The Role of Individual Variables, Organizational Variables and Moral Intensity Dimensions in Libyan Management Accountants’ Ethical Decision Making

This study investigates the association of a broad set of variables with the ethical decision making of management accountants in Libya. Adopting a cross-sectional methodology, a questionnaire including four different ethical scenarios was used to gather data from 229 participants. For each scenario, ethical decision making was examined in terms of the recognition, judgment and intention stages of Rest’s model. A significant relationship was found between ethical recognition and ethical judgment and also between ethical judgment and ethical intention, but ethical recognition did not significantly predict ethical intention—thus providing support for Rest’s model. Organizational variables, age and educational level yielded few significant results. The lack of significance for codes of ethics might reflect their relative lack of development in Libya, in which case Libyan companies should pay attention to their content and how they are supported, especially in the light of the under-development of the accounting profession in Libya. Few significant results were also found for gender, but where they were found, males showed more ethical characteristics than females. This unusual result reinforces the dangers of gender stereotyping in business. Personal moral philosophy and moral intensity dimensions were generally found to be significant predictors of the three stages of ethical decision making studied. One implication of this is to give more attention to ethics in accounting education, making the connections between accounting practice and (in Libya) Islam. Overall, this study not only adds to the available empirical evidence on factors affecting ethical decision making, notably examining three stages of Rest’s model, but also offers rare insights into the ethical views of practising management accountants and provides a benchmark for future studies of ethical decision making in Muslim majority countries and other parts of the developing world

Optimisation of the air fraction correction for lung PET/CT: addressing resolution mismatch

Background: Increased pulmonary 18 F-FDG metabolism in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and other forms of diffuse parenchymal lung disease, can predict measurements of health and lung physiology. To improve PET quantification, voxel-wise air fractions (AF) determined from CT can be used to correct for variable air content in lung PET/CT. However, resolution mismatches between PET and CT can cause artefacts in the AF-corrected image. Methods: Three methodologies for determining the optimal kernel to smooth the CT are compared with noiseless simulations and non-TOF MLEM reconstructions of a patient-realistic digital phantom: (i) the point source insertion-and-subtraction method, hpts ; (ii) AF-correcting with varyingly smoothed CT to achieve the lowest RMSE with respect to the ground truth (GT) AF-corrected volume of interest (VOI), hAFC ; iii) smoothing the GT image to match the reconstruction within the VOI, hPVC . The methods were evaluated both using VOI-specific kernels, and a single global kernel optimised for the six VOIs combined. Furthermore, hPVC was implemented on thorax phantom data measured on two clinical PET/CT scanners with various reconstruction protocols. Results: The simulations demonstrated that at < 200 iterations (200 i), the kernel width was dependent on iteration number and VOI position in the lung. The hpts method estimated a lower, more uniform, kernel width in all parts of the lung investigated. However, all three methods resulted in approximately equivalent AF-corrected VOI RMSEs (<10%) at ≥ 200i. The insensitivity of AF-corrected quantification to kernel width suggests that a single global kernel could be used. For all three methodologies, the computed global kernel resulted in an AF-corrected lung RMSE <10% at ≥ 200i, while larger lung RMSEs were observed for the VOI–specific kernels. The global kernel approach was then employed with the hPVC method on measured data. The optimally smoothed GT emission matched the reconstructed image well, both within the VOI and the lung background. VOI RMSE was <10%, pre-AFC, for all reconstructions investigated. Conclusions: Simulations for non-TOF PET indicated that around 200i were needed to approach image resolution stability in the lung. In addition, at this iteration number, a single global kernel, determined from several VOIs, for AFC, performed well over the whole lung. The hPVC method has the potential to be used to determine the kernel for AFC from scans of phantoms on clinical scanners

Refining the impact of TCF7L2 gene variants on type 2 diabetes and adaptive evolution

To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links fieldWe recently described an association between risk of type 2diabetes and variants in the transcription factor 7-like 2 gene (TCF7L2; formerly TCF4), with a population attributable risk (PAR) of 17%-28% in three populations of European ancestry. Here, we refine the definition of the TCF7L2 type 2diabetes risk variant, HapB(T2D), to the ancestral T allele of a SNP, rs7903146, through replication in West African and Danish type 2 diabetes case-control studies and an expanded Icelandic study. We also identify another variant of the same gene, HapA, that shows evidence of positive selection in East Asian, European and West African populations. Notably, HapA shows a suggestive association with body mass index and altered concentrations of the hunger-satiety hormones ghrelin and leptin in males, indicating that the selective advantage of HapA may have been mediated through effects on energy metabolism

Intensive care admissions and outcomes associated with short-term exposure to ambient air pollution: a time series analysis.

PURPOSE: Short-term exposure to outdoor air pollution has been positively associated with numerous measures of acute morbidity and mortality, most consistently as excess cardiorespiratory disease associated with fine particulate matter (PM2.5), particularly in vulnerable populations. It is unknown if the critically ill, a vulnerable population with high levels of cardiorespiratory disease, is affected by air pollution. METHODS: We performed a time series analysis of emergency cardiorespiratory, stroke and sepsis intensive care (ICU) admissions for the years 2008-2016, using data from the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Adult Patient Database (ANZICS-APD). Case-crossover analysis was conducted to assess the relationship between air pollution and the frequency and severity of ICU admissions having adjusted for temperature, humidity, public holidays and influenza activity. RESULTS: 46,965 episodes in 87 separate ICUs were analysed. We found no statistically significant associations with admission counts. However, ICU admissions ending in death within 30 days were significantly positively associated with short-term exposure to PM2.5 [RR 1.18, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02-1.37, per 10 µg/m3 increase]. This association was more pronounced in those aged 65 and over (RR 1.33, 95% CI 1.11-1.58, per 10 µg/m3). CONCLUSIONS: Increased ICU mortality was associated with higher levels of PM2.5. Larger studies are required to determine if the frequency of ICU admissions is positively associated with short-term exposure to air pollution

Targeting cancer metabolism: a therapeutic window opens

Genetic events in cancer activate signalling pathways that alter cell metabolism. Clinical evidence has linked cell metabolism with cancer outcomes. Together, these observations have raised interest in targeting metabolic enzymes for cancer therapy, but they have also raised concerns that these therapies would have unacceptable effects on normal cells. However, some of the first cancer therapies that were developed target the specific metabolic needs of cancer cells and remain effective agents in the clinic today. Research into how changes in cell metabolism promote tumour growth has accelerated in recent years. This has refocused efforts to target metabolic dependencies of cancer cells as a selective anticancer strategy.Burroughs Wellcome FundSmith Family FoundationStarr Cancer ConsortiumDamon Runyon Cancer Research FoundationNational Institutes of Health (U.S.

Genetic Diversity and Ecological Niche Modelling of Wild Barley:Refugia, Large-Scale Post-LGM Range Expansion and Limited Mid-Future Climate Threats?

Describing genetic diversity in wild barley (Hordeum vulgare ssp. spontaneum) in geographic and environmental space in the context of current, past and potential future climates is important for conservation and for breeding the domesticated crop (Hordeum vulgare ssp. vulgare). Spatial genetic diversity in wild barley was revealed by both nuclear- (2,505 SNP, 24 nSSR) and chloroplast-derived (5 cpSSR) markers in 256 widely-sampled geo-referenced accessions. Results were compared with MaxEnt-modelled geographic distributions under current, past (Last Glacial Maximum, LGM) and mid-term future (anthropogenic scenario A2, the 2080s) climates. Comparisons suggest large-scale post-LGM range expansion in Central Asia and relatively small, but statistically significant, reductions in range-wide genetic diversity under future climate. Our analyses support the utility of ecological niche modelling for locating genetic diversity hotspots and determine priority geographic areas for wild barley conservation under anthropogenic climate change. Similar research on other cereal crop progenitors could play an important role in tailoring conservation and crop improvement strategies to support future human food security

Is Incarceration a Contributor to Health Disparities? Access to Care of Formerly Incarcerated Adults

Despite the disproportionate prevalence of incarceration in communities of color, few studies have examined its contribution to health disparities. We examined whether a lifetime history of incarceration is associated with recent access to medical and dental care. We performed a secondary data analysis of the 2007 Los Angeles County Health Survey, a population-based random-digit-dialing telephone survey of county households. Any history of incarceration in a prison/jail/detention center as an adult was assessed for a random subsample. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses examined whether incarceration history was associated with access to care, controlling for other characteristics. Ten percent of our study population reported a history of incarceration. While persons with an incarceration history were similar to their peers with regard to health and insurance status, their access to medical and dental care was worse. Incarceration history was independently associated with disparities in access to care. Interventions to improve the health of communities affected by high rates of incarceration could include efforts that enable access to care for formerly incarcerated adults

Enhancer of Zeste Homolog 2 Induces Pulmonary Artery Smooth Muscle Cell Proliferation

Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) is a progressively devastating disease characterized by excessive proliferation of the Pulmonary Arterial Smooth Muscle Cells (PASMCs). Studies suggest that PAH and cancers share an apoptosis-resistant state featuring excessive cell proliferation. The proliferation of cancer cells is mediated by increased expression of Enhancer of Zeste Homolog 2 (EZH2), a mammalian histone methyltransferase that contributes to the epigenetic silencing of target genes. However, the role of EZH2 in PAH has not been studied. In this study, it is hypothesized that EZH2 could play a role in the proliferation of PASMCs.In the present study, the expression patterns of EZH2 were investigated in normal and hypertensive mouse PASMCs. The effects of EZH2 overexpression on the proliferation of human PASMCs were tested. PASMCs were transfected with EZH2 or GFP using nucleofector system. After transfection, the cells were incubated for 48 hours at 37°C. Proliferation and cell cycle analysis were performed using flow cytometry. Apoptosis of PASMCs was determined using annexin V staining and cell migration was tested by wound healing assay.EZH2 protein expression in mouse PASMCs were correlated with an increase in right ventricular systolic pressure and Right Ventricular Hypertrophy (RVH). The overexpression of EZH2 in human PASMCs enhances proliferation, migration, and decrease in the rate of apoptosis when compared to GFP-transfected cells. In the G2/M phase of the EZH2 transfected cells, there was a 3.5 fold increase in proliferation, while there was a significant decrease in the rate of apoptosis of PASMCs, when compared to control.These findings suggest that EZH2 plays a role in the migration and proliferation of PASMCs, which is a major hallmark in PAH. It also suggests that EZH2 could play a role in the development of PAH and can serve as a potential target for new therapies for PAH