Fraud interpretation and disclaimer audit opinion: evidence from the Solomon Islands Public Sector (SIPS)

Purpose – Financial Transactions Fraud (FTF) and Financial Statements Fraud (FSF) grew exponentially during the last decades coupled with complex and sophisticated technological developments. This study investigates the practitioners’ interpretation of fraud with recurring audit issues in the Disclaimer Audit Opinions (DAOs) reports within the Solomon Islands Public Sector (SIPS). Design/methodology/approach - The empirical study involves qualitative data analysis. The analysis alongside theoretical developments is informed by the “fraud triangle” theory.Findings – The research results revealed the practitioners’ acknowledgement of financial statement Fraud, Financial Transaction Fraud and fraud in the SIPS, as generally prevalent and aligned to some components of the fraud triangle theory. This study is sceptic about the good intentions of the International Public-Sector Accounting Standards –Cash-basis (IPSAS) framework and favours the Provincial Government Act 1997 and the Public Finance Management Act 2013 (PFMA) requirements. It further suggests that fraud is positively linked to repeated audited report issues and the executive management when DAOs issues appear repeatedly in annual audit reports. Originality – This study contributes to the literature on fraud and attempts to link the interpretation of fraud with recurring audit issues in the Disclaimer Audit Opinions (DAOs) reports in the Solomon Islands Public Sector (SIPS). It views fraud awareness and knowledge from the perspective of the audit practitioner. There is an increasing need to understand how fraud knowledge impacts decision making and the actions of auditors and others, an area that is underdeveloped

Pengaruh Tarif, Kualitas Pelayanan, Dan Promosi Terhadap Keputusan Pembelian (Studi Kasus Penumpang Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Trans Semarang Koridor II Terboyo - Sisemut, Ungaran)

This research is motivated by the provision of public transport services better, orderly, safe, effective, efficient, and affordable aims to reduce traffic congestion that private vehicle users to switch to public transport. Transportation Services BRT Trans Semarang is one solution that has a public transportation bus system better, orderly, fast, convenient, safe, affordable in terms of infrastructure, vehicles and schedules. This study aimed to determine the effect of Fare, quality of service, and promotion to the purchase decision (a case study Passenger BRT Trans Semarang Corridor II Terboyo - Sisemut, Ungaran). This type of research is eksplanatory research with data collection tool is questionnaire. This study uses the 100 respondents that passengers BRT Corridor II which has been used more than 3 times. The sampling technique of this study is purposive sampling. The test used are validity test and reliability test. Analysis of the data used is cross tabulation, correlation coefficient, coefficient of determination, simple linear regression, t test, multiple linear regression, and F test. Based on the results of analysis show that in partial fare contributed influence on purchasing decisions by 6.7%, the variable quality of service contributed influence on purchasing decisions by 8.5% and promotion variables contributing influence on purchasing decisions by 19.1%. Simultaneously, tariffs, quality of service, and promotion of contributing influence on purchasing decisions by 21.5%.The Conclusion This study shows the fare, quality of service, and the promotion of partially and simultaneously influence purchasing decisions Trans Semarang BRT corridor II. Based on these results, the manager of BRT BLU Mangkang Semarang Terminal Unit must be able to maintain the prescribed fare, improve, and continue to develop the quality of services to suit the consumer benefits, and increase the intensity and diversity promotion carried out by the manager to be able to attract a purchase decision BRT, as well as the need for continued research by the company and other parties to determine the effect of other variables and outside the shelter placement indicators such research, feasibility fleet, opening new routes, passenger capacity, ease of access to shelter, special Line BRT

Diet and genetics influence beef cattle performance and meat quality characteristics

A comprehensive review of the impact of tropical pasture grazing, nutritional supplementation during feedlot finishing and fat metabolism-related genes on beef cattle performance and meat-eating traits is presented. Grazing beef cattle on low quality tropical forages with less than 5.6% crude protein, 10% soluble starches and 55% digestibility experience liveweight loss. However, backgrounding beef cattle on high quality leguminous forages and feedlot finishing on high-energy diets increase meat flavour, tenderness and juiciness due to improved intramuscular fat deposition and enhanced mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids. This paper also reviews the roles of stearoyl-CoA desaturase, fatty acid binding protein 4 and fatty acid synthase genes and correlations with meat traits. The review argues that backgrounding of beef cattle on Desmanthus, an environmentally well-adapted and vigorous tropical legume that can persistently survive under harsh tropical and subtropical conditions, has the potential to improve animal performance. It also identifies existing knowledge gaps and research opportunities in nutrition-genetics interactions aimed at a greater understanding of grazing nutrition, feedlot finishing performance, and carcass traits of northern Australian tropical beef cattle to enable red meat industry players to work on marbling, juiciness, tenderness and overall meat-eating characteristics

Chemical composition and in situ degradability of Desmanthus spp. forage harvested at different maturity stages

This study evaluated the change in nutritive value and in situ degradability of Desmanthus spp. (desmanthus) cultivars JCU2; D. virgatus, JCU4; D. bicornutus and JCU7; D. leptophyllus harvested at varying maturity stages to test the hypothesis that the nutritive value and in situ degradability of desmanthus differ between cultivars and with maturity stage at harvest. In Experiment 1, desmanthus was harvested at 11, 38, 72 and 103 days of regrowth (maturity), separated into the leaf and stem portion, dried and analysed for dry matter (DM) and chemical composition. In Experiment 2, desmanthus was harvested 78, 122 and 168 days after planting (maturity). Samples were dried, and DM, crude protein (CP) and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and acid detergent fibre (ADF) degradation were determined using the in situ technique with three fistulated Droughtmaster steers. The results showed an interaction between cultivar and maturity on the leaf to stem mass ratio, leaf CP, stem NDF and the leaf ADF (p ≤ 0.04). The leaf-to-stem mass ratio declined more steeply with maturity in JCU7 compared to JCU2 and JCU4 (p = 0.04), while there was a higher decline in leaf CP of JCU4 than JCU2 and JCU7 (p < 0.01). The total potentially degradable fraction of DM and CP did not differ between cultivars (p ≥ 0.30) but declined with maturity (p ≤ 0.04). However, the effective DM degradability at a high particle outflow rate was higher in JCU4 than in JCU7. Taken together, these results indicate that differences exist between cultivars, and higher livestock production may be achieved by utilising the different cultivars in a blend and at earlier maturity stages. Therefore, the hypothesis that nutritive value and in situ degradability of desmanthus differ between cultivars and with maturity stage at harvest was accepted

Growth performance and plasma metabolites of grazing beef cattle backgrounded on Buffel or Buffel-Desmanthus mixed pastures

Dietary crude protein and dry matter digestibility are among the major factors limiting feed intake and weight gain of cattle grazing native and improved pastures in the subtropics of Northern Australia during the dry season. Incorporating a suitable legume into grasses improves pasture quality and cattle weight gain, but only a limited number of legume pastures can establish and persist in cracking clay soils. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of Desmanthusinclusion in buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) pastures on the plasma metabolite profile and growth performance of grazing beef cattle during the dry season. We hypothesised that backgrounding steers on buffel grass-Desmanthusmixed pastures would elicit significant changes in plasma glucose, bilirubin, creatinine, non-esterified fatty acids and β-hydroxybutyrate, resulting in higher liveweight gains than in steers on buffel grass only pastures. Four hundred tropical composite steers were assigned to buffel grass only (n = 200) or buffel grass oversown with Desmanthus(11.5% initial sward dry matter) pastures (n = 200) and grazed for 147 days during the dry season. Desmanthusaccounted for 6.2% sward dry matter at the end of grazing period. Plasma metabolites results showed thatchanges in β-hydroxybutyrate, creatinine, bilirubin, glucose and non-esterified fatty acids were within the expected normal range for all the steers, indicating that with or withoutDesmanthusinclusion in the diet of grazing steers, animal health status was not compromised. It was also evident that Desmanthusinclusion in buffel grass pastures had no impact on the plasma metabolite profile, liveweight and daily weight gain of grazing steers. Therefore, our tested hypothesis of higher changes in plasma metabolite profile and higher liveweight gains due to backgrounding on low-level buffel grass-Desmanthus mixed pastures does not hold

Response to climate change: evaluation of methane emissions in Northern Australian beef cattle on a high quality diet supplemented with Desmanthus using open-circuit respiration chambers and GreenFeed emission monitoring systems

Simple Summary The beef industry in Northern Australia is characterized by an extensive grazing system in dry tropical rangelands defined by climate change indices of very low rainfall, a prolonged dry season and feeds of low nutritive value. In response, beef cattle need to be more efficient in converting the available drought-tolerant feeds to muscle, in an attempt to minimize greenhouse gas emissions. This study addressed the problem of reducing methane emissions from tropical beef cattle with the goal of decreasing the impact of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions in Northern Australia. The primary objective was to compare the effect of supplementing tropical beef cattle with both good quality lucerne and poor quality hay with increasing levels of different Desmanthus cultivars on in vivo methane emission. The results showed that in tropical beef cattle on high-quality diets, irrespective of cultivar and emission evaluation method, Desmanthus does not reduce methane emissions. Abstract The main objective of this study was to compare the effect of supplementing beef cattle with Desmanthus virgatus cv. JCU2, D. bicornutus cv. JCU4, D. leptophyllus cv. JCU7 and lucerne on in vivo methane (CH4) emissions measured by open-circuit respiration chambers (OC) or the GreenFeed emission monitoring (GEM) system. Experiment 1 employed OC and utilized sixteen yearling Brangus steers fed a basal diet of Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana) hay in four treatments—the three Desmanthus cultivars and lucerne (Medicago sativa) at 30% dry matter intake (DMI). Polyethylene glycol (PEG) was added to the diets to neutralize tannin binding and explore the effect on CH4 emissions. Experiment 2 employed GEM and utilized forty-eight animals allocated to four treatments including a basal diet of Rhodes grass hay plus the three Desmanthus cultivars in equal proportions at 0, 15, 30 and 45% DMI. Lucerne was added to equilibrate crude protein content in all treatments. Experiment 1 showed no difference in CH4 emissions between the Desmanthus cultivars, between Desmanthus and lucerne or between Desmanthus and the basal diet. Experiment 2 showed an increase in CH4 emissions in the three levels containing Desmanthus. It is concluded that on high-quality diets, Desmanthus does not reduce CH4 emissions

Lipid metabolism, carcass characteristics and Longissimus dorsi muscle fatty acid composition of tropical crossbred beef cattle in response to Desmanthus spp. forage backgrounding

Lipid metabolism, carcass characteristics and fatty acid (FA) composition of the Longissimus dorsi (loin eye) muscle were evaluated in tropical crossbred steers backgrounded on Desmanthus spp. (desmanthus) with or without feedlot finishing. It was hypothesized that steers backgrounded on isonitrogenous diets augmented with incremental proportions of desmanthus will produce carcasses with similar characteristics and FA composition. Forty-eight Brahman, Charbray and Droughtmaster crossbred beef steers were backgrounded for 140 days on Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana) hay augmented with 0, 15, 30 or 45 percent desmanthus on dry matter basis. Lucerne (Medicago sativa) hay was added to the 0, 15 and 30 percent desmanthus diets to ensure that they were isonitrogenous with the 45 percent desmanthus diet. After backgrounding, the two heaviest steers in each pen were slaughtered and the rest were finished in the feedlot for 95 days before slaughter. Muscle biopsy samples were taken at the beginning and end of the backgrounding phase. Carcasses were sampled at slaughter for intramuscular fat (IMF) content, fat melting point (FMP) and FA composition analyses. Increasing the proportion of desmanthus in the diet led to a linear increase in docosanoic acid (p = 0.04) and omega-6/omega-3 polyunsaturated FA ratio (n-6/n-3 PUFA; p = 0.01), while docosahexaenoic acid decreased linearly (p = 0.01). Feedlot finishing increased hot carcass weight, subcutaneous fat depth at the P8 site and dressing percentage (p ≤ 0.04). The n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio was within the recommended < 5 for human diets. IMF was within the consumer-preferred ≥ 3% level for palatability. The hypothesis that steers backgrounded on isonitrogenous diets augmented with incremental proportions of desmanthus will produce similar carcass characteristics and FA composition was accepted. These findings indicate that a combination of tropical beef cattle backgrounding on desmanthus augmented forage and short-term feedlot finishing produces healthy and highly palatable meat

Single nucleotide polymorphisms in the fatty acid binding protein 4, fatty acid synthase and stearoyl-CoA desaturase genes influence carcass characteristics of tropical crossbred beef steers

This study explored the identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4), stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD), and fatty acid synthase (FASN) genes that may influence the carcass traits of tropical crossbred beef cattle. The hypothesis tested was that SNP in the FABP4, SCD, and FASN genes are associated with chiller-assessed carcass traits of tropically adapted northern Australian crossbred beef cattle. Fifty Bos indicus and Bos taurus crossbred steers were backgrounded on either buffel grass only, or buffel grass and desmanthus mixed pastures for 147 days and finished in a commercial feedlot for 110 days. Steers were slaughtered within 48 h of leaving the feedlot within a lairage period not exceeding 12 h and carcasses graded 12 h after slaughter. Next-generation sequencing of the FASN, FABP4, and SCD genes identified multiple SNP loci that were correlated and significantly associated with carcass traits. The FABP4 g.44677205A>G locus was significantly associated with hump height and correlated with loin eye muscle area (EMA; p A locus was associated with subcutaneous fat depth and marbling score (p < 0.05). The CC genotype had a higher subcutaneous fat depth and marbling score (p < 0.05) than the AA genotype. Significant correlations were observed between carcass marbling score and subcutaneous fat depth within the FASN SNP locus (p < 0.05). Therefore, the hypothesis that SNP in the FABP4, SCD, and FASN genes are associated with chiller-assessed carcass traits of tropically adapted northern Australian crossbred beef cattle was accepted. These findings suggest that SNP in the FABP4, SCD, and FASN genes may be used in carcass grading and meat quality improvement through marker-assisted selection of northern Australian crossbred beef cattle

Arthrospira platensis: a novel feed supplement improves meat eating quality of Australian lamb

Feeds and feeding account for a substantial cost of sheep production, hence the quest for alternative sources of nutrients that can facilitate fast growth in prime lambs without comprising meat eating quality is a continuous research endeavour. This study examined the effect of daily oral drenching of grazing prime lambs with a highly nutritious and edible blue-green microalga commonly referred to as Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) for nine weeks on meat eating quality and consumer acceptability. The prime lambs were weaners from Merino ewes sired by Dorset, White Suffolk, Black Suffolk and Merino rams randomly allocated to 3 levels of Spirulina supplementation (0, 10 and 20% wt/vol) with 8 lambs per treatment. The lambs were balanced by gender (ewes and wethers), body condition score (average of 3.1 ± 0.4) and body weight (average of 37.6 ± 5.2 kg). Lambs were slaughtered in a commercial abattoir and Longissimus dorsi muscle samples barbequed. A consumer tasting panel subjectively evaluated the sensory meat eating qualities of tenderness, juiciness, aroma, appearance and overall liking. The data were subjected to statistical analyses utilizing the GLM procedures in SAS with sire breed, sex, Spirulina level and their second-order interactions fitted as fixed effects and sire as a random variable. The consumer panel detected highly significant (p<0.001) differences in meat tenderness with the high supplementation group being the least tender (6.8 ± 0.2) compared with the low (7.6 ± 0.2) and control (8.0 ± 0.2) treatments out of a maximum possible score of 10. These results indicated that Spirulina supplementation at a 10% inclusion level produced leaner, healthier meats with relatively little impact on overall eating quality when compared with meat from animals at either 0% or 20% supplementation levels. This will enable prime Iamb producers to make informed decisions regarding the most economically viable use of Spirulina in their flock in targeting potential new niche markets. The study also supports the hypothesis that Spirulina lowers intramuscular fat levels and improves meat tenderness at low levels of supplementation without detrimental effects on eating quality