Purpose. The study aims to examine the effect of auditor quality on real activity manipulation.
Result. The population is 20 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange for ...the period 2018–2020. Using the purposive sampling method, 57 observations for the specified period were obtained. Next, we used a linear regression model as the method. The results showed that auditor quality had no effect on real activity manipulation through abnormal Operating Cash Flow (CFO), abnormal Production Costs (PROD) and abnormal Discretionary Expenses (DISC). Auditor quality has no effect on real activity manipulation through abnormal CFO. This is because the auditor’s independence attitude decreases which causes management to manipulate real activities through abnormal CFO, namely by increasing the company’s sales value. Auditor quality has no effect on real activity manipulation through abnormal PROD. This is because a qualified auditor in the company is only a formality to provide assurance in the eyes of investors that the company is in good condition. So, management will manipulate real activities through abnormal PROD, namely increasing the company’s production. Auditor quality has no effect on real activity manipulation through abnormal DISC. This is because the client’s accounting flexibility from qualified auditors is hampered, where management will change earnings management by using real activity manipulation through abnormal DISC, namely reducing discretionary costs.
Scientific novelty. This research is based on the application of the already known methodology and design developed by Sanjaya, the difference is that in this study we used SOEs as the object. Moreover, we employed different period from prior study which are in the year of 2018 to 2020. Also, this study uses agency theory because this is based on information asymmetry between the principal and agent, which overall indicates a certain novelty of our work.
Practical value. The results of this study are useful for assessing the quality of auditors in increasing the credibility of financial statements to reduce risks that occur in financial statements such as real earnings management through abnormal CFO, abnormal PROD, and abnormal DISC. Prospects for its development are by expanding and adding objects and years, as well as used variables.
A novel printed reconfigurable square slot antenna with switchable band-notched and multiresonance performances is designed and manufactured. In the proposed structure, in order to generate single ...band-notched characteristics, a Π-shaped slot is etched on the radiating stub. Furthermore, to achieve a reconfigurable function, a p-i-n diode is utilized across the slot. When this p-i-n diode is biased forwardly, the Π -shaped slot transforms to a pair of C-shaped slots, and also by changing to this new structure, an additional resonance is excited. Additionally, by cutting two modified L-shaped slits with variable dimensions on the microstrip feed line, new additional resonance is excited, and hence wider impedance bandwidth can be produced, especially at the higher band. The designed antenna has a small size of 20 × 20 mm 2 while showing the radiation performance in the frequency band of 3.04 to over 11.17 GHz with a switchable band-rejection performance in the frequency band of 5.03-5.94 GHz. Simulated and experimental results obtained for this antenna show that it exhibits good radiation behavior within the ultrawideband (UWB) frequency range and also it has a reconfigurable frequency band-notched function in the range of 5-6 GHz that can eliminate the interference between UWB frequency band and other existing wireless communication systems.
The eigenvectors of a fuzzy matrix correspond to steady states of a complex discrete-events system, characterized by the given transition matrix and fuzzy state vectors. The descriptions of the ...eigenspace (the set of all eigenvectors) for matrices in the max-min, max-Łukasiewicz or max-drast fuzzy algebra have been presented in previous papers. The eigenspace of a fuzzy matrix in the max-prod algebra is investigated in this paper. First, necessary and sufficient conditions are shown under which the eigenspace restricted to increasing eigenvectors of a given matrix is non-empty, and the structure of the increasing eigenspace is described. Then, using simultaneous row and column permutations of the matrix, the complete characterization of the whole eigenspace structure of a given fuzzy matrix is shown. The details for matrices of order 3 are only presented. The method works analogously for square matrices of higher orders, with rapidly increasing complexity of the formulas.
In terms of productivity in software development, there is specific interest in identifying its influencing factors. For this purpose, several classification approaches have been previously used, ...which have already recognized technical factors, organizational factors, product factors, project factors, and personal factors. However, these approaches often focus on technical factors over social and human factors (SHFs). Nevertheless, in addition to the obvious technical aspects, the software development process involves problem-solving skills and cognitive aspects and social interaction. In this sense, determining SHFs can lead to software organizations designing strategies for improving team productivity. In this study, we first conducted a preliminary classification of the SHFs identified in the literature. Because this study seeks to assess the factors from the standpoint of software development professionals, we developed and validated an instrument to measure the perception of software development team members about SHFs that may be affecting their productivity. For this purpose, the first four stages of survey-based research were followed: objective definition, survey design, instrument construction, instrument validity, and reliability assessment. The instrument included 79 items assessing 13 different SHFs. After assessing both their validity and reliability, the results demonstrated that the instrument is a valid and reliable tool for measuring SHFs perception among software development team members.
The aim of this study is to propose a method for accounting of the recreation-related cultural ecosystem services (RRES) provided by protected areas of category National Parks оn the example of Pirin ...National Park (Pirin NP), Bulgaria in accordance with the System of Environmental Economic Accounting - Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA-EA) framework and the System of National Accounts (SNA) principles. The suggested Tourist consumption products - based method measure the value of actual recreation-related ecosystem services (RRES) flow as a difference between demand and supply of RRES provided by a protected area. It is based on respective indicators: Total tourism products consumption by the visitors of the NP (demand) and Expenditures for maintenance of the asset's ecosystems (supply). The results show that the average value of RRES flow is estimated on BGN 170 Million for the period 2015 - 2019. The proposed method for valuation of RRES in protected areas of category National Park gives reliable results, based on a minimum of data which are public or easily accessible.
Background. Interferon-based regimens are associated with a substantial survival benefit for persons infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). Survival data with direct-acting antiviral agents are not ...available. We conducted this study to quantify the effect of paritaprevir/ritonavir, ombitasvir, dasabuvir (PrOD) and ledipasvir/sofosbuvir (LDV/SOF) regimens upon mortality. Methods. In the Electronically Retrieved Cohort of HCV Infected Veterans (ERCHIVES), a well-established national cohort of HCV-infected Veterans, we identified HCV-infected persons initiated on PrOD or LDV/SOF, excluding those with human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B surface antigen positivity, hepatocellular carcinoma, or missing HCV RNA or FIB-4 scores. For each case, we identified a propensity score-matched control never initiated on treatment. Primary outcome was survival. Outcomes were assessed using frequency of events, Kaplan-Meier curves, and Cox proportional hazards regression analyses. Results. We identified 1473 persons on PrOD, 5497 on LDV/SOF, and 6970 propensity score-matched untreated persons. Treated persons were more likely to be obese and have cirrhosis, but less likely to have stage 3–5 chronic kidney disease (CKD), alcohol or drug abuse or dependence diagnosis, and anemia. The proportion of persons who died was higher in the untreated group compared with either treatment group (PrOD, 0.3%; LDV/SOF. 1.4%; untreated controls, 2.5%; P < .001). A significantly larger percentage of treated patients survived to 18 months of follow-up, compared with untreated controls (P < .001). In multivariable Cox regression analysis, treatment with either regimen (hazard ratio HR, 0.43; 95% confidence interval CI, 33–.57) and attainment of sustained virologic response (SVR) were associated with significantly lower mortality (HR, 0.57; 95% CI, 33–.99). Conclusions. Treatment with PrOD or LDV/SOF and SVR are associated with a significant mortality benefit, apparent within the first 18 months of treatment.
Protein dynamics manifested through structural flexibility play a central role in the function of biological molecules. Here we explore the substrate-mediated change in protein flexibility of an ...antibiotic target enzyme, Clostridium botulinum dihydrodipicolinate synthase. We demonstrate that the substrate, pyruvate, stabilizes the more active dimer-of-dimers or tetrameric form. Surprisingly, there is little difference between the crystal structures of apo and substrate-bound enzyme, suggesting protein dynamics may be important. Neutron and small-angle X-ray scattering experiments were used to probe substrate-induced dynamics on the sub-second timescale, but no significant changes were observed. We therefore developed a simple technique, coined protein dynamics-mass spectrometry (ProD-MS), which enables measurement of time-dependent alkylation of cysteine residues. ProD-MS together with X-ray crystallography and analytical ultracentrifugation analyses indicates that pyruvate locks the conformation of the dimer that promotes docking to the more active tetrameric form, offering insight into ligand-mediated stabilization of multimeric enzymes.
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•Crystal structure of C. botulinum DHDPS was solved in apo and substrate-bound form•C. botulinum DHDPS has reduced protein dynamics when bound to its substrate•Substrate binding locks the conformation of the dimer that promotes tetramerization•New ProD-MS method that assesses protein dynamics on a slow timescale is described
Atkinson et al. show that pyruvate binding locks the conformation of the C. botulinum DHDPS dimer that promotes tetramerization. They describe a new method (ProD-MS) that assesses protein dynamics on a slow (second-minute) timescale.
This study was used to integrate the entropy and multi-objective optimization problems to produce the multiobjective entropy optimization model (MOEOM) for the agricultural product price ...recommendation problem (APPRP). The process was achieved by comparing several classical approaches. APPRP was used to determine the best selling price at the farm level such that a significantly high price would not allow the products to sell while a very low price could cause losses for farmers. This study was limited to the factors considered in APPRP including business profit/loss conditions, risk, business competition, production level, and product quality. The algorithm performance comparison results showed that the nondominated genetic sorting algorithm (NSGA- II) had the best performance based on the dominance of fitness value, number of iterations, execution time, percentage of feasible solutions, and level of precision of the solution. Meanwhile, based on the dominance of the solution on the objective function, the i-NSGA algorithm was observed to have a better solution than the NSGA-II despite its limited accuracy on the equation constraints. The i-NSGA was an improved version of NSGA with the inclusion of elitism and comparison of objective functions. Therefore, it was recommended that the smart reading algorithms, NSGA-II and i-NSGA, should be used to solve APPRP when accuracy is needed within the equation constraints. The implementation results also showed that the entropy optimization function produced price recommendations to farmers based on production and agricultural product quality. The entropy optimization function in the MOEOM significantly influenced the solutions produced through standard deviation and entropy, as well as the ANOVA test at a significance level of 0.05. This means it is possible to develop the MOEOM to determine optimal solutions in multiple objectives with uniformity (or diversity) in different fields.
In many situations a decision maker (DM) would like to grade a component, or rank several components of the same type. Often a component type has many features, which are deemed as valuable by the ...DM. Other vital features are not known by the DM but are needed for the component to function. However, it should be possible to guide the DM to find the desired business solution, without putting a requirement of detailed knowledge of the component type on the DM. We propose a framework for component selection with the help of fuzzy decision making. The work is based on algorithms from fuzzy decision making, which we have adapted or extended. The framework was validated by practitioners, which found the framework useful.
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