A review of governmental management accounting : research around the turn of the century

This paper shows that governmental management accounting research around the turn of the century, as published in FAM, MAR and EAR, is different from general management accounting research in some respects. Although there are variations related to topics, theories and research methods, a mainstream in governmental management accounting research seems to exist. Research is predominantly directed to the way in which technical management accounting innovations are used, including organizational and contextual factors that might influence the use of these new techniques. Qualitatively oriented case and field studies are the dominant research methods, and the research is inspired by various theoretical viewpoints, e.g. economics, organization theory and neo-institutional theory. NPM, regarded as a lower level economic theory, turns out to be highly influential. The paper gives recommendations for governmental management accounting research in the future: more attention has to be paid to quantitative research, impact studies on NPM must be promoted, and jointly conducted research projects by management accounting and public administration researchers are welcomed.

Factors influencing peak expiratory flow in teenage boys

Background. Peak expiratory flow (PEF) is a useful measure of pulmonary health status and is frequently utilised in asthm, management. Reduction in PEF is usually indicative of OIlS( of asthma symptoms. However, use can be made of PEF values only if normal values are known. The definition of normal range is always difficult and may vary between regions and be affected by a variety of factors.Objective. To establish PEF values for teenage boys in a Cape Town suburb and examine factors that possibly influence this measurement.Setting. A high school for boys in the southern suburbs of Cape Town.Methods. Measurements of PEF were taken for 124 boys. Subjects were approximately 16 years old and apparently healthy at the time of survey. Further details were provid by means of a questionnaire.Results. PEF ranged from 350 to 760 1/min, with a mean (± standard deviation (SD» of 539 ± 681/min. Factors expected to influence PEF included height and mass, where is unexpected factors included sport intensity and academic grade. A trend to reduced peak flow was already evident in boys who smoked and boys from homes where a parent smoked. Regression analysis suggested peak flow differenct.s in our population compared with the standard reference.Conclusion. Interpretation of results obtained from peak-flow instruments should take into account additional knowledge concerning the individual. Further surveys of the South African population and of different groups should be done to establish local standards and factors influencing PE

Application of regulatory sequence analysis and metabolic network analysis to the interpretation of gene expression data

We present two complementary approaches for the interpretation of clusters of co-regulated genes, such as those obtained from DNA chips and related methods. Starting from a cluster of genes with similar expression profiles, two basic questions can be asked: 1. Which mechanism is responsible for the coordinated transcriptional response of the genes? This question is approached by extracting motifs that are shared between the upstream sequences of these genes. The motifs extracted are putative cis-acting regulatory elements. 2. What is the physiological meaning for the cell to express together these genes? One way to answer the question is to search for potential metabolic pathways that could be catalyzed by the products of the genes. This can be done by selecting the genes from the cluster that code for enzymes, and trying to assemble the catalyzed reactions to form metabolic pathways. We present tools to answer these two questions, and we illustrate their use with selected examples in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The tools are available on the web (http://ucmb.ulb.ac.be/bioinformatics/rsa-tools/; http://www.ebi.ac.uk/research/pfbp/; http://www.soi.city.ac.uk/~msch/)

Embodied learning at a distance: From sensory-motor experience to constructing and understanding a sine graph

Educational technologies develop quickly. Which functions of face-to-face education can be substituted by technology for distance learning? One of the risks of online education is the lack of embodied interactions. We investigate what embodied interactive technologies might offer for teaching trigonometry when learning at a distance. In a multiple case study, we analyze the potential of embodied action-based design for fostering conceptual understanding of a sine graph. It appears that independent learning with tablet-based activities leads to acquiring new sensory-motor coordinations. Some students include these new embodied experiences into mathematical discourse and trigonometry problem solving themselves, while others still need some support from a teacher. However, distantly acquired embodied experiences can be easily recalled in a few days after learning and serve well as a substrate for further conceptualization and problem-solving. The results speak for a clear contribution that embodied design might provide for grounding conceptual understanding in distance learning. However, we expect embodied design to be particularly helpful in a blended learning format

Cavity ring down spectroscopy on solid C₆₀

The light absorption of a solid sample in the 8.5 μm region is measured via cavity ring down (CRD) absorption spectroscopy, using a free electron laser (FEL) as a source of widely tunable infrared (IR) radiation. A 3 mm thick zinc-selenide (ZnSe) window is used as a substrate for a 20–30 nm thick C60 film. On top of the structureless absorption due to ZnSe (60 is measured with monolayer sensitivity

Public sector controllership—reinventing the financial specialist as a countervailing power

Different types of ‘controllers’ can be distinguished in the public sector. The authors’ research indicates that public sector controllers acknowledge the distinctive characteristics of ‘hybrid’ controllers, but question some of the possible advantages of ‘pure’ controllers. This result could signal a decreasing share of pure controllers and thus a loss of financial expertise in the public sector. This article calls for the controller to be ‘re-invented’ as a professional who combines solid financial expertise with an independent and critical attitude towards overly ambitious politicians and managers. The general public’s support for public sector organizations could be enhanced if strong controllers counterbalance the sometimes too optimistic views of managers and politicians

Infrared Resonance Enhanced Multiphoton Ionization of Fullerenes

Gas-phase fullerenes are resonantly heated by a train of high power subpicosecond pulses from a free electron laser (FEL) to internal energies at which they efficiently undergo delayed ionization. When the laser is tuned from 6–20μm while the amount of laser produced parent ions is recorded, resonant absorption of 200–600 IR photons, resulting in almost fragmentation-free ion spectra, is observed. Infrared resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization with a FEL is shown to enable extremely sensitive IR spectroscopy with mass selective detection of gas-phase fullerenes