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Among other interesting proposals, Juan Comesaña’s Being Rational and Being Right makes a challenging case that one’s evidence can include falsehoods. I explore some ways in which we might have to rethink the roles that evidence can play in inquiry if we accept this claim. It turns out that Comesaña’s position lends itself to the conclusion that while false evidence is possible and not even terribly uncommon, I can be rationally sure that I don’t currently have any and perhaps also that I won’t get any, and (absent certain evidence to the contrary) you are not afflicted with any either. This conclusion might seem too good to be true. I finish by raising a puzzle about one of the main motivations for Comesaña’s view.

Purpose This study aims to examine the effect of individual auditor quality (below the partner level) on overall audit quality. Design/methodology/approach We aggregate audit employee-level individual performance evaluations to create a measure of auditor quality at the office level. Findings We find that high-quality audit offices are associated with a lower likelihood of client restatement, fewer client abnormal accruals and a higher likelihood of a client receiving a going concern opinion. We partition employees into low, medium and high level, based on job title, to investigate which employee levels drive these results. We find that the restatement results are driven by high quality high-level employees (Senior Managers/Directors), whereas the going concern results are driven by high quality low-level employees (Seniors). Furthermore, we find evidence that high-quality audit teams are associated with all aspects of audit quality and the magnitude of these team effects are much larger than those of the effects for any individual employee type. Originality/value Our findings are consistent with higher-level auditors preventing the most serious financial statement deficiencies, low-level employees contributing to audit firm independence and overall team quality creating synergy which has the strongest effect on all aspects of audit quality. These insights based on individual auditor evaluations are new to the literature. Overall, our empirical results suggest that individual auditor quality is associated with higher quality audits and that employees at all levels affect audit outcomes.

The modern economy is both a complex self-organizing system and an innovative, evolving one. Contemporary theory, however, treats it essentially as a static equilibrium system. Here we propose a formal framework to capture its complex, evolving nature. We develop an agent-based model of an economic system in which firms interact with each other and with consumers through market transactions. Production functions are represented by a pair of von Neumann technology matrices, and firms implement production plans taking into account current price levels for their inputs and output. Prices are determined by the relation between aggregate demand and supply. In the absence of exogenous perturbations the system fluctuates around its equilibrium state. New firms are introduced when profits are above normal, and are ultimately eliminated when losses persist. The varying number of firms represents a recurrent perturbation. The system thus exhibits dynamics at two levels: the dynamics of prices and output, and the dynamics of system size. The model aims to be realistic in its fundamental structure, but is kept simple in order to be computationally efficient. The ultimate aim is to use it as a platform for modeling the structural evolution of an economic system. Currently the model includes one form of structural evolution, the ability to generate new technologies and new products.

In this short paper we summarize and promote randomization inference for accounting researchers. We discuss applications of randomization inference in both small sample and large sample settings, and we include several examples from our own work. We also provide guidance and sample code to researchers looking to implement randomization inference, as well as caveats to consider.

More than three decades ago, as a test for the amphipathic helix theory, an 18 amino acid residue peptide and its analogs were designed with no sequence homology to any of the exchangeable apolipoproteins. Based on the apolipoprotein A-I (the major protein component of high density lipoproteins, HDL) mimicking properties, they were termed as ApoA-I mimicking peptides. Several laboratories around the world started studying such de novo-designed peptides for their antiatherogenic properties. The present chapter describes the efforts in bringing these peptides as therapeutic agents for atherosclerosis and several lipid-mediated disorders.

Wenzhou Alum Mine in Fanshan Town, Zhejiang Province (China), operated from the middle of the 14th century to December 2017 and, as an important centre of the Chinese alum industry for more than 60...

Throughout history, technology has provided many and significant improvements to the way we live, but the current pace of development now often exceeds the ability for the full potential of any technological innovation to be explored and implemented before further innovations are introduced. This pace of change results both in missed opportunities for a technology in its ability to contribute to effective solutions in addressing issues such as reducing adverse environmental impact or improving the health of society. In considering the nature of technological innovation and development, the associated engineering design processes can themselves be characterized as being associated with a highly complex, iterative problem-solving exercises, involving the integration and synthesis of a wide range of technologies. This in turn requires the design team to manage trade-offs across a range of primary constraints, as for instance embodied energy in manufacturing, energy consumption in use, capital costs and operating and resource recovery costs. Further investigation into the complexity of societal issues and means for achieving a more effective and fuller utilization of both existing resources and technologies is necessary to place sustainability as a priority of the decision making process. To support discussion and provide context, three case studies are presented. The first case study examines a strategic framework adopting metrics aligned with environmental issues used as proxies for evaluating wellbeing and common good. The second case study examines the specific contribution of eHealth to wellbeing and the balance of technological, societal and political issues in determining outcomes. The third case study considers how technology might be embedded as part of the process of obtaining meta-data from within a small rural community to demonstrate the impact of mitigation strategies associated with the reduction of its carbon footprint, and hence on climate change. In doing so, the paper seeks to bring together issues surrounding environmental problems in relation to a technology driven engineering design process while positioning them in the context of social benefits arising from sustainable decision making.

High density lipoprotein (HDL) is prone to modification by the oxidizing and chlorinating agent hypochlorite anion (OCl(−)). Oxidation of apolipoprotein (apo) A-I, the major protein in HDL, reduces ABCA-1 mediated cholesterol efflux and other protective responses to HDL. The apoA-I mimetic peptide 4F has been shown to undergo oxidation; however, the ability of the peptide to mediate cholesterol efflux remains intact. Here, we show that 4F protects apoA-I from hypochlorite-mediated oxidation. Mass spectral analysis of apoA-I shows that tyrosine residues that are prone to hypochlorite-mediated chlorination are protected in the presence of 4F. Furthermore, 4F enhances the cholesterol efflux ability of apoA-I to a greater extent than either 4F or apoA-I alone, even after hypochlorite oxidation. These observations suggest that apoA-I in lipid complexes may be protected by the presence of 4F, resulting in the preservation of its anti-inflammatory and anti-atherogenic properties. These studies also form the basis for the future studies of nanoparticles possessing both apoA-I and 4F.

Using data on the levels of economic integration agreements (EIAs) among 172 countries (35 OECD members and 137 non-members) that span the years 1995–2009, we examine the effects of immigrants and EIA levels on bilateral trade costs between immigrants’ host and home countries and whether the influence of immigrants on trade costs varies across types of EIAs. Results obtained from the estimation of a series of augmented gravity specifications using the multi-level mixed effects model (random intercepts and coefficients) indicate that increases in the level of EIA and in the stock of immigrants are associated with declines in bilateral trade costs (measured both at the aggregate level and across sectors). However, the trade costs-reduction effect of immigrants varies non-linearly with the extent to which their host and home countries are integrated. While heterogeneous across country pairs, the effect of immigrants on trade costs remains strong even among country pairs at the peak EIA level, implying that the effects of immigrants on international economic interactions is both expansive and broader than often understood.