The influence of management accountants on managerial decisions

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate which factors stimulate or hinder the influence management accountants operating at the business unit (BU) level have on the decisions taken by their BU manager(s). Design/methodology/approach: The authors collected data from 119 management accountants in 77 Dutch, multi-divisional organizations, using surveys. Findings: The study shows that influence on managerial decisions can have two forms: influence on strategic decisions, and influence on operating decisions. Influence on strategic decisions is positively related to the degree of decentralization of an organization. It also depends on whether a management accountant is more extravert and emotionally stable. There is a negative relationship between influence on operational decisions and management accountants’ agreeableness. Not being sufficiently critical may well diminish their influence on operational affairs. Research limitations/implications: The authors put the view that management accountants at the BU level can partially affect their own role. This may also be expected by their managers. There are more opportunities for management accountants to influence strategic decisions than operational decisions. This study, however, is limited to Dutch, multi-divisional organizations. The management accountants who completed the survey also belong to the personal networks of master degree students who assisted in the data collection process, so that the sample used is not random. Data collected in another country, or in smaller companies could yield different results. Practical implications: Knowing more about the complex relationship between BU management accountants’ personality traits and their degree of influence on managerial decisions allows organizations to make better-informed choices about who to appoint in such a role. Originality/value: This study distinguishes between management accountants’ influence on strategic decisions and influence on operational decisions. At the BU level, these are two distinct concepts. This reinforces findings from earlier studies conducted at the corporate level. In addition, it turns out that specific personality traits of management accountants, at the BU level, affect the influence they can exert on both strategic and operational decisions taken by their manager(s)

Impaired glucose tolerance and diabetes mellitus in a rural population in South India

In the present study the prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance and non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus in a rural population in South India was assessed and its associations with body mass index and a family history of diabetes mellitus. Data were obtained from inhabitants of two villages located in the North Arcot District of Tamil Nadu. After an overnight fast, 467 randomly selected subjects, aged 40 years or over, were given 75 g glucose orally. After two hours the capillary glucose level was determined. The prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance (2 h value ≥ 7.8 mmol/l and < 11.1 mmol/l) was 6.6% (31 subjects). Non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (2 h value ≥ 11.1 mmol/l) was found in 23 subjects (4.9%). Of these, 53% were previously unknown. Age and sex adjusted mean body mass index was significantly higher among subjects with impaired glucose tolerance compared to subjects without glucose intolerance, with a mean difference of 1.4 kg/m2 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.2, 2.6). A positive family history of diabetes was non-significantly higher in subjects with impaired glucose tolerance. Subjects with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus had a higher mean body mass index compared to subjects with normal glucose levels with a mean difference of 1.9 kg/m2 (95% CI 0.5, 3.3). A positive family history of diabetes was more common among diabetics with a difference of 20% (95% CI 10, 30). Our findings suggest that in a considerable proportion (11.5%) of the rural South Indian population aged 40 years or over glucose intolerance is present. These results may indicate that apart from other important causes of morbidity and mortality, a substantial proportion of the rural Indian population will suffer from cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in the near future

Frequency-dependent selection on female morphs driven by premating interactions with males

Species showing color polymorphisms-the presence of two or more genetically determined color morphs within a single population-are excellent systems for studying the selective forces driving the maintenance of genetic diversity. Despite a shortage of empirical evidence, it is often suggested that negative frequency-dependent mate preference by males (or diet choice by predators) results in fitness benefits for the rare female morph (or prey type). Moreover, most studies have focused on the male (or predator) behavior in these systems and largely overlooked the importance of female (or prey) resistance behavior. Here, we provide the first explicit test of the role of frequency-dependent and frequency-independent intersexual interactions in female polymorphic damselflies. We identify the stage of the mating sequence when frequency-dependent selection is likely to act by comparing indexes of male mate preference when the female has little (females presented on sticks), moderate (females in cages), and high (females free to fly in the field) ability to avoid male mating attempts. Frequency-dependent male preferences were found only in those experiments where females had little ability to resist male harassment, indicating that premating interactions most likely drive negative frequency-dependent selection in this system. In addition, by separating frequency-dependent male mating preference from the baseline frequency-independent component, we reconcile the seemingly contradictory results of previous studies and highlight the roles of both forms of selection in maintaining the polymorphism at a given equilibrium. We conclude that considering interactions among all players-here, males and females-is crucial to fully understanding the mechanisms underlying the maintenance of genetic polymorphisms in the wild

Corrigendum: Normal Values of Corrected Heart-Rate Variability in 10-Second Electrocardiograms for All Ages

Cardiolog

Normal Values of QT Variability in 10-s Electrocardiograms for all Ages

Aims: QT variability is a promising electrocardiographic marker. It has been studied as a screening tool for coronary artery disease and left ventricular hypertrophy, and increased QT variability is a known risk factor for sudden cardiac death. Considering that comprehensive normal values for QT variability were lacking, we set out to establish these in standard 10-s electrocardiograms (ECGs) covering both sexes and all ages. Methods: Ten-second, 12-lead ECGs were provided by five Dutch population studies (Pediatric Normal ECG Study, Leiden University Einthoven Science Project, Prevention of Renal and Vascular End-stage Disease Study, Utrecht Health Project, Rotterdam Study). ECGs were recorded digitally and processed by well-validated analysis software. We selected cardiologically healthy participants, 46% being women. Ages ranged from 11 days to 91 years. After quality control, 13,828 ECGs were available. We assessed three markers: standard deviation of QT intervals (SDqt), short-term QT variability (STVqt), and QT variability index (QTVI). Results: For SDqt and STVqt, the median and the lower limit of normal remained stable with age. The upper limit of normal declined until around age 45, and increased strongly in the elderly, notably so in women. This implies that a subset of the population, small enough not to have appreciable effect on the median, shows a high degree of QT variability with a possible risk of arrhythmias or worse, especially in women. Otherwise, sex differences were negligible in all three measurements. For QTVI, median, and normal limits decreased until age 20, and steadily went up afterwards except for the lower limit of normal, which flattens off after age 65. Conclusion: We report the first set of normal values for QT variability based on 10-s ECGs, for all ages and both sexes

Biogeographical Survey Identifies Consistent Alternative Physiological Optima and a Minor Role for Environmental Drivers in Maintaining a Polymorphism

The contribution of adaptive mechanisms in maintaining genetic polymorphisms is still debated in many systems. To understand the contribution of selective factors in maintaining polymorphism, we investigated large-scale (>1000 km) geographic variation in morph frequencies and fitness-related physiological traits in the damselfly Nehalennia irene. As fitness-related physiological traits, we investigated investment in immune function (phenoloxidase activity), energy storage and fecundity (abdomen protein and lipid content), and flight muscles (thorax protein content). In the first part of the study, our aim was to identify selective agents maintaining the large-scale spatial variation in morph frequencies. Morph frequencies varied considerably among populations, but, in contrast to expectation, in a geographically unstructured way. Furthermore, frequencies co-varied only weakly with the numerous investigated ecological parameters. This suggests that spatial frequency patterns are driven by stochastic processes, or alternatively, are consequence of highly variable and currently unidentified ecological conditions. In line with this, the investigated ecological parameters did not affect the fitness-related physiological traits differently in both morphs. In the second part of the study, we aimed at identifying trade-offs between fitness-related physiological traits that may contribute to the local maintenance of both colour morphs by defining alternative phenotypic optima, and test the spatial consistency of such trade-off patterns. The female morph with higher levels of phenoloxidase activity had a lower thorax protein content, and vice versa, suggesting a trade-off between investments in immune function and in flight muscles. This physiological trade-off was consistent across the geographical scale studied and supports widespread correlational selection, possibly driven by male harassment, favouring alternative trait combinations in both female morphs

Long-term exposure to elemental constituents of particulate matter and cardiovascular mortality in 19 European cohorts: Results from the ESCAPE and TRANSPHORM projects

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Bragatston study protocol: a multicentre cohort study on automated quantification of cardiovascular calcifications on radiotherapy planning CT scans for cardiovascular risk prediction in patients with breast cancer

Introduction Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is an important cause of death in breast cancer survivors. Some breast cancer treatments including anthracyclines, trastuzumab and radiotherapy can increase the risk of CVD, especially for patients with pre-existing CVD risk factors. Early identification of patients at increased CVD risk may allow switching to less cardiotoxic treatments, active surveillance or treatment of CVD risk factors. One of the strongest independent CVD risk factors is the presence and extent of coronary artery calcifications (CAC). In clinical practice, CAC are generally quantified on ECGtriggered cardiac CT scans. Patients with breast cancer treated with radiotherapy routinely undergo radiotherapy planning CT scans of the chest, and those scans could provide the opportunity to routinely assess CAC before a potentially cardiotoxic treatment. The Bragatston study aims to investigate the association between calcifications in the coronary arteries, aorta and heart valves (hereinafter called ‘cardiovascular calcifications’) measured automatically on planning CT scans of patients with breast cancer and CVD risk. Methods and analysis In a first step, we will optimise and validate a deep learning algorithm for automated quantification of cardiovascular calcifications on planning CT scans of patients with breast cancer. Then, in a multicentre cohort study (University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Rotterdam and Radboudumc, Nijmegen, The Netherlands), the association between cardiovascular calcifications measured on planning CT scans of patients with breast cancer (n≈16 000) and incident (non-)fatal CVD events will be evaluated. To assess the added predictive value of these calcifications over traditional CVD risk factors and treatment characteristics, a case-cohort analysis will be performed among all cohort members diagnosed with a CVD event during follow-up (n≈200) and a random sample of the baseline cohort (n≈600). Ethics and dissemination The Institutional Review Boards of the participating hospitals decided that the Medical R

Nonfocal transient neurological attacks are related to cognitive impairment in patients with heart failure

Introduction Nonfocal transient neurological attacks (TNAs) are associated with an increased risk of future dementia, but it is unclear whether TNAs are also associated with concurrent cognitive impairment. We hypothesized that recent TNAs are related to worse cognitive functioning. We tested our hypothesis in patients with heart failure, as these patients are at risk of cerebral hypoperfusion, which might play a role in the etiology of TNAs. Methods We performed neuropsychological testing in all patients with heart failure enrolled in the Heart Brain Connection study. We assessed global cognition, attention-psychomotor speed, executive functioning, memory and language. All patients were interviewed with a standardized questionnaire on the occurrence of TNAs in the preceding 6 months. We studied associations between TNAs and cognitive functioning with linear and logistic regression analyses, adjusted for age, sex and education. We performed additional analyses in patients without previous stroke or TIA and in patients without brain infarction on MRI. Results Thirty-seven (23%) of 158 patients (mean age 70 years, 67% men) experienced one or more TNAs. Patients with a recent TNA were more likely to be impaired on≥1 cognitive domains than patients without TNAs [41% vs. 18%, adjusted odds ratio 4.6, 95% confdence interval (CI) 1.8–11.8]. Patients with TNAs performed worse than patients without TNAs on global cognition (mean diference in z scores −0.36, 95% CI −0.54 to −0.18), and on the cognitive domains attentionpsychomotor speed (mean diference −0.40, 95% CI −0.66 to −0.14), memory (mean diference −0.57, 95% CI −0.98 to −0.15) and language (mean diference −0.47, 95% CI −0.79 to −0.16). These associations were independent of cardiac output and volume of white matter hyperintensities. Subgroup analyses in patients without previous stroke or TIA or brain infarction on MRI (n=78) yielded comparable results, with the exception of the cognitive domain language, which was no longer diferent between patients with and without TNAs. Conclusion Among patients with heart failure, TNAs are associated with cognitive impairment, which warrants the need for more clinical awareness of this problem

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms