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Several studies have reported that adults with major depressive disorder have shorter telomere length and reduced hippocampal volumes. Moreover, studies of adult populations without major depressive disorder suggest a relationship between peripheral telomere length and hippocampal volume. However, the relationship of these findings in adolescents with major depressive disorder has yet to be explored. We examined whether adolescent major depressive disorder is associated with altered peripheral telomere length and hippocampal volume, and whether these measures relate to one another. In 54 unmedicated adolescents (13-18 years) with major depressive disorder and 63 well-matched healthy controls, telomere length was assessed from saliva using quantitative polymerase chain reaction methods, and bilateral hippocampal volumes were measured with magnetic resonance imaging. After adjusting for age and sex (and total brain volume in the hippocampal analysis), adolescents with major depressive disorder exhibited significantly shorter telomere length and significantly smaller right, but not left hippocampal volume. When corrected for age, sex, diagnostic group and total brain volume, telomere length was not significantly associated with left or right hippocampal volume, suggesting that these cellular and neural processes may be mechanistically distinct during adolescence. Our findings suggest that shortening of telomere length and reduction of hippocampal volume are already present in early-onset major depressive disorder and thus unlikely to be only a result of accumulated years of exposure to major depressive disorder.

This paper investigates the adaptive and maladaptive consequences of changes resulting from the commercialisation of Australian universities, specifically their accounting schools, and aims to identify the organisational changes triggered by competition that affect the growth of universities over time. The paper synthesises organisational learning theory, benchmarking theory, mimetic isomorphism and institutional theories, which are presented as "the Red Queen", itself an evolutionary theory; this synthesis provides the theoretical underpinning. The Red Queen theory posits that competition triggers organisational learning, which in turn intensifies competition in rivals that ultimately triggers an adaptive response. This self-reinforcing process produces results that may be adaptive or maladaptive. There is evidence to support that “running fast” in terms of Red Queen evolution theory has allowed some universities to place competitive pressure on rivals and achieve elite levels of publications, international accreditation and improved international rankings. This search for improvement, driven by commercialisation, provided ways to improve performance, thus improving the university’s competitive strength. There is also evidence to support the belief that “running slow” provides maladaptive consequences that could affect growth rates, quality and staff performance. The use of the Red Queen hypothesis provides an evolutionary approach to the study of strategy, strategic change and organisations. This provides an opportunity to examine competition in universities as a force that continually disturbs equilibrium.

The resin-in-pulp (RIP) approach largely reduces the complexity of an ion exchange-based primary recovery of metals from pregnant leach solutions and can help to realise safer and cleaner mining operations, whilst also challenging solvent extraction in economic terms. RIP puts a very high mechanical stress on the resin beads and its relatively high ion exchange resin consumption can impact the operational costs for this technology. While Dow Chemical Company’s current resins for RIP pass the ball mill test requirements for mechanical stability of resins, the company accepted the challenge of achieving enhanced mechanical stability that would reduce resin consumption, realising the impact an improved ion exchange resin would have on making mining operations more economical, environmentally benign and safer to operate. This contribution explains how Dow developed its newest generation of ion exchange resin, which shows excellent performance and makes today's toughest resins look comparatively weak., The resin-in-pulp (RIP) approach largely reduces the complexity of an ion exchange-based primary recovery of metals from pregnant leach solutions and can help to realise safer and cleaner mining operations, whilst also challenging solvent extraction in economic terms. RIP puts a very high mechanical stress on the resin beads and its relatively high ion exchange resin consumption can impact the operational costs for this technology. While Dow Chemical Company’s current resins for RIP pass the ball mill test requirements for mechanical stability of resins, the company accepted the challenge of achieving enhanced mechanical stability that would reduce resin consumption, realising the impact an improved ion exchange resin would have on making mining operations more economical, environmentally benign and safer to operate. This contribution explains how Dow developed its newest generation of ion exchange resin, which shows excellent performance and makes today's toughest resins look comparatively weak.

Value creation is at the heart of an economic enterprise, defining its capability to serve customers and generate profits and growth. This fact has led to an ever-increasing set of tools and techniques that start with customers, focusing on serving their preferences from the very inception of a product until its disposal. To date, most of these techniques have been only partially adopted in management accounting. This is unfortunate, because much of the data required to adequately implement a value creation approach has its roots in the Management Accounting System (MAS). The resulting model is called the Value Creation Model (VCM). This book is principally designed for managers who want to take the lessons learned in product development, process management, and marketing and extend it to their MAS. It seeks to make this transformation of the MAS both logical and easy to implement, with a focus on the new types of information that can be garnered when the MAS is modified to fit the value creation approach. After reading this book, a manager or executive will be equipped with the tools and techniques to both implement and use the VCM. The resulting information will allow the company to align its efforts by creating a common language which uses the transformed accounting language to compare, evaluate, and choose the best strategic and tactical options available. After making these choices, the VCM also allows managers to subsequently track how closely actual results come to the projected outcomes. The results and recommendations in this book are based on action field research, where the authors have personally supported the analysis and subsequent use of the data generated. The authors of the book will provide, upon request, a simplified automated data collection template that will ease the implementation process. In total, then, this book provides a unique perspective on the organization and creates an actionable common language that allows the unification of the con

Falls are a common and costly complication of hospitalization, particularly in older adult populations. This paper presents the results of a review of 139 falls at two older adult mental health services in Western Australia, Australia, over a 12-month period. Data were collected from the hospital incident report management system and from case file reviews of patients who sustained a fall during hospitalization. The results demonstrated that the use of different risk assessment and falls management tools led to variations in practice, policies, and management strategies. The review identified mental health-specific falls risk factors that place older people with a mental illness at risk when admitted to the acute mental health setting. With the expansion of community mental healthcare, many older people with a mental illness are now cared for in a variety of health-care settings. In assessing falls risk and implementing falls-prevention strategies, it is important for clinicians to recognize this group as an ambulant population with a fluctuating course of illness. They have related risks that require specialized falls assessment and management.

Purpose This paper fills the gap between defining and measuring the productive limits of a machine or system, and the impact of various assumptions about the productive potential of the nature and informativeness of capacity cost management systems. The authors focused on the various ways in which multi-dimensional limits (for example, time, space, volume and/or value-creating ability) can be used to define productive capacity. Specifically, this research suggests that the limits used in establishing the capacity cost management system restricts the amount and nature of the information the system is capable of providing to management.Justification Two reasons are identified for studying the impact of capacity measurements on organizations. First, firms which make the best use of their resources can be expected to outperform their competitors. The second arises from the potential structuration effect of capacity metrics. Such an investigation makes capacity a visible, and hence an actionable, construct.Design/Methodology To explore these issues, a combination of analytics and qualitative field research methodology was used. The measurement dimensions were developed by analyzing the different reports, baseline measures, and metrics included in the various capacity models as suggested by the literature. These analytics were enriched with observations obtained from field research.Findings Maximizing the value created within an organization starts with understanding the nature and capability of all the companys resources. The outcome is the identification of capacity systems specifically suited for particular types of operations, both manufacturing and service. Practical implications - Such frameworks would allow organisations in developing economies, to make visible, the drivers of waste and productivity and to identify the primary assumptions and implications of various capacity limits.

In 2001 the School of Business and Informatics at a small Australian university established a working party to implement particular intervention strategies designed to improve specific educational outcomes in its accounting degree program. These outcomes were the three core areas of the Graduate Careers Council of Australia’s Course Experience Questionnaire, (1) good teaching, (2) overall satisfaction, and (3) generic skills. Five areas were identified as areas for intervention, (1) the effective allocation of full-time staff, (2) the effective use of sessional staff, (3) greater commitment by sessional staff, (4) the introduction of common subject outlines, and (5) the proactive response to student evaluations. The results indicate a statistically significant improvement during 2003 in the three core areas: the Good Teaching Scale, the Overall Satisfaction Item, and the Generic Skills Scale.

This paper explores the impact of societal trends on cost practices, and the management techniques used to support business structures, within the United States. Specifically, the influence of the National Industrial Recovery Act [NIRA] on the development of the costing and pricing policies is explored from the perspective of social rule system theory. The premise of the paper is that the NIRA, as enforced through the symbol of the "Blue Eagle" displaced the free market economy in the United States. This resulted in a pseudo-competitive market structure where full cost recovery and the earning of a fair and reasonable profit became the basis for market pricing and business management. The displacement of the competitive market by the NIRA is argued to account for the apparent loss of relevance in modern costing theory and practice during the mid- to latter part of the twentieth century. It is also contended that these practices may have enhanced the shocks to the U.S. economic associated with the global marketplace. The paper concludes by suggesting that relevant management accounting theory has to be reconstructed within a competitive market framework that reflects key drivers of competitive advantage.

The objective of this research is to develop a conceptual framework based on classical institutional theory to explain the key drivers or mechanisms behind the adoption and use of the business practice of benchmarking. The paper commences with the development of a conceptual view of benchmarking placing the four dimensions of benchmarking on a continuum from passive to active actions that improve performance. This is followed by the development of a construct for investigation using institutional theory through its major components, organisational isomorphism and organisational legitimacy and their drivers. Overlaying the conceptual view of benchmarking and the institutional theory construct a conceptual crossover is developed identifying the specific drivers of institutional theory and their relevant benchmarking dimension. In so doing the study provides a base that creates meaning and significance through linking the subjective and objective realms of theory and practice. This, in part, answers the critics who argue that managerial accounting research focuses on the description of business practices and has failed in developing appropriate theories. It also provides a model to test the institutional theory/benchmarking relationships.

Over the past few years, criticisms, that many of the management accounting techniques of the last decade lack integrated theories that provide a deeper explanation of the technical phenomena constructed, have been levelled by management accounting researchers. The implications of the conclusions drawn by Ittner and Larcker (2001) and Zimmerman (2001), that research relating to practitioner-oriented techniques has neglected the broader theoretical context, is challenged by reference to existing theoretical concepts that provide this underpinning and through this a more complete understanding of the technique. One recent technique developed has been Kaplan and Norton’s strategic balanced scorecard, to which this paper relates the theoretical concepts of cybernetics, specifically the work of Maruyama. Three fundamental characteristics of cybernetics theory are identified; causal relationships, communication and change. These are compared to the practical formulation of the strategic balanced scorecard. It is argued that these characteristics are common in the theory and in the practice and fit the contemporary description of theory as they explain and predict the reality of the strategic balanced scorecard, create meaning, are well constructed, and link the subjective and objective realms of experience.