Sensitive Items Research Articles

Everyday Memory Disturbance in Primary Progressive Aphasia

Introduction: Mounting evidence indicates distinct memory profiles among the primary progressive aphasia (PPA) variants. Neuropsychological tests reveal disproportionate memory impairments in the logopenic variant PPA (lv-PPA) relative to the non-fluent variant PPA (nfv-PPA) and semantic variant PPA (sv-PPA). The real-world experience of day-to-day memory disturbances in PPA, however, remains poorly understood. Methods: Everyday expressions of memory in 26 lv-PPA, 24 nfv-PPA, and 40 sv-PPA patients, and 70 healthy controls were examined using the Cambridge Behavioural Inventory-Revised (CBI-R) carer questionnaire. Kruskal-Wallis tests compared CBI-R Memory items (1–8) across groups. Receiver operating characteristic curves evaluated the most discriminative items to distinguish lv-PPA from nfv-PPA. Results: Compared to controls, lv-PPA and sv-PPA patients were reported to experience more day-to-day memory issues (item 1), increased repetition of questions (2), forgetting the names of familiar people and objects (4, 5), and poor concentration (6). lv-PPA patients were also reported to exhibit more occurrences of losing or misplacing items (3) and forgetting the day (7). All PPA groups experienced more confusion in unfamiliar environments (8) than controls. Direct comparisons among PPA groups revealed distinct profiles, with lv-PPA and sv-PPA patients exhibiting more frequent forgetting of names and objects (3, 4) than nfv-PPA, and sv-PPA demonstrating greater day-to-day memory impairment (1), repeated questions (2), and poor concentration (6) compared to nfv-PPA. Forgetting the names of familiar objects (5) was the most sensitive and specific item to distinguish lv-PPA from nfv-PPA. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate distinct day-to-day memory profiles in PPA. Future research should explore the influence of language impairments on these profiles.

Bio-inspired synergistic humidity-responsive photonic system for security printing and information encryption

The proliferation of counterfeiting necessitates an urgent need for enhanced technique to safeguard the authenticity of sensitive items. Inspired by the elytra of Tmesisternus isabellae beetles, we designed a new synergistic humidity responsive photonic system (SHRPS) for security printing based on high quality photonic paper and active ink. The photonic paper itself is not sensitive to humidity; only the targeted areas activated by the active ink exhibit humidity responsiveness. We investigated factors influencing humidity responsiveness, including monomer composition, pH of active ink, and treatment period. We found the optimal monomer mixture contains 40% acrylic acid, and the active ink pH is 13. We also applied a scalable method to fabricate photonic paper, successfully overcome the challenge of large-scale fabrication of photonic crystals at room temperature. By integrating the perfect pair of SHRPS and inkjet printer, concealed information with various sizes and resolutions can be printed, invisible in ambient humidity and revealed by blowing air, presenting various humidity responsive ability of SHRPS for multilevel information encryption, which opens a new window for security printing system.

The Crosswise Model for Surveys on Sensitive Topics: A General Framework for Item Selection and Statistical Analysis

When surveys contain direct questions about sensitive topics, participants may not provide their true answers. Indirect question techniques incentivize truthful answers by concealing participants’ responses in various ways. The Crosswise Model aims to do this by pairing a sensitive target item with a non-sensitive baseline item, and only asking participants to indicate whether their responses to the two items are the same or different. Selection of the baseline item is crucial to guarantee participants’ perceived and actual privacy and to enable reliable estimates of the sensitive trait. This research makes the following contributions. First, it describes an integrated methodology to select the baseline item, based on conceptual and statistical considerations. The resulting methodology distinguishes four statistical models. Second, it proposes novel Bayesian estimation methods to implement these models. Third, it shows that the new models introduced here improve efficiency over common applications of the Crosswise Model and may relax the required statistical assumptions. These three contributions facilitate applying the methodology in a variety of settings. An empirical application on attitudes toward LGBT issues shows the potential of the Crosswise Model. An interactive app, Python and MATLAB codes support broader adoption of the model.

The Making Change Test: Initial validation of a novel digitized performance validity test for tele-neuropsychology.

The Making Change Test (MCT) is a brief, digitized freestanding performance validity test (PVT) designed for tele-neuropsychology (TeleNP). The objective of this study was to report the initial validation of the MCT in a mixed neuropsychiatric sample referred for neuropsychological evaluation using a known-groups design. The sample consisted of 136 adult outpatients who underwent a neuropsychological evaluation. Patients were classified as valid (n=115) or invalid (n=21) based on several established PVTs. Two validity indicators were calculated and assessed, including an Accuracy Response-Score and an Abbreviated Index. The Accuracy Response-Score incorporated both response time and errors. The Abbreviated Index aggregated response time and errors across the most sensitive test items in terms of predicting performance validity status. Correlational analyses indicated that the MCT Accuracy Response-Score and Abbreviated Index were more similar to non-memory-based PVTs than memory-based PVTs. Both the MCT Accuracy Response-Score and Abbreviated Index indicated acceptable classification accuracy (area under the curve of .77). The optimal cut score for the MCT Accuracy Response-Score (≥24) yielded a sensitivity of .38 and specificity of .90. The optimal cut score associated with the Abbreviated Index yielded slightly better operating characteristics, with a sensitivity of .50 and specificity of .90. Initial findings provide support for the criterion and construct validity of the MCT and suggest a promising TeleNP future for this performance validity tool. However, additional support is necessary before the MCT can be used clinically.

Wh-Words: Existential or Universal Quantifiers in Child Mandarin?

Wh-words have been analysed as existential quantifiers (Chierchia in Logic in grammar: polarity, free choice, and intervention. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2013; Fox, in Sauerland U, Stateva P (eds) Presupposition and implicature in compositional semantics (Palgrave studies in pragmatics, language and cognition). Palgrave MacMillan, Houndmills, pp 71-120, 2007; Liao in Alternative and exhaustification: non-interrogative uses of Chinese wh-words. Harvard University, 2010) or universal quantifiers (Nishigauchi, in: Theoretical and applied linguistics at Kobe Shoin 2, Kobe Shoin Institute for Linguistic Sciences, 1999). These two accounts have distinct predictions on how children initially interpret wh-words. The universal account predicts that children should initially interpret wh-words as universal quantifiers, whereas the existential account anticipates that children should start out with the existential interpretation. To adjudicate between the two accounts, the present study was designed to explore pre-schoolers' semantic knowledge of wh-quantification. Specifically, it investigated the interpretation of the wh-word shenme 'what' with 4-and 5-year-old Mandarin-speaking children and a control group of adults. Using a Truth Value Judgment Task (Crain and Thornton in Investigations in universal grammar: a guide to experiments on the acquisition of syntax and semantics. MIT Press, Cambridge, 1998), Experiment 1 evaluated whether children interpret the wh-word shenme 'what' as closer in meaning to the polarity sensitive item renhe 'any' or the universal quantifier suoyou 'all' in the antecedent of ruguo 'if' conditionals. Using a Question-Answer Task, Experiments 2 & 3 respectively investigated whether children interpret shenme 'what' as closer in meaning to renhe 'any' or suoyou 'all' in two types of questions: yes-no questions with the particle ma and A-not-A questions. It was found that both children and adults interpret shenme 'what' as closer in meaning to renhe 'any' than suoyou 'all'. The findings suggest that Mandarin-speaking pre-schoolers already have adult-like semantic knowledge of wh-quantification: wh-words are existential quantifiers rather than universal quantifiers. Due to the paucity of primary linguistic input, children's early mastery of the non-interrogative wh-words appear to support the biolinguistic approach to language acquisition (Chomsky in Aspects of the theory of syntax. MIT Press, Cambridge, 1965; Pinker in Language learnability and language development. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1984; Crain et al. in Language acquisition from a biolinguistic perspective. Neurosci Biobehav Rev, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.09.004 ).

Establishment of a pMCAO model in SD rats and screening for behavioral indicators suitable for long-term monitoring

ABSTRACT Objective: This study aimed to establish a permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAO) model in rats to simulate the pathological process of stroke patients with no reperfusion. And screen highly sensitive items that could be used to detect long-term behavioral abilities in rat of intraluminal suture models. Method: Established the pMCAO model then tested the rats for the bilateral asymmetry, modified neurological severity score, grid-walking, cylinder, rotating, and water maze test from week 1 to week 16. Results: The infarct volume of the model rats was stable (26.72% ±1.86%). The sensorimotor test of bilateral asymmetry, grid-walking, cylinder, and mNSS test showed significant differences from week 1 to week 16 after injury. The water maze test at week 16 showed significant differences in spatial exploration and learning ability between the two groups. We confirmed that there was no significant difference between MRI and TTC staining in detecting the degree of brain injury, which facilitated the diversity of subsequent detection methods. We also confirmed that at multiple time points, grid, cylinder and water maze test were significantly positively correlated with rat brain infarct volume. Conclusion: They are suitable for the long-term observation of behaviors in the sequela stage of stroke in rat.

Establishing the limits between Polarity Sensitivity, Negative Polarity and Negative Concord

Abstract In this paper, by focussing on the behaviour of polarity elements from a variety of languages from different language families (namely, Basque, Hindi, English, Romanian, Spanish, Greek, Czech, and Russian) we investigate the relationship between Polarity Sensitive Items (PSIs) and Negative Polarity Items (NPIs) on the one hand, and between PSIs and Negative Concord items (NCIs) on the other. Based on a number of contrasts that we find, we argue that: (i) if a language has PSIs it does not necessarily have NCIs; (ii) PSIs need to be distinguished from NPIs; (iii) NCIs emerge as a subtype of PSIs, not of NPIs; and (iv) all languages that show Negative Concord (NC) also have Polarity Sensitivity (PS), but the opposite does not hold. We thus postulate that PS is a general phenomenon across languages with Negative Polarity (NPol) and NC as possible subtypes of PS but independent among them, and argue against the standard hypothesis that NC is a special subtype of NPol.

Зміна якості бухгалтерської звітності в умовах війни

The aim of the article is to study the impact of martial law on ensuring the quality of accounting information in the context of wartime in order to provide recommendations for its improvement. It is determined that the quality of financial statements increases especially under martial law, but the issues of ensuring the quality of accounting information are not sufficiently resolved both at the theoretical and practical levels. The article analyzes the impact of hostilities on the quality of reporting. A direct analysis of literary sources made it possible to identify the main factors that influenced the quality of accounting information under martial law, namely: the introduction of tax changes; the need to change approaches to the accounting of individual objects; compliance with the principle of caution in the disclosure of information; the danger of losing access to information. The practical impact is investigated by comparing the annual reports for 2022 and 2023. some enterprises in various fields of activity (JSC «Ukrposhta», PJSC «Kyivstar», JSC CB «Privatbank», PJSC «Poltava Mining and Processing Plant», LLC «Silpo-Food»). The most sensitive items to military operations, defined in the Notes to the financial statements of the studied enterprises, are highlighted. It is specified that the impact of wartime is determined by enterprises in different ways, however, strange as it may seem, economic entities pay insufficient attention to this issue, illuminating uncontrolled items in reports or forming general phrases regarding the impact of hostilities on the enterprise, while trying to embellish information that directly affects the quality of the submitted reports, reduces its usefulness for interested users. The relevance of further research on issues related to the assessment of the impact of these indicators on the quality of reporting of enterprises is substantiated.

Worry about unmet medical care as a sensitive proxy indicator for medically vulnerable area

Abstract Background Unmet medical care needs affect health outcomes and measure medical care inequality. However, understanding demand in vulnerable areas solely based on experience might be insufficient. This study aims to explore whether a ‘worry about unmet medical care’ indicator could be a sensitive item to identify medically vulnerable areas along with ‘unmet medical experience'. Methods We surveyed 1,916 in a region of Korea after allocating them proportionally by age and gender. The same participants were surveyed on unmet medical care experience & worry. Chi-square & t-tests confirmed differences. Logistic regression was used to identify factors influencing on unmet needs. Results While the experience of unmet medical care was 3.4%, the worry about unmet medical care was 79.9%, The rate of worry about unmet medical care increased with age (19-39, 40-69, 70+ years old, 71.0%, 82.3%, 86.8%, respectively), and it was high among all age groups in medically vulnerable areas (19 -39, 40-69, 70+ years old, 92.3%, 94.3%, 98.2%, respectively, p<.0001). Unmet medical care experiences were high in medically vulnerable area ‘level 2’ (aOR=4.37; 95% [CI] 2.13-8.98), and worry about unmet medical care was high in lower education level (middle or elementary school) (aOR=1.81; [CI] 1.02-3.20), interest in health ‘yes’ (aOR=2.58; [CI] 1.89-3.51), medically vulnerable area ‘level 2'(aOR=2.67; [CI] 1.91-3.73). ‘level3’ area (aOR=11.81; [CI] 7.74-18.03) was found to be more likely to have worry about unmet medical care. Conclusions Significant differences were observed between the experience of unmet medical care and worry about unmet medical care in the participants living in medically vulnerable area. To better predict actual vulnerable areas and establish approaches to address them, both unmet medical care experiences and worries need to be monitored. Key messages • Significant differences were observed between the experience of unmet medical care and worry about unmet medical care in the participants living in medically vulnerable area. • To better predict actual vulnerable areas and establish approaches to address them, both unmet medical care experiences and worries need to be monitored.

Predicting suicide attempts among Norwegian adolescents without using suicide-related items: a machine learning approach.

Research on the classification models of suicide attempts has predominantly depended on the collection of sensitive data related to suicide. Gathering this type of information at the population level can be challenging, especially when it pertains to adolescents. We addressed two main objectives: (1) the feasibility of classifying adolescents at high risk of attempting suicide without relying on specific suicide-related survey items such as history of suicide attempts, suicide plan, or suicide ideation, and (2) identifying the most important predictors of suicide attempts among adolescents. Nationwide survey data from 173,664 Norwegian adolescents (ages 13-18) were utilized to train a binary classification model, using 169 questionnaire items. The Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) algorithm was fine-tuned to classify adolescent suicide attempts, and the most important predictors were identified. XGBoost achieved a sensitivity of 77% with a specificity of 90%, and an AUC of 92.1% and an AUPRC of 47.1%. A coherent set of predictors in the domains of internalizing problems, substance use, interpersonal relationships, and victimization were pinpointed as the most important items related to recent suicide attempts. This study underscores the potential of machine learning for screening adolescent suicide attempts on a population scale without requiring sensitive suicide-related survey items. Future research investigating the etiology of suicidal behavior may direct particular attention to internalizing problems, interpersonal relationships, victimization, and substance use.

Toxic trade and environmental stringency: Exploring the impact on economic growth in the G20

This study investigates the impact of trade on environment and economic growth in G20 countries from 1990 to 2019, for environmentally sensitive goods (ESGs). Traditional and modern approach of hypothesizing Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC), are employed. Cross-Sectional-Autoregressive-Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL) model is used to determine short-run and long-run cointegration between environment, growth and trade variables. To analyze the asymmetric impacts of environmental stringency on carbon emissions, Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lag (NARDL) model is used.The results demonstrate that trade-induced EKC of ESGs for G20 is inverted-U shaped. Further, the study shows that trade-induced economic growth results in higher carbon emission, but mitigates environmental degradation at an early stage. Stringency has asymmetric effects on carbon emission, as observed from the findings.Given the controversial nature of research on the environmental impact of trade, particularly with respect to environmentally sensitive items, the present study is unique in terms of selecting the research topic and adds specific value to the literature in comparing the relationship between economic growth and environmental quality, with and without-trade, of toxic product. Moreover, the study highlights the importance of an asymmetrical analysis of the relationship between legislative strictness and environmental degradation from a policy-making perspective of G20.

How can I assess my patients with Parkinson's disease during a busy clinic day?

BackgroundThe evaluation of motor impairment in Parkinson's disease (PD) is mainly assessed with the motor subdomain of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating scale (UPDRS part III) and, lately, with the MDS-UPDRS part III. To optimize efforts and special needs during specific circumstances in clinical practice, we sought to identify the most sensitive items to assess motor impairment in PD. MethodsWe included the COPPADIS-PD cohort and collected the UPDRS part III at baseline (V0), 12 months (V1), and 24 months (V2). Factor analysis and effect size using Cohen's d formula were performed in the Off and On states at V0, V1, and V2. ResultsWe included 667 patients with PD, mean age of 62.59 ± 8.91 years, 410 (60.2%) males, with a median HY stage of 2.00 (1.00; 4.00) at baseline. Over time, the most discriminating items were postural stability and body bradykinesia (“arise from chair” and “gait”) in the Off state, right and left upper extremity bradykinesia ("finger tap", "hand movements" and "prono/supination") in the On state. Body bradykinesia and right-left finger tapping were the items with the largest effect size (0.93, 0.84, 0.83, respectively) to assess motor improvement after receiving antiparkinsonian medications over time. ConclusionUnder specific circumstances, selecting a few items of the UPDRS part III, including postural stability, body bradykinesia, and upper extremity bradykinesia, could be used to create a quick clinical judgment of motor status and improvement in PD.

Validity Evidence of A Screening Tool for Early Detection of Clinical Crisis-Related Anxiety Amongst Medical Students

Construct: Psychological distress among students is a growing concern in medical education, even more so with the advent of COVID-19 pandemic. Anxiety is among students’ mental health issues. High and persistent anxiety has many negative impacts on students’ academic and personal life. Early detection is essential for timely intervention. Background: Currently, medical student anxiety is assessed using tools primarily designed for psychiatric purposes. Despite their excellent validity evidence, these tools contain sensitive items and do not explore stressors related to clinical activities. There is a need for contextualized tools to better identify anxiety-provoking factors specific to the medical education environment. Approach: We previously developed the Crisis Experience Rating Scale (CERS-7), a short screening tool to identify early on anxious students participating in clinical activities during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study sought to produce further validity evidence for the CERS-7. Medical students in their clinical years at two Swiss and one French medical school, all involved in COVID-19 clinical activity during the second wave of the pandemic, completed the CERS-7 and the State Anxiety Inventory (STAI-A), the best known and widely used tool to measure for general anxiety. We evaluated internal structure using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and relation to other variables using linear regression (LR) and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves with thresholds defined using the Youden index. Findings: There were 372 participants. CFA confirmed the two-factor structure of the CERS-7 scale from first-wave dataset. The CERS-7 total scale and subscales demonstrated validity evidence in relationship to the STAI-A scores and categories. A CERS-7 total scale score < 27.5 identified 93% of severely anxious students. Conclusion: The CERS-7 produces reliable scores to use for monitoring anxiety status when assigning students to clinical settings as well as for improving training conditions during clinical crisis.

Improving clinical diagnostic accuracy and management of False penile fractures characterizing typical clinical presentation: a systematic review and meta-analysis

PurposeFalse penile fractures (FPF) represent a rare sexual emergency characterized by blunt trauma of penis in the absence of albuginea’s injury, with or without lesion of dorsal penile vein. Their presentation is often indistinguishable from true penile fractures (TPF). This overlapping of clinical presentation, and lack of knowledge about FPF, can lead surgeons often to proceed directly to surgical exploration without further examinations. The aim of this study was to define a typical presentation of false penile fractures (FPF) emergency, identifying in absence of “snap” sound, slow detumescence, penile shaft ecchymosis, and penile deviation main clinical signs.MethodsWe performed a systematic review and meta-analysis based on Medline, Scopus and Cochrane following a protocol designed a priori, to define sensitivity of “snap” sound absence, slow detumescence and penile deviation.ResultsBased on the literature search of 93 articles, 15 were included (73 patients). All patients referred pain, most of them during coitus (n = 57; 78%). Detumescence occurred in 37/73 (51%), and all patients described detumescence occurrence as “slow”. The results show that single anamnestic item have a high-moderate sensibility in the diagnosis of FPF, and the highest sensitive item was penile deviation (sensibility = 0.86). However, when more than one item is present, overall sensitivity increases greatly, closing to 100% (95% Confidence Interval 92–100).ConclusionSurgeons can consciously decide between additional exams, a conservative approach, and rapid intervention using these indicators to detect FPF. Our findings identified symptoms with excellent specificity for FPF diagnosis, giving clinicians more useful tools for making decisions.

Development Of Problem-Based Learning Device On Matrix Material For Class X Smk Kesehatan Imelda Rantauprapat

This study aims to produce a good problem-based learning tools and describe the effectiveness of problem-based learning in matrix material for Class X SMK Rantauprapat. This research development follows the design of 4-D model from Thiagarajan (1974) to the 3-D stage only: the definition stage, the design stage, and the development stage of the device. The learning tools developed are learning implementation plan (RPP), student worksheet (LKS), Learning Outcome Test (THB). Instruments used in this study, namely the validation sheet of learning devices, student activity observation sheet, observation sheet teacher's ability to manage learning, and student response questionnaire. Class trials conducted in Class X-D SMK Health Imelda Rantauprapat obtained the results of a device consisting of: learning device is said to be valid by the validator, the ability of teachers to manage learning is good on average (4.52), good student activity, student response to positive learning, learning outcomes test valid, reliability is (0.59), and sensitive items between 0 and 1, assessment of good attitudes. For class effectiveness test conducted in Class X-MM SMK Health Imelda Rantauprapat who have met the requirements of effectiveness, namely: completeness of learning classically fulfilled (85%), good student activity, student response to positive learning, and the ability of teachers to meet the criteria of good average (4.28)

Secure Multi-Level Privacy-Protection Scheme for Securing Private Data over 5G-Enabled Hybrid Cloud IoT Networks

The hybrid cloud is a secure alternative for enterprises to exploit the benefits of cloud computing to overcome the privacy and security concerns of data in IoT networks. However, in hybrid cloud IoT, sensitive items such as keys in the private cloud can become compromised due to internal attacks. Once these keys are compromised, the encrypted data in the public cloud are no longer secure. This work proposes a secure multilevel privacy-protection scheme based on Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN) for hybrid cloud IoT. The scheme secures sensitive information in the private cloud against internal compromises. GAN is used to generate a mask with the input of sensory data-transformation values and a trapdoor key. GAN’s effectiveness is thoroughly assessed using Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR), computation time, retrieval time, and storage overhead frameworks. The obtained results reveal that the security scheme being proposed is found to require a negligible storage overhead and a 4% overhead for upload/retrieval compared to the existing works.

A Redesign of the ACGME Resident/Fellow Survey Through Expert Reviews and Cognitive Interviews.

Since 2003, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has surveyed residents and fellows in its accredited programs. The Resident/Fellow Survey is a screening and compliance tool that programs can also use for continuous quality improvement. However, stakeholders have reported potential problems with the survey's overall quality and credibility. To redesign the 2006 Resident/Fellow Survey using expert reviews and cognitive interviews. In 2018-2019, the ACGME redesigned the Resident/Fellow Survey using an iterative validation process: expert reviews (evidence based on content) and cognitive interviews (evidence based on response processes). Expert reviews were conducted by a survey design firm and an ACGME Task Force; cognitive interviews were conducted with a diverse set of 27 residents and fellows. Expert reviews resulted in 21 new survey items to address the ACGME's updated accreditation requirements; these reviews also led to improvements that align the survey items with evidence-informed standards. After these changes were made, cognitive interviews resulted in additional revisions to sensitive items, item order, and response option order, labels, and conceptual spacing. In all, cognitive interviews led to 11 item deletions and other improvements designed to reduce response error. Expert reviews and cognitive interviews were used to redesign the Resident/Fellow Survey. The content of the redesigned survey aligns with the updated accreditation requirements and items are written in accordance with evidence-informed standards. Additionally, cognitive interviews resulted in revisions to the survey that seem to improve respondents' comprehension and willingness to respond to individual survey items.

KATIYEN as a common ground modifier in Turkish

KATIYEN is classified as a negative polarity item that necessarily takes scopeunder clause-mate negation (Kelepir 2001) and subcategorized as a (super)strong-NPIthat is licensed in antimorphic contexts (Görgülü 2017, following Zwarts 1995). I arguethat KATIYEN has a dual use as a negative sensitive item and a degree modifier on thecommon ground. The novel data I present indicate that KATIYEN can be used instructurally (and semantically) nonnegative sentences to express an attitude holder’sultimate degree of certainty. I aim to capture its dual status by suggesting that KATIYENis a universal modal adverb that behaves similarly to the Greek emphatic NPIs bytaking scope over negation (Giannakidou 2000), in addition has a common groundmanaging function of marking the interlocutor’s strong stance towards the positive ornegative proposition.

Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer Characteristics of Clerestory-Shaped Attics Heated from Below

In this study, a finite volume analysis of the aerodynamics and heat transfer in attics of a clerestory roof design with pitch angles 14o, 18o, 30o and 45o and Rayleigh number range 3 x 105≤ Ra ≤ 2 x 107 is carried out. The shape of the enclosure has strong influence on the structure of the flow and temperature fields. The flow field is characterised by counter-rotating vortices enclosed by aerodynamic boundary layers. The size, strength and direction of rotation of the cells are controlled by the forces propelling the thermal plumes and the cold jets. The reduction of the number and size of the counter-rotating cells and their formation within the enclosures provide an analogous reduction of the total heat transfer rate as the roof pitch angle increases. The velocity and temperature profiles across midheight and midlength of the enclosures enable the prediction of appropriate position in the attic with the right condition to place sensitive items. On the heat transfer, the relationship between the mean Nusselt number and the Rayleigh number is presented in form of a correlation. Results obtained in the study are of significance to building engineers engaged in the analysis and design of building attics and tropical agriculturalists for the control of produce drying rates. Keywords: Heat transfer, heated below, natural convection, pitch roof, clerestory-shaped

SELECTING INDICATORS OF PREDICTING FRAUD RISK. CASE STUDY FOR ROMANIAN BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

The act of fraud has been practiced since ancient times and manifests itself in different ways. The aim of the study is to apply the Beneish score on Romanian firms and to identify which indicators are sensitive to the state of fraud. The sample was selected from the Bucharest Stock Exchange and consists of 66 companies traded on the main market for the years 2016-2021. The collected data were analyzed year-by-year and cross-sectional methods (panel data) using manually collected information extracted from financial statements downloaded from the Bucharest Stock Exchange. Based on this data, the Beneish score was calculated and then statistical tests were performed. Using the obtained results from the Beneish Score calculation, we were able to divide the companies into two groups. The obtained scores, clearly underlines the two states: fraud and non-fraud. The ones in the fraud state have a decreased score, while the companies with no likelihood of fraud risk have lower scores. To further investigate our results, we identified sensitive items in both states such as DSRI (Days Sales Receivable Index) and GMI (Gross Margin Index). In conclusion, several theories or hypotheses are offered to explain the underlying motivations for fraud appearance. Romanian companies listed on regulated markets can be classified into risk groups in terms of fraudulent financial statements by applying the Beneish score. The results of the present study are in the interests of the policy makers, management team, business analysist and as well for the general use.