Search results for: Marshall-Lerner hypothesis

Authors: Moujib Bahri, Rahim Kallel, Ouafa Sakka

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Corruption is a phenomenon that increases uncertainty and risk of SMEs as it undermines the quality of the business environment and the easy access to public services. Our research builds on existing research on corruption's effects on economic growth at the firm level. Several papers have analyzed the effect of firms’ payments of bribes on their performance; however, only limited research has investigated the link between corruption, innovation, and exports. Drawing on principal-agent theory, we explore how corruption weakens the institutional context and makes the business environment unsound and not conducive to innovation and exports. This study employs data from The Enterprise Surveys conducted in Tunisia between March 2013 and July 2014 by the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB). The main objective of this survey was to gain a better understanding of Tunisian firms’ perception of the environment in which they operate. Since 2011, the country's political situation has become fragile and unstable, and public services are perceived as inefficient and corrupt. We test our hypotheses on a sample of 537 Tunisian manufacturing SMEs using structural equation modeling and path analysis. We find that political instability leads to higher level of corruption, and that excessive business licensing regulations create a fertile ground for bribery. Our findings do not support the greasing hypothesis suggesting that corruption can reduce the negative effect of bureaucratic delays and the hard access of companies to public services related to innovation and exports. Instead, our results support the sanding hypothesis according to which corruption hinders innovation activities and exports. Furthermore, corruption is found to, negatively and significantly, impact firms’ ownership of quality certificates. Our results suggest that, in an environment with a high level of corruption, governments and policymakers interested in assisting SMEs with their innovation and export activities should have a better control on corruption to allow them developing those activities without being forced to bribe government officers.

Keywords: corruption, innovation, exports, SMEs

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Authors: Priscila A. M. Rodrigues

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In Brazil, higher education is usually offered in three parts of the day: in the morning, afternoon and evening. Students have to decide what part of the day they are going to study in the application process. Most of the admitted students who choose to study in the evening also work during the day, because of their financial conditions. Brazilian higher education courses in the evening were initially created to meet the demand for teacher training. These teacher-training courses are socially discredited and considered easily accessible in the country, mostly due to the fact that students who enroll for those courses come from very poor basic education. The research has analyzed the differences between the social profiles and studying conditions of students of teacher education, especially the training intended for would-be elementary education teachers. An investigation has been conducted with these undergraduate students, who were divided into a group of those who study both in the morning and in the afternoon (group 1) and a group of those who study in the evening (group 2). The hypothesis predicted that students in group 1 would perform better than students in group 2. The analysis of training and studying conditions departed from the point of view of students and their teachers. The hypothesis predicted that students in group 1 would perform better than students in group 2. The analysis of training and studying conditions departed from the point of view of students and their teachers. Data was collected from survey, qualitative interviews, field observation and reports from students. Sociological concepts of habitus, cultural capital, trajectories and strategies are essential for this study as well as the literature on quality of higher education. The research revealed that there are differences of studying conditions between group 1 and group 2, precisely when it comes to the university atmosphere, that is to say, academic support resources and enrichment activities which promote educational, cultural and social opportunities, for example conferences, events, scholarships of different types, etc. In order to counteract the effects of their poor educational performance, students who generally come from popular strata require conditions of greater dedication and investment in higher education, which most of them do not have. Despite the considerable difficulties that students in group 2 encounter in their academic experience, the university experience per se brings a gain for the lives of these students, which translates into the expansion of their capital structure – i.e. symbolic, cultural and educational capital – with repercussions on their social trajectory, especially in professional conditions.

Keywords: higher education, higher education students’ performance, quality of higher education, teacher’s education

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Authors: I. Gupta, C. Kathpal

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Introduction: Time is really the only capital that any human being has, and the only thing he cannot afford to lose. Work life balance is a contested term on which researchers have begun to study in 1960s. Work-life balance refers to how people allocate time between their jobs and other pursuits, such as family, hobbies, and community involvement and includes the mental health fitness of the employees so that the future goal of organization to sustain the employees and earning profits can be achieved. Every organization primarily involves making a parity between the employees' work and their personal life by contributing the maximum. Aims and Objectives: The aim of the present study is to examine the impact of work-life balance as well as employee satisfaction on the organizational performance by evaluating the inter-related factors in order to maintain the healthy growth of concerns. Materials and Methods: To realize the aim of the study, an unstructured questionnaire, as well as face to face interview, was conducted from 100 persons which consisted majority of male members of top as well as middle level positions in the various organizations. The prime source of data collection was primary; however, the study has also used the theoretical contribution done in this respective field by various researchers. Results: Majority of the respondents were males(80%) from age group of 25-45. The collected data was analyzed through hypothesis testing statistical techniques such as correlation analysis, single regression analysis and ANOVA which has rejected the null hypothesis that there is no relation between work-life interface and organizational performance. The major finding of this study is that work-life balance is directly related to the organizations performance. The results show that the organization which works on the employee satisfaction earns more. Along with, there is a reduction of turnout rates, absenteeism, moreover, enhancement of productivity as well as revenue of corporations. Conclusion: The present study reflects that the disparity in the work-life balance gives invitation to many disorders either mental or physical which leads the dearth in performance. As a result, not only employees, however, organizations also suffers which is clearly shown in the interviews conducted face to face with employees. The study is not targeting the particular class of audience; however, it brings out benefits to the masses.

Keywords: work-life balance, performance, culture, organization, satisfaction

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Authors: Romulo D. C. Santos, Silvio M. A. Gama, Ramiro G. R. Camacho

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In this present paper, the thermos-fluid dynamics considering the mixed convection (natural and forced convections) and the principles of turbulence flow around complex geometries have been studied. In these applications, it was necessary to analyze the influence between the flow field and the heated immersed body with constant temperature on its surface. This paper presents a study about the Newtonian incompressible two-dimensional fluid around isothermal geometry using the immersed boundary method (IBM) with the virtual physical model (VPM). The numerical code proposed for all simulations satisfy the calculation of temperature considering Dirichlet boundary conditions. Important dimensionless numbers such as Strouhal number is calculated using the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Nusselt number, drag and lift coefficients, velocity and pressure. Streamlines and isothermal lines are presented for each simulation showing the flow dynamics and patterns. The Navier-Stokes and energy equations for mixed convection were discretized using the finite difference method for space and a second order Adams-Bashforth and Runge-Kuta 4th order methods for time considering the fractional step method to couple the calculation of pressure, velocity, and temperature. This work used for simulation of turbulence, the Smagorinsky, and Spalart-Allmaras models. The first model is based on the local equilibrium hypothesis for small scales and hypothesis of Boussinesq, such that the energy is injected into spectrum of the turbulence, being equal to the energy dissipated by the convective effects. The Spalart-Allmaras model, use only one transport equation for turbulent viscosity. The results were compared with numerical data, validating the effect of heat-transfer together with turbulence models. The IBM/VPM is a powerful tool to simulate flow around complex geometries. The results showed a good numerical convergence in relation the references adopted.

Keywords: immersed boundary method, mixed convection, turbulence methods, virtual physical model

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Authors: Il-Ho Kim, Samuel Noh, Kwame McKenzie, Cyu-Chul Choi

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Introduction: The ‘stress of higher status’ hypothesis suggests that workers with higher-status occupations are more likely to experience work-to-family conflict (WFC) than those with lower-status occupations. Yet, the occupational difference in WFC and its mechanisms have not been explicitly explored within Asian culture. This present study examines (a) the association between occupational status and WFC and (b) the mediating roles of work-related stressors and resources, focused on gender perspectives using a sample of Korean immigrants. Methods: Data were derived from a cross-sectional survey of foreign born Korean immigrants who were currently working at least two years in the Greater Area of Toronto or surrounding towns. The sample was stratified for equivalent presentations of micro-business owners (N=555) and paid employees in diverse occupational categories (N=733). Results: We found gender differences and similarities in the link between occupational status and WFC and the mediating roles of work-related variables. Compared to skilled/unskilled counterparts, male immigrants in professional, service, and microbusiness jobs reported higher levels of WFC, whereas female immigrants in higher-status occupations were more likely to have WFC with the exception of the highest levels of WFC among microbusiness owners. Regardless of gender, both male and female immigrants who have longer weekly work hours, shift work schedule, and high emotional and psychological demands were significantly associated with high levels of WFC. However, skill development was related to WFC only among male immigrants. Regarding the mediating roles of work-related factors, among female immigrants, the occupational difference in WFC was fully mediated by weekly work hours, shift work schedule, and emotional and psychological demands with the exception of the case of microbusiness workers. Among male immigrants, the occupational differences remained virtually unchanged after controlling for these mediators. Conclusions: Our results partially confirmed the ‘stress of higher status’ hypothesis among female immigrants. Additionally, work-related stressors seem to be critical mediators of the link between occupations and WFC only for female immigrants.

Keywords: work-to-family conflict, gender, work conditions, job demands, job resources

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Authors: Simon B. N. Thompson

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Early indicator of neurological disease has been proposed by the expanded Thompson Cortisol Hypothesis which suggests that yawning is linked to rises in cortisol levels. Cortisol is essential to the regulation of the immune system and pathological yawning is a symptom of multiple sclerosis (MS). Electromyography activity (EMG) in the jaw muscles typically rises when the muscles are moved – extended or flexed; and yawning has been shown to be highly correlated with cortisol levels in healthy people. It is likely that these elevated cortisol levels are also seen in people with MS. The possible link between EMG in the jaw muscles and rises in saliva cortisol levels during yawning were investigated in a randomized controlled trial of 60 volunteers aged 18-69 years who were exposed to conditions that were designed to elicit the yawning response. Saliva samples were collected at the start and after yawning, or at the end of the presentation of yawning-provoking stimuli, in the absence of a yawn, and EMG data was additionally collected during rest and yawning phases. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Yawning Susceptibility Scale, General Health Questionnaire, demographic, and health details were collected and the following exclusion criteria were adopted: chronic fatigue, diabetes, fibromyalgia, heart condition, high blood pressure, hormone replacement therapy, multiple sclerosis, and stroke. Significant differences were found between the saliva cortisol samples for the yawners, t (23) = -4.263, p = 0.000, as compared with the non-yawners between rest and post-stimuli, which was non-significant. There were also significant differences between yawners and non-yawners for the EMG potentials with the yawners having higher rest and post-yawning potentials. Significant evidence was found to support the Thompson Cortisol Hypothesis suggesting that rises in cortisol levels are associated with the yawning response. Further research is underway to explore the use of cortisol as a potential diagnostic tool as an assist to the early diagnosis of symptoms related to neurological disorders. Bournemouth University Research & Ethics approval granted: JC28/1/13-KA6/9/13. Professional code of conduct, confidentiality, and safety issues have been addressed and approved in the Ethics submission. Trials identification number: ISRCTN61942768. http://www.controlled-trials.com/isrctn/

Keywords: cortisol, electromyography, neurology, yawning

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Authors: Juan Francisco Reinoso Gordo, Francisco Javier Ariza-López, José Rodríguez Avi, Domingo Barrera Rosillo

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The evaluation of the quality of a data product is based on the comparison of the product with a reference of greater accuracy. In the case of MDE data products, quality assessment usually focuses on positional accuracy and few studies consider other terrain characteristics, such as slope and orientation. The proposal that is made consists of evaluating the similarity of two DEMs (a product and a reference), through the joint analysis of the distribution functions of the variables of interest, for example, elevations, slopes and orientations. This is a multivariable approach that focuses on distribution functions, not on single parameters such as mean values or dispersions (e.g. root mean squared error or variance). This is considered to be a more holistic approach. The use of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test is proposed due to its non-parametric nature, since the distributions of the variables of interest cannot always be adequately modeled by parametric models (e.g. the Normal distribution model). In addition, its application to the multivariate case is carried out jointly by means of a single test on the convolution of the distribution functions of the variables considered, which avoids the use of corrections such as Bonferroni when several statistics hypothesis tests are carried out together. In this work, two DEM products have been considered, DEM02 with a resolution of 2x2 meters and DEM05 with a resolution of 5x5 meters, both generated by the National Geographic Institute of Spain. DEM02 is considered as the reference and DEM05 as the product to be evaluated. In addition, the slope and aspect derived models have been calculated by GIS operations on the two DEM datasets. Through sample simulation processes, the adequate behavior of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistical test has been verified when the null hypothesis is true, which allows calibrating the value of the statistic for the desired significance value (e.g. 5%). Once the process has been calibrated, the same process can be applied to compare the similarity of different DEM data sets (e.g. the DEM05 versus the DEM02). In summary, an innovative alternative for the comparison of DEM data sets based on a multinomial non-parametric perspective has been proposed by means of a single Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. This new approach could be extended to other DEM features of interest (e.g. curvature, etc.) and to more than three variables

Keywords: data quality, DEM, kolmogorov-smirnov test, multivariate DEM comparison

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Authors: Stefanie J. Huber, Tobias Schmidt

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Cross-country differences in homeownership rates are large and very persistent over time, ranging between 35% in Switzerland to 80% in Spain. In this project, we test the hypothesis that these cross-country differences are driven by cultural tastes. To isolate the effect of culture from the effects of institutions and economic factors, we investigate the homeownership attitudes of second-generation immigrants in the United States. We find robust evidence that cross-country differences in cultural preferences are an important explanatory factor for the observed persistent differences in homeownership rates across countries.

Keywords: housing markets, homeownership rates, country heterogeneity, preferences, cultural transmission, migration

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Authors: Abdulkarim Yusuf

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Motivation: A crucial but difficult goal for governments and policymakers in Nigeria in recent years has been the sustainability of economic growth. This goal must be accomplished by regulating or lowering greenhouse gas emissions, which calls for switching to a low- or zero-carbon production system. The lack of in-depth empirical studies on the environmental impact of socioeconomic variables on Nigeria and a number of unresolved issues from earlier research is what led to the current study. Objective: This study fills an important empirical gap by investigating the existence of an Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis and the long and short-run dynamic impact of socioeconomic variables on ecological sustainability in Nigeria. Data and method: Annual time series data covering the period 1980 to 2020 and the Autoregressive Distributed Lag technique in the presence of structural breaks were adopted for this study. Results: The empirical findings support the existence of the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis for Nigeria in the long and short run. Energy consumption and total import exacerbate environmental deterioration in the long and short run, whereas total export improves environmental quality in the long and short run. Financial development, which contributed to a conspicuous decrease in the level of environmental destruction in the long run, escalated it in the short run. In contrast, urbanization caused a significant increase in environmental damage in the long run but motivated a decrease in biodiversity loss in the short run. Implications: The government, policymakers, and all energy stakeholders should take additional measures to ensure the implementation and diversification of energy sources to accommodate more renewable energy sources that emit less carbon in order to promote efficiency in Nigeria's production processes and lower carbon emissions. In order to promote the production and trade of environmentally friendly goods, they should also revise and strengthen environmental policies. With affordable, dependable, and sustainable energy use for higher productivity and inclusive growth, Nigeria will be able to achieve its long-term development goals of good health and wellbeing.

Keywords: economic growth, energy consumption, environmental degradation, environmental Kuznets curve, urbanization, Nigeria

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Authors: Le Kang

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According to the nature of the university, as a free and responsible academic community, USR is based on a different foundation —academic responsibility, so the Pyramid and the IC Model of CSR could not fully explain the most distinguished feature of USR. This paper sought to put forward a new model— Ferris Wheel Model, to illustrate the nature of USR and the process of achievement. The Ferris Wheel Model of USR shows the university creates a balanced, fairness and neutrality systemic structure to afford social responsibilities; that makes the organization could obtain a synergistic effect to achieve more extensive interests of stakeholders and wider social responsibilities.

Keywords: USR, achievement model, ferris wheel model, social responsibilities

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Authors: Raluca-Ioana Antonescu

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The field research of the paper stands at the intersection between Linguistics and Sociology, while the problem of the research is the importance of language in the modernization process and in a globalized society. The research objective is to prove that language is a stimulant for modernity, while it defines the tradition and the culture of a specific society. In order to examine the linguistic change of the Korean language due to the modernity and globalization, the paper tries to answer one main question, What are the changes the Korean language underwent from a traditional version of Korean, towards one influenced by modernity?, and two secondary questions, How are explored in specialized literature the relations between globalization (and modernity) and culture (focusing on language)? and What influences the Korean language? For the purpose of answering the research questions, the paper has the main premise that due to modernity and globalization, the Korean language changed its discourse construction, and two secondary hypothesis, first is that in literature there are not much explored the relations between culture and modernity focusing on the language discourse construction, but more about identity issue and commodification problems, and the second hypothesis is that the Korean language is influenced by traditional values (like Confucianism) while receiving influence also of globalization process (especially from English language). In terms of methodology, the paper will analyze the two main influences upon the Korean language, referring to traditionalism (being defined as the influence of Confucianism) and modernism (as the influence of other countries’ language and culture), and how the Korean language it was constructed and modified due to these two elements. The paper will analyze at what level (grammatical, lexical, etc.) the traditionalism help at the construction of the Korean language, and what are the changes at each level that modernism brought along. As for the results of this research, the influence of modernism changed both lexically and grammatically the Korean language. In 60 years the increase of English influence is astonishing, and this paper shows the main changes the Korean language underwent, like the loanwords (Konglish), but also the reduction of the speech levels and the ease of the register variation use. Therefore the grammatical influence of modernity and globalization could be seen at the reduction of the speech level and register variation, while the lexical change comes with the influence of English language especially, where about 10% of the Korean vocabulary is considered to be loanwords. Also the paper presents the interrelation between traditionalism and modernity, with the example of Konglish, but not only (we can consider also the Korean greetings which are translated by Koreans when they speak in other languages, bringing their cultural characteristics in English discourse construction), which makes the Koreans global, since they speak in an international language, but still local since they cannot get rid completely of their culture.

Keywords: Confucianism, globalization, language and linguistic change, modernism, traditionalism

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Authors: Diana Puigserver Cuerda, Jofre Herrero Ferran, José M. Carmona Perez

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In the transition zone between aquifers and basal aquitards, DNAPL-pools of chlorinated solvents are more recalcitrant than at other depths in the aquifer. Although degradation of carbon tetrachloride (CT) and chloroform (CF) occurs in this zone, this is a slow process, which is why an adequate remediation strategy is necessary. The working hypothesis of this study is that the biostimulation of the transition zone of an aquifer contaminated by CT and CF can be an effective remediation strategy. This hypothesis has been tested in a site on an unconfined aquifer in which the major contaminants were CT and CF of industrial origin and where the hydrochemical background was rich in other compounds that can hinder natural attenuation of chloromethanes. Field studies and five laboratory microcosm experiments were carried out at the level of groundwater and sediments to identify: i) the degradation processes of CT and CF; ii) the structure of microbial communities; and iii) the microorganisms implicated on this degradation. For this, concentration of contaminants and co-contaminants (nitrate and sulfate), Compound Specific Isotope Analysis, molecular techniques (Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis) and clone library analysis were used. The main results were: i) degradation processes of CT and CF occurred in groundwater and in the lesser conductive sediments; ii) sulfate-reducing conditions in the transition zone were high and similar to those in the source of contamination; iii) two microorganisms (Azospira suillum and a bacterium of the Clostridiales order) were identified in the transition zone at the field and lab experiments that were compatible with the role of carrying out the reductive dechlorination of CT, CF and their degradation products (dichloromethane and chloromethane); iv) these two microorganisms were present at the high starting concentrations of the microcosm experiments (similar to those in the source of DNAPL) and continued being present until the last day of the lactate biostimulation; and v) the lactate biostimulation gave rise to the fastest and highest degradation rates and promoted the elimination of other electron acceptors (e.g. nitrate and sulfate). All these results are evidence that lactate biostimulation can be effective in remediating the source and plume, especially in the transition zone, and highlight the environmental relevance of the treatment of contaminated transition zones in industrial contexts similar to that studied.

Keywords: Azospira suillum, lactate biostimulation of carbon tetrachloride and chloroform, reductive dechlorination, transition zone between aquifer and aquitard

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Authors: Stephanie Duval

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The concept of educational success, combined with the overall development of the child in kindergarten, is at the center of current interests, both in research and in the environments responsible for the education of young children. In order to promote it, researchers emphasize the importance of studying the executive functions [EF] of children in preschool education. More precisely, the EFs, which refers to working memory [WM], inhibition, mental flexibility and planning, would be the pivotal element of the child’s educational success. In order to support the EFs of the child, and even his educational success, the quality of the environments is beginning to be explored more and more. The question that arises now is how to promote EFs for young children in the educational environment, in order to support their educational success? The objective of this study is to investigate the link between the quality of interactions in 5-year-old kindergarten and child’s EFs. The sample consists of 118 children (70 girls, 48 boys) in 12 classes. The quality of the interactions is observed from the Classroom Assessment Scoring System [CLASS], and the EFs (i.e., working memory, inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and planning) are measured with administered tests. The hypothesis of this study was that the quality of teacher-child interactions in preschool education, as measured by the CLASS, was associated with the child’s EFs. The results revealed that the quality of emotional support offered by adults in kindergarten, included in the CLASS tool, was positively and significantly related to WM and inhibition skills. The results also suggest that WM is a key skill in the development of EFs, which may be associated with the educational success of the child. However, this hypothesis remains to be clarified, as is the link with educational success. In addition, results showed that factors associated to the family (ex. parents’ income) moderate the relationship between the domain ‘instructional support’ of the CLASS (ex. concept development) and child’s WM skills. These data suggest a moderating effect related to family characteristics in the link between ‘quality of classroom interactions’ and ‘EFs’. This project proposes, as a future avenue, to check the distinctive effect of different environments (familial and educational) on the child’s EFs. More specifically, future study could examine the influence of the educational environment on EF skills, as well as whether or not there is a moderating effect of the family environment (ex. parents' income) on the link between the quality of the interactions in the classroom and the EFs of the children, as anticipated by this research.

Keywords: executive functions [EFs], environmental factors, quality of interactions, preschool education

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Authors: Suganya Chandrababu, Dhundy Bastola

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Like in the gut, the subgingival microbiota plays a crucial role in oral hygiene, health, and cariogenic diseases. Human activities like diet, antibiotics, and periodontal treatments alter the bacterial communities, metabolism, and functions in the oral cavity, leading to a dysbiotic state and changes in the plaques of orthodontic patients. Fixed periodontal appliances hinder oral hygiene and cause changes in the dental plaques influencing the subgingival microbiota. However, the microbial species’ diversity and complexity pose a great challenge in understanding the taxa’s community distribution patterns and their role in oral health. In this research, we analyze the subgingival microbial samples from individuals with fixed dental appliances (metal/clear) using an in silico approach. We employ exploratory hypothesis-driven multivariate and regression analysis to shed light on the microbial community and its functional fluctuations due to dental appliances used and identify risks associated with complex disease phenotypes. Our findings confirm the changes in oral microbiota composition due to the presence and type of fixed orthodontal devices. We identified seven main periodontic pathogens, including Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Fusobacteria, and Firmicutes, whose abundances were significantly altered due to the presence and type of fixed appliances used. In the case of metal braces, the abundances of Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Fusobacteria, Candidatus saccharibacteria, and Spirochaetes significantly increased, while the abundance of Firmicutes and Actinobacteria decreased. However, in individuals With clear braces, the abundance of Bacteroidetes and Candidatus saccharibacteria increased. The highest abundance value (P-value=0.004 < 0.05) was observed with Bacteroidetes in individuals with the metal appliance, which is associated with gingivitis, periodontitis, endodontic infections, and odontogenic abscesses. Overall, the bacterial abundances decrease with clear type and increase with metal type of braces. Regression analysis further validated the multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) results, supporting the hypothesis that the presence and type of the fixed oral appliances significantly alter the bacterial abundance and composition.

Keywords: oral microbiota, statistical analysis, fixed or-thodontal appliances, bacterial abundance, multivariate analysis, regression analysis

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Authors: Feddaoui Amina

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This paper aimed to help researchers and international companies to the differences and similarities between IFRS (International financial reporting standards) and UK GAAP or UK accounting principles, and to the accounting changes between standard setting of the International Accounting Standards Board and the Accounting Standards Board in United Kingdom. We will use in this study statistical methods to calculate similarities and difference frequencies between the UK standards and IFRS standards, according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers report in 2005. We will use the one simple test to confirm or refuse our hypothesis. In conclusion, we found that the gap between UK GAAP and IFRS is small.

Keywords: accounting, UK GAAP, IFRS, similarities, differences

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Authors: Yang Cao

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Analyzing the oral production of Chinese-speaking learners of English as a second language (L2), we can find a large variety of verb inflections – Why does it seem so hard for them to use consistent correct past morphologies in obligatory past contexts? Failed Functional Features Hypothesis (FFFH) attributes the rather non-target-like performance to the absence of [±past] feature in their L1 Chinese, arguing that for post puberty learners, new features in L2 are no more accessible. By contrast, Missing Surface Inflection Hypothesis (MSIH) tends to believe that all features are actually acquirable for late L2 learners, while due to the mapping difficulties from features to forms, it is hard for them to realize the consistent past morphologies on the surface. However, most of the studies are limited to the verb morphologies in finite clauses and few studies have ever attempted to figure out these learners’ performance in non-finite clauses. Additionally, it has been discussed that Chinese learners may be able to tell the finite/infinite distinction (i.e. the [±finite] feature might be selected in Chinese, even though the existence of [±past] is denied). Therefore, adopting a self-paced reading task (SPR), the current study aims to analyze the processing patterns of Chinese-speaking learners of L2 Russian, in order to find out if they are sensitive to misuse of tense morphologies in both finite and non-finite clauses and whether they are sensitive to the finite/infinite distinction presented in Russian. The study targets L2 Russian due to its systematic morphologies in both present and past tenses. A native Russian group, as well as a group of English-speaking learners of Russian, whose L1 has definitely selected both [±finite] and [±past] features, will also be involved. By comparing and contrasting performance of the three language groups, the study is going to further examine and discuss the two theories, FFFH and MSIH. Preliminary hypotheses are: a) Russian native speakers are expected to spend longer time reading the verb forms which violate the grammar; b) it is expected that Chinese participants are, at least, sensitive to the misuse of inflected verbs in non-finite clauses, although no sensitivity to the misuse of infinitives in finite clauses might be found. Therefore, an interaction of finite and grammaticality is expected to be found, which indicate that these learners are able to tell the finite/infinite distinction; and c) having selected [±finite] and [±past], English-speaking learners of Russian are expected to behave target-likely, supporting L1 transfer.

Keywords: features, finite clauses, morphosyntax, non-finite clauses, past morphologies, present morphologies, Second Language Acquisition, self-paced reading task, verb inflections

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Authors: Dayane de Almeida

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This work aims at presenting a study that demonstrates the usability of categories of analysis from Discourse Semiotics – also known as Greimassian Semiotics in authorship cases in forensic contexts. It is necessary to know if the categories examined in semiotic analysis (the ‘grammar’ of the content plane) can distinguish authors. Thus, a study with 4 sets of texts from a corpus of ‘not on demand’ written samples (those texts differ in formality degree, purpose, addressees, themes, etc.) was performed. Each author contributed with 20 texts, separated into 2 groups of 10 (Author1A, Author1B, and so on). The hypothesis was that texts from a single author were semiotically more similar to each other than texts from different authors. The assumptions and issues that led to this idea are as follows: -The features analyzed in authorship studies mostly relate to the expression plane: they are manifested on the ‘surface’ of texts. If language is both expression and content, content would also have to be considered for more accurate results. Style is present in both planes. -Semiotics postulates the content plane is structured in a ‘grammar’ that underlies expression, and that presents different levels of abstraction. This ‘grammar’ would be a style marker. -Sociolinguistics demonstrates intra-speaker variation: an individual employs different linguistic uses in different situations. Then, how to determine if someone is the author of several texts, distinct in nature (as it is the case in most forensic sets), when it is known intra-speaker variation is dependent on so many factors?-The idea is that the more abstract the level in the content plane, the lower the intra-speaker variation, because there will be a greater chance for the author to choose the same thing. If two authors recurrently chose the same options, differently from one another, it means each one’s option has discriminatory power. -Size is another issue for various attribution methods. Since most texts in real forensic settings are short, methods relying only on the expression plane tend to fail. The analysis of the content plane as proposed by greimassian semiotics would be less size-dependable. -The semiotic analysis was performed using the software Corpus Tool, generating tags to allow the counting of data. Then, similarities and differences were quantitatively measured, through the application of the Jaccard coefficient (a statistical measure that compares the similarities and differences between samples). The results showed the hypothesis was confirmed and, hence, the grammatical categories of the content plane may successfully be used in questioned authorship scenarios.

Keywords: authorship attribution, content plane, forensic linguistics, greimassian semiotics, intraspeaker variation, style

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Authors: Binti Shofiatul Jannah, Hans Wakhida Rakhmatullah

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This paper aims to examine the influence of role conflict, role ambiguity and job satisfaction on auditor performance. This study uses survey method using a questionnaire to collect the data. The questionnaires distributes were 104 respondents. The respondents are auditors who work for public accounting firms in East Java. Partial Least Square (PLS) with program SmartPLS version 2.0 were used to hypothesis testing. The result shows that: (1) there is no negative influence of role conflict on auditor performance; (2) there is negative influence of role ambiguity on auditor performance; (3) there is positive influence of job satisfaction on auditor performance.

Keywords: role conflict, role ambiguity, job satisfaction, performance

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Authors: Asena Biber, Ates Gul Ergun, Seda Bulut

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Based on the literature, there are large numbers of studies investigating the relationship between culture and leadership effectiveness. Although giving effective speeches is vital characteristic for a leader to be perceived as effective, to our knowledge, there is no research study the determinants of perceived effective leader speech. The aim of this study is to find the effects of both culture and voice pitch on perceptions of leader's speech effectiveness. Our hypothesis is that people from high power distance countries will perceive leaders' speech effective when the leader's voice pitch is high, comparing with people from relatively low power distance countries. The participants of the study were 36 undergraduate students (12 Pakistanis, 12 Nigerians, and 12 Turks) who are studying in Turkey. National power distance scores of Nigerians ranked as first, Turks ranked as second and Pakistanis ranked as third. There are two independent variables in this study; three nationality groups that representing three levels of power distance and voice pitch of the leader which is manipulated as high and low levels. Researchers prepared an audio to manipulate high and low conditions of voice pitch. A professional whose native language is English read the predetermined speech in high and low voice pitch conditions. Voice pitch was measured using Hertz (Hz) and Decibel (dB). Each nationality group (Pakistan, Nigeria, and Turkey) were divided into groups of six students who listened to either the low or high pitch conditions in the cubicles of the laboratory. It was expected from participants to listen to the audio and fill in the questionnaire which was measuring the leadership effectiveness on a response scale ranging from 1 to 5. To determine the effects of nationality and voice pitch on perceived effectiveness of leader' voice pitch, 3 (Pakistani, Nigerian, and Turk) x 2 (low voice pitch and high voice pitch) two way between subjects analysis of variances was carried out. The results indicated that there was no significant main effect of voice pitch and interaction effect on perceived effectiveness of the leader’s voice pitch. However, there was a significant main effect of nationality on perceived effectiveness of the leader's voice pitch. Based on the results of Turkey’s HSD post-hoc test, only the perceived effectiveness of the leader's speech difference between Pakistanis and Nigerians was statistically significant. The results show that the hypothesis of this study was not supported. As limitations of the study, it is of importance to mention that the sample size should be bigger. Also, the language of the questionnaire and speech should be in the participant’s native language in further studies.

Keywords: culture, leadership effectiveness, power distance, voice pitch

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Authors: Henrique Rangel, Alexandre Fadel, Igor De Lazari, Bianca Neri, Carlos Bolonha

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This paper promotes a comparative analysis of American and Brazilian models of federalism assuming their levels of political centralization as main criterion. The central problem faced herein is the Brazilian approach of Unitarian regime. Although the hegemony of federative form after 1989, Brazil had a historical frame of political centralization that remains under the 1988 constitutional regime. Meanwhile, United States framed a federalism in which States absorb significant authorities. The hypothesis holds that the amount of alternative criteria of federalization – which can generate political centralization –, and the way they are upheld on judicial review, are crucial to understand the levels of political centralization achieved in each model. To test this hypothesis, the research is conducted by a methodology temporally delimited to 1994-2014 period. Three paradigmatic precedents of U.S. Supreme Court were selected: United States vs. Morrison (2000), on gender-motivated violence, Gonzales vs. Raich (2005), on medical use of marijuana, and United States vs. Lopez (1995), on firearm possession on scholar zones. These most relevant cases over federalism in the recent activity of Supreme Court indicates a determinant parameter of deliberation: the commerce clause. After observe the criterion used to permit or prohibit the political centralization in America, the Brazilian normative context is presented. In this sense, it is possible to identify the eventual legal treatment these controversies could receive in this Country. The decision-making reveals some deliberative parameters, which characterizes each federative model. At the end of research, the precedents of Rehnquist Court promote a broad revival of federalism debate, establishing the commerce clause as a secure criterion to uphold or not the necessity of centralization – even with decisions considered conservative. Otherwise, the Brazilian federalism solves them controversies upon in a formalist fashion, within numerous and comprehensive – sometimes casuistic too – normative devices, oriented to make an intense centralization. The aim of this work is indicate how jurisdictional federalism found in United States can preserve a consistent model with States robustly autonomous, while Brazil gives preference to normative mechanisms designed to starts from centralization.

Keywords: constitutional design, federalism, U.S. Supreme Court, legislative authority

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Authors: Yener Ekiz

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Knowledge development is a proactive process that covers collection, analysis, storage and distribution of information that helps to contribute the understanding of the environment. To transfer knowledge correctly and fastly, you have to use new emerging information system technologies. Actionable knowledge is only of value if it is understandable and usable by target users. The purpose of the paper is to enlighten how technology eases and affects the process of knowledge development. While preparing the paper, literature review, survey and interview methodology will be used. The hypothesis is that the technology and knowledge development are inseparable and the technology will formalize the DIKW hierarchy again. As a result, today there is huge data. This data must be classified sharply and quickly.

Keywords: DIKW hierarchy, knowledge development, technology

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Authors: J. Fernandez de Canete

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Object-oriented modeling is spreading in the current simulation of physiological systems through the use of the individual components of the model and its interconnections to define the underlying dynamic equations. In this paper, we describe the use of both the SIMSCAPE and MODELICA simulation environments in the object-oriented modeling of the closed-loop cardiovascular system. The performance of the controlled system was analyzed by simulation in light of the existing hypothesis and validation tests previously performed with physiological data. The described approach represents a valuable tool in the teaching of physiology for graduate medical students.

Keywords: object-oriented modeling, SIMSCAPE simulation language, MODELICA simulation language, cardiovascular system

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Authors: Milton Montejano Castillo, Tarsicio Pastrana Salcedo

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Based on the hypothesis that disaster risk is constructed socially and historically, this article shows the importance of keeping alive the historical memory of disaster by means of architectural and urban heritage conservation. This is illustrated with three examples of Latin American World Heritage cities where disasters like floods and earthquakes have shaped urban form. Therefore, the study of urban form or ‘Urban Morphology’ is proposed as a tool to understand and analyze urban transformations with the documentation of the occurrence of disasters. Lessons learned from such cities may be useful to reduce disasters risk in contemporary built environments.

Keywords: conservation, disaster risk reduction, urban morphology, World Heritage

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Authors: Olga Mironiuk, Małgorzata Kossowska

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The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of Situational Attribution Training on reducing automatic in-group stereotyping in females. The experiment was conducted with the control of age and level of prejudice. 90 female participants were randomly assigned to two conditions: experimental and control group (each group was also divided into younger- and older-aged condition). Participants from the experimental condition were subjected to more extensive training. In the first part of the experiment, the experimental group took part in the first session of Situational Attribution Training while the control group participated in the Grammatical Training Control. In the second part of the research both groups took part in the Situational Attribution Training (which was considered as the second training session for the experimental group and the first one for the control condition). The training procedure was based on the descriptions of ambiguous situations which could be explained using situational or dispositional attributions. The participant’s task was to choose the situational explanation from two alternatives, out of which the second one presented the explanation based on neutral or stereotypically associated with women traits. Moreover, the experimental group took part in the third training session after two- day time delay, in order to check the persistence of the training effect. The main hypothesis stated that among participants taking part in the more extensive training, the automatic in-group stereotyping would be less frequent after having finished training sessions. The effectiveness of the training was tested by measuring the response time and the correctness of answers: the longer response time for the examples where one of two possible answers was based on the stereotype trait and higher correctness of answers was considered to be a proof of the training effectiveness. As the participants’ level of prejudice was controlled (using the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory), it was also assumed that the training effect would be weaker for participants revealing a higher level of prejudice. The obtained results did not confirm the hypothesis based on the response time: participants from the experimental group responded faster in case of situations where one of the possible explanations was based on stereotype trait. However, an interesting observation was made during the analysis of the answers’ correctness: regardless the condition and age group affiliation, participants made more mistakes while choosing the situational explanations when the alternative was based on stereotypical trait associated with the dimension of warmth. What is more, the correctness of answers was higher in the third training session for the experimental group in case when the alternative of situational explanation was based on the stereotype trait associated with the dimension of competence. The obtained results partially confirm the effectiveness of the training.

Keywords: female, in-group stereotyping, prejudice, situational attribution training

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Authors: Geir Kirkebøen

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Most patients with serious diagnoses want to know their prognosis, in particular their expected survival time. As part of the informed consent process, physicians are legally obligated to communicate such information to patients. However, there is no established (evidence based) ‘best practice’ for how to do this. The two questions explored in this study are: How do physicians communicate expected survival time to patients, and how should it be done? We explored the first, descriptive question in a study with Norwegian oncologists as participants. The study had a scenario and a survey part. In the scenario part, the doctors should imagine that a patient, recently diagnosed with a serious cancer diagnosis, has asked them: ‘How long can I expect to live with such a diagnosis? I want an honest answer from you!’ The doctors should assume that the diagnosis is certain, and that from an extensive recent study they had optimal statistical knowledge, described in detail as a right-skewed survival curve, about how long such patients with this kind of diagnosis could be expected to live. The main finding was that very few of the oncologists would explain to the patient the variation in survival time as described by the survival curve. The majority would not give the patient an answer at all. Of those who gave an answer, the typical answer was that survival time varies a lot, that it is hard to say in a specific case, that we will come back to it later etc. The survey part of the study clearly indicates that the main reason why the oncologists would not deliver the mortality prognosis was discomfort with its uncertainty. The scenario part of the study confirmed this finding. The majority of the oncologists explicitly used the uncertainty, the variation in survival time, as a reason to not give the patient an answer. Many studies show that patients want realistic information about their mortality prognosis, and that they should be given hope. The question then is how to communicate the uncertainty of the prognosis in a realistic and optimistic – hopeful – way. Based on psychological research, our hypothesis is that the best way to do this is by explicitly describing the variation in survival time, the (usually) right skewed survival curve of the prognosis, and emphasize to the patient the (small) possibility of being a ‘lucky outlier’. We tested this hypothesis in two scenario studies with lay people as participants. The data clearly show that people prefer to receive expected survival time as a median value together with explicit information about the survival curve’s right skewedness (e.g., concrete examples of ‘positive outliers’), and that communicating expected survival time this way not only provides people with hope, but also gives them a more realistic understanding compared with the typical way expected survival time is communicated. Our data indicate that it is not the existence of the uncertainty regarding the mortality prognosis that is the problem for patients, but how this uncertainty is, or is not, communicated and explained.

Keywords: cancer patients, decision psychology, doctor-patient communication, mortality prognosis

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Authors: Astari Indarsari, Bastian B. Purba, Muhammad Fadlilah

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In Indonesian climates that have the tropic climate, one of the potential energy sources is coming from solar energy. From the solar energy, we can convert it into the others energy, such as electrical energy. In this topic, we want to do the research about Dye Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC). The materials that we use as sensitizer is anthocyanin that we extract from apple skin, because the anthocyanin is one of the most effective as a sensitizer for DSSC. The variable in this research is pH. The pH that we used are pH 0,5; pH 1; pH 1,5; pH 2; pH 2,5. The method is electrolysis, and we use TiO2 as sensitized material. The hypothesis from this research is the smaller pH can make higher the efficiency of the absorbent of the solar energy.

Keywords: anthocyanin, TiO2, DSSC, apple skin

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Authors: Yanan Wang

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It is proposed that when people give a gift they engage in 'love accounting', so that they will spend less on it if they include a written expression of love with it. This hypothesis was tested with college students (N = 308). It was found that participants who wrote a love message to accompany a Mother's Day gift budgeted less for the gift itself than control participants (Experiment 1), and this effect was replicated for a Christmas gift (Experiment 2). The amount of effort expended by the giver on preparing the love message did not account for the effect (Experiment 3). It is concluded that a gift and its accompanying love message are mentally computed as belonging to the same love account, implying that consumers’ excessive splurging on gifts might be controlled by writing a love message before gift shopping.

Keywords: expression of love, gift-giving, gift-budgeting, mental accounting

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Authors: James Boylan, Denny Meyer, Won Sun Chen

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Background: Globally, there is an increasing trend of road traffic deaths, reaching 1.35 million in 2016 in comparison to 1.3 million a decade ago, and overall, road traffic injuries are ranked as the eighth leading cause of death for all age groups. The reported death rate for younger drivers aged 16-19 years is almost twice the rate reported for older drivers aged 25 and above, with a rate of 3.5 road traffic fatalities per annum for every 10,000 licenses held. Telematics refers to a system with the ability to capture real-time data about vehicle usage. The data collected from telematics can be used to better assess a driver's risk. It is typically used to measure acceleration, turn, braking, and speed, as well as to provide locational information. With the Australian government creating the National Telematics Framework, there has been an increase in the government's focus on using telematics data to improve road safety outcomes. The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that improvements in telematics measured driving behaviour to relate to improvements in road safety attitudes measured by the Driving Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ). Methodology: 28 participants were recruited and given a telematics device to insert into their vehicles for the duration of the study. The participant's driving behaviour over the course of the first month will be compared to their driving behaviour in the second month to determine whether feedback from telematics devices improves driving behaviour. Participants completed the DBQ, evaluated using a 6-point Likert scale (0 = never, 5 = nearly all the time) at the beginning, after the first month, and after the second month of the study. This is a well-established instrument used worldwide. Trends in the telematics data will be captured and correlated with the changes in the DBQ using regression models in SAS. Results: The DBQ has provided a reliable measure (alpha = .823) of driving behaviour based on a sample of 23 participants, with an average of 50.5 and a standard deviation of 11.36, and a range of 29 to 76, with higher scores, indicating worse driving behaviours. This initial sample is well stratified in terms of gender and age (range 19-27). It is expected that in the next six weeks, a larger sample of around 40 will have completed the DBQ after experiencing in-vehicle telematics for 30 days, allowing a comparison with baseline levels. The trends in the telematics data over the first 30 days will be compared with the changes observed in the DBQ. Conclusions: It is expected that there will be a significant relationship between the improvements in the DBQ and the trends in reduced telematics measured aggressive driving behaviours supporting the hypothesis.

Keywords: telematics, driving behavior, young drivers, driving behaviour questionnaire

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Authors: Yazdani Saeed, Rafiei Hamed, Nekoofar Farahnaz

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Governments Policies play a major role in national and international Markets. Pistachio is one of the most important non-oil export commodity of Iran. Therefore, in this study the relation between the producer support policies and the export of Pistachio was examined. An econometric model (VAR) was applied to test the study hypothesis. According to the estimated coefficient in VAR model, lag of producer support index has a significant and negative effect on variation of Pistachio’s export in short term. In other word, in short term, export advantage index is dependent on the amount of producers support in previous period.

Keywords: producer support, export advantage, pistachio, Iran

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Authors: Tatjana Kochetkova

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This paper explores the pivotal role of environmental education, specifically outdoor education, in facilitating a psychological connection to nature among young adults. This research aims to contribute to building an empirical and conceptual basis of ecopsychology by providing a picture of psyche-nature interaction. It presents the results of the four-day connection-to-nature workshop. It intends to find out the effects of the awareness of nature on subjective well-being and perception of the meaning of life. This led to finding a battery-recharging effect of nature and the influence of nature at four levels of awareness: external physical perception, internal (bodily) sensation, emotions, and existential meaning. The research on the psychological bond of humans with the natural environment, the subject of ecopsychology, is still in its infancy. However, despite several courageous and fruitful attempts, there are still no direct answers to the fundamental questions about the way in which the natural environment influences humans and the specific role of nature in the human psyche. The urge to address this question was the primary reason for the current experiment. The methodology of this study was taken from the study of Patterson, and from White and Hendee. The methodology included a series of assignments on the perception of nature (the exercises are described in the attachment). Experiences were noted in a personal diary, which we used later for analysis. There are many trustworthy claims that contact with nature has positive effects on human subjective well-being and that it is of essential psychological and spiritual value. But, there is a need for more support and theoretical explanation for this phenomenon. As a contribution to filling these gaps, this qualitative study was conducted. The aim of this study is to explore the psychological effects of short-term awareness of wilderness on one’s subjective well-being and on one’s sense of the meaning of life. This specific study is based on the more general hypothesis that there are positive relationships between the experience of wilderness and the development of the self, feelings of community, and spiritual development. It restricted the study of the psychological effects of short term stay in nature to two variables (subjective well-being and the sense of meaning of life). The study aimed at (i) testing the hypothesis that there are positive effects of the awareness of wilderness on the subjective sense of well-being and meaning in life, (ii) understanding the nature of the psychological need for wilderness. Although there is a substantial amount of data on the psychological benefits of nature, we still lack a theory that explains the findings. The present research aims to contribute to such a theory. This is an experiment aimed specifically at the effects of nature on the sense of well-being and meaning in life.

Keywords: environmental education, psychological connection to nature, subjective well-being, symbolic meaning of nature, emotional reaction to nature, meaning of life

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