Positive Effect Of Age Research Articles

Effect of Board Diversity, Promoter’s Presence and Multiple Directorships on Firm Performance

Purpose: This article analyses the effect of board diversity on the financial performance of non-financial firms listed in the Nifty Index. Specifically, it examines the mediation effect of the promoter’s presence and multiple directorships on the financial performance of the firm, that is, return on net worth (RONW), return on equity (ROE) and its sales growth. Methodology: The article uses the hierarchical regression model to analyse the effect of board diversity on financial performance. The presence of the promoters on the board and multiple directorships are taken as the control variables. Findings: Empirical results show the significant effect of the promoter’s presence on the board on the firm’s earnings and a significant positive effect of firm age, board size, age diversity and experience diversity on the financial performance. However, we do not find any statistically significant relationship between firm size and financial performance in any model. The results also show that the age and experience of the female directors are significantly less compared to the male directors. However, the age and experience of the non-executive directors and independent directors are found to be higher among the other positions held by the directors. We also find a negative relationship between multiple directorships in other firms and the financial performance of the firm. Value: The article proposes that there should be a greater number of independent directors in a firm that has its promoter on the board. One recommendation for the board is to reduce the number of directorships held in other boards to ensure more constructive contribution towards the firm’s financial performance. The article studies the effect of the promoter’s presence on the board and multiple directorships held by board members on the financial performance of the firm.

CEO age and analysts forecast properties

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess whether there is an association between CEO age and analysts forecast properties (particularly forecast accuracy and bias/optimism). CEOs, having the central role in managing firms, can significantly influence the financial and non-financial decisions in an organisation. Furthermore, having been identified as key culprits in past major accounting scandals, it is also important to identify the CEO characteristics that affect financial reporting decisions.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts the upper echelon theory on the relationship between CEO age and analysts forecast properties. The authors use a sample of 2,730 Australian firm-year observations for the period 2004–2013 drawn from IBES, Connect 4 and SIRCA databases.FindingsThe authors find that analyst forecast accuracy increases and bias (optimism) reduces with the CEO age. The authors conclude that earnings and related information provided to analysts improves with the CEO age, which increases the forecast accuracy and reduces bias (optimism). Additional results suggest that the positive (negative) effect of CEO age on forecast accuracy (bias) remains until the CEOs reach the age of their retirement age (65 years). The results remain consistent with a number of sensitivity tests and provide implication for stakeholders such as firms, analysts, auditors, financial statements users and regulators.Practical implicationsThe authors demonstrate that the relationship between CEO age and analyst forecast properties is not linear but is, in fact, curvilinear substantiating concerns that CEOs that are much younger or much older do not help increase the quality of the information environment. Consequently, firms hiring CEOs in the right age bracket also benefit by having higher-quality information environment leading possibly to reduce costs such as those relating to debt and/or equity ultimately increasing firm value.Originality/valueEmpirical studies on the association between CEO age and analysts earnings properties in Australia are scarce and this paper contributes to the determinants of the analysts forecast accuracy and bias (optimism) and the CEO age literature.

Different Types of Physical Activity and Metabolic Control in People With Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus.

BackgroundThe aim of presented cross-sectional study was to determine the association of different types of physical activity (PA) with metabolic control in people with type 1 diabetes.Materials and MethodsA total of 109 adult subjects with type 1 diabetes were asked to complete the non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) questionnaire, the hypoglycemia questionnaire, and the World Health Organization Global PA Questionnaire (GPAQ) which was used to assess moderate PA (MPA) and vigorous PA (VPA).ResultsNEAT score (p < 0.001) and total duration of work as assessed with GPAQ (p = 0.007) were positively associated with chronic glycemic control when controlled for sex, BMI, and continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS) use. We could not confirm such association with total leisure time PA (LTPA) assessed with GPAQ (p = 0.443), though. Multivariate regression model controlled for sex showed positive effects of HbA1c (p = 0.011) and age (p = 0.035), and negative effect of NEAT score (p = 0.001) on BMI. Systolic blood pressure was positively associated with duration of MPA (p = 0.009) and VPA (p = 0.012), but not with NEAT score (p = 0.830) when controlled for sex and BMI. NEAT score and VPA were positively associated with HDL levels when controlled for sex and BMI. Controlled for sex and BMI, higher values of VPA were significantly associated with lower levels of total cholesterol (p = 0.009) and LDL (p = 0.005).ConclusionHigher levels of NEAT are associated with some favorable metabolic effects in adult people with type 1 diabetes, but may also present an additional burden for them with more challenging environment regarding glycemic control.

Colour vision testing in young children with reduced visual acuity.

To investigate feasibility, reliability and discriminative validity of pseudoisochromatic (PIC) colour vision tests, the Mollon-Reffin minimalist (MRM) test and the Cambridge Colour Test (CCT) among children (3-10years) with reduced visual acuity. Thirty-three patients with reduced visual acuity and 38 healthy control subjects with age-related normal visual acuity were recruited for this prospective study. Visual acuity in patients was reduced due to amblyopia, binocular maculopathy, or optic neuropathy. Tests were performed in a single 1-hr session. All but two children successfully completed the PIC and MRM tests. Success rate for the CCT was lower, 87%, CI [72%, 96%] for control subjects and 79%, CI [61%, 91%] for patients, with a strong positive effect of age on the odds of successful completion (OR 5.63, p=0.007). Reliability was high in PIC and MRM tests but comparably lower in CCT. The rate of correct answers in PIC tests was between 88% and 100%. One proband was diagnosed with deuteranomaly with an average Ishihara score of 21%. All children (with the exception of one daltonian) scored at least two points in the MRM test. Sensitivity thresholds in CCT decreased with age with a strong effect size in control subjects and weak to moderate effect size in patients. Pseudoisochromatic and MRM tests show sufficient feasibility in young children with reduced visual acuity. For CCT feasibility in 3-5-year olds is reduced, most probably due to the longer test duration. Consistent with earlier findings, colour discrimination thresholds decrease with age independent on visual acuity status.

Optimal Trajectories of Brain State Transitions Indicate Motor Function Changes Associated with Aging.

Healthy aging is associated with structural and functional changes in sensorimotor systems, leading to a deterioration in motor function. However, most of the previous studies focused on the descriptive measures of alteration, little is known about how structural network facilitate functional dynamics during aging. Based on the structural brain network constructed by diffusion-weighted imaging, we employed recent network control theory to evaluate the control energy necessary to drive the state transition from baseline condition with default mode network (DMN) activation to motor network activation in a large cohort (n = 625; 18-88 years). We found at the whole, the control energy required to activate the motor network declined with aging, in which the motor network contributed most of the control energy. The control energy of nodes within motor network showed both positive and negative age effects, reflecting an aberrant functional integration associated with aging. Interestingly, the control energy of subcortical network most significantly increased with aging, suggesting an altered motor-subcortical circuit, thus requiring more energy for the optimal control. Moreover, the control energy of bilateral putamen showed the largest positive age effect, and this pattern was also supported by the energetic impact of nodes, implying a key role for motor modulation associated with aging. Taken together, our results offer insights of control energy cost necessary for the age-dependent decline in motor task, and provide new clues for brain optimal control of neuromodulation in older adults.

25‐3: Highly Efficient, All‐Inkjet‐Printed, Deep Red Quantum Dot Light Emitting Diodes from Positive Aging

In this work, we report all‐inkjet‐printed deep red quantum dot light emitting diodes (QLEDs) for achieving large‐scale and pixelated QLED display. The devices exhibit a current efficiency of 6.44 cd/A at the luminance of 1000 cd/m2 which is the best result to date for inkjet‐printed red QLEDs. This high efficiency results from uniform HIL/HTL/QDs/ZnO films via suppressing coffee ring effect and a positive aging effect which means the efficiency increased with time.

Assessing language development in Arabic: The Arabic language: Evaluation of function (ALEF)

Arabic is characterized by extensive dialectal variation, diglossia, and substantial morphological complexity. Arabic lacks comprehensive diagnostic tools that would allow for a systematic evaluation of its development, critical for the early identification of language difficulties in the spoken and written domains. To address this gap, we have developed an assessment battery called Arabic Language: Evaluation of Function (ALEF), aimed at children aged 3 to 11 years. ALEF consists of 17 subtests indexing different language domains, modalities, and associated skills and representational systems. We administered the ALEF battery to native Gulf Arabic-speaking children (n = 467; ages 2.5 to 10.92; 55% boys; 20 children in each 6-month age band) in Saudi Arabia in two data collection waves. Analyses examining the psychometric properties of the instrument indicated that after the removal of misfitting items, the ALEF subtests had reliability coefficients in the range from 0.78 to 0.98, and resulting subtest scores displayed a consistent profile of positive intercorrelations and age effects. Taken together, the results indicate that the ALEF battery has good psychometric properties, and can be used for the purpose of evaluating early language development in Gulf Arabic speaking children, pending further refinement of the test structure, examination of gender-related differential item functioning, and norming.

Effect of High Blood Pressure and Other Cardiovascular Risk Factors on All-causes Mortality in Elderly People: A Joined Survival Analysis from Brazil, Argentina and Italy

Non-Communicable Chronic Diseases (NCCDs) are the leading causes of ill health in elderly populations and are associated with increased risk of death. Then, the aim of this paper is to estimate the effect of High Blood Pressure on all-causes mortality among subjects aged ≥65 years old in three scenarios with different socio-economic backgrounds and urbanization processes by using flexible parametric survival models. Three cohorts coming from Brazil (n=365, 8 years of follow-up), Argentina (n=1800, 10 years of follow-up) and Italy (n=2472, 30 years of follow-up) were considered and only subjects older than 64 years included. Time to death (months) from enrolment and all-causes mortality were considered. Statistical analysis included Frailty Cox's Model and Flexible Parametric Survival Analysis. Due to the two-level structure of variability (subjects nested into cohorts), multilevel mixed-effect survival regression models were fitted. For modeling purposes, only the first twelve years of follow-up were considered. Frailty Cox model showed significant positive effects of age and an effect modification of High Blood Pressure and Non-communicable diseases, but not effects proportionality. Multilevel modeling evidenced a positive statistically significant effect of Age, Non-Communicable Chronic Diseases and Smoking. There was also an effect modification of Non-Communicable Chronic Diseases on High Blood Pressure. High Blood Pressure and Non-Communicable Chronic Diseases are important causal components and strong risk factors of cardiovascular mortality in these countries.

PULL AND PUSH FACTORS FOR PRODUCERS’ MEMBERSHIP IN DAIRY MARKETING COOPERATIVES IN JIMMA ZONE, OROMIA, ETHIOPIA

Despite the efforts made to promote dairy marketing cooperatives, smallholder dairy producers in rural Ethiopia, prefer informal markets to sell their dairy products. The factors determining their preference towards formal markets such as membership into cooperatives is not well identified. In this paper, we analyze the key factors affecting smallholder dairy producers’ membership into dairy marketing cooperatives in Ethiopia using cross-sectional survey data from 73 cooperative members and 149 non-members, and probit regression models. We found positive effects of age, sex and education of household head and frequency of extension services; and negative effects of distance to the cooperative milk collection centers on dairy producers’ preference for membership into dairy marketing cooperatives. The findings imply the need for awareness initiatives – strengthening extension services, trainings and demonstrations; enhancing access to technology; and infrastructure development. Particularly, affirmative action in the form of targeted intervention is needed to enhance female headed households’ membership into dairy marketing cooperatives and to help them benefit from collective actions.

Evidence of age-related improvement in the foraging efficiency of Ad\xe9lie penguins

Age variation in reproductive performance is well-documented but the mechanisms underlying this variation remain unclear. Foraging efficiency is likely to be a key source of demographic variation as it determines the amount of energy that can be invested in fitness-related activities. Evidence of age-related changes in the foraging efficiency of adult seabirds is scarce and inconsistent. We investigated the effects of age on the foraging efficiency of breeding Adélie penguins, a relatively short-lived seabird species, in order to gain a broader perspective on the processes driving variation in ageing rates. We found support for a positive effect of age, either linear or levelling off at old ages, on both our proxies for daily catch rate and catch per unit effort. Across all age classes, males were more performant foragers than females. We found no strong evidence for differing ageing patterns between sexes or individual quality levels, and no evidence for senescence. We infer that continuous individual improvement could be responsible for a larger amount of the variation in foraging efficiency with age at our study site, compared with selective disappearance of underperforming phenotypes. The different results reported by other studies highlight the need to conduct longitudinal studies across a range of species in different environments.

Strain‐specific effects of parental age on offspring in Drosophila melanogaster

AbstractMaternal age is generally known to be negatively correlated with the lifespan of offspring in several animal models including yeast, rotifers, flies, and possibly in humans. However, several reports have shown positive effects of parental age on offspring lifespan. Thus, there was a need to investigate further the inconsistent results on the effect of parental age on lifespan. In this study, the effects of parental age on offspring fitness and lifespan were examined by using Drosophila melanogaster. The lifespan of offspring from old parents was significantly increased compared with that of the young counterparts in the Canton‐S (CS) strain but not in other D. melanogaster strains, such as Oregon‐R (OR) and w1118. To find out why the lifespan is increased in the offspring from old parents in CS flies, fitness components that could modulate lifespan were examined in CS flies. Egg weight and body weight were reduced by parental aging and the offspring of old fathers or old mothers developed faster than that of the young. In addition, the offspring of old parents had increased resistance to oxidative and heat shock stresses. However, reproductive capacity, mating preference, and food intake were unaffected by parental aging. These results indicate that parental aging in CS strain D. melanogaster has beneficial effects on the lifespan and fitness of offspring. The presence of strain‐specific manner effects suggests that genetic background might be a significant factor in the parental age effect.

Redefining the pattern of age-prospective memory-paradox: new insights on age effects in lab-based, naturalistic, and self-assigned tasks

Prospective memory (PM) involves remembering intended actions in the future, such as posting a letter when seeing a post box (event-based PM) or making a phone call at 2:00 pm (time-based PM). Studies on aging and PM have often reported negative age effects in the laboratory, but positive age effects in naturalistic tasks outside the laboratory (the so-called age–PM-paradox). The present study re-examined this pattern of the paradox by studying, for the first time, age differences in time- and event-based PM in lab-based, experimenter-generated naturalistic and self-assigned real-life PM tasks within the same sample of young and older adults. Results showed that differential age effects in and outside the laboratory were qualified by the type of PM cue. While age-related deficits were obtained for laboratory event-based tasks, no age effect was obtained for naturalistic event-based PM. Age benefits in the field were only observed for naturalistic time-based tasks, but not for participants’ own self-assigned time-based tasks. These findings indicate that the age benefits for naturalistic PM tasks may have been overestimated due to the dominant use of experimenter-generated naturalistic time-based PM tasks in previous studies. Therefore, the precise pattern of the age–PM-paradox may need redefining as mostly consisting of negative age effects in lab-based PM tasks and mostly the absence of negative age effects (rather than age benefits) in naturalistic and self-assigned tasks outside the laboratory.

Effects of Larval Grafted Age for Artificial Queen-rearing on Queen Reproductive Potential and Growth of Apis cerana Colony

Queen honey bees (Apis cerana) can be reared artificially on demand by the use of grafting technique. The technique consists of grafting young worker larvae into queen cell cups and raising in a queenless strong colony. As the age of grafted larvae for queen rearing exhibited several aspects related to quality and reproductive potential of queen, this study were conducted to investigate the influence of age of grafted larva on morphological characteristics and lifespan of queen, and the growth of colony she headed. Our results demonstrated that queens reared from young worker larvae (i.e., less than 1-day old larvae) were significantly larger in size (i.e., body weight and thorax width) than that of queens reared from 2-day old worker larvae. Moreover, queens reared from younger worker larvae initiated egg-laying earlier, stored more spermatozoa in spermatheca and had a longer lifespan compared to queens raised from older worker larvae. We also found a significant positive effect of queen grafting age on the production of worker and drone brood, adult worker population in colonies headed by queens reared from younger larvae. These findings suggested that rearing queens from brood grafted at the earliest possible age could increase the reproductive potential of queen as well as fitness of colony she head.

Measurement of everyday dysexecutive symptoms in normal aging with the Greek version of the dysexecutive questionnaire-revised

ABSTRACTThe Dysexecutive Questionnaire is a sensitive and ecologically valid measure of everyday dysexecutive symptoms. Recently, a revised version of the tool has been proposed (DEX-R). The current study aimed to examine the factorial validity of the Greek DEX-R, the level of agreement between the self and informant rating versions and the effect of age on each dysexecutive symptoms component. The questionnaire was administered to a sample of older adults (n = 235) and to a sample of informants (n = 187) in the context of the Neurocognitive Study for the Aging in Cyprus. Confirmatory Factor Analysis results showed that dysexecutive symptoms can be grouped into three underlying components or factors: (a) Motivation and Attention, (b) Flexibility, Fluency and Working Memory, and (c) Social Self-Regulation. Overall, the elderly reported more symptoms than their relatives, however the difference was significant only for the Flexibility, Fluency and Working memory factor. In a structural equation model, a weak positive effect of age was observed on the Flexibility, Fluency and Working Memory factor, based on the informant ratings. This study provides empirical evidence about the use of the DEX-R questionnaire in the Greek-speaking elderly population as a valid and reliable measure of everyday dysexecutive symptoms.

Speech auditory evoked potentials in cochlear implant recipients in relation to rehabilitation outcomes

Background: Speech perception abilities showed great variability among different cochlear implants (CIs) recipients. Assessment of such perceptual abilities through behavioural speech perception tests is very limited, especially in young recipients. Hence, objective auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) can be very important in the assessment of such a young age group.Objectives: To study the ability to use different types of speech evoked AEPs clinically for the assessment of auditory pathway at different levels in children fitted with CIs.Methods: Two groups of children fitted with CIs participated in this study. They were divided into two groups according to their language improvement quotient (LIQ): Group I: included 20 children with LIQ >0.7 and Group II: included 20 children with LIQ <0.7. Children were evaluated through an auditory skills assessment, aided sound field, aided speech evoked AEPs.Results: Children of group I showed better aided-AEPs results in response to speech stimuli compared with group II with the significant positive effect of early age of implantation on the results.Conclusions: Objective aided-AEPs recording in response to complex sounds (such as speech) can be used efficiently for evaluation of speech perception at different levels along the auditory pathway in children fitted with CIs. In addition, they constitute a promising tool for following up and designing the appropriate rehabilitation programs.

Healthy Adolescent Performance With Standardized Scoring Tables for the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery: A Multisite Study.

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to develop standardized scores and scoring tables for test performance in healthy adolescents for the Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (MATRICS) Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) for each year from 11 to 19 years of age, by sex, with T scores and percentile ranks.MethodsA total of 502 healthy participants (aged 11–19 years) from 7 cohorts from Ireland, Norway, Sweden, and United States, were included in this multisite study. Regression-predicted means for the MCCB tests, except the social cognition subtest, were calculated using the MCCB test scores as outcome variables and age, age2, sex, age × sex as predictors. The regression-predicted means for each combination of age and sex were added with the residuals from the entire cohort to yield the expected distribution of that group. Age effects were examined using regression models with age and age2 as predictors. Sex differences were examined using Student’s t-tests.ResultsSignificant positive age effects were found for all tests, except for the Brief Visuospatial Memory Test, revised (BVMT-R; measure of visual learning). Females performed significantly better than males on BACS Symbol coding (measure of speed of processing) and BVMT-R, while males performed significantly better than females on NAB Mazes (measure of reasoning and problem solving). Based on the regression-predicted distributions of scores, 19 standardized scoring tables for each test and domain were created.ConclusionsWith the results from this study, we have developed an accessible standardized data set of healthy adolescent test performance for the MCCB.

Lateralization of complex behaviours in wild greater flamingos

Lateralization refers to the preferential use of one side of the body to perform certain tasks, often as a consequence of the specialization of cerebral hemispheres. Individuals may benefit from lateralization if it allows them to perform complex tasks simultaneously. Studies on laterality further suggest that sex and age can influence the extent of lateralization. However, most studies on lateralization have been performed on captive individuals, exposed to simplified environments and expressing limited behavioural repertoire. Here, we evaluated behavioural lateralization in the greater flamingo, Phoenicopterus roseus, through observations of wild individuals 5–37 years old. We examined the lateralization of simple behaviours (resting postures) and of several demanding behaviours requiring enhanced motor control and coordination (stamping for food and five courtship postures). Resting postures were not lateralized. In contrast, nearly all flamingos were completely lateralized for stamping, with a significant predominance of right-footed individuals. During courtship displays, twist-preens were significantly lateralized, yet with no dominant laterality at the population level. Finally, we detected a slight positive effect of age on the intensity of twist-preen lateralization, which may be related to the increased complexity of courtship displays with age in this species. Our results support the hypothesis that lateralization manifests in complex behaviours, even in wild animals.

Trends in women's informal eldercare in China, 1991–2011: an age–period–cohort analysis

AbstractAlthough many studies have described society-wide changes in adult women's care-giving for ageing family members, few have examined how this informal eldercare has changed across care-givers’ lifecourse and the temporal changes across different time periods and birth cohorts. Using a hierarchical age–period–cohort model to disentangle the confounding effects of age, period and cohort, this study examines the lifecourse and temporal changes in women's informal eldercare in China that can be attributed to the processes of ageing and social transformation. It advances understanding of the extent to which urbanisation and education have affected women's care-giving over time. The results reveal positive age, period and cohort effects which, together, indicate that the tradition ofxiao(filial piety) is in a stable state or even resurgent. Higher education and urban residency are both positively related to women's care-giving behaviour. As women age, the gap between residency differences in eldercare decreases. This study supports the argument thatxiaoculture is resilient and resistant to change, and that education can function as an enabler to promote it.

Quantifying driving factors of vegetation carbon stocks of Moso bamboo forests using machine learning algorithm combined with structural equation model

Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens) is widely distributed in subtropical China and plays an important role in carbon cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. Knowledge of the main driving factors that affect aboveground carbon stocks in Moso bamboo forests is needed to increase carbon sequestration potential. We used a large-scale database from national forest continuous inventory from 2004 to 2014 in Zhejiang, China, and combined Random Forest analysis (RF) with structural equation modeling (SEM) to quantify the contribution of main driving factors on vegetation carbon stocks in Moso bamboo forests, and to evaluate the direct and indirect total effects of the main driving factors on aboveground carbon stocks, as well as to investigate changes in the standardized total effects from 2004 to 2014. The RF model explained 84.9% of the variation in 2004, 78.8% in 2009, and 82.2% in 2014. The SEM that included the average age, average diameter at breast height (DBH), culms density, mean annual temperature (MAT), and mean annual precipitation (MAP) explained 92.5% of the variation in 2004, 88.2% in 2009, and 88.6% in 2014. The results showed that average age, average DBH, culms density, MAT, and MAP were the most crucial driving factors of vegetation carbon stocks in Moso bamboo forests. The values of standardized total effects of the main driving factors showed that the average age, average DBH, and culms density had positive effects on vegetation carbons stocks, whereas MAT and MAP had negative effects. Furthermore, the positive effects of average age on the increase of vegetation carbon stocks increased significantly, the negative effects of MAT increased with the increasing MAT, but the negative effects of MAP decreased with the increasing MAP. Overall, our study provided new insights into the sensitivity and potential response of carbon sequestration in Moso bamboo forests to structural development and climate change in Zhejiang Province.

Pitch direction ability predicts melodic perception in autism

ABSTRACTIndividuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) often present atypical auditory perception. Previous work has reported both enhanced low-level pitch discrimination and superior abilities to detect local pitch structure on higher-level melodic tasks in ASD. However, it is unclear how low and high levels of auditory perception are related in ASD or typical development (TD), or how this relationship might change across development and stimulus presentation rates. To these aims, in the present study, children with ASD and TD were tested on a low-level pitch direction discrimination task and a high-level melodic global-local task. Groups performed similarly on both of these auditory tasks. Moreover, individual differences in low-level pitch direction ability predicted performance on the higher-level global-local task, with a stronger relationship in ASD. Age did not affect the relationship between low-level and high-level pitch performance in either ASD or TD. However, there was a more positive effect of age on the high-level global-local task performance in TD than ASD. Finally, there was no effect of stimulus rate on the relationship between low-level and high-level pitch performance in either group. These findings provide a better understanding of how perception is associated across levels of processing in ASD versus TD. This work helps to better understand individual differences in auditory perception and to refine ASD phenotypes.