Internal audit quality, audit committee independence, growth opportunities and firm performance

This study explores whether the relation between internal audit quality and firm performance is associated with firm characteristics of information asymmetry and uncertainty (growth opportunities) and certain governance controls (audit committee effectiveness). The results from this preliminary study of 60 Malaysian companies show that the association between internal audit quality and firm performance is stronger for firms with high growth opportunities and that this positive association is weakened by increasing audit committee independence. These findings demonstrate the internal auditors conflicting roles and question the governance recommendations that require all members of the audit committee to be non-executive directors.

Urban growth management for sustainable urbanization : examples from Asia-Pacific city regions

During the past three decades cities in the Asia-Pacific region have undergone massive transformations, characterised by rapid population growth and urbanisation. The rapid pace of globalisation and economic restructuring has resulted in these cities receiving the full impact of urbanisation pressures. In attempting to ease these pressures, major cities have advocated growth management approaches that give particular interest to sustainable urbanization and emphasise compact and optimum development of urban forms. This paper seeks to provide an insight into sustainable urbanisation practice, particularly on the promotion of compact urbanisation within Asia-Pacific’s fastest growing regions. The finding shows that within the context of resource constraints, sustainable urbanisation has been a key factor in the adoption of urban growth management initiatives promoting viable use of scarce resources for urban expansion.

Internetalisation : the Internet's influence on international market growth in the firm's outward internationalisation process

It has been suggested that the Internet is the most significant driver of international trade in recent years to the extent that the term =internetalisation‘ has been coined (Bell, Deans, Ibbotson & Sinkovics, 2001; Buttriss & Wilkinson, 2003). This term is used to describe the Internet‘s affect on the internationalisation process of the firm. Consequently, researchers have argued that the internationalisation process of the firm has altered due to the Internet, hence is in need of further investigation. However, as there is limited research and understanding, ambiguity remains in how the Internet has influenced international market growth. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore how the Internet influences firms‘ internationalisation process, specifically, international market growth. To this end, Internet marketing and international market growth theories are used to illuminate this ambiguity in the body of knowledge. Thus, the research problem =How and why does the Internet influence international market growth of the firm’ is justified for investigation. To explore the research question a two-stage approach is used. Firstly, twelve case studies were used to evaluate key concepts, generate hypotheses and to develop a model of Internetalisation for testing. The participants held key positions within their firm, so that rich data could be drawn from international market growth decision makers. Secondly, a quantitative confirmation process analysed the identified themes or constructs, using two hundred and twenty four valid responses. Constructs were evaluated through an exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling process. Structural equation modelling was used to test the model of =internetalisation‘ to examine the interrelationships between the internationalisation process components: information availability, information usage, interaction communication, international mindset, business relationship usage, psychic distance, the Internet intensity of the firm and international market growth. This study found that the Internet intensity of the firm mediates information availability, information usage, international mindset, and business relationships when firms grow in international markets. Therefore, these results provide empirical evidence that the Internet has a positive influence on international information, knowledge, entrepreneurship and networks and these in turn influence international market growth. The theoretical contributions are three fold. Firstly, the study identifies a holistic model of the impact the Internet has had on the outward internationalisation of the firm. This contribution extends the body of knowledge pertaining to Internet international marketing by mapping and confirming interrelationships between the Internet, internationalisation and growth concepts. Secondly, the study highlights the broad scope and accelerated rate of international market growth of firms. Evidence that the Internet influences the traditional and virtual networks for the pursuit of international market growth extends the current understanding. Thirdly, this study confirms that international information, knowledge, entrepreneurship and network concepts are valid in a single model. Thus, these three contributions identify constructs, measure constructs in a multi-item capacity, map interrelationships and confirm single holistic model of ‗internetalisation‘. The main practical contribution is that the findings identified information, knowledge and entrepreneurial opportunities for firms wishing to maximise international market growth. To capitalise on these opportunities suggestions are offered to assist firms to develop greater Internet intensity and internationalisation capabilities. From a policy perspective, educational institutions and government bodies need to promote more applied programs for Internet international marketing. The study provides future researchers with a platform of identified constructs and interrelationships related to internetalisation, with which to investigate. However, a single study has limitations of generalisability; thus, future research should replicate this study. Such replication or cross validation will assist in the verification of scales used in this research and enhance the validity of causal predications. Furthermore, this study was undertaken in the Australian outward-bound context. Research in other nations, as well as research into inbound internationalisation would be fruitful.

Age-related maculopathy : linking aetiology and pathophysiological changes to the ischaemia hypothesis

Age-related maculopathy (ARM) has remained a challenging topic with respect to its aetiology, pathomechanisms, early detection and treatment since the late 19th century when it was first described as its own entity. ARM was previously considered an inflammatory disease, a degenerative disease, a tumor and as the result of choroidal hemodynamic disturbances and ischaemia. The latter processes have been repeatedly suggested to have a key role in its development and progression. In vivo experiments under hypoxic conditions could be models for the ischaemic deficits in ARM. Recent research has also linked ARM with gene polymorphisms. It is however unclear what triggers a person's gene susceptibility. In this manuscript, a linking hypothesis between aetiological factors including ischaemia and genetics and the development of early clinicopathological changes in ARM is proposed. New clinical psychophysical and electrophysiological tests are introduced that can detect ARM at an early stage. Models of early ARM based upon hemodynamic, photoreceptor and post-receptoral deficits are described and the mechanisms by which ischaemia may be involved as a final common pathway are considered. In neovascular age-related macular degeneration (neovascular AMD), ischaemia is thought to promote release of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) which induces chorioretinal neovascularisation. VEGF is critical in the maintenance of the healthy choriocapillaris. In the final section of the manuscript the documentation of the effect of new anti-VEGF treatments on retinal function in neovascular AMD is critically viewed.

Vitronectin modulates human mesenchymal stem cell response to insulin-like growth factor-I and transforming growth factor beta 1 in a serum-free environment

The use of animal sera for the culture of therapeutically important cells impedes the clinical use of the cells. We sought to characterize the functional response of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) to specific proteins known to exist in bone tissue with a view to eliminating the requirement of animal sera. Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), via IGF binding protein-3 or -5 (IGFBP-3 or -5) and transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta(1)) are known to associate with the extracellular matrix (ECM) protein vitronectin (VN) and elicit functional responses in a range of cell types in vitro. We found that specific combinations of VN, IGFBP-3 or -5, and IGF-I or TGF-beta(1) could stimulate initial functional responses in hMSCs and that IGF-I or TGF-beta(1) induced hMSC aggregation, but VN concentration modulated this effect. We speculated that the aggregation effect may be due to endogenous protease activity, although we found that neither IGF-I nor TGF-beta(1) affected the functional expression of matrix metalloprotease-2 or -9, two common proteases expressed by hMSCs. In summary, combinations of the ECM and growth factors described herein may form the basis of defined cell culture media supplements, although the effect of endogenous protease expression on the function of such proteins requires investigation.

Can tissue engineering concepts advance tumor biology research?

Advances in tissue engineering have traditionally led to the design of scaffold- or matrix-based culture systems that better reflect the biological, physical and biochemical environment of the natural extracellular matrix. Although their clinical applications in regenerative medicine tend to receive most of the attention, it is obvious that other areas of biomedical research could be well served by the powerful tools that have already been developed in tissue engineering. In this article, we review the recent literature to demonstrate how tissue engineering platforms can enhance in vitro and in vivo models of tumorigenesis and thus hold great promise to contribute to future cancer research.

Posttraumatic growth in Australian populations

It is easy to assume that because Australia and the United States are both predominantly English speaking countries that are relatively young and share many similarities in terms of their historical beginnings, they elicit the same results when investigating psychological constructs. In recent years this has been questioned across a number of domains (e.g., personality and stereotyping) and research has demonstrated that although many constructs are universal, there are differences between these nations; some subtle and others quite stark (McCrae et al., 2005; Terraciano et al., 2005). In this chapter we discuss research that has investigated Posttraumatic Growth (PTG) in various populations in Australia and highlight the similarities and differences that have been found between Australian samples and those published in other countries, especially the US. Data are drawn from quantitative and qualitative investigations conducted with groups who have experienced diverse traumatic events as either direct survivors (e.g., rape, armed hold-up, bereavement) or vicarious survivors (e.g., paramedics). A description of the Australian context sets the scene for the ensuing discussion about PTG in Australian populations.

Porous polyurethane coatings bonded onto surface-modified titanium substrates for the growth of an endothelial cell layer

Cardiovascular diseases refer to the class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels (arteries and veins). Examples of medical devices for treating the cardiovascular diseases include ventricular assist devices (VADs), artificial heart valves and stents. Metallic biomaterials such as titanium and its alloy are commonly used for ventricular assist devices. However, titanium and its alloy show unacceptable thrombosis, which represents a major obstacle to be overcome. Polyurethane (PU) polymer has better blood compatibility and has been used widely in cardiovascular devices. Thus one aim of the project was to coat a PU polymer onto a titanium substrate by increasing the surface roughness, and surface functionality. Since the endothelium of a blood vessel has the most ideal non-thrombogenic properties, it was the target of this research project to grow an endothelial cell layer as a biological coating based on the tissue engineering strategy. However, seeding endothelial cells on the smooth PU coating surfaces is problematic due to the quick loss of seeded cells which do not adhere to the PU surface. Thus it was another aim of the project to create a porous PU top layer on the dense PU pre-layer-coated titanium substrate. The method of preparing the porous PU layer was based on the solvent casting/particulate leaching (SCPL) modified with centrifugation. Without the step of centrifugation, the distribution of the salt particles was not uniform within the polymer solution, and the degree of interconnection between the salt particles was not well controlled. Using the centrifugal treatment, the pore distribution became uniform and the pore interconnectivity was improved even at a high polymer solution concentration (20%) as the maximal salt weight was added in the polymer solution. The titanium surfaces were modified by alkli and heat treatment, followed by functionlisation using hydrogen peroxide. A silane coupling agent was coated before the application of the dense PU pre-layer and the porous PU top layer. The ability of the porous top layer to grow and retain the endothelial cells was also assessed through cell culture techniques. The bonding strengths of the PU coatings to the modified titanium substrates were measured and related to the surface morphologies. The outcome of the project is that it has laid a foundation to achieve the strategy of endothelialisation for the blood compatibility of medical devices. This thesis is divided into seven chapters. Chapter 2 describes the current state of the art in the field of surface modification in cardiovascular devices such as ventricular assist devices (VADs). It also analyses the pros and cons of the existing coatings, particularly in the context of this research. The surface coatings for VADs have evolved from early organic/ inorganic (passive) coatings, to bioactive coatings (e.g. biomolecules), and to cell-based coatings. Based on the commercial applications and the potential of the coatings, the relevant review is focused on the following six types of coatings: (1) titanium nitride (TiN) coatings, (2) diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings, (3) 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) polymer coatings, (4) heparin coatings, (5) textured surfaces, and (6) endothelial cell lining. Chapter 3 reviews the polymer scaffolds and one relevant fabrication method. In tissue engineering, the function of a polymeric material is to provide a 3-dimensional architecture (scaffold) which is typically used to accommodate transplanted cells and to guide their growth and the regeneration of tissue. The success of these systems is dependent on the design of the tissue engineering scaffolds. Chapter 4 describes chemical surface treatments for titanium and titanium alloys to increase the bond strength to polymer by altering the substrate surface, for example, by increasing surface roughness or changing surface chemistry. The nature of the surface treatment prior to bonding is found to be a major factor controlling the bonding strength. By increasing surface roughness, an increase in surface area occurs, which allows the adhesive to flow in and around the irregularities on the surface to form a mechanical bond. Changing surface chemistry also results in the formation of a chemical bond. Chapter 5 shows that bond strengths between titanium and polyurethane could be significantly improved by surface treating the titanium prior to bonding. Alkaline heat treatment and H2O2 treatment were applied to change the surface roughness and the surface chemistry of titanium. Surface treatment increases the bond strength by altering the substrate surface in a number of ways, including increasing the surface roughness and changing the surface chemistry. Chapter 6 deals with the characterization of the polyurethane scaffolds, which were fabricated using an enhanced solvent casting/particulate (salt) leaching (SCPL) method developed for preparing three-dimensional porous scaffolds for cardiac tissue engineering. The enhanced method involves the combination of a conventional SCPL method and a step of centrifugation, with the centrifugation being employed to improve the pore uniformity and interconnectivity of the scaffolds. It is shown that the enhanced SCPL method and a collagen coating resulted in a spatially uniform distribution of cells throughout the collagen-coated PU scaffolds.In Chapter 7, the enhanced SCPL method is used to form porous features on the polyurethane-coated titanium substrate. The cavities anchored the endothelial cells to remain on the blood contacting surfaces. It is shown that the surface porosities created by the enhanced SCPL may be useful in forming a stable endothelial layer upon the blood contacting surface. Chapter 8 finally summarises the entire work performed on the fabrication and analysis of the polymer-Ti bonding, the enhanced SCPL method and the PU microporous surface on the metallic substrate. It then outlines the possibilities for future work and research in this area.

The growth-profitability relationship : strategic orientations as moderator

Principal Topic: In this study we investigate how strategic orientation moderates the impact of growth on profitability for a sample of Danish high growth (Gazelle) firms. ---------- Firm growth has been an essential part of both management research and entrepreneurship research for decades (e.g. Penrose 1959, Birch 1987, Storey 1994). From a societal point of view, firm growth has been perceived as economic generator and job creator. In entrepreneurship research, growth has been an important part of the field (Davidsson, Delmar and Wiklund 2006), and many have used growth as a measure of success. In strategic management, growth has been seen as an approach to achieve competitive advantages and a way of becoming increasing profitable (e.g. Russo and Fouts 1997, Cho and Pucic 2005). However, although firm growth used to be perceived as a natural pathway to profitability recently more skepticism has emerged due to both new theoretical development and new empirical insights. Empirically, studies show inconsistent and inconclusive empirical evidence regarding the impact of growth on profitability. Our review reveals that some studies find a substantial positive relationship, some find a weak positive relationship, some find no relationship and further some find a negative relationship. Overall, two dominant yet divergent theoretical positions can be identified. The first position, mainly focusing on the environmental fit, argues that firms are likely to become more profitable if they enter a market quickly and on a larger scale due to first mover advantages and economic of scale. The second position, mainly focusing the internal fit, argues that growth may lead to a range of internal challenges and difficulties, including rapid change in structure, reward systems, decision making, communication and management style. The inconsistent empirical results together with two divergent theoretical positions call for further investigations into the circumstances by which growth generate profitability and into the circumstances by which growth do not generate profitability. In this project, we investigate how strategic orientations influence the impact of growth on profitability by asking the following research question: How is the impact of growth on profitability moderated by strategic orientation? Based on a literature review of how growth impacts profitability in areas such as entrepreneurship, strategic management and strategic entrepreneurship we develop three hypotheses regarding the growth-profitability relationship and strategic orientation as a potential moderator. ---------- Methodology/Key Propositions: The three hypotheses are tested on data collected in 2008. All firms in Denmark, including all listed and non-listed (VAT-registered) firms who experienced a 100 % growth and had a positive sales or gross profit over a four years period (2004-2007) were surveyed. In total 2,475 fulfilled the requirements. Among those 1,107 firms returned usable questionnaires satisfactory giving us a response rate on 45 %. The financial data together with data on number of employees were obtained from D&B (previously Dun & Bradstreet). The remaining data were obtained through the survey. Hierarchical regression models with ROA (return on assets) as the dependent variable were used to test the hypotheses. In the first model control variables including region, industry, firm age, CEO age, CEO gender, CEO education and number of employees were entered. In the second model, growth measured as growth in employees was entered. Then strategic orientation (differentiation, cost leadership, focus differentiation and focus cost leadership) and then interaction effects of strategic orientation and growth were entered in the model. ---------- Results and Implications: The results show a positive impact of firm growth on profitability and further that this impact is moderated by strategic orientation. Specifically, it was found that growth has a larger impact on profitability when firms do not pursue a focus strategy including both focus differentiation and focus cost leadership. Our preliminary interpretation of the results suggests that the value of growth depends on the circumstances and more specifically 'how much is left to fight for'. It seems like those firms who target towards a narrow segment are less likely to gain value of growth. The remaining market shares to fight for to these firms are not large enough to compensate for the cost of growing. Based on our findings, it therefore seems like growth has a more positive relationship with profitability for those who approach a broad market segment. Furthermore we argue that firms pursuing af Focus strategy will have more specialized assets that decreases the possibilities of further profitable expansion. For firms, CEOs, board of directors etc., the study shows that high growth is not necessarily something worth aiming for. It is a trade-off between the cost of growing and the value of growing. For many firms, there might be better ways of generating profitability in the long run. It depends on the strategic orientation of the firm. For advisors and consultants, the conditional value of growth implies that in-depth knowledge on their clients' situation is necessary before any advice can be given. And finally, for policy makers, it means they have to be careful when initiating new policies to promote firm growth. They need to take into consideration firm strategy and industry conditions.

Can book-to-market and size be risk factors that predict economic growth in Asia's emerging economies?

We investigate whether the two 2 zero cost portfolios, SMB and HML, have the ability to predict economic growth for markets investigated in this paper. Our findings show that there are only a limited number of cases when the coefficients are positive and significance is achieved in an even more limited number of cases. Our results are in stark contrast to Liew and Vassalou (2000) who find coefficients to be generally positive and of a similar magnitude. We go a step further and also employ the methodology of Lakonishok, Shleifer and Vishny (1994) and once again fail to support the risk-based hypothesis of Liew and Vassalou (2000). In sum, we argue that search for a robust economic explanation for firm size and book-to-market equity effects needs sustained effort as these two zero cost portfolios do not represent economically relevant risk.

Selective growth of carbon nanotubes on bare silicon : MWNT sinthesys on patterned substrates without predeposition of metal catalyst

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are expected to become the ideal constituent of many technologes, in particular for future generation electronics. This considerable interest is due to their unique electrical and mechanical properties. They show indeed super-high current-carrying capacity, ballistic electron transport and good field-emission properties. Then, these superior features make CNTs the most promising building blocks for electronic devices, as organic solar cells and organic light emitting devices (OLED). By using Focused Ion Beam (FIB) patterning it is possible to a obtain a high control on position, relative distances and diameter of CNTs. The present work shows how to grow three-dimensional architecture made of vertical-aligned CNTs directly on silicon. Thanks to the higher activity of a pre-patterned surface the synthesis process results very quick, cheap and simple. Such large area growths of CNTs could be used in preliminary test for application as electrodes for organic solar cells.