Decision Usefulness of Financial Information: the Role of Audit and Ifrs

We examine the usefulness of financial information given different circumstances, pre and post- International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption and audit quality. The usefulness of information is deduced from the association between information quality and investment efficiency. IFRS is said to promote more informative financial information and hence should increase the decision usefulness of the reported information. In practice, auditors are the center of reference in the preparation of financial report and empirical evidence shows that quality audit enhances the credibility of reported information. This study aims to examine and compare the roles of IFRS and audit quality in the association between financial information quality and investment efficiency. The results from a sample of 558 firms provide support that financial information quality is significantly related to investment efficiency indicating decision usefulness of reported information. However, despite the contention that IFRS leads to a more informative financial report, the results show that IFRS does not strengthen the relationship between information quality and investment efficiency. The result for audit quality, on the other hand, is significant indicating that reported information is more useful to decision-makers when it is audited by the quality audit firm

Financial Information Quality And Investment Efficiency: Evidence From Malaysia

This study aims to empirically examine the association between financial information quality and investment efficiency among firms in Malaysia. Sample of this study consists of 558 firms listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia from the year of 2001 until 2011. The investment efficiency is measured based on firms’ deviations from the expected investment level. The financial information quality is measured based on four different measurement schemes. The results provide support that financial information quality is significantly positively related to investment efficiency. The inclusion of several firm level control variables and use of alternative models to measure investment efficiency provides consistent findings. The results of this study provide further understanding and empirical evidence relevant to quality of financial information and investment efficiency. As most of the extant studies on this association have been done on data from the US and advanced countries, this study fills the gap in literature by investigating the impact of financial information quality on investment efficiency in an emerging market. Although emerging markets make up the vast majority of economic activity around the world, they have received limited attention in academic research. Findings of this study could be of interest to the international organisations such as World Bank whose missions are to aid countries with developing and transitional economy, and improve living conditions of their citizens

Report of two parasitoid wasps on Helicoverpa armigera (Lep.: Noctuidae) from Iran

In a two-year study on natural enemies of tomato fruit worm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) (Lep.: Noctuidae) in Golestan province, two parasitoid wasps belonging to the family Ichneumonidae were identified, which are newly recorded from Iran: 1. Hyposoter didymator (Thunberg), which was collected in 8 July 2003, in Seyed-Miran, 9 Km west of Gorgan, and 2. Ctenichneumon panzeri (Wesmael), which was collected in 20 July 2003 at Gorgan Agricultural Research Station. These two species were identified by Dr K. Horstmann, Universitaet Wuerzburg, Germany and Dr E. Diller, Zoologische Staatssammlung Munchen, Germany, respectively

The analysis of anticcp antibodies in the serum: a comparison between the patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease that causes inflammation, pain, stiffness and destructive changes in the joints. Although, Rheumatoid Factor (RF), has been the primary blood test used to detect RA, the anti-ccp antibodies detection test is a relatively new assay to detect the citrulline antibodies in blood. These autoantibodies are produced by immune system in response to a perceived threat of citrulline, an amino acid produced from arginine in the citrullination process. The objective of this study was to investigate the presence and prediction value of anti-ccp in RA patients and evaluate its sensitivity and specificity comparing to that of classic laboratory tests, CRP and RF. The serum of 84 patients with RA and 80 healthy control subjects were enrolled into the study. The anti-ccp, RF and CRP levels in the serums were assayed by ELISA and agglutination procedure, respectively. Our results provided evidence that anti-ccp level was significantly higher in patients with RA comparing to that of corresponding controls (p<0.0001). Anti-ccp was found to have the highest sensitivity and specificity (91%-91%) comparing to the other two tests (RF, CRP). The latter tests were found to have (97%- 92%) and (27%- 75%) sensitivity and specificity, respectively. The diagnostic value of anti-ccp is better than RF and CRP, individually. It can be detected early in the disease in unselected early arthritis patients. It is recommended to use RF test together with anti-ccp antibodies detection, in RA patients to ensure a higher diagnostic effectiveness

The evolving landscape of predictive biomarkers in immuno-oncology with a focus on spatial technologies.

Immunotherapies have shown long-lasting and unparalleled responses for cancer patients compared to conventional therapy. However, they seem to only be effective in a subset of patients. Therefore, it has become evident that a greater understanding of the tumor microenvironment (TME) is required to understand the nuances which may be at play for a favorable outcome to therapy. The immune contexture of the TME is an important factor in dictating how well a tumor may respond to immune checkpoint inhibitors. While traditional immunohistochemistry techniques allow for the profiling of cells in the tumor, this is often lost when tumors are analysed using bulk tissue genomic approaches. Moreover, the actual cellular proportions, cellular heterogeneity and deeper spatial distribution are lacking in characterisation. Advances in tissue interrogation technologies have given rise to spatially resolved characterisation of the TME. This review aims to provide an overview of the current methodologies that are used to profile the TME, which may provide insights into the immunopathology associated with a favorable outcome to immunotherapy

Prevalence of congenital anomalies and related factors in live births in Zahedan, Southeast of Iran: A cross-sectional study

Background: The term congenital anomalies (CAs) refers to structural or functional abnormalities at the time of conception. Approximately 12 deaths related to congenital disabilities occur in every 10,000 babies born. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and associated factors of single and multiple CAs in live births in Zahedan, Southeast Iran. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 59,087 live births in a referral hospital in Zahedan located in the southeast of Iran from 2009 to 2019. All live births were examined by pediatricians and the CAs and categorized based on the international classification of diseases. Results: Of 59,085 live births, at least 883 had a significant anomaly, and the prevalence rate of CAs was about 149 per 10,000. Anomalies of the nervous (24.1%) and cardiovascular systems (21.10%) were the most frequent, occurring in 213 and 187 of the live births, respectively. Spina bifida is the most common anomaly of the central nervous system. The most common anomalies in the cardiovascular system were unspecified heart malformations (17.1%), cardiovascular malformations (18.7%), and patent ductus arteriosus (11.7%). Significant correlations were found between the parent’s consanguinity marriage, the mother’s age, an existing anomaly in the family, and relatives in single and multiple CAs (p = 0.02, p = 0.02, p &lt; 0.001, p = 0.01, respectively). Conclusion: The prevalence of CAs was 149 per 10,000 live births. The highest prevalence of CAs was related to the central nervous system. Increasing the public’s knowledge about fetal defects can reduce the prevalence of CAs. Key words: Congenital anomalies, Hospitalization, Iran, Live birth, Prevalence, Risk factors

Expression of Leishmania major LmSTI1 in Yeast Pichia Pastoris

Background: Leishmania major LmSTI1 is a conserved protein among different species of leishmania, and expressed in both amastigote and promastigote forms of L. major life cycle. It has previously been expressed in bacterial systems.Materials and Methods: To express LmSTI1 in the methylotrophic yeast         Pichia pastoris (P. pastoris), the shuttle vector pPICZA containing gene lmsti1 was constructed under the control of the AOX1 promoter. The recombinant vector was electro-transformed into P. pastoris, and induced by 0.5% methanol in the buffered medium. The expression of the LmSTI1 protein was visualized in the total soluble protein of P. pastoris by 12% SDS-PAGE, and further confirmed by Western blotting with L.major-infected mouse sera and HRP-conjugated goat anti-mouse IgG as the first and secondary antibodies, respectively.Results: The expression level was 0.2% of total soluble proteins.Conclusion: It might be possible to use this formulation as a whole yeast candidate vaccine against cutaneous leishmanization

Molecular detection, virulence genes, biofilm formation, and antibiotic resistance of salmonella enterica serotype enteritidis isolated from poultry and clinical samples

Background: Salmonella spp. is one of the most important zoonotic pathogens transmitting among human and animals. Due to the similarity of antibiotic classes used to treat animals and humans, there is a high risk for emerging the multi-drug resistant (MDR) strains. Objectives: The current study aimed at evaluating molecular detection, virulence genes, biofilm formation, and antibiotic resistance of Salmonella enterica serotype enteritidis recovered from poultry and clinical isolates. Methods: A total of 282 isolates were recovered from chicken meat, live poultry feces, eggs, and human feces in Iran. The presence of virulent factors in the isolates was confirmed using biochemical and microbiological tests. The presence of Salmonella genus was determined using antiserum. Triplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to detect Salmonella spp., serogroup D and the discriminate S. enteritidis from other species. Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method was applied to perform the susceptibility testing. Quantification of biofilm formation was determined in 96-well microtiter plates as recommended by the defined protocol. The data were then analyzed with SPSS using consensus tables and Chi-square test. Results: Based on the results, all the isolates were positive for invA, sdiA, hilA, and ratA. Moreover, spvC had the lowest prevalence (37.6). Of all strains, 67 were MDR, 51.7 of which were recovered from humans. Furthermore, 34.5 of isolates were strong biofilm producers. There was a significant correlation between the strong biofilm formation and the antibiotic resistance to colistin, ceftazidime, chloramphenicol, gentamicin, trimethoprim, penicillin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Conclusions: The results of the current study showed a significant correlation between the strong biofilm formation and the antibiotic resistance to some antibiotics. © 2018, Author(s)

A Portable RT-LAMP/CRISPR Machine for Rapid COVID-19 Screening.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed people's lives and has brought society to a sudden standstill, with lockdowns and social distancing as the preferred preventative measures. To lift these measurements and reduce society's burden, developing an easy-to-use, rapid, and portable system to detect SARS-CoV-2 is mandatory. To this end, we developed a portable and semi-automated device for SARS-CoV-2 detection based on reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification followed by a CRISPR/Cas12a reaction. The device contains a heater element mounted on a printed circuit board, a cooler fan, a proportional integral derivative controller to control the temperature, and designated areas for 0.2 mL Eppendorf® PCR tubes. Our system has a limit of detection of 35 copies of the virus per microliter, which is significant and has the capability of being used in crisis centers, mobile laboratories, remote locations, or airports to diagnose individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2. We believe the current methodology that we have implemented in this article is beneficial for the early screening of infectious diseases, in which fast screening with high accuracy is necessary

Effect of Curcumin on Pediatric Intractable Epilepsy

ObjectivesEpilepsy is the most prevalent chronic neurologic disorder in children. One-third of patients with epilepsy do not respond to antiepileptic drugs. This condition is known as intractable epilepsy. Previous studies have shown the beneficial effects of curcumin in the treatment of epilepsy. There are no randomized controlled clinicaltrials assessing the use of curcumin in epilepsy. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of nanomicelle curcumin on intractable pediatric epilepsy. Materials &amp; Methods This double-blinded randomized crossover clinical trial was performed by a consecutive sampling to select 22 patients with intractable epilepsy divided into two groups. Patients received a daily dose of 4 mg/kg of curcumin or placebo as add-on therapy for 4 weeks. After a 2-week washout period, the treatment was replaced, and the new treatment was given for another 4 weeks. The SPSS software version 16 was used for statistical analysis. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Iran Results A total of 22 children were enrolled in this study, 11 of which were boys. The mean age of the patients was 4.28±5 years. A female patient taking a placebo was excluded in the first week of the trial due to parental dissatisfaction. The most common type of seizure among our patients was a generalized myoclonic seizure (42.9%). The mean number of seizure attacks among the subjects was 68.76±69.26 preintervention and 39.85±39.41at the end of the intervention, which represents a statistically significant difference (P=0.01). Conclusion Nanomicelle curcumin reduced the number of seizures significantly. Our results imply that curcumin treatment can help treat patients wit intractable pediatric epilepsy