The Effect Of Gender And Knowledge On Students Impressions Of Accountants In The Post-Enron Era

This study examines college students’ impressions of accountants from various sources. It extends previous research on students’ impressions of accountants by analyzing impressions after Enron, gender differences in impressions, and the effect of knowledge on impressions and adding news reports as an impression source. Students rated their impressions of accountants when they selected a major on each of 30 characteristics (such as ethical, versatile, and exciting) from each of four sources, plus a general rating. When qualities were combined into two factors, Professionalism and Personability, accountants were seen as professional, but not particularly personable. In many areas, finance majors had impressions of accountants equal to or higher than those of accounting students, while other majors had significantly lower impressions of accountants. News reports did not significantly influence students’ views of accountants. Knowledge was strongly correlated with impressions. Accounting students had the lowest knowledge of accountants from news reports and movies/TV of any major. Females held more positive impressions of accountants than did males. Implications for various groups, including college and high school accounting education and the accounting profession, are discussed

Predictive Analytics in Practice: A Novel Simulation Application for Addressing Patient Flow Challenges in Today's Emergency Departments

Abstract Objectives: To develop a flexible software application that uses predictive analytics to enable emergency department (ED) decision-makers in virtually any environment to predict the effects of operational interventions and enhance continual process improvement efforts. To demonstrate the ability of the application's core simulation model to recreate and predict sitespecific patient flow in two very different EDs: a large academic center and a freestanding ED. To describe how the application was used by a freestanding ED medical director to match ED resources to patient demand. Methods: The application was developed through a public-private partnership between University of Florida Health and Roundtable Analytics, Inc., supported by a National Science Foundation Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant. The core simulation technology was designed to be quickly adaptable to any ED using data routinely collected by most electronic health record systems. To demonstrate model accuracy, Monte Carlo studies were performed to predict the effects of management interventions in two distinct ED settings. At one ED, the medical director conducted simulation studies to evaluate the sustainability of the current staffing strategy and inform his decision to implement specific interventions that better match ED resources to patient demand. After implementation of one intervention, the fidelity of the model's predictions was evaluated. Results: A flexible, cloud-based software application enabling ED decision-makers to predict the effects of operational decisions was developed and deployed at two qualitatively distinct EDs. The application accurately recreated each ED's throughput and faithfully predicted the effects of specific management interventions. At one site, the application was used to identify when increasing arrivals will dictate that the current staffing strategy will be less effective than an alternative strategy. As actual arrivals approached this point, decision-makers used the application to simulate a variety different interventions; this directly informed their decision to implement a new strategy. The observed outcomes resulting from this intervention fell within the range of predictions from the model. Conclusion: This application overcomes technical barriers that have made simulation modeling inaccessible to key decision-makers in emergency departments. Using this technology, ED managers with no programming experience can conduct customized simulation studies regardless of their ED's volume and complexity. In two very different case studies, the fidelity of the application was established and the application was shown to have a direct positive effect on patient flow. The effective use of simulation modeling promises to replace inefficient trial-anderror approaches and become a useful and accessible tool for healthcare managers challenged to make operational decisions in environments of increasingly scarce resources

Physics and thermodynamic data of n-Pentane, n-Hexande and Pseudocumene

SIGLEITItal

Changes on groundwater flow and hydrochemistry of the Gran Sasso carbonate aquifer after 2009 L'Aquila earthquake

The earthquake that struck L'Aquila on April 6 2009 (Mw 6.3) directly affected the Gran Sasso aquifer. Co-seismic and post-seismic changes in groundwater discharge and in hydrochemistry, possibly induced by the earthquake, were observed. Spot and monitoring measurements of the spring discharge, of water table level and of the main physico-chemical parameters of spring waters (T, pH, electrical conductivity, major ions and Rn-222) were thus carried out to determine the effects of the L'Aquila earthquake on groundwater at regional and local scale, to be compared with available data collected since the 1990s. Short- and mid-term effects have been observed in the groundwater flow at recharge and discharge areas. The following short-term effects have been observed: i) the sudden disappearance of some springs located along the surface trace of the Paganica Fault; ii) an immediate discharge increase of the Gran Sasso highway tunnel drainages (+20%) and of other springs (+10%); iii) a progressive increase of the water table elevation (+1m) at the boundary of the Gran Sasso aquifer during the following month; iv) a sudden lowering of the water table in the recharge area. Similar post-seismic effects have been recorded in the following 20 months, when spring discharge and water table remain higher than the pre-seismic ones in discharge zones. A conceptual model of the earthquake consequences on the Gran Sasso aquifer is proposed herein. The short-term hydrologic effects registered immediately after the mainshock have been caused by a pore pressure increase related to elasto-static aquifer deformation. Apart from the contribution of seasonal recharge observed in 2009-10, mid-term effects observed in the 20 months following the mainshock suggest that there was a change in groundwater hydrodynamics. Supplementary groundwater that flows toward aquifer boundaries and springs in discharge areas reflects a possible increase in hydraulic conductivity in the recharge area. This increase is probably related to fracture cleaning and/or dilatancy. Additional monitoring including hydrochemical data allows a refinement of the proposed model. The outcomes of the hydrochemical spot sampling of the pre-seismic (2001-2007), post-seismic (April 2009) and after-seismic (July and September 2009, may 2010) periods, give the following insights: i) post-seismic groundwater of Tempera spring group was more mineralised and richer in Rn-222 than the pre-seismic one; ii) transient changes in pH and calcite saturation index involve the whole aquifer, moving from Tempera springs and spreading from the recharge to discharge areas, causing changes in groundwater hydrochemistry; iii) post-seismic gradual return to previous hydrochemical equilibrium. Both hydrodynamic and hydrochemical observation converge towards a non-permanent increase of the bulk hydraulic conductivity in the aquifer portion close to the Paganica Fault (recharge area and local discharge zone). This fact has caused a lowering of the water table and of the calcite saturation index in recharge areas and simultaneously an increase of water table and flow rate in discharge zones. Complete interpretation of both quantitative and hydrochemical data allows to determine the long-term consequences of this earthquake on the groundwater flow of the Gran Sasso carbonate massif