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Editorial
No full textThe International Studies in Widening Participation journal was established in 2013. The journal is published by the English Language and Foundation Studies Centre and the Centre of Excellence for Equity in Higher Education at the University of Newcastle, Australia. The journal is aimed to engage academics, practitioners, and students on a wide range of topics related to widening participation. The issue 1, 2015 includes four papers. All papers are peer reviewed by national and international scholars with research strength in primary, secondary and postsecondary education, access and equity, widening participation, and other disciplinary areas
Digital Narratives, Social Connectivity and Disadvantaged Youth: Raising aspirations for rural and low socioeconomic young people
No full textThis paper explores the role of digital narratives and social media in promoting social integration, enculturation and expressive self-reflection within an enabling tertiary preparation program designed to raise the aspirations and widen the participation of economically and geographically disadvantaged young people in higher education. The program combined Digital Storytelling assessment with the use of social networking site Facebook as a learning management system. Students from rural and low socioeconomic backgrounds with low secondary school results, low aspiration and little opportunity for matriculation to universities, benefited from intensive intervention strategies which focused not only on academic preparation but on the social and cultural obstacles underlying inequality in higher education participation. Combining face-to-face teaching, mentoring and pastoral care with integrated digital platforms may provide a non-traditional pathway which facilitates not only academic and technological competence but the opportunity for non-traditional students to become more connected, confident and visible in higher education
Correlates of older adult inpatients' personal care provision to people with functional difficulties in Ghana
No full textIntroduction: Most research depicts older adults as needing personal care, with limited research on older adults’ contributions in the lives of others in developing countries like Ghana. The purpose of the study was to examine the personal care provision and socio-demographic correlates of personal care provision by older adult inpatients in Ghana. Materials and methods: A hospital-based survey was conducted among 400 consecutively surveyed older adult inpatients at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in southern Ghana. Stata 15 was used to analyse the data. The relationship between personal care and older adult inpatients’ socio-demographic characteristics were analysed using the chi-square test. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was employed. Results: Overall, 28% of older adult inpatients provided personal care. Participants were mostly females, married or cohabiting, completed at most junior high school, Christians, urban residents, not working and living with their immediate family. Primarily, most participants provided personal care to one person, once a week, and one-hour duration. Nearly three-quarters of participants provided personal care to someone who lives with them. After adjustment, male older adults were 50% less likely to and urban residents were 83% more likely to provide personal care. Being single, separated or divorced was statistically significantly associated with personal care provision, however, were not statistically significant after adjusting for sex and residence. A post hoc analysis testing for interaction revealed no relationship existing between sex and marital status concerning personal care provision (p = 0.106). Conclusion: Female and urban resident older adult inpatients in Ghana are not just passive receivers of care but also provide personal care to others with functional difficulties, independent on age. It further draws attention to the need for policies and programs that can support older adults, particularly females and urban residents, to be productive in the later life
Corporate fraud, board gender diversity and stock market reaction
No full textConventional wisdom suggests that corruption reduces efficiency; thus, corporate fraud has received much attention during the last decade because of the enormous costs it imposes on firms, investors and the economy. Given that fraud is a result of a complex framework of individual moral choices, group decision-making processes and the internal control systems of corporations, the composition of the board of directors plays an important role in the ultimate unethical behaviour of the managerial team. Therefore, it is essential to explore the attributes of top managers that prevent opportunistic behaviour. From psychological, sociological and economic perspectives, there have been extensive studies trying to establish behaviour differences between men and women. Prior studies suggested that women are different from men in terms of moral development, risk perception and leadership styles. Some studies have sought to investigate the connection between demographic characteristics, such as age, education, and financial expertise and misconducts. However, the association between board gender diversity and corporate fraud has been largely ignored in empirical research. Therefore, this thesis addresses these research gaps by focusing on one specific demographic feature of the violators—namely, gender. This feature may be significant in reducing corporate misconducts and in enhancing firm reputation. In addition, this thesis provides a unique platform to get an overview of the key features of the financial frauds of US corporations during the period 1999-2015. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the corporate fraud literature, beginning with the early studies that brought the subject into academic research. With the first study in 1940, frauds in organisations gradually became part of the literature in disciplines such as psychology, sociology, economics and business. However, prior studies were mostly limited to examining the association between certain board characteristics (such as the presence of independent directors, the number of board meetings and the activity of audit committees) and corporate fraud, with little focus on board gender. This thesis investigates the association between female board presence and corporate fraud, with two separate yet related empirical studies. A hand-collected dataset of fraud committed by United States (US) corporations over the period 1999 to 2015 is examined. The firms were convicted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) through Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Releases (AAERs) during the period. Chapter 2 presents the first empirical study that investigated the effect of board gender diversity on the incidence of corporate fraud in the US. Using a hand-collected matched sample of 195 fraud firms and 195 non-fraud firms, this study found that firms with at least one female board member were approximately 20 per cent less likely to commit corporate fraud than otherwise comparable firms with an all-male board. Moreover, the effect of female board presence on fraud likelihood was stronger in the post-Sarbanes–Oxley period and in male-dominated industries and low fraud-intensive industries. We further found that firms with a gender-diverse board were less likely to be involved in financial statement frauds and reduced the likelihood of more serious frauds. However, the study showed that, the benefits derived from additional female board members seemed to disappear at higher levels of diversity, thereby implying the presence of an optimum level of gender diversity. The second empirical study is presented in Chapter 3. This study examined the market reaction to the detection of corporate frauds for firms with gender-diverse and non-gender-diverse boards. Using a hand-collected dataset of 246 US firms, and manually collected disclosure dates of the fraud, the study found that the sample firms experienced a share price decline of -8.94 per cent in the three-day event window around the disclosure date. Cross-sectional regressions demonstrated that the announcement period’s negative cumulative abnormal returns (CAR) were significantly less pronounced for firms with gender-diverse boards. In a three-day event window, stock price reduction was significantly less negative for firms with two or more female board members (CAR -2.83 per cent) than for firms with zero or one female board member (CAR -11 per cent). Further analysis revealed that the stock price decline around announcements was severe for financial statement frauds and for restatement announcements. The study also examined the penalties imposed on the firms, and found that, the allegation-related wealth losses were much larger compared with the court-imposed monetary penalty. Overall, this thesis finds evidence of a positive contribution of gender-diverse boards in terms of curtailing frauds and improving firms’ reputation. The results of the studies provide evidence in favour of the dynamism that women board members may bring to an organisational climate. This may help regulators, especially in the US, to consider ensuring better gender representations on boards while devising guidelines to manage fraud risks in the corporations
Molecular manipulation of microRNA397 abundance influences the development and salt stress response of arabidopsis thaliana
No full textArabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) has been used extensively as a heterologous system for molecular manipulation to genetically characterize both dicotyledonous and monocotyledonous plant species. Here, we report on Arabidopsis transformant lines molecularly manipulated to overaccumulate the small regulatory RNA microRNA397 (miR397) from the emerging C4 monocotyledonous grass model species Setaria viridis (S. viridis). The generated transformant lines, termed SvMIR397 plants, displayed a range of developmental phenotypes that ranged from a mild, wild-type-like phenotype, to a severe, full dwarfism phenotype. Reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR)-based profiling of the SvMIR397 transformant population revealed a strong correlation between the degree of miR397 over-accumulation, repressed LACCASE (LAC) target gene expression, reduced lignin content, and the severity of the developmental phenotype displayed by SvMIR397 transformants. Further, exposure of SvMIR397 transformants to a 7-day regime of salt stress revealed the SvMIR397 transformant lines to be more sensitive to the imposed stress than were wild-type Arabidopsis plants. Taken together, the findings reported here via the use of Arabidopsis as a heterologous system show that the S. viridis miR397 small regulatory RNA is able to repress the expression of three Arabidopsis LAC genes which led to reduced lignin content and increased salt stress sensitivity
Guidance for conducting feasibility and pilot studies for implementation trials
No full textBackground: Implementation trials aim to test the effects of implementation strategies on the adoption, integration or uptake of an evidence-based intervention within organisations or settings. Feasibility and pilot studies can assist with building and testing effective implementation strategies by helping to address uncertainties around design and methods, assessing potential implementation strategy effects and identifying potential causal mechanisms. This paper aims to provide broad guidance for the conduct of feasibility and pilot studies for implementation trials. Methods: We convened a group with a mutual interest in the use of feasibility and pilot trials in implementation science including implementation and behavioural science experts and public health researchers. We conducted a literature review to identify existing recommendations for feasibility and pilot studies, as well as publications describing formative processes for implementation trials. In the absence of previous explicit guidance for the conduct of feasibility or pilot implementation trials specifically, we used the effectiveness-implementation hybrid trial design typology proposed by Curran and colleagues as a framework for conceptualising the application of feasibility and pilot testing of implementation interventions. We discuss and offer guidance regarding the aims, methods, design, measures, progression criteria and reporting for implementation feasibility and pilot studies. Conclusions: This paper provides a resource for those undertaking preliminary work to enrich and inform larger scale implementation trials
The interactive effects of business group affiliation and family management on firm performance and risk taking: evidence from India
No full textThe extant literature documents the impact of business group affiliation, family ownership, and family management on firm performance, separately. Few studies document the impact of these factors on corporate risk taking. However, no study has documented the interaction effects of family management and business group affiliation on either firm performance or risk taking. This thesis, by examining a large sample of Indian companies, provides evidence that family managers increase firm performance and reduce firm risk taking if they are employed in a group affiliated family firm. However, they do the opposite if they are hired in a non-group family firm. Chapter Two provides an outline of the overall corporate governance structure and institutional context in India. Despite economic liberalisation since the 1990s, India’s equity market remains dominated by business groups and family-run firms with business group affiliations. As of March 2014, the ten largest business groups in India accounted for 32 percent of the market capitalisation of India’s equity market, while another 562 business groups accounted for a further 35 percent of the market capitalisation (Basu & Sen, 2015). Chakrabarti, Megginson, and Yadav (2008) report that family-run business groups comprise approximately 60 percent of the largest 500 companies in India, with the founding promoters holding approximately 53 percent of the equity in these group-affiliated family firms. Therefore, the Indian equity market uniquely provides a laboratory to carry out research on business group affiliation and family ownership, especially to look at the interactive relationships of these factors. Chapter Three examines the impact of family ownership, family management, and business group affiliation, on firm performance. Theoretical and empirical evidence suggests that business group affiliation and family management may independently affect firm performance. However, this chapter extends the literature by examining the interactive effects of these factors on firm performance. This study examines whether business group affiliation improves the performance of family managed firms. Using panel data for more than 2500 publicly listed Indian firms between 2003 and 2016, it provides evidence that business group affiliation negatively affects firm performance, that family ownership positively affects firm performance, but that family management is detrimental to firm performance. However, business group affiliation mitigates the negative effect of family management on firm performance.
Chapter Four examines the impact of family ownership, family management, and business group affiliation, on corporate risk taking. Existing literature shows that group affiliation and family ownership may affect risk taking either positively or negatively. Theoretical views also suggest that family management may be associated with higher or lower risk taking. Results from Chapter Four suggest that family managers in a family firm become entrenched and take higher risks than do the non-family managers. However, risk taking of family managers is reduced in a group affiliated family firm. One possible explanation for this finding is that, family managers become less inclined to take risks under group monitoring. They also become more protective of the socio-emotional wealth of the family in a group firm. This study confirms that higher family ownership is associated with lower corporate risk taking
Nasal high-flow therapy for newborn infants in special care nurseries
No full textBackground: Nasal high-flow therapy is an alternative to nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) as a means of respiratory support for newborn infants. The efficacy of high-flow therapy in nontertiary special care nurseries is unknown. Methods: We performed a multicenter, randomized, noninferiority trial involving newborn infants (<24 hours of age; gestational age, ≥31 weeks) in special care nurseries in Australia. Newborn infants with respiratory distress and a birth weight of at least 1200 g were assigned to treatment with either high-flow therapy or CPAP. The primary outcome was treatment failure within 72 hours after randomization. Infants in whom high-flow therapy failed could receive CPAP. Noninferiority was determined by calculating the absolute difference in the risk of the primary outcome, with a noninferiority margin of 10 percentage points. Results: A total of 754 infants (mean gestational age, 36.9 weeks, and mean birth weight, 2909 g) were included in the primary intention-to-treat analysis. Treatment failure occurred in 78 of 381 infants (20.5%) in the high-flow group and in 38 of 373 infants (10.2%) in the CPAP group (risk difference, 10.3 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], 5.2 to 15.4). In a secondary per-protocol analysis, treatment failure occurred in 49 of 339 infants (14.5%) in the high-flow group and in 27 of 338 infants (8.0%) in the CPAP group (risk difference, 6.5 percentage points; 95% CI, 1.7 to 11.2). The incidences of mechanical ventilation, transfer to a tertiary neonatal intensive care unit, and adverse events did not differ significantly between the groups. Conclusions: Nasal high-flow therapy was not shown to be noninferior to CPAP and resulted in a significantly higher incidence of treatment failure than CPAP when used in nontertiary special care nurseries as early respiratory support for newborn infants with respiratory distress. (Funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council and Monash University; HUNTER Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry number, ACTRN12614001203640.
CEO power and corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure: does stakeholder influence matter?
No full textPurpose: This study examines the association between Chief Executive Officer (CEO) power and the level of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure, as well as the moderating role of stakeholder influence on this association. Design/methodology/approach: Using a sample of 986 Bangladeshi firm-year observations, this study uses a content analysis technique to develop a 24-item CSR disclosure index. The ordinary least squares regression method is used to estimate the research models, controlling for firm-specific factors that potentially affect the levels of CSR disclosure. Findings: The study findings indicate that CEO power is negatively associated with the level of CSR disclosure, and that the negative effects of CEO power on the level of CSR disclosure are attenuated by stakeholder influence. CEO power is documented as reducing the positive impact of CSR disclosure on a firm’s financial performance, with this negative impact attenuated if stakeholders have greater influence on the firm. Practical implications: This study suggests that CEO power and stakeholder influence are important factors in determining firms’ incentives to disclose CSR information. Both CEO power and stakeholder influence need to be considered in the CSR–firm performance nexus, given the mixed findings documented in the literature. Originality/value: This study makes a significant contribution to the literature on CSR practices by documenting that firms with a powerful CEO have lower levels of CSR disclosure, and that stakeholder influence affects CSR disclosure in the emerging economy context
Cardiorespiratory fitness in youth: an important marker of health: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association
No full textCardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) refers to the capacity of the circulatory and respiratory systems to supply oxygen to skeletal muscle mitochondria for energy production needed during physical activity. CRF is an important marker of physical and mental health and academic achievement in youth. However, only 40% of US youth are currently believed to have healthy CRF. In this statement, we review the physiological principles that determine CRF, the tools that are available to assess CRF, the modifiable and nonmodifiable factors influencing CRF, the association of CRF with markers of health in otherwise healthy youth, and the temporal trends in CRF both in the United States and internationally. Development of a cost-effective CRF measurement process that could readily be incorporated into office visits and in field settings to screen all youth periodically could help identify those at increased risk