Voluntary Strategies Research Articles

A Serious Game to Self-Regulate Heart Rate Variability as a Technique to Manage Arousal Level Through Cardiorespiratory Biofeedback: Development and Pilot Evaluation Study.

Heart rate variability biofeedback (HRVB) is an established intervention for increasing heart rate variability (HRV) in the clinical context. Using this technique, participants become aware of their HRV through real-time feedback and can self-regulate it. The aim of this study was 2-fold: first, to develop a serious game that applies the HRVB technique to teach participants to self-regulate HRV and, second, to test the app with participants in a pilot study. An HRVB app called the FitLab Game was developed for this study. To play the game, users must move the main character up and down the screen, avoiding collisions with obstacles. The wavelength that users must follow to avoid these obstacles is based on the user's basal heart rate and changes in instantaneous heart rate. To test the FitLab Game, a total of 16 participants (mean age 23, SD 0.69 years) were divided into a control group (n=8) and an experimental group (n=8). A 2 × 2 factorial design was used in each session. Participants in the experimental condition were trained in breathing techniques. Changes in the frequency and time domain parameters of HRV and the game's performance features were evaluated. Significant changes in the average RR intervals and root mean square of differences between adjacent RR intervals (RMSSD) were found between the groups (P=.02 and P=.04, respectively). Regarding performance, both groups showed a tendency to increase the evaluated outcomes from baseline to the test condition. The results may indicate that playing different levels leads to an improvement in the game's final score by repeated training. The tendency of changes in HRV may reflect a higher activation of the mental system of attention and control in the experimental group versus the control group. In this context, learning simple, voluntary strategies through a serious game can aid the improvement of self-control and arousal management. The FitLab Game appears to be a promising serious game owing to its ease of use, high engagement, and enjoyability provided by the instantaneous feedback.

Strategy disclosure and cost of capital: The key role of women directors for family firms

This paper investigates whether and to what extent strategy disclosure influences the cost of capital, comparing family and non-family firms and considering the proportion of women directors. We theorize that voluntary strategy disclosure may be either beneficial or detrimental depending on the perceptions by financial stakeholders about the role of governance attributes. These stakeholders might, indeed, assess strategy disclosure differently based on their stereotyped view of the family firm status and women’s involvement on the board of directors. By referring to a sample of 93 listed Italian small and medium-sized enterprises, we show that, unlike with their non-family counterparts, strategy disclosure increases the cost of capital for family firms. However, an increasing proportion of women directors softens this negative effect. Moreover, when a critical mass of women directors is appointed to the board, the strategy disclosure becomes beneficial for family firms too. We consequently offer a threefold contribution to the literature on gender diversity, family business and corporate voluntary disclosure.

Understanding challenges, investment, and strategic language use of postgraduate students in an English-medium university in Kazakhstan

ABSTRACT This qualitative study documents six postgraduate Kazakh students’ challenges, language learning strategies (LLSs), and future vision while studying at a highly selective English medium instruction (EMI) university in Kazakhstan. It also aims to capture the influence of the participants’ past English learning experiences and contextual factors on their LLS deployment. The study found that all participants exhibited greater agency, using a host of appropriate LLSs to complete their master’s programmes successfully. However, the two participants who studied in schools for the gifted encountered fewer challenges than the other participants from mainstream schools after joining the EMI university. The former exercising their agency and their positive previous English language learning experiences enabled them to use diverse voluntary strategies to accomplish both personal and national goals. This study reveals how educational policy and distribution of enabling language learning resources in similar contexts can affect individuals’ LLS choices and use, and their identity improvement.

Chapitre 2. Health in Russia, a basic topic: Risk strategies and socio-psychological aspects.

High mortality rates in the Russian Federation in all age cohorts, which are exacerbated nowadays due to the risk of contracting a new coronavirus infection, indicate the lack of programs to promote a healthy lifestyle in society, as well as the preservation of negative attitudes of society associated with any aspects of taking care of one’s health.Switching the public’s attention to self-preservation practices is not viable without considering the socio-economic and psychological conjuncture. Maintaining health requires both time and money, so for many people it remains a secondary task for many years, if the disease does not make itself felt.By appealing to the individual’s choice of a voluntary strategy of the preservation of their health, the state should make sure that they are ready to show a high level of self-awareness and culture. However, there is a stable tradition of risky behaviors in Russian society, in which ignoring the first signs of the disease, the transition of the disease to severe forms, and indifferenceе to the outcome of treatment became a social norm. In this vein, individuals show a disregard for new approaches and often aggravate their problem by resorting to alcohol and drugs, which leads to serious health related consequences.The study of aspects of an individual’s choice of risky life strategies showed the interdependence of the level of health preservation on the material and psychological well-being of a social group (i.e., family). The lower the satisfaction of an individual’s needs in society, the higher the apathy and tendency to addiction, which is often followed by crimes against the life and health of others or a tendency to suicide.

Earworms in the Amusic Mind? Questionnaire Investigation in Congenital Amusia

Involuntary musical imagery, colloquially known as “earworms”, is a phenomenon hypothesized to reflect involuntary rehearsal of long-term memory representations. Here we investigated musical earworms with a questionnaire adapted from Halpern and Bartlett (2011, Music Perception, 28(4), 425–432), both in typical individuals and in participants with congenital amusia. Congenital amusics have impaired short- and long-term musical memory, yet with evidence for preserved implicit processing of music. Almost all participants in both groups reported experiencing musical earworms, however less frequently so in amusics than in controls. In both groups, musical earworms were reported being mostly familiar music with lyrics, and consisted of music liked by the participants. Some features distinguished earworms in amusics and controls, with more limited familiarity effects in amusics. Moreover, amusics were deploying less voluntary strategies to stop the earworms, in keeping with less stable music memories in this group. In addition, we investigated verbal earworms in the same participants. Verbal earworms occurred less frequently than musical earworms, and were more frequent in amusics than in controls. However, the two types of earworms showed similar features and their frequencies of occurrence were correlated, suggesting they rely in part on domain-general processes. Implications for the understanding of involuntary auditory imagery and congenital amusia are discussed.

Present status of newborn screening in Bangladesh through the participation of health professionals

The idea of newborn screening is to discover potentially fatal or disabling problems in infants as early as possible, usually, before the baby shows any signs or symptoms of an illness or condition. As part of the government's newborn screening program, almost all infants in developed nations are checked at birth for uncommon, severe, and treatable disorders (NBS). As newborn screening remains a major difficulty in Bangladesh, there have lately been proposals for a wider voluntary strategy to aid in the early detection and treatment of a broader range of disorders. A self-administered online survey was carried out in collaboration with Bangladeshi health professionals. Using a mixed qualitative-quantitative statistical approach, the knowledge, engagement, intents, and preferences of healthcare professionals about testing methodologies, testing characteristics, hospital infrastructure, cost estimation, and parental attitudes toward newborn screening were investigated. The final analysis included 281 individuals, of which 59 percent were men and 41 percent were women. Males had a higher level of knowledge of newborn screening than females in relation to gender (79.1 percent for male participants and 77.7 percent for the female participants). Knowledge and the current occupation had a significant connection (p 0.05). Congenital Hypothyroidism disease was screened by NBS the most (18.7% of cases), numerous other diseases were also screened by NBS. The significance of this work to public health is the attribution of participants who want to reduce child mortality and improve child health in their community, as well as the potential to construct public discussion groups that recognize screening diseases, investigate hospital facilities for it, and provide information to families and health professionals about the importance of newborn screening.

Heading Home? Reshoring and Sustainability Connectedness from a Home‐Country Consumer Perspective

AbstractExtensive globalisation has presented several sustainability challenges highlighted in the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals. These include the environmental impact of global product procurement and manufacturing and the irregular treatment of indigenous workers in developing countries. Thus, reshoring, defined as a firm's voluntary strategy to partially or totally relocate production to the home country, is gaining traction. However, most research on reshoring focuses on firms, leaving the consumers’ perspective under‐researched. Here, we examine British consumers’ perspectives on reshoring to the UK and sustainability. By employing the theoretical lens of connectedness, anchored in attachment theory, we conducted 30 in‐depth interviews using projective techniques and analysed the data using the constant comparison method. We found that consumers not only positively viewed their connectedness with the concept of reshoring from a sustainability perspective, but also appraised it from a global perspective, demonstrating empathy towards the host country. Further, they doubted corporations’ motives regarding reshoring. Three theoretical dimensions emerged based on consumers’ connectedness with reshoring and sustainability, specifically, supporting reshoring conditionally, inclusive reshoring, and doubting reshoring.

The effectiveness of legislative and voluntary strategies to prevent ocean plastic pollution: Lessons from the UK and South Pacific

The islands of the South Pacific contribute a fraction of the mis-managed plastics in the world's ocean, yet the region is one of the main recipients of its impacts. Based on expert interviews and a review of current strategies to prevent marine plastic pollution in six countries (Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, United Kingdom), this paper identifies several interventions – legislative, financial, voluntary - which governments, organisations and individuals can learn from. Both voluntary and statutory consumer-based behaviour change campaigns are well developed and somewhat successful in several countries. While sub-national policies do not inhibit progress, they are not optimal. Harmonisation across the territories of federal and devolved systems is beneficial, such as container return schemes, levies, and bans. Vanuatu has displayed high ambition, and the challenges in achieving this serve as a case study. A coordinated global strategy with associated legislation aimed at tackling plastic pollution is critical.

Assessing landowners’ preferences to inform voluntary private land conservation: The role of non-monetary incentives

Private land conservation (PLC) is an increasingly recognized strategy to help address the global biodiversity crisis. Understanding landowners’ context-dependent preferences for different PLC policies is key to designing and implementing successful voluntary strategies aiming to foster participation and long-term engagement. However, funding shortfalls and diverse cultural values mean that traditional approaches such as land acquisition or payment for ecosystem services policies may not be the best approaches to increase landowners’ participation in PLC. In this study, we examine landowners’ preferences for monetary and non-monetary incentives and how these might increase participation in PLC. We also address a geographical gap in PLC literature by assessing landowners’ preferences for voluntary PLC policies in Uruguay, a country located in the Río de la Plata Grasslands ecoregion (South America), one of the most endangered and least protected biomes worldwide. This case study provides a useful test-bed of non-monetary incentives, since 96% of the land is privately owned and no voluntary PLC strategies are in place yet. Using a choice experiment, we found that landowners were more willing to engage in voluntary PLC if policies align with their values and needs. Non-monetary incentives, such as access to training and technical support, were preferred over monetary payments, highlighting opportunities to develop context-specific policies that would foster environmental stewardship and long-term engagement. Designing policies by including a diverse set of instruments, flexible contract lengths, and integrating the context-specific social and cultural characteristics underlying landowners’ identities and values, are crucial aspects for increasing participation.

The Effect of Varus Deformity on Co-Activation of Abdominal and Lower Limb Muscles during Landing Task in Female Subjects

Objective: Genuvarum deformity experience knee instability. This deformity can lead the patient to sever osteoarthritis. The recovery of postural stability is very important to prevention of these patients. Strategies aimed at stabilizing the muscle can have a long-term effect on the joint. This study was performed to determine the relationship between muscle stabilization strategies and knee instability, in order to determine how people with knee Genuvarum, respond to rapid absorption and muscle co- contraction during landing task. Methods: Twenty female participants, (10 normal and 10 Genuvarum) in the present study. The subjects were land by preferred lower limb from a table (30 cm high) on a force plate. Vertical ground reaction force, time to peak of vertical reaction force, velocity of vertical ground reaction force to reach the maximum, time to stability in X and Y directions and resultant vector were calculated as postural control parameters. Also surface electromyography of transverse abdominal/int. oblique, vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, lateral gastrocnemius, and medial gastrocnemius muscles were recorded during landing. Motor control strategy were measured by similarity index and voluntary response index. Results: There are significant difference between Genuvarum and Healthy subjects in motor control strategy (P<0.05).A significant difference are detected in postural control parameters between two groups (P<0.05). Conclusion: Genuvarum deformity may be linked to altered quadriceps, abdominal and gastrocnemius muscles reciprocal co-activation patterns during landing task. In addition, may be affected voluntary motor control strategy in synergy concepts. Postural control is affected in these deformity and shock absorption may be reduced in parallel to increase of response vector and reduce of instability in landing task.

Advance Research Directives: Dementia Researchers' Views on a Prototype Directive and Implementation Strategies.

Advance research directives (ARDs) enable people to document preferences for future research participation in the event of incapacity. This article reports on interviews with 11 dementia researchers in Australia that focused on the content of a prototype ARD and processes for making and using ARDs. Participants agreed that an ARD template should provide information to explain research and the rationale for making a directive, allow the person to nominate trusted individuals to be involved in future decisions, and record the person's general willingness or unwillingness to be involved in research. Providing a list of various research activities elicits preferences and risk tolerances in more detail. Priority groups for ARD implementation include people with a diagnosis involving progressive cognitive impairment and people interested in research. Researchers and health and legal professionals have a role in promoting ARDs. Our findings suggest that, as a voluntary strategy, ARDs could promote appropriate inclusion in research.

The cost-effectiveness of government actions to reduce sodium intake through salt substitutes in Vietnam

BackgroundDietary sodium reduction is recommended to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease. In Vietnam food products including salt, fish sauce and bot canh contribute to ~ 70% of dietary sodium intake. Reduced sodium versions of these products can be produced by replacing some of the sodium chloride with potassium chloride. We aimed to assess the cost-effectiveness of three alternative approaches to introducing reduced sodium products onto the market with a view to lowering population sodium intake in Vietnam.MethodsThe three salt substitution strategies included voluntary, subsidised and regulatory approaches targeting salt, fish sauce and bot canh products. Costs were modelled using the WHO-CHOICE methodology. A Markov cohort model was developed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of each strategy versus no intervention from the government perspective. The model linked each intervention strategy to assumed changes in levels of sodium intake and then to systolic blood pressure. Changes in SBP were linked to a probability of ischaemic heart disease or stroke. The model followed people over their lifetime to assess average costs and quality adjusted life years (QALYs) gained for each strategy.ResultsThe voluntary salt substitution strategy was assumed to require no investment by government. Following ramp up (years 6+), the average annual costs for the subsidised and regulatory strategies were 21,808,968,902 ₫ (US$ 977,354) and 12,949,953,247 ₫ (US$ 580,410) respectively. Relative to no intervention, all three salt substitution strategies were found to be cost-effective. Cost savings were driven by reductions in strokes (32,595; 768,384; 2,366,480) and ischaemic heart disease (IHD) events (22,830; 537,157; 1,648,590) for the voluntary, subsidised & regulatory strategies, respectively. The voluntary strategy was least cost-effective (− 3445 ₫ US$ -0.15; 0.009 QALYs gained) followed by the subsidised strategy (− 43,189 ₫ US$ -1.86; 0.022 QALYs gained) and the regulatory strategy delivered the highest cost savings and health gains (− 243,530 ₫ US$ -10.49; 0.074 QALYs gained).ConclusionThis research shows that all three modelled salt substitution strategies would be good value for money relative to no intervention in Vietnam. The subsidised alternative would require the highest level of government investment; however the implementation costs will be exceeded by healthcare savings assuming a reasonable time horizon is considered.

The involvement of marine tourism companies in CSR: the case of the island of Tenerife.

Corporate Social Responsibility is a voluntary strategy by companies, which integrates a set of actions that contribute to sustainable development. This study analyzes the degree of involvement of marine tourism companies in human resource management, adaptation to change, environmental management, local community development and collaboration with public and private agents. These areas configure companies’ Corporate Social Responsibility strategies. Information was collected from marine tourism companies on the island of Tenerife using quantitative and qualitative methodologies. A binary logistic regression analysis was applied. The results indicate that, in general, marine tourism companies are socio-environmentally responsible. Environmental aspects and adaptation to change through innovation have the greatest weight in these companies’ Corporate Social Responsibility strategies. Actions for local community development and collaboration with private agents are also important. However, human resource management influences negatively since marine tourism is a highly regulated sector in this regard. Thus, actions are mandatory and not voluntary, affecting all companies equally whether they have high levels of Corporate Social Responsibility implementation or not. Regarding relations with public authorities, the results indicate that improvement is urgently required, given the low participation of marine tourism companies in policy making.

Influence of precaution and dynamic post-indemnity based insurance policy on controlling the propagation of epidemic security risks in networks

This paper studies how the purchase of insurance policies against epidemic security risks, a voluntary strategy of individuals, impacts the controlling of epidemic security risk propagation in networks and the profit of the insurer. For this purpose, we first formulated a modified agent-based framework that characterizes the coupled dynamics of individual security-protection investment behaviors and epidemic security risk propagation process, to study the effectiveness of insurance policies. Second, we proposed a novel insurance policy that follows the designed “precaution and dynamic post-indemnity” (PDPI) principle, taking the correlated and interdependent characteristics of epidemic security risks into account. We determined how the PDPI insurance policy affects security-protection investment coverage and epidemiological dynamics by tuning the allocation coefficient of insurance funds α and the ratio between the premium and the cost of investment R. The results indicated that, although insurance policies have negative influences on voluntary investment behaviors, the risk propagation can be controlled effectively by appropriate combination of α and R, because the precaution mechanism in the PDPI insurance policy can counteract this side effect by guaranteeing the security-protection investment coverage among insured individuals with larger degrees. We further found that, although the insurance policy cannot lead to the maximal profit when the policy has the best performance on risk propagation prevent, the insurer still can earn positive profits. Finally, some effective PDPI insurance policies against specific investment costs are given. The models and findings shed new and meaningful insights into designing and measuring effective insurance policies associated with security-protection investment in controlling the propagation of epidemic security risks.

The caudate nucleus contributes causally to decisions that balance reward and uncertain visual information.

Our decisions often balance what we observe and what we desire. A prime candidate for implementing this complex balancing act is the basal ganglia pathway, but its roles have not yet been examined experimentally in detail. Here, we show that a major input station of the basal ganglia, the caudate nucleus, plays a causal role in integrating uncertain visual evidence and reward context to guide adaptive decision-making. In monkeys making saccadic decisions based on motion cues and asymmetric reward-choice associations, single caudate neurons encoded both sources of information. Electrical microstimulation at caudate sites during motion viewing affected the monkeys' decisions. These microstimulation effects included coordinated changes in multiple computational components of the decision process that mimicked the monkeys' similarly coordinated voluntary strategies for balancing visual and reward information. These results imply that the caudate nucleus plays causal roles in coordinating decision processes that balance external evidence and internal preferences.

Strategies of Behavior Voluntary Regulation of Primary Schoolchildren in Health and Disease

The development of voluntary behavior of children with intellectual disabilities is a complex and long-term process that requires a special comprehensive behavioral therapy, which should be aimed at correcting disadaptive patterns of behavior. The purpose of the article is a comparative clinical and psychological analysis of voluntary behavior of children with intellectual disabilities and identification of the main mechanisms of its origin. The article presents the research results of the strategies of voluntary behavior of primary schoolchildren in health and with mental disabilities. It distinguishes the levels of voluntary regulation and cognitive strategies of behavior in health and disease. The study has resulted in developing a structural and functional model of voluntary regulation of behavior of children with mental disorders; a concept of dynamic study of voluntary behavior of primary schoolchildren in health and disease, which is reflected in the interrelated levels of personal organization; the assessment of voluntary regulation levels of primary schoolchildren in health and disease. The article also presents the results of the studies of voluntary behavior strategies of primary schoolchildren in health and with mental disabilities, establishes the main determinants of its origin, and defines the levels of voluntary regulation and cognitive strategies of behavior in health and disease

Determinants of strategy disclosure quality: empirical evidence from Germany

Strategy reporting is of high interest to investors and can be seen as decision-useful information. The focus of this study is to analyze the determinants of the quality of voluntary strategy disclosure in German management reports of capital market-oriented companies. Based on a theoretical analysis, hypotheses are formulated to investigate the determinants of the quality of voluntary strategy disclosure. In order to test the hypotheses, a number of statistical tests are performed, especially multiple regression analyses. It is based on a unique hand-collected dataset with a self-constructed scoring model, which measures the quality of voluntary strategy disclosure. The sample comprises 110 largest companies in Germany for the period between 2014 and 2018. The results indicate that firm size, firm growth and capital intensity determine voluntary strategy disclosure significantly and positively. Conversely, firm age, financial leverage, ownership structure and profitability do not have a significant relationship with voluntary strategy disclosure. The results are robust to different statistical analysis. This research provides insights into a neglected topic in academia and helps decision-makers in practice and regulators to better understand voluntary strategy disclosure of capital market-oriented companies.

The explanatory effect of CSR committee and assurance services on the adoption of the IFC performance standards, as a means of enhancing corporate transparency

PurposeIn view of the significant deficiencies that have been observed in corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting practices, some companies have undertaken a new communication strategy based on a combination of the GRI guidelines and the IFC Performance Standards (termed the GRI-IFC strategy). This paper aims to analyse the role of the CSR committee and of assurance services in promoting this novel practice.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use an unbalanced sample of 750 international companies that operate in emerging markets for the years 2011-2016, in which logistic and ordinal regressions are applied to the panel data to test the research hypotheses.FindingsThe results show that the existence of a CSR committee facilitates adoption of the GRI-IFC strategy, thus promoting sustainable management policies and systems and enhancing communication with stakeholders. In addition, these specialised committees often commission assurance for sustainability reports, to reinforce strategies aimed at improving corporate transparency.Research limitations/implicationsThe analysis of mediation shows that diverse characteristics of corporate governance mechanisms interact in improving sustainability and business transparency.Practical implicationsThere is an evident need for greater commitment by institutions to sustainability, for example by requiring greater specialisation of the members of the CSR committee in social and environmental issues. In addition, consideration should be given to including the creation of a CSR committee as a good practice, within the code of corporate governance and to establishing a specific framework for the committee’s actions.Social implicationsThe previously cited impacts of this paper all contribute indirectly to a greater social welfare by generating higher levels of transparency, ethics and corporate performance. Specifically, higher quality verification services will have an impact on the improved functioning of the financial and capital markets, as well as in decision-making by internal and external stakeholders with more reliable information that will favour the implementation of more sustainable processes that in the short and long term will mean more companies who are responsible towards the environment and society.Originality/valueThis novel study explains why companies adopt voluntary strategies in compliance with GRI guidelines, seeking to provide better CSR disclosure.

Can commitment contracts boost participation in public health programmes?

Commitment devices aim to help people make better choices in the face of their inherent biases: they are voluntary strategies aimed at changing behaviours by introducing costs to your current self, to bring about gains for your future self. Adherence to a structured health intervention is an important part of achieving health goals, and may be improved by commitment devices designed to keep people on track with their health goals. A field experiment set in a public weight management programme tests whether a personal commitment device in the form of a contract with oneself, which relies solely on self-reputation costs, can raise weekly participation and completion of the programme. Results suggest the commitment contract can significantly improve attendance (p = 0.05) and completion rates (p = 0.032), with some suggestive evidence that the contract works especially well for people with more myopic health attitudes. Findings also suggest the commitment contract can substitute for, but does not necessarily add to, wider commitment features in the health programme; raising new questions around threshold effects and the theory underlying commitment devices.

A Global Perspective on Phosphorus Management Decision Support in Agriculture: Lessons Learned and Future Directions.

The evolution of phosphorus (P) management decision support tools (DSTs) and systems (DSS), in support of food and environmental security has been most strongly affected in developed regions by national strategies (i) to optimize levels of plant available P in agricultural soils, and (ii) to mitigate P runoff to water bodies. In the United States, Western Europe, and New Zealand, combinations of regulatory and voluntary strategies, sometimes backed by economic incentives, have often been driven by reactive legislation to protect water bodies. Farmer-specific DSSs, either based on modeling of P transfer source and transport mechanisms, or when coupled with farm-specific information or local knowledge, have typically guided best practices, education, and implementation, yet applying DSSs in data poor catchments and/or where user adoption is poor hampers the effectiveness of these systems. Recent developments focused on integrated digital mapping of hydrologically sensitive areas and critical source areas, sometimes using real-time data and weather forecasting, have rapidly advanced runoff modeling and education. Advances in technology related to monitoring, imaging, sensors, remote sensing, and analytical instrumentation will facilitate the development of DSSs that can predict heterogeneity over wider geographical areas. However, significant challenges remain in developing DSSs that incorporate "big data" in a format that is acceptable to users, and that adequately accounts for catchment variability, farming systems, and farmer behavior. Future efforts will undoubtedly focus on improving efficiency and conserving phosphate rock reserves in the face of future scarcity or prohibitive cost. Most importantly, the principles reviewed here are critical for sustainable agriculture.