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Although Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) has long focused on incorporating writing and related literacy activities into STEM education, the extent to which these pedagogies are widely used in STEM teaching remains unclear, as does their impact on student course performance, especially for underrepresented and marginalized student groups. Using a sample of 18 STEM courses at a private liberal arts university, this study uses unique empirical methods to reconsider, for STEM disciplines, Russell's (1990) claim that WAC has failed to make a "permanent impact" on higher education by a) using photography to document classroom activities in real time and b) using machine learning to categorize these images to determine which learning activities are used in STEM instruction and in what proportions. We find that (a) lecture continues to dominate in STEM education and that (b) some active learning pedagogies (discussion and group work) have ambivalent relationships to course performance (which differ according to student subgroups defined by gender, race, national origin, and other factors) while WAC pedagogies like reading and writing, although rare, are associated with improved student course performance. In light of these findings, we suggest implications for STEM pedagogy, best practices, and future research to prioritize equitably designed pedagogy in STEM.

Vaccination is the primary strategy to prevent COVID-19 illness and hospitalization. However, supplies are scarce and due to the regional mutations of the virus, new vaccines or booster shots will need to be administered potentially regularly. Hence, the prediction of the rate of growth of COVID-19 cases is paramount to ensuring the ample supply of vaccines as well as for local, state, and federal government measures to ensure the availability of hospital beds, supplies, and staff. eVision is an epidemic forecaster aimed at combining Machine Learning (ML) - in the form of a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) Recursive Neural Network (RNN) - and search engine statistics, in order to make accurate predictions about the weekly number of cases for highly communicable diseases. By providing eVision with the relative popularity of carefully selected keywords searched via Google along with the number of positive cases reported from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and/or the World Health Organization (WHO) the model can make highly accurate predictions about the trend of the outbreak by learning the relationship between the two trends. Thus, in order to predict the trend of the outbreak in a specific region, eVision is provided with a weekly count of the number of COVID-19 cases in a region along with statistics surrounding common symptom search phrases such as “loss of smell” and “loss of taste” that have been searched on Google in that region since the start of the pandemic. eVision has, for instance, been able to achieve an accuracy of %89 for predicting the trend of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify what Colombians perceive as effective and least effective/ineffective managerial behavior. Design/methodology/approach: This study was conducted following a qualitative methodology based on the philosophical assumptions of pragmatism and the "pragmatic approach" (Morgan, 2007). The critical incident technique was used to generate data from a purposive sample of 27 managers and non-managerial employees located in Medellin and Bogota, Colombia. Findings: The results of this study suggest that effective managers in Colombia are those who are supportive, caring, considerate, participative, understanding, communicative and flexible, and are also good problem solvers. Research limitations/implications: This study focused on the perceptions of Colombian managers and non-managerial employees only. Therefore, the description of effective and least effective/ineffective managers in Colombia could be highly value-laden from the national cultural perspective. Hence, it is recommended that further research should be carried out to explore the perceptions of international managers who have frequently interacted or worked with Colombian managers. Originality/value: The results of this study have practical implications for Colombian managers and international managers who manage the Colombian workforce. For Colombian managers, this study provides insight into what is considered effective or least effective/ineffective managerial and leadership behavior. The findings provide useful information on foreign multinational corporations (MNCs) that have operations in Colombia. MNCs can use the results of this study to create effective management development models for their expatriates in Colombia.

The increasing importance of global virtual teams in business is reflected in the classroom by the increased adoption of activities that facilitate real-time cross-cultural interaction. This article documents the experience of students from two Colombian universities who participated in a collaborative international project using virtual teams as part of the international business (IB) curriculum. The data reveals that in spite of challenges associated with time zone differences, technology limitations, and trust issues, the vast majority of students perceived that the use of virtual teams as a teaching tool facilitates cultural understanding and IB-relevant learning. The findings of this research suggest that online experiential exercises can be an effective approach in teaching and in the development of virtual collaboration skills.

INTRODUCTION: The study of how classroom layout and activities affect learning outcomes of students with different demographics is difficult because it is hard to gather accurate information on the minute by minute progression of every class in a course. Furthermore, the process of data gathering must produce an abundance of data to work with and hence must be automated. OBJECTIVES: A machine learning model trained on images of a classroom and thus capable of accurately labeling the classroom layout and activity of many thousands of images much faster and cheaper than employing a human. METHODS: Transfer learning can allow for preexisting computer vision models to be retrained on a smaller, more specific dataset in order to still achieve a highly accurate result. RESULTS: In the case of the classroom layout, the final model achieved an accuracy of 97% on a four category classification. And for detecting the classroom activity, after experimentation with several different versions that could work on a very small sample sizes, the best model achieved an accuracy of 86.17%. CONCLUSION: In addition to showing that using computer vision to determine human activities is possible albeit more difficult than layouts of inanimate objects such as classroom desks, the study shows the differences between the use of self-supervised learning techniques and data augmentation techniques in order to overcome the problem of small training data-sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) has long focused on incorporating writing and related literacy activities into STEM education, the extent to which these pedagogies are widely used in STEM teaching remains unclear, as does their impact on student course performance, especially for underrepresented and marginalized student groups. Using a sample of 18 STEM courses at a private liberal arts university, this study uses unique empirical methods to reconsider, for STEM disciplines, Russell’s (1990) claim that WAC has failed to make a “permanent impact” on higher education by a) using photography to document classroom activities in real time and b) using machine learning to categorize these images to determine which learning activities are used in STEM instruction and in what proportions. We find that (a) lecture continues to dominate in STEM education and that (b) some active learning pedagogies (discussion and group work) have ambivalent relationships to course performance (which differ according to student subgroups defined by gender, race, national origin, and other factors) while WAC pedagogies like reading and writing, although rare, are associated with improved student course performance. In light of these findings, we suggest implications for STEM pedagogy, best practices, and future research to prioritize equitably designed pedagogy in STEM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Culturally bound communication styles affect the length of verbal and written messages. Legal contracts are no exception. This paper aims to explore the relationship between cultural communication style and the level of written detail in international joint venture (IJV) contracts. Using a database of actual IJV contracts, we empirically test the relationship between the parties' cultural communication styles, cultural distance, and the textual length of contracts. We apply Edward T. Hall's high- and low-context communication construct and find that contracts are longer when made between parties of low- and high-context cultures and shorter when both parties come from high-context cultures relative to when both parties are low context. Additionally, we find that the higher the cultural distance in terms of individualism versus collectivism between partners, the shorter the text of the contracts. The results highlight the influence of culture on contract text length and, as such, on contract negotiation and design costs. This article contributes to the culture and strategic alliance literature by going beyond the assumption that low-context culture contracts are longer and high-context culture contracts shorter by testing it empirically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many regions are either without technology clusters or in early stages of their development. This paper uses a micro-foundations perspective to understand the potential for technology development, new venture creation and market creation to occur in these regions. The study surveys people from two city-regions in the Global South — Medellin, Colombia, and Johannesburg, South Africa. The results show that in these two cities that have developed different reputations for innovation, different micro-foundation profiles are present. General support is found for our hypothesis that regional micro-foundations may drive the progress toward technology cluster formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural intelligence (CQ) has been regarded as a key factor in international business success. A recently validated scale, the Business Cultural Intelligence Quotient (BCIQ), refines the CQ concept by applying it exclusively to the business context. The BCIQ aims at predicting long-term cross-cultural success using a combination of CQ factors, cognitive features, and measurable independent variables (Alon et al., 2016b). Using the multigroup exploratory factor analysis approach, we found low measurement invariance for the (BCIQ) instrument across eight countries (Austria, Chile, Colombia, Greece, Philippines, Poland, Spain, and Venezuela). Global knowledge was included as a covariate in the invariance test. We found that type of performance is related to some BCIQ dimensions in our multicountry sample of professionals. Our results provide additional evidence about the construct validity of the BCIQ and its appropriateness for cross-cultural applications. By knowing that the BCIQ is a reliable cross-cultural instrument for the measurement of CQ applied to the business context, managers can benefit by identifying the right individuals for international business assignments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Caregiving itself does not lead to adverse psychological outcomes, burden, stigma, and/or quality of life reduction but socioeconomic factors have been hypothesized as risk factors among dementia caregivers. We aimed to analyze the associations between socioeconomic factors and type of dementia as potential predictors of family stigma, Quality of life (QoL.), depressive symptoms, anxiety, and caregiver burden Method: We assessed 151 family caregivers distributed as early‐onset Alzheimer disease group (EOAD), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and late‐onset dementia group (LOAD) for comparative means. Participants underwent questionnaires about family stigma, caregiver burden, depression, anxiety, QoL., and a questionnaire to explore socioeconomic factors. We performed a multivariable regression model with socioeconomic factors and the group as predictors. We included age, education, patient's clinical‐stage, and behavioral changes as covariates. Result: Being a caregiver of an FTD patient reduced physical functioning (β=‐13,5 p=0,018), working part‐time increased physical functioning (β=22,1 p=0,032) while working from home increased general health (β=22,4 p=0,028). The perception of living in a safe neighborhood reduced role limitation due to emotional problems (β=46,2 p=0,013). The perception of financial problems related to patients' care or disease cost increased the role limitation due to emotional problems (β=‐29,8 p=0,007). The caregiver burden increased together with the perception of financial problems related to patient's care or disease cost (β=13,9 p<0,001) and was mediated by patient's behavioral changes (β=0,47 p<0,001). Family stigma is increased by the perception of financial problems related to patient's care or disease cost (β=0,31 p=0,013) and was mediated by the caregiver's education (β=0,04 p=0,026) and patient's behavioral changes (β=0,10 p=0,001). Depression increased by the perception of financial problems related to patient's care or disease cost (β=2,01 p=0,033) and the mediation of patient's behavioral changes (β=0,06 p=0,015). Conclusion: Socioeconomic factors can predict disturbances in QoL. among dementia caregivers. Education, being an FTD caregiver, and patient's behavioral changes mediated among socioeconomic factors and negative psychological outcomes. When a caregiver may have low education and is caring for a patient with FTD and/or behavioral problems the risk of negative outcomes and family stigma increases significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The connection between interpersonal relationships and business practices is currently an object of study in the field of international business. The authors have identified a significant body of research literature characterizing this phenomenon in China, where it is denominated as guanxi, as well as a recent interest of the academy in studying the Arab wasta (i.e., clout or influence). The authors argue that a similar phenomenon occurs in Latin America and identify patterns similar to those of guanxi and wasta in a cultural artifact called compadrazgo . The article offers insight for managers and individuals interested in doing business in Latin America. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this study was to identify what Colombians perceive as effective and least effective/ineffective managerial behavior. Design/methodology/approach - This study was conducted following a qualitative methodology based on the philosophical assumptions of pragmatism and the "pragmatic approach" (Morgan, 2007). The critical incident technique was used to generate data from a purposive sample of 27 managers and non-managerial employees located in Medellin and Bogota, Colombia. Findings - The results of this study suggest that effective managers in Colombia are those who are supportive, caring, considerate, participative, understanding, communicative and flexible, and are also good problem solvers. Research limitations/implications - This study focused on the perceptions of Colombian managers and non-managerial employees only. Therefore, the description of effective and least effective/ineffective managers in Colombia could be highly value-laden from the national cultural perspective. Hence, it is recommended that further research should be carried out to explore the perceptions of international managers who have frequently interacted or worked with Colombian managers. Originality/value - The results of this study have practical implications for Colombian managers and international managers who manage the Colombian workforce. For Colombian managers, this study provides insight into what is considered effective or least effective/ineffective managerial and leadership behavior. The findings provide useful information on foreign multinational corporations (MNCs) that have operations in Colombia. MNCs can use the results of this study to create effective management development models for their expatriates in Colombia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing importance of global virtual teams in business is reflected in the classroom by the increased adoption of activities that facilitate real-time cross-cultural interaction. This article documents the experience of students from two Colombian universities who participated in a collaborative international project using virtual teams as part of the international business (IB) curriculum. The data reveals that in spite of challenges associated with time zone differences, technology limitations, and trust issues, the vast majority of students perceived that the use of virtual teams as a teaching tool facilitates cultural understanding and IB-relevant learning. The findings of this research suggest that online experiential exercises can be an effective approach in teaching and in the development of virtual collaboration skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine entrepreneurial ventures in a post-conflict context to identify practices that are helpful for companies operating in conflict zones while contributing to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 16 (SDG 16)—Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. Using emancipatory entrepreneuring as our theoretical lens, we analyze entrepreneurial ventures where ex-combatants seek to create economic opportunities and challenge the status quo of violence, poverty, and inequality in their rural communities. We develop four qualitative case studies of ex-combatant entrepreneurship to identify the activities that enable them to grow their businesses while promoting peace. We identify actor distance and entrepreneurial stage as key dimensions for defining a matrix of relationship arrangements that facilitate venture success and peacebuilding efforts. We conclude with a summary of our contributions and implications for research and practice. JEL Classifications : D63, D74, H56, L14, L26 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the intraplatelet cyclic guanosine-3′,5′-monophosphate(cGMP) levels during normal pregnancy and preeclampsia. STUDY DESIGN: Pregnant women(n = 15), women with preeclampsia(n = 15), and nonpregnant, normotensive women(n = 15) were included. Intraplatelet cyclic guanosine-3′,5′-monophosphate levels were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Intraplatelet cGMP levels were significantly different among all groups(p < 0.02). The values were higher in normal pregnant women(mean 19.8 SD 2.6 fmol/105 platelets) in comparison to nonpregnant women(mean 7.6 SD 0.3 fmol/105 platelets; p = 0.001) and women with preeclampsia(mean 11.3 SD 1.8 fmol/105 platelets; p = 0.05). Plasma nitric oxide levels did not reveal differences between all groups. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study in a high-risk Andean population demonstrated that intraplatelet cyclic guanosine-3′,5′-monophosphate levels are decreased during preeclampsia compared to normal pregnancy, suggesting a lack in action of nitric oxide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Muscle and joint aches (MJA) are frequently observed among menopausal women. They impair quality of life and are a burden to the healthcare system. Objective: To analyze the relation between MJA and several variables related to the menopause. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 8373 healthy women aged 40–59 years, accompanying patients to healthcare centers in 18 cities of 12 Latin American countries, were asked to fill out the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) and a questionnaire containing personal data. Results: Mean age of the whole sample was 49.1±5.7 years, 48.6% were postmenopausal and 14.7% used hormone therapy (HT). A 63.0% of them presented MJA, with a 15.6% being scored as severe to very severe according to the MRS (scores 3 or 4). Logistic regression model determined that vasomotor symptoms (OR: 6.16; 95% CI, 5.25–7.24), premature menopause (OR: 1.58; 95% CI, 1.02–2.45), postmenopausal status (OR: 1.43; 95% CI, 1.20–1.69), psychiatric consultation (OR: 1.93; 95% CI, 1.60–2.32) and the use of psychotropic drugs (OR: 1.35; 95% CI, 1.08–1.69) were significantly related to the presence of severe-very severe MJA. Other significant variables included: age, tobacco consumption and lower education. Self perception of healthiness (OR: 0.49; 95% CI, 0.41–0.59), private healthcare access (OR: 0.77; 95% CI, 0.67–0.88) and HT use (OR: 0.75; 95% CI, 0.62–0.91) were significantly related to a lower risk for the presence of severe-very severe MJA. Conclusion: In this large mid-aged sample the prevalence of MJA was high, which was significantly associated to menopausal variables, especially vasomotor symptoms. This association may suggest a potential role of mid-life female hormonal changes in the pathogenesis of MJA. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]