I employ two types of analyses: static analyses, i.e., multilevel models estimated in each wave, and dynamic analyses, i.e., fixed effects models for pseudo-panel data. Both static and dynamic analyses suggested that corruption had a detrimental effect on mental health. However, the results were not robust in models where the country's wealth was accounted for. Furthermore, this study presents evidence that the level of societal corruption is detrimental especially for the mental health of religious persons and individuals that experience material adversity. Regarding a potentially different effect of corruption on mental health between western and eastern European countries, no significant differences were found. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

General subspace learning with corrupted training data via graph embedding.

PubMed

Bao, Bing-Kun; Liu, Guangcan; Hong, Richang; Yan, Shuicheng; Xu, Changsheng

2013-11-01

We address the following subspace learning problem: supposing we are given a set of labeled, corrupted training data points, how to learn the underlying subspace, which contains three components: an intrinsic subspace that captures certain desired properties of a data set, a penalty subspace that fits the undesired properties of the data, and an error container that models the gross corruptions possibly existing in the data. Given a set of data points, these three components can be learned by solving a nuclear norm regularized optimization problem, which is convex and can be efficiently solved in polynomial time. Using the method as a tool, we propose a new discriminant analysis (i.e., supervised subspace learning) algorithm called Corruptions Tolerant Discriminant Analysis (CTDA), in which the intrinsic subspace is used to capture the features with high within-class similarity, the penalty subspace takes the role of modeling the undesired features with high between-class similarity, and the error container takes charge of fitting the possible corruptions in the data. We show that CTDA can well handle the gross corruptions possibly existing in the training data, whereas previous linear discriminant analysis algorithms arguably fail in such a setting. Extensive experiments conducted on two benchmark human face data sets and one object recognition data set show that CTDA outperforms the related algorithms.

Corruption Early Prevention: Decision Support System for President of the Republic of Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sasmoko; Widhoyoko, S. A.; Ariyanto, S.; Indrianti, Y.; Noerlina; Muqsith, A. M.; Alamsyah, M.

2017-01-01

Corruption is an extraordinary crime, and then the prevention must also be extraordinary, simultaneously (national) in the form of early warning that involves all elements; government, industry, and society. To realize it the system needs to be built which in this study is called the Corruption Early Prevention (CEP) as a Decision Support System for President of the Republic of Indonesia. This study aims to examine 1) how is the construct of the Corruption Early Prevention as a Decision Support System for President of the Republic of Indonesia?, and 2) how is the design form of the system of Corruption Early Prevention as a Decision Support System for President of Republic of Indonesia? The research method is using Neuro-Research which is the collaboration of qualitative and quantitative research methods and the model development of Information Technology (IT). The research found that: 1) the construct of CEP is theoretically feasible, valid and reliable by content to be developed in the context of the prevention of corruption in Indonesia as an early prevention system that diagnoses Indonesia simultaneously and in real time, and 2) the concept of system design and business process of CEP is predicted to be realized in the IT-based program.

E-government factors to reduce administrative and finance corruption in Arab countries: Case study Iraqi oil sector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohammed, M. A.; Eman, Y.; Hussein, A. H.; Hasson, A. R.

2015-12-01

Arab countries face the corruption issues in its several public organizations. The corruption in these countries is considered as the main challenge. The oil sector is one of the public sectors that have huge level of corruption. However, the Iraqi economy had become dependable on oil sector daring the last three decades, and on the contrary, of what other oil countries did. The capital is considered as one of the essential factor for economic development. The revenues of oil exports will stay the essential source for economic development in Iraq in the future in order to reduce being dependable on oil. Since the beginning of the 3rd thousands, the world witnessed great rise in the demand on oil, but the Iraqi exports of crude oil come to be less than its similarities in the seventeenths of last century. So our oil sector is still in need of deep study. This study focuses on technological technique that can make huge decrease for corruption in oil sector in Iraq. However, e-government is considered as the best techniques that can decrease the corruption. Thus, this study bases on challenges that effect on build successful e-government project in Iraqi oil industry.

Moving towards a better path? A mixed-method examination of China’s reforms to remedy medical corruption from pharmaceutical firms

PubMed Central

Shi, Jianwei; Liu, Rui; Jiang, Hua; Wang, Chunxu; Xiao, Yue; Liu, Nana; Wang, Zhaoxin; Shi, Leiyu

2018-01-01

Objectives Few studies have systematically examined the effects of the existing regulations for alleviating corruption in China. This study assesses the effectiveness of China’s reforms to curb medical corruption. Methods We used mixed methods for the evaluation of existing countermeasures. First, qualitative informant interviews based on the Donabedian model were conducted to obtain experts’ evaluation of various kinds of countermeasures. Second, using data from ‘China Judgements Online’, we analysed the trend of occurrence and the characteristics of the medical corruption cases in recent years to reflect the overall effects of these countermeasures in China. Results Since 1990s, China has implemented three main categories of countermeasures to oppose medical corruption: fines and criminal penalties, health policy regulations, and reporting scheme policy. Information from the interviews showed that first the level of fines and criminal penalties for medical corruption behaviours may not be sufficient. Second, health policy regulations are also insufficient. Although the National Reimbursement Drug List and Essential Drug List were implemented, they were incomplete and created additional opportunities for corruption. Moreover, the new programme that centralised the purchase of pharmaceuticals found that most purchasing committees were not independent, and the selection criteria for bidding lacked scientific evidence. Third, the reporting scheme for commercial bribery records by the health bureau was executed poorly. In addition, quantitative online data showed no obvious decrease of institutional medical corruption in recent years, and most criminals have been committing crimes for a long time before getting detected, which further demonstrated the low effectiveness of the above countermeasures. Conclusions Although existing countermeasures have exerted certain effects according to Chinese experts, more rigorous legislation and well-functioning administrative mechanisms are needed. Fundamentally, financial incentives for hospitals/physicians and the health insurance system should be improved. PMID:29439069

Antimicrobial Resistance: The Major Contribution of Poor Governance and Corruption to This Growing Problem

PubMed Central

Collignon, Peter; Athukorala, Prema-chandra; Senanayake, Sanjaya; Khan, Fahad

2015-01-01

Objectives To determine how important governmental, social, and economic factors are in driving antibiotic resistance compared to the factors usually considered the main driving factors—antibiotic usage and levels of economic development. Design A retrospective multivariate analysis of the variation of antibiotic resistance in Europe in terms of human antibiotic usage, private health care expenditure, tertiary education, the level of economic advancement (per capita GDP), and quality of governance (corruption). The model was estimated using a panel data set involving 7 common human bloodstream isolates and covering 28 European countries for the period 1998–2010. Results Only 28% of the total variation in antibiotic resistance among countries is attributable to variation in antibiotic usage. If time effects are included the explanatory power increases to 33%. However when the control of corruption indicator is included as an additional variable, 63% of the total variation in antibiotic resistance is now explained by the regression. The complete multivariate regression only accomplishes an additional 7% in terms of goodness of fit, indicating that corruption is the main socioeconomic factor that explains antibiotic resistance. The income level of a country appeared to have no effect on resistance rates in the multivariate analysis. The estimated impact of corruption was statistically significant (p< 0.01). The coefficient indicates that an improvement of one unit in the corruption indicator is associated with a reduction in antibiotic resistance by approximately 0.7 units. The estimated coefficient of private health expenditure showed that one unit reduction is associated with a 0.2 unit decrease in antibiotic resistance. Conclusions These findings support the hypothesis that poor governance and corruption contributes to levels of antibiotic resistance and correlate better than antibiotic usage volumes with resistance rates. We conclude that addressing corruption and improving governance will lead to a reduction in antibiotic resistance. PMID:25786027

Moving towards a better path? A mixed-method examination of China's reforms to remedy medical corruption from pharmaceutical firms.

PubMed

Shi, Jianwei; Liu, Rui; Jiang, Hua; Wang, Chunxu; Xiao, Yue; Liu, Nana; Wang, Zhaoxin; Shi, Leiyu

2018-02-08

Few studies have systematically examined the effects of the existing regulations for alleviating corruption in China. This study assesses the effectiveness of China's reforms to curb medical corruption. We used mixed methods for the evaluation of existing countermeasures. First, qualitative informant interviews based on the Donabedian model were conducted to obtain experts' evaluation of various kinds of countermeasures. Second, using data from 'China Judgements Online', we analysed the trend of occurrence and the characteristics of the medical corruption cases in recent years to reflect the overall effects of these countermeasures in China. Since 1990s, China has implemented three main categories of countermeasures to oppose medical corruption: fines and criminal penalties, health policy regulations, and reporting scheme policy. Information from the interviews showed that first the level of fines and criminal penalties for medical corruption behaviours may not be sufficient. Second, health policy regulations are also insufficient. Although the National Reimbursement Drug List and Essential Drug List were implemented, they were incomplete and created additional opportunities for corruption. Moreover, the new programme that centralised the purchase of pharmaceuticals found that most purchasing committees were not independent, and the selection criteria for bidding lacked scientific evidence. Third, the reporting scheme for commercial bribery records by the health bureau was executed poorly. In addition, quantitative online data showed no obvious decrease of institutional medical corruption in recent years, and most criminals have been committing crimes for a long time before getting detected, which further demonstrated the low effectiveness of the above countermeasures. Although existing countermeasures have exerted certain effects according to Chinese experts, more rigorous legislation and well-functioning administrative mechanisms are needed. Fundamentally, financial incentives for hospitals/physicians and the health insurance system should be improved. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Tensorial dynamic time warping with articulation index representation for efficient audio-template learning.

PubMed

Le, Long N; Jones, Douglas L

2018-03-01

Audio classification techniques often depend on the availability of a large labeled training dataset for successful performance. However, in many application domains of audio classification (e.g., wildlife monitoring), obtaining labeled data is still a costly and laborious process. Motivated by this observation, a technique is proposed to efficiently learn a clean template from a few labeled, but likely corrupted (by noise and interferences), data samples. This learning can be done efficiently via tensorial dynamic time warping on the articulation index-based time-frequency representations of audio data. The learned template can then be used in audio classification following the standard template-based approach. Experimental results show that the proposed approach outperforms both (1) the recurrent neural network approach and (2) the state-of-the-art in the template-based approach on a wildlife detection application with few training samples.

Parties heed (with caution): Public knowledge of and attitudes towards party finance in Britain.

PubMed

vanHeerde-Hudson, Jennifer; Fisher, Justin

2013-01-01

Despite comprehensive reform ( Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act ) and recent review (Phillips Review in 2007) of party finance in Britain, public opinion of party finance remains plagued by perceptions of corruption, undue influence from wealthy donors, carefree and wasteful spending and, more generally, from the perception that there is just 'too much money' in politics. In this article we argue that knowledge of and attitudes to party finance matter, not least because advocates of reform have cited public opinion as evidence for reform. However, because attitudes to party finance are part of a broader attitudinal structure, opinion-led reforms are unlikely to succeed in increasing public confidence. Using data generated from YouGov's online panel (N=2,008), we demonstrate that the public know little of the key provisions regulating party finance and attitudes to party finance can be explained along two underlying dimensions - Anti-Party Finance and Reformers . As such, we consider whether parties and politicians should be freed from the constraints of public opinion in reforming party finance.

SOLLIMS Sampler: Targeting Peace & Stability Operations Lessons & Best Practices. Volume 2, Issue 3

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-07-01

could then maintain its neutral status. • Be gender inclusive. SFCG was careful to report equally on the involvement of both men and women in corrupt...statebuilding in post- conflict settings. The legitimacy and effectiveness of the state can be severely impeded by corrupt practices, thereby reducing...November 2008) Corruption – the abuse of entrusted authority for private gain – can be particularly nefarious in post- conflict reconstruction

How Corruption Blunts Counternarcotic Policies in Afghanistan: A Multiagent Investigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geller, Armando; Mussavi Rizi, Seyed M.; Łatek, Maciej M.

We report the results of multiagent modeling experiments on interactions between the drug industry and corruption in Afghanistan. The model formalizes assumptions on the motivations of players in the Afghan drug industry, quantifies the tradeoffs among various choices players face and enables inspection of the time, space and level of supply chain in which one can expect positive and negative impacts of counternarcotic policies. If reducing opium exports is one measure of effectiveness for NATO operations in Afghanistan, grasping the links between corruption and the drug industry should provide a better picture of the second-order interactions between corruption and investment in improving the governance quality, in deploying security forces tasked with eradication and interdiction and in programs to enhance rural livelihoods.

32 CFR 516.4 - Responsibilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... other attorneys designated by the Chief will represent DA in all procurement fraud and corruption... procurement fraud and corruption. (o) Chief, Environmental Law Division, USALSA. The Chief, Environmental Law...

Poverty and corruption compromise tropical forest reserves.

PubMed

Wright, S Joseph; Sanchez-Azofeifa, G Arturo; Portillo-Quintero, Carlos; Davies, Diane

2007-07-01

We used the global fire detection record provided by the satellite-based Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to determine the number of fires detected inside 823 tropical and subtropical moist forest reserves and for contiguous buffer areas 5, 10, and 15 km wide. The ratio of fire detection densities (detections per square kilometer) inside reserves to their contiguous buffer areas provided an index of reserve effectiveness. Fire detection density was significantly lower inside reserves than in paired, contiguous buffer areas but varied by five orders of magnitude among reserves. The buffer: reserve detection ratio varied by up to four orders of magnitude among reserves within a single country, and median values varied by three orders of magnitude among countries. Reserves tended to be least effective at reducing fire frequency in many poorer countries and in countries beset by corruption. Countries with the most successful reserves include Costa Rica, Jamaica, Malaysia, and Taiwan and the Indonesian island of Java. Countries with the most problematic reserves include Cambodia, Guatemala, Paraguay, and Sierra Leone and the Indonesian portion of Borneo. We provide fire detection density for 3964 tropical and subtropical reserves and their buffer areas in the hope that these data will expedite further analyses that might lead to improved management of tropical reserves.

Corruption and inequality of wealth amongst the very rich.

PubMed

Franses, Philip Hans; de Groot, Bert

Corruption may lead to tax evasion and unbalanced favors and this may lead to extraordinary wealth amongst a few. We study for 13 countries 6 years of Forbes rankings data and we examine whether corruption leads to more inequality amongst the wealthiest. When we correct in our panel model for current and one-year lagged competitiveness and GDP growth rates, we find no such effect. In fact, we find that more competitiveness decreases inequality amongst the wealthiest.

Fighting the Hobbesian Trinity in Columbia: A New Strategy for Peace

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-04-01

that corruption can be avoided in an electoral system, nor do they address the issue that the electoral system can be used to maintain corrupt elites...Yet when corruption assists elites to manipulate the electoral system, then accountability, the very purpose of the electoral system, is nullified. In...Ibid., p. 375. 98. Paz y Derechos Humanos, “Mininterior dice que armar a civiles aumentaria violencia; No a milicias: Gobierno,” El Colombiano, November

China's Land Market Auctions: Evidence of Corruption?

PubMed

Cai, Hongbin; Henderson, J Vernon; Zhang, Qinghua

2013-01-01

This paper studies the urban land market in China in 2003-2007. In China, all urban land is owned by the state. Leasehold use rights for land for (re)development are sold by city governments and are a key source of city revenue. Leasehold sales are viewed as a major venue for corruption, prompting a number of reforms over the years. Reforms now require all leasehold rights be sold at public auction. There are two main types of auction: regular English auction and an unusual type which we call a "two stage auction". The latter type of auction seems more subject to corruption, and to side deals between potential bidders and the auctioneer. Absent corruption, theory suggests that two stage auctions would most likely maximize sales revenue for properties which are likely to have relatively few bidders, or are "cold", which would suggest negative selection on property unobservables into such auctions. However, if such auctions are more corruptible, that could involve positive selection as city officials divert hotter properties to a more corruptible auction form. The paper finds that, overall, sales prices are lower for two stage auctions, and there is strong evidence of positive selection. The price difference is explained primarily by the fact that two stage auctions typically have just one bidder, or no competition despite the vibrant land market in Chinese cities.

China’s Land Market Auctions: Evidence of Corruption?

PubMed Central

Cai, Hongbin; Henderson, J. Vernon; Zhang, Qinghua

2013-01-01

This paper studies the urban land market in China in 2003—2007. In China, all urban land is owned by the state. Leasehold use rights for land for (re)development are sold by city governments and are a key source of city revenue. Leasehold sales are viewed as a major venue for corruption, prompting a number of reforms over the years. Reforms now require all leasehold rights be sold at public auction. There are two main types of auction: regular English auction and an unusual type which we call a “two stage auction”. The latter type of auction seems more subject to corruption, and to side deals between potential bidders and the auctioneer. Absent corruption, theory suggests that two stage auctions would most likely maximize sales revenue for properties which are likely to have relatively few bidders, or are “cold”, which would suggest negative selection on property unobservables into such auctions. However, if such auctions are more corruptible, that could involve positive selection as city officials divert hotter properties to a more corruptible auction form. The paper finds that, overall, sales prices are lower for two stage auctions, and there is strong evidence of positive selection. The price difference is explained primarily by the fact that two stage auctions typically have just one bidder, or no competition despite the vibrant land market in Chinese cities. PMID:25506125

32 CFR 516.63 - Coordination with DOJ.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... PUBLIC RELATIONS LITIGATION Remedies in Procurement Fraud and Corruption § 516.63 Coordination with DOJ... significant fraud and corruption cases to accomplish the following: (1) Monitor criminal prosecutions. (2...

Why health care corruption needs a new approach.

PubMed

Radin, Dagmar

2016-07-01

While corruption has been at the center of academic studies and on the agenda of international organizations for a couple of decades, in the health care sector corruption has not generated much interest or progress. At the centre of this issue is the lack of an interdisciplinary approach, which is warranted given the complexity of the issue and the lack of cooperation between STET scientifically rigorous academics and policy-makers, leaving room for more cooperation and progress. © The Author(s) 2015.

Parallel problems: Applying institutional corruption analysis of Congress to big pharma.

PubMed

Fields, Gregg

2013-01-01

Dennis Thompson and Lawrence Lessig are leading thinkers in the realm of institutional corruption, the notion that inappropriate dependencies and conflicts of interest undercut the ethical foundations of institutions on which society relies. Both are particularly known for their work on institutional corruption as it affects government and politics. This essay examines the applicability of their writing to the private sector, particularly as it relates to vital and influential industries like pharmaceuticals. © 2013 American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Inc.

Increased body mass index in ankylosing spondylitis is associated with greater burden of symptoms and poor perceptions of the benefits of exercise.

PubMed

Durcan, Laura; Wilson, Fiona; Conway, Richard; Cunnane, Gaye; O'Shea, Finbar D

2012-12-01

Increased body mass index (BMI) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is associated with a greater burden of symptoms and poor perceptions of the benefits of exercise. In AS, the effect of obesity on disease characteristics and exercise perceptions is unknown. We evaluated the prevalence of obesity in AS, to assess the attitudes of patients toward exercise and to evaluate the effect of obesity on symptoms and disease activity. Demographic data and disease characteristics were collected from 46 patients with AS. Disease activity, symptomatology, and functional disability were examined using standard AS questionnaires. BMI was calculated. Comorbidity was analyzed using the Charlson Comorbidity Index. Patients' attitudes toward exercise were assessed using the Exercise Benefits and Barriers Scale (EBBS). We compared the disease characteristics, perceptions regarding exercise, and functional limitations in those who were overweight to those who had a normal BMI. The mean BMI in the group was 27.4; 67.5% of subjects were overweight or obese. There was a statistically significant difference between those who were overweight and those with a normal BMI regarding their perceptions of exercise (EBBS 124.7 vs 136.6, respectively), functional limitation (Bath AS Functional Index 4.7 vs 2.5, Health Assessment Questionnaire 0.88 vs 0.26), and disease activity (Bath AS Disease Activity Index 4.8 vs 2.9). There was no difference between the groups in terms of their comorbid conditions or other demographic variables. The majority of patients in this AS cohort were overweight. They had a greater burden of symptoms, worse perceptions regarding the benefits of exercise, and enhanced awareness of their barriers to exercising. This is of particular concern in a disease where exercise plays a crucial role.

14 CFR 35.23 - Propeller control system.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... propeller effect under the intended operating conditions. (4) The failure or corruption of data or signals... corruption of airplane-supplied data does not result in hazardous propeller effects. (e) The propeller...

14 CFR 35.23 - Propeller control system.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... propeller effect under the intended operating conditions. (4) The failure or corruption of data or signals... corruption of airplane-supplied data does not result in hazardous propeller effects. (e) The propeller...

Polluting Our Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bush, Douglas

1972-01-01

While an aroused public applauds the exposure of civic corruption and environmental pollution, neither the public at large nor officialdom has any concern with the corruption and pollution of language except to contribute to it. (Author)

Toward blind removal of unwanted sound from orchestrated music

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Soo-Young; Chun, Joohwan

2000-11-01

The problem addressed in this paper is to removing unwanted sounds from music sound. The sound to be removed could be disturbance such as cough. We shall present some preliminary results on this problem using statistical properties of signals. Our approach consists of three steps. We first estimate the fundamental frequencies and partials given noise-corrupted music sound. This gives us the autoregressive (AR) model of the music sound. Then we filter the noise-corrupted sound using the AR parameters. The filtered signal is then subtracted from the original noise-corrupted signal to get the disturbance. Finally, the obtained disturbance is used a reference signal to eliminate the disturbance from the noise- corrupted music signal. Above three steps are carried out in a recursive manner using a sliding window or an infinitely growing window with an appropriate forgetting factor.

Uniform Recovery Bounds for Structured Random Matrices in Corrupted Compressed Sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Peng; Gan, Lu; Ling, Cong; Sun, Sumei

2018-04-01

We study the problem of recovering an $s$-sparse signal $\\mathbf{x}^{\\star}\\in\\mathbb{C}^n$ from corrupted measurements $\\mathbf{y} = \\mathbf{A}\\mathbf{x}^{\\star}+\\mathbf{z}^{\\star}+\\mathbf{w}$, where $\\mathbf{z}^{\\star}\\in\\mathbb{C}^m$ is a $k$-sparse corruption vector whose nonzero entries may be arbitrarily large and $\\mathbf{w}\\in\\mathbb{C}^m$ is a dense noise with bounded energy. The aim is to exactly and stably recover the sparse signal with tractable optimization programs. In this paper, we prove the uniform recovery guarantee of this problem for two classes of structured sensing matrices. The first class can be expressed as the product of a unit-norm tight frame (UTF), a random diagonal matrix and a bounded columnwise orthonormal matrix (e.g., partial random circulant matrix). When the UTF is bounded (i.e. $\\mu(\\mathbf{U})\\sim1/\\sqrt{m}$), we prove that with high probability, one can recover an $s$-sparse signal exactly and stably by $l_1$ minimization programs even if the measurements are corrupted by a sparse vector, provided $m = \\mathcal{O}(s \\log^2 s \\log^2 n)$ and the sparsity level $k$ of the corruption is a constant fraction of the total number of measurements. The second class considers randomly sub-sampled orthogonal matrix (e.g., random Fourier matrix). We prove the uniform recovery guarantee provided that the corruption is sparse on certain sparsifying domain. Numerous simulation results are also presented to verify and complement the theoretical results.

Korean nuclear industry hit by corruption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Soo Bin

2013-12-01

After a four-month investigation, a court in South Korea has indicted 100 officials and suppliers on corruption charges over bogus safety certifications for parts that were supplied to some of the country's 23 nuclear reactors.

31 CFR 1010.620 - Due diligence programs for private banking accounts.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... detect and report transactions that may involve the proceeds of foreign corruption. (2) For purposes of this paragraph (c), the term proceeds of foreign corruption means any asset or property that is...

Perceptions of neighborhood park quality: associations with physical activity and body mass index.

PubMed

Bai, Hua; Wilhelm Stanis, Sonja A; Kaczynski, Andrew T; Besenyi, Gina M

2013-02-01

Parks are important resources for physical activity (PA), yet few studies have examined how perceptions of park characteristics relate to PA and health. This study investigated associations between perceptions of neighborhood park quality and overall moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), park-based PA, and body mass index (BMI). Data were collected via questionnaire from 893 households in Kansas City, Missouri. The newly developed neighborhood park quality scale demonstrated good test-retest and internal reliability. Residents' perceptions of neighborhood park quality were related to PA and health outcomes. Perceiving parks as a benefit was positively related to overall MVPA and park-based PA and negatively related to BMI. Perceptions of well-used parks were positively related to BMI, while perceived cleanliness was negatively related to park-based PA. Better measuring and understanding how perceptions of local parks are associated with PA and health can improve appreciation of how parks facilitate active living.

Ethnicity and patient's perception of risk in joint replacement surgery.

PubMed

Gandhi, Rajiv; Razak, Fahad; Davey, J Roderick; Mahomed, Nizar N

2008-08-01

Despite much evidence showing racial disparities in the use of surgical procedures, it is unknown whether ethnicity affects perception of surgical risk. We surveyed 1609 patients undergoing primary hip or knee replacement surgery. Relevant covariates including demographic data, body mass index (BMI), sex, comorbidities, education, and ethnicity were recorded. Pain and joint functional status were assessed at baseline and at 1-year followup with the Western Ontario McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) pain and function scores. Risk perception was assessed with 3 survey questions. Non-European patients had greater functional disability and pain prior to surgery and demonstrated significantly greater perception of risk than European patients (p < 0.001). Independent of other covariates, non-European ethnicity was an independent predictor of a greater perception of risk (p < 0.05). Patient ethnicity is an important factor to consider in understanding a patient's perception of risk in joint replacement surgery.

The mediating effects of perceived parental teasing on relations of body mass index to depression and self-perception of physical appearance and global self-worth in children.

PubMed

Bang, Kyung-Sook; Chae, Sun-Mi; Hyun, Myung-Sun; Nam, Hye Kyung; Kim, Ji-Soo; Park, Kwang-Hee

2012-12-01

To report a correlational study of the relation of body mass index to children's perceptions of physical appearance and global self-worth and depression, as mediated by their perceptions of parental teasing. The relation between depression and self-perception in children with obesity has been reported. Recently, parental factors were found to be related to childhood obesity. Little is known about the effects of perceived parental teasing on depression and self-perception in children. A descriptive correlational research design was used. Data were collected from 455 children in the fifth and sixth grades in four provinces of South Korea using self-report questionnaires for measuring self-perception of physical appearance and global self-worth, depression and perceived parental teasing between October-December in 2009. The children's weight and height information from school health records was used. Multiple regression analysis and the Sobel test were used to identify the mediating effect of perceived parental teasing. Among the children, 20% were overweight or obese. Although children with obesity did not differ in the level of depression from their normal weight counterparts, they demonstrated lower perceived physical appearance and higher perceived parental teasing. The mediating effects of perceived parental teasing were found for the relations between body mass index and self-perception of physical appearance and global self-worth, and body mass index and depression, respectively. Obese children at risk of parental teasing should be identified to prevent their psychological problems. A well-designed intervention study is necessary to examine the effects of psycho-emotional interventions for obese children. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Corruption in emergency procurement.

PubMed

Schultz, Jessica; Søreide, Tina

2008-12-01

Corruption in emergency procurement reduces the resources available for life-saving operations, lowers the quality of products and services provided, and diverts aid from those who need it most.(1) It also negatively influences public support for humanitarian relief, both in the affected country and abroad. This paper aims to unpack and analyse the following question in order to mitigate risk: how and where does corruption typically occur, and what can be done? Suggested strategies reflect a multi-layered approach that stresses internal agency control mechanisms, conflict-sensitive management, and the need for common systems among operators.

Binary data corruption due to a Brownian agent

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Newman, T. J.; Triampo, Wannapong

1999-05-01

We introduce a model of binary data corruption induced by a Brownian agent (active random walker) on a d-dimensional lattice. A continuum formulation allows the exact calculation of several quantities related to the density of corrupted bits ρ, for example, the mean of ρ and the density-density correlation function. Excellent agreement is found with the results from numerical simulations. We also calculate the probability distribution of ρ in d=1, which is found to be log normal, indicating that the system is governed by extreme fluctuations.

Corruption in the health care sector: A barrier to access of orthopaedic care and medical devices in Uganda.

PubMed

Bouchard, Maryse; Kohler, Jillian C; Orbinski, James; Howard, Andrew

2012-05-03

Globally, injuries cause approximately as many deaths per year as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined, and 90% of injury deaths occur in low- and middle- income countries. Given not all injuries kill, the disability burden, particularly from orthopaedic injuries, is much higher but is poorly measured at present. The orthopaedic services and orthopaedic medical devices needed to manage the injury burden are frequently unavailable in these countries. Corruption is known to be a major barrier to access of health care, but its effects on access to orthopaedic services is still unknown. A qualitative case study of 45 open-ended interviews was conducted to investigate the access to orthopaedic health services and orthopaedic medical devices in Uganda. Participants included orthopaedic surgeons, related healthcare professionals, industry and government representatives, and patients. Participants' experiences in accessing orthopaedic medical devices were explored. Thematic analysis was used to analyze and code the transcripts. Analysis of the interview data identified poor leadership in government and corruption as major barriers to access of orthopaedic care and orthopaedic medical devices. Corruption was perceived to occur at the worker, hospital and government levels in the forms of misappropriation of funds, theft of equipment, resale of drugs and medical devices, fraud and absenteeism. Other barriers elicited included insufficient health infrastructure and human resources, and high costs of orthopaedic equipment and poverty. This study identified perceived corruption as a significant barrier to access of orthopaedic care and orthopaedic medical devices in Uganda. As the burden of injury continues to grow, the need to combat corruption and ensure access to orthopaedic services is imperative. Anti-corruption strategies such as transparency and accountability measures, codes of conduct, whistleblower protection, and higher wages and benefits for workers could be important and initial steps in improving access orthopaedic care and OMDs, and managing the global injury burden.

Corruption in the health care sector: A barrier to access of orthopaedic care and medical devices in Uganda

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Globally, injuries cause approximately as many deaths per year as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined, and 90% of injury deaths occur in low- and middle- income countries. Given not all injuries kill, the disability burden, particularly from orthopaedic injuries, is much higher but is poorly measured at present. The orthopaedic services and orthopaedic medical devices needed to manage the injury burden are frequently unavailable in these countries. Corruption is known to be a major barrier to access of health care, but its effects on access to orthopaedic services is still unknown. Methods A qualitative case study of 45 open-ended interviews was conducted to investigate the access to orthopaedic health services and orthopaedic medical devices in Uganda. Participants included orthopaedic surgeons, related healthcare professionals, industry and government representatives, and patients. Participants’ experiences in accessing orthopaedic medical devices were explored. Thematic analysis was used to analyze and code the transcripts. Results Analysis of the interview data identified poor leadership in government and corruption as major barriers to access of orthopaedic care and orthopaedic medical devices. Corruption was perceived to occur at the worker, hospital and government levels in the forms of misappropriation of funds, theft of equipment, resale of drugs and medical devices, fraud and absenteeism. Other barriers elicited included insufficient health infrastructure and human resources, and high costs of orthopaedic equipment and poverty. Conclusions This study identified perceived corruption as a significant barrier to access of orthopaedic care and orthopaedic medical devices in Uganda. As the burden of injury continues to grow, the need to combat corruption and ensure access to orthopaedic services is imperative. Anti-corruption strategies such as transparency and accountability measures, codes of conduct, whistleblower protection, and higher wages and benefits for workers could be important and initial steps in improving access orthopaedic care and OMDs, and managing the global injury burden. PMID:22554349

Visual processing and social cognition in schizophrenia: relationships among eye movements, biological motion perception, and empathy.

PubMed

Matsumoto, Yukiko; Takahashi, Hideyuki; Murai, Toshiya; Takahashi, Hidehiko

2015-01-01

Schizophrenia patients have impairments at several levels of cognition including visual attention (eye movements), perception, and social cognition. However, it remains unclear how lower-level cognitive deficits influence higher-level cognition. To elucidate the hierarchical path linking deficient cognitions, we focused on biological motion perception, which is involved in both the early stage of visual perception (attention) and higher social cognition, and is impaired in schizophrenia. Seventeen schizophrenia patients and 18 healthy controls participated in the study. Using point-light walker stimuli, we examined eye movements during biological motion perception in schizophrenia. We assessed relationships among eye movements, biological motion perception and empathy. In the biological motion detection task, schizophrenia patients showed lower accuracy and fixated longer than healthy controls. As opposed to controls, patients exhibiting longer fixation durations and fewer numbers of fixations demonstrated higher accuracy. Additionally, in the patient group, the correlations between accuracy and affective empathy index and between eye movement index and affective empathy index were significant. The altered gaze patterns in patients indicate that top-down attention compensates for impaired bottom-up attention. Furthermore, aberrant eye movements might lead to deficits in biological motion perception and finally link to social cognitive impairments. The current findings merit further investigation for understanding the mechanism of social cognitive training and its development. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd and the Japan Neuroscience Society. All rights reserved.

Reconstruction of ECG signals in presence of corruption.

PubMed

Ganeshapillai, Gartheeban; Liu, Jessica F; Guttag, John

2011-01-01

We present an approach to identifying and reconstructing corrupted regions in a multi-parameter physiological signal. The method, which uses information in correlated signals, is specifically designed to preserve clinically significant aspects of the signals. We use template matching to jointly segment the multi-parameter signal, morphological dissimilarity to estimate the quality of the signal segment, similarity search using features on a database of templates to find the closest match, and time-warping to reconstruct the corrupted segment with the matching template. In experiments carried out on the MIT-BIH Arrhythmia Database, a two-parameter database with many clinically significant arrhythmias, our method improved the classification accuracy of the beat type by more than 7 times on a signal corrupted with white Gaussian noise, and increased the similarity to the original signal, as measured by the normalized residual distance, by more than 2.5 times.

Locating Purity within Corruption Rumors: Narratives of HPV Vaccination Refusal in a Peri-urban Community of Southern Romania.

PubMed

Pop, Cristina A

2016-12-01

This article locates the symbolic construction of "corrupted purity"-as a key assertion in Romanian parents' HPV vaccination refusal narratives-within a multiplicity of entangled rumors concerning reproduction and the state. Romania's unsuccessful HPV vaccination campaign is not unique. However, the shifting discourses around purity and corruption-through which some parents conveyed anxieties about their daughters being targeted for the vaccine-place a particular twist on the Romanian case of resisting the HPV vaccination. Parental discourses took the form of clusters of rumors about state medicine's failure to provide adequate reproductive health care, additive-laden foods, and exposure to radioactive contamination. In these rumors, corruption becomes literally embodied, through ingestion, consumption, contact, or inoculation. Parental discourses about what is being injected into their daughters' pristine bodies express their uncertainty around navigating the unsettled post-socialist medical landscape. © 2016 by the American Anthropological Association.

[The risk for illegal behaviour and corruption in the healthcare sector: what preventive measures can be taken?].

PubMed

Rivoiro, Chiara

2016-05-01

In the healthcare sector risk factors for illegal behavior and corruption are peculiar and greater than in other social areas, as it plays a crucial role in the community's economical, political and cultural life. The healthcare services is a complex network that require interaction between may people, constant contacts with the industry, safety and adequate facilities that require regular maintenance, upgrade and replacement of medical technology, connection with local and regional policy makers. This provides the opportunity of being exposed to improper influence. However, illegal behaviors can be prevented: first of all supporting all professionals that everyday work to protect our health with ethics and expertise; then with all instruments that anti-corruption action plans, such as the one introduced in Italy in 2012, aim to identify and target those areas most at risk of corruption phenomena.

A Model of Aging Perception in Iranian Elders With Effects of Hope, Life Satisfaction, and Socioeconomic Status: A Path Analysis.

PubMed

Yaghoobzadeh, Ameneh; Gorgulu, Ozkan; Yee, Bit-Lian; Wibisono, Ahmad Hasyim; Pahlevan Sharif, Saeed; Sharif Nia, Hamid; Allen, Kelly A

2018-01-01

Aging perception plays a central role in the experience of healthy aging by older people. Research identified that factors such as hope, life satisfaction, and socioeconomic status influence the perception of aging in older populations. This study sought to test a hypothetical model to quantitatively evaluate the relationship between hope, life satisfaction, and socioeconomic status with aging perception. A cross-sectional design was used with 504 older aged participants who live in Qazvin, Iran. Data were collected using the Barker's Aging Perception Questionnaire, Life Satisfaction Index-Z, and Herth Hope Index. The results of path analysis showed that hope was the most important factor affecting aging perception. Results drawn from correlation analysis indicated that there was a positive significant correlation ( r = .383, p < .001) between hope and aging perception. Further analysis found that hope had the strongest impact on aging perception compared with the other variables analyzed (e.g., life satisfaction and socioeconomic status). A model of aging perception in Iranian elders is presented. The findings suggested that hope had a significant and positive impact on aging perception. Implications for clinical practice and research are discussed.

The Effects of Indexical and Phonetic Variation on Vowel Perception in Typically Developing 9- to 12-Year-Old Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacewicz, Ewa; Fox, Robert Allen

2014-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate how linguistic knowledge interacts with indexical knowledge in older children's perception under demanding listening conditions created by extensive talker variability. Method: Twenty-five 9- to 12-year-old children, 12 from North Carolina (NC) and 13 from Wisconsin (WI), identified 12 vowels…

3 CFR - Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to Significant Narcotics Traffickers Centered...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... Colombia and the extreme level of violence, corruption, and harm such actions cause in the United States... of violence, corruption, and harm in the United States and abroad, the national emergency declared on...

3 CFR - Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to Significant Narcotics Traffickers Centered...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Colombia, and the extreme level of violence, corruption, and harm such actions cause in the United States... level of violence, corruption, and harm in the United States and abroad, the national emergency declared...

Intrinsic honesty and the prevalence of rule violations across societies.

PubMed

Gächter, Simon; Schulz, Jonathan F

2016-03-24

Deception is common in nature and humans are no exception. Modern societies have created institutions to control cheating, but many situations remain where only intrinsic honesty keeps people from cheating and violating rules. Psychological, sociological and economic theories suggest causal pathways to explain how the prevalence of rule violations in people's social environment, such as corruption, tax evasion or political fraud, can compromise individual intrinsic honesty. Here we present cross-societal experiments from 23 countries around the world that demonstrate a robust link between the prevalence of rule violations and intrinsic honesty. We developed an index of the 'prevalence of rule violations' (PRV) based on country-level data from the year 2003 of corruption, tax evasion and fraudulent politics. We measured intrinsic honesty in an anonymous die-rolling experiment. We conducted the experiments with 2,568 young participants (students) who, due to their young age in 2003, could not have influenced PRV in 2003. We find individual intrinsic honesty is stronger in the subject pools of low PRV countries than those of high PRV countries. The details of lying patterns support psychological theories of honesty. The results are consistent with theories of the cultural co-evolution of institutions and values, and show that weak institutions and cultural legacies that generate rule violations not only have direct adverse economic consequences, but might also impair individual intrinsic honesty that is crucial for the smooth functioning of society.

Interpretation of Variations in Modis-Measured Greenness Levels of Amazon Forests During 2000 to 2009

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Samanta, Arindam; Ganguly, Sangram; Vermote, Eric; Nemani, Ramakrishna R.; Myneni, Ranga B.

2012-01-01

This work investigates variations in satellite-measured greenness of Amazon forests using ten years of NASA Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) enhanced vegetation index (EVI) data. Corruption of optical remote sensing data with clouds and aerosols is prevalent in this region; filtering corrupted data causes spatial sampling constraints, as well as reducing the record length, which introduces large biases in estimates of greenness anomalies. The EVI data, analyzed in multiple ways and taking into account EVI accuracy, consistently show a pattern of negligible changes in the greenness levels of forests both in the area affected by drought in 2005 and outside it. Small random patches of anomalous greening and browning-especially prominent in 2009-appear in all ten years, irrespective of contemporaneous variations in precipitation, but with no persistence over time. The fact that over 90% of the EVI anomalies are insignificantly small-within the envelope of error (95% confidence interval) in EVI-warrants cautious interpretation of these results: there were no changes in the greenness of these forests, or if there were changes, the EVI data failed to capture these either because the constituent reflectances were saturated or the moderate resolution precluded viewing small-scale variations. This suggests a need for more accurate and spatially resolved synoptic views from satellite data and corroborating comprehensive ground sampling to understand the greenness dynamics of these forests.

Screaming Trees: The Nigerian Deforestation Crisis

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-11-02

William Ehwarieme, Corruption and Enviromental Degradation in Nigeria and its Niger Delta, Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa, Vol 13, No...Ehwarieme, William. Corruption and Enviromental Degradation in Nigeria and its Niger Delta. Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa (Vol 13, No. 5

Combating corruption in global health.

PubMed

Mackey, Tim K; Kohler, Jillian; Lewis, Maureen; Vian, Taryn

2017-08-09

Corruption is a critical challenge to global health efforts, and combating it requires international action, advocacy, and research. Copyright © 2017 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

78 FR 62341 - Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to Significant Narcotics Traffickers Centered...

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2013-10-18

... traffickers centered in Colombia and the extreme level of violence, corruption, and harm such actions cause in... an extreme level of violence, corruption, and harm in the United States and abroad. For these reasons...

77 FR 64221 - Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to Significant Narcotics Traffickers Centered...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-19

... extreme level of violence, corruption, and harm such actions cause in the United States and abroad..., corruption, and harm in the United States and abroad, the national emergency declared on October 21, 1995...

76 FR 65353 - Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect To Significant Narcotics Traffickers Centered...

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2011-10-20

... extreme level of violence, corruption, and harm such actions cause in the United States and abroad..., corruption, and harm in the United States and abroad, the national emergency declared on October 21, 1995...

Mutual Predators: An Examination of Russia's Oil, Gas, and Nuclear Sectors in the Post-Soviet Era

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rousselle, Adam

Russia's energy sector has changed dramatically over the past three decades and this study examines this change within the oil, gas, and nuclear sectors. Having inherited a state capitalist system after the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia's bureaucracy now presides over an incredibly rich and deeply problematic energy economy. At its core, this is a study on institutionalized corruption and the behavior of corrupt elites. More specifically, it examines whether Russia can succeed within this context and what this may teach us on the nature of corrupt states and institutions.

Report on High School Characteristic Index Study at John Marshall High School - 1970.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Newman, Wilfred

The High School Characteristic Index (H.S.C.I.) was employed at a high school in Rochester to measure students' perceptions, as well as teachers' ability to predict students' perceptions, after black-white violence occurred in May, 1970. The 1970 results were compared with 1966 results of the H.S.C.I. at the same high school when a different…

The Blame Index: Exploring the Change in Social Work Students' Perceptions of Poverty

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Delavega, Elena; Kindle, Peter A.; Peterson, Susan; Schwartz, Charles

2017-01-01

This study reports the development of a new Blame Index to determine attributions of the causes of poverty along a single structural-to-individual dimension. A multisite pre-/post-group design tested the degree of change in social work students' (N = 177) perception of poverty as a result of taking a single BSW social policy course or an MSW…

Image Corruption Detection in Diffusion Tensor Imaging for Post-Processing and Real-Time Monitoring

PubMed Central

Li, Yue; Shea, Steven M.; Lorenz, Christine H.; Jiang, Hangyi; Chou, Ming-Chung; Mori, Susumu

2013-01-01

Due to the high sensitivity of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to physiological motion, clinical DTI scans often suffer a significant amount of artifacts. Tensor-fitting-based, post-processing outlier rejection is often used to reduce the influence of motion artifacts. Although it is an effective approach, when there are multiple corrupted data, this method may no longer correctly identify and reject the corrupted data. In this paper, we introduce a new criterion called “corrected Inter-Slice Intensity Discontinuity” (cISID) to detect motion-induced artifacts. We compared the performance of algorithms using cISID and other existing methods with regard to artifact detection. The experimental results show that the integration of cISID into fitting-based methods significantly improves the retrospective detection performance at post-processing analysis. The performance of the cISID criterion, if used alone, was inferior to the fitting-based methods, but cISID could effectively identify severely corrupted images with a rapid calculation time. In the second part of this paper, an outlier rejection scheme was implemented on a scanner for real-time monitoring of image quality and reacquisition of the corrupted data. The real-time monitoring, based on cISID and followed by post-processing, fitting-based outlier rejection, could provide a robust environment for routine DTI studies. PMID:24204551

On the role of environmental corruption in healthcare infrastructures: An empirical assessment for Italy using DEA with truncated regression approach.

PubMed

Cavalieri, Marina; Guccio, Calogero; Rizzo, Ilde

2017-05-01

This paper investigates empirically whether the institutional features of the contracting authority as well as the level of 'environmental' corruption in the area where the work is localised affect the efficient execution of public contracts for healthcare infrastructures. A two-stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is carried out based on a sample of Italian public contracts for healthcare infrastructures during the period 2000-2005. First, a smoothed bootstrapped DEA estimator is used to assess the relative efficiency in the implementation of each single infrastructure contract. Second, the determinants of the efficiency scores variability are considered, paying special attention to the effect exerted by 'environmental' corruption on different types of contracting authorities. Our results show that the performance of the contracts for healthcare infrastructures is significantly affected by 'environmental' corruption. Furthermore, healthcare contracting authorities are, on average, less efficient and the negative effect of corruption on efficiency is greater for this type of public procurers. The policy recommendation coming out of the study is to rely on 'qualified' contracting authorities since not all the public bodies have the necessary expertise to carry on public contracts for healthcare infrastructures efficiently. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

The reconstruction of revocation againts the rights to vote or to be voted in public post for those who are found guilty in corruption case in Indonesia from a progressive legal perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tinambunan, HSR.; Widodo, H.; Ahmad, GA.

2018-01-01

Revocation of the right to vote and elected in public office for corruption convicted by the court is absolutely necessary, but in view of the limitations amongst them, the judge shall state how long the right is revoked, and provide a detailed reason why the relevant person shall be subject to an additional penalty of revocation, the non-regulation of the criteria of corruption convicts as to which additional crimes of impunity may be imposed and elected in public office in law. The removal of the right to vote and to be elected in public post is coherent with the progressive law conception that promotes the integration of law and the values of justice in society. The progressive step by the judge in the revocation of the right to vote and elected to the corruption convicts is absolutely necessary, with the legal pluralism approach to encourage pro justice and progressive law enforcement. Revision to the Criminal Code and Law no. 31 of 1999, especially regarding the criteria of what corruption convicts who can be sentenced to additional revocation of the right to vote and be elected is a necessity.

The successively temporal error concealment algorithm using error-adaptive block matching principle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Yu-Hsuan; Wu, Tsai-Hsing; Chen, Chao-Chyun

2014-09-01

Generally, the temporal error concealment (TEC) adopts the blocks around the corrupted block (CB) as the search pattern to find the best-match block in previous frame. Once the CB is recovered, it is referred to as the recovered block (RB). Although RB can be the search pattern to find the best-match block of another CB, RB is not the same as its original block (OB). The error between the RB and its OB limits the performance of TEC. The successively temporal error concealment (STEC) algorithm is proposed to alleviate this error. The STEC procedure consists of tier-1 and tier-2. The tier-1 divides a corrupted macroblock into four corrupted 8 × 8 blocks and generates a recovering order for them. The corrupted 8 × 8 block with the first place of recovering order is recovered in tier-1, and remaining 8 × 8 CBs are recovered in tier-2 along the recovering order. In tier-2, the error-adaptive block matching principle (EA-BMP) is proposed for the RB as the search pattern to recover remaining corrupted 8 × 8 blocks. The proposed STEC outperforms sophisticated TEC algorithms on average PSNR by 0.3 dB on the packet error rate of 20% at least.

Detecting Silent Data Corruption for Extreme-Scale Applications through Data Mining

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bautista-Gomez, Leonardo; Cappello, Franck

Supercomputers allow scientists to study natural phenomena by means of computer simulations. Next-generation machines are expected to have more components and, at the same time, consume several times less energy per operation. These trends are pushing supercomputer construction to the limits of miniaturization and energy-saving strategies. Consequently, the number of soft errors is expected to increase dramatically in the coming years. While mechanisms are in place to correct or at least detect some soft errors, a significant percentage of those errors pass unnoticed by the hardware. Such silent errors are extremely damaging because they can make applications silently produce wrongmore » results. In this work we propose a technique that leverages certain properties of high-performance computing applications in order to detect silent errors at the application level. Our technique detects corruption solely based on the behavior of the application datasets and is completely application-agnostic. We propose multiple corruption detectors, and we couple them to work together in a fashion transparent to the user. We demonstrate that this strategy can detect the majority of the corruptions, while incurring negligible overhead. We show that with the help of these detectors, applications can have up to 80% of coverage against data corruption.« less

Corruption in healthcare and medicine: why should physicians and bioethicists care and what should they do?

PubMed

Chattopadhyay, Subrata

2013-01-01

Corruption, an undeniable reality in the health sector, is arguably the most serious ethical crisis in medicine today. However, it remains poorly addressed in scholarly journals and by professional associations of physicians and bioethicists. This article provides an overview of the forms and dynamics of corruption in healthcare as well as its implications in health and medicine. Corruption traps millions of people in poverty, perpetuates the existing inequalities in income and health, drains the available resources undermines people's access to healthcare, increases the costs of patient care and, by setting up a vicious cycle, contributes to ill health and suffering. No public health programme can succeed in a setting in which scarce resources are siphoned off, depriving the disadvantaged and poor of essential healthcare. Quality care cannot be provided by a healthcare delivery system in which kickbacks and bribery are a part of life. The medical profession, historically considered a noble one, and the bioethics community cannot evade their moral responsibility in the face of this sordid reality. There is a need to engage in public discussions and take a stand - against unethical and corrupt practices in healthcare and medicine - for the sake of the individual's well-being as well as for social good.

Adapting the ISO 20462 softcopy ruler method for online image quality studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burns, Peter D.; Phillips, Jonathan B.; Williams, Don

2013-01-01

In this paper we address the problem of Image Quality Assessment of no reference metrics, focusing on JPEG corrupted images. In general no reference metrics are not able to measure with the same performance the distortions within their possible range and with respect to different image contents. The crosstalk between content and distortion signals influences the human perception. We here propose two strategies to improve the correlation between subjective and objective quality data. The first strategy is based on grouping the images according to their spatial complexity. The second one is based on a frequency analysis. Both the strategies are tested on two databases available in the literature. The results show an improvement in the correlations between no reference metrics and psycho-visual data, evaluated in terms of the Pearson Correlation Coefficient.

NORMATIVE SCIENCE: A CORRUPTING INFLUENCE IN ECOLOGICAL POLICY?

EPA Science Inventory

Is normative science corrupting the proper use of science in evaluating ecological policy options? Science is "normative" when it contains tacit policy values and thus, by extension, supports particular policy preferences. He will use the case study of "ecosystem health" as an ...

75 FR 64107 - Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to Significant Narcotics Traffickers Centered...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-10-18

..., corruption, and harm such actions cause in the United States and abroad. Because the actions of significant... economy of the United States and cause an extreme level of violence, corruption, and harm in the United...

Detection and Correction of Silent Data Corruption for Large-Scale High-Performance Computing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fiala, David J; Mueller, Frank; Engelmann, Christian

Faults have become the norm rather than the exception for high-end computing on clusters with 10s/100s of thousands of cores. Exacerbating this situation, some of these faults remain undetected, manifesting themselves as silent errors that corrupt memory while applications continue to operate and report incorrect results. This paper studies the potential for redundancy to both detect and correct soft errors in MPI message-passing applications. Our study investigates the challenges inherent to detecting soft errors within MPI application while providing transparent MPI redundancy. By assuming a model wherein corruption in application data manifests itself by producing differing MPI message data betweenmore » replicas, we study the best suited protocols for detecting and correcting MPI data that is the result of corruption. To experimentally validate our proposed detection and correction protocols, we introduce RedMPI, an MPI library which resides in the MPI profiling layer. RedMPI is capable of both online detection and correction of soft errors that occur in MPI applications without requiring any modifications to the application source by utilizing either double or triple redundancy. Our results indicate that our most efficient consistency protocol can successfully protect applications experiencing even high rates of silent data corruption with runtime overheads between 0% and 30% as compared to unprotected applications without redundancy. Using our fault injector within RedMPI, we observe that even a single soft error can have profound effects on running applications, causing a cascading pattern of corruption in most cases causes that spreads to all other processes. RedMPI's protection has been shown to successfully mitigate the effects of soft errors while allowing applications to complete with correct results even in the face of errors.« less

Good governance and corruption in the health sector: lessons from the Karnataka experience.

PubMed

Huss, R; Green, A; Sudarshan, H; Karpagam, Ss; Ramani, Kv; Tomson, G; Gerein, N

2011-11-01

Strengthening good governance and preventing corruption in health care are universal challenges. The Karnataka Lokayukta (KLA), a public complaints agency in Karnataka state (India), was created in 1986 but played a prominent role controlling systemic corruption only after a change of leadership in 2001 with a new Lokayukta (ombudsman) and Vigilance Director for Health (VDH). This case study of the KLA (2001-06) analysed the:Scope and level of poor governance in the health sector; KLA objectives and its strategy; Factors which affected public health sector governance and the operation of the KLA. We used a participatory and opportunistic evaluation design, examined documents about KLA activities, conducted three site visits, two key informant and 44 semi-structured interviews and used a force field model to analyse the governance findings. The Lokayukta and his VDH were both proactive and economically independent with an extended social network, technical expertise in both jurisdiction and health care, and were widely perceived to be acting for the common good. They mobilized media and the public about governance issues which were affected by factors at the individual, organizational and societal levels. Their investigations revealed systemic corruption within the public health sector at all levels as well as in public/private collaborations and the political and justice systems. However, wider contextual issues limited their effectiveness in intervening. The departure of the Lokayukta, upon completing his term, was due to a lack of continued political support for controlling corruption. Governance in the health sector is affected by positive and negative forces. A key positive factor was the combined social, cultural and symbolic capital of the two leaders which empowered them to challenge corrupt behaviour and promote good governance. Although change was possible, it was precarious and requires continuous political support to be sustained.

Estimated maturity status and perceptions of adult autonomy support in youth soccer players.

PubMed

Cumming, Sean P; Battista, Rebecca A; Martyn, Standage; Ewing, Martha E; Malina, Robert M

2006-10-01

In this study, we examined the relations between biological maturity status, body mass index, age, and perceptions of adult autonomy support in the context of youth soccer. A total of 70 female and 43 male soccer players, aged 9 - 15 years, completed three adult-specific versions (i.e. mother, father, coach) of the perceived autonomy support subscale from the Interpersonal Style Scale. The participants' percent predicted adult stature was used as an estimate of biological maturity status. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that advanced maturity status in male players predicted lower perceptions of autonomy support from the coach. Maturity status was unrelated to perceptions of autonomy support from the coach in female soccer players, and paternal and maternal autonomy support in male and female players. Age and body mass index were unrelated to perceptions of adult (i.e. coach, mother, father) autonomy support in male and female players.

Teachers' Perceptions of Fairness, Well-Being and Burnout: A Contribution to the Validation of the Organizational Justice Index by Hoy and Tarter

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Capone, Vincenza; Petrillo, Giovanna

2016-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the validation of the Organizational Justice Index (OJI) by Hoy and Tarter (2004), a self-report questionnaire for teachers' perceptions of fairness in the operation and administration of schools. Design/methodology/approach: In two studies the authors validated the Italian version of the OJI.…

Glossary of Higher Education Corruption with Explanations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osipian, Ararat L.

2009-01-01

Higher education corruption is an emerging sub-field of research that has yet to develop its terminological apparatus and own specific research methodologies. The interdisciplinary nature of this sub-field predetermines its dependency on other well-established fields, such as microeconomics, organizational theory, political economy, education…

Bribe and Punishment: An Evolutionary Game-Theoretic Analysis of Bribery.

PubMed

Verma, Prateek; Sengupta, Supratim

2015-01-01

Harassment bribes, paid by citizens to corrupt officers for services the former are legally entitled to, constitute one of the most widespread forms of corruption in many countries. Nation states have adopted different policies to address this form of corruption. While some countries make both the bribe giver and the bribe taker equally liable for the crime, others impose a larger penalty on corrupt officers. We examine the consequences of asymmetric and symmetric penalties by developing deterministic and stochastic evolutionary game-theoretic models of bribery. We find that the asymmetric penalty scheme can lead to a reduction in incidents of bribery. However, the extent of reduction depends on how the players update their strategies over time. If the interacting members change their strategies with a probability proportional to the payoff of the alternative strategy option, the reduction in incidents of bribery is less pronounced. Our results indicate that changing from a symmetric to an asymmetric penalty scheme may not suffice in achieving significant reductions in incidents of harassment bribery.

Bribe and Punishment: An Evolutionary Game-Theoretic Analysis of Bribery

PubMed Central

Verma, Prateek; Sengupta, Supratim

2015-01-01

Harassment bribes, paid by citizens to corrupt officers for services the former are legally entitled to, constitute one of the most widespread forms of corruption in many countries. Nation states have adopted different policies to address this form of corruption. While some countries make both the bribe giver and the bribe taker equally liable for the crime, others impose a larger penalty on corrupt officers. We examine the consequences of asymmetric and symmetric penalties by developing deterministic and stochastic evolutionary game-theoretic models of bribery. We find that the asymmetric penalty scheme can lead to a reduction in incidents of bribery. However, the extent of reduction depends on how the players update their strategies over time. If the interacting members change their strategies with a probability proportional to the payoff of the alternative strategy option, the reduction in incidents of bribery is less pronounced. Our results indicate that changing from a symmetric to an asymmetric penalty scheme may not suffice in achieving significant reductions in incidents of harassment bribery. PMID:26204110

Communication system with adaptive noise suppression

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kozel, David (Inventor); Devault, James A. (Inventor); Birr, Richard B. (Inventor)

2007-01-01

A signal-to-noise ratio dependent adaptive spectral subtraction process eliminates noise from noise-corrupted speech signals. The process first pre-emphasizes the frequency components of the input sound signal which contain the consonant information in human speech. Next, a signal-to-noise ratio is determined and a spectral subtraction proportion adjusted appropriately. After spectral subtraction, low amplitude signals can be squelched. A single microphone is used to obtain both the noise-corrupted speech and the average noise estimate. This is done by determining if the frame of data being sampled is a voiced or unvoiced frame. During unvoiced frames an estimate of the noise is obtained. A running average of the noise is used to approximate the expected value of the noise. Spectral subtraction may be performed on a composite noise-corrupted signal, or upon individual sub-bands of the noise-corrupted signal. Pre-averaging of the input signal's magnitude spectrum over multiple time frames may be performed to reduce musical noise.

Qualitative study exploring surgical team members' perception of patient safety in conflict-ridden Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

PubMed Central

Labat, Francoise; Sharma, Anjali

2016-01-01

Objective To identify potential barriers to patient safety (PS) interventions from the perspective of surgical team members working in an operating theatre in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Design In-depth interviews were conducted and analysed using qualitative content analysis. Setting Governmental referral teaching hospital in Eastern DRC. Participants We purposively selected 2–4 national and expatriate surgical team members from each specialisation. Of the 31 eligible surgical health workers (HWs), 17 volunteered to be interviewed. Results Economics issues affected PS throughout the entire health system, from human resources and hospital management, to access to healthcare for patients. Surgical team members seemed embedded in a paternalistic organisational structure and blame culture accompanied by perceived inefficient support services and low salaries. The armed conflict did not only worsen these system failures, it also carried direct threats to patients and HWs, and resulted in complex indirect consequences compromising PS. The increased corruption within health organisations, and population impoverishment and substance abuse among health staff adversely altered safe care. Simultaneously, HWs’ reported resilience and resourcefulness to address barrier to PS. Participants had varying views on external aid depending on its relevance. Conclusions The complex links between war and PS emphasise the importance of a comprehensive approach including occupational health to strengthen HWs' resilience, external clinical audits to limit corruption, and educational programmes in PS to support patient-centred care and address blame culture. Finally, improvement of equity in the health financing system seems essential to ensure access to healthcare and safe perioperative outcomes for all. PMID:27113232

Essays on environmental policies, corruption, and energy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baksi, Soham

This thesis consists of four essays. The first essay looks at pollution taxation under capital mobility, and analyzes the role of pre-commitment by countries to their pollution tax rate. A polluting firm sells its product in two countries, and can locate and produce in a single country or in both countries. Due to the discrete-choice nature of the firm's location problem, the countries' welfare functions are discontinuous in their pollution tax rate. We show that when the countries cannot pre-commit to their pollution tax, the firm can still engender tax competition between them by strategically locating in both the countries. Moreover, pre-commitment pollution taxation may not be welfare improving for the countries, although it always makes the firm better off. The second essay studies the effect of liberalization on corruption. Corruptible inspectors enforce an environmental regulation on firms, and are monitored by an honest regulator. Liberalization not only increases the variety of goods and the marginal utility of accepting a bribe, but also puts pressure on the regulator to curb corruption. The interaction of these two effects can cause corruption to initially increase with liberalization, and then decrease beyond a threshold. Moreover, equilibrium corruption is lower when the regulator is able to pre-commit to her monitoring frequency. The third essay analyzes optimal labeling (information revelation) procedures for hidden attributes of credence goods. Consumers are heterogeneous in their preference for the hidden attribute, and producers can either self-label their products, or have them certified by a third party. The government can impose self or third-party labeling requirements on either the "green" or the "brown" producers. When corrupt producers can affix spurious labels, the government needs to monitor them. A mandatory self-labeling policy is shown to generally dominate mandatory third-party labeling. The fourth essay develops formulas for computing the economy-wide energy intensity decline rate by aggregating sectoral energy efficiency improvements, and sectoral shifts in economic activities. The formulas are used to (i) construct plausible scenarios for the global rate of energy intensity decline, and (ii) show the restraining role of the "electricity generation" sector on the energy intensity decline rate.

Combating healthcare corruption and fraud with improved global health governance

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Corruption is a serious threat to global health outcomes, leading to financial waste and adverse health consequences. Yet, forms of corruption impacting global health are endemic worldwide in public and private sectors, and in developed and resource-poor settings alike. Allegations of misuse of funds and fraud in global health initiatives also threaten future investment. Current domestic and sectorial-level responses are fragmented and have been criticized as ineffective. In order to address this issue, we propose a global health governance framework calling for international recognition of “global health corruption” and development of a treaty protocol to combat this crucial issue. PMID:23088820

Register file soft error recovery

DOEpatents

Fleischer, Bruce M.; Fox, Thomas W.; Wait, Charles D.; Muff, Adam J.; Watson, III, Alfred T.

2013-10-15

Register file soft error recovery including a system that includes a first register file and a second register file that mirrors the first register file. The system also includes an arithmetic pipeline for receiving data read from the first register file, and error detection circuitry to detect whether the data read from the first register file includes corrupted data. The system further includes error recovery circuitry to insert an error recovery instruction into the arithmetic pipeline in response to detecting the corrupted data. The inserted error recovery instruction replaces the corrupted data in the first register file with a copy of the data from the second register file.

Actors in Corruption: Business Politicians in Italy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

della Porta, Donatella

1996-01-01

Argues that the development of political corruption brings about important changes in the political system and in the characteristics of the political class. Describes the emergence and activities of a group of "business politicians" in Italy who have transformed political parties into socializing agencies for illicit activities. (MJP)

Improving the trust in results of numerical simulations and scientific data analytics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cappello, Franck; Constantinescu, Emil; Hovland, Paul

This white paper investigates several key aspects of the trust that a user can give to the results of numerical simulations and scientific data analytics. In this document, the notion of trust is related to the integrity of numerical simulations and data analytics applications. This white paper complements the DOE ASCR report on Cybersecurity for Scientific Computing Integrity by (1) exploring the sources of trust loss; (2) reviewing the definitions of trust in several areas; (3) providing numerous cases of result alteration, some of them leading to catastrophic failures; (4) examining the current notion of trust in numerical simulation andmore » scientific data analytics; (5) providing a gap analysis; and (6) suggesting two important research directions and their respective research topics. To simplify the presentation without loss of generality, we consider that trust in results can be lost (or the results’ integrity impaired) because of any form of corruption happening during the execution of the numerical simulation or the data analytics application. In general, the sources of such corruption are threefold: errors, bugs, and attacks. Current applications are already using techniques to deal with different types of corruption. However, not all potential corruptions are covered by these techniques. We firmly believe that the current level of trust that a user has in the results is at least partially founded on ignorance of this issue or the hope that no undetected corruptions will occur during the execution. This white paper explores the notion of trust and suggests recommendations for developing a more scientifically grounded notion of trust in numerical simulation and scientific data analytics. We first formulate the problem and show that it goes beyond previous questions regarding the quality of results such as V&V, uncertainly quantification, and data assimilation. We then explore the complexity of this difficult problem, and we sketch complementary general approaches to address it. This paper does not focus on the trust that the execution will actually complete. The product of simulation or of data analytic executions is the final element of a potentially long chain of transformations, where each stage has the potential to introduce harmful corruptions. These corruptions may produce results that deviate from the user-expected accuracy without notifying the user of this deviation. There are many potential sources of corruption before and during the execution; consequently, in this white paper we do not focus on the protection of the end result after the execution.« less

Self-motion perception in autism is compromised by visual noise but integrated optimally across multiple senses

PubMed Central

Zaidel, Adam; Goin-Kochel, Robin P.; Angelaki, Dora E.

2015-01-01

Perceptual processing in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is marked by superior low-level task performance and inferior complex-task performance. This observation has led to theories of defective integration in ASD of local parts into a global percept. Despite mixed experimental results, this notion maintains widespread influence and has also motivated recent theories of defective multisensory integration in ASD. Impaired ASD performance in tasks involving classic random dot visual motion stimuli, corrupted by noise as a means to manipulate task difficulty, is frequently interpreted to support this notion of global integration deficits. By manipulating task difficulty independently of visual stimulus noise, here we test the hypothesis that heightened sensitivity to noise, rather than integration deficits, may characterize ASD. We found that although perception of visual motion through a cloud of dots was unimpaired without noise, the addition of stimulus noise significantly affected adolescents with ASD, more than controls. Strikingly, individuals with ASD demonstrated intact multisensory (visual–vestibular) integration, even in the presence of noise. Additionally, when vestibular motion was paired with pure visual noise, individuals with ASD demonstrated a different strategy than controls, marked by reduced flexibility. This result could be simulated by using attenuated (less reliable) and inflexible (not experience-dependent) Bayesian priors in ASD. These findings question widespread theories of impaired global and multisensory integration in ASD. Rather, they implicate increased sensitivity to sensory noise and less use of prior knowledge in ASD, suggesting increased reliance on incoming sensory information. PMID:25941373

Games of corruption in preventing the overuse of common-pool resources.

PubMed

Lee, Joung-Hun; Jusup, Marko; Iwasa, Yoh

2017-09-07

Maintaining human cooperation in the context of common-pool resource management is extremely important because otherwise we risk overuse and corruption. To analyse the interplay between economic and ecological factors leading to corruption, we couple the resource dynamics and the evolutionary dynamics of strategic decision making into a powerful analytical framework. The traits of this framework are: (i) an arbitrary number of harvesters share the responsibility to sustainably exploit a specific part of an ecosystem, (ii) harvesters face three strategic choices for exploiting the resource, (iii) a delegated enforcement system is available if called upon, (iv) enforcers are either honest or corrupt, and (v) the resource abundance reflects the choice of harvesting strategies. The resulting dynamical system is bistable; depending on the initial conditions, it evolves either to cooperative (sustainable exploitation) or defecting (overexploitation) equilibria. Using the domain of attraction to cooperative equilibria as an indicator of successful management, we find that the more resilient the resource (as implied by a high growth rate), the more likely the dominance of corruption which, in turn, suppresses the cooperative outcome. A qualitatively similar result arises when slow resource dynamics relative to the dynamics of decision making mask the benefit of cooperation. We discuss the implications of these results in the context of managing common-pool resources. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

HIV-related travel restrictions: trends and country characteristics.

PubMed

Chang, Felicia; Prytherch, Helen; Nesbitt, Robin C; Wilder-Smith, Annelies

2013-06-03

Increasingly, HIV-seropositive individuals cross international borders. HIV-related restrictions on entry, stay, and residence imposed by countries have important consequences for this mobile population. Our aim was to describe the geographical distribution of countries with travel restrictions and to examine the trends and characteristics of countries with such restrictions. In 2011, data presented to UNAIDS were used to establish a list of countries with and without HIV restrictions on entry, stay, and residence and to describe their geographical distribution. The following indicators were investigated to describe the country characteristics: population at mid-year, international migrants as a percentage of the population, Human Development Index, estimated HIV prevalence (age: 15-49), presence of a policy prohibiting HIV screening for general employment purposes, government and civil society responses to having non-discrimination laws/regulations which specify migrants/mobile populations, government and civil society responses to having laws/regulations/policies that present obstacles to effective HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support for migrants/mobile populations, Corruption Perception Index, and gross national income per capita. HIV-related restrictions exist in 45 out of 193 WHO countries (23%) in all regions of the world. We found that the Eastern Mediterranean and Western Pacific Regions have the highest proportions of countries with these restrictions. Our analyses showed that countries that have opted for restrictions have the following characteristics: smaller populations, higher proportions of migrants in the population, lower HIV prevalence rates, and lack of legislation protecting people living with HIV from screening for employment purposes, compared with countries without restrictions. Countries with a high proportion of international migrants tend to have travel restrictions - a finding that is relevant to migrant populations and travel medicine providers alike. Despite international pressure to remove travel restrictions, many countries continue to implement these restrictions for HIV-positive individuals on entry and stay. Since 2010, the United States and China have engaged in high profile removals. This may be indicative of an increasing trend, facilitated by various factors, including international advocacy and the setting of a UNAIDS goal to halve the number of countries with restrictions by 2015.

HIV-related travel restrictions: trends and country characteristics

PubMed Central

Chang, Felicia; Prytherch, Helen; Nesbitt, Robin C.; Wilder-Smith, Annelies

2013-01-01

Introduction Increasingly, HIV-seropositive individuals cross international borders. HIV-related restrictions on entry, stay, and residence imposed by countries have important consequences for this mobile population. Our aim was to describe the geographical distribution of countries with travel restrictions and to examine the trends and characteristics of countries with such restrictions. Methods In 2011, data presented to UNAIDS were used to establish a list of countries with and without HIV restrictions on entry, stay, and residence and to describe their geographical distribution. The following indicators were investigated to describe the country characteristics: population at mid-year, international migrants as a percentage of the population, Human Development Index, estimated HIV prevalence (age: 15–49), presence of a policy prohibiting HIV screening for general employment purposes, government and civil society responses to having non-discrimination laws/regulations which specify migrants/mobile populations, government and civil society responses to having laws/regulations/policies that present obstacles to effective HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support for migrants/mobile populations, Corruption Perception Index, and gross national income per capita. Results HIV-related restrictions exist in 45 out of 193 WHO countries (23%) in all regions of the world. We found that the Eastern Mediterranean and Western Pacific Regions have the highest proportions of countries with these restrictions. Our analyses showed that countries that have opted for restrictions have the following characteristics: smaller populations, higher proportions of migrants in the population, lower HIV prevalence rates, and lack of legislation protecting people living with HIV from screening for employment purposes, compared with countries without restrictions. Conclusion Countries with a high proportion of international migrants tend to have travel restrictions – a finding that is relevant to migrant populations and travel medicine providers alike. Despite international pressure to remove travel restrictions, many countries continue to implement these restrictions for HIV-positive individuals on entry and stay. Since 2010, the United States and China have engaged in high profile removals. This may be indicative of an increasing trend, facilitated by various factors, including international advocacy and the setting of a UNAIDS goal to halve the number of countries with restrictions by 2015. PMID:23735755

Correlates of healthy life expectancy in low- and lower-middle-income countries.

PubMed

Islam, Md Shariful; Mondal, Md Nazrul Islam; Tareque, Md Ismail; Rahman, Md Aminur; Hoque, Md Nazrul; Ahmed, Md Munsur; Khan, Hafiz T A

2018-04-11

Healthy life expectancy (HALE) at birth is an important indicator of health status and quality of life of a country's population. However, little is known about the determinants of HALE as yet globally or even country-specific level. Thus, we examined the factors that are associated with HALE at birth in low- and lower-middle-income countries. In accordance with the World Bank (WB) classification seventy-nine low- and lower-middle-income countries were selected for the study. Data on HALE, demographic, socioeconomic, social structural, health, and environmental factors from several reliable sources, such as the World Health Organization, the United Nations Development Program, Population Reference Bureau, WB, Heritage Foundation, Transparency International, Freedom House, and International Center for Prison Studies were obtained as selected countries. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and regression analysis were performed to reach the research objectives. The lowest and highest HALE were observed in Sierra Leone (44.40 years) and in Sri Lanka (67.00 years), respectively. The mean years of schooling, total fertility rate (TFR), physician density, gross national income per capita, health expenditure, economic freedom, carbon dioxide emission rate, freedom of the press, corruption perceptions index, prison population rate, and achieving a level of health-related millennium development goals (MDGs) were revealed as the correlates of HALE. Among all the correlates, the mean years of schooling, TFR, freedom of the press, and achieving a level of health-related MDGs were found to be the most influential factors. To increase the HALE in low- and lower-middle-income countries, we suggest that TFR is to be reduced as well as to increase the mean years of schooling, freedom of the press, and the achievement of a level of health-related MDGs.

[Self-perception of disease in patients with chronic diseases].

PubMed

Adrián-Arrieta, L; Casas-Fernández de Tejerina, J M

2017-11-18

The aim of this study is to assess the self-perception of disease by patients with chronic diseases and determine factors related to their perception of disease. Cross-sectional descriptive study performed between September 2014 and April 2015 in nine (6 urban and 3 rural) Health Centres of Navarra, Spain. The participants were recruited by convenience sampling of 196 patients aged over 65 years with at least one chronic disease. The outcome variable was: Perception of disease evaluated through The Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (9 items. Assessment of the cognitive and emotional representation of the disease. A higher total score indicates a greater threat of disease to the patient). Explanatory variables: Evaluation of the care received through the Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care, Katz index, Gijon's socio-family evaluation scale and quality of life using the EQ5D questionnaire. Other variables studied were: gender, age, education, Charlson index, and number of chronic diseases. The association between the total The Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire value and the rest of the variables was calculated. The self-perception of disease is more negative for a larger number of diseases (rho: 0.242; p=.001), greater patient dependence (rho: -0.193; P=.007), and a poorer self-perceived quality of life (EQ VAS rho: -0.484; P<.001. EQ5D5L Index value rho: -0.507; P<.001). The perception that chronic patients have about their disease worsens as their diseases and their dependence increase, and also worsens their quality of life. Copyright © 2017 Sociedad Española de Médicos de Atención Primaria (SEMERGEN). Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Testing the status-legitimacy hypothesis: A multilevel modeling approach to the perception of legitimacy in income distribution in 36 nations.

PubMed

Caricati, Luca

2017-01-01

The status-legitimacy hypothesis was tested by analyzing cross-national data about social inequality. Several indicators were used as indexes of social advantage: social class, personal income, and self-position in the social hierarchy. Moreover, inequality and freedom in nations, as indexed by Gini and by the human freedom index, were considered. Results from 36 nations worldwide showed no support for the status-legitimacy hypothesis. The perception that income distribution was fair tended to increase as social advantage increased. Moreover, national context increased the difference between advantaged and disadvantaged people in the perception of social fairness: Contrary to the status-legitimacy hypothesis, disadvantaged people were more likely than advantaged people to perceive income distribution as too large, and this difference increased in nations with greater freedom and equality. The implications for the status-legitimacy hypothesis are discussed.

On-Orbit Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) Star Tracker Warm Pixel Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Felikson, Denis; Ekinci, Matthew; Hashmall, Joseph A.; Vess, Melissa

2011-01-01

This paper describes the process of identification and analysis of warm pixels in two autonomous star trackers on the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) mission. A brief description of the mission orbit and attitude regimes is discussed and pertinent star tracker hardware specifications are given. Warm pixels are defined and the Quality Index parameter is introduced, which can be explained qualitatively as a manifestation of a possible warm pixel event. A description of the algorithm used to identify warm pixel candidates is given. Finally, analysis of dumps of on-orbit star tracker charge coupled devices (CCD) images is presented and an operational plan going forward is discussed. SDO, launched on February 11, 2010, is operated from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). SDO is in a geosynchronous orbit with a 28.5 inclination. The nominal mission attitude points the spacecraft X-axis at the Sun, with the spacecraft Z-axis roughly aligned with the Solar North Pole. The spacecraft Y-axis completes the triad. In attitude, SDO moves approximately 0.04 per hour, mostly about the spacecraft Z-axis. The SDO star trackers, manufactured by Galileo Avionica, project the images of stars in their 16.4deg x 16.4deg fields-of-view onto CCD detectors consisting of 512 x 512 pixels. The trackers autonomously identify the star patterns and provide an attitude estimate. Each unit is able to track up to 9 stars. Additionally, each tracker calculates a parameter called the Quality Index, which is a measure of the quality of the attitude solution. Each pixel in the CCD measures the intensity of light and a warns pixel is defined as having a measurement consistently and significantly higher than the mean background intensity level. A warns pixel should also have lower intensity than a pixel containing a star image and will not move across the field of view as the attitude changes (as would a dim star image). It should be noted that the maximum error introduced in the star tracker attitude solution during suspected warm pixel corruptions is within the specified 36 attitude error budget requirement of [35, 70, 70] arcseconds. Thus, the star trackers provided attitude accuracy within the specification for SDO. The star tracker images are intentionally defocused so each star image is detected in more than one CCD pixel. The position of each star is calculated as an intensity-weighted average of the illuminated pixels. The exact method of finding the positions is proprietary to the tracker manufacturer. When a warm pixel happens to be in the vicinity of a star, it can corrupt the calculation of the position of that particular star, thereby corrupting the estimate of the attitude.

Corrupt Language, Corrupt Thought: The White Paper "The Importance of Teaching"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lumby, Jacky; Muijs, Daniel

2014-01-01

This article deconstructs the language of the 2010 UK Coalition Government's White Paper, "The Importance of Teaching". It uses analytical frameworks related to rhetoric established by Aristotle and Cicero. It explores the mechanisms of language using both critical discourse analysis and content analysis, offering quantitative data on…

The Prince of AALAE. Corruption and Mismanagement in an African NGO.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Ekundayo J. D.

In this book, the former coordinator of the Technical Assistance Project of the African Association for Literacy and Adult Education (AALAE) provides an insider's account of the corruption, political management, and organizational mismanagement of the AALAE in 1991-1996. Chapter 1 introduces six myths regarding nongovernmental organizations…

Verbicide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Orr, David W.

2001-01-01

A professor of conservation biology, and champion of the spoken and written word, discusses who is corrupting the English language and why, describing the culprits and suggesting how to remedy the situation (e.g., restore the habit of talking directly to one another; use proper language; hold those who are corrupting the language accountable; and…

Pathology Sections: The Four Chronic Diseases of Academic Corruption

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chinese Education and Society, 2007

2007-01-01

One might say that people bitterly detest "academic corruption" and call it immoral and dishonest academic conduct, and that the deliberate falsification, covert plagiarism, and empty rhetoric employed by certain scholars when expounding their theories and the various means they use when attempting to get their works published and…

Degrees of Integrity: The Threat of Corruption in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chapman, David W.; Lindner, Samira

2016-01-01

Corruption in higher education is the focus of growing international concern among governments, educators, students, and other stakeholders. Those working in higher education institutions now face a unique convergence of pressures that is creating a heightened threat to the integrity of the higher education enterprise worldwide. This paper draws…

Economics of Corruption in Doctoral Education: The Dissertations Market

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osipian, Ararat L.

2012-01-01

This paper addresses the issue of "dissertations for sale" in Russia. The tasks of this anthropological study include establishing the problem of corruption in doctoral education, identification of the dissertations suppliers, study of the specific services they offer, analysis of their prices on different services, and generalizations…

The Philippine Department of Education: Challenges of Policy Implementation amidst Corruption

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reyes, Vicente Chua

2010-01-01

This inquiry interrogates the experiences of local implementation actors of the Philippine Department of Education as they navigate through reform efforts within systemic corruption. Departing from dominant analytical paradigms centred on patron-client frameworks, the article introduces the typology of complex linkages where local actors play…

Misdeeds in the US Higher Education: Illegality versus Corruption

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osipian, Ararat L.

2008-01-01

Corruption in higher education has long been neglected as an area of research in the US. The processes of decentralization, commoditization, and privatization in higher education rise questions of accountability, transparency, quality, and access. Every nation solves problems of access, quality, and equity differently. Thus, although prosecuting…

Nonlinear analysis of saccade speed fluctuations during combined action and perception tasks

PubMed Central

Stan, C.; Astefanoaei, C.; Pretegiani, E.; Optican, L.; Creanga, D.; Rufa, A.; Cristescu, C.P.

2014-01-01

Background: Saccades are rapid eye movements used to gather information about a scene which requires both action and perception. These are usually studied separately, so that how perception influences action is not well understood. In a dual task, where the subject looks at a target and reports a decision, subtle changes in the saccades might be caused by action-perception interactions. Studying saccades might provide insight into how brain pathways for action and for perception interact. New method: We applied two complementary methods, multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis and Lempel-Ziv complexity index to eye peak speed recorded in two experiments, a pure action task and a combined action-perception task. Results: Multifractality strength is significantly different in the two experiments, showing smaller values for dual decision task saccades compared to simple-task saccades. The normalized Lempel-Ziv complexity index behaves similarly i.e. is significantly smaller in the decision saccade task than in the simple task. Comparison with existing methods: Compared to the usual statistical and linear approaches, these analyses emphasize the character of the dynamics involved in the fluctuations and offer a sensitive tool for quantitative evaluation of the multifractal features and of the complexity measure in the saccades peak speeds when different brain circuits are involved. Conclusion: Our results prove that the peak speed fluctuations have multifractal characteristics with lower magnitude for the multifractality strength and for the complexity index when two neural pathways are simultaneously activated, demonstrating the nonlinear interaction in the brain pathways for action and perception. PMID:24854830

A study on body weight perception and weight control behaviours among adolescents in Hong Kong.

PubMed

Cheung, Patrick C H; Ip, Patricia L S; Lam, S T; Bibby, Helen

2007-02-01

To examine the relationships between body weight perceptions, estimated body mass index, gender, and weight control behaviours. Cross-sectional survey. Three secondary schools in Hong Kong. A total of 1132 secondary school forms 1 and 3 students. The strength of agreement between perceived weight and estimated body mass index, and the association between perceived weight, estimated body mass index, and weight control behaviours. A total of 14% of students were estimated to be overweight or obese. The agreement between actual (estimated) body mass index and perceived weight was poor in females and fair in males (Kappa 0.137 and 0.225, respectively). In females, there was no evidence of a relationship between body mass index and weight control behaviours. However, there was a relationship between perceived weight and weight control behaviours such that females who perceived themselves as overweight were more likely to exercise, restrict caloric intake, self medicate with diet pills, purge, or use laxatives. In males, there was evidence of a relationship between perceived weight, body mass index, and weight control behaviours. Males who perceived themselves as overweight or were overweight, were more likely to exercise or restrict caloric intake. Body weight perceptions are not in agreement with actual weight in adolescents. This discrepancy is more marked in females who use a variety of weight control behaviours. These behaviours are motivated by perceived weight rather than actual (estimated) body mass index. Overweight adolescents should be encouraged to adopt appropriate weight control behaviours for their health needs.

Cross-validation of the Student Perceptions of Team-Based Learning Scale in the United States.

PubMed

Lein, Donald H; Lowman, John D; Eidson, Christopher A; Yuen, Hon K

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to cross-validate the factor structure of the previously developed Student Perceptions of Team-Based Learning (TBL) Scale among students in an entry-level doctor of physical therapy (DPT) program in the United States. Toward the end of the semester in 2 patient/client management courses taught using TBL, 115 DPT students completed the Student Perceptions of TBL Scale, with a response rate of 87%. Principal component analysis (PCA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted to replicate and confirm the underlying factor structure of the scale. Based on the PCA for the validation sample, the original 2-factor structure (preference for TBL and preference for teamwork) of the Student Perceptions of TBL Scale was replicated. The overall goodness-of-fit indices from the CFA suggested that the original 2-factor structure for the 15 items of the scale demonstrated a good model fit (comparative fit index, 0.95; non-normed fit index/Tucker-Lewis index, 0.93; root mean square error of approximation, 0.06; and standardized root mean square residual, 0.07). The 2 factors demonstrated high internal consistency (alpha= 0.83 and 0.88, respectively). DPT students taught using TBL viewed the factor of preference for teamwork more favorably than preference for TBL. Our findings provide evidence supporting the replicability of the internal structure of the Student Perceptions of TBL Scale when assessing perceptions of TBL among DPT students in patient/client management courses.

Parental Perceptions of the Rural School's Role in Addressing Childhood Obesity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stalter, Ann M.; Kaylor, Marybeth; Steinke, Jessica D.; Barker, Rosanta M.

2011-01-01

This study employed cross-sectional, descriptive design with convenience sampling to explore rural parent perceptions of child obesity, use of Body Mass Index (BMI) in schools, preferences for receipt of BMI information and, the rural school's role in obesity prevention/treatment. The survey "Parental Perceptions of BMI and Obesity in the…

Rx for Teachers of Literature: The Rewards of Rigorous Reading.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marcus, Fred

1968-01-01

All literature teachers agree that students should read with perception, enjoy reading, and continue reading after classes have ended. Because perception promotes the pleasure that leads to continued reading, the basic step toward improved reading is to increase perception. The "index-card" system, which focuses attention on textual explication,…

Body Mass Index Self-Perception and Weight Management Behaviors during Late Adolescence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Kyeongra; Turk, Melanie T.; Allison, Virginia L.; James, Khara A.; Chasens, Eileen

2014-01-01

Background: This study examined the relationship between actual body weight and self-perceived weight, and how perception of one's weight affects weight management behaviors among US adolescents. Methods: Adolescents ages 16-19 years with objectively-measured weight and height and self-reported perception of weight, weight-loss efforts, and…

Formula Funding of Schools, Decentralization and Corruption: A Comparative Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levacic, Rosalind; Downes, Peter

2004-01-01

This study sets out to examine the relationship, if any, between the decentralization of funding for schools and the prevalence of corruption and fraud. It is based upon work carried out in four countries: Australia (the State of Victoria), the United Kingdom (specifically England), Poland (with particular reference to two cities) and Brazil…

Campbell's Law and the Ethics of Immensurability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sidorkin, Alexander M.

2016-01-01

The paper examines "Campbell's Law": "The more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decision-making, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes it is intended to monitor." The examination of measurability leads to explaining the…

The Impacts of Corruption on Economic Development in Afghanistan: A Study of the Effects of Nepotism and Bribery

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-12-16

appropriation from other players. These capital games involve the elusive actions of corruption amongst the social and governmental elites . These...actions are either legal or not identified as illegal. They help country elites maintain a financial advantage over foreign competitors. This capital

Balancing Campaign Finance Reform Against the First Amendment. Looking at the Law.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Elizabeth M.

2000-01-01

Focuses on the rationale for campaign finance reform, preventing corruption or the appearance of corruption in the electoral process, and the need for balancing the constitutional rights protected by the First Amendment. Discusses the issues of disclosure, contribution limits, issue advocacy, and soft money. Includes teaching activities and…

Corruption, Collusion, and Nepotism in Higher Education and the Labor Market in Georgia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Orkodashvili, Mariam

2011-01-01

This article offers a new approach to conceptualizing the limited affordability and access to higher education for socioeconomically disadvantaged students in Georgia. Unlike most traditional views, it associates the issue with corruption, collusion, and nepotism existent in the country's higher education, job market, and banking system. It argues…

Conflicts of interest, institutional corruption, and pharma: an agenda for reform.

PubMed

Rodwin, Marc A

2012-01-01

When physicians' conflicts of interest arise from ties with drug firms, we should shift our focus to the pharmaceutical industry and improper dependencies that cause institutional corruption. This article analyzes eight forms of improper dependencies on pharma and proposes reforms. © 2012 American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Inc.

The Intrusion of Corruption into Athletics: An Age-Old Problem.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, James G.

1986-01-01

Offers examples of corruption in athletics in ancient Greece and in the early years of intercollegiate athletics in the U.S. Criticizes the current win-at-all-costs philosophy in intercollegiate programs. Argues that self-sustaining athletics departments are forced into devious practices to win. Recommends increased involvement by university…

Corruption in the System of Higher Education: Problems and Ways to Prevent Them

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gostev, A. N.; Demchenko, T. S.; Borisova, E. A.

2015-01-01

On the basis of an analysis of the literature, social practice, and the results of a concrete sociological survey, the article examines the main problems of education in Russia today, the ways they are conditioned by corruption, and possible solutions. [This article was translated by Kim Braithwaite.

Universities Have the Responsibility to Tackle the World's Toughest Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klitgaard, Robert

2008-01-01

Issues that seem intractable not only dominate our news but paralyze our governments. Corruption. Immigration. Religious and cultural conflict. When such issues are raised, too often we roll our eyes and give up before we begin. Using the example of corruption, the author presents ideas for how colleges and universities can help resolve…

Vouchers, Tests, Loans, Privatization: Will They Help Tackle Corruption in Russian Higher Education?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osipian, Ararat L.

2009-01-01

Higher education in Russia is currently being reformed. A standardized computer-graded test and educational vouchers were introduced to make higher education more accessible, fund it more effectively, and reduce corruption in admissions to public colleges. The voucher project failed and the test faces furious opposition. This paper considers…

Strict Slaves of Slogans: Response to ''The Social Work Cartel''

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Epstein, William M.

2016-01-01

The corruption of the social work enterprise is not simply episodic but systemic and long-standing including education, research, governance, and practice. Reform is unlikely since the constituency within the field and outside of it that wishes to change the situation is small and ineffective. The corruption of social work reflects the unfortunate…

Reactive entitlement in elective public office: a possible precursor to political corruption.

PubMed

Messner, E

1981-07-01

Observations, by a psychoanalyst who has served as an elected public official, reveal that exposure to conflicting demands from constituents may arouse a sense of depletion. Common reactions are feelings of entitlement and self-indulgent behavior which might include political corruption. Further research and preventive and therapeutic interventions are suggested.

A somatic marker perspective of immoral and corrupt behavior.

PubMed

Sobhani, Mona; Bechara, Antoine

2011-01-01

Individuals who engage in corrupt and immoral behavior are in some ways similar to individuals with psychopathy. Normal people refrain from engaging in such behaviors because they tie together the moral value of society and the risk of punishment when they violate social rules. What is it, then, that allows these immoral individuals to behave in this manner, and in some situations even to prosper? When there is a dysfunction of somatic markers, specific disadvantageous impairments in decision-making arise, as in moral judgment, but, paradoxically, under some circumstances, the damage can cause the patient to make optimal financial investment decisions. Interestingly, individuals with psychopathy, a personality disorder, share many of the same behavioral characteristics seen in VMPFC and amygdala lesion patients, suggesting that defective somatic markers may serve as a neural framework for explaining immoral and corrupt behaviors. While these sociopathic behaviors of sometimes famous and powerful individuals have long been discussed, primarily within the realm of social science and psychology, here we offer a neurocognitive perspective on the possible neural roots of immoral and corrupt behaviors.

[Pursuing the ethics of integrity in a business context].

PubMed

Manicardi, Luciano

2015-04-01

Having placed the phenomenon of corruption in the wider context of the current cultural and anthropological crisis and after recalling the ancient roots of the phenomenon, the author proposes an itinerary in six stages that is a sort of a minimal ethics in view of affirming and rooting ethical behaviors and prevent corruption in a business context. The six stages are: professionalism, respect, loyalty, honesty, responsibility, integrity. If corruption is a phenomenon of personal (cor-ruptum) and collective (cum-rumpere) breaking and disruption, which gives birth to duplicity, hidden and not transparent behaviors, integrity, on the contrary, is the attitude of fullness and consistency that manifests and produces the healthy character of the individual and the group. The author discerns in the corruption of the word a basic destructuring element of relational networks and also of relations internal to a business organization. He emphasizes the urgency of the recovery of an ethics of the word that alone enables the creation or reconstitution of trust, which is the necessary foundation for the good performance and livability of interpersonal, social, and corporate relations.

A Somatic Marker Perspective of Immoral and Corrupt Behavior

PubMed Central

Sobhani, Mona; Bechara, Antoine

2012-01-01

Individuals who engage in corrupt and immoral behavior are in some ways similar to psychopaths. Normal people refrain from engaging in such behaviors because they tie together the moral value of society and the risk for punishment when they violate social rules. What is it, then, that allows these immoral individuals to behave in this manner, and in some situations to even prosper? When there is a dysfunction of somatic markers, specific disadvantageous impairments in decision-making arise, for example in moral judgment, but paradoxically, under some circumstances, the damage can cause the patient to make optimal financial investment decisions. Interestingly, individuals with psychopathy, a personality disorder, share many of these same behavioral characteristics as those seen in VMPFC and amygdala lesion patients, suggesting that defective somatic markers may serve as a neural framework for explaining immoral and corrupt behaviors. While these sociopathic behaviors of sometimes famous and powerful individuals have long been discussed primarily within the realm of social science and psychology, here we offer a neurocognitive perspective on possible neural roots for immoral and corrupt behaviors. PMID:21919563

Bribery games on inter-dependent regular networks.

PubMed

Verma, Prateek; Nandi, Anjan K; Sengupta, Supratim

2017-02-16

We examine a scenario of social conflict that is manifest during an interaction between government servants providing a service and citizens who are legally entitled to the service, using evolutionary game-theory in structured populations characterized by an inter-dependent network. Bribe-demands by government servants during such transactions, called harassment bribes, constitute a widespread form of corruption in many countries. We investigate the effect of varying bribe demand made by corrupt officials and the cost of complaining incurred by harassed citizens, on the proliferation of corrupt strategies in the population. We also examine how the connectivity of the various constituent networks affects the spread of corrupt officials in the population. We find that incidents of bribery can be considerably reduced in a network-structured populations compared to mixed populations. Interestingly, we also find that an optimal range for the connectivity of nodes in the citizen's network (signifying the degree of influence a citizen has in affecting the strategy of other citizens in the network) as well as the interaction network aids in the fixation of honest officers. Our results reveal the important role of network structure and connectivity in asymmetric games.

Psychoacoustics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moore, Brian C. J.

Psychoacoustics psychological is concerned with the relationships between the physical characteristics of sounds and their perceptual attributes. This chapter describes: the absolute sensitivity of the auditory system for detecting weak sounds and how that sensitivity varies with frequency; the frequency selectivity of the auditory system (the ability to resolve or hear out the sinusoidal components in a complex sound) and its characterization in terms of an array of auditory filters; the processes that influence the masking of one sound by another; the range of sound levels that can be processed by the auditory system; the perception and modeling of loudness; level discrimination; the temporal resolution of the auditory system (the ability to detect changes over time); the perception and modeling of pitch for pure and complex tones; the perception of timbre for steady and time-varying sounds; the perception of space and sound localization; and the mechanisms underlying auditory scene analysis that allow the construction of percepts corresponding to individual sounds sources when listening to complex mixtures of sounds.

Intrinsic Honesty and the Prevalence of Rule Violations across Societies

PubMed Central

Gächter, Simon; Schulz, Jonathan F.

2016-01-01

Deception is common in nature and humans are no exception1. Modern societies have created institutions to control cheating, but many situations remain where only intrinsic honesty keeps people from cheating and violating rules. Psychological2, sociological3 and economic theories4 suggest causal pathways about how the prevalence of rule violations in people's social environment such as corruption, tax evasion, or political fraud can compromise individual intrinsic honesty. Here, we present cross-societal experiments from 23 countries around the world, which demonstrate a robust link between the prevalence of rule violations and intrinsic honesty. We developed an index of the Prevalence of Rule Violations (PRV) based on country-level data of corruption, tax evasion, and fraudulent politics. We measured intrinsic honesty in an anonymous die-rolling experiment.5 We conducted the experiments at least eight years after the measurement of PRV with 2568 young participants (students) who could not influence PRV. We find individual intrinsic honesty is stronger in the subject pools of low PRV countries than those of high PRV countries. The details of lying patterns support psychological theories of honesty.6,7 The results are consistent with theories of the cultural co-evolution of institutions and values8 and show that weak institutions and cultural legacies9-11 that generate rule violations not only have direct adverse economic consequences but might also impair individual intrinsic honesty that is crucial for the smooth functioning of society. PMID:26958830

Critical examination of the uniformity requirements for single-photon emission computed tomography.

PubMed

O'Connor, M K; Vermeersch, C

1991-01-01

It is generally recognized that single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imposes very stringent requirements on gamma camera uniformity to prevent the occurrence of ring artifacts. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between nonuniformities in the planar data and the magnitude of the consequential ring artifacts in the transaxial data, and how the perception of these artifacts is influenced by factors such as reconstruction matrix size, reconstruction filter, and image noise. The study indicates that the relationship between ring artifact magnitude and image noise is essentially independent of the acquisition or reconstruction matrix sizes, but is strongly dependent upon the type of smoothing filter applied during the reconstruction process. Furthermore, the degree to which a ring artifact can be perceived above image noise is dependent on the size and location of the nonuniformity in the planar data, with small nonuniformities (1-2 pixels wide) close to the center of rotation being less perceptible than those further out (8-20 pixels). Small defects or nonuniformities close to the center of rotation are thought to cause the greatest potential corruption to tomographic data. The study indicates that such may not be the case. Hence the uniformity requirements for SPECT may be less demanding than was previously thought.

Object segmentation controls image reconstruction from natural scenes

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

The structure of the physical world projects images onto our eyes. However, those images are often poorly representative of environmental structure: well-defined boundaries within the eye may correspond to irrelevant features of the physical world, while critical features of the physical world may be nearly invisible at the retinal projection. The challenge for the visual cortex is to sort these two types of features according to their utility in ultimately reconstructing percepts and interpreting the constituents of the scene. We describe a novel paradigm that enabled us to selectively evaluate the relative role played by these two feature classes in signal reconstruction from corrupted images. Our measurements demonstrate that this process is quickly dominated by the inferred structure of the environment, and only minimally controlled by variations of raw image content. The inferential mechanism is spatially global and its impact on early visual cortex is fast. Furthermore, it retunes local visual processing for more efficient feature extraction without altering the intrinsic transduction noise. The basic properties of this process can be partially captured by a combination of small-scale circuit models and large-scale network architectures. Taken together, our results challenge compartmentalized notions of bottom-up/top-down perception and suggest instead that these two modes are best viewed as an integrated perceptual mechanism. PMID:28827801

"Consuming Children." Reading the Impacts of Tourism in the City of Banaras

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huberman, Jenny

2005-01-01

What makes corrupt children such efficacious or nodal symbols? How and why is it that certain groups of children take on this signifying function? How do narratives about corrupt children provide people with a way of mediating and articulating more general anxieties about social change or rupture? This article begins to explore these questions by…

24 CFR 982.453 - Owner breach of contract.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

...) If the owner has committed fraud, bribery or any other corrupt or criminal act in connection with any..., bribery or any other corrupt or criminal act in connection with the mortgage or loan. (5) If the owner has... 24 Housing and Urban Development 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Owner breach of contract. 982.453...

School Administrators Strategies for Combating Corruption in Universities in Nigeria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Asiyai, Romina Ifeoma

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine corruption in universities with the aim of finding out the types/forms, causes, effects and measures for combating the menace. Four research questions guided the investigation. The study is a survey research, ex-post facto in nature. A sample of 780 comprising of students, academic staff and administrative…

Indicators and Implications of Zero Tolerance of Corruption: The Case of Hong Kong

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gong, Ting; Wang, Shiru

2013-01-01

Notwithstanding the voluminous studies of Hong Kong's anticorruption experience and the admiration the ICAC has earned from other governments as a model for "institutional engineering," little is known about how the public in Hong Kong has perceived and responded to corruption. Less clear is what factors beyond a powerful and independent…

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: A Bibliographic Essay on the Corrupted Cone

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Subramony, Deepak Prem; Molenda, Michael; Betrus, Anthony K.; Thalheimer, Will

2014-01-01

The authors are attempting to set the record straight regarding the sources frequently cited in the literature of the mythical retention chart and the corrupted Dale's Cone. They point out citations that do not actually connect with relevant works; provide correct citations of sources that are often cited erroneously; add references for overlooked…

Higher Education in Transition: From Corruption to Freedom of Information in Post-Soviet Georgia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rostiashvili, Ketevan

2012-01-01

This article examines higher education reforms in the Republic of Georgia, tracing changes before and after the Rose Revolution. The transformation of this higher education system is one of gradual evolution, moving from a centrally controlled and corrupt system into a more transparent and organized system through a series of reforms, including…

Corruption Risks of Private Tutoring: Case of Georgia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kobakhidze, Magda Nutsa

2014-01-01

The paper focuses on teacher-supplied private tutoring in the context of post-Soviet Georgia, and elucidates the ways in which teacher-supplied private tutoring can be related to educational corruption. The paper draws on data from in-depth interviews of 18 school teachers in different parts of Georgia in 2013. The findings of the qualitative…

Education in Russia: The Possibility of Reforms and the Effect of Corruption

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Borusiak, Liubov'

2013-01-01

A study of comments posted on the Internet shows that middle-class Russians are frustrated with the quality of education available to their children. They are also concerned about corruption, the attitude of officials they deal with, and the way in which changes in education are introduced, seemingly without concern for the consequences for…

Fostering Good Governance at School Level in Honduras: The Role of Transparency Bulletin Boards

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boehm, Frédéric; Caprio, Temby

2014-01-01

Corruption is at the core of weak governance. In the education sector, corruption is a threat to the quality of and access to education. Although the diagnosis is straightforward, effective reforms are more difficult to implement. The principles of good governance (transparency, participation, accountability, and integrity) provide us guidance,…

Estimation of errors in luminance signals encoded by primate retina resulting from sampling of natural images with red and green cones.

PubMed

Osorio, D; Ruderman, D L; Cronin, T W

1998-01-01

Both long-wavelength-sensitive (L) and medium-wavelength-sensitive (M) cones contribute to luminance mechanisms in human vision. This means that luminance and chromatic signals may be confounded. We use power spectra from natural images to estimate the magnitude of the corruption of luminance signals encoded by an array of retinal ganglion cells resembling the primate magnocellular neurons. The magnitude of this corruption is dependent on the cone lattice and is most severe where cones form clumps of a single spectral type. We find that chromatic corruption may equal or exceed the amplitude of other sources of noise and so could impose constraints on visual performance and on eye design.

Correction of body-mass index using body-shape perception and socioeconomic status in adolescent self-report surveys.

PubMed

Legleye, Stéphane; Beck, François; Spilka, Stanislas; Chau, Nearkasen

2014-01-01

To propose a simple correction of body-mass index (BMI) based on self-reported weight and height (reported BMI) using gender, body shape perception and socioeconomic status in an adolescent population. 341 boys and girls aged 17-18 years were randomly selected from a representative sample of 2165 French adolescents living in Paris surveyed in 2010. After an anonymous self-administered pen-and-paper questionnaire asking for height, weight, body shape perception (feeling too thin, about the right weight or too fat) and socioeconomic status, subjects were measured and weighed. BMI categories were computed according to Cole's cut-offs. Reported BMIs were corrected using linear regressions and ROC analyses and checked with cross-validation and multiple imputations to handle missing values. Agreement between actual and corrected BMI values was estimated with Kappa indexes and Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). On average, BMIs were underreported, especially among girls. Kappa indexes between actual and reported BMI were low, especially for girls: 0.56 95%CI = [0.42-0.70] for boys and 0.45 95%CI = [0.30-0.60] for girls. The regression of reported BMI by gender and body shape perception gave the most balanced results for both genders: the Kappa and ICC obtained were 0.63 95%CI = [0.50-0.76] and 0.67, 95%CI = [0.58-0.74] for boys; 0.65 95%CI = [0.52-0.78] and 0.74, 95%CI = [0.66-0.81] for girls. The regression of reported BMI by gender and socioeconomic status led to similar corrections while the ROC analyses were inaccurate. Using body shape perception, or socioeconomic status and gender is a promising way of correcting BMI in self-administered questionnaires, especially for girls.

Association between attendance at religious services and self-reported health in 22 European countries.

PubMed

Nicholson, Amanda; Rose, Richard; Bobak, Martin

2009-08-01

There are consistent reports of protective associations between attendance at religious services and better self-rated health but existing data rarely consider the social or individual context of religious behaviour. This paper investigates whether attendance at religious services is associated with better self-rated health in diverse countries across Europe. It also explores whether the association varies with either individual-level (gender, educational, social contact) or country-level characteristics (overall level of religious practice, corruption, GDP). Cross-sectional data from round 2 of the European Social Survey were used and 18,328 men and 21,373 women from 22 European countries were included in multilevel analyses, with country as higher level. Compared to men who attended religious services at least once a week, men who never attended were almost twice as likely to describe their health as poor, with an age and education adjusted odds ratio of 1.83 [95% CI, 1.49-2.26]. A similar but weaker effect was seen in women, with an age and education adjusted odds ratio of 1.38 [1.19-1.61]. The associations were reduced only marginally in men by controlling for health status, social contact and country-level variables, but weakened in women. The relationships were stronger in people with longstanding illness, less than university education and in more affluent countries with lower levels of corruption and higher levels of religious belief. These analyses confirm that an association between less frequent attendance at religious services and poor health exists across Europe, but emphasise the importance of taking individual and contextual factors into account. It remains unclear to what extent the observed associations reflect reverse causality or are due to differing perceptions of health.

Qualitative study exploring surgical team members' perception of patient safety in conflict-ridden Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

PubMed

Labat, Francoise; Sharma, Anjali

2016-04-25

To identify potential barriers to patient safety (PS) interventions from the perspective of surgical team members working in an operating theatre in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In-depth interviews were conducted and analysed using qualitative content analysis. Governmental referral teaching hospital in Eastern DRC. We purposively selected 2-4 national and expatriate surgical team members from each specialisation. Of the 31 eligible surgical health workers (HWs), 17 volunteered to be interviewed. Economics issues affected PS throughout the entire health system, from human resources and hospital management, to access to healthcare for patients. Surgical team members seemed embedded in a paternalistic organisational structure and blame culture accompanied by perceived inefficient support services and low salaries. The armed conflict did not only worsen these system failures, it also carried direct threats to patients and HWs, and resulted in complex indirect consequences compromising PS. The increased corruption within health organisations, and population impoverishment and substance abuse among health staff adversely altered safe care. Simultaneously, HWs' reported resilience and resourcefulness to address barrier to PS. Participants had varying views on external aid depending on its relevance. The complex links between war and PS emphasise the importance of a comprehensive approach including occupational health to strengthen HWs' resilience, external clinical audits to limit corruption, and educational programmes in PS to support patient-centred care and address blame culture. Finally, improvement of equity in the health financing system seems essential to ensure access to healthcare and safe perioperative outcomes for all. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Index finger somatosensory evoked potentials in blind Braille readers.

PubMed

Giriyappa, Dayananda; Subrahmanyam, Roopakala Mysore; Rangashetty, Srinivasa; Sharma, Rajeev

2009-01-01

Traditionally, vision has been considered the dominant modality in our multi-sensory perception of the surrounding world. Sensory input via non-visual tracts becomes of greater behavioural relevance in totally blind individuals to enable effective interaction with the world around them. These include audition and tactile perceptions, leading to an augmentation in these perceptions when compared with normal sighted individuals. The objective of the present work was to study the index finger somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) in totally blind and normal sighted individuals. SEPs were recorded in 15 Braille reading totally blind females and compared with 15 age-matched normal sighted females. Latency and amplitudes of somatosensory evoked potential waveforms (N9, N13, and N20) were measured. Amplitude of N20 SEP (a cortical somatosensory evoked potential) was significantly larger in the totally blind than in normal sighted individuals (p < 0.05). The amplitudes of N9 and N13 SEP and the latencies of all recorded SEPs showed no significant differences. Blindness has a profound effect on the Braille reading right index finger. Totally blind Braille readers have larger N20 amplitude, suggestive of greater somatosensory cortical representation of the Braille reading index finger.

General principles of institutional risks influence on pension systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nepp, A. N.; Shilkov, A. A.; Sheveleva, A. Y.; Mamedbakov, M. R.

2016-12-01

This paper examines the tools used to study the influence of institutional factors on investment returns. The research object are the tools used in the evaluation of institutional risks in the pension system, in particular, the correlation model of factors impacting on the `anti-director' index, econometric estimates combining the different determinants of savings, the model of endogenous institutional change, etc. Research work focusing on issues of institutional factors affecting pension systems (authored by La Porta, Guiso, Gianetti, El-Mekkaouide Freitas, Neyapti B., and others) is reviewed. The model is examined in terms of the impact of institutional risks on pension systems, especially with regard to the funded part. The study identified the following factors that affect financial institutions, including pension institutions: management quality, regulation quality, rule of law, political stability, and corruption control.

Image feature extraction based on the camouflage effectiveness evaluation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Xin; Lv, Xuliang; Li, Ling; Wang, Xinzhu; Zhang, Zhi

2018-04-01

The key step of camouflage effectiveness evaluation is how to combine the human visual physiological features, psychological features to select effectively evaluation indexes. Based on the predecessors' camo comprehensive evaluation method, this paper chooses the suitable indexes combining with the image quality awareness, and optimizes those indexes combining with human subjective perception. Thus, it perfects the theory of index extraction.

Cigarette makers pioneered many of our black arts of disinformation, including the funding of research to distract from the hazards of smoking. Ten Nobel prizes were the result. By funding distraction research, the cigarette industry became an important source of academic corruption, helping also to forge other forms of denialism on a global scale.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Proctor, R. N.

2014-12-01

Cigarette Disinformation: Origins and Global Impact Robert N. Proctor The cigarette is the deadliest artifact in the history of human civilization. And whereas "only" a hundred million people died in the 20th century from smoking, we are presently on a pace to have several times that toll in the present century. Much of that catastrophe would not be possible without a massive campaign of disinformation. The cigarette industry pioneered many of the black arts of disinformation, cleverly exploiting the inherent skepticism of science to claim that "more research" was needed to resolve a purported "cigarette controversy." Cigarette makers funded hundreds of millions of dollars worth of "distraction research," most of which was solid empirical science but off topic, focusing on basic biology and biochemistry, viral and genetic causes of disease, and other "cigarette friendly" topics. At least ten Nobel prizes were the result. Cigarette skepticism was thus more complex than we normally imagine: the tobacco industry corrupted science by funding "alternative causation," meaning anything that could be used to draw attention away from cigarettes as a source of disease. The cigarette industry by this means became the most important source of academic corruption since the Nazi era. That corruption has also helped forge other forms of denialism and corruption on a global scale.

77 FR 34249 - Notice of Final Revision to Guidance for the Use of Binding Arbitration Under the Administrative...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-11

... was procured by corruption, fraud, or undue means; where there was arbitrator partiality, corruption.... Questions and Answers on FMCSA's Use of Binding Arbitration Issue 1: For what types of cases will FMCSA be... proceeding in advance of expenses being incurred.) 8. The date the arbitration will begin. 9. The types of...

Scientific and Ethical Reflections on Academic Corruption in Universities: On the Science Research Evaluation System in China's Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xiaochun, Wu; Dan, Jia

2007-01-01

A study of the science research activities in China's institutions of higher learning in recent years indicates that there is a major connection between the current instances of corruption in scientific research at colleges and universities and the evaluations system for scientific research implemented at many of the colleges and universities.…

A Crisis of Competence: The Corrupting Effect of Political Activism in the University of California

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Association of Scholars, 2012

2012-01-01

This report concerns the corruption of the University of California by activist politics, a condition which, as it shall show, sharply lowers the quality of academic teaching, analysis, and research, resulting in the troubling deficiencies found in the studies to which the authors have referred. This report shall show that this is an inevitable…

Effects of Enron on Future Russian Business Leaders: A Time Line Survey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ludlum, Marty; Moskalionov, Sergei

2008-01-01

Russia has emerged as a new capitalistic country with a prior history of corruption under the state controlled regime. Will word of corruption in America stop efforts for an ethical business climate in the new Russia? Has the Enron scandal affected Russian views of business? In pursuit of the answer, the authors surveyed Russian business students…

Attorneys General and Senate Panel Cite More Evidence of Lender Corruption

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Basken, Paul

2007-01-01

A group of 32 attorneys general from across the United States urged Congress last week to enact new restrictions on the student-loan industry, saying their investigations continue to reveal "new levels of corruption and deception" that require a rapid response from lawmakers. The attorneys general, led by Andrew M. Cuomo of New York, are trying to…

White coated corruption.

PubMed

Mahajan, Vijay

2010-01-01

This essay documents the state of the medical profession which was once a respected line of work but today is corrupted at every level, from medical education to medical practice, and ir both the private and government sectors. It calls for doctors, thE government and the public to act against dishonest doctors restore the dignity of the profession and work for the benefit of society.

U.S. Army Aviation Participation in the Counterdrug Effort

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-03-29

SCHEDULE is unlimited. 4. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBERS) S. MONITORING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER(S) 6a. NAME OF PERFORMING ORGANIZATION 6b...American society in health, law * enforcement, imprisonment, absenteeism , crime, and corruption. Only through a genuine national effort that...Unclassified Illicit drugs account for tremendous losses to American society in health, law enforcement, imprisonment, absenteeism , crime, and corruption

Reconstructing Iraq

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-09-02

ICG Middle East Report N°30, 2 September 2004 Page 16 and institutions to counter monopolistic practices harmful to both investors and consumers ...204 A senior Ministry of Trade official described large-scale corruption in the food and consumer goods rationing system at all 198 ICG...procurement of items for the ration system also provides fertile ground for current corruption. Black markets thrive on goods whose prices are kept

Convolution Algebra for Fluid Modes with Finite Energy

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-04-01

signals and systems analysis: the evaluation of the initial condition -or input- to a system given its final condition -or output- and its impulse ...Images Corrupted with Gaussian Blur .............. 30 III.. 5 Deblurring with Hermite-Rodriguez Wavelets 34 5.1 Introduction...66 25. Letter "T", which is diffused for t=12, and corrupted by additive noise at SNR’s = 1

Academic Degradation and the Retreat of the Editors: Academic Irregularities and the Spreading of Academic Corruption from an Editor's Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xun, Gong

2007-01-01

Against the backdrop of the grave academic crisis in China, editors have become the objects of wooing, favor-currying, connections-seeking, and collusions; they have been targeted for attacks, plots, extortions, and encroachments. Editing and publishing have become avenues for academic irregularities and academic corruption. Editors have the power…

"Power Corrupts, PowerPoint Corrupts Absolutely": Why Digital Technologies Did Not Change the Social Study's Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clare, Michael

2006-01-01

The dreams and predictions of a digital classroom never quite materialized in the social studies history area. For a variety of reasons teachers keep the technology just outside the door peeking in but never truly welcomed. Not welcomed because of the nature of courseware initially offered, not welcomed because the technology was advanced for the…

Optimized diffusion gradient orientation schemes for corrupted clinical DTI data sets.

PubMed

Dubois, J; Poupon, C; Lethimonnier, F; Le Bihan, D

2006-08-01

A method is proposed for generating schemes of diffusion gradient orientations which allow the diffusion tensor to be reconstructed from partial data sets in clinical DT-MRI, should the acquisition be corrupted or terminated before completion because of patient motion. A general energy-minimization electrostatic model was developed in which the interactions between orientations are weighted according to their temporal order during acquisition. In this report, two corruption scenarios were specifically considered for generating relatively uniform schemes of 18 and 60 orientations, with useful subsets of 6 and 15 orientations. The sets and subsets were compared to conventional sets through their energy, condition number and rotational invariance. Schemes of 18 orientations were tested on a volunteer. The optimized sets were similar to uniform sets in terms of energy, condition number and rotational invariance, whether the complete set or only a subset was considered. Diffusion maps obtained in vivo were close to those for uniform sets whatever the acquisition time was. This was not the case with conventional schemes, whose subset uniformity was insufficient. With the proposed approach, sets of orientations responding to several corruption scenarios can be generated, which is potentially useful for imaging uncooperative patients or infants.

Bribery games on inter-dependent regular networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verma, Prateek; Nandi, Anjan K.; Sengupta, Supratim

2017-02-01

We examine a scenario of social conflict that is manifest during an interaction between government servants providing a service and citizens who are legally entitled to the service, using evolutionary game-theory in structured populations characterized by an inter-dependent network. Bribe-demands by government servants during such transactions, called harassment bribes, constitute a widespread form of corruption in many countries. We investigate the effect of varying bribe demand made by corrupt officials and the cost of complaining incurred by harassed citizens, on the proliferation of corrupt strategies in the population. We also examine how the connectivity of the various constituent networks affects the spread of corrupt officials in the population. We find that incidents of bribery can be considerably reduced in a network-structured populations compared to mixed populations. Interestingly, we also find that an optimal range for the connectivity of nodes in the citizen’s network (signifying the degree of influence a citizen has in affecting the strategy of other citizens in the network) as well as the interaction network aids in the fixation of honest officers. Our results reveal the important role of network structure and connectivity in asymmetric games.

Bribery games on inter-dependent regular networks

PubMed Central

Verma, Prateek; Nandi, Anjan K.; Sengupta, Supratim

2017-01-01

We examine a scenario of social conflict that is manifest during an interaction between government servants providing a service and citizens who are legally entitled to the service, using evolutionary game-theory in structured populations characterized by an inter-dependent network. Bribe-demands by government servants during such transactions, called harassment bribes, constitute a widespread form of corruption in many countries. We investigate the effect of varying bribe demand made by corrupt officials and the cost of complaining incurred by harassed citizens, on the proliferation of corrupt strategies in the population. We also examine how the connectivity of the various constituent networks affects the spread of corrupt officials in the population. We find that incidents of bribery can be considerably reduced in a network-structured populations compared to mixed populations. Interestingly, we also find that an optimal range for the connectivity of nodes in the citizen’s network (signifying the degree of influence a citizen has in affecting the strategy of other citizens in the network) as well as the interaction network aids in the fixation of honest officers. Our results reveal the important role of network structure and connectivity in asymmetric games. PMID:28205644

Salt-and-pepper noise removal using modified mean filter and total variation minimization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aghajarian, Mickael; McInroy, John E.; Wright, Cameron H. G.

2018-01-01

The search for effective noise removal algorithms is still a real challenge in the field of image processing. An efficient image denoising method is proposed for images that are corrupted by salt-and-pepper noise. Salt-and-pepper noise takes either the minimum or maximum intensity, so the proposed method restores the image by processing the pixels whose values are either 0 or 255 (assuming an 8-bit/pixel image). For low levels of noise corruption (less than or equal to 50% noise density), the method employs the modified mean filter (MMF), while for heavy noise corruption, noisy pixels values are replaced by the weighted average of the MMF and the total variation of corrupted pixels, which is minimized using convex optimization. Two fuzzy systems are used to determine the weights for taking average. To evaluate the performance of the algorithm, several test images with different noise levels are restored, and the results are quantitatively measured by peak signal-to-noise ratio and mean absolute error. The results show that the proposed scheme gives considerable noise suppression up to a noise density of 90%, while almost completely maintaining edges and fine details of the original image.

National transparency assessment of Kuwait's pharmaceutical sector.

PubMed

Badawi, Dalia A; Alkhamis, Yousif; Qaddoumi, Mohammad; Behbehani, Kazem

2015-09-01

Corruption is one of several factors that may hinder the access to pharmaceuticals. Since Kuwait has the highest per-capita spending on pharmaceuticals in the region, we wanted to evaluate the level of transparency in its pharmaceutical sector using an established assessment tool adapted by the World Health Organization. Standardized questionnaires were conducted via semi-structured interviews with key informants to measure the level of transparency in eight functions of the public pharmaceutical sector. The scores for the degree of vulnerability to corruption reflected marginal to moderate venerability to corruption for most pharmaceutical sectors. The perceived strengths included availability of appropriate laws, the presence of clear standard operating procedures, and the use of an efficient registration/distribution system. Weaknesses included lack of conflict of interest guidelines and written terms of reference, absence of pharmacoeconomic studies, and inconsistencies in law enforcement. Findings reveal that few functions of Kuwait pharmaceutical sector remain fairly vulnerable to corruption. However, the willingness of Kuwait Ministry of Health to adopt the assessment study and the acknowledgement of the weaknesses of current processes of the pharmaceutical sector may assist to achieve a transparent pharmaceutical system in the near future. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated eye blink detection and correction method for clinical MR eye imaging.

PubMed

Wezel, Joep; Garpebring, Anders; Webb, Andrew G; van Osch, Matthias J P; Beenakker, Jan-Willem M

2017-07-01

To implement an on-line monitoring system to detect eye blinks during ocular MRI using field probes, and to reacquire corrupted k-space lines by means of an automatic feedback system integrated with the MR scanner. Six healthy subjects were scanned on a 7 Tesla MRI whole-body system using a custom-built receive coil. Subjects were asked to blink multiple times during the MR-scan. The local magnetic field changes were detected with an external fluorine-based field probe which was positioned close to the eye. The eye blink produces a field shift greater than a threshold level, this was communicated in real-time to the MR system which immediately reacquired the motion-corrupted k-space lines. The uncorrected images, using the original motion-corrupted data, showed severe artifacts, whereas the corrected images, using the reacquired data, provided an image quality similar to images acquired without blinks. Field probes can successfully detect eye blinks during MRI scans. By automatically reacquiring the eye blink-corrupted data, high quality MR-images of the eye can be acquired. Magn Reson Med 78:165-171, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Voluntary movement affects simultaneous perception of auditory and tactile stimuli presented to a non-moving body part.

PubMed

Hao, Qiao; Ora, Hiroki; Ogawa, Ken-Ichiro; Ogata, Taiki; Miyake, Yoshihiro

2016-09-13

The simultaneous perception of multimodal sensory information has a crucial role for effective reactions to the external environment. Voluntary movements are known to occasionally affect simultaneous perception of auditory and tactile stimuli presented to the moving body part. However, little is known about spatial limits on the effect of voluntary movements on simultaneous perception, especially when tactile stimuli are presented to a non-moving body part. We examined the effect of voluntary movement on the simultaneous perception of auditory and tactile stimuli presented to the non-moving body part. We considered the possible mechanism using a temporal order judgement task under three experimental conditions: voluntary movement, where participants voluntarily moved their right index finger and judged the temporal order of auditory and tactile stimuli presented to their non-moving left index finger; passive movement; and no movement. During voluntary movement, the auditory stimulus needed to be presented before the tactile stimulus so that they were perceived as occurring simultaneously. This subjective simultaneity differed significantly from the passive movement and no movement conditions. This finding indicates that the effect of voluntary movement on simultaneous perception of auditory and tactile stimuli extends to the non-moving body part.

Assessment of self-perception of transsexual persons: pilot study of 15 patients.

PubMed

Barišić, Jasmina; Milosavljević, Marija; Duišin, Dragana; Batinić, Borjanka; Vujović, Svetlana; Milovanović, Srdjan

2014-01-01

There have been few studies in the area of Self-Perception in transsexual persons, except for the population of transsexual adolescents. Bearing in mind its importance not only in the assessment of personality but also in predicting adaptive capacity, the goal of our research is based on the examination of Self-Perception of adult transsexual persons. The study was conducted using a Rorschach test, which provides an insight into various aspects of Self-Perception. The sample consisted of 15 transsexual persons, who passed the standard diagnostic procedure. The results suggest that transsexual persons manage to maintain Adequate Self-Esteem. Hypervigilance Index and Obsessive Style Index are negative, while the values showing a negative quality of Self-Regard and the capacity for introspection tend to increase. In the process of Self-Introspection, negative and painful emotional states are often perceived. The estimation of Self-Perception in adult transsexual persons indicates a trend of subjective perception of a personal imperfection or inadequacy. This is probably the result of experiencing discomfort for a number of years due to gender incongruence and dysphoria, in particular in persons who enter the sex reassignment procedure later in their adulthood.

Body mass index and weight loss in overweight and obese korean women: the mediating role of body weight perception.

PubMed

Boo, Sunjoo

2013-12-01

This study were to assess the relationships among BMI, body weight perception, and efforts to lose weight in a public sample of Korean women who are overweight and obese and to examine the mediating role of body weight perception on the relationship between BMI and weight loss efforts. This cross-sectional study used data from the 2008 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The sample was 1,739 Korean women 20 years old or older with body mass index (BMI) ≥ 23 kg/m(2). Bivariate relationships among variables of interests were assessed. Three separate regressions were used to test the mediating role of body weight perception on the relationship between BMI and weight loss efforts. BMI and body weight perception were significant correlates of weight loss efforts. BMI was significantly associated with weight perception, but a large proportion of women underestimated their weight. Weight perception partially mediated the relationship between BMI and weight loss efforts in Korean women. In light of the high prevalence of overweight or obesity and the many health consequences associated with obesity, Korean women should be aware of a healthy body weight and try to achieve that weight. Nursing interventions should consider body weight perception to effectively motivate overweight and obese Korean women to lose weight, as necessary. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Rural Nevada and climate change: vulnerability, beliefs, and risk perception.

PubMed

Safi, Ahmad Saleh; Smith, William James; Liu, Zhnongwei

2012-06-01

In this article, we present the results of a study investigating the influence of vulnerability to climate change as a function of physical vulnerability, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity on climate change risk perception. In 2008/2009, we surveyed Nevada ranchers and farmers to assess their climate change-related beliefs, and risk perceptions, political orientations, and socioeconomic characteristics. Ranchers' and farmers' sensitivity to climate change was measured through estimating the proportion of their household income originating from highly scarce water-dependent agriculture to the total income. Adaptive capacity was measured as a combination of the Social Status Index and the Poverty Index. Utilizing water availability and use, and population distribution GIS databases; we assessed water resource vulnerability in Nevada by zip code as an indicator of physical vulnerability to climate change. We performed correlation tests and multiple regression analyses to examine the impact of vulnerability and its three distinct components on risk perception. We find that vulnerability is not a significant determinant of risk perception. Physical vulnerability alone also does not impact risk perception. Both sensitivity and adaptive capacity increase risk perception. While age is not a significant determinant of it, gender plays an important role in shaping risk perception. Yet, general beliefs such as political orientations and climate change-specific beliefs such as believing in the anthropogenic causes of climate change and connecting the locally observed impacts (in this case drought) to climate change are the most prominent determinants of risk perception. © 2012 Society for Risk Analysis.

Multi-station basis for Polar Cap (PC) indices: ensuring credibility and operational reliability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stauning, Peter

2018-02-01

The Polar Cap (PC) indices, PCN (North) and PCS (South) are based on polar geomagnetic observations from Qaanaaq (Thule) and Vostok, respectively, processed to measure the transpolar plasma convection that may seriously affect space weather conditions. To establish reliable space weather forecasts based on PC indices, and also to ensure credibility of their use for scientific analyses of solar wind-magnetosphere interactions, additional sources of data for the PC indices are investigated. In the search for alternative index sources, objective quality criteria are established here to be used for the selection among potential candidates. These criteria are applied to existing PC index series to establish a quality scale. In the Canadian region, the data from Resolute Bay magnetometer are shown to provide alternative PCN indices of adequate quality. In Antarctica, the data from Concordia Dome-C observatory are shown to provide basis for alternative PCS indices. In examples to document the usefulness of these alternative index sources it is shown that PCN indices in a real-time version based on magnetometer data from Resolute Bay could have given 6 h of early warning, of which the last 2 h were "red alert", up to the onset of the strong substorm event on 13 March 1989 that caused power outage in Quebec. The alternative PCS indices based on data from Dome-C have helped to disclose that presently available Vostok-based PCS index values are corrupted throughout most of 2011.

Technology Readiness of Early Career Nurse Trainees: Utilization of the Technology Readiness Index (TRI).

PubMed

Odlum, Michelle

2016-01-01

Health Information Technology (HIT) adoption by clinicians, including nurses, will lead to reduction in healthcare costs and clinical errors and improve health outcomes. Understanding the importance of technology adoption, the current study utilized the Technology Readiness Index to explore technology perceptions of nursing students. Our analysis identifies factors that may influence perceptions of technology, including decreased optimism for students with clinical experience and increased discomfort of US born students. Our study provides insight to inform training programs to further meet the increasing demands of skilled nursing staff.

Safety Knowledge and Changing Behavior in Agricultural Workers: an Assessment Model Applied in Central Italy.

PubMed

Cecchini, Massimo; Bedini, Roberto; Mosetti, Davide; Marino, Sonia; Stasi, Serenella

2018-06-01

In recent years, the interest in health and safety in the workplace has increased. Agriculture is one of the human work activities with the highest risk indexes. Studies on risk perception of agricultural workers are often referred to as specific risk factors (especially pesticides), but the risk perception plays an important role in preventing every kind of accident and occupational disease. The aim of this research is to test a new method for understanding the relation between risk perception among farmers and the main risk factors to which they are exposed. A secondary aim is to investigate the influence of training in risk perception in agriculture. The data collection was realized using a questionnaire designed to investigate the risk perception; the questionnaire was given to a sample of 119 agricultural workers in central Italy. Through the use of the "principal components analysis" it was possible to highlight and verify the latent dimensions underlying the collected data in comparison with scales of attitudes. Results show that the highest percentage of strong negative attitude is among the people who have worked for more years, while farmers who have worked for fewer years have a marked positive attitude. The analysis of the questionnaires through the synthetic index method (Rizzi index) showed that agricultural workers involved, in particular the elderly workers, have a negative attitude towards safety; workers are hostile to safety measures if they have not attended special training courses.

The Hundred Yard Lie: The Corruption of College Football and What We Can Do To Stop It.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Telander, Rick

This book, originally published in 1989, is intended as an indictment of corruption in college football. Now reissued, the book has new forewords by Murray Sperber, a professor at Indiana University, and Richard Warch, president of Lawrence University in Wisconsin. The book also has an afterword by the author which reviews some of the major…

Defeating Violent Nonstate Actors

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-01

Chiefs of Staff, December 19, 2012), 38, 39. 4 Ibid. 5 Odierno, Amos, and McRaven, Strategic Landpower, 3. Fighting irregulAr Fighters Defeating...or Ringing Hollow?” Army, August 2013, 18-20. Fighting irregular Fighters Bunker 59 and corruption capability. Organized into private armies...the state. Via one process, the synergistic employment of violence and corruption, plato o plomo (silver or lead in Spanish), results in areas of

Fraud and Corruption Control at Education System Level: A Case Study of the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development in Australia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bandaranayake, Bandara

2014-01-01

This case describes the implementation of a fraud and corruption control policy initiative within the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (the Department) in Australia. The policy initiative was administered and carried out by a small team of fraud control officials, including the author of this article, in the…

Use of social audits to examine unofficial payments in government health services: experience in South Asia, Africa, and Europe.

PubMed

Paredes-Solís, Sergio; Andersson, Neil; Ledogar, Robert J; Cockcroft, Anne

2011-12-21

Unofficial payments in health services around the world are widespread and as varied as the health systems in which they occur. We reviewed the main lessons from social audits of petty corruption in health services in South Asia (Bangladesh, Pakistan), Africa (Uganda and South Africa) and Europe (Baltic States). The social audits varied in purpose and scope. All covered representative sample communities and involved household interviews, focus group discussions, institutional reviews of health facilities, interviews with service providers and discussions with health authorities. Most audits questioned households about views on health services, perceived corruption in the services, and use of government and other health services. Questions to service users asked about making official and unofficial payments, amounts paid, service delivery indicators, and satisfaction with the service. Contextual differences between the countries affected the forms of petty corruption and factors related to it. Most households in all countries held negative views about government health services and many perceived these services as corrupt. There was little evidence that better off service users were more likely to make an unofficial payment, or that making such a payment was associated with better or quicker service; those who paid unofficially to health care workers were not more satisfied with the service. In South Asia, where we conducted repeated social audits, only a minority of households chose to use government health services and their use declined over time in favour of other providers. Focus groups indicated that reasons for avoiding government health services included the need to pay for supposedly free services and the non-availability of medicines in facilities, often perceived as due to diversion of the supplied medicines. Unofficial expenses for medical care represent a disproportionate cost for vulnerable families; the very people who need to make use of supposedly free government services, and are a barrier to the use of these services. Patient dissatisfaction due to petty corruption may contribute to abandonment of government health services. The social audits informed plans for tackling corruption in health services.

Use of social audits to examine unofficial payments in government health services: experience in South Asia, Africa, and Europe

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Unofficial payments in health services around the world are widespread and as varied as the health systems in which they occur. We reviewed the main lessons from social audits of petty corruption in health services in South Asia (Bangladesh, Pakistan), Africa (Uganda and South Africa) and Europe (Baltic States). Methods The social audits varied in purpose and scope. All covered representative sample communities and involved household interviews, focus group discussions, institutional reviews of health facilities, interviews with service providers and discussions with health authorities. Most audits questioned households about views on health services, perceived corruption in the services, and use of government and other health services. Questions to service users asked about making official and unofficial payments, amounts paid, service delivery indicators, and satisfaction with the service. Results Contextual differences between the countries affected the forms of petty corruption and factors related to it. Most households in all countries held negative views about government health services and many perceived these services as corrupt. There was little evidence that better off service users were more likely to make an unofficial payment, or that making such a payment was associated with better or quicker service; those who paid unofficially to health care workers were not more satisfied with the service. In South Asia, where we conducted repeated social audits, only a minority of households chose to use government health services and their use declined over time in favour of other providers. Focus groups indicated that reasons for avoiding government health services included the need to pay for supposedly free services and the non-availability of medicines in facilities, often perceived as due to diversion of the supplied medicines. Conclusions Unofficial expenses for medical care represent a disproportionate cost for vulnerable families; the very people who need to make use of supposedly free government services, and are a barrier to the use of these services. Patient dissatisfaction due to petty corruption may contribute to abandonment of government health services. The social audits informed plans for tackling corruption in health services. PMID:22376233

Overestimation and Underestimation: Adolescents' Weight Perception in Comparison to BMI-Based Weight Status and How It Varies across Socio-Demographic Factors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Park, Eunkyung

2011-01-01

Background: Weight perception has been studied with a limited focus on "feeling overweight." This study, using a more inclusive definition of overestimation and underestimation, examines adolescents' weight perception focusing on how accurate it is in relation to body mass index (BMI)-based weight status and how it varies across socio-demographic…

The runaway corruption-cynicism syndrome in Asian cultures: its redemption and the future of bioethics.

PubMed

Sharma, R N

2000-11-01

Corruption has been cynically dismissed as a global phenomenon by some Asian leaders. This attitude becomes a plausible cloak for mala fide deeds. Worse, it becomes a veritable shield for the corrupt. But modern information and investigative systems can penetrate the meticulously built smoke screens and illuminate the murky shadows. Bailouts due to political-economic patronage are, however, routine and considered unworthy of protracted media pursuance, resulting in further cycles of brazen corruption. Public indifference towards the latter is a product of institutional, moral and cultural failures, resulting in corresponding cycles of cynicism. The overall consequence is near total despondence of any meaningful redemption, or overall improvement. In Asia, demographic pressures and/or socio-economic frailities, as also politico-religious bigotry add to the general public disillusion and indifference, and breeds an unending treadmill of further corruption and disgruntled cynicism without much hope for amelioration. The solution, and salvation, lies only in individual and collective (social) espousal of the ethical in every walk, and work, of life. Social, spiritual and cultural pressures enabling political activism in ostracizing both criminal intent and action in public life, maintenance of decorum and propriety in private life by public figures can rekindle hope and confidence, and banish sullen cynicism from the heart and mind of the lay public. In most of Asia this has become an imperative needing urgent attention and implementation, but hardly any silver clouds are yet discernible on any Asian horizon. A sea change in moral perspectives of whole communities only can redeem the situation, and pave the way to a renaissance of the Bioethical culture which, the author asserts, has been an underlying universal ingredient of the Asian psyche through the ages.

Self-perception and body image associations with body mass index among 8-10-year-old African American girls.

PubMed

Stockton, Michelle B; Lanctot, Jennifer Q; McClanahan, Barbara S; Klesges, Lisa M; Klesges, Robert C; Kumanyika, Shiriki; Sherrill-Mittleman, Deborah

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine relationships among body mass index (BMI), self-perceptions, and body image discrepancy in African American (AA) girls. Baseline self-perception and BMI data were collected by trained staff from 303 preadolescent AA girls participating in the girls health enrichment multi-site studies. Correlations and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify relationships of BMI with self-perception factors. Girls with a BMI at or above the 85th percentile were more likely to have greater body image discrepancy and participate in weight control behaviors than girls with a BMI below the 85th percentile. Body image discrepancy was not related to self-esteem, but was positively correlated with physical activity self-concept and self-efficacy, and diet self-efficacy. Girls with higher BMI had greater body image discrepancy and were less confident in abilities to be active and eat healthy. Findings may inform the development of obesity interventions for preadolescents.

Impact of Dental Fluorosis, Socioeconomic Status and Self-Perception in Adolescents Exposed to a High Level of Fluoride in Water.

PubMed

Molina-Frechero, Nelly; Nevarez-Rascón, Martina; Nevarez-Rascón, Alfredo; González-González, Rogelio; Irigoyen-Camacho, María Esther; Sánchez-Pérez, Leonor; López-Verdin, Sandra; Bologna-Molina, Ronell

2017-01-12

Objective : To identify adolescents' self-perception of dental fluorosis from two areas with different socioeconomic levels. Methods : A cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted with 15-year-old youths by applying a questionnaire designed and validated to assess self-perceptions of dental fluorosis in two areas with different socioeconomic statuses (SESs). Fluorosis was clinically evaluated by applying the Thylstrup and Fejerkov (TF) index on the upper front teeth. Results : A total of 308 adolescents were included in the study. The medium-SES population, which was exposed to 2.5 ppm of fluoride in water, and the low-SES population, which was exposed to 5.1 ppm, presented the following levels of dental fluorosis: TF 2-3 (50%), TF 4-5 (45.6%) and TF 6-7 (4.4%) for medium SES and TF 2-3 (12.3%), TF 4-5 (67.1%) and TF 67 (20.6%) for low SES. A significant association was found between self-perception and dental fluorosis in those with medium and low SESs ( p < 0.05). The multiple regression model found differences between TF levels and self-perception, with a 6-7 TF level for concerns about color (OR = 1.6), smile (OR = 1.2) and appearance (OR = 3.36). Conclusions : Self-perceptions of dental fluorosis affect adolescents such that adolescents with a medium SES have more negative perceptions than those with a low SES. Such perceptions increase as the TF index increases.

Analysis of Air Force Wartime Contracted Construction Project Performance

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-03-26

Management, Volume 140. Branconi, C. v. & Loch, C. H., 2004. Contracting for major projects: eight business levers for top management. International ...Problems X Material Supply Problems X Poor Owner Management X X Poor Contractor Management X Corruption and Bribery X The USACE survey...Kremers, et al., 2010; GAO, 2014; Thibault, 2011). The final difference, corruption and bribery , was mentioned in the USACE study as well as by Kremers

Southeast Asia Report, No. 1321.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-08-03

Denounce Illegally Acquired Wealth (NHAN DAN, 21 Jun 83) 62 Pharmacist , Doctor Prosecuted for Corrupt Practices (Tan Lam; QUAN DOI NHAN DAN, 19...Brigadier General Sukoso on Thursday [26 May] in Bandung. The post of dep- uty Army chief of staff remained empty for 4 years after General Poniman, who...7300 CSO: 4209A56 63 MILITARY AFFAIRS AND PUBLIC SECURITY PHARMACIST , DOCTOR PROSECUTED FOR CORRUPT PRACTICES Hanoi QUAN DOI NHAN DAN in

Corruption in Conflict: Lessons from the U.S. Experience in Afghanistan

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-09-01

relations replicated throughout society.25 Post -2001 Afghanistan embodies many of the factors identified by the DFID study : Lines are often...corruption Description Bribery The offering, promising, giving, accepting, or soliciting of an advantage as an inducement for an action which is illegal...For example, a 2007 study by the Afghan NGO Integrity Watch Afghanistan (IWA) described a “bazaar economy” in which “every position, favor, and

3 CFR 13645 - Executive Order 13645 of June 3, 2013. Authorizing the Implementation of Certain Sanctions Set...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... of the Secretary of State: (i) to have engaged, on or after January 2, 2013, in corruption or other... corruption or other activities relating to the misappropriation of proceeds from the sale or resale of goods... 203(b)(2) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)(2)) may apply, the making of donations of the types of articles...

Seasons of Change: Lessons from the Arab Spring

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-05-17

democratic feelings sweeping the populations in the region. Others have pointed to the high levels of corruption and unemployment in North Africa and the...unsustainable unemployment , high food prices, and local government corruption. The population also largely felt disenfranchised by the political process. The...in small businesses and the franchising of U.S. companies in Tunisia. Additionally, OPIC is providing U.S. companies with incentives to invest in

Failed State 2030: Nigeria - A Case Study

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-02-01

disastrous ecological conditions in its Niger Delta region, and is fighting one of the modern world?s worst legacies of political and economic corruption. A ...world’s worst legacies of political and economic corruption. A nation with more than 350 ethnic groups, 250 languages, and three distinct religious...happening in the world. The discus- sion herein is a mix of cultural sociology, political science, econom - ics, military science (sometimes called

A Report of the Special Committee on Investigations of the Select Committee on Indian Affairs. Final Report and Legislative Recommendations. Senate, 101st Congress, 1st Session (November 6, 1989).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs.

In 1987, the United States Senate established the Special Committee to investigate American Indian affairs. Fraud, corruption, and mismanagement were found pervading the institutions serving American Indians. Corruption was also discovered in Indian tribal governments. The Committee faulted Congress for failing to adequately oversee and reform…

The Relationship of Organizational Corruption with Organizational Culture, Attitude towards Work and Work Ethics: A Search on Turkish High School Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balci, Ali; Ozdemir, Murat; Apaydin, Cigdem; Ozen, Fatmanur

2012-01-01

The aim of this study is to analyse organizational corruption and to determine its level of relation to attitude towards work, work ethics and organizational culture. The data in study have been collected from 441 public high school teachers employed in the central districts of Ankara in the school year of 2008-2009. Data have been collected…

How to securely replicate services

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reiter, Michael; Birman, Kenneth

1992-01-01

A method is presented for constructing replicated services that retain their availability and integrity despite several servers and clients corrupted by an intruder, in addition to others failing benignly. More precisely, a service is replicated by n servers in such a way that a correct client will accept a correct server's response if, for some prespecified parameter k, at least k servers are correct and fewer than k servers are corrupt. The issue of maintaining causality among client requests is also addressed. A security breach resulting from an intruder's ability to effect a violation of causality in the sequence of requests processed by the service is illustrated. An approach to counter this problem is proposed that requires fewer than k servers to be corrupt and that is live if at least k+b servers are correct, where b is the assumed maximum total number of corrupt servers in any system run. An important and novel feature of these schemes is that the client need not be able to identify or authenticate even a single server. Instead, the client is required only to possess at most two public keys for the service. The practicality of these schemes is illustrated through a discussion of several issues pertinent to their implementation and use, and their intended role in a secure version of the Isis system is also described.

Perceptions of inpatient rehabilitation changes after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service 2010 regulatory updates contrasted with actual performance.

PubMed

Riggs, Richard V; Roberts, Pamela S; DiVita, Margaret A; Niewczyk, Paulette; Granger, Carl V

2014-01-01

To compare and contrast subjective perceptions with objective compliance of the impact of the 2010 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service updates of the Medicare Benefit Policy Manual. Cross-sectional survey. An electronic survey was sent by the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation to all enrolled inpatient rehabilitation facility subscribers (n = 817). The survey was sent April 15, 2011, and responses were tabulated if they were received by May 15, 2011. Comparing and contrasting of the subjective perception to objective evaluation and/or compliance with the Medicare Benefit Policy Manual on case mix index, length of stay, admissions by diagnostic category as well as perception of preadmission screening, postadmission evaluation, plan of care, and interdisciplinary conferencing. Twenty-five percent of the 817 facilities responded, for a total of 209 responses. Complete data were present in 148 of the respondents. For most diagnostic categories, perception of change did not mirror reality of change; neither did the perception between change in case mix index and length of stay. Perception did match reality in stroke and multiple trauma cases; respondents perceived an increase in admissions for the 2 impairments, and there was an overall increase in reality. Comparison with actual data identified that gaps exist between diagnostic category perceptions and actual diagnostic category admission performance. Regulations such as the 75%-60% rule and audit focus on non-neurologic conditions as well as actual inpatient rehabilitation facility program payment reports may have influenced respondents perceptions to change associated with the Medicare Benefit Policy Manual modifications. This disparity between perception and actual data may have implications for programmatic planning, forecasting, and resource allocation. Copyright © 2014 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Correction of Body-Mass Index Using Body-Shape Perception and Socioeconomic Status in Adolescent Self-Report Surveys

PubMed Central

Legleye, Stéphane; Beck, François; Spilka, Stanislas; Chau, Nearkasen

2014-01-01

Objectives To propose a simple correction of body-mass index (BMI) based on self-reported weight and height (reported BMI) using gender, body shape perception and socioeconomic status in an adolescent population. Methods 341 boys and girls aged 17–18 years were randomly selected from a representative sample of 2165 French adolescents living in Paris surveyed in 2010. After an anonymous self-administered pen-and-paper questionnaire asking for height, weight, body shape perception (feeling too thin, about the right weight or too fat) and socioeconomic status, subjects were measured and weighed. BMI categories were computed according to Cole’s cut-offs. Reported BMIs were corrected using linear regressions and ROC analyses and checked with cross-validation and multiple imputations to handle missing values. Agreement between actual and corrected BMI values was estimated with Kappa indexes and Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Results On average, BMIs were underreported, especially among girls. Kappa indexes between actual and reported BMI were low, especially for girls: 0.56 95%CI = [0.42–0.70] for boys and 0.45 95%CI = [0.30–0.60] for girls. The regression of reported BMI by gender and body shape perception gave the most balanced results for both genders: the Kappa and ICC obtained were 0.63 95%CI = [0.50–0.76] and 0.67, 95%CI = [0.58–0.74] for boys; 0.65 95%CI = [0.52–0.78] and 0.74, 95%CI = [0.66–0.81] for girls. The regression of reported BMI by gender and socioeconomic status led to similar corrections while the ROC analyses were inaccurate. Conclusions Using body shape perception, or socioeconomic status and gender is a promising way of correcting BMI in self-administered questionnaires, especially for girls. PMID:24844229

Landmark navigation and autonomous landing approach with obstacle detection for aircraft

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuerst, Simon; Werner, Stefan; Dickmanns, Dirk; Dickmanns, Ernst D.

1997-06-01

A machine perception system for aircraft and helicopters using multiple sensor data for state estimation is presented. By combining conventional aircraft sensor like gyros, accelerometers, artificial horizon, aerodynamic measuring devices and GPS with vision data taken by conventional CCD-cameras mounted on a pan and tilt platform, the position of the craft can be determined as well as the relative position to runways and natural landmarks. The vision data of natural landmarks are used to improve position estimates during autonomous missions. A built-in landmark management module decides which landmark should be focused on by the vision system, depending on the distance to the landmark and the aspect conditions. More complex landmarks like runways are modeled with different levels of detail that are activated dependent on range. A supervisor process compares vision data and GPS data to detect mistracking of the vision system e.g. due to poor visibility and tries to reinitialize the vision system or to set focus on another landmark available. During landing approach obstacles like trucks and airplanes can be detected on the runway. The system has been tested in real-time within a hardware-in-the-loop simulation. Simulated aircraft measurements corrupted by noise and other characteristic sensor errors have been fed into the machine perception system; the image processing module for relative state estimation was driven by computer generated imagery. Results from real-time simulation runs are given.

Community perceptions of state forest ownership and management: a case study of the Sundarbans Mangrove Forest in Bangladesh.

PubMed

Roy, Anjan Kumer Dev; Alam, Khorshed; Gow, Jeff

2013-03-15

The Sundarbans Mangrove Forest (SMF) is the world's largest mangrove forest and it provides livelihoods to 3.5 million forest-dependent people in coastal Bangladesh. The first study aim was to analyse the efficacy of the state property regime in managing the forest through a close examination of the relationship between property rights and mangrove conservation practices. The second study aim was to explore forest-dependent communities' (FDCs) perceptions about their participation in management and conservation practices. The Schlager and Ostrom theoretical framework was adopted to examine the role of potential ownership variations in a common property resource regime. A survey of 412 FDC households was undertaken. Current management by the Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD) does not result in implementation of mandated mangrove conservation practices. It was found that allocation of property rights to FDCs would be expected to increase conservation practices. 92% of respondents expressed the view that the evidenced rapid degradation over the past 30 years was due primarily to corruption in the BFD. About half of FDCs (46%) surveyed are willing to participate in mangrove conservation through involvement in management as proprietors. Consistent with Schlager and Ostrom's theory, the results indicate the necessity for de facto and de jure ownership and management change from a state to common property regime to ensure FDCs' participation in conservation practices. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Health status identification and their relationship with socieconomics and geographic characteristics: a population survey analysis in México].

PubMed

Vargas-Palacios, Armando; Gutiérrez, Juan Pablo; Carreón-Rodríguez, Víctor

2006-01-01

To estimate the effectiveness of using standardized health vignettes to adjust self-reported health taking into account household and community variables to correct for systematic bias. The national health survey "Evaluación del Desempeño 2002" (Mexican component of the World Health Survey) was used. This survey analyzed subject's health perception based on their responses to hypothetical questions referring to third parties in the vignettes within eight domains. Variations in responses were attributed to socio-demographic, socioeconomic, community, differences of the subjects. To assess those variations, an index for each domain was constructed and used as a variable in a series of linear regression models to estimate the relation between health perceptions, self-reported health, socioeconomic and socio-demographic characteristics. The health perception index derived from the vignettes showed a positive, logarithmic correlation with household expenditure for each health domain, after controlling for socio-demographic, health and community characteristics. No relationship was found between the health status described in the vignettes and self-reported health status. In no case was the explanatory power above 10%. The low explanatory power of the models, and the lack of correlation between self reported health status and the health perception index, suggest that the variability in the vignettes responses cannot be explained by differences in self-reported health status or socioeconomic and socio-demographic characteristics. These results from Mexico suggest that vignette-based methods to correct for systematic variability in perception of own health status are of limited efficacy and reinforce the importance of collecting objective measures of health status in health surveys.

[Evaluation of the maternal perception of her child's weight and body mass index heritability in mestizas dyads in Southeastern Mexico].

PubMed

Flores-Peña, Yolanda; Camal-Ríos, Nayla Y; Cerda-Flores, Ricardo M

2011-12-01

Descriptive correlational study. The objectives were the following: 1) evaluate maternal perception of her child's weight through two test, Word-perception (WVP) test and the Body mass index (BMI) of the child as perceived by the mother (Body weight index perception [BWIP]); 2)evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the tests, and 3) quantify BMI heritability (h2) in 173 mother-child dyads. WP was assessed by asking the question, How do you think your child is? For assessing BWIP, the mother referred the child's eight and height, and we calculated the child's BMI as perceived by the mother. The weight and height of the mothers and their children were measured. We found that 10.3% of mothers of children with Overweight (OW) and 1.8% of mothers of children with Obesity (OB) perceived their children adequately by means of WP; by means of the BWIP test, 38.5 and 67.3% of mothers of children with OW and OB, respectively, exhibited adequate perception. BWIP sensitivity was 55.3% and specificity was 54.4%. BWI h2 was 15%. We was concluded that mothers did not perceive the OW-OB of their children, and that asking the mother for the weight and height of the child (BMIP) will aids her to perceive the OW-OB of her child. The BWI h2 indicate that the lifestyle factors of this population contribute to OW-OB. Given the broad socioeconomic and cultural diversity, these results of the southeastern Mexican state of Campeche should be evaluated with similar study designs.

Novel Numerical Algorithms for Sensing, Discrimination, and Control

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-03-09

Boas87], and Cross WVD (XWVD) [Boas89]. A modified XWVD is especially useful because it minimizes the number of cross terms or ghosts that corrupt...between real events. If the signal strength is high, then these ghosts may even hide or cover useful returns. We do know that the cross terms can be...modified XWVD is especially useful because it minimizes the number of cross terms or ghosts that corrupt spin rate identification. Autoregressive

Procurement Integrity in Contingency Operations: A Case Study of Army Contracting Officer Corruption in Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom Utilizing Occupational Fraud Theory

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-12-01

Study of Army Contracting Officer Corruption in Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom Utilizing Occupational Fraud Theory By: Amanda H...Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom Utilizing Occupational Fraud Theory 6. AUTHOR(S) Amanda H. Flint 5. FUNDING NUMBERS 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION...CCOs) during Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF) by applying occupational fraud theory, specifically the classic sociological

The Road Not Taken: Addressing Corruption During Stability Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-06-01

waiter or waitress in a restaurant . Many other cultures consider tipping to be a form of low-level corruption, a bribe that pays for better service...patronage and nepotistic networks already in place. In other words, the British worked through the culture and customs , rather than devising a plan that...marriages between tribal members to create a nepotistic and patronal environment of loyalty and obedience.114 Although he would later become known

Drivers behind widespread informal payments in the Romanian public health care system: From tolerance to corruption to socio-economic and spatial patterns.

PubMed

Horodnic, Adrian V; Mazilu, Sorin; Oprea, Liviu

2018-03-15

In order to explain informal payments in public health care services in Romania, this paper evaluates the relationship between extra payments or valuable gifts (apart from official fees) and the level of tolerance to corruption, as well as the socio-economic and spatial patterns across those individuals offering informal payments. To evaluate this, a survey undertaken in 2013 is reported. Using logistic regression analysis, the findings are that patients with a high tolerance to corruption, high socio-economic risk (those divorced, separated, or with other form of marital status, and those not working), and located in rural or less affluent areas are more likely to offer (apart from official fees) extra payments or valuable gifts for health care services. The paper concludes by discussing the health policy implications. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Combating corruption in the pharmaceutical arena.

PubMed

Lexchin, Joel; Kohler, Jillian Clare; Gagnon, Marc André; Crombie, James; Thacker, Paul; Shnier, Adrienne

2018-03-15

Corruption in healthcare generally and specifically in the pharmaceutical arena has recently been highlighted in reports by Transparency International. This article focuses on four areas of corruption: legislative/regulatory, financial, ideological/ethical, and communications. The problems identified and the solutions considered focus on structural considerations affecting how pharmaceuticals are discovered, developed, distributed, and ultimately used in clinical settings. These include recourse to user fees in the regulatory sphere, application of intellectual property rights to medical contexts (patents and access to research data), commercial sponsorship of ghost writing and guest authors, linkage/delinkage of the funding of research and overall health objectives to/from drug pricing and sales, transparency of payments to healthcare professionals and institutions, and credible regulatory sanctions. In general, financial and other incentives for all actors in the system should be structured to align with desired social outcomes - and to minimise conflicts of interest among researchers and clinicians.

Trading legitimacy: everyday corruption and its consequences for medical regulation in southern Vietnam.

PubMed

Lê, Gillian

2013-09-01

Government regulation of health professionals is believed to ensure the efficacy and expertise of practitioners for and on behalf of patients. Certification and licensing are two common means to do so, legalizing a physician to practice medicine. However, ethnography from Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) suggests that in corrupt socioeconomic environments, certification and licensing can alternatively produce a trade in legitimacy. Drawing on participant observations during 15 months of fieldwork with 25 medical acupuncturists in private practice in HCMC, southern Vietnam, and their patients, I argue that everyday practices of corruption and the importance of personal networks meant that legality, efficacy, and expertise separated. Certificates and licenses did not unproblematically validate expertise and efficacy. Consequently, compliance and enforcement of regulations as solutions to inadequate medical care may not achieve the effects intended. © 2013 by the American Anthropological Association.

IR Hiding: A Method to Prevent Video Re-shooting by Exploiting Differences between Human Perceptions and Recording Device Characteristics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamada, Takayuki; Gohshi, Seiichi; Echizen, Isao

A method is described to prevent video images and videos displayed on screens from being re-shot by digital cameras and camcorders. Conventional methods using digital watermarking for re-shooting prevention embed content IDs into images and videos, and they help to identify the place and time where the actual content was shot. However, these methods do not actually prevent digital content from being re-shot by camcorders. We developed countermeasures to stop re-shooting by exploiting the differences between the sensory characteristics of humans and devices. The countermeasures require no additional functions to use-side devices. It uses infrared light (IR) to corrupt the content recorded by CCD or CMOS devices. In this way, re-shot content will be unusable. To validate the method, we developed a prototype system and implemented it on a 100-inch cinema screen. Experimental evaluations showed that the method effectively prevents re-shooting.

Battles on women's bodies: war, rape and traumatisation in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

PubMed

Trenholm, J E; Olsson, P; Ahlberg, B M

2011-01-01

Rape has been used as a weapon in the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in unprecedented ways. Research into the phenomenon of war-rape is limited, particularly in this context. The aim of this study was to explore perceptions of local leaders in eastern DRC concerning rape and raped women in the war context. Local leaders were chosen for their ability to both reflect and influence their constituencies. Interviews were conducted with 10 local leaders and transcripts subjected to qualitative content analysis. The study suggests that mass raping and the methods of perpetration created a chaos effectively destroying communities and the entire society and that humanitarian aid was often inappropriate. Furthermore, an exclusive focus on raped women missed the extent of traumatisation entire communities suffered. More significantly, the lack of political will, corruption, greed and inappropriate aid creates a tangled web serving to intensify the war. This complexity has implications for humanitarian interventions including public health.

Body Weight, Self-Esteem, and Depression in Korean Female Adolescents.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Oksoo; Kim, Kyeha

2001-01-01

Examined whether body mass index (BMI) and perception of a body weight problem predict level of self esteem and depression in Korean female adolescents. Results showed that perception of a weight problem, but not BMI, contributed significantly to the prediction of level of self esteem and depression. (BF)

Perceptions of fishers to sea turtle bycatch, illegal capture and consumption in the San Ignacio-Navachiste-Macapule lagoon complex, Gulf of California, Mexico.

PubMed

Aguilar-González, Myrna E; Luna-González, Antonio; Aguirre, Alonso; Zavala-Norzagaray, Alan A; Mundo-Ocampo, Manuel; González-Ocampo, Héctor A

2014-01-01

In this study, 10% of all registered fishermen in the coastal towns of Navachiste in Sinaloa, in northwestern Mexico, answered a survey designed to collect data on their perceptions of the following topics: the impact of turtle meat consumption; human health; bycatch; illegal turtle fishing; the illegal sea turtle market; the local economy; pollution; environmental education; the success of protective legislation; and sea turtle-based ecotourism. Perceptions were analyzed using the fuzzy logic method through classification into 5 fuzzy membership sets: VL, very low; L, low; M, moderate; H, high; VH, very high. The 9 topics generated decision areas upon applying fuzzy inference that revealed the membership level of the answers in each fuzzy set. The economic potential of sea turtle-based ecotourism and the economic profitability of the illegal turtle meat market were perceived as VL. Conservation legislation was perceived as H, although inefficiently applied due to corruption. Ecotourism and impacts on sea turtles were perceived as VL, because they were deemed unprofitable activities at the individual and community levels. Environmental education was perceived as L, because it centers on nesting, hatching and releasing turtles and is directed at elementary and middle-school students. While fishers perceive a serious negative impact of fishing activities on sea turtles in the San Ignacio-Navachiste-Macapule area, they do not see themselves individually as part of the problem. Achieving sea turtle conservation in this region requires: suitable ecotourism infrastructure, government investments in promotion, and studies to estimate the minimum number of tourists needed to assure profitability. © 2012 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd, ISZS and IOZ/CAS.

Impact of Dental Fluorosis, Socioeconomic Status and Self-Perception in Adolescents Exposed to a High Level of Fluoride in Water

PubMed Central

Molina-Frechero, Nelly; Nevarez-Rascón, Martina; Nevarez-Rascón, Alfredo; González-González, Rogelio; Irigoyen-Camacho, María Esther; Sánchez-Pérez, Leonor; López-Verdin, Sandra; Bologna-Molina, Ronell

2017-01-01

Objective: To identify adolescents’ self-perception of dental fluorosis from two areas with different socioeconomic levels. Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted with 15-year-old youths by applying a questionnaire designed and validated to assess self-perceptions of dental fluorosis in two areas with different socioeconomic statuses (SESs). Fluorosis was clinically evaluated by applying the Thylstrup and Fejerkov (TF) index on the upper front teeth. Results: A total of 308 adolescents were included in the study. The medium-SES population, which was exposed to 2.5 ppm of fluoride in water, and the low-SES population, which was exposed to 5.1 ppm, presented the following levels of dental fluorosis: TF 2–3 (50%), TF 4–5 (45.6%) and TF 6–7 (4.4%) for medium SES and TF 2–3 (12.3%), TF 4–5 (67.1%) and TF 67 (20.6%) for low SES. A significant association was found between self-perception and dental fluorosis in those with medium and low SESs (p < 0.05). The multiple regression model found differences between TF levels and self-perception, with a 6–7 TF level for concerns about color (OR = 1.6), smile (OR = 1.2) and appearance (OR = 3.36). Conclusions: Self-perceptions of dental fluorosis affect adolescents such that adolescents with a medium SES have more negative perceptions than those with a low SES. Such perceptions increase as the TF index increases. PMID:28085102

Corruption in the Balkans: An Examination of the Ties Between Government and Crime in Several Southeast European Countries

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-12-01

Mataković, Transparency in Funding Political Parties: Croatia 2011 ( Zagreb : Transparency International Croatia, 2011), 7, 19; Stevan Dojčinović et al...compulsory measures that could have forced Zagreb to further reduce its corruption have now been removed. Despite many recent steps in the right...authorities discovered the body of Ivana Hodak, the daughter of a recognized prosecutor in Zagreb , in the stairwell outside her apartment building

JPRS Report, China, Qiushi Seeking Truth, No. 6, 16 September 1988

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-10-31

life. What was this for? It was precisely in order to seek an avenue by which poor China could have a "prosperous society and pros - perous...the ruling group. The system could punish indi- vidual corrupt officials but it could not eradicate funda- mental corruption. Precisely because of...should not be determined by personal judgment but should be pro - vided with a legal basis. In addition, there should be explicit legal provisions

Time Delay Estimation

DTIC Science & Technology

1976-04-09

of the signal and noise remain HH ***^-^*--~ 53 h, to r(Mc) h2(r» r(we) Figure 3-2 Sy&toetric Impulse Response for Two FIR Linear Phase...Inputs x,y and Outputs x.j. , 15 2-2 Linear System with Impulse Response h("r) 23 2-3 Model of Error Resulting from Linearly Filtering x(t) to...Corrupted with Additive Noise 42 2-6 Model of Directional Signal Corrupted with Additive Noise and Processed .... 45 2-7 Source Driving Two

Generalization error analysis: deep convolutional neural network in mammography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richter, Caleb D.; Samala, Ravi K.; Chan, Heang-Ping; Hadjiiski, Lubomir; Cha, Kenny

2018-02-01

We conducted a study to gain understanding of the generalizability of deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) given their inherent capability to memorize data. We examined empirically a specific DCNN trained for classification of masses on mammograms. Using a data set of 2,454 lesions from 2,242 mammographic views, a DCNN was trained to classify masses into malignant and benign classes using transfer learning from ImageNet LSVRC-2010. We performed experiments with varying amounts of label corruption and types of pixel randomization to analyze the generalization error for the DCNN. Performance was evaluated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) with an N-fold cross validation. Comparisons were made between the convergence times, the inference AUCs for both the training set and the test set of the original image patches without corruption, and the root-mean-squared difference (RMSD) in the layer weights of the DCNN trained with different amounts and methods of corruption. Our experiments observed trends which revealed that the DCNN overfitted by memorizing corrupted data. More importantly, this study improved our understanding of DCNN weight updates when learning new patterns or new labels. Although we used a specific classification task with the ImageNet as example, similar methods may be useful for analysis of the DCNN learning processes, especially those that employ transfer learning for medical image analysis where sample size is limited and overfitting risk is high.

Sensorimotor Interactions in the Haptic Perception of Virtual Objects

DTIC Science & Technology

1997-01-01

the human user. 2 Compared to our understanding of vision and audition , our knowledge of the human haptic perception is very limited. Many basic...modalities such as vision and audition on haptic perception of viscosity or mass, for example. 116 Some preliminary work has already been done in this...string[3]; *posx="x" *forf="f’ *velv="v" * acca ="a" trial[64]; resp[64]; /* random number */ /* trial number */ /* index */ /* array holding stim

Parental Perceptions of the Schools' Role in Addressing Childhood Obesity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murphy, Maureen; Polivka, Barbara

2007-01-01

As childhood obesity has increased, schools have struggled with their role in this epidemic. Parents with a school-age child in a suburban latchkey program were surveyed regarding their perceptions of childhood obesity, body mass index, and the school's role in prevention and treatment of obesity. More than 80% of participants identified…

Perceptions of Overweight Students Concerning Their Experiences in Physical Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trout, Josh; Graber, Kim C.

2009-01-01

The purpose of this investigation was to examine overweight students' perceptions of and experiences in physical education. Specifically, the applicability of learned helplessness as a framework to understand their experiences was explored. Participants were seven female and five male high school students whose body mass index was at or higher…

Women and cigarette smoking: does amount of weight gain following a failed quit attempt affect social disapproval?

PubMed

Knauss, Faye; Martz, Denise; Parker, Amy; Curtin, Lisa; Pai, Shilpa

2005-05-01

This study examined the perception of social attractiveness and approval of smoking in a vignette of an American college female smoker after a failed quit attempt. It was hypothesized that she would be perceived more favorably when she was smoking to control her weight, compared to a non-weight related excuse during a failed quit attempt. The design was a 2 (gender: male vs. female)x4 (condition: control, 5, 10, 20 lb gain)x3 (participants' smoking status: never, former, or current smoker) factorial design with the Social Attraction Index and Perception of Smoking Index as dependent variables. Contrary to the hypothesis, perceptions of the female were not affected by her disclosed amount of weight gain. However, consistent with the literature on stigmatization of smokers, smoking participants perceived the female target as most socially attractive and nonsmokers perceived her to be the least attractive.

[Social capital, poverty and self-perception of family support in cases of acute respiratory illness].

PubMed

Hamui-Sutton, Alicia; Ponce-Rosas R, E Raúl; Irigoyen-Coria, Arnulfo; Halabe-Cherem, José

2009-01-01

The aim of this study was to correlate the socio structural variables of the Simplified Index of Family Poverty with the self-perception of resources that conform social capital among patients with acute respiratory disease (ARD). We used a qualitative and quantitative methodology. The sample included 848 cases distributed in seven Rural Medicine Units of Mexico. We considered three pathways described by Kawachi where social capital might have an impact on individual health. The bivariate correlation and discriminant analysis showed that when there is evidence of poverty in the family, the statistically significant differences are mainly observed in self-perception. Moral support of sons and daughters is thereby increased when there is an ARD. We concluded that when there is a higher index of family poverty there is a decreased access to social resources when a family member is diagnosed with an ARD.

The body mass index in relation with the self-perception of weight and the body composition from different populational groups.

PubMed

Barzuca, D; Vlaicu, Brigitha; Mircioaga, Adriana; Mircioaga, Elena; Carabas, I

2013-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the self-perception of weight in relation with the body mass index and the body composition of three working groups composed of physically untrained young students, young athletes and patients diagnosed with chronic diseases. The working groups consisted of 110 participants: untrained students, athletes and dialysed patients; 50.9% women and 49.1% men; with an average age of 26.03. The BMI of the patients is significantly higher than the BMI of the athletes and untrained students. No significant differences were found between groups in terms of self-perception of weight. Compared to the physically untrained students and patients, the athletes have a significantly higher level of muscle tissue. The athletes also have a significantly lower adipose tissue than that of the physically untrained students and patients.

Legal ivory trade in a corrupt world and its impact on African elephant populations.

PubMed

Bennett, Elizabeth L

2015-02-01

Illegal hunting of African elephants (Loxodonta africana) for ivory is causing rapid declines in their populations. Since 2007, illegal ivory trade has more than doubled. African elephants are facing the most serious conservation crisis since 1989, when international trade was banned. One solution proposed is establishment of a controlled legal trade in ivory. High prices for ivory mean that the incentives to obtain large quantities are high, but the quantity of tusks available for trade are biologically constrained. Within that context, effective management of a legal ivory trade would require robust systems to be in place to ensure that ivory from illegally killed elephants cannot be laundered into a legal market. At present, that is not feasible due to corruption among government officials charged with implementing wildlife-related legislation. With organized criminal enterprises involved along the whole commodity chain, corruption enables the laundering of illegal ivory into legal or potentially legal markets. Poachers and traffickers can rapidly pay their way out of trouble, so the financial incentives to break the law heavily outweigh those of abiding by it. Maintaining reliable permitting systems and leak-proof chains of custody in this context is challenging, and effective management breaks down. Once illegal ivory has entered the legal trade, it is difficult or impossible for enforcement officers to know what is legal and illegal. Addressing corruption throughout a trade network that permeates countries across the globe will take decades, if it can ever be achieved. That will be too late for wild African elephants at current rates of loss. If we are to conserve remaining wild populations, we must close all markets because, under current levels of corruption, they cannot be controlled in a way that does not provide opportunities for illegal ivory being laundered into legal markets. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

The Augmented Lagrange Multipliers Method for Matrix Completion from Corrupted Samplings with Application to Mixed Gaussian-Impulse Noise Removal

PubMed Central

Meng, Fan; Yang, Xiaomei; Zhou, Chenghu

2014-01-01

This paper studies the problem of the restoration of images corrupted by mixed Gaussian-impulse noise. In recent years, low-rank matrix reconstruction has become a research hotspot in many scientific and engineering domains such as machine learning, image processing, computer vision and bioinformatics, which mainly involves the problem of matrix completion and robust principal component analysis, namely recovering a low-rank matrix from an incomplete but accurate sampling subset of its entries and from an observed data matrix with an unknown fraction of its entries being arbitrarily corrupted, respectively. Inspired by these ideas, we consider the problem of recovering a low-rank matrix from an incomplete sampling subset of its entries with an unknown fraction of the samplings contaminated by arbitrary errors, which is defined as the problem of matrix completion from corrupted samplings and modeled as a convex optimization problem that minimizes a combination of the nuclear norm and the -norm in this paper. Meanwhile, we put forward a novel and effective algorithm called augmented Lagrange multipliers to exactly solve the problem. For mixed Gaussian-impulse noise removal, we regard it as the problem of matrix completion from corrupted samplings, and restore the noisy image following an impulse-detecting procedure. Compared with some existing methods for mixed noise removal, the recovery quality performance of our method is dominant if images possess low-rank features such as geometrically regular textures and similar structured contents; especially when the density of impulse noise is relatively high and the variance of Gaussian noise is small, our method can outperform the traditional methods significantly not only in the simultaneous removal of Gaussian noise and impulse noise, and the restoration ability for a low-rank image matrix, but also in the preservation of textures and details in the image. PMID:25248103

Perceptions of worksite support and employee obesity, activity, and diet.

PubMed

Lemon, Stephenie C; Zapka, Jane; Li, Wenjun; Estabrook, Barbara; Magner, Robert; Rosal, Milagros C

2009-01-01

To examine the associations of perceptions of organizational commitment to employee health and coworker physical activity and eating behaviors with body mass index (BMI), physical activity, and eating behaviors in hospital employees. Baseline data from 899 employees participating in a worksite weight-gain prevention trial were analyzed. Greater perception of organizational commitment to employee health was associated with lower BMI. Greater perceptions of coworker healthy eating and physical activity behaviors were associated with fruit and vegetable and saturated fat consumption and physical activity, respectively. Improving organizational commitment and facilitating supportive interpersonal environments could improve obesity control among working populations.

Noise parameter estimation for poisson corrupted images using variance stabilization transforms.

PubMed

Jin, Xiaodan; Xu, Zhenyu; Hirakawa, Keigo

2014-03-01

Noise is present in all images captured by real-world image sensors. Poisson distribution is said to model the stochastic nature of the photon arrival process and agrees with the distribution of measured pixel values. We propose a method for estimating unknown noise parameters from Poisson corrupted images using properties of variance stabilization. With a significantly lower computational complexity and improved stability, the proposed estimation technique yields noise parameters that are comparable in accuracy to the state-of-art methods.

Afghanistan’s High office of Oversight: Personal Asset Declarations of High Ranking Afghan Government Officials Are Not Consistently Registered and Verified

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-09-19

Effective Anti-Corruption Institution , SIGAR Audit 10-2, December 16, 2009. SIGAR-16-60-SP – Review: High Office of Oversight Page 3 We conducted...Donor Support to Become an Effective Anticorruption Institution , SIGAR Audit 10-2, December 16, 2009, pp. 2–3. 7 U.S. Embassy in Kabul...Significantly Strengthened Authority, Independence, and Donor Support to Become an Effective Anti-Corruption Institution , SIGAR Audit 10-2, December 16, 2009

Corruption, NGOs, and Development in Nigeria.

PubMed

Smith, Daniel Jordan

2010-01-01

This article examines corruption in Nigeria's development sector, particularly in the vastly growing arena of local non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Grounded in ethnographic case studies, the analysis explores why local NGOs in Nigeria have proliferated so widely, what they do in practice, what effects they have beyond their stated aims, and how they are perceived and experienced by ordinary Nigerians. It shows that even faux NGOs and disingenuous political rhetoric about civil society, democracy, and development are contributing to changing ideals and rising expectations in these same domains.

Vocational Opinion Index.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benson, Stephen D.; Whittington, Marna C.

The Vocational Opinion Index (VOI) is an instrument used to measure an individual's job readiness posture (JRP). JRP is a term used to define an individual's attitudes, perceptions, and motivations as they reflect on his ability to obtain and maintain a job. The VOI determines an individual's JRP by assessing three psychological diminsions:…

Maternal perception of fetal movements in late pregnancy is affected by type and duration of fetal movement.

PubMed

Brown, Rebecca; Higgins, Lucy E; Johnstone, Edward D; Wijekoon, Jayawan H; Heazell, Alexander E P

2016-01-01

A reduction in fetal movements has been proposed to identify pregnancies at risk of stillbirth. The utility of this approach is limited by variability in maternal perception of fetal movements. We aimed to determine the proportion of fetal movements observed by ultrasound that were maternally perceived and identify factors that affected maternal perception. During 30-min recordings, women (n = 21) depressed a trigger upon perception of a fetal movement, while an ultrasound operator recorded observed movements according to the fetal parts involved. Women perceived between 2.4% and 81.0% (median 44.8%) of movements observed on scan. Synchronous movement of the fetal trunk and limbs was more likely to be recognized than either part in isolation (60.5% versus 37.5% and 30%, respectively). The ultrasound operator judged the fetus to be moving for a significantly greater proportion of the time than mothers (median 1.5% of total recording time versus 0.7%). There was no significant relationship between the ability to perceive fetal activity and placental site, parity, amniotic fluid index or maternal body mass index. Variations in maternal perception of fetal movements may affect detection of a clinically significant reduction in fetal movements for some women.

Negative correlation between body mass index category and physical activity perceptions in children.

PubMed

Van Zant, R Scott; Toney, Julie

2012-10-01

Children's physical activity (PA) choices are influenced by their perceived ability (adequacy) and inclination toward (predilection) PA. The study's purpose was to determine the association of body mass index (BMI) category with PA perceptions in sixth-grade children. A total of 267 children (119 boys, 148 girls; age 11+ y; ht 1.53 SD 0.08 m; wt 49.0 SD 13.5 kg; BMI 20.7 SD 4.8) provided informed consent and completed the study. All were measured for body weight and height and completed the Children's Self-perceptions of Adequacy in and Predilection for Physical Activity (CSAPPA) scale. Spearman rank-order correlation analysis was conducted between total CSAPPA score (and three factor scores of adequacy, predilection, and enjoyment) and BMI category relative to gender, body weight classification and for all children. A significant negative correlation was identified between BMI category (p<0.01) and CSAPPA total, adequacy, and predilection score for all children. Girls (but not boys) showed significant negative correlation between BMI category and all CSAPPA scores. A significant negative correlation in BMI category and PA perceptions exists in children, with the relationship being stronger in girls. Children with increased BMI may have adverse perceptions of PA and risks for sedentary behavior.

Body image and weight perceptions in relation to actual measurements by means of a new index and level of physical activity in Italian university students.

PubMed

Zaccagni, Luciana; Masotti, Sabrina; Donati, Roberta; Mazzoni, Gianni; Gualdi-Russo, Emanuela

2014-02-11

Body image perception depends on anthropometric and psychological factors. Body dissatisfaction is influenced by the socio-cultural environment and is associated with eating disorders and low self-esteem. This study examined the body image perception, the degree of dissatisfaction and the weight status perception inconsistency in relation to sex, weight status and amount of physical activity in a sample of university students. The participants were 734 university students (354 females aged 21.5 ± 2.9 yrs and 380 males aged 22.1 ± 3.6 yrs) recruited from the second year of the Sport Sciences degree program. A self-administered questionnaire was used to acquire socio-demographic and sport participation information. Height, weight, BMI and weight status were considered for each subject. Body image perception was assessed by a silhouette matching technique. A new index, FAI (Feel status minus Actual status Inconsistency), was used to assess weight status perception inconsistency. A large proportion of the sample had normal weight status. On average, females chose as feel status a significantly higher figure than the males (4.7 versus 3.8) and they would have liked to have a significantly thinner figure than the males (3.4 versus 3.6). Therefore, the mean FID (Feel minus Ideal Discrepancy) values (positive in both sexes) were significantly higher in females than in males, meaning higher dissatisfaction. The mean FAI values were positive in females and negative in males, indicating a tendency of the women to overestimate their weight status and of the men to underestimate it. Men were more physically active than women. Less active women showed significantly lower body weight and BMI than more active women. Men less engaged in physical activity showed significantly higher FID than more active men. These results show greater dissatisfaction and higher weight status perception consistency in females than in males among Italian university students examined. Our findings suggest that the FAI index can be very useful to evaluate the perceived weight status by body image in comparison to actual weight status assessed anthropometrically.

The Application of the Health Belief Model in Oral Health Education

PubMed Central

Solhi, M; Zadeh, D Shojaei; Seraj, B; Zadeh, S Faghih

2010-01-01

Background: The goal of this study was to determine the application of health belief model in oral health education for 12-year-old children and its effect on oral health behaviors and indexes. Methods: A quasi-experimental study was carried out on twelve-year-old girl students (n-291) in the first grade of secondary school, in the central district of Tehran, Iran. Research sample was selected by a multistage cluster sampling. The data was obtained by using a valid reliable questionnaire for measuring the perceptions, a checklist for observing the quality of brushing and dental flossing and health files and clinical observation. First, a descriptive study was applied to individual perceptions, oral behaviors, Oral Hygiene Index (OHI) and Decayed, Missing and Filled Teeth Index (DMFTI). Then an educational planning based on the results and Health Belief Model (HBM) was applied. The procedure was repeated after six months. Results: After education, based on HBM, all the oral health perceptions increased (P<.05). Correct brushing and flossing are influenced by increased perceptions. A low correlation between the reduction of DMFTI and increased perceived severity and increased perceived barriers are found (r= −0.28, r = 0.43 respectively). In addition, there was a limited correlation between OHI and increased perceived benefits (r = −0.26). Conclusion: Using health belief model in oral health education for increasing the likelihood of taking preventive oral health behaviors is applicable. PMID:23113044

Index to FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) Office of Aviation Medicine Reports: 1961 through 1982,

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-01-01

endrin. AD431299 63-17 Tobias, J. V.: Application of a "relative" procedure to a problem in binaural beat perception. AD428899 63-18 Balke, B...distraction, 72-14. Audiology auditory fatigue, 63-19, 65-1, 65-2. binaural beat perception, 63-17. cockpit noise intensities, 68-21, 68-25. ear...recognition, 71-27, 71-32. impairment by sunscreen materials, 78-28. tests, 67-8. X-Chrom lens for improving, 78-22. Communication binaural beat perception

Psychological distress and academic self-perception among international medical students: the role of peer social support.

PubMed

Yamada, Yukari; Klugar, Miloslav; Ivanova, Katerina; Oborna, Ivana

2014-11-28

Psychological distress among medical students is commonly observed during medical education and is generally related to poor academic self-perception. We evaluated the role of peer social support at medical schools in the association between psychological distress and academic self-perception. An online survey was conducted in a medical degree program for 138 international students educated in English in the Czech Republic. The Medical Student Well-Being Index was used to define the students' psychological distress. Perceived peer social support was investigated with the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Poor academic self-perception was defined as the lowest 30% of a subscale score of the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure. Analyses evaluated the presence of additive interactions between psychological distress and peer social support on poor academic self-perception, adjusted for possible confounders. Both psychological distress and low peer social support were negatively associated with poor academic self-perception, adjusted for local language proficiency and social support from family. Students with psychological distress and low peer social support had an odds ratio of 11.0 (95% confidence interval (CI): 2.1-56.6) for poor academic self-perception as compared with those without distress who had high peer social support. The presence of an additive interaction was confirmed in that the joint association was four times as large as what would have been expected to be on summing the individual risks of psychological distress and low peer social support (synergy index = 4.5, 95% CI: 1.3-14.9). Psychological distress and low peer social support may synergistically increase the probability of poor academic self-perception among international medical students. Promoting peer social relationships at medical school may interrupt the vicious cycle of psychological distress and poor academic performance.

Accuracy of weight perception, life-style behaviours and psychological distress among overweight and obese adolescents.

PubMed

Khambalia, Amina; Hardy, Louise L; Bauman, Adrian

2012-03-01

To compare overweight and obese adolescents with accurate and inaccurate self-reported weight perception across a range of behaviours and measures of psychological well-being. This study uses a cross-sectional survey of grade 7-12 high school students in New South Wales, Australia, conducted in 2008 (n= 7553). Overweight and obese students based on body mass index were classified as accurate perceivers (weight perception was 'too fat') or inaccurate perceivers (weight perception was 'about right'). Nearly a third of adolescents had incongruity between self-perceived body weight status and body mass index-determined weight category. Compared with boys, girls were less likely to underestimate their body weight (odds ratio: 0.26; 95% confidence interval: 0.25, 0.27) and more likely to overestimate their body weight (odds ratio: 3.4; 95% confidence interval: 3.3, 3.5). Accurate body weight perception was higher in obese adolescents compared with overweight adolescents (69.5% vs. 44.0%). Compared with mis-perceivers, accurate overweight and obese perceivers had significantly higher odds of trying to lose weight and being more physically active; however, they showed a combination of unhealthy and healthy behaviours (i.e. dietary patterns and sedentary activities). Accurate weight perception among overweight and obese adolescents was associated with increased odds of feeling sad or depressed in the past 6 months. Further research on social, familial and psychological factors that predict or mediate healthy and unhealthy weight-related behaviours among adolescents by accuracy of weight perception is needed. Accurate weight perception should be considered in counselling and behavioural interventions. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health © 2012 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (Royal Australasian College of Physicians).

Barriers to global health development: An international quantitative survey

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Background Global health’s goal of reducing low-and-middle-income country versus high-income country health disparities faces complex challenges. Although there have been discussions of barriers, there has not been a broad-based, quantitative survey of such barriers. Methods 432 global health professionals were invited via email to participate in an online survey, with 268 (62%) participating. The survey assessed participants’ (A) demographic and global health background, (B) perceptions regarding 66 barriers’ seriousness, (C) detailed ratings of barriers designated most serious, (D) potential solutions. Results Thirty-four (of 66) barriers were seen as moderately or more serious, highlighting the widespread, significant challenges global health development faces. Perceived barrier seriousness differed significantly across domains: Resource Limitations mean = 2.47 (0–4 Likert scale), Priority Selection mean = 2.20, Corruption, Lack of Competence mean = 1.87, Social and Cultural Barriers mean = 1.68. Some system-level predictors showed significant but relatively limited relations. For instance, for Global Health Domain, HIV and Mental Health had higher levels of perceived Social and Cultural Barriers than other GH Domains. Individual–level global health experience predictors had small but significant effects, with seriousness of (a) Corruption, Lack of Competence, and (b) Priority Selection barriers positively correlated with respondents’ level of LMIC-oriented (e.g., weeks/year spent in LMIC) but Academic Global Health Achievement (e.g., number of global health publications) negatively correlated with overall barrier seriousness. Conclusions That comparatively few system-level predictors (e.g., Organization Type) were significant suggests these barriers may be relatively fundamental at the system-level. Individual-level and system-level effects do have policy implications; e.g., Priority Selection barriers were among the most serious, yet effects on seriousness of how LMIC-oriented a professional was versus level of academic global health achievement ran in opposite directions, suggesting increased discussion of priorities between LMIC-based and other professionals may be useful. It is hoped the 22 suggested solutions will provide useful ideas for addressing global health barriers. PMID:28972971

'Rakter dosh'--corrupting blood: The challenges of preventing thalassemia in Bengal, India.

PubMed

Chattopadhyay, Sreeparna

2006-11-01

Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder that has been receiving increasing attention in India. However, prevention of thalassemia in India continues to be difficult despite efforts of public health professionals and the government. Using West Bengal as a case study, this paper attempts to unravel some of the barriers to the prevention campaign and the consequent under utilization of the program. Lack of access, low awareness, low-risk perception and poverty are all important proximate constraints; however, one of the greatest barriers to the program is rooted in cultural notions of blood, marriage, identity, personhood and kinship in Bengali society. Blood is so deeply valued in the Bengali kinship system that this genetic mutation is perceived to be corrupting the blood (rakter dosh). Being a thalassemia carrier (i.e., having thalassemia minor) renders an individual unfit as a suitable marriage partner because of beliefs related to purity of blood, its association with the continuity of the lineage, and subsequent transmission of desirable traits to future generations. The risk of non-marriage affects women disproportionately, and parents are not inclined to test their daughters because of the possibility of not being able to marry them off to eligible suitors. The stigma associated with having thalassemia minor (TMI) is a deterrent to the disclosure of thalassemia status as well as to testing. Using anthropological theories and ethnographic methods, this paper focuses on the gendered process by which the diagnosis of a thalassemia carrier 'spoils' identities, thereby creating a disjuncture between the goals of the prevention program and people's need for social conformity, and ultimately between medical desirability and social desirability. The paper also suggests policies for enhancing the utilization of the program. Finally the conclusions from this study have potential applications for public health prevention programs that confront problems of stigma in program acceptability.

Barriers to global health development: An international quantitative survey.

PubMed

Weiss, Bahr; Pollack, Amie Alley

2017-01-01

Global health's goal of reducing low-and-middle-income country versus high-income country health disparities faces complex challenges. Although there have been discussions of barriers, there has not been a broad-based, quantitative survey of such barriers. 432 global health professionals were invited via email to participate in an online survey, with 268 (62%) participating. The survey assessed participants' (A) demographic and global health background, (B) perceptions regarding 66 barriers' seriousness, (C) detailed ratings of barriers designated most serious, (D) potential solutions. Thirty-four (of 66) barriers were seen as moderately or more serious, highlighting the widespread, significant challenges global health development faces. Perceived barrier seriousness differed significantly across domains: Resource Limitations mean = 2.47 (0-4 Likert scale), Priority Selection mean = 2.20, Corruption, Lack of Competence mean = 1.87, Social and Cultural Barriers mean = 1.68. Some system-level predictors showed significant but relatively limited relations. For instance, for Global Health Domain, HIV and Mental Health had higher levels of perceived Social and Cultural Barriers than other GH Domains. Individual-level global health experience predictors had small but significant effects, with seriousness of (a) Corruption, Lack of Competence, and (b) Priority Selection barriers positively correlated with respondents' level of LMIC-oriented (e.g., weeks/year spent in LMIC) but Academic Global Health Achievement (e.g., number of global health publications) negatively correlated with overall barrier seriousness. That comparatively few system-level predictors (e.g., Organization Type) were significant suggests these barriers may be relatively fundamental at the system-level. Individual-level and system-level effects do have policy implications; e.g., Priority Selection barriers were among the most serious, yet effects on seriousness of how LMIC-oriented a professional was versus level of academic global health achievement ran in opposite directions, suggesting increased discussion of priorities between LMIC-based and other professionals may be useful. It is hoped the 22 suggested solutions will provide useful ideas for addressing global health barriers.

An appraisal of the performance of the economic and financial crimes commission in Nigeria.

PubMed

Sowunmi, Fatai Abiola; Adesola, Muniru Adekunle; Salako, Mudashiru Abiodun

2010-12-01

This article examines how an anti-graft body, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), has fared in reducing the incidence of corruption in Nigeria, in particular, bank fraud, Internet scam, and bad governance. It first discusses the corruption situation in Nigeria by highlighting public office holders who have been associated with corruption charges. A Likert-type scale is used in designing the questionnaire for data collection. Descriptive and chi-square analyses are used, and results reveal that the performance of the EFCC has been affected by government interference (p < .05). However, although the anti-graft body has not been able to reduce the incidence of bank fraud (p > .05), bad governance and advance fee fraud have recorded appreciable reduction (p < .05). Areas of success as well as challenges that need to be addressed are identified. Specifically, it is recommended that the bill that established EFCC should be amended to reduce government interference and improve its manpower development, especially in the areas of fraud and Internet scam detection.

Understanding illegality and corruption in forest governance.

PubMed

Sundström, Aksel

2016-10-01

This review synthesizes the literature studying illegality and government corruption in forest management. After discussing the theoretical connections between different types of corruption and illegal forest-related activities it describes the major trends in previous studies, examining cross-national patterns as well as local in-depth studies. Both theory and available empirical findings provide a straightforward suggestion: Bribery is indeed a "door opener" for illegal activities to take place in forest management. It then discusses the implications for conservation, focusing first on international protection schemes such as the REDD+ and second on efforts to reduce illegality and bribery in forest management. Key aspects to consider in the discussion on how to design monitoring institutions of forest regulations is how to involve actors without the incentive to engage in bribery and how to make use of new technologies that may publicize illegal behavior in distant localities. The review concludes by discussing avenues for future research. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Deep RNNs for video denoising

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Xinyuan; Song, Li; Yang, Xiaokang

2016-09-01

Video denoising can be described as the problem of mapping from a specific length of noisy frames to clean one. We propose a deep architecture based on Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) for video denoising. The model learns a patch-based end-to-end mapping between the clean and noisy video sequences. It takes the corrupted video sequences as the input and outputs the clean one. Our deep network, which we refer to as deep Recurrent Neural Networks (deep RNNs or DRNNs), stacks RNN layers where each layer receives the hidden state of the previous layer as input. Experiment shows (i) the recurrent architecture through temporal domain extracts motion information and does favor to video denoising, and (ii) deep architecture have large enough capacity for expressing mapping relation between corrupted videos as input and clean videos as output, furthermore, (iii) the model has generality to learned different mappings from videos corrupted by different types of noise (e.g., Poisson-Gaussian noise). By training on large video databases, we are able to compete with some existing video denoising methods.

POCS-enhanced correction of motion artifacts in parallel MRI.

PubMed

Samsonov, Alexey A; Velikina, Julia; Jung, Youngkyoo; Kholmovski, Eugene G; Johnson, Chris R; Block, Walter F

2010-04-01

A new method for correction of MRI motion artifacts induced by corrupted k-space data, acquired by multiple receiver coils such as phased arrays, is presented. In our approach, a projections onto convex sets (POCS)-based method for reconstruction of sensitivity encoded MRI data (POCSENSE) is employed to identify corrupted k-space samples. After the erroneous data are discarded from the dataset, the artifact-free images are restored from the remaining data using coil sensitivity profiles. The error detection and data restoration are based on informational redundancy of phased-array data and may be applied to full and reduced datasets. An important advantage of the new POCS-based method is that, in addition to multicoil data redundancy, it can use a priori known properties about the imaged object for improved MR image artifact correction. The use of such information was shown to improve significantly k-space error detection and image artifact correction. The method was validated on data corrupted by simulated and real motion such as head motion and pulsatile flow.

Image inpainting and super-resolution using non-local recursive deep convolutional network with skip connections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Miaofeng

2017-07-01

In recent years, deep convolutional neural networks come into use in image inpainting and super-resolution in many fields. Distinct to most of the former methods requiring to know beforehand the local information for corrupted pixels, we propose a 20-depth fully convolutional network to learn an end-to-end mapping a dataset of damaged/ground truth subimage pairs realizing non-local blind inpainting and super-resolution. As there often exist image with huge corruptions or inpainting on a low-resolution image that the existing approaches unable to perform well, we also share parameters in local area of layers to achieve spatial recursion and enlarge the receptive field. To avoid the difficulty of training this deep neural network, skip-connections between symmetric convolutional layers are designed. Experimental results shows that the proposed method outperforms state-of-the-art methods for diverse corrupting and low-resolution conditions, it works excellently when realizing super-resolution and image inpainting simultaneously

GPS Signal Corruption by the Discrete Aurora: Precise Measurements From the Mahali Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Semeter, Joshua; Mrak, Sebastijan; Hirsch, Michael; Swoboda, John; Akbari, Hassan; Starr, Gregory; Hampton, Don; Erickson, Philip; Lind, Frank; Coster, Anthea; Pankratius, Victor

2017-10-01

Measurements from a dense network of GPS receivers have been used to clarify the relationship between substorm auroras and GPS signal corruption as manifested by loss of lock on the received signal. A network of nine receivers was deployed along roadways near the Poker Flat Research Range in central Alaska, with receiver spacing between 15 and 30 km. Instances of large-amplitude phase fluctuations and signal loss of lock were registered in space and time with auroral forms associated with a sequence of westward traveling surges associated with a substorm onset over central Canada. The following conclusions were obtained: (1) The signal corruption originated in the ionospheric E region, between 100 and 150 km altitude, and (2) the GPS links suffering loss of lock were confined to a narrow band (<20 km wide) along the trailing edge of the moving auroral forms. The results are discussed in the context of mechanisms typically cited to account for GPS phase scintillation by auroral processes.

Corruption drives the emergence of civil society.

PubMed

Abdallah, Sherief; Sayed, Rasha; Rahwan, Iyad; Leveck, Brad L; Cebrian, Manuel; Rutherford, Alex; Fowler, James H

2014-04-06

Centralized sanctioning institutions have been shown to emerge naturally through social learning, displace all other forms of punishment and lead to stable cooperation. However, this result provokes a number of questions. If centralized sanctioning is so successful, then why do many highly authoritarian states suffer from low levels of cooperation? Why do states with high levels of public good provision tend to rely more on citizen-driven peer punishment? Here, we consider how corruption influences the evolution of cooperation and punishment. Our model shows that the effectiveness of centralized punishment in promoting cooperation breaks down when some actors in the model are allowed to bribe centralized authorities. Counterintuitively, a weaker centralized authority is actually more effective because it allows peer punishment to restore cooperation in the presence of corruption. Our results provide an evolutionary rationale for why public goods provision rarely flourishes in polities that rely only on strong centralized institutions. Instead, cooperation requires both decentralized and centralized enforcement. These results help to explain why citizen participation is a fundamental necessity for policing the commons.

Key opinion leaders and the corruption of medical knowledge: what the Sunshine Act will and won't cast light on.

PubMed

Sismondo, Sergio

2013-01-01

The pharmaceutical industry, in its marketing efforts, often turns to "key opinion leaders" or "KOLs" to disseminate scientific information. Drawing on the author's fieldwork, this article documents and examines the use of KOLs in pharmaceutical companies' marketing efforts. Partly due to the use of KOLs, a small number of companies with well-defined and narrow interests have inordinate influence over how medical knowledge is produced, circulated, and consumed. The issue here, as in many other cases of institutional corruption, is that a few actors have accumulated the power to shape the information on which many others base their decisions. Efforts to address this corruption should focus on correcting large imbalances in the current political economy of medical knowledge. A sequestration of pharmaceutical research and development on one hand from pharmaceutical marketing on the other, though difficult to achieve, would address this and many other problems. © 2013 American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Inc.

Facial expression recognition based on weber local descriptor and sparse representation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ouyang, Yan

2018-03-01

Automatic facial expression recognition has been one of the research hotspots in the area of computer vision for nearly ten years. During the decade, many state-of-the-art methods have been proposed which perform very high accurate rate based on the face images without any interference. Nowadays, many researchers begin to challenge the task of classifying the facial expression images with corruptions and occlusions and the Sparse Representation based Classification framework has been wildly used because it can robust to the corruptions and occlusions. Therefore, this paper proposed a novel facial expression recognition method based on Weber local descriptor (WLD) and Sparse representation. The method includes three parts: firstly the face images are divided into many local patches, and then the WLD histograms of each patch are extracted, finally all the WLD histograms features are composed into a vector and combined with SRC to classify the facial expressions. The experiment results on the Cohn-Kanade database show that the proposed method is robust to occlusions and corruptions.

Body Image, Self-Esteem and Depression in Female Adolescent College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Latha, K. S.; Hegde, Supriya; Bhat, S. M.; Sharma, P. S. V. N.; Rai, Pooja

2006-01-01

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to examine whether Body Mass Index (BMI) and the subjective perception of body weight, and body shape satisfaction predict level of self-esteem and depression among female college students. Method: The sample comprised of 124 female college students ranging in age from 16-21 years. Self perception of…

Body Weight Perception, Unhealthy Weight Control Behaviors, and Suicidal Ideation among Korean Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Dong-Sik; Cho, Youngtae; Cho, Sung-Il; Lim, In-Sook

2009-01-01

Background: This study examined the mediating function of body weight perception (BWP) in the relation between body mass index (BMI) and unhealthy weight control behaviors (UWCBs; eg, fasting, using diet pills, or laxatives), and between BMI and suicidal ideation. It also explored the correlation between exposure to multiple UWCBs and suicidal…

The collaborative roots of corruption

PubMed Central

Weisel, Ori; Shalvi, Shaul

2015-01-01

Cooperation is essential for completing tasks that individuals cannot accomplish alone. Whereas the benefits of cooperation are clear, little is known about its possible negative aspects. Introducing a novel sequential dyadic die-rolling paradigm, we show that collaborative settings provide fertile ground for the emergence of corruption. In the main experimental treatment the outcomes of the two players are perfectly aligned. Player A privately rolls a die, reports the result to player B, who then privately rolls and reports the result as well. Both players are paid the value of the reports if, and only if, they are identical (e.g., if both report 6, each earns €6). Because rolls are truly private, players can inflate their profit by misreporting the actual outcomes. Indeed, the proportion of reported doubles was 489% higher than the expected proportion assuming honesty, 48% higher than when individuals rolled and reported alone, and 96% higher than when lies only benefited the other player. Breaking the alignment in payoffs between player A and player B reduced the extent of brazen lying. Despite player B's central role in determining whether a double was reported, modifying the incentive structure of either player A or player B had nearly identical effects on the frequency of reported doubles. Our results highlight the role of collaboration—particularly on equal terms—in shaping corruption. These findings fit a functional perspective on morality. When facing opposing moral sentiments—to be honest vs. to join forces in collaboration—people often opt for engaging in corrupt collaboration. PMID:26261341

Spectral CT metal artifact reduction with an optimization-based reconstruction algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gilat Schmidt, Taly; Barber, Rina F.; Sidky, Emil Y.

2017-03-01

Metal objects cause artifacts in computed tomography (CT) images. This work investigated the feasibility of a spectral CT method to reduce metal artifacts. Spectral CT acquisition combined with optimization-based reconstruction is proposed to reduce artifacts by modeling the physical effects that cause metal artifacts and by providing the flexibility to selectively remove corrupted spectral measurements in the spectral-sinogram space. The proposed Constrained `One-Step' Spectral CT Image Reconstruction (cOSSCIR) algorithm directly estimates the basis material maps while enforcing convex constraints. The incorporation of constraints on the reconstructed basis material maps is expected to mitigate undersampling effects that occur when corrupted data is excluded from reconstruction. The feasibility of the cOSSCIR algorithm to reduce metal artifacts was investigated through simulations of a pelvis phantom. The cOSSCIR algorithm was investigated with and without the use of a third basis material representing metal. The effects of excluding data corrupted by metal were also investigated. The results demonstrated that the proposed cOSSCIR algorithm reduced metal artifacts and improved CT number accuracy. For example, CT number error in a bright shading artifact region was reduced from 403 HU in the reference filtered backprojection reconstruction to 33 HU using the proposed algorithm in simulation. In the dark shading regions, the error was reduced from 1141 HU to 25 HU. Of the investigated approaches, decomposing the data into three basis material maps and excluding the corrupted data demonstrated the greatest reduction in metal artifacts.

The collaborative roots of corruption.

PubMed

Weisel, Ori; Shalvi, Shaul

2015-08-25

Cooperation is essential for completing tasks that individuals cannot accomplish alone. Whereas the benefits of cooperation are clear, little is known about its possible negative aspects. Introducing a novel sequential dyadic die-rolling paradigm, we show that collaborative settings provide fertile ground for the emergence of corruption. In the main experimental treatment the outcomes of the two players are perfectly aligned. Player A privately rolls a die, reports the result to player B, who then privately rolls and reports the result as well. Both players are paid the value of the reports if, and only if, they are identical (e.g., if both report 6, each earns €6). Because rolls are truly private, players can inflate their profit by misreporting the actual outcomes. Indeed, the proportion of reported doubles was 489% higher than the expected proportion assuming honesty, 48% higher than when individuals rolled and reported alone, and 96% higher than when lies only benefited the other player. Breaking the alignment in payoffs between player A and player B reduced the extent of brazen lying. Despite player B's central role in determining whether a double was reported, modifying the incentive structure of either player A or player B had nearly identical effects on the frequency of reported doubles. Our results highlight the role of collaboration-particularly on equal terms-in shaping corruption. These findings fit a functional perspective on morality. When facing opposing moral sentiments-to be honest vs. to join forces in collaboration-people often opt for engaging in corrupt collaboration.

A framework for analyzing the impact of data integrity/quality on electricity market operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, Dae Hyun

This dissertation examines the impact of data integrity/quality in the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system on real-time locational marginal price (LMP) in electricity market operations. Measurement noise and/or manipulated sensor errors in a SCADA system may mislead system operators about real-time conditions in a power system, which, in turn, may impact the price signals in real-time power markets. This dissertation serves as a first attempt to analytically investigate the impact of bad/malicious data on electric power market operations. In future power system operations, which will probably involve many more sensors, the impact of sensor data integrity/quality on grid operations will become increasingly important. The first part of this dissertation studies from a market participant's perspective a new class of malicious data attacks on state estimation, which subsequently influences the result of the newly emerging look-ahead dispatch models in the real-time power market. In comparison with prior work of cyber-attack on static dispatch where no inter-temporal ramping constraint is considered, we propose a novel attack strategy, named ramp-induced data (RID) attack, with which the attacker can manipulate the limits of ramp constraints of generators in look-ahead dispatch. It is demonstrated that the proposed attack can lead to financial profits via malicious capacity withholding of selected generators, while being undetected by the existing bad data detection algorithm embedded in today's state estimation software. In the second part, we investigate from a system operator's perspective the sensitivity of locational marginal price (LMP) with respect to data corruption-induced state estimation error in real-time power market. Two data corruption scenarios are considered, in which corrupted continuous data (e.g., the power injection/flow and voltage magnitude) falsify power flow estimate whereas corrupted discrete data (e.g., the on/off status of a circuit breaker) do network topology estimate, thus leading to the distortion of LMP. We present an analytical framework to quantify real-time LMP sensitivity subject to continuous and discrete data corruption via state estimation. The proposed framework offers system operators an analytical tool to identify economically sensitive buses and transmission lines to data corruption as well as find sensors that impact LMP changes significantly. This dissertation serves as a first step towards rigorous understanding of the fundamental coupling among cyber, physical and economical layers of operations in future smart grid.

Perceptions of Worksite Support and Employee Obesity, Activity and Diet

PubMed Central

Lemon, Stephenie C.; Zapka, Jane; Li, Wenjun; Estabrook, Barbara; Magner, Robert; Rosal, Milagros C.

2008-01-01

Objectives To examine the associations of perceptions of organizational commitment to employee health and coworker physical activity and eating behaviors with body mass index (BMI), physical activity and eating behaviors in hospital employees. Methods Baseline data from 899 employees participating in a worksite weight gain prevention trial were analyzed. Results Greater perception of organizational commitment to employee health was associated with lower BMI. Greater perception of coworker healthy eating and physical activity behaviors were associated with fruit and vegetable and saturated fat consumption and physical activity, respectively. Conclusions Improving organizational commitment and facilitating supportive interpersonal environments could improve obesity control among working populations. PMID:19063651

Heterogenous customer satisfaction index for evaluating university food service

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aziz, Nazrina; Zain, Zakiyah; Syarifi, Nadia Asyikin Mohammad; Klivon, Julia; Ap, Nurasiah Che; Zaki, Mahirah

2017-11-01

This paper aims to measure the performance of university food service based on students' perception. Two cafeterias were chosen for comparison: one located at student residential hall (Café 1) and another at the university administration centre (Café 2). By considering the components of importance and satisfaction, the Heterogeneous Customer Satisfaction Index-HCSI was computed to measure the performance of quality items in both cafeterias. Stratified sampling method was used to select 278 students and the DINESERVE instrument was used to assess customer perception on service quality. The findings show that the customer rate these two cafeterias as quite satisfied only, with the HCSI for Café 1 slightly higher than that for Café 2.

Celluloid devils: a research study of male nurses in feature films.

PubMed

Stanley, David

2012-11-01

To report a study of how male nurses are portrayed in feature films. It was hypothesized that male nurses are frequently portrayed negatively or stereotypically in the film media, potentially having a negative impact on male nurse recruitment and the public's perception of male nurses. An interpretive, qualitative methodology guided by insights into hegemonic masculinity and structured around a set of collective case studies (films) was used to examine the portrayal of male nurses in feature films made in the Western world from 1900 to 2007. Over 36,000 feature film synopses were reviewed (via CINAHL, ProQuest and relevant movie-specific literature) for the keyword 'nurse' and 'nursing' with an additional search for films from 1900 to 2010 for the word 'male nurse'. Identified films were labelled as 'cases' and analysed collectively to determine key attributes related to men in nursing and explore them for the emergence of concepts and themes related to the image of male nurses in films. A total of 13 relevant cases (feature films) were identified with 12 being made in the USA. Most films portrayed male nurses negatively and in ways opposed to hegemonic masculinity, as effeminate, homosexual, homicidal, corrupt or incompetent. Few film images of male nurses show them in traditional masculine roles or as clinically competent or self-confident professionals.   Feature films predominantly portray male nurses negatively. Given the popularity of feature films, there may be negative effects on recruitment and on the public's perception of male nurses. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Corruption, NGOs, and Development in Nigeria

PubMed Central

Smith, Daniel Jordan

2013-01-01

This article examines corruption in Nigeria’s development sector, particularly in the vastly growing arena of local non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Grounded in ethnographic case studies, the analysis explores why local NGOs in Nigeria have proliferated so widely, what they do in practice, what effects they have beyond their stated aims, and how they are perceived and experienced by ordinary Nigerians. It shows that even faux NGOs and disingenuous political rhetoric about civil society, democracy, and development are contributing to changing ideals and rising expectations in these same domains. PMID:24265511

Infrared detector Dewars - Increased LN2 hold time and vacuum jacket life spans

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jennings, D. E.; Boyd, W. J.; Blass, W. E.

1976-01-01

IR detector Dewars commonly suffer from shorter than desired LN2 hold times and insulation jacket vacuum corruption over relatively short time periods. In an attempt to solve this problem for a 9144 detector Dewar, small 1 liter/s appendage ion pumps were selected for continuous pumping of the vacuum jackets. This procedure extended LN2 hold times from 20 to 60 h and virtually eliminated vacuum jacket corruption. Thus the detector systems are usable continuously over periods of 6 months or more.