Value relevance of accounting information in selected Middle East countries

In the past, stock markets in the Middle East have been widely ignored by international investors due to imposed limitations on foreign stock ownership, the lack of common accounting standards and corporate transparency, or they have been simply dismissed on the basis of economic and political uncertainty. Currently, most of the Middle East countries had some economic reforms and structural adjustment programs (e.g. changes on institutional setting and regulations such as establishing security market regulation, investor protections, trading rules based on shared regulatory responsibility, etc.). Following improvements in financial markets, the Middle East accounting standards have also been reformed to improve the quality of accounting information. Thus, the role of the Middle East stock exchanges have recently become more effective in the international financial system due to the efforts made to increase development in the areas of financial markets, accounting and economic growth. Despite their effective role, the review of literature showed that there is no comprehensive study to identify the value relevance of accounting information and effects of accounting reforms in this region. This study investigates the value relevance of accounting information through three main objectives a) determine the value relevance of accounting information in selected Middle Eastern countries, b) investigate the effect of reform and enforcement of accounting standards in the selected Middle East markets and c) investigate the effect of different classifications of transaction on value relevance of cash flow statement in the Middle Eastern countries. The study uses both the regression-variations and the portfolio-returns approaches to measure the value relevance. Using both approaches provides different perspective on the issue of value relevance of accounting information. Overall, the findings in selected countries showed that firstly, accounting information in all of selected countries is value relevant. Secondly, the results for each country showed, there is a significant difference in value relevance between the periods before and after reform. In other words, accounting standards reforms had impact on the value relevance of accounting information in all of the selected countries. The results showed that accounting standards reforms have improved value relevance of accounting information in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia’s stock exchanges, while for the UAE and Iran reforms did not improve value relevance of accounting information. The results of control variables for selected countries indicated difference in value relevance of accounting information in large and small companies. Findings also revealed greater value relevancy of accounting information of small companies in Bahrain, UAE, and Iran than the large companies, whereas for Saudi Arabia the results are reverse. Results in selected countries revealed differences in value relevance of accounting information in different industries. The results also indicated that information content of cash flow statements based on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is more value relevant than statement based on the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). Overall, the relevancy of accounting information in selected countries is consistent with the literature. Inconsistent with expectations, the reforms initiated in different countries to improve quality of selected financial information did improve value relevance in only some countries

Accounting in the fourth industrial revolution: Exploration of digital currency exchanges using AHP method

Purpose: The present study aimed to analyze and select the best exchange in the field of digital currencies with a futuristic perspective. Research methodology: The research method in this article is to use Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each of these exchanges and analyze their coefficients according to the criteria of security, support, commission, number of currency codes, authentication, and trading volume. Results: The most important criteria in choosing the best digital currency exchange are: security, support, commission, number of currency codes, authentication and trading volume. Limitations: The limitations of this research can be the characteristics of digital exchanges in the field of providing digital currency cryptographic services in accordance with the framework of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Contribution: According to the weight of the obtained criteria will be prioritized, which from the results and analysis obtained in this research can be used to invest in the field of currency cryptography and select the top exchange

Prevalence of extended spectrum β-Lactamase producing Escherichia coli among hospitalized and outpatient children in Shohada Hospital in Qaen during 2017-2018

Background: Antibiotic resistance in pathogens, especially Escherichia coli, has become a major treatment issue. One of the most common resistance mechanisms is the production of extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) enzymes. Given the importance of the ESBL-producing bacteria, it is necessary to determine their prevalence in each region. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of ESBL-producing E. coli in pediatric hospitalized patients and outpatients in Shohada Hospital in Qaen city. Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 223 samples of E. coli obtained from two groups of hospitalized patients and outpatients in Shohada Hospital in Qaen city. To confirm the E. coli strains, selective culture media and biochemical tests were used. The antibiotic susceptibility of the strains was determined by the disk diffusion method, and detection of the ESBL phenotype strains was performed by the combined disk method. Results: The prevalence of ESBL-producing E. coli was 30. Also, the prevalence rates of ESBL-producing E. coli in hospitalized patients and outpatients were 50 and 24.4, respectively. The ESBL strains showed the highest resistance to ceftriaxone, cefexime, cefazolin and cefotaxime antibiotics, and the least resistance to nitrofurantoin and amikacin. Conclusion: The findings show a higher prevalence of ESBL-producing E. coli in hospitalized patients compared to outpatients, which indicates a wide spread of antibiotic-resistant strains in hospitals. Therefore, continuous monitoring and rapid identification of these strains can play an important role in preventing the spread of ESBL genes

Emergency Department Readmission Rate within 72 Hours after Discharge; a Letter to Editor

There are several factors that lead to early return of patients to the medical centers. These could be due to latent illnesses, misdiagnosis or even inadequate medical care due to staff being worn out. Determining the mentioned factors could help decrease the rate of readmission, restore patient's confidence in health centers and decrease the cost of medical care.Chi lung Wu et al. in 2010 sought to find out the major cause of patients’ return within 24 hours after discharge from emergency department (ED) and showed that abdominal pain and fever were the most common causes of patients' return, respectively. They found that, on average, 5.5% of discharged patients returned to the hospital.Tazhibi et al. carried out a research to find out major causes of readmission in Alzahra Hospital, Isfahan, Iran, and concluded that factors related to the patient and hospital could be held responsible for the patients’ readmission to the studied hospital.Verelst S et al., investigating the reasons for patient re-hospitalization within 72 hours after discharge in a teaching hospital in Belgium, found that 1.9% of admissions to the ED were in fact readmissions. 12% of this population were readmitted because of misdiagnosis.Chang SY et al. carried out a research in a teaching hospital in Taiwan to investigate the reasons for non-traumatic patient readmission within 72 hours of their discharge. They reported the rate of 3.5% for their readmissions out of their overall 72000 visits. Misdiagnosis was the most common problem among patients who had been readmitted shortly after discharge.In a retrospective cross-sectional study, we evaluated the medical profiles of all patients who were readmitted within 72 hours of their discharge from the ED of Golestan Hospital, Ahvaz, Iran, during July to December 2013, aiming to find the readmission rate of this ED. 63736 patients were admitted to the ED during the 6-month study period, 635 (0.99 %) cases of which were readmitted within the first 72 hours of discharge (67.1% male). 338 (53.2%) were 16 – 45 years old. Traumatic injuries (37.1%), flank pain (8.3%), acute coronary syndrome (7.2%), Cerebro-vascular accident (5.2%), and abdominal pain (4.8%) were among the most frequent causes of previous ED visit of readmitted patients.  Finally, 70.2% of these patients were discharged again, 15.7% were admitted to other hospital wards, and 14.1% were transferred to other hospitals.Comparing the results of the present study with previous ones indicates that readmission rate can vary widely not only among different countries but also among various hospitals of the same country. For instance, in the studied hospital, which is a trauma center in the region, readmission rate of trauma patients is higher.Since readmissions cause unnecessary overcrowding in ED, it would be best if each hospital evaluated their rate of readmission and its causes, and then tried to relieve the problems found. This can be effective in better management of ED, reduction of treatment costs, increasing patient satisfaction, and prevention of ED overcrowding

Study on the association of BoLA-DRB3.2 alleles with clinical mastitis in Iranian Holstein and Sarabi (Iranian native) cattle

Seventy-five Iranian Holstein cattle which comprised of two different groups (49 susceptible cattle to clinical mastitis and 26 resistant cattle to clinical mastitis) as well as forty-five Sarabi breed cattle were studied randomly for polymorphism in BoLA-DRB3.2 gene. Genotyping by single strand conformation polymorphism- polymerase chain reaction (SSCP-PCR) and then sequencing revealed the presence of previously reported 13 alleles of BoLA-DRB3.2 gene across both studied breeds. However, 3 new alleleswere identified for the studied gene in Sarabi breed in addition to the 13 alleles. Cloning and sequencing of the three newly found alleles in this study confirmed their novelty (NCBI Genebank accession numbers, EU362974, EU372975 and EU372976). Multi-primer target polymerase chain reaction (MPT-PCR) in this study failed to accurately differentiate the resistant and susceptible cattle to clinical mastitis. A combination of single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) and heteroduplex analysis (HA) in a non-denaturing gel, successfully detected the resistant genotype to clinical mastitis (DRB3.2*16). To the best of our knowledge, this is a pioneer study on the BoLA-DRB3.2 gene across an Iranian native breed (Sarabi). The results demonstrated that the BoLA-DRB3.2 locus is highlypolymorphic in the Sarabi cattle