Evidence on the Use of Unverifiable Estimates in Required Goodwill Impairment

SFAS 142 requires managers to estimate the current fair value of goodwill to determine goodwill write-offs. In promulgating the standard, the FASB predicted managers will, on average, use the fair value estimates to convey private information on future cash flows. The current fair value of goodwill is unverifiable because it depends in part on management's future actions (including managers' conceptualization and implementation of firm strategy). Thus, agency theory predicts managers will, on average, use the discretion in SFAS 142 consistent with private incentives. We test these hypotheses in a sample of firms with market indications of goodwill impairment. Our evidence, while consistent with some agency-theory derived predictions, does not confirm the private information hypothesis

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

The Effect of a Low-Fat, Plant-Based Lifestyle Intervention (CHIP) on Serum HDL Subfraction Levels - A Cohort Study

This conference abstract discusses a low-fat plant-based diet and the effect it has on HDL level

HDL Subfraction Changes with a Low-fat, Plant-based Complete Health Improvement Program (CHIP)

Background and Objectives: Low HDL concentrations are considered an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Interventions promoting a low-fat, plant-based eating pattern appear to reduce CVD risk while paradoxically also reducing HDL concentrations. Recent studies show HDL to comprise a range of subfractions, but the role these play in ameliorating the risk of CVD is unclear. The purpose of this study was to characterise changes in HDL subfractions in participants where HDL decreased following the CHIP intervention which promotes a low-fat, plant-based diet, with physical activity. Methods and Study Design: Individuals (n=22; mean age=55.4±16.3 years; 45.5% men, 54.5% women) participating in a CHIP intervention were assessed at baseline and 30 days for changes in BMI, blood pressure, lipid profile, (including large-, intermediate- and small-HDL subfractions) and fasting glucose. Results: HDL significantly decreased (10.6%, pConclusions: This paper discusses specific changes in HDL subfractions when overall-HDL decreases as a response to low fat, whole-food, plant-based eating and exercise. Additional research is required to elucidate the reasons through which behavioural therapies remodel the HDL particle and how this impacts the functional properties of HDL and CVD risk

The Austronesian game taxonomy: A cross-cultural dataset of historical games

Humans in most cultures around the world play rule-based games, yet research on the content and structure of these games is limited. Previous studies investigating rule-based games across cultures have either focused on a small handful of cultures, thus limiting the generalizability of findings, or used cross-cultural databases from which the raw data are not accessible, thus limiting the transparency, applicability, and replicability of research findings. Furthermore, games have long been defined as competitive interactions, thereby blinding researchers to the cross-cultural variation in the cooperativeness of rule-based games. The current dataset provides ethnographic, historic information on games played in cultural groups in the Austronesian language family. These game descriptions (Ngames = 907) are available and codeable for researchers interested in games. We also develop a unique typology of the cooperativeness of the goal structure of games and apply this typology to the dataset. Researchers are encouraged to use this dataset to examine cross-cultural variation in the cooperativeness of games and further our understanding of human cultural behaviour on a larger scale.Background and summary Methods - Defining games. - Defining the goal structure of games Search criteria and methodology - eHRAF - Pulotu - American Anthropologist - The Journal of the Polynesian Society - Additional sources Data records - Variable definitions - Descriptive statistics of games Technical validation - Cultural group identifiers - Record linkage - Filtering and coding of games - Austronesian language phylogeny Research opportunitie

Extreme heterogeneity in the microrheology of lamellar surfactant gels analyzed with neural networks

The heterogeneity of the viscoelasticity of a lamellar gel network based on cetyl-trimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) and ceto-stearyl alcohol was studied using particle tracking microrheology. A recurrent neural network (RNN) architecture was used for estimating the Hurst exponent, $H$, on small sections of tracks of probe spheres moving with fractional Brownian motion. Thus dynamic segmentation of tracks via neural networks was used in microrheology for the first time and it is significantly more accurate than using mean square displacements. An ensemble of 414 particles produces a mean squared displacement (MSD) that is subdiffusive in time, $t$, with a power law of the form $t^{0.74\pm0.02}$, indicating power law viscoelasticity. RNN analysis of the probability distributions of $H$, combined with detailed analysis of the time-averaged MSDs of individual tracks, revealed diverse diffusion processes belied by the simple scaling of the ensemble MSD, such as caging phenomena, which give rise to the complex viscoelasticity of lamellar gels.Comment: 15 pages without references (17 with references), 13 figure