Statistical modelling for precision agriculture: A case study in optimal environmental schedules for Agaricus Bisporus production via variable domain functional regression

Quantifying the effects of environmental factors over the duration of the growing process on Agaricus Bisporus (button mushroom) yields has been difficult, as common functional data analysis approaches require fixed length functional data. The data available from commercial growers, however, is of variable duration, due to commercial considerations. We employ a recently proposed regression technique termed Variable-Domain Functional Regression in order to be able to accommodate these irregular-length datasets. In this way, we are able to quantify the contribution of covariates such as temperature, humidity and water spraying volumes across the growing process, and for different lengths of growing processes. Our results indicate that optimal oxygen and temperature levels vary across the growing cycle and we propose environmental schedules for these covariates to optimise overall yields

Corporate Governance “Bundles” and Firm Acquisitiveness

Research Question/Issue We explore how the interrelations of governance mechanisms (“bundles”) influence a firm's propensity for corporate acquisitions. Focusing on four key internal and external mechanisms, namely, board of directors monitoring, CEO pay incentives, takeover market discipline, and institutional investor monitoring, we use a sample of 1171 completed M&A deals by 799 U.S. firms during the period 1998–2015 to test the Substitution versus Complementarity Hypotheses. Research Findings/Insights The findings provide, in the main, support for both the Substitution and the Complementarity Hypotheses, with several incentives alignment, internal and external monitoring mechanisms acting as substitutes and complements of each other toward firm acquisitiveness. Theoretical/Academic Implications Our results challenge the notion that corporate governance mechanisms purely function as independent factors and contribute to the configurational perspective of corporate governance. They offer new evidence that combinations or “bundles” of firm-level governance mechanisms can allow for differing degrees of firm acquisitiveness. Practitioner/Policy Implications Different governance “bundles” will have different implications for major strategic decisions such as corporate acquisitions. Firms seeking to control or increase acquisition propensity can thus consider “equifinal” governance configurations, whereby alternative combinations of governance mechanisms can lead to comparable, desired outcomes

Perceptions and images of “typical” Australian dishes: An exploratory study

The research investigates the perceived images that ‘typical’ Australian dishes evoke in the minds of consumers, including words they associate to describe typical Australian dishes. A questionnaire designed and distributed among undergraduate students at various universities yielded 561 usable responses. Three predominant responses, grilled/barbequed meats, steaks, and meat pies associated typical Australian dishes with; in addition, Australian dishes evoked four different images among respondents: positive, related to specific images (e.g., barbequed foods), neutral, negative, and food related. Overall, the findings underline limited knowledge. Consumer education could help broaden understanding, with resulting enhanced images of the country’s culinary attributes

Role of cell migration in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis: in vivo studies in SCID mice transplanted with human synovial membrane

Objective: adhesion mechanisms play a central role in the recruitment of leukocytes which characteristically infiltrate rheumatoid synovium. Therefore, we adapted an animal model, in which human rheumatoid synovium was transplanted into severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice, to study the effects of Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α) in modulating leukocyte migration and to investigate the chemotactic potential of Stromal Derived Factor-1α (SDF-1α). Materials and Methods: human synovium samples, obtained from patients undergoing joint replacement, were divided into two parts. One was analysed by immunohistology and the other was implanted subcutaneously into SCID mice under general anaesthesia. Four weeks post-transplantation, grafts were injected with optimal dose of SDF-1, TNF-α or saline (negative control). At the same time, animals were injected iv with fluorescently labelled cells. 48 hours later mice were sacrificed and grafts removed for cryo-hystology. The number of cells migrating to the grafts was determined by UV-microscopy and the results expressed as cells per high power field. Results and Conclusions: in these studies we provide the evidence that: 1) the animal model, in which human tissues are grafted into SCID mice, can be used to study cell migration under controlled experimental conditions (1); 2) direct intragraft injection of TNF-α increases lymphocytes migration and up-regulates the expression of human adhesion molecules (CAMs) (1) and 3) SDF-1α injected intragraft increases the migration of the pro-myelo-monocytic U937 cells to synovial transplants, even more efficiently than TNF-α, but without modifications of CAMs' expression (2)