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ABSTRACTIntroductionOlder people often face discrimination and stigma across different societies. Older gay men may confront a dual stigma, being targeted for their age and sexual orientation. Such stigmatization frequently and unjustly subjects this group to prevailing social expectations, affecting their occupational involvement.ObjectiveTo investigate the occupational involvement of older gay men.MethodThis exploratory, qualitative study involved eight participants aged between 61 and 69 years. Participants were recruited using the snowball sampling technique. Narratives were gathered using a semi-structured script, and the resulting data were assessed through thematic analysis.FindingsAnalysis of the participants’ narratives revealed five dominant themes concerning the relationship between aging as a gay individual and involvement in occupation: self-care; mobility; support networks; the interplay of repression, resistance, and expression of sexuality; and life planning.ConclusionThe process of aging for gay men is intricately linked to their occupations, both in past and present contexts, as well as their aspirations for the future. Notably, these occupations and aspirations encompass practices related to maintaining a youthful appearance, urban accessibility, the forging of homosexual identities, nurturing emotional and social connections, confronting repression and violence, and reflecting on the historical and personal challenges presented by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Chinese investments in Latin America are increasingly focused on decarbonization and renewable energies, aligning with the global shift towards green technologies. This shift in investment priorities reflects China's changing economic landscape and its emphasis on technology and innovation. Chinese firms are investing in sectors such as solar, wind, hydropower, and electric vehicles, as well as mining strategic materials like lithium and rare earth minerals. This trend has geopolitical implications and is creating competition with the United States in the region. Latin American countries should develop their own strategies to leverage Chinese capital for their developmental processes and create higher value-added goods. [Extracted from the article]

AbstractThe residual feed intake (RFI) and residual intake and gain (RIG) are indices that measure ruminant feed efficiency. Their application has become alternatives to improve the profitability of intensive lamb production systems. This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of RFI and RIG to measure the non-carcase organ size and cavitary fat of lambs. Thirty non-castrated male lambs were fed for 92 days and slaughtered, and non-carcase organs were weighed. RFI and RIG were classified in low, medium and high efficiency groups, and correlated to carcase and non-carcase organ size. The average RFI values were 0.07, 0.00, and −0.07 kg DM/d and the RIG values were 1.86, −0.20, and −1.91, for high, medium and low, respectively. Low-RFI lambs had lower (p < .05) dry matter intake (DMI) and percentage of DMI standardised by metabolic weight. High-RIG lambs had a higher feed conversion ratio (p ≤ .05) and tended (p < .10) towards higher average dairy gain. The efficient lambs (low-RFI and high-RIG) had a higher heart weight (p ≤ .05). Trends (p < .10) towards higher blood volume and lower relative weight in omental and total cavitary fat deposits were found in lambs with low RFI. Lambs classified as low-RFI and high-RIG had larger hearts, which could be related to improved cardiovascular performance and feed efficiency.HighlightsHeart size is related to feed efficiency.Lambs with improved feed efficiency have larger hearts.High-RIG lambs have higher intestinal mass.

The literature on impression management has identified three main types of graph manipulation: presentation enhancement, selectivity, and distortion. Nevertheless, no paper has analyzed the combined impact of all three techniques. Through an experiment involving 1701 certified public accountants, participants were exposed to graphs featuring all three manipulation techniques using distinct colors (blue, black, and red), all juxtaposed against graphs with no manipulation or a singular manipulation type. Our results show that selectivity alone has the same impact as distortion, selectivity, and presentation enhancement combined. Additional results demonstrate that the choice of color (blue versus red) in presentation enhancement, when combined with measurement distortion and selectivity, impact participants' perception differently. However, this effect is not observed when colorblind professionals are included.

In this paper, we propose generalizations of the EI index to quantify the distinction between intragroup and intergroup connections in social networks. These generalizations enable the analysis of interactions between non-disjoint groups, as large-scale disjoint groups are rarely found in many empirical networks. By expanding social network analysis, these measures facilitate the identification of actors with greater similarities or differences, generating previously untapped knowledge. Furthermore, we propose incorporating both edges' and nodes' weights in assessing the EI index. Intuitively, our approach classifies each network edge as internal or external, depending on the attribute groups that each node linked by the given edge belongs to. Since nodes can belong to more than one attribute group, three methods of classifying a network edge are proposed which depend on the number of shared groups by the pair of nodes. We evaluate the new measures in two distinct network contexts. The first context involves a co-authorship network, where researchers, acting as network actors, are categorized based on their respective areas of expertise in management engineering. The second network consists of trade relations among countries in the Americas, with countries grouped according to their participation in trade agreements. The analysis showed which area of management engineering is more independent by having more internal connections and made it possible to investigate the role of trade agreements in the actual trades made by countries. These proposals provide a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of network dynamics, allowing for a more precise comprehension of interactions and patterns present in social systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to analyse how the supreme audit institution (SAI) monitors related party transactions (RPTs) in the Brazilian public sector. It considers definitions and disclosure policies of RPTs by international accounting and auditing standards and their evolution since 1980. Design/methodology/approach: Based on archival research on international standards and using an interpretive approach, the authors investigated definitions and disclosure policies. Using a topic model based on latent Dirichlet allocation, the authors performed a content analysis on over 59,000 SAI decisions to assess how the SAI monitors RPTs. Findings: The SAI investigates nepotism (a kind of RPT) and conflicts of interest up to eight times more frequently than related parties. Brazilian laws prevent nepotism and conflicts of interest, but not RPTs in general. Indeed, Brazilian public-sector accounting standards have not converged towards IPSAS 20, and ISSAI 1550 does not adjust auditing procedures to suit the public sector. Research limitations/implications: The SAI follows a legalistic auditing approach, indicating a need for regulation of related public-sector parties to improve surveillance. In addition to Brazil, other code law countries might face similar circumstances. Originality/value: Public-sector RPTs are an under-investigated field, calling for attention by academics and standard-setters. Text mining and latent Dirichlet allocation, while mature techniques, are underexplored in accounting and auditing studies. Additionally, the Python script created to analyse the audit reports is available at Mendeley Data and may be used to perform similar analyses with minor adaptations.

The objective of this study is to compare the effects of a company's perceived levels of trust, reputation, risk perception, and quality, on consumers’ purchasing intention in two contexts. The first context posits a company in stable financial condition, while the second a company in bankruptcy reorganization. After proposing the theoretical model, we conducted research using two questionnaires, which resulted in 187 respondents for the stable company situation, and 189 who responded to questions about companies undergoing corporate bankruptcy reorganization. The results support our assumptions that the state of a company's financial situation has an effect on the relationship of trust on perceived quality, and reputation on purchase intention. These results lead to the conclusion that an unfavourable financial situation does not generally harm consumer perceptions of the supplier company but may cause changes in perceptions of their trust and reputation.

Highlights • The p-means centrality generalizes metrics based on geodesic distances. • The degree, closeness, harmonic and eccentricity centralities are special cases of the method. • The Sensitive-Infected-Recovered (SIR) model evaluates the performance of the method. • The axioms for centrality verify the robustness and the understandability. Abstract The evaluation of the importance or "status" of the nodes in social networks is of great interest to the researchers of several areas of knowledge. The importance of nodes depends on the positioning in the network structure, being obtained through centrality measures. There are several centrality measures in the literature, with different criteria that define which nodes are more central. Geometric metrics, for example, consider the geodesic paths among pairs of nodes. The closeness centrality and its alternative version harmonic centrality are both geometric metrics and present the characteristic of being reciprocal, respectively, of the arithmetic and harmonic means of geodesic distances. We propose in this article a generalized measure, which we call p -means centrality. Depending on the value given to the parameter p , we obtain several measures of centrality, based on the averages of the geodesic distances. The degree, closeness, harmonic and eccentricity centralities are special cases of the p -means centrality. We have shown that the most central nodes, defined by negative values of p , are closer to the nodes with the greatest spreading capacity, defined by the SIR model. We also verify for which values of p , the p -means centrality satisfies the centrality axioms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether analysts’ personal cognitive traits mitigate the efficacy of graphical impression management. Design/methodology/approach: Three experiments are conducted wherein 525 professional accountants working as financial analysts rate a hypothetical company’s performance graph depicting its net income trend. The manipulation is the presence (absence) of impression management techniques. Hypotheses test whether different techniques are effective and whether analysts’ cognitive reflection ability mitigates manipulation efficacy. Findings: Presentation enhancement is effective only with impulsive analysts, showing the weakness of this technique through the use of colors. Measurement distortion and selectivity techniques are effective for reflective and impulsive analysts; however, reflective analysts are more critical about graphs prepared via selectivity that emphasize profit recovery following crises. Research limitations/implications: Each impression management technique is investigated in isolation and in controlled conditions. Further research could consider how personal cognitive traits impact the efficacy of combined techniques and whether imbedding manipulated graphs with other information mitigates impression management efficacy. Practical implications: Research on impression management is mostly “task-oriented;” few “people-oriented” studies focus on decision making by those using financial reports. Users’ cognitive reflection ability is shown to undermine the efficacy of some impression management techniques. Social implications: Financial analysts, auditors and regulators could develop mechanisms to avoid pervasive usage of (or enhance skepticism regarding) techniques not mitigated by users’ reflectiveness. Originality/value: Evidence from financial analysts with an accounting background provides insights on individual characteristics’ influence on graphical impression management efficacy.

SynopsisResearch problemWe investigate whether accountants’ cognitive reflection ability affects how they assess the probabilistic numerical thresholds of the probabilistic expressions probable, remote, virtually certain, and reasonable certaintyin the context of international financial reporting standards.Theoretical reasoningIn the psychology literature, impulsivity is associated with aggressive behavior, and reflective individuals are more prone than impulsive individuals to access slow and effortful (Type 2) reasoning in order to overcome the initial response provided by fast and impulsive (Type 1) reasoning. Considering that accounting conservatism requires a higher degree of verification to recognize events that increase rather than decrease net assets, we argue that impulsivity is associated with aggressive accounting and reflectivity is associated with a conservative interpretation of probabilistic expressions.Test hypothesisReflective accountants are more conservative than their impulsive peers when making numerical assessments of probabilistic expressions associated with accruing or disclosing an event.Target populationAccounting professionals, including preparers, auditors, and tax analysts.Adopted methodologyWe collected data from 569 accounting professionals using a survey questionnaire, in partnership with the Brazilian Accountants Association (Conselho Federal de Contabilidade, or CFC), a federal agency with the mandate of guiding, regulating, and supervising the accounting profession in Brazil, to assess professionals’ cognitive reflection ability, collect their demographic characteristics, and evaluate their assignment of numerical values to probabilistic expressions.AnalysesWe employed t-tests, median tests, and standard deviation tests; we also conducted several robustness tests that replicated our main results.FindingsOur results confirm that reflective accountants are more conservative in their probability assessments than their impulsive peers. Our findings have three main implications. First, standard-setters could avoid the use of or develop guidance about terms with low communication efficiency. Second, analysts and standard-setters should consider that the comparability of accounting information across firms depends on the preparers’ cognitive reflection ability. Third, we present an additional explanation (accountants’ cognitive reflection ability) for accounting conservatism and differences in the interpretation of uncertainty expressions.

The limestones of Itabora? Basin (Middle Paleocene), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, harbor a rich fossil fauna of pulmonate snails. Here two new pulmonate species are described: Brasilennea guttula sp. nov. (Cerionidae) and Eoborus rotundus sp. nov. (Strophocheilidae). B. guttula is the third species of its genus endemic from Itabora?, characterized mainly by its conspicuous shell shaped like a “water drop“, with an acuminated spire. E. rotundus is the second of its genus from Itabora?, characterized mainly by its rounded outline and its relative small size. Moreover, a record of Plagiodontes aff. dentatus (Wood 1828) (Orthalicidae) is presented here for the first time for Itabora? Basin.

This paper presents a comparative analysis about the temporal evolution of normative and positive approaches as paradigms in Brazil and the US accounting research. The study is based on results of a descriptive documental research in the papers published in the Revista de Contabilidade & Financas (Accounting & Finance Journal) – RCF for the Brazilian case and in The American Accounting Review – TAR for the US case. The study concerns also on linking the research published by these journals with the accounting control and disclosure functions. The results suggest that the researches published by RCF, although with an important time lag, follow the same trend as those published by TAR, in other words the predominance almost absolute of positive approach, trend that does not exempt from criticism. These results are lined up with recent studies conducted in Europe that also show an increasing predominance of positive approach. The article suggests a thorough analysis of the criticisms related to the predominance of the positivist paradigm and recommends that the journals of accounting research become more receptive not only to alternative approaches and interdisciplinary but that also privilege the studies related to the practice of the profession.

Some physicists have pointed out that we do not know what energy is. If there is no clear idea of energy, teaching the concept must be a problem. There has been much criticism concerning explanations of energy in textbooks and research literature about studentś misconceptions is ample. In the History of Science, one learns that Mayer and Joule discovered energy. A study of their experiments, calculations and interpretations of phenomena shows that they did not find anything which is indestructible and transformable but rather a methodology of dealing with phenomena. How to understand energy thanks to their works is the central subject of the present paper.

• Two new centrality measures based on the law of gravity are proposed. • The new measures incorporate both network structure and actors attributes. • The energy disruptive measure proved to be an efficient targeting method. • Toughness, a new network damage measure, is proposed. • The energy disruptive measure was applied in two criminal networks. Many social interactions can be modeled by networks, where social actors are represented by vertices and their relations by edges. Researchers, over the years, have used social network analysis (SNA) to study the topological structure of the network and understand relational patterns. More recently, scholars have included in the SNA the actors' attributes in the search for a better understanding, given that these attributes can influence the way that the relationships occur and consequently models the structure of the network. In this paper, we propose two centrality measures, based on the law of gravity, where the strength of the nodes' attributes is combined with the strength of the relationships between them. We used an energy disruptive measure to target a network of convicts, monitored electronically, and the network of hijackers of Al Qaedas 9/11 attack with the aim of structurally and functionally dismantling it. The network damage was demonstrated by the robustness, measure which takes into account the size of the principal component, and also through two new measures proposed in this work: the attribute load, measure that analyzes the loss of nodes' attributes; and the toughness, which takes into account the maximum sum of edges' weights. Results show that, when used as a target method, the energy disruptive centrality was the most efficient strategy, providing greater network damage than other centrality measures analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here is an anatomical concept of Anodontites trapesialis (Lamarck, 1819) (Bivalvia, Unionoida, Mycetopodidae) from South America. This complementary anatomical study, with a systematic interest, refers to a group of anatomical data, exclusive for this species, that may be analized to identify this wide-ranging South-American species, with such a variable shell. Diagnosis of A. trapesialis: trapezoid large shell, thin wall, smooth periostracus. Mantle border without tentacles, even in incurrent and excurrent canals. Presence of a fourth mantle fold well developed. Palps smooth outward, internally with relativelly large, easily view folds, and a smooth margin. Gills with transversal wide folds. Thin walled anal papilla. Evidence in some specimens of palliai cardinal muscle. Hermaphroditic gonad.