Growth vs. margins: destabilizing consequences of giving the stock market what it wants

We develop a multi-tasking model in which a firm can devote its efforts either to increasing sales growth, or to improving per-unit profit margins by, e.g., cutting costs. If the firm's manager is concerned with the current stock price, she will tend to favor the growth strategy at those times when the stock market is paying more attention to performance on the growth dimension. Conversely, it can be rational for the stock market to weight observed growth measures more heavily when it is known that the firm is following a growth strategy. This two-way feedback between firms' business strategies and the market's pricing rule can lead to purely intrinsic fluctuations in sales and output, creating excess volatility in these real variables even in the absence of any external source of shocks

Research review: young people leaving care

This paper reviews the international research on young people leaving care. Set in the context of a social exclusion framework, it explores young people's accelerated and compressed transitions to adulthood, and discusses the development and classification of leaving care services in responding to their needs. It then considers the evidence from outcome studies and argues that adopting a resilience framework suggests that young people leaving care may fall into three groups: young people 'moving on', 'survivors' and 'victims'. In concluding, it argues that these three pathways are associated with the quality of care young people receive, their transitions from care and the support they receive after care

The shrinkage of hardening cement paste and mortar

This paper is an abstract from the report of the commission B10: "The influence of the shrinkage of cement on the shrink-age of concrete", of the Netherlands Committee for Concrete Research. Measurements of pulse velocity, volume shrinkage and heat of hydration on hardening portland cement support the idea that the formation of ettringite is an important link in the mechanism of shrinkage in the plastic stage of cement paste and mortar. Mechanical tests on prisms of 4x4x16 cm3 gave some information about the difference in sensitivity to surface corrosion of different types of cement

Anisotropic Superexchange for nearest and next nearest coppers in chain, ladder and lamellar cuprates

We present a detailed calculation of the magnetic couplings between nearest-neighbor and next-nearest-neighbor coppers in the edge-sharing geometry, ubiquitous in many cuprates. In this geometry, the interaction between nearest neighbor coppers is mediated via two oxygens, and the Cu-O-Cu angle is close to 90 degrees. The derivation is based on a perturbation expansion of a general Hubbard Hamiltonian, and produces numerical estimates for the various magnetic energies. In particular we find the dependence of the anisotropy energies on the angular deviation away from the 90 degrees geometry of the Cu-O-Cu bonds. Our results are required for the correct analysis of the magnetic structure of various chain, ladder and lamellar cuprates.Comment: 13 pages, Latex, 7 figure

Antagonistic effects of transforming growth factor-beta on vitamin D3 enhancement of osteocalcin and osteopontin transcription: reduced interactions of vitamin D receptor/retinoid X receptor complexes with vitamin E response elements

Osteocalcin and osteopontin are noncollagenous proteins secreted by osteoblasts and regulated by a complex interplay of systemic and locally produced factors, including growth factors and steroid hormones. We investigated the mechanism by which transforming growth factor-beta (TGF beta) inhibits 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25-(OH)2D3)-enhanced expression of the osteocalcin (OC) and osteopontin (OP) genes. ROS 17/2.8 cells, in which both genes are expressed, were transfected with reporter constructs driven by native (i.e. wild-type) rat OC and mouse OP promoters. TGF beta abrogated the 1,25-(OH)2D3 enhanced transcription of both the OC and OP genes. The inhibitory TGF beta response for each requires vitamin D response element (VDRE) sequences, although there are additional contributions from proximal basal regulatory elements. These transcriptional effects were further investigated for contribution of the trans-activating factors, which interact with OC and OP VDREs, involving the vitamin D receptor (VDR) and retinoid X receptor (RXR). Gel mobility shift assays show that TGF beta significantly reduces induction of the heterodimers VDR/RXR complexes in 1,25-(OH)2D3-treated ROS 17/2.8 cells. However, Western blot and ligand binding analysis reveal that TGF beta does not affect nuclear availability of the VDR. We also show that activator protein-1 activity is up-regulated by TGF beta; thus, activator protein-1 binding sites in the OC promoter may potentially contribute to inhibitory effects of TGF beta on basal transcription. Our studies demonstrate that the inhibitory action of TGF beta on the 1,25-(OH)2D3 enhancement of OC and OP transcription in osteoblastic cells results from modulations of protein-DNA interactions at the OC and OP VDRE, which cannot be accounted for by changes in VDR protein levels. As OC and OP participate in bone turnover, our results provide insight into the contributions of TGF beta and 1,25-(OH)2D3 to VDR-mediated gene regulatory mechanism operative in bone formation and/or resorption events

Stochastic volatility and leverage effect

We prove that a wide class of correlated stochastic volatility models exactly measure an empirical fact in which past returns are anticorrelated with future volatilities: the so-called ``leverage effect''. This quantitative measure allows us to fully estimate all parameters involved and it will entail a deeper study on correlated stochastic volatility models with practical applications on option pricing and risk management.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

A constraint-based approach to quality assurance in service choreographies.

Knowledge about the quality characteristics (QoS) of service com- positions is crucial for determining their usability and economic value. Ser- vice quality is usually regulated using Service Level Agreements (SLA). While end-to-end SLAs are well suited for request-reply interactions, more complex, decentralized, multiparticipant compositions (service choreographies) typ- ically involve multiple message exchanges between stateful parties and the corresponding SLAs thus encompass several cooperating parties with interde- pendent QoS. The usual approaches to determining QoS ranges structurally (which are by construction easily composable) are not applicable in this sce- nario. Additionally, the intervening SLAs may depend on the exchanged data. We present an approach to data-aware QoS assurance in choreographies through the automatic derivation of composable QoS models from partici- pant descriptions. Such models are based on a message typing system with size constraints and are derived using abstract interpretation. The models ob- tained have multiple uses including run-time prediction, adaptive participant selection, or design-time compliance checking. We also present an experimen- tal evaluation and discuss the benefits of the proposed approach

Microfluidic and Nanofluidic Cavities for Quantum Fluids Experiments

The union of quantum fluids research with nanoscience is rich with opportunities for new physics. The relevant length scales in quantum fluids, 3He in particular, are comparable to those possible using microfluidic and nanofluidic devices. In this article, we will briefly review how the physics of quantum fluids depends strongly on confinement on the microscale and nanoscale. Then we present devices fabricated specifically for quantum fluids research, with cavity sizes ranging from 30 nm to 11 microns deep, and the characterization of these devices for low temperature quantum fluids experiments.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, Accepted to Journal of Low Temperature Physic

Inspiratory Muscle Training Improves Blood Flow to Resting and Exercising Limbs in Patients With Chronic Heart Failure

ObjectivesWe tested the hypothesis that inspiratory muscle loading could result in exaggerated peripheral vasoconstriction in resting and exercising limbs and that inspiratory muscle training (IMT) could attenuate this effect in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) and inspiratory muscle weakness.BackgroundInspiratory muscle training improves functional capacity of patients with CHF, but the mechanisms of this effect are unknown.MethodsEighteen patients with CHF and inspiratory muscle weakness (maximal inspiratory pressure <70% of predicted) and 10 healthy volunteers participated in the study. Inspiratory muscle loading was induced by the addition of inspiratory resistance of 60% of maximal inspiratory pressure, while blood flow to the resting calf (CBF) and exercising forearm (FBF) were measured by venous occlusion plethysmography. For the patients with CHF, blood flow measurements as well as ultrasound determination of diaphragm thickness were made before and after a 4-week program of IMT.ResultsWith inspiratory muscle loading, CHF patients demonstrated a more marked reduction in resting CBF and showed an attenuated rise in exercising FBF when compared with control subjects. After 4 weeks of IMT, CHF patients presented hypertrophy of the diaphragm and improved resting CBF and exercise FBF with inspiratory muscle loading.ConclusionsIn patients with CHF and inspiratory muscle weakness, inspiratory muscle loading results in marked reduction of blood flow to resting and exercising limbs. Inspiratory muscle training improves limb blood flow under inspiratory loading in these patients