title: Relevance of corporate governance practices in charitable organisations: A case study of registered charities in New Zealand

authors: Reddy, Krishna

subjects: allocative efficiency

abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the registered charities in New Zealand have adopted the principle-based corporate governance practices similar to those adopted by the publicly-listed companies and the effect corporate governance practices have on their financial performance measured by technical efficiency, allocative efficiency and quick ratio. The paper addresses four important questions: how registered charities in New Zealand are managed and controlled; whether the funds donated to registered charities are utilised effectively; the nature of the corporate governance practiced by registered charities in New Zealand; and the nature of compliance to the Charities Act 2005. 
Design/methodology/approach – Panel data for the registered charities over the period 2008-2010 are analysed using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and Tobit model regression. Technical efficiency, allocative efficiency and quick ratio are used as the dependent variables. 
Findings – The findings indicate that there is no reporting requirement for the registered charities under the Charities Act 2005 to report detailed information regarding the board make-up, board committees, board meetings, etc. and therefore, registered charities have not reported such information. The results show also that board gender diversity is an important corporate governance mechanism to mitigate agency problem in charitable organisations in New Zealand. However, large board size and large donors have potential to increase agency costs in charitable organisations in New Zealand. 
Research limitations/implications – Caution should be exercised when interpreting and generalising the paper's results, as this study is a case study of registered charities in New Zealand and data comprised only large charities that have revenue over NZ$20?m. It should also be noted that there was a small sample size, which may have had a bearing on the results. 
Practical implications – This study offers insights for policy makers and practitioners interested in adopting similar corporate governance practices within their country. 
Social implications – Within New Zealand, issues relating to management and control of charitable organisations are better understood and as a consequence, development of sector-wise standards could be initiated. 
Originality/value – This research is novel as it investigates the nature of corporate governance practices relating to the registered charities in New Zealand. The availability of data provided by Charities Commission made this research possible.

text: Relevance of corporate governance practices in charitable organisations: A case study of registered charities in New Zealand Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the registered charities in New Zealand have adopted the principle-based corporate governance practices similar to those adopted by the publicly-listed companies and the effect corporate governance practices have on their financial performance measured by technical efficiency, allocative efficiency and quick ratio. The paper addresses four important questions: how registered charities in New Zealand are managed and controlled; whether the funds donated to registered charities are utilised effectively; the nature of the corporate governance practiced by registered charities in New Zealand; and the nature of compliance to the Charities Act 2005. 
Design/methodology/approach – Panel data for the registered charities over the period 2008-2010 are analysed using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and Tobit model regression. Technical efficiency, allocative efficiency and quick ratio are used as the dependent variables. 
Findings – The findings indicate that there is no reporting requirement for the registered charities under the Charities Act 2005 to report detailed information regarding the board make-up, board committees, board meetings, etc. and therefore, registered charities have not reported such information. The results show also that board gender diversity is an important corporate governance mechanism to mitigate agency problem in charitable organisations in New Zealand. However, large board size and large donors have potential to increase agency costs in charitable organisations in New Zealand. 
Research limitations/implications – Caution should be exercised when interpreting and generalising the paper's results, as this study is a case study of registered charities in New Zealand and data comprised only large charities that have revenue over NZ$20?m. It should also be noted that there was a small sample size, which may have had a bearing on the results. 
Practical implications – This study offers insights for policy makers and practitioners interested in adopting similar corporate governance practices within their country. 
Social implications – Within New Zealand, issues relating to management and control of charitable organisations are better understood and as a consequence, development of sector-wise standards could be initiated. 
Originality/value – This research is novel as it investigates the nature of corporate governance practices relating to the registered charities in New Zealand. The availability of data provided by Charities Commission made this research possible.

year: 2013

title: Alternative sulfur acquisition pathways in Neisseria gonorrhoeae

authors: van Niekerk, Stacy Lyn

subjects: Microbiology

abstract: Neisseria gonorrhoeae is an obligate human pathogen responsible for the sexually transmitted infection, gonorrhoea. Its success as a pathogen is partly due to robust defence mechanisms that provide protection against oxidative stress encountered during infection. Reduced sulfur compounds such as glutathione, cysteine and methionine are integral to this response and pathogenic growth.

Due to a large genomic deletion and pseudogenes, N. gonorrhoeae is incapable of sulfur acquisition via traditional routes and therefore cannot grow when sulfate is the sole sulfur source. However, N. gonorrhoeae can grow in the presence of thiosulfate but lacks the ability to reduce thiosulfate via the conventional thiosulfate reduction pathway. This raises questions of how N. gonorrhoeae acquires sulfur for cysteine biosynthesis?

We have identified two sulfurtransferase enzymes (Str and PspE) in N. gonorrhoeae that we hypothesise provide sulfur in the form needed for cysteine synthesis. We show these enzymes have thiosulfate-thiol sulfurtransferase activity and, importantly, produce sulfide that could be utilised for cysteine biosynthesis. Furthermore, we demonstrate that Str is a promiscuous enzyme with respect to thiol acceptor substrates and, intriguingly, is capable of cyanide detoxification. Our N. gonorrhoeae sulfurtransferase deletion strain has a reduced ability to grow when thiosulfate is the only available sulfur source, supporting our hypothesis that Str utilises exogenous inorganic thiosulfate. However, due to functional redundancy provided by the presence of the second sulfurtransferase, PspE, construction of a double knockout strain is essential in understanding the full effect of these enzymes in relation to pathogenicity.

Our proposed energetically favourable pathway of thiosulfate reduction via sulfurtransferase enzymes could be pivotal in advancing our understanding of how pathogens fulfil their sulfur requirements. However, much is to be elucidated regarding the role of these ubiquitous enzymes in bacterial pathogens. Herein, this thesis offers insight into the versatility, function, and formal mechanisms of sulfurtransferases within N. gonorrhoeae.

text: Alternative sulfur acquisition pathways in Neisseria gonorrhoeae Neisseria gonorrhoeae is an obligate human pathogen responsible for the sexually transmitted infection, gonorrhoea. Its success as a pathogen is partly due to robust defence mechanisms that provide protection against oxidative stress encountered during infection. Reduced sulfur compounds such as glutathione, cysteine and methionine are integral to this response and pathogenic growth.

Due to a large genomic deletion and pseudogenes, N. gonorrhoeae is incapable of sulfur acquisition via traditional routes and therefore cannot grow when sulfate is the sole sulfur source. However, N. gonorrhoeae can grow in the presence of thiosulfate but lacks the ability to reduce thiosulfate via the conventional thiosulfate reduction pathway. This raises questions of how N. gonorrhoeae acquires sulfur for cysteine biosynthesis?

We have identified two sulfurtransferase enzymes (Str and PspE) in N. gonorrhoeae that we hypothesise provide sulfur in the form needed for cysteine synthesis. We show these enzymes have thiosulfate-thiol sulfurtransferase activity and, importantly, produce sulfide that could be utilised for cysteine biosynthesis. Furthermore, we demonstrate that Str is a promiscuous enzyme with respect to thiol acceptor substrates and, intriguingly, is capable of cyanide detoxification. Our N. gonorrhoeae sulfurtransferase deletion strain has a reduced ability to grow when thiosulfate is the only available sulfur source, supporting our hypothesis that Str utilises exogenous inorganic thiosulfate. However, due to functional redundancy provided by the presence of the second sulfurtransferase, PspE, construction of a double knockout strain is essential in understanding the full effect of these enzymes in relation to pathogenicity.

Our proposed energetically favourable pathway of thiosulfate reduction via sulfurtransferase enzymes could be pivotal in advancing our understanding of how pathogens fulfil their sulfur requirements. However, much is to be elucidated regarding the role of these ubiquitous enzymes in bacterial pathogens. Herein, this thesis offers insight into the versatility, function, and formal mechanisms of sulfurtransferases within N. gonorrhoeae.

year: 2021

title: Kūkupa, koro, and kai: The use of Māori vocabulary items in New Zealand English children's picture books

authors: Daly, Nicola

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: When a linguistic form from one language is used in another language, such words are known as borrowings or loan words (Crystal 2003: 56). The English language is renowned for its large capacity for borrowing and it has been suggested that the growth in internationalism in recent times has led to people seeking new words to indicate their local identity (Crystal 1995; Crystal 2003). Certainly this is the case of New Zealand English, the most distinctive aspect of which is borrowings from te reo Maori (Deverson 1991). In 1984 Deverson estimated that most New Zealanders have a passive knowledge of at least 40-50 borrowed Maori loan words (Deverson 1984). This figure has been recently revised by Macalister to 70-80 such words (20,-,63.). A study of the frequency of Maori loan words in New Zealand English in New Zealand School Journals of the 1960s and 1990s showed an incidence of around 6 words per 1,000 (Macalister 1999). Kennedy and Yamazaki (1999) also found borrowed Maori words at a rate of 6 per thousand words. Macalister (2006b) has examined the use of Maori loan words in New Zealand English across a 150 year period from 1850-2000. He examined a corpus of a little under five and a half million words from three sources: Newspapers, parliamentary debates and School Journals. Across the three sources there was an increase from 3.29 words per 1,000 in 1850 to 8.8 per thousand in 2000. Macalister lists the reasons for this change as including urbanisation of the Maori population between 1945 and 1975, which created more contact; the changing status of the Maori language with the kOhanga reo movement; the establishment of the Maori Language Commission (Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maori) and legislation of Maori as an official language of New Zealand in 1987.

text: Kūkupa, koro, and kai: The use of Māori vocabulary items in New Zealand English children's picture books When a linguistic form from one language is used in another language, such words are known as borrowings or loan words (Crystal 2003: 56). The English language is renowned for its large capacity for borrowing and it has been suggested that the growth in internationalism in recent times has led to people seeking new words to indicate their local identity (Crystal 1995; Crystal 2003). Certainly this is the case of New Zealand English, the most distinctive aspect of which is borrowings from te reo Maori (Deverson 1991). In 1984 Deverson estimated that most New Zealanders have a passive knowledge of at least 40-50 borrowed Maori loan words (Deverson 1984). This figure has been recently revised by Macalister to 70-80 such words (20,-,63.). A study of the frequency of Maori loan words in New Zealand English in New Zealand School Journals of the 1960s and 1990s showed an incidence of around 6 words per 1,000 (Macalister 1999). Kennedy and Yamazaki (1999) also found borrowed Maori words at a rate of 6 per thousand words. Macalister (2006b) has examined the use of Maori loan words in New Zealand English across a 150 year period from 1850-2000. He examined a corpus of a little under five and a half million words from three sources: Newspapers, parliamentary debates and School Journals. Across the three sources there was an increase from 3.29 words per 1,000 in 1850 to 8.8 per thousand in 2000. Macalister lists the reasons for this change as including urbanisation of the Maori population between 1945 and 1975, which created more contact; the changing status of the Maori language with the kOhanga reo movement; the establishment of the Maori Language Commission (Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maori) and legislation of Maori as an official language of New Zealand in 1987.

year: 2007