MISUNDERSTANDING OF ROLE AND POSITION OF ACCOUNTING STANDARD SETTING AUTHORITIES TO REDUCE INFORMATION ASYMMETRY: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE OF IRAN

Purpose - Critical role of accounting and financial reporting is providing useful information for different and entitled users to help them in making economical decisions. While repeatedly it is stressed that the quality of financial information is a function of both the quality of accounting standards and the regulatory enforcement, it is vital that standard setting authorities bodies to have independence and suitable enforcement power to guarantee their issued standards implementation with accountants in preparing and releasing accounting information, where their enacting mechanisms differ significantly across countries, even being non-existent in some countries. This study seeks with aid of Abdolmohammadi’s enforcement powers classification of standards (2002) including: Reward, Legitimate, Referent, Expert and Coercive Powers, determine from perspective of respondents and current condition of accounting profession, which powers are dominant, besides it also tends to evaluate past performance of Iranian accounting regulatory. Design/methodology/approach - in order to test two main hypotheses of the study, a suitable questionnaire was used with some questions about current condition of enforcement ways of accounting standards in Iran. 281 questionnaires distributed among accounting related financial society members including: accountants, auditors, bank specialists, and accounting students as agents of financial society. After assuring of its validity and reliability, collected data tested by Kruskal-Wallis, Friedman, and T-test statistical methods. Findings - The results showed that among various enforcement accounting standards powers respondents believe coercive power is more apparent and main motivation for providing accounting formal reports in accordance to GAAP come from managers’ concern of blocking their companies stock dealing by Tehran Stock Exchange organization, besides they accept standard setting professional abilities. Also respondents believe that Iran’s Audit organization in standard setting process has had behaved unfairly and didn’t pay attention to regulate accounting of governmental and Not-For-Profits parts as equal as large private corporation accounting. Research limitation/implication - A key technical result is that the five original powers of enforcement accounting standards don’t have equal weight and influence on current accounting environment of Iran and to enhance disclosure quality and reduce information asymmetry, some work must been done to more highlight powers with positive and professional perspective. Practical implications - The paper will be of interest to standards setting authority bodies’ when regulating accounting information releasing process to achieve high level of market efficiency and also to academics’ investigating the reliability and value of current standard setting condition. Originality value - The paper reports an original application of accounting standard enforcement origins as a determinant level of dominance financial wisdom in financial society of Iran.Accounting standard, enforcement powers, Information asymmetry, financial wisdom, and fairness in standard setting.

The model of workforce agility dependent on drivers, strategies, practices, and results

For the time being, organizations throughout the world are in an environment that is constantly changing in various aspects including technological developments, customers’ preferences, emerging markets, and globalization. In this environment, the concept of agility, especially workforce agility is a valuable tool for organizations and can assist them considerably to cope with this situation. Given a substantial number of scholars have studied the concept of agility from the technical point of view up until now, and have neglected the human resource aspect, this study aims to, first of all, investigate the concept of workforce agility through a model incorporating drivers, practices, strategies advocating and stimulating the implementation of this concept and examine the relationships between these variables and second of all determine the results of implementing workforce agility system. The sample of the present study was selected from the staff and managers of the Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran, who had a bachelor's degree or higher and were working in the field of human resource management. Besides, we used a questionnaire to evaluate the variable. According to the findings, except for the relationship between drivers and implementation results all other relationships between drivers, practices, strategies, and results have been supported

El modelo de agilidad de la fuerza laboral dependiente de los conductores, estrategias, prácticas y resultados

For the time being, organizations throughout the world are in an environment that is constantly changing in various aspects including technological developments, customers’ preferences, emerging markets, and globalization. In this environment, the concept of agility, especially workforce agility is a valuable tool for organizations and can assist them considerably to cope with this situation. Given a substantial number of scholars have studied the concept of agility from the technical point of view up until now, and have neglected the human resource aspect, this study aims to, first of all, investigate the concept of workforce agility through a model incorporating drivers, practices, strategies advocating and stimulating the implementation of this concept and examine the relationships between these variables and second of all determine the results of implementing workforce agility system. The sample of the present study was selected from the staff and managers of the Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran, who had a bachelor's degree or higher and were working in the field of human resource management. Besides, we used a questionnaire to evaluate the variable. According to the findings, except for the relationship between drivers and implementation results all other relationships between drivers, practices, strategies, and results have been supported.         Por el momento, las organizaciones de todo el mundo se encuentran en un entorno que cambia constantemente en varios aspectos, incluidos los desarrollos tecnológicos, las preferencias de los clientes, los mercados emergentes y la globalización. En este entorno, el concepto de agilidad, especialmente la agilidad de la fuerza laboral, es una herramienta valiosa para las organizaciones y puede ayudarlas considerablemente a hacer frente a esta situación. Dado que un número sustancial de académicos han estudiado el concepto de agilidad desde el punto de vista técnico hasta ahora, y han descuidado el aspecto de recursos humanos, este estudio tiene como objetivo, en primer lugar, investigar el concepto de agilidad de la fuerza laboral a través de un modelo que incorpora impulsores. , prácticas, estrategias que propugnan y estimulan la implementación de este concepto y examinan las relaciones entre estas variables y, en segundo lugar, determinan los resultados de la implementación del sistema de agilidad laboral. La muestra del presente estudio fue seleccionada entre el personal y los gerentes de la Organización de Puertos y Marítima de Irán, que tenían una licenciatura o un título superior y trabajaban en el campo de la gestión de recursos humanos. Además, utilizamos un cuestionario para evaluar la variable. Según los hallazgos, a excepción de la relación entre los impulsores y los resultados de la implementación, se han respaldado todas las demás relaciones entre los impulsores, las prácticas, las estrategias y los resultados

The Semantically Rich Learning Environments: A Systematic Literature Review

Purpose: The research is intended to extract repetitive themes in the field of semantic-rich learning and to express the basic opportunities and challenges therein. Method: The method applied was to review the articles published in the WOS database, during the years 2000 to 2020 by using the paradigm funnel technique; moreover the Nvivo software was used for document analysis and theme extraction. Findings: In the study, it was found that establishing access to appropriate educational content, proper analysis and representation of knowledge, human capabilities enhancement, personalization of learning, and improving the quality of assessment, are the most important positive effects of using STs in learning; Also, in this study, nine themes and seven major challenges in the field of semantic-rich learning were identified. Conclusion: personalization and adaptation, and the development of various ontologies, are the most cited themes; and access to learning content and concerns about the design and development of learning systems are the most important challenges facing semantic-rich learning environments. We believe that in order to overcome the enumerated challenges, the combination of STs with other emerging cognitive and communication technologies, such as IoT, is necessary and could be the subject of future research in this field

Actor-Network methodology in science and technology studies

Actor-Network theory (ANT), in social sense, is an approach to sociological analysis in the field of science and technology studies and focuses on understanding how things get to the situations in which they find themselves. In recent years, this theory has been considered by researchers as a methodological approach to analyze the use of technology in the workplace and describe the various dimensions of socio-technical systems. Despite numerous examples of research based on ANT methodology, no codified framework has been introduced for it and no examples of using this theory in the form of methodology have been found in the country. The present study tries to introduce a framework for data collection and analysis in the context of this theory, while explaining the methodology of this theory in an analytical-descriptive manner. The feasibility and validity of the proposed framework have been assessed in the form of a case study. The results of the research can be effective in the systematic application of ANT methodology, especially in the country

Impact of climatic parameters on the extent of mangrove forests of southern Iran

Mangrove forests play a valuable role in maintaining the coastal ecosystem. Global warming alongside human activities has caused reduced extent and health of these ecosystems in recent years. This study aimed to examine the variability of the extent of mangrove forests and the sea surface area in response to changes in climatic parameters in the south of Iran. To achieve this, the climatic data recorded at Bandar Abbas Synoptic Weather Station and Landsat series of satellite images were used. To detect the trends of meteorological parameters during 1987-2017, the modified Man-Kendall test and the Sen’s slope estimator were employed. We investigated the regression relationship between climatic parameters as well as the sea surface area and the mangrove forest extent. The results showed that mangrove forest extent was about 73.08 km2 in the first year of study (1987), which increased to 88.73 km2 (21%) in 2017. The minimum temperature (Z = 2.77, β = 0.0186), maximum temperature (Z = 2.066, β = 0.0362), and the extent of the mangrove forests (Z = 2.58, β = 0.0405) displayed significantly growing trends. In contrast, the mean temperature, precipitation, relative humidity, and the sea surface area had no significant trends during the study period. The minimum temperature presented the highest correlation coefficient with the mangrove forest extent (61%). It is expected, therefore, along with global warming and increasing minimum temperature, the extent of mangrove forests would have a growing trend in the south of Iran in the future. The results of this study can be used by natural resources and forest managers to determine the best place for afforestation in order to perform better protection of these forests

Effect of Foot Reflexology and Gentle Stretching Exercises on Pain Intensity in Patients after Spine Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: The side effects of long-term use and high doses of drugs have increased the use of complementary therapies for the reduction of pain.Aim: The present study aimed to compare the effect of foot reflexology and gentle stretching exercises on pain intensity in patients after spine surgery.Method: This clinical trial study was performed on 90 patients undergoing spinal surgery referring to hospitals affiliated to Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in 2019. Patients were randomly assigned to three groups: foot reflexology, gentle stretching exercises, and control. In intervention groups, apart from the routine procedures, foot reflexology or gentle stretching exercises were performed daily from the first day after surgery until discharge, and also three times a week for six weeks after discharge. In the control group, only routine care was performed.Results: The mean age of the samples was 43.35±11.15 years. In within-group comparison, the mean pain intensity was significantly decreased at the end of the sixth week after surgery in all three groups (P<0.001). The mean of pain intensity in the reflexology group was lower than that in the stretching exercise group on the second day after surgery, discharge time, as well as the first and sixth weeks after discharge (P<0.001). Nonetheless, there was no significant difference between the stretching exercise group and the control group (P<0.05).Implications for Practice: Foot reflexology effectively reduces the pain intensity of patients after spinal surgery. Therefore, it is recommended to be performed by patients or their caregivers to reduce pain after spinal surgery

A systematic review and meta-analysis of the prevalence of toxoplasmosis in hemodialysis patients in Iran

OBJECTIVES Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease that occurs worldwide, with a wide range of complications in immunocompromised patients. This systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii among patients undergoing hemodialysis in Iran. METHODS We searched English and Persian databases for studies reporting T. gondii seroprevalence in Iranian hemodialysis patients through December 31, 2017. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied. RESULTS A total of 10 studies containing 1,865 participants (1,048 patients and 817 controls) met the eligibility criteria. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies against T. gondii were found in 58% (95% confidence interval [CI], 46 to 70) of hemodialysis patients and 40% (95% CI, 31 to 50) of healthy controls, while immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies were found in 2% (95% CI, 0 to 6) of hemodialysis patients and 0% (95% CI, 0 to 1) of healthy controls. The meta-analysis showed that hemodialysis patients were significantly more likely to be seropositive for IgG (odds ratio [OR], 2.04; 95% CI, 1.54 to 2.70; p<0.001) and IgM (OR, 2.53; 95% CI, 1.23 to 5.22; p<0.001) antibodies against T. gondii infection than healthy individuals. CONCLUSIONS The current study revealed a high prevalence of T. gondii infection in hemodialysis patients. Since hemodialysis patients are immunocompromised and T. gondii can cause serious clinical complications, we recommend that periodic screenings for T. gondii infection should be incorporated into the routine clinical care of these patients

The expression pattern of Immune checkpoints after chemo/radiotherapy in the tumor microenvironment

As a disease with the highest disease-associated burden worldwide, cancer has been the main subject of a considerable proportion of medical research in recent years, intending to find more effective therapeutic approaches with fewer side effects. Combining conventional methods with newer biologically based treatments such as immunotherapy can be a promising approach to treating different tumors. The concept of “cancer immunoediting” that occurs in the field of the tumor microenvironment (TME) is the aspect of cancer therapy that has not been at the center of attention. One group of the role players of the so-called immunoediting process are the immune checkpoint molecules that exert either co-stimulatory or co-inhibitory effects in the anti-tumor immunity of the host. It involves alterations in a wide variety of immunologic pathways. Recent studies have proven that conventional cancer therapies, such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or a combination of them, i.e., chemoradiotherapy, alter the “immune compartment” of the TME. The mentioned changes encompass a wide range of variations, including the changes in the density and immunologic type of the tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and the alterations in the expression patterns of the different immune checkpoints. These rearrangements can have either anti-tumor immunity empowering or immune attenuating sequels. Thus, recognizing the consequences of various chemo(radio)therapeutic regimens in the TME seems to be of great significance in the evolution of therapeutic approaches. Therefore, the present review intends to summarize how chemo(radio)therapy affects the TME and specifically some of the most important, well-known immune checkpoints’ expressions according to the recent studies in this field

Mapping 123 million neonatal, infant and child deaths between 2000 and 2017

Since 2000, many countries have achieved considerable success in improving child survival, but localized progress remains unclear. To inform efforts towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.2—to end preventable child deaths by 2030—we need consistently estimated data at the subnational level regarding child mortality rates and trends. Here we quantified, for the period 2000–2017, the subnational variation in mortality rates and number of deaths of neonates, infants and children under 5 years of age within 99 low- and middle-income countries using a geostatistical survival model. We estimated that 32% of children under 5 in these countries lived in districts that had attained rates of 25 or fewer child deaths per 1,000 live births by 2017, and that 58% of child deaths between 2000 and 2017 in these countries could have been averted in the absence of geographical inequality. This study enables the identification of high-mortality clusters, patterns of progress and geographical inequalities to inform appropriate investments and implementations that will help to improve the health of all populations