Compliance with international financial reporting standards (IFRS) and the value relevance of accounting information in emerging stock markets : evidence from Kuwait

Since the 1960s, the value relevance of accounting information has been an important topic in accounting research. The value relevance research provides evidence as to whether accounting numbers relate to corporate value in a predicted manner (Beaver, 2002). Such research is not only important for investors but also provides useful insights into accounting reporting effectiveness for standard setters and other users. Both the quality of accounting standards used and the effectiveness associated with implementing these standards are fundamental prerequisites for high value relevance (Hellstrom, 2006). However, while the literature comprehensively documents the value relevance of accounting information in developed markets, little attention has been given to emerging markets where the quality of accounting standards and their enforcement are questionable. Moreover, there is currently no known research that explores the association between level of compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the value relevance of accounting information. Motivated by the lack of research on the value relevance of accounting information in emerging markets and the unique institutional setting in Kuwait, this study has three objectives. First, it investigates the extent of compliance with IFRS with respect to firms listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE). Second, it examines the value relevance of accounting information produced by KSE-listed firms over the 1995 to 2006 period. The third objective links the first two and explores the association between the level of compliance with IFRS and the value relevance of accounting information to market participants. Since it is among the first countries to adopt IFRS, Kuwait provides an ideal setting in which to explore these objectives. In addition, the Kuwaiti accounting environment provides an interesting regulatory context in which each KSE-listed firm is required to appoint at least two external auditors from separate auditing firms. Based on the research objectives, five research questions (RQs) are addressed. RQ1 and RQ2 aim to determine the extent to which KSE-listed firms comply with IFRS and factors contributing to variations in compliance levels. These factors include firm attributes (firm age, leverage, size, profitability, liquidity), the number of brand name (Big-4) auditing firms auditing a firm’s financial statements, and industry categorization. RQ3 and RQ4 address the value relevance of IFRS-based financial statements to investors. RQ5 addresses whether the level of compliance with IFRS contributes to the value relevance of accounting information provided to investors. Based on the potential improvement in value relevance from adopting and complying with IFRS, it is predicted that the higher the level of compliance with IFRS, the greater the value relevance of book values and earnings. The research design of the study consists of two parts. First, in accordance with prior disclosure research, the level of compliance with mandatory IFRS is examined using a disclosure index. Second, the value relevance of financial statement information, specifically, earnings and book value, is examined empirically using two valuation models: price and returns models. The combined empirical evidence that results from the application of both models provides comprehensive insights into value relevance of accounting information in an emerging market setting. Consistent with expectations, the results show the average level of compliance with IFRS mandatory disclosures for all KSE-listed firms in 2006 was 72.6 percent; thus, indicating KSE-listed firms generally did not fully comply with all requirements. Significant variations in the extent of compliance are observed among firms and across accounting standards. As predicted, older, highly leveraged, larger, and profitable KSE-listed firms are more likely to comply with IFRS required disclosures. Interestingly, significant differences in the level of compliance are observed across the three possible auditor combinations of two Big-4, two non-Big 4, and mixed audit firm types. The results for the price and returns models provide evidence that earnings and book values are significant factors in the valuation of KSE-listed firms during the 1995 to 2006 period. However, the results show that the value relevance of earnings and book values decreased significantly during that period, suggesting that investors rely less on financial statements, possibly due to the increase in the available non-financial statement sources. Notwithstanding this decline, a significant association is observed between the level of compliance with IFRS and the value relevance of earnings and book value to KSE investors. The findings make several important contributions. First, they raise concerns about the effectiveness of the regulatory body that oversees compliance with IFRS in Kuwait. Second, they challenge the effectiveness of the two-auditor requirement in promoting compliance with regulations as well as the associated cost-benefit of this requirement for firms. Third, they provide the first known empirical evidence linking the level of IFRS compliance with the value relevance of financial statement information. Finally, the findings are relevant for standard setters and for their current review of KSE regulations. In particular, they highlight the importance of establishing and maintaining adequate monitoring and enforcement mechanisms to ensure compliance with accounting standards. In addition, the finding that stricter compliance with IFRS improves the value relevance of accounting information highlights the importance of full compliance with IFRS and not just mere adoption.

Legislative and security requirements of audit material for evidentiary purpose

This research used the Queensland Police Service, Australia, as a major case study. Information on principles, techniques and processes used, and the reason for the recording, storing and release of audit information for evidentiary purposes is reported. It is shown that Law Enforcement Agencies have a two-fold interest in, and legal obligation pertaining to, audit trails. The first interest relates to the situation where audit trails are actually used by criminals in the commission of crime and the second to where audit trails are generated by the information systems used by the police themselves in support of the recording and investigation of crime. Eleven court cases involving Queensland Police Service audit trails used in evidence in Queensland courts were selected for further analysis. It is shown that, of the cases studied, none of the evidence presented was rejected or seriously challenged from a technical perspective. These results were further analysed and related to normal requirements for trusted maintenance of audit trail information in sensitive environments with discussion on the ability and/or willingness of courts to fully challenge, assess or value audit evidence presented. Managerial and technical frameworks for firstly what is considered as an environment where a computer system may be considered to be operating “properly” and, secondly, what aspects of education, training, qualifications, expertise and the like may be considered as appropriate for persons responsible within that environment, are both proposed. Analysis was undertaken to determine if audit and control of information in a high security environment, such as law enforcement, could be judged as having improved, or not, in the transition from manual to electronic processes. Information collection, control of processing and audit in manual processes used by the Queensland Police Service, Australia, in the period 1940 to 1980 was assessed against current electronic systems essentially introduced to policing in the decades of the 1980s and 1990s. Results show that electronic systems do provide for faster communications with centrally controlled and updated information readily available for use by large numbers of users who are connected across significant geographical locations. However, it is clearly evident that the price paid for this is a lack of ability and/or reluctance to provide improved audit and control processes. To compare the information systems audit and control arrangements of the Queensland Police Service with other government departments or agencies, an Australia wide survey was conducted. Results of the survey were contrasted with the particular results of a survey, conducted by the Australian Commonwealth Privacy Commission four years previous, to this survey which showed that security in relation to the recording of activity against access to information held on Australian government computer systems has been poor and a cause for concern. However, within this four year period there is evidence to suggest that government organisations are increasingly more inclined to generate audit trails. An attack on the overall security of audit trails in computer operating systems was initiated to further investigate findings reported in relation to the government systems survey. The survey showed that information systems audit trails in Microsoft Corporation's “Windows” operating system environments are relied on quite heavily. An audit of the security for audit trails generated, stored and managed in the Microsoft “Windows 2000” operating system environment was undertaken and compared and contrasted with similar such audit trail schemes in the “UNIX” and “Linux” operating systems. Strength of passwords and exploitation of any security problems in access control were targeted using software tools that are freely available in the public domain. Results showed that such security for the “Windows 2000” system is seriously flawed and the integrity of audit trails stored within these environments cannot be relied upon. An attempt to produce a framework and set of guidelines for use by expert witnesses in the information technology (IT) profession is proposed. This is achieved by examining the current rules and guidelines related to the provision of expert evidence in a court environment, by analysing the rationale for the separation of distinct disciplines and corresponding bodies of knowledge used by the Medical Profession and Forensic Science and then by analysing the bodies of knowledge within the discipline of IT itself. It is demonstrated that the accepted processes and procedures relevant to expert witnessing in a court environment are transferable to the IT sector. However, unlike some discipline areas, this analysis has clearly identified two distinct aspects of the matter which appear particularly relevant to IT. These two areas are; expertise gained through the application of IT to information needs in a particular public or private enterprise; and expertise gained through accepted and verifiable education, training and experience in fundamental IT products and system.

Learning power and language expressiveness

The topic of the present work is to study the relationship between the power of the learning algorithms on the one hand, and the expressive power of the logical language which is used to represent the problems to be learned on the other hand. The central question is whether enriching the language results in more learning power. In order to make the question relevant and nontrivial, it is required that both texts (sequences of data) and hypotheses (guesses) be translatable from the “rich” language into the “poor” one. The issue is considered for several logical languages suitable to describe structures whose domain is the set of natural numbers. It is shown that enriching the language does not give any advantage for those languages which define a monadic second-order language being decidable in the following sense: there is a fixed interpretation in the structure of natural numbers such that the set of sentences of this extended language true in that structure is decidable. But enriching the original language even by only one constant gives an advantage if this language contains a binary function symbol (which will be interpreted as addition). Furthermore, it is shown that behaviourally correct learning has exactly the same power as learning in the limit for those languages which define a monadic second-order language with the property given above, but has more power in case of languages containing a binary function symbol. Adding the natural requirement that the set of all structures to be learned is recursively enumerable, it is shown that it pays o6 to enrich the language of arithmetics for both finite learning and learning in the limit, but it does not pay off to enrich the language for behaviourally correct learning.

Molecular epidemiology of respiratory viruses in a paediatric cohort from Indonesia

Acute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRTIs) are a common cause of morbidity and mortality among children under 5 years of age and are found worldwide, with pneumonia as the most severe manifestation. Although the incidence of severe disease varies both between individuals and countries, there is still no clear understanding of what causes this variation. Studies of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) have traditionally not focused on viral causes of disease due to a paucity of diagnostic tools. However, with the emergence of molecular techniques, it is now known that viruses outnumber bacteria as the etiological agents of childhood CAP, especially in children under 2 years of age. The main objective of this study was to investigate viruses contributing to disease severity in cases of childhood ALRTI, using a two year cohort study following 2014 infants and children enrolled in Bandung, Indonesia. A total of 352 nasopharyngeal washes collected from 256 paediatric ALRTI patients were used for analysis. A subset of samples was screened using a novel microarray pathogen detection method that identified respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), human metapneumovirus (hMPV) and human rhinovirus (HRV) in the samples. Real-time RT-PCR was used both for confirming and quantifying viruses found in the nasopharyngeal samples. Viral copy numbers were determined and normalised to the numbers of human cells collected with the use of 18S rRNA. Molecular epidemiology was performed for RSV A and hMPV using sequences to the glycoprotein gene and nucleoprotein gene respectively, to determine genotypes circulating in this Indonesian paediatric cohort. This study found that HRV (119/352; 33.8%) was the most common virus detected as the cause of respiratory tract infections in this cohort, followed by the viral pathogens RSV A (73/352; 20.7%), hMPV (30/352; 8.5%) and RSV B (12/352; 3.4%). Co-infections of more than two viruses were detected in 31 episodes (defined as an infection which occurred more than two weeks apart), accounting for 8.8% of the 352 samples tested or 15.4% of the 201 episodes with at least one virus detected. RSV A genotypes circulating in this population were predominantly GA2, GA5 and GA7, while hMPV genotypes circulating were mainly A2a (27/30; 90.0%), B2 (2/30; 6.7%) and A1 (1/30; 3.3%). This study found no evidence of disease severity associated either with a specific virus or viral strain, or with viral load. However, this study did find a significant association with co-infection of RSV A and HRV with severe disease (P = 0.006), suggesting that this may be a novel cause of severe disease.

Osteopontin expression correlates with melanoma invasion

Melanoma is one of the most aggressive cancers affecting humans. Although early melanomas are curable with surgical excision, metastatic melanomas are associated with high mortality. The mechanism of melanoma development, progression, and metastasis is largely unknown. In order to uncover genes unique to melanoma cells, we used high-density DNA microarrays to examine the gene expression profiles of metastatic melanoma nodules using benign nevi as controls. Over 190 genes were significantly overexpressed in metastatic melanomas compared with normal nevi by at least 2-fold. One of the most abundantly expressed genes in metastatic melanoma nodules is osteopontin (OPN). Immunohistochemistry staining on tissue microarrays and individual skin biopsies representing different stages of melanoma progression revealed that OPN expression is first acquired at the step of melanoma tissue invasion. In addition, blocking of OPN expression by RNA interference reduced melanoma cell numbers in vitro. Our observations suggest that OPN may be acquired early in melanoma development and progression, and may enhance tumor cell growth in invasive melanoma.

Bioavailability of soil organic carbon and Fe as influenced by forestry practices in a subtropical coastal catchment

Potential impacts of plantation forestry practices on soil organic carbon and Fe available to microorganisms were investigated in a subtropical coastal catchment. The impacts of harvesting or replanting were largely limited to the soil top layer (0–10 cm depth). The thirty-year-old Pinus plantation showed low soil moisture content (Wc) and relatively high levels of soil total organic carbon (TOC). Harvesting and replanting increased soil Wc but reduced TOC levels. Mean dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) increased in harvested or replanted soils, but such changes were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Total dithionite-citrate and aqua regia-extractable Fe did not respond to forestry practices, but acid ammonium oxalate and pyrophosphate-extractable, bioavailable Fe decreased markedly after harvesting or replanting. Numbers of heterotrophic bacteria were significantly correlated with DOC levels (P < 0.05), whereas Fe-reducing bacteria and S-bacteria detected using laboratory cultivation techniques did not show strong correlation with either soil DOC or Fe content.

Multiple camera management using wide baseline matching

Camera calibration information is required in order for multiple camera networks to deliver more than the sum of many single camera systems. Methods exist for manually calibrating cameras with high accuracy. Manually calibrating networks with many cameras is, however, time consuming, expensive and impractical for networks that undergo frequent change. For this reason, automatic calibration techniques have been vigorously researched in recent years. Fully automatic calibration methods depend on the ability to automatically find point correspondences between overlapping views. In typical camera networks, cameras are placed far apart to maximise coverage. This is referred to as a wide base-line scenario. Finding sufficient correspondences for camera calibration in wide base-line scenarios presents a significant challenge. This thesis focuses on developing more effective and efficient techniques for finding correspondences in uncalibrated, wide baseline, multiple-camera scenarios. The project consists of two major areas of work. The first is the development of more effective and efficient view covariant local feature extractors. The second area involves finding methods to extract scene information using the information contained in a limited set of matched affine features. Several novel affine adaptation techniques for salient features have been developed. A method is presented for efficiently computing the discrete scale space primal sketch of local image features. A scale selection method was implemented that makes use of the primal sketch. The primal sketch-based scale selection method has several advantages over the existing methods. It allows greater freedom in how the scale space is sampled, enables more accurate scale selection, is more effective at combining different functions for spatial position and scale selection, and leads to greater computational efficiency. Existing affine adaptation methods make use of the second moment matrix to estimate the local affine shape of local image features. In this thesis, it is shown that the Hessian matrix can be used in a similar way to estimate local feature shape. The Hessian matrix is effective for estimating the shape of blob-like structures, but is less effective for corner structures. It is simpler to compute than the second moment matrix, leading to a significant reduction in computational cost. A wide baseline dense correspondence extraction system, called WiDense, is presented in this thesis. It allows the extraction of large numbers of additional accurate correspondences, given only a few initial putative correspondences. It consists of the following algorithms: An affine region alignment algorithm that ensures accurate alignment between matched features; A method for extracting more matches in the vicinity of a matched pair of affine features, using the alignment information contained in the match; An algorithm for extracting large numbers of highly accurate point correspondences from an aligned pair of feature regions. Experiments show that the correspondences generated by the WiDense system improves the success rate of computing the epipolar geometry of very widely separated views. This new method is successful in many cases where the features produced by the best wide baseline matching algorithms are insufficient for computing the scene geometry.

A new family of Marx generator based on resonant converter

This paper presents a novel topology to generate high voltage with utilization of slow and fast power switches. New concepts used in this topology include numbers of diode-capacitor units in parallel with resonant circuits which are connected to a positive buck-boost converter. The resonant circuit reverses the voltage polarity of the capacitors. This configuration has capability of generating a flexible high voltage with certain number of capacitors. The advantage of this topology is to use slow switches, less number of diodes and capacitors compare to Marx generator. Simulations have been performed to verify the proposed topology.

Quantitative PCR assay of sewage-associated Bacteroides markers to assess sewage pollution in an urban lake in Dhaka, Bangladesh

This paper aimed to assess the magnitude of sewage pollution in an urban lake in Dhaka, Bangladesh by using Quantitative PCR (qPCR) of sewage-associated Bacteroides HF183 markers. PCR was also used for the quantitative detection of ruminant wastewater-associated CF128 markers along with the enumeration of traditional fecal indicator bacteria, namely, enterococci. The number of enterococci in lake water samples ranged from 1.1 x 104 to 1.9 x 105 CFU/100 ml of water. From the 20 water samples tested, 14 (70%) and 7 (35%) were PCR positive for the HF183 and CF128 markers, respectively. The numbers of the HF183 and CF128 markers in lake water samples were 3.9 x 104 to 6.3 × 107 and 9.3 x 103 to 6.3 x 105 genomic units (GU)/100 ml of water, respectively. The high numbers of enterococci and the HF183 markers indicate sewage pollution and potential health risks to those who use the lake water for non-potable purposes such as bathing and washing clothes. This is the first study that investigated the presence of microbial source tracking (MST) markers in Dhaka, Bangladesh where diarrhoeal diseases is one of the major causes of childhood mortality. The molecular assay as used in this study can provide valuable information on the extent of sewage pollution, thus facilitating the development of robust strategies to minimise potential health risks.

Spatial variability of soil organic carbon in grasslands: implications for detecting change at different scales

Extensive data used to quantify broad soil C changes (without information about causation), coupled with intensive data used for attribution of changes to specific management practices, could form the basis of an efficient national grassland soil C monitoring network. Based on variability of extensive (USDA/NRCS pedon database) and intensive field-level soil C data, we evaluated the efficacy of future sample collection to detect changes in soil C in grasslands. Potential soil C changes at a range of spatial scales related to changes in grassland management can be verified (alpha=0.1) after 5 years with collection of 34, 224, 501 samples at the county, state, or national scales, respectively. Farm-level analysis indicates that equivalent numbers of cores and distinct groups of cores (microplots) results in lowest soil C coefficients of variation for a variety of ecosystems. Our results suggest that grassland soil C changes can be precisely quantified using current technology at scales ranging from farms to the entire nation. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influence of iodine value on combustion and NOx emission characteristics of a DI diesel engine

Biodiesel is a renewable fuel that has been shown to reduce many exhaust emissions, except oxides of nitrogen (NOx), in diesel engine cars. This is of special concern in inner urban areas that are subject to strict environmental regulations, such as EURO norms. Also, the use of pure biodiesel (B100) is inhibited because of its higher NOx emissions compared to petroleum diesel fuel. The aim of this present work is to investigate the effect of the iodine value and cetane number of various biodiesel fuels obtained from different feed stocks on the combustion and NOx emission characteristics of a direct injection (DI) diesel engine. The biodiesel fuels were chosen from various feed stocks such as coconut, palm kernel, mahua (Madhuca indica), pongamia pinnata, jatropha curcas, rice bran, and sesame seed oils. The experimental results show an approximately linear relationship between iodine value and NOx emissions. The biodiesels obtained from coconut and palm kernel showed lower NOx levels than diesel, but other biodiesels showed an increase in NOx. It was observed that the nature of the fatty acids of the biodiesel fuels had a significant influence on the NOx emissions. Also, the cetane numbers of the biodiesel fuels are affected both premixed combustion and the combustion rate, which further affected the amount of NOx formation. It was concluded that NOx emissions are influenced by many parameters of biodiesel fuels, particularly the iodine value and cetane number.

The relationship of boat movements to environmental management at some Queensland marinas

Marinas currently exist primarily to service recreational boats, and these vessels are a potential cause of both problems and opportunities in environmental management. Thus, on the one hand, destructive fuel and other pollutants may be expelled, boat wakes can cause littoral soil erosion, physical damage results from collisions with marine life, and litter and noise pollution occur in otherwise pristine habitat. Boats also provide access to otherwise inaccessible natural environments for educational and other management reasons. In this study, boat traffic at three large marinas located along the Queensland coastline has been field surveyed for introductory information. No attempt was made at this juncture to survey the behaviour of the boat crews and passengers (concerning actual destinations, activities on board, etc. or to survey the recreational boat industry. Such studies rely on boat registration records and personal questionnaires. Some other surveys relating to fishing draw on boat ramp surveys and direct submissions by recreational fishers; these provide some data on daily usage of boat ramps, but without particular attention to boats. We believe field observations of overall boat activities in the water are necessary for environmental management purposes. The aim of the survey was to provide information to help prioritize the potential impacts that boats’ activities have on the surrounding natural environment. Any impact by boats will be a product of their numbers, size, frequency of movement, carrying capacity and routes/destinations. The severity of impacts will dictate the appropriate management action.

Influences of age and mechanical stability on volume, microstructure, and mineralization of the fracture callus during bone healing : Is osteoclast activity the key to age-related impaired healing?

Earlier studies have shown that the influence of fixation stability on bone healing diminishes with advanced age. The goal of this study was to unravel the relationship between mechanical stimulus and age on callus competence at a tissue level. Using 3D in vitro micro-computed tomography derived metrics, 2D in vivo radiography, and histology, we investigated the influences of age and varying fixation stability on callus size, geometry, microstructure, composition, remodeling, and vascularity. Compared were four groups with a 1.5-mm osteotomy gap in the femora of Sprague–Dawley rats: Young rigid (YR), Young semirigid (YSR), Old rigid (OR), Old semirigid (OSR). Hypothesis was that calcified callus microstructure and composition is impaired due to the influence of advanced age, and these individuals would show a reduced response to fixation stabilities. Semirigid fixations resulted in a larger ΔCSA (Callus cross-sectional area) compared to rigid groups. In vitro μCT analysis at 6 weeks postmortem showed callus bridging scores in younger animals to be superior than their older counterparts (pb0.01). Younger animals showed (i) larger callus strut thickness (pb0.001), (ii) lower perforation in struts (pb0.01), and (iii) higher mineralization of callus struts (pb0.001). Callus mineralization was reduced in young animals with semirigid fracture fixation but remained unaffected in the aged group. While stability had an influence, age showed none on callus size and geometry of callus. With no differences observed in relative osteoid areas in the callus ROI, old as well as semirigid fixated animals showed a higher osteoclast count (pb0.05). Blood vessel density was reduced in animals with semirigid fixation (pb0.05). In conclusion, in vivo monitoring indicated delayed callus maturation in aged individuals. Callus bridging and callus competence (microstructure and mineralization) were impaired in individuals with an advanced age. This matched with increased bone resorption due to higher osteoclast numbers. Varying fixator configurations in older individuals did not alter the dominant effect of advanced age on callus tissue mineralization, unlike in their younger counterparts. Age-associated influences appeared independent from stability. This study illustrates the dominating role of osteoclastic activity in age-related impaired healing, while demonstrating the optimization of fixation parameters such as stiffness appeared to be less effective in influencing healing in aged individuals.

Challenges in improving the safety of learner motorcyclists

Inexperience has been shown to be a major factor in many motorcycle crashes worldwide. Learner motorcyclists are not protected from the risks of the on-road environment to the same extent as learner car drivers. Whilst the learner stage has consistently been shown to be the safest phase for car drivers and the provisional stage to be the most dangerous, data from several Australian states has shown similar numbers of learner and provisionally licensed motorcyclists in crashes. This paper reports a review of learner rider safety research undertaken to inform potential future improvements to the licensing and training system in Queensland, Australia.