Features affecting the quality of Sustainability Reporting: Theoretically informed insights and empirical evidence from the Global Fortune 100 (2011-2015)

Sound Corporate Governance (CG) requires business entities to take responsible regard for the equitable interests of all stakeholders and appropriately align their individual concerns. Given that society generally is one significant stakeholder, it then becomes relevant to determine how such entities take regard for and report upon the social and environmental issues that currently threaten the sustainability of our globe. Accordingly, this research focuses on such sustainability issues and how they are reported, through Sustainability Reporting (SR). Verifying corporate social and environmental activities to stakeholders through Sustainability Reporting (SR) tends to gain and maintain corporate social Legitimacy and continuity in the market. This is because, SR is an effective and efficient tool for measuring and communicating the corporate social and environmental performance, in conjunction with its economic performance to stakeholders. Despite the critical importance of Sustainability Reporting, academics and professionals claim that the Quality of Sustainability Reporting is poor. Given this poor quality, it is recognized that several Sustainability Reports do not fulfill the needs of stakeholders. Consequently, based on the theoretical foundation of Legitimacy Theory and relevant literature, this research aims at hypothesizing and testing the effect of four features on the Quality of Sustainability Reporting (QSR). These features are Adherence to Regulation (ATR), External Assurance of Report (ASR), Independence of Board (IOB) and Type of Information (TOI). QSR is determined via the Index of the Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI). The GRI is regarded as the international proxy for Sustainability Reporting. Its Index identifies the performance indicators that should be included within the Sustainability Report, in order to fulfill the needs of stakeholders. The relationship between these features and QSR are tested/evaluated within 500 reports. These 500 are the Sustainability Reports of the Global Fortune 100 (G100) companies over the five-year period 2011-2015. Employing an ordinal dependent variable (QSR), the research applies an Ordinal, Logistic Regression (OLS) to statistically test hypothesized relationships. The SPSS statistical software package is used to implement that regression and to statistically analyze the collected data. The research concludes that Adherence To Regulations, External Assurance of Report, Independence of Board and Type of Information significantly affect, (representing 37.1% - 41% of the change in) the Quality of Sustainability Reporting. It also concludes that, Adherence to Regulations and External Assurance of Report have an Extremely Significant and Positive, relationship with the Quality of Sustainability Reporting. Moreover; there is a Significant and Positive, relationship between the Type of Information and Quality of Sustainability Reporting. Regarding the Independence of Board, two main phenomena are identified from the empirical results. The results identify that, there is a Non-significant relationship between Independence of Board Members and the Quality of Sustainability Reporting. However; there is a Significant, Positive, relationship between the Independence of Board Chair and the Quality of Sustainability Reporting. Therefore, Adherence to Regulations, External Assurance of Report, Independence of Board Chair and Type of Information are significant influencing factors that should be seriously considered by reporting firms in order to improve the Quality of Sustainability Reporting

Features Affecting the Quality of Sustainability Reporting: Theoretically-Informed Insights and Empirical Evidence from the Global Fortune 100 (2011-2015)

Sound Corporate Governance (CG) requires business entities to take responsible regard for the equitable interests of all stakeholders and appropriately align their individual concerns. Given that society generally is one significant stakeholder, it then becomes relevant to determine how such entities take regard for and report upon the social and environmental issues that currently threaten the sustainability of our globe. Accordingly, this research focuses on such sustainability issues and how they are reported, through Sustainability Reporting (SR). Verifying corporate social and environmental activities to stakeholders through Sustainability Reporting (SR) tends to gain and maintain corporate social Legitimacy and continuity in the market. This is because, SR is an effective and efficient tool for measuring and communicating the corporate social and environmental performance, in conjunction with its economic performance to stakeholders. Despite the critical importance of Sustainability Reporting, academics and professionals claim that the Quality of Sustainability Reporting is poor. Given this poor quality, it is recognized that several Sustainability Reports do not fulfill the needs of stakeholders. Consequently, based on the theoretical foundation of Legitimacy Theory and relevant literature, this research aims at hypothesizing and testing the effect of four features on the Quality of Sustainability Reporting (QSR). These features are Adherence to Regulation (ATR), External Assurance of Report (ASR), Independence of Board (IOB) and Type of Information (TOI). QSR is determined via the Index of the Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI). The GRI is regarded as the international proxy for Sustainability Reporting. Its Index identifies the performance indicators that should be included within the Sustainability Report, in order to fulfill the needs of stakeholders. The relationship between these features and QSR are tested/evaluated within 500 reports. These 500 are the Sustainability Reports of the Global Fortune 100 (G100) companies over the five-year period 2011-2015. Employing an ordinal dependent variable (QSR), the research applies an Ordinal, Logistic Regression (OLS) to statistically test hypothesized relationships. The SPSS statistical software package is used to implement that regression and to statistically analyze the collected data. The research concludes that Adherence To Regulations, External Assurance of Report, Independence of Board and Type of Information significantly affect, (representing 37.1% - 41% of the change in) the Quality of Sustainability Reporting. It also concludes that, Adherence to Regulations and External Assurance of Report have an Extremely Significant and Positive, relationship with the Quality of Sustainability Reporting. Moreover; there is a Significant and Positive, relationship between the Type of Information and Quality of Sustainability Reporting. Regarding the Independence of Board, two main phenomena are identified from the empirical results. The results identify that, there is a Non-significant relationship between Independence of Board Members and the Quality of Sustainability Reporting. However; there is a Significant, Positive, relationship between the Independence of Board Chair and the Quality of Sustainability Reporting. Therefore, Adherence to Regulations, External Assurance of Report, Independence of Board Chair and Type of Information are significant influencing factors that should be seriously considered by reporting firms in order to improve the Quality of Sustainability Reporting

Effect of vitamin B17 on experimentally induced colon cancer in adult male albino rat

Background: Colon cancer is considered to be the third most common cancer worldwide. At diagnosis of colon cancer, 3.7–11% developed bone metastasis. Diet based strategies are important for prevention and treatment of colon cancer. This study investigated the effect of vitamin B17 on a DMH induced rat model of colon cancer. Materials and methods: Eighty young adult male albino rats were divided into five groups: group I (control group), group II (vitamin B17), group III (colon cancer), group IV (protected) and group V (treated). Distal colon sections were prepared for light and scanning electron microscopic examination. Lumbar vertebrae specimens were prepared for light microscopic study. Morphometric and statistical analysis were done. Results: In comparison with the control, both colon cancer and treated groups showed invasion of the colonic tissue by pleomorphic branching colonic glands of variable shapes and sizes lined with dysplastic elongated hyperchromatic nuclei with frequent mitotic figures or stratified multi-layered crowded nuclei with an extremely significant (p < 0.0001) reduction of goblet cell number when compared to the control together with major pathological bone changes were observed in colon cancer and the treated groups. Conclusions: While the protected group showed impressive improvement of all previously mentioned diameters

The Changes in the Lipid Composition of Mung Bean Seeds as Affected by Processing Methods

Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.This study was conducted to assess in detail the possible effects of some technological processes such as soaking, germination, cooking, soaking + cooking, and germination + cooking on the lipid composition of mung bean seeds of Giza 1 variety. TLC analysis of mung bean lipids showed that the phospholipids and triglycerides recorded the highest percentage among lipid fractions (32.26 and 30.10%), while the 1,3 diglycerides constituted the least percentage (2.80%) in mung bean seeds. The soaking, germination and cooking processes caused a decrease in the phospholipids, triglycerides and hydrocarbons accompanied with an increase in monoglycerides, 1,2-(2,3)-diglycerides, sterols and free fatty acids. Eleven fractions were separated from phospholipids class of the studied samples; seven of these fractions were identified. The major component of phospholipids was phosphatidyl choline, amounting to 21.30, 17.84, 16.21, 13.87, 13.20 and 11.47% of the total phospholipids in raw, soaked, germinated, raw-cooked, soaked-cooked and germinated-cooked mung bean seeds, respectively. Gas liquid chromatography of the total lipids of mung bean seeds showed that the unsaturated fatty acids represented 69.58, 64.35, 63.3, 63.16, 61.84 and 61.12%, while the levels of saturated fatty acids were low being 30.37, 34.05, 35.66, 34.64, 37.93 and 38.75% of the total fatty acids in raw, soaked, germinated, raw-cooked, soaked-cooked and germinated-cooked, respectively. The total essential fatty acids (linoleic and linolenic) represented the highest proportion of fatty acids (50.10% of the total fatty acids)

Computational Studies on the Thermodynamic and Kinetic Parameters of Oxidation of 2-Methoxyethanol Biofuel via H-Atom Abstraction by Methyl Radical

In this work, a theoretical investigation of thermochemistry and kinetics of the oxidation of bifunctional 2-Methoxyethanol (2ME) biofuel using methyl radical was introduced. Potential-energy surface for various channels for the oxidation of 2ME was studied at density function theory (M06-2X) and ab initio CBS-QB3 levels of theory. H-atom abstraction reactions, which are essential processes occurring in the initial stages of the combustion or oxidation of organic compounds, from different sites of 2ME were examined. A similar study was conducted for the isoelectronic n-butanol to highlight the consequences of replacing the ϒ CH2 group by an oxygen atom on the thermodynamic and kinetic parameters of the oxidation processes. Rate coefficients were calculated from the transition state theory. Our calculations show that energy barriers for n-butanol oxidation increase in the order of α ‹ O ‹ ϒ ‹ β ‹ ξ, which are consistent with previous data. However, for 2ME the energy barriers increase in the order α ‹ β ‹ ξ ‹ O. At elevated temperatures, a slightly high total abstraction rate is observed for the bifunctional 2ME (4 abstraction positions) over n-butanol (5 abstraction positions). © 2019, The Author(s).Scopu

The relation between calcaneus stiffness index as a measure of bone density and body mass index in an Egyptian cohort

Background: Obesity and osteoporosis are two conditions that are associated with morbidity and mortality; there is contradictory evidence regarding this association. Purpose: The aim of the current study was to explore further the association between obesity and calcaneus stiffness index (CSI), as a measure of bone density, in a community-based cross-sectional study in an Egyptian population. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among active subjects, aged ≥20 years old, over one year. CSI was measured by Quantitative ultrasound (QUS), in addition; QUS T-score and Z-score of the non-dominant heel scan were recorded. Results: Two hundred and eighty participants were recruited; 7 subjects were excluded because of Z score more than −2, mean age was 61 (± 11.9) years, and mean BMI was 29.7 (±5.6). Female participants were 77.7%, with mean of age 60.3 (± 11.6); and age range 20–82 years. Male participants were 22.3%, with mean of age 63.6 (± 12.7); and age range 30–80 years. Older subjects (>55 years) had significantly lower CSI and worse T-score than the younger subjects (P < 0.001 for both). In the younger age group, BMI was not significantly associated with CSI, even after adjustment for gender (P= 0.52). However, in the older age group, BMI was significantly associated with stiffness index (P= 0.049, O.R.= 1.73), even after adjustment for gender (P= 0.041, O.R.= 1.7). Conclusion: Compared to young subjects, older subjects (≥55 years) had significantly lower bone strength as measured by CSI, and their BMI was significantly positively associated with bone density. In younger people (<55 years), BMI was not associated with bone strength

Thermochemistry and Kinetics of the Thermal Degradation of 2-Methoxyethanol as Possible Biofuel Additives

Oxygenated organic compounds derived from biomass (biofuel) are a promising alternative renewable energy resource. Alcohols are widely used as biofuels, but studies on bifunctional alcohols are still limited. This work investigates the unimolecular thermal degradation of 2-methoxyethanol (2ME) using DFT/BMK and ab initio (CBS-QB3 and G3) methods. Enthalpies of the formation of 2ME and its decomposition species have been calculated. Conventional transition state theory has been used to estimate the rate constant of the pyrolysis of 2ME over a temperature range of 298–2000 K. Production of methoxyethene via 1,3-H atom transfer represents the most kinetically favored path in the course of 2ME pyrolysis at room temperature and requires less energy than the weakest C α − C β simple bond fission. Thermodynamically, the most preferred channel is methane and glycoladhyde formation. A ninefold frequency factor gives a superiority of the C α − C β bond breaking over the C γ − O β bond fission despite comparable activation energies of these two processes. © 2019, The Author(s).Scopu

Genetic distance and heterogenecity between quasispecies is a critical predictor to IFN response in Egyptian patients with HCV genotype-4

BACKGROUND: HCV is one of the major health problems in Egypt, where it is highly prevalent. Genotype 4 is the most common genotype of HCV and its response to treatment is still a controversy. METHODS: HCV genotype 4 quasispecies diversity within the 5' untranslated region (5'UTR) was studied in a series of 22 native Egyptian patients with chronic hepatitis C virus with no previous treatment who satisfied all NIH criteria for combined treatment of pegylated IFN and ribavirine and was correlated with the outcome of treatment. The study also included 7 control patients with no antiviral treatment. HCV sequencing was done using the TRUGENE HCV 5-NC genotyping kit. RESULTS: At the 48(th )week of treatment, 15 patients (68%) showed virological response. Whereas HCV-RNA was still detected in 7 patients (32%) in this period; of those, 6 experienced a partial virological response followed by viral breakthrough during treatment. Only one patient did not show any virological or chemical response. The four females included in this study were all responders. There was a significant correlation between the response rate and lower fibrosis (p = 0.026) as well as the total number of mutation spots (including all the insertions, deletions, transitions and transversions) (p = 0.007, p = 0.035). CONCLUSION: Patients who responded to interferon treatment had statistically significant less number in both transitions (p = 0.007) and the genetic distances between the quasispecies (p = 0.035). So, viral genetic complexity and variability may play a role in the response to IFN treatment. The consensus alignment of all three groups revealed no characteristic pattern among the three groups. However, the G to A transitions at 160 was observed among non responders who need further study to confirm this observation

Fabrication and characterization of cellulose acetate-based nanofibers and nanofilms for H2S gas sensing application

Electrospun nanofibers and solution-casting nanofilms were produced from an environmentally friendly cellulose acetate (CA) blended with glycerol (as an ionic liquid (IL)), mixed with polypyrrole (PPy, a conducting polymer) and doped with tungsten oxide (WO3) nanoparticles. The sensing membranes fabricated were used to detect H2S gas at room temperature and shown to exhibit high performance. The results revealed that the lowest operating temperature of both nanofiber and nanofilm sensors was 20oC, with a minimum gas detection limit of 1 ppm. Moreover, the sensor exhibits a reasonably fast response, with a minimum average response time of 22.8 and 31.7 s for the proposed nanofiber and nanofilm based sensors, respectively. Furthermore, the results obtained indicated an excellent reproducibility, long-term stability, and low humidity dependence. Such distinctive properties coupled with an easy fabrication technique provide a promising potential to achieve a precise monitoring of harmful H2S gas in both indoor and outdoor atmospheres