Board attributes, ownership structure and risk management: A proposed model for insurance firms in Nigeria

As a response to the weaknesses in corporate governance and risk management created by the 2007/2008 financial crises, Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) becomes imperative, especially in the financial sector. Therefore, in understanding the board's responsibility in ensuring good governance through ERM implementation, two fundamental questions need to be answered; what determines the makeup of the board? And what determines boards' action? Consequently, this study proposed a conceptual framework for investigating the moderating role of ownership structure on the relationship between board attributes and risk management of insurance firms in Nigeria using the model approach. Hence, the control, resource acquisition, and service roles of the board as explained by agency, stewardship, and resource dependence theories explain this relationship. Board attributes are measured by board composition, board structure, board characteristics, and board process, ownership structure is measured by ownership concentration, board ownership, and foreign ownership, and ERM is measured using the disclosure index. Findings from the review of literature reveal that governance attributes in board attributes-risk management relationships have been measured on single or fragmented criteria, leading to contradictory or conflicting findings. Hence, the significance of the study lies in the conceptualization and choice of board attributes as explained by board roles and an integrative theoretical perspective to propose the choice of board attributes in the board attributes-risk management relationship and how ownership structure can influence the relationship, adding to the existing literature onboard attributes, ownership structure, and risk management.

Flow and the dynamics of conscious thought

The flow construct has been influential within positive psychology, sport psychology, the science of consciousness, the philosophy of agency, and popular culture. In spite of its longstanding influence, it remains unclear [a] how the constituents of the flow state ‘hang together’—how they relate to each other causally and functionally—[b] in what sense flow is an ‘optimal experience,’ and [c] how best to describe the unique phenomenology of the flow state. As a result, difficulties persist for a clear understanding of the flow state’s structure and function. After explicating the standard view of the flow construct (section one), I articulate several basic questions regarding its nature and functional roles (section two), and I argue that these questions are best answered by integrating flow within broader streams of research on the dynamics of thought, on cognitive control resource allocation, and on creative thought (sections three and four).

Observer-Based Event-triggered Adaptive Containment Control for Multiagent Systems With Prescribed performance

This paper focuses on the problem of the observer-based event-triggered adaptive containment control for a class of nonlinear multiagent systems (MASs) with prescribed performance. First, the radial basis function neural networks (RBFNNs) are adopted to approximate the uncertain smooth nonlinear function, and the neural network-based state observer is designed to estimate the unmeasurable state. Besides, to reduce the control resource assumption and get a better balance between the system performance and network constraints, the switching threshold based event-triggered control strategy is introduced. Based on this, the novel distributed containment controller is designed by utilizing the adaptive backstepping technique and the dynamic surface control (DSC) technique to guarantee that the output of each follower converges to the convex hull formed by multileader. Moreover, the containment errors can be converged to the prescribed boundary and all signals in closed-loop system are semi-global uniformly ultimately bounded (SGUUB) as well. Finally, the simulation example is carried out to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed controller.

Elites Do Not Deplete – No Effect of Prior Mental Exertion on Subsequent Shooting Performance in Elite Shooters

In order to perform at the highest level, elite shooters have to remain focused during the whole course of a tournament, which regularly lasts multiple hours. Investing self-control over extended time periods is often associated with lower levels of perceived self-control strength (i.e., the subjective estimation of how much mental effort one is capable of investing in a given task) and impaired performance in several sports-related domains. However, previous findings on the effects of prior self-control efforts on shooting performance have been mixed, as elite shooters seem to be less affected by preceding self-control demanding tasks than sub-elite athletes. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of self-control on shooting performance in elite shooters. Hence, we randomly assigned elite shooters to an experimental (n = 12) or a control condition (n = 11) and asked them to perform a series of 40 shots at baseline (T1) and again after a task which either did or did not require self-control (T2). Additionally, we continuously measured the shooters’ level of perceived self-control strength. We assumed that in elite athletes, shooting accuracy as well as the perceived level of self-control strength would not be significantly affected over time from T1 to T2 in both conditions. In line with our assumptions, Bayesian linear mixed effect models revealed that shooting performance remained relatively stable in both conditions over time and the conditions also did not differ significantly in their perceived levels of self-control strength. Contrary to resource-based theories of self-control, these results speak against the idea of a limited self-control resource as previous acts of self-control did not impair subsequent shooting performance in elite athletes.

Shooting the messenger: Identifying the mycorrhizal species transferring carbon between neighboring trees

<p>EMF play an important role in forests around the globe, by improving tree nutrition and water supply, as well as connecting different tree species through common mycorrhizal networks (CMN's). However, the extent to which EMF control resource sharing within these networks has not yet been thoroughly addressed. We constructed a simple network of tree-fungus-tree and monitored carbon flow from a <sup>13</sup>CO<sub>2</sub> labeled donor tree to the final recipient.  DNA Stable Isotope Probing (DNA-SIP) of ectomycorrhizal root tips was used to identify the main fungal symbionts involved in carbon transfer among trees. We used pairs of inter and intra-specie Pinus halepensis and Quercus calliprinos saplings, and examined the carbon dynamics for 40 days within the leaf, stem and root tissues. The peak of <sup>13</sup>C in the roots of the donor trees was around day 4 post labeling, while the recipient roots peaked at day 9 with observed differences between pairs. The intrinsic tree carbon pool, and not the tree species identity, was the main factor governing carbon transfer between trees. Finally, we were able to identify the main fungal symbionts enriched with <sup>13</sup>C. Our results add the "missing piece of the puzzle" by linking specific mycorrhizal species to carbon transfer within CMN's.</p>

Parental feeding preferences rather than sibling competition determine the death of smaller nestlings in asynchronous broods

Hatching asynchrony is a reproductive tactic that, through the creation of competitive hierarchies among offspring, allows parents for a quick adjustment of brood size via the death of smaller nestlings. This strategy is considered to be adaptive in case of unpredictable and/or poor environments in which it would guarantee that at least larger nestlings will fledge. Brood reduction is the usual outcome in asynchronously hatched broods since first-hatched nestlings are larger and get a disproportionately larger share of the food delivered by parents, often leading the youngest nestling to starve to death soon after hatching. However, we still do not know the proximate mechanisms of such brood reduction. One possibility is that the smallest nestling is not fed because larger nestlings outcompete it, which implies that nestlings control resource allocation. Alternatively, parents might actively ignore the persistent begging from their smallest nestling, which would involve that parents control food allocation. To determine whether parents or nestlings ultimately induce brood reduction in this situation, we experimentally created asynchronous broods of Eurasian blackbird (Turdus merula) nestlings and quantified food allocation by parents in two different situations: when sibling competition was allowed and, alternatively, when competition was prevented by physically separating nestlings within the nests by using wooden barriers. Our results showed that experimentally introduced smaller nestlings received less food than their larger nestmates both when competition among nestlings was allowed and when it was prevented. When adult males and females are considered separately, males fed the smallest nestling less often regardless of whether sibling competition was allowed or not, but adult females showed no differences. We can conclude that the smallest nestling starves mainly because parents actively ignore its begging. The higher competitive ability of the larger nestlings seem to have little effect given that although the smallest nestling is fed at a higher rate when physical interactions are prevented by the wooden barrier than when not, this difference is not significant. These findings suggest that parents rather than nestlings have the main control over food allocation.

How Can China Recover From The COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has swept across China and the world, causing more than 30 million infections and incalculable damage. China was seriously damaged and threatened by the disease in the first quarter of 2020, but finally succeeded in halting its spread in a short period. This was achieved through quick and strong measures in self-protection, mobility control, resource allocation, professional health care, and disinfection, under the organization of the government and the cooperation of all the Chinese people. The measures that were taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 proved to be efficient in fighting the outbreak in Beijing in June 2020. This paper reviews China's experience with COVID-19, the Chinese economy's performance during the pandemic, and the government's policies to protect lives, maintain markets, and promote the economy. The data show that strong monetary and fiscal policies accelerated the country's economic recovery. These policies, including tax reductions and credit support, targeting small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) and industries and regions that were severely damaged, have helped to create jobs and encourage production and investment.

Switch Off Totally or Switch Off Strategically? The Consequences of Thinking About Work on Job Performance

As a universal workplace phenomenon, the impact of work-related rumination on job performance is attracting scholars’ attention. In the current study, the relationship between two types of work-related rumination, counterproductive behavior, and creativity at work were examined, as well as the mechanism of this association. Participants were 1109 employees from a variety of jobs in mainland China. The results showed that affective rumination was negatively associated with employees’ work creativity and positively associated with counterproductive behavior. On the contrary, problem-solving pondering was positively related to creativity and negatively related to counterproductive behavior. The loss of self-control resource partially mediated the link between affective rumination and counterproductive behavior. Problem-solving pondering had no significant impact on self-control resource. Results suggest the significant effects of problem-solving pondering may be positive in the workplace and clarify the self-control resource is the internal mechanism linking rumination and job performance.