Chest x-ray stages of sarcoidosis

The initial chest x-ray is used to classify the stage of sarcoidosis. This report shows x-rays with findings of Stages I to IV. Underwriting sarcoidosis requires information of the history, the stage and pulmonary function tests.     

FRACAS: A Computerized Aid for Reasoning in Tax

Problem solving in the tax domain requires two kinds of knowledge: of the law itself and of how the law has been applied in the past. The need for the second factor arises as a result of the ambiguity of natural language. The problem solver requires information on how the courts have adjudicated specific cases in the past. This information would then provide the basis for reasoning about the current case. In this paper we address the issue of developing a system which will retrieve relevant historical cases. The cases are stored using a frame representation scheme and the users can retrieve cases by specifying either attributes alone or attributes and values associated with them. Currently the system has been implemented in Pascal on a Cray. The case base contains 250 cases relating to Section 183 of the tax code.     

Cost effectiveness of a medical vigilance system to reduce patient falls

Patient falls are a serious problem in hospitals, resulting in substantial morbidity, mortality, length of stay, and costs. The results of a small trial of a patient vigilance system in a post-neurosurgery unit of a large acute care hospital are reported. The system includes two components: (a) passive sensor array placed under the patient in a hospital bed, and (b) a bedside unit that connects to the nurse call system already in place at the hospital. This trial demonstrated the overall effectiveness of the vigilance system in reducing the rate of patient falls. The cost-effectiveness analysis found that use of this system was associated with somewhat higher measured costs. It is likely that the system was cost-saving, due to unmeasured costs.     

Responses to COVID-19 in Southeast Asia: Diverse Paths and Ongoing Challenges

Due to geographical proximity and trade links with China, Southeast Asian countries were among the first to be exposed to and affected by COVID-19. However, despite shared challenges including protecting population health and economic security, policy responses by national governments have been varied and remain so a year into the pandemic. This article critically reviews Southeast Asian countries' approaches to COVID-19 with reference to individual country experiences and Association of Southeast Asian Nations. We discuss key policy responses: leadership, public risk communications, health system preparedness and resilience, economic support and social protection, aid and global health diplomacy, digital technologies, and the region's multilateral response.     

Herbal Pharma Inc.: Conducting an Effective Group Audit*

As the relative weight of global economic activity continues to shift toward non-OECD countries (OECD 2018), audit firms are more likely to encounter clients with significant business operations in foreign jurisdictions. The associated need to engage and oversee local component auditors in these jurisdictions can lead to challenges arising from different business cultures and the resulting intra-audit miscommunications. Audit deficiencies related to these challenges have been detected by regulators (PCAOB 2011, 2010; CPAB 2012, 2015). Standard setters such as the IAASB and the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AASB) have responded by issuing an exposure draft proposing revisions to ISA 600 (IAASB 2020) and CAS 600 (AASB 2020) to strengthen the auditor's approach and provide enhanced guidance to practitioners. In light of this evolving area of assurance, this case was developed to deepen students' understanding of both group and component audits in an international context. The case takes the perspective of the group auditor and features an audit senior in a specialized role overseeing the component audit of a client's increasingly material Chinese subsidiary. Deficiencies in the prior year component audit, along with a change in the component auditor, further underlines the importance of robust risk analysis for the upcoming engagement.