The Impact Of Accounting Scandals On Accounting Students

At no other time in the history of the accounting profession has there been such an impact to the financial reporting function within the capital market structure. The institutions responsible for the financial reporting function are reeling from the fallout of these financial-reporting scandals. “Reports on the collapse of Enron, the bankruptcy of WorldCom, and a growing list of failures and near failures have exposed massive manipulations of financial reporting by management, inexplicable breakdowns in the independent audit process, astonishing revelations of holes in our financial-reporting standards and practices, and studding lapses of corporate governance”. (Sutton, 2002). As Sutton also points out, in this environment, investors and the public have become increasingly skeptical about a system that seems to be out of control.  The impact on perceptions of the investing public must also include students studying business and more specifically students studying accounting. This study uses a questionnaire developed by Gramling, et.al. (1996) to study the perceptions of auditing students before and after the above mentioned financial-reporting scandals. Students in two auditing classes, one before the scandals and one after, were given the questionnaire at the beginning of their auditing course. The results show a significant change in student perceptions concerning audit expectation issues after the scandals, but before they studied auditing.&nbsp

Applying Non-Energy Impacts from Other Jurisdictions in Cost-Benefit Analyses of Energy Efficiency Programs: Resources for States for Utility Customer-Funded Programs

Avoided energy and capacity costs are the primary yardstick utilities use to determine which energy efficiency programs are cost-effective for their customers. But sometimes "non-energy impacts" — not commonly recognized as directly associated with energy generation, transmission and distribution — represent substantial benefits, such as improving comfort, air quality and public health.Considering whether and how to include non-energy impacts is an important part of cost-benefit analyses for these programs. This report offers practical considerations for deciding which non-energy impacts to include and how to apply values or methods from other jurisdictions.Researchers reviewed studies quantifying non-energy impacts used in 30 states and applied a five-point system to indicate transferability of a value or method from each study for 16 categories of non-energy impacts:Water resource costs and benefitsOther fuels costs and benefitsAvoided environmental compliance costsEnvironmental impactsProductivityHealth and safety Asset valueEnergy and/or capacity price suppression effectsAvoided costs of compliance with Renewable Portfolio Standard requirementsAvoided credit and collection costsAvoided ancillary servicesComfortEconomic development and job impactsPublic health impactsEnergy security impactsIncreased reliabilityThe U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office supported this work

Quantum Walks on Trees with Disorder: Decay, Diffusion, and Localization

Quantum walks have been shown to have impressive transport properties compared to classical random walks. However, imperfections in the quantum walk algorithm can destroy any quantum mechanical speed-up due to Anderson localization. We numerically study the effect of static disorder on a quantum walk on the glued trees graph. For small disorder, we find that the dominant effect is a type of quantum decay, and not quantum localization. For intermediate disorder, there is a crossover to diffusive transport, while a localization transition is observed at large disorder, in agreement with Anderson localization on the Cayley tree.Comment: 12 pages, 13 figure

Influence of light on the infection of Aureococcus anophagefferens CCMP 1984 by a “giant virus”

The pelagophyte Aureococcus anophagefferens has caused recurrent brown tide blooms along the northeast coast of the United States since the mid-1980\u27s, and more recently spread to other regions of the globe. These blooms, due to the high cell densities, are associated with severe light attenuation that destroys the sea grass beds which provide the basis for many fisheries. Data collected by transmission electron microscopy, PCR, and metatranscriptomic studies of the blooms, support the hypothesis that large dsDNA viruses play a role in bloom dynamics. While a large (~140 nm) icosahedral virus, with a 371 kbp genome, was first isolated more than a decade ago, the constraints imposed by environmental parameters on bloom infection dynamics by Aureococcus anophagefferens Virus, (AaV) remain unknown. To investigate the role light plays in infection by this virus, we acclimated A. anophagefferens to light intensities of 30 (low), 60 (medium) or 90 μmol photons m-2 s-1 (high) and infected cultures at these irradiance levels. Moreover, we completed light shift experiments where acclimated cultures were exposed to even lower light intensities (0, 5, and 15 μmol photons m-2 s-1) consistent with irradiance found during the peak of the bloom when cell concentrations are highest. The abundance of viruses produced per lytic event (burst size) was lower in the low irradiance acclimated cultures compared to the medium and high acclimated cultures. Transferring infected cultures to more-limiting light availabilities further decreased burst size and increased the length of time it took for cultures to lyse, regardless of acclimation irradiance level. A hypothetical mechanism for the reduced efficiency of the infection cycle in low light due to ribosome biogenesis was predicted from pre-existing transcriptomes. Overall, these studies provide a framework for understanding light effects on infection dynamics over the course of the summer months when A. anophagefferens blooms occur

Multi-frequency control pulses for multi-level superconducting quantum circuits

Superconducting quantum circuits, such as the superconducting phase qubit, have multiple quantum states that can interfere with ideal qubit operation. The use of multiple frequency control pulses, resonant with the energy differences of the multi-state system, is theoretically explored. An analytical method to design such control pulses is developed, using a generalization of the Floquet method to multiple frequency controls. This method is applicable to optimizing the control of both superconducting qubits and qudits, and is found to be in excellent agreement with time-dependent numerical simulations.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure

Race affects SVR12 in a large and ethnically diverse hepatitis C-infected patient population following treatment with direct-acting antivirals: Analysis of a single-center Department of Veterans Affairs cohort.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major cause of chronic liver disease. HCV cure has been linked to improved patient outcomes. In the era of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), HCV cure has become the goal, as defined by sustained virological response 12 weeks (SVR12) after completion of therapy. Historically, African-Americans have had lower SVR12 rates compared to White people in the interferon era, which had been attributed to the high prevalence of non-CC interleukin 28B (IL28B) type. Less is known about the association between race/ethnicity and SVR12 in DAA-treated era. The aim of the study is to evaluate the predictors of SVR12 in a diverse, single-center Veterans Affairs population. We conducted a retrospective study of patients undergoing HCV therapy with DAAs from 2014 to 2016 at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. We performed a multivariable logistic regression analysis to determine predictors of SVR12, adjusting for age, HCV genotype, DAA regimen and duration, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status, fibrosis, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) fibrosis score, homelessness, mental health, and adherence. Our cohort included 1068 patients, out of which 401 (37.5%) were White people and 400 (37.5%) were African-American. Genotype 1 was the most common genotype (83.9%, N = 896). In the adjusted models, race/ethnicity and the presence of fibrosis were statistically significant predictors of non-SVR. African-Americans had 57% lower odds for reaching SVR12 (adj.OR = 0.43, 95% CI = 1.5-4.1) compared to White people. Advanced fibrosis (adj.OR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.26-0.68) was also a significant predictor of non-SVR. In a single-center VA population on DAAs, African-Americans were less likely than White people to reach SVR12 when adjusting for covariates

Effects of Electricity and Altered Conductivity on Rainbow Trout Embryos: A Study to Determine Efficacy of Electricity for Eradication of Invasive Salmonids

Electricity has been an applied means of facilitating capture and removal of invasive fishes for many years. Current methods involve use of electrodes to establish a current through which passing fish will be susceptible to a brief shock to stun. This method, however, only affects free swimming individuals and is not inclusive of early life history stages such as embryos within spawning substrate. This study evaluates the susceptibility of embryonic and larval stage rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) to direct DC current between 2-20v/cm in varying conductive waters to determine lethality for invasive salmonid eradication efforts. Rainbow trout embryos (n = 10 embryos/exposure) were initially exposed to homogeneous electric fields for 5 sec with a water conductivity of 220uS/cm from 1 day post fertilization (DPF)/ 27 temperature units (TU) to 15 DPF/405TU. Mortality was assessed 24 hours post exposure and the LV50 (lethal voltage) at 220uS/cm was determined for each TU. Embryos from six periods of development were then exposed to their respective LV50 voltages in varying conductive waters (20-600uS/cm). Susceptibility to direct DC voltages increased with voltage but overall susceptibility decreased with development. Susceptibility to a constant voltage increased with increasing conductivity and was consistent throughout early development (81TU-292TU), but the effects of increased conductivity were not enhanced in eyed embryos after 364TU. Results indicate that direct DC current applied prior to eyed embryonic stages, the period of greatest trout embryo susceptibility, is an effective means of eradicating invasive and nuisance salmonids

Life stress and mental disorders in the South African stress and health study

Background. Although stressful life events (SLEs) are associated with psychopathology, the contribution from distal and proximal events and the specificity of their association with common mental disorders require further exploration. We examined the association of recent life events and past adversities to mood, anxiety, substance use and impulse control disorders in South Africa. Methods. Data were analysed from the South African Stress and Health study, a population-based study of mental disorders in a nationally representative sample of 4 351 adults. Psychiatric disorders were assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). This included questions covering early and later SLEs (negative life events, relationship stress, partner violence, social strain and adverse events during childhood) and various sociodemographic variables. Logistic regression models were constructed for 3 957 respondents (2 371 female, 1 586 male) with no missing covariate data, to assess life stress and sociodemographic predictors of 12-month and lifetime disorder. Results. Recent negative life events and relationship problems were significant predictors of any 12-month disorder and any lifetime disorder. Physical partner violence predicted any lifetime disorder. There was evidence of specificity for the prediction of mood versus anxiety disorders, with childhood adversity specifically associated with mood disorders but not anxiety disorders. Single marital status was the strongest socio-demographic predictor of any 12-month and any lifetime disorder. Conclusions. Stressful life events, distal and proximal, contribute significantly and independently to the prediction of major psychiatric disorders among South Africans, underscoring the importance of screening adversities in adults with common mental disorders, and of providing appropriate adjunctive interventions

Association between muscular strength and mortality in men: prospective cohort study

Objective: To examine prospectively the association between muscular strength and mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer in men. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Aerobics center longitudinal study. Participants: 8762 men aged 20-80. Main outcome measures: All cause mortality up to 31 December 2003; muscular strength, quantified by combining one repetition maximal measures for leg and bench presses and further categorised as age specific thirds of the combined strength variable; and cardiorespiratory fitness assessed by a maximal exercise test on a treadmill. Results: During an average follow-up of 18.9 years, 503 deaths occurred (145 cardiovascular disease, 199 cancer). Age adjusted death rates per 10,000 person years across incremental thirds of muscular strength were 38.9, 25.9, and 26.6 for all causes; 12.1, 7.6, and 6.6 for cardiovascular disease; and 6.1, 4.9, and 4.2 for cancer (all P Conclusion: Muscular strength is inversely and independently associated with death from all causes and cancer in men, even after adjusting for cardiorespiratory fitness and other potential confounders