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Schott term in the binding energy for compact binaries on circular orbits at fourth post-Newtonian order
No full textThe phasing for compact binary systems on circular orbits was obtained in [Phys. Rev. Lett. 131, 121402 (2023)] at fourth-and-a-half post-Newtonian (4.5PN) order thanks to two main ingredients: the 4PN conservative energy (associated to a nonradiative spacetime) in terms of the orbital frequency and the 4.5PN flux in terms of the waveform frequency [i.e., the half-frequency of the (ℓ
Comprehensive radio monitoring of the black hole x-ray binary swift J1727.8−1613 during its 2023–2024 outburst
No full textThis work presents comprehensive multifrequency radio monitoring of the black hole low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) Swift J1727.8−1613, which underwent its first recorded outburst after its discovery in 2023 August. Through a considerable community effort, we have coalesced the data from multiple, distinct observing programs; the light curves include ∼10 months and 197 epochs of monitoring from seven radio facilities with observing frequencies ranging from (approximately) 0.3-230 GHz. The primary purpose of this work is to provide the broader astronomical community with these light curves to assist with the interpretation of other observing campaigns, particularly nonradio observing frequencies. We discuss the phenomenological evolution of the source, which included (i) multiple radio flares consistent with the launching of discrete jet ejections, the brightest of which reached ∼1 Jy; (ii) temporally evolving radio spectral indices (α), reaching values steeper than expected for optically thin synchrotron emission (α < −1) and emission with significant radiative cooling (α < −1.5). We have published a digital copy of the data and intend for this work to set a precedent for the community to continue releasing comprehensive radio light curves of future LMXB outbursts.</p
Managerial myopia and sustainability performance
No full textThis thesis aims to enhance the understanding of managerial myopia and its impact on firms’ sustainability performance. This is accomplished by performing three interrelated papers along with introductory and concluding chapters. These research papers present three connected topics: (i) a systematic literature review of the existing empirical studies exploring the effect of managerial myopia on sustainability performance; (ii) the impact of CEO myopia on environmental and social performance: the moderating role of long-term incentives; and (iii) CEO myopia and economic performance: the triple bottom line perspective on incentives and sectoral differences.The first research paper performs a systematic literature review to explore the impact of managerial myopia on sustainability performance. Despite the increasing number of recent empirical works on the myopia-sustainability nexus, review articles in this area are rare. Consequently, the final sample of this review includes 53 articles published in 38 scholarly journals between 2000 and 2023. The findings illustrate that measuring managerial myopia is quite challenging because myopia is an unobservable attribute of firm executives; therefore, this study explains how different governance factors lead companies or managers to behave myopically. In addition, most of the studies in this review focus on one or two dimensions, with a small number exploring the three dimensions (economic, environmental, and social) of sustainability performance. These findings provide a systematic overview of the causes of myopia, explain how it impacts various sustainability dimensions, and offer directions for future research.The second research paper empirically investigates the impact of CEO myopia on firms’ non-financial outcomes and examines the moderating role of long-term incentives. Drawing on upper-echelon theory and stakeholder theory, the paper examines a sample of listed S&P 1500 firms, comprising 11,828 firm-year observations, spanning the period from 2002 to 2022. As a proxy for managerial myopia, this paper uses an industry-adjusted measure that combines CEOs’ expected tenure and age. The paper provides strong evidence for a significant negative relationship between CEO myopia and environmental and social performance, hence making a significant contribution to the ongoing debate about the consequences of myopic behaviour. Furthermore, the paper demonstrates that long-term incentives help mitigate the negative impact of CEO myopia on environmental and social performance, showing that these incentives are effective in limiting CEOs’ myopic behaviour.The third paper examines the impact of CEO myopia on economic performance, the moderating role of long-term incentives, the mediating role of environmental and social initiatives and conducts a sector-based analysis. Through the lens of upper-echelon theory and stakeholder-agency theory, this paper empirically tests a sample from the S&P 1500 index-listed firms during the period from 2002 to 2022 with 11,828 firm-year observations. The results suggest that CEO short-termism is detrimental to corporate economic sustainability from the perspective of the triple bottom line approach. First, CEO myopia is significantly and negatively related to economic performance, with the effect varying between financial and non-financial firms. Second, environmental and social performance mediates the relationship between myopia and economic performance. This aligns with the SDGs perspective, which states that economic sustainability depends on advancements in environmental and social dimensions. Finally, long-term incentives effectively moderate the relationship between myopia and firms’ economic performance. In terms of the difference between the two sectors, there is a significant difference between financial and non-financial firms; namely, the impact is greater among the financial firms.Keywords: managerial myopia; sustainability performance; economic performance; environmental performance; social performance; corporate governance; systematic literature review; triple bottom line; long-term incentives; moderating role; mediating role; financial firms; non-financial firms; upper-echelon theory; stakeholder theory; stakeholder-agency theor
Unmet need, under-met need and public financing of home care in England
No full textDespite the recognized importance of older adults ageing in their own homes, the role of public financing in mitigating unmet and under-met home care needs remains under-explored. This study addresses this gap by examining the impact of public financing on home care adequacy among English adults aged over 50, utilizing data from waves 6-9 (2013-2019) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Longitudinal fixed effects and pooled cross-sectional modelling are used to explore the impact of public financing of home care on the unmet and under-met needs of older people. Findings show that individuals with greater limitations in activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), as well as those experiencing cognitive decline, are more likely to receive home care. Importantly, while receipt of publicly financed care is associated with a reduction in unmet needs, it does not necessarily translate to fully met needs, resulting in under-met need and highlighting a crucial distinction between access to and adequacy of care. Comparatively, transitioning from use of publicly financed home care to exclusively informal care is linked with lower odds of reporting under-met needs, suggesting variance in the quality of care provided across funding types. This study not only enriches the existing literature by describing the specific impact of different home care financing mechanisms (publicly financed care versus other types of care) on the unmet and under-met needs of older adults but also underscores the need for policies that ensure care adequacy, not just accessibility.</p
“Love, you need to give your child love”: mothers’ perceptions of nurturing care for young children in South Africa
No full textBackground: nurturing care of young children is aimed at promoting lifelong, intergenerational health and well-being, as well as social and economic benefits. This study is aimed at qualitatively exploring maternal perceptions related to nurturing care, their access to information and support for caregiving, the home and community environments and practices, and how caregivers promote infants’ health and well-being in Soweto, South Africa.Methods: the study employed a sequential, two-stage process. First, three focus group discussions were conducted with a total of 19 mothers of children aged 0–24 months, which then informed 12 in-depth interviews (four women from each focus group discussion). Focus group discussions and interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim and data were analysed using thematic analysis.Results: the health and well-being of infants were generally described in relation to their feeding and growth and how physically active they were. The need for pregnancy and caregiving information, accompanied by opportunities to discuss this with a health care worker or other women, was highlighted by participants in this study. Potentially obesogenic and non-responsive infant and young child feeding practices were commonly reported by mothers. Responsive caregiving was described as taking care of children’s physical needs, providing them with love, and playing with them. Female matriarchs were particularly influential in providing caregiving advice and support for mothers. Naturally occurring interactions, such as talking and singing, were commonly reported practices to promote children’s development in the home. Safety concerns were ubiquitous and limited children’s play and exploration outside the home.Conclusions: this is one of few studies to explore caregivers’ perceptions of nurturing care in the South African context and the first to focus specifically on the first 1000 days. Thus, the study findings can contribute to strengthening initiatives to support caregivers to provide nurturing care for young children in South Africa and other similar contexts. Findings point to the need for better targeted information and support for mothers and other caregivers around nurturing care, especially elements related to infant and young child feeding (including responsive feeding), responsive care, early learning, and how to address safety in the home. There is also a gap in the provision of appropriate information and opportunities to engage with peers and health care workers around issues pertinent to pregnant women within current services. These deficiencies can be addressed through strengthening existing services, leveraging current platforms of care and support for pregnant women and young children, particularly through the health system
Cognitive Fusion in eating-related difficulties – a cultural focus
No full textAcceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) theorises that it is the way one relates to their thoughts that causes them to become problematic. The ability to accept or respond to thoughts in accordance with one’s values reflects psychological flexibility. Psychological flexibility is established by six core processes, one of these – Cognitive Fusion (CF) has been associated with eating disorders (EDs). Chapter 1 sets CF within the context of an evidence base criticised for its inattention towards the mechanisms that may underpin the subjective and nuanced experience of it. It clarifies the aims of chapter 2, which is a systematic review identifying themes in studies that have explored factors associated with CF in eating-related difficulties. Data was collected from four databases and 31 studies. Synthesis Without Meta-analysis (SWiM) identified nine factors that were associated with CF in eating-related difficulties, including sociocultural identity. Chapter 3 is a quantitative analysis of relationships between CF, body image-related CF, body checking, religious commitment, hijab (veiling) practice and ED psychopathology using self-report data collected from 108 Muslim women. Hierarchical linear regression was used to enter variables into distinct blocks to assess their contribution to the model’s explanation of ED psychopathology. Veiling was significant in its association with lower ED psychopathology when considered alongside religious commitment. When CF variables and body checking were added to the model, veiling became non-significant, and the additional variables held more predictive power in explaining ED psychopathology. Clinical implications and the future direction of research are discussed.<br/
Subsidiarity as a normative political concept: contemporary and historical reflections
No full textSubsidiarity is a principle holding that final decision-making authority should presumptively belong to the candidate authority claimant ‘closest’ to the decision or those affected by or subject to that decision. The concept has a long historical pedigree and features prominently in numerous ongoing political, legal, and philosophical debates. However, the concept admits multiple interpretations. It is very difficult to specify and justify a distinct conception of subsidiarity that is capable of fulfilling the many roles it is asked to play in contemporary debates. It is more difficult still to develop a conception that also reflects historical uses of the term ‘subsidiarity.’ Recent scholarship offers several potential responses to these difficulties, though each presents its own challenges. The articles in this special issue help develop these lines of response. In so doing, they offer insights into a variety of related substantive and methodological issues in contemporary political philosophy. This introduction provides an overview of questions and challenges raised by subsidiarity as well as the articles that follow
Use of nonprobability samples for official statistics, state of the art
No full textTightened budgets, continuing decrease of response rates in traditional probability surveys and increasing pressure by users for more timely data, has stimulated research on the use of nonprobability sample data, such as administrative records, web scraping, mobile phone data and voluntary internet surveys, for inference on finite population parameters like means and totals. These data are often easier, faster and cheaper to collect than traditional probability samples. However, a major concern with the use of this kind of data for official statistics is their nonrepresentativeness due to possible selection bias, which if not accounted for properly, could bias the inference. In this article, we review and discuss methods considered in the literature to deal with this problem and propose new methods, distinguishing between methods based on integration of the nonprobability sample with an appropriate probability sample, and methods that base the inference solely on the nonprobability sample. Empirical illustrations, based on simulated data are provided
Essence facts and the source of normativity
No full textWhat is the source of normativity? According to Bengson, Cuneo and Shafer-Landau (2023), we can answer this question by identifying non-normative grounds of fundamental normative facts. To illustrate how this can be achieved, they argue that facts concerning essences of normative properties are non-normative facts, and such facts can be seen as non-normative grounds of fundamental normative facts. I argue that this strategy is misguided. First, explanations citing essence facts about normative properties are poor answers to the question of the source of normativity. Second, it is not clear if such facts are non-normative in the relevant sense. Along the way, I address questions about what it is to be a normative fact and relate the implications of this discussion to general issues about metaphysical explanation in meta-normativity
A novel, <i>Scattering Thomas Taylor</i>, and critical commentary ‘Trauma, memory and narrative: a creative and critical exploration of memory and trauma in the veteran’s narrative, 1967-2014’
No full textMy PhD novel Scattering Thomas Taylor seeks to explore the role of the returning veteran in late 20th and early 21st-Century American Literature. The novel explores trauma, memory, and current national attitudes towards veterans, focussing on the arguably linked but vastly different experiences of Vietnam veterans and soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Through an exploration of literary depictions of veterans’ experiences both during conflict and on their return, and by experimenting with these depictions in my own creative work, I aim to provoke in the reader questions about truth and authenticity, and the role and purpose of story-telling. Through depicting Tom’s story-telling about his experiences in Vietnam, and Frank’s attempts to remember and transcribe them, I also explore the impact of trauma and grief on memory and relationships.The critical component explores the origins of the modern veteran novel through close reading, literary criticism and historiography, and assesses constant tropes in the field, and aims to identify and examine developing trends and traditions emergent in the fledgling literature of the War on Terror. I focus my examination on Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried as O’Brien’s work seems to be a primary influence on the new literature to come out of the War on Terror - for example, Kevin Powers’ The Yellow Birds. My initial interest in this area of research stems from a curiosity about the disparity of experience (on the surface at least) between returning veterans of Vietnam, and those returning from Afghanistan and Iraq, inspired by conversations with veterans of these conflicts.I also question how the influence of writing by veterans of earlier wars has come to shape how veteran narratives are written, published, and marketed, leading to a questioning of biographical authenticity, and an exploration of narrative role of ‘truth’ outside the narrative text itself
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