Business strategy and earnings quality

ABSTRACT: Using the Miles and Snow (1978) strategy typology, this study investigates whether business strategy is associated with the quality of reported earnings. In a sample of U.S. listed firms, we predict and find that defender strategy firms are associated with higher levels of earnings management and prospector-strategy firms are associated with higher levels of accounting conservatism. However, this relation between business strategy and earnings quality is altered during high and low economic growth periods. In high-growth periods, while prospector firms exhibit lesser accounting conservatism, defender firms exhibit lesser earning management. In low-growth periods, the prospector firms become more conservative in reporting while the defender firms engage in more aggressive earnings management. Our findings provide direct evidence of the link between business strategy and earnings quality

SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERISATION OF INTERGROWTH TUNGSTEN BRONZES AND EVALUATION OF THEIR ELECTROCHEMICAL PERFORMANCE

The UK is becoming increasingly reliant on renewable energy sources as a replacement for fossil fuels. There is increasing pressure to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and, as a result, there is increasing pressure on the energy industry to meet demands for renewable energy. However, this demand cannot be met without the means to store energy during off-peak hours, for use during peak energy consumption hours. Lithium ion batteries provide the solution to this demand, though much work needs to be done to bring battery technology up to the required capacity. Since their commercialisation in 1991, lithium-ion batteries have become safer and more efficient, partly as a result of the adoption of graphitic anodes, at the expense of electrochemical capacity. In recent years, new energy materials have come forward promising greater capacity to store and provide energy whilst retaining the all-important safety features of intercalation materials. In particular, the work of Griffith et al. has hinted towards safe, reliable and cost-efficient metal oxide anodes with greater electrochemical capacity than the graphitic anodes currently in use across the globe (K. J. Griffith et al., 2018). By selecting the right structural motifs, materials previously thought unsuitable for use as electrodes might provide the solution to the world’s demand for safe and storable energy. This thesis focuses upon the unique interlocking (or ‘intergrowth’) tungsten bronze (ITB) phase, first reported by Hussain and Kihlborg, for which testing under battery conditions has not yet been conducted (A. Hussain and L. Kihlborg, 1976). K0.13WO3, which is predicted to exhibit an ITB phase, was synthesised and attempts to elucidate its structure via PXRD were made. Galvanostatic discharge-charge data up to an including the third discharge demonstrated that K0.13WO3 has a capacity of 1.60 Li+/TM on the third discharge, exceeding the capacities of Nb16W5O47 (~1.5 Li+/TM) and Nb18W16O93 (~1.4 Li+/TM) reported by Griffith et al. at similar rates of discharge. Furthermore, solid-state 7Li and 6Li MAS NMR experiments were conducted, suggesting that Li+ reversibly intercalated into WO3-like environments in the ITB phase as opposed to the hexagonal sites which were also present

Bedrock Elevation and Quaternary Thickness Maps of the Donnellson 7.5\u27 Quadrangle, Lee County, Iowa

https://ir.uiowa.edu/igs_ofm/1164/thumbnail.jp

Bedrock Elevation and Quaternary Thickness Maps of the West Point 7.5\u27 Quadrangle, Lee County, Iowa

https://ir.uiowa.edu/igs_ofm/1167/thumbnail.jp

Intracellular energy variability modulates cellular decision-making capacity

Cells are able to generate phenotypic diversity both during development and in response to stressful and changing environments, aiding survival. The biologically and medically vital process of a cell assuming a functionally important fate from a range of phenotypic possibilities can be thought of as a cell decision. To make these decisions, a cell relies on energy dependent pathways of signalling and expression. However, energy availability is often overlooked as a modulator of cellular decision-making. As cells can vary dramatically in energy availability, this limits our knowledge of how this key biological axis affects cell behaviour. Here, we consider the energy dependence of a highly generalisable decision-making regulatory network, and show that energy variability changes the sets of decisions a cell can make and the ease with which they can be made. Increasing intracellular energy levels can increase the number of stable phenotypes it can generate, corresponding to increased decision-making capacity. For this decision-making architecture, a cell with intracellular energy below a threshold is limited to a singular phenotype, potentially forcing the adoption of a specific cell fate. We suggest that common energetic differences between cells may explain some of the observed variability in cellular decision-making, and demonstrate the importance of considering energy levels in several diverse biological decision-making phenomena

Bedrock Geologic Map of the Salem 7.5\u27 Quadrangle, Henry and Lee Counties, Iowa

https://ir.uiowa.edu/igs_ofm/1147/thumbnail.jp

Bedrock Geologic Map of the Donnellson 7.5\u27 Quadrangle, Lee County, Iowa

https://ir.uiowa.edu/igs_ofm/1162/thumbnail.jp

Bedrock Geologic Map of the Mount Pleasant 7.5\u27 Quadrangle, Henry County, Iowa

https://ir.uiowa.edu/igs_ofm/1145/thumbnail.jp

Surficial Geologic Map of the Mount Pleasant 7.5\u27 Quadrangle, Henry County, Iowa

https://ir.uiowa.edu/igs_ofm/1146/thumbnail.jp