bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Selection from Many Investments with Managerial Private Information*
Authors: ANTLE RICK , BOGETOFT PETER , STARK ANDREW W. 
Published: April 2010

AbstractWe investigate capital investment problems when a manager knows the costs of a set of available projects, while the owner only holds probabilistic beliefs about these costs.With mutually exclusive projects, an optimal policy can be defined by a series of cost targets, one for each of the possible projects. The project with the lowest reported cost relative to the target is chosen, and funded as if the cost were equal to the target. The optimal investment policy can deviate from a traditional policy of selecting the project with the highest, positive net present value (NPV) in a number of ways. First, under‐investment arises to limit the manager's ability to capture the economic rents. Second, when investment takes place, it is not always the project with the highest NPV that is implemented. Third, projects with lower cost variability can be favored.We extend the analysis to non‐mutually exclusive projects. With two independent projects, batch processing is superior to individual appraisal whenever both optimal individual appraisal cost targets are interior. Individual appraisal ignores the impact of individual targets on incentives to report the costs of other potential projects. Batch processing can improve individual assessment by cost effective switching of investment away from the individual projects and into the batch as a whole.The results suggest that the common practice of analyzing batches of capital requests in an annual capital budgeting cycle provides advantages in the organization's attempt to deal with asymmetric information and incentive problems.
Inventory Accounting Method and Earnings‐Price Ratios*
Authors: DHALIWAL DAN S. , GUENTHER DAVID A. , TROMBLEY MARK A. 
Published: April 2010

AbstractLee (1988) finds that LIFO firms have higher earnings‐price (EP) ratios than non‐LIFO firms despite the income‐reducing effects of LIFO, a result contrary to economic intuition that Lee describes as a “puzzle.” This paper attempts to resolve this puzzle by introducing refined measures of variables that are related to both EP ratios and inventory costing method choices. The improved proxies are analysts' expectations of future growth rather than realized growth, beta computed using a procedure designed to reduce measurement error rather than the usual OLS beta, and leverage as a supplemental risk measure. Further, we control for expected earnings changes, since transitory earnings shocks that are not expected to persist in future earnings affect the numerator of the EP ratio. After controlling for these factors, we find that EP ratios for LIFO firms are actually lower than those of non‐LIFO firms, a result consistent with economic intuition and the result expected by Lee.
Client Satisfaction and Big 6 Audit Fees*
Authors: BEHN BRUCE K. , CARCELLO JOSEPH V. , HERMANSON DANA R. , HERMANSON ROGER H. 
Published: April 2010

AbstractThis study examines whether client satisfaction can help explain cross‐sectional variation in Big 6 audit fees paid by Fortune 1000 clients. After controlling for other factors related to audit fees (including audit quality attributes), client satisfaction with the audit team is positively associated with fees. It appears that a dimension of client satisfaction unrelated to audit quality attributes is the factor associated with an audit fee premium. This dimension of satisfaction may reflect other aspects of service quality not documented in the literature, or it may simply enable an auditor to earn economic rents through enhanced bargaining power. Client satisfaction with the audit firm does not appear to be priced in this segment of the audit market.The results are consistent with the view that a Big 6 audit is a service that is differentiable in the eyes of client management, and the results highlight the importance of the audit team composition in allowing a Big 6 audit firm to differentiate the audit product. Also, if auditors are earning local rents due to enhanced satisfaction levels, then a perfect competition model may not be appropriate for the audit services market.
“Low‐Balling” and Efficiency in a Two‐Period Specialization Model of Auditing Competition*
Authors: CHAN DEREK K. 
Published: April 2010

AbstractThis paper develops a simple, two‐period specialization model to analyze the effect of start‐up costs on auditing competition. Audit firms in the model make strategic specialization and pricing decisions. Through specialization, an audit firm achieves a comparative cost advantage over its competitors for all clients whose characteristics are closer to its area of specialization. This comparative cost advantage is further fortified by the presence of start‐up costs. As a result, each audit firm obtains some market power and is able to price‐discriminate across clients by offering “specialization‐and‐relationship‐specific” audit fee schedules. This paper demonstrates that the practice of “low‐balling” is a natural consequence of competition among audit firms. However, low‐balling occurs only in a certain market segment where audit firms compete fiercely. This paper also shows that a policy of banning low‐balling acts as a substitute for the commitment of the audit firms to partially collude their pricing policies and results in increased profits for audit firms and increased fees. However, it also results in audit firms choosing specializations in a more efficient way, thereby reducing total auditing costs.
The Interpretation of Coefficients in N‐Chotomous Qualitative Response Models*
Authors: LECLERE MARC J. 
Published: April 2010

AbstractResearchers in financial accounting often use qualitative response models in choice‐based empirical research. Most of this research relies on the familiar techniques of dichotomous probit or logistic regression. Only a limited amount of this research uses n‐chotomous qualitative response models such as ordered probit or multinomial logistic regression. A potential explanation for this limited use is that the interpretation of model coefficients in qualitative response models with limited dependent variables (dichotomous or n‐chotomous) differs substantially from OLS regression, and econometric texts do not provide a systematic approach to coefficient interpretation. This paper discusses several approaches to interpreting coefficients in n‐chotomous qualitative response models. These methods focus on partial derivatives, elasticities of probability, sensitivity analysis, and odds ratios. The methods are applied to the models presented in Thomas (1989) and Mittelstaedt (1989). Additional analyses of the models demonstrate that the methods of interpretation can provide different conclusions or strengthen existing conclusions. The methods provide a better understanding of the directional effects of model coefficients, the relative responsiveness of the probability of choice to changes in the independent variables, and the effects of changes in the independent variables on the probability of choice. These methods should make these models more attractive to researchers interested in choice‐based financial accounting research, and allow for a broader range of decision outcomes than that provided by dichotomous qualitative response models.
The Difference between Earnings and Operating Cash Flow as an Indicator of Financial Reporting Fraud*
Authors: LEE THOMAS A. , INGRAM ROBERT W. , HOWARD THOMAS P. 
Published: April 2010

AbstractThis paper examines the relation between earnings and operating cash flow to derive and test an indicator of financial statement fraud. Accrual measurement concepts indicate that financial statement fraud should be associated with high levels of earnings relative to operating cash flow. We demonstrate that the excess of earnings over operating cash flow is extreme in most fraud cases in years immediately prior to the fraud discovery based on a sample of 56 fraud cases from 1978 to 1991. We compare the distribution of the earnings minus operating cash flow variable for fraud firms with that for a sample of 60,453 firm‐years for firms listed on COMPUSTAT. We test a logistic regression model in which the discovery/nondiscovery of fraud is the dependent variable, and earnings minus operating cash flow is the explanatory variable. Other control variables are included in the model based on prior studies. Results are consistent with expectations derived from accrual measurement theory. We then examine the predictive ability of the model using our sample of fraud firms and a sample of nonfraud firms in the same four‐digit SIC code industries. Observations for the fraud firms are for the fiscal year prior to the discovery of fraud. Observations for the nonfraud firms are for the same fiscal years as the fraud firms in the same industries. The predictive ability of the model, including the excess of earnings over operating cash flow, is substantially higher than the predictive ability of the model omitting this variable. We conclude that the earnings‐operating cash flow relation provides important information for those interested in identifying financial statement fraud, especially when considered in conjunction with other factors associated with fraud risk.
Exploratory Study of the Prevalence and Clinical Significance of Tobramycin-Mediated Biofilm Induction in
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Isolates from Cystic Fibrosis Patients
Authors: Elliott Danielle , Burns Jane L. , Hoffman Lucas R. 
Published: April 2010

ABSTRACT

Exposure to aminoglycoside antibiotics induces biofilm formation by a laboratory strain of the cystic fibrosis (CF) pathogen
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
. Here, we detected this effect among about half of the clinical isolates from CF patients in a cross-sectional collection, suggesting that biofilm induction may represent a common mechanism of inducible aminoglycoside resistance in CF infections. This induction always occurred at the same tobramycin concentration regardless of MIC, suggesting that the mechanisms of killing and induction may be separable.
Plasmodium falciparum
Isolates with Increased
pfmdr1
Copy Number Circulate in West Africa
Authors: Witkowski Benoit , Nicolau Marie-Laure , Soh Patrice Njomnang , Iriart Xavier , Menard Sandie , Alvarez Muriel , Marchou Bruno , Magnaval Jean-François , Benoit-Vical Françoise , Berry Antoine 
Published: April 2010

ABSTRACT

Amplification of
pfmdr1
in
Plasmodium falciparum
is linked to resistance to aryl-amino-alcohols and in reduced susceptibility to artemisinins. We demonstrate here that duplicated
pfmdr1
genotypes circulate in West Africa. The monitoring of this prevalence in Africa appears essential for determining the antimalarial policy and to maintain the efficiency of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) for as long as possible.
In Vitro
Activity of Ceftaroline against Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant, Vancomycin-Intermediate, Vancomycin-Resistant, and Daptomycin-Nonsusceptible
Staphylococcus aureus
Isolates
Authors: Saravolatz Louis , Pawlak Joan , Johnson Leonard 
Published: April 2010

ABSTRACT

This study assessed the
in vitro
activities of ceftaroline and five comparator agents against a collection of
Staphylococcus aureus
isolates. Ceftaroline demonstrated potent activity against community-associated methicillin-resistant
S. aureus
(CA-MRSA) isolates and showed bactericidal activity against vancomycin-intermediate
S. aureus
(VISA), vancomycin-resistant
S. aureus
(VRSA), heteroresistant VISA (hVISA), and daptomycin-nonsusceptible
S. aureus
(DNSSA) isolates. Ceftaroline may represent a bactericidal treatment option for infections caused by these pathogens.
Severity of
Staphylococcus aureus
Infection of the Skin Is Associated with Inducibility of Human β-Defensin 3 but Not Human β-Defensin 2
Authors: Zanger Philipp , Holzer Johannes , Schleucher Regina , Scherbaum Helmut , Schittek Birgit , Gabrysch Sabine 
Published: April 2010

ABSTRACT

Gram-positive bacteria are the predominant cause of skin infections. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are believed to be of major importance in skin's innate defense against these pathogens. This study aimed at providing clinical evidence for the contribution of AMP inducibility to determining the severity of Gram-positive skin infection. Using real-time PCR, we determined the induction of human β-defensin 2 (HBD-2), HBD-3, and RNase 7 by comparing healthy and lesional mRNA levels in 32 patients with Gram-positive skin infection. We then examined whether AMP induction differed by disease severity, as measured by number of recurrences and need for surgical drainage in patients with
Staphylococcus aureus
-positive lesions. We found that HBD-2 and -3, but not RNase 7, mRNA expression was highly induced by Gram-positive bacterial infection in otherwise healthy skin. Less induction of HBD-3, but not HBD-2, was associated with more-severe
S. aureus
skin infection: HBD-3 mRNA levels were 11.4 times lower in patients with more than 6 recurrences (
P
= 0.01) and 8.8 times lower in patients reporting surgical drainage (
P
= 0.01) than in the respective baseline groups. This suggests that inducibility of HBD-3 influences the severity of Gram-positive skin infection
in vivo
. The physiological function of HBD-2 induction in this context remains unclear.
Dendritic Cells Inhibit the Progression ofListeria monocytogenesIntracellular Infection by Retaining Bacteria in Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II-Rich Phagosomes and by Limiting Cytosolic Growth
Authors: Westcott Marlena M. , Henry Curtis J. , Amis Jacqueline E. , Hiltbold Elizabeth M. 
Published: April 2010

ABSTRACTDendritic cells (DC) provide a suboptimal niche for the growth ofListeria monocytogenes, a facultative intracellular bacterial pathogen of immunocompromised and pregnant hosts. This is due in part to a failure of large numbers of bacteria to escape to the cytosol, an essential step in the intracellular life cycle that is mediated by listeriolysin O (LLO). Here, we demonstrate that wild-type bacteria that failed to enter the cytosol of bone marrow-derived DC were retained in a LAMP2+compartment. An isogenicL. monocytogenesstrain that produces an LLO protein with reduced pore-forming activity had a severe escape and growth phenotype in DC. Few mutant bacteria entered the cytosol in the first 2 h and were instead found in LAMP2+, major histocompatibility complex class II+(MHC-II+) H2-DM vesicles characteristic of MHC-II antigen loading compartments (MIIC). In contrast, the mutant had a minor phenotype in bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMM) despite the reduced LLO activity. In the first hour, DC phagosomes acidified to a pH that was, on average, half a point higher than that of BMM phagosomes. Unlike BMM,L. monocytogenesgrowth in DC was minimal after 5 h, and consequently, DC remained viable and matured late in infection. Taken together, the data are consistent with a model in which phagosomal maturation events associated with the acquisition of MHC-II molecules present a suboptimal environment forL. monocytogenesescape to the DC cytosol, possibly by limiting the activity of LLO. This, in combination with an undefined mechanism that controls bacterial growth late in infection, promotes DC survival during the critical maturation response.
POSI-MODULAR SYSTEMS WITH MODULOTONE REQUIREMENTS UNDER PERMUTATION CONSTRAINTS
Authors: ISHII TOSHIMASA , MAKINO KAZUHISA 
Published: April 2010

Given a system (V, f, r) on a finite set V consisting of a posi-modular function f : 2V → ℝ and a modulotone function r : 2V → ℝ, we consider the problem of finding a minimum set R ⊆ V such that f(X) ≥ r(X) for all X ⊆ V - R. The problem, called the transversal problem, was introduced in [M. Sakashita, K. Makino, H. Nagamochi and S. Fujishige, Minimum transversals in posi-modular systems, SIAM J. Discrete Math.23 (2009) 858–871] as a natural generalization of the source location problem and external network problem with edge-connectivity requirements in undirected graphs and hypergraphs. By generalizing [H. Tamura, H. Sugawara, M. Sengoku and S. Shinoda, Plural cover problem on undirected flow networks, IEICE Trans.J81-A (1998) 863–869] for the source location problem, we show that the transversal problem can be solved by a simple greedy algorithm if r is π-monotone, where a modulotone function r is π-monotone if there exists a permutation π of V such that the function pr: V × 2V → ℝ associated with r satisfies pr(u, W) ≥ pr(v, W) for all W ⊆ V and u, v ∈ V with π(u) ≥ π(v). Here we show that any modulotone function r can be characterized by pr as r(X) = max {pr(v, W) | v ∈ X ⊆ V - W}. We also show the structural properties on the minimal deficient sets [Formula: see text] for the transversal problem for π-monotone function r, i.e., there exists a basic tree T for [Formula: see text] such that π(u) ≤ π(v) for all arcs (u,v) in T, which, as a corollary, gives an alternative proof for the correctness of the greedy algorithm for the source location problem. Furthermore, we show that a fractional version of the transversal problem can be solved by the algorithm similar to the one for the transversal problem.
Seed Layer and Multistack Approaches to Reduce Leakage in SrTiO3-Based Metal–Insulator–Metal Capacitors Using TiN Bottom Electrode
Authors: Menou Nicolas , Popovici Mihaela , Opsomer Karl , Kaczer Ben , Pawlak Malgorzata A. , Adelmann Christoph , Franquet Alexis , Favia Paola , Bender Hugo , Detavernier Christophe , Elshocht Sven Van , Wouters Dirk J. , Biesemans Serge , Kittl Jorge A. 
Published: April 2010

Leakage reduction is crucial for metal–insulator–metal (MIM) capacitors for future dynamic random access memory (DRAM) nodes. In previous investigations we showed that increasing the Sr-content would result in leakage reduction of SrTiO3 (STO) films deposited on TiN. [1,2] In this work we demonstrate for thin (10 nm) stoichiometric SrTiO3 films that the leakage properties can be significantly lowered (while keeping high capacitance densities) by using stacking approaches such as seed layer (thin STO layer crystallized before the “bulk” STO deposition) and multistack SrTiO3/GdAlO3/SrTiO3. In this work, SrTiO3 films are deposited using a low temperature ALD process enabling the use of low-cost, manufacturable-friendly TiN-bottom electrode.
Insulin-like Growth Factor 2 Expression Modulates Taxol Resistance and Is a Candidate Biomarker for Reduced Disease-Free Survival in Ovarian Cancer
Authors: Huang Gloria S. , Brouwer-Visser Jurriaan , Ramirez Marissa J. , Kim Christine H. , Hebert Tiffany M. , Lin Juan , Arias-Pulido Hugo , Qualls Clifford R. , Prossnitz Eric R. , Goldberg Gary L. , Smith Harriet O. , Horwitz Susan Band 
Published: April 2010

Abstract
Purpose: This study was undertaken to examine the role of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signaling pathway in the response of ovarian cancer cells to Taxol and to evaluate the significance of this pathway in human epithelial ovarian tumors.
Experimental Design: The effect of Taxol treatment on AKT activation in A2780 ovarian carcinoma cells was evaluated using antibodies specific for phospho-AKT. To study the drug-resistant phenotype, we developed a Taxol-resistant cell line, HEY-T30, derived from HEY ovarian carcinoma cells. IGF2 expression was measured by real-time PCR. A type 1 IGF receptor (IGF1R) inhibitor, NVP-AEW541, and IGF2 small interfering RNA were used to evaluate the effect of IGF pathway inhibition on proliferation and Taxol sensitivity. IGF2 protein expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry in 115 epithelial ovarian tumors and analyzed in relation to clinical/pathologic factors using the χ2 or Fisher's exact tests. The influence of IGF2 expression on survival was studied with Cox regression.
Results: Taxol-induced AKT phosphorylation required IGF1R tyrosine kinase activity and was associated with upregulation of IGF2. Resistant cells had higher IGF2 expression compared with sensitive cells, and IGF pathway inhibition restored sensitivity to Taxol. High IGF2 tumor expression correlated with advanced stage (P &lt; 0.001) and tumor grade (P &lt; 0.01) and reduced disease-free survival (P &lt; 0.05).
Conclusions: IGF2 modulates Taxol resistance, and tumor IGF2 expression is a candidate prognostic biomarker in epithelial ovarian tumors. IGF pathway inhibition sensitizes drug-resistant ovarian carcinoma cells to Taxol. Such novel findings suggest that IGF2 represents a therapeutic target in ovarian cancer, particularly in the setting of Taxol resistance. Clin Cancer Res; 16(11); 2999–3010. ©2010 AACR.
Mapping and Ablation of Epicardial Idiopathic Ventricular Arrhythmias From Within the Coronary Venous System
Authors: Baman Timir S. , Ilg Karl J. , Gupta Sanjaya K. , Good Eric , Chugh Aman , Jongnarangsin Krit , Pelosi Frank , Ebinger Matthew , Crawford Thomas , Oral Hakan , Morady Fred , Bogun Frank 
Published: April 2010

Background—
The prevalence of epicardial idiopathic ventricular arrhythmias that can be ablated from within the coronary venous system (CVS) has not been described.

Methods and Results—

In a consecutive group of 189 patients with idiopathic ventricular arrhythmias referred for ablation, the site of origin (SOO) of ventricular tachycardia and/or premature ventricular contractions was determined by activation mapping and pace mapping. Mapping was performed within the CVS if endocardial mapping did not reveal an SOO. Venography of the CVS and coronary angiography were performed before ablation in the CVS. In 27 of 189 patients (14%±5%; 95% confidence interval), the SOO of the ventricular arrhythmia was identified from within the coronary venous system, either in the great cardiac vein (n=26) or the middle cardiac vein (n=1). The mean activation time at the SOO was −29±8 ms. Twenty of 27 patients (74%) underwent successful ablation within the CVS. Epicardial ventricular arrhythmias displayed a broader R wave in V
1
compared with arrhythmias in the control group (85 ms [interquartile range, 40] versus 65 ms [interquartile range, 95];
P
<0.01). Two patients had recurrent premature ventricular contractions within 2 weeks after ablation, and no recurrences occurred in the remaining patients during a median follow-up of 13 months (range, 25). In the 7 patients with unsuccessful ablation, failure was because the ablation catheter could not be advanced to the SOO within the great cardiac vein (n=4), inadequate power delivery at the SOO (n=1), proximity to the phrenic nerve (n=1), or proximity of the SOO to a major coronary artery (n=1). Transcutaneous epicardial ablation was effective in 1 of 2 patients in whom it was attempted.

Conclusions—
Almost 15% of idiopathic ventricular arrhythmias have an epicardial origin. ECG characteristics help to differentiate epicardial arrhythmias from endocardial ventricular arrhythmias. The SOO of epicardial arrhythmias can be ablated from within the CVS in approximately 70% of patients.