Auditing for fraud: Perception vs. reality

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/dl_proceedings/1046/thumbnail.jp

Attorneys as Gatekeepers: SEC Actions against Lawyers in the Age of Sarbanes-Oxley

Following the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on July 30, 2002, the Securities and Exchange Commission has substantially increased the number of actions it has initiated against lawyers. And a substantial number of these recent SEC actions against counsel to public companies (both internal and external) have highlighted the SEC’s resolve to hold lawyers accountable for not performing adequately their SEC-conceived role as “gatekeepers” to prevent fraud and other violations of the federal securities laws. This “gatekeeper” concept has been and is being implemented through SEC actions addressing a wide variety of alleged transgressions in a wide diversity of factual settings. Moreover, the ushering in of what appears to be a new era of the SEC as active and enthusiastic proponent of the “gatekeeping” role of attorneys, raises serious questions. While academicians and practitioners have debated the consequences of this shift, a detailed examination of what the SEC is actually doing in fact has been lacking. This article seeks to focus on a compendium of real-life post-Sarbanes SEC enforcement actions, and to evaluate trends and consider conclusions. One of our most distinguished jurists has written “[t]he prophecies of what the courts will do in fact, and nothing more pretentious, are what I mean by the law.” Holmes, Path of the Law, 10 Harv. L. Rev. 457, 461 (1897). The enclosed article analyses what the SEC is “doing in fact” with respect to securities lawyers following the enactment of Sarbanes-Oxley

Composition of phenolics and volatiles in strawberry cultivars and influence of preharvest hexanal treatment on their profiles

Biochemical changes of quality-determining components were evaluated in strawberry fruit subjected to preharvest spray treatments using a hexanal-containing formulation that is known to enhance shelf life and quality of fruits. Phenolic compounds and volatiles of fruits of four strawberry cultivars (Mira, Jewel, Kent, and St. Pierre) grown in southern Ontario were characterized by HPLC-MS and solid phase micro extraction (SPME) analysis. Qualitative and quantitative profiles of phenolic compounds varied among the cultivars. In all the cultivars, anthocyanins constituted the most prominent class of phenolic compounds. Volatile profiles of strawberry homogenate differed among the cultivars. Changes in phenolics and volatiles composition were determined in fruits of Mira and Jewel after spraying with a hexanal-containing formulation at weekly intervals. In Jewel, preharvest hexanal spraying altered the profiles of polyphenolic components, while minimal changes were noticed in Mira. Interestingly, very few differences were identified in ester profiles of treated and untreated Mira. In general, hexanal spray application resulted in a decrease in the abundance of several volatile components including esters, ketones, and lactones in treated Jewel compared with the control. The results suggest that cultivar-specific quality changes may result from a preharvest application of hexanal formulations, which may also imply different patterns of metabolite channeling and delay of fruit ripening processes

Bostonia

Founded in 1900, Bostonia magazine is Boston University's main alumni publication, which covers alumni and student life, as well as university activities, events, and programs

Shedding Light on Avian Influenza H4N6 Infection in Mallards: Modes of Transmission and Implications for Surveillance

Background: Wild mallards (Anas platyrhychos) are considered one of the primary reservoir species for avian influenza viruses (AIV). Because AIV circulating in wild birds pose an indirect threat to agriculture and human health, understanding the ecology of AIV and developing risk assessments and surveillance systems for prevention of disease is critical. Methodology/Principal Findings: In this study, mallards were experimentally infected with an H4N6 subtype of AIV by oral inoculation or contact with an H4N6 contaminated water source. Cloacal swabs, oropharyngeal swabs, fecal samples, and water samples were collected daily and tested by real-time RT-PCR (RRT-PCR) for estimation of viral shedding. Fecal samples had significantly higher virus concentrations than oropharyngeal or cloacal swabs and 6 month old ducks shed significantly more viral RNA than 3 month old ducks regardless of sample type. Use of a water source contaminated by AIV infected mallards, was sufficient to transmit virus to naïve mallards, which shed AIV at higher or similar levels as orally-inoculated ducks. Conclusions: Bodies of water could serve as a transmission pathway for AIV in waterfowl. For AIV surveillance purposes, water samples and fecal samples appear to be excellent alternatives or additions to cloacal and oropharyngeal swabbing. Furthermore, duck age (even within hatch-year birds) may be important when interpreting viral shedding results from experimental infections or surveillance. Differential shedding among hatch-year mallards could affect prevalence estimates, modeling of AIV spread, and subsequent risk assessments

FAILURE OF TRANSMISSION OF LOW-PATHOGENIC AVIAN INFLUENZA VIRUS BETWEEN MALLARDS AND FRESHWATER SNAILS: AN EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION

In aquatic bird populations, the ability of avian influenza (AI) viruses to remain infectious in water for extended periods provides a mechanism that allows viral transmission to occur long after shedding birds have left the area. However, this also exposes other aquatic organisms, including freshwater invertebrates, to AI viruses. Previous researchers found that AI viral RNA can be sequestered in snail tissues. Using an experimental approach, we determined whether freshwater snails (Physa acuta and Physa gyrina) can infect waterfowl with AI viruses by serving as a means of transmission between infected and naı¨ve waterfowl via ingestion. In our first experiment, we exposed 20 Physa spp. snails to an AI virus (H3N8) and inoculated embryonated specific pathogen–free (SPF) chicken eggs with the homogenized snail tissues. Sequestered AI viruses remain infectious in snail tissues; 10% of the exposed snail tissues infected SPF eggs. In a second experiment, we exposed snails to water contaminated with feces of AI virus–inoculated Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) to evaluate whether ingestion of exposed freshwater snails was an alternate route of AI virus transmission to waterfowl. None of the immunologically naı¨ve Mallards developed an infection, indicating that transmission via ingestion likely did not occur. Our results suggest that this particular trophic interaction may not play an important role in the transmission of AI viruses in aquatic habitats

Abstract This study applied the Model of Acidification

of Groundwater in Catchments (MAGIC) to estimate the sensitivity of 66 watersheds in the Southern Blue Ridge Province of the Southern Appalachian Mountains, United States, to changes in atmospheric sulfur (S) deposition. MAGIC predicted that stream acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) values were above 20 μeq/L in all modeled watersheds in 1860. Hindcast simulations suggested that the media

Next-Generation cDNA Screening for Oncogene and Resistance Phenotypes

There is a pressing need for methods to define the functional relevance of genetic alterations identified by next-generation sequencing of cancer specimens. We developed new approaches to efficiently construct full-length cDNA libraries from small amounts of total RNA, screen for transforming and resistance phenotypes, and deconvolute by next-generation sequencing. Using this platform, we screened a panel of cDNA libraries from primary specimens and cell lines in cytokine-dependent murine Ba/F3 cells. We demonstrate that cDNA library-based screening can efficiently identify DNA and RNA alterations that confer either cytokine-independent proliferation or resistance to targeted inhibitors, including RNA alterations and intergenic fusions. Using barcoded next-generation sequencing, we simultaneously deconvoluted cytokine-independent clones recovered after transduction of 21 cDNA libraries. This approach identified multiple gain-of-function alleles, including KRAS G12D, NRAS Q61K and an activating splice variant of ERBB2. This approach has broad applicability for identifying transcripts that confer proliferation, resistance and other phenotypes in vitro and potentially in vivo