Fmri Study Of Brain Activation Associated With Earnings Management Techniques In Proximity To Debt Covenant Violations

Business managers employ various earnings management techniques (EMTs) to prevent debt covenant breaches. Understanding the underlying decision-making processes related to such techniques may help a manager choose the optimal approach to avoid a violation, but these cognitive processes remain poorly understood. The current functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study aims to explore the brain activation associated with assessment and decision-making to apply three commonly employed EMTs: accounting earnings management (AEM), classification shifting (CS), and total real earnings management (REM). During the fMRI scans, fifty participating business managers read the text presentations of multiple scenarios where companies were at different proximities (FAR or CLOSE) to debt covenant violations. Then, the managers assessed the options and decided whether to apply one of the three EMTs. Behavioral results suggest that managers preferred using AEM and REM over CS to avoid debt covenant violations, and they were more likely to apply EMTs when companies were CLOSE to rather than FAR from default. The fMRI findings revealed that assessing and deciding the three techniques elicited activation in the occipital, frontal, and lateral temporal cortices regions. In addition, REM and CS were associated with more significant subcortical hippocampus regions for memory processing. REM activated the brain\u27s motor system for actions, but CS activated the basal ganglia for delayed reward processing. Increased risk of debt covenant violation in CLOSE scenarios was linked to reduced activation in the frontal pole, superior parietal, precuneus, lingual, lateral occipital, posterior inferior temporal, and posterior cingulate gyri, suggesting decreased visual attention and emotion regulation activation during assessing and deciding to apply EMTs to avoid default risks. These activation patterns reveal shared and distinct neural processes in applying EMTs. Proximity to debt covenant violations reduces brain activation in areas tied to decision-making and emotional regulation, fostering stress-driven short-term strategies. These findings highlight financial pressure\u27s impact on managerial behavior and emphasize the need for resilience-focused interventions

Erratum to: 36th International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13054-016-1208-6.]

Anéis vasculares na infância: diagnóstico e tratamento

Objetivo: apresentar a experiência do Serviço de Cirurgia Pediátrica do Instituto da Criança do HCFMUSP no diagnóstico e tratamento de crianças com anomalias do arco aórtico e definir a importância dos exames complementares para o diagnóstico. Métodos: estudo retrospectivo de 22 crianças com diagnóstico de compressão traqueoesofágica por anel vascular tratadas no Instituto da Criança, no período de 1985 a 2000, investigando-se dados clínicos pré e pós-operatórios, exames complementares e evolução. Resultados: a anomalia vascular mais freqüente foi artéria inominada direita anômala (10 casos), seguido de duplo arco aórtico (7 casos) e arco aórtico à direita (5 casos). Os sintomas predominantes foram respiratórios (86%) e de início precoce (76% desde o período neonatal). Entretanto, o diagnóstico definitivo na maioria dos casos (60%) só foi estabelecido após 1 ano de vida. O exame mais importante para o diagnóstico foi o esofagograma. A correção de todas anomalias foi realizada por toracotomia póstero-lateral esquerda. Não ocorreram complicações cirúrgicas. A evolução foi pior nos casos operados mais tardiamente. Todas as crianças permaneceram sintomáticas por até 6 meses, apesar de significativa melhora no pós-operatório. Conclusão: o diagnóstico de anel vascular deve ser investigado nas crianças com sintomas respiratórios de início precoce e nas "chiadoras" de difícil controle. O diagnóstico pode ser realizado de forma simples através do esofagograma. Os demais exames de imagem acrescentam poucas informações e são dispensáveis na maioria dos casos. Os sintomas respiratórios podem persistir com menor intensidade por períodos variáveis no pós-operatório.<br>Objective: To present the study carried out by the Pediatric Surgery Department of Instituto da Criança at the Medical School of Universidade de São Paulo regarding the diagnosis and treatment of children with aortic arch abnormalities and to define the role of complementary exams for diagnosis. Methods: Retrospective study of 22 patients with diagnosis of tracheoesophageal compression treated at Instituto da Criança from 1985 to 2000, analyzing pre- and postoperative clinical data, diagnostic exams and outcome. Results: The most frequent diagnosis was right aberrant innominate artery (10 cases), followed by double aortic arch (7 cases) and right aortic arch (5 cases). Respiratory symptoms (86%) and early manifestation (76% since the neonatal period) were predominant. Nevertheless, most cases (60%) had the definitive diagnosis established only after 1 year of life. The most relevant examination for the diagnosis was the esophagogram. The correction of all the anomalies was carried out through left postero-lateral thoracotomy. There were no surgical complications. The outcome was worse in patients with delayed treatment. All children remained symptomatic for up to 6 months, although they had significant improvement in the postoperative period. Conclusions: The diagnosis of vascular rings should be considered in children with early respiratory symptoms and in the wheezing baby with difficult control. The diagnosis may be established just through the esophagogram. Other image studies add few information and they are unnecessary in most cases. Less severe symptoms may persist for variable periods

Costs and advance directives at the end of life: a case of the ‘Coaching Older Adults and Carers to have their preferences Heard (COACH)’ trial

Background Total costs associated with care for older people nearing the end of life and the cost variations related with end of life care decisions are not well documented in the literature. Healthcare utilisation and associated health care costs for a group of older Australians who entered Transition Care following an acute hospital admission were calculated. Costs were differentiated according to a number of health care decisions and outcomes including advance directives (ADs). Methods Study participants were drawn from the Coaching Older Adults and Carers to have their preferences Heard (COACH) trial funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council. Data collected included total health care costs, the type of (and when) ADs were completed and the place of death. Two-step endogenous treatment-regression models were employed to test the relationship between costs and a number of variables including completion of ADs. Results The trial recruited 230 older adults with mean age 84 years. At the end of the trial, 53 had died and 80 had completed ADs. Total healthcare costs were higher for younger participants and those who had died. No statistically significant association was found between costs and completion of ADs. Conclusion For our frail study population, the completion of ADs did not have an effect on health care utilisation and costs. Further research is needed to substantiate these findings in larger and more diverse clinical cohorts of older people

A New Mixture of Two Components of Exponentiated Family with Applications to Real Life Data Sets

In this paper, the mixture of two components of exponentiated family is introduced as a new family of continuous distributions. Some general properties of the proposed family are discussed such as the quantile function, moments, moment generating function and order statistics. The maximum likelihood estimation method is used to derive the estimators for the unknown parameters, reliability and hazard rate functions. The mixture of two exponentiated inverted Kumaraswamy distribution is studied as a sub-model from the mixture exponentiated family of distributions. Some statistical properties are studied such as the quantile function, moments, moment generating function and order statistics. Also, the maximum likelihood estimators for the unknown parameters, reliability and hazard rate functions of the mixture exponentiated inverted Kumaraswamy distribution are obtained. A simulation study is conducted to assess the performance of the maximum likelihood estimators of the parameters of the mixture exponentiated inverted Kumaraswamy distribution. Finally, a real data set is applied to ensure the simulated results

Simplified modeling of the electrospinning process from the stable jet region to the unstable region for predicting the final nanofiber diameter

Electrospinning allows the production of ultrafine nanofibers through the stretching of a charged polymer jet with an external electrostatic field. In this study, we derived a simplified and accurate model relating the processing parameters, including the solution volumetric flow rate (Q), the applied electric field (E), and the polymer concentration, to the final fiber diameter. The model takes into consideration the jet behavior starting at the stable region and moving to the bending instability region. We validated the model experimentally by performing the electrospinning process with a polyacrylonitrile/N,N-dimethylformamide solution with different ranges of concentrations (8–11 wt %), Qs (900–1320 μL/h), and Es (88,889–113,889 V/m). The final fiber diameter was measured with scanning electron microscopy. The model predicted the fiber diameter with a relative error of less than 10%. Moreover, a 30% increase in Q resulted in a 15% increase in the fiber diameter, whereas a 30% increase in E resulted in a 14% decrease in the fiber diameter. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 44112. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Функциональное печенье, обогащенное порошком картофельной кожуры: физические, химические, реологические и антиоксидантные свойства

This research aimed to replace wheat flour with potato peel powder (PPP) at different levels (3, 5, 7, 10, 30, and 50%). An effect of PPP on physical, chemical, rheological, and antioxidant properties of biscuit samples was investigated. The results show that the PPP sample had a significantly higher content of total sugar, protein and ash, and a lower content of moisture (15.68g/100g dry weight, 15.32 g/100g dry weight, 9.11%, 8.35%, respectively) compared with the wheat flour sample. Also, a higher total phenolic content and antioxidant activity (71.12 mg Gallic acid equivalent / 100g dry weight and 68.39%, respectively) was observed in the PPP sample. The highest percentage of PPP addition (50%) exerted the greatest significant effect on the content of total sugar, protein, moisture, ash, total phenols, and antioxidant activity compared with the control sample and other biscuit samples leading to their increase to 50.90 g/100g dry weight, 12.74 g/100g dry weight, 5.56%, 2.39%, 41.71 mg Gallic acid equivalent / 100g dry weight, 59.72%, respectively. A decrease in the L*, a*, b*, C*, h and BI values, and an increase in ∆E values were observed with replacing wheat flour with PPP. The 3% and 5% replacement rates contributed to improving most organoleptic characteristics (general acceptability, color, taste) compared to the samples with the highest studied percentages (30% and 50%). Although the highest percentages of PPP addition led to lower scores for sensory characteristics, all studied samples were acceptable from the sensory point of view, except the samples with the 50% replacement rate in terms of their taste and color.Цель этой работы состоит в описании и исследовании ранее неизвестного явления самосегментации молочного сгустка в сыродельной ванне открытого типа. На основе анализа кинетики гелеобразования определено, что самосегметация геля начинается вблизи гель-точки, развивается в течение нескольких десятков секунд и закрепляется по мере уплотнения геля. Сегменты в молочном сгустке не имеют определённой правильной формы, их средний размер вариабелен в пределах от 5 до 50 см. Форма и размеры сегментов не повторяются и не коррелируют с видом вырабатываемого сыра. Смещение сегментов молочного сгустка в сыродельной ванне относительно друг друга по высоте составляет от 0,5 до 2 мм. Ширина граничного слоя между сегментами сгустка увеличивается в процессе вторичной фазы гелеобразования от 3 до 10 мм. В результате проведенных экспериментальных исследований показано, что самосегментация молочного геля вызывается термогравитационной конвекцией, образующей циркуляционные ячейки Бенара. Предложено описание возможного механизма самосегментации молочного геля в сыродельных ваннах открытого типа. Отмечена действенная роль жировых шариков в механизме самосегментации молочного сгустка. Высказано предположение, что самосегментация молочного сгустка в сыродельной ванне может вызвать некоторые органолептические дефекты в готовом сыре, в частности неравномерность текстуры и неравномерность цвета

Functional biscuits enriched with potato peel powder: Physical, chemical, rheological, and antioxidants properties

This research aimed to replace wheat flour with potato peel powder (PPP) at different levels (3, 5, 7, 10, 30, and 50%). An effect of PPP on physical, chemical, rheological, and antioxidant properties of biscuit samples was investigated. The results show that the PPP sample had a significantly higher content of total sugar, protein and ash, and a lower content of moisture (15.68g/100g dry weight, 15.32 g/100g dry weight, 9.11%, 8.35%, respectively) compared with the wheat flour sample. Also, a higher total phenolic content and antioxidant activity (71.12 mg Gallic acid equivalent / 100g dry weight and 68.39%, respectively) was observed in the PPP sample. The highest percentage of PPP addition (50%) exerted the greatest significant effect on the content of total sugar, protein, moisture, ash, total phenols, and antioxidant activity compared with the control sample and other biscuit samples leading to their increase to 50.90 g/100g dry weight, 12.74 g/100g dry weight, 5.56%, 2.39%, 41.71 mg Gallic acid equivalent / 100g dry weight, 59.72%, respectively. A decrease in the L*, a*, b*, C*, h and BI values, and an increase in ∆E values were observed with replacing wheat flour with PPP. The 3% and 5% replacement rates contributed to improving most organoleptic characteristics (general acceptability, color, taste) compared to the samples with the highest studied percentages (30% and 50%). Although the highest percentages of PPP addition led to lower scores for sensory characteristics, all studied samples were acceptable from the sensory point of view, except the samples with the 50% replacement rate in terms of their taste and color