19 research outputs found
High-intensity strength training in an older population: a preliminary study
BACKGROUND: Osteoarthritis is the most common joint disease worldwide, and it occurs mainly later in life. Many factors are
associated with osteoarthritis development, including decline in muscle strength. Muscle strengthening exercises have been
recognized as important approaches to osteoarthritis conservative management of the knee; however, issues related to its
applicability in terms of intensity are still elusive. OBJECTIVE: Studies using high-intensity exercises have shown inconsistent
results, thus the purpose of this study was to analyze the response to high-intensity strength training for muscle strength and
physical function in an older healthy population, as well as their attitudes towards the strength training. METHODS: This study
employed a within-subject, repeated measure, in an experimental design to assess the response to strength training for physical
mobility and strength in a cohort of 10 healthy older subjects at baseline and after six weeks of intervention. RESULTS: The
statistical analysis demonstrated that knee extensor isokinetic peak torque significantly improved (p < 0.05) after intervention,
whereas knee flexors only showed a trend for improvement (p = 0.066). Repetition maximum tests had significant improvements
for all exercises performed. There was no change in physical mobility after intervention (p = 0.163). CONCLUSION: The results
of this study demonstrate that high-intensity strength training was safe and has potential value in healthy older people
The association between firm-level corporate governance and corporate cash holdings: evidence from some emerging markets
A wealth of studies indicates that good corporate governance has a positive impact on
company performance. However, it is not always understood how this positive
relationship is achieved. In firms where shareholders and management are misaligned
and agency costs are high, cash and cash equivalents can be used in ways that lead to
poor company performance and to the destruction of shareholder value. In addition to
this problem, very few studies on corporate governance focus on emerging markets:
“most studies of corporate governance focus on one or a few wealthy economies” (La
Porta, Lopez-De-Silanes, Shleifer & Vishny, 1998, p.1117). Therefore, the focus of this
study was to address these two main issues.
The author of this report set out to understand the impact of corporate governance on
corporate cash holdings by focusing on emerging markets. This was first done by
reviewing the extensive literature on agency theory, firm-level corporate governance,
cash holdings and the three hypotheses for reasons why firms hold cash. Firm-level
corporate governance, corporate cash holdings and total assets data was collected for
620 firms in 17 emerging market economies using Thomson Reuters DataStream for
the period 2009 to 2012. The data was then used to determine whether firm-level
corporate governance, board characteristics, shareholder rights and vision and strategy
are associated with corporate cash holdings.
The study found that for the selected sample, firm-level corporate governance is
negatively correlated to corporate cash holdings in emerging markets. This implies that
the flexibility hypothesis is the dominant reason why firms hold cash in emerging
markets. Emerging market firms tend to hoard cash because it provides the flexibility
for these firms to take advantage of profitable opportunities as they present
themselves. This outcome is contrary to the results obtained in prior studies done on
firms in developed economies: these firms tend to spend cash quickly on acquisitions
and capital projects (spending hypothesis) or they keep cash to avoid under-investing
in case they cannot access external credit lines.(shareholder power hypothesis).Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014.pagibs2015Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)Unrestricte
Sustainable Management of Energy Wood Chips Sector: Case Study of the Regional Park “Caps et Marais d’Opale”
Performance of zeolite powder and tubular membrane having different Si/Al ratio for removing As(III) in aqueous phase
Three different types of zeolite having pore sizes in the range 0.26-0.74 nm, (NaP, NaA, and NaY) powders and membranes are synthesized with different Si: Al ratio on low cost clay alumina tubular support. The results of the permeation and separation studies showed that the NaP zeolite powder and membrane removes maximum As(III) from the water solution (more than 80%) compared to other zeolites. The removal of As(III) to achieve drinking water standard, by zeolite membrane, in a single step process does not seem to have been reported before the present investigation. These are the novelty achieved