bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Partner selection, partner behavior, and business network performance
Authors: Moeller Klaus 
Published: March 2010

PurposeBusiness networks have to coordinate each of their partners' goals and expectations, as a lack of partner compatibility and goal incongruence could lead to conflict and opportunistic behavior. These potential problems highlight the relevance of partner selection as a means of minimizing opportunistic behavior by building trust in and commitment to a network that influences network performance. The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into partner selection as a management control mechanism, which controls the behavior and network performance of business network partners.Design/methodology/approachThe paper provides an analysis of the effects of a well‐executed partner selection on business networks' performance. The paper further analyzes the effects of the mediating role of trust within, commitment to, and the risk of opportunistic behavior in business networks. Consequently, the paper highlights the pivotal role of partner selection in business networks as a management control mechanism.FindingsThe results provide an exploratory empirical insights into the cause‐and‐effect relationship between partner selection, partners' behavior, and network performance. Partner selection has effects on trust, opportunism, and commitment. The selection of a partner is a very important managerial control task within business networks, as appropriate selection is a threshold condition for a successful business network.Research limitations/implicationsSince the study is based on empirical data collected by individuals, it could be open to general criticism regarding the methodology of broad empirical analysis. Time‐lagging effects also remain unrevealed as the data represent only a point in time. Some effects cannot be verified indisputably, while the low variance in some of the construct results is only indicative of suggestions.Originality/valueThis paper provides insights into partner selection as a management control mechanism, which controls the behavior and network performance of business network partners.
Exploring the involvement of management accounting in strategic decisions and control
Authors: Brandau Michael , Hoffjan Andreas H. 
Published: March 2010

PurposeThe paper seeks to explore the extent of involvement of management accounting in strategic inter‐organizational decisions and control in the context of offshoring of services.Design/methodology/approachFor the present study, a multiple case study field research design was selected. A data‐bank media search identified companies actually offshoring their services. In total, 17 semi‐structured interviews with management accountants/managers were conducted in 14 of the identified companies. The interviews were analyzed using content analysis techniques.FindingsManagement accounting is involved in offshoring activities to a much lower extent than expected. The reasons range from contractual agreements between the different parties, which substitute in part for management accounting interventions, to competence problems in accounting departments. Therefore, management accounting often fails to provide support for strategic planning and coordination.Research limitations/implicationsThe data obtained through the qualitative research approach have a low‐scaling level, which limits subsequent analysis to descriptive statistics only.Practical implicationsThe paper identifies risks and actual problems associated with offshoring, which indicate an increased need for coordinated planning and information processing. Furthermore, it raises the question of how management accounting can overcome existing competence problems with respect to the support of strategic decision making, in order to fulfil its function within the company more efficiently.Originality/valueLiterature does not provide convincing evidence of the practical significance of management accounting in the context of strategic decisions and inter‐organizational relations. This paper shows that management accounting currently remains far removed from its function as a developer of strategic decisions and as a support function for corporate planning and coordination processes.
Management accounting in a learning environment
Authors: Schiller Stefan 
Published: March 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report on the findings of a study designed to understand how management accounting changes when an organization evolves in a more network‐oriented direction, informed by an experiential or integrated approach to learning.Design/methodology/approachThis paper draws on a longitudinal case study initiated by the findings from a previous action research study at a manufacturing plant, the Volvo Floby factory.FindingsBy introducing and elaborating on the concept of local management accounting system (LMAS), this paper contributes to the debate about how management accounting reacts to new organizational forms and technologies. Two types of management accounting information are identified: one corresponds to the accountability aspect of accounting – Type 1 information, while Type 2 information refers to problem solving and control. A LMAS is supportive of both local accountability, which draws on valuing skills, and of local problem solving, which relies on decision skills.Research limitations/implicationsOne of the research implications of this study is that a LMAS may function as an important mechanism for innovation by explicitly integrating the holistic and the analytic dimensions of experiential learning.Practical implicationsThe reported case illustrates how management accounting may facilitate process innovation in a practical setting.Originality/valueBy adopting an experiential learning methodology to develop new knowledge, the production plant studied has succeeded in creating an environment characterized by continuous innovation.
Management controls and inter‐firm relationships: a review
Authors: Meira Juliana , Kartalis Nikos D. , Tsamenyi Mathew , Cullen John 
Published: March 2010

PurposeInter‐firm relationships are increasingly being adopted as competitive tools. However, the challenges created by these relationships for the design and use of management control systems (MCS) have been well documented. The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the literature on MCS and inter‐firm relationships. The review examines the types of relationships studied and the theoretical approaches.Design/methodology/approachThe findings reported in the paper are based on desk research. The review is largely concentrated on the key international English language accounting journals.FindingsSupply chain and outsourcing have been the dominant forms of inter‐firm relationships studied. Other studies have focused on joint ventures and networks. Transaction cost economics has been the dominant approach and trust has also featured as a theoretical issue in most of the studies.Originality/valueThe paper furthers the understanding of the contributions made by previous studies on MCS and inter‐firm relationships. Some suggestions for future research are offered at the end.
TGF‐β1 signal pathway may contribute to rhabdomyosarcoma development by inhibiting differentiation
Authors: Wang Shouli , Guo Lingchuan , Dong Liang , Guo Lingling , Li Shigang , Zhang Jiajia , Sun Maomin 
Published: March 2010

Overexpression of transforming growth factor‐β1 (TGF‐β1) and its downstream molecules in the rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) RD cell line has been reported previously, but the regulatory role of TGF‐β1 on RMS has not been studied extensively. In the present study, we showed that expression of TGF‐β1 and its downstream molecules type II TGF‐β receptor (TβRII) and Smad4 was significantly higher in RMS than in normal skeletal muscle, and there was a significant relationship between TGF‐β1 expression and histological grade. Gene silencing with TGF‐β1 short‐hairpin RNA (shRNA)‐expressing vectors significantly decreased the growth of RD cells, which was confirmed by caspase‐3 (in vitro) and TUNEL (in vivo) assays. Moreover, a proportion of treated rhabdomyosarcoma (RD) cells changed to a round shape from the normal fusiform or polygonal shape and expressed myofilaments. Myogenin is one of the myogenic differentiation genes (MyoD) family of myogenic regulators, and was obviously higher in TGF‐β1‐shRNA‐treated tumors than it in control at the mRNA and protein level. Immunohistochemical staining with myogenic differentiation markers such as myosin and desmin in subcutaneous RMS tissue showed that TGF‐β1 shRNA increased staining for myosin. These results provide new insight into the biological function of TGF‐β1 in malignant tumors, and imply that the TGF‐β1 signal pathway is a potential therapeutic target for drugs that induce differentiation of RMS.(Cancer Sci 2010; 101: 1108–1116)
Azathioprine or mercaptopurine‐induced acute pancreatitis is not a disease‐specific phenomenon
Authors: VAN GEENEN E. J. M. , DE BOER N. K. H. , STASSEN P. , LINSKENS R. K. , BRUNO M. J. , MULDER C. J. J. , STEGEMAN C. A. , VAN BODEGRAVEN A. A. 
Published: March 2010

Aliment Pharmacol Ther 31, 1322–1329SummaryBackground  Several reports suggest an increased rate of adverse reactions to azathioprine in patients with Crohn’s disease.Aim  To compare the incidence of thiopurine‐induced acute pancreatitis in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with that in patients with vasculitis.Methods  This retrospective analysis was performed using data collected in three databases by two university hospitals (241 patients with IBD and 108 patients with vasculitis) and one general district hospital (72 patients with IBD).Results  The cumulative incidence of thiopurine‐induced acute pancreatitis in Crohn’s disease equalled that of ulcerative colitis (UC) (2.6% vs. 3.7%) and this did not differ from vasculitis patients (2.6% vs.1.9%). In addition, the cumulative incidence of thiopurine‐induced acute pancreatitis in UC patients was not different from that in vasculitis patients. In the IBD group, 100% of thiopurine‐induced acute pancreatitis patients were women, whereas in the vasculitis group the two observed thiopurine‐induced acute pancreatitis cases (n = 2 of 2) concerned were men (P = 0.012).Conclusions  In this study, the alleged higher cumulative incidence of thiopurine‐induced acute pancreatitis in Crohn’s disease compared with vasculitis or UC patients was not confirmed. Female gender appears to be a risk factor for developing thiopurine‐induced acute pancreatitis in IBD patients.
New technologies in nerve location
Authors: Bedforth N. M. 
Published: March 2010

SummaryRegional anaesthesia is undergoing a renaissance, perhaps assisted by the introduction of (and enthusiasm for) ultrasound‐guided regional anaesthesia into clinical practice. This article summarises the technology and principles of ultrasound imaging in anaesthesia and describes the development of three‐dimensional ultrasound imaging, considering whether this new technology has an application in regional anaesthesia.
Second malignancies in B‐cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia: possible association with human papilloma virus
Authors: Flynn Joseph M. , Andritsos Leslie , Lucas David , Byrd John C. 
Published: March 2010

SummarySecond primary malignancies have long been associated with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). We assessed secondary tumour samples from CLL and control patients for the presence of human papilloma virus (HPV). 132 CLL patients with 44 second malignancies were compared to a matched randomly‐identified control population of 264 non‐CLL patients with 54 solid malignancies. Polymerase chain reaction was performed with the highly conserved MY09/MY11 HPV primer. None of control samples were HPV‐positive, while 53% of samples from the CLL group were positive. This report describes preliminary evidence for the presence of HPV in secondary malignancies, in patients with CLL.
Plant survival in relation to seed size along environmental gradients: a long‐term study from semi‐arid and Mediterranean annual plant communities
Authors: Metz Johannes , Liancourt Pierre , Kigel Jaime , Harel Danny , Sternberg Marcelo , Tielbörger Katja 
Published: March 2010

Summary 1. A positive relationship between seed size and subsequent offspring survival is a key assumption in ecological theory concerning life‐history strategies. Yet, this relationship is uncertain in respect to lifetime survival because sound evidence only exists for early seedling stages. Furthermore, the effect of environmental variation in space and time, and of contrasting plant functional groups, on this relationship has been scarcely examined. 2. Here, we investigated survival and between‐year variation therein. We tested for both whether their relationship to seed size (i) is maintained up until reproduction, (ii) changes along environmental gradients and (iii) differs between functional groups (grasses, legumes, forbs). 3. Survival was monitored from established seedlings to reproductive plants in 49 annual species under natural conditions during 7 years in three sites along a steep rainfall gradient. We then related average survival per species and between‐year variation in survival to seed size, site along the gradient and functional group. 4. Larger seed size was associated with higher survival and lower between‐year variation. Across the rainfall gradient, we detected no difference in the seed size–survival relationships; however, variation between years was lowest in the most mesic site where no relationship for between‐year variation with seed size was observed. Legumes showed lower survival and higher between‐year variation than grasses. 5. Our findings indicate that larger seed size provides survival advantages beyond seedling establishment up until reproduction among annual species. Larger seed size also provides a bet‐hedging strategy in temporally unpredictable environments. Increased abiotic favourability along environmental gradients may have little effect on survival rates but reduces survival variation between years and thus reduces the bet‐hedging benefit of larger seed size. We suggest that the contrasting response of legumes and grasses may partly result from their disparity in seed dormancy. 6. Synthesis. Current plant life‐history theory can be refined by accounting for both benefits of larger seed size, higher survival rates and bet‐hedging. Studies along environmental gradients are needed to generalize findings across ecosystems and to predict patterns of plant traits and plant performance under changing environmental conditions.
Resident functional composition mediates the impacts of nutrient enrichment and neighbour removal on plant immigration rates
Authors: Eskelinen Anu 
Published: March 2010

Summary 1. Theory suggests that herbivory, soil fertility and neighbourhood interactions interactively determine rates of species extinction and immigration in plant communities. Initial community properties and environmental conditions may also exert a profound influence on community responses to external alterations, yet only a few attempts have been made to elucidate their role in assemblage dynamics. 2. I conducted a seed sowing experiment in northern European mountain tundra to investigate the roles of biotic and environmental constraints on plant immigration, and the dependence of these relationships on inherent community properties. I factorially manipulated the presence of grazers and neighbouring established vegetation, soil nutrient availability and pH, and replicated these treatments on five acidic and five non‐acidic sites that showed contrasting patterns of inherent community properties and environmental conditions, i.e. community composition, evenness and soil nutrient availability. A seed mixture of 16 species was added to all experimental plots, and the establishment of seedlings was followed for 4 years. 3. Exclusion of mammalian herbivores had no significant impact on plant colonization rates nor did it interact with any other treatments. However, colonization rates were negatively influenced by fertilization and positively affected by the removal of neighbouring established vegetation, and biomass removal counteracted the negative effects of nutrient enrichment. The effects of fertilization and biomass removal on seedling recruitment were both greater in the non‐acidic habitats; the among‐habitat differences were associated with initial nutrient availability and forb : shrub ratio of vegetation, but were independent of community evenness. 4. Fertilization effects on colonization became increasingly negative with increasing prevalence of forbs which may be explained by the greater biomass increment potential of forbs under conditions of nutrient enrichment. Biomass removal enhanced colonization rates to a smaller extent in high shrub dominance where the overall recruitment was lowest, suggesting that dominant shrubs can create an interference effect that impedes seed germination and persists even after the removal of the dominant vegetation itself. 5. Synthesis. These results highlight the role of initial community properties, i.e. the potential for biomass increment of the resident species and the traits of the dominant plant groups as important mediators of biotic and environmental alterations on plant immigration rates.
Pixel‐based analysis of FRAP data with a general initial bleaching profile
Authors: JONASSON J.K. , HAGMAN J. , LORÉN N. , BERNIN D. , NYDÉN M. , RUDEMO M. 
Published: March 2010

SummaryIn Jonasson et al. (2008), we presented a new pixel‐based maximum likelihood framework for the estimation of diffusion coefficients from data on fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) with confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). The main method there, called the Gaussian profile method below, is based on the assumption that the initial intensity profile after photobleaching is approximately Gaussian. In the present paper, we introduce a method, called the Monotone profile method, where the maximum likelihood framework is extended to a general initial bleaching profile only assuming that the profile is a non‐decreasing function of the distance to the bleaching centre. The statistical distribution of the image noise is further assumed to be Poisson instead of normal, which should be a more realistic description of the noise in the detector. The new Monotone profile method and the Gaussian profile method are applied to FRAP data on swelling of super absorbent polymers (SAP) in water with a Fluorescein probe. The initial bleaching profile is close to a step function at low degrees of swelling and close to a Gaussian profile at high degrees of swelling. The results obtained from the analysis of the FRAP data are corroborated with NMR diffusometry analysis of SAP with a polyethylene glycol probe having size similar to the Fluorescein. The comparison of the Gaussian and Monotone profile methods is also performed by use of simulated data. It is found that the new Monotone profile method is accurate for all types of initial profiles studied, but it suffers from being computationally slow. The fast Gaussian profile method is sufficiently accurate for most of the profiles studied, but underestimates the diffusion coefficient for profiles close to a step function. We also provide a diagnostic plot, which indicates whether the Gaussian profile method is acceptable or not.
Environmentally induced phenotypes and DNA methylation: how to deal with unpredictable conditions until the next generation and after
Authors: ANGERS BERNARD , CASTONGUAY EMILIE , MASSICOTTE RACHEL 
Published: March 2010

AbstractOrganisms often respond to environmental changes by producing alternative phenotypes. Epigenetic processes such as DNA methylation may contribute to environmentally induced phenotypic variation by modifying gene expression. Changes in DNA methylation, unlike DNA mutations, can be influenced by the environment; they are stable at the time scale of an individual and present different levels of heritability. These characteristics make DNA methylation a potentially important molecular process to respond to environmental change. The aim of this review is to present the implications of DNA methylation on phenotypic variations driven by environmental changes. More specifically, we explore epigenetic concepts concerning phenotypic change in response to the environment and heritability of DNA methylation, namely the Baldwin effect and genetic accommodation. Before addressing this point, we report major differences in DNA methylation across taxa and the role of this modification in producing and maintaining environmentally induced phenotypic variation. We also present the different methods allowing the detection of methylation polymorphism. We believe this review will be helpful to molecular ecologists, in that it highlights the importance of epigenetic processes in ecological and evolutionary studies.
A case of intravenous leiomyomatosis with high levels of hyaluronan
Authors: Yaguchi Chizuko , Oi Hidekazu , Kobayashi Hiroshi , Miura Katsutoshi , Kanayama Naohiro 
Published: March 2010

AbstractIntravenous leiomyomatosis (IVL) is a rare benign tumor. The clinical behavior can be life‐threatening due to extension through the pelvic veins. A 70‐year‐old woman was referred to our hospital with IVL originating from a uterine leiomyoma and extending to the inferior vena cava. The patient was diagnosed on the basis of the results of various studies, and the tumor was resected completely through a single‐stage approach. The intravascular tumor was 20 cm long, multinodular and rubbery. Microscopic findings showed benign smooth muscle that was partly hyalinized and fibrous. Immunohistochemical studies revealed that hyaluronan was expressed more prominently in IVL than in uterine leiomyomas. IVL has viscoelastic properties and contains a large amount of hyaluronan, which may promote invasion during pathogenesis.
Interim analysis of a randomized clinical trial comparing abdominal versus transvaginal ultrasound‐guided embryo transfer
Authors: Porat Natalie , Boehnlein Lynn M. , Schouweiler Calisa M. , Kang Jungae , Lindheim Steven R. 
Published: March 2010

AbstractAim:  Ultrasound‐guided embryo transfer appears to improve overall pregnancy outcomes for in vitro fertilization embryo transfer cycles. Most reports are done using a transabdominal ultrasound‐guided approach, in contrast to a transvaginal ultrasound, which does not require a full bladder. We sought to determine if either approach was better with respect to clinical pregnancy outcomes.Methods:  This randomized clinical trial took place in a university‐based practice with an enrollment of 186 subjects. Secondary measures also included embryo transfer time and degree of cramping and pain, which subjects ranked as none = 1; mild = 2; moderate = 3; or severe = 4.Results:  There were no differences in implantation rates (33.1 ± 4.1%, ± standard error vs 31.1 ± 3.9%, P = 0.78), pregnancy rates (60% vs 54%, P = 0.38), clinical pregnancy rates (48% vs 45%, P = 0.77), and live‐birth rates (30% vs 39%, P = 0.37) between transabdominal and transvaginal ultrasound‐guided embryo transfer groups. No differences were noted between groups for time required for embryo transfer (157 ± 279 seconds vs 130 ± 176 seconds, P = 0.92), uterine cramping (1.2 ± 0.5 vs 1.2 ± 0.4, P = 0.4), and the degree of pain (1.4 ± 0.7 vs 1.3 ± 0.5, P = 0.13).Conclusions:  Neither transabdominal nor transvaginal ultrasound‐guided embryo transfer is more beneficial in optimizing pregnancy outcomes. While delays often occur while waiting for bladder distension for transabdominal ultrasound‐guided embryo transfer, uterine position, parity and level of physician comfort should dictate the choice of either approach.