Ethical, economic and efficient sector : is it a gamble? The case of New Zealand Health

The New Zealand public sector has gone through major reform as a result of fiscal deficit in 1984 (KettI, 1997; Schwartz, 1997), resulting in shift of emphasis from quality service provision to establishing financial supremacy (Kettl, 1997). This raises concern as to how public sector employees are attaining balance between their service objectives with financial ones and how is the ethics negotiated in this process. Following this concern, this paper focuses on determining the organisational variables consisting of organisational policies in the District Health Boards (DHBs) and hospitals of New Zealand on ethical behaviours of managers and the ethical climate of these departments. The aim of this study is to increase our understanding of the ethical climate of the public health. Our findings suggest that little emphasis has been provided to the aspect of ethics in New Zealand health sector. There is no reward for employees who exhibit exemplary ethical behaviour, no hot line to consult/report about ethics, any detailed guidelines and policies, and not enough ethics-related training provided to staff.<br /

Historical antecedents shaping corporate reporting in Iran

This research paper examines the evolution of corporate reporting and governance in Iran over the last century. The approach adopted was to provide an historical perspective to examine the environment within which Iranian corporate reporting has emerged and been shaped. An historical framework allows the study to focus on the evolution and development of corporate reporting practice in Iran. By adopting an historical framework, this study is able to inform future research based on models that adopt an evolutionary approach to the assessment of environmental factors on economic systems. The conclusion reached in this study is that socio-economic and political changes during the century have been opportune as drivers of corporate reporting in Iran. The study makes an incremental contribution to the existing accounting history literature for Asia / Middle East / developing countries

Effective Conditions and Strategies for Presenting Creative Solutions in Solving Mathematics from Creative Graduate Students Viewpoints

Abstract The major purpose of the research was to identify effective conditions and strategies to improve and foster mathematical creativity in educational environments. Data is gathered using grounded theory and semi structured introspective interviews. The population were all students who are majoring in mathematics in the universities in Tehran. For the semi structured introspective interviews, 13 mathematics students were asked to participate in the study based on purposive sampling. The data was analyzed by coding process in the two stages of free and axial coding. To ensure that the research is qualified, the credibility, dependability, transferability and conformability criteria were used. The results revealed that there are several subcategories for effective conditions and strategies that explain how they influence creative solutions of the mathematics problems. The research could help the educators to provide suitable educational environments which can develop mathematical creativity

Investigation on cycling and calendar aging processes of 3.4 ah lithium-sulfur pouch cells

Much attention has been paid to rechargeable lithium-sulfur batteries (Li–SBs) due to their high theoretical specific capacity, high theoretical energy density, and affordable cost. However, their rapid c fading capacity has been one of the key defects in their commercialization. It is believed that sulfuric cathode degradation is driven mainly by passivation of the cathode surface by Li2S at discharge, polysulfide shuttle (reducing the amount of active sulfur at the cathode, passivation of anode surface), and volume changes in the sulfuric cathode. These degradation mechanisms are significant during cycling, and the polysulfide shuttle is strongly present during storage at a high state-of-charge (SOC). Thus, storage at 50% SOC is used to evaluate the effect of the remaining degradation processes on the cell’s performance. In this work, unlike most of the other previous observations that were performed at small-scale cells (coin cells), 3.4 Ah pouch Li–SBs were tested using cycling and calendar aging protocols, and their performance indicators were analyzed. As expected, the fade capacity of the cycling aging cells was greater than that of the calendar aging cells. Additionally, the measurements for the calendar aging cells indicate that, contrary to the expectation of stopping the solubility of long-chain polysulfides and not attending the shuttle effect, these phenomena occur continuously under open-circuit conditions

Social reporting in the annual reports of Iranian listed companies

This paper examines corporate social reporting (CSR) in the annual reports of companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) in Iran. Descriptive analysis and multiple linear regression techniques are used to analyse the extent of CSR disclosure and to test hypotheses regarding the relationships between CSR disclosure and four company characteristics namely size, profitability, finanacial leverage and industry type. Among five important themes of social disclosure (human resources, environmental performance and policies, community activities, energy consumptionn, and customer satisfaction and product quality) the human resources theme was found to be the most common type of disclosure made. Only the size of the disclosing company was found to be significantly related to the level of overall CSR disclosure

Mathematic literacy of students in 9th grade: Research based on the PISA study test

Background and Objective:In workplaces, employees need to understand the meaning of the calculations they perform in their work environment, and in fact employers expect a desirable level of mathematical application from their employees. Education is obliged to train students as useful citizens for the society in proportion to the progress of science and technology. The question is whether a student, after compulsory education, is able to face everyday challenges or not. In many educational societies, this readiness and ability is called literacy, and in particular mathematical literacy. In other words, mathematical literacy includes applications of mathematics in relation to real life. Also, the National Council of Mathematics Teachers has stated that one of the most important goals of mathematics education is to make students aware of the role of mathematics and its effectiveness in life and development of thinking and reasoning; in addition, having confidence in their capacities and abilities in performing mathematical tasks and various problem-solving situations. The purpose of this study is to study the mathematical literacy of students in grade 9. Methods:The research is descriptive and survey method. The statistical population is 9th grade students of the junior high school in Najaf-Abad city and the sample consists of 266 male and female students selected randomly by cluster sampling method. The instrument for measuring is a researcher-made test based on the PISA study, which included 8 questions and included 14 questions. Student's mathematical literacy was studied in various fields and content areas using mathematical processes. The formal and content validity of the research tool was confirmed by experts in mathematical education and mathematical professors. Findings:The results showed that students did not perform well in mathematical literacy test. The findings indicate that the student's mathematical world is far from all aspects of issues, content areas, and mathematical processes with the real world. It is hoped that the results of this study will lead to a review of textbooks, teacher training and evaluation methods aimed at improving students' mathematical literacy so that students are more likely to come to the math class. Conclusion: However, for the progress and development of a society, citizens need to be dynamic and successful in their personal lives and have the ability to solve their personal problems. The expectation from a 15-year-old student is that he or she be able to make financial decisions for his or her personal purchases, for example, or that he or she be able to meet the personal needs of the profits from the purchase and sale of goods. Given that education professionals believe that students need both the components of communication skills and problem-solving ability to enter academia and the job market, and that these two are important through enhanced mathematical literacy, Addressing students' poor performance in assessing math literacy is not without merit.   ===================================================================================== COPYRIGHTS  ©2019 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.  ====================================================================================

The ability of 11th grade students to evaluate mathematical reasoning

Background and Objectives: Understanding mathematical concepts is impossible without emphasizing reasoning and takes on instrumental and procedural aspects, and can be more easily recreated if mathematics is learned as a reasoned science instead of a set of procedures. On the other hand, the goal of any educational system is to prepare students for social life; So that they can perform their daily duties well as a citizen. In this regard, they must be able to convince themselves and others with the reasoning they present. However, students face widespread difficulties in understanding reasoning and proof in mathematics as well as in assessing their correctness. Therefore, it is important for students to evaluate the correctness and validity of mathematical reasoning and to use these reasoning to convince themselves and others and deserves further attention and research. The purpose of this research was to study the ability of 11th grade students to evaluate mathematical reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of students.. Methods:The present study was conducted by survey method.The statistical population consisted of the 11th grade students in Zanjan and the sample includes 393 boy and girl students selected by random cluster sampling from the gifted, exemplary public, Shahed and public schools and the sample was selected to include all levels of students.. The research instrument is a researcher-made test consisting of 3 problems in familiar, completely familiar and unfamiliar situations.  Students were provided with some responses for  each of these three situations to determine  which responses can be selected to convince themselves,  which ones can be chosen to convince friends, and finally which ones can be selected to get the best score. Descriptive and inferential statistics (Chi-square test) were used for data analysis. Findings: The findings indicated that students were not capable of evaluating mathematical reasoning and in more than 60% of cases they were particularly interested in using formal methods. Selecting the  responses to persuade themselves and friends in more unfamiliar situations indicated that students paid less attentionto to accepted criteria  for accepting a logical reasoning. Students' performance to get the best score from the teacher indicated that their attention to  correct and incorrectsymbolic responses has increased,  the form of presentation seems to be more important to them,. Although they are not able to distinguish formal proof content from the false one, they have ea better understanding for distinguishing invalid reasoning in the familiar situations. The results showed that in some cases gender  influenced  students' performance. Conclusion: It can be said that the current teaching method in mathematics has not had significant results in the area of reasoning and proof. Therefore, it is necessary to review the teaching methods and the content of the  textbooks. The results of this research can be used by education policy makers and textbook authors to pay special attention to the situation of reasoning in mathematics textbooks by being aware of students' views on mathematical reasoning, and perhaps by changing the way textbooks are written, a fundamental step to solve difficulties. Also, by being aware of students' performance in the field of reasoning and proof, math teachers can identify the strengths and weaknesses of their students in the process of math proofs and identify their misconceptions in this field.   ===================================================================================== COPYRIGHTS  ©2020 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.  ====================================================================================

Evaluation of a wide rim phosphorylated calix[4]arene&apos;s properties as a sensory molecule in an Er(III)-PVC membrane sensor

This study concerns the evaluation of ionophoric properties of a functionalized calix 10 −7 -1 × 10 −3 M of erbium ions, with a limit of detection of 3.8 × 10 −8 M. Its potential response was independent of pH variation in the relatively wide range 4.5-6.5. The dynamic response time of the electrode to achieve a steady potential was found to be about 7 s. The selectivity of the sensor towards erbium ions with respect to several mono-, di-, tri-, and tetravalent metal ions was examined. The prepared sensor can be used for 3 months without considerable divergences in potential response. The performance of the sensor was examined as an indicator electrode for complexometric titration of erbium solutions by EDTA