Knowledge Spillover and Accounting Firms’ Competitive Strength in the M&A Advisory Market

Accounting firms participating in M&A advisory teams can leverage their knowledge accumulated through assurance services to give the teams a competitive advantage in advising on transactions with hard-to-value targets. Consistently, we document that bidders are more likely to select accounting firms to advise on transactions involving such targets. Knowledge spillover aids in estimating the target’s value, which translates into higher service quality offered by accounting firms as captured by higher acquirer announcement-period stock returns and lower likelihood of overpaying for the target. The effects we document are concentrated in cases when the accounting firm is the audit-specialist in the target’s industry or target’s auditor and the target has low reporting quality. Our results help explain why Thomson Reuters ranks accounting firms among top global advisors, particularly in the mid- and low-end M&A advisory market

Investigation of electrical contact resistance for nonconductive film functionalized with Π -conjugated self-assembled molecules

©2007 American Institute of Physics. The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://link.aip.org/link/?APPLAB/90/092102/1DOI:10.1063/1.2709638Nonconductive adhesive/nonconductive film (NCA/NCF) bonding technology has attracted increasing research interests as lead-free interconnect. During bonding, heat and pressure are applied and the direct physical contacts between the two surfaces of integrated circuit bump and substrate bond pad can be achieved. The electrical contact resistance of a NCA/NCF joint is controlled by the pressure, roughness and NCA/NCF material properties. An accurate prediction of contact resistance can help guide experiment setup towards improving the electrical performance of NCA/NCF. In this study, a model is developed and correlated to experiments. The effects of NCA/NCF material properties on electrical contact resistance are investigated

Processing of carbon-fiber-reinforced Zr41.2Ti13.8Cu12.5Ni10.0Be22.5 bulk metallic glass composites

Carbon-fiber-reinforced bulk metallic glass composites are produced by infiltrating liquid Zr41.2Ti13.8Cu12.5Ni10.0Be22.5 into carbon fiber bundles with diameter of the individual fiber of 5 mum. Reactive wetting occurs by the formation of a ZrC layer around the fibers. This results in a composite with a homogeneous fiber distribution. The volume fraction of the fibers is about 50% and the density of the composite amounts to 4.0 g/cm(^3)

Void Formation Study of Flip Chip in Package Using No-Flow Underfill

©2008 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or distribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE. This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. In most cases, these works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.DOI: 10.1109/TEPM.2008.2002951The advanced flip chip in package (FCIP) process using no-flow underfill material for high I/O density and fine-pitch interconnect applications presents challenges for an assembly process that must achieve high electrical interconnect yield and high reliability performance. With respect to high reliability, the voids formed in the underfill between solder bumps or inside the solder bumps during the no-flow underfill assembly process of FCIP devices have been typically considered one of the critical concerns affecting assembly yield and reliability performance. In this paper, the plausible causes of underfill void formation in FCIP using no-flow underfill were investigated through systematic experimentation with different types of test vehicles. For instance, the effects of process conditions, material properties, and chemical reaction between the solder bumps and no-flow underfill materials on the void formation behaviors were investigated in advanced FCIP assemblies. In this investigation, the chemical reaction between solder and underfill during the solder wetting and underfill cure process has been found to be one of the most significant factors for void formation in high I/O and fine-pitch FCIP assembly using no-flow underfill materials

Ubiquitous Internet in an integrated satellite-terrestrial environment: The SUITED solution

yesThe current Internet architecture appears to not be particularly suited to addressing the emerging needs of new classes of users who wish to gain access to multimedia services made available by ISPs, regardless of their location, while in motion and with a guaranteed level of quality. One of the main objectives of so-called nextgeneration systems is to overcome the limitations of today¿s available Internet by adopting an approach based on the integration of different mobile and fixed networks. The SUITED project moves in this direction since it aims at contributing to the design and deployment of the global mobile broadband system (GMBS), a unique satellite/terrestrial infrastructure ensuring nomadic users access to Internet services with a negotiated QoS. A description of the main features of the GMBS architecture, characterized by the integration of a multisegment access network with a federated ISP network is given in this article. The GMBS multimode terminal is schematically described, and an overview of the so-called QoS-aware mobility management scheme, devised for such a heterogeneous scenario,is provided

The safety and efficacy of mesenchymal stem cells for prevention or regeneration of intervertebral disc degeneration: a systematic review

General Posters: abstract no. GP86INTRODUCTION: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been used to halt the progression or regenerate the disc with hopes to prevent or treat discogenic back pain. However, the safety and efficacy of the use of MSCs for such treatment in animal and human models at short and long term assessment (i.e. greater than 48 weeks) have not been systematically addressed. This study addressed a systematic review of comparative controlled studies addressing the use of MSCs to that of no treatment/saline for the treatment of disc degeneration. METHODS: Online databases were extensively searched. Controlled trials in animal models and humans were eligible for inclusion. Trial design, MSC characteristics, injection method, disc assessment, outcome intervals, and complication events were assessed. Validity of each study was assessed addressing trial design. Two individuals independently addressed the aforementioned. RESULTS: Twenty-two animal studies were included. No human comparative controlled trials were reported. All three types of MSCs (i.e. derived from bone marrow, synovial and adipose tissue) showed successful inhibition of disc degeneration progression. From three included studies, bone marrow derived MSC showed superior quality of disc repair when compared to other treatments, including TGF-β1, NP bilaminar co-culture and axial distraction regimen. However, osteophyte development was reported in two studies as potential complication of MSC transplantation. CONCLUSIONS: Based on animal models, the current evidence suggests that in the short-term MSC transplantation is safe and effective in halting disc degeneration; however, additional and larger studies are needed to assess the long-term regenerative effects and potential complications. Inconsistency in methodological design and outcome parameters prevent any robust conclusions. In addition, randomized controlled trials in humans are needed to assess the safety and efficacy of such therapy.published_or_final_versio

Pseudotumor cerebri syndrome in childhood : incidence, clinical profile and risk factors in a national prospective population-based cohort study

Aim To investigate the epidemiology, clinical profile and risk factors of pseudotumor cerebri syndrome (PTCS) in children aged 1-16 years. Methods A national prospective population-based cohort study over 25 months. Newly diagnosed PTCS cases notified via British Paediatric Surveillance Unit (BPSU) were ascertained using classical diagnostic criteria and categorised according to 2013 revised diagnostic criteria. We derived national age, sex and weight-specific annual incidence rates and assessed effects of sex and weight category. Results We identified 185 PTCS cases of which 166 also fulfilled revised diagnostic criteria. The national annual incidence (95% CI) of childhood PTCS aged 1-16 years was 0.71 (0.57- 0.87) per 100,000 population increasing with age and weight to 4.18 and 10.7 per 100,000 in obese 12-15 year old boys and girls respectively. Incidence rates under 7 years were similar in both sexes. From 7 years onwards, the incidence in girls was double that in boys, but only in overweight (including obese) children. In 12-15 year old children, an estimated 82% of the incidence of PTCS was attributable to obesity. Two subgroups of PTCS were apparent: 168 (91%) cases aged from 7 years frequently presented on medication and with headache, and were predominantly female and obese. The remaining 17 (9%) cases under 7 years often lacked these risk factors and commonly presented with new onset squint. Conclusions This uniquely largest population-based study of childhood PTCS will inform the design of future intervention studies. It suggests that weight reduction is central to the prevention of PTCS

NELFE-Dependent MYC Signature Identifies a Unique Cancer Subtype in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

The MYC oncogene is dysregulated in approximately 30% of liver cancer. In an effort to exploit MYC as a therapeutic target, including in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), strategies have been developed on the basis of MYC amplification or gene translocation. Due to the failure of these strategies to provide accurate diagnostics and prognostic value, we have developed a Negative Elongation Factor E (NELFE)-Dependent MYC Target (NDMT) gene signature. This signature, which consists of genes regulated by MYC and NELFE, an RNA binding protein that enhances MYC-induced hepatocarcinogenesis, is predictive of NELFE/MYC-driven tumors that would otherwise not be identified by gene amplification or translocation alone. We demonstrate the utility of the NDMT gene signature to predict a unique subtype of HCC, which is associated with a poor prognosis in three independent cohorts encompassing diverse etiologies, demographics, and viral status. The application of gene signatures, such as the NDMT signature, offers patients access to personalized risk assessments, which may be utilized to direct future care

GPS Position and Heading Circuitry for Ships

Circuit boards that contain radio-frequency (RF) and digital circuitry have been developed by NASA to satisfy a requirement of the Port of Houston Authority for relatively inexpensive Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers that indicate the azimuthal headings as well as the positions of ships. The receiver design utilizes the unique architecture of the Mitel commercial chip-set, which provides for an accurate GPS-based heading-determination device. The major components include two RF front ends (each connected to a separate antenna), a surface-acoustic-wave intermediate-frequency filter between second- and third-stage mixers, a correlator, and a reduced-instruction- set computer. One of the RF front ends operates as a master, the other as a slave. Both RF front ends share a 10-MHz sinusoidal clock oscillator, which provides for more accurate carrier phase measurements between the two antennas. The outputs of the RF front ends are subjected to conventional GPS processing. The commercial-based chip-set design approach provides an inexpensive open architecture GPS platform, which can be used in developing and implementing unique GPS-heading and attitude-determination algorithms for specific applications. The heading is estimated from the GPS position solutions of the two antennas by an algorithm developed specifically for this application. If a third (and preferably a fourth) antenna were added, it would be possible to estimate the attitude of the GPS receiver in three dimensions instead of only its heading in a horizontal plane