The effect of national governance codes on firm disclosure practices : evidence from analyst earnings forecasts

This study examines whether voluntary national governance codes have a significant effect on company disclosure practices. Two direct effects of the codes are expected: 1) an overall improvement in company disclosure practices, which is greater when the codes have a greater emphasis on disclosure; and 2) a leveling out of disclosure practices across companies (i.e., larger improvements in companies that were previously poorer disclosers) due to the codes new comply-or-explain requirements. The codes are also expected to have an indirect effect on disclosure practices through their effect on company governance practices. The results show that the introduction of the codes in eight East Asian countries has been associated with lower analyst forecast error and a leveling out of disclosure practices across companies. The codes are also found to have an indirect effect on company disclosure practices through their effect on board independence. This study shows that a regulatory approach to improving disclosure practices is not always necessary. Voluntary national governance codes are found to have both a significant direct effect and a significant indirect effect on company disclosure practices. In addition, the results indicate that analysts in Asia do react to changes in disclosure practices, so there is an incentive for small companies and family-owned companies to further improve their disclosure practices.

Effect of selected feed meals and starches on diet digestibility in the mud crab, Scylla serrata

The present study examined the capacity of the mud crab, Scylla serrata to digest experimental diets that contained different animal and plant-based feed meals or different levels or types of starch. The apparent dry matter digestibility (ADMD) coefficients for all feed meals tested in the first part of this study, except meat meal, were similar (78–88%). Crude protein digestibility (ACPD) coefficients for all feed meals were relatively high, with values ranging from 86% to 96%. Cotton seed meal, poultry meal, canola meal, fishmeal, soybean meal and lupin meal had similar gross energy digestibility (AGED) values (P>0.05) ranging from 84% to 89%. In the second part of this study, the impact of selected starches on the digestibility of fishmeal-based formulated diets was assessed. The apparent starch digestibility (ASD) of wheat starch decreased significantly as the inclusion level was increased from 15% to 60%, however, there was no significant effect on ACPD values. At a 30% inclusion level, the ASD of diets containing different starches decreased in the order corn>wheat>potato=rice. Moreover, ACPD values were significantly higher (P<0.05) in the diets containing corn or rice starch than in those containing wheat or potato starches.

The effect of unlocking RGD-motifs in collagen I on pre-osteoblast adhesion and differentiation

Denaturation of extracellular matrix proteins exposes cryptic binding sites. It is hypothesized that binding of cell adhesion receptors to these cryptic binding sites regulates cellular behaviour during tissue repair and regeneration. To test this hypothesis, we quantify the adhesion of pre-osteoblastic cells to native (Col) and partially-denatured (pdCol) collagen I using single-cell force spectroscopy. During early stages of cell attachment (≤180 s) pre-osteoblasts (MC3T3-E1) adhered significantly stronger to pdCol compared to Col. RGD (Arg-Gly-Asp)-containing peptides suppressed this elevated cell adhesion. We show that the RGD-binding α5β1- and αv-integrins mediated pre-osteoblast adhesion to pdCol, but not to Col. On pdCol pre-osteoblasts had a higher focal adhesion kinase tyrosine-phosphorylation level that correlated with enhanced spreading and motility. Moreover, pre-osteoblasts cultured on pdCol showed a pronounced matrix mineralization activity. Our data suggest that partially-denatured collagen exposes RGD-motifs that trigger binding of α5β1- and αv-integrins. These integrins initiate cellular processes that stimulate osteoblast adhesion, spreading, motility and differentiation. Taken together, these quantitative insights reveal an approach for the development of alternative collagen I- based surfaces for tissue engineering applications.

Effect of optical aberrations on the colour appearance of small lights

Purpose: Small red lights (one minute of arc or less) change colour appearance with positive defocus. We investigated the influence of longitudinal chromatic aberration and monochromatic aberrations on the colour appearance of small narrow band lights. Methods: Seven cyclopleged, trichromatic observers viewed a small light (one minute of arc, λmax = 510, 532, 550, 589, 620, 628 nm, approximately 19 per cent Weber contrast) centred within a black annulus (4.5 minutes of arc) and surrounded by a uniform white field (2,170 cd/m2). Pupil size was four millimetres. An optical trombone varied focus. Longitudinal chromatic aberration was controlled with a two component Powell achromatising lens that neutralises the eye’s chromatic aberration; a doublet that doubles and a triplet that reverses the eye’s chromatic aberration. Astigmatism and higher order monochromatic aberrations were corrected using adaptive optics. Results: Observers reported a change in appearance of the small red light (628 nm) without the Powell lens at +0.49 ± 0.21 D defocus and with the doublet at +0.62 ± 0.16 D. Appearance did not alter with the Powell lens, and five of seven observers reported the phenomenon with the triplet for negative defocus (-0.80 ± 0.47 D). Correction of aberrations did not significantly affect the magnitude at which the appearance of the red light changed (+0.44 ± 0.18 D without correction; +0.46 ± 0.16 D with correction). The change in colour appearance with defocus extended to other wavelengths (λmax = 510 to 620 nm), with directions of effects being reversed for short wavelengths relative to long wavelengths. Conclusions: Longitudinal chromatic aberrations but not monochromatic aberrations are involved in changing the appearance of small lights with defocus.

The effect of monocular and binocular cataract blur on postural stability among older adults

Purpose: First-eye cataract surgery can reduce the rate of falls among older adults, yet the effect of second-eye surgery on the rate of falling remains unclear. The present study investigated the effect of monocular and binocular simulated cataract blur on postural stability among older adults. Methods: Postural stability was assessed on 34 healthy older adults (mean 68.2 years, SD 3.5) with normal vision, using a portable force platform (BT4, HUR Labs, Finland) which collected data on centre of pressure (COP) displacement. Stability was assessed on firm and foam surfaces under four binocular viewing conditions using Vistech filters to simulate cataract blur: [1] best-corrected vision both eyes; [2] blur over non-dominant eye, [3] blur over dominant eye and [4] blur over both eyes. Binocular logMAR visual acuity, Pelli-Robson contrast sensitivity and stereoacuity were also measured under these viewing conditions and ocular dominance measured using the hole-in-card test. Generalized estimating equations with an exchangeable correlation structure examined the effect of the surface and vision conditions on postural stability. Results: Visual acuity and contrast sensitivity were significantly reduced under monocular and binocular cataract blur compared to normal viewing. All blur conditions resulted in loss of stereoacuity. Binocular cataract blur significantly reduced postural stability compared to normal vision on the firm (COP path length; p=0.013) and foam surface (anterior-posterior COP RMS, COP path length and COP area; p<0.01). However, no significant differences in postural stability were found between the monocular blur conditions compared to normal vision, or between the dominant and non-dominant monocular blur conditions on either the firm or foam surfaces. Conclusions: Findings indicate that binocular blur significantly impairs postural stability, and suggests that improvements in postural stability may justify first-eye cataract surgery, particularly during somatosensory disruption. Postural stability was not significantly impaired in the monocular cataract blur conditions compared to the normal vision condition, nor was there any effect of ocular dominance on postural stability in the presence of monocular cataract blur.

The causal effect of income on health: Evidence from German reunification

We investigate whether therewas a causal effect of income changes on the health satisfaction of East and West Germans in the years following reunification. Our data source is the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) between 1984 and 2002, and we fit a recently proposed fixed-effects ordinal estimator to our health measures and use a causal decomposition technique to account for panel attrition.We find evidence of a significant positive effect of income changes on health satisfaction, but the quantitative size of this effect is small. This is the case with respect to current income and a measure of ‘permanent’ income.

The effect of prolonged reading on visual functions and reading performance in students with low vision

This study is the first to investigate the effect of prolonged reading on reading performance and visual functions in students with low vision. The study focuses on one of the most common modes of achieving adequate magnification for reading by students with low vision, their close reading distance (proximal or relative distance magnification). Close reading distances impose high demands on near visual functions, such as accommodation and convergence. Previous research on accommodation in children with low vision shows that their accommodative responses are reduced compared to normal vision. In addition, there is an increased lag of accommodation for higher stimulus levels as may occur at close reading distance. Reduced accommodative responses in low vision and higher lag of accommodation at close reading distances together could impact on reading performance of students with low vision especially during prolonged reading tasks. The presence of convergence anomalies could further affect reading performance. Therefore, the aims of the present study were 1) To investigate the effect of prolonged reading on reading performance in students with low vision 2) To investigate the effect of prolonged reading on visual functions in students with low vision. This study was conducted as cross-sectional research on 42 students with low vision and a comparison group of 20 students with normal vision, aged 7 to 20 years. The students with low vision had vision impairments arising from a range of causes and represented a typical group of students with low vision, with no significant developmental delays, attending school in Brisbane, Australia. All participants underwent a battery of clinical tests before and after a prolonged reading task. An initial reading-specific history and pre-task measurements that included Bailey-Lovie distance and near visual acuities, Pelli-Robson contrast sensitivity, ocular deviations, sensory fusion, ocular motility, near point of accommodation (pull-away method), accuracy of accommodation (Monocular Estimation Method (MEM)) retinoscopy and Near Point of Convergence (NPC) (push-up method) were recorded for all participants. Reading performance measures were Maximum Oral Reading Rates (MORR), Near Text Visual Acuity (NTVA) and acuity reserves using Bailey-Lovie text charts. Symptoms of visual fatigue were assessed using the Convergence Insufficiency Symptom Survey (CISS) for all participants. Pre-task measurements of reading performance and accuracy of accommodation and NPC were compared with post-task measurements, to test for any effects of prolonged reading. The prolonged reading task involved reading a storybook silently for at least 30 minutes. The task was controlled for print size, contrast, difficulty level and content of the reading material. Silent Reading Rate (SRR) was recorded every 2 minutes during prolonged reading. Symptom scores and visual fatigue scores were also obtained for all participants. A visual fatigue analogue scale (VAS) was used to assess visual fatigue during the task, once at the beginning, once at the middle and once at the end of the task. In addition to the subjective assessments of visual fatigue, tonic accommodation was monitored using a photorefractor (PlusoptiX CR03™) every 6 minutes during the task, as an objective assessment of visual fatigue. Reading measures were done at the habitual reading distance of students with low vision and at 25 cms for students with normal vision. The initial history showed that the students with low vision read for significantly shorter periods at home compared to the students with normal vision. The working distances of participants with low vision ranged from 3-25 cms and half of them were not using any optical devices for magnification. Nearly half of the participants with low vision were able to resolve 8-point print (1M) at 25 cms. Half of the participants in the low vision group had ocular deviations and suppression at near. Reading rates were significantly reduced in students with low vision compared to those of students with normal vision. In addition, there were a significantly larger number of participants in the low vision group who could not sustain the 30-minute task compared to the normal vision group. However, there were no significant changes in reading rates during or following prolonged reading in either the low vision or normal vision groups. Individual changes in reading rates were independent of their baseline reading rates, indicating that the changes in reading rates during prolonged reading cannot be predicted from a typical clinical assessment of reading using brief reading tasks. Contrary to previous reports the silent reading rates of the students with low vision were significantly lower than their oral reading rates, although oral and silent reading was assessed using different methods. Although the visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, near point of convergence and accuracy of accommodation were significantly poorer for the low vision group compared to those of the normal vision group, there were no significant changes in any of these visual functions following prolonged reading in either group. Interestingly, a few students with low vision (n =10) were found to be reading at a distance closer than their near point of accommodation. This suggests a decreased sensitivity to blur. Further evaluation revealed that the equivalent intrinsic refractive errors (an estimate of the spherical dioptirc defocus which would be expected to yield a patient’s visual acuity in normal subjects) were significantly larger for the low vision group compared to those of the normal vision group. As expected, accommodative responses were significantly reduced for the low vision group compared to the expected norms, which is consistent with their close reading distances, reduced visual acuity and contrast sensitivity. For those in the low vision group who had an accommodative error exceeding their equivalent intrinsic refractive errors, a significant decrease in MORR was found following prolonged reading. The silent reading rates however were not significantly affected by accommodative errors in the present study. Suppression also had a significant impact on the changes in reading rates during prolonged reading. The participants who did not have suppression at near showed significant decreases in silent reading rates during and following prolonged reading. This impact of binocular vision at near on prolonged reading was possibly due to the high demands on convergence. The significant predictors of MORR in the low vision group were age, NTVA, reading interest and reading comprehension, accounting for 61.7% of the variances in MORR. SRR was not significantly influenced by any factors, except for the duration of the reading task sustained; participants with higher reading rates were able to sustain a longer reading duration. In students with normal vision, age was the only predictor of MORR. Participants with low vision also reported significantly greater visual fatigue compared to the normal vision group. Measures of tonic accommodation however were little influenced by visual fatigue in the present study. Visual fatigue analogue scores were found to be significantly associated with reading rates in students with low vision and normal vision. However, the patterns of association between visual fatigue and reading rates were different for SRR and MORR. The participants with low vision with higher symptom scores had lower SRRs and participants with higher visual fatigue had lower MORRs. As hypothesized, visual functions such as accuracy of accommodation and convergence did have an impact on prolonged reading in students with low vision, for students whose accommodative errors were greater than their equivalent intrinsic refractive errors, and for those who did not suppress one eye. Those students with low vision who have accommodative errors higher than their equivalent intrinsic refractive errors might significantly benefit from reading glasses. Similarly, considering prisms or occlusion for those without suppression might reduce the convergence demands in these students while using their close reading distances. The impact of these prescriptions on reading rates, reading interest and visual fatigue is an area of promising future research. Most importantly, it is evident from the present study that a combination of factors such as accommodative errors, near point of convergence and suppression should be considered when prescribing reading devices for students with low vision. Considering these factors would also assist rehabilitation specialists in identifying those students who are likely to experience difficulty in prolonged reading, which is otherwise not reflected during typical clinical reading assessments.

Studying the effect of market orientation and organisational culture on a brand’s performance

It is now well accepted that effective implementation of market orientation leads to superior performance. This paper theorises that market orientation and an innovative culture enable organisations to achieve higher brand performance. To test this proposition data were gathered from a sample of firms across a range of industries. The results support the premise that market orientation and innovative cultures improve brand performance and that innovative culture influences market orientation. The results also indicate that innovative culture is the stronger driver of brand performance over market orientation.

Effect of representation size and visual ambiguity on RatSLAM system performance

RatSLAM is a vision-based SLAM system based on extended models of the rodent hippocampus. RatSLAM creates environment representations that can be processed by the experience mapping algorithm to produce maps suitable for goal recall. The experience mapping algorithm also allows RatSLAM to map environments many times larger than could be achieved with a one to one correspondence between the map and environment, by reusing the RatSLAM maps to represent multiple sections of the environment. This paper describes experiments investigating the effects of the environment-representation size ratio and visual ambiguity on mapping and goal navigation performance. The experiments demonstrate that system performance is weakly dependent on either parameter in isolation, but strongly dependent on their joint values.

Effect of section geometry on the lateral distortional buckling of LiteSteel beams

The LiteSteel Beam (LSB) is a new hollow flange section developed by OneSteel Australian Tube Mills using their patented dual electric resistance welding and automated continuous roll-forming technologies. It has a unique geometry consisting of torsionally rigid rectangular hollow flanges and a relatively slender web. It has found increasing popularity in residential, industrial and commercial buildings as flexural members. The LSB is considerably lighter than traditional hot-rolled steel beams and provides both structural and construction efficiencies. However, the LSB flexural members are subjected to a relatively new lateral distortional buckling mode, which reduces their member moment capacities. Unlike the commonly observed lateral torsional buckling of steel beams, the lateral distortional buckling of LSBs is characterised by simultaneous lateral defection, twist and cross sectional change due to web distortion. The current design rules in AS/NZS 4600 (SA, 2005) for flexural members subject to lateral distortional buckling were found to be conservative by about 8% in the inelastic buckling region. Therefore, a new design rule was developed for LSBs subject to lateral distortional buckling based on finite element analyses of LSBs. The effect of section geometry was then considered and several geometrical parameters were used to develop an advanced set of design rules. This paper presents the details of the finite element analyses and the design curve development for hollow flange sections subject to lateral distortional buckling.

Effect of simulated space environments on piezoelectric vinylidene flouride-based polymers

Piezoelectric polymers based on polyvinylidene flouride (PVDF) are of interest as adaptive materials for large aperture space-based telescopes. In this study, two piezoelectric polymers, PVDF and P(VDF-TrFE), were exposed to conditions simulating the thermal, radiative and atomic oxygen conditions of low Earth orbit. The degradation pathways were governed by a combination of chemical and physical degradation processes with the molecular changes primarily induced via radiative damage, and physical damage from temperature and atomic oxygen exposure, as evident from depoling, loss of orientation and surface erosion. The piezoelectric responsiveness of each polymer was strongly dependent on exposure temperature. Radiation and atomic oxygen exposure caused physical and chemical degradation, which would ultimately cause terminal damage of thin films, but did not adversely affect the piezoelectric properties.

The effect of amphiphilic siloxane oligomers on fibroblast and keratinocyte proliferation and apoptosis

The formation of hypertrophic scars is a frequent medical outcome of wound repair and often requires further therapy with treatments such as Silicone Gel Sheets (SGS) or apoptosis-inducing agents, including bleomycin. Although widely used, knowledge regarding SGS and their mode of action is limited. Preliminary research has shown that small amounts of amphiphilic silicone present in SGS have the ability to move into skin during treatment. We demonstrate herein that a commercially available analogue of these amphiphilic siloxane species, the rake copolymer GP226, decreases collagen synthesis upon exposure to cultures of fibroblasts derived from hypertrophic scars (HSF). By size exclusion chromatography, GP226 was found to be a mixture of siloxane species, containing five fractions of different molecular weight. By studies of collagen production, cell viability and proliferation, it was revealed that a low molecular weight fraction (fraction IV) was the most active, reducing the number of viable cells present following treatment and thereby reducing collagen production as a result. Upon exposure of fraction IV to human keratinocytes, viability and proliferation was also significantly affected. HSF undergoing apoptosis after application of fraction IV were also detected via real-time microscopy and by using the TUNEL assay. Taken together, these data suggests that these amphiphilic siloxanes could be potential non-invasive substitutes to apoptotic-inducing chemical agents that are currently used as scar treatments.

The effect of traffic lane widths on the safety of cyclists in urban areas

This literature review examines the relationship between traffic lane widths on the safety of road users. It focuses on the impacts of lane widths on motor vehicle behaviour and cyclists’ safety. The review commenced with a search of available databases. Peer reviewed articles and road authority reports were reviewed, as well as current engineering guidelines. Research shows that traffic lane width influences drivers’ perceived difficulty of the task, risk perception and possibly speed choices. Total roadway width, and the presence of onroad cycling facilities, influence cyclists’ positioning on the road. Lateral displacement between bicycles and vehicles is smallest when a marked bicycle facility is present. Reduced motor vehicle speeds can significantly improve the safety of vulnerable road users, particularly pedestrians and cyclists. It has been shown that if road lane widths on urban roads were reduced, through various mechanisms, it could result in a safety environment for all road users.