An Examination of Audit Quality Surrounding Within-Firm Engagement Office Changes

We examine the relation between within-firm office changes and audit quality in the United States. Our primary analysis documents a reduction in audit quality, measured using abnormal discretionary accruals and restatements, when the client is transferred to a smaller within-firm office (downsize effect). We are unable to find evidence that clients experience significant improvement in audit quality among transfers to a larger within-firm office (upsize effect). We then condition our sample on the change in the number of public clients of the receiving office to better understand the source of the underlying association. We find that our downsize effect is driven by offices experiencing a decrease in the number of public clients, suggesting that our main association is not entirely the result of resource constraints for the receiving office. We posit that this finding is consistent with audit quality deterioration among within-firm office changes to smaller offices driven, in part, by the receiving office’s inability to adequately overcome the knowledge transfer frictions that accompany a move to a new office. Our findings offer empirical evidence on consequences of within-firm office changes and are particularly relevant to regulators and preparers.

Nanoencapsulation-Based Edible Coating of Essential Oils as a Novel Green Strategy Against Fungal Spoilage, Mycotoxin Contamination, and Quality Deterioration of Stored Fruits: An Overview

Currently, applications of essential oils for protection of postharvest fruits against fungal infestation and mycotoxin contamination are of immense interest and research hot spot in view of their natural origin and possibly being an alternative to hazardous synthetic preservatives. However, the practical applications of essential oils in broad-scale industrial sectors have some limitations due to their volatility, less solubility, hydrophobic nature, and easy oxidation in environmental conditions. Implementation of nanotechnology for efficient incorporation of essential oils into polymeric matrices is an emerging and novel strategy to extend its applicability by controlled release and to overcome its major limitations. Moreover, different nano-engineered structures (nanoemulsion, suspension, colloidal dispersion, and nanoparticles) developed by applying a variety of nanoencapsulation processes improved essential oil efficacy along with targeted delivery, maintaining the characteristics of food ingredients. Nanoemulsion-based edible coating of essential oils in fruits poses an innovative green alternative against fungal infestation and mycotoxin contamination. Encapsulation-based coating of essential oils also improves antifungal, antimycotoxigenic, and antioxidant properties, a prerequisite for long-term enhancement of fruit shelf life. Furthermore, emulsion-based coating of essential oil is also efficient in the protection of physicochemical characteristics, viz., firmness, titrable acidity, pH, weight loss, respiration rate, and total phenolic contents, along with maintenance of organoleptic attributes and nutritional qualities of stored fruits. Based on this scenario, the present article deals with the advancement in nanoencapsulation-based edible coating of essential oil with efficient utilization as a novel safe green preservative and develops a green insight into sustainable protection of fruits against fungal- and mycotoxin-mediated quality deterioration.

Air quality deterioration episode associated with a typhoon over the complex topographic environment in central Taiwan

Air pollution is typically at its lowest in Taiwan during summer. The mean concentrations of PM10, PM2.5, and daytime ozone (08:00–17:00 LST) during summer (June–August) over central Taiwan were 35–40 µg m−3, 18–22 µg m−3, and 30–42 ppb, respectively, between 2004 and 2019. Sampling analysis revealed that the contribution of organic carbon (OC) to PM2.5 could have exceeded 30 % in urban and inland mountain sites during July in 2017 and 2018. Frequent episodes of air quality deterioration occur over the western plains of Taiwan when an easterly typhoon circulation interacts with the complex topographic structure of the island. We explored an episode of air quality deterioration that was associated with a typhoon between 15 and 17 July 2018 using the Weather Research Forecasting with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) model. The results indicated that the continual formation of low-pressure systems or typhoons in the area between Taiwan and Luzon island in the Philippines provided a strong easterly ambient flow, which lasted for an extended period between 15 and 17 July. The interaction between the easterly flow and Taiwan's Central Mountain Range (CMR) resulted in stable weather conditions and weak wind speed in western Taiwan during the study period. Numerical modeling also indicated that a lee side vortex easily formed, and the wind direction could have changed from southwesterly to northwesterly over central Taiwan because of the interaction between the typhoon circulation and the CMR. The northwesterly wind coupled with a sea breeze was conducive to the transport of air pollutants from the coastal upstream industrial and urban areas to the inland area. The dynamic process for the wind direction changed given a reasonable explanation for why the observed SO42- became the major contributor to PM2.5 during the episode. SO42- contribution proportions (%) to PM2.5 at the coastal, urban, and mountain sites were 9.4 µg m−3 (30.5 %), 12.1 µg m−3 (29.9 %), and 11.6 µg m−3 (29.7 %), respectively. Moreover, the variation of the boundary layer height had a strong effect on the concentration level of both PM2.5 and ozone. The lee vortex and land–sea breeze, as well as the boundary layer development, were the key mechanisms in air pollutant accumulation and transport. As typhoons frequently occur around Taiwan during summer and fall, their effect on the island's air quality merits further research attention.