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There are a lack of quantitative measures for clinically assessing upper limb function. Conventional biomechanical performance measures are restricted to specialist labs due to hardware cost and complexity, while the resulting measurements require specialists for analysis. Depth cameras are low cost and portable systems that can track surrogate joint positions. However, these motions may not be biologically consistent, which can result in noisy, inaccurate movements. This paper introduces a rigid body modelling method to enforce biological feasibility of the recovered motions. This method is evaluated on an existing depth camera assessment: the reachable workspace (RW) measure for assessing gross shoulder function. As a rigid body model is used, position estimates of new proximal targets can be added, resulting in a proximal function (PF) measure for assessing a subject's ability to touch specific body landmarks. The accuracy, and repeatability of these measures is assessed on ten asymptomatic subjects, with and without rigid body constraints. This analysis is performed both on a low-cost depth camera system and a gold-standard active motion capture system. The addition of rigid body constraints was found to improve accuracy and concordance of the depth camera system, particularly in lateral reaching movements. Both RW and PF measures were found to be feasible candidates for clinical assessment, with future analysis needed to determine their ability to detect changes within specific patient populations.

In this paper, we report on the analysis of data collected from 684 students majoring in Accounting and Finance, to examine the relationship between academic outcomes and Work-integrated Education (WIE) and International Study Exchange (ISE) experiences. Both WIE and ISE are common elements of undergraduate business education because of the benefits to students' skills development they provide, particularly in the areas of graduate attribute development. This study examined the relationship between the change in students' academic performance and the amount and type of WIE a student undertook and whether or not they participated in an ISE. Findings showed that both completing a higher amount of WIE and undertaking an ISE are positive predictors of change in a student's grade point average. In addition, students who undertook industry-relevant WIE or WIE sourced by the school had higher grades on graduation. As well as benefits to overall academic achievement, the results showed that students who participated in ISE had significantly higher grades in the final year, major project, as well as a higher grade on graduation. Furthermore, undertaking an ISE and also doing extra WIE had the greatest effect on change in GPA. These findings strongly suggest that relevant WIE and ISE experiences are valuable for helping students be academically more successful when they return to study at their home institution.

The international business education literature suggests that a global mindset can be acquired and benefit students to embrace new ideas and improve their critical thinking. Using a sample of 1,448 undergraduate students in Corporate Finance, International Finance, and Business Law subjects during 2013-2015, our results indicate that students with better academic performance in the subject Global Economic Environment achieve a better learning outcome in advanced functional business subjects. However, students with a better global mindset do not benefit as much from the Classroom Response Systems (CRSs) as the weaker students do.

This paper shows that brand reputation alone may not be sufficient to help firms successfully issue green bonds and that they may need superior corporate social responsibility performance in the form of high ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) scores to unlock the full potential of their brand reputation. Using a sample of 338 international green bond issues across 108 unique firms, we found significant positive effects of ESG disclosure score and its interaction brand reputation on the issuance of green bonds while controlling for other variables, such as fixed effects of industry, region, and time. We also show that it is the S (Social) component of ESG and the interactions of its E (Environmental) and G (Governance) components with brand reputation which drive successful green bond issuance. Besides extending the current research on the impact of brand reputation and ESG on green bonds, these results also have important managerial implications for analysts, fund managers, and firms planning to raise green capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study on ranking of accounting research output in Europe using a set of 19 leading accounting journals from 1991-2002 is presented.

In vivo rodent tail models are becoming more widely used for exploring the role of mechanical loading on the initiation and progression of intervertebral disc degeneration. Historically, finite element models (FEMs) have been useful for predicting disc mechanics in humans. However, differences in geometry and tissue properties may limit the predictive utility of these models for rodent discs. Clearly, models that are specific for rodent tail discs and accurately simulate the disc's transient mechanical behavior would serve as important tools for clarifying disc mechanics in these animal models. An FEM was developed based on the structure, geometry, and scale of the mouse tail disc. Importantly, two sources of time-dependent mechanical behavior were incorporated: viscoelasticity of the matrix, and fluid permeation. In addition, a novel strain-dependent swelling pressure was implemented through the introduction of a dilatational stress in nuclear elements. The model was then validated against data from quasi-static tension-compression and compressive creep experiments performed previously using mouse tail discs. Finally, sensitivity analyses were performed in which material parameters of each disc subregion were individually varied. During disc compression, matrix consolidation was observed to occur preferentially at the periphery of the nucleus pulposus. Sensitivity analyses revealed that disc mechanics was greatly influenced by changes in nucleus pulposus material properties, but rather insensitive to variations in any of the endplate properties. Moreover, three key features of the model--nuclear swelling pressure, lamellar collagen viscoelasticity, and interstitial fluid permeation--were found to be critical for accurate simulation of disc mechanics. In particular, collagen viscoelasticity dominated the transient behavior of the disc during the initial 2200 s of creep loading, while fluid permeation governed disc deformation thereafter. The FEM developed in this study exhibited excellent agreement with transient creep behavior of intact mouse tail motion segments. Notably, the model was able to produce spatial variations in nucleus pulposus matrix consolidation that are consistent with previous observations in nuclear cell morphology made in mouse discs using confocal microscopy. Results of this study emphasize the need for including nucleus swelling pressure, collagen viscoelasticity, and fluid permeation when simulating transient changes in matrix and fluid stress/strain. Sensitivity analyses suggest that further characterization of nucleus pulposus material properties should be pursued, due to its significance in steady-state and transient disc mechanical response.

The impact of China Securities Regulatory Commission's financial disclosure regulations on stock prices is examined.

ABSTRACT The objective of this study is to examine the performance and investment strategies of the US managed foreign equity mutual funds during the Asian Financial Crisis period. Our findings [...]