bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Rentian scaling for the measurement of optimal embedding of complex networks
into physical space
Authors: Sperry Megan M. , Telesford Qawi K. , Klimm Florian , Bassett Danielle S.
Published: August 2016

The London Underground is one of the largest, oldest and most widely used systems of public transit in the world. Transportation in London is constantly challenged to expand and adapt its system to meet the changing requirements of London’s populace while maintaining a cost-effective and efficient network. Previous studies have described this system using concepts from graph theory, reporting network diagnostics and core–periphery architecture. These studies provide information about the basic structure and efficiency of this network; however, the question of system optimization in the context of evolving demands is seldom investigated. In this paper we examined the cost effectiveness of the topological–physical embedding of the Tube using estimations of the topological dimension, wiring length and Rentian scaling, an isometric scaling relationship between the number of elements and connections in a system. We measured these properties in both two- and three-dimensional embeddings of the networks into Euclidean space, as well as between two time points, and across the densely interconnected core and sparsely interconnected periphery. While the two- and three-dimensional representations of the present-day Tube exhibit Rentian scaling relationships between nodes and edges of the system, the overall network is approximately cost-efficiently embedded into its physical environment in two dimensions, but not in three. We further investigated a notable disparity in the topology of the network’s local core versus its more extended periphery, suggesting an underlying relationship between meso-scale structure and physical embedding. The collective findings from this study, including changes in Rentian scaling over time, provide evidence for differential embedding efficiency in planned versus self-organized networks. These findings suggest that concepts of optimal physical embedding can be applied more broadly to other physical systems whose links are embedded in a well-defined space, and whose topology is constrained by a cost function that minimizes link lengths within that space.
Developmental programmed cell death during asymmetric microsporogenesis in holocentric species ofRhynchospora(Cyperaceae)
Authors: Rocha Danilo M. , Marques André , Andrade Celia G.T.J. , Guyot Romain , Chaluvadi Srinivasa R. , Pedrosa-Harand Andrea , Houben Andreas , Bennetzen Jeffrey L. , Vanzela André L.L.
Published: August 2016

Members of the Cyperaceae family exhibit an asymmetric microsporogenesis that results in the degeneration of three out of four meiotic products. Efforts have been made previously to describe the resulting structure, named the pseudomonad, but mechanisms concerning the establishment of cell domains, nuclear development, and programmed cell death are largely unknown. Using the Rhynchospora genus as a model, evidence for cell asymmetry, cytoplasmic isolation, and programmed cell death was obtained by a combination of electron microscopic, cytochemical, immunocytochemical, in situ hybridization, and flow cytometric methods. Degenerative cells were identified at the abaxial region, with the cytoskeleton marking their delimitation from the functional domain after meiosis. After attempting to initiate cell division with an unreplicated genome and abnormal spindle assembly, these cells exhibited a gradual process of cytoplasmic contraction associated with hypermethylation of cytosines and differential loss of DNA. These results indicate that the asymmetric tetrad establishes a functional cell, where one nucleus is preferentially selected to survive. Degenerative haploid cells are then eliminated in a multistep process associated with mitotic disorder, non-random elimination of repetitive DNA, vacuolar cell death, and DNA fragmentation.
Experimental Reconstitution of Chronic ER Stress in the Liver Reveals Feedback Suppression of Bip mRNA Expression
Authors: Gomez Javier A. , Rutkowski D. Thomas
Published: August 2016

ER stress is implicated in many chronic diseases, but very little is known about how the unfolded protein response (UPR) responds to persistent ER stressin vivo. Here, we experimentally reconstituted chronic ER stress in the mouse liver, using repeated injection of a low dose of the ER stressor tunicamycin. Paradoxically, this treatment led to feedback-mediated suppression of a select group of mRNAs, including those encoding the ER chaperones BiP and GRP94. This suppression was due to both silencing of the ATF6a pathway of UPR-dependent transcription and enhancement of mRNA degradation, most likely via regulated IRE1-dependent decay (RIDD). The suppression ofBipmRNA was phenocopied by ectopic overexpression of BiP protein, and was also observed in obese mice. Our findings suggest that persistent cycles of UPR activation and deactivation create an altered, quasi-stable setpoint for UPR-dependent transcriptional regulation—an outcome that could be relevant to conditions such as metabolic syndrome.
Signatures of human European Paleolithic expansion shown by resequencing of non-recombining X-chromosome segments
Authors: Delser Pierpaolo Maisano , Neumann Rita , Ballereau Stéphane , Hallast Pille , Batini Chiara , Zadik Daniel , Joblingt Mark A.
Published: August 2016

Human genetic diversity in Europe has been extensively studied using uniparentally-inherited sequences (mitochondrial DNA [mtDNA] and the Y chromosome), which reveal very different patterns indicating sex-specific demographic histories. The X chromosome, haploid in males and inherited twice as often from mothers as from fathers, could provide insights into past female behaviours, but has not been extensively investigated. Here, we use HapMap SNP data to identify segments of the X chromosome in which recombination is historically absent and mutations are likely to be the only source of genetic variation, referring to these as Phylogeographically informative Haplotypes on Autosomes and X chromosome (PHAXs). Three such sequences spanning a total of ~49 kb were resequenced in 240 males from Europe, the Middle East and Africa at an average coverage of 181 ×. PHAXs were confirmed to be essentially non-recombining across European samples. All three loci show highly homogeneous patterns across Europe and are highly differentiated from the African sample. Star-like structures of European-specific haplotypes in median-joining networks indicate past population expansions. Bayesian skyline plots and time-to-most-recent-common-ancestor estimates suggest expansions pre-dating the Neolithic transition, a finding that is more compatible with data on mtDNA than the Y chromosome, and with the female bias of X-chromosomal inheritance. This study demonstrates the potential of the use of X-chromosomal haplotype blocks, and the utility of the accurate ascertainment of rare variants for inferring human demographic history.
Fast and accurate spike sorting invitroandin vivofor up to thousands of electrodes
Authors: Yger Pierre , Spampinato Giulia L.B. , Esposito Elric , Lefebvre Baptiste , Deny Stéphane , Gardella Christophe , Stimberg Marcel , Jetter Florian , Zeck Guenther , Picaud Serge , Duebel Jens , Marre Olivier
Published: August 2016

Understanding how assemblies of neurons encode information requires recording large populations of cells in the brain. In recent years, multi-electrode arrays and large silicon probes have been developed to record simultaneously from hundreds or thousands of electrodes packed with a high density. However, these new devices challenge the classical way to do spike sorting. Here we developed a new method to solve these issues, based on a highly automated algorithm to extract spikes from extracellular data, and show that this algorithm reached near optimal performance both invitroandin vivo.The algorithm is composed of two main steps: 1) a “template-finding” phase to extract the cell templates, i.e. the pattern of activity evoked over many electrodes when one neuron fires an action potential; 2) a “template-matching” phase where the templates were matched to the raw data to find the location of the spikes. The manual intervention by the user was reduced to the minimal, and the time spent on manual curation did not scale with the number of electrodes. We tested our algorithm with large-scale data from invitroand in vivo recordings, from 32 to 4225 electrodes. We performed simultaneous extracellular and patch recordings to obtain “ground truth” data, i.e. cases where the solution to the sorting problem is at least partially known. The performance of our algorithm was always close to the best expected performance. We thus provide a general solution to sort spikes from large-scale extracellular recordings.
Recombination-driven genome evolution and stability of bacterial species
Authors: Dixit Purushottam D. , Pang Tin Yau , Maslov Sergei
Published: August 2016

While bacteria divide clonally, horizontal gene transfer followed by homologous recombination is now recognized as an important and sometimes even dominant contributor to their evolution. However, the details of how the competition between clonal inheritance and recombination shapes genome diversity, population structure, and species stability remains poorly understood. Using a computational model, we find two principal regimes in bacterial evolution and identify two composite parameters that dictate the evolutionary fate of bacterial species. In the divergent regime, characterized by either a low recombination frequency or strict barriers to recombination, cohesion due to recombination is not sufficient to overcome the mutational drift. As a consequence, the divergence between any pair of genomes in the population steadily increases in the course of their evolution. The species as a whole lacks genetic coherence with sexually isolated clonal sub-populations continuously formed and dissolved. In contrast, in the metastable regime, characterized by a high recombination frequency combined with low barriers to recombination, genomes continuously recombine with the rest of the population. The population remains genetically cohesive and stable over time. The transition between these two regimes can be affected by relatively small changes in evolutionary parameters. Using the Multi Locus Sequence Typing (MLST) data we classify a number of well-studied bacterial species to be either the divergent or the metastable type. Generalizations of our framework to include fitness and selection, ecologically structured populations, and horizontal gene transfer of non-homologous regions are discussed.
The Arabidopsis SUMO E3 Ligase AtMMS21 Dissociates the E2Fa/DPa Complex in Cell Cycle Regulation
Authors: Liu Yiyang , Lai Jianbin , Yu Mengyuan , Wang Feige , Zhang Juanjuan , Jiang Jieming , Hu Huan , Wu Qian , Lu Guohui , Xu Panglian , Yang Chengwei
Published: August 2016

Development requires the proper execution and regulation of the cell cycle via precise, conserved mechanisms. Critically, the E2F/DP complex controls the expression of essential genes during cell cycle transitions. Here, we discovered the molecular function of the Arabidopsis thaliana SUMO E3 ligase METHYL METHANESULFONATE SENSITIVITY GENE21 (AtMMS21) in regulating the cell cycle via the E2Fa/DPa pathway. DPa was identified as an AtMMS21-interacting protein and AtMMS21 competes with E2Fa for interaction with DPa. Moreover, DPa is a substrate for SUMOylation mediated by AtMMS21, and this SUMOylation enhances the dissociation of the E2Fa/DPa complex. AtMMS21 also affects the subcellular localization of E2Fa/DPa. The E2Fa/DPa target genes are upregulated in the root of mms21-1 and mms21-1 mutants showed increased endoreplication. Overexpression of DPa affected the root development of mms21-1, and overexpression of AtMMS21 completely recovered the abnormal phenotypes of 35S:E2Fa-DPa plants. Our results suggest that AtMMS21 dissociates the E2Fa/DPa complex via competition and SUMOylation in the regulation of plant cell cycle.
Theorising strategic investment decision-making using strong structuration theory
Authors: Harris Elaine Pamela , Northcott Deryl , Elmassri Moataz Moamen , Huikku Jari
Published: August 2016

Purpose

In the field of strategic investment decision making (SIDM) a body of research has grown up via international case studies and organisation-based fieldwork. However, there has been little systematic theorisation around SIDM processes and practices. The purpose of this paper is to show how strong structuration theory (SST) can be employed to guide how future SIDM studies are conducted and theorised.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors draw upon the concepts from SST to reanalyse prior empirically based work. The authors apply SST-informed analysis to four SIDM case studies selected from the total of 18 published over the period 1970-2016 to explore the utility of SST compared with other approaches.

Findings

The analysis highlights the role of agents’ knowledgeability and position-practice relations in SIDM, which has largely been neglected by prior studies. The authors demonstrate the potential of SST to inform meso-level theorising by applying it to four published case studies. Whilst the authors argue for the adoption of SST, the authors also identify key methodological and conceptual issues in using SST in SIDM research.

Research limitations/implications

The examples and recommendations could assist management accounting researchers, particularly those engaged in case studies and organisational fieldwork, to build knowledge via the improved comparison, integration and theorisation of cases undertaken by different researchers in different contexts.

Originality/value

The authors offer a bridge between SST concepts and case study evidence for theorising, carrying out and analysing case study and field research on SIDM.
Strong structuration and carbon accounting
Authors: Moore David R.J. , McPhail Ken
Published: August 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to utilize the three abstract-concrete levels of ontology of strong structuration theory (strong ST) to examine how, and to what extent, was the development of carbon accounting frameworks at the policy, industry, and organizational levels enabled by external structures as conditions of action, that is, what was the nature of active agency within a field of position-practice relations that led to the development of these frameworks.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study was undertaken drawing upon interviews that were undertaken between 2008 and 2011 at the industry and organizational levels as well as documentary evidence relating to carbon accounting policy development at the macro, or policy level.

Findings

The parliamentary committee hearings into the development of the carbon price legislation represented fields of position-practice relationships which highlighted the interplay of the internal structures, capabilities and the roles of both power and trust of the agent(s)-in-focus. A meso-level analysis of the Victorian water industry highlighted how it was able to mediate the exercise of power by the macro level through the early adoption of carbon accounting frameworks. At the ontic or micro level of the individual water business, the development of a greenhouse strategy was also the outcome of position-practice relationships which highlighted the interplay of the internal structures and dispositions of the agent(s)-in-focus. The position-practice relationships at both the industry and organizational level were characterized by both soft power and trust.

Research limitations/implications

Future research could investigate how the withdrawal of the carbon pricing mechanism in Australia has affected the development of carbon accounting practices whilst overseas research could examine the extent to which carbon accounting frameworks were the outcome of position-practice relationships.

Practical implications

Given the global significance of carbon accounting, this paper provides an overview as to how the early adoption of voluntary carbon accounting practices resulted in a reduction in carbon emissions within the water industry and therefore limited its liability for the carbon price.

Originality/value

This paper illustrates how the strong ST ontological concept of position-practices can be utilized at the macro, meso, and ontic levels and how these relationships mediated the impact of the carbon price upon both the water industry and the individual water business.
The digitalization of retailing: an exploratory framework
Authors: Hagberg Johan , Sundstrom Malin , Egels-Zandén Niklas
Published: August 2016

Purpose

– Digitalization denotes an on-going transformation of great importance for the retail sector. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the phenomenon of the digitalization of retailing by developing a conceptual framework that can be used to further delineate current transformations of the retailer-consumer interface.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper develops a framework for digitalization in the retail-consumer interface that consists of four elements: exchanges, actors, offerings, and settings. Drawing on the previous literature, it describes and exemplifies how digitalization transforms each of these elements and identifies implications and proposals for future research.

Findings

– Digitalization transforms the following: retailing exchanges (in a number of ways and in various facets of exchange, including communications, transactions, and distribution); the nature of retail offerings (blurred distinctions between products and services, what constitutes the actual offering and how it is priced); retail settings (i.e. where and when retailing takes place); and the actors who participate in retailing (i.e. retailers and consumers, among other parties).

Research limitations/implications

– The framework developed can be used to further delineate current transformations of retailing due to digitalization. The current transformation has created challenges for research, as it demands sensitivity to development over time and insists that categories that have been taken for granted are becoming increasingly blurred due to greater hybridity.

Originality/value

– This paper addresses a significant and on-going transformation in retailing and develops a framework that can both guide future research and aid retail practitioners in analysing retailing’s current transformation due to digitalization.
Are business school deans doomed? The global financial crisis, Brexit and all that
Authors: Davies Julie
Published: August 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to focus on different types of university-based business school dean (BSD) in a context of insecurities within the business school business and more widely with changing business and educational models and disruptions such as the global financial crisis and Brexit. The position of the BSD is contextualised within the industry sector, institutionally, and in relation to individuals’ tenures to make sense of how BSDs are operating on a burning platform. A well-established middle management strategic role framework is applied to the empirical data.

Design/methodology/approach

– In total, 50 one-to-one interviews were conducted with deans and their colleagues. Deans’ behaviours were analysed according to attention paid to “facilitating”, “synthesizing”, “championing”, and “implementing” strategic activities.

Findings

– Behaviours from primary professional identities as scholars and educators were identified as prevalent. It is suggested that to achieve greater legitimacy in declining mature markets, future deans will need to re-negotiate their roles to champion as public intellectuals the societal impact of business schools more widely in a context of shifting business and educational models.

Practical implications

– The study is relevant to current and aspiring deans and for those hiring and developing business school deans.

Originality/value

– The dean is conceptualised as a hybrid upper middle manager besieged by multiple stakeholders and challenges. Novel first-order insights into a typology of strategists are highlighted.
The academic triathlon – bridging the agora and academia
Authors: Iñiguez De Onzoño Santiago , Carmona Salvador
Published: August 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to address the lack of relevance of business school research and how the potential gap between research and practice may be related to the lack of interaction between faculty members and non-academic stakeholders (e.g. industry, professions, society).

Design/methodology/approach

– The review of the extant literature in this area is combined with the experiences and discussions with business school leaders from around the world.

Findings

– The problematization of the lack of relevance of business school research leads us to conclude that it is a case of reward folly; the authors hope for relevance to external stakeholders but the authors reward for relevance to academic stakeholders. Drawing on Stokes’ (1997) research taxonomy, the authors conclude that business-school research should combine internal and external validity, which would involve business school faculty performing rigorous and relevant research, and interacting with practitioners; that is, an “academic triathlon”.

Social implications

– Faculty members should conduct research and teaching activities as well as interact with industry, and act to disseminate their research findings among external stakeholders. Consequently this should have implications for both the academic structure at business schools and the resources available to faculty members. Proceeding in this way will result in the narrowing of the gap of understanding between faculty members and management, and ultimately, to bridge the gap between contemporary versions of the Agora and the Academe.

Originality/value

– The authors provide a taxonomy of stakeholders of business school research and outline changes in the structure of business schools, resources provided to faculty members and impact on accreditation agencies.
Pedagogical advances in business models at business schools – in the age of networks
Authors: Lorange Peter , Thomas Howard
Published: August 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to focus on potential advances in pedagogy and on the process of learning in business schools. It examines innovations in teaching and learning methods particularly in the context of networked organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

– It approaches, and examine the impact of, three key developments in business schools, namely, recent advances in IT, changes in the architecture of classrooms and learning spaces and advances in the way teaching is undertaken.

Findings

– The paper suggests that a blend between self-learning via distance approaches and face-to-face learning will increasingly become the norm. Face-to-face sessions might be in a “flat room” environment with a creative mix of short lectures, experiential, group learning and conceptual plenary lectures, software innovations, and digital textbooks “open plan” learning spaces would complement the instructional process.

Research limitations/implications

– There are clear implications for parallel IT (developments in course modules) and architectural innovations for the design of more effective and creative learning spaces.

Practical implications

– Improving pedagogy together with the physical design and layout of learning spaces is critical. The aim is, through enhanced participative pedagogy and “friendly” architecture, to improve learning by encouraging dialogue and closer interaction between students and professors from different disciplines and fields.

Social implications

– The authors argue that this model of collaborative learning and an interactive teaching framework should enable the same amount of learning material to be covered in a business school in approximately half-the-time required in conventional pedagogical approaches.

Originality/value

– It offers a prescription for a participative, technology enhanced and interactive teaching pedagogy that could produce more effective and efficient, teaching outcomes. This has strong implications for the sustainability, and funding capability, of many existing business schools and business school models.
GBSN’s perspective on business education and globalization
Authors: Pfeffermann Guy
Published: August 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to consider the role that business schools and other providers of management education play in a globalized world, and suggests ways in which that role could be enhanced. In this paper, “Business school” and “Management school” are used interchangeably.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper reflects the author’s and GBSN’s experience.

Findings

– The paper shows how business schools can be strengthened so as to increase their impact on economic and social development, with a focus on the developing world.

Originality/value

– The role of business education in global development/value for government policy-makers, development funding institutions and business school leaders. Interrelated dimensions of the relationship between business education and globalization are examined: global shifts in demand for talent; responses by leading business schools in the developed world; the challenges of local relevance; the growth of business education in the emerging markets; and the contribution of business education to global development.
Entrepreneurial orientation, passion for work, perceived environmental dynamism and firm performance in an emerging economy
Authors: Adomako Samuel , Howard Quartey Samuel , Narteh Bedman
Published: August 2016

Purpose

– Previous scholarly studies have concluded that entrepreneurial orientation (EO) positively relates to firm performance and that relationship is dependent on several contingencies. The purpose of this paper is to show how managers’ passion for work and the external environment (i.e. environmental dynamism) within which firms operate interactively impact on EO-firm performance relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

– This theoretically derived research model is empirically validated using survey data from 250 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in Ghana.

Findings

– The study’s empirical findings indicate that passion for work strengthens the EO-performance relationship in dynamic market environments.

Research limitations/implications

– The cross-sectional design of the study does not permit causal inferences to be made regarding the variables examined. Future studies may use longitudinal design to examine the causal links of the variables.

Practical implications

– The study’s findings provide managers with a deeper understanding of how to achieve superior product firm performance, especially when firms are entrepreneurially oriented. The understanding of this issue can promote the development and maintenance of further entrepreneurial ventures in developing economies.

Originality/value

– The paper has a strong theoretical value because to the best of authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine the moderating role of passion for work on the relationship between EO and firm performance in dynamic environments.
Foreign business ownership and domestic entrepreneurial exports
Authors: Thompson Piers , Zang Wenyu
Published: August 2016

Purpose

– There has been considerable debate about the impact that Foreign Direct Investment has upon home grown enterprise (Pathaket al., 2015). The purpose of this paper is to examine how foreign business ownership at the local level affects the decision of individual UK entrepreneurs to export their production.

Design/methodology/approach

– The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data and ONS foreign firm employment data are used within this study. In order to control for entrepreneurial and firm characteristics, a multivariate approach is adopted with logit, ordered logit and multinominal logit regressions utilised.

Findings

– It is found that the influence of foreign firms, as captured by their share of local employment, has a negative influence on domestic entrepreneurs’ probability of exporting, but has no significant effect on the intensity of these export activities.

Research limitations/implications

– The results suggest that local economies may not only become highly reliant on foreign employers, but also on local demand for domestic production. This means actions might be required to reduce this over-reliance to ensure the development of resilient local economies.

Originality/value

– Unlike many other studies the relationship between the SME exports and foreign influence is considered at a local level. With the current UK government seeking to increase UK firms’ exports substantially, understanding this relationship is of key importance to policy makers.
Formal accounting planning in SMEs
Authors: Samuelsson Joachim , Andersén Jim , Ljungkvist Torbjörn , Jansson Christian
Published: August 2016

Purpose

– Several studies have highlighted the importance of management accounting practices such as formal short-term planning and formal long-term planning for SME performance. However, few studies have considered what actually explains differences in the use of formal planning (from a management accounting approach) in SMEs. Family ownership and EO are two plausible explanations for such differences. The purpose of this paper is therefore to examine how family ownership and EO are correlated to the use of formal short-term planning and formal long-term planning in SMEs.

Design/methodology/approach

– In this study, the authors examined how family ownership and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) affect the use of formal planning by analyzing a sample of 156 Swedish manufacturing SMEs, using multivariate regression analysis.

Findings

– As could be expected, the authors were able to validate the notion that family firms use less formal planning than non-family firms. However, in contrast to some previous studies, the authors found that there is a strongly positive relationship between EO and the use of formal short-term planning and long-term planning.

Originality/value

– Whereas many previous studies on family business have assumed that family firms use less formal planning than non-family firms, the present study is one of few to actually confirm this notion. Also, this study has provided strong evidence that EO is positively correlated to the use of formal planning, in the short term and in the longer term.
Putting process on track: empirical research on start-ups’ growth drivers
Authors: Pugliese Roberto , Bortoluzzi Guido , Zupic Ivan
Published: August 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on the growth drivers of start-up firms from the process perspective. Increasing scholarly attention to the growth of start-up firms has led to a more sophisticated understanding of their drivers. However, the richness of the results is partly offset by both potential and real contradictions in the literature.

Design/methodology/approach

– In this paper, 233 studies on the growth of start-up firms are reviewed using a process-oriented lens.

Findings

– The analysis reveals an imbalance in the use of variance-based empirical approaches to study the process-based phenomenon and some misalignments in the use of non-process-based empirical approaches to improve a process-based theory.

Originality/value

– This paper offers an original perspective from which to reconsider the relevant literature and provides useful recommendations for researchers to forge a path ahead in this field.
How are corporate disclosures related to the cost of capital? The fundamental role of information asymmetry
Authors: Cuadrado-Ballesteros Beatriz , Garcia-Sanchez Isabel-Maria , Martinez Ferrero Jennifer
Published: August 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to analyze empirically the fundamental role that information asymmetry plays in the functioning of an efficient capital market as mediator in the relation between corporate disclosures and cost of capital.

Design/methodology/approach

– By using a sample of 1,260 international non-financial listed companies in the period 2007-2014.

Findings

– The findings suggest that high-quality financial and social disclosures quality reduce the cost of capital, by decreasing information asymmetry. In other words, the authors find evidence of the mediator role of information asymmetry in the relation between corporate disclosures and the cost of capital. These results are also controlled for differences on accounting standards and other institutional factors.

Originality/value

– The central assumption is that the demand for corporate disclosures that reduces the information advantages of some investors (who are more informed) arises from agency conflicts and these information differences in turn, determine the cost of capital. This paper is the first attempt to study, jointly, the effects of decreasing information asymmetries by corporate disclosures on the cost of capital in an international setting. In addition, the authors focussed on both financial and social disclosures, creating empirical proxies whose validity for the analysis has been evidenced.
Productivity Catch‐up Between Chinese and Taiwanese Electronics Firms
Authors: Ho Chih‐Chin , Lin Hui‐Lin , Yang Chih‐Hai , Lyu Ya‐Pin
Published: August 2016

This paper aims to depict the patterns of China's productivity catch‐up with Taiwan in the electronics industry over the period 2001–2007. Specifically, we investigate the roles that ownership structure and innovation efforts play in the dynamics of the productivity gap. The firm‐level evidence suggests that the labour productivity gap between Chinese and Taiwanese electronics firms has narrowed during the past decade. Second, the narrowing of the labour productivity gap has occurred in foreign‐owned enterprises rather than in local firms. Examining the determinants of productivity catch‐up show that R&D significantly contributes to Chinese electronics firms' catching up with their Taiwanese counterparts.
Comparison of Important Laws Governing the Macroeconomies of Taiwan and China
Authors: Chow Gregory C. , Yin Shou‐Yung
Published: August 2016

This is a comparative study of the important laws governing the macroeconomies of Taiwan and China. The laws are concerned with consumption, investment and fiscal and monetary policies of the government. Following similar studies on China, the present paper focuses on the case of Taiwan. Using annual data from 1961 to 2014 we find that the consumption function satisfies the permanent income hypothesis of Friedman and the investment function satisfies the accelerations principle as in the case of China. Money supply does not affect GDP but government expenditure has a positive effect on consumption and a negative effect on investment. These results are opposite to those obtained for China. Explanations of the differences are given.
Importing High Food Prices by Exporting: Rice Prices in LaoPDR
Authors: Durevall Dick , van der Weide Roy
Published: August 2016

LaoPDRhas extensive export controls on its staple food, glutinous rice, which keep domestic prices low relative to international prices. Using price, harvest, and export data this paper analyses how glutinous rice prices in LaosPDRare related to those in its trading partners, Thailand and Vietnam. We find that rice prices in LaoPDRare more likely to rise following a good harvest year than a bad or a normal year. This is consistent with export controls being relaxed after good harvests, leading to an increase in exports early in the season and rising prices later as stocks are depleted. There is thus a case for removal of trade restrictions since they give rise to price spikes while keeping the long‐term price of glutinous rice low, and thereby hinder increases in income from agriculture. However, since high rice prices are likely to affect the poor negatively in the short to medium term, a combination of an export tax and cash transfers is recommended during the transition period. Although this is a case study of LaoPDR, the findings may equally apply to other developing countries that export their staple food.
The many faces of Meckel's diverticulum and its complications
Authors: Choi Seo‐Youn , Hong Seong Sook , Park Hyun Jeong , Lee Hae Kyung , Shin Hyeong Cheol , Choi Gyo Chang
Published: August 2016

Meckel's diverticulum is the most frequent congenital malformation of the gastrointestinal tract, occurring in 2% of the general population. Meckel's diverticulum is usually asymptomatic and found incidentally. However, the lifetime risk of complications is 4–40%. In this essay, we describe the clinical and imaging findings in 12 cases of Meckel's diverticula with complications over a 5‐year period, which were confirmed pathologically. The major complications of Meckel's diverticulum include gastrointestinal bleeding, bowel obstruction, perforation and inflammation. Small bowel follow‐through (SBFT), computed tomography (CT) including CT enterography and RI scintigraphy can be used to show typical imaging features of Meckel's diverticulum and its complications. Knowledge of the clinical and radiologic findings of Meckel's diverticulum can aid in the early and accurate diagnosis of this anomaly and its complications.
If It Ain't Broke: An Evaluation of the Australian Asylum Program under Rudd and Gillard
Authors: Herold Natalie , Kortt Michael A. , Dollery Brian
Published: August 2016

This paper examines the evolution of asylum policy under the Rudd/Gillard/Rudd governments between 2008 and 2013 and evaluates its impact on irregular maritime arrivals and deaths at sea. In addition to providing an account of asylum policy during this political epoch – and the dramatic rise in irregular maritime arrivals and deaths at seas – we also evaluate these policies in an effort to distil some broader public policy implications.
Differences between prolonged weaning patients from medical and surgical intensive care units
Authors: Bickenbach J. , Marx G. , Schmoor C. , Lemmen S. , Marx N. , Dreher M.
Published: August 2016

Background

It is not clear whether patients entering a specialized, interdisciplinary weaning unit from surgical or medical intensive care units (ICU) distinguish substantially. The purpose of the present study was to assess differences in patients with prolonged weaning being referred from surgical and medical ICU.

Methods

Data collected from April 2013 to April 2014 was conducted for retrospective analysis. Mortality rates, demographic data, clinical, and microbial differences in 150 patients with prolonged weaning were assessed (80 surgical and 70 medical).

Results

Surgical ICU referrals tended to be older (70.7 ± 11.3 vs. 67.3 ± 12.3, P = 0.051) and had fewer underlying pulmonary diseases (45% vs. 60%, P = 0.067). Sodium values at the time of referral to the weaning unit were significantly higher in surgical (147.1 ± 9.6) vs. medical (141.3 ± 6.7 mmol/l) patients (P < 0.001). Each 10‐unit increase in sodium at the time of referral to the weaning unit was associated with a 2.5‐day (95% CI −0.4, 5.4; P = 0.09) prolongation of stay in the weaning unit. Although significant differences in microbiological agents from tracheal aspiration were seen, the infection rate on the weaning unit was similar in both groups. There was no difference in weaning unit mortality between surgical and medical ICU patients (18% vs. 23%; P = 0.41).

Conclusion

Few differences were found between patients being referred to a specialized weaning unit from surgical vs. medical ICUs. Besides differences in microbiological characteristics of tracheal secretions, there were also differences in sodium levels, which appear to influence on treatment duration.
Hereditary angioedema: death after a dental extraction
Authors: Forrest A , Milne N , Soon A
Published: August 2016

Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a group of three uncommon and potentially fatal conditions, each of which is transmitted as a somatic dominant trait. A recognized trigger to attacks is dental treatment, with tooth extraction frequently reported in the published work. The clinical symptoms may not manifest for many hours or even days after the procedure. We describe a recent case in Australia in which death resulted from HAE following dental extraction, and we discuss its post‐mortem presentation and diagnosis, highlighting the need for dental practitioners to be aware of this condition.
Azithromycin as an adjunct to non‐surgical periodontal therapy: a systematic review
Authors: O'Rourke VJ
Published: August 2016

The aim of this study was to investigate the current published work relating to the clinical benefits of the use of systemic azithromycin as an adjunct to non‐surgical periodontal therapy. A published work search of PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials up to 27 April 2016 was undertaken. The large degree of heterogeneity in the types of studies, treatment protocols, test subjects, sample size and exclusion criteria indicated that the use of narrative synthesis of all relevant studies was a valid method of review. Of the 194 eligible studies, 15 were found to be of relevance. The majority of studies demonstrated an additional clinical benefit when azithromycin is used as an adjunct to non‐surgical periodontal therapy, particularly in deeper pockets (≥6 mm). In conclusion, the current body of research on the adjunctive use of systemic azithromycin in non‐surgical periodontal therapy suggests there is a clinical benefit and that this benefit is greatest in deeper initial pockets (≥6 mm). The findings also suggest that future studies need to be more careful in subject selection to identify susceptible patients or at risk sites, both the immunoregulatory effects and antibiotic resistance of azithromycin needs to be reported, and that study populations need to be more homogeneous.
Abdominal aortic aneurysm repair in New Zealand: a validation of the Australasian Vascular Audit
Authors: Khashram Manar , Thomson Ian A. , Jones Gregory T. , Roake Justin A.
Published: August 2016

Background

In New Zealand (NZ), there are two major sources of operative data for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair: the Australasian Vascular Audit (AVA) and the National Minimum Data Set (NMDS). Since the introduction of the AVA in NZ, there has not been any attempt at the validation of outcome data. The aims of this study were to report the outcomes of AAA repair and validate the AAA data captured by AVA using the NMDS.

Methods

AAA procedures performed in NZ from January 2010 to December 2014 were extracted from the AVA and NMDS. Patients identified from the AVA had their survival status matched to the NMDS. Only primary AAA procedures were included for the analysis, with re‐interventions and graft infections excluded. Demographical, risk factors and outcome data were used for validation.

Results

The number of patients undergoing primary AAA procedure from AVA and NMDS was 1713 and 2078, respectively. The AVA inpatient mortality for elective and rupture AAA was 1.6 and 32.2%, respectively. The NMDS 30‐day mortality from AAA was 2.5 and 31.5%. Overall, 1604 patients were available for matching, and the NMDS correctly reported 98.1% of endovascular aneurysm repair and 94.2% of elective AAA repairs; however, there were major differences in comorbidity reporting between the data sets.

Conclusion

Both data sets were incomplete, but combining administrative (NMDS) and clinical (AVA) data sets provided a more accurate assessment of mortality figures. More than 80% of AAA repairs are captured by AVA, but further work to improve compliance and comorbidity documentation is required.
Laparoscopic mesh repair for lumbar hernia after iliac crest bone harvest
Authors: Matsuda Akihisa , Miyashita Masao , Matsumoto Satoshi , Sakurazawa Nobuyuki , Kawano Yoichi , Matsutani Takeshi , Uchida Eiji
Published: August 2016

Lumbar hernia after iliac crest bone harvest is relatively rare. When it does occur, it presents as a flank abdominal protrusion through a lateroposterior abdominal wall defect. A laparoscopic approach for this type of hernia is reported to have advantages over the classic open method. Here, we present a case of a 49‐year‐old Caucasian man who presented with an enlarged left flank mass after iliac bone harvest for pseudarthrosis. He had undergone open onlay mesh repair for inferior lumbar hernia, but the hernia recurred 3 months postoperatively. Laparoscopic intraperitoneal onlay mesh repair using a composite mesh was performed 7 months after recurrence. The patient was discharged 6 days postoperatively without complications. No signs of recurrence were detected during 1‐year follow‐up period. The laparoscopic approach for lumbar hernia conferred excellent visualization of the hernia defect and enabled a safe mesh repair using intra‐abdominal pressure to hold it in position. This approach provided all the benefits of minimally invasive surgery.
Development in attention functions and social processing: Evidence from the Attention Network Test
Authors: Federico Francesca , Marotta Andrea , Martella Diana , Casagrande Maria
Published: August 2016

According to the attention network approach, attention is best understood in terms of three functionally and neuroanatomically distinct networks – alerting, orienting, and executive attention. Recent findings showed that social information influences the efficiency of these networks in adults. Using some social and non‐social variants of the Attentional Network Test (ANT), this study was aimed to evaluate the development of the three attention networks in childhood, also assessing the development of the ability to manage social or non‐social conflicting information. Sixty‐six children (three groups of 6, 8, and 10 years of age) performed three variants of the original ANT, using fish, schematic, or real faces looking to the left or right as target and flanker stimuli. Results showed an improvement from 6 to 8 and 10 years of age in reaction time (RT) and accuracy, together with an improvement of executive control and a decrement in alerting. These developmental changes were not unique to social stimuli, and no differences were observed between social and no‐social variants of the ANT. However, independently from the age of the children, a real face positively affected the executive control (as indexed by RTs) as compared to both a schematic face and a fish. Findings of this study suggest that attentional networks are still developing from 6 to 10 years of age and underline the importance of face information in modulating the efficiency of executive control.

Statement of contribution

What is already known?

Younger children made more errors and slower reaction times (RTs) than older children, in line with the majority of the past selective attention studies.

Younger children showed both greater conflict and alerting effect than older children. The prediction that younger children would display larger interference effects than older children was supported.

What does this study add?

Extending the findings observed in adults and children, independently from their age, demonstrated greater cognitive interference (i.e., slower RTs and higher percentage of errors to incongruent relative to congruent conditions) when fish and schematic faces were presented than when photographs of real faces were used as stimuli.

Like adults, children have a greater ability in the control of social information as compared to non‐social information.

These results seem to indicate that the ability to handle social conflicts proceeds in parallel with the ability to manage non‐social conflicting information.