AI and ML in accounting and finance: A bibliometric review

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are two related technologies in accounting and finance studies. This study maps the conceptual structure of AI and ML research with the aim of contributing to a better understanding of this research stream. A bibliometric analysis of 3,836 documents on ai and ML retrieved from the Web of Science database is conducted. The analysis of descriptive performance indicators identifies the main traits of the scientific debate about AI and ML in terms of publications, productive countries and sources. To map the conceptual structure of the dataset, the study performs a thematic evolution. The results highlight the growing academic interest in the research topic, especially in the past few years. The results of this study may provide scholars with a better understanding of AI and ML research in accounting and finance. This paper contributes to the field by providing an examination of the current state of the art of AI e ML research and identifying possible future research directions

AI and ML in accounting and finance: A bibliometric review

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are two related technologies in accounting and finance studies. This study maps the conceptual structure of AI and ML research with the aim of contributing to a better understanding of this research stream. A bibliometric analysis of 3,836 documents on ai and ML retrieved from the Web of Science database is conducted. The analysis of descriptive performance indicators identifies the main traits of the scientific debate about AI and ML in terms of publications, productive countries and sources. To map the conceptual structure of the dataset, the study performs a thematic evolution. The results highlight the growing academic interest in the research topic, especially in the past few years. The results of this study may provide scholars with a better understanding of AI and ML research in accounting and finance. This paper contributes to the field by providing an examination of the current state of the art of AI e ML research and identifying possible future research directions

Post-Messinian evolutionary relationships across the Sicilian channel: Mitochondrial and nuclear markers link a new green toad from Sicily to African relatives

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Little attention has been paid to the consequences of the last landbridge between Africa and Sicily on Mediterranean biogeography. Previous paleontological and scarce molecular data suggest possible faunal exchange later than the well-documented landbridge in the Messinian (5.3 My); however, a possible African origin of recent terrestrial Sicilian fauna has not been thoroughly tested with molecular methods. To gain insight into the phylogeography of the region, we examine two mitochondrial and two nuclear markers (one is a newly adapted intron marker) in green toads (<it>Bufo viridis </it>subgroup) across that sea barrier, the Strait of Sicily.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Extensive sampling throughout the western Mediterranean and North Africa revealed a deep sister relationship between Sicilian (<it>Bufo siculus </it>n.sp.) and African green toads (<it>B. boulengeri</it>) on the mitochondrial and nuclear level. Divergence times estimated under a Bayesian-coalescence framework (mtDNA control region and 16S rRNA) range from the Middle Pliocene (3.6 My) to Pleistocene (0.16 My) with an average (1.83 to 2.0 My) around the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary, suggesting possible land connections younger than the Messinian (5.3 My). We describe green toads from Sicily and some surrounding islands as a new endemic species (<it>Bufo siculus</it>). <it>Bufo balearicus </it>occurs on some western Mediterranean islands (Corsica, Sardinia, Mallorca, and Menorca) and the Apennine Peninsula, and is well differentiated on the mitochondrial and nuclear level from <it>B. siculus </it>as well as from <it>B. viridis </it>(Laurenti), whose haplotype group reaches northeastern Italy, north of the Po River. Detection of Calabrian <it>B. balearicus </it>haplotypes in northeastern Sicily suggests recent invasion. Our data agree with paleogeographic and fossil data, which suggest long Plio-Pleistocene isolation of Sicily and episodic Pleistocene faunal exchange across the Strait of Messina. It remains unknown whether both species (<it>B. balearicus, B. siculus</it>) occur in sympatry in northern Sicily.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our findings on green toads give the first combined mitochondrial and nuclear sequence evidence for a phylogeographic connection across the Strait of Sicily in terrestrial vertebrates. These relationships may have implications for comparative phylogeographic research on other terrestrial animals co-occurring in North Africa and Sicily.</p

HLA-E gene polymorphism associates with ankylosing spondylitis in Sardinia

Abstract INTRODUCTION: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a severe, chronic inflammatory disease strongly associated with HLA-B27. The presence of additional HLA risk factors has been suggested by several studies. The aim of the current study is to assess the occurrence of an additional HLA susceptibility locus in the region between HLA-E and HLA-C in the Sardinian population. METHODS: 200 random controls, 120 patients with AS and 175 HLA-B27 positive controls were genotyped for six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) spanning the HLA region between HLA-E and HLA-C loci previously shown to harbour an additional susceptibility locus for AS. Allele, genotype and haplotype frequencies were compared. RESULTS: The data confirm our previous finding of a significant increase in patients with AS of allele A at SNP rs1264457 encoding for an Arg at the functional HLA-E polymorphism (Arg128/Gly128). This was due to a remarkable increase in the frequency of genotype A/A in patients vs HLA-B27-matched controls (51% vs 29%; P for trend: 5 x 10-5). Genotype distribution of three other SNPs mapping in genes (GNL1, PRR3 and ABCF-1) close to HLA-E and showing high LD with it, was also significantly skewed. Accordingly, haplotype distribution was also remarkably different. The frequency of the haplotype AAGA, is 42% in random controls, increases to 53% in the HLA-B27-positive controls, and reaches 68% in patients with AS (P values: 2 x 10-11 vs random and 3 x 10-4 vs HLA-B27 controls). CONCLUSIONS: There is a strong association between the presence of a haplotype in genes mapping between HLA-E and HLA-C and AS due to an increase of homozygous markers in patients. The strongest association however, is with the HLA-E functional polymorphism rs1264457. Since HLA-E is the ligand for the NKG2A receptor, these data point to the natural killer (NK) activity as possible player in the pathogenesis of AS

Novel Mechanisms of Tumor Promotion by the Insulin Receptor Isoform A in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Cells

The insulin receptor isoform A (IR-A) plays an increasingly recognized role in fetal growth and tumor biology in response to circulating insulin and/or locally produced IGF2. This role seems not to be shared by the IR isoform B (IR-B). We aimed to dissect the specific impact of IR isoforms in modulating insulin signaling in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells. We generated murine 4T1 TNBC cells deleted from the endogenous insulin receptor (INSR) gene and expressing comparable levels of either human IR-A or IR-B. We then measured IR isoform-specific in vitro and in vivo biological effects and transcriptome in response to insulin. Overall, the IR-A was more potent than the IR-B in mediating cell migration, invasion, and in vivo tumor growth. Transcriptome analysis showed that approximately 89% of insulin-stimulated transcripts depended solely on the expression of the specific isoform. Notably, in cells overexpressing IR-A, insulin strongly induced genes involved in tumor progression and immune evasion including chemokines and genes related to innate immunity. Conversely, in IR-B overexpressing cells, insulin predominantly induced the expression of genes primarily involved in the regulation of metabolic pathways and, to a lesser extent, tumor growth and angiogenesis

The 2020 Italian Society of Arterial Hypertension (SIIA) practical guidelines for the management of primary aldosteronism

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Chromosomal contacts connect loci associated with autism, BMI and head circumference phenotypes

Copy number variants (CNVs) are major contributors to genomic imbalance disorders. Phenotyping of 137 unrelated deletion and reciprocal duplication carriers of the distal 16p11.2 220 kb BP2-BP3 interval showed that these rearrangements are associated with autism spectrum disorders and mirror phenotypes of obesity/underweight and macrocephaly/microcephaly. Such phenotypes were previously associated with rearrangements of the non-overlapping proximal 16p11.2 600 kb BP4-BP5 interval. These two CNV-prone regions at 16p11.2 are reciprocally engaged in complex chromatin looping, as successfully confirmed by 4C-seq, fluorescence in situ hybridization and Hi-C, as well as coordinated expression and regulation of encompassed genes. We observed that genes differentially expressed in 16p11.2 BP4-BP5 CNV carriers are concomitantly modified in their chromatin interactions, suggesting that disruption of chromatin interplays could participate in the observed phenotypes. We also identified cis- and trans-acting chromatin contacts to other genomic regions previously associated with analogous phenotypes. For example, we uncovered that individuals with reciprocal rearrangements of the trans-contacted 2p15 locus similarly display mirror phenotypes on head circumference and weight. Our results indicate that chromosomal contacts’ maps could uncover functionally and clinically related genes.Molecular Psychiatry advance online publication, 31 May 2016; doi:10.1038/mp.2016.84