non-gaap measures such as adjusted gross profits , adjusted gross profit margin , adjusted operating income , adjusted operating margin , adjusted net earnings , and adjusted net earnings per diluted share do not have uniform definitions . these measures , as calculated by vpg , may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies . management believes that these non-gaap measures are useful to investors because each presents what management views as our core operating performance for the relevant period . the adjustments to the applicable gaap measures relate to occurrences or events that are outside of our core operations , and management believes that the use of these non-gaap measures provides a consistent basis to evaluate our operating profitability and performance trends across comparable periods . in addition , the company has historically provided these or similar non-gaap measures and understands that some investors and financial analysts find this information helpful in analyzing the company 's performance and in comparing the company 's financial performance to that of its peer companies and competitors . management believes that the company 's non-gaap measures are regarded as supplemental to its gaap financial results . - 27 - the items affecting comparability are ( dollars in thousands , except per share amounts ) : replace_table_token_3_th ( a ) acquisition purchase accounting adjustments in 2019 include fair market value adjustments associated with inventory recorded as a component of costs of products sold . ( b ) acquisition costs associated with the acquisition of dsi in 2019 . ( c ) severance costs associated with the resignation of an executive officer of the company in 2019 . ( d ) in 2018 , the company incurred one-time settlement costs in connection with the de-risking of the pension plan in our uk location ( see note 9 to our consolidated financial statements ) . ( e ) included in the discrete items for 2019 is a $ 3.4 million tax benefit primarily related to the acquisition of dsi . financial metrics we utilize several financial measures and metrics to evaluate the performance and assess the future direction of our business . these key financial measures and metrics include net revenues , gross profit margin , end-of-period backlog , book-to-bill ratio , and inventory turnover . gross profit margin is gross profit shown as a percentage of net revenues . gross profit is generally net revenues less costs of products sold , but could also include certain other period costs . gross profit margin is clearly a function of net revenues , but also reflects our cost-cutting programs and our ability to contain fixed costs . end-of-period backlog is one indicator of potential future sales . we include in our backlog only open orders that have been released by the customer for shipment in the next twelve months . if demand falls below customers ' forecasts , or if customers do not control their inventory effectively , they may cancel or reschedule the shipments that are included in our backlog , in many instances without the payment of any penalty . therefore , the backlog is not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for future periods . another important indicator of demand in our industry is the book-to-bill ratio , which is the ratio of the amount of product ordered during a period compared with the product that we ship during that period . a book-to-bill ratio that is greater than one indicates that demand is higher than current revenues and manufacturing capacities , and it indicates that we may generate increasing revenues in future periods . conversely , a book-to-bill ratio that is less than one is an indicator of lower demand compared to existing revenues and current capacities and may foretell declining sales . we focus on our inventory turnover as a measure of how well we are managing our inventory . we define inventory turnover for a financial reporting period as our costs of products sold for the four fiscal quarters ending on the last day of the reporting period divided by our average inventory ( computed using each quarter-end balance ) for this same period . a higher level of inventory turnover reflects more efficient use of our capital . the quarter-to-quarter trends in these financial metrics can also be an important indicator of the likely direction of our business . the following table shows net revenues , gross profit margin , the end-of-period backlog , the book-to-bill ratio , and the inventory turnover for our business as a whole during the five quarters beginning with the fourth quarter of 2018 and through the fourth quarter of 2019 ( dollars in thousands ) : - 28 - replace_table_token_4_th replace_table_token_5_th net revenues for the fourth quarter of 2019 increased 2.6 % from the net revenues of $ 67.4 million reported in the third quarter of 2019 , and decreased 10.2 % from $ 77.0 million for the comparable prior year period . net revenues in the foil technology products segment of $ 29.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2019 decreased 7.7 % from $ 32.1 million in the third quarter of 2019 , and decreased 19.3 % from $ 36.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2018 . the sequential decline in revenue was attributable to precision resistor products in the test and measurement market . compared to the fourth quarter of 2018 , the decline in revenues was primarily attributable to precision resistor products in all regions for distribution , oem and ems customers , primarily in the test and measurement and avionics , military and space markets . net revenues in the force sensors segment of $ 15.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2019 decreased 7.1 % compared to revenues of $ 16.2 million in the third quarter of 2019 due to lower volume attributable to oem customers in the precision weighing and force measurement markets in the americas and europe . story_separator_special_tag we could also incur similar costs after we acquire companies . these production transfers , facility consolidations , and other long-term cost-cutting measures require us to initially incur significant severance and other exit costs . we anticipate that we will realize the benefits of our restructuring efforts through lower labor costs and other operating efficiencies in future periods . restructuring and severance costs are expensed during the period in which we incur those costs and all other requirements for accrual are met . because transfers of manufacturing operations sometimes occur incrementally over a period of time , the expense initially recorded is often based on estimates . because these costs are recorded based on estimates , our actual expenditures for restructuring activities may differ from the initially recorded costs . if this happens , we will adjust our estimates in future periods , either by recording additional expenses in future periods if our initial estimates were too low , or by reversing part of the charges that we recorded initially if our initial estimates were too high . goodwill and other intangible assets goodwill and indefinite-lived trademarks are tested for impairment at least annually , and whenever events or changes in circumstances occur indicating that it is `` more likely than not `` impairment may have been incurred . we have the option to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is `` more likely than not `` that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount as a basis for determining if it is necessary to perform the quantitative goodwill impairment test . however , if we conclude otherwise , then we are required to perform the quantitative impairment test by calculating the fair value of the reporting unit and comparing it against its carrying amount . we estimate the fair value of our steel and on-board weighing reporting units using the income approach and a market approach to valuation . the income approach to valuation uses our estimates of the future cash flows of the reporting unit discounted to their net present value using a discount rate determined using the capital asset pricing model and adjusted for the forecast risk inherent in our projections of future cash flows . the income approach to valuation is dependent on inputs from management such as expected revenue growth , profitability , capital expenditures , and working capital requirements . the market approach to valuation uses the market capitalization of public companies similar to the reporting unit to calculate an implied ebitda multiple , and we apply that calculated ebitda multiple to the expected ebitda of the reporting unit to estimate the fair value of the reporting unit , after consideration of appropriate control premiums . we weigh the results of the income approach and the market approach to arrive at the estimated fair value of the reporting unit . we estimate the fair value of our instrumentation reporting unit using the income approach . if the fair value exceeds the carrying value , no further evaluation is required and no impairment loss is recognized . an impairment charge would be recognized to the extent the carrying amount of goodwill exceeds the reporting unit fair value . during 2018 , we recognized an impairment loss associated with the goodwill and indefinite lived intangible assets in the instrumentation reporting unit , which holds goodwill related to our 2016 pacific acquisition , which was recognized in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018. the impairment was primarily from lower margins on the forecasted projections due to product mix . after considering the impact of the impairment charges , the carrying amount of goodwill and indefinite-lived trade names as of december 31 , 2018 was $ 3.5 million and $ 0.4 million , respectively . - 33 - in 2019 , we did not recognize an impairment for the instrumentation reporting unit , as the fair value exceeded its carrying value by approximately 12 % . the instrumentation reporting unit is particularly sensitive to the revenue projections used in the income approach valuation to determine the fair value and its related impact on gross margin . determining whether to test goodwill for impairment , and the application of goodwill impairment tests , require significant management judgment , including the identification of reporting units , assigning assets and liabilities to reporting units , assigning goodwill to reporting units , and determining the fair value of each reporting unit . changes in these estimates could materially affect the determination of fair value for each reporting unit . a slowdown or deferral of orders for a business , with which we have goodwill associated , could impact our valuation of that goodwill . the indefinite-lived trade names are tested for impairment either by employing the qualitative approach outlined above , or by comparing the carrying value to the fair value based on current revenue projections of the related operations , under the relief from royalty method . any excess carrying value over the applicable fair value is recognized as impairment . any impairment would be recognized in the reporting period in which it has been identified . definite-lived intangible assets , such as customer relationships , patents and acquired technology , non-competition agreements , and certain trade names are amortized on a straight-line method over their estimated useful lives . patents and acquired technology are being amortized over useful lives of seven to twenty years . customer relationships are being amortized over useful lives of five to eighteen years . trade names are being amortized over their contractual period ranging from seven to ten years . non-competition agreements are being amortized over periods of five to ten years . we review the carrying values of these assets for possible impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of the assets , when combined with the broader asset group in which they belong , may not be recoverable based on

. the debt is payable monthly over the next 2 years at a zero percent interest rate . see note 7 to our consolidated financial statements for additional details . our business has historically generated significant cash flow . our cash provided by operating activities for the year ended december 31 , 2019 was $ 30.9 million as compared to $ 35.4 million for the year ended december 31 , 2018 . cash provided by operating activities for the year ended december 31 , 2019 was lower than the cash provided by operating activities for the year ended december 31 , 2018 due to a decrease in net earnings . our net cash used in investing activities for the year ended december 31 , 2019 was $ 51.1 million as compared to $ 14.4 million for the year ended december 31 , 2018 . this increase was primarily due to the purchase of dsi . our net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended december 31 , 2019 was $ 16.5 million as compared to net cash used for financing activities of $ 3.5 million for the year ended december 31 , 2018 . this reflects the higher borrowings on the revolving credit facility which were used to fund the purchase of dsi . approximately 93 % of our cash and cash equivalents balance at december 31 , 2019 and 2018 , respectively , was held by our non-u.s. subsidiaries .


 Write a concise suspicious activity report of the following text delimited by triple backquotes. Return your response as a formal report which covers the key points highlighting the location,dates,entity names and account holder information in chronological order of the text.
     ```. the debt is payable monthly over the next 2 years at a zero percent interest rate . see note 7 to our consolidated financial statements for additional details . our business has historically generated significant cash flow . our cash provided by operating activities for the year ended december 31 , 2019 was $ 30.9 million as compared to $ 35.4 million for the year ended december 31 , 2018 . cash provided by operating activities for the year ended december 31 , 2019 was lower than the cash provided by operating activities for the year ended december 31 , 2018 due to a decrease in net earnings . our net cash used in investing activities for the year ended december 31 , 2019 was $ 51.1 million as compared to $ 14.4 million for the year ended december 31 , 2018 . this increase was primarily due to the purchase of dsi . our net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended december 31 , 2019 was $ 16.5 million as compared to net cash used for financing activities of $ 3.5 million for the year ended december 31 , 2018 . this reflects the higher borrowings on the revolving credit facility which were used to fund the purchase of dsi . approximately 93 % of our cash and cash equivalents balance at december 31 , 2019 and 2018 , respectively , was held by our non-u.s. subsidiaries .
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 Suspicious Activity Report : non-gaap measures such as adjusted gross profits , adjusted gross profit margin , adjusted operating income , adjusted operating margin , adjusted net earnings , and adjusted net earnings per diluted share do not have uniform definitions . these measures , as calculated by vpg , may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies . management believes that these non-gaap measures are useful to investors because each presents what management views as our core operating performance for the relevant period . the adjustments to the applicable gaap measures relate to occurrences or events that are outside of our core operations , and management believes that the use of these non-gaap measures provides a consistent basis to evaluate our operating profitability and performance trends across comparable periods . in addition , the company has historically provided these or similar non-gaap measures and understands that some investors and financial analysts find this information helpful in analyzing the company 's performance and in comparing the company 's financial performance to that of its peer companies and competitors . management believes that the company 's non-gaap measures are regarded as supplemental to its gaap financial results . - 27 - the items affecting comparability are ( dollars in thousands , except per share amounts ) : replace_table_token_3_th ( a ) acquisition purchase accounting adjustments in 2019 include fair market value adjustments associated with inventory recorded as a component of costs of products sold . ( b ) acquisition costs associated with the acquisition of dsi in 2019 . ( c ) severance costs associated with the resignation of an executive officer of the company in 2019 . ( d ) in 2018 , the company incurred one-time settlement costs in connection with the de-risking of the pension plan in our uk location ( see note 9 to our consolidated financial statements ) . ( e ) included in the discrete items for 2019 is a $ 3.4 million tax benefit primarily related to the acquisition of dsi . financial metrics we utilize several financial measures and metrics to evaluate the performance and assess the future direction of our business . these key financial measures and metrics include net revenues , gross profit margin , end-of-period backlog , book-to-bill ratio , and inventory turnover . gross profit margin is gross profit shown as a percentage of net revenues . gross profit is generally net revenues less costs of products sold , but could also include certain other period costs . gross profit margin is clearly a function of net revenues , but also reflects our cost-cutting programs and our ability to contain fixed costs . end-of-period backlog is one indicator of potential future sales . we include in our backlog only open orders that have been released by the customer for shipment in the next twelve months . if demand falls below customers ' forecasts , or if customers do not control their inventory effectively , they may cancel or reschedule the shipments that are included in our backlog , in many instances without the payment of any penalty . therefore , the backlog is not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for future periods . another important indicator of demand in our industry is the book-to-bill ratio , which is the ratio of the amount of product ordered during a period compared with the product that we ship during that period . a book-to-bill ratio that is greater than one indicates that demand is higher than current revenues and manufacturing capacities , and it indicates that we may generate increasing revenues in future periods . conversely , a book-to-bill ratio that is less than one is an indicator of lower demand compared to existing revenues and current capacities and may foretell declining sales . we focus on our inventory turnover as a measure of how well we are managing our inventory . we define inventory turnover for a financial reporting period as our costs of products sold for the four fiscal quarters ending on the last day of the reporting period divided by our average inventory ( computed using each quarter-end balance ) for this same period . a higher level of inventory turnover reflects more efficient use of our capital . the quarter-to-quarter trends in these financial metrics can also be an important indicator of the likely direction of our business . the following table shows net revenues , gross profit margin , the end-of-period backlog , the book-to-bill ratio , and the inventory turnover for our business as a whole during the five quarters beginning with the fourth quarter of 2018 and through the fourth quarter of 2019 ( dollars in thousands ) : - 28 - replace_table_token_4_th replace_table_token_5_th net revenues for the fourth quarter of 2019 increased 2.6 % from the net revenues of $ 67.4 million reported in the third quarter of 2019 , and decreased 10.2 % from $ 77.0 million for the comparable prior year period . net revenues in the foil technology products segment of $ 29.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2019 decreased 7.7 % from $ 32.1 million in the third quarter of 2019 , and decreased 19.3 % from $ 36.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2018 . the sequential decline in revenue was attributable to precision resistor products in the test and measurement market . compared to the fourth quarter of 2018 , the decline in revenues was primarily attributable to precision resistor products in all regions for distribution , oem and ems customers , primarily in the test and measurement and avionics , military and space markets . net revenues in the force sensors segment of $ 15.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2019 decreased 7.1 % compared to revenues of $ 16.2 million in the third quarter of 2019 due to lower volume attributable to oem customers in the precision weighing and force measurement markets in the americas and europe . story_separator_special_tag we could also incur similar costs after we acquire companies . these production transfers , facility consolidations , and other long-term cost-cutting measures require us to initially incur significant severance and other exit costs . we anticipate that we will realize the benefits of our restructuring efforts through lower labor costs and other operating efficiencies in future periods . restructuring and severance costs are expensed during the period in which we incur those costs and all other requirements for accrual are met . because transfers of manufacturing operations sometimes occur incrementally over a period of time , the expense initially recorded is often based on estimates . because these costs are recorded based on estimates , our actual expenditures for restructuring activities may differ from the initially recorded costs . if this happens , we will adjust our estimates in future periods , either by recording additional expenses in future periods if our initial estimates were too low , or by reversing part of the charges that we recorded initially if our initial estimates were too high . goodwill and other intangible assets goodwill and indefinite-lived trademarks are tested for impairment at least annually , and whenever events or changes in circumstances occur indicating that it is `` more likely than not `` impairment may have been incurred . we have the option to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is `` more likely than not `` that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount as a basis for determining if it is necessary to perform the quantitative goodwill impairment test . however , if we conclude otherwise , then we are required to perform the quantitative impairment test by calculating the fair value of the reporting unit and comparing it against its carrying amount . we estimate the fair value of our steel and on-board weighing reporting units using the income approach and a market approach to valuation . the income approach to valuation uses our estimates of the future cash flows of the reporting unit discounted to their net present value using a discount rate determined using the capital asset pricing model and adjusted for the forecast risk inherent in our projections of future cash flows . the income approach to valuation is dependent on inputs from management such as expected revenue growth , profitability , capital expenditures , and working capital requirements . the market approach to valuation uses the market capitalization of public companies similar to the reporting unit to calculate an implied ebitda multiple , and we apply that calculated ebitda multiple to the expected ebitda of the reporting unit to estimate the fair value of the reporting unit , after consideration of appropriate control premiums . we weigh the results of the income approach and the market approach to arrive at the estimated fair value of the reporting unit . we estimate the fair value of our instrumentation reporting unit using the income approach . if the fair value exceeds the carrying value , no further evaluation is required and no impairment loss is recognized . an impairment charge would be recognized to the extent the carrying amount of goodwill exceeds the reporting unit fair value . during 2018 , we recognized an impairment loss associated with the goodwill and indefinite lived intangible assets in the instrumentation reporting unit , which holds goodwill related to our 2016 pacific acquisition , which was recognized in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018. the impairment was primarily from lower margins on the forecasted projections due to product mix . after considering the impact of the impairment charges , the carrying amount of goodwill and indefinite-lived trade names as of december 31 , 2018 was $ 3.5 million and $ 0.4 million , respectively . - 33 - in 2019 , we did not recognize an impairment for the instrumentation reporting unit , as the fair value exceeded its carrying value by approximately 12 % . the instrumentation reporting unit is particularly sensitive to the revenue projections used in the income approach valuation to determine the fair value and its related impact on gross margin . determining whether to test goodwill for impairment , and the application of goodwill impairment tests , require significant management judgment , including the identification of reporting units , assigning assets and liabilities to reporting units , assigning goodwill to reporting units , and determining the fair value of each reporting unit . changes in these estimates could materially affect the determination of fair value for each reporting unit . a slowdown or deferral of orders for a business , with which we have goodwill associated , could impact our valuation of that goodwill . the indefinite-lived trade names are tested for impairment either by employing the qualitative approach outlined above , or by comparing the carrying value to the fair value based on current revenue projections of the related operations , under the relief from royalty method . any excess carrying value over the applicable fair value is recognized as impairment . any impairment would be recognized in the reporting period in which it has been identified . definite-lived intangible assets , such as customer relationships , patents and acquired technology , non-competition agreements , and certain trade names are amortized on a straight-line method over their estimated useful lives . patents and acquired technology are being amortized over useful lives of seven to twenty years . customer relationships are being amortized over useful lives of five to eighteen years . trade names are being amortized over their contractual period ranging from seven to ten years . non-competition agreements are being amortized over periods of five to ten years . we review the carrying values of these assets for possible impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of the assets , when combined with the broader asset group in which they belong , may not be recoverable based on

