IFRS v. U.S. GAAP: Impact on a Company\u27s Earning and Activities

Should the United States (U.S.) companies use International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) instead of the U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (U.S. GAAP)? This paper examines the degree of deviation between the firms\u27 earnings, under both financial reporting languages, and the causes for the change in earnings. Utilizing two methods, introduced in this paper, as well as t-testing, the sampled firms reported higher earnings under IFRS. The change in earnings was caused by: financial instruments, minority interest, pension activities, and or share-based compensation activities. Based on the analyses, the firms appear healthier under IFRS than under the U.S. GAAP in terms of earnings

Mental Mathematics in the Classroom

The purpose of this action research study is to investigate the impact of mental mathematics in the classroom and how it affects student achievement. Participants are students in a 9th grade Honors Geometry classroom with a class length of 43 minutes in a suburban setting. An initial survey was conducted to evaluate student confidence and reasoning abilities on a Likert scale. Throughout the research time frame, students were presented tasks requiring mental mathematics as an in-class activity. At the end of the experiment, students were to complete a post- survey to measure growth in areas like number fluency, self-confidence, and views towards mathematics

Māori, Tongan and Chinese households: Medications and elder care

Research reveals that medicines are frequently not taken as intended, stockpiled for future use, discontinued when symptoms fade or passed to others. Medications are material objects with therapeutic uses that enter into and take on meaning within people’s lives. In this way they are culturally embedded phenomena that carry meanings and shape social relationships and practices. The symbolic meanings given to medications and cultural relations are important for understanding variations in medication practices. Households with elders often contain more medications and have more complex age-related medical conditions. In households where members are engaged in the reciprocation of care among two or three generations, medications within and between these relationships take on a range of dynamic meanings. In this paper, we explore how interactions between household members affect medicines-taking practices of elders and their families from three cultural groups: Māori, Tongan and Chinese. This research was funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand and the Marsden Fund of the Royal Society of New Zealand

Exploring the nature of intimate relationships: A Māori perspective

The 2002 World Report on Violence states that violence occurs in about 70 percent of intimate relationships (Krug, Dahlberg, Mercy, Zwi, & Lozano, 2002). New Zealand research indicates that more than a quarter of relationships have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV), with Māori (Indigenous people of New Zealand) women three times more likely to experience IPV in their lifetime. Utilising Kaupapa Māori (Māori-centred approach) and narrative methodologies, this paper explores the nature of intimate relationships from a Māori perspective, investigating how Māori initiate intimate relationships, attempt to maintain positive intimate relationships and when applicable, exit intimate relationships. The findings from two case studies reveal that intimate relationships involve identity negotiation and an incorporation of cultural values. Communication processes are highlighted as a facilitating factor of intimate relationships

Cultural Differences and the Development of the IPMA-HR Competency Model in China during Its Economic Transitional Period

This qualitative inquiry research uses the case study methodology within a constructivist conceptual framework. This study explores cultural differences and the development and implementation in China of a human resources competency model, the IPAM-HR competency certification training program, and analyzes the dynamics of the Chinese understanding of the competency model

CLINICAL SITUATIONS OF UNCERTAINTY AND ACCESS TO RESOURCES: A STUDY OF COMMUNITY FAMILY PHYSICIANS

Aims: To explore the situational factors that are present during moments of uncertainty that lead family physicians to access external resources of varying type. Methods: Situational cues were identified using self-observational journaling. A survey was then performed to study physicians\u27 likelihood of accessing external resources in response to each situation. Findings: Identified situational cues included case aspects such as unfamiliar or complex presentations, potentially serious conditions, failure of previous treatments, and the patient or others in attendance being perceived as anxious, demanding, distrustful or dissatisfied. In all situations, physicians reported greatest likelihood to refer to specialists. However, with conditions that seem unfamiliar or complex, they reported similar likelihood to access internet sources, and in complex situations, to consult with peers. Conclusions: Both medical and social situational factors led family physicians to access external resources. Consultation with specialists and peers are considered highly valued resources in managing situations of uncertainty

More about Research in Ambiguous, Conflictual, and Changing Contexts : Studying Ethnic Populations in China, Xi\u27an to Urumqi

A recent article in this journal discusses ways to manage uncertainty when the research field abruptly and significantly changes on researchers working inside their own society (Kacen & Chaitin, 2006). Our essay extends this discussion by asking: How do researchers manage ambiguous, conflictual, and rapidly changing events when they engage in study outside their own society? We describe three aspects of our data collection experience that coincidentally began one week before the Urumqi city, Xinjiang, China, riots of 2009 in which over 200 people were reported as killed and several thousand injured: (a). our original research agenda and the uncertain situation in Xinjiang in recent years; (b). how we modified our research project and approach to data collection; and (c). what we learned that can contribute to knowledge about conducting research under ambiguous, potentially unstable and rapidly changing socio-political conditions

Polyhedra with hexagonal and triangular faces and three faces around each vertex

We analyze polyhedra composed of hexagons and triangles with three faces around each vertex, and their 3-regular planar graphs of edges and vertices, which we call "trihexes". Trihexes are analogous to fullerenes, which are 3-regular planar graphs whose faces are all hexagons and pentagons. Every trihex can be represented as the quotient of a hexagonal tiling of the plane under a group of isometries generated by $180^\circ$ rotations. Every trihex can also be described with either one or three "signatures": triples of numbers $(s, b, f)$ that describe the arrangement of the rotocenters of these rotations. Simple arithmetic rules relate the three signatures that describe the same trihex. We obtain a bijection between trihexes and equivalence classes of signatures as defined by these rules. Labeling trihexes with signatures allows us to put bounds on the number of trihexes for a given number vertices $v$ in terms of the prime factorization of $v$ and to prove a conjecture concerning trihexes that have no "belts" of hexagons.Comment: 26 pages, 19 figure