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Quantitative information on blood metabolites has the potential to be utilized in medical strategies such as early disease detection and prevention. Monitoring of bioactive lipids, such as steroids, bile acids, and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) metabolites, could be a valuable indicator for health status. However, a method for simultaneous measurement of these bioactive lipids has not been reported at present. Here, we report a liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) method that can simultaneously measure more than 140 bioactive lipids, including steroids, bile acids, and PUFA metabolites, from human plasma, and a sample preparation method for these targets. Protein removal in methanol precipitation and purification operations of bioactive lipids by solid-phase extraction improved the recovery of targeted compounds in human plasma samples, demonstrating the importance of sample preparation methods in a wide range of bioactive lipid analyses. Using the developed method, we measured plasma from healthy human volunteers and confirmed the presence of bioactive lipid molecules associated with sex differences and circadian rhythms. The practical bioactive lipid analysis method developed is expected to be applied to health monitoring and disease biomarker discovery for precision medicine.

Purpose: Silent corticotroph adenomas (SCAs) are difficult to diagnose in patients with non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs). This study investigated the diagnostic performance of the desmopressin test (DT) for SCA in patients with NFPAs.Methods: This prospective study was conducted at a single referral center. 37 patients with NFPAs were recruited, including 13 patients with SCA and 24 without SCA. All patients underwent corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) testing and preoperative DT. Early postoperative CRH tests and DT were performed in patients with SCA. Radiological and endocrinological characteristics, surgical outcomes, and results of the CRH test and DT were compared between the SCA and non-SCA groups.Results: Preoperative DT showed a higher absolute adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) increment (ΔACTH), absolute cortisol increment (ΔCort), percentage ACTH change (% ΔACTH), and percentage absolute cortisol change (% ΔCort) in patients with SCAs than in those without SCAs. ΔACTH greater than 9.9 pg/mL led to 100% sensitivity and 92% specificity. Total resection was achieved in 31% (4/13) of patients with SCA. When postoperative DT data were compared according to SCA remnant status, ΔACTH ≧ 5.2 pg/mL showed 100% sensitivity and 75% specificity with an accuracy rate of 91%.Conclusion: DT can be used to diagnose and detect tumor remnants in patients with SCA.

O artigo tem por objetivo verificar a influência da complexidade da estrutura organizacional e dos negócios sobre a reapresentação retrospectiva das demonstrações financeiras em empresas de capital aberto no Brasil. Para tanto, foram analisadas 205 empresas de capital aberto por meio da publicação de suas demonstrações financeira anuais, entre o quarto trimestre de 2016 e o segundo trimestre de 2017. A análise de dados realizada por meio de regressões Logit e Probit indicou que a complexidade dos negócios pode levar a uma maior probabilidade de publicar reapresentações de saldos comparativos. No entanto, não foi identificado qualquer tipo de relação entre reapresentação retrospectiva de saldos e nível de concentração acionária, qualidade da governança corporativa, performance financeira e endividamento. Adicionalmente, a análise das notas explicativas sobre a natureza da reapresentação do saldo, montante e norma aplicável, indicou que 101 empresas realizaram algum tipo de ajuste em saldo comparativo, principalmente em função de erros. Esses resultados contrapõem a literatura prévia que considera o gerenciamento de resultados como principal motivação para a reapresentação das demonstrações financeiras retrospectivas.

Resumo Este trabalho objetiva apresentar qual é o custo de conformidade tributário nos Estados brasileiros e examinar se a complexidade tributária afeta os custos de conformidade e se estes afetam a arrecadação. Os resultados: (a) evidenciam que empresas de todos os Estados brasileiros possuem um custo de conformidade do ICMS, considerando apenas mão de obra, na média de 1,5% da obrigação principal; e (b) sugerem que uma maior complexidade tributária leva a maiores custos de conformidade, que por sua vez aumentam a arrecadação tributária. Isso significa que o aumento da complexidade tributária pode tornar o sistema econômico menos eficiente e competitivo, pois o aumento na complexidade da legislação precisa ser acompanhado de sanções que forcem o contribuinte a incorrer em custos adicionais, de modo a fazer com que haja um aumento da arrecadação. Este trabalho contribui com o debate sobre a simplificação tributária e seus efeitos econômicos; e com a literatura sobre custos de conformidade. Abstract This paper aims to present the cost of tax compliance in Brazilian states and to examine whether tax complexity affects compliance costs and whether they affect collection. The results show that: (a) companies from all Brazilian states incur an ICMS compliance cost, considering tax employees alone, at an average of 1.5% of the ICMS; and (b) that greater tax complexity leads to higher compliance costs, which lead to an increase in tax collection. This means that increasing tax complexity can make the economic system less efficient and competitive, as the increase in the complexity of legislation must be accompanied by taxpayer enforcement to incur additional costs in order to increase collection. This paper contributes to the debate about tax simplification and its economic effects as well as to the literature on compliance costs.

We examine whether the poison pills influence on the executive compensation of Brazilian publicly-traded firms, considering that there is a particularity of this anti-takeover device in Brazilian firms when compared to US firms, since the managers can include in the company's bylaws an "eternity" clause that prevents poison pills change or removal, which may lead to a managerial entrenchment, maintaining managers privileges in the detriment of minority shareholders, including increases in the executive compensation levels. To test our hypotheses, we use a sample of 217 Brazilian publicly-traded firms listed on B3 with available data on Bloomberg® database and Brazilian Securities Exchange Commission website between 2010 and 2017. We use the total, fixed and variable compensations as proxies for executive compensation. However, to mitigate several outliers of these variables, we use the quantile regression as a robust alternative to the extreme sensitivity of the ordinary least squares estimator to modest amounts of outliers. Our main results show that poison pills have a positive influence on total, fixed and variable executive compensation. Furthermore, in an exploratory way, our results show that these "eternity" poison pills also have a positive influence on these proxies of executive compensation. These findings are consistent with the entrenchment hypothesis that since managers are protected in their positions, they may obtain private benefits at the expense of shareholders, such as higher levels of executive compensation. In this sense, our study contributes to the literature by showing that although reducing the risk of a hostile takeover, the poison pills are incurring in an additional agency cost for shareholders that not always leads to the reduction of conflicts between managers and shareholders since these anti-takeover defenses seem not being adopted in the Brazilian context to benefit the shareholders, but to protect managers in their positions.

Under Accounting Statement CPC 38, from 2010 on Brazilian companies started adopting accounting standards correspondent to IAS 39 regarding hedge accounting, whose disclosure is optional and, in cash flow hedge operations, may avoid losses disclosure in the income statements due to deferred values in other comprehensive income (OCI), promoting better earnings disclosure. In this scenario, by means of statistical models we investigate whether firm\'s financial exposure to currency risk and the high exchange rate depreciation environment promote the deferral of losses on firm\'s OCI and, in addition to the tax deferral on exchange gains and losses, the hedge accounting choice for 379 Brazilian listed companies between 2010- 2017. Our results show that firms\' high leverage in foreign currency, the high exchange rate variation on country level and the tax deferral choice influence positively the hedge accounting choice and, consequently, reduce the disclosure of losses on income statements, evidencing potential earnings management activity, since OCI\'s balances are not entirely understood by analysts and investors (even the most sophisticated). Our paper contributes to the disclosure, accounting choice and earnings management theories, highlighting the claim for enhancement of financial instruments accounting standards on uniformity and comparability. Com o CPC 38, a partir de 2010 as companhias brasileiras passaram a adotar as normas contábeis correspondentes ao IAS 39 no tocante à contabilidade de hedge, cuja divulgação é facultativa e, especificamente em relação ao hedge de fluxo de caixa, pode diferir a divulgação de perdas cambiais em outros resultados abrangentes (ORA) e, consequentemente, promover o disclosure de melhores resultados. Nesse cenário, por meio de modelos estatísticos o estudo investiga se a alta exposição à variação cambial em um ambiente de alta depreciação da taxa de câmbio resulta em diferimento de perdas em ORA e, em conjunto com o diferimento da tributação da variação cambial, promove a escolha da contabilidade de hedge para 379 companhias abertas brasileiras no período de 2010 a 2017. Os resultados evidenciam que a alta alavancagem em moeda estrangeira, a alta depreciação do câmbio e o diferimento da tributação impactam positivamente a escolha pela contabilidade de hedge e, consequentemente, reduzem a divulgação de perdas cambiais no resultado, apontando a existência de gerenciamento de resultados, já que os saldos em ORA não são corretamente interpretados pelos analistas e investidores, mesmo os mais sofisticados. O estudo contribui para as teorias de disclosure, de escolha contábil e de gerenciamento de resultados, e aponta para a necessidade de aprimoramento das normas contábeis relativas a instrumentos financeiros em termos de uniformidade e comparabilidade.

Among developed countries, Japan has the highest rate of aging, and the population requiring caregiving is increasing annually, along with long-term care service demands. Meanwhile, there are insufficient resources to maintain their long-term care insurance system, and the caregiving industry is facing managerial challenges. Thus, the government proposed a review of the long-term care insurance system and managerial support policies to increase productivity and mitigation of the burden of employees in caregiving homes. Recently, new care approaches utilizing information technology, artificial intelligence, and robot technology for supporting innovation and service in the long-term care facilities have been explored.

In this paper, we propose a new capacitor degradation evaluation method aimed at failure prediction and suitable for digitally controlled switching mode power supply (SMPS) for servers. Electrolytic capacitors have one of the highest component failure rates in SMPS; therefore, we attempt to detect an equivalent series resistance degradation of the electrolytic capacitor directly from the data fetched to a digital controller of the SMPS. With a SPICE simulation and a rapid control prototyping evaluation, we confirm the degradation can be detected by the data at a transient response under a normal operation without additional circuits. Even only 10% of a load step change, which commonly occurs in SMPS for servers, causes detectable transient response degradation.

We investigate how Brazil's historical and institutional context is likely important in determining the impact and benefits of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) with special reference to the legacy of taxation regulation, referred to as mandatory book‐tax conformity. We hypothesise that in the early period following IFRS adoption, information quality may not significantly improve in the case of companies with limited levels of stock market monitoring because of the path dependency effects of historically important tax considerations. Overall, our results are consistent with the prediction that companies with limited levels of stock market monitoring continue to exhibit book‐tax conformity with no information quality improvements. At the same time, the results relating to companies with higher levels of stock market monitoring are consistent with the expected information quality improvements associated with IFRS adoption.

This paper aims to investigate the existence of heterogeneity in earnings quality between different classes of companies after the adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). IFRS adoption is generally associated with an increase in the quality of financial statements. However, companies within the same country are likely to have different economic incentives regarding the disclosure of information. Thus, treating companies equally, without considering the related economic incentives, could contaminate earnings quality investigations. The case of Brazil is analyzed, which is a country classified as code-law, in which tax laws determined accounting practice and in which IFRS adoption is mandatory. First, Brazilian companies listed on the São Paulo Stock, Commodities, and Futures Exchange (BM&FBOVESPA) were separated into two classes: companies issuing American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) before IFRS adoption and companies that did not issue ADRs until the adoption of IFRS. Then, this second class of companies was grouped, using cluster analysis, into two different subclasses according to economic incentives. Based on the groups identified, the quality of accounting earnings is tested for each class of the companies before and after IFRS adoption. This paper uses timely recognition of economic events, value relevance of net income, and earnings management as proxies for the quality of accounting earnings. The results indicate that a particular class of companies began showing conditional conservatism, value relevance of net income, and lower earnings management after IFRS adoption. On the other hand, these results were not found for the two other classes of companies.

O objetivo deste estudo é analisar se a obrigatoriedade de apresentação das despesas por função na face da DRE no Brasil afeta a capacidade preditiva dos usuários, especialmente dos analistas, mesmo com a apresentação também obrigatória das despesas por natureza nas notas explicativas. Para tanto, foram analisadas 54 empresas brasileiras de capital aberto, durante um período de cinco anos, utilizando-se como metodologia a abordagem de análise de dados em painel. Com base nos resultados obtidos, nota-se que a classificação das despesas por natureza é mais preditiva de lucro futuro quando comparada à classificação por função. No entanto, as evidências sugerem que os analistas utilizam a informação apresentada na DRE (por função) para realizarem projeções, mesmo com a disponibilidade das despesas por natureza em nota explicativa, o que pode afetar a sua assertividade. Ademais, é possível inferir que o erro nas projeções dos analistas tende a ser maior quando eles analisam empresas com alto nível de custos fixos embutidos. Assim, o artigo contribui com a literatura de escolhas contábeis ao trazer evidências de que a restrição imposta por meio de normatização ao método de apresentação das despesas na DRE pode limitar a capacidade preditiva das informações contábeis a nível nacional, além de influenciar a qualidade das projeções dos analistas de mercado.

A literatura não é conclusiva sobre a suavização de resultados representar ou não boa qualidade da informação contábil, por ser uma forma de gerenciamento de resultados e por também estar associada à persistência do lucro. Este trabalho usa as contas de resultado para verificar se a suavização do lucro líquido, atendendo aos interesses dos gestores, pode coexistir com a persistência, conferindo aos investidores maior capacidade de predizer fluxos de caixa futuros. Com a amostra formada por 295 empresas brasileiras, no período de 2010 a 2015, verificou-se que existem contas, formando o lucro líquido, que são persistentes. Contudo, ao observar o grupo de tratamento, formado apenas pelas empresas que mais suavizam o lucro líquido, verificou-se que há contas que mantêm sua persistência e outras que deixam de apresentar persistência significativa. Em outra amostra, formada pelas 76 empresas que mais suavizam o lucro líquido, com o grupo de tratamento formado pelas empresas que suavizam, utilizando accruals discricionários, observou-se que as contas despesa de venda e outras receitas e outras despesas operacionais mantêm a persistência. Esses resultados sugerem que a associação da suavização do lucro líquido com a persistência ocorre por meio das contas de resultado que o compõem, mas há uma redução da capacidade preditiva em empresas que têm seu resultado suavizado.

Background: Sarcoidosis is occasionally accompanied by hematologic malignancies, including lymphoma, called sarcoidosis-lymphoma syndrome. Although the mechanism underlying the induction of lymphomas is still unknown, understanding the immunological background of sarcoidosis could help explain the possible mechanisms of the induction of lymphomas. Case Presentation: A 52-year-old woman was diagnosed chronic thyroiditis with normal thyroid function. One year later, she underwent a screening chest radiograph and identified bilateral hilar adenopathy and mediastinum lymphadenopathy. Subsequent mediastinoscopy demonstrated sarcoidosis. Because of the lack of clinical symptoms, steroid treatment was not initiated and regular follow-up was performed. One and a half years after the diagnosis of chronic thyroiditis, she presented with rapid swelling of the thyroid gland. FDG-PET/CT showed intense uptake of FDG in the thyroid gland and multiple lymphadenopathy. Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) cytology of the thyroid gland was only suggestive of a lymphoproliferative disorder and did not provide a definitive diagnosis. Partial thyroidectomy was performed, and the pathology indicated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) such as high-grade transformation of extranodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma. The results of an examination of a paraffin block histopathology specimen by fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) detected BCL6 rearrangement (3q27), which is the most common chromosomal abnormality in DLBCL. After the treatment with R-EPOCH (rituximab, etoposide, vincristine, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, and prednisone) chemotherapy, the thyroid gland enlargement has improved markedly, while the lymph nodes remained swelling, that suggested lymph node involvements were due to sarcoidosis. Conclusions: Rapid swelling of the thyroid gland in the setting of chronic thyroiditis should raise suspicion for thyroid lymphoma. Furthermore, our present case might suggest that sarcoidosis accelerate the development and high-grade transformation of thyroid lymphoma. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of sarcoidosis and primary thyroid lymphoma in the same patient.

We investigate whether there is an association between the adoption of poison pills and premium corporate governance listing segments in the Brazilian stock market. Our sample consists of 217 non-financial publicly-traded companies listed on Brasil, Bolsa, Balcão (B3) with data available for the period 2010-2017. Through logit and probit regressions, we find that the adoption of poison pills is positively associated with listings in the New Market and Level 2 corporate governance segments. Thus, the adoption of this anti-takeover device by companies that are listed at the highest levels of corporate governance can be useful to current and potential investors since, given the rise of public companies with predominantly dispersed capital in the Brazilian stock market, hostile takeover attempts have been increasingly recurrent. Further, our results contribute theoretically towards a possible convergence between Signaling Theory and the adoption of poison pills, shedding light on the fact that the adoption of this anti-takeover device as a complementary corporate governance mechanism may represent a protection signal issued by companies to the market designed to attract new investors. Este estudo tem por objetivo investigar se existe associação entre a adoção de poison pills e os níveis diferenciados de governança corporativa no mercado acionário brasileiro. A amostra é composta por 217 companhias abertas não-financeiras listadas na Brasil, Bolsa, Balcão (B3), com dados disponíveis ao longo do período 2010-2017. A análise de dados realizada por meio de regressões logit e probit evidencia que a adoção de poison pills está positivamente associada à listagem nos segmentos Novo Mercado e Nível 2 de governança corporativa. Assim, a adoção deste dispositivo anti-takeover por companhias que estão listadas nos níveis mais elevados de governança corporativa pode ser útil para atuais e potenciais investidores, ao passo que dado o aumento de companhias abertas com o capital predominantemente disperso no mercado acionário brasileiro, as tentativas de tomada de controle de forma hostil podem ser cada vez mais recorrentes. Além disso, os resultados contribuem teoricamente no sentido de uma possível convergência entre a Teoria da Sinalização e a adoção de poison pills, evidenciando que a adoção desse dispositivo anti-takeover como mecanismo complementar de governança corporativa pode representar um sinal de proteção emitido pelas empresas ao mercado visando a atração de novos investidores.

The model-based development (MBD) technology is applied to design and implement a solar-to-hydrogen (STH) conversion system. Concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) modules, electrolyzers, and DC-DC converters are modeled precisely based on the actual component measured characteristics. To improve the system efficiency, a new control method is implemented on the precise simulation model. The control software is implemented using the auto-code generation technology for high reliability. The maximum power point tracking (MPPT) function and control method are confirmed by an experiment. The developed system achieves one-day STH efficiency of 18.78%, which is the highest efficiency to date for a sub-kilowatt-scale photovoltaic (PV) system under outdoor operation.

In this study, we developed a 1/8 brick size (58.4 mm × 22.9 mm × 13.0 mm) power-supply module converter, which is world smallest size for 450 W regulated isolation bus converter for high-performance telecommunication systems. We applied a model-based development process to obtain the high-power-density converter and designed the entire converter using the model. We built a three-level models of phase-shift full-bridge converter which are an analytical estimation model for basic architecture, a precise SPICE model for optimizing efficiency, and a control design model for stabilized operation. Our experimental results confirmed the design efficiency of the converter. In this report, we described the technologies that we used to achieve highly accurate estimations of efficiency.

The software-implemented online-degradation-detection method for digitally-controlled switching mode power supply (DC-SMPS) was studied. We found the voltage regulation degradation and the efficiency degradation are different output current dependence on applied duty. They are separately detectable by comparing the applied and the theoretical duty, which is calculated using micro-processing unit (MPU) fetched input/output IV data and pre-measured efficiency. This method is easily implementable as firmware and expected as a cost and space effective degradation detection/failure prediction method. In this paper, we describe the concept and verify it using MATLAB/Simulink simulation and RCP (Rapid Control Prototyping) evaluation.

In recent years, the scale of datacenter and its computing power has become larger and larger, however, the total consumed power of datacenter is not increased so much, on the contrary, slightly decreased. This is a frits of the continuous effort for the energy conservation in datacenter or ICT system. In this paper, resent trend of power Electronics in ICT systems are reported.

We propose a Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation (HILS) system for the development of power supply control software. The HILS is software inspection technology for a micro controller for an embedded system such as an automotive system. The HILS emulates the control object in real time. The HILS is useful for software debugging and abnormal tests which have not destroyed the real control object. However, there are issues for conventional HILS systems. The control frequency is limited to under a few kilo Hertz (kHz). For the solution, we propose using a transfer function for real time simulation. The new system implements more than 100 kHz for a real time simulation. In this paper, the soft start, load step and abnormal test is experimentally confirmed.

4,4′-Diphenylmethane bismaleimide (BMI)/2,2′-diallylbisphenol A (DABPA) resin was modified with a multifunctional thiol containing isocyanuric ring and long-chain aliphatic unit (tris[(3-mercaptopropionyloxy)-ethyl]-isocyanurate (TEMPIC)). To investigate the relationship of the curing reaction and properties of cured BMI/DABPA resin modified with TEMPIC, the temporal change in the functional groups during the curing reaction process was analyzed using Fourier transform infrared analysis. Despite the decreased cross-link density with increasing TEMPIC concentration, the glass transition temperature of BMI/DABPA resin was not decreased by modification with TEMPIC. The storage modulus of BMI/DABPA/TEMPIC resin maintained a value on the order of 109 Pa in the rubber region, which is similar to that of the unmodified resin. The fracture toughness and flexural strength were also improved by modification with TEMPIC. Moreover, the observation of the fracture surface of BMI/DABPA/TEMPIC resin using scanning electron microscopy showed a uniform structure with no phase separation. These results were consistent with the single α-relaxation peak in the loss tangent curve of the dynamic viscoelastic behavior.

Esta pesquisa procura responder à questão se existe persistência do lucro tributável após adoção das IFRS no Brasil. É possível supor que o lucro tributável contém informação com a característica de persistência de resultados, porque receitas tributáveis e despesas dedutíveis tendem a se repetir em empresas com negócios em marcha, com a vantagem de não conter os accruals discricionários que podem existir no lucro contábil. Por outro lado, também é possível supor que o lucro tributável não tenha a característica de persistência de resultados, em função de este não ter como objetivo a tomada de decisão e estar sujeito a ações de planejamento tributário. Como a legislação tributária brasileira não sofreu alterações significativas em relação aos resultados que são tributáveis ou dedutíveis após a adoção das IFRS, é de se supor que o lucro tributável mantenha sua persistência, mas o Regime Tributário de Transição pode ter provocado incertezas e reduzido a persistência. A observação de lucro tributável persistente pode permitir a projeção de despesas com tributos sobre o lucro, mas também auxiliar nas projeções de lucros contábeis, pois pode apresentar menor quantidade de accruals discricionários. Para os testes, foi selecionada uma amostra de empresas com ações ordinárias listadas na BM&FBovespa durante os anos de 2004 a 2013. Os resultados foram obtidos por meio de regressões múltiplas em cross-section e, do teste de Chow, sendo este utilizado de forma a verificar a robustez dos resultados. Os resultados mostram que há persistência no lucro tributável, corroborando com a literatura que mostra que esse lucro pode ser uma proxy relevante de qualidade da informação. Além disso, a persistência do lucro tributável não sofreu alteração após a adoção de IFRS. Esses resultados sugerem que a projeção de lucros tributáveis por parte dos usuários da informação com base em informação passada pode ter acurácia na previsão de fluxo de caixa futuro da empresa.

Portuguese Abstract: Este artigo utiliza a teoria institucional para testar hipoteses sobre como os fatores institucionais afetam a decisao das empresas em se organizarem em grupos empresariais, mesmo que essa decisao afete negativamente o valor de mercado dessas empresas ao compararmos com as demais. Os resultados indicam que a decisao pela constituicao de grupos empresariais e influenciada pela combinacao de fatores institucionais mimeticos, coercitivos e normativos. Os resultados apresentados sao estatisticamente significativos e nossas descobertas sugerem que o ambiente institucional pode sobrepor as decisoes de maximizacao de valor ao direcionar as empresas a organizarem-se em grupos empresarias, mesmo que o resultado dessa decisao seja a perda de valor se comparada aos demais arranjos. English Abstract: This type of business could be used to establish hypotheses about how institutions are adversely affected to companies compared to other companies. The results of the query of entity groups are influenced by the combination of mimetic, coercive and normative factors. The results presented are statistically significant and our findings suggest that the institutional environment could overlapped as value-maximizing decisions by directing how firms organize themselves into groups of companies, even if the result is a loss of value compared to the extra arrangements.

Portuguese Abstract: A literatura que estuda o desempenho de grupos empresariais apresenta resultados contraditorios, os quais podem ser creditados as escolhas metodologicas destes estudos (LAHIRI; PURKAYASTHA, 2017). Este estudo propoe uma nova metodologia e avalia o impacto no valor de mercado das empresas, dada a decisao dessas em organizarem em grupos empresariais. Atraves do Propensity Score Matching (PSM) foi possivel concluir que a decisao de se organizar em grupos empresariais nem sempre e capaz de maximizar seu valor ao acionista e isso e percebido pelos mesmos. Os resultados sao estatisticamente significativos e proveem contribuicoes praticas e para a literatura consideraveis. A metodologia utilizada neste trabalho merece destaque, tal como o uso do PSM como ferramenta estatistica e o valor de mercado como proxy para desempenho, ate entao inedita nas pesquisas sobre grupos empresariais. Contudo, as nossas contribuicoes vao alem da metodologica e trazem consigo algumas implicacoes importantes, tanto para a pratica quanto para a literatura. Para a pratica os resultados chamam a atencao para a percepcao dos acionistas sobre a estrategia de constituicao de grupos empresarias, ja para a literatura os resultados provocam a necessidade de repensarmos se os paradigmas teoricos utilizados para explicacao de um setor pode ser utilizado para o entendimento e explicacao dos demais. English Abstract: The prior literature about performance of business groups presents contradictory results, which could be credited to the methodological choices of these studies (LAHIRI; PURKAYASTHA, 2017). This study proposes a new methodology and evaluates the impact on the market value of the companies, given their decision to organize in business groups. Through Propensity Score Matching (PSM) was possible to conclude that the decision to organize in groups of companies is not always able to maximize its value to the shareholder and this is perceived by them. The results are statistically significant and provide considerable practical and literature contributions. The methodology used in this work deserves to be highlighted, such as the use of PSM as a statistical tool and market value as proxy for performance, until now unprecedented in researches of business groups. However, our contributions go beyond the methodological and bring with it some important implications for both practice and literature. In practice, the results call attention to the perception of the shareholders about the strategy of constituting business groups, and for the literature the results provoke the need to rethink if the theoretical paradigms used to explain a sector could be used for the understanding and explanation of the others.

Purpose: Thus, the purpose of this study is to verify the relationship between BTD, indebtedness and the cost of capital of Brazilian public companies before and after the adoption of IFRS. Originality/value: The relation between book-tax differences (BTD) and accounting information quality is not a consensus in the literature. This relation can be empirically observed by means of the structure and the cost of capital, due to the related information asymmetry. However, a way to observe this relation more clearly is by means of changes and various economic environments. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology involved panel data analysis from a sample of 1,079 observations for the period of 2005 to 2015. Findings: The results lead to the conclusion that a higher BTD, and thus, lower book-tax conformity, represents higher accounting information quality because lower indebtedness is related to lower informational asymmetry. The results suggest that creditors and investors have different demands for reported information quality and that the volume of capital from investors is more relevant than the level of risk perceived by them.

Solar-to-hydrogen energy conversion is a promising technology because it enables high-capacity, long-term storage of solar energy. We propose a new highly efficient solar-to-hydrogen conversion system consisting of multiple converter-electrolyzer sets connected in parallel to a photovoltaic (PV) array. This system is flexible to apply to various PV configurations. One-day simulations based on measured PV and electrolyzer characteristics demonstrate very high maximum power point tracking (MPPT) efficiency (higher than 99.9%) and average power conversion efficiency (94.0%) on a clear sunny day. Annual energy production is expected to increase by 8.5%-point compared with a single converter system using one of the best commercial converter. The key elements of the high efficiency are the new system topology, a specially designed phase-shift full-bridge converter and a control method “P&O with converter scoring” algorithm.

We developed a high-current-density, point-of-load (POL) converter for high performance Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) used in telecommunications systems. We applied the model-based development (MBD) method to realize the high-current density converter. Model in the loop simulation (MILS) was applied for precise loss analysis of the converter. The rapid control prototyping process (RCP) was applied for the real circuit test. The development period was shortened to less than one third of that of conventional processes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first practical example of MBD application for POL converter development. In this report, we explain how to apply the MBD method of a power supply design.

Law n. 11,638/2007 legitimized the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption process in Brazil and introduced an accounting system detached from tax purposes in the country. This law aims to reduce the influence of tax law on accounting standards and improve the quality of financial reporting, as IFRS are considered to be higher quality standards. International literature shows a reduction in earnings quality in environments where accounting and tax rules are strongly linked. Moreover, the influence of tax legislation on financial accounting is seen to encourage unconditional conservatism, a bias with no advantages for financial market efficiency. Thus, tax neutrality is expected to provide a more favorable institutional environment for quality financial reporting by detaching corporate accounting from tax accounting. In light of the above, this study aims to verify whether the advent of tax neutrality influences unconditional conservatism in Brazilian public companies. The methodology used involves panel data regressions. The sample consists of non-financial publicly-traded companies with information published in Economática® covering 2002 to 2014. The results show differences in the relationship between taxation and financial reporting between firms that are subject to different levels of monitoring in the Brazilian stock market. Evidence of unconditional conservatism is only found in companies that are subject to greater market monitoring. In this group, it is observed that taxation does not induce unconditional conservatism in reported earnings, which is expected in a tax neutrality context. RESUMO A Lei nº 11.638/2007 (Brasil, 2007) legitimou o processo de adoção das International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) no Brasil e introduziu um regime contábil desvinculado da finalidade tributária no país. Dentre os objetivos da referida lei estão a redução da influência da legislação fiscal nas normas contábeis e a melhora na qualidade do reporte financeiro, uma vez que as IFRS são consideradas normas de qualidade superior. A literatura internacional apresenta evidências de redução no poder informativo dos lucros em ambientes nos quais normas contábeis e tributárias estão fortemente vinculadas. Ademais, a influência da legislação fiscal sobre a contabilidade financeira é apontada como incentivo ao conservadorismo incondicional, viés que não apresenta vantagens à eficiência dos mercados financeiros. Assim, infere-se que a neutralidade tributária pode proporcionar um ambiente institucional mais favorável ao reporte financeiro de qualidade ao desvincular a contabilidade societária da contabilidade fiscal. Diante do exposto, o presente artigo tem o objetivo de verificar se o advento da neutralidade tributária influencia o conservadorismo incondicional nas companhias abertas brasileiras. A metodologia utilizada envolve regressões para dados em painel. A amostra é composta por companhias não financeiras de capital aberto com informações divulgadas na Economatica® no período de 2002 a 2014. Os resultados evidenciam diferenças na relação entre tributação e reporte financeiro entre firmas sujeitas a diferentes graus de monitoramento no mercado acionário brasileiro. São encontrados indícios de conservadorismo incondicional em empresas sujeitas a maior monitoramento de mercado, apenas. Neste grupo, observa-se que a tributação não induz o conservadorismo incondicional nos lucros divulgados, o que é esperado em um contexto de neutralidade tributária.

Dada a capacidade da auditoria externa em atestar a fidedignidade das informacoes contabeis, o estudo objetivou verificar se o tamanho das firmas de auditoria induz a qualidade da informacao contabil divulgada em notas explicativas. Para isso, adotaram-se duas estrategias de pesquisa: (i) observacao das informacoes nos primeiros dois anos de adocao de IFRS, para verificar diferencas em funcao da experiencia da empresa de auditoria e (ii) analise de conformidade as exigencias de divulgacao segundo CPC 29 Ativos biologicos e produtos agricolas, norma com significativas mudancas a contabilidade do Brasil e sujeita a discricionaridade do gestor, para maior profundidade de analise. Foi aplicado uma check list quanto aos requisitos de divulgacao, e os resultados foram analisados por teste de diferenca de media. A amostra foi separada em dois grupos: auditadas e nao auditadas por Big Four. Os resultados indicaram que em nenhum grupo as empresas apresentaram completa conformidade as exigencias de divulgacao, embora ha maior conformidade para empresas auditadas por Big Four. Identificou-se possivel preferencia em divulgacoes de informacoes favoraveis a companhia e que nao ha evidencias de que as auditorias mostraram poder de enforcement para exigir divulgacao plena. As empresas auditadas por Big Four apresentaram uma adaptacao mais rapida as mudancas normativas, sugerindo que esse e um processo de aprendizagem, uma vez que as empresas auditadas por nao Big Four apresentaram discreta evolucao no nivel de conformidade. Porem, as informacoes com maior possibilidade de subjetividade sao fatores de maior diferenca entre os dois grupos. Separando a amostra de Big Four entre o tipo de orientacao da auditoria, por regras ou principios, nao se observaram diferencas significativas em termos de conformidade entre esses dois grupos. Palavras-chave: CPC 29 – Ativo Biologico e Produto Agricola, Auditoria Independente, Big Four, Divulgacao, Informacao Contabil.

In this paper, we report the low stability phenomenon of digitally controlled switching mode power supply (SMPS) caused by Equivalent Serial Resistance (ESR) degradation of electrolytic capacitor. The ESR of the output capacitor stack of SMPS is known as the dumping factor in a control loop that enhances SMPS stability. However, while studying electrolytic capacitor degradation in digitally controlled SMPS, we found the low stability phenomenon of SMPS with ESR degradation. Unlike an analog controlled SMPS, a time delay between an analog-digital (AD) sampling and a pulse width modulation (PWM) duty update creates ringing on a voltage waveform at the step load change response. The amplitude and frequency of this ringing becomes larger and higher with a higher ESR and is easily evaluated with a Micro-Processing Unit (MPU) used for digital control. We propose a new failure prediction method for a digitally controlled SMPS using this low stability phenomenon.

企業や組織への情報セキュリティ対策は、経営層から利用者までの広範な人たちを巻き込んだ、全社的・包括的体制の構築が基本になる。国内では、2002年4月から「情報セキュリティマネジメントシステム適合性評価制度」が本格運用され、2013年10月現在、約4,440事業者が認証取得をしている。2009年のISO調査では、全世界の43%を日本が占めている。しかし、他の認証制度と同様、認証取得効果への疑問、制度の誤解、制度運用の課題も浮上してきている。本稿は、今回で第4回目となる国内で唯一大規模なISMS認証事業者への調査を通して、制度、運用、推進等での課題を明確にし、その対応について考察した。, Information security in business organization basically is to establish a comprehensive and corporate-wide system including from management executives to end-users.In Japan, from April 2002, a Conformity Assessment Scheme for Information Security Management Systems( ISMS Conformity Assessment Scheme) had been operated officially. As of Oct. 2013, about 4,440 organizations have gotten the certification.Moreover, Japan accounted for 43% of total world in the ISO Survey of 2009.However, as with other certification systems, the doubt to the certification effect, misunderstanding of the system, issues of systems operation has also emerged.The survey of the fourth to the ISMS certified organizations is the largest one in Japan. And we identify and discuss about the ISMS's system, and the implementation, the operation.

Cash flow hedge accounting is an accounting choice and may avoid reported losses due to deferrals in other comprehensive income (OCI), promoting better earnings disclosure. Provided that managers have incentives to avoid losses, we investigate whether firms' high financial exposure to currency risk, the high exchange rate depreciation derived from the financial crisis verified in Brazil, and the option to defer taxes on exchange earnings affected hedge accounting choice for 379 Brazilian listed firms from 2010–2017. Our results provide compelling evidence of loss avoidance and tax-aggressiveness through cash flow hedge accounting choice, primarily designed by standards to reduce volatility instead.