In this paper, I will highlight the current issues at hand pertaining to the accounting industry policies. I will focus on the auditing sector providing services for public companies. I will lay out the structure, rules, and regulations that are in place today as well as criticize the areas that can be improved upon. I will go through various possibilities of solutions and conclude that the best way to increase financial statement reliability in our country is by both strengthening audit committees and providing financial statement insurance.

Bakgrund: Tidigare forskning visar att patienter med psykossjukdomar får ett negativt bemötande i den somatiska slutenvården. Sjuksköterskors fördomar och bristande kunskap är något som kan inverka på omvårdnaden, en inställning som präglar samhället i stort både i nutid och historiskt sett. Förutsättningar för en personcentrerad omvårdnad innebär en relation av tillit och trygghet något som sjuksköterskor ofta saknar kunskap och erfarenhet att tillgodose i mötet med patienter med psykossjukdomar. Syfte: Att ur ett sjuksköterskeperspektiv beskriva upplevelser av att bemöta patienter med psykossjukdom inom den somatiska slutenvården. Metod: En litteraturöversikt har gjorts för att belysa hur sjuksköterskor upplever bemötandet av patienter med psykossjukdom inom den somatiska slutenvården. Resultatet baserar sig på tolv vetenskapliga artiklar varav sju var kvalitativa och fem kvantitativa vilka analyserades enligt Fribergs (2012) metod för resultatanalys. Resultat: Resultatet tyder på att sjuksköterskor upplever brister i kunskap, erfarenhet, stöd och tid. Negativa inställningar som frustration och rädsla är vanligt förekommande. Slutsats: Sjuksköterskor efterlyser en vidare utbildning i psykiatrisk omvårdnad för att undanröja negativa attityder i bemötandet av patienter med psykossjukdomar. Även tidsbrist upplevs som ett betydande problem i omvårdnaden. / Background: Previous research shows that patients with psychotic illnesses receive a negative attitude in somatic inpatient care. Nurses´ prejudices and lack of knowledge is something that can affect the care. This attitude characterizes society in general, both today and historically. Preconditions for a person-centered care implies a relationship of trust and confidence. Nurses often lack the knowledge and experience to accommodate in the meeting with patients with psychotic illnesses. Objectives: From a nurse perspective describe nurses’ experiences of encounters with patients with psychotic illness in somatic inpatient care. Methods: A literature review was used to highlight nurses' perceived treatment of patients with psychotic illness in somatic inpatient care. The results are based on the twelve peer-reviewed articles, seven were qualitative and five were quantitative, these were analyzed according to Friberg (2012) method for analysis of results. Results: The results show that nurses are experiencing gaps in knowledge, experience, support and time. Negative attitudes such as frustration and fear are common. Conclusions: Nurses request increased education in psychiatric nursing to eliminate the negative attitudes in treatment of patients with psychotic illnesses. Lack of time is also considered to be a significant problem in nursing.

There are four primary objectives of this study. First, it examines the association between the disclosure of the Internal Control Deficiencies (ICDs), as a proxy for the internal control quality, and information asymmetry (IA) in the secondary loan market. Second, it identifies which types of ICDs exacerbate conditions of information asymmetry in the secondary loan market. Third, it investigates whether firms that remediate or take corrective actions to address ICDs lead to a reduction in information asymmetry in the market. Finally, it examines the effect of the loan specific characteristics such as debt covenants, credit rating and number of lenders (syndication) in the secondary loan market on the association between ICDs and IA. Results suggest that firms that disclose ICDs have significant positive association with IA and that ICDs reported under section 302 have significant positive association with IA. Although results on the association between the severity rank of ICDs by using Internal Control Material Weaknesses (ICMWs) as a proxy and IA are not supported, the use of Company Level (CL) internal control as a proxy for the severity rank of ICDs shows a significant positive association with IA. Overall, firms that remediate their ICDs have significant negative association with IA. Overall, there is a statistical negative association between the interaction term of ICDs and number of lenders (syndication) and IA. Same negative significant association is documented between the interaction term of ICDs and credit rating, and IA and the interaction term of ICDs and debt covenants and IA. The latter result suggests that the secondary loan market unique characteristics mitigate the negative consequences of the disclosure of ICDs and reduce the information asymmetry between lender and multiple arrangers. My results are consistent with prior studies’ (Bryan and Lilien, 2005; Ge and McVay, 2005; Doyle, Ge and McVay 2007 a,b; Ashbaugh-Skaife, Collins, and Kinney, 2007, Ashbaugh-Skaife, Collins, Kinney, and LaFond, 2008), which suggest that firms with reported ICDs are generally small, poor performing, financially weaker, and characterized by higher market risk than firms with effective internal control system.

The current research is concerned with exploring the quality of information technology (IT) control over financial reporting systems as reported under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. More specifically, this dissertation examines the association between organizational governance mechanisms and the occurrence and subsequent disclosure of IT control weaknesses. Despite the adverse impact of IT control weaknesses on internal control quality and financial reporting reliability, research on IT controls in general and IT control weaknesses in particular remains largely anecdotal with limited reliance on theory. The current work proposes and tests an integrated theoretical model of the antecedents of IT control weaknesses. The proposed model draws upon agency theory to provide a theoretical perspective of the occurrence of IT control weaknesses and upon corporate governance literature to solicit potential factors that influence the achievement of effective IT control over financial reporting. Drawing upon agency theory, this research views the existence of IT control weaknesses as a manifestation of an agency problem caused by information asymmetry and lack of alignment between the overall organization represented by its board of directors as a principal and its information systems (IS) organization represented by the top IS team as an agent. Drawing on corporate governance literature, this dissertation proposes two categories of governance and contracting mechanisms that the board of directors can employ to reduce information asymmetry and align the interests of the top IS team with those of the firm thereby reducing the agency problem. These categories are: IT governance mechanisms and IT executive incentive alignment mechanisms. The IT governance mechanisms involve two elements: first, the IT background element which includes (a) the IT background of the board of directors as reflected by two of its main committees, namely the corporate governance committee and the audit committee and (b) the IT background of the top management team; second, the IT executive element as reflected in terms of the structural and the expert power of the Chief Information Officer (CIO). The IT executive incentive alignment mechanisms include two elements: (a) the CIO’s absolute compensation level and (b) the pay disparity between the CIO and other members of the top management team. A research model integrating these elements is developed and tested with empirical data. For testing the proposed model, this dissertation uses a sample of firms with IT control weaknesses and a control group of similar firms with no IT control weaknesses for the years 2005-2009. Empirical results provide support for five of the seven hypotheses put forth in this research. Regarding the IT governance mechanisms, study findings indicate that a lower likelihood of disclosing IT-related control weaknesses is associated with having audit committee and corporate governance committee members with IT expertise. Furthermore, the study findings provide support for the contention that the goal congruence is contingent on the CIO’s power. To this end, the study finds that a lower likelihood of disclosing IT-related control weaknesses is associated with having CIOs with higher levels of structural and expert power. As for the incentive alignment mechanisms, empirical results provide support for the assertion that goal congruence is contingent on perceived pay equality between the CIO and other members of the top management team. The results indicate that the lower the pay disparity between IT executives and business executives in the top management team, the lower the likelihood of disclosing IT control weaknesses. The present study contributes to the current body of knowledge of literature in several ways. It is the first study to propose and test an integrated model of the antecedents of IT control weaknesses. The proposed model adds to the current literature by introducing agency theory as a theoretical basis of the antecedents of IT control weaknesses. Furthermore, this study adds to the current literature by introducing and providing empirical evidence linking the IT background of the corporate governance committee, the structural power and expert power of the CIO, and the CIO relative pay to the disclosure of IT control weaknesses over financial reporting. Lastly, this research contributes to practice by offering a much needed understanding for managers, directors, auditors, and regulators in their effort to improve the quality of IT control and the reliability of financial reporting.

The web based business is one of the greatest things that have surprised the world’s business. It ismaking a whole new economy, which has a gigantic potential and is in a general sense changingthe way of businesses. Organizations and associations must draw in and hold clients with the goalthat they can survive. Electronic trade is viewed as a suitable methodology for showcasing,offering and coordinating on the web administrations which can assume a critical part inrecognizing, acquiring and looking after clients. Online business advances and upgrades therelationship and correspondences between the association, makers, wholesalers and clients. In anycase, it ought to be noticed that accomplishment in web based business relies on trust and decidingpractical facts web based business. There is an arrangement of practicable inside hierarchical andoutside authoritative calculates online business which ought to be thought about. This paperdiscovers the strength, weaknesses and the online trust of the stakeholders in E-Businessmarketing. Furthermore, a model and system are proposed for indicating the practical componentson web based business achievement.

Mesmo com os incentivos dos governos federal e estadual para desenvolvimento de Sistemas Municipais de Meio Ambiente (SISMUMA), buscando a descentralização da gestão ambiental, estes nem sempre estão estruturados com equipamentos, pessoal e orçamento suficientes para a formulação e implementação de suas políticas públicas ambientais. Desta forma, torna-se necessário desenvolver alternativas para enfrentar estas fragilidades de maneira a melhorar a efetividade da gestão ambiental nos municípios e consequentemente fortalecer todo o Sistema Nacional de Meio Ambiente (SISNAMA). Em aplicações para gestão pública local, a construção de cenários, uma ferramenta utilizada nas diversas escalas de planejamento com o objetivo de auxiliar a tomada de decisão por meio do exercício da visão de futuro, além de proporcionar a antecipação dos gestores, também amplia a participação da sociedade na tomada de decisão proporcionando um melhor balanceamento das escolhas, evitando decisões baseadas em apenas um grupo de interesse; um melhor conhecimento da realidade, e um tratamento mais adequado dos problemas ambientais. A partir das diversas contribuições proporcionadas pela ferramenta de cenários para a gestão pública apresentadas pela literatura, a presente pesquisa se propôs a analisar, a partir de um estudo de caso no município de Brotas-SP, como a ferramenta de cenários poderia contribuir para o fortalecimento da gestão ambiental municipal. A metodologia utilizada possui caráter exploratório e aplicado. Baseado na pesquisa-ação participante, desenvolve a interface teórica e prática existente na construção de cenários em conjunto com os atores envolvidos. A pesquisa realizada em Brotas mostrou que a ferramenta de cenários além de contribuir de diversas formas para o fortalecimento da gestão ambiental municipal, enfrentando direta ou indiretamente as fragilidades apresentadas pelo município. O processo de desenvolvimento de cenários em Brotas se mostrou tão importante quanto seu resultado, principalmente no que se refere ao espaço de discussão criado neste processo. / Even with the encouragement of the federal and state governments for development in the municipalities the Municipal Environment System, seeking the decentralization of environmental management, these are not always structured with equipment, personnel and budget sufficient for the formulation and implementation of environmental public policies. Thus, it becomes necessary to seek alternative ways to address these weaknesses in order to improve the effectiveness of environmental management in municipalities and consequently strengthen the whole national environmental system. In applications to local public management, scenario building, a tool used in the various scales of planning in order to assist the decision making process through the exercise of the vision of the future, in addition to providing the anticipation of managers, also increases the participation of society in decision-making by providing a better balance of choices, avoiding decisions based on just one interest group, a greater knowledge of reality, and a better treatment of the environmental problems. From the various contributions provided by the tool of scenarios for public management presented in the literature, this research aims to examine, from a case study in the city of Brotas-SP, how the tool of scenarios could contribute to the strengthening of municipal environmental management. The methodology was characterized as exploratory and applied. Based on participatory action research, the interface develops theoretical and practice in the construction of scenarios together with stakeholders. The survey showed that in Brotas the tool of scenarios besides contributing in various ways to the municipal environmental management, is also able to directly or indirectly address the weaknesses presented by the municipality. The process of developing scenarios in Brotas proved as important as its outcome, especially with regard to the opportunity for discussion created in this process.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T17:30:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 elementos pre texturais.pdf: 180436 bytes, checksum: 2b8fe057ea961cb4a70ddc7ddc2d7397 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-10-23 / The soil erosion is the process of removal, transport and deposition of materials promoting the relief s sculpturing. Those processes are result of the interaction between natural and anthropic elements, that determinate the existence of different levels of weaknesses to erosion according to the environment in which they occur. In this scene, the anthropic activities are an acceleration factor of the erosive processes due to the hydrous dynamic modification promoted along the versants. In this same perspective, the current work had as main purpose the identification and comprehension of the weakness to erosion in the landscapes units in Marechal Cândido Rondon city, Paraná state. This study starts with the existent partitioning, it offered data basement especially about the characteristics connected to the relation soil versus relief and their constraints about usages and occupations made in each unit. At the same time, the preparation of cartographic documents and the identification and characterization of the erosive processes in each unit have permitted to verify that the municipality erosive processes weakness is not originated from natural aspects, but from the usages and occupations already made. It was possible to notice that the urban usages and occupations have been promoting a higher potential to erosive processes, due to the drastic modification of the runoffs and the rainwater infiltration in the water basins located close to the urban cores, especially Marechal Cândido Rondon, because it has a bigger sealing and the most intense erosive forms. The obtained data has permitted to point out some important suggestions to the urban planning of the municipality / A erosão dos solos é o processo de retirada, de transporte e de deposição de materiais que promove a esculturação das formas do relevo. Tais processos decorrem da interação de elementos naturais e antrópicos, elementos que condicionam a existência de diferentes graus de fragilidades à erosão dependendo do ambiente em que ocorrem. Nesse contexto, as atividades antrópicas surgem como fator de aceleramento dos processos erosivos pela alteração da dinâmica hídrica promovida ao longo das vertentes. Dentro dessa mesma perspectiva, o presente trabalho teve como objetivo central a identificação e a compreensão da fragilidade à erosão nas unidades de paisagem do município de Marechal Cândido Rondon Paraná. O estudo, ao partir da compartimentação já existente, forneceu base de dados particularmente quanto às características referentes à relação solo versus relevo e seus condicionantes sobre os usos e as ocupações realizados em cada uma das unidades. Paralelamente, a elaboração de documentos cartográficos e a identificação e caracterização dos processos erosivos em cada uma das unidades possibilitaram verificar que a fragilidade a processos erosivos no município não advêm dos aspectos naturais, mas, sim, dos usos e das ocupações realizados. Foi possível constatar que os usos e as ocupações urbanas têm promovido um maior potencial a processos erosivos, isso em decorrência da drástica alteração no escoamento superficial e na infiltração das águas pluviais no âmbito das bacias hidrográficas localizadas nas proximidades dos núcleos urbanos, com destaque para a cidade de Marechal Cândido Rondon, por ela possuir maior impermeabilização e as formas erosivas mais intensas do município. Os dados obtidos permitiram apontar algumas sugestões consideradas importantes para o planejamento urbano e periurbano do município.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-12T14:42:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 elementos pre texturais.pdf: 180436 bytes, checksum: 2b8fe057ea961cb4a70ddc7ddc2d7397 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-10-23 / The soil erosion is the process of removal, transport and deposition of materials promoting the relief s sculpturing. Those processes are result of the interaction between natural and anthropic elements, that determinate the existence of different levels of weaknesses to erosion according to the environment in which they occur. In this scene, the anthropic activities are an acceleration factor of the erosive processes due to the hydrous dynamic modification promoted along the versants. In this same perspective, the current work had as main purpose the identification and comprehension of the weakness to erosion in the landscapes units in Marechal Cândido Rondon city, Paraná state. This study starts with the existent partitioning, it offered data basement especially about the characteristics connected to the relation soil versus relief and their constraints about usages and occupations made in each unit. At the same time, the preparation of cartographic documents and the identification and characterization of the erosive processes in each unit have permitted to verify that the municipality erosive processes weakness is not originated from natural aspects, but from the usages and occupations already made. It was possible to notice that the urban usages and occupations have been promoting a higher potential to erosive processes, due to the drastic modification of the runoffs and the rainwater infiltration in the water basins located close to the urban cores, especially Marechal Cândido Rondon, because it has a bigger sealing and the most intense erosive forms. The obtained data has permitted to point out some important suggestions to the urban planning of the municipality / A erosão dos solos é o processo de retirada, de transporte e de deposição de materiais que promove a esculturação das formas do relevo. Tais processos decorrem da interação de elementos naturais e antrópicos, elementos que condicionam a existência de diferentes graus de fragilidades à erosão dependendo do ambiente em que ocorrem. Nesse contexto, as atividades antrópicas surgem como fator de aceleramento dos processos erosivos pela alteração da dinâmica hídrica promovida ao longo das vertentes. Dentro dessa mesma perspectiva, o presente trabalho teve como objetivo central a identificação e a compreensão da fragilidade à erosão nas unidades de paisagem do município de Marechal Cândido Rondon Paraná. O estudo, ao partir da compartimentação já existente, forneceu base de dados particularmente quanto às características referentes à relação solo versus relevo e seus condicionantes sobre os usos e as ocupações realizados em cada uma das unidades. Paralelamente, a elaboração de documentos cartográficos e a identificação e caracterização dos processos erosivos em cada uma das unidades possibilitaram verificar que a fragilidade a processos erosivos no município não advêm dos aspectos naturais, mas, sim, dos usos e das ocupações realizados. Foi possível constatar que os usos e as ocupações urbanas têm promovido um maior potencial a processos erosivos, isso em decorrência da drástica alteração no escoamento superficial e na infiltração das águas pluviais no âmbito das bacias hidrográficas localizadas nas proximidades dos núcleos urbanos, com destaque para a cidade de Marechal Cândido Rondon, por ela possuir maior impermeabilização e as formas erosivas mais intensas do município. Os dados obtidos permitiram apontar algumas sugestões consideradas importantes para o planejamento urbano e periurbano do município.

<p>Traditionally, firewalls and access control have been the most important components used in order to secure servers, hosts and computer networks. Today, intrusion detection systems (IDSs) are gaining attention and the usage of these systems is increasing. This thesis covers commercial IDSs and the future direction of these systems. A model and taxonomy for IDSs and the technologies behind intrusion detection is presented. </p><p>Today, many problems exist that cripple the usage of intrusion detection systems. The decreasing confidence in the alerts generated by IDSs is directly related to serious problems like false positives. By studying IDS technologies and analyzing interviews conducted with security departments at Swedish banks, this thesis identifies the major problems within IDSs today. The identified problems, together with recent IDS research reports published at the RAID 2002 symposium, are used to recommend the future direction of commercial intrusion detection systems.</p>

<p>This study focuses on the impact on service provision arising from uncertainties in the UC Act. There are serious problems with the delivery of basic services in urban areas: including frequent interruptions in water supply, persistent power cuts, uncollected refuse, poor health services and dilapidated infrastructure. The purpose of this study is to highlight specific weaknesses in the UC Act and examine how these contribute to poor service delivery. The specific weaknesses to be examined are the unfettered powers of the minister, lack of legal certainty on powers and functions of UCs, limited revenue generating powers and lack of autonomy in recruiting senior council administration. First, UCs exercise delegated powers from central government. The minister has powers to give directions on matters of policy, suspend, reverse, or rescind council resolutions. There is no legal authority to check and balance the unfettered powers of the minister. Poor service delivery may be attributed in part to the unfettered powers of the minister. Secondly, UCs do not have devolved fiscal powers. As agents of central government, UCs can only levy those taxes and borrow money as authorised by the minister. The limited capacities of UCs to generate own revenue impacts negatively on the capacity of UCs to respond to the needs of the communities they serve.</p>