bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
THE EXAMINATION OF DIRECTORS‘ REPORTS BY AUDITORS: FURTHER EVIDENCE
Authors: Stokes Donald , Tippett Mark
Published: February 2009

Knowledge of the practices of auditors in examining directors' reports of their Australian client corporations should provide useful insights for users of directors' reports, legislators and the professional accounting bodies.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS OF ACCOUNTANTS IN AUSTRALIA
Authors: Juchau R. , Galvin M.
Published: February 2009

This paper reports a study that adapted an American communications skills inventory to determine the extent to which new graduates in the accounting profession are perceived to have adequate communications skills. Senior practitioners' and educators' perceptions were surveyed to reach conclusions regarding the future directions of communications in accounting education in Australia.
THE INFORMATION CONTENT OF SIGN AND SIZE OF EARNINGS ANNOUNCEMENTS: NEW ZEALAND EVIDENCE
Authors: Emanuel David M.
Published: February 2009

This paper examines the effect of 1196 earnings announcements on share prices, using the familiar cumulative abnormal return method of analysis. Earnings are partitioned into unexpected earnings increases and decreases using a martingale model. As well, six portfolios are established, based on the size of unexpected earnings, using two different measures of size.
CANBERRA TO PORT MORESBY: GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTING AND BUDGETING FOR THE EARLY STAGES OF DEVOLUTION
Authors: Hardman D. J.
Published: February 2009

This paper examines changes which have occurred in government accounting and budgeting from the antecedent system of Treasury control in the colonial era of The Territory of Papua and New Guinea to the contemporary system of Finance control in the Independent State of Papua New Guinea. An exposition is provided of existing and proposed governmental accounting and budgeting issues during the early stages of devolution for indigenous control. Although self‐government provided new legislation for government accounting and budgeting, the critical event in the formation of the present system was the Constitution which highlighted indigenous responsibility against a backdrop of national attainment criteria. The development of indigenous responsibility for the government accounting and budgeting system has been limited by: (i) overreliance on an expatriate model, and (ii) a fundamental dearth of qualified accountants at the professional level in the public sector. In the longer term, however, cultural rather than administrative issues will tend to influence and guide policy in this area.
Reporting to Employees: Identifying the Areas of Interest to Employees
Authors: Macintosh John C.C.
Published: February 2009

This paper identifies the areas of information of interest to employees and the attitudes of accounting executives and employees towards what information was considered to be of interest to employees. Accounting executives felt that employee informational needs were limited to their job security and short‐term material benefits from employment. Employees, on the other hand, indicated that their informational needs were far greater and related to their job security, financial matters affecting them, their conditions of employment, and the organizational structure of their employee companies.
Integrating Credit Models Using Accounting Information With Loan Officers' Decision Processes
Authors: Rodgers Waymond , Johnson Lester W.
Published: February 2009

This paper focuses on loan officers' cognitive processes of problem detection and problem‐hypothesis formulation, which are incorporated into a credit model when they are confronted with loan decisions. Prior credit models in banking have not directly addressed loan officers' internal processes in a loan situation. The integration of both loan officers' cognitive processes and information used in a credit model can better help explain their decision‐making biases. The results presented in this paper showed that information derived from a credit model influences loan officers' problem detection and problem‐hypothesis formulation, and these processes are important factors in their loan approval. To identify loan officers' decision‐making processes, the approach used in this paper integrates principles from financial management, economics, and cognitive psychology with methodological developments from psychometrics and econometrics.
FACTORS INFLUENCING CHOICE OF DISCIPLINE OF STUDY — ACCOUNTANCY, ENGINEERING, LAW AND MEDICINE
Authors: Gul F.A. , Andrew B.H. , Leong S.C. , Ismail Z.
Published: February 2009

This paper examines the factors which influence high calibre students in their choice of a professional discipline of study. Using a questionnaire approach students were requested to determine the relative importance of eleven factors in their choice of discipline of study. Results showed that accountancy students appeared most concerned with job satisfaction, earnings potential, availability of employment, aptitude for subject and years of formal education, and to have a different, and more distinctive, profile than that of other students. These results may have important implications for recruitment into the profession.
METHODOLOGICAL WEAKNESSES OF AUSTRALIAN SMALL BUSINESS RESEARCH
Authors: Holmes Scott , Kelly Gary J.
Published: February 2009

During the past two decades, ‘empirical’ research concerning the relationship between small business owner‐managers and practising accountants has provided limited insight into the role of accountants and accounting information in assisting small business operations. This research has been exploratory and largely descriptive, tending to focus on small samples of poorly defined small businesses in non‐representative Australian regional locations. Rigorous statistical analysis of the results obtained is virtually non‐existent. This select review of Australian research identifies the perceived methodological weaknessess of studies that have focused on the information needs of small business owner‐managers and the role of the practising accountant in meeting these requirements.
MEASURING THE MEANING OF FINANCIAL STATEMENT TERMINOLOGY: A PSYCHOLINGUISTICS APPROACH
Authors: Adelberg Arthur H. , Farrelly Gail E.
Published: February 2009

Measuring the meaning of communication between and among producers (certified public accountants, academic accountants, and private accountants) and users (chartered financial analysts, commercial bank loan officers, and shareholders) of financial statements is the purpose of this study. Two psycholinguistic techniques, classification analysis and association analysis, were used in a field experiment to measure the intergroup and intragroup transference of denotative (objective) and connotative (subjective) meaning, respectively. The study concluded that we are somewhere in between the “worst” and the “best” on a communication continuum. The evidence indicated only one communication problem — a problem involving the transfer of connotative (subjective) meaning on an intergroup basis, that is, between producers and users.
THE PLACE OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN THE TRAINING OF ACCOUNTANTS IN NEW ZEALAND
Authors: McLaren Margaret C.
Published: February 2009

The purpose of this study was to identify those communication skills most needed by accountants, so providing information which could be useful for accounting educators when designing programmes. The survey showed that practising accountants perceived wide differences between the desired and demonstrated communication skills of their new graduates. Academics, too, perceived serious deficiencies in their students. The conclusion is that academics, for the sake of their students and the accounting profession, should endeavour to increase the amount of time and expert effort put into communication skills in their university programmes.
ACCOUNTING FOR SEIGNIORAGE
Authors: Covick Owen , Davis Kevin
Published: February 2009

This paper examines anomalies in the accounting procedures for the treatment of seigniorage on the Australian note and coin issue. It explains how the substitution of coins for notes leads to the unexpected result of reducing the budget deficit
ESTIMATING RETURNS ON FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS — STOCHASTIC ANALYSIS
Authors: Tippett Mark
Published: February 2009

The present paper addresses the problem of estimating returns on financial instruments when there is incomplete information about the instrument's cash flows. However unlike previous work in this area, it is assumed that the financial instrument's cash flows may be modelled as a stochastic function of time. This implies that the estimation error is a random variable and as a consequence, probability assessments can be made as to its likely magnitude. Using these procedures it is shown that traditional estimating methods considerably overstate actual returns. Further, it is also shown that returns are far from normally distributed. Given these results, it is doubtful whether any credibility can be attached to the standard two parameter methods of evaluating investment performance.
A CROSS‐SECTIONAL REGRESSION TEST OF THE MEAN‐VARIANCE EFFICIENCY OF AN AUSTRALIAN VALUE WEIGHTED MARKET PORTFOLIO
Authors: Wood Justin
Published: February 2009

This paper tests the Mean‐Variance efficiency of a value weighted Australian market portfolio using a multivariate cross‐sectional regression approach developed by Shanken (1985). This test methodology is sufficiently powerful to reject the null hypothesis that the market portfolio is ex ante Mean‐Variance efficient when test assets are constructed on the basis of size (market capitalisation). However, when test assets are constructed on the basis of industry classification the model is unable to reject the Mean‐Variance efficiency of the market portfolio. This test statistic provides some useful diagnostics which are examined in the paper.
THE ATTITUDES OF ACCOUNTING STUDENTS TO WORKING WITH COMPUTERS: A PRELIMINARY STUDY
Authors: Orpen Christopher , Ferguson Colin
Published: February 2009

A sample of final‐year accounting students, 94 from an Australian university and 61 from an Australian CAE, completed a special scale to determine their attitudes to working with computers, as well as items to assess a variety of hypothesized correlates of such attitudes including age, sex, school performance, tertiary accounting performance, usage of computers, access to a computer at home, preference for working with machines rather than people, and self‐confidence. The amount of time students spent with computers was significantly related to students' attitudes toward working with computers (being directly related to positive attitudes and inversely related to negative attitudes). The relationships between the other correlates and attitudes to working with computers were all nonsignificant. The majority of students held very favourable attitudes to working with computers.
REACTIONS TO REGULATION OF ACCOUNTING FOR GOODWILL
Authors: Anderson Don , Zimmer Ian
Published: February 2009

Regulations designed to achieve “uniformity in practice” in Australian firms' reporting of goodwill were first adopted in 1985 with the introduction of AAS18. Because of the requirement to amortise purchased goodwill, a number of firms either did not comply or took evasive actions to mitigate the effects of the standard. This paper documents and explains the pre‐regulation cross‐sectional variation in accounting practices. Reactions to the set of regulations introduced between 1985 and 1989 are then described and explained through a longitudinal study of accounting policy choice. We develop hypotheses which explain why the goodwill accounting rules reversed relations between the accounting methods adopted by firms and both the earnings effect of compliance and the market value of the firm's goodwill. The results are confirmatory.
TIME SERIES ANALYSIS OF ACCOUNTING POLICY CHOICE: REPLY
Authors: Anderson Don , Zimmer Ian
Published: February 2009

Taylor (1992) argues that accounting policy choices in any year are not assessed independently of policy choices adopted in previous years. This independence assumption is a maintained hypothesis of Anderson and Zimmer (1992). Although Taylor acknowledges that our results remain robust to his suggested adjustments for non‐independence, we argue in this reply that such adjustments are unnecessary because temporal independence of accounting policy choices is consistent with the implications of costly contracting between the firm and its claimholders. We develop the arguments that (1) accounting choices are temporally independent and our research design is therefore, appropriate (2) to the extent that there is an independence problem of the type proposed by Taylor (1992) it also applies to cross‐sectional studies of accounting policy choice.
A MULTIVARIATE TEST OF THE GENERALISED MEAN‐LOWER PARTIAL MOMENT ASSET PRICING MODEL: AUSTRALIAN EVIDENCE
Authors: Faff Robert W.
Published: February 2009

This paper tests the Mean‐Lower Partial Moment (MLPM) model of asset pricing, using the Gibbons (1982) multivariate methodology, as developed by Hariow and Rao (1989). The MLPM model specifies risk to be a measure of the downside deviations of return relative to a prespecified and exogenous target rate of return. The MLPM model of Hariow and Rao is a new model which has only been tested once, using US data. Therefore, further tests using independent data will help to assess whether the model deserves more serious consideration as a possible alternative to the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). In general, tests in this paper using Australian data confirm the results of Hariow and Rao (1989). The MLPM model cannot be rejected against an unspecified alternative, nor can it be rejected against the zero‐beta CAPM. Conditional on the MLPM model's validity, the optimal target rate appears to be more closely related to mean market returns than either to a risk‐free return or to a zero return. In addition, there is some evidence to support an intertemporally constant target rate of around 3 percent per month, over the 30 year period examined.
A DERIVATION OF THE CAPM FOR PEDAGOGICAL USE
Authors: Brailsford Tim , Faff Robert
Published: February 2009

A central paradigm in modern finance theory is the capital asset pricing model (CAPM). While the CAPM is invariably taught in introductory finance courses, a derivation is commonly reserved for postgraduate courses. This is primarily because the available CAPM derivations usually assume an advanced knowledge of pure mathematics. This note provides a simple derivation of the CAPM which requires only an understanding of very basic mathematical concepts. The derivation explicitly highlights the link between the capital market line and the security market line which students often fail to comprehend. Our simple derivation can easily be adopted by instructors at all levels.
AUDITOR OBJECTIVITY: THE EFFECT OF PRIOR INVOLVEMENT IN AUDIT PROGRAMME DESIGN
Authors: Church Bryan K. , Schneider Arnold
Published: February 2009

This study tests whether the involvement of independent auditors in the design of an audit programme affects their subsequent audit work relating to that audit area. Two groups of subjects played roles in designing partial audit programmes for a particular account. They also evaluated partial audit programmes for another account designed by someone else. A third group merely evaluated partial audit programmes for both accounts. All subjects were informed that both audit programmes were implemented and of potential problems that could be attributed to either of the two accounts. Subjects were asked to allocate 15 hours to investigate either or both of the accounts in question. Our hypothesis was that auditors who had a role in designing a partial audit programme would allocate less audit effort to that account than auditors who had no role in the programme design. Comparisons of the hours allocated provided some support for this hypothesis.
CHARACTERISTICS OF NEW ZEALAND TAX EVADERS: A NOTE
Authors: Hasseldine D. John , Kaplan Steven E. , Fuller Lori R.
Published: February 2009

This note presents descriptive evidence of self‐admitted tax evasion in New Zealand and identifies characteristics associated with this behaviour. A survey of voters from Christchurch is conducted. The frequency of self‐admitted under‐reporting of income (23%) is much more frequent than the frequency of self‐admitted overstating of deductions (12%). Using logistic regression analysis, under‐reporting behaviour is associated with age, income, the number of evaders personally known and the morality and consequences of evasion behaviour. Determining the existence or nonexistence of associations between key independent variables and evasion behaviour represents useful information for tax policy makers and others involved in revenue enforcement activities.
VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE BY FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES: EVIDENCE FROM AUSTRALIAN LIFE INSURERS PROMOTING INVESTMENT‐RELATED CONTRACTS
Authors: Klumpes Paul J.M.
Published: February 2009

Voluntary financial disclosure by Australian life insurers promoting investment‐related contracts is predicted to be related to fees, funds under management, investment risk and return, liability risk and marketing costs factors. The decision to voluntarily disclose various forms of financial data in documents promoting investment‐related contracts was studied during 1989‐90. Life insurance managers providing financial disclosures tend to: (a) charge lower fees, (b) hold larger funds under management, (c) are exposed to higher investment risk, (d) are exposed to lower liability risk and (e) bear lower marketing costs. This evidence supports Mayers and Smiths' [1981] positive theory of insurance‐related contracting.
A NOTE ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN REPORTED CASH FLOW MEASURES, RATIOS AND THEIR ACCRUAL COUNTERPARTS
Authors: Mitchell Jason D. , Goh Steven W. , Forman Stephen C.
Published: February 2009

This note focuses on information redundancy of cash flow measures reported in and financial ratios derived directly from Cash Flow Statements. Previous research utilised recomputed, “traditional” and “refined”, measures to proxy for cash flow. Comovements are derived amongst various earnings and cash flow key variable measures, select financial ratios and changes in financial ratios. Key variables' results support the notion that reported cash flows are correlated with funds flow and earnings. However, reported cash flows relative to funds flow are less correlated with most of their accrual based counterparts. Cash flows thus have potential to provide new and non‐redundant information relative to funds and accruals. Also, the incremental benefit of reported, relative to reconstructed cash flow measures is apparent. In light of the above, the merit of cash flow for the specific decision context of identifying suspended firms is investigated. Cash flow data in this context is found to be as useful as, but not superior to, comparable accruals data.
AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE EXTENT AND NATURE OF BRAND VALUATION ACTIVITY IN NEW ZEALAND
Authors: Guilding Chris , Godfrey Andy
Published: February 2009

An empirical study concerned with investigating the prevalence and nature of brand valuation activity in strongly‐branded New Zealand based companies is reported. Analysis of data provided by 60 companies responding to a questionnaire mailed to all New Zealand companies identified as owning recognisable brand names revealed that 15 (25%) had been involved in brand valuation activity. Support for a hypothesised relationship between the acquisitive orientation of companies and the propensity to value brands has been provided. The extent to which brand valuation is conducted as an information service to management suggests that the financial accounting orientation that has characterised much of the brand valuation debate may be somewhat inappropriate.
MODELLING AUSTRALIAN BANK BILL RATES: A KALMAN FILTER APPROACH
Authors: Bhar Ramaprasad
Published: February 2009

This paper examines the applicability of the Kalman Filter technique to forecast future spot interest rates, based upon the expectation hypothesis of the term structure of interest rates, in the Australian bank bill market. In this approach, regression estimates are based on the last period's estimate together with data from the current period. In contrast to constant parameter models, this allows effective use of information underlying the process driving the evolution of the parameters. For the period tested, forecasting accuracy of such a time‐varying parameter model shows marked improvement over a constant parameter model.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MACHINE ENJOYMENT, COMPUTER ATTITUDE AND COMPUTER USAGE: SOME FURTHER REFINEMENTS
Authors: Ferguson Colin , Nevell Paul
Published: February 2009

This paper extends earlier research by Orpen & Ferguson (1991) on the attitudes of accounting students to working with computers by reporting the results of an empirical study designed to explain the process by which machine enjoyment and computer attitude affect computer usage. A model is developed to show that computer attitude acts as an intervening variable in the link between machine enjoyment and computer usage. The results indicate that machine enjoyment, while having no significant direct effect on computer usage, acts indirectly to affect this usage via computer attitude.
Accrual and cash flow accounting models: A comparison of the value relevance and timeliness of their components
Authors: Cotter Julie
Published: February 2009

This research uses the empirical framework developed by Easton, Harris and Ohlson (1992) to examine the relative ability of the accrual and cash flow accounting models to capture value relevant events. In particular, components of clean surplus accrual earnings are compared with components of total cash flows to determine their relative abilities to recognise value relevant events in a timely manner. The results indicate that the association between stock returns and earnings is higher than that with total cash flows for return intervals of between one and ten years. Cash flows from operations and current accruals are able to recognise value relevant events in a timely manner, while non‐current and non‐operating accruals only become consistently value relevant when longer return intervals are considered. Cash flows from investing and financing activities are less value relevant than the other components considered, especially over longer return intervals.
Factors affecting the audit of revalued non‐current assets: Initial public offerings and source reliability
Authors: Goodwin Jenny , Trotman Ken T.
Published: February 2009

This study examines the impact of a proposal to issue shares to the public and the competence of the independent valuer on auditor judgments concerning asset revaluations. A 2 times 2 between‐subjects design was used. Four classes of assets were revalued by a hypothetical port company and subjects were asked to assess the planned audit hours and the likelihood that they would accept the valuations as reasonable. Results indicated that auditors would plan to spend longer on the audit of revalued assets when the client proposed to make a share issue and also when the competence of the valuer was lower. They were also less likely to accept the valuations as reasonable in these cases. However, the results suggested that concern with some aspects of the valuation can override sensitivity to the competence of the valuer.
The valuation of projects under the dividend imputation tax system
Authors: Monkhouse Peter H.L.
Published: February 2009

This paper proves that a modified weighted average cost of capital (“WACC”) valuation methodology is a rigorous and practicable method of valuing projects and companies under the Australian dividend imputation tax system. This methodology uses an effective tax rate in calculating both the discount rate and the ungeared after tax cash flow. A cash flow after effective corporate tax is shown to be equivalent to a cash plus value of imputation credit stream. Importantly, this valuation methodology is applicable to returns that are non‐uniform and of finite duration. Also examined is the discounting of equity returns at the company's cost of equity capital. A worked example is presented to clarify and quantify the effects discussed.
A cross cultural study of the learning style of accounting students
Authors: Auyeung Pak , Sands John
Published: February 2009

This paper examines how individualism‐collectivism, the core dimension of cultural variability, is reflected in the learning styles of accounting students in Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Australia represents the Western individualistic culture, and Hong Kong and Taiwan represent the Chinese collectivistic culture. Using Kolb's model this study shows that the learning styles of accounting students from Hong Kong and Taiwan are more abstract and reflective, as well as less concrete and active. Their Australian counterparts are more concrete and active, as well as less abstract and reflective. While the former exhibit the assimilation style, the latter represent the accommodation style.
Class, Community and Communicative Planning: Urban Redevelopment at King's Cross, London
Authors: Holgersen Ståle , Haarstad Håvard
Published: February 2009

Abstract:  This paper presents an argument for considering issues of class in analyses of communicative planning projects. In these projects, class interests tend to be obscured by the contemporary preoccupation with the class‐ambiguous category of “community”. Through a case study of a project of urban redevelopment at King's Cross in London, we conceptualize and map class interests in an urban redevelopment project. Three aspects of the planning process that contain clear class effects are looked at: the amount of office space, the flexibility of plans, and the appropriation of the urban environment as exchange or use value. These aspects structure the urban redevelopment but are external to the communicative planning process. The opposition to the redevelopment has in the planning discourse been articulated as “community”‐based rather than in class‐sensitive terms. We finally present three strategies for reinserting issues of class into planning theory and practice.
Reprising the role of the developmental state in cluster development: The biomedical industry in Singapore
Authors: Lee Yong‐Sook , Tee Ying‐Chian
Published: February 2009

This paper broadly sketches the initiation of a biomedical industry cluster in Singapore and how it is driven in a knowledge‐based economy. Specifically, we reprise the role of the developmental state in spearheading cluster development, and by so doing critique the prevailing view that rejects the involvement of industrial policy and the state beyond that of just a facilitator in cluster development. Drawing from a modest survey and interview sampling supplemented with secondary data we illustrate how the Singapore city‐state is not passive but instead plays an active role as a cluster creator in moving towards a knowledge‐based economy.
Controlling offshore knowledge workers: Power and agency in India's software outsourcing industry
Authors: Upadhya Carol
Published: February 2009

The paper describes the modes of organisational control employed in the Indian software services outsourcing industry, highlighting the combination of subjective and panoptical managerial techniques. Drawing on ethnographic work in several software services companies in Bangalore, India, it explores the structures of power that operate in these organisations as well as the agency and subjectivity of software workers.
Enabling ‘managed activism’: the adoption of call centres in Australian, British and US trade unions
Authors: Lund John , Wright Christopher
Published: February 2009

This article examines how trade unions in different country settings have utilised call centre technologies. Rather than viewing union call centres as simply a means of service delivery, our research suggests they can also enable a more strategic approach to workplace organising. We explore the implications of union call centres for debates on servicing and organising models of trade unionism.
Visual representations of gender and computing in consumer and professional magazines
Authors: Cox Andrew
Published: February 2009

Studies in the 1980s showed that advertising images of computers were gendered, with women relatively less represented, and shown with less empowered roles, problems or presented as sexual objects. This paper uses a mix of content and interpretative analysis to analyse current imagery in consumerist and professional society publications. It reveals the present variation and complexity of the iconography of computers and people across different domains of representation, with the continuation of gender bias in subtle forms.
Brainstem and Thalamic Projections from a Craniovascular Sensory Nervous Centre in the Rostral Cervical Spinal Dorsal Horn of Rats
Authors: Liu Y , Broman J , Zhang M , Edvinsson L
Published: February 2009

To examine the ascending projections from the headache-related trigeminocer-vical complex in rats, biotinylated dextran amine (BDA) was injected into the ventrolateral dorsal horn of segments C1 and C2, a region previously demonstrated to receive input from sensory nerves in cranial blood vessels. Following injections into laminae I–II, BDA-labelled terminations were found bilaterally in several nuclei in the pons and the midbrain, including the pontine reticular nucleus, the parabrachial nuclei, the cuneiform nucleus and the periaqueductal grey. In the diencephalon, terminations were confined to the contralateral side and evident foremost in the posterior nuclear group, especially its triangular part, and in the ventral posteromedial nucleus. Following injections extending through laminae I-IV, anterograde labelling was more extensive. Some of the above regions are likely to be involved in the central processing of noxious signals of craniovascular origin and therefore putatively involved in mechanisms associated with primary headaches.
An online nursing leadership literature centre at the University of Manitoba Health Sciences Libraries
Authors: Barrett Patricia
Published: February 2009

Background:  Decades of hospital restructuring in Canada resulted in significant reductions of nursing leadership positions and altered a nursing infrastructure important for guiding patient care. The importance of acquiring nursing leadership skills to address the negative effects of restructuring is advocated by Canadian nursing bodies.

Objectives:  To describe a service innovation for a nursing community. The librarians of the University of Manitoba Health Sciences Libraries (UMHSL) created an online nursing leadership literature centre to support a leadership programme launched by the Nursing Leadership Council (NLC) of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. The article will contribute to the body of literature about health library services for nurses.

Methods:  The creation of the service is described. A literature search was undertaken to determine what services have been implemented by librarians for nursing leadership programmes, as well as to review the literature with regard to contributions made by librarians for nursing communities.

Results:  The literature service, comprised of 19 webliographies based on the NLC's leadership topics, is available on the UMHSL website. A webliography, by definition, is a list of electronic works relating to a particular topic. The NLC created its own website that provides nurses with a means to identify, enhance and evaluate leadership competencies, and which is linked to the UMHSL website.

Conclusion:  The contributions of the UMHSL librarians to this project support the goals of instilling leadership skills in nurses, encouraging evidence‐based nursing practice, and transforming a practice environment to meet the ultimate goal of effective patient care.
Introduction into the Virtual Olympic Games Framework for online communities
Authors: Stoilescu Dorian
Published: February 2009

Objective:  This paper presents the design of the Virtual Olympic Games Framework (VOGF), a computer application designated for athletics, health care, general well‐being, nutrition and fitness, which offers multiple benefits for its participants.

Background:  A special interest in starting the design of the framework was in exploring how people can connect and participate together using existing computer technologies (i.e. gaming consoles, exercise equipment with computer interfaces, devices of measuring health, speed, force and distance and Web 2.0 applications).

Method:  A stationary bike set‐up offering information to users about their individual health and athletic performances has been considered as a starting model.

Conclusions:  While this model is in the design stage, some preliminary findings are encouraging, suggesting the potential for various fields: sports, medicine, theories of learning, technologies and cybercultural studies. First, this framework would allow participants to perform a variety of sports and improve their health. Second, this would involve creating an online environment able to store health information and sport performances correlated with accessing multi‐media data and research about performing sports. Third, participants could share experiences with other athletes, coaches and researchers. Fourth, this framework also provides support for the research community in their future investigations.
Unmet needs in oral antiplatelet therapy with ADP receptor blocking agents
Authors: Husted Steen
Published: February 2009

Antiplatelet agents like aspirin and clopidogrel are treatment cornerstones for acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Drawbacks of dual therapy with these agents include slow onset and offset of effect and wide response variability. Clopidogrel may provide little benefit if administered too close to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and increase major bleeding risk if given too close to coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) or other surgery. It may not provide sufficient antiplatelet coverage prior to CABG if stopped too long before intervention and leave patients without antiplatelet coverage due to hyporesponsiveness. Prasugrel has made steps towards addressing these limitations by exhibiting more efficient metabolism, more rapid onset of effect, and greater and more consistent platelet inhibition than clopidogrel. The TRITON‐TIMI38 trial in ACS patients undergoing PCI showed prasugrel produced greater ischemic event protection than clopidogrel but significantly increased major bleeding risk. AZD6140, the first reversible oral P2Y12 inhibitor, provides more rapid onset of effect and greater and more consistent platelet inhibition than clopidogrel. In DISPERSE2, a phase II trial in ACS patients, AZD6140 did not increase bleeding risk, reduced bleeding risk among CABG patients, and produced numerical reductions in myocardial infarction risk. AZD6140 is being compared with clopidogrel in PLATO, a phase III trial in approximately 18000 ACS patients.
Assessing extractable soil phosphorus methods in estimating phosphorus concentrations in surface run‐off from Calcic Hapludolls
Authors: Schindler F. V. , Guidry A. R. , German D. R. , Gelderman R. H. , Gerwing J. R.
Published: February 2009

Understanding soil test phosphorus (STP) and surface run‐off phosphorus (P) relationships for soils is necessary for P management. The objective of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of various soil test indices to predict P losses in surface run‐off. Selected sites were subjected to in situ rainfall simulations according to the protocol of the National Phosphorus Research Project (NPRP, 2001). P from a composite of twenty‐four 2.0‐cm‐diameter core soil samples (0–5 cm) was extracted using the Olsen, Bray–Kurtz, Mehlich III, distilled water and 0.01 m calcium chloride procedures. All of these P extraction methods explained a significant amount of variability in surface run‐off total dissolved P [TP (<0.45)] (r2 ≥ 0.67; P ≤ 0.01), where 0.45 is the filter pore diameter in microns. Multiple regression models showed extractable P to be the best soil predictor of surface run‐off TP (<0.45) among the studied soils. Despite extraction method or soil type, extractable P was the best soil predictor of surface run‐off TP (<0.45). Either agronomic (0.92 ≤ r2 ≤ 0.96) or environmental (0.94 ≤ r2 ≤ 0.96) soil tests were effective in estimating surface run‐off TP (<0.45) in select Mollisols.
Long‐term site productivity effects of different Rhododendron control methods in eastern beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) ecosystems in the Western Black Sea region of Turkey
Authors: Yildiz O. , Eşen D. , Sarginci M.
Published: February 2009

The study area is located in an eastern beech stand on a fertile and mesic upland site in the western Black Sea region of Turkey. During natural regeneration of the beech stand, rhododendron was differentially controlled. The experiment used a randomized block design with four replicates and two different site preparation practices. The manual treatment was hand grubbing. The whole plant was uprooted and left on the site. The mechanical treatment scarified the surface soil to 5–10 cm depth with a bulldozer equipped with a brush rake. After 17 years following site preparation, the number of trees on the grubbing site (GS) was 60% more than that of mechanical treatment sites (MTS). Total tree biomass per hectare was 39% greater on GS than that of MTS. Beech trees on the grubbing sites had 18, 115, 29, 17 and 78% more N, P, K, Ca and Mg than MTS, respectively. Forest floor N content on GS was 50% more than that of MTS. On the GS, Ca content also was three times more than that of MTS. At 0–20 cm depth, cation exchange capacity on GS was 48% higher than that of MTS. At the same depth, GS had 50, 100, 78, 23, 8, 10 and 49% more C, N, P, Ca, K, Mg and S concentrations than those of MTS, respectively. Removing of organic layer and upper soil with mechanical site preparation depletes ecosystem nutrient pools compared with manual grubbing. This difference is sustained in the long‐term. Grubbing is both effective and by leaving organic layer on the sites, grubbing preserves the long‐term productivity of the ecosystem.
Potential of multi‐objective models for risk‐based mapping of the resilience characteristics of soils: demonstration at a national level
Authors: Debeljak M. , Kocev D. , Towers W. , Jones M. , Griffiths B. S. , Hallett P. D.
Published: February 2009

Policy makers rely on risk‐based maps to make informed decisions on soil protection. Producing the maps, however, can often be confounded by a lack of data or appropriate methods to extrapolate using pedotransfer functions. In this paper, we applied multi‐objective regression tree analysis to map the resistance and resilience characteristics of soils onto stress. The analysis used a machine learning technique of multiple regression tree induction that was applied to a data set on the resistance and resilience characteristics of a range of soils across Scotland. Data included both biological and physical perturbations. The response to biological stress was measured as changes in substrate mineralization over time following a transient (heat) or persistent (copper) stress. The response to physical stress was measured from the resistance and recovery of pore structure following either compaction or waterlogging. We first determined underlying relationships between soil properties and its resistance and resilience capacity. This showed that the explanatory power of such models with multiple dependent variables (multi‐objective models) for the simultaneous prediction of interdependent resilience and resistance variables was much better than a piecewise approach using multiple regression analysis. We then used GIS techniques coupled with an existing, extensive soil data set to up‐scale the results of the models with multiple dependent variables to a national level (Scotland). The resulting maps indicate areas with low, moderate and high resistance and resilience to a range of biological and physical perturbations applied to soil. More data would be required to validate the maps, but the modelling approach is shown to be extremely valuable for up‐scaling soil processes for national‐level mapping.
The emergence of interdisciplinary knowledge in problem‐focused research
Authors: Wesselink Anna
Published: February 2009

In this paper I explore the specific properties associated with the new knowledge produced by inter‐ or transdisciplinary research. Using my analysis of a land use planning study in the Meuse valley in The Netherlands, I argue that the process of knowledge integration requires the exercise of value judgement and that the outcomes are emergent. I also show that the selection of a boundary object as objective facilitates interdisciplinary research because it is shared amongst disciplines and because it necessitates judgement in its implementation.
Functional analysis of Pitx during asexual regeneration in a basal chordate
Authors: Tiozzo Stefano , De Tomaso Anthony W.
Published: February 2009

SUMMARY
Embryogenesis in ascidians is the classic example of mosaic development, yet within this phyla a number of colonial species exist which as adults can reproduce entire bodies asexually. The colonial ascidian Botryllus schlosseri is an excellent model to study this process: on a weekly basis it regenerates all somatic and germline tissues, and while these processes have been characterized morphologically at high‐resolution over the last 70 years, almost nothing is known regarding the genetic basis of asexual development and its relationship to embryogenesis. In this study, we functionally characterized the role of the paired‐related homeobox transcription factor, Pitx, during this regenerative process. During ascidian embryogenesis Pitx seems to be multifunctional and involved in the formation of multiple tissues, including the stomodeum, pituitary gland, and determination of left‐right asymmetry, similar to other deuterostomes. Previous spatial‐temporal expression studies during asexual regeneration in Botryllus adults suggest the same roles in this developmental program. Here, we analyzed Pitx function using RNA interference at distinct stages of asexual development. Pitx phenotypes were described focusing on each developmental stage both in vivo, and via histological analysis, and were found to correspond to expression patterns; with the exception that normal asymmetries in the gut were not affected by knockdown. As mRNA destruction is not instantaneous, we found that by tailoring our short interfering double‐stranded RNA delivery different developmental processes could be studied independently. This allows a reverse genetic approach to dissect asexual developmental pathways, even in cases involving multifunctional, ubiquitously expressed genes like Pitx.
Frame‐shifts of digit identity in bird evolution and Cyclopamine‐treated wings
Authors: Vargas Alexander O. , Wagner Günter P.
Published: February 2009

SUMMARY
A highly conserved spatio‐temporal pattern of cartilage formation reveals that the digits of the bird wing develop from positions that become digits 2, 3, and 4 in other amniotes. However, the morphology of the digits of early birds like Archaeopteryx corresponds to that of digits 1, 2, and 3 of other archosaurs. A hypothesis is that a homeotic “frame‐shift” occurred, such that in the bird wing, digits 1, 2, and 3 develop from the embryological positions of digits 2, 3, and 4. Experimental homeotic transformations of single digits are well‐documented, but frame‐shifts of more than one digit are not. We investigated the pattern of cartilage formation in the development of Cyclopamine‐treated wings. When Cyclopamine was applied between stages 18 and 21, morphologies that normally develop from positions 2 and 3 developed from positions 3 and 4. The serial shift of digit identity toward posterior confirms a mechanistic possibility that was previously inferred from the evolutionary history of birds.
Secondary Headache in Secondary Syphilis
Authors: Blitshteyn Svetlana
Published: February 2009

We describe a patient with a history of recurrent headaches who developed severe and persistent left fronto‐orbital and vertex head pain, in conjunction with a maculopapular rash, and was subsequently diagnosed with secondary syphilis. With the incidence of syphilis recently on the rise, we suggest that secondary syphilis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of any patient who presents with headache and a rash. Serologic screening tests for syphilis and a dermatology consultation should be obtained promptly for diagnostic confirmation and institution of treatment with antibiotics.
Alcohol Septal Ablation in a Young Patient after Aortic Valve Replacement
Authors: Hage Fadi G. , AlJaroudi Wael , Pajaro Octavio , Nanda Navin C. , Aqel Raed A.
Published: February 2009

A 38‐year‐old male presented with heart failure symptoms and was diagnosed with aortic valve endocarditis and underlying aortic stenosis in the absence of concentric hypertrophy or bicuspid aortic valve and underwent aortic valve replacement but continued to have symptoms which were then attributed to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with dynamic left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. He was determined to be unsuitable for myomectomy and underwent successful alcohol septal ablation using transthoracic echocardiographic Doppler and continuous wave velocity monitoring without requiring to cross the aortic valve or to perform transatrial septostomy and left ventricular pressure monitoring. When crossing the aortic valve is a relative or absolute contraindication like in our index case, continuous Doppler velocity recording is a safe and effective alternative approach to monitor the outflow gradient while performing alcohol septal ablation.
Snail1 is over‐expressed in prostate cancer
Authors: HEEBØLL SARA , BORRE MICHAEL , OTTOSEN PETER DAVID , DYRSKJØT LARS , ØRNTOFT TORBEN FALCK , TØRRING NIELS
Published: February 2009

Transcription factor Snail1 is a mediator of cell migration and survival, and expression is elevated in several cancer types. The Snail1 gene is reportedly amplified in prostate cancer (PC), and we investigated Snail1 expression in PC. Immunohistochemical Snail1 staining was determined on a tissue microarray which includes 327 specimens of PC, 30 specimens from patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), benign tissue from 30 PC patients and 15 high‐grade prostate intraepithelial neoplasia (high‐grade PIN) specimens. Clinicopathological and follow‐up data were available for all patients. No BPH specimen and only 21% of benign tissue from PC patients showed high expression of Snail1. Only 7% of high‐grade PIN patients expressed a high level of Snail1. In contrast, approximately 50% of PC tissue from patients with PC showed marked nuclear immunostaining. Snail1 immunostaining was significantly associated with Gleason score (p<0.05). Snail1 expression was not correlated to T stage, metastasis at time of diagnosis, risk of or time to recurrence. Snail1 expression was significantly increased in PC with a positive correlation to dedifferentiation, but not to cancer progression or prognosis. The presented data indicate that Snail1 expression is upregulated from the early stages of PC.