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Audit committee members (ACMs) play a pivotal role in negotiating disputes between management and the external auditor concerning audit adjustments. Research suggests ACMs support the external auditor when audit adjustment conflicts arise. This study investigated the perceived effect of audit quality indicators (AQIs), through the mediating effect of affective reaction, on an ACM's recommendation for proposed audit adjustments. Audit firm tenure was examined as a moderating factor in both the effect of perceived AQIs on ACM's proposed adjustment and the relationship between perceived AQIs and affective reaction. Results suggested affective reactions created from perceptions of AQIs influence an ACM's decision-making. Audit firm tenure was found to moderate the relationship between perceptions of AQIs and affective reaction while not moderating the relationship between perceptions of AQIs and the ACM's proposed adjustment.

Millions of people throughout the world have walking disabilities. Gait training is essential for helping people with locomotor disabilities regain their ability to walk and to improve their quality of life.

This study assesses the viability of a novel gait training device with able-bodied individuals and gauges the alterations that need to be made in the device for conducting trials with patients. It is a preliminary, single-gender, viability study with able-bodied individuals.

Aboutten able-bodied participants (all male, age: 28 ± 4 years old) completed the study. Almost all participants were able to complete the test. Participants undertook the training on the gait training device, and data were collected through subjective questionnaires based on safety, comfort, efficiency and satisfaction.

The device requires additional cushioning and support as disabled patients are heavier than able-bodied individuals. The duration of the trial is kept short and can be prolonged when comfort-related issues are addressed. Gait issues are most observed in the older population. However, the device was primarily tested on a younger population to avoid risks.

The feedback from the participants will be used to make the required design changes for further clinical testing.

Our work aims at developing a low-cost alternative for the expensive robotic gait training devices, as most clinics in the developing world are in need of affordable solutions for treating disabled patients.

The preliminary testing of the gait training device was successful and showed promise for further development of the device for training spinal injury and/or stroke patients.

The purpose of this study is to explore the lived experience of leadership within outpatient physical therapists and to assess if the participants’ lived experience of leadership is congruent with existing leadership theory.

Qualitative, in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight outpatient physical therapists within a single southeastern state of the USA to discuss their lived experience with leadership within their professional roles. The data was analyzed inductively through in vivo coding, second cycle coding and development of themes.

The results of this study produced three themes surrounding the lived experience of leadership by outpatient physical therapists: How they lead, the important skills necessary to lead and the rewards of leadership.

The lived experience of outpatient physical therapists appears to be congruent with transformational leadership theory. Researchers should consider using the transformational leadership theory framework to investigate and assess the effectiveness of leadership within physical therapy.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first time that the perspectives of those living the experience of leadership in physical therapy have been sought out for their perspectives on what leadership is within the field, which has implications for future research, leadership development and assessment of effective leadership.

The effects of integrated reporting quality (IRQ) have been debated in increasing empirical studies. Several IRQ measures, different theoretical approaches and multiple contexts have been adopted and investigated, leading to mixed results. By using the meta-analytic technique, this study aims to contribute to the accounting literature, reconciling the conflicting results on the effects of IRQ and providing objective conclusions to complement narrative literature reviews.

A sample of 45 empirical papers from 2013 to 2022, with 653 effect sizes, was used to assess the effects associated with IRQ. The papers were clustered into five groups (market reaction, financial performance, cost of capital, financial analysts’ properties and managerial decisions) based on the different consequences of IRQ investigated in the primary studies. A random-effects meta-regression model was used to explore all sources of heterogeneity together.

The meta-regression results confirm that IRQ positively influences firms’ market valuation and financial performance and hampers opportunistic managerial behaviour by improving corporate transparency, mitigating information asymmetry and encouraging accountability. Moreover, differences in the study characteristics affect the strength of the relationship object of interest.

Through meta-analysis, this study provides a broader overview of the effects of IRQ by enhancing the generalisability of the findings. The results also pave the way for additional evidence on the outcome variables affected by the quality of integrated disclosure.

This chapter explores the critical role of sport in achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within the South Pacific context, focusing particularly on socio-economic and environmental challenges, with an emphasis on climate change action. We explored how sports, and education through sports, can contribute to climate action in Vanuatu and other Pacific Islands. Vanuatu serves as a case due to its shared vulnerabilities with many Pacific Islands, such as a small economy heavily dependent on climate-sensitive sectors like tourism and agriculture, reliance on natural resources for livelihoods, a young population and substantial foreign aid dependence. Additionally, Vanuatu has well established and accessible policies on sports, sustainable development, climate action and youth engagement. Given its climate vulnerability, Vanuatu places significant emphasis on sustainable development practices and policies. We examined the alignment between Vanuatu's sport policies and SDGs-related policies, underlining the necessity for policy coherence to harness sports as a force for sustainable development. This chapter serves as a valuable resource for scholars, policymakers and practitioners interested in the dynamic relationship between sport and the SDGs in the Pacific Islands, offering valuable insights and recommendations for harnessing sports as a tool for promoting sustainable development in this region.

The current research delves into how different cues in messages (such as argument quality, usefulness and informativeness) and cues related to the source (such as credibility and expertise) contribute to the perceived credibility of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). The investigation also explores whether source cues influence the overall impact of message cues.

This study synthesizes findings from 100 previous empirical works through the application of meta-analysis.

The outcomes affirm the presence of both systematic and heuristic processing, the additive effects of both message and source cues and the bias effects of source cues. Moreover, the study identifies a connection between eWOM credibility and behavioral intention. Expanding on this, the research discovers that users’ tendency to avoid uncertainty moderates the impact of message and source cues on their judgment of eWoM credibility.

The research contributes to the eWOM literature by providing a heuristic-systematic model of eWoM credibility judgments. It provides new insights for online sellers, who can benefit from eWoM by fostering potential buyers' behavioral intention to purchase.

Loneliness and social isolation are risk factors for morbidity and mortality and a growing health concern. Peer support is an intervention that has shown efficacy in the wider health-care arena. However, little is known about its effectiveness when working with adults and adolescents experiencing these issues. The purpose of this study is to conduct a scoping review on loneliness and social isolation in adult and youth populations.

A preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses extension for scoping reviews was conducted. Five databases, Web of Science, Academic Search Complete, Embase, PsycINFO and Scopus were searched for peer-reviewed literature published in English from inception to 2023.

The search yielded 2,402 articles of which (N = 12) met the inclusion criteria for this review. Peer support interventions for loneliness and social isolation are a relatively new topic of interest for academics. However, it is apparent that loneliness and social isolation cut across populations experiencing various health and social issues. More experiential research is needed to evidence the effectiveness of peer support in these areas with both adults and adolescents. Emerging areas of interest include the use of technology to deliver interventions and the use of technology to facilitate peer support implementation with populations difficult to reach.

Peer support may be a promising social intervention to help those experiencing loneliness and social isolation associated with a range of health conditions. However, further research needs to be undertaken in this emerging area of practice.

Loneliness and social isolation are of increasing concern. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first scoping review conducted in this area

Adopting and implementing robotic technology applications in the library is a significant technological up-gradation today. The purpose of this study was to evaluate selected literature focused mainly on robotics technology applications in the field of libraries and to assess the online social attention to research publications.

The study employed Scientometric and altmetric tools to evaluate the research publications. The bibliographic data of research publications were downloaded from Scopus database and scrutinized one by one and 71 articles were selected which mainly focused on robotic technology in libraries. Altmetric data were collected from the Dimensions.ai database. The analysis was performed using MS Excel, Tableau, Biblioshiny, VOSviewer and SPSS software.

Research on robotic technology in the field of libraries has been experiencing a gradual increase, marked by an annual growth rate of 12.93%. The United States has prominently led the way as the most active participant and collaborator in this advancement. Among the various journals, Library Hi Tech has notably stood out as a significant contributor to this field. However, the research articles have garnered limited social attention and impact. Furthermore, the patterns of authorship collaboration have demonstrated relatively modest levels within the field, and a weak correlation has been observed between the social attention received and the Scopus citation metrics of the publications.

The research needs to be disseminated more through various social media platforms to increase its visibility. Sharing research information through social media can bridge the gap between academia and society. The findings of this study can serve as a valuable reference for researchers and policymakers.

This study presents a Scientometric analysis of the selected published literature on robotics technology applications in the field of libraries, highlighting the progress and development of worldwide research in this area.

This paper aims to investigate the direct and combined impacts of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and conservative orientation (CO) on perceived business performance (PBP) of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) under strategic-hybrid orientation (SHO) theory.

The data collected from the SABI NEO international database has 90 companies in 13 medium-to-high and high-tech activity sectors. The authors used partial least squares structural equation modelling to test the research model.

Business strategies match a SHO that includes both orientations, i.e. EO and CO. Moreover, as expected, the authors found evidence that each orientation produces performance-related sign-opposite significant impacts. Finally, the hypothesis regarding the positive synergistic effect of both orientations (EO and CO) on PBP was also supported.

One stems from the study’s cross-sectional nature, requiring a longitudinal approach. Another one resides in the absence of further examinations concerning multigroup analysis. Another restraint is the limitedness of data, focused on firms with med/high-tech intensity. For last, while the use of results in the initial stages of theory development can be beneficial, it is important to note that such results cannot be simply extrapolated or generalized to other industrial sectors without careful consideration of the contextual factors at play.

This study humbly endeavours to contribute to the finality of SMEs’ more steady and prosperous existence concerning the consciousness of the need to improve labour stability and wage fairness, conditions such as requiring a continuous commitment.

In this study, the authors aimed to investigate the impact of SHO on SMEs’ PBP. To this end, the authors simultaneously used two different strategic orientations (SOs): EO, which is widely studied in the literature, and CO, which has been less researched. The authors also examined their synergistic effects on PBP. The authors’ approach is based on Venkatraman’s strategic orientation of business enterprises model and the comparative paradigm of SOs.

Magnetic polarizability tensors (MPTs) provide an economical characterisation of conducting magnetic metallic objects and their spectral signature can aid in the solution of metal detection inverse problems, such as scrap metal sorting, searching for unexploded ordnance in areas of former conflict and security screening at event venues and transport hubs. In this work, the authors aim to discuss methods for efficiently building large dictionaries for classification approaches.

Previous work has established explicit formulae for MPT coefficients, underpinned by a rigorous mathematical theory. To assist with the efficient computation of MPTs at differing parameters and objects of interest, this work applies new observations about the way the MPT coefficients can be computed. Furthermore, the authors discuss discretisation strategies for hp-finite elements on meshes of unstructured tetrahedra combined with prismatic boundary layer elements for resolving thin skin depths and using an adaptive proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) reduced-order modelling methodology to accelerate computations for varying parameters.

The success of the proposed methodologies is demonstrated using a series of examples. A significant reduction in computational effort is observed across all examples. The authors identify and recommend a simple discretisation strategy and improved accuracy is obtained using adaptive POD.

The authors present novel computations, timings and error certificates of MPT characterisations of realistic objects made of magnetic materials. A novel postprocessing implementation is introduced and an adaptive POD algorithm is demonstrated.