Leverage, R&D expenditures, and accounting conservatism: Evidence from technology firms

We examine whether U.S. high-tech firms are more or less conditionally conservative compared to low-tech firms. We anticipate high-tech firms to display lower conditional conservatism because they are more financially constrained and feature lower level of asset tangibility. In line with our predictions, we show that high-tech companies are less conditionally conservative relative to low-tech companies. We also show that this negative relationship between conditional conservatism and tech-sector membership is attributable to low leverage and high R&D expenditures since SFAS No. 2 allows U.S. companies to expense R&D costs

158 Prothetic abcess complicating Infective endocarditis

The cardiac abscess formation is appraised to 20–30% during the infectious endocarditis (IE). It is more frequent during prosthesis endocarditis and it can reach 60%. The prognosis is generally reserved. Objective To determine echocardiographic, bacteriological and evolutive features of prothetic IE complicated of abscess.Retrospective study including 51 patients having certain or probable IE according to Duke criterias between 2002 and 2005. At 9 patients (17,64%) the endocarditis was complicated of prothetic abscess. It was about 6 men and 3 women with a middle age of 39 ± years. IE was la ate IE in 5 cases. Clinical and biological infectious syndrome was constant. Isolated germs were staphylococcus aureus in 2 cases, GRAM négatif Bacillus in 2 cases. Culture negative endocarditis were noted in 5 cases. Brucellosis serology was positive at one patient. Prothetic abcess was diagnosed by transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) at 2 patients and by transesophagal echocardiography (TEE) at all patients.The abcess was localized on the aortic prosthesis at 5 patients, mitral prothesis at 3 patients and mitroaortic prothesis at one patient. TEE identified annular abcess at 2 patients and a myocardial abcess at 1 patient. Secondary septic localizations were noted at 6 patients: 4 cerebral abscesses, 2 splenic localization, a renal localization and an articular localization. High degree atrioventricular blocks were observed at 3 patients. The recourse to the surgery was frequent (7 patient/9 patient). It was an emergent sugery at 2 patients because of a heart failure. For the others, the indication for surgery was medical failure treatment at a mean delay of 19 days. The evolution was fatal at 5 patients. and the evolution was favorable at the others.Prothetic endocarditis complicated of abscess are serious requiring frequently a prothetic replacement, a very high risked surgery. TEE must be systematic at all patients carrier of prosthesis if they have infectious syndrome in order to carry the early diagnosis of IE and to avoid abcess formation

Rotavirus Strain Diversity in the Centre Coast of Tunisia from 2000 through 2003

An epidemiological survey investigating rotavirus infection in children was undertaken in the coastal region of Tunisia from January 2000 through September 2003. A total of 309 fecal specimens were screened by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and latex agglutination assay for the presence of group A rotavirus antigen. The detection rate was 26.2%. Rotavirus outbreaks showed a temperature-dependant pattern (P= .026) but no significant association with rainfall. Rotavirus strains isolated were analyzed by RNA polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and were characterized antigenically by monoclonal antibodies to the VP6 subgroup. Eight RNA electropherotypes were identified, with 3 long and 5 short different RNA profiles. Among VP6 typeable strains, all isolates with a long electrophoretic pattern carried the subgroup II specificity, whereas those with a short profile belonged to subgroup I. In total, 48 rotavirus-positive samples were analyzed for G and P typing by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. A total of 8 different G and P combinations were found: G1P[8] (35.7%), G1P[6] (21.4%), G2P[4] (4.8%), G3P[4] (4.8%), G4P[6] (4.8%), G8P[8] (4.8%), G3P[8] (2.3%), and G4P[8] (2.3%). Mixed infections were detected in 19.1% of stool samples. The emergence in Tunisia of unconventional types, such as G8VP7 specificity, highlights the need for a continual survey of the uncommon strains in North Afric

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Do bankrupt firms recognize publicly available bad news in a timely fashion?

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether managers of bankrupt firms are more or less conditionally conservative in their financial reporting relative to non-bankrupt firms. The study further examines the cross-sectional differences in conditional conservatism among bankrupt and non-bankrupt firms. The study employs a sample of US firms to investigate conditional conservatism in firms that experience financial distress and go bankrupt relative to non-stressed non-bankrupt firms. The study also uses switching regression models to identify the drivers of the cross-sectional difference in conditional conservatism among bankrupt and non-bankrupt firms. Empirical results show that bankrupt firms are timelier in recognizing bad news than good news when compared to non-bankrupt firms. The higher level of conditional conservatism in bankrupt firms is mainly driven by their higher levels of leverage and tax-reduction incentives. The cross-sectional analyses show that these results largely hold for more leveraged firms and firms with higher tax costs. Taken together, these results suggest that the conservative tendency of managers of bankrupt firms can stem from the agency problem between lenders and managers and from tax-decreasing motivations. The novelty of the authors’ research stands in studying the drivers of the cross-sectional differences in conditional conservatism between bankrupt and non-bankrupt firms and specifically, the demonstration that taxation also induces conditional conservatism in the setting of ex post bankrupt firms

AN EMPIRICAL EXAMINATION OF CORPORATE WEBSITES AS A VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE MEDIUM

Standards-setters, regulators and academics believe that corporate websites may enhance the flow of voluntary disclosure to the capital market and other stakeholders. Management’s use of corporate websites for investor relations purposes is a common practice, yet we know little about how these websites affect investors. In this study, we analyze seven corporate websites disclosures categories to examine their predictive ability and their value relevance. The results show that the key non-financial statistics, projected information, information on intangible assets, social and environmental information, are associated with future revenue, future earnings and contemporaneous stock return. The paper contributes to the growing literature on websites disclosure and more generally to the literature on voluntary and strategic disclosure

Disclosure Quality and Ownership Structure: Evidence from the French Stock Market

Ce papier étudie les aspects de la structure de propriété qui influent la qualité de la communication financière sur un marché où l'actionnariat est concentré. La théorie d'agence propose un cadre de recherche intéressant liant la décision de publication à la structure de propriété. Les résultats de l'étude montrent que les entreprises ayant une bonne communication financière sont plus amenées à avoir des structures d'actionnariat peu concentrées, proposent des plans de stock options à leurs dirigeants, n'ont pas de droits de vote double, font partie de l'indice CAC40 et sont cotées sur le marché américain.This paper aims to examine the effect of many ownership features on firm's disclosure quality using the theoretical framework of the agency theory, which states that investors information demand increases with agency costs of the firm. Public ownership increases agency costs and therefore should improve shareholders' information need and enhance disclosure. After controlling for size, debt and multi-quotation, our tests indicate significant negative associations between disclosure quality and ownership concentration, family control and separation between voting and cash flow rights. The results also show that French listed firms providing good disclosure are more likely to offer stock option plans for their executives, are listed on American stock exchange and are included in CAC40 index