National Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards : The case of China

In the past few decades, there has been a global trend of international harmonization of accounting standards, with many countries having either partially or completely replaced their national accounting standards with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The intended goal is to remove the barriers that hinder investors when comparing accounting information of companies from different nations, while simultaneously reducing the transaction costs for firms. However, research has shown that countries adopt IFRS unequally, ranging from resistance, partial adoption to full adoption. If the IFRS are not adopted to the same extent around the world, the central purpose of international standards can be compromised, as foreign investors cannot be confident when comparing financial statements. Uneven IFRS adoption could even be harmful to investors who believe that accounting standards have been converged worldwide—when, in fact, financial reporting differences continue to exist across national borders while being covered under the façade of the IFRS.Using China as the case country, this thesis aims to conduct an analysis on the causes of different degrees of IFRS adoption at the national level and to examine how and why such causes affect accounting standard-setters’ strategies in the era of international accounting harmonization. To build a holistic view within the complex empirical phenomenon of simultaneous convergence with and resistance to the IFRS, this thesis draws on the influence of neo-institutional theory while integrating the approach from international accounting classification. It puts forward the viewpoint that, in order to comprehend the coexistence of diversified acceptance levels of IFRS, it is necessary to understand the dynamics of the institutional variables that underlie the responses deployed by accounting standard-setters when deciding whether a set of exogenously developed accounting standards can really fit into their domestic institutional settings.The research relies on extensive archival documents. The findings show that the factors influencing China’s current convergence status with the IFRS are multifaceted, fluid, and interrelated. The Chinese accounting standard-setters’ reaction to the pressure of international accounting harmonization is a strategic response that follows China’s national ideology. Furthermore, IFRS convergence in the case of China reflects a cooperation and mutual dependence between the external institutional norm and the adopting organization, rather than a one-sided pressure. The Chinese experience also reveals that the economic incentives embedded in the technical attributes of the IFRS contributed to IFRS acceptance in China

Period-tripling subharmonic oscillations in a driven superconducting resonator

We have observed period-tripling subharmonic oscillations, in a superconducting coplanar waveguide resonator operated in the quantum regime, $k_B T \ll \hbar\omega$. The resonator is terminated by a tunable inductance that provides a Kerr-type nonlinearity. We detected the output field quadratures at frequencies near the fundamental mode, $\omega/2\pi \sim 5\,$GHz, when the resonator was driven by a current at $3\omega$ with an amplitude exceeding an instability threshold. The output radiation was red-detuned from the fundamental mode. We observed three stable radiative states with equal amplitudes and phase-shifted by $120^\circ$. The downconversion from $3\omega$ to $\omega$ is strongly enhanced by resonant excitation of the second mode of the resonator, and the cross-Kerr effect. Our experimental results are in quantitative agreement with a model for the driven dynamics of two coupled modes

Period multiplication in a parametrically driven superconducting resonator

We report on the experimental observation of period multiplication in parametrically driven tunable superconducting resonators. We modulate the magnetic flux through a superconducting quantum interference device, attached to a quarter-wavelength resonator, with frequencies $n\omega$ close to multiples, $n=2,\,3,\,4,\,5$, of the resonator fundamental mode and observe intense output radiation at $\omega$. The output field manifests $n$-fold degeneracy with respect to the phase, the $n$ states are phase shifted by $2\pi/n$ with respect to each other. Our demonstration verifies the theoretical prediction by Guo et al. in PRL 111, 205303 (2013), and paves the way for engineering complex macroscopic quantum cat states with microwave photons

National Adoptions of IFRS: Accounting Perspectives

In the past few decades, there has been a global trend of international harmonization of accounting standards. The intended goal is to remove the barriers that hinder investors when comparing the accounting information of companies from different nations, while simultaneously reducing the transaction costs for firms. However, research has shown that countries adopt IFRS unequally, ranging from resistance, partial adoption to full adoption. If the IFRS are not adopted to the same extent around the world, the central purpose of international standards can be compromised. This chapter aims to explain some key terms essential in understanding current development in international accounting and lay out the development and progress of IFRS diffusion

Lambergstjärnet

Lambergstjärnet i Karlstad är en liten tjärn som ligger inklämd mellan bostadsområden, industrier och hårt trafikerade trafikleder. Boende i denna del av Karlstad lider brist på gröna ytor och området kring Lambergstjärnet är därför ett viktigt tillägg i grönstrukturen. Området är på grund av den tunga trafiken svårtillgängligt och har därför blivit ett område som glömts bort och inte prioriterats skötselmässigt. I kommunens nya översiktsplan har området kring tjärnen pekats ut som ett framtida omvandlingsområde från industri- till bostadsområde. Kommunen skulle därför behöva undersöka vad området i framtiden kan bli. Under mitt examensarbete har jag tagit mig an området vid Lambergstjärnet och undersökt hur området kan utvecklas. Arbetet riktar sig främst till kommunens tjänstemän. Min ambition med arbetet har varit att inspirera och anvisa möjliga åtgärder för hur området kring Lambergstjärnet skulle kunna utvecklas till ett attraktivt rekreationsområde för närrekreation utan att skötselinsatsen på området i framtiden intensifieras. I arbetets första del belyses vikten av grönska i den hållbara staden. Grönskans vikt i den hållbara staden presenteras på ett övergripande sätt för att skapa en kontext till arbetet. För att ytterligare klargöra arbetets kontext redovisas kommunens visioner över framtidens Karlstad. Arbetet blir mer och mer platsspecifikt ju längre in i arbetet läsaren kommer. Genom inventeringar och analyser över platsen skapas en bild över vilka möjligheter och problem som finns i området. Möjligheterna och problemen sammanfattas i en programskiss över området. Programskissen leder vidare till de gestaltningsmål som utvecklats under arbetets gång. Två av dessa mål är bättre kopplingar till området samt mer varierad grönska på platsen. Därefter följer mitt gestaltningsförslag över park- och rekreationsområdet vid Lambergstjärnet. Förslaget presenteras med hjälp av planer, perspektiv och principskisser. Mitt huvudsyfte med arbetet har varit att skapa ett användarvänligt rekreationsområde som kräver en låg skötselinsats. Arbetet innehåller slutligen ett förslag till etableringsprioriteringar samt en utvärdering av hur min gestaltning påverkar skötseln i området. Resultatet av arbetet är ett förslag till omgestaltning av området vid Lambergstjärnet där huvudsyftet har varit att med små medel skapa en användbar rekreationsmiljö som kräver lite skötsel men ändå är välvårdad. Genom den nya gestaltningen kommer området innehålla en varierad grönska och en kuperad terräng där vattnets kvalitéer tas tillvara. Tillsammans bidrar det till att öka upplevelsevärdet i området och dragningskraften till området. Området kring Lambergstjärnet blir en levande grön oas och en viktig del i grönstrukturen i det framtida täta Karlstad.Lambergstjärnet in Karlstad is a small tarn, located between residential areas, industrial areas and heavily trafficked roads. The residents in this part of Karlstad is short of green space. The area around Lambergstjärnet is therefore an important addition to the green structure in this part of Karlstad. The area is difficult to access due to the heavy traffic and has therefore become a forgotten area. The area around the tarn has with the new municipal master plan been identified as an area that will be transformed from industrial areas to residential areas in the future. The municipality has therefore to examine what the area could be in the future. The result of this work is a proposal for a redesign of the site at Lambergstjärnet. The main objective has been to create a usable recreational environment that will ultimately require little maintenance, but still feels well groomed. In the new proposal the area contain a more varied vegetation and a more hilly terrain, which takes advantage of water’s qualities. These components must contribute to increasing the value of experience in the field and thus also increase the attraction to the area. The area around Lambergstjärnet is thus a vivid green oasis that is an important part in the green structure in the future Karlstad

A Frequency Selective Surface based focal plane receiver for the OLIMPO balloon-borne telescope

We describe here a focal plane array of Cold-Electron Bolometer (CEB) detectors integrated in a Frequency Selective Surface (FSS) for the 350 GHz detection band of the OLIMPO balloon-borne telescope. In our architecture, the two terminal CEB has been integrated in the periodic unit cell of the FSS structure and is impedance matched to the embedding impedance seen by it and provides a resonant interaction with the incident sub-mm radiation. The detector array has been designed to operate in background noise limited condition for incident powers of 20 pW to 80 pW, making it possible to use the same pixel in both photometric and spectrometric configurations. We present high frequency and dc simulations of our system, together with fabrication details. The frequency response of the FSS array, optical response measurements with hot/cold load in front of optical window and with variable temperature black body source inside cryostat are presented. A comparison of the optical response to the CEB model and estimations of Noise Equivalent power (NEP) is also presented

Microwave photon generation in a doubly tunable superconducting resonator

We have developed and tested a doubly tunable resonator, with the intention to simulate fast motion of the resonator boundaries in real space. Our device is a superconducting coplanar-waveguide half-wavelength microwave resonator, with fundamental resonant frequency ~5 GHz. Both of its ends are terminated by dc-SQUIDs, which serve as magnetic-flux-controlled inductances. Applying a flux to either SQUID allows tuning of the resonant frequency by approximately 700 MHz. By using two separate on-chip magnetic-flux lines, we modulate the SQUIDs with two tones of equal frequency, close to twice that of the resonator's fundamental mode. We observe photon generation, at the fundamental frequency, above a certain pump amplitude threshold. By varying the relative phase of the two pumps we are able to control the photon generation threshold, in good agreement with a theoretical model for the modulation of the boundary conditions. At the same time, some of our observations deviate from the theoretical predictions, which we attribute to parasitic couplings, resulting in current driving of the SQUIDs.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Core taxa underpin soil microbial community turnover during secondary succession

Understanding the processes that underpin the community assembly of bacteria is a key challenge in microbial ecology. We studied soil bacterial communities across a large-scale successional gradient of managed and abandoned grasslands paired with mature forest sites to disentangle drivers of community turnover and assembly. Diversity partitioning and phylogenetic null-modelling showed that bacterial communities in grasslands remain compositionally stable following abandonment and secondary succession but they differ markedly from fully afforested sites. Zeta diversity analyses revealed the persistence of core microbial taxa that both reflected and differed from whole-scale community turnover patterns. Differences in soil pH and C:N were the main drivers of community turnover between paired grassland and forest sites and the variability of pH within successional stages was a key factor related to the relative dominance of deterministic assembly processes. Our results indicate that grassland microbiomes could be compositionally resilient to abandonment and secondary succession and that the major changes in microbial communities between grasslands and forests occur fairly late in the succession when trees have established as the dominant vegetation. We also show that core taxa may show contrasting responses to management and abandonment in grasslands.Soil microbial communities are compositionally stable across grasslands under secondary succession but differ from paired forest reference sites. Core taxa underpin whole-community turnover patterns, with the underlying assembly processes driven by site-variation in soil pH.imag

Serum COMP-C3b complexes in rheumatic diseases and relation to anti-TNF-alpha treatment

Introduction: Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) is found at elevated concentrations in sera of patients with joint diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA). We recently showed that COMP activates complement via the alternative pathway and that COMP-C3b complexes are present in sera of RA patients, but not in healthy controls. We now set out to elaborate on the information provided by this marker in a variety of diseases and larger patient cohorts. Methods: COMP-C3b levels in sera were measured by using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) capturing COMP and detecting C3b. Serum COMP was measured by using ELISA. Results: COMP-C3b levels were significantly elevated in patients with RA as well as in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), compared with healthy controls. SLE patients with arthritis had significantly higher COMP-C3b levels than did those without. COMP-C3b was furthermore elevated in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), reactive arthritis, systemic sclerosis, and OA. COMP-C3b did not correlate with COMP in any of the patient groups. COMP-C3b correlated with disease activity in RA, but not in other diseases. COMP-C3b levels in RA patients decreased on treatment with tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha inhibitors, whereas the levels increased in patients with AS or PsA. The changes of COMP-C3b did not parallel the changes of C-reactive protein (CRP). Conclusions: COMP-C3b levels are elevated in several rheumatologic diseases and correlate with inflammatory measures in RA. COMP-C3b levels in RA decrease during TNF-alpha inhibition differently from those of CRP, suggesting that formation of COMP-C3b relates to disease features not reflected by general inflammation measures