An empirical analysis of stakeholders’ expectations and integrated reporting quality

Within the present-day economic situation ensuring a competitive position coincides with its ability of managing its relationship with the stakeholders regarding the distribution of the added value and setting up of a legit consensus between them and the company itself. The main objectives of the study focus both on identifying the reasons that led to the development of the information transparency in order to satisfy the stakeholders’ expectations within the Integrated Reporting (IR) and on the dynamic analysis of the main economic and financial factors (from a sample of 180 companies quoted on the stock exchange during 2008–2017) that were the foundation of the statistical design for evaluating the companies’ ability to satisfy the stakeholders’ expectations. The research methods refer to identifying those evaluation methods in terms of the IR’s quality and compliance regarding the stakeholders’ expectations based on the analysis of the database and the econometric model. The final results can be very useful both for those companies that are already using or will choose to apply the IR in the near future and for the potential stakeholders as they have the option of evaluating before-hand the degree of satisfaction of their expectations in relationship with the reporting company

Some Risk Factors of Chronic Functional Constipation Identified in a Pediatric Population Sample from Romania

We conducted an observational study over a 1-year period, including 234 children aged 4–18 years and their caregivers and a matching control group. 60.73% of the children from the study group were males. Average age for the onset of constipation was 26.39 months. The frequency of defecation was 1/4.59 days (1/1.13 days in the control group). 38.49% of the patients in the sample group had a positive family history of functional constipation. The majority of children with functional constipation come from single-parent families, are raised by relatives, or come from orphanages. Constipated subjects had their last meal of the day at later hours and consumed fast foods more frequently than the children in the control sample. We found a statistically significant difference between groups regarding obesity/overweight and constipation (χ2=104.94,  df=2,  p<0.001) and regarding physical activity and constipation (χ2=18.419;  df=3;  p<0.001). There was a positive correlation between the number of hours spent watching television/using the computer and the occurrence of the disease (F = 92.162, p<0.001, and 95% Cl). Children from broken families, with positive family history, defective dietary habits, obesity and sedentary behavior, are at higher risk to develop chronic functional constipation

FACTORI PREDISPOZANŢI AI CONSTIPAŢIEI CRONICE LA COPIL – STUDIU CLINIC PE 2 ANI

În ultimul deceniu constipaţia a devenit o problemă actuală de adresabilitate în serviciile de gastroenterologie pediatrică. Obiective. Ne-am propus un studiu pentru a identifi ca prevalenţa constipaţiei şi stabilirea unor corelaţii între dietă şi mediul socio-familial la copii cu vârste cuprinse între 1 şi 17 ani, internaţi în serviciul de Gastroenterologie, Spitalul Clinic de Urgenţă pentru Copii „Sfânta Maria“ Iaşi, în perioada 1 ianuarie 2012 – 1 ianuarie 2014. Rezultate. Grupul de studiu a constat dintr-un lot de 994 de pacienţi, reprezentând 9,6% din totalul copiilor spitalizaţi. În ceea ce priveşte prevalenţa constipaţiei nu am observat o diferenţă semnifi cativă între sexe, raportul F/M a fost de 1,3/1, dar am remarcat o proporţie semnifi cativă de pacienţi provenind din mediul urban 68% (676) faţă de 32% (318) din mediul rural. În ceea ce priveşte mediul socio-familial: 34% (338) dintre copii trăiesc cu bunicii, 13,9% (139) provin din familii monoparentale, 6,7% (67) sunt în grija unui asistent maternal şi 2,6% (26) vin din centrele de plasament. În lotul studiat un procent mic de copii au fost alăptaţi, respectiv, 26,2% (261), în prima lună, 10,7% (107) timp de 3 luni în timp ce la 6 luni 98,1% (976) dintre copii au primit o formulă de lapte. Diversifi carea a fost făcută incorect în cazul a 41% (408) dintre pacienţi. Doar 14,6% (145) au raportat consumul zilnic de fructe şi legume, în timp ce 51,1% (508) au luat masa cel puţin o dată pe săptămână la restaurante de tip fast-food. 21,6% (214) practică sport cel puţin 2 ore/săptămână, în timp ce 48,7% (484) petrec cel puţin 3 ore/zi la televizor. 12,8% (128) dintre pacienţi sunt supraponderali şi 5,7% (57) obezi. Concluzii. Constipaţia este o boala care afectează copiii de toate vârstele. Nu sunt diferenţe notabile între sexe. Se remarcă o pondere crescută a pacienţilor din mediu urban cu predominanţa unui regim alimentar inadecvat, lipsa activităţii fi zice, precum şi o pondere crescută a pacienţilor supraponderali. Un rol important în modifi cările psihologice îl deţine mediul socio-familial

Investigations of Cavitation Erosion and Corrosion Behavior of Flame-Sprayed NiCrBSi/WC-12Co Composite Coatings

Flame-sprayed NiCrBSi/WC-12Co composite coatings were deposited in different ratios on the surface of stainless steel. Oxyacetylene flame remelting treatment was applied to surfaces for refinement of the morphology of the layers and improvement of the coating/substrate adhesion. The performance of the coated specimens to cavitation erosion and electrochemical corrosion was evaluated by an ultrasonic vibratory method and, respectively, by polarization measurements. The microstructure was investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) combined with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). The obtained results demonstrated that the addition of 15 wt.% WC-12Co to the self-fluxing alloy improves the resistance to cavitation erosion (the terminal erosion rate (Vs) decreased with 15% related to that of the NiCrBSi coating) without influencing the good corrosion resistance in NaCl solution. However, a further increase in WC-Co content led to a deterioration of these coating properties (the Vs has doubled related to that of the NiCrBSi coating). Moreover, the corrosion behavior of the latter composite coating was negatively influenced, a fact confirmed by increased values for the corrosion current density (icorr). Based on the achieved experimental results, one may summarize that NiCrBSi/WC-Co composite coatings are able to increase the life cycle of expensive, high-performance components exposed to severe cavitation conditions

Researches on the implications of imidazolinic receptors in the activity of the central nervous system

Universitatea de Medicină şi Farmacie „Gr.T. Popa“, IaşiIntroducere Receptorii imidazolinici I1 , I2 și I3 sunt receptori membranali care se găsesc în mai multe ţesuturi din organismul uman și au roluri importante în sistemul nervos central (SNC). Principalul agonist endogen al acestor receptori este agmatina. Material și metodă A fost testată influenţa idazoxanului (IDZ), antagonist al receptorilor I2 , și a efaroxanului (EFR), antagonist al receptorilor I1 , asupra comportamentului, memoriei și sistemului de recompensă la șobolani Wistar adulţi de sex masculin. Influenţa asupra comportamentului motor a fost studiată utilizând testul actimetrului. Au fost monitorizate mișcările în plan orizontal, plan vertical și mișcările stereotipe. Influenţa asupra memoriei de lucru (working memory) a fost testată utilizându-se testul Y-maze, iar pentru investigarea memoriei spaţiale s-a aplicat testul radial arm maze. Pentru testarea influenţei IDZ și EFR asupra sistemului de recompensă s-a utilizat tehnica CPP (conditioned place preference). În toate cazurile s-a folosit un lot-martor injectat cu ser fiziologic. Rezultate IDZ și EFR reduc semnificativ numărul de mișcări orizontale și verticale ale șobolanilor, reducerea fiind mai mare în cazul mișcărilor în plan vertical. În cazul testului radial arm maze, atât IDZ, cât și EFR au prelungit ușor, dar nesemnificativ statistic, timpul petrecut în braţele aparatului. EFR (1 mg/kg corp) a redus numărul de erori legate de găsirea recompensei (peletă de hrană existentă la nivelul braţelor) semnificativ statistic (p <0,01). IDZ (3 mg/kg) nu a influenţat efectul morfinei asupra sistemului de recompensă, dar EFR (1 mg/kg) a diminuat efectul stimulator al morfinei asupra CPP. Concluzii Blocarea receptorilor I1 și I2 reduce comportamentul motor al animalelor, ceea ce implică un rol al agmatinei cerebrale în comportamentul motor normal. Există o implicare a receptorilor imidazolinici I1 (dar nu și a receptorilor I2 ) în stimularea sistemului de recompensă de către morfină și, posibil, în adicţia morfinică. Sistemul imidazolinic cerebral influenţează unele aspecte ale memoriei

MANIFESTĂRI ARTICULARE ÎN BOLILE INFLAMATORII INTESTINALE LA COPIL

Bolile infl amatorii intestinale (boala Crohn şi rectocolita ulcero-hemoragică) rămân un capitol deschis cercetării din cauza frecvenţei (în creştere în ultimele decade), particularităţilor clinico-evolutive a suferinţei digestive şi extradigestive, a enigmelor patogenetice, sursă a difi cultăţilor terapeutice. Tipare genetice specifi ce, mutaţii genice favorizează răspuns imun aberant la antigeni din mediu sau la autoantigeni provocând o infl amaţie intestinală cu potenţial înalt de cronicizare; citokinele eliberate şi alte mecanisme încă necunoscute pot fi responsabile de manifestările extradigestive. Autorii sistematizează date recente privind patogeneza formelor clinico-evolutive, posibilităţi moderne de diagnostic, posibilităţile şi limitele măsurilor terapeutice moderne în artropatiile care însoţesc boala infl amatorie intestinală

Empirical study on the impact of evaluation of intangible assets on the market value of the listed companies

The accelerated pace of economic development, the digital revolution and the internationalization of business has meant for some entities the creation or acquisition of intangible assets (IA), which have become increasingly important for the economic prosperity and for determining the global value of a company, also becoming an important incentive in creating added value. The aim of this paper is focused on analyzing the impact of internally generated intangible assets on the market value of the companies. In order to achieve this aim, we conducted an empirical study involving a sample of 180 NASDAQ and NYSE listed entities between 2007 and 2016. The sample has obtained by applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria on the 500 large-capitalization companies (S&P 500 Index). Making use of regressive techniques, the authors undertook an econometrical model to test whether the impact of intangible assets on the market value of the entities increases when are provided complete, clear and easy-to-understand accounting information about the intangible assets value, which aid business to properly estimate corporate value ratio and reduce implicit bias, due to mainly taking into account those reported values when measuring an entity’s value. The results revealed an impact of the value of the reported and unreported IA on the market value of the entities, for manufacturing companies relative to service companies, which generates an added value on the capital market and implicates a close linkage of disclosure compliance and the associated industry sector. The proposed model can be an inspiration for the legislator to change the structure of financial reporting, or anticipated a valuable informational source for increasing the quality of integrated reporting of economic entities

Modeling the relationship between integrated reporting quality and sustainable business development

The aim of the paper is to provide an overview of the sensitivity in terms of the preference for using the integrated reporting quality (IRQ) based on the reporting companies’ field of activity. The study focusses on designing a sensitivity analysis relying on the most relevant financial and nonfinancial indicators as required by the stakeholders. They were adjusted by the key factors for the IRQ such as the social, natural, human and intellectual capital. The study has been designed based on the upgrade and in compliance with the connectivity principle as required by the IIRC. The data was collected from the IR examples Database between 2015–2017. The results suggest that based on sensitivity function value, those sectors of activity such as transportation and infrastructure, services and trade have a higher sensitivity preference for the IR due to the quantification of the stakeholders’ interest in terms of performance positive trend indexes. Making use of regressive techniques, the authors undertook an econometrical model for the evaluation of the IRQ that may become very useful for those companies that intend to set in place a sustainable business as it provides them the opportunity of measuring the IRQ

Influence of the Fusing Process on the Wear and Corrosion Properties of NiCrBSi-Coatings

In this study the NiCrBSi feedstock powder was deposited by flame spraying on to C45 steel substrate. After spraying the coated material was differently fused at 1000°C. The microstructure evolution respectively the phase composition was evaluated by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and by X-ray diffractometry. The corrosion resistance of the differently fused coatings was assessed by potentiodynamic corrosion tests carried out in 3,5 % NaCl solution at room temperature, using a saturated calomel electrode (SCE) as reference. In addition, the variation of the friction coefficients in time for the two tested coatings was determined using the pin-on-disk method. The investigations showed that the characteristics of the inductive remelted coating are better in comparison with the flame fused one

PREDISPOSING FACTORS FOR CHRONIC CONSTIPATION IN CHILDREN – 2-YEAR CLINICAL STUDY

In the last decade constipation has become a current problem addressed in the pediatric gastroenterology departments. Objectives. We propose a study to establish the prevalence of constipation and the correlations between diet and the socio-familial environment in children aged from 1 to 17 years old, hospitalized in the Gastroenterology Department, „Saint Mary“ Emergency Hospital for Children of Iasi, between 1 January 2012 and 1 January 2014 Results. The study group consisted of 994 patients, representing 9.6% of all hospitalized children. Regarding the prevalence of constipation, we did not notice a signifi cant difference between the sexes, the ratio F/M was 1.3/1, but we found a signifi cantly higher proportion of patients from urban areas 68% (676) versus 32% (318) from rural areas. In terms of social and family environment: 34% (338) of children live with grandparents, 13.9% (139) come from single-parent families, 6.7% (67) are in the care of a foster parent and 2.6% (26) come from orphanages. In the group studied a low percentage of children were breastfeed, respectively 26.2% (261) in the first month, 10.7% (107) for 3 months, while at 6 months 98.1% (976) of children received a milk formula. Diversifi cation was done incorrectly in the case of 41% (408) patients. Only 14.6% (145) reported daily consumption of fruits and vegetables, while 51.1% (508) had dinner at least once a week at fast food restaurants. 21.6% (214) practice sport at least 2 hours/week, while 48.7% (484) spend at least 3 hours/day watching television. 12.8% (128) of patients are overweight and 5.7% (57) obese. Conclusions. Constipation is a condition that affects children of all ages. There are not notable differences between the sexes. An increased proportion of urban patients with predominance of inadequate diet, physical inactivity and an increased proportion of overweight patients was found. The socio-familial environment has an important role in the psychological changes