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We examine the relation between environmental disclosure and the cost of capital by exploiting the Fukushima nuclear disaster as a source of variation in the relevance of environmental information for investors. Using a large hand-collected sample of Japanese firms, we find that firms disclosing carbon emissions experience a lower increase in the cost of capital than non-disclosing firms. Cross-sectional analyses suggest that the association between disclosure and the cost of capital is driven by the increase in investor uncertainty about the energy supply shortage that followed the disaster rather than future regulatory costs. Moreover, we find that after the disaster, non-disclosing firms in the pre-disaster period increase their environmental disclosures to a greater extent relative to disclosing firms. Taken together, our results provide insight into the link between non-financial, unregulated disclosures and the cost of capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing interest in identifying the mechanisms underpinning the effects of physical activity on executive functions (e.g. inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility) in children. Our study examined cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular fitness, and motor competence as potential mediators of this relationship. The study used baseline data from the Learning to Lead (L2L) cluster randomised controlled trial. In total, 675 children (7–11 years, 49.5% girls) completed measures of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular fitness, motor competence, and executive functions. Structural equation modelling was used to examine the potential mediating roles of cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular fitness, and motor competence in the cross-sectional association between MVPA and executive functions. Cardiorespiratory fitness (β = 0.06, SE = 0.021, p = 0.004) partially mediated the association between MVPA and cognitive flexibility. Muscular fitness was a significant mediator of the association between MVPA and both inhibitory control (β = 0.03, SE = 0.014, p = 0.027) and cognitive flexibility (β = 0.06, SE = 0.021, p = 0.005). No significant mediated effects were found for motor competence. Our findings suggest cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness (but not motor competence) mediate the association between physical activity and executive functions in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Western grape leaf skeletonizer was first reported in southern California in 1941 and soon became a serious pest of commercially produced grapes in that region. Their gregarious larvae can easily defoliate vineyards and they remained a major problem for production of grapes until this pest was reunited with its host-specific natural enemies. Efforts to import into southern California effective natural enemies during the 1950s from southern Arizona succeeded in reducing populations of this moth to economically tolerable levels. We report for the first time on releases of natural enemies into central and northern California for control of western grape leaf skeletonizer. Over 600,000 parasitoids new to this region were released during late 1970s–1980s by the state's Biological Control Program. Foreign exploration by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) into Mexico in 1978 resulted in additional parasitoids new to California: a new biotype of Ametadoria harrisinae and a new species of Chetogena sp. (Tachinidae). The high numbers of tachinids released throughout California is credited with aiding in the spread of a highly virulent strain of granulosis virus which in turn caused high levels of mortality to western grape leaf skeletonizer larvae. Reports of WGLS outbreaks in vineyards over the last 15 years are rare, in contrast to previous years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal cities will experience varied levels of sea level rise, driving coastal erosion, groundwater inundation, direct marine flooding, and compound events as global climate change progresses. This research demonstrates a replicable process to utilize stakeholder input and illustrations of future physical hazards in local communities to facilitate discussions to increase adaptive capacity. This research conducted stakeholder outreach to determine locally appropriate adaptation strategies and utilized the best available science to create sea-level-rise-adjusted building design flood elevations. The most applicable adaptation strategies were integrated into newly created site-specific visual architectural renderings for two building typologies in Waikīkī, Honolulu, to inform adaptive design, planning, and policy in coastal cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study assesses the impact of empathy and grit when applied by industrial marketers utilizing a customer oriented selling approach. Empathy and grit have been individually considered to be important in previous research but remain chiefly unexplored collectively. In this study, a sample of 240 business-to-business salespeople indicates empathy is directly related to grit and both are positively related to customer oriented selling. Grit partially mediates empathy and customer oriented selling and years of sales experience moderate the relationship between grit and customer oriented selling. This indicates sellers who seek an understanding of issues from the customer's viewpoint and have the grittiness to persevere will help them engage in customer oriented selling to conquer objections, satisfy needs, build relationships, and ultimately achieve their sales goals. Consequently, empathy, grit, and customer oriented selling provide valuable and unique insights into business-to-business selling behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key to addressing persistent opportunity gaps in education is preparing teachers who are committed to disrupting the status quo. In recent years, teacher education research and scholarship have increasingly focused attention on the learning and development of preservice teachers with respect to issues of race, equity, and justice. However, less attention has been paid to the learning and development of teacher educators – those entrusted to design and implement justice-oriented learning for preservice and inservice teachers. Teacher educators are often thrust into their roles without the knowledge needed to support the justice-oriented learning of the students. To date, few graduate programs have provided comprehensive preparation for teacher educators, particularly regarding issues of race, equity, and justice. Beyond this, we know little about the justice-oriented learning that TEs have access to and the outcomes of this learning. In this article, we examine the small body of literature reporting on TEs' justiceoriented learning and consider the affordances when TEs' learning is grounded in robust conceptions of justice. History Matters, Race Matters, Justice Matters, and Language Matters (Annamma & Winn, 2019). We offer implications for the teacher educator learning and possibilities for narrowing opportunity gaps through increased investments in the development of teacher educators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the attentional demands of movement sequence representations at different temporal points after single- or dual-task practice. The visual-spatial representation encodes the movement based on visual-spatial coordinates such as the target locations. The motor representation encodes the movement in motor coordinates including joint angles and muscle activation patterns. Participants were randomly assigned to a single-task or dual-task practice group. Following acquisition, participants performed two retention tests and inter-manual transfer tests, both under dual-task and single-task. The transfer tests consisted of a mirror and non-mirror test and examined motor and visual-spatial representation development. The main finding is that attentional demands of the sequence representations were not affected by the practice condition. However, movement initiation requires more attention than the end of the movement in both representations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this research is to understand the use of political skill (PS) in the context of business-to-business seller's relationship building and ethical decision-making. Drawing on social influence, relationship marketing, and ethical decision-making theories, a model and hypotheses are proposed to examine the impact of political skill, customer-relationship-building competence, and moral intensity, on the frequency of customer-directed deviance while considering the effects of neutralization techniques and consequences of unethical behavior. Structural equation modeling is used to analyze responses from 240 business-to-business salespeople. Findings suggest guidance for sales managers (e.g., training and coaching) to assist salespeople's application of political skill to build customer relationships and reduce customer-directed deviance. While political skill has received limited analysis in the context of business-to-business salespeople, these findings suggest the direct and indirect effects of political skill are meaningful to sellers and researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In management education, research combining job design and institutional commitment theory with management students' co-creation of their learning is underdeveloped. Some findings suggest identifiable differences between different courses of study based on relationship quality and student loyalty approach. However, much of the current research has not explored degree-focused applications of concepts, so job design theory's core elements could better suit the university business student population. This manuscript makes a significant new contribution through testing a conceptual job design model using structural equation modelling (SEM), which includes antecedents of institutional commitment, an important indicator for retention. The study found autonomy and task significance have an important relationship with commitment for general university students. These relationships did not exist as such for business students. Therefore, special consideration of business students is required to enhance retention. Implications are enhanced by leveraging data (i.e. National Survey of Student Engagement) currently gathered by most universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno famously argued that 'myth is already enlightenment, and enlightenment reverts to mythology.' Although much scholarship has analyzed and built upon Horkheimer and Adorno's insight, it has often conflated myth with another concept: epic. By closely reading Horkheimer and Adorno's Dialectic of Enlightenment, this article disentangles the two concepts and elucidates key features of myth. Sacrifice, it argues, stood at the centre of myth, connecting and organizing its other dimensions. Next, the article reconstructs the lineage of Horkheimer and Adorno's account of myth and sacrifice in the fields of anthropology, ethnology, and sociology. Specifically, Horkheimer and Adorno drew on analyses of sacrificial rites in these disciplines to argue that sacrifices constituted a transaction between worshipers and gods and, therefore, established control, disempowerment, and fraud. Finally, the article takes up Horkheimer and Adorno's task of tracing the conduits between myth and enlightenment by identifying parallel features of sacrifice and modern wage labor. To conclude, the article indicates the significance of mythical sacrifice by connecting its analysis of wage labour to contemporary theorizing about the 'theological dimensions of capitalism.' Together, these arguments show the centrality of Dialectic to theories of myth as conceptual tools and critical resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New product development (NPD) speed is an important concern for firms in today's fast-paced economy. While existing literature has focused on continuous NPD speed improvements, this paper explores discontinuous NPD acceleration, or dramatic reductions in development time relative to firms' normal NPD cycles. Across two studies, the authors interview managers to develop a typology of strategic motivations for discontinuous NPD acceleration, followed by a survey of 218 NPD managers to validate the typology and identify important differences across firm types, including those in new product performance, innovation levels, and configurations of organisational characteristics. The results suggest that discontinuous NPD acceleration is most profitable when firms are proactive and have specific configurations of culture, capabilities, and structure. The authors also discuss implications for theory, practice, and future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this research is to better understand the relationship between supervisor social undermining and service sabotage through related mediating and moderating variables among customer-contact service employees. Based on a sample of 316 hotel/motel employees, findings show that supervisor social undermining leads to greater service sabotage. Unethical behavior in the form of supervisor social undermining is positively related to job stress and this stress is exacerbated when ethical conflict exists. Moreover, besides being an outcome from unethical behavior, job stress can subsequently influence additional unethical behavior in the form of service sabotage via its impact on turnover intention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) en bloc is defined as ECT administered on 2–3 consecutive days. In Denmark, ECT en bloc is recommended for severe conditions such as catatonia, treatment-resistant mania/psychosis, or imminent risk of suicide. To our knowledge, there are no recent reports on the use of ECT en bloc in clinical practice. Here, we provide such a report. We characterized the use of ECT en bloc in the period from 2006-2019 based on data from Danish national registers. Furthermore, we compared mortality rates between patients receiving ECT en bloc and patients receiving standard regimen ECT (not en bloc). We identified 2173 patients who received a total of 2734 ECT en bloc treatment courses in Denmark in the period from 2006 to 2019 (6% of the total number of ECT treatment courses). The use of ECT en bloc was stable over the study period (range: 138–196 patients per year). The most common treatment indications were unipolar depression (41%), psychotic disorder (23%), and bipolar disorder (20%). The vast majority (90%) received ECT en bloc voluntarily. The 1-year mortality rate ratio for ECT en bloc compared to standard regimen ECT was 1.42 (95%CI: 1.03–1.95). The use of ECT en bloc in Denmark is stable both in terms of the number of patients treated and treatment indications. In keeping with ECT en bloc being used for severe conditions, those receiving this treatment have a higher mortality rate compared to those receiving standard ECT, warranting careful monitoring during follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As trends in physical inactivity continue to increase throughout the lifespan, one prominent area of interest is the cumulative benefits of participating in physical activity. Recent literature has demonstrated the cognitive and brain benefits associated with one such population, elite athletes. However, it is unclear which aspects of the athlete experience drive this athlete–cognition relationship, which is the objective of the current study. In this study, we examine, in a quantitative meta-analysis (k = 41), the relationship between athlete experiences and laboratory-based measures of cognitive function in the following domains: attentional allocation, inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility. Athlete groups outperform control groups on a battery of cognitive tasks, including attentional allocation (g = 1.18) and cognitive flexibility (g = 0.31). Moreover, athlete type and experience are important factors to consider when evaluating this relationship. Moderator analyses revealed that athletes trained in aerobic (g = 0.93) or HIIT team-based sports (g = 0.65), as well as child (g = 0.26), elite (g = 0.94) (semi-professional, professional, national and international) or older adult athletes (g = 0.91) were responsible for driving this effect. At a time when physical inactivity levels are increasing, these results have important societal considerations. Participating in sport-related physical activity may be a beneficial influence on cognitive development throughout the lifespan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contaminants formed during food processing are of increasing concern to public and food safety experts, as well as international risk assessment organizations. The emergence of 'omic' technologies (e.g. genomics and transcriptomics) have greatly increased the mechanistic knowledge of the toxicity associated with these compounds, and consequently have provided a better understanding of their potential adverse effects. Of note, microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as being of key importance during the development of cancer as well as being associated with food-processing contaminants. MiRNAs have been demonstrated to trigger toxic processes in hepatic and renal tissues due to exposure to toxic compounds such as furan and 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD), respectively. In this review, we consider the roles of miRNAs in the toxicity process and the challenges that lay ahead in order to translate this knowledge to the benefit of industrial food processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This research examines how relational factors, such as monitoring, relative alliance identity (RAI), and trust, influence opportunism and, consequently, alliance performance. The authors suggest that the strategic alliances literature would benefit from recognising that opportunism does not always originate from the firm (rogue opportunism), but can also originate from individual employees (deviant opportunism). Hypotheses are tested in a multi-method approach within a business simulation and a cross-sectional sample of alliance executives. The results demonstrate a U-shaped relationship between trust and opportunism; however, monitoring moderates the relationship such that at high levels of trust, opportunism is practically non-existent. Further, results indicate that employees' identification with the alliance impedes opportunism. Additionally, both types of opportunistic behaviours negatively impact the performance of partner firms and alliances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examine considerations and perceived barriers to return to driving, and their association with psychosocial outcomes among adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI) who were not driving. 174 adults with moderate-to-severe TBI enrolled in the TBI Model System participated in this cross-sectional study. All participants were drivers prior to their TBI. Outcome measures included the Barriers to Driving Questionnaire, Disability Rating Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, General Anxiety Disorder-7, and Satisfaction With Life Scale. Descriptive analyses examined considerations and barriers to driving, including differences associated with demographic characteristics. Moderation analyses investigated the extent to which disability moderated the relationship between barriers and psychosocial outcomes. Social barriers were the most strongly endorsed domain, whereas physical barriers were endorsed least. The profile of endorsements differed for men and women, and for Black and White participants, on both theoretical considerations in returning to drive and experiences of barriers in doing so. Disability level moderated the relationship between barriers to driving and depression and life satisfaction, but not anxiety. The experience of barriers to driving is differentially associated with psychosocial outcomes among nondriving adults with TBI. Adults with low disability appear to be at risk for distress, even compared to other nondrivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates whether shareholders are willing to pay for higher levels of corporate financial, social, and environmental disclosure. We conduct a choice-based conjoint experiment wherein 65 shareholders are asked to make 12 choices, choosing each time between two predetermined randomized combinations of different levels of investment returns, financial disclosure, environmental disclosure, and social disclosure. Results indicate that whereas shareholders are willing to pay for financial disclosure and environmental disclosure, they are unwilling to pay for social disclosure. Hence, the latter finding does not provide conclusive evidence on the overall question. However, the result that investors are willing to pay for non-financial disclosures – such as environmental information – constitutes our main contribution as prior research has not been able to provide strong evidence that investors are willing to forfeit investment returns in order to gain access to more corporate disclosures. The use of a choice-based conjoint experiment to examine these matters is novel and potentially opens avenues for future research. We believe our theoretical and practical contributions to be of interest to various stakeholders, including firms in making decisions about disclosure levels and regulators in assessing the need for disclosure regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the experiment was to assess the change in attentional demands of a movement sequence guided by visual-spatial and motor representations across practice sessions in a dual-task probe paradigm. Participants were randomly assigned to either a 1-day or 2-day practice group. Following acquisition of the motor sequence task, participants first conducted a retention test and then four inter-manual transfer tests under single and dual-task conditions. The probe task was a simple reaction time. The inter-manual transfer tests, consisting of a mirror and non-mirror test, examined the development of the motor and visual-spatial representation, respectively. The results indicated that both representations guided the movement sequence and required attention. The attentional demands did not change with additional practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the United States (US), morbidity and mortality from pediatric asthma are increasing. We explored racial inequities using the Multiple Causes of Death Files of the US National Center for Health Statistics and the Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER) for 1–14-year-olds from 1999 to 2018. We obtained mortality rates, Black:White mortality rate ratios (MRRs) and Annual Percent Change (APC). We tested for significance with 95% confidence intervals and joinpoint regression. Of 2,731 deaths from asthma, Blacks comprised 65.25% and 21.25% of the population. Black:White MRRs were 6.43 for 1–4, 7.54 for 5–9 and 6.88 for 10–14-year-olds of 6.88. The APC decline of −2.56 (p < 0.05) was significant among Whites but not Blacks. MRRs increased significantly from 4.23 in 2000 to16.57 in 2015 and declined to 6.69 in 2018. Among Black boys and girls, mortality rates were highest in Large Central Metropolitan areas. For Whites, rates were similar by urbanization in girls but were highest in Non-core, Non-metropolitan rural areas in boys. These descriptive data demonstrate statistically significant racial inequities in mortality from pediatric asthma in the US. They generate hypotheses, including, but not limited to, those related to under-resourced families and communities as well as economic and social marginalization. These and other plausible hypotheses require direct testing in analytic epidemiologic studies designed a priori to do so. In the meanwhile, efforts are necessary to strengthen community-driven initiatives and focus attention on inequitable systems, hierarchies, social structure and institutional practices. These include multifactorial interventions for individual, environmental and societal risk factors and educational efforts toward health-care providers and their patients about structural racism; these may combat, at least in part, vulnerabilities in US children and youth and improve racial inequities overall and from pediatric asthma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frequent incidents of racist hate speech on college and university campuses continue to instigate an ideological battleground between legal purists, anti-racist scholars, and those otherwise situated somewhere therein. We find that arguments from legal purists are predicated upon a false-equivalency between racist and anti-racist speech where the effect, value, and embedded power dynamics of the former are often disregarded. We engage in a phenomenological analysis of a four-year, private institution – Clearview College (CVC)—where a controversial speaker was invited to campus by a conservative student organization. We specifically interrogate how the seemingly race-neutral free speech policies at CVC, which were informed by the "Chicago Principles," were racially structured in impact. We utilize a conceptual framework that demarcates intellectual safety and dignitary safety as a foundational point of departure to analyze the responses from 20 undergraduate students. The responses from focus groups revealed two primary themes: (1) racist hate speech as a threat to dignitary safety, and (2) institutional retribution against students defending their dignitary safety. Implications for higher education policy and praxis are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early psychosocial deprivation increases the risk of later cognitive and psychiatric problems, but not all deprived children show these difficulties. Here, we examine the extent to which psychosocial deprivation increases the risk of later cognitive and psychiatric difficulties and the downstream consequences of this for risk-taking behavior in adolescence. Children abandoned to institutions early in life were randomly assigned to care-as-usual or a foster care intervention during infancy. A separate group of never-institutionalized children was recruited as a comparison sample. The current follow-up study included 165 children (51% female), 113 with a history of institutionalization and 52 with no such history. At age 12, caregivers reported on children's psychiatric difficulties, and their IQ was assessed by standardized testing. At 16 years, risk-taking behavior was assessed from youth self-reports. Latent profile analysis revealed three subgroups of children with varying levels of cognitive and psychiatric difficulties: Low-Morbidity (n = 104, 62.7%), Medium-Morbidity (n = 46, 27.9%), and High-Morbidity (n = 15, 9.4%). Nearly half of the institutionalized children belonged to the High- or Medium-Morbidity subgroups; and institutionally-reared children were significantly more likely to belong to one of these profiles than never-institutionalized children. Compared to the Low-Morbidity subgroup, membership in the Medium-Morbidity profile was associated with higher levels of risk-taking behavior at age 16 years. Children who experience psychosocial deprivation are considerably more likely to present with elevated cognitive and psychiatric difficulties in early adolescence and, for some children, this elevation is linked to heightened risk-taking behavior in later adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two characteristics – Grit and Political Skill – appear to offer meaningful value to industrial marketers through improving customer relationship quality. The premise of this study is to investigate the role of these characteristics of business-to-business salespeople as they influence selling approaches and ultimately long-term customer relationships. Previous research in both academic and practitioner literature has noted political skill and grit are individually linked to salespeople but remain chiefly unexplored simultaneously and in terms of their impact on customer relationships. The data used in this research are from a sample of 240 business-to-business salespeople collected electronically by using the online platform of a national data broker. Self-reports were made about their grit, political skill, and customer relationship quality. These constructs were combined in a structural equation model. SPSS/Amos software was used to conduct multivariate analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the measurement properties of each construct, while structural equation modeling was applied to evaluate the hypothesized relationships. Results suggest grit is directly related to political skill and both are positively related to relationship quality. The results from this study lend credence to existing customer relationship literature and serve to extend our understanding, specifically as applied to business-to-business salespeople. In particular, we learn more about the role of grit and political skill in affecting the ability of salespeople to establish and maintain customer relationships. In terms of the theoretical contribution, this study explores a seller's perspective of two potentially important sales characteristics and relationship quality to extend findings on customer relationships. While grit has been considered an antecedent of outcome performance, the interaction between grit and political skill, and their impact on business-to-business salespeople's customer relationship quality had heretofore not been examined. This study extends previous research on grit and political skill by examining the association between the two as well as the impact on relationship quality. Our research strengthens the importance of grit and political skill by finding the synergy between the two indicates that when these characteristics of salespeople are possessed or developed they can enhance the relationship building conducted by business-to-business salespeople. Sales leaders may benefit from administering the salesperson grit and political skill scales as part of the screening process and developing these values among salespeople through training and coaching. Sales leaders should emphasize the positive impact of adopting these in focusing on customers. The study makes a practical contribution through an improved understanding of how a seller's communication and influence characteristics impact customer relationships. The findings underscore the importance of engaging in activities shown to improve connections with buyers and striving for levels of grit that assist the salesperson in overcoming any challenges faced in the normal set of activities required to build customer relationships. Encountering daily or short-term impediments that if not managed through perseverance may result in a salesperson being frustrated and abandoning more challenging accounts, despite the future potential payoffs by continuing to work with the account to obtain long-term outcomes. Additionally, political skill by itself and in conjunction with grit enables the business-to-business salesperson to utilize communication to persuade others, especially customers to act in ways that benefit both business-to-business buyers and sellers. Grit and political skill may combine to establish relationships and maintain them despite any short-term obstacles that require grit. An improved understanding of business-to-business salespeople's perspectives of the variables under study can potentially improve the hiring and training of salespeople to adopt beneficial characteristics that will enable them to build customer relationships and ultimately improve sales performance. The originality and value of this study rest with proposed connections between three prevalent issues in business-to-business sales organizations. Grit, political skill, and relationship quality provide valuable and unique insights into business-to-business selling behaviors and seller consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today’s competitive environment, salespeople are challenged with creating customer value in an ethical manner while meeting performance goals. Sales supervisors play a critical role in ensuring that this challenge is met. This research examines the roles of psychological ethical climate and leader–member exchange (LMX) in encouraging salespeople’s commitment to providing superior customer value, reducing their unethical intentions and improving sales performance. Results indicate that business-to-business salespeople’s psychological ethical climate perceptions influence their perceived relationship with their sales supervisor (i.e. LMX relationship) as well as their commitment to providing superior customer value. LMX also directly influences commitment to providing superior customer value, which in turn affects salespeople’s unethical intent and quota performance. Theoretical and managerial implications based on the study’s findings are provided, as well as directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To determine the effectiveness of ultrasound/phonophoresis as an adjuvant to exercise or manual therapy for the improvement of patient-centred outcomes in adults with non-specific neck pain (NSNP). Seven electronic databases were systematically searched up to September 2020. The Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach was used to judge the Quality of Evidence (QoE). Six studies involving 249 participants were included. The QoE was very low GRADE. Phonophoresis with capsaicin plus exercise improved pain at immediate post-treatment (MD: −3.30 [−4.05, −2.55]) but not with diclofenac sodium plus exercise as compared to exercise. Continuous ultrasound (CUS) plus exercise improved pain and pressure pain threshold (PPT) at immediate post-treatment (pain: MD: −3.42 [−4.08, −2.7]); (PPT: MD: 0.91 [0.68, 1.14]) and at intermediate-term as compared to exercise. CUS or high power pain threshold (HPPT) ultrasound plus manual therapy and exercise showed no benefit for pain reduction (MD: −0.75 [−2.08, 0.58]) did not improve function/disability (MD: −1.05 [−4.27, 2.17]) at immediate or short-term as compared to manual therapy and exercise. Due to high risk of bias, inconsistency, and indirectness the QoE is very low in support of benefit of ultrasound/phonophoresis as an adjuvant treatment for NSNP. Due to high risk of bias, inconsistency, and indirectness the quality of evidence (QoE) is very low in support of benefit of adding ultrasound or phonophoresis to exercise or manual therapy for pain reduction or improvement in function/disability for those with sub-acute and chronic myofascial associated neck pain. However, our confidence in the findings is very low and conclusions are likely to change as more evidences emerges. Clinicians using ultrasound therapy as an adjuvant intervention for management of chronic myofascial associated neck pain should carefully consider the available evidence on ultrasound, including the benefits and costs involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The premise of this article is to investigate the role of neutralization techniques by business-to-business salespeople as they influence ethical views and impact unethical behaviors, performance, and relationships. Research has previously noted the prevalence and impacts of excuse-making by individuals. Identified as neutralization techniques, these practices have been linked to salespeople in both academic and practitioner literature, but remain chiefly unexplored in terms of impacts on individual outcome measures. The data used in this research are from a sample of 240 business-to-business salespeople collected electronically by using the online platform of a national data broker. A scenario presented a typical sales activity previously determined to be unethical. The salespeople were asked to evaluate the level of harm (Moral Intensity) of an activity described in a scenario and indicate their agreement/disagreement with possible justifications (Neutralization techniques). The two most common types are denial of injury where the accused claims there is no harm resulting from the unethical act and appeal to higher loyalties which involves the unethical actor claiming the unethical behavior was committed on behalf of loyalty to some other party, rather than the norms guiding expected ethical behavior. Self-reports were made about their ethical/unethical behaviors, relationship quality with customers and estimates of their performance in their sales position. All constructs as shown in the Figure were combined in a structural equation model. SPSS/Amos software was used to conduct multivariate analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the measurement properties of each construct, while structural equation modeling was applied to evaluate the hypothesized relationships. Moral intensity was found to directly reduce unethical behaviors as moderated by neutralization techniques (excuses). Unethical behaviors were negatively related to relationship quality and value enhancing behavior performance. The results from this study lend credence to ethical decision-making models and serve to extend our understanding of them, specifically as applied to business-to-business salespeople. In particular, we learn more about the role of neutralization techniques in affecting the ethical decision-making of salespeople. In terms of the theoretical contribution, this study explores a seller's perspective of moral intensity, neutralization techniques, and important sales behaviors and outcomes to extend findings reported in previous studies. Previous research suggests that unethical behaviors by salespeople can negatively impact both their performance in creating customer value and the quality of their customer relationships. This study extends previous research as to how neutralization techniques may work in this process and relate salesperson unethical behavior negatively to relationship quality among a broader sample of business-to-business salespeople. Our research strengthens the importance of moral intensity in ethical decision-making by finding it is negatively related to business-to-business salespeople's unethical behavior. Salespeople's "detachment" from the company does not appear to lessen the power of moral intensity in ethical decision-making within the organization. Excuses or neutralization techniques are found to moderate the relationship between moral intensity and unethical behavior such that excuses may reduce the perceived harmfulness or moral intensity and be less likely to dissuade unethical behavior. The salesperson who uses excuses for unacceptable behavior is less likely to let the seriousness of harm resulting from a behavior deter him or her from acting unethically. This study adds to our research regarding ethical decision-making by examining associated outcomes such as relationship quality and performance which have received little attention concerning ethical decision-making in business-to-business sales research. While salesperson behavior performance has received research attention, little focus has been placed specifically on factors considered by buyers as the most important activities salespeople can do to add value to a customer relationship (i.e., value enhancing behavior performance). While sound moral judgment will result in positive value enhancing behaviors, unethical behavior, presumably resulting from immoral judgment, is associated with lower levels of salesperson value enhancing behavior. The study makes a practical contribution through an improved understanding of how a seller's ethical perspective relates to their use of excuses and their ethical behaviors, relationships and performance with customers. The findings underscore the importance of engaging in activities to reduce unethical behavior, which is critical given it can detrimentally affect relationship quality. Because unethical behavior may be perceived by some salespeople as a shortcut to achieve desired ends, organizations will benefit from taking steps to increase moral intensity perceptions and reduce the use of neutralization techniques to help salespeople understand the connection between what they may consider inconsequential indiscretions (e.g., misleading a customer on a delivery date; overpromising, etc.) and relationship quality, thus reducing the chances salespeople will commit such questionable acts. An improved understanding of business-to-business salespeople's perspectives of the variables under study can potentially improve the hiring and training of salespeople to adopt high moral ethics, avoid excuse-making, commit less frequent unethical behavior, build customer relationships and improve sales performance. The originality and value of this study rest with proposed connections between three prevalent issues in business-to-business sales organizations. Moral intensity, interpretations of the potential harm of sales actions, the ongoing existence of excuse-making, and their connections between unethical behaviors and relationship performance provide valuable and unique insights into business-to-business selling behaviors and seller consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reporting on Specific Topics - SDGs and Risk In addition to reporting regulations, three papers focus on the reporting of I specific topics i by European firms. The article by Marisa Agostini, Ericka Costa and Blerita Korca explores whether the EU Directive on non-financial and diversity information (Directive 2014/95/EU) affects non-financial disclosure (NFD) of listed companies. Regulation of Non-Financial Reporting Two papers investigate the European regulation of non-financial reporting introduced in 2014. This I Special Issue i originates from the Symposium titled: ' I Challenges in Corporate Reporting: The Role for the Academic Community in "Non-Financial" Reporting i ', which took place at the 42nd European Accounting Association (EAA) Annual Congress in May 2019 in Paphos, Cyprus, and was attended by one of the guest editors as a panelist.[1] The Call for Papers was open and public, hence inviting any researcher interested in the subject to submit a manuscript. [Extracted from the article]

The role of generalist predators has long been considered an important component of mortality for many agricultural pests but can be difficult to quantify. We present the use of digital imaging as a means of both identifying key stink bug egg predators and measuring their relative impact on egg survivorship. Brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), Halyomorpha halys and bagrada bug, Bagrada hilaris, two exotic stink bugs new to California, are now widely distributed throughout the state. A survey was conducted to identify resident natural enemies of their eggs. A field camera aided in the identification of arthropods attacking these eggs and their relative impact. Predation of BMSB eggs, which are naturally oviposited onto plant foliage, was less than for eggs of bagrada bug, which oviposit onto and into soil. The top ranked predators of BMSB eggs were the carabid Laemostenus complanatus (Coleoptera) the European earwig Forficula auricularia and ring-legged earwig Euborellia annulipes (Dermaptera), the oriental cockroach Blatta orientalis (Orthoptera), and the spider Trachelas spp. (Araneae). The two most common and important predators of bagrada bug were two ant species (Formicidae), Solenopsis xyloni and Monomorium ergatogyna, and species of Collembola (Entomobryidae). A Predation Index was developed to compare the relative importance of BMSB egg predators. Lastly, two striking, unanticipated results are reported: an apparent synergistic interaction between the spider Trachelas spp. and native ant M. ergatogyna in causing damage to sentinel eggs of BMSB, and the predaceous role for Collembola on bagrada bug sentinel eggs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2013, cereal leaf beetle was reported for the first time in California. Most likely it moved south from Oregon into the state's northern region. In response, the gregarious larval endoparasitoid Tetrastichus julis (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) was collected and transferred to a field insectary at the University of California Intermountain Research and Extension Center in Tulelake. From 2014 to 2018 the insectary was maintained to propagate T. julis for redistribution to commercial grain fields in northern California experiencing infestations by this pest. Sequential plantings of oats, preceded by winter wheat at this insectary provided a constant source of pre-head, lush oats throughout the summer. In turn, a reliable source of cereal leaf beetle hosts was produced for T. julis, which also increased in numbers. These parasitoids were released into infested commercial fields of wheat in the Klamath Basin region of northern California. Over four years beginning in 2016, annual surveys of the region showed that cereal leaf beetle populations declined while T. julis rapidly increased. Our releases, in addition to the natural spread of this parasitoid south from Oregon played a key role in the beetle population declining by nearly 90% over this period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic and mitigation strategies amplified racial and income-based health disparities, profoundly shifted family life, and altered delivery systems for support services. We report pilot data from a telehealth adaptation of Mom Power, an evidence-based, attachment-informed multifamily preventive intervention (clinicaltrials.gov: NCT04241913). We implemented an adaption of Virtual Mom Power (VMP) with a group of economically marginalized, predominantly Black mothers and their young children (n = 9) in New Orleans, an early COVID-19 hotspot with an entrenched history of structural racism and trauma. We outline our approach to adaptation of curriculum and service delivery, using a trauma-informed lens. Maternal reports of maternal and child functioning from pre- to post-intervention were consistent with improvements in maternal depressive and post-traumatic stress symptoms and child competence, comparable to outcomes from in-person trials. Feasibility and acceptability data were strong. Preliminary results and reflections on process suggest that telehealth service delivery of a multifamily preventive intervention, with attention to decreasing barriers to online access and consideration of culture and context, facilitated engagement while maintaining fidelity and effects on intervention targets. Future research using larger samples, randomized controlled design, and multi-method assessment should continue to guide dissemination of reflective, group-based telehealth parenting programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With today's emphasis on building strong customer relationships in the business-to-business sales environment, appropriate leadership is necessary to instill ethical and provide the proper guidance among employees to ensure ethical decision-making and improve sales performance. This research examines the role of perceived ethical leadership as it relates to both formal and informal marketing control mechanisms (i.e. salesforce socialization) that influence person–organization fit, and how this fit relates to salesperson unethical intent and performance. Results from a study of 408 business-to-business salespeople suggest that perceived ethical leadership both directly, and indirectly via salesforce socialization, affects salesperson ethical values person–organization fit, which in turn affects salesperson performance. Based on these findings, both theoretical and managerial implications are provided, as well as directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An increasing interest in sales ethics research in recent years is clearly apparent. In response to growing questions of uncertainty, this study examines the influence of an ethical leadership style, servant leadership (SL), and the existence of a caring ethical climate (CEC) on salesperson performance and the extension of those ethical values to customers. SL has emerged as a critical leadership style and has been shown to affect the organization's ethical level, person–organization fit, organizational commitment, and turnover intention of salespeople as well as predict additional variance above and beyond that of other leadership styles such as transformational leadership.. This paper extends previous sales ethics research by examining SL's impact on customer value creation. Results from a sample of 279 business-to-business salespeople suggest that SL affects salespeople's value enhancing behavior performance (VEBP), as well as their outcome sales performance. In addition, CEC perceptions moderate the relationship between SL and salespeople's VEBP. Based on these findings, both implications and opportunities are provided for future ethics research in the sales environment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Uniform Data Set 3.0 neuropsychological battery (UDS3NB) is well developed for research with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, and may serve as a common set of measures of cognitive decline across neurodegenerative diseases. However, the battery has not been formally assessed in persons with Parkinson's disease (PD). The current research provides initial information on the convergent and ecological validity of the UDS3NB in individuals with PD. Participants included 75 individuals diagnosed with PD from the Arizona Study of Aging and Neurodegenerative Disorders. Clinical dementia ratings, administered independently from the cognitive measures, identified individuals as having normal cognition (n = 38), Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI; n = 25) and dementia (n = 12). UDS3NB measures were compared between these groups, and correlations between UDS3NB measures, gold standard neuropsychological measures, and informant rated activities of daily living ability (ADL) were evaluated. At the group-level, UDS3NB scores followed the expected pattern with higher scores in participants with PD but no cognitive diagnosis and lower in those with dementia; scores in the MCI group were between these extremes. Convergent validity was suggested by moderate correlations between UDS specific measures (i.e., Craft story) and measures such as the RAVLT. Ecological validity was suggested by statistically significant correlations between UDS3NB performance and caregiver ratings of ADLs, with speed and executive functioning measures (Trailmaking A; r = −.51, p <.01; Trailmaking B; r = −.51, p <.01) most strongly related to reported daily functioning. Findings provide initial support for the convergent and ecological validity of the UDS3NB in individuals with PD. Implications and future directions for this battery are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physicians are encouraged to evaluate MF patients' symptom burdens with the MPN-SAF TSS and to calculate DIPPS-Plus during each clinical encounter, recommended every three months. Myelofibrosis (MF) patients can develop significant symptoms that adversely affect quality of life. A multidisciplinary approach incorporating telemedicine for MF patients provides an effective method to measure patient symptom burdens and to assign prognostic categories. Myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) symptom assessment form total symptom score: prospective international assessment of an abbreviated symptom burden scoring system among patients with MPNs. [Extracted from the article]

Given the potential importance of ethics in shaping business relationships, this paper explores the impact of salespeople's psychological ethical climate on their commitment to providing superior customer value, and its ensuing affect on salesperson performance. The results suggest that ethical climate negatively affects ethical ambiguity and salespeople's commitment to providing superior customer value, while ethical ambiguity negatively affects commitment to providing superior customer value. Salespeople who are committed to providing superior customer value report greater sales performance. Based on these findings, both theoretical and managerial implications are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research regarding the effects of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on executive function has grown exponentially in recent years. However, there has been no comprehensive review of the current state of literature. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review is to summarize previous research regarding the acute and chronic effects of HIIT on executive function across the lifespan and highlight future research directions. The results indicated that acute bouts of HIIT has a positive effect on inhibition in children/adolescents and adults, and further that chronic HIIT benefits inhibition and working memory in children. More research employing chronic interventions, focusing on middle-aged and older adults, and examining the effects on the working memory and cognitive flexibility domains of executive function are needed. Future research should also focus on a) the use of stronger research designs, b) the effects of HIIT dosage/modality, c) consideration of individual differences, d) possible underlying mechanisms, and e) examining the feasibility of translating HIIT to real-word settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study documents 'colonial' palynomorphs from the Upper Ordovician Ghelli Formation of north-eastern Iran. The aggregates of organic-walled microfossils come from the Katian Armoricochitina nigerica–Ancyrochitina merga chitinozoan biozones of this formation. The 'colonial' microfossils can be classified as acritarchs and/or cryptospores, but they cannot be attributed to a particular biological group. Some specimens resemble 'thalli' of putative spores, such as Grododowon orthogonalis Strother 2017. Other clusters may suggest an affinity to green algal groups, in particular to colonial chlorophyceaen algae, most probably belonging to Hydrodictyaceae. Some specimens also show morphological similarities with cyanobacterial groups. There is so far no evidence to relate these 'colonial' palynomorphs to primitive land plants, but we hypothesise that they were possibly produced by ancient green algal lineages with some kind of subaerial existence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Creativity requires the ability to combine existing mental representations in new ways and depends, in part, on the hippocampus. Hippocampal function is, in turn, affected by a number of health factors, including aerobic fitness, excess adiposity, and diet. Specifically, in rodent studies, diets high in saturated fatty acids and sugar – hallmarks of a western diet– have been shown to negatively impact hippocampal function and thereby impair performance on cognitive tasks that require the hippocampus. Yet relatively few studies have examined the relationship between diet and hippocampal-dependent cognition in children. Methods: The current study therefore sought to explore the relationship of several diet quality markers including dietary lipids (saturated fatty acids and omega-3 fatty acids), simple carbohydrates (added sugars), and dietary fiber with creativity in preadolescent children. Participants (N = 57; mean age = 9.1 years) completed the Verbal Form of the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT), a standardized test of creativity known to require the hippocampus. Additionally, participants completed a 3-day food intake record with the assistance of a parent, underwent dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) to assess central adiposity, and VO2max testing to assess aerobic fitness. Results: Added sugar intake was negatively associated, and dietary fiber was positively associated with overall TTCT performance. These relationships were sustained even after controlling for key covariates. Discussion: These findings are among the first to report an association between added sugar consumption and hippocampal-dependent cognition during childhood and, given the key role of the hippocampus in learning and memory, as well as creative thinking, have potential educational and public health implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has indicated that older adults perform movement sequences more slowly than young adults. The purpose of the present experiment was to compare movement sequence learning in young and older adults when the time to perform the sequence was extended, and how the elderly's cognitive status (Montreal Cognitive Assessment [MoCA]) interacted with sequence learning. The task was to minimize the difference between a target sequence pattern and the sequence produced by elbow extension-flexion movements. On Day 1, participants (28 young adults; 28 older adults) practiced the sequence under two time windows: 1300 ms or 2000 ms. On Day 2, retention performance and the cognitive status were assessed. The results demonstrated that young adults performed superior compared to older adults. Additional time to perform the sequence did not improve retention performance for the older adults. The correlation between the error score and the MoCA score of r = -.38 (p < .05) in older adults indicated that a better cognitive status was associated with performance advantages in sequence learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]