Are Corporate Codes of Ethics and Risk Assessment by Internal Auditors Associated with Sustainability Audits by Internal Auditors?

An increasing number of organizations engage in sustainability reporting to the public. However, assurance of this disclosure is relatively new. In this study we investigate corporate codes of ethics and risk assessment by internal auditors as correlates of organizations’ engaging their internal audit functions (IAFs) in sustainability audits. Using data from a large sample of chief audit executives (CAEs) we find significant and positive associations between code of conduct and risk assessment and sustainability audits by IAFs. Also, we find positive and significant association between industry (environmentally sensitive vs. others), CAE experience, and CAE major (accounting vs. others) and sustainability audits by IAFs. Other control variables (organization size, CAE grad/undergrad degrees, and CAEcpe do not indicate significance in their association with sustainability audits by IAFs. These results have implications for design of sustainability reporting by various organizations and assurance of such reporting by internal auditors

An Efficient Green Synthesis of 3-Amino-1H-chromenes Catalyzed by ZnO Nanoparticles Thin-film

A very simple and environmentally benign approach for the synthesis of 3-amino-1H-chromenes is described using ZnO nanoparticles thin-film as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst in green media, namely water. The mild reaction conditions, reusability of the catalyst, easy work-up and high yields of products make the present protocol sustainable and advantageous compared to conventional methods.KEYWORDS:  3-Amino-1H-chromene, aqueousmedium,hydrothermalsolution method, reusability of the catalyst,ZnOnanoparticles thin-film

Genetic variation of Mehraban sheep using two intersimple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers

Genetic diversity within Mehraban sheep populations, as one of the main breeds of Iranian sheep, was studied using (AG)9C and (GA)9C as two inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers. Blood samples were collected from 210 animals in 6 flocks, 35 heads each, in different parts of Hamedan province. In the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products, (AG)9C and (GA)9C primers amplified 28 and 36 fragments, respectively, which ranged from 100 to more than 3100 bp. Percentages of polymorphic bands in the different populations ranged from 69 to 77%. In the pooled population, all inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) fragments were polymorphic. Shannon and Nei gene diversity indices were 0.2256 and 0.1258, respectively, which indicated low genetic diversity of Mehraban sheep. The population studied was at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium for most of the ISSR-loci. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) partitioned the ISSR variation into inter and intra population components, where inter-populations and intra-populations accounted for 9 and 91% of the total variation, respectively. The results of this study showed that the Mehraban sheep is a pure native breed that has a low genetic diversity between subpopulations and could be noticed for its potentials in response to selection or crossing with other breeds.Key words: Inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers, Mehraban sheep, genetic diversity

Clinicopathological evaluation of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in players of American football

IMPORTANCE: Players of American football may be at increased risk of long-term neurological conditions, particularly chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). OBJECTIVE: To determine the neuropathological and clinical features of deceased football players with CTE. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Case series of 202 football players whose brains were donated for research. Neuropathological evaluations and retrospective telephone clinical assessments (including head trauma history) with informants were performed blinded. Online questionnaires ascertained athletic and military history. EXPOSURES: Participation in American football at any level of play. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Neuropathological diagnoses of neurodegenerative diseases, including CTE, based on defined diagnostic criteria; CTE neuropathological severity (stages I to IV or dichotomized into mild [stages I and II] and severe [stages III and IV]); informant-reported athletic history and, for players who died in 2014 or later, clinical presentation, including behavior, mood, and cognitive symptoms and dementia. RESULTS: Among 202 deceased former football players (median age at death, 66 years [interquartile range, 47-76 years]), CTE was neuropathologically diagnosed in 177 players (87%; median age at death, 67 years [interquartile range, 52-77 years]; mean years of football participation, 15.1 [SD, 5.2]), including 0 of 2 pre–high school, 3 of 14 high school (21%), 48 of 53 college (91%), 9 of 14 semiprofessional (64%), 7 of 8 Canadian Football League (88%), and 110 of 111 National Football League (99%) players. Neuropathological severity of CTE was distributed across the highest level of play, with all 3 former high school players having mild pathology and the majority of former college (27 [56%]), semiprofessional (5 [56%]), and professional (101 [86%]) players having severe pathology. Among 27 participants with mild CTE pathology, 26 (96%) had behavioral or mood symptoms or both, 23 (85%) had cognitive symptoms, and 9 (33%) had signs of dementia. Among 84 participants with severe CTE pathology, 75 (89%) had behavioral or mood symptoms or both, 80 (95%) had cognitive symptoms, and 71 (85%) had signs of dementia. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In a convenience sample of deceased football players who donated their brains for research, a high proportion had neuropathological evidence of CTE, suggesting that CTE may be related to prior participation in football.This study received support from NINDS (grants U01 NS086659, R01 NS078337, R56 NS078337, U01 NS093334, and F32 NS096803), the National Institute on Aging (grants K23 AG046377, P30AG13846 and supplement 0572063345-5, R01 AG1649), the US Department of Defense (grant W81XWH-13-2-0064), the US Department of Veterans Affairs (I01 CX001038), the Veterans Affairs Biorepository (CSP 501), the Veterans Affairs Rehabilitation Research and Development Traumatic Brain Injury Center of Excellence (grant B6796-C), the Department of Defense Peer Reviewed Alzheimer’s Research Program (grant 13267017), the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment, the Alzheimer’s Association (grants NIRG-15-362697 and NIRG-305779), the Concussion Legacy Foundation, the Andlinger Family Foundation, the WWE, and the NFL

Using social network sites in Higher Education: An experience in business studies

In the past 5 years the impact of Web 2.0 in new generations has been remarkably significant (Pew Research Center, 2010). This paper reports on an experience in the use of Social Network Sites (SNS) to support student involvement with the subject and to develop basic skills. According to students’ opinion, the experience was deemed as positive. They considered that the experience contributed to a higher engagement with the subject and a deeper collaboration with other students and teaching staff. As a result, the majority of students would prefer the use of SNS as a first option if they had to enrol again in the subject. Regarding the relationships between academic performance and use of the SNS, two different student profiles were identified based on usage patterns of the platform. Students with a more intensive use of the site showed a significantly better performance than students with a low usage profile.This work was partially supported by the Junta de Andalucía – FEDER (Proyectos de Excelencia: SEJ-02670

Risk of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in rugby union is associated with length of playing career

No abstract available

Can auditors be independent? – Experimental evidence on the effects of client type

Recent regulatory initiatives stress that an independent oversight board, rather than the management board, should be the client of the auditor. In an experiment, we test whether the type of client affects auditors’ independence. Unique features of the German institutional setting enable us to realistically vary the type of auditors’ client as our treatment variable: we portray the client either as the management preferring aggressive accounting or the oversight board preferring conservative accounting. We measure auditors’ perceived client retention incentives and accountability pressure in a post-experiment questionnaire to capture potential threats to independence. We find that the type of auditors’ client affects auditors’ behaviour contingent on the degree of the perceived threats to independence. Our findings imply that both client retention incentives and accountability pressure represent distinctive threats to auditors’ independence and that the effectiveness of an oversight board in enhancing auditors’ independence depends on the underlying threat