Using the US economic policy uncertainty (EPU) index developed by Baker, S. R., Bloom, N., & Davis, S. J. [2016. Measuring economic policy uncertainty. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 131(4), 1593–1636. https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjw024], we examine the impact of policy uncertainty on firms’ non-GAAP reporting practices. We show that EPU increases both the likelihood and quality of non-GAAP earnings disclosures. These effects are more pronounced for firms with higher index ownership and for those with less informative GAAP earnings. Furthermore, we show that non-GAAP disclosures provide tangible economic benefit during periods of increasing EPU, including compensating for the reduced informativeness of GAAP earnings and reducing information asymmetry. Overall, our evidence suggests that non-GAAP reporting is a means by which managers communicate value-relevant information about their firms’ performance to investors during periods of high EPU.

Purpose This study aims to investigate the effects of workplace racial discrimination among Asian American (AA) employees in the restaurant industry and examines what kinds of employee coping responses can mitigate its detrimental effects on their work behaviors. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses an exploratory sequential mixed-methods approach, starting with a qualitative study using the critical incident technique followed by a quantitative between-subjects experiment to examine the impact of employee coping responses to racial discrimination on employee competence and work quality of life (WQOL). Findings The study reveals that customer-perpetrated racial discrimination is the most common form of racial discrimination that AA employees face in the restaurant industry. In addition, confrontation is the most effective coping strategy to increase employee’s self-competence. Also, the severity of discrimination moderates the effect of coping strategies on employee’s self-competence. Employees’ self-competence mediates the relationship between their response strategy against discrimination and their WQOL. Research limitations/implications The findings of this study suggest that confrontation is an effective coping strategy for targeted employees, compared to support-seeking or avoidance. Confrontation was perceived as competent, compared to other coping strategies, and in turn, enhanced WQOL. Originality/value This study expands the scope of racial discrimination research in the hospitality literature for the growing diversified hospitality workforce. In addition, this study provides practical insights into competent ways of coping with racial discrimination.

ABSTRACT This study modelled the drivers of satellite-derived Net Primary Productivity (NPP). The NPP drivers used were human foot print (HFP), soil organic carbon (SOC), Total Nitrogen (TN), Total Phosphorus (TP), Potential evapotranspiration, (PET), and Aridity Index (AI). The results showed that inclusion of non-vegetated land cover types (LCT) in the modelling leads to establishment of wrong relationships between the NPP and its drivers, and wrong relationships among the drivers. Inclusion of the non-vegetated LCT revealed that 1) HFP had no relationship with NPP, CUE, and SOC; 2) PET had no relationship with all the three soil variables (SOC, TN, and TP), AI and the CUE; 3) PET and NPP were strongly and positively correlated; and 4) there was no relationship between the NPP and all the three soil variables and the AI. While exclusion of the non-vegetated LCT revealed that 1) HFP had negative relationship with NPP, CUE, and SOC; 2) PET had negative relationship with the CUE, AI and all the three soil variables; 3) PET and NPP were strongly negatively correlated; and 4) there was positive correlations between the NPP and all the three soil variables and AI. However, results of both the inclusion and exclusion of the non-vegetated LCT indicated that: 1) HFP did not correlate with TN, TP, PET, and AI; and 2) there was strong and positive correlation among all the three soils and AI. It is worth noting that exclusion of the non-vegetated LCT in the modelling established the most accurate results on the relationship between the NPP and its drivers; and on the relationships among the drivers. However, there is a need to replicate this study in different geographical regions to guarantee global generalization of the results.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to measure the awareness of the global university ranking and its parameters among the faculty members at Dhaka University. This also identifies the challenges linked to university ranking and explores opportunities to overcome these challenges. Design/methodology/approach The target population of this study is the faculty members of Dhaka University. This study used the online survey questionnaire method, contacting approximately 2,000 faculty members individually through their email addresses. In total, 311 faculty members responded, and the response rate was 15.55%. Data were collected from September to December 2022, and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences was used to analyze the survey data. Findings The findings indicate that a majority of the faculty members are acquainted with global university rankings, with Times Higher Education being the most recognized. Faculty members at Dhaka University are confident in their ability to excel in research and citation weighting scores in the ranking parameters. However, challenges such as a lack of incentives, inadequate recruitment policies, limited research funding, minimal collaboration, a scarcity of international students and faculty and limited local journal publications hinder the university’s ranking. Research limitations/implications Due to the limited number of responses, the findings may not accurately represent the entire faculty. The findings of this study can guide Dhaka University and other universities to design policies for overall improvement of university ranking. Originality/value This is the first time an attempt has been made to measure the awareness of university ranking by collecting primary data in the context of a public university in Bangladesh.

ABSTRACT In the light of Trump-era American racial politics, Iranian Americans in rural Kentucky have adeptly rearticulated their racial positionings by navigating the intricate interplay of discourses on race. Through this process, they have challenged dominant U.S. discourses on race generated by the political dynamics since the 1970s, casting doubt upon the Whiteness of Middle Easterners. Despite their racial ambiguity between the U.S. Census and post-9/11 lived realities, Iranians in rural Kentucky not only feel that they belong in the U.S. but also lay claim to the mantle of Whiteness through context-specific strategies of deracialization crafted in the temporal and spatial milieu of rural Kentucky. This article sheds light on the contextual strategies Iranian Americans have employed to articulate, contest, and reproduce the dominant discourses to secure their racial positioning, capitalizing not only on their class privileges but also on some of their White-associated phenotypes, remnants of their perceived ‘Indo-European’ lineage.

The healthcare systems are a prime target for cyber-attacks due to the sensitive nature of the information combined with the essential need for continuity of care. Medical laboratories are particularly vulnerable to cyber-attacks for a number of reasons, including the high level of information technology (IT), computerization and digitization. Based on reliable and widespread evidence that medical laboratories may be inadequately prepared for cyber-terrorism, a panel of experts of the Task Force Preparation of Labs for Emergencies (TF-PLE) of the European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) has recognized the need to provide some general guidance that could help medical laboratories to be less vulnerable and better prepared for the dramatic circumstance of a disruptive cyber-attack, issuing a number of consensus recommendations, which are summarized and described in this opinion paper.

The diagnostic and therapeutic approach for an unusual clinical situation is presented. Twenty-three-year-old female patient is evaluated for hematuria and metrorrhagia. She reported irregular follow-up with hematology because of bleeding in childhood. She has also been receiving factor VII for 2 years, denying hospitalizations because of bleeding. Laboratory reported hb: 5.2 g/dl; platelets: 234 000/mm3; PT: 100 s; PTT: 112 s, fibrinogen: 90 mg/dl without other alterations. Abdominal ultrasound reported uterine myoma, urinalysis was pathological. The gynecology indicated oral progesterone. She started antibiotic therapy, transfusion of red-blood cells, plasma, and cryoprecipitates and subsequently reported: factor VII: 2%, IX: 1% and VIII: 70%. She received factor VII-recombinant (rFVII), achieving resolution of bleeding. She was prescribed prophylactic rFVII and hematology monitoring. Readmission due to acute abdomen with Hb 5 g/dl, prolonged prothrombin time (PT)/partial thromboplastin time (PTT) and abdominal tomography reported hemoperitoneum. She received rFVII and required laparotomy and left oophorectomy. Then readmission to metrorrhagia, hb6 g/dl, prolonged PT/PTT and factor VII-IX of two coagulation factors were reported, without reports found in the literature consulted.

ABSTRACT In a country where conversations about race, racism, power, and identity are becoming more commonplace and viewed as a necessity for creating an inclusive society, it is striking that many higher education faculty members struggle to incorporate these kinds of conversations into the classroom. While studies have pointed to a variety of reasons, including faculty members’ racial literacy and their White fragility, few studies to date have examined what faculty members from American rural contexts view as obstacles and opportunities in discussing race in the classroom. This study fills this gap by examining what barriers and strategies faculty members from a rural Predominantly White Sea and Land Grant institution engage with when discussing race-related topics in the classroom. Utilising a mixed-methods approach, this study’s findings revealed barriers consisting of instructor ambivalence and discomfort, student discomfort, lack of experience with and insight into discrimination, and institutional issues such as lack of support. This study also identified strategies that instructors indicated using to successfully incorporate race into the classroom, including strategies aimed at creating a productive classroom environment, exposing students to diversity, and creating an environment that allowed for critical reflexivity. The study concludes with recommendations on how higher education administrators and instructors in rural areas can work to render discussions about race more constructive and meaningful.