The development of a strategic control framework and its relationship with management accounting

Management accounting systems have been criticised for being excessively focused on shortterm performance. As a result long-term strategic direction and goals may have been neglected. To help overcome this problem it has been suggested that organisations should adopt strategic management accounting techniques and management control systems which are orientated towards the achievement of strategic goals. This paper argues that integration with strategic control would significantly enhance the relevance of management accounting systems. In developing such an approach this paper first integrates the salient features of the extant strategic control models in a framework that recognises the needs of the current business environment. And second, it examines how strategic control could be used as the basis for developing management accounting systems that have a stronger strategic focus

The Ticks (Arachnida: Acari: Ixodida) of Arkansas

Although ticks are a nuisance to humans and other animals, they are an important part of the biota of North America. In addition, they are vectors of many tick-borne disease agents that can negatively affect higher vertebrates. In Arkansas, there have been no recent comprehensive summaries of the ticks (Acari: Ixodida) in the last 40+ yrs. Here, we provide a summary of the ticks of the state and note the disease agents they can transmit

A new method for ranking academic journals in accounting and finance

Given the many and varied uses to which journal rankings are put, interest in ranking journal 'quality' is likely to persist. Unfortunately, existing methods of constructing such rankings all have inherent limitations. This paper proposes a new (complementary) approach, based on submissions to RAE 2001, which is not restricted to a pre-defined journal set and, importantly, is based on quality choice decisions driven by economic incentives. For three metrics, submissions to RAE 2001 are compared with the available set of publications to provide evidence on the perception of journal quality, a fourth metric is based on the overall RAE grades, and an overall ranking is produced

Vertebrate Natural History Notes from Arkansas, 2017

Because meaningful observations of natural history are not always part of larger studies, important pieces of information often are unreported. Small details, however, can fills gaps in understanding and also lead to interesting questions about ecological relationships or environmental change. We have compiled recent observations of foods, reproduction, record size, parasites, and distribution of 30 species of fishes, new records of distribution and parasites of 2 species of amphibians, and new records of distribution, parasites, reproduction and anomalies of 11 species of mammals

Should the poultry red mite Dermanyssus gallinae be of wider concern for veterinary and medical science?

The poultry red mite Dermanyssus gallinae is best known as a threat to the laying-hen industry; adversely affecting production and hen health and welfare throughout the globe, both directly and through its role as a disease vector. Nevertheless, D. gallinae is being increasingly implemented in dermatological complaints in non-avian hosts, suggesting that its significance may extend beyond poultry. The main objective of the current work was to review the potential of D. gallinae as a wider veterinary and medical threat. Results demonstrated that, as an avian mite, D. gallinae is unsurprisingly an occasional pest of pet birds. However, research also supports that these mites will feed from a range of other animals including: cats, dogs, rodents, rabbits, horses and man. We conclude that although reported cases of D. gallinae infesting mammals are relatively rare, when coupled with the reported genetic plasticity of this species and evidence of permanent infestations on non-avian hosts, potential for host-expansion may exist. The impact of, and mechanisms and risk factors for such expansion are discussed, and suggestions for further work made. Given the potential severity of any level of host-expansion in D. gallinae, we conclude that further research should be urgently conducted to confirm the full extent of the threat posed by D. gallinae to (non-avian) veterinary and medical sectors

Vertebrate Natural History Notes From Arkansas, 2015

Many important details of vertebrate biology are unknown to the scientific community because the observations are not part of a larger theoretical study. Yet, knowledge of such details not only fills gaps in understanding but also creates a framework for hypothesis building. We have collected observations of importance that can add to the growth of knowledge. Compiled here are important recent observations representing all vertebrate classes in Arkansas

African tropical rainforest net carbon dioxide fluxes in the twentieth century

The African humid tropical biome constitutes the second largest rainforest region, significantly impacts global carbon cycling and climate, and has undergone major changes in functioning owing to climate and land-use change over the past century. We assess changes and trends in CO2 fluxes from 1901 to 2010 using nine land surface models forced with common driving data, and depict the inter-model variability as the uncertainty in fluxes. The biome is estimated to be a natural (no disturbance) net carbon sink (−0.02 kg C m−2 yr−1 or −0.04 Pg C yr−1, p < 0.05) with increasing strength fourfold in the second half of the century. The models were in close agreement on net CO2 flux at the beginning of the century (σ1901 = 0.02 kg C m−2 yr−1), but diverged exponentially throughout the century (σ2010 = 0.03 kg C m−2 yr−1). The increasing uncertainty is due to differences in sensitivity to increasing atmospheric CO2, but not increasing water stress, despite a decrease in precipitation and increase in air temperature. However, the largest uncertainties were associated with the most extreme drought events of the century. These results highlight the need to constrain modelled CO2 fluxes with increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations and extreme climatic events, as the uncertainties will only amplify in the next century

Stakeholder Perceptions of Physical Literacy Assessment in Primary School Children

Background: UNESCO (2015) highlighted the importance of developing physical literacy (PL) from childhood, although it remains unclear how best to evidence an individual’s PL journey. The aim of this study was to explore key stakeholders’ views of current practice, future directions and effective implementation of PL assessment, with a view to informing the development of a rigorous, authentic, and feasible PL assessment. Methods: Purposive samples of children aged between 6-7 years (n=39), 10-11 years (n=57), primary school teachers (n=23) and self-defined experts with an interest in PL (academics n=13, practitioners n=8) were recruited to take part in a series of concurrent semi-structured focus groups. Each group included a maximum of six participants, lasted on average 40 (30- 90) minutes were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data was analysed using deductive and inductive thematic analysis and key themes were represented by pen profiles. Results: Higher order themes of: i) existing assessments, ii) demand for PL assessment, iii) acceptability of PL assessment, and iv) factors related to implementation of PL assessments were identified. All stakeholders viewed the assessment of PL as important, but in line with well-established barriers within physical education (PE), assessment was not a priority in many schools, resulting in a variability in existing practice. No assessment of the affective and cognitive domains of PL was reported to be in use at participating schools. All stakeholder groups recognised the potential benefits of using technology within the assessment process. Children recognised that teachers were constantly making judgements to help them improve, and agreed that assessment could help record this, and that assessment should be differentiated for each child. Teachers widely reported that future assessment should be time-efficient, simple and useful. Conclusion: Study findings revealed a demonstrable need for a feasible PL assessment that could be effectively used in schools. To our knowledge, this is the first attempt to involve these stakeholders, and triangulate data, to inform future PL assessment and practice. Findings provide an evidence base to inform the onward development of a conceptually aligned PL assessment tool, suitable for use in schools. In turn, this will enable robust, empirical evidence to be collated, to evidence theory, and inform practice and policy

Intercomparison of eddy-covariance software for urban tall-tower sites

Long-term tall-tower eddy-covariance (EC) measurements have been recently established in three European pilot cities as part of the ICOS-Cities project. We conducted a comparison of EC software to ensure a reliable generation of interoperable flux estimates, which is the prerequisite for avoiding methodological biases and improving the comparability of the results. We analyzed datasets covering 5 months collected from EC tall-tower installations located in urbanized areas of Munich, Zurich, and Paris. Fluxes of sensible heat, latent heat, and CO2 were calculated using three software packages (i.e., TK3, EddyPro, and eddy4R) to assess the uncertainty of flux estimations attributed to differences in implemented postprocessing schemes. A very good agreement on the mean values and standard deviations was found across all three sites, which can probably be attributed to a uniform instrumentation, data acquisition, and preprocessing. The overall comparison of final flux time series products showed a good but not yet perfect agreement among the three software packages. TK3 and EddyPro both calculated fluxes with low-frequency spectral correction, resulting in better agreement than between TK3 and the eddy4R workflow with disabled low-frequency spectral treatment. These observed flux discrepancies indicate the crucial role of treating low-frequency spectral loss in flux estimation for tall-tower EC systems.</p