Investigating the development of the internal and external service tasks of non-executive directors: the case of the Netherlands (1997-2005)

During the last decade, globalisation and liberalisation of financial markets, changing societal expectations and corporate governance scandals have increased the attention for the fiduciary duties of non-executive directors. In this context, recent corporate governance reform initiatives have emphasised the control task and independence of non-executive directors. However, little attention has been paid to their impact on the external and internal service tasks of non-executive directors. Therefore, this paper investigates how the service tasks of non-executive directors have evolved in the Netherlands. Data on corporate governance at the top-100 listed companies in the Netherlands between 1997 and 2005 show that the emphasis on non-executive directors' external service task has shifted to their internal service task, i.e. from non-executive directors acting as boundary spanners to non-executive directors providing advice and counselling to executive directors. This shift in board responsibilities affects non-executive directors' ability to generate network benefits through board relationships and has implications for non-executive directors' functional requirements.

A free weekly iron-folic acid supplementation and regular deworming program is associated with improved hemoglobin and iron status indicators in Vietnamese women

Background Anemia due to iron deficiency is recognized as one of the major nutritional deficiencies in women and children in developing countries. Daily iron supplementation for pregnant women is recommended in many countries although there are few reports of these programs working efficiently or effectively. Weekly iron-folic acid supplementation (WIFS) and regular deworming treatment is recommended for non-pregnant women living in areas with high rates of anemia. Following a baseline survey to assess the prevalence of anemia, iron deficiency and soil transmitted helminth infections, we implemented a program to make WIFS and regular deworming treatment freely and universally available for all women of reproductive age in two districts of a province in northern Vietnam over a 12 month period. The impact of the program at the population level was assessed in terms of: i) change in mean hemoglobin and iron status indicators, and ii) change in the prevalence of anemia, iron deficiency and hookworm infections. Method Distribution of WIFS and deworming were integrated with routine health services and made available to 52,000 women. Demographic data and blood and stool samples were collected in baseline, and three and 12-month post-implementation surveys using a population-based, stratified multi-stage cluster sampling design. Results The mean Hb increased by 9.6 g/L (95% CI, 5.7, 13.5, p < 0.001) during the study period. Anemia (Hb<120 g/L) was present in 131/349 (37.5%, 95% CI 31.3, 44.8) subjects at baseline, and in 70/363 (19.3%, 95% CI 14.0, 24.6) after twelve months. Iron deficiency reduced from 75/329 (22.8%, 95% CI 16.9, 28.6) to 33/353 (9.3%, 95% CI 5.7, 13.0) by the 12-mnth survey, and hookworm infection from 279/366 (76.2%,, 95% CI 68.6, 83.8) to 66/287 (23.0%, 95% CI 17.5, 28.5) over the same period. Conclusion A free, universal WIFS program with regular deworming was associated with reduced prevalence and severity of anemia, iron deficiency and ho

Lessons learned from implementation of a demonstration program to reduce the burden of anemia and hookworm in women in Yen Bai Province, Viet Nam

Background Iron deficiency, anemia and hookworm disease are important public health problems for women of reproductive age living in developing countries and affect the health of newborns and infants. Iron supplementation and deworming treatment are effective in addressing these problems in both pregnant and non-pregnant women. Daily iron supplementation and deworming after the first trimester is recommended for pregnant women although these programs usually do not operate efficiently or effectively. Weekly iron-folic acid supplementation and regular deworming for non-pregnant women may be a viable approach for improving iron status and preventing anemia during the reproductive years. Addressing these diseases at a population level before women become pregnant could significantly improve women's health before and during pregnancy, as well as their infants' growth and development. Methods and Results This paper describes the major processes undertaken in a demonstration intervention of preventive weekly iron-folic acid supplementation with regular deworming for all 52,000 women aged 15–45 years in two districts of Yen Bai province, in northern Viet Nam. The intervention strategy included extensive consultation with community leaders and village, commune, district and provincial health staff, and training for village health workers. Distribution of the drugs was integrated with the existing health service infrastructure and the village health workers were the direct point of contact with women. Iron-folic acid tablets and deworming treatment were provided free of charge from May 2006. An independent Vietnamese NGO was commissioned to evaluate compliance and identify potential problems. The program resulted in effective distribution of iron-folic acid tablets and deworming treatment to all villages in the target districts, with full or partial compliance of 85%. Conclusion Training for health staff, the strong commitment of all partners and the use of appropriate educational materials led to broad support for weekly iron-folic acid supplementation and high participation in the regular deworming days. In March 2008 the program was expanded to all districts in the province, a target population of approximately 250,000 WRA, and management was handed over to provincial authorities.

Comparison of intranasal and transcutaneous immunization for induction of protective immunity against chlamydia muridarum respiratory tract infection

Chlamydia pneumoniae causes a range of respiratory infections including bronchitis, pharyngitis and pneumonia. Infection has also been implicated in exacerbation/initiation of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and may play a role in atherosclerosis and Alzheimer's disease. We have used a mouse model of Chlamydia respiratory infection to determine the effectiveness of intranasal (IN) and transcutaneous immunization (TCI) to prevent Chlamydia lung infection. Female BALB/c mice were immunized with chlamydial major outer membrane protein (MOMP) mixed with cholera toxin and CpG oligodeoxynucleotide adjuvants by either the IN or TCI routes. Serum and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) were collected for antibody analysis. Mononuclear cells from lung-draining lymph nodes were stimulated in vitro with MOMP and cytokine mRNA production determined by real time PCR. Animals were challenged with live Chlamydia and weighed daily following challenge. At day 10 (the peak of infection) animals were sacrificed and the numbers of recoverable Chlamydia in lungs determined by real time PCR. MOMP-specific antibody-secreting cells in lung tissues were also determined at day 10 post-infection. Both IN and TCI protected animals against weight loss compared to non-immunized controls with both immunized groups gaining weight by day 10-post challenge while controls had lost 6% of body weight. Both immunization protocols induced MOMP-specific IgG in serum and BAL while only IN immunization induced MOMP-specific IgA in BAL. Both immunization routes resulted in high numbers of MOMP-specific antibody-secreting cells in lung tissues (IN > TCI). Following in vitro re-stimulation of lung-draining lymph node cells with MOMP; IFNγ mRNA increased 20-fold in cells from IN immunized animals (compared to non-immunized controls) while IFNγ levels increased 6- to 7-fold in TCI animals. Ten days post challenge non-immunized animals had >7000 IFU in their lungs, IN immunized animals <50 IFU and TCI immunized animals <1500 IFU. Thus, both intranasal and transcutaneous immunization protected mice against respiratory challenge with Chlamydia. The best protection was obtained following IN immunization and correlated with IFNγ production by mononuclear cells in lung-draining LN and MOMP-specific IgA in BAL.

Occurrence of LINE, gypsy-like, and copia-like retrotransposons in the clonally propagated sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.)

Retrotransposons are a class of transposable elements that represent a major fraction of the repetitive DNA of most eukaryotes. Their abundance stems from their expansive replication strategies. We screened and isolated sequence fragments of long terminal repeat (LTR), gypsy-like reverse transcriptase (rt) and gypsy-like envelope (env) domains, and two partial sequences of non-LTR retrotransposons, long interspersed element (LINE), in the clonally propagated allohexaploid sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) genome. Using dot-blot hybridization, these elements were found to be present in the ~1597 Mb haploid sweet potato genome with copy numbers ranging from ~50 to ~4100 as observed in the partial LTR (IbLtr-1) and LINE (IbLi-1) sequences, respectively. The continuous clonal propagation of sweet potato may have contributed to such a multitude of copies of some of these genomic elements. Interestingly, the isolated gypsy-like env and gypsy-like rt sequence fragments, IbGy-1 (~2100 copies) and IbGy-2 (~540 copies), respectively, were found to be homologous to the Bagy-2 cDNA sequences of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). Although the isolated partial sequences were found to be homologous to other transcriptionally active elements, future studies are required to determine whether they represent elements that are transcriptionally active under normal and (or) stressful conditions.

Approximate Membership Localization within a Web-Based Join Framework

In this paper, we propose a search-based approach to join two tables in the absence of clean join attributes. Non-structured documents from the web are used to express the correlations between a given query and a reference list. To implement this approach, a major challenge we meet is how to efficiently determine the number of times and the locations of each clean reference from the reference list that is approximately mentioned in the retrieved documents. We formalize the Approximate Membership Localization (AML) problem and propose an efficient partial pruning algorithm to solve it. A study using real-word data sets demonstrates the effectiveness of our search-based approach, and the efficiency of our AML algorithm.

Scaling analysis of the unsteady natural convection boundary layer adjacent to an inclined plate for Pr > 1 following instantaneous heating

The unsteady natural convection boundary layer adjacent to an instantaneously heated inclined plate is investigated using an improved scaling analysis and direct numerical simulations. The development of the unsteady natural convection boundary layer following instantaneous heating may be classified into three distinct stages including a start-up stage, a transitional stage and a steady state stage, which can be clearly identified in the analytical and numerical results. Major scaling relations of the velocity and thicknesses and the flow development time of the natural convection boundary layer are obtained using triple-layer integral solutions and verified by direct numerical simulations over a wide range of flow parameters.