bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Urokinase Plasminogen Activator and Urokinase Plasminogen Activator Receptor Mediate Human Stem Cell Tropism to Malignant Solid Tumors
Authors: Gutova Margarita , Najbauer Joseph , Frank Richard T. , Kendall Stephen Edward , Gevorgyan Anna , Metz Marianne Z. , Guevorkian Mark , Edmiston Marissa , Zhao Donghong , Glackin Carlotta A. , Kim Seung U. , Aboody Karen S. 
Published: April 2008

Abstract
Human neural and mesenchymal stem cells have been identified for cell-based therapies in regenerative medicine and as vehicles for delivering therapeutic agents to areas of injury and tumors. However, the signals required for homing and recruitment of stem cells to these sites are not well understood. Urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) and urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) are involved in chemotaxis and cell guidance during normal development and are upregulated in invasive tumors. Here we provided evidence that activation of uPA and uPAR in malignant solid tumors (brain, lung, prostate, and breast) augments neural and mesenchymal stem cell tropism. Expression levels of uPAR on human solid tumor cell lines correlated with levels of uPA and soluble uPAR in tumor cell-conditioned media. Cytokine expression profiles of these tumor-conditioned media were determined by protein arrays. Among 79 cytokines investigated, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 were the most highly expressed cytokines in uPAR-positive tumors. We provided evidence that human recombinant uPA induced stem cell migration, whereas depletion of uPA from PC-3 prostate cancer cell-conditioned medium blocked stem cell migration. Furthermore, retrovirus-mediated overexpression of uPA and uPAR in neuroblastoma (NB1691) cells induced robust migration of stem cells toward NB1691 cell-conditioned media, compared with media derived from wild-type NB1691 cells. We conclude that expression of uPA and uPAR in cancer cells underlies a novel mechanism of stem cell tropism to malignant solid tumors, which may be important for development of optimal stem cell-based therapies.
Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is found at the end of this article.
Totipotency/Pluripotency and Patentability
Authors: Denker Hans-Werner 
Published: April 2008

Abstract
In their article entitled “Commentary: Is totipotency of a human cell a sufficient reason to exclude its patentability under the European law” (Stem Cells 2007;25:3026–3028), K.T. Vrtovec and B. Vrtovec conclude that arguments based on differentiation potential should not be an obstacle to patenting human embryonic stem cells (and related cells referred to as totipotent or pluripotent). While concentrating on formal legal aspects, however, these authors fail to consider a major biological and ethical argument already found in the literature, namely that an obstacle to patenting is to be seen in the potential of cells (e.g., of embryonic stem cell lines), if this potential allows (re)constitution of an embryo when tetraploid complementation is performed.
Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is found at the end of this article.
Primacy Effects and the Role of Risk in Auditor Belief-Revision Processes
Authors: Anderson Brenda H. , Maletta Mario J. 
Published: April 2008

Numerous studies in the audit judgment literature provide evidence indicating that auditors can be susceptible to recency effects. This study extends the research by examining auditor susceptibility to primacy, an order effect, which, like recency, can lead to suboptimal audit-planning decisions (see Ashton and Ashton 1988) and yet, unlike recency, has received very little attention in the accounting literature. Specifically, the research investigates whether primacy effects in auditor belief revisions are a conditional function of the level of inherent risk present in the audit environment (high/low) and the nature of the information contained in the latter portion of the information sequence (e.g., whether the information is positive or negative with respect to the client's internal controls).
The results, consistent with expectations, indicate that auditors are susceptible to primacy effects when making likelihood of error and audit-hour planning judgments in settings that are relatively low in inherent risk, and such effects are due to less integration of late positive information in low- as compared to high-risk conditions. No evidence of primacy was found for either judgment when the inherent risk associated with the audit setting was high and, auditors did not differentially revise their beliefs across inherent risk conditions for late negative information. The findings indicate that primacy is essentially the result of insufficient integration of late positive information in low inherent risk settings, suggesting that primacy may lead to overauditing and thus, an inefficient use of audit resources.
Improving Analytical Procedures: A Case of Using Disaggregate Multilocation Data
Authors: Allen Robert D. , Beasley Mark S. , Branson Bruce C. 
Published: April 2008

According to SAS No. 56, Analytical Procedures, the use of disaggregate, individual location data can improve the effectiveness of analytical procedures used in multilocation audits. Using a case-study approach, we investigate whether improvements in the accuracy and precision of account balance expectations can be obtained by using disaggregate, individual location data in a large, multilocation company. Specifically, we examine two issues: (1) whether the summation of individual location expectations generates more accurate and precise expectations of company-wide account balances than expectations based on company-wide data only and (2) whether the accuracy and precision of analytical procedures is enhanced by including peer location observations of the account balance in individual location expectation models.
We find that for the multilocation company examined in this case study the summation of individual location account balance expectations is not more accurate or precise than an expectation derived from aggregate models unless the individual location models include peer location observations of the account balance. When the individual location models include the same account observations from other peer locations within the company, the company-wide account balance expectations developed from disaggregate models are more accurate and precise (less variable) than expectations developed using aggregate, company-wide data only. The results from this case study indicate that when auditors are generating expectations of company-wide balances, disaggregate models incorporating peer location account observations provide account balance expectations that are both more accurate and more precise than company-wide, aggregate models. Given the limitations of a case-study approach, future research should be directed at establishing the generalizability of these findings.
The Audit Retention Decision in the Face of Deregulation: Evidence from Large Private Canadian Corporations
Authors: Senkow David W. , Rennie Morina D. , Rennie Richard D. , Wong Jonathan W. 
Published: April 2008

We examine the demand for audited financial statements in the context of deregulation. In 1994 a change in Canadian legislation eliminated a mandatory requirement for certain private companies to file audited financial statements.
The objective of this research was to determine the importance of factors that might influence whether the audit is discontinued. Information was obtained from the Cancorp Plus database and through a survey of companies affected by the change in legislation.
It was found that a large majority of the companies retained their audit. The strongest predictors of whether the audit would be retained were the prior existence of a lending agreement requiring audited financial statements and the level of audit fees. The likelihood of retention was positively related to the magnitude of fees, perhaps reflecting the perceived benefits of the audit. The existence of a lending agreement was found to be influenced by the ownership level of the entity's officers and directors. This study underlines the importance of audited financial statements to lenders.
The Effect of Accounting Uncertainty and Auditor Reputation on Auditor Objectivity
Authors: Mayhew Brian W. , Schatzberg Jeffrey W. , Sevcik Galen R. 
Published: April 2008

This paper reports results of experimental markets that examine whether accounting uncertainty impacts auditor objectivity in a setting where the auditor also has an incentive to build a reputation for objectivity. While prior research has examined the impact of uncertainty on auditor objectivity, our research is the first to explicitly incorporate auditor reputation into the research design.
The results provide strong evidence that accounting uncertainty impacts auditor objectivity despite the damage to auditor reputation. Our markets suggest that in the absence of accounting uncertainty auditors remain objective due to concerns about their reputation with managers and investors. However, in the presence of accounting uncertainty auditors impair their objectivity by misreporting in favor of managers. Our results suggest that regulators should focus on enhancing auditor incentives to maintain objectivity when faced with accounting uncertainty, but do not need to be concerned about auditor objectivity violations when accounting pronouncements provide unambiguous guidance.
Does the Provision of Nonaudit Services Affect Investor Perceptions of Auditor Independence?
Authors: Krishnan Jayanthi , Sami Heibatollah , Zhang Yinqi 
Published: April 2008

A number of recent studies examine whether the joint provision of audit and nonaudit services (NAS) impairs auditor independence, and yield mixed results. We examine whether investors perceive auditor independence as being impaired when auditors supply nonaudit services, by investigating the association between fee-based measures of nonaudit service purchases and the earnings response coefficient (ERC).
We find that the nonaudit fee ratio and the level of nonaudit fees were negatively associated with ERCs in 2001. When we use unexpected fees (a measure of over- or underpayment of nonaudit fees), we find a negative association between NAS purchases and ERC, but this occurs mainly in the second and third quarters following the release of the proxy. Further investigation reveals that the quarterly differences may be driven by the increasing flow of information (i.e., the first-time disclosures of fees and media analyses of these disclosures) that became available to investors during our sample period. We speculate that, during the course of the year 2001, the increase in information allowed investors to engage in better comparative analyses of the fee disclosures. We interpret our results as indicating that investors did perceive NAS as impairing auditor independence.
The Impact of Management Integrity on Audit Planning and Evidence
Authors: Kizirian Timothy G. , Mayhew Brian W. , Sneathen L. Dwight 
Published: April 2008

This study uses working paper data from 60 clients of a U.S. Big 4 auditing firm to directly examine the influence of auditor-assessed management integrity on auditor's assessments of risk of material misstatement, audit planning, and audit outcomes. We hypothesize that management integrity is related to preliminary risk assessments, and to the persuasiveness, timing, and extent of planned audit procedures. We also hypothesize that the management integrity assessment influences the auditor's evaluation of source credibility of management provided evidence beyond its influence via risk assessments (Beaulieu 2001). Finally, we expect the auditor's management integrity assessment to be associated with the discovery of client misstatements.
When we add management integrity to empirical models motivated by Mock and Wright (1993, 1999), we find support for our hypotheses. However, all but two hypothesized associations disappear when we add an indicator variable for prior-year errors. We continue to find that management integrity impacts the persuasiveness of evidence sought beyond what is suggested by the auditor's risk assessment. Interestingly, even after controlling for prior-year errors, we find an inverse association between the auditor's assessment of management integrity and the likelihood of detecting misstatements, suggesting the management integrity assessment aids the auditor in ultimately discovering errors. The results support the importance of assessing management integrity in planning the audit and discovering misstatements.
“Order Effects” Revisited: The Importance of Chronology
Authors: Favere-Marchesi Michael 
Published: April 2008

This study examined whether auditors, when they are processing mixed evidence, take into consideration the chronological order of the evidence (giving rise to what this study refers to as a trend effect), or if their evaluations are influenced primarily by the order of presentation (giving rise to what the audit literature refers to as a recency effect). The study's primary objective was to determine whether awareness of the temporal order of evidence would prevent auditors from placing more weight on evidence that they most recently processed (i.e., whether the trend effect dominates the recency effect).Auditors were given an experimental task of going-concern assessment. Auditors evaluating undated mixed evidence exhibited recency effects similar in magnitude to those shown by auditors who were asked to evaluate dated mixed evidence, in which the presentation order was consistent with temporal order. However, auditors evaluating evidence in which temporal order and presentation order were varied orthogonally took into consideration the chronological order of the evidence. This, in turn, led to a significant reduction in the effect of recency. Additional analysis indicates that auditors who evaluated dated mixed evidence chose audit opinions consistent with the trend reflected by the chronology of the evidence.
Auditor Acceptance of Dysfunctional Audit Behavior: An Explanatory Model Using Auditors' Personal Characteristics
Authors: Donnelly David P. , Quirin Jeffrey J. , O'Bryan David 
Published: April 2008

Dysfunctional behavior (DB) and staff turnover are associated with decreased audit quality (Public Oversight Board 2000). Dysfunctional behaviors such as premature sign-off, gathering of insufficient evidence, altering or replacing audit procedures, and underreporting of time have negative effects on the auditing profession. While recent studies suggest that dysfunctional behavior is a widespread problem (Smith 1995; Otley and Pierce 1995), extant research fails to adequately explain the causes. In this study, the organizational behavior and industrial psychology literatures provide the basis for developing and testing a model that identifies locus of control, performance, and turnover intentions as determinants of auditor acceptance of DB.Using a cross-organizational design and a structural equation modeling technique, survey results from 106 auditors generally support the explanatory model. Results indicate that auditors who are more accepting of DB tend to possess an external locus of control, report lower levels of self-rated performance, and exhibit higher turnover intentions. These results suggest that individual auditor characteristics play a role in identifying those who are more accepting of DB.
Eliciting Experts' Context Knowledge with Theory-Based Experiential Questionnaires
Authors: Gibbins Michael , Qu Sandy Q. 
Published: April 2008

This paper describes a useful addition to behavioral researchers' set of research methods, supplementing and extending what can be learned from interviews, surveys, and experiments. The experiential questionnaire (EQ) is designed to study the context within which experts behave, guided by theory about that context and by extensive pre-testing with representatives of the target population of respondents.
An EQ is built around expert respondents' experience of their context, the world in which they function, as represented by cases they have experienced and can describe in detail. The value of the data is supplemented by having the respondents choose the cases and do much of the categorization and coding of their own responses. The EQ's questions are worded in matter-of-fact terms familiar to the respondents, to encourage respondents to report their experienced contexts dispassionately.
This paper describes the EQ method, with examples from the mostly auditing published studies and suggestions about extensions into other areas of accounting research. The value of studying experts' context is addressed, as are matching of respondents and theory, designing and testing an EQ, and some threats to validity of the data resulting from an EQ. References to related research literatures are included.
Information Systems Controls and Auditing: Mathra Tool, Inc.
Authors: Splettstoesser Ingrid B. 
Published: April 2008

Mathra Tool, Inc. (MTI) is a small business manufacturing case. It can be used by undergraduate or graduate students studying management controls and auditing in a computerized setting. Students integrate accounting, auditing, and information systems concepts. They identify and assess controls to set detection risk and suggest the nature, extent and timing of detailed tests for generalized audit software. They then prioritize weaknesses in internal control, separating reportable conditions from other improvements.
MTI is particularly topical, in the light of SAS No. 80, Amendment to Statement on Auditing Standards No. 31, Evidential Matter, effective for financial statements beginning on or after January 1, 1997. This SAS recognizes that both electronic and paper evidence needs to be considered when conducting risk assessments and during the evidence-gathering process. Instructors can discuss concepts of activity-based costing (due to inappropriate overhead application) and additional types of EDI beyond the stand-alone EDI method used by MTI.
Classroom Assessment: Educational and Research Opportunities
Authors: Harwood Elaine M. , Cohen Jeffrey R. 
Published: April 2008

The objective of this paper is to demonstrate existing educational and research opportunities in the area of Classroom Assessment. Classroom Assessment is an ongoing process whereby professors and their students work together to collect accurate and timely information about what students are learning in a particular subject. The raison d'e^tre of Classroom Assessment is to discover what potentially can and should be done to improve student learning, thereby developing the talents of both professors and students. This paper provides an extensive review of the literature and a discussion of the process of Classroom Assessment, tailored to the needs of accounting professors. Thus, this paper provides the tools by which accounting professors can take advantage of both the educational and research opportunities.
The theoretical basis and motivation for Classroom Assessment, together with the shared excitement of those who use it, provide strong reason to believe that Classroom Assessment has the potential to improve accounting education. Recent and continuing efforts to improve accounting education give accounting professors both the motivation and comparative advantage they need to make significant contributions to an emerging area of research in Classroom Assessment. This paper calls for greater care when following the process of Classroom Assessment and when designing experiments to increase our understanding of it.
Comptronix, Inc.: An Audit Case Involving Fraud
Authors: Boockholdt James L. 
Published: April 2008

Comptronix, Inc. was a high-technology company founded in 1984. It grew rapidly and by 1993 employed 1,700 people in three operating locations. The company went public in 1989, listing its stock with NASDAQ. The stock received consistent “buy” recommendations from brokerage firms until 1992, when its Board of Directors disclosed a fraud perpetrated by three of its officers. They had manipulated accounting records in order to overstate Comptronix's earnings for 1989–1991.
This case is intended for use in an auditing class. It describes a method of perpetrating the fraud allegedly used by the officers and includes financial data for the company and its competitors. Students are asked to identify audit procedures that would have detected the fraud and suggest conditions that should have alerted the auditor. Finally, students are asked to research a high-technology company of their choice, looking for similar conditions.
Pecos Products: A Project Introducing Complexity into the Study of Activity-Based Costing
Authors: Platt David E. , Towry Kristy L. 
Published: April 2008

This case is designed to help students gain a more thorough understanding of activity-based costing (ABC) than is usually obtained in introductory managerial accounting courses. If you have taken such a course, you have probably seen, in general, simple examples of activity-based costing. However, ABC can be more complex than these examples indicate for three reasons: (1) the mechanics of ABC are far more complex than these simple examples indicate; (2) many of the design choices required in an ABC system, which are critical to the cost-benefit decision, are omitted from the simple examples; and (3) without adequate detail, it is hard to see how economic consequences arise from the choice of costing systems.
The Pecos Products ABC Design Project (the “project”) addresses these issues by providing a hypothetical company with a detailed business scenario and asking you to help with the cost-system-design decision. To accomplish this, you will have to think about traditional cost system and ABC design issues, delve deeply into the cost system mechanics, and evaluate the benefits (economic consequences) of an ABC system in light of the cost and effort required to create it.
Activity-Based Costing in the Service Sector: The Buckeye National Bank
Authors: Bamber Linda Smith , Hughes K. E. 
Published: April 2008

The U.S. Bureau of the Census projects that by 2006, the service sector will employ 74 percent of the workforce. This case illustrates why a major segment of the service sector—banks—needs accurate cost information to make strategic decisions, and how more refined accounting systems help fulfill this need.
Buckeye National Bank is a hypothetical bank that has suffered falling profits despite a shift in customer base toward retail customers, which the current information system reports are more profitable than business customers. Following a step-by-step approach, you will develop the Bank's average cost of serving a retail customer account and a business customer account, under (1) the Bank's traditional single allocation base system, and (2) a (pilot test) activity-based costing system. You will analyze these results to determine how and why costs reported by the activity-based system differ from the costs reported by the traditional system, and what this difference means for the Bank's business strategy. Finally, you will consider how the Bank's managers can use the new, more refined activity-based cost data in strategic decision making, including controlling costs and developing more profitable business strategies.