Prominence of environmental and anthropogenic agents on the occurrence of coral reef bleaching syndrome and coral diseases

Coral reefs are the most productive ecosystems on Earth. They ensure the conservation of biodiversity and are a live habitat for 25% of all marine organisms. The main relationship on the coral reef is the symbiosis between corals and algae from the genus Symbiodinium (commonly called zooxanthellae). The authors of this publication have characterized and described the factors limiting the occurrence of coral reefs, including: water temperature, salinity, access to sunlight, contamination, physicochemical and hydromechanical parameters of water. Moreover anthropogenic threats to coral reefs have been specified, including diving tourism, ecological disasters (e.g. oil spills) and the development of marine aquaristics. Rapid changes in the basic living conditions are dangerous for corals and their symbionts and may cause the unsuitability of the new environment resulting in diseases such as coral bleaching. Corals bleaching is a disease associated with the break of the coral and algae relationship which results in a coral reef death on a global scale. Awareness of these negative factors, often related to human activity, may allow us to better understand the ecological processes that are the basis of reef functioning and might enable us to prevent and oppose to the changes and ecological recessions of coral reefs.

Feeling matters: perceived social support moderates the relationship between personal relative deprivation and depressive symptoms

Background Little research describes the mechanisms underlying depressive symptoms and personal relative deprivation in Chinese populations. Methods In this study, the respondents were (N = 914) residents of Beijing (17–59 years old) and robust multiple linear regressions were used to assess the main relationship between relative deprivation and depressive symptoms and social support as a potential moderator for that relationship. Results Individuals who reported higher personal relative deprivation had greater depressive symptoms than those who reported lower personal relative deprivation. Perceived social support buffered the relationship between depressive symptoms and personal relative deprivation. Conclusions The findings of this current study demonstrate the importance of relative deprivation for psychological strain and income in explaining how socioeconomic indices correlate with depressive symptoms. They also demonstrate the need to acknowledge the interaction of perceived social support and personal relative deprivation for influencing depression.

Feeling matters: Perceived Social Support Moderate the Relationship between Personal Relative Deprivation and Depressive Symptoms

Background Little research describes the mechanisms underlying depressive symptoms and personal relative deprivation in Chinese populations. Methods In this study, the respondents were (N = 938) residents of Beijing (17-59 years old) and robust multiple linear regressions were used to assess the main relationship between relative deprivation and depressive symptoms and social support as a potential moderator for that relationship. Results Individuals who reported higher personal relative deprivation had greater depressive symptoms than those who reported lower personal relative deprivation. Perceived social support buffered the relationship between depressive symptoms and personal relative deprivation. Conclusions The findings of this current study demonstrate the importance of relative deprivation for psychological strain and income in explaining how socioeconomic indices correlate with depressive symptoms. They also demonstrate the need to acknowledge the interaction of perceived social support and personal relative deprivation for influencing depression.

Literature Review on the Analysis of Motivational Elements and Gamification Content in Creating Semantic Barriers

The study aims to examine the development of literature highlights related to motivational elements and gamification content in the implementation of gamification which indirectly creates semantic barriers. A total of 11 local and international literature were examined based on Literature Review Inventory (IVS), which was built on ARCS Model founded by John Keller (2010), consisting of 4 important elements: attention, relevant, confidence and satisfaction as well as referring to Content Gamification Model by Karl M. Kapp et Al (2014) which consist of 7 elements: story, challenge, curiosity, character, interactive, feedback and freedom to fail. Both models focused on four (4) teaching and learning motivational factors in gamification as well as in the aspects of gamification content which are the basic backup in fulfilling the teaching and learning based on gamification. The findings discovered that the main relationship between semantic barrier and gamification process was through meanings with an attempt to deliver the design and implementation of gamification. Barriers of meaning which occur could be the result of some semantic aspect: the barrier of an understanding of motivational concept in gamification based on ARCS Model, gamification elements such as point, badges, levels, leader boards, challenges, reward, on boarding and engagement loops as well as the concept of the fun and implementation of gamification design. This study is important in the effort to expose various constraints and obstacles in the gamification process which needs to be given the attention though the method is interactive and entertaining in nature.

Technology sharing game from ecological perspective

New technological revolution has brought about significant changes in technological innovation activities. The platform has become an indispensable part of the innovation ecosystem of technology-intensive enterprises, which is derived from enterprise technology sharing. The main relationship of the innovation ecosystem is competition and cooperation. We use evolutionary game theory to consider the sharing behaviour of two enterprises in terms of different implicit parameters, thereby providing insight into the design of innovation ecosystem and technology innovation platform policies that promote open and shared technological innovation.

Managerial Discretion: The Relationship Between Investments in R & D and Performance -Revisited: Case of Tunisian Enterprises

This article proposes a re-reading of the role of R & D investments in the performance equation when a manifestation of an opportunistic inclination on the part of managers occurs. Often, the manager and the owners express different expectations regarding investment choices in R & D. Although shareholders are looking for performance, the manager sometimes has a tendency to broaden his managerial discretion. The choice of R & D investments could thus reinforce managerial entrenchment. We will demonstrate the moderation exercised by managerial discretion on the R & D / Performance relationship.Our empirical validation will be put to examination against the Tunisian context by deploying various tests. We come to grips with the characteristics of the Tunisian context through an empirical study of 75 companies observed over a 7 -year time lapse, i.e. from 2008 to 2014. The explanatory analysis was an opportunity to highlight the existence of a moderation exercised over the main relationship dealt with.

Marriage to the Same Kind: Organizational Political Ideology and Mergers and Acquisitions

This study contributes to the growing literature on organizational political ideology by positing that acquiring firms choose targets with similar organizational political ideology in their effort to retain employees post-merger. Using a sample of M&A announcements in the United States from 1996 to 2014, we find a positive relationship between the similarity of political ideologies of the merging organizations and the likelihood of M&A announcement. In addition, we find that our main relationship is stronger the more homogeneous the organizational political ideology of the acquirer, and the more the human capital intensity of the merging firms. In addition, we find support for the proposed mechanism that drives the main relationship. We thus introduce the concept of organizational political ideology into the debate over the influence of organizational values in M&As, and we extend the theoretical application of political ideology to settings with inter-organizational partnerships.

Retention intention: does having a proactive personality matter?

PurposeIn this study, the authors examine how employees' retention intentions are related to their proactive personalities through the theoretical lens of the model of motivational force of turnover and the model of proactive motivation. More specifically, the authors also verify the partial mediation of work engagement on the main relationship and moderation of high-performance human resource practices (HPHRPs) in the process, which has rarely been explored previously.Design/methodology/approachThe hypothesized model was tested using partial least squares structural equational modeling on a sample of 221 employees of a bank in Bangladesh.FindingsThe results showed that having a proactive personality is positively related to retention intentions due to enhanced work engagement. However, the effect of the interaction between having a proactive personality and HPHRPs was found to be not significant on work engagement and retention intention.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature by exploring the reason behind mixed results found in the relationship between having a proactive personality and retention intentions through work engagement as a mediator and HPHRPs as a contextual boundary condition in a single model.

Alibaba's International Digital Marketing Practices and Strategies

In this chapter, the main relationship between a company's use of data-driven methods and its international digital marketing strategies are examined. In particular, the question of how data-driven methods, like consumer analytics, helped the company in its internationalization efforts are outlined. By following the case study approach, the diverse digital business models, online advertising campaigns, and international digital marketing practices of the Chinese company Alibaba are investigated. As China's e-commerce market currently became one of the most dynamic ones in the world, and as Alibaba is one of the leading internet and e-commerce corporations worldwide, valuable insights are provided. Moreover, Alibaba's international digital marketing practices, underlying strategies, as well as adaptive capabilities are systematically analyzed. In addition, Alibaba's competitive behavior is investigated and compared with international companies and peers. In this context, the standardization versus adaptation paradigm is also revisited.

THE EFFECT OF CREDIT RISK AS A MEDIATOR BETWEEN LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL ADEQUACY ON BANK PERFORMANCE IN BANKING COMPANIES LISTED ON THE IDX

Liquidity is one of the main factors faced by banking companies because its main relationship is channeling funds from third parties with bank performance. This study aims to examine credit risk which is proxied by Raroc (return adjusted on risk capital) as a mediator of the effect of liquidity (loan to deposit ratio) on the bank performance (return on assets). The analytical tool used in this study is SEM-WarpPLS 5.0, this study shows that credit risk can mediate the effect of liquidity on bank performance. This shows that the greater the credit risk, the smaller the bank's performance.Keywords: Financial Intermediation Theory; Liquidity; Bank Performance.