Sounding-rocket experiment to study the diffuse soft X-ray background using a Si(Li) detector

Soft X-ray background in the energy range 0.4 to 10 keV was studied. A payload was developed which uses a wide angle, windowless, cooled, Si(Li) semiconductor detector system. With a resolution of less than 150 eV between 0.3 and 2.0 keV, the system is sensitive to an emission equivalent width of about 10 eV. Carbon and oxygen line emission were detected from the vicinity of the North Galactic Pole and the North Polar Spur

International Financial Reporting Standards and Earnings Quality: The Myth of Voluntary vs. Mandatory Adoption

We revisit evidence whether incentives or IFRS drive earnings quality changes, analyzing a large sample of German firms in the period from 1998 to 2008. Consistent with previous studies we find that voluntary and mandatory adopters differ distinctively in terms of essential firm characteristics and that size, leverage, age, bank ownership and ownership concentration influenced the decision to voluntarily adopt IFRS. However, regardless of the decision to voluntarily adopt IFRS, we find that conditional conservatism increased under IFRS for both groups of adopters, while evidence does not suggest an increase in value relevance under IFRS. Results on earnings management in the post-adoption period are mixed. While income smoothing decreases for voluntary but not for mandatory adopters, discretionary accruals only decrease for mandatory but not for voluntary adopters. However, further analyses suggest that the capital market environment and the economic cycle during the adoption period seem to be a more powerful explanation for this evidence than voluntary or mandatory IFRS adoption. Therefore, we conclude that incentives to voluntarily adopt IFRS did not unambiguously dominate accounting standards in determining earnings quality in the case of German firms

Transcriptional and Post-Transcriptional Regulation of SPAST, the Gene Most Frequently Mutated in Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia

Hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSPs) comprise a group of neurodegenerative disorders that are characterized by progressive spasticity of the lower extremities, due to axonal degeneration in the corticospinal motor tracts. HSPs are genetically heterogeneous and show autosomal dominant inheritance in ∼70–80% of cases, with additional cases being recessive or X-linked. The most common type of HSP is SPG4 with mutations in the SPAST gene, encoding spastin, which occurs in 40% of dominantly inherited cases and in ∼10% of sporadic cases. Both loss-of-function and dominant-negative mutation mechanisms have been described for SPG4, suggesting that precise or stoichiometric levels of spastin are necessary for biological function. Therefore, we hypothesized that regulatory mechanisms controlling expression of SPAST are important determinants of spastin biology, and if altered, could contribute to the development and progression of the disease. To examine the transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of SPAST, we used molecular phylogenetic methods to identify conserved sequences for putative transcription factor binding sites and miRNA targeting motifs in the SPAST promoter and 3′-UTR, respectively. By a variety of molecular methods, we demonstrate that SPAST transcription is positively regulated by NRF1 and SOX11. Furthermore, we show that miR-96 and miR-182 negatively regulate SPAST by effects on mRNA stability and protein level. These transcriptional and miRNA regulatory mechanisms provide new functional targets for mutation screening and therapeutic targeting in HSP

Histoire et morale

Delvaille Jules, Berger P. Histoire et morale. In: Manuel général de l'instruction primaire : journal hebdomadaire des instituteurs. 68e année, tome 37, 1901. pp. 209-211

INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL REPORTING CONVERGENCE: EVIDENCE FROM THREE CONTINENTAL EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

Listed companies in the European Union are required to apply International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in their consolidated accounts as of 1 January 2005. The purpose of this paper is to compare developments in France, Germany and Italy and the approaches to integrate the current European accounting reform processes with IFRS. The paper evaluates the adaptation of national accounting systems with respect to institutional and regulatory changes on the one hand and financial reporting changes on the other

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTING: ANALOGIES AND DIFFERENCES IN THE EUROPEAN REGULATORY HARMONISATION PROCESSES

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INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL REPORTING CONVERGENCE: EVIDENCE FROM THREE CONTINENTAL EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

Listed companies in the European Union are required to apply International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in their consolidated accounts as of 1 January 2005. The purpose of this paper is to compare developments in France, Germany and Italy and the approaches to integrate the current European accounting reform processes with IFRS. The paper evaluates the adaptation of national accounting systems with respect to institutional and regulatory changes on the one hand and financial reporting changes on the other