To the best of our knowledge, no studies have evaluated the effects of inspiratory muscle training (IMT) on recovered COVID-19 patients after weaning from mechanical ventilation. Therefore, this ...study assessed the efficacy of IMT on recovered COVID-19 patients following mechanical ventilation.
Forty-two recovered COVID-19 patients (33 men and 9 women) weaned from mechanical ventilation with a mean age of 48.05 ± 8.85 years were enrolled in this pilot control clinical study. Twenty-one patients were equipped to 2-week IMT (IMT group) and 21 matched peers were recruited as a control (control group). Forced vital capacity (FVC%), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1%), dyspnea severity index (DSI), quality of life (QOL), and six-minute walk test (6-MWT) were assessed initially before starting the study intervention and immediately after intervention.
Significant interaction effects were observed in the IMT when compared to control group, FVC% (F = 5.31, P = .041, ηP2 = 0.13), FEV1% (F = 4.91, P = .043, ηP2 = 0.12), DSI (F = 4.56, P = .032, ηP2 = 0.15), QOL (F = 6.14, P = .021, ηP2 = 0.17), and 6-MWT (F = 9.34, P = .028, ηP2 = 0.16). Within-group analysis showed a significant improvement in the IMT group (FVC%, P = .047, FEV1%, P = .039, DSI, P = .001, QOL, P < .001, and 6-MWT, P < .001), whereas the control group displayed nonsignificant changes (P > .05).
A 2-week IMT improves pulmonary functions, dyspnea, functional performance, and QOL in recovered intensive care unit (ICU) COVID-19 patients after consecutive weaning from mechanical ventilation. IMT program should be encouraged in the COVID-19 management protocol, specifically with ICU patients.
This study adopts the pre-modern view of risk as losses only and proposes a new definition of corporate risk disclosure. The new definition is used to formulate new risk-related keywords to develop ...the process of measuring the risk disclosure score. The theoretical part of this study reviews the different methods of measuring narrative disclosure in literature, discusses five arguments on why risk should be defined as losses only, and proposes a new definition of risk disclosure. The empirical part conducts two tests on a sample of 150 annual reports of UK firms during 2005–2015, formulates new keywords lists, measures RD score from different perspectives, and run correlation and regression analyses for 328 non-financial FTSE All-Share listed firms during 2005–2016, the effect of RD was examined on cost of debt and market firm value one year ahead. The first empirical test shows that about 94% of risk information in annual reports is talking about risk from a negative perspective and negative outcomes only. The second test shows that 87% of the risk-related sentences in the annual reports discussing risks using negative keywords. The descriptive statistics show that the risk disclosure level is increasing across years during 2005–2015 and the utilities industry reports the highest level. The study concludes that the pre-modern view of risk should be adopted. This study contributes to the ongoing debate on the risk definition and whether the positive outcomes of events should be included in the risk disclosure definition. Moreover, the study proposes a new definition of risk disclosure and provides theoretical and empirical evidence on why the pre-modern view of risk should be adopted. Moreover, new risk-related keywords are used for the first time in the risk disclosure literature.
High concentrations of graphene oxide (GO), a nanoparticle substance with rapid manufacturing development, have the ability to penetrate the soil surface down to the mineral-rich subsurface layers. ...The destiny and distribution of such an unusual sort of nanomaterial in the environment must therefore be fully understood. However, the way the chemistry of solutions impacts GO nanoparticle adsorption on clay minerals is still unclear. Here, the adsorption of GO on clay minerals (e.g., bentonite and kaolinite) was tested under various chemical conditions (e.g., GO concentration, soil pH, and cation valence). Non-linear Langmuir and Freundlich models have been applied to describe the adsorption isotherm by comparing the amount of adsorbed GO nanoparticle to the concentration at the equilibrium of the solution. Our results showed fondness for GO in bentonite and kaolinite under similar conditions, but the GO nanoparticle adsorption with bentonite was superior to kaolinite, mainly due to its higher surface area and surface charge. We also found that increasing the ionic strength and decreasing the pH increased the adsorption of GO nanoparticles to bentonite and kaolinite, mainly due to the interaction between these clay minerals and GO nanoparticles’ surface oxygen functional groups. Experimental data fit well to the non-linear pseudo-second-order kinetic model of Freundlich. The model of the Freundlich isotherm was more fitting at a lower pH and higher ionic strength in the bentonite soil while the lowest R2 value of the Freundlich model was recorded at a higher pH and lower ionic strength in the kaolinite soil. These results improve our understanding of GO behavior in soils by revealing environmental factors influencing GO nanoparticle movement and transmission towards groundwater.
•This study discusses research areas related to the impact of Big Data on accounting practice and theory.•The study presents several potential convergence points between Big Data and different ...accounting techniques and theories.•We argue that there is a lack of empirical research examining the consequences of “Big Data adoption” in accounting and propose several research questions that offer venues for future research.•We present helpful insights to members of the accounting and auditing community on the potential of Big Data.
This study aims to develop accounting standards, curriculums, and research to cope with the rapid development of big data. The study presents several potential convergence points between big data and different accounting techniques and theories. The study discusses how big data can overcome the data limitations of six accounting issues: financial reporting, performance measurement, audit evidence, risk management, corporate budgeting and activity-based techniques. It presents six exciting research questions for future research. Then, the study explains the potential convergence between big data and agency theory, stakeholders theory, and legitimacy theory. This theoretical study develops new convergence points between big data and accounting by reviewing the literature and proposing new ideas and research questions. The conclusion indicates a significant convergence between big data and accounting on the premise that data is the heart of accounting. Big data and advanced analytics have the potential to overcome the data limitations of accounting techniques that require estimations and predictions. A remarkable convergence is argued between big data and three accounting theories. Overall, the study presents helpful insights to members of the accounting and auditing community on the potential of big data.
Abstract
This study examines the influence of risk disclosure (RD) in the annual reports on Firm Value (FV) in the UK context. Furthermore, it addresses the moderating role of the analyst information ...environment in shaping this relation. Our study distinguishes between favourable and unfavourable information and examines whether the different nature of risk information could affect the FV differently. Our study contributes to the existing literature by providing empirical evidence on the value relevance of the narrative risk information. In particular, using a sample of UK listed firms, we find a positive relation between risk information and FV. We also contribute to the dilemma of risk disclosure measurement by using four different RD proxies. Our study has important implications for academics, standard setters, investors and managers.
Abstract
This study argues that different definitions/perceptions of risk information could affect investors' decisions differently. Using a sample of 328 non‐financial UK firms and departing from ...existing literature, this study measures corporate risk disclosure (RD) via computerized content analysis to capture four different perspectives of defining RD. This study investigates (i) the effects of these RD measures on the Cost of Capital (COC), (ii) the influence of analysts' coverage on the relationship between RD and COC, and (iii) whether the RD nature (favourable/unfavourable) might affect COC differently. Lenders and equity holders are found not to consider any risk information expressed as a variation around a target, while only lenders consider risk information that reveals negative outcomes. However, lenders and equity holders consider risk information that expresses negative and positive outcomes together. Besides, firms that disclose extra risk information and have a large analyst following suffer from a higher Cost of Equity (COE) compared with those with fewer analysts following. Additionally, lenders impose a lower interest rate on firms with a higher unfavourable RD, while equity holders ask for lower returns from the firms with a higher favourable RD. The study has significant implications for capital market participants, researchers, and policymakers.
This study examines whether financial reporting with a specific focus on risk disclosures have a predictive (informative) effect on banks' credit ratings (BCRs) and, consequently, ascertains whether ...governance structures can moderate such an association. Using one of the largest bank‐level datasets collected from 12 Middle East and North African (MENA) countries over the 2006–2013 period to‐date, our findings are as follows. First, we find that risk disclosures have a predictive effect on BCRs. Second, we find that the relationship between risk disclosures and BCRs is contingent on the quality of governance structures. Specifically, we find that the informativeness of risk disclosures on BCRs is higher in banks with larger board size, greater independence, higher government ownership, and better Shariah supervisory board, but lower in banks with greater block ownership, higher foreign ownership and the presence of CEO duality. The central tenor of our findings remains unchanged after controlling for a number of firm‐ and country‐level factors, alternative risk disclosure measures, firm‐ and national‐level governance proxies, different types of banks, and potential endogeneities. The findings have important implications for investors, especially bondholders, standard‐setters, regulators, and central governments.
Recent research has found that the cost response to an equivalent activity change is asymmetric. This study systematically reviews 80 research articles published in 36 journals during the last ...27 years (1994–2020). Through three reviews, the study synthesizes, appraises, and extends knowledge on cost stickiness by covering prior studies’ themes, historical development, research impact, theories employed, research country, costs examined, and models used to capture cost stickiness. Despite the evidence on cost stickiness drivers, this study highlights several unexplored determinants that require further research, including culture, idle capacity management, business risks, auditor type, lobbying intensity, and CEO demographic characteristics. As the consequences of cost stickiness are largely unexplored, we call for more research examining its implications at the macro-economic level and for ubiquitous accounting techniques such as CVP analysis, pricing decisions, and cost estimation. Although prior studies have focused on non-financial companies and developed economies, examining cost stickiness in financial firms and developing economies could enrich the literature. As studies are either descriptive or rely primarily on a single theoretical perspective such as the agency and cost asymmetry theories, we call for research that adopts a multi-theoretical framework. Overall, the study discusses several research streams, identifies several literature gaps, and outlines a promising and detailed future research agenda.
This study presents a systematic review of the existing literature on corporate risk disclosure (RD). The study reviews 104 studies published in 51 high-ranked journals over the period 1999–2019 ...following the systematic literature review methodology developed and employed by past works. The results highlight the substantial knowledge gaps and inconclusive findings of extant literature in several aspects, including identifying avenues for further research in terms of research designs, settings, scope and theories. The findings also indicate that limited studies focus on developing countries, private institutions, and non-profit organizations. Similarly, our findings show that existing research that examines other firm and cross-country drivers of risk, such as national accounting, auditing, economic, governance, language, and legal systems, are not well documented. By contrast, our review illustrates that there is an increase in the number of studies published in recent years with over one-half of those that we review in this research published in the last six years of our sample period. Furthermore, our results suggest that past review studies have also focused excessively on the immediate firm-level characteristics, such as firm size, growth, leverage, value, and cost of capital. The findings of our review will be of great interest to academics, accounting standard-setters, managers and practitioners, policymakers, regulators, researchers, and students.
PurposeThe authors examine whether managers switch from artificial income smoothing using discretionary accruals to real income smoothing around corporate governance reform in ...Egypt.Design/methodology/approachThe sample comprises 61 non-financial companies listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange for the years 2004–2011. The authors use discretionary accruals as a proxy for artificial income smoothing and income/loss from asset sales as a proxy for real income smoothing.FindingsThe authors offer a significant contribution to accounting literature by providing new empirical evidence on the trade-off between real smoothing technique (e.g. income/loss from asset sales) and discretionary accruals around governance reform in a developing country.Research limitations/implicationsThis study suffers from some limitations. First, the study sample is limited to only 338 observations. However, this is due to collecting the data manually and to the small number of listed firms during the study period. Second, the study period ended in 2011 due to the unprecedented political instability after the 2011 Egyptian people revolution. Third, although this study examines the effect of corporate governance, not all the governance aspects have been examined in the study models due to the lack of data.Practical implicationsFirst, the results of the total samples reveal that managers prefer real income smoothing than accruals income smoothing. This result may confirm the literature arguments on the advantages of REM methods over AEM methods. Cohen et al. (2008) find that firms switch to manage earnings using REM methods and explain that REM methods are harder to detect because they depend on operating decisions (Schipper, 1989). REM can be undertaken anytime during the year (Gunny, 2010). Besides, REM could not be deemed a violation of accounting standards or regulations (MyVay, 2006).Originality/valueThe authors offer a significant contribution to accounting literature by providing new empirical evidence on the trade-off between real smoothing technique (e.g. income/loss from asset sales) and discretionary accruals around governance reform in a developing country.
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