Predicting Bankruptcy After The Sarbanes-Oxley Act Using Logit Analysis

Our study proposes firm bankruptcy prediction using logit analysis after the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act using 2008-2009 U.S. data. The results of our logit analysis show an 80% (90% with one year before bankruptcy data) prediction accuracy rate using financial and other data from the 10-K report in the post-SOX period. This prediction rate is comparable to other data mining tools. Overall, our results show that, as compared to the prediction rates documented by other bankruptcy studies before SOX, firm bankruptcy prediction rates have improved since the passage of SOX. Our findings shed light on the benefits of SOX by providing evidence that legislation makes the financial reporting more informative. This study is important for regulators to implement public policy. Investors may be interested in our findings to better assess company risk when making portfolio decisions

The Determinants of Bankruptcy for Chinese Firms

The global financial crisis in 2008 increased the number of business failures in the U.S. as well as in China. The Chinese economy has also been affected by the recent global financial crisis given the fact that the Chinese economy depends heavily on international trade. Our study tries to find the determinants of bankruptcy in Chinese firms. Both logit and survival model analyses provide consistent results on the determinants in predicting distressed firms in China. Our results suggest that firms with liquidity problems and firms experiencing a decline in profits are more likely to file for bankruptcy. In addition, we find that, compared to state-owned enterprises (SOEs), collectively-owned enterprises, private-owned enterprises, and foreign-owned businesses are more likely to file for bankruptcy. This conclusion is robust after controlling for regional differences. The findings of this study show that the financial variables developed by Altman [Financial ratios, discriminant analysis and the prediction of corporate bankruptcy. Journal of Finance, 23(3), 589–609] and Ohlson [Financial ratios and probabilistic prediction of bankruptcy. Journal of Accounting Research, 18(1), 109–131] perform reasonably well in determining business failures of Chinese firms even though SOEs and shadow financing exist in China

(Tn5-)fish-based imaging in the era of 3D/spatial genomics

3D genomics mainly focuses on the 3D position of single genes at the cell level, while spatial genomics focuses more on the tissue level. In this exciting new era of 3D/spatial genomics, half-century old FISH and its derivative methods, including Tn5-FISH, play important roles. In this review, we introduce the Tn5-FISH we developed recently, and present six different applications published by our collaborators and us, based on (Tn5-)FISH, which can be either general BAC clone-based FISH or Tn5-FISH. In these interesting cases, (Tn5-)FISH demonstrated its vigorous ability of targeting sub-chromosomal structures across different diseases and cell lines (leukemia, mESCs (mouse embryonic stem cells), and differentiation cell lines). Serving as an effective tool to image genomic structures at the kilobase level, Tn5-FISH holds great potential to detect chromosomal structures in a high-throughput manner, thus bringing the dawn for new discoveries in the great era of 3D/spatial genomics

Diisopropylammonium Bromide Based Two-Dimensional Ferroelectric Monolayer Molecular Crystal with Large In-Plane Spontaneous Polarization

In light of their easy processing, light weight and mechanical flexibility, ferroelectric molecular crystal with large spontaneous polarization (Ps) is highly desired for many advanced applications. Herein, we report the first theoretical study of two-dimensional (2D) ferroelectric molecular crystals via ab initio calculations. Specifically, we show that diisopropylammonium bromide (DIPAB) based 2D ferroelectric monolayer molecular crystal with large in-plane Ps of ∼1.5 × 10−6 μC cm−1 can be achieved by slicing the bulk DIPAB along a specific plane while keeping the space group unchanged. The important roles of hydrogen bonds are also identified. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations indicate that, with the support of a graphene substrate, the ferroelectric order of 2D DIPAB monolayer can be retained at room temperature. Lastly, we show that several other diisopropylammonium halide molecular crystals can also be used to achieve 2D all-organic ferroelectric monolayer singular molecular crystal with large in-plane Ps

High titer and yield ethanol production from undetoxified whole slurry of Douglas-fir forest residue using pH-profiling in SPORL

Forest residue is one of the most cost-effective feedstock for biofuel production. It has relatively high bulk density and can be harvested year round, advantageous for reducing transportation cost and eliminating onsite storage. However, forest residues, especially those from softwood species, are highly recalcitrant to biochemical conversion. A severe pretreatment for removing this recalcitrance can result in increased sugar degradation to inhibitors and hence cause difficulties in fermentation at high solid loadings. Here, we presented high titer ethanol production from Douglas-fir forest residue without detoxification. The strong recalcitrance of the Douglas-fir residue was removed by sulfite pretreatment to overcome the recalcitrance of lignocelluloses (SPORL). Sugar degradation to inhibitors was substantially reduced using a novel approach of “pH profiling” by delaying acid application in pretreatment, which facilitated the simultaneous enzymatic saccharification and fermentation of undetoxified whole slurry at a solid loading of 21%

Oxygen Intercalation of Graphene on Transition Metal Substrate: An Edge-Limited Mechanism

Oxygen intercalation has been proven to be an efficient experimental approach to decouple chemical vapor deposition grown graphene from metal substrate with mild damage, thereby enabling graphene transfer. However, the mechanism of oxygen intercalation and associated rate-limiting step are still unclear on the molecular level. Here, by using density functional theory, we evaluate the thermodynamics stability of graphene edge on transition metal surface in the context of oxygen and explore various reaction pathways and energy barriers, from which we can identify the key steps as well as the roles of metal passivated graphene edges during the oxygen intercalation. Our calculations suggest that in well-controlled experimental conditions, oxygen atoms can be easily intercalated through either zigzag or armchair graphene edges on metal surface, whereas the unwanted graphene oxidation etching can be suppressed. Oxygen intercalation is, thus, an efficient and low-damage way to decouple graphene from a metal substrate while it allows reusing metal substrate for graphene growth

New Educational Concept Student Status Management System

Conference Name:IEEE International Symposium on IT in Medicine and Education. Conference Address: Xiamen, PEOPLES R CHINA. Time:DEC 12-14, 2008.This paper is based on our school's new academic affairs management system, which aims to improve efficiency of teaching and learning, using IT technologies. Considering the limitation of old system and new requirements for this system according to our school's new educational concept, the lightweight j2ee framework is chose. In this paper, a new student status management system will be introduced and also the main creative implement technologies based on the new requirements. Compared with the old system, the new one has a good performance with high stability, maintainability and reusability using structs, hibernate and spring,-so called lightweight framework

Delocalized surface state in epitaxial Si(111) film with spontaneous √3 x √3 superstructure

The multilayer silicene films were grown on Ag(111), with increasing thickness above 30 monolayers (ML). Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) observations suggest that the multilayer silicene is indeed a bulk-like Si(111) film with a (√ 3 x √ 3)R30° honeycomb superstructure on surface. The possibility for formation of Si(111)(√ 3 x √ 3)R30°-Ag reconstruction on the surface can be distinctively ruled out by peeling off the surface layer with the STM tip. On this surface, delocalized surface state as well as linear energy-momentum dispersion was observed from quasiparticle interference patterns. Our results indicate that a bulklike silicon film with diamondlike structure can also host delocalized surface state, which is even more attractive for potential applications, such as new generation of nanodevices based on Si