A comparison of indices of glucose metabolism in five black populations: data from modeling the epidemiologic transition study (METS)

Background: Globally, Africans and African Americans experience a disproportionate burden of type 2 diabetes, compared to other race and ethnic groups. The aim of the study was to examine the association of plasma glucose with indices of glucose metabolism in young adults of African origin from 5 different countries. Methods: We identified participants from the Modeling the Epidemiologic Transition Study, an international study of weight change and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in five populations of African origin: USA (US), Jamaica, Ghana, South Africa, and Seychelles. For the current study, we included 667 participants (34.8 ± 6.3 years), with measures of plasma glucose, insulin, leptin, and adiponectin, as well as moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA, minutes/day [min/day]), daily sedentary time (min/day), anthropometrics, and body composition. Results: Among the 282 men, body mass index (BMI) ranged from 22.1 to 29.6 kg/m2 in men and from 25.8 to 34.8 kg/m2 in 385 women. MVPA ranged from 26.2 to 47.1 min/day in men, and from 14.3 to 27.3 min/day in women and correlated with adiposity (BMI, waist size, and % body fat) only among US males after controlling for age. Plasma glucose ranged from 4.6 ± 0.8 mmol/L in the South African men to 5.8 mmol/L US men, while the overall prevalence for diabetes was very low, except in the US men and women (6.7 and 12 %, respectively). Using multivariate linear regression, glucose was associated with BMI, age, sex, smoking hypertension, daily sedentary time but not daily MVPA. Conclusion: Obesity, metabolic risk, and other potential determinants vary significantly between populations at differing stages of the epidemiologic transition, requiring tailored public health policies to address local population characteristics

Female Audit Partners and Extended Audit Reporting: UK Evidence

This study investigates whether audit partner gender is associated with the extent of auditor disclosure and the communication style regarding risks of material misstatements that are classified as key audit matters (KAMs). Using a sample of UK firms during the 2013–2017 period, our results suggest that female audit partners are more likely than male audit partners to disclose more KAMs with more details after controlling for both client and audit firm attributes. Furthermore, female audit partners are found to use a less optimistic tone and provide less readable audit reports, compared to their male counterparts, suggesting that behavioural variances between female and male audit partners may have significant implications on their writing style. Therefore, this study offers new insights on the role of audit partner gender in extended audit reporting. Our findings have important implications for audit firms, investors, policymakers and governments in relation to the development, implementation and enforcement of gender diversity

Crowdfunding and Traditional Finance: The Prospects and Challenges for SMEs in Nigeria

Start-ups and small businesses play a significant role in the modern global economy and remain a valuable source of employment and economic development (Eton et al., 2021; Blancher et al., 2019). Yet, access to finance continues to threaten their survival and hinders their growth potential in developing economies such as Nigeria. For instance, the funding gap for Nigerian micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) stood at about US$1.7 billion yearly pre-COVID-19 pandemic and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for less than 1 per cent of the entire money deposit bank credit in 2018 (PwC, 2020). Typically, these businesses rely on traditional sources of finance such as friends, family, banks, angel investors, and venture capitalists (Blancher et al., 2019). However, the usual discrimination of SMEs by traditional institutions, a problem exacerbated by the global financial crisis, continues to put SMEs at a disadvantage. Consequently, small businesses began to turn to alternative sources of finance, which offer a range of cost-effective and sustainable financial services (Lakuma et al., 2019; Muneeza et al., 2018). One new financial alternative is crowdfunding which has grown exponentially since the early 2010s, due to developments in technology, the rise of digital financial services, and users’ trust in traditional providers (Wenzlaff et al., 2020; Méric et al., 2016). The potential of crowdfunding, which involves seeking financial support from large numbers of people in small amounts to reach a particular business funding objective, has been promoted as a desirable way to meet the needs of SMEs (Szabo et al., 2021; Tan and Reddy, 2020). It is also expected to help integrate SMEs into the financial net for economic development and poverty reduction