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This study analyzes trends in analyst forecast properties from 1987 through 1998 in the United States and seven Pacific Rim countries: Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand. Analyst forecast properties in the United States have become less dispersed, more accurate, and less optimistic during the sample period. Similar trends exist in Australia and New Zealand, but not in the other sample countries. In contrast, the forecast property trends of most Asian countries are the exact opposite. For example, in Japan and Korea, forecast dispersion, forecast error, and optimism all significantly increase over the sample period. The results suggest that Asian firms do not play the U.S.‐style earnings game in which managers guide analysts toward a certain target number and then report earnings that beat the target.

This study aims to explore the relation among US audit partners’ characteristics, their career advancement and audit quality.

This study uses data from Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Form AP, Auditor Reporting of Certain Audit Participants, and publicly available online data sources. The hand-collected data on audit partners’ personal characteristics include gender, work experience and educational background. The measures for audit quality include restatements and audit fees.

The authors find that audit partner characteristics matter for the time it takes an individual to reach partnership after completing a bachelor’s degree. There are significant differences in work experience and educational background between partners in the largest (Big N) audit firms and smaller (non-Big N) audit firms. Audit partner traits are related to audit quality, and the effects differ between Big N and non-Big N partners.

The literature has examined audit partners’ career paths using international data. However, little empirical academic research has examined the career advancement of US audit partners. This study provides initial insights on the career advancement of US partners on a large scale and complements the recent research that examines audit partner characteristics and audit quality in the US market.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

The purpose of this paper is to examine changes in manufacturing agglomeration in a small open economy over the last decade. This is done during a time when manufacturing in most developed countries is in relative decline.

This work adapts the methodology developed by De Propris to measure the relative level of manufacturing agglomeration across space and time. It combines different measures utilising the location quotient technique, thereby allowing the relative strengths of manufacturing in different areas to be compared with the national (UK) level. The work goes further by also calculating the EG index to compare the levels of concentration and specialisation.

This research shows that manufacturing agglomeration has increased in Wales at a time when manufacturing employment is decreasing. Concentration and specialisation have continued to increase across the last decade despite manufacturing's steady decline.

This work details for the first time the relative intensity of agglomeration across space and time in a small open economy. This is often neglected in other economic “cluster” work but may be key to understanding economic development in the twenty‐first century.

“Unplanned city” (and its relation “unchecked growth”) is the way many people describe cities of which they disapprove. They usually mean too little top-down planning, assuming that this is the only planning possible. But Stephen Davies, describing urbanization in England, shows that this was not always so. He notes that,[t]he years between 1740 and 1850 therefore saw an unprecedented amount of urban growth. Cities and towns of all kinds and sizes grew more rapidly and on a greater scale than ever before in history. The rapidly increasing population was drawn into the towns in ever larger numbers with the rise of industry, creating an enormous demand for housing and the urban fabric in general. This was the kind of situation that, when its like happens today, is regularly described in terms of “crisis” or even “catastrophe”. And yet the challenge was largely met. Housing and other facilities were built and provided. The towns of Britain grew to meet the new demands of a growing population and a transformed economy. There were no great shantytowns around growing cities such as Manchester and Birmingham. Instead a tidal wave of brick and stone swept over fields, turning them into new urban areas. Moreover, the period also saw the creation of great architectural achievements of lasting value in both the great cities and the new towns …. The elegance of Bath and Cheltenham, the West End of London and Bloomsbury, the New Town in Edinburgh, and the centers of Glasgow and Newcastle-upon-Tyne – all were built in this period. As this was the first instance of such wide-spread urbanization our understanding of its nature is crucial for our thinking about the process of urbanization in general, whether historically or today. In particular this instance raises the question of how urbanization can happen in the absence of an apparatus of planning and controls, by voluntary means, and what the results of this may be. (Davies, 2002, p. 19)

There has been in recent years a surge of interest about new software products that make it possible for libraries to offer assistance to online users via chat. Such software offers far more interactivity than instant messaging programs and allow for a richer experience for both librarian and user. Surveys chat reference services around the globe and analyzes trends in the provision of this new mode of assistance. Also presents discussion of why chat reference service is gathering attention as well as its limitations and drawbacks.

School-based nutrition education programmes have the potential to reinforce healthy dietary behaviours in adolescents. The purpose of this paper is to understand the views of secondary school students in Kolkata, India, regarding the food and nutrition curriculum, food skill acquisition at school and home and barriers to learning food skills.

The sample of 1,026 year nine students was drawn from nine private, English-speaking secondary schools in Kolkata, India to participate in a cross-sectional, self-reported paper-based survey. Data analyses including descriptive statistics and χ² analyses were performed.

The majority of the respondents (65.3 per cent) were female. Biology, Home Science and Life skills classes were the main places in which students acquired food and nutrition knowledge. Almost two-thirds of the respondents acknowledged the importance of acquiring food-related knowledge and skills. Approximately half (48.3 per cent) reported that the food and nutrition curriculum involved excessive memorisation while around the same proportion described the curriculum as interesting (47 per cent) and easy to comprehend (50.3 per cent). However, relatively few students said they enjoyed attending food and nutrition classes (38.7 per cent). Only a minority reported receiving food skills training, i.e. cooking skills (23 per cent), meal planning skills and food purchasing skills (12.3 per cent) at school. Despite some parental support received at home, time constraints (50.5 per cent) and lack of interest (26.3 per cent) were cited as prominent barriers to learning food skills.

These data underscore the need for a skills-focussed food and nutrition curriculum to improve Indian adolescents’ food-related skills, nutritional knowledge and dietary behaviours.

This is the first cross-sectional survey to investigate the delivery of nutrition education and food skills in the Indian school context.

The purpose of this collaborative self-study inquiry was to enhance the professional practice of faculty members through the adoption of lesson study. A seven-member faculty of education self-study group engaged in lesson study in a computer and learning resources for primary/elementary teachers’ course with teacher candidates.

This study focused on providing teacher candidates with increased opportunities for action and expression during in-class instruction. This collaborative lesson study inquiry (Fernandez et al., 2003; Fernandez and Yoshida, 2004; Murata, 2011) involved the four-step process of planning, doing, checking and acting (PDCA) (Cheng, 2019). Several data collection methods were adopted and data sources analyzed.

Challenges the group encountered during the study included ascertaining the goals of lesson study and offering critical feedback to each other. While this made decision-making more intricate and intentional, there was exceptional value in participating in the lesson study process. The results revealed three overarching themes: 1) challenges in classroom observations; 2) hesitation in providing supportive feedback to colleagues and 3) deliberations regarding what constitutes expertise within subject-specific preservice teacher education.

While lesson study has been adopted fairly extensively in K-12 settings, its adoption in postsecondary education is limited (Chenault, 2017). Considering the merits of lesson study for K-12 practitioners, this research investigated the similar advantages that lesson study might have for postsecondary education faculty, students and programs.

Corona viruses have spiked structure and enveloped glycoproteins in their structure, along with specific proteins in membranes. The mode of action of COVID-19 consists of three phases, i.e. viral replication, immune hyperactivity and pulmonary destruction. However, angiotensin-converting enzyme is an essential receptor that causes COVID-19. After infecting any individual, COVID-19 develops in specific pattern with the following stages: replication stage and adaptive immunity stage. After adaptive immunity stage, the clinical symptoms of patient include cough, fever, runny nose, shortness of breath and many more. To cope with this COVID-19, food and nutrition played an important role. The purpose of this review article is to emphasize the significance of food and immunity to reduce COVID-19 attack among susceptibles.

In the present era, corona virus, a member of crown-shaped type, created a pandemic situation around the globe owing to its capability to move from human to animals and vice versa. This virus can transfer its 35% infection to the individuals. Contemporarily, this outbreak was observed in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and affected a huge number of communities by spreading like common flu. However, after investigation, it was revealed that COVID-19 is different from common flu regarding respiratory illness created by this novel coronavirus along with its taxonomy.

Over and above to all the aforementioned food safety concerns, it is suggested to use sufficient supply of green leafy vegetables along with fiber-rich foods such as legumes, beans, whole grains and vegetables. It is further good for health to get all these varieties whole and organic. The individuals should use probiotics (lactobacillus) on daily basis as a source of diary probiotic that can further bind to the virus directly and then can inhibit the viral attachment with body cells; also the probiotics are claimed to enhance the immune system of the body.

In the case of fruits and vegetables purchased, it must be thoroughly washed with water and then disinfected; after pat drying, these fruits and vegetables can be moved to the refrigerator and stored along with other foods. During the outbreak of COVID-19, the partially cooked or ready-to-eat foods should be avoided, especially eggs, meat, meat products, milk and milk-related products. On the other side, nuts should not be consumed; if required, then it must be properly roasted at home before consumption.

The baked product right after coming out of oven is completely safe; however, these are contaminated during handling such as crumb in case of bread and with knives; so in the breakout of any viral attack, the individuals should avoid slicing of the bread. Moreover, it is recommended to place the baked products in personal bags instead of bulk quantity. Before the consumption, the baked products should be toasted, microwaved or heated with the help of pan (traditional) to reduce the amount of viral load.

Dietary supplements are taken by most of the people on daily basis or sporadically especially when they are suffering from inflammation or cold. They have options while selecting these types of supplements such as probiotics, Echinacea, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins D and E, calcium glucosamine, garlic and iron. These supplements are beneficial for the group of population who do not eat diversity of food as sufficient amount of essential nutrients is provided through this pathway.

This work is original in its novelty.