Glutamate receptors may not protect against oxidative stress in C. elegans

Oxidative stress is considered a significant contributor to cellular damage, which may accumulate and result in cellular and organism senescence and death. Oxidative stress and damage have been correlated with a number of central nervous system (CNS) disorders in mammals, like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Using the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans, the current study investigates the survival of mutant C. elegans strains under oxidative stress. Using strains containing mutations in the glr-1 and nmr-1 genes encoding subunits of ionotropic glutamate receptors, we found no significant differences of survival among wild type (WT) and glutamate receptor mutants, though prior research has suggested the involvement of glutamatergic neurons in antioxidant defenses

Determinants of the attitudes of Portuguese accounting students and professionals towards earnings management

We revisit religiosity, gender, age, ethics education and experience as drivers of ethicality, while expanding prior research from Anglo-Saxon and Asiatic/Euro-Asiatic countries to a Latin European country, Portugal. We apply the Merchant (1989) instrument of attitudes towards earnings management, in a sample of Portuguese accounting students and alumni. We find no significant evidence of a positive association between religiosity and accountants’ judgments on earnings management. However, gender, age, education (and accounting ethics education) and experience are significant predictors of accountants’ judgments. The results are unchanged when we control for the intent (selfish benefit) of earnings management. Females, older individuals and alumni judge accounting earnings management more harshly than males, younger individuals, and students (who have not yet completed an accounting ethics course). A higher level of accounting work experience induces accountants to judge accounting earnings management as a less ethically questionable practice. This finding is theoretically relevant because it underscores the necessity of taking people’s constraints in the workplace into consideration when studying ethical behavior in business contexts. The results are also practically relevant, as they highlight the importance of a systematic ethics education throughout the accountant’s life.Funding -This paper is financed by National Funds of the FCT –Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology within the project UID/ECO/03182/201