Fair Value Reclassifications of Financial Assets during the Financial Crisis

At the peak of the financial crisis in October 2008, the IASB amended IAS 39 to grant companies the option of abandoning fair value recognition for selected financial assets. Using a comprehensive global sample of publicly listed IFRS banks, we find that banks use the reclassification option to forgo the recognition of fair value losses and ultimately the regulatory costs of supervisory intervention. Analyses of stock market reactions suggest that a small subset of the most troubled banks benefit from such reclassifications. However, analyses of related footnote disclosures reveal that two-thirds of reclassifying banks do not fully comply with the accompanying IFRS 7 requirements. These banks experience a significant increase in bid-ask spreads in the long run.Bank Regulation, Fair Value Accounting, Financial Crisis, IAS 39, IFRS 7

Disassembly 4.0: a review on using robotics in disassembly tasks as a way of automation

To successfully implement circular economy processes into present value chains, economic feasibility of disassembly processes is essential. Current developments in science and technology, such as artificial intelligence and Internet of Things, foster steep progression in the field of robotics. In this review, the current research on robotics in disassembly is investigated by a systematic literature review. The results were clustered in a framework system distinguishing between applied and basic research on the two main streams of disassembly automation research, namely, predefined processes and adaptable, flexible automation

CRISPR/cas Loci of Type II Propionibacterium acnes Confer Immunity against Acquisition of Mobile Elements Present in Type I P. acnes

Propionibacterium acnes is a skin commensal that occasionally acts as an opportunistic pathogen. The population structure of this species shows three main lineages (I–III). While type I strains are mainly associated with sebaceous follicles of human skin and inflammatory acne, types II and III strains are more often associated with deep tissue infections. We investigated the occurrence and distribution of the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) in P. acnes, assessed their immunological memory, and addressed the question if such a system could account for type-specific properties of the species. A collection of 108 clinical isolates covering all known phylotypes of P. acnes was screened for the existence of CRISPR/cas loci. We found that CRISPR loci are restricted to type II P. acnes strains. Sequence analyses of the CRISPR spacers revealed that the system confers immunity to P. acnes-specific phages and to two mobile genetic elements. These elements are found almost exclusively in type I P. acnes strains. Genome sequencing of a type I P. acnes isolate revealed that one element, 54 kb in size, encodes a putative secretion/tight adherence (TAD) system. Thus, CRISPR/cas loci in P. acnes recorded the exposure of type II strains to mobile genetic elements of type I strains. The CRISPR/cas locus is deleted in type I strains, which conceivably accounts for their ability to horizontally acquire fitness or virulence traits and might indicate that type I strains constitute a younger subpopulation of P. acnes

Microbiological Characterization of Cutibacterium acnes Strains Isolated from Prosthetic Joint Infections

Aims: This study aimed to characterize 79 Cutibacterium acnes strains isolated from prosthetic joint infections (PJIs) originated from eight European hospitals. Methods: Isolates were phylotyped according to the single-locus sequence typing (SLST) scheme. We evaluated the ability of the biofilm formation of C. acnes strains isolated from PJIs and 84 isolates recovered from healthy skin. Antibiotic susceptibility testing of planktonic and biofilm cells of PJI isolates and skin isolates was performed. Results: Most of the isolates from PJIs belonged to the SLST class H/phylotype IB (34.2%), followed by class D/phylotype IA1 (21.5%), class A/phylotype IA1 (18.9%), and class K/phylotype II (13.9%). All tested isolates were biofilm producers; no difference in biofilm formation was observed between the healthy skin group and the PJI group of strains. Planktonic and sessile cells of C. acnes remained highly susceptible to a broad spectrum of antibiotics, including beta-lactams, clindamycin, fluoroquinolones, linezolid, rifampin, and vancomycin. The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for planktonic and biofilm states coincided in most cases. However, the minimal biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC) was high for all antimicrobial drugs tested (>32 mg/L), except for rifampin (2 mg/L). Conclusions: C. acnes strains isolated from healthy skin were able to produce biofilm to the same extent as isolates recovered from PJIs. All C. acnes strains in planktonic and sessile states were susceptible to most antibiotics commonly used for PJI treatment, although rifampin was the only antimicrobial agent able to eradicate C. acnes embedded in biofilm. Keywords: Cutibacteriumacnes; antimicrobial susceptibility; biofilm; phylotyping; prosthetic joint infection

Influence of wind speed and wind direction above the sea surface on the diffusive methane flux and the atmospheric methane concentration at the North Sea

The estimations of the diffusive methane flux from the water phase into the atmosphere in coastal waters is relevant for a better estimate of the atmospheric greenhouse-gas budget. Unfortunately, so far, the numerical determination of the fluxes has a high level of uncertainty in coastal waters. To improve the estimation of coastal methane fluxes, not only a high temporal and spatial sampling resolution of the dissolved methane in the water are required. Besides, also the atmospheric methane concentration and the wind speed and wind direction above the surface is important. In most cases, these atmospheric data are obtained from near-by atmospheric and meteorologic monitoring stations. In this study, we measured wind speed, direction and atmospheric methane local directly on board of three research vessel cruising in the southern North Sea within the MOSES project and compared the effects of local versus remote measurements of these data on the flux data. In addition, using the wind direction and speed, we try to assess the origin of the atmospheric methane measured in the study area. Using these “improved” data sets, we discuss if local measurements of auxiliary data provide better insights in the determining factors of the methane flux, and thus also improve the regional aquatic methane budget

Is IL-1β Further Evidence for the Role of Propionibacterium acnes in Degenerative Disc Disease? Lessons From the Study of the Inflammatory Skin Condition Acne Vulgaris

The pathogenesis of degenerative disc disease is a complex and multifactorial process in which genetics, mechanical trauma, altered loading and nutrition present significant etiological factors. Infection of the intervertebral disc with the anaerobic bacterium Propionibacterium acnes is now also emerging as a potentially new etiological factor. This human commensal bacterium is well known for its long association with the inflammatory skin condition acne vulgaris. A key component of inflammatory responses to P. acnes in acne appears to be interleukin (IL)-1β. Similarly, in degenerative disc disease (DDD) there is compelling evidence for the fundamental roles of IL-1β in its pathology. We therefore propose that P. acnes involvement in DDD is biologically very plausible, and that IL-1β is the key inflammatory mechanism driving the host response to P. acnes infection. Since there is a solid theoretical basis for this phenomenon, we further propose that the relationship between P. acnes infection and DDD is causal

Importance of Propionibacterium acnes hemolytic activity in human intervertebral discs:A microbiological study

Most patients with chronic lower back pain (CLBP) exhibit degenerative disc disease. Disc specimens obtained during initial therapeutic discectomies are often infected/colonized with Propionibacterium acnes, a Gram-positive commensal of the human skin. Although pain associated with infection is typically ascribed to the body's inflammatory response, the Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus was recently observed to directly activate nociceptors by secreting pore-forming α-hemolysins that disrupt neuronal cell membranes. The hemolytic activity of P. acnes in cultured disc specimens obtained during routine therapeutic discectomies was assessed through incubation on sheep-blood agar. The β-hemolysis pattern displayed by P. acnes on sheep-blood agar was variable and phylogroup-dependent. Their molecular phylogroups were correlated with their hemolytic patterns. Our findings raise the possibility that pore-forming proteins contribute to the pathogenesis and/or symptomology of chronic P. acnes disc infections and CLBP, at least in a subset of cases