title: Decision usefulness of SME financial statements in Sri Lanka

authors: Wijekoon, Nisansala

abstract: This paper examines the users of Sri Lankan small and medium-sized entities' (SMEs) financial statements, and their information needs. Semi-structured interviews found the main recipients of SME financial information are banks, the Inland Revenue Department and other government institutions. However, the users' concerns, such as manipulation of financial results, tax orientation, insufficient detail, and out-of-date information, hinder the decision usefulness of SME financial statements. Given this context, the widespread problems of unreliability and non-compliance with accounting principles and standards present a substantial hurdle in evaluating the decision usefulness of SMEs' financial statements in Sri Lanka. The Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, regulatory bodies and government authorities need to pay greater attention to SMEs' financial reporting and take steps to make it credible and relevant to users' needs.

text: Decision usefulness of SME financial statements in Sri Lanka This paper examines the users of Sri Lankan small and medium-sized entities' (SMEs) financial statements, and their information needs. Semi-structured interviews found the main recipients of SME financial information are banks, the Inland Revenue Department and other government institutions. However, the users' concerns, such as manipulation of financial results, tax orientation, insufficient detail, and out-of-date information, hinder the decision usefulness of SME financial statements. Given this context, the widespread problems of unreliability and non-compliance with accounting principles and standards present a substantial hurdle in evaluating the decision usefulness of SMEs' financial statements in Sri Lanka. The Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, regulatory bodies and government authorities need to pay greater attention to SMEs' financial reporting and take steps to make it credible and relevant to users' needs.

year: 2025

title: Antimicrobial Peptides in Jawed and Jawless Vertebrates

authors: Gibbons, Olivia Robyn

subjects: Antimicrobial Peptides

abstract: Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are a major part of the innate immune defence system which shows a broad spectrum of activity, defending the host against invading microbes. The aim of this work was to identify the AMPs present in yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi) and pouched lamprey (Geotria australis) and use molecular techniques to fully sequence their cDNA and quantify their expression in adult individuals.

Using bioinformatic approaches candidate AMP genes were ascertained from available S. lalandi and G. australis RNA-seq transcriptomic databases, obtained from various tissues. Selected AMPs were chosen to have their full cDNA sequence amplified using RACE-PCR, which were then cloned and sequenced. Complete cDNA sequences were obtained for S. lalandi hepcidin and moronecidin, whereas attempts to complete the G. australis defensin-like cDNA were unsuccessful. Comparison of the S. lalandi hepcidin and moronecidin protein sequences with proteins already characterised in other fish showed good homology and conservation of important features. In addition, specific primers were designed to examine the expression levels of S. lalandi hepcidin and moronecidin in gill, liver or spleens of three fish. Analysis showed hepcidin expression to be highest in liver tissues, whereas moronecidin expression was highest in the gills and spleens.

This study provides a comprehensive overview of the AMP genes present in S. lalandi and G. australis and some initial characterisation of S. lalandi hepcidin and moronecidin, which will permit the development of future research applications. Overall, characterising AMP genes in jawed and jawless vertebrates is vital for economical and successful fish farming, while also providing possible therapeutic benefits associated with AMP research in biomedicine and disease in wild fish stocks.

text: Antimicrobial Peptides in Jawed and Jawless Vertebrates Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are a major part of the innate immune defence system which shows a broad spectrum of activity, defending the host against invading microbes. The aim of this work was to identify the AMPs present in yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi) and pouched lamprey (Geotria australis) and use molecular techniques to fully sequence their cDNA and quantify their expression in adult individuals.

Using bioinformatic approaches candidate AMP genes were ascertained from available S. lalandi and G. australis RNA-seq transcriptomic databases, obtained from various tissues. Selected AMPs were chosen to have their full cDNA sequence amplified using RACE-PCR, which were then cloned and sequenced. Complete cDNA sequences were obtained for S. lalandi hepcidin and moronecidin, whereas attempts to complete the G. australis defensin-like cDNA were unsuccessful. Comparison of the S. lalandi hepcidin and moronecidin protein sequences with proteins already characterised in other fish showed good homology and conservation of important features. In addition, specific primers were designed to examine the expression levels of S. lalandi hepcidin and moronecidin in gill, liver or spleens of three fish. Analysis showed hepcidin expression to be highest in liver tissues, whereas moronecidin expression was highest in the gills and spleens.

This study provides a comprehensive overview of the AMP genes present in S. lalandi and G. australis and some initial characterisation of S. lalandi hepcidin and moronecidin, which will permit the development of future research applications. Overall, characterising AMP genes in jawed and jawless vertebrates is vital for economical and successful fish farming, while also providing possible therapeutic benefits associated with AMP research in biomedicine and disease in wild fish stocks.

year: 2016

title: Race-ing and engendering the nation-state in Aotearoa/New Zealand

authors: Seuffert, Nan

subjects: Maori

abstract: During the past several decades the dynamics of law and policy reform in Aotearoa/New Zealand have prefigured and encapsulated contemporary trends in economic state restructuring, indigenous claims to refigure the nation, and gender struggles for political representation. Successive governments have restructured the economy and the state using radical forms of neo-liberal economic policy with the stated aim of globalizing the economy. Political action on the part of the indigenous Maori people, often led by Maori women, increased and diversified, and included demands for self-determination and redress of historical colonial injustices. In 1997, the conservative National Party’s Jenny Shipley become the country’s first white female Prime Minister, followed in 1999 by the election of a center-left coalition headed by Labour Party leader Helen Clark. This article analyzes the race and gender dynamics of these contemporary trends. First, it argues that policies of state structural adjustment and Maori political claims have converged in commodified settlements of past colonial injustices as corporate deals. These deals are temporary alliances of men across race to silence and erase the demands for self-determination or political power sharing of Maori activists, who are usually Maori women. Second, this article contends that the political instability created by rapid structural adjustment and the change to a Mixed Member Proportional (“MMP”) electoral system converges with white backlash against these settlements to open space for New Zealand’s first two female Prime Ministers. This article also suggests that the election of a second white female Prime Minister in New Zealand may reflect the (temporary) regendering of the role of Prime Minister to the feminine.

text: Race-ing and engendering the nation-state in Aotearoa/New Zealand During the past several decades the dynamics of law and policy reform in Aotearoa/New Zealand have prefigured and encapsulated contemporary trends in economic state restructuring, indigenous claims to refigure the nation, and gender struggles for political representation. Successive governments have restructured the economy and the state using radical forms of neo-liberal economic policy with the stated aim of globalizing the economy. Political action on the part of the indigenous Maori people, often led by Maori women, increased and diversified, and included demands for self-determination and redress of historical colonial injustices. In 1997, the conservative National Party’s Jenny Shipley become the country’s first white female Prime Minister, followed in 1999 by the election of a center-left coalition headed by Labour Party leader Helen Clark. This article analyzes the race and gender dynamics of these contemporary trends. First, it argues that policies of state structural adjustment and Maori political claims have converged in commodified settlements of past colonial injustices as corporate deals. These deals are temporary alliances of men across race to silence and erase the demands for self-determination or political power sharing of Maori activists, who are usually Maori women. Second, this article contends that the political instability created by rapid structural adjustment and the change to a Mixed Member Proportional (“MMP”) electoral system converges with white backlash against these settlements to open space for New Zealand’s first two female Prime Ministers. This article also suggests that the election of a second white female Prime Minister in New Zealand may reflect the (temporary) regendering of the role of Prime Minister to the feminine.

year: 2002-02-01