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We investigate whether rising income disparity contributes to the proliferation of shadow economic activities in Nigeria. The study uses data from 1991 to 2018 and adopts the Auto-regressive Distributed Lags (ARDL) cointegration approach to study the effects of income inequality on the shadow economy in both the short- and the long-run. Our results show that the Nigerian shadow economy responds positively to increases in income inequality, especially in the short run. We also find that the large income disparity in Nigeria drives the poor into informal economic activity, primarily for survival, and that unemployment partly contributes to informality. Our findings suggest that unemployment may be both a result and a cause of rising income disparity in Nigeria, leading to an expansion of the shadow economy. These findings indicate that regulating the proliferation of shadow economic activities in Nigeria will necessitate, among other things, the implementation of measures to reduce income gaps, such as stronger institutional frameworks and the expansion of financial intermediation services such as credit supply to the informal sectors.

Keywords: Income inequality, shadow economy, taxation, government spending, income distribution

Though gender equality has been at the centre of debate over the last decades, a number of benefits concerning the impact of female directors on corporate performance are still overlooked. Particularly, the link that seems to exist between female directors and sustainable finance has received limited attention. We investigate the impact of an enhancement in female presence, meant as women in decision-making positions, on a firm’s performance both in financial and sustainability terms. The goal is to contribute to the literature streams on gender economics and on sustainable finance.Most research on sustainable finance and its impact on corporate governance rely only on aggregate ESG ratings for their results. Such scores are typically a black-box, with financial providers supplying little information about their methodology. Our analysis not only develops disaggregate scores for each dimension, but also provides motivation for the measurement of gender equality by means of specific indicators, such as the number of female directors, going beyond the bare (S) or (G) rating. ESG ratings and specific indicators of gender equality were retrieved from the well-known Bloomberg provider. Relying on a dataset concerning European companies, we empirically show that an increase in gender equality has a positive effect on a firm’s financial performance and on its share of sustainable investments.

Keywords: ESG, Sustainable Finance, Risk management, Gender Economics, Bloomberg

Etniko Bandido is an autonomous community resource center and infoshop in Manila where locals and visitors gather to discuss ideas and issues and organize cultural events. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, Etniko’s network of local musicians, artists, and activists repurposed the infoshop’s physical space and its political mission of mutual aid to address the needs of the community by, for instance, distributing food and medical supplies. In this context, the local response to the pandemic can be more widely contextualized in the Philippines’ “culture of disaster” and indigenous articulations of mutual aid, which provided an alternative to the dominant consumer society.

The academic library milieu is replete with verbal interactions that occur between library staff and patrons, as well as within the library staff cohort. Such communication impacts the quality and results of library support provided to students, faculty and community. It also affects workplace health and productivity. Consequently, among academic library staff, knowledge and awareness of effective language use is a crucial component of professional practice. This scoping review examines and analyzes the published literature for beneficial and detrimental verbatim exemplars of communication in the context of academic libraries. While the review found significant literature addressing categories of interpersonal communication in the academic library, few studies provide verbal exemplars. Given that such exemplars play an important role in understanding language categories, and in augmenting effective language use, this gap in the literature warrants further attention.

Keywords: bibliothèques universitaires, academic libraries, catégories d'utilisation de la langue, language use, exemples d'utilisation de la langue, language-use exemplars, racisme, language-use categories, utilisation de la langue, racism

Digital storytelling is a narrative technique that combines audio, video and animation elements. It can be used to provide opportunities for the promotion of cultural understanding in the university language classroom. In this study, pedagogy that combines digital storytelling techniques and computational technologies are explored, as part of language studies that can allow instructors to create an intercultural experience. The outcomes of an undergraduate learning exercise have been evaluated, along with this researcher’s experience as an instructor who used digital storytelling in a French-as-a-second-language classroom, and includes these students’ solicited feedback. In this case study, a group of students conducted internet research to explore the online cultural diversity and cultural differences of Francophone culture. They then created digital stories to represent this diversity. The findings have been analysed to evaluate the potential place of inclusivity and diversity tools in French-as-a-second-language learning, and to share the potential of this practical pedagogy approach for other university educators.

Keywords: Diversity, Language, Digital Storytelling

Introduction: The use of digital health devices (e-health) would improve certain patient’s clinical outcomes. Proposing effective “online” interventions to improve patients’ adaptation to chronic conditions requires a validated measure of digital health literacy. The “Lisane” self-report measure was developed and validated by experts.Objectives: This article describes the field-testing of the preliminary version of the tool, more specifically the non-response rate, ceiling and floor effects, item redundancy and the preliminary assessment of its internal consistency.Method: The Lisane tool, consisting of 14 items divided into five domains (e-literacy, reliability of information on the Internet, relevance of information to personal health, protection of privacy, empowerment), was applied to a convenience sample (29 participants) recruited in Quebec (patient communities) and Switzerland (clinical setting). The non-response rate and the ceiling and floor effects were evaluated. Item redundancy was described for exploratory purposes. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient.Results: The rate of missing results > 15% and a redundancy (r = 0.94, p<0.05) on power to act’s items were noted. A floor effect was identified. Cronbach’s alpha was α= 0.90, 95% CI [0.78 – 1.03].Discussion and Conclusion: The field test of the Lisane tool has limitations, such as a ceiling effect and the indication of redundancy in certain items, but good preliminary evidence of internal consistency. Continued analysis of its psychometric properties (validity, reliability) is necessary.

Keywords: littératie en santé numérique, digital health literacy, measurement instrument development, développement d’instrument de mesure, self-reported measurement, mesure autorapportée, maladie chronique, chronic illness, Roy Adaptation Model, modèle d’adaptation de Roy

In this article, I highlight the lives and works of three distinguished media ecology theorists: (1) Eric McLuhan (1942-2018; Ph.D. in English, University of Dallas, 1982); (2) Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980; Ph.D. in English, Cambridge University, 1943); and(3) Walter J. Ong, S.J. (1912-2003; Ph.D. in English, Harvard University, 1955). Throughout this article, I use Eric McLuhan’s 2015 book The Sensus Communis, Synesthesia, and the Soul: An Odyssey as a touchstone for my discussion of connection consciousness. I round off this article by listing a wide range of other books and articles that are also related to connection consciousness.

A modified, surface-towed, sub-bottom profiler, the boomer-based “Seistec” system, was deployed in an area offshore of eastern Oak Island, Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, in May 2017. Several grids of lines were surveyed around eastern Oak Island. Subsequently, the sub-bottom profiler data were interpreted from a geological perspective after being processed, scaled, aligned and merged with a previously collected multibeam bathymetric data set. This exercise resulted in the first integration of multibeam bathymetry and high resolution sub-bottom profile data from offshore Oak Island and provides insight into the subsurface stratigraphy of the bedrock and glacial and postglacial sediments. The seabed is mostly composed of boulder-covered till drumlins and Holocene mud. Subsurface sediments include till and glaciomarine and lacustrine sediments, and a regional unconformity developed in response to postglacial transgression was revealed. Anthropogenic features include a shipwreck and unusual coast-normal seabed gravel ridges. Seabed natural features include sinkholes and pockmarks that are likely connected by channels in the bedrock to sinkhole features on adjacent land.

Background: Though there are more family physicians in Canada than ever before, and residency programs are expanding, gaps in access to comprehensive care remain. This study aimed to describe and understand the role residency training experiences played in shaping practice choices, including the provision of comprehensive community-based care, among early career family physicians.Methods: A secondary analysis of sixty-three (63) qualitative interviews was conducted on data from a larger mixed method study on practice patterns and choices of early career Canadian family physicians. We utilized Braun and Clarke’s six phases of reflexive thematic analysis on portions of transcripts concerning residency training experiences.Results: Participants described positive residency training experiences that shaped practice choice with respect to preceptors and mentorship, experiences of longitudinal care, breadth of exposure, and preparedness for comprehensive clinical practice. Woven through these four domains were “points of tension” and “hidden truths”. Points of tension included: i) the promotion of an idealized professional identity and practice that was difficult to uphold, ii) lack of representation among faculty/preceptors with respect to age and gender, at some sites, and iii) frustration about the lack of opportunities for interprofessional collaborative practices that reflected training experiences. Hidden truths included: i) lack of preparation to run a business, ii) high administrative workload, iii) realities of payment models, and iv) the range of roles available for family physicians beyond the provision of comprehensive care.Conclusions: Findings highlight opportunities for educational reform supporting the transition from residency to practice alongside the importance of addressing systemic factors beyond training which impact physicians’ choices regarding comprehensive care.