3,550 research outputs found
Underreporting Chargeable Time: A Continuing Problem for Public Accounting Firms
Prior research shows that underreporting chargeable time has been a concern for public accounting firms even though many of these firms have policies and procedures that prohibit eating time. The purpose of this study is to examine the current state of this problem and to provide recommendations to manage the problem more effectively. Practicing public accountants at all professional levels were surveyed to determine the extent, opportunity, ethical perception and perceived benefits of underreporting time. The results show that although the majority of the respondents believe underreporting time is unethical, the majority of them did not report all of their chargeable hours in the prior year. The main reasons for such behavior stem from the desire to: (1) receive better periodic performance evaluations, (2) be viewed as competent by superiors and (3) receive promotions
Integrated waveguides and deterministically positioned nitrogen vacancy centers in diamond created by femtosecond laser writing
Diamond's nitrogen vacancy (NV) center is an optically active defect with
long spin coherence times, showing great potential for both efficient nanoscale
magnetometry and quantum information processing schemes. Recently, both the
formation of buried 3D optical waveguides and high quality single NVs in
diamond were demonstrated using the versatile femtosecond laser-writing
technique. However, until now, combining these technologies has been an
outstanding challenge. In this work, we fabricate laser written photonic
waveguides in quantum grade diamond which are aligned to within micron
resolution to single laser-written NVs, enabling an integrated platform
providing deterministically positioned waveguide-coupled NVs. This fabrication
technology opens the way towards on-chip optical routing of single photons
between NVs and optically integrated spin-based sensing
Coping Strategies of Family Members of Hospitalized Psychiatric Patients
This exploratory research paper investigated the coping strategies of families of hospitalized psychiatric patients and identified their positive and negative coping strategies. In this paper, the coping strategies of 45 family members were examined using a descriptive, correlational, mixed method research approach. Guided by the Neuman Systems Model and using the Family Crisis Oriented Personal Evaluation Scales and semistructured interviews, this paper found that these family members used more emotion-focused coping strategies than problem-focused coping strategies. The common coping strategies used by family members were communicating with immediate family, acceptance of their situation, passive appraisal, avoidance, and spirituality. The family members also utilized resources and support systems, such as their immediate families, mental health care professionals, and their churches
Epigenetic and genetic variation at SKA2 predict suicidal behavior and post-traumatic stress disorder
Traumatic stress results in hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis abnormalities and an increased risk to both suicidal behaviors and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Previous work out of our laboratory identified SKA2 DNA methylation associations with suicidal behavior in the blood and brain of multiple cohorts. Interaction of SKA2 with stress predicted suicidal behavior with ~80% accuracy. SKA2 is hypothesized to reduce the ability to suppress cortisol following stress, which is of potentially high relevance in traumatized populations. Our objective was to investigate the interaction of SKA2 and trauma exposure on HPA axis function, suicide attempt and PTSD. SKA2 DNA methylation at Illumina HM450 probe cg13989295 was assessed for association with suicidal behavior and PTSD metrics in the context of Child Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) scores in 421 blood and 61 saliva samples from the Grady Trauma Project (GTP) cohort. Dexamethasone suppression test (DST) data were evaluated for a subset of 209 GTP subjects. SKA2 methylation interacted with CTQ scores to predict lifetime suicide attempt in saliva and blood with areas under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUCs) of 0.76 and 0.73 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.6–0.92, P=0.003, and CI: 0.65–0.78, P<0.0001) and to mediate the suppression of cortisol following DST (β=0.5±0.19, F=1.51, degrees of freedom (df)=12/167, P=0.0096). Cumulatively, the data suggest that epigenetic variation at SKA2 mediates vulnerability to suicidal behaviors and PTSD through dysregulation of the HPA axis in response to stress
Vibrational spectra of C60C8H8 and C70C8H8 in the rotor-stator and polymer phases
C60-C8H8 and C70-C8H8 are prototypes of rotor-stator cocrystals. We present
infrared and Raman spectra of these materials and show how the rotor-stator
nature is reflected in their vibrational properties. We measured the
vibrational spectra of the polymer phases poly(C60C8H8) and poly(C70C8H8)
resulting from a solid state reaction occurring on heating. Based on the
spectra we propose a connection pattern for the fullerene in poly(C60C8H8),
where the symmetry of the C60 is D2h. On illuminating the C60-C8H8 cocrystal
with green or blue light a photochemical reaction was observed leading to a
similar product to that of the thermal polymerization.Comment: 26 pages, 8 figures, to appear in Journal of Physical Chemistry B 2nd
version: minor changes in wording, accepted version by journa
The European Large Area ISO Survey II: mid-infrared extragalactic source counts
We present preliminary source counts at 6.7um and 15um from the Preliminary
Analysis of the European Large Area ISO survey, with limiting flux densities of
\~2mJy at 15um & ~1mJy at 6.7um. We separate the stellar contribution from the
extragalactic using identifications with APM sources made with the likelihood
ratio technique. We quantify the completeness & reliability of our source
extraction using (a) repeated observations over small areas, (b) cross-IDs with
stars of known spectral type, (c) detections of the PSF wings around bright
sources, (d) comparison with independent algorithms. Flux calibration at 15um
was performed using stellar IDs; the calibration does not agree with the
pre-flight estimates, probably due to effects of detector hysteresis and
photometric aperture correction. The 6.7um extragalactic counts are broadly
reproduced in the Pearson & Rowan-Robinson model, but the Franceschini et al.
(1997) model underpredicts the observed source density by ~0.5-1 dex, though
the photometry at 6.7um is still preliminary. At 15um the extragalactic counts
are in excellent agreement with the predictions of the Pearson & Rowan-Robinson
(1996), Franceschini et al. (1994), Guiderdoni et al. (1997) and the evolving
models of Xu et al. (1998), over 7 orders of magnitude in 15um flux density.
The counts agree with other estimates from the ISOCAM instrument at overlapping
flux densities (Elbaz et al. 1999), provided a consistent flux calibration is
used. Luminosity evolution at a rate of (1+z)^3, incorporating mid-IR spectral
features, provides a better fit to the 15um differential counts than (1+z)^4
density evolution. No-evolution models are excluded, and implying that below
around 10mJy at 15um the source counts become dominated by an evolving
cosmological population of dust-shrouded starbursts and/or active galaxies.Comment: MNRAS in press. 14 pages, uses BoxedEPS (included). For more
information on the ELAIS project see http://athena.ph.ic.ac.uk
Bounds for graph regularity and removal lemmas
We show, for any positive integer k, that there exists a graph in which any
equitable partition of its vertices into k parts has at least ck^2/\log^* k
pairs of parts which are not \epsilon-regular, where c,\epsilon>0 are absolute
constants. This bound is tight up to the constant c and addresses a question of
Gowers on the number of irregular pairs in Szemer\'edi's regularity lemma.
In order to gain some control over irregular pairs, another regularity lemma,
known as the strong regularity lemma, was developed by Alon, Fischer,
Krivelevich, and Szegedy. For this lemma, we prove a lower bound of
wowzer-type, which is one level higher in the Ackermann hierarchy than the
tower function, on the number of parts in the strong regularity lemma,
essentially matching the upper bound. On the other hand, for the induced graph
removal lemma, the standard application of the strong regularity lemma, we find
a different proof which yields a tower-type bound.
We also discuss bounds on several related regularity lemmas, including the
weak regularity lemma of Frieze and Kannan and the recently established regular
approximation theorem. In particular, we show that a weak partition with
approximation parameter \epsilon may require as many as
2^{\Omega(\epsilon^{-2})} parts. This is tight up to the implied constant and
solves a problem studied by Lov\'asz and Szegedy.Comment: 62 page
Bistability of Slow and Fast Traveling Waves in Fluid Mixtures
The appearence of a new type of fast nonlinear traveling wave states in
binary fluid convection with increasing Soret effect is elucidated and the
parameter range of their bistability with the common slower ones is evaluated
numerically. The bifurcation behavior and the significantly different
spatiotemporal properties of the different wave states - e.g. frequency, flow
structure, and concentration distribution - are determined and related to each
other and to a convenient measure of their nonlinearity. This allows to derive
a limit for the applicability of small amplitude expansions. Additionally an
universal scaling behavior of frequencies and mixing properties is found.
PACS: 47.20.-k, 47.10.+g, 47.20.KyComment: 4 pages including 5 Postscript figure
Trends in the burden of HIV mortality after roll-out of antiretroviral therapy in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: an observational community cohort study.
Antiretroviral therapy (ART) substantially decreases morbidity and mortality in people living with HIV. In this study, we describe population-level trends in the adult life expectancy and trends in the residual burden of HIV mortality after the roll-out of a public sector ART programme in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, one of the populations with the most severe HIV epidemics in the world.
Data come from the Africa Centre Demographic Information System (ACDIS), an observational community cohort study in the uMkhanyakude district in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. We used non-parametric survival analysis methods to estimate gains in the population-wide life expectancy at age 15 years since the introduction of ART, and the shortfall of the population-wide adult life expectancy compared with that of the HIV-negative population (ie, the life expectancy deficit). Life expectancy gains and deficits were further disaggregated by age and cause of death with demographic decomposition methods.
Covering the calendar years 2001 through to 2014, we obtained information on 93 903 adults who jointly contribute 535 42 8 person-years of observation to the analyses and 9992 deaths. Since the roll-out of ART in 2004, adult life expectancy increased by 15·2 years for men (95% CI 12·4-17·8) and 17·2 years for women (14·5-20·2). Reductions in pulmonary tuberculosis and HIV-related mortality account for 79·7% of the total life expectancy gains in men (8·4 adult life-years), and 90·7% in women (12·8 adult life-years). For men, 9·5% is the result of a decline in external injuries. By 2014, the life expectancy deficit had decreased to 1·2 years for men (-2·9 to 5·8) and to 5·3 years for women (2·6-7·8). In 2011-14, pulmonary tuberculosis and HIV were responsible for 84·9% of the life expectancy deficit in men and 80·8% in women.
The burden of HIV on adult mortality in this population is rapidly shrinking, but remains large for women, despite their better engagement with HIV-care services. Gains in adult life-years lived as well as the present life expectancy deficit are almost exclusively due to differences in mortality attributed to HIV and pulmonary tuberculosis.
Wellcome Trust, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health
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