Earnings Management in Polish Companies

This paper presents results of the investigation of a phenomenon known as "earnings management'' (EM) among the companies listed on the Polish stock market. The distribution of earnings per share (EPS) for the stocks around the threshold value of "zero" and the threshold of "recent performance" was analyzed in the period of years 1997-2010. Moreover, the changes of earnings for the stocks, which are suspected to manipulate their earnings, were also investigated. The results, which indicate asymmetric distribution of earnings around the zero threshold along with the relative deterioration of earnings in the year following the period when the companies were suspected to conduct earnings management practices, provide evidence that this phenomenon exists among Polish stock market companies.W artykule zaprezentowano rezultaty analizy zjawiska znanego jako "zarządzanie zyskami'', wśród spółek z polskiego rynku kapitałowego. Przeanalizowano rozkład zysku na akcję wokół progu "zero'' oraz progu wyznaczonego w oparciu o wartości zysku na akcję z okresu przeszłego w okresie 1997-2010. Wyniki badania potwierdziły występowanie asymetrii rozkładu zysku na akcję wokół progu "zero'' oraz spadek zysków w latach następujących po "zarządzaniu zyskiem'' co wskazuje na występowanie analizowanego zjawiska na polskim rynku kapitałowym

Blockchain, parameterisation and automated arbitrage applied to the chemical industry

This thesis considers three scenarios related to chemical industry where the concepts of eco-industrial parks (EIPs), Industry 4.0, parameterisation, blockchain and arbitrage are brought together to explore the issues of simulation speed and accuracy, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication and automated participation in financial markets. In the first scenario, a biodiesel plant flow sheet model is analysed and parameterised. The relations between 11 inputs typical to a biodiesel plant and its energy requirements are approximated using surrogate models, of which accuracy is assessed. Additionally, the effects of dimensionality, domain size and surrogate type on the accuracy are investigated and global sensitivities of the outputs are computed using High Dimensional Model Representation (HDMR). Most surrogate models achieved at least a reasonable fit regardless of the domain size and number of dimensions. It was observed that in all cases only 4 or fewer inputs have significant influence on any of the outputs and that the interaction terms have only minor effect on any one output. In the second scenario, applications of blockchain technology related to Industry 4.0 are explored and an example where blockchain is employed to facilitate M2M interactions and establish a M2M electricity market in the context of the chemical industry is presented. Successful implementation of two electricity producers and one electricity consumer trading with each other over a blockchain-based network is presented. In the third scenario, an automated arbitrage spotter is developed and applied to two cases: conversion of natural gas to methanol and crude palm oil to biodiesel. The spotter is designed to search for opportunities to make additional profit by analysing the futures market prices for both the reagent and the product. It considers cost of storage and conversion (other feedstock, steam, electricity and other utilities) derived from physical simulations of the chemical process. In a profitable scenario up to 345.17 USD per tonne of biodiesel can be earned by buying contracts for delivery of crude palm oil in September 2018 and selling contracts for delivery of biodiesel in December 2018 in a ratio of 4 to 1.Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology in the University of Cambridge and Cambridge CARES Ltd

Somatostatin, substance P and calcitonin gene-related peptide-positive intramural nerve structures of the human large intestine affected by carcinoma.

The aim of this study was to investigate the arrangement and chemical coding of enteric nerve structures in the human large intestine affected by cancer. Tissue samples comprising all layers of the intestinal wall were collected during surgery form both morphologically unchanged and pathologically altered segments of the intestine (n=15), and fixed by immersion in buffered paraformaldehyde solution. The cryostat sections were processed for double-labelling immunofluorescence to study the distribution of the intramural nerve structures (visualized with antibodies against protein gene-product 9.5) and their chemical coding using antibodies against somatostatin (SOM), substance P (SP) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP). The microscopic observations revealed distinct morphological differences in the enteric nerve system structure between the region adjacent to the cancer invaded area and the intact part of the intestine. In general, infiltration of the cancer tissue resulted in the gradual (depending on the grade of invasion) first decomposition and reduction to final partial or complete destruction and absence of the neuronal elements. A comparative analysis of immunohistochemically labeled sections (from the unchanged and pathologically altered areas) revealed a statistically significant decrease in the number of CGRP-positive neurons and nerve fibres in both submucous and myenteric plexuses in the transitional zone between morphologically unchanged and cancer-invaded areas. In this zone, a decrease was also observed in the density of SP-positive nerve fibres in all intramural plexuses. Conversely, the investigations demonstrated statistically insignificant differences in number of SP- and SOM-positive neurons and a similar density of SOM-positive nerve fibres in the plexuses of the intact and pathologically changed areas. The differentiation between the potential adaptive changes in ENS or destruction of its elements by cancer invasion should be a subject of further investigations

Can genetic testing be useful for defining the risk of cancer?

This article is a summary of the opinions of the authors, as presented at the annual conference of the Nowotwory Journal of Oncology, ‘Oncological Debates’, held in Warszawa, 8–9th April 2016. This work is not a typical review, in that it contains only the viewpoints of the authors, as opposed to any critical review of the literature

Fractal dimensions of the sagittal (interparietal) sutures in humans

Traditional studies of the cranial suture morphology have focused mostly on visual estimation and linear measurements, and thus on evaluating their complexity. This paper presents a new look on cranial sutures as curves, which can be analysed by fractal dimension. This new measure seems to be a much better method of expressing properties of sutural patterns than traditional methods. Our findings suggest that the fractal dimension of non-complicated interparietal sutures slightly exceeds the topological dimension of the line, that is 1.0, whereas the fractal dimension of complicated sutures may reach a value of 1.4 or even more. The difference between the minimum and maximum decimal fraction of the fractal dimension indicates a three-fold increase in complexity in the investigated sutures