Applying Benford’s law to detect accounting data manipulation in the banking industry

In this paper, we take a glimpse at the dark side of bank accounting statements by using a mathematical law which was established by Benford in 1938 to detect data manipulation. We shed the spotlight on the healthy, failed, and bailed out banks in the global financial crisis and test whether a set of balance sheet and income statement variables which are used by regulators to rate the performance and soundness of banks were manipulated in the years prior to and also during the crisis. We find that banks utilise loan loss provisions to manipulate earnings and income upwards throughout the examined periods. Together with loan loss provisions, problem banks resort to a downward manipulation of allowance for loan losses and non-performing loans with the purpose to tamper earnings upwards. We also provide evidence that manipulation is more prevalent in problem banks, which manage income and earnings to conceal their financial difficulties. Moreover, manipulation is found to be strengthened in the crisis period; it is also expanded to affect regulatory capital. Overall, banks utilise data manipulation without yet resorting to eye-catching manipulation strategies that may attract the scrutiny by regulators. Benford’s Law appears to be a suitable tool for assessing the quality of accounting information and for discovering irregularities in bank accounting data

On the response to hygrothermal aging of pultruded FRPs used in the civil engineering sector

This paper presents the effects of hygrothermal aging on the durability of a pultruded flat sheet, immersed in distilled water at 25oC, 40oC, 60oC or 80oC for a period of 224 days. Elevated temperatures noticeably increase the moisture diffusion coefficient and moisture uptake behaviour. Measured changes in the tensile and in-plane shear mechanical properties were examined after 28, 56, 112 or 224 days. Tensile properties remained practically unaffected by aging whereas matrix dominated shear properties revealed an initial drop which was recovered to a substantial degree after further hygrothermal aging. Visco-elastic property changes due to the superimposing mechanisms of plasticization, additional cross-linking etc. were recorded. Scanning Electron Microscopy micrographs indicate that the fibre/matrix interface remained practically intact, even after the most aggressive hot/wet aging. X-Ray Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy analysis showed no chemical degradation incidents on the fibre reinforcement surfaces and infrared spectroscopy revealed superficial chemical alteration in the aging matrix. Optical microscopy revealed matrix cracking in samples aged at 80oC for 112 days. Lastly, Computed Tomography scans of un-aged material showed internal imperfections that undoubtedly enhanced moisture transport. After aging at 60oC for 112 days, Computed Tomography detected preferentially situated water pockets

Role of Sphingosine Kinase 1 and Sphingosine-1-Phosphate Axis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is primarily diagnosed in the latter stages of disease progression and is the third leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Thus, there is a need to find biomarkers of early HCC as well as the development of more effective treatments for the disease. Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a pleiotropic lipid signaling molecule produced by two isoforms of sphingosine kinase (SphK1 and SphK2) that is involved in regulation of many aspects of mammalian physiology and pathophysiology, including inflammation, epithelial and endothelial barrier function, cancer, and metastasis, among many others. Abundant evidence indicates that SphK1 and S1P promote cancer progression and metastasis in multiple types of cancers. However, the role of SphK/S1P in HCC is less well studied. Here, we review the current state of knowledge of SphKs and S1P in HCC, including evidence for the correlation of SphK1 expression and S1P levels with progression of HCC and negative outcomes, and discuss how this information could lead to the design of more effective diagnostic and treatment modalities for HCC