Audit committees, non-audit services, and auditor reporting decisions prior to failure

This study investigates the associations between audit committee characteristics and the likelihood of auditors' going-concern decisions among UK failed firms. Specifically, we examine whether the threat posed by auditor-provided non-audit services (NAS) to auditors' reporting decisions is mediated by audit committee characteristics. We find that failed firms with higher proportions of independent non-executive directors (NEDs) and financial experts on the audit committee are more likely to receive auditor going-concern modifications prior to failure, but that there is no significant relationship between NAS fees and the likelihood of receiving a going-concern modification. The evidence further suggests that the association between NAS and auditors' reporting decisions is subject to audit committee characteristics. Where the audit committee is more independent and includes a greater proportion of financial experts, auditors providing the client with NAS are less likely to issue a standard unmodified going-concern report prior to failure. Overall, the findings provide support for corporate governance regulators' concerns about the monitoring benefits of audit committee independence and the presence of financial expertise on the audit committee for auditors' reporting decisions

Multi-Threshold Level Set Model for Image Segmentation

A multi-threshold level set model for image segmentations is presented in the paper. The multi-threshold level set formulation uses a speed function for stopping the locations of the active contours. The speed function with multiple thresholds is designed for detecting boundaries of multiple regions of interest (ROI) in images. These thresholds can be automatically obtained by Fuzzy C-means method. The experimental results show that the proposed method is able to capture boundaries of multiple regions of interest

Characterization study of GaN-based epitaxial layer and light-emitting diode on nature-patterned sapphire substrate

[[abstract]]Chemical wet etching on c-plane sapphire wafers by three etching solutions (H3PO4, H2SO4, and H3PO4/H2SO4 mixing solution) was studied. Among these etching agents, the mixing H3PO4/H2SO4 solution has the fastest etching rate (1.5 μm/min). Interestingly, we found that H2SO4 does not etch the c-plane sapphire wafer in thickness; instead, a facet pyramidal pattern is formed on the c-plane sapphire wafer. GaN light-emitting diode (LED) epitaxial structure was grown on the sapphire wafer with the pyramidal pattern and the standard flat sapphire wafer. X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence measurement show that the pyramidal pattern on the sapphire wafer improved crystalline quality but augmented the compressive stress level in the GaN LED epilayer. The horizontal LED chips fabricated on the pyramidal-patterned sapphire wafer have a larger light output than the horizontal LED chips fabricated on the standard flat sapphire wafer by 20%.[[notice]]補正完畢[[incitationindex]]SCI[[booktype]]紙本[[booktype]]電子

Epidemiology of invasive fungal diseases among patients with haematological disorders in the Asia-Pacific: a prospective observational study

AbstractWe conducted a 2-year multicentre prospective observational study to determine the epidemiology of and mortality associated with invasive fungal diseases (IFDs) among patients with haematological disorders in Asia. Eleven institutions from 8 countries/regions participated, with 412 subjects (28.2% possible, 38.3% probable and 33.5% proven IFDs) recruited. The epidemiology of IFDs in participating institutions was similar to Western centres, with Aspergillus spp. (65.9%) or Candida spp. (26.7%) causing the majority of probable and proven IFDs. The overall 30-day mortality was 22.1%. Progressive haematological disorder (odds ratio [OR] 5.192), invasive candidiasis (OR 3.679), and chronic renal disease (OR 6.677) were independently associated with mortality

Added Value of Computed Tomography Virtual Intravascular Endoscopy in the Evaluation of Coronary Arteries with Stents or Plaques

Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) is a widely used imaging modality for diagnosing coronary artery disease (CAD) but is limited by a high false positive rate when evaluating coronary arteries with stents and heavy calcifications. Virtual intravascular endoscopy (VIE) images generated from CCTA can be used to qualitatively assess the vascular lumen and might be helpful for overcoming this challenge. In this study, one hundred subjects with coronary stents underwent both CCTA and invasive coronary angiography (ICA). A total of 902 vessel segments were analyzed using CCTA and VIE. The vessel segments were first analyzed on CCTA alone. Then, using VIE, the segments were classified qualitatively as either negative or positive for in-stent restenosis (ISR) or CAD. These results were compared, using ICA as the reference, to determine the added diagnostic value of VIE. Of the 902 analyzed vessel segments, CCTA/VIE had sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value (shown in %) of 93.9/90.2, 96.2/98.2, 96.0/97.7, 70.0/83.1, and 99.4/99.0, respectively, in diagnosing ISR or CAD, with significantly improved specificity (p = 0.025), accuracy (p = 0.046), and positive predictive value (p = 0.047). VIE can be a helpful addition to CCTA when evaluating coronary arterie

Identification of essential histidine residues in a recombinant alpha-amylase of thermophilic and alkaliphilic Bacillus sp strain TS-23

To understand the structure-function relationships of a truncated Bacillus sp. strain TS-23 alpha-amylase, each of His-137, His-191, His-239, His-269, His-305, His-323, His-361, His-436, and His-475 was replaced with leucine. The molecular masses of the purified wild-type and mutant enzymes were approximately 54 kDa. The specific activity of His323Leu and His436Leu was decreased by more than 52%, while His239Leu, His305Leu, and His475Leu showed activity similar to that of the wild-type enzyme. As compared with the wild-type enzyme, His323Leu and His436Leu exhibited a 62% decrease in the value of k(cat)/K-m. Alterations in His-191, His-239, His-305, and His-475 did not cause a significant change in the K-m or k(cat) values. At 70degreesC, a decreased half-life was observed in His436Leu. These results indicate that His-137, His-269, and His-361 of Bacillus sp. strain TS-23 alpha-amylase are important for proper catalytic activity and that His-436 may contribute to the thermostability of the enzyme

Multiplex Amplification Refractory Mutation System Polymerase Chain Reaction (ARMS-PCR) for diagnosis of natural infection with canine distemper virus

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Canine distemper virus (CDV) is present worldwide and produces a lethal systemic infection of wild and domestic <it>Canidae</it>. Pre-existing antibodies acquired from vaccination or previous CDV infection might interfere the interpretation of a serologic diagnosis method. In addition, due to the high similarity of nucleic acid sequences between wild-type CDV and the new vaccine strain, current PCR derived methods cannot be applied for the definite confirmation of CD infection. Hence, it is worthy of developing a simple and rapid nucleotide-based assay for differentiation of wild-type CDV which is a cause of disease from attenuated CDVs after vaccination. High frequency variations have been found in the region spanning from the 3'-untranslated region (UTR) of the matrix (M) gene to the fusion (F) gene (designated M-F UTR) in a few CDV strains. To establish a differential diagnosis assay, an amplification refractory mutation analysis was established based on the highly variable region on M-F UTR and F regions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Sequences of frequent polymorphisms were found scattered throughout the M-F UTR region; the identity of nucleic acid between local strains and vaccine strains ranged from 82.5% to 93.8%. A track of AAA residue located 35 nucleotides downstream from F gene start codon highly conserved in three vaccine strains were replaced with TGC in the local strains; that severed as target sequences for deign of discrimination primers. The method established in the present study successfully differentiated seven Taiwanese CDV field isolates, all belonging to the Asia-1 lineage, from vaccine strains.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The method described herein would be useful for several clinical applications, such as confirmation of nature CDV infection, evaluation of vaccination status and verification of the circulating viral genotypes.</p

EGFR L858R Mutation and Polymorphisms of Genes Related to Estrogen Biosynthesis and Metabolism in Never-Smoking Female Lung Adenocarcinoma Patients

Purpose: To assess whether polymorphisms of genes related to estrogen biosynthesis and metabolism are associated with EGFR mutations. Experimental Design: We studied 617 patients with lung adenocarcinoma, including 302 never-smoking women. On the basis of multiple candidate genes approach, the effects of polymorphisms of CYP17, CYP19A1, ER alpha, and COMT in association with the occurrence of EGFR mutations were evaluated using logistic regression analysis. Results: In female never-smokers, significant associations with EGFR L858R mutation were found for the tetranucleotide (TTTA)(n) repeats in CYP19A1 (odds ratio, 2.6; 95%CI, 1.2-5.7 for 1 or 2 alleles with (TTTA)(n) repeats > 7 compared with both alleles with (TTTA) n repeats <= 7), and the rs2234693 in ERa (OR, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.1-4.0 for C/T and C/C genotypes compared with T/T genotype). The C/C genotype (vs. T/T genotype) of ERa was significantly associated with EGFR L858R mutation (OR, 3.0; 95% CI, 1.1-8.1), in-frame deletion (OR, 2.9; 95% CI, 1.1-7.6) and other mutations (OR, 4.3; 95% CI, 1.3-14.0). The genotype of COMT rs4680 was significantly associated with EGFR L858R mutation in female and male never-smokers showing OR's (95% CI) of 1.8 (1.0-3.2) and 3.6 (1.1-11.3), respectively, for genotypes G/A and G/G compared with genotype A/A. The number of risk alleles of CYP17, CYP19A1, ERa, and COMT was associated with an increasing OR of EGFR L858R mutation in female never-smokers (P = 0.0002 for trend). Conclusions: The L858R mutation of EGFR is associated with polymorphisms of genes related to estrogen biosynthesis and metabolism in never-smoking female lung adenocarcinoma patients. Clin Cancer Res; 17(8); 2149-58. (C) 2011 AACR