PurposeFollowing the high profile collapses of Enron and WorldCom, and the demise of Andersen, human capital (HC) has become a key driver of auditor quality. The purpose of this study is to investigate if there is a positive association between HC and auditor quality in public accounting firms and if the extent of association varies between accounting firms.Design/methodology/approachMultiple regression and logistic modeling are applied to examine the association between auditor quality and HC. The sample consists of 4,865 firm‐year observations over the period from 1989 to 2004.FindingsThe main findings indicate that higher investments in HC correspond to a higher level of auditor quality. Furthermore, the power of HC on auditor quality has a significant difference between public and non‐public audit market firms.Research limitations/implicationsA number of theoretical and measurement limitations are acknowledged that could further increase the statistical power of the tests.Practical implicationsThe findings should be of interest to regulators, auditors, audit clients, and academics. The findings also suggest that HC has an impact on overall auditor quality. The audit firms need more well‐educated and well‐trained professionals with the experience to keep pace with the changing nature of the market and to perform audit tasks.Originality/valueThe findings fill a gap in the literature regarding auditor quality and HC from the perspective of public accounting firms.

La-and Pr-modified BiFeO 3 ceramics was investigated by synthesizing coprecipitation powders and sintering at 850°C for 3 h under protective atmosphere provided by powders of the same composition. The sintered ceramics contain single perovskite phase. The ceramics are of high density, about 95% theoretical. La and Pr modification increases dielectric constants of BiFeO 3 ceramics from 49 to 120 and 92, respectively. Both La and Pr lower the resistivities but enhance the ferroelectric and ferromagnetic properties of the BiFeO 3 ceramics. La is prominent in enhancing ferroelectric properties, while Pr is remarkable in enhancing the ferromagnetic properties of BiFeO 3 ceramics.Perovskite BiFeO 3 is a material possessing coupled ferroelectric and magnetic ordering that results in ferroelectromagnetic properties. 1-3 BiFeO 3 is ferroelectric ͑TC = 863°C͒ and antiferromagnetic ͑TN = 397°C͒. 4 It reveals weak magnetism at room temperature due to a residual magnetic moment caused by canting spin magnetic structure. 5 These materials have potential applications, not only in magnetic and ferroelectric devices, but also in devices with coupled electric and magnetic polarizations, providing an additional degree of freedom in device design. However, the problem of low resistivity has hindered its application. The hysteresis loops could only be observed at 80 K from a single crystal with a spontaneous polarization of 3.5 C/cm 2 in the ͑100͒ direction, but the saturation of the loop was not observed even at fields up to 55 kV/cm. 6 As for magnetic properties, saturated weak ferromagnetic response at room temperature was reported only in La-modified BiFeO 3 thin films, BiFeO 3 −PrFeO 3 −PbTiO 3 , and BiFeO 3 −ReFeO 3 −BaTiO 3 ceramics, not in the simple form of BiFeO 3 ceramics. [7][8][9][10] Recently, observation of saturated ferroelectric hysteresis loops in BiFeO 3 films has been reported. 11,12 As for BiFeO 3 bulk ceramic, synthesis of BiFeO 3 usually results in a number of other compounds of Bi and Fe such as Bi 2 O 3 and Bi 2 Fe 4 O 9 , which appear when temperatures are not controlled accurately. 13 Recent work has focused on solid solution of BiFeO 3 with other ABO 3 ͑such as BaTiO 3 and PbTiO 3 ͒ perovskite materials, which can prevent second phase formation and increase ceramic resistivity. 14,15 However, direct study of pure BiFeO 3 is not possible. Other works on BiFeO 3 ceramic involved synthesizing pure BiFeO 3 phase by leaching the impurity phase with dilute nitric acid, but the saturated loop was not obtained in this pure BiFeO 3 ceramic due to its low resistivity and low density. 16 To investigate the electric properties and application of BiFeO 3 ceramics, it is necessary and is a challenge to fabricate high-resistivity and high-density ceramics. In this investigation, we report a method to synthesize La-and Pr-modified BiFeO 3 ceramics with high density and high resistivity by using a coprecipitation powder method and sintering in a protective atmosphere. The synthesized La-and Pr-modified BiFeO 3 ceramics exh...

Microcalcifications are frequently associated with papillary thyroid cancers. Metastatic nodules from extrathyroid malignancies may mimic primary thyroid neoplasm on sonography, but do not present with microcalcifications. We report the case of a 45-year-old woman with a history of invasive ductal carcinomas of bilateral breasts, status post surgery and neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Four years after surgery, thyroid sonography revealed diffuse microcalcifications without nodular component. Core needle biopsy confirmed thyroid metastasis from primary breast cancer.

Auditing has been identified as an area of immense importance for the development of China's stock market. Auditing not only provides reliable information for users, but, more importantly, it must coordinate the potential interests among the public, central and local state, and the nation. This study investigates the association between the auditing value and earnings management risk (EMR) induced by security regulation. It is hypothesized that, from the perspective of risk premiums, the auditing value increases as the EMR increase. Using a sample of 4,594 Chinese listed firms during 2001 to 2006, we find that auditing value is positively associated with EMR. We also find that different types of security regulation affect the auditing value. The results are robust to different model specifications and alternatives sample. Apart from providing some new evidence in the important area of auditing value, we also reveal interesting implications for auditing profession, regulators, entrepreneurs, and investors.