390 research outputs found
Mapping of Internal Audit Research: A Post-Enron Structured Literature Review
Purpose — This paper reviews the field of internal auditing (IA) post-Enron to develop insights
into how IA research has developed, offer a critique of the research to date and identify ways that
future research can help to advance IA.
Design/methodology/approach — A structured literature review (SLR) was used to analyse 471
papers from 64 journals published between 2005 and 2018 based on a number of criteria; namely,
author, journal type, journal location, year, theme, theory, nature of research, research setting,
regional focus, method and citations.
Findings — The IA literature has not significantly contributed to knowledge of the internal audit
function (IAF), and we still know relatively little about the factors that contribute to making the
impact of IA practice effective and measurable. The IA literature is US dominated (authors and
journals), focused on the American context (publicly listed companies), reliant on positivist
analyses and largely makes no explicit reference to theory. Central regions (emerging economies)
and key organisational settings (private SMEs and not-for-profit organisations) are largely absent in
prior IA research. This paper evaluates and identifies avenues through which future research can
help to advance IA in order to address emerging challenges in the field.
Originality/value — This is the first comprehensive review to analyse IA research in the postEnron period (2005–2018). The findings are relevant to researchers who are looking for appropriate
research outlets and emerging scholars who wish to identify their own research directions.
Keywords — Internal audit, internal audit function, structured literature review, Enron
Paper type — Literature revie
Information technology in the British and Irish undergraduate accounting degrees
Using an online questionnaire and a series of semi-structured interviews, this study seeks the perceptions ofaccounting educators and professional accounting bodies in the UK and Ireland on the status quo of technologicaldevelopments within accounting curricula and the factors influencing this status quo. Findings suggest a fairlywidespread view that technological developments represent an important area that should be covered acrossaccounting curricula, to expose changes in the marketplace and to enhance the employability of graduates.However, it is still a peripheral component in accounting curricula, with no clear agenda for change. Professionalaccounting bodies seem to play a hegemonic inhibiting role through accreditation requirements although otherinhibitors were reported such as lack of competent/interested staff and lack of time/space in already overloadedsyllabi
Annealing Effects on Structural and Optical Properties of Ge10Sb30Se60 Thin Film
The optical constants of as-prepared and thermally annealed Ge10Sb30Se60thin films were determined. Effect of heat treatment on the structure and optical properties of Ge10Sb30Se60 thin films in the range between the glass transition and crystallization temperature have been investigated. The glass transition and crystallization temperature of the synthesized sample was measured by non- isothermal DSC measurements. The microstructure and optical properties of these films were characterized by UV-VIS spectrum, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The optical band gap for as-prepared and annealed films have been calculated using Taucs low from the optical transmission and reflection spectra. The results indicate that the optical band gap Eopt increases when the annealing temperature (Ta) is lower than the glass transition temperature (Tg), while decreases with further increase of Ta. The XRD studies show that the as-prepared film is amorphous in nature, but the crystalline improved with increasing the annealing temperature. Furthermore the particle size and crystalline increases while the dislocation and strains decreases with increasing the annealing temperature. Thermal annealing was found to be accompanied by structural effects, which in turn, lead to change in the optical constants. The obtained results were explained in terms of the Mott and Davis model for amorphous materials and amorphous to crystalline structure transformations
Clinical significance of metabolic superscan in patients with hyperthyroidism
BACKGROUND: Hyperthyroid patients commonly complain of
generalized bony aches, which are frequently overlooked due
to the more prominent symptoms of cardiovascular and nervous
disturbances. Hyperthyroid patients are expected to have
abnormal bone metabolism as part of the generalized hypermetabolic
status.
The aim of this study is to verify the presence of metabolic bone
superscan in association with the hypermetabolic stats in various
groups of hyperthyroidism. Secondly, to correlate these
superscan features with the various laboratory results in hyperthyroid
patients.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: Forty-five hyperthyroid patients
confirmed by clinical and laboratory results were enrolled in
this work. In all patients, a 99mTc-pertechnetate thyroid uptake
scan was acquired. On a different day, total body bone scan
was acquired three hours post IV injection of 555-925 MBq of
99mTc-MDP. Serum FT3, FT4, TSH, Ca++, alkaline phosphatase
(AP) and parathyroid hormone (PTH) were monitored in all patients
as markers of thyroid and bone metabolism. Ten cases
with no thyroid diseases were included as a control group. Patients
with thyroiditis or long history of antithyroid drugs for more
than one year were excluded from the study.
RESULTS: The patients were subdivided into three groups:
Graves´ disease (GD) (n = 30), toxic nodular goiter (TNG) (n = 10) and autonomous toxic adenoma (AT) (n = 5). The TSH for the whole group was significantly suppressed compared to
the control group with higher suppression in the Graves´ disease
group than in the TNG or AT groups. 99mTc-pertechnetate
uptake values in the Graves´ disease group were significantly
higher than the TNG and AT groups (p < 0.05).
Metabolic superscan (MSS) was noted in 90% of the Graves´
cases, 20% in TNG and in none of the AT group. There were no
significant differences regarding Ca+, AP and PTH between
the Graves´ and non-Graves´ groups (p > 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: Disturbances in bone metabolism are more
prevalent in Graves´ disease than in other types of hyperthyroidism.
The addition of the bone scan to the diagnostic work
up of patients with Graves´ disease is a sensitive indicator for
metabolic bone changes and could help in the future management
and follow up for this group of patients
The value of simultaneous co-registration of 99mTc- MDP and 131Iodine in metastatic differentiated thyroid carcinoma
BACKGROUND: The lack of anatomical details in standard 131Iodine
whole body scanning (131I WBS) interferes with the proper
localization of metastatic differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC)
lesions. In addition, nearby or overlapping variable physiological
distribution of 131I may affect the specificity of 131I uptake,
giving indeterminate results. The aim of this study was to demonstrate
the clinical usefulness of simultaneous co-registration
of 99mTc MDP bone scanning as an anatomical landmark with
131I scanning in the evaluation of metastatic DTC.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty-five patients (16 females
and 9 males, mean age ± SD = 52 ± 13 years) with metastatic
DTC (17 papillary, 8 follicular), were included. Whole
body scanning using a 256 x 1024 matrix and an 8 cm/min
scan rate were obtained 48 hours after oral administration of
185-370 MBq 131I and 2 hours after IV administration of 185-370 MBq 99mTc MDP using a dual head gamma camera
equipped with high energy parallel hole collimators. Occasionally,
additional simultaneous co-registration of localised
detailed images was also performed using a 256 x 256 matrix size. The two planar images were fused with optional fusion
of SPECT images.
The data from standard 131I scanning and fused 131I/ 99mTc-MDP
scanning were separately assessed by two nuclear medicine
physicians. Fusion images were considered to improve image
interpretation in comparison with standard 131I scanning when
they provided better localization of lesions.
RESULTS: All lesions in the present study were validated by
radiological images and clinical follow up for at least 12 months.
Forty-eight metastatic lesions were confirmed as follows: 2 in
the skull, 10 in the neck, 20 in the thorax, 12 in the pelvic-abdominal
region and 4 in the extremities. Standard 131I WBS
showed 54 extra-thyroidal foci with 8 false positive lesions of
which 2 were located in the scalp and 6 in the pelvic-abdominal
region extra-skeleton (i.e. sensitivity 100%, specificity 86%). Out
of the 48 validated lesions, 16 were indeterminately localized:
10 in the thorax (3 mediastinal nodal lesions, 5 vertebral lesions
and 2 ribs) and 6 in the pelvic-abdominal region (2 upper sacral,
2 sacroiliac region and 2 ischial bone). Fusion images confirmed
the precise localization of the pathological uptake in the
validated 48 lesions (sensitivity 100%, specificity 100%). There
were 2 (4%) indeterminate lesions in fused planar imaging that
were clearly localized via fused SPECT images.
CONCLUSIONS: Fusion images using simultaneous co-registration
of 131I and 99mTc MDP scanning is a simple and feasible
technique that improves the anatomically limited interpretation
of scintigraphy using 131I alone in patients with metastatic differentiated
thyroid carcinoma. The diagnostic advantage of this
technique seems to be more apparent in the thoracic and pelvic-
abdominal regions in contrast to the neck and extremities
Antisense Phenotypes Reveal a Functional Expression of OsARF1, an Auxin Response Factor, in Transgenic Rice
OsARF1 is the first full-length member of auxin response factor (ARF) gene family to be cloned from monocot plant. Using quantitative RT-PCR this study found that, the transcript abundance of OsARF1 was significantly higher in embryonic tissues than in vegetative tissues. To investigate the effect of OsARF1 on the phenotype of rice, a cDNA fragment of OsARF1 was inserted in inverse orientation to the 35S promoter in vector pBin438 to produce an antisense (AS) construction. The AS-OsARF1 construct was transferred into rice (Oryza sativa L. japonica ) calli via Agrobacterium tumefaciens -mediated transformation. Molecular analysis of transgenic plants showed that the functional expression of OsARF1 was inhibited at mRNA level efficiently. The AS-OsARF1 plants showed extremely low growth, poor vigor, short curled leaves and tillered but were sterile. Therefore, the OsARF1 was shown to be essential for growth in vegetative organs and seed development
Author Correction: Novel diagnostic and therapeutic techniques reveal changed metabolic profiles in recurrent focal segmental glomerulosclerosis
Idiopathic forms of Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) are caused by circulating permeability factors, which can lead to early recurrence of FSGS and kidney failure after kidney transplantation. In the past three decades, many research endeavors were undertaken to identify these unknown factors. Even though some potential candidates have been recently discussed in the literature, “the” actual factor remains elusive. Therefore, there is an increased demand in FSGS research for the use of novel technologies that allow us to study FSGS from a yet unexplored angle. Here, we report the successful treatment of recurrent FSGS in a patient after living-related kidney transplantation by removal of circulating factors with CytoSorb apheresis. Interestingly, the classical published circulating factors were all in normal range in this patient but early disease recurrence in the transplant kidney and immediate response to CytoSorb apheresis were still suggestive for pathogenic circulating factors. To proof the functional effects of the patient’s serum on podocytes and the glomerular filtration barrier we used a podocyte cell culture model and a proteinuria model in zebrafish to detect pathogenic effects on the podocytes actin cytoskeleton inducing a functional phenotype and podocyte effacement. We then performed Raman spectroscopy in the < 50 kDa serum fraction, on cultured podocytes treated with the FSGS serum and in kidney biopsies of the same patient at the time of transplantation and at the time of disease recurrence. The analysis revealed changes in podocyte metabolome induced by the FSGS serum as well as in focal glomerular and parietal epithelial cell regions in the FSGS biopsy. Several altered Raman spectra were identified in the fractionated serum and metabolome analysis by mass spectrometry detected lipid profiles in the FSGS serum, which were supported by disturbances in the Raman spectra. Our novel innovative analysis reveals changed lipid metabolome profiles associated with idiopathic FSGS that might reflect a new subtype of the disease
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