Influential Article Review - Corporate Governance and Its Impact On Environmental Management

This paper examines corporate social responsibility. We present insights from a highly influential paper. Here are the highlights from this paper: Comparatively less research has examined the effect of corporate governance (CG) elements on environmental sustainability reporting performance (ESRP) in South Asian (SA) countries. Further, no study in literature documents a cross-country examination of CG and ESRP in this region. The study takes three SA countries (Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan) and 88 listed organizations’ sustainability reports during the years 2009–2016 from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) database. The study considers a variety of mixed theoretical frameworks—i.e., agency, resource dependency, stakeholder, legitimacy and political cost theories—to indicate which ownership (foreign, institutional, director and family) and board characteristics (independence, size, diversity and committee) affect ESRP practices in the world’s most environmentally vulnerable region. Our empirical results indicate ESRP has a positive association with foreign and institutional ownership, board independence, and board size. Moreover, we find directors share ownership significantly related to ESRP. In contrast, our results also reveal no association between ESRP and family ownership, female directorship, and CSR and environmental committees. We conclude that more family control, a lack of female participation, and the unavailability of resourceful management personnel primarily impedes ESRP practices in the SA countries’ organizations. These findings have both theoretical and practical implications for academia, policy-makers, and corporate managers in this region. For our overseas readers, we then present the insights from this paper in Spanish, French, Portuguese, and German

An Overview of the Engagement with Stakeholders to Determine Logical Subject Headings

Xerxes is an interface application, used by over 40 institutions around the world (see http://code.google.com/p/xerxes-portal/wiki/Implementations) including several UW System Libraries. For these UW System Libraries, Xerxes serves as the user interface to MetaLib and also provides sophisticated citation management functionality and integration options. It\u27s developed by libraries for libraries, and therefore designed to be completely customizable. One of the more challenges aspects of the Xerxes implementation is determining logical subject headings. The experiences of UW-Eau Claire, UW Colleges, and UW-Madison will be discussed

Near-Native Sociolinguistic Competence in French: Evidence from Variable Future-Time Expression

This study aims to advance the understanding of sociolinguistic competence among near-native speakers and to further knowledge about the acquisition of variable structures. We conduct a quantitative analysis of variable future-time expression in informal conversations between near-native and native speakers of French. In addition to examining linguistic constraints that have been investigated in previous research, we build on prior work by introducing a new factor that enables us to consider the role that formality of the variants plays in the use of variable future-time expression. We conclude by comparing these new findings to those for the same dataset and other variable structures (namely, negation and interrogatives, Donaldson, 2016, 2017) and by advocating for more research that consists of multiple, complementary analyses of the same dataset.Les objectifs de cette étude sont (a) d’apporter de nouvelles données relatives à la compétence sociolinguistique parmi des locuteurs non natifs qui ont un niveau très avancé dans leur langue étrangère et (b) de contribuer à nos connaissances sur l’acquisition des structures variables. Nous proposons une analyse quantitative de l’expression du futur dans des conversations informelles entre un locuteur très avancé et un locuteur natif du français. Afin de comprendre ce cas de variation, nous faisons appel à des facteurs linguistiques qui ont été identifiés dans des recherches précédentes, et nous proposons un nouveau facteur qui nous permet d’étudier le rôle joué par la formalité des variantes dans l’expression du futur. Pour conclure, nous comparons les résultats de cette analyse aux recherches précédentes qui ont examiné d’autres structures variables dans le même corpus (notamment, la négation et les interrogatives, Donaldson, 2016, 2017) et nous soulignons l’intérêt et l’importance de faire de multiples analyses complémentaires d’un seul corpus

DOES HIP CONTRACTURE EFFECT ANTERIOR PELVIC TILT CHANGES DURING SQUATTING?

The purpose of this study was to examine possible effects of hip flexor contractures on changes in pelvic anterior tilt during the squat. Twenty recreationally active subjects were evaluated for hip contracture using the Modified Thomas test. Eight subjects were found to have iliopsoas contracture and twelve were found to have rectus femoris contracture. A 2x8 mixed-model repeated measures ANOVA was completed between the positive and negative hip contracture groups for both the iliopsoas and rectus femoris results. No significant differences were found between the hip contracture groups for the iliopsoas (p=.90) or the rectus femoris (p=.18). These results indicate the Modified Thomas test results about hip contracture do not have an effect on changes in pelvic motion during the squat

THE EFFECT OF TIGHT HIPS ON SQUAT TECHNIQUE

The purpose of this study was to examine if tight hips would effect a dynamic activity such as the squat. Twenty subjects with squat experience were evaluated for hip contracture, 8 subjects were found to have iliopsoas contracture and 12 were found to have rectus femoris contracture. Two mixed model repeated measures ANOVAs were completed on hip flexion angles during a squat between a group with and without hip contracture for the iliopsoas and rectus femoris. A significant difference was found for the Iliopsoas (p=.014) and rectus femoris (p=.002) for the main effect of repetition. However, the interaction was not significant for iliopsoas (p=.20) or rectus femoris (p=.10). No significant differences were found between the hip contracture groups for the iliopsoas (p=.10) or the rectus femoris (p=.68), indicating tight hips do not have an impact on squat technique

Expanding Horizons with Chameleon: Team Missouri\u27s Innovative Home Automation System

Team Missouri\u27s 2009 Solar Decathlon entry featured a revolutionary home automation system, Chameleon, promoting both convenience and energy savings. This was accomplished using the typical controls of a convenience based automation system, while maintaining user set points, such as a home\u27s ambient temperature, in the most energy efficient manner. Environmental features of the system include controls for home heating, ventilation and air conditioning, lighting, windows, shades, appliances, indoor air quality, as well as indoor and outdoor irrigation. Further analysis and refinement to the prototype system displayed at the competition is also presented in this paper

Carbon Finance II: Investing in Forests for Climate Protection

Carbon Finance II: Investing in Forests for Climate Protection is a collection of lectures given during the 2008-2009 Carbon Finance Speaker Series at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. The annual series is hosted by the Center for Business and the Environment at Yale and supported by the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation and the Henry P. Kendall Foundation. The 2008-2009 speaker series focused on forest carbon and the opportunities and obstacles to including forests in greenhouse gas emission reduction policies, carbon markets, and cap-and-trade systems

EFFECT OF TWO KINESIO TAPE TECHNIQUES ON KNEE KINEMATICS DURING A DROP JUMP TEST

This study investigated the effects of Kinesio® Tape on knee kinematics during a drop jump (DJ) test in 20 young women that had or were currently participating in competitive basketball or volleyball. Three taping conditions were randomly applied to the dominant leg of each participant: no tape (NT), gluteus medius (GM) facilitation, and spiral technique (ST). Multiple 3 x 2 RMANOVAs assessed the differences in peak knee flexion and abduction, and time to peak (TTP) angles, between taping conditions. No significant differences were found for peak knee angles or TTP, suggesting that GM and ST Kinesio® Tape applications did not alter measured knee kinematics during a DJ test. Any mitigation strategy should not depend on Kinesio® Tape alone and take a comprehensive approach that includes strength and neuromuscular training

Phishing and Cybercrime Risks in a University Student Community

In an exploratory quasi-experimental observational study, 138 participants recruited during a university orientation week were exposed to social engineering directives in the form of fake email or phishing attacks over several months in 2017. These email attacks attempted to elicit personal information from participants or entice them into clicking links which may have been compromised in a real-world setting. The study aimed to determine the risks of cybercrime for students by observing their responses to social engineering and exploring attitudes to cybercrime risks before and after the phishing phase. Three types of scam emails were distributed that varied in the degree of individualization: generic, tailored, and targeted or ‘spear.’ To differentiate participants on the basis of cybercrime awareness, participants in a ‘Hunter’ condition were primed throughout the study to remain vigilant to all scams, while participants in a ‘Passive’ condition received no such instruction. The study explored the influence of scam type, cybercrime awareness, gender, IT competence, and perceived Internet safety on susceptibility to email scams. Contrary to the hypotheses, none of these factors were associated with scam susceptibility. Although, tailored and individually crafted email scams were more likely to induce engagement than generic scams. Analysis of all the variables showed that international students and first year students were deceived by significantly more scams than domestic students and later year students. A Generalized Linear Model (GLM) analysis was undertaken to further explore the role of all the variables of interest and the results were consistent with the descriptive findings showing that student status (domestic compared to international) and year of study (first year student compared to students in second, third and later years of study) had a higher association to the risk of scam deception. Implications and future research directions are discussed

High-intensity compared to moderate-intensity training for exercise initiation, enjoyment, adherence, and intentions: an intervention study

Background: Understanding exercise participation for overweight and obese adults is critical for preventing comorbid conditions. Group-based high-intensity functional training (HIFT) provides time-efficient aerobic and resistance exercise at self-selected intensity levels which can increase adherence; behavioral responses to HIFT are unknown. This study examined effects of HIFT as compared to moderate-intensity aerobic and resistance training (ART) on exercise initiation, enjoyment, adherence, and intentions. Methods: A stratified, randomized two-group pre-test posttest intervention was conducted for eight weeks in 2012 with analysis in 2013. Participants (n = 23) were stratified by median age (< or ≥ 28) and body mass index (BMI; < or ≥ 30.5). Participants were physically inactive with an average BMI of 31.1 ± 3.5 kg/m2, body fat percentage of 42.0 ± 7.4%, weight of 89.5 ± 14.2 kg, and ages 26.8 ± 5.9 years. Most participants were white, college educated, female, and married/engaged. Both groups completed 3 training sessions per week. The ART group completed 50 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise each session and full-body resistance training on two sessions per week. The HIFT group completed 60-minute sessions of CrossFit™ with actual workouts ranging from 5–30 minutes. Participants completed baseline and posttest questionnaires indicating reasons for exercise initiation (baseline), exercise enjoyment, and exercise intentions (posttest). Adherence was defined as completing 90% of exercise sessions. Daily workout times were recorded. Results: Participants provided mostly intrinsic reasons for exercise initiation. Eighteen participants adhered (ART = 9, 81.8%; HIFT = 9, 75%). HIFT dropouts (p = .012) and ART participants (p = .009) reported lower baseline exercise enjoyment than HIFT participants, although ART participants improved enjoyment at posttest (p = .005). More HIFT participants planned to continue the same exercise than ART participants (p = .002). No significant changes in BMI or body composition were found. Workouts were shorter for HIFT than ART (p < .001). Conclusions: HIFT participants spent significantly less time exercising per week, yet were able to maintain exercise enjoyment and were more likely to intend to continue. High-intensity exercise options should be included in public health interventions