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This study draws on Simons' levers of control model to explore how companies rely on the balanced use of diagnostic and interactive performance measurement systems (PMS) to translate corporate social responsibility (CSR) into superior performance. Data were collected based on a survey data set from 98 CFOs of public listed companies in Iran. The theoretical model was tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS‐SEM, SmartPLS 3.0), which enjoys minimum demands concerning normality assumptions and sample size. The findings show that CSR is positively associated with PMS and organizational performance. Moreover, CSR is indirectly related to organizational performance through the mediating effect of PMS. This study extends the previous literature by simultaneously incorporating resource orchestration theory in the management accounting and CSR settings. The findings provide further insights into the issue of how adopting proper management control mechanisms (e.g., balanced use of PMS) can support organizations in orchestrating the social, environmental, and economic impacts more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study relies on a unique synthesis of ambidexterity theory and the natural resource orchestration approach to investigate how green intellectual capital elements, namely green human, structural, and relational capital, along with ambidextrous green innovation, trigger a synergy in favor of environmental performance. In particular, this paper primarily aims to test the mediating role of ambidextrous green innovation in the relationship between green intellectual capital and environmental performance. Based on a survey of 105 Iranian public listed companies, the results indicate that green intellectual capital elements are not directly associated with environmental performance. Instead, they influence environmental performance only through the channel of ambidextrous green innovation as a mediating variable. This is the first study to simultaneously embed the resource orchestration theory in the green intellectual capital and ambidexterity literature. The findings of the current study offer new insights into the issue of how organizations gain maximum benefit from the orchestration of their various green assets and capabilities, including green intellectual capital and ambidextrous green innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of penalties assessed to publicly traded firms by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Specifically, we look at whether there is an impact on earnings for firms that were fined by the EPA. There are two competing predictions regarding the impact of environmental penalties on earnings. Either there is no negative impact because firms allocate allowances for regulatory breaches or there is a negative impact because investors and stockholders have a preference to invest in efficient firms. This study contributes to the extant literature examining improvements in the business decision making related to corporate environmental management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compared whole exome sequencing (WES, n = 176 patients) and whole genome sequencing (WGS, n = 68) and clinical genotyping (DMET array-based approach) for interrogating 13 genes with Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium (CPIC) guidelines. We focused on 127 CPIC important variants: 103 single nucleotide variations (SNV), 21 insertion/deletions (Indel), HLA-B alleles, and two CYP2D6 structural variations. WES and WGS provided interrogation of nonoverlapping sets of 115 SNV/Indels with call rate >98%. Among 68 loci interrogated by both WES and DMET, 64 loci (94.1%, confidence interval [CI]: 85.6-98.4%) showed no discrepant genotyping calls. Among 66 loci interrogated by both WGS and DMET, 63 loci (95.5%, CI: 87.2-99.0%) showed no discrepant genotyping calls. In conclusion, even without optimization to interrogate pharmacogenetic variants, WES and WGS displayed potential to provide reliable interrogation of most pharmacogenes and further validation of genome sequencing in a clinical lab setting is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accounting research provides theory and evidence on the choice and use of subjective performance measures for evaluating managerial performance. However, accounting research does not focus on the subjective performance measurement of managerial behaviour once measures have been chosen. We extend accounting research by investigating the factors that influence the subjective performance measurement decision. We predict that the level of subjective performance measurement is influenced by the informativeness of financial performance measures and by the verifiability of the nonfinancial measures in a formula-based incentive plan. We expect that the measures' informativeness and verifiability depends on the observability of both the managerial behaviour being subjectively measured and the reliability of the financial and nonfinancial performance measures. More specifically, we hypothesize that the influence of the levels of the financial performance measures on the level of subjective performance measurement is moderated by the observability of either the managerial behaviour being measured (for the financial measures) or the performance measures' reliability (for the nonfinancial measures). Data from a firm provide support for our hypotheses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate hospital patients' reports of undesirable events in their health care., Design: Cross-sectional mixed methods design., Participants: A total of 80 medical and surgical patients (mean age 58, 56 male)., Intervention: Patients were interviewed post-discharge using a survey to assess patient reports of errors or problems in their care. Patients' medical records and notes were also reviewed., Main Outcome Measures: Frequency of health care process problems, medical complications and interpersonal problems, and patient willingness to report an undesirable event in their care., Results: In total, 258 undesirable events were reported (rate of 3.2 per person), including 136 interpersonal problems, 90 medical complications and 32 health care process problems. Patients identified a number of events that were reported in the medical records (30 out of 36). In addition, patients reported events that were not recorded in the medical records. Patients were more willing (P < 0.05) to report undesirable events to a researcher (as in the present case) than to a local or national reporting system., Conclusion: Patients appear able to report undesirable events that occur in their health care management over and above those that are recorded in their medical records. However, patients appear more willing to report these incidents for the purpose of a study rather than to an established incident reporting system. Interventions aimed at educating and encouraging patients about incident reporting systems need to be developed in order to enhance this important contribution patients could make to improving patient safety., (© 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Chronic transfusion therapy is used clinically to supply healthy erythrocytes for patients with sickle cell anemia (SCA) or beta-thalassemia major (TM). Despite the benefits of red blood cell transfusions, chronic transfusions lead to iron accumulation in key tissues such as the heart, liver, and endocrine glands. Transfusion-acquired iron overload is recognized as a cause of morbidity and mortality among patients receiving chronic transfusions. At present, there is little understanding of molecular events that occur during transfusional iron loading and the reasons for the large inter-individual variation observed clinically in transfusion-acquired iron accumulation. To address these issues, we examined whether any liver-expressed genes in SCA or TM patients with transfusional iron overload were associated with the degree of iron accumulation. Specifically, we performed microarray analysis on liver biopsy specimens comparing SCA patients with mild or severe iron overload and also compared SCA with TM patients. Fifteen candidate genes were identified with significantly differential expression between the high and low liver iron concentrations. SCA patients and 20 candidate genes were detected between the SCA and TM patient comparison. Subsequent quantitative PCR experiments validated 12 candidate genes; with GSTM1, eIF5a, SULF2, NTS, and HO-1 being particularly good prospects as genes that might affect the degree of iron accumulation. Future work will determine the baseline expression of these genes prior to transfusional iron overload and elucidate the full impact of these genes on the inter-individual variation observed clinically in transfusion-acquired iron accumulation.

Claims for malpractice and medical negligence are a potentially important source of information on the causes of harm to patients and have provided valuable lessons in the past. However today, with many additional sources of information and methods of analysis, the role of claims analysis needs to be reappraised. We consider the role of claims analysis in relation to other methods of studying adverse outcomes, review previous studies of claims and summarize the findings of four recent British specialty claims reviews. Claims analysis has a number of inherent limitations. We suggest that there is now no case for ad hoc claims reviews which rely on data that have been assembled for legal purposes only. Claims review is still potentially useful for rare events or in cases where other sources of data are not available. However, future claims reviews need to meet basic criteria before being undertaken; these include prospective identification of the relevant questions and variables, adequacy and completeness of the data set, availability of expert reviewers and clear protocols for review.

A family is described in which two members (a father and a daughter), both with quiescent ulcerative colitis, had abnormally high serum concentrations of a vitamin B12 binding protein. This protein had the molecular weight of transcobalamin II on gel filtration, and behaved like transcobalamin II with respect to its elution from DE-23 cellulose, its inhibition at acid pH, its absorption by uncoated charcoal, its binding by anti-TC II antibodies, and its ability to transfer vitamin B12 to transformed lymphocytes. Its plasma clearance and tissue distribution when injected into rabbits was indistinguishable from that of transcobalamin II from normal subjects. It migrated on electrophoresis in the beta, gamma region. This is the first case report of related subjects in whom high serum concentrations of transcobalamin II have been observed.