SUMMARY: Researchers in the area of auditor independence have examined the relationship between auditors' opinions and auditor-provided services. While DeFond et al. (2002) and Geiger and Rama (2003) fail to find auditor impairment for distressed U.S. companies, Sharma (2001) and Sharma and Sidhu (2001) find a negative relationship between the likelihood of a going-concern (GC) opinion and nonaudit fees paid to auditors for bankrupt Australian companies. These conflicting results may arise from jurisdictional differences between Australia and the U.S. or differential managerial incentives and firm costs between distressed and bankrupt firms. In light of these differences, an empirical question exists as to whether the results of the Australian studies will obtain in the U.S. We examine the relationship between the propensity of auditors to render GC opinions and nonaudit fees (and other auditor fees) for a sample of bankrupt U.S. firms. We do not observe any association between GC opinions and nonaudit fees, audit fees, total fees, or the ratio of nonaudit fees to total fees.

Rare bleeding disorders (RBDs) comprise 3-5% of all congenital bleeding disorders. They can evade typical coagulation screening tests and there is a poor correlation between laboratory results and bleeding phenotype. Thromboelastography (TEG) measures coagulation globally in whole blood samples. The aims of this study were to evaluate the utility of TEG as an adjunct to the routine screening tests employed for the diagnosis of RBDs and to correlate TEG results with the bleeding phenotype in RBDs. TEG parameters and clot kinetics were compared to bleeding phenotypes (asymptomatic, mild, moderate and severe) in 26 RBD patients and 30 normal controls. Clot kinetics correlated strongly with RBDs and with the severity of bleeding phenotype with mean maximum rate of thrombus generation (MRTG) 15.4 mm min(-1) in controls vs. 6.0 in RBDs (P < 0.0001, Wilcoxin). The mean MRTG was 7.7 in mildly symptomatic, 5.5 in moderately symptomatic and 4.1 in severely symptomatic patients (P < 0.0001, Kruskal-Wallis). Disorders that are often missed by conventional screening tests, dysfibrinogenaemia and platelet disorders displayed a distinctive TEG curve with markedly decreased maximum amplitude (MA) and low MRTG values. Factor XIII and PAI deficient patients displayed increased fibrinolysis in addition to low MRTGs. All patients with RBDs, but none of the normal controls, had abnormal clot kinetics suggesting that TEG may be an effective screening test for RBDs.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common cancer affecting the oral cavity, and US clinics will register about 30,000 new patients in 2015. Current treatment modalities include chemotherapy, surgery, and radiotherapy, which often result in astonishing disfigurement. Cancers of the head and neck display enhanced levels of glucose-regulated proteins and translation initiation factors associated with endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and the unfolded protein response (UPR). Previous work demonstrated that chemically enforced UPR could overwhelm these adaptive features and selectively kill malignant cells. The threonyl-tRNA synthetase (ThRS) inhibitor borrelidin and two congeners were discovered in a cell-based chemical genomic screen. Borrelidin increased XBP1 splicing and led to accumulation of phosphorylated eIF2α and UPR-associated genes, prior to death in panel of OSCC cells. Murine embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) null for GCN2 and PERK were less able to accumulate UPR markers and were resistant to borrelidin. This study demonstrates that UPR induction is a feature of ThRS inhibition and adds to a growing body of literature suggesting ThRS inhibitors might selectively target cancer cells.

We examine a sample of voluntary eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) adopters, who are using the US Securities and Exchange Commission ' s Voluntary Filing Program, and compare them to pair-matched companies based on industry, size and governance score availability. We then explore internal and external characteristics of this sample to determine whether or not there are systematic differences between the voluntary fi lers and their control sample counterparts. We fi nd that these early XBRL adopters are bigger, less fi nancially leveraged and have lower corporate governance ratings than those of the control group. These variables are also effective in discriminating between companies adopting and not voluntarily adopting XBRL in the United States. Comparisons of liquidity, profi tability and external risk measures provide no evidence of group differences. We conclude that larger and visible companies that are intrinsically riskier seek to improve their corporate governance appearance by cost-effectively and voluntarily adopting XBRL in US regulatory and corporate environments. Despite the results relating to these early XBRL adopters, we believe that XBRL will play a signifi cant role in both internal and fi nancial reporting, and that it will have a signifi cant impact on corporations, investors, analysts, regulators and various other corporate stakeholders.

No abstract