Sustainable Products and Audit Fees: Empirical Evidence from Western European Countries

Purpose –The present study examines whether firms that appear to exhibit high sustainable outputs are more likely to pay higher audit fees than firms without such outputs. Design/methodology/approach–The sustainability outputs are measured using a sustainable product portfolio consisting of four products: clean energy products (CEP), eco-design products (EDP), environmental products (EP) and sustainable building projects (SBP). The audit fee variable is measured by the natural logarithm of the total amount of audit fees. The study tests two models of the association between these outputs and audit fees; Model 1 tests this association in the absence of the moderating variable (sustainability committee) and Model 2 tests the association in the presence of the moderating variable. Findings– An analysis of data on 261 European firms from the Refinitiv Eikon database from 2010 to 2019, shows that high sustainability outputs are significantly and positively associated with audit fees. More importantly, this association is moderated by the presence of a board-level sustainability committee, suggesting that this type of committee reflects a factor considered by auditors in their audit risk assessment practices. The findings indicate that in Model 1, one (EP) out of four variables has a significant and positive association with audit fees, while in Model 2 and in the presence of sustainability committee, two variables (EP and EDP) have a significant and negative association with audit fees. However, the robust analysis shows that three variables (EP, EDP and SBP) have significant and negative associations with audit fees. Practical implications –The study findings have important implications for policy makers, auditors and firms’ managers. For policy makers, the findings provide support for the argument that sustainable attitudes incentive firms to manage sustainable product profiles more effectively. As such, policy makers should incentivise firms to establish a sustainability committee and regulate its role and responsibilities. Auditors should coordinate with the sustainability committee to facilitate audit efforts and reduce audit fees. Social implications Understanding the relationship between sustainable products and audit fees will allow firms to improve their portfolio of sustainable products. In addition, other social implications of this study relate to improving relationships with society by establishing a sustainability committee that is responsible to communicate with that society. Originality/value–The results support the argument that firms should manage sustainable product portfolios more effectively. In addition, the results of the study highlight the importance of a new variable as a moderator, the sustainability committee, which has not been examined before

A bottleneck investigation at escalator entry at the Brisbane central train station

© 2016 ATRF, Commonwealth of Australia. All rights reserved. Escalators are an essential for passenger’s movements through multi-level rail station concourse environments. Despite the access benefits that escalators provide, they can make travel time longer and pose some challenges when bottlenecks appear at entry. Studying the passenger behaviour of bottlenecks at escalator entrances is essential for planning, designing and control of engineering transportation systems. In this paper we investigate passenger route choice behaviour while approaching an escalator-stair infrastructure set at Brisbane Central train station. A model of an escalator entry bottleneck is formulated. The developed model can explain the queuing characteristics of the bottlenecks and can be readily used to predict congested state occurrence at escalator entry bottleneck. Accurate prediction of bottlenecks occurring around escalators and the estimation of escalator capacity are obtained based on real field data collected from Brisbane Central train station. Results have provided significant insights and computational tools for understanding many features of escalator bottlenecks. Remarkably, escalator capacity at bottleneck points affects the duration and severity of the congested period

TASTE MASKING OF PRIFINIUM BROMIDE IN ORODISPERSIBLE TABLETS

Objective: In previous work, Prifinium Bromide had been successfully formulated as oro-dispersible tablets. However, Prifinium Bromide, a quaternary ammonium compound, has a bitter taste; therefore, taste masking was necessary to produce acceptable oro-dispersible tablets and enhance patients' compliance. Methods: In this work, several attempts had been made to mask the bitterness of this drug. β-cyclodextrin inclusion complexes, solid dispersions of the drug in ethyl cellulose and methyl cellulose as well as loading the drug on Eudragit E100 have all been used. The selected granules were used to prepare oro-dispersible tablets and were evaluated. Results: Drug-Eudragit granules E3 prepared by mass extrusion method gave less than 10% of drug in simulated saliva fluid and almost complete release in simulated gastric fluid after 2 minutes. Therefore, it was used to prepare oro-dispersible tablets formulas. In vitro disintegration time of formula T2 was 45.5 ± 7.7 seconds showed a complete drug release of Prifinium Bromide in phosphate buffer (pH 6.8) and (94%) in SGF (pH 2.1). Conclusion: Loading of Prifinium Bromide on Eudragit E100 using mass extrusion method was the best method to overcome the disagreeable taste of the drug. They gave the least amount of drug released in simulated saliva fluid and passed the quality control tests of tablets after formulation as oro-dispersible tablets. They also gave good taste when tested in vivo

Study The Chemical Kinetics Properties for Adenosine Deaminase Enzyme (Aminohydrolase EC 3.5.4.4) ADA In Breast Cancer Patients

This study involved(50) women with newly diagnostic breast cancer and before any treatments, their ages ranges between (26-61) years old, the patients (women) subjected to different breast cancer investigations, at this study, we concerned on one of the biochemical tools that used as indicant to breast cancer disease which is Adenosine Deaminase Enzyme (ADA),and study their chemical kinetics properties and with factors that effect on enzyme activity which includes ,The optimal activity were in pH (7.2), as well as the optimal temperatures for activity were 35ºC. and the optimal substrate and enzyme concentration were (0.034Mm) and (0.25µg/ml) respectively, and the incubation time was 30 min. The results of kinetics characterization for ADA results demonstrated Km ,Vmax, Activation energy (Ea) and Temperature coefficient Q10 values were 0.849 mM and 83mMol/l/min, 3927.17cal/mol , 2 respectively

Protection Properties of He-Ne Laser (632.8 nm) Against UV-light (253.7 nm) On the Lymphocytes Blood Cellsand Its DNA.

Background: He-Ne laser (632.8 nm) pre-irradiation may lead to modulate the damaging effects of ionizing radiation and decreasing in radiation damage on cells, by the induction of antioxidant defence mechanisms and accelerated the repair. Objective: To study the protection properties of He-Ne laser (632.8 nm) pre-irradiation against UV light (253.7 nm) damage on human lymphocyte blood cells and its DNA. Subject & Methods: 27 samples were processed only for lymphocyte blood cells separation, while a 45 samples for the extracted DNA from lymphocyte. The total of 72 sampleswere employed to evaluate the influence of He-Ne laser pre- irradiation against UV-light. Results: The results showed that He-Ne laser (632.8 nm) pre-irradiation on human lymphocyte blood cells and its DNA leads to a decrease in the damage which caused by UV light (253.7 nm) irradiation. Conclusion:The magnitude of protection depends on the He-Ne laser pre-exposure doses. A higher survival percentage of lymphocyte blood cells and its DNA occurred with low He-Ne laser dose

Detection of genotypes for Giardia lamblia in Iraqi patients feces by using PCR-RFLP techniques based on GDH gene characterization

This study was carried out during the period from March 2016 to January 2017 to detect of genotypes and subgenotypes of Giardia lamblia in human feces by PCR-Restriction fragment length polymorphism based on the detection of glutamate dehydrogenase gene and study the corralation between genotype and prescence of symptoms , a total of 101 stool samples were taken from patients(male and female), aged(2-72) years, who suffering from acute or persistent diarrhea and examined by microscope and molecular techniques , the gdh gene was amplified from 19 cases only by a conventional PCR assay by using a specific oligonucleotide sequence for coding region by gdh gene at size 432bp and typed by RFLP analysis, the results showed the total infection with Giardia lamblia was 84(83.1%) according to the results of microscopic examination, of the 19 positive samples, 2(1.98%) were infected with genotype AI , 3(2.97%) genotype AII , 5(4.95%) genotype BIII and 9(8.91%) infected with genotype BIV, with significance differences between the genotype and precence of symptom

Antennas Performance Comparison of Multi-Bands for Optimal Outdoor and Indoor Environments Wireless Coverage

This paper aims to implement a wireless Wi-Fi network (Indoor and Outdoor) in order to cover the environment of the Oxford Institute (to learn languages and computer skills) in the best methods and lowest cost in order to provide Wi-Fi service for faculty members and all members of the administrative board and students. The realistic three-floor indoor and outdoor environments of the Institute were designed with Wireless InSite Package (WIP). In addition, emphasis was focus on the use of two types of transmitting devices (Directional and Omni-Directional). The aim of using these two devices is to determine which device is better to cover the Institute's environment well. In this work, a different frequency bands scenario was used to determine which band is suitable for coverage and stability of the wireless network. These bands are S-Band (2.4GHz), C-Band (5GHz), C-Band (10GHz), Ku-Band (15GHz), Ka-Band (28GHz), and MmWave (39GHz). Moreover, the focus has been on the most important basic parameters to determine the performance level of the two devices (Directional and Omni-Directional) as well as to determine the performance level of the wireless network. The most important of these parameters are Path Losses (LPath), Path Gain (GPath), Received Signal Strength (RSS), Strongest Received Power, Coverage Ratio (CR), and Received Signal Quality Ratio (RSQR). According to the results that emerged, it was observed that Omni-Directional antennas are much better than Directional antennas, especially in NLOS (None-Line-of-Sight) regions. It was also noted that CR, LPath, and RSS at S-Band (2.4GHz) are much better than the rest of the bands, so that the CR and the RSQR at this band reach 83.2184% and 95.7383%, respectively. While at the MmWave-Band (39GHz), it reaches 31.0345% and 70.7937% respectively

Comparison of Some Land Suitability Evaluating Methods for a Selected Gypsiferous Part in the Northern Karma Region for Irrigated Agriculture

To compare the efficiency of three systems to evaluate the suitability of Gypsiferous land for irrigated agriculture, an area of 8885.4 hectares was selected in the Tharthar region – Iraq within the Euphrates terrace, which formed at Pleistocene period and mainly consisted of gypsum, the study included a semi-detailed survey of the area's soil using the Free-lance method, by selecting three parallel transects, according to the variations in texture class, soil salinity and content of gypsum, five representative pedons locations were identified and morphologically described, also soil samples from each horizon were obtained, as well as we obtained water samples from the Euphrates river-Tharthar canal and every wells located in the study area, it's transferred to the laboratory and the required analyzes were performed. The result showed the predominance of the medium soil texture class and slightly saline soil class (S1) in the study area, with a decrease in the soil carbonate content, on the contrary the soil gypsum content was increased. All wall waters was salinity, which poses a danger to agricultural use, compared to the water of the Euphrates river. A discrepancy was observed between the obtained land suitability classes. While the Sys and Verheye, 1972 system showed two poor suitability classes, Sys et al. 1991 and Al-Baji et al. 2010 has improved the appropriateness of the varieties, but the Kadhim, 2012 system was the best in terms of application in order to include the quality of irrigation water within the classification, so its results were more close to the reality diagnosed during the field visits to the study area and the questionnaire from the land users of the regio