bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Audit tenure and the equity risk premium: evidence from Jordan
Authors: Baker Rana Ahmad , Al‐Thuneibat Ali 
Published: February 2011

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the relation between audit firm tenure and the perceived audit quality measured by the client‐specific equity risk premium. The study population consists of all the manufacturing and service firms traded in Amman Bourse during the period 2002‐2005.Design/methodology/approachThe Boone et al. model – with some modifications – was used for testing the hypotheses.FindingsThe results show that the relation between audit firm tenure and equity risk premium is positive, the equity risk premium increases with tenure as a result of reduced audit quality. These results were consistent with some previous studies, which showed that long relationships between an audit firm and a client are associated with lower perceived audit quality and, as a result, higher equity risk premium.Practical implicationsThe audit firm should be rotated in order to enhance auditor independence and audit quality, and increase investors' confidence in reported earnings. Additionally, investors are encouraged to give higher attention to the tenure of the audit firm when evaluating the quality of the financial reports of the companies they are planning to invest in.Originality/valueThis is the first paper to provide evidence from a developing country about an important issue – audit quality – which is expected to support and sustain improvement of audit quality, and therefore, financial reporting quality.
IFRS and US‐GAAP comparability before release No. 33‐8879
Authors: Liu Chunhui 
Published: February 2011

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate whether reported net income as per US‐generally accepted accounting principles (US‐GAAP) has become comparable to net income as per International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board right before the removal of the US‐GAAP reconciliation requirement and what major accounting elements have caused the differences, if any.Design/methodology/approachUsing Gray's index of comparability suggested by Haverty, the paper compares the reported net income under IFRS for a sample of US‐listed Chinese companies using IFRS with the reconciled net income under US‐GAAP.FindingsConsistent with Haverty is the finding that net income under IFRS is still not completely comparable to net income under US‐GAAP for the same company and that the adjustment for tangible assets revaluation is a major contributor to the difference. In addition, different treatment of business acquisition is found to be another major cause of the incomparability. The comparability has improved at 10 percent threshold since Haverty's study.Originality/valueThis paper provides an update on the status of IFRS and US‐GAAP comparability and highlights an additional major area to work on towards improved comparability.
Analyst recommendations and corporate governance in emerging markets
Authors: Yu Minna 
Published: February 2011

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine whether analyst recommendations are influenced by the strength of corporate governance in emerging markets.Design/methodology/approachIt is expected that analysts take into consideration the corporate governance mechanisms when they set their recommendations because better‐governed companies are associated with less risk from management and have value improvement potentials. This hypothesis is tested with a sample of 805 firms in 26 countries from emerging markets. Corporate governance effectiveness is measured by the ratings compiled by Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia, which are based on a series of corporate governance characteristics.FindingsResults show that analysts tend to issue favorable recommendations for firms with better corporate governance mechanisms. Furthermore, this evidence is concentrated in countries with a code law origin where investor protection is relatively weak.Practical implicationsThis paper has important implications for financial analysts and investors by offering insights into how analysts help the market efficiently incorporate the quality of corporate governance in the code law countries of emerging markets. This paper is also of interest to companies by highlighting the significance of establishing good corporate governance mechanisms.Originality/valueExamining the association between analyst recommendations and the strength of corporate governance adds to the research on the association between corporate governance and analyst activity and therefore highlight the role analysts play in the valuation of corporate governance.
The policy consequence of expensing stock‐based compensation
Authors: Lin Ching‐Chieh , Hua Chi‐Yun , Lee Shu‐Hua , Lee Wen‐Chih 
Published: February 2011

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the policy consequences of expensing stock‐based compensation in Taiwan.Design/methodology/approachData were collected on listed firms from 2006 to 2008 and a goodness‐of‐fit of accounting earnings valuation model was used to investigate the incremental information content of expensing stock‐based compensation. In addition, two sensitivity indexes were used to investigate the sensitivity between compensation and firm performance before and after income statement recognition of stock‐based compensation.FindingsIt was found that the association between earnings and abnormal returns is stronger after expensing compensation. In addition, the relationship between compensation variables, especially stock compensation, and firm performance is stronger after 2008, indicating that expensing compensation reinforces the relationship between compensation and performance.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that disclosure and recognition are not substitutes. The findings also have implications for standard setters and for investors attempting to mitigate managers' self‐interested behavior.Originality/valueThe accounting treatment of employee stock‐based compensation is a controversial issue among academics, regulators, managers, auditors, and investors. This paper investigates the incremental information content of the new accounting standard and explores whether the relationship between compensation and firm performance has become more transparent than before.
Genetic differentiation of water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) populations in China, Nepal and south‐east Asia: inferences on the region of domestication of the swamp buffalo
Authors: Zhang Y. , Vankan D. , Zhang Y. , Barker J. S. F. 
Published: February 2011

SummaryData from three published studies of genetic variation at 18 microsatellite loci in water buffalo populations in China (18 swamp type, two river type), Nepal (one wild, one domestic river, one hybrid) and south‐east Asia (eight swamp, three river) were combined so as to gain a broader understanding of genetic relationships among the populations and their demographic history. Mean numbers of alleles and expected heterozygosities were significantly different among populations. Estimates of θ (a measure of population differentiation) were significant among the swamp populations for all loci and among the river populations for most loci. Differentiation among the Chinese swamp populations (which was due primarily to just one population) was much less than among the south‐east Asian. The Nepal wild animals, phenotypically swamp type but genetically like river type, are significantly different from all the domestic river populations and presumably represent the ancestral Bubalus arnee (possibly with some river‐type introgression). Relationships among the swamp populations (DA genetic distances, principal component analysis and structure analyses) show the south‐east Asian populations separated into two groups by the Chinese populations. Given these relationships and the patterns of genetic variability, we postulate that the swamp buffalo was domesticated in the region of the far south of China, northern Thailand and Indochina. Following domestication, it spread south through peninsular Malaysia to Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi, and north through China, and then to Taiwan, the Philippines and Borneo.
Possible drug–drug interaction between quetiapine and lamotrigine – evidence from a Swedish TDM database
Authors: Andersson Marine L. , Björkhem‐Bergman Linda , Lindh Jonatan D. 
Published: February 2011

WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ABOUT THIS SUBJECT • Preliminary evidence from a single study indicates that co‐medication with lamotrigine may reduce the serum concentration of quetiapine. Since both drugs are commonly used in bipolar disorder such a drug–drug interaction could be of great importance, but the findings need to be confirmed. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS • The association between lamotrigine dosing and lowered quetiapine concentrations was confirmed in a small independent patient sample. The magnitude of the reduction (58%) indicated that the proposed drug–drug interaction may be of clinical importance.AIM The aim of the present study was to investigate a previously proposed interaction between quetiapine and lamotrigine resulting in reduced serum quetiapine concentrations.METHODS Data on 402 patients subjected to analysis of quetiapine concentration in serum were extracted from a routine therapeutic drug monitoring database. Among these patients, those concomitantly treated with lamotrigine (n= 22) were identified and matched with 22 controls receiving quetiapine while unexposed to lamotrigine. The dose‐corrected quetiapine concentrations (C : D ratios) in the two groups were compared in both paired and unpaired analyses.RESULTS Patients co‐treated with lamotrigine had a lower mean C : D ratio (0.71, 95% CI 0.46, 0.97) compared with controls (1.64, 95% CI 1.00, 2.28). Dose‐corrected quetiapine concentrations were 58% lower in patients co‐medicated with lamotrigine.CONCLUSIONS This study indicates that lamotrigine exposure is associated with substantially reduced serum concentrations of quetiapine, possibly due to induced glucuronidation. These findings need to be confirmed in experimental studies.
Advancing nursing practice: redefining the theoretical and practical integration of knowledge
Authors: Christensen Martin 
Published: February 2011

Aim.  The aim of this paper is to offer an alternative knowing‐how knowing‐that framework of nursing knowledge, which in the past has been accepted as the provenance of advanced practice.Background.  The concept of advancing practice is central to the development of nursing practice and has been seen to take on many different forms depending on its use in context. To many it has become synonymous with the work of the advanced or expert practitioner; others have viewed it as a process of continuing professional development and skills acquisition. Moreover, it is becoming closely linked with practice development. However, there is much discussion as to what constitutes the knowledge necessary for advancing and advanced practice, and it has been suggested that theoretical and practical knowledge form the cornerstone of advanced knowledge.Design.  The design of this article takes a discursive approach as to the meaning and integration of knowledge within the context of advancing nursing practice.Method.  A thematic analysis of the current discourse relating to knowledge integration models in an advancing and advanced practice arena was used to identify concurrent themes relating to the knowing‐how knowing‐that framework which commonly used to classify the knowledge necessary for advanced nursing practice.Conclusion.  There is a dichotomy as to what constitutes knowledge for advanced and advancing practice. Several authors have offered a variety of differing models, yet it is the application and integration of theoretical and practical knowledge that defines and develops the advancement of nursing practice. An alternative framework offered here may allow differences in the way that nursing knowledge important for advancing practice is perceived, developed and coordinated.Relevance to clinical practice.  What has inevitably been neglected is that there are various other variables which when transposed into the existing knowing‐how knowing‐that framework allows for advanced knowledge to be better defined. One of the more notable variables is pattern recognition, which became the focus of Benner’s work on expert practice. Therefore, if this is included into the knowing‐how knowing‐that framework, the knowing‐how becomes the knowledge that contributes to advancing and advanced practice and the knowing‐that becomes the governing action based on a deeper understanding of the problem or issue.
A quasi‐experimental investigation into the efficacy of a suicide education programme for second‐year student nurses in Taiwan
Authors: Sun Fan‐Ko , Long Ann , Huang Xuan‐Yi , Chiang Chun‐Ying 
Published: February 2011

Aim.  This study was designed to investigate the learning outcomes of a suicide education programme for second‐year student nurses in Taiwan.Background.  Research demonstrates that nurses’ attitudes impact on the care provided to suicidal patients. However, evidence is sparse on promoting positive caring attitudes in nurses towards suicidal patients.Design.  A quasi‐experiment.Method.  The total sample group (n = 174) comprised second‐year student nurses. Some (n = 95) were randomly allocated to an experimental group who attended a four‐hour suicidal education programme and others (n = 79) comprised a control group who did not attend the programme. All participants were given a questionnaire before and after the programme in 2008. The questionnaire contained 30 items and was divided into five categories. They were (1) the acceptability of suicidal behaviours, (2) morality and mental illness, (3) professional role and care, (4) communication and attention and (5) beliefs.Results.  Results demonstrated that the experimental group had higher scores on all five categories of the questionnaire than the control group did. Participants in the experimental group held more positive attitudes towards the acceptance of suicidal behaviours and were non‐judgmental in their morality. Further, they showed more positive attitudes towards the provision of professional care and believed that people who attempt suicide are communicating their psychic pain. Moreover, participants in the experimental group held more positive beliefs about people who attempt suicide than the control group did.Conclusion.  This suicide education programme raised student nurses’ awareness about the phenomenon of suicide and promoted positive caring attitudes towards people who attempt suicide and hence their nursing care.Relevance to clinical practice.  A four‐hour suicide education programme can promote positive caring attitudes towards people who attempt suicide and may have an affirmative influence on the nursing care provided to suicidal patients.
A comparison of postnatal depression and related factors between Chinese new mothers and fathers
Authors: Mao Qing , Zhu Li‐xia , Su Xiao‐yin 
Published: February 2011

Aims.  This study aims to examine the differences in the prevalence of depression and related factors between new mothers and fathers during the postnatal period.Background.  Although the transition to motherhood and postnatal depression has been extensively studied, few studies compared maternal and paternal psychological health during the postnatal period.Design.  A cross‐sectional design was used.Methods.  A total of 376 pairs of new parents participated in this study. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, the Perceived Stress Scale and the Social Support Rating Scale were used to measure depression, perceived stress and social support, respectively. We performed paired t‐test and multiple regression to analyse the data.Results.  No significant difference in the prevalence of postnatal depression was found between the new mothers and fathers (14·9 vs. 12·5%). Fathers experienced similar stress levels as mothers did, while they received lower level of social support than mothers. Perceived stress, social support and partner’s Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale score were significantly associated with depression for both mothers and fathers. Less sleeping time of infant and a tense relationship between mothers and mother‐in‐law were related to mothers’ depression. The preference for a male baby was associated with fathers’ depression.Conclusion.  Both new mothers and fathers experienced postnatal depression in China.Relevance to clinical practice.  Clinical nurses should pay attention to psychological health among new parents during postnatal period. Perinatal services, such as antenatal and postnatal education and counselling, should also be provided for fathers.
Functional analysis of epigenetic regulation of tandem RhopH1/clag genes reveals a role in Plasmodium falciparum growth
Authors: Comeaux Christy A. , Coleman Bradley I. , Bei Amy K. , Whitehurst Nicole , Duraisingh Manoj T. 
Published: February 2011

SummaryThe Plasmodium RhopH complex is a high molecular weight antigenic complex consisting of three subunits – RhopH1/clag, RhopH2 and RhopH3 – located in the rhoptry secretory organelles of the invasive merozoite. In Plasmodium falciparum RhopH1/clag is encoded by one of five clag genes. Two highly similar paralogous genes, clag 3.1 and clag 3.2, are mutually exclusively expressed. Here we show clonal switching from the clag 3.2 to the clag 3.1 paralogue in vitro. Chromatin immunoprecitation studies suggest that silencing of either clag 3 paralogue is associated with the enrichment of specific histone modifications associated with heterochromatin. We were able to disrupt the clag 3.2 gene, with a drug cassette inserted into the clag 3.2 locus being readily silenced in a position‐dependent and sequence‐independent manner. Activation of this drug cassette by drug selection results in parasites with the clag 3.1 locus silenced and lack full‐length clag 3.1 or 3.2 transcripts. These clag 3‐null parasites demonstrate a significant growth inhibition compared with wild‐type parasites, providing the first genetic evidence for a role for these proteins in efficient parasite proliferation. Epigenetic regulation of these chromosomally proximal members of a multigene family provides a mechanism for both immune evasion and functional diversification.
Sphingosine 1‐Phosphate Receptor Modulator FTY720 Suppresses Rat Experimental Autoimmune Prostatitis
Authors: Zhang Z.‐Y. , Zug C. , Schluesener H. J. 
Published: February 2011

AbstractExperimental autoimmune prostatitis (EAP) is an autoimmune inflammatory disease of male sex accessory glands and is characterized by a cellular and humoral prostate‐specific autoimmune response associated with inflammatory mononuclear cell (MNC) infiltration. EAP shares important clinical and immunological features with human chronic prostatitis and chronic pelvic pain syndrome. Using immunohistochemistry, we determined the pattern of pathological changes during rat EAP development, regarding the cellular responses and infiltration into the prostate gland, and therapeutic effect of FTY720, a modulator of sphingosine‐1‐phosphate receptors which has shown promising protective effects in animal models and clinical trials of several autoimmune diseases. Significant accumulations of total MNCs, pan‐T cells and CD8+ cells were observed in prostatic stroma as early as 11 days after autoimmune induction. However, accumulation of reactive macrophages became significant 4 days later. After reaching the maximal level at Day 16, the accumulations of all the different cell populations fell back rapidly and returned to normal level by Day 35. Suppressive FTY720 significantly reduced inflammatory infiltration of different immune cell populations and tissue disruption in prostate of EAP rats. Our results therefore suggest that FTY720 might be a potential candidate for treatment of inflammatory prostatitis.
The Impact of Early Viral Infections and Graft‐Versus‐Host Disease on Immune Reconstitution Following Paediatric Stem Cell Transplantation
Authors: Olkinuora H. , von Willebrand E. , Kantele J. M. , Vainio O. , Talvensaari K. , Saarinen‐Pihkala U. , Siitonen S. , Vettenranta K. 
Published: February 2011

AbstractViral infections and graft‐versus‐host disease (GVHD) render an impact on both the clinical and immunological recovery following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). We studied the recuperation of the immune defence after transplant in the paediatric setting and assessed the impact of early (<100 days post‐HSCT) viral [cytomegalovirus (CMV), Ebstein‐Barr virus (EBV) and adenovirus] reactivations/infections and GVHD. Fifty‐one paediatric recipients of HSCT were enrolled. T cell recovery was evaluated on lymphocyte subpopulations using flow cytometry and functionally by measuring T cell excision circles (TRECs) and through the analysis of T lymphocyte responses to mitogens. B cell recovery was studied by flow cytometry and functionally by ELISPOT. Acute and mild chronic GVHD allowed for a brisk recovery of both cellular and humoral immunity while moderate to severe chronic graft‐versus‐host disease (cGVHD) associated with a significant, tampering effect on the immunological recovery after transplant. In the former group, the early viral reactivations/infections seemingly linked with a delayed recovery of T lymphocytes and low TRECs values. Moderate to severe cGVHD appears to associate with an impaired immunological recovery after HSCT. Early viral infections linked with prolonged T cell immunodeficiency and thymic dysfunction may be indicative of the presence of subclinical GVHD.
Immunogenicity and Protective Efficacy of a Fusion Protein Vaccine Consisting of Antigen Ag85B and HspX against Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection in Mice
Authors: Li Q. , Yu H. , Zhang Y. , Wang B. , Jiang W. , Da Z. , Xian Q. , Wang Y. , Liu X. , Zhu B. 
Published: February 2011

AbstractSubunit vaccines have the potential advantage to boost Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette‐Guérin (BCG)‐primed immunity in adults. However, most candidates are antigens highly expressed in replicating bacilli but not in dormant or persisting bacilli, which exist during Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. We constructed M. tuberculosis fusion protein Ag85B‐Mpt64190–198‐HspX (AMH) and Ag85B‐Mpt64190–198‐Mtb8.4 (AMM), which consist of Ag85B, the 190–198 peptide of Mpt64, HspX (Rv2031c) and Mtb8.4 (Rv1174c), respectively. AMH and/or AMM were mixed with adjuvants composed of dimethyl‐dioctyldecyl ammonium bromide and BCG polysaccharide nucleic acid (DDA‐BCG PSN) to construct subunit vaccines. Mice were immunized thrice with Ag85B, AMH and AMM vaccines and the immunogenicity of the fusion protein vaccines was determined. Then, mice were primed with BCG and boosted twice with Ag85B, AMH, AMM and AMM + AMH vaccines, respectively, followed by challenging with M. tuberculosis virulent strain H37Rv, and the immune responses and protective effects were measured. It was found that mice immunized with AMH vaccine generated high levels of antigen‐specific cell‐mediated responses. Compared with the group injected only with BCG, the mice boosted with AMM, AMH and AMM + AMH produced higher levels of Ag85B‐specific IgG1 and IgG2a and IFN‐γ‐secreting T cells upon Ag85B and Mycobacterium tuberculosis purified protein derivative (PPD) stimulation. It is interesting that only mice boosted with AMM + AMH had significantly lower bacterial count in the lungs than those receiving BCG, whereas mice boosted with AMH or AMM did not. The results suggest that AMH consisting of HspX, the antigen highly expressed in dormant bacilli, could be combined with antigens from replicating bacilli to enhance BCG primed immunity so as to provide better protection against both growing and non‐growing bacteria that occur during the infection process.