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Risk-Antecedents of Firms and Strategic Mediators – New Evidence from a Cross-Country Analysis
Get PDFWe examine the strength and nature of firm aspiration and expectation as strategic mediators in the association of risk antecedents and firm risk, after exploring the possible impact of such antecedents on firm aspiration, and firm aspiration’s preliminary influence on firm risk. Empirical literature is mostly silent about risk antecedents of firms in an emerging market or cross-country context, and to the best of our knowledge, the mediators proposed in this study are yet to be explored. We report strong significant positive mediating effects of firm aspiration and expectation in association of risk antecedents and firm risk. Our results also validate that all studied risk antecedents, except corporate governance- composition, significantly influence aspiration and expectation mediators and firm risk in line with our hypotheses. Our results also hold true after controlling for firm-level and country-level heterogeneities and conducting two additional robustness tests
An Empirical Study of Business Student Engagement with Active Teaching Strategies: A Comparison of First Year and Senior Students
Get PDFThe quantitative evaluation of student engagement has been difficult to achieve. This study uses Kahu’s (2013) conceptual framework to investigate the effectiveness of active teaching strategies and how they influence Business students’ engagement in a blended learning environment. First, we quantify the influence of various in-class active teaching activities and out-of-class support tools upon student engagement. The link between engagement and student outcomes in terms of academic results and personal and professional skills development is then captured in our empirical modelling. Results are compared between first year and senior students to understand significant differences in their engagement and experience. Our findings suggest that first year students display a higher propensity to utilize in-class learning activities and out-of-class support tools. This in turn, establishes a strong link with their engagement patterns. However, there is a weaker link between first year student engagement and outcomes compared to senior students. Overall, this study reinforces the usefulness of Kahu’s framework to guide curricula developments that cater for learners’ different needs
The Days After COVID-19: A Meta-Analysis on the Impact of Epidemics and Pandemics on Long-Term Macro-Economic Performance
Get PDFDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, the future of the global economies appears gloomy as policy, industry and academia stakeholders assess the immediate adverse effects. This research meta-analysis studies on the impact of epidemics and pandemics on the longer-term performance of national economies covering the past 30 years. The findings indicate that the impact of pandemics on economies for periods of over two years might move from the immediate adverse effects to small positive effects. Several moderators were found to affect this relationship, including socio-economic and methodological factors. The findings agree with a significant amount of existing literature and are in line with the neo-classic economic theories for a possible return to economic growth after a major economic shock. Nevertheless, issues of publication bias should also be taken into consideration
Repelolicer: A Reality or Snake Oil
No full textWhile head lice continue to be a worldwide health issue, there remains a dearth of scholarship detailing how various organizations are developing different products to deal with this problem. In this case study, the authors ponder upon a novel entrepreneurial idea developed by the students to tackle the lice issue in Pakistan. A team of students developed Repelolicer, an ultrasonic wave-emitting hairband to stop lice infestation among younger-aged girls. The Repelolicer team developed various strategies to target the Pakistani market. However, due to inadequate knowledge of the external market, the entrepreneurial idea failed to succeed
Adopting Accessibility Guidelines for Videogames to Collectible Card Games
Get PDFThe development of accessible video games has been discussed through multiple publications in the 21st century; however, little to no attention has been given to non-electronic gaming. Like video games, Collectible Card Games (CCG) have also gained massive popularity, but no accessible guidelines have been created to help the disabled better play them. The need for inclusion in gaming is critical because it can act as a medium for social interaction and a learning tool for teaching. Today offers numerous technologies that can help those with disabilities, such as microcomputers, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Optical Character Recognition (OCR), and Text to Speech, can all be used to help those with disabilities. In this thesis, we create a proof of concept Accessible Technology to help those with low vision play CGG and show that guidelines that worked for video games can be brought over to help with CCG. We use a Raspberry Pi 4B and the Raspberry Pi HQ camera module, Scene Text Detection, OCR, and Text to Speech to read the cards of a CCG. This AT acts similar to a microscope where it captures the image of a card, finds the card’s name, feeds it to a database query, and reads the record from the database to the player. We performed several evaluations where the participant played a game of Yugioh, followed by answering a questionnaire. We found in these evaluations that the AT was primarily successful, and the user problems come from poor text to speech and participants having a hard time remembering or comprehending card information
Re-thinking Women\u27s Sport Research: Looking in the Mirror and Reflecting Forward
No full textDespite decades of research and advocacy—women\u27s professional sports continue to be considered second class to men\u27s sports. The goal of this paper is to rethink how we state, present, and solve problems in women\u27s sport. To affect true change, the wisdom of a broad stakeholder group was embraced such that varied perspectives could be considered. A three-question survey was developed to examine what key constituents believe is working in women\u27s sports, what they believe the salient challenges are for women\u27s sport, and how they would prioritize the next steps forward in the post-pandemic sport landscape. Results indicated siloed differences of opinion based upon the age and role of the stakeholder in the women\u27s sport ecosystem. We discuss the implications and offer recommendations as to how we as scholars might recalibrate our approach to women\u27s sport scholarship to maximize the impact of our research and affect change
Evaluating Effect of Folic Acid on Mouse Embryonic Fibroblast Cells with Impaired DNA Repair System
No full textMandatory folic acid (FA) fortification programs have been introduced in many countries since 1998 [1]. This fortification program, especially when combined with vitamin supplements taken for health purposes, can lead to higher-than-normal levels of synthetic FA in the body [2]. Recent research has linked high levels of synthetic FA (more than the daily requirement of 400μg/day) with increased incidences of cancer [2-7]. In comparison, low levels of FA have been shown to cause DNA damage due to impaired DNA repair processes [8,9]. This study hypothesizes that increased levels of FA give rise to DNA modification. Therefore, if cells harbor an impaired DNA repair system, this can cause accumulation of aberrant DNA modification leading to genomic instability, which is a characteristic of cancers. The effect of different concentrations of FA was evaluated on wild type mouse embryonic fibroblast cells (MEF-WT) and DNA Polymerase β deficient MEFs (MEF-Polβ-/-). Data from AlamarBlue Cell viability assay suggested that FA treatment reduces the viability of the cell lines starting from 24 hours and was optimal at 5mg/mL (11.3mM). This cell death was revealed to be mainly due to apoptosis with Annexin-FITC/PI flow cytometry assay, with MEF-Polβ-/- cells demonstrating significantly higher number of apoptotic cells (2-fold) compared to the control. When allowed to recover, the extent of apoptosis in MEF-Polβ-/- cells increased further (4-fold), indicating that FA might damage cells permanently. Additionally, cell cycle studies showed that - FA treatment arrested the cell lines at the G1 phase of cell cycle and removal of treatment drove only MEF-Polβ-/- cells into a G2 arrest. Furthermore, single strand breaks in the genome significantly increased for MEF-WT (3-fold) and MEF-Polβ-/- (10-fold) cell lines after 24 hours of treatment while double strand breaks significantly increased 19.1% (0.2-fold) only in MEF-Polβ-/- cells. These assessments have shown that FA affects the cells when present in high levels and that cells with impaired DNA repair genes are more sensitive to it. This study will urge further research on synthetic FA on cancer due to impaired BER DNA repair system and on creating public awareness for moderate FA consumption
Click “Here” to Post a Comment: Legend Discussion and Transformation in Online Forums
Get PDFThe internet has become the predominant source of dissemination for dubious legends, ranging from medical misinformation to conspiracy theories and supernatural encounters. Building on previous work in this area, I examine contemporary legends as they are told and discussed in online forums. Drawing on Nancy Baym’s outline of the characteristics of the internet that distinguish it from other forms of communication, I analyze how the internet’s interactivity, temporal structure, social cues, storage, replicability, reach, and mobility affect the form and function of the legend process. I find that the internet subverts some of the traditional characteristics of the legend-telling process, but paradoxically, other characteristics of the internet actually reinforce or valorize traditional elements, while surprisingly, sometimes the internet has no effect at all even in areas where we might expect the most dramatic effects. These findings provide significant insights into the role the internet plays in today’s world where bizarre claims increasingly characterize everyday social and political life. They shed light on how the internet provides a window into our concerns while simultaneously exacerbating them
The Effects of Family Structure Stability and Parenting Practices on Juvenile Delinquency: Variations by Immigrant Generational Status and Race/Ethnicity
Get PDFWhile the important role of various psychosocial factors in the development of criminality has long been acknowledged, many researchers, criminologists and criminal justice professionals firmly believe that family is specifically at the core. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the relationships among family structure stability, parenting practice dimensions, and concurrent/subsequent delinquent behaviors, both theoretically and empirically. This study investigates how immigrant generational status and racial/ethnic disparities modulate associations between the stability of family structure, aspects of parenting practices, and adolescent delinquency, using a nationally representative sample from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). Findings of this study are consistent with social control theories’ predictions that show the protective effects of stable family, intact family structure, and effective parental control on deviant behaviors. Compared to family formation, family dissolution seems to have a lighter impact on youths. High parental warmth consistently protects youths from unwanted behaviors over time, while extreme high levels of direct parental supervision may lead to a “backfiring” effect that relates to later deviant activities in young adulthood. This dissertation does not find as much support for social control theories when testing deviant behaviors among immigrant generational groups. Although first-generation youths report lower parental warmth and lower family socioeconomic status, they are less likely to engage in delinquency and less likely to report substance use than the youths of later generations. The details of the present study’s data and methods, its importance for research and policy, and its limitations are described and discussed
Have Business Cycles Become More Synchronous After NAFTA?
Get PDFTrade agreements do not necessitate business cycle comovement. Focusing on NAFTA, we investigate whether business cycles in Canada, Mexico, and the US have become more synchronous after the landmark trade agreement came into effect in 1994. To this end, using the newly-developed Hamilton filter, we decompose the real GDPs of the three countries to derive their business cycle components; then, we conduct time-difference analyses, which illuminate correlations at different time intervals, to study business cycle synchronization. We find that business cycles in Mexico and the US have become positively correlated after NAFTA—they were weakly and negatively correlated during the pre-NAFTA period. Contrastingly, correlations amongst the US and Canadian business cycles have weakened during the post-NAFTA period; nevertheless, these two countries\u27 business cycles continue to be tightly and positively correlated. The oft-used Hodrick-Prescott filter is utilized to confirm the robustness of the results—the two filters lead to similar conclusions