4,776 research outputs found
Obstacles to International Accounting Standards Convergence
Given the recent changes in the international sector, along with the similarities in the conceptual frameworks of the FASB and IASC, the relatively swift convergence of US GAAP and International Accounting Standards is a distinct possibility. This article contends convergence is possible, and reviews 3 key areas that could hinder or foster it: 1. the general organization, in terms of form and topical content, of the frameworks, 2. a significant pervasive difference between the frameworks, and 3. specific differences within the major topical areas of the frameworks
The High Road
Discusses the obstacles to international accounting standards convergence. Effort of the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) to promote to convergence theme; Comparison between the convergence frameworks of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Accounting Standards Board; Sections of the \u27Framework for the Preparation and Presentation of Financial Statements\u27 document issued by the IASC
Reconstructing a model of quintessential inflation
We present an explicit cosmological model where inflation and dark energy
both could arise from the dynamics of the same scalar field. We present our
discussion in the framework where the inflaton field attains a nearly
constant velocity (where
is the e-folding time) during inflation. We show that the model
with and can easily satisfy inflationary constraints,
including the spectral index of scalar fluctuations (),
tensor-to-scalar ratio () and also the bound imposed on
during the nucleosynthesis epoch (). In our
construction, the scalar field potential always scales proportionally to the
square of the Hubble expansion rate. One may thereby account for the two vastly
different energy scales associated with the Hubble parameters at early and late
epochs. The inflaton energy could also produce an observationally significant
effective dark energy at a late epoch without violating local gravity tests.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures; added refs, published versio
Chasing Brane Inflation in String-Theory
We investigate the embedding of brane anti-brane inflation into a concrete
type IIB string theory compactification with all moduli fixed. Specifically, we
are considering a D3-brane, whose position represents the inflaton , in a
warped conifold throat in the presence of supersymmetrically embedded D7-branes
and an anti D3-brane localized at the tip of the warped conifold cone. After
presenting the moduli stabilization analysis for a general D7-brane embedding,
we concentrate on two explicit models, the Ouyang and the Kuperstein
embeddings. We analyze whether the forces, induced by moduli stabilization and
acting on the D3-brane, might cancel by fine-tuning such as to leave us with
the original Coulomb attraction of the anti D3-brane as the driving force for
inflation. For a large class of D7-brane embeddings we obtain a negative
result. Cancelations are possible only for very small intervals of
around an inflection point but not globally. For the most part of its motion
the inflaton then feels a steep, non slow-roll potential. We study the
inflationary dynamics induced by this potential.Comment: 34 pages, 4 figures. Final version published in JCA
Bacterial Cholangitis, Cholecystitis, or both in Dogs
BACKGROUND: Bacterial cholangitis and cholecystitis are rarely reported, poorly characterized diseases in the dog. OBJECTIVES: To characterize the clinical features of these conditions. ANIMALS: Twentyāseven clientāowned dogs with bacterial cholangitis, cholecystitis, or both. METHODS: Multicenter, retrospective cases series of dogs with bacterial cholangitis, cholecystitis, or both, presenting January 2000 to June 2011 to 4 Veterinary Schools in Ireland/United Kingdom. Interrogation of hospital databases identified all cases with the inclusion criteria; histopathologically confirmed cholangitis or cholecystitis and bile culture/cytology results supporting a bacterial etiology. RESULTS: Twentyāseven dogs met the inclusion criteria with approximately 460 hepatitis cases documented over the same study period. Typical clinical pathology findings were increases in liver enzyme activities (25/26), hyperbilirubinemia (20/26), and an inflammatory leukogram (21/24). Ultrasound findings, although nonspecific, aided decisionāmaking in 25/26 cases. The most frequent hepatobiliary bacterial isolates were Escherichia coli (n = 17; 16 cases), Enterococcus spp. (n = 8; 6 cases), and Clostridium spp. (n = 5; 5 cases). Antimicrobial resistance was an important feature of aerobic isolates; 10/16 E. coli isolates resistant to 3 or more antimicrobial classes. Biliary tract rupture complicated nearly one third of cases, associated with significant mortality (4/8). Discharged dogs had a guarded to fair prognosis; 17/18 alive at 2 months, although 5/10 reāevaluated had persistent liver enzyme elevation 2ā12 months later. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Bacterial cholangitis and cholecystitis occur more frequently than suggested by current literature and should be considered in dogs presenting with jaundice and fever, abdominal pain, or an inflammatory leukogram or with ultrasonographic evidence of gallbladder abnormalities
The Association Between Persistent White-Matter Abnormalities and Repeat Injury After Sport-Related Concussion
Objective: A recent systematic review determined that the physiological effects of concussion may persist beyond clinical recovery. Preclinical models suggest that ongoing physiological effects are accompanied by increased cerebral vulnerability that is associated with risk for subsequent, more severe injury. This study examined the association between signal alterations on diffusion tensor imaging following clinical recovery of sport-related concussion in athletes with and without a subsequent second concussion. Methods: Average mean diffusivity (MD) was calculated in a region of interest (ROI) in which concussed athletes (n = 82) showed significantly elevated MD acutely after injury (<48 h), at an asymptomatic time point, 7 days post-return to play (RTP), and 6 months relative to controls (n = 69). The relationship between MD in the identified ROI and likelihood of sustaining a subsequent concussion over a 1-year period was examined with a binary logistic regression (re-injured, yes/no). Results: Eleven of 82 concussed athletes (13.4%) sustained a second concussion within 12 months of initial injury. Mean MD at 7 days post-RTP was significantly higher in those athletes who went on to sustain a repeat concussion within 1 year of initial injury than those who did not (p = 0.048; d = 0.75). In this underpowered sample, the relationship between MD at 7 days post-RTP and likelihood of sustaining a secondary injury approached significance [Ļ2 (1) = 4.17, p = 0.057; B = 0.03, SE = 0.017; OR = 1.03, CI = 0.99, 1.07]. Conclusions: These preliminary findings raise the hypothesis that persistent signal abnormalities in diffusion imaging metrics at RTP following concussion may be predictive of a repeat concussion. This may reflect a window of cerebral vulnerability or increased susceptibility following concussion, though understanding the clinical significance of these findings requires further study
An experimental study of the rearrangements of valence protons and neutrons amongst single-particle orbits during double {\beta} decay in 100Mo
The rearrangements of protons and neutrons amongst the valence
single-particle orbitals during double {\beta} decay of 100Mo have been
determined by measuring cross sections in (d,p), (p,d), (3He,{\alpha}) and
(3He,d) reactions on 98,100Mo and 100,102Ru targets. The deduced nucleon
occupancies reveal significant discrepancies when compared with theoretical
calculations; the same calculations have previously been used to determine the
nuclear matrix element associated with the decay probability of double {\beta}
decay of the 100Mo system.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures, 37 pages of supplemental informatio
Oscillations in the bispectrum
There exist several models of inflation that produce primordial bispectra
that contain a large number of oscillations. In this paper we discuss these
models, and aim at finding a method of detecting such bispectra in the data. We
explain how the recently proposed method of mode expansion of bispectra might
be able to reconstruct these spectra from separable basis functions. Extracting
these basis functions from the data might then lead to observational
constraints on these models.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, submitted to JOP: Conference Series, PASCOS 201
Risk of severe COVID-19 in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases treated with immunosuppressive therapy in Scotland
Objective: To investigate the association of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in patients with inflammatory
rheumatic diseases (IRDs) treated with immunosuppressive drugs.
Method: A list of 4633 patients on targeted ā biological or targeted synthetic ā DMARDs in March 2020 was linked to a caseā
control study that includes all cases of COVID-19 in Scotland.
Results: By 22 November 2021, 433 of the 4633 patients treated with targeted DMARDS had been diagnosed with COVID-19,
of whom 58 had been hospitalized. With all those in the population not on DMARDs as the reference category, the rate ratio for
hospitalized COVID-19 associated with DMARD treatment was 2.14 [95% confidence interval (CI) 2.02ā2.26] in those on
conventional synthetic (cs) DMARDs, 2.01 (95% CI 1.38ā2.91) in those on tumour necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors as the only
targeted agent, and 3.83 (95% CI 2.65ā5.56) in those on other targeted DMARDs. Among those on csDMARDs, rate ratios for
hospitalized COVID-19 were lowest at 1.66 (95% CI 1.51ā1.82) in those on methotrexate and highest at 5.4 (95% CI 4.4ā6.7) in
those on glucocorticoids at an average dose > 10 mg/day prednisolone equivalent.
Conclusion: The risk of hospitalized COVID-19 is elevated in IRD patients treated with immunosuppressive drugs compared
with the general population. Of these drugs, methotrexate, hydroxychloroquine, and TNF inhibitors carry the lowest risk. The
highest risk is associated with prednisolone. A larger study is needed to estimate reliably the risks associated with each class of
targeted DMAR
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