Examining the thermal properties of unirradiated nuclear grade graphite between 750 and 2500 K

This study presents the first high temperature measurements (between 750 K and 2500 K) of thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, specific heat and spectral emissivity of virgin graphite samples (type IM1-24) from advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR) fuel assembly bricks. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray computed tomography (XRT) techniques were used to verify the presence of Gilsocarbon filler particles (a characteristic microstructural feature of IM1-24 graphite). All thermal properties were investigated in two orthogonal directions, which showed the effective macroscopic thermal conductivity to be the same (to within experimental error). This can be linked to the morphology of the filler particles that consist of concentrically aligned graphitic platelets. The resulting spherical symmetry allows for heat to flow in the same manner in both macroscopic directions. The current thermal conductivity results were compared to other isotropic grade graphite materials. The significant discrepancies between the thermal conductivities of the individual grades are likely the result of different manufacturing processes yielding variations in the microstructure of the final product. Differences were identified in the filler particle size and structure, and possibly the degree of graphitization compared to other reported nuclear graphites

Intrinsic MYH7 expression regulation contributes to tissue level allelic imbalance in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

HCM, the most common inherited cardiac disease, is mainly caused by mutations in sarcomeric genes. More than a third of the patients are heterozygous for mutations in the MYH7 gene encoding for the β-myosin heavy chain. In HCM-patients, expression of the mutant and the wildtype allele can be unequal, thus leading to fractions of mutant and wildtype mRNA and protein which deviate from 1:1. This so-called allelic imbalance was detected in whole tissue samples but also in individual cells. There is evidence that the severity of HCM not only depends on the functional effect of the mutation itself, but also on the fraction of mutant protein in the myocardial tissue. Allelic imbalance has been shown to occur in a broad range of genes. Therefore, we aimed to examine whether the MYH7-alleles are intrinsically expressed imbalanced or whether the allelic imbalance is solely associated with the disease. We compared the expression of MYH7-alleles in non-HCM donors and in HCM-patients with different MYH7-missense mutations. In the HCM-patients, we identified imbalanced as well as equal expression of both alleles. Also at the protein level, allelic imbalance was determined. Most interestingly, we also discovered allelic imbalance and balance in non-HCM donors. Our findings therefore strongly indicate that apart from mutation-specific mechanisms, also non-HCM associated allelic-mRNA expression regulation may account for the allelic imbalance of the MYH7 gene in HCM-patients. Since the relative amount of mutant mRNA and protein or the extent of allelic imbalance has been associated with the severity of HCM, individual analysis of the MYH7-allelic expression may provide valuable information for the prognosis of each patient

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

How Do Fair Value Measurements of Financial Instruments Affect Investments in Banks?

This paper experimentally investigates how fair value measurements of financial instruments affect the decision of nonprofessional investors to invest in a bank's shares. Specifically, we assess how investors respond to variations in net income resulting from fair value adjustments in trading assets and how the reliability of the fair value estimates affects their decision. We find that investment decreases as a result of transitions from the first to the third level and we even observe lower investments in case of positive changes in income. Investment decreases most if negative valuation adjustments are based on level 1 estimates suggesting that down pricing by the market is considered as a worse signal than model-based decreases in net income. For larger positive and negative adjustments the impact of valuation levels on investment turns out to be limited. Our results do not provide evidence that Fair Value Accounting per se induces pro-cyclical investment behavior.Die experimentelle Studie untersucht, wie die Bewertung zum Fair Value die Investitionsentscheidung nicht-professioneller Investoren beeinflusst. Dabei wird die Entscheidung, in Aktien einer Bank zu investieren, in Reaktion auf verschieden hohe Bewertungsänderungen der Aktiva Position 'Wertpapiere' der Bank untersucht. Es erfolgt des Weiteren eine differenzierte Betrachtung der Auswirkungen der Fair Value Hierarchie (Level 1-3) auf die Investitionsbereitschaft. Die Resultate zeigen, dass die Investitionsbereitschaft sowohl für negative als auch positive Bewertungsänderungen abnimmt. Die geringste Investitionsbereitschaft wird im Fall von negativen Bewertungsänderungen auf Grundlage beobachtbarer Marktpreise beobachtet (Level 1)

Intended and Unintended Consequences of Mandatory IFRS Adoption: A Review of Extant Evidence and Suggestions for Future Research

This paper discusses empirical evidence on the economic consequences of mandatory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in the European Union (EU) and provides suggestions on how future research can add to our understanding of these effects. Based on the explicitly stated objectives of the EU's so-called 'IAS Regulation', we distinguish between intended and unintended consequences of mandatory IFRS adoption. Empirical research on the intended consequences generally fails to document an increase in the comparability or transparency of financial statements. In contrast, there is rich and almost unanimous evidence of positive effects on capital markets and at the macroeconomic level. We argue that certain research design issues are likely to contribute to this apparent mismatch in findings and we suggest areas for future research to address it. The literature investigating unintended consequences of mandatory IFRS adoption is still in its infancy. However, extant empirical evidence and insights from non-IFRS settings suggest that mandatory IFRS adoption has the potential to materially affect contractual outcomes. We conclude that both the intended and the unintended consequences deserve further scrutiny to assess the costs and benefits of mandatory IFRS adoption, which may help provide a basis for evaluating the effectiveness of the IAS Regulation. We provide specific guidance for future research in this field