Fair Value Accounting and Earnings Quality : Listed Real Estate Companies in Sweden

This master thesis has been written for the Karlstad Business School in the subject of "Accounting & Control". The research and writing period was from Aprol until June 2013. Earnings are one of the most vital indicators of the fianacial position of a company. Earnings qualityis a perplexing concept. The characteristics that make earnings of high quality are various and are a matter of subjectivity. After the adoption of IFRS in 2005, the listed companies in Sweden had to prepare their fianacila statements relying on the new standards. IFRS introduced fair value accounting to the companies in order to evaluate their assets and liabilities. The aim with this thesis is to investigate if fair value accounting improved earnings quality in listed real estate companies in Sweden. In order to collect our data, a quantitative research was conducted. Self-ompletion questionnaires with open questions were sent to CFOs with the purpose of express their opinion about the term "earnings quality", the adoption of IFRS and fair value accounting and if the influence of these factors on earnings quality. The results showed that managers indeed believe that fair value accounting improved the quality of earnings in their companies. Moreover, they answered that they dod not consider IFRS as a barrier in the accounting quality and that fair value provides reliable and accurate fianncial information which support the decision-making

Short-Term Effects of Spirulina Consumption on Glycemic Responses and Blood Pressure in Healthy Young Adults: Results from Two Randomized Clinical Trials

The effects of spirulina consumption added in foods were investigated in two crossover clinical trials (n = 13 different healthy adults). In Trial-1 adults consumed cookies with-and-without spirulina (3.12 g per 100 g final product; 2.5 g spirulina per 50 g available carbohydrates) according to glycemic index (GI) methodology. In Trial-2, adults consumed 4 g, 6 g, and 8 g spirulina as beverage diluted in 50 g D-glucose vs. 50 g plain D-glucose. Capillary blood glucose samples were collected at 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, and 120 min and blood pressure (BP) was measured at beginning and end of each visit in both trials. Trial-1: both cookies with and without spirulina provided medium GI values (59 and 60, respectively, on glucose-scale), but no significant differences were found for BP. Trial-2: both 4 g and 8 g spirulina lowered postprandial glucose at 120 min (95% CI: −1.64 to −16.12 and −1.23 to −15.87, respectively). The results explained 29% of variation. Only 8 g spirulina decreased significantly 90–120 min area under the curve (AUC) for glucose and systolic BP (−4%). No differences were found for fasting glucose. Adding spirulina to cookies did not affect glucose responses and BP. Only 8 g provided significantly lower 90–120 min-AUC for glucose and BP compared to 4 g, 6 g-and-D-glucose, indicating advantages to glycemic control and hypertension

Determination of MYD88(L265P) mutation fraction in IgM monoclonal gammopathies

We describe a novel method for the detection of MYD88(L265P) mutation using a competitive allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (Cast-PCR) assay. This assay has a sensitivity of 1 x 10(-3), is applicable in reactions containing very low amounts of DNA (as low as 20 pg), and allowed the detection of MYD88(L265P) somatic mutation in both tumor-derived DNA (tDNA) and cell-free DNA (cfDNA). In addition, using the Cast-PCR assay, we were able to determine the mutation allele fraction (MAF) in each tested sample. We then analyzed baseline tDNA and cfDNA samples from 163 patients (53 with immunoglobulin M monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance and 110 with Waldenstro euro m’s macroglobulinemia [WM], of whom 54 were asymptomatic and 56 were symptomatic) and also in sequential samples of 37 patients. MAF in both cfDNA and tDNA was higher among patients with symptomatic compared with asymptomatic WM and in those with asymptomatic WM compared with those with immunoglobulin M (IgM) monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance. In addition, the evaluation of sequential samples showed that MAF decreased after treatment, whereas it increased in patients who relapsed or progressed to symptomatic WM. Thus, Cast-PCR is a highly sensitive, cost-effective diagnostic tool for MYD88(L265P) detection, applicable in both tDNA and cfDNA samples, that also provides a quantitative evaluation of the tumor load in patients with IgM monoclonal gammopathies

A methodological proposal to link Design with Additive Manufacturing to environmental considerations in the Early Design Stages

Additive manufacturing is an innovative manufacturing process that enables rapid manufacturing of functional products and parts. On the other side, considering environmental aspects in design is beneficial as it leads to lower costs, improved product quality, new business opportunities. Thus, in order to foster the potential of AM in product innovation and product manufacturing in the light of environmental concerns, a new design method is necessary. This paper proposes a method in the context of Design with Additive Manufacturing, to take into account the specificities of this manufacturing process in a Design to Environment approach. The method is focused on the Early Design Stages (EDS) of the product development process, which are crucial not only for choices regarding the product characteristics but also for the environmental parameters that need to be taken into consideration. The implementation of the proposed method in creativity session of the EDS underlined the need for dedicated supports in terms of environmental decisions. More and specifically the need for providing tools to capitalize the decisions made focusing on each Life Cycle Stage of the product was identified as a requirement for this support