The Relevance of the Value Relevance Literature for Financial Accounting Standard Setting

In this paper we critically evaluate the standard-setting inferences that can be drawn from value relevance research studies that are motivated by standard setting. Our evaluation concentrates on the theories of accounting, standard setting and valuation that underlie those inferences. Unless those underlying theories are descriptive of accounting, standard setting and valuation, the value-relevance literature\u27s reported associations between accounting numbers and common equity valuations have limited implications or inferences for standard setting; they are mere associations. We argue that the underlying theories are not descriptive and hence drawing standard-setting inferences is difficult

Some Sources Of Variation In Structural Characteristics Of Douglas-Fir Bark

This study examines variations in structure and formation of Douglas-fir bark. Development of a classification system based on the external appearance of the bark surface that would correlate with anatomical characteristics of the bark was not possible. Modification of bark by fungi was observed to occur in several specific ways, such as attacking cell walls of sclereids, removing contents from lumina of various cell types, and affecting formation of cork layers in regions associated with radial checks and fissures in the bark

Static and dynamic XY-like short-range order in a frustrated magnet with exchange disorder

A single crystal of the Co2+ based pyrochlore NaCaCo2F7 was studied by inelastic neutron scattering. This frustrated magnet with quenched exchange disorder remains in a strongly correlated paramagnetic state down to one 60th of the Curie-Weiss temperature. Below T_f = 2.4 K, diffuse elastic scattering develops and comprises 30 +/- 10% of the total magnetic scattering, as expected for J_{eff} = 1/2 moments frozen on a time scale that exceeds \hbar/\delta E=3.8 ps. The diffuse scattering is consistent with short range XY antiferromagnetism with a correlation length of 16 \AA. The momentum (Q) dependence of the inelastic intensity indicates relaxing XY-like antiferromagnetic clusters at energies below ~ 5.5 meV, and collinear antiferromagnetic fluctuations above this energy. The relevant XY configurations form a continuous manifold of symmetry-related states. Contrary to well-known models that produce this continuous manifold, order-by-disorder does not select an ordered state in NaCaCo2F7 despite evidence for weak (~12 %) exchange disorder. Instead, NaCaCo2F7 freezes into short range ordered clusters that span this manifold.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures. This updated version features modified figures and some new discussio

UV Imaging Polarimetry of the Seyfert 2 Galaxy Mrk 3

We present UV imaging polarimetry data of the Seyfert 2 galaxy Mrk 3 taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. The polarized flux is found to be extended to ~1 kpc from the nucleus, and the position angles of polarization are centrosymmetric, confirming that the polarization is caused by scattering. We determine the location of the hidden nucleus as the center of this centrosymmetric pattern. From the polarization images taken in two broad bands, we have obtained the color distribution of the polarized flux. Some regions have blue polarized flux, consistent with optically-thin dust scattering, but some bright knots have a color similar to that of Seyfert 1 nucleus. Also, the recent Chandra X-ray observation suggests that the ratio of scattered UV flux to scattered X-ray flux is rather similar to the intrinsic UV/X-ray ratio in a Seyfert 1 nucleus, if the observed extended X-ray continuum is scattered light. While the scattered X-ray would be essentially from electron scattering, the UV slope and UV/X-ray ratio both being similar to Seyfert 1's would lead to two possibilities as to the nature of the UV scatterers. One is that the UV may also be scattered by electrons, in which case the scattering gas is somehow dust-free. The other is that the UV is scattered by dust grains, but the wavelength-independent UV scattering with low efficiency indicated by the UV slope and UV/X-ray ratio would suggest that the grains reside in UV-opaque clouds, or the dust might be mainly composed of large grains and lacks small-grain population.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures (plus 2 color versions of grayscale figures), To appear in ApJ; minor corrections for the proofs of the manuscrip

Real-space investigation of short-range magnetic correlations in fluoride pyrochlores NaCaCo2_2F7_7 and NaSrCo2_2F7_7 with magnetic pair distribution function analysis

We present time-of-flight neutron total scattering and polarized neutron scattering measurements of the magnetically frustrated compounds NaCaCo$_2$F$_7$ and NaSrCo$_2$F$_7$, which belong to a class of recently discovered pyrochlore compounds based on transition metals and fluorine. The magnetic pair distribution function (mPDF) technique is used to analyze and model the total scattering data in real space. We find that a previously-proposed model of short-range XY-like correlations with a length scale of 10-15 \AA, combined with nearest-neighbor collinear antiferromagnetic correlations, accurately describes the mPDF data at low temperature, confirming the magnetic ground state in these materials. This model is further verified by the polarized neutron scattering data. From an analysis of the temperature dependence of the mPDF and polarized neutron scattering data, we find that short-range correlations persist on the nearest-neighbor length scale up to 200 K, approximately two orders of magnitude higher than the spin freezing temperatures of these compounds. These results highlight the opportunity presented by these new pyrochlore compounds to study the effects of geometric frustration at relatively high temperatures, while also advancing the mPDF technique and providing a novel opportunity to investigate a genuinely short-range-ordered magnetic ground state directly in real space

Ultrasonic Inspection of Wooden Pallet Parts Using Time of Flight

Wooden pallets exceed furniture and other solid wood products as the largest single use of sawn hardwood logs in the USA. Most wooden pallets are constructed from two types of pallet parts (Figure 1): (1) stringers—the structural center members that support the pallet load and (2) deckboards—the top and bottom facing members that provide dimensional stability and product placement. There are many variants of this basic design, but most pallets contain solid wood components that are produced from lumber or from the center cant material of logs. Cant material has a high percentage of defect area and is generally not highly valuable for other solid wood products. Therefore, the pallet manufacturing industry must make use of low-quality raw materials and yet produce a product that remains in service for many trips

Effect of Preanalytical Processing of ThinPrep Specimens on Detection of High-Risk Human Papillomavirus by the Aptima HPV Assay

Two important preanalytical protocols performed on liquid-based cytological specimens, namely, automated cytology processing and glacial acetic acid (GAA) treatment, may occur prior to the arrival of specimens in a molecular diagnostics laboratory. Ninety-two ThinPrep vials previously positive for high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) via the Cervista HPV HR test were preselected and alternated with 92 previously negative ThinPrep vials. The specimen set was processed in a consecutive fashion by an automated cytology processor without fastidious decontamination precautions. Carryover potential was subsequently assessed by performance of the Aptima HPV assay on aliquots from reprocessed ThinPrep vials. All previously negative ThinPrep vials yielded a negative result following routine automated cytology processing, despite close proximity to known-positive ThinPrep vials. In separate experiments, aliquots from 236 ThinPrep vials were forwarded for tandem analysis with and without GAA treatment. Data from GAA- and mock-treated specimens generated by Aptima HPV were compared to correlate data generated by Cervista. A 99.2% concordance of Aptima HPV results from GAA-treated and mock-treated specimens was noted. This result differed from the concordance result derived from Cervista (91.5%; P \u3c 0.0002). Of the initially positive Cervista results, 21.9% reverted to negative following GAA treatment; the correlate value was 2.7% for Aptima HPV (P = 0.01). While deleterious effects of GAA treatment on genomic DNA were noted with Cervista (P = 0.0015), GAA treatment had no significant effects on Aptima HPV specimen signal/cutoff ratios or amplification of internal control RNA (P ≥ 0.07). The validity of an Aptima HPV result is independent of GAA treatment and routine automated cytology processing

Functional correlates of optic flow motion processing in Parkinson’s disease

The visual input created by the relative motion between an individual and the environment, also called optic flow, influences the sense of self-motion, postural orientation, veering of gait, and visuospatial cognition. An optic flow network comprising visual motion areas V6, V3A, and MT+, as well as visuo-vestibular areas including posterior insula vestibular cortex (PIVC) and cingulate sulcus visual area (CSv), has been described as uniquely selective for parsing egomotion depth cues in humans. Individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) have known behavioral deficits in optic flow perception and visuospatial cognition compared to age- and education-matched control adults (MC). The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate neural correlates related to impaired optic flow perception in PD. We conducted fMRI on 40 non-demented participants (23 PD and 17 MC) during passive viewing of simulated optic flow motion and random motion. We hypothesized that compared to the MC group, PD participants would show abnormal neural activity in regions comprising this optic flow network. MC participants showed robust activation across all regions in the optic flow network, consistent with studies in young adults, suggesting intact optic flow perception at the neural level in healthy aging. PD participants showed diminished activity compared to MC particularly within visual motion area MT+ and the visuo-vestibular region CSv. Further, activation in visuo-vestibular region CSv was associated with disease severity. These findings suggest that behavioral reports of impaired optic flow perception and visuospatial performance may be a result of impaired neural processing within visual motion and visuo-vestibular regions in PD.Published versio

Accounting Hall of Fame 2000 induction: Ross M. Skinner

For the induction of Robert M. Skinner: Remarks by Robert T. Rutherford, The Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants; Citation prepared by Daniel L. Jensen, The Ohio State University, Read by Robert T. Rutherford; Response by Ross M. Skinner, Clarkson Gordo

Sthreepura cave at Kiriwanagama, south central Sri Lanka: A network cave in saprolite and proterozoic quartzite

Sthreepura Cave at Kiriwanagama consists of an upper level of cavities in quartzite formed by arenization and a lower level developed in a saprolite formed from the weathering of gneiss sandwiched between two layers of quartzite. The lower level cave is not like most arenization and phantom rock caves as the walls are composed of saprolite, not exhumed unweathered rock. The cave is not a soil pipe as it is not in soil, lacks the characteristic features of soil pipes and has formed directly below, not above an aquiclude. Sthreepura Cave at Kiriwanagama is a network cave in saprolite. Speleogenesis in the lower level began with the development of joint-guided tubes in the saprolite directly below the upper layer of quartzite, probably under phreatic conditions. Later erosion under vadose conditions removed the saprolite to produce a network of passages with a rectangular profile. Widening of the passages ultimately caused ceiling failure producing breakdown chambers, but fallen slabs of quartzite armoured the walls of the Main Passage of the cave protecting them from undercutting.Key words: Sri Lanka, gneiss, network cave, saprolite, arenization.Jama Sthreepura pri Kiriwanagami, južni del osrednje Šri Lanke: Mreža rovov v saprolitu in proterozojskem kvarcituJamo St hreepura pri Kiriwanagami sestavljata gornji nivo arenizacijskih votlin v kvarcitu ter spodnji nivo v saprolitu, ki je nastal s preperevanjem gnajsa med plastmi kvarcita. Tudi stene rovov spodnjega nivoja so iz saprolita, kar kaže na drugačen razvoj od znanih arenizacijskih in fantomskih jam. Jama nima lastnosti preperinskih cevi in je v nasprotju s temi nastala neposredno pod (in ne nad) akvikludom. Jama Sthreepura pri Kiriwanagami predstavlja mrežo kanalov nastalih v saprofitu.. Speleogeneza se je začela z razvojem cevi vzdolž razpok v saprolitu, neposredno pod gornjo plastjo kvarcita, verjetno v freatičnih pogojih. Kasnejša erozija v vadozni coni je saprolit odstranila in tako ustvarila mrežo rovov pravokotnega profila. Širjenje rovov je privedlo do rušenja stropa in nastanka podornih dvoran. V glavnem rovu so padli bloki kvarcita zaščitili stene in preprečili nadaljnje spodkopavanje v glavnem rovu jame.Ključne beside: Šri Lanka, gnajs, mreža rovov, saprolit, arenizacija