Management Of Accrual Components In Response To Corporate Income Tax Rate Changes: Evidence From Korea

Changes in the statutory corporate income tax rate provide firms with an opportunity to reduce their tax burden by shifting their taxable income from higher to lower tax rate years. One negative consequence of shifting taxable income across years is higher variation in book income for financial reporting purposes. Taxable income and book income are closely related in most countries, and, in general, reporting volatile book income across years is not a favorable signal to investors. This study investigates how firms shift taxable income and concurrently mitigate book income fluctuation by managing accrual components separately when the statutory income tax rate changes. Unlike prior studies, we decompose discretionary accruals into two components and examine distinctive patterns of accrual management in Korea, where book-tax conformity is high and aggressive tax avoidance is restricted. We find that firms manage book-tax accruals for taxable income shifting and manage book-only accruals to mitigate book income fluctuation. Furthermore, we find the extent of book-tax and book-only accruals management varies depending on the firms’ tax and financial reporting costs. The results of this study provide clear and compelling evidence of firms’ opportunistic accrual management behavior in response to statutory tax rate reduction

Labisia pumila extract protects skin cells from photoaging caused by UVB irradiation

Labisia pumila (Myrsinaceae), known as "Kacip Fatimah," has been used by many generations of Malay women to induce and facilitate child birth as well as a post partum medicine. However, its topical application on skin has not been reported yet. In this study, we have focused on the anti-photoaging effects of L. pumila. Extract of L. pumila was first analyzed for their antioxidant activities using DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) since UV irradiation is a primary cause of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in the skin. The 50% free radical scavenging activity (FSC(50)) of L. pumila extract was determined to be 0.006%, which was equal to that produced by 156 microM ascorbic acid. TNF-alpha and cyclooxygenase (COX-2) play a primary role in the inflammation process upon UV irradiation and are known to be stimulated by UVB. Treatment with L. pumila extract markedly inhibited the TNF-alpha production and the expression of COX-2. Decreased collagen synthesis of human fibroblasts by UVB was restored back to normal level after treatment with L. pumila extract. On the other hand, the enhanced MMP-1 expression upon UVB irradiation was down regulated by L. pumila extract in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, treatment of normal keratinocytes with L. pumila extract attenuated UVB-induced MMP-9 expression. These results collectively suggest L. pumila extract has tremendous potential as an anti-photoaging cosmetic ingredient

On SS-nn-absorbing ideals

Let $R$ be a commutative ring with identity, $S$ a multiplicative subset of $R$ and $I$ an ideal of $R$ disjoint from $S$. In this paper, we introduce the notion of an $S$-$n$-absorbing ideal which is a generalization of both the $S$-prime ideals and $n$-absorbing ideals. Moreover, we investigate the basic properties, quotient extension, existence and amalgamation of $S$-$n$-absorbing ideals.Comment: 18page

Characterization of cationic dextrin prepared by ultra high pressure (UHP)-assisted cationization reaction

AbstractCationic dextrins were prepared through substitution reaction of dextrin with low and high addition levels of 2,3-epoxypropyltrimethylammonium chloride (ETMAC), respectively. Conventional cationization reactions were carried out for 5h under continued stirring. UHP-assisted cationization reactions were conducted at three pressurization levels of 100, 300 and 500MPa for a pressure holding time of 30min. Degree of substitution (DS) of UHP-assisted cationic dextrins ranged from 0.58 to 1.51, and in general, their DS values were enhanced with increasing pressure levels. FT-IR and 13C NMR spectra indicated the presence of CN bond, which provided clear evidence about incorporation of cationic moieties onto dextrin molecules. In flocculation test, UHP-assisted cationic dextrin revealed higher flocculating activity. Overall results suggested that UHP-assisted cationization reaction could modulate reactivity and flocculating activity of dextrin by controlling pressure levels and reaction mixture compositions, and cationic dextrins likely possessed a higher potential to replace synthetic polymer-based flocculants

Advanced Technologies for Large-Sized OLED Display

Five years have passed, since the first 55″ full high-definition (FHD) OLED TV fabricated on Gen 8.5 glass was successfully launched into the TV market. For the time being, the size of OLED TV became diverse from 55″ to 77″, and the resolution was doubled into ultrahigh definition (UHD). The brightness and color gamut were enhanced, while the lower power consumption was realized. Utmost picture quality and slim form factor of OLED TV as well as the improved performance have made OLED TV recognized as the best premium TV. In this chapter, we describe the recent progress in three key technologies, which enable such an enhancement of performance in OLED TV, i.e., oxide thin-film transistor (TFT) and white organic light-emitting diode (WOLED), compensation circuit, and method to compensate the nonuniformity of oxide TFTs, OLED devices, and luminance

Prevalence of sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity in Korean adults: The Korean Sarcopenic Obesity Study (KSOS)

*Context:* Sarcopenic obesity (SO), a combination of excess weight and reduced muscle mass and/or strength, is suggested to be associated with an increased risk of adverse health outcomes. 
*Objectives:* To examine the prevalence and characteristics of Sarcopenic and SO defined by using different indices such as Appendicular Skeletal muscle Mass (ASM)/height^2^ and Skeletal Muscle Index (SMI (%): skeletal muscle mass (kg)/weight (kg) × 100) for Korean adults. 
*Methods:* 591 participants were recruited from the Korean Sarcopenic Obesity Study (KSOS) which is an ongoing prospective observational cohort study. Analysis was conducted in 526 participants (328 women, 198 men) who had complete data on body composition using Dual X-ray absorptiometry and computed tomography. 
*Results:* The prevalence of sarcopenia and SO increases with aging. Using two or more standard deviations (SD) of ASM/height^2^ below reference values from young, healthy adults as a definition of sarcopenia, the prevalence of sarcopenia and SO was 6.3% and 1.3% in men and 4.1% and 1.7% in women over 60 years of age. However, using two or more SD of SMI, the prevalence of sarcopenia and SO was 5.1% and 5.1% respectively in men and 14.2% and 12.5% respectively in women. As defined by SMI, subjects with SO had 3 times the risk of metabolic syndrome (OR = 3.03, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.26-7.26) and subjects with non-sarcopenic obesity had approximately 2 times the risk of metabolic syndrome (OR = 1.89, 95% CI = 1.18-3.02) compared with normal subjects. 
*Conclusion:* Obese subjects with relative sarcopenia were associated with a greater likelihood for metabolic syndrome. As Koreans were more obese and aging, the prevalence of SO and its impact on health outcomes are estimated to be rapidly grow. Further research is requested to establish the definition, cause and consequences of SO.
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Information and Control ICIC International c ⃝2011 ISSN

Abstract. This paper suggests a real-time implementation method for software-in-theloop (SIL) simulation for control systems, primarily for control education. The SIL simulation is carried out by using a PC for the controllers, a PC for the plant, an open network, and a general-purpose computer-aided control system design (CACSD) package. Specially, Ethernet network is investigated in terms of control issues such as sampling interval, network-induced time-delay, use with many I/O points and data synchronization. A performance evaluation of software-in-th