bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
How fund managers in Malaysia make decisions
Authors: Glanville bin Mohamad Samsukri Glanville bin Mohamad , Perry Chad 
Published: January 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to investigate how fund managers in a non-Western country like Malaysia follow investment processes developed in the West and taught in the finance departments of universities.Design/methodology/approach– This convergent interview research investigates how fund managers in Malaysia actually make their decisions, and develops a framework about their investment process.Findings– Understanding the economy was important for the managers but was an ongoing learning process. Their analyses sometimes started bottom-up or top-down, but all followed a four-layer process. The managers did not believe the investment process could be quantified.Research limitations/implications– Convergent interviewing is meant to be a first step in a complete research program. So, future researchers could consider extending the research to different periods, different research settings in other countries like Singapore, India or Indonesia, different types of investors and different methodologies like surveys.Practical implications– Practitioners should build on their experience, and understand principles of behavioral finance. Students in business schools should be taught in an experiential way, and school staff should use qualitative methods like convergent interviewing in their research projects.Originality/value– Contributions centre on the article’s behavioural finance findings that experience and non-quantitative methods are the core of Malaysian investment managers’ decision-making, and on its detailed description of the unusual research methodology in finance of convergent interviewing.
Soft governance, restratification and the 2004 general medical services contract: the case of UK primary care organisations and general practice teams
Authors: Grant Suzanne , Ring Adele , Gabbay Mark , Guthrie Bruce , McLean Gary , Mair Frances S. , Watt Graham , Heaney David , O'Donnell Catherine 
Published: January 2015

AbstractIn the UK National Health Service, primary care organisation (PCO) managers have traditionally relied on the soft leadership of general practitioners based on professional self‐regulation rather than direct managerial control. The 2004 general medical services contract (nGMS) represented a significant break from this arrangement by introducing new performance management mechanisms for PCO managers to measure and improve general practice work. This article examines the impact of nGMS on the governance of UK general practice by PCO managers through a qualitative analysis of data from an empirical study in four UK PCOs and eight general practices, drawing on Hood's four‐part governance framework. Two hybrids emerged: (i) PCO managers emphasised a hybrid of oversight, competition (comptrol) and peer‐based mutuality by granting increased support, guidance and autonomy to compliant practices; and (ii) practices emphasised a broad acceptance of increased PCO oversight of clinical work that incorporated a restratified elite of general practice clinical peers at both PCO and practice levels. Given the increased international focus on the quality, safety and efficiency in primary care, a key issue for PCOs and practices will be to achieve an effective, contextually appropriate balance between the counterposing governance mechanisms of peer‐led mutuality and externally led comptrol.
Unstable terminality: negotiating the meaning of chronicity and terminality in motor neurone disease
Authors: Lerum Sverre Vigeland , Solbrække Kari Nyheim , Holmøy Trygve , Frich Jan C. 
Published: January 2015

AbstractThis paper explores the meaning of chronicity and terminality in motor neurone disease (MND), also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). There is no known cause or cure for MND, and expected survival is 2–5 years, but several interventions may improve or prolong life. This study draws on qualitative interview data with health professionals in hospitals and primary care, and family carers, in Norway. The actors emphasised chronic and terminal aspects in subtly different ways along the entire illness trajectory, also when recounting the trajectory in retrospect. As a consequence of improved health services and medical technology the distinction between chronicity and terminality has become more vague and sometimes ambiguous. We suggest the concept unstable terminality to describe this ambiguity. While MND is a fatal diagnosis; it may be contested, as contingencies and interventions create an indefinite time scope. The instability creates challenges for primary care which is dependent on prognostic information to organise their effort; hospitals tackle the instability by pre‐scheduled consultations allowing for avoidance of an explicit prognosis. Some carers experienced what we understand as a disruption within the disruption, living with chronic and terminal illness simultaneously, which made the limbo phase more challenging to overcome.
The business of care: the moral labour of care workers
Authors: Johnson Eleanor K. 
Published: January 2015

AbstractDrawing on a case study conducted in a private residential care home, this article examines the emotional labour of care workers in relation to the moral construction of care and the practical experiences of work. An examination of the company's discursive attempts to construct, manage and demarcate its employees’ emotional labour was carried out alongside an exploration of the carers’ own interpretations of, and enrolment in, the care‐giving role. The potential economic and emotional consequences of these occurrences were a key focus of the inquiry. The study found that carers, encouraged by the company, naturalised their emotional labour, and that this had contradictory consequences. On the one hand it justified the economic devaluation of the carer's work and left her vulnerable to emotional over‐involvement and client aggression. On the other, it allowed the worker to defend the moral interests of those within her care and to see when those interests were in conflict with the economic motivations of her employer.
The association of beta‐2 adrenoceptor genotype with short‐cervix mediated preterm birth: a case–control study
Authors: Miller R , Smiley R , Thom EA , Grobman WA , Iams JD , Mercer BM , Saade G , Tita AT , Reddy UM , Rouse DJ , Sorokin Y , Blackwell SC , Esplin MS , Tolosa JE , Caritis SN ,   Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Maternal‐Fetal Medicine Units (MFMU) Network
Published: January 2015

ObjectiveTo determine whether β2‐adrenoceptor (β2AR) genotype is associated with shortening of the cervix or with preterm birth (PTB) risk among women with a short cervix in the second trimester.DesignA case–control ancillary study to a multicentre randomised controlled trial.SettingFourteen participating centres of the Maternal‐Fetal Medicine Units Network of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.PopulationFour hundred thirty‐nine women, including 315 with short cervix and 124 with normal cervical length.MethodsNulliparous women with cervical length <30 mm upon a 16–22‐week transvaginal sonogram and controls frequency‐matched for race/ethnicity with cervical lengths ≥40 mm were studied. β2AR genotype was determined at positions encoding for amino acid residues 16 and 27.Main outcome measuresGenotype distributions were compared between case and control groups. Within the short cervix group, pregnancy outcomes were compared by genotype, with a primary outcome of PTB <37 weeks.ResultsGenotype data were available at position 16 for 433 women and at position 27 for 437. Using a recessive model testing for association between short cervix and genotype, and adjusted for ethnicity, there was no statistical difference between cases and controls for Arg16 homozygosity (OR 0.7, 95% CI 0.4–1.3) or Gln27 homozygosity (OR 0.9, 95% CI 0.3–2.7). Among cases, Arg16 homozygosity was not associated with protection from PTB or spontaneous PTB. Gln27 homozygosity was not associated with PTB risk, although sample size was limited.Conclusionsβ2AR genotype does not seem to be associated with short cervical length or with PTB following the second‐trimester identification of a short cervix. Influences on PTB associated with β2AR genotype do not appear to involve a short cervix pathway.
Understanding the effects of religious attendance on political participation among ethnic minorities of different religions
Authors: Sobolewska Maria , D. Fisher Stephen , Heath Anthony F. , Sanders David 
Published: January 2015

AbstractIn the United States, active church membership among ethnic and racial minorities has been linked to higher political participation. In Europe, the influence of religious attendance on political mobilisation of ethnic minorities has so far been little explored, despite the heated public debate about the public role of religion and particularly Islam. This study uses the 2010 Ethnic Minority British Election Study to theorise the relationship between religious attendance and political participation of ethnic minorities in a European context and extend existing theories to non‐Christian minority religions. The article shows that despite a significantly different context in which religion's place in political life is more contentious, regular religious attendance increases political participation rates of ethnic minorities. Some possible explanatory mechanisms are tested and an important distinction is introduced between those mechanisms that mediate, and those that moderate the impact of religion. The study finds that British minority churches and places of worships vary in how willing and effective they are in politically motivating their worshippers, and concludes that this relates to the political salience of certain religions within the United Kingdom context.
Oxidation‐Initiated Myosin Subfragment Cross‐Linking and Structural Instability Differences between White and Red Muscle Fiber Types
Authors: Liu Changqi , Xiong Youling L. 
Published: January 2015

AbstractBoth white and red muscles are commonly used in meat processing, and protein cross‐linking, which may be affected by oxidants, is a key factor affecting the product quality. In this study, myofibrillar proteins (MPs) extracted from postrigor chicken Pectoralis major (PM, predominantly white) and Gastrocnemius (GN, predominantly red) muscles were subjected to a •OH‐oxidizing system (10 μM FeCl3, 0.1 mM ascorbic acid, with 0, 5, 10, or 20 mM H2O2) at pH 6.2, 4 °C for 18 h. The solubility of nonoxidized (control) PM MPs (63%) was higher than that of control GN MPs (41%). After oxidation with •OH generated at 5 mM H2O2, protein solubility decreased by 46% and 21% for PM and GN, respectively, due to aggregation. Chemical and electrophoretic analyses indicated H2O2‐dose‐dependent losses of sulfhydryls and the concomitant formation of disulfides which were more pronounced in PM protein samples. Oxidation favored cross‐linking of myosin rod or tail in PM MPs compared to an equal susceptibility of myosin subfragment‐1 (s‐1) and rod to •OH in GN MPs. Both Ca‐ and K‐ATPase activities in GN myosin were more sensitive to •OH than their PM counterparts, indicating a less stable s‐1 region of GN myosin to oxidation. The uncoiling of rods from PM myosin was more rapid than that in GN myosin during heating. Oxidation induced cross‐linking via disulfide bonds hindered the unfolding of rod, particularly in PM myosin. These data revealed the molecular events that underscore the necessity of meat processing and formulation control based on muscle fiber types.
Adhesion, Cohesion, and Friction Estimated from Combining Cutting and Peeling Test Results for Thin Noodle Sheets
Authors: Wu Kao , Gunaratne Anil , Collado Lilia S. , Corke Harold , Lucas Peter W. 
Published: January 2015

AbstractThe aim of this study was to estimate the adhesive and cohesive fracture energies, and frictional characteristics of 7 types of cooked starch and flour sheets and combine these into a model framework for textural analysis. Cutting tests with wires of diameter 0.30 to 0.89 mm were performed with and without lubrication. Plots of the work done, normalized to the area cut by the wire, showed that this to be linearly related to wire diameter irrespective of lubrication. The oil had little impact on the intercept of these plots, giving cohesive fracture energy (Gc) ranges for these foods between 6.8 and 32.5 J/m2. However, lubrication had a strong influence on the slope of the plots. From a comparison of the slopes for lubricated versus unlubricated tests, the kinetic coefficient of friction could be calculated. Values for between 0.007 and 0.521 for different foods were obtained. Peeling tests were performed by lifting sheets vertically away from a fresh mica surface. The adhesive fracture energy Ga, varied from 2.5 to 4.8 J/m2. The results can be modeled by plotting the ratio of cohesive to adhesive fracture energy against the coefficient of friction. Thresholds in both axes suggest a physical basis for distinguishing textural perceptions. However, sensory testing with 12 subjects using the 7 food types could not establish whether this framework, however well‐established physically, would apply to oral sensations. A much larger test would be required.
Growing Pains: Audit Quality and Office Growth
Authors: Bills Kenneth L. , Swanquist Quinn T. , Whited Robert L. 
Published: January 2015

AbstractThis study provides evidence on how local office growth affects audit quality. We predict that significant recent growth will temporarily stress office resources, leading to a negative relation between office‐level growth and audit quality. To test this prediction, we examine a sample of 17,062 firm‐year observations from 2005 to 2010. Results indicate a consistent negative relation between changes in volume of audit work and audit quality. Specifically, clients of offices that experience increases in workload over the prior year have greater absolute discretionary accruals as well as an increased likelihood of restatement. Our tests also indicate that the effect of office growth is transient and vanishes after one year. We find limited evidence that the size of the auditor's national network of offices partially mitigates the negative effects of office growth on audit quality. We further show that proxies for audit quality are negatively related to office‐level growth from new and existing clients. These findings are robust to controls for client and auditor characteristics as well as alternative specifications of growth. Taken together, evidence indicates that while larger offices provide higher audit quality, the benefits of office size are not realized immediately and rapid growth temporarily impairs audit quality. These results are informative to regulators concerned with audit quality and to practitioners charged with adjusting to office growth.
Innovations in air sampling to detect plant pathogens
Authors: West J.S. , Kimber R.B.E. 
Published: January 2015

AbstractMany innovations in the development and use of air sampling devices have occurred in plant pathology since the first description of the Hirst spore trap. These include improvements in capture efficiency at relatively high air‐volume collection rates, methods to enhance the ease of sample processing with downstream diagnostic methods and even full automation of sampling, diagnosis and wireless reporting of results. Other innovations have been to mount air samplers on mobile platforms such as UAVs and ground vehicles to allow sampling at different altitudes and locations in a short space of time to identify potential sources and population structure. Geographical Information Systems and the application to a network of samplers can allow a greater prediction of airborne inoculum and dispersal dynamics. This field of technology is now developing quickly as novel diagnostic methods allow increasingly rapid and accurate quantifications of airborne species and genetic traits. Sampling and interpretation of results, particularly action‐thresholds, is improved by understanding components of air dispersal and dilution processes and can add greater precision in the application of crop protection products as part of integrated pest and disease management decisions. The applications of air samplers are likely to increase, with much greater adoption by growers or industry support workers to aid in crop protection decisions. The same devices are likely to improve information available for detection of allergens causing hay fever and asthma or provide valuable metadata for regional plant disease dynamics.
Pre‐operative fibrinogen supplementation in cardiac surgery patients: an evaluation of different trigger values
Authors: RANUCCI M. , JEPPSSON A. , BARYSHNIKOVA E. 
Published: January 2015

BackgroundPre‐operative fibrinogen levels are negatively associated with postoperative bleeding in cardiac surgery patients. The guidelines of the European Society of Anaesthesiology consider the possibility of a prophylactic pre‐operative supplementation in patients with fibrinogen levels < 3.8 g/l. The present study is a reanalysis of published data aimed to define the diagnostic accuracy of different values of pre‐operative fibrinogen levels in predicting severe post‐operative bleeding.MethodsData were retrieved for 2154 patients in four different studies. Severe bleeding (SB) was defined as a post‐operative chest drain output > 1 l/12 h. Diagnostic accuracy for prediction of SB was tested at three cutoff values of pre‐operative fibrinogen (2.5 g/l, 3.0 g/l, and 3.8 g/l).ResultsAt all the three cutoff values, pre‐operative fibrinogen levels had an excellent negative predictive value, ranging from 86% to 100%. Conversely, the positive predictive value was poor at all the cutoff levels: 12% (3.8 g/l), 14% (3.0 g/l), and 19% (2.5 g/l). Overall, the accuracy of pre‐operative fibrinogen levels for the prediction of SB was poor. A strategy based on pre‐operative fibrinogen supplementation would lead to inappropriate treatment in > 80% of the treated patients. Overall, a trigger value of 3.8 g/l would result in an inappropriate treatment in 52% of the patients, of 3.0 g/l in 20% of the patients, and of 2.5 g/l in 4% of the patients.ConclusionCorrection of pre‐operative fibrinogen levels below 3.8 g/l would lead to an excessive rate of inappropriate interventions. Values below 2.5 g/l could be considered.
Biochemistry and molecular characterisation of chlorpyrifos resistance in field strains of the white‐backed planthopper Sogatella furcifera (Hemiptera: Delphacidae)
Authors: He Ming , Ai Zhen‐Xian , Jiang Zi‐Qiong , Long Yu‐Ning , Zhang Yue‐Liang , He Peng 
Published: January 2015

AbstractAcetylcholinesterase (AChE) is the molecular target of organophosphate (OP) and carbamate (CB) insecticides. The white‐backed planthopper, Sogatella furcifera (Horváth, 1899), is a notorious rice pest in Asia and exhibits high resistance against a specific OP pesticide known as chlorpyrifos. To date, there has not yet been a study on the molecular mechanisms that confer resistance to this pesticide in S. furcifera. In this study, we cloned the full‐length cDNA of AChE type 1 and type 2 genes from S. furcifera (SfAChE1 and SfAChE2). Both genes appear to be functional and are composed of the classic AChE domains. An analysis of the gene family revealed that SfAChE1 and SfAChE2 cluster into in the insect AChE1 and AChE2 clades, respectively. We first performed qPCR experiments to detect AChE expression patterns in distinct developmental stages and tissues. Our results revealed that SfAChE1 is more highly expressed than SfAChE2. Both genes were most highly expressed during the first instar nymph stage, and then expressed at a decreasing rate until the end of the fifth instar nymph stage. Both SfAChE1 and SfAChE2 were more highly expressed than in other tested tissues. Furthermore, we investigated the association between AChE genes and chlorpyrifos resistance and found that Nanjing (NJ‐R) is a chlorpyrifos‐resistant strain with high frequencies of a Ser298Pro mutation in SfAChE1. Conversely, the chlorpyrifos‐susceptible Guangdong (GD‐S) strain did not carry this mutation.
Selection for high and low oxygen consumption altered hepatic mitochondrial energy efficiency in mice
Authors: Hong Yu , Ardiyanti Astrid , Kikusato Motoi , Shimazu Tomoyuki , Toyomizu Masaaki , Suzuki Keiichi 
Published: January 2015

AbstractSelection for high (H) and low (L) oxygen consumption (OC) as an indirect estimation of maintenance energy requirement was determined. Feed intake and body weight were measured and feed conversion ratio (FCR) of 4–8‐week‐old mice was calculated. Respiratory activity of hepatic mitochondria was measured at 12 weeks. Total feed intake (H: 103.74 g, L: 97.92 g, P < 0.01), daily feed intake (H: 3.70 g/day, L: 3.50 g/day, P < 0.01) and FCR (H: 18.79, L: 15.50, P < 0.01) were significantly different between lines. The line by sex interaction was significant for FCR. No line differences were observed in males; and the FCR of the H line was greater than in the L line in females. H line mice had the highest hepatic mitochondrial respiratory activity in state 2 (P < 0.01), the highest uncoupled respiratory rate of mitochondria in the presence of an uncoupling agent (P < 0.001), and the mitochondrial proton leak. The adenosine diphosphate/ O ratio was highest in the L line (P < 0.05). This suggests that the selection for high and low OC induced differences in basal mitochondrial respiration and basal metabolism, resulting in difference in FCR between H and L lines.
Improving Aboriginal Women's Experiences of Antenatal Care: Findings from the Aboriginal Families Study in South Australia
Authors: Brown Stephanie Janne , Weetra Donna , Glover Karen , Buckskin Mary , Ah Kit Jackie , Leane Cathy , Mitchell Amanda , Stuart‐Butler Deanna , Turner May , Gartland Deirdre , Yelland Jane 
Published: January 2015

AbstractBackgroundAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families experience markedly worse maternal and child health outcomes than non‐Aboriginal families. The objective of this study was to investigate the experiences of women attending Aboriginal Family Birthing Program services in South Australia compared with women attending mainstream public antenatal care.MethodPopulation‐based survey of mothers of Aboriginal babies giving birth in urban, regional, and remote areas of South Australia between July 2011 and June 2013.ResultsA total of 344 women took part in the study around 4–9 months after giving birth; 93 percent were Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders, and 7 percent were non‐Aboriginal mothers of Aboriginal babies. Of these, 39 percent of women lived in a major city, 36 percent in inner or outer regional areas, and 25 percent in remote areas of South Australia. Compared with women attending mainstream public antenatal care, women attending metropolitan and regional Aboriginal Family Birthing Program services had a higher likelihood of reporting positive experiences of pregnancy care (adjOR 3.4 [95% CI 1.6–7.0] and adjOR 2.4 [95% CI 1.4–4.3], respectively). Women attending Aboriginal Health Services were also more likely to report positive experiences of care (adjOR 3.5 [95% CI 1.3–9.4]).ConclusionsIn the urban, regional, and remote areas where the Aboriginal Family Birthing Program has been implemented, the program has expanded access to culturally responsive antenatal care for Aboriginal women and families. The positive experiences reported by many women using the program have the potential to translate into improved outcomes for Aboriginal families.