bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Management practices in Australian healthcare: can NSW public hospitals do better?
Authors: Agarwal Renu , Green Roy , Agarwal Neeru , Randhawa Krithika 
Published: April 2016

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of best management practices in an Australian state-run healthcare system, namely New South Wales (NSW), and studies the impact of a range of hospital factors in driving best management practices as a means of enhancing healthcare delivery.Design/methodology/approach– This study adapts a unique survey instrument globally tested to quantify the multi-dimensional nature of hospital management practices in 42 acute care public hospitals of NSW. The authors then analysed the role of hospital-specific characteristics in driving best management practices, namely hospital size (measured by the number of hospital beds, employees and doctors), level of skill and education, degree of hospital manager autonomy and organisational hierarchy.Findings– The findings of this study show the areas of strength and potential areas of improvement in NSW hospitals. The authors find a positive association between the adoption of better management practices and hospital size (measured by the number of hospital beds and employees), level of skills and education, degree of hospital manager autonomy and organisational hierarchy. However, hospital size as measured by the number of doctors did not have a statistically significant relationship.Practical implications– This paper is of interest to both hospital administrators, clinical doctors and healthcare policy-makers who want to improve and develop strategies for better management in the healthcare sector.Originality/value– This study provides an internationally comparable robust measure of management capability in public hospitals, and contributes to the evidence-base of management practices and performance in hospitals.
From Ludlow to Chattanooga and beyond
Authors: Hogler Raymond 
Published: April 2016

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the development of employee representation systems in the USA from the Ludlow Massacre of 1914 up to the events in 2015 at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The study begins with the strike at the Colorado Fuel and Iron Corporation which led to the deaths of several women and children. In the aftermath of Ludlow, John D. Rockefeller, Jr, visited the mines in 1915 and persuaded workers that an internal employee representation plan would serve their interests better than an outside trade union. Rockefeller’s influence shaped American industrial relations until the passage of the National Labor Relations (Wagner) Act in 1935, when company unions were outlawed. The ongoing decline of unions and collective bargaining has prompted academic speculation that a return to internal workplace committees might lead to a rejuvenated labor movement in the USA.

Design/methodology/approach
The study uses both archival materials and secondary sources to construct a narrative of one important element of industrial relations. It explains Wagner’s ban on company unions as a component of his economic agenda. Company unions provided a voice for a firm’s workers, but Wagner believed they were powerless to redistribute corporate wealth. The decline of American unions is so profound that they no longer serve an economic role in our capitalist system, but workers’ voice in the workplace remains an important consideration.

Findings
The key finding of this paper is that employee representation plans are not merely an industrial relations anachronism but continue to be relevant to today’s workplace. The paper compares an influential representation plan developed in 1914 by John D. Rockefeller, Jr, to current schemes of representation and argues that labor law should be modified to permit modern versions of the older “company unions”.

Researchlimitations/implications
Works councils play a crucial role in European labor relations, and they could do so in America if labor laws were modified to permit it. An exposition of the deep historical context of representation helps to legitimate the concept. Future research into specific cases, including an international perspective, would add to an understanding of the benefits and costs of representation.

Originality/value
The originality of this paper is its combination of a historical event and a contemporary case study that brings together a theme present in managerial history for over a century. By emphasizing the aims of Rockefeller, Jr. in 1914 and the objectives of the Volkswagen Company in 2014 in establishing a participatory workplace, we gain a long-term framework through which to evaluate a particular managerial technique. The paper also suggests ways to bring our labor laws into conformance with the idea of employee representation.
Exports and outward FDI: are they complements or substitutes? Evidence from Asia
Authors: Bhasin Niti , Paul Justin 
Published: April 2016

Purpose
Outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) and its relationship with exports of home country is an important aspect of internationalization having implications for both policymakers and multinational enterprises (MNEs). This paper aims to examine this relationship by using panel data for ten major emerging countries from Asia over the period 1991-2012.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors use panel vector auto regression, panel cointegration and causality tests in this study.

Findings
The authors find evidence of long-run causality from exports to OFDI. Further, exports and OFDI are found to be substitutes. There is no long-run causality from OFDI to exports, implying that MNEs are not “connecting” with home country firms through backward and forward linkages in the production process.

Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to deal with the relationship of OFDI with exports of the home country, for a group of developing/emerging countries.
Acquisitions and the value versus growth phenomenon
Authors: Badenhorst Wessel M. 
Published: April 2016

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether investors value the future growth from acquisitions and the subsequent realisations thereof accurately.

Design/methodology/approach
The paper calculates conventional and adjusted market-to-book ratios and investigates abnormal cumulative returns over 20 quarters after portfolio formation for a sample of Standard & Poor’s 500 firms using a hedge portfolio and regression approach.

Findings
Hedge portfolios formed using adjusted market-to-book ratios underperform conventional hedge portfolios over a five-year period. Dividing the hedge into its comprising elements reveals that the underperformance of the adjusted hedge is mainly caused by weaker returns from value firms.

Research Limitations/implications
Findings are specific to large firms in a specific setting, and future research is needed to determine if findings are equally applicable to other situations. Findings imply that investors underrate the growth from new acquisitions and overrate the extent to which this has materialised.

Practical Implications
The paper highlights that the extrapolation of future growth rates should be carefully considered in any equity valuation of a firm with current or past acquisitions.

Originality/value
This paper shows that inaccurate valuation of the growth of new acquisitions and the realisation thereof is at least partially responsible for the value versus growth phenomenon. It shows that the accounting information could be improved and highlights the importance of extrapolating past growth rates with care.
The nature of voluntary greenhouse gas disclosure – an explanation of the changing rationale
Authors: Borghei Zahra , Leung Philomena , Guthrie James 
Published: April 2016

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the nature of voluntary greenhouse gas (GHG) disclosure by non-GHG-registered companies among industry sectors over a period after the introduction of theNational Greenhouse and Energy Reporting(NGER)Act 2007and before the introduction of the Australian ETS.Design/methodology/approachA GHG disclosure index is used to evaluate the levels of GHG disclosure in 2009 and 2011 annual reports.FindingsThis paper highlights that non-GHG-registered companies seem to improve their disclosure by incorporating more “behavioural management” actions rather than “symbolic” actions. The changing rationale of GHG disclosure is towards more serious GHG reduction strategies. Consistent with voluntary disclosure and signalling theories, companies having good news to tell disclose their superior GHG information to promote their superior environmental performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings should be useful for stakeholders who are interested in GHG disclosure strategies. Also, the content analysis of the annual reports provides some clarity in respect of the most common aspects of GHG disclosure by non-GHG-registered companies which is helpful in the evaluation of correspondence between carbon disclosure strategies and the objectives of carbon abatement.Originality/valuePrevious studies mostly investigate the differences in the type of GHG disclosure among companies subject to mandatory GHG regulations. However, this paper is the first study to examine the changing rationale in the nature of GHG disclosure of non-GHG-registered companies. While much of the prior research uses GHG-registered companies as the sample, no empirical study to date has considered non-GHG-registered companies that encompass 96 per cent of ASX listed companies.
The struggle to fabricate accounting narrative obfuscation
Authors: Rutherford Brian A. 
Published: April 2016

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the accounting research project concerned with accounting narrative obfuscation, focusing on the translation of the concept of readability from educational psychology via an earlier literature concerned with the readability of accounting narratives per se.

Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses actor-network theory and examines, in particular, the need for a network to accommodate the interests of its actors and the consequent risk of failure.

Findings
The analysis shows that the project is failing because the network seeking to support it is failing, and failing because of its inability to adapt sufficiently to accommodate the interests of its constituents. This failure is contrasted with the earlier concern with readability per se, which did see a successful reconfiguration of actors’ interests.

Research limitations/implications
The puzzle of the maladjustment of the network concerned with obfuscation is examined and it is suggested that it is a consequence of interests prevailing in the wider academic research network within which the relevant human actors are embedded.

Social implications
The reasons for the failure of the project are bound up in the wider circumstances of the contemporary accounting research community and may affect scholars’ capacity to pursue knowledge effectively.

Originality/value
This paper contributes to a modest stream of actor–network analysis directed at accounting research itself.
Experimental evidence for fundamental, and not realized, niche partitioning in a plant–herbivore community interaction network
Authors: Augustyn Willem J. , Anderson Bruce , Ellis Allan G. 
Published: April 2016

Summary

Patterns of niche partitioning can result from local ecological interactions (e.g. interspecific competition) occurring within a contemporary time frame (realized niche partitioning). Alternatively, they may represent the end product of historical processes acting over long time frames (fundamental niche partitioning).

Niche partitioning is often detected by analysing patterns of resource use within communities, but experiments are rarely conducted to test whether patterns of non‐overlapping resource use reflect realized or fundamental niche partitioning.

We studied a community of restio leafhoppers from the genus Cephalelus and their host plants, the Restionaceae (restios). We used network and experimental approaches to determine whether network modularity (a measure of niche partitioning within local communities) reflects fundamental or realized niche partitioning. Using a weighted modularity index for two party networks (e.g. insect–plant), we determined whether the network of this community is modular (i.e. consists of groups of species interacting strongly, with weak interactions between groups). We also aimed to identify specific Cephalelus – restio modules (groups). Using knowledge of module membership to design experiments, we tested whether Cephalelus species from two different modules, Cephalelus uncinatus and Cephalelus pickeri, prefer and perform better on restios from their own modules vs. restios from other modules. These experiments were performed under controlled conditions, eliminating the influences of competition and predation on host choices.

The Cephalelus – restio community was modular, implying niche partitioning. Cephalelus also preferred and performed better on restios from their own modules in the absence of local contemporary factors. Most niche partitioning in the investigated Cephalelus community is not caused by local interactions, and thus, host use patterns represent fundamental niches. Our findings highlight the importance of understanding local community structure in the light of processes extrinsic to the local community context.
Coexistence facilitates interspecific biofilm formation in complex microbial communities
Authors: Madsen Jonas S. , Røder Henriette L. , Russel Jakob , Sørensen Helle , Burmølle Mette , Sørensen Søren J. 
Published: April 2016

SummarySocial interactions in which bacteria respond to one another by modifying their phenotype are central determinants of microbial communities. It is known that interspecific interactions influence the biofilm phenotype of bacteria; a phenotype that is central to the fitness of bacteria. However, the underlying role of fundamental ecological factors, specifically coexistence and phylogenetic history, in biofilm formation remains unclear. This study examines how social interactions affect biofilm formation in multi‐species co‐cultures from five diverse environments. We found prevalence of increased biofilm formation among co‐cultured bacteria that have coexisted in their original environment. Conversely, when randomly co‐culturing bacteria across these five consortia, we found less biofilm induction and a prevalence of biofilm reduction. Reduction in biofilm formation was even more predominant when co‐culturing bacteria from environments where long‐term coexistence was unlikely to have occurred. Phylogenetic diversity was not found to be a strong underlying factor but a relation between biofilm induction and phylogenetic history was found. The data indicates that biofilm reduction is typically correlated with an increase in planktonic cell numbers, thus implying a behavioral response rather than mere growth competition. Our findings suggest that an increase in biofilm formation is a common adaptive response to long‐term coexistence.
A multiplayer game: species of Clostridium, Acinetobacter, and Pseudomonas are responsible for the persistence of antibiotic resistance genes in manure‐treated soils
Authors: Leclercq Sebastien Olivier , Wang Chao , Sui Zhihai , Wu Hai , Zhu Baoli , Deng Ye , Feng Jie 
Published: April 2016

SummaryAntibiotics are routinely used in modern livestock farming. The manure from medicated animals is used for the fertilization of arable crops, which in turn leads to the accumulation of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the environment. This is a potentially serious public health issue, yet the identities of the bacterial taxa involved in ARG persistence are as yet undetermined. Using soil–manure microcosm experiments, we investigated the relationship between (i) the persistence of diverse ARGs and (ii) the dynamics of bacterial community members. We were able to identify, for the first time, the bacterial taxa involved in ARG enrichment in manured soils. They were gut‐associated Clostridium species, and environmental species of Acinetobacter and Pseudomonas genera, all of them closely related to important nosocomial pathogens. Our data provide new clues on the routes by which ARGs may spread from farms to medical clinics.
Hydroxylations of trichothecene rings in the biosynthesis of Fusarium trichothecenes: evolution of alternative pathways in the nivalenol chemotype
Authors: Maeda Kazuyuki , Tanaka Akira , Sugiura Ryosuke , Koshino Hiroyuki , Tokai Takeshi , Sato Masayuki , Nakajima Yuichi , Tanahashi Yoshikazu , Kanamaru Kyoko , Kobayashi Tetsuo , Nishiuchi Takumi , Fujimura Makoto , Takahashi‐Ando Naoko , Kimura Makoto 
Published: April 2016

SummaryFusarium sporotrichioides genes FsTri11, FsTri13, and FsTri1 encode cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (CYPs) responsible for hydroxylations at C‐15, C‐4, and C‐8 of the trichothecene skeleton, respectively. However, the corresponding genes of nivalenol (NIV)‐chemotype Fusarium graminearum remain to be functionally elucidated. In this study, we characterized the roles of these CYPs in NIV biosynthesis. Analyses of the metabolites of the F. graminearum Fgtri11− mutant, a disruptant of FgTri11 encoding isotrichodermin (ITD) C‐15 hydroxylase, revealed a small amount of NIV‐type trichothecenes suggesting that an alternative C‐15 hydroxylase partially complemented FgTRI11p. In contrast, the C‐7/C‐8 hydroxylations depended solely on FgTRI1p, as suggested by the metabolite profiles of the Fgtri11−Fgtri1− double gene disruptant. Disruption of FgTri1 in both the wild‐type and Fgtri13− mutant backgrounds revealed that FgTRI13p exhibits marginal activity toward calonectrin (CAL) and that it was the only C‐4 hydroxylase. In addition, feeding experiments demonstrated that the C‐4 hydroxylation of a 7‐hydroxytrichothecene lacking C‐8 ketone was extremely limited. The marginal activity of FgTRI13p toward CAL was advantageous for the C‐7/C‐8 hydroxylation steps in NIV biosynthesis, as transformation of a C‐4 oxygenated trichothecene lacking C‐7/C‐8 modifications into NIV‐type trichothecenes was quite inefficient. The significance of hydroxylation steps in the evolution of Fusarium trichothecenes is discussed.
Functional analysis of Agaricus bisporus serine proteinase 1 reveals roles in utilization of humic rich substrates and adaptation to the leaf‐litter ecological niche
Authors: Heneghan Mary N. , Burns Claire , Costa Ana M. S. B. , Burton Kerry S. , Challen Michael P. , Bailey Andy M. , Foster Gary D. 
Published: April 2016

SummaryAgaricus bisporus is a secondary decomposer fungus and an excellent model for the adaptation, persistence and growth of fungi in humic‐rich environments such as soils of temperate woodland and pastures. The A. bisporus serine proteinase SPR1 is induced by humic acids and is highly expressed during growth on compost. Three Spr1 gene silencing cassettes were constructed around sense, antisense and non‐translatable‐stop strategies (pGRsensehph, pGRantihph and pGRstophph). Transformation of A. bisporus with these cassettes generated cultures showing a reduction in extracellular proteinase activity as demonstrated by the reduction, or abolition, of a clearing zone on plate‐based bioassays. These lines were then assessed by detailed enzyme assay, RT‐qPCR and fruiting. Serine proteinase activity in liquid cultures was reduced in 83% of transformants. RT‐qPCR showed reduced Spr1 mRNA levels in all transformants analysed, and these correlated with reduced enzyme activity. When fruiting was induced, highly‐silenced transformant AS5 failed to colonize the compost, whilst for those that did colonize the compost, 60% gave a reduction in mushroom yield. Transcriptional, biochemical and developmental observations, demonstrate that SPR1 has an important role in nutrient acquisition in compost and that SPR1 is a key enzyme in the adaptation of Agaricus to the humic‐rich ecological niche formed during biomass degradation.
Codivergence of the primary bacterial endosymbiont of psyllids versus host switches and replacement of their secondary bacterial endosymbionts
Authors: Hall Aidan A. G. , Morrow Jennifer L. , Fromont Caroline , Steinbauer Martin J. , Taylor Gary S. , Johnson Scott N. , Cook James M. , Riegler Markus 
Published: April 2016

SummaryCoevolution between insects and bacterial endosymbionts contributes to the success of many insect lineages. For the first time, we tested for phylogenetic codivergence across multiple taxonomic scales, from within genera to superfamily between 36 psyllid species of seven recognised families (Hemiptera: Psylloidea), their exclusive primary endosymbiont Carsonella and more diverse secondary endosymbionts (S‐endosymbionts). Within Aphalaridae, we found that Carsonella and S‐endosymbionts were fixed in one Glycaspis and 12 Cardiaspina populations. The dominant S‐endosymbiont was Arsenophonus, while Sodalis was detected in one Cardiaspina species. We demonstrated vertical transmission for Carsonella and Arsenophonus in three Cardiaspina species. We found strong support for strict cospeciation and validated the informative content of Carsonella as extended host genome for inference of psyllid relationships. However, S‐endosymbiont and host phylogenies were incongruent, and displayed signs of host switching and endosymbiont replacement. The high incidence of Arsenophonus in psyllids and other plant sap‐feeding Hemiptera may be due to repeated host switching within this group. In two psyllid lineages, Arsenophonus and Sodalis genes exhibited accelerated evolutionary rates and AT‐biases characteristic of long‐term host associations. Together with strict vertical transmission and 100% prevalence within host populations, our results suggest an obligate, and not facultative, symbiosis between psyllids and some S‐endosymbionts.
A mechanism for bacterial transformation of dimethylsulfide to dimethylsulfoxide: a missing link in the marine organic sulfur cycle
Authors: Lidbury Ian , Kröber Eileen , Zhang Zhidong , Zhu Yijun , Murrell J. Colin , Chen Yin , Schäfer Hendrik 
Published: April 2016

SummaryThe volatile organosulfur compound, dimethylsulfide (DMS), plays an important role in climate regulation and global sulfur biogeochemical cycles. Microbial oxidation of DMS to dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) represents a major sink of DMS in surface seawater, yet the underlying molecular mechanisms and key microbial taxa involved are not known. Here, we reveal thatRuegeria pomeroyi, a model marine heterotrophic bacterium, can oxidize DMS to DMSO using trimethylamine monooxygenase (Tmm). Purified Tmm oxidizes DMS to DMSO at a 1:1 ratio. Mutagenesis of thetmmgene inR. pomeroyicompletely abolished DMS oxidation and subsequent DMSO formation. Expression of Tmm and DMS oxidation inR. pomeroyiis methylamine‐dependent and regulated at the post‐transcriptional level. Considering that Tmm is present in approximately 20% of bacterial cells inhabiting marine surface waters, particularly the marineRoseobacterclade and the SAR11 clade, our observations contribute to a mechanistic understanding of biological DMSO production in surface seawater.
Anchoring under Currency Substitution: A Ratchet Price Mechanism in the Housing Market
Authors: Ben‐Shahar Danny , Golan Roni 
Published: April 2016

AbstractThe currency substitution experienced by the Israeli real estate market in the past decades serves as a unique case for studying the effect of the anchoring heuristic on prices. We hypothesize that players utilize current and past exchange rates between the old and new currency to affect the closing price in their favor. Results of micro‐ and macro‐level estimations indicate that exchange rate fluctuations associate with an upward ratchet price effect. Furthermore, we find that the ratchet price mechanism disappears once the currency substitution is completed. These findings provide new evidence of the effect of anchoring on a market whose transactions involve substantial, long‐term economic consequences.