Potentially dysfunctional impacts of harmonising accounting standards: the case of intangible assets

Intangible Assets as a category within accounting and reporting disclosures have become far more noticeable in recent years, including large amounts associated with brands, mastheads, franchises, and patents. Many of these items are not purchased but internally generated within the organisation, and may account for much of the difference in magnitude between book value and market capitalisation. The International Accounting Standards Committee has recently issued IAS 38 to regulate the reporting of intangible assets, and includes therein the prohibition of those intangible assets, which have been internally generated. This prohibition would cut across recently developed practices in Australia and New Zealand. The problem is compounded by an increasingly close relationship between IASs and the national standards of both Australia and New Zealand, making it very likely that the problem areas within IAS 38 will be transferred to the national standards. This paper examines the areas within IAS 38, which are likely to lead to undesirable consequences, both for internally generated intangible assets but also in terms of the reinforcement of somewhat conservative aspects of financial accounting including historical cost and the inhibiting effects on new developments generally. The possible compounding effects of an expectations gap between the traditional and expected role of financial statements is briefly examined as a possible explanation of the divergence of opinion between different groups involved in the development of accounting standards and reports

Operating Leverage over the Business Cycle

Operating leverage describes the extent to which a firm's operating costs are fixed in the short run. The effect of operating leverage is to amplify the impact on profit of a change in revenues; an effect which is further amplified by financial leverage and by asymmetry in the tax system. In this paper we provide empirical estimates of operating leverage at the firm level, using a long panel of data on UK quoted firms. We report sectoral differences in operating leverage around the business cycle, and show that these can be partly explained in terms of costly labour adjustment and asymmetric price adjustment

Labeless and reversible immunosensor assay based upon an electrochemical current-transient protocol

A novel labeless and reversible immunoassay based upon an electrochemical current-transient protocol is reported which offers many advantages in comparison to classical immuno-biochemical analyses in terms of simplicity, speed of response, reusability and possibility of multiple determinations. Conducting polypyrrole films containing antibodies against 1) Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) and 2) Digoxin were deposited on the surface of platinum electrodes to produce conductive affinity matrices having clearly defined binding characteristics. The deposition process has been investigated using 125I labelled anti-digoxin to determine optimal fabrication protocols. Antibody integrity and activity, together with non-specific binding of antigen on the conducting matrix have also been investigated using tritiated digoxin to probe polypyrrole/anti-digoxin films. Amperometric responses to digoxin were recorded in flow conditions using these films, but the technique was limited in use mainly due to baseline instability. Anti-BSA - polypyrrole matrices were investigated in more detail in both flow and quiescent conditions. No observable response was found in flow conditions, however under quiescent conditions (in non-stirred batch cell), anti-BSA – polypyrrole films have been demonstrated to function as novel quantitative chronoamperometric immuno-biosensors when interrogated using a pulsed potential waveform. The behaviour of the electrodes showed that the antibody/antigen binding and/or interaction process underlying the response observed was reversible in nature, indicating that the electrodes could be used for multiple sensing protocols. Calibration profiles for BSA demonstrated linearity for a concentration range of 0-50 ppm but tended towards a plateau at higher concentrations. Factors relating to replicate sensor production, sample measurement and reproducibility are discuss

Noncommutative geometry, topology and the standard model vacuum

As a ramification of a motivational discussion for previous joint work, in which equations of motion for the finite spectral action of the Standard Model were derived, we provide a new analysis of the results of the calculations herein, switching from the perspective of Spectral triple to that of Fredholm module and thus from the analogy with Riemannian geometry to the pre-metrical structure of the Noncommutative geometry. Using a suggested Noncommutative version of Morse theory together with algebraic $K$-theory to analyse the vacuum solutions, the first two summands of the algebra for the finite triple of the Standard Model arise up to Morita equivalence. We also demonstrate a new vacuum solution whose features are compatible with the physical mass matrix.Comment: 24 page

The Baum-Connes Conjecture via Localisation of Categories

We redefine the Baum-Connes assembly map using simplicial approximation in the equivariant Kasparov category. This new interpretation is ideal for studying functorial properties and gives analogues of the assembly maps for all equivariant homology theories, not just for the K-theory of the crossed product. We extend many of the known techniques for proving the Baum-Connes conjecture to this more general setting

Graphene-based LbL deposited films: further study of electrical and gas sensing properties

Graphene-surfactant composite materials obtained by the ultrasonic exfoliation of graphite powder in the presence of ionic surfactants (either CTAB or SDS) were utilised to construct thin films using layer-by-layer (LbL) electrostatic deposition technique. A series of graphene-based thin films were made by alternating layers of either graphene-SDS with polycations (PEI or PAH) or graphene-CTAB with polyanions (PSS). Also, graphene-phthalocyanine composite films were produced by alternating layers of graphene-CTAB with tetrasulfonated nickel phthalocyanine. Graphene-surfactant LbL films exhibited good electric conductivity (about 0.1 S/cm) of semiconductor type with a band gap of about 20 meV. Judging from UV-vis spectra measurements, graphene-phthalocyanine LbL films appeared to form joint π-electron system. Gas sensing testing of such composite films combining high conductivity of graphene with the gas sensing abilities of phthalocyanines showed substantial changes (up to 10%) in electrical conductivity upon exposure to electro-active gases such as HCl and NH3

Graphene-based LbL deposited films: further study of electrical and gas sensing properties

Graphene-surfactant composite materials obtained by the ultrasonic exfoliation of graphite powder in the presence of ionic surfactants (either CTAB or SDS) were utilised to construct thin films using layer-by-layer (LbL) electrostatic deposition technique. A series of graphene-based thin films were made by alternating layers of either graphene-SDS with polycations (PEI or PAH) or graphene-CTAB with polyanions (PSS). Also, graphene-phthalocyanine composite films were produced by alternating layers of graphene-CTAB with tetrasulfonated nickel phthalocyanine. Graphene-surfactant LbL films exhibited good electric conductivity (about 0.1 S/cm) of semiconductor type with a band gap of about 20 meV. Judging from UV-vis spectra measurements, graphene-phthalocyanine LbL films appeared to form joint π-electron system. Gas sensing testing of such composite films combining high conductivity of graphene with the gas sensing abilities of phthalocyanines showed substantial changes (up to 10%) in electrical conductivity upon exposure to electro-active gases such as HCl and NH3

The contribution model:a school-level funding model

Over a number of years, as the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)'s funding models became more transparent, Aston University was able to discover how its funding for teaching and research was calculated. This enabled calculations to be made on the funds earned by each school in the University, and Aston Business School (ABS) in turn to develop models to calculate the funds earned by its programmes and academic groups. These models were a 'load' and a 'contribution' model. The 'load' model records the weighting of activities undertaken by individual members of staff; the 'contribution' model is the means by which funds are allocated to academic units. The 'contribution' model is informed by the 'load' model in determining the volume of activity for which each academic unit is to be funded