Diversity in the Boardroom: A Content Analysis of Corporate Proxy Disclosures

My work in this field has focused on regulation by quota and regulation by disclosure. With regard to quotas, strikingly, the Norwegian law is not located in regulation that explicitly deals with human rights or equality issues; rather, it is found in the heart of the legal regime that gives life and personality to corporations – in Norwegian corporate law. I have conducted qualitative, interview-based research with Norwegian corporate directors, both men and women. It is only through understanding how the goals of the law have translated into the day-to-day existence of these individuals that we can begin to consider the “big picture” questions that accompany the quota-based approach. With regard to disclosure, I have chosen to focus on the U.S. as a second case study for four principal reasons. First, similar to the Norwegian law, the site that houses the U.S. rule is noteworthy. Once again, it is not found in regulation that focuses on anti-discrimination etc…; rather, it is located in the heart of the legal regime that governs the public issuance of shares – in U.S. securities law. Second, and related to the first, the U.S. rule (like the Norwegian law) has been controversial, painted by some as an unjustified intervention into market terrain and as being in tension with the underlying purpose of securities regulation. Third, quite simply, U.S. markets represent the biggest share of overall global market capitalization. Fourth, I am mindful of the argument of scholars such as Schuck that there is something special – something unique –about the U.S.’s historical engagement with the idea of diversity. My inquiry into the U.S. approach, using the diversity disclosure rule promulgated by the SEC, begins with an overview of its conceptual underpinnings. I then explore reactions to the rule and consider whether, in promulgating it, the SEC acted reasonably, or if it strayed significantly from its mandate. From there, I use a mixed-method, qualitative–quantitative content analysis to investigate the micro-dynamics of this approach. I take an initial temperature reading of corporate articulations of diversity under the first years of the rule. These articulations are particularly fascinating given that the SEC does not provide firms with a definition of the term “diversity”. The specific results of my study are forthcoming. Overall, it establishes that the concept of diversity carries multiple connotations for U.S. corporations. However, perhaps its most salient finding is that, when left to their own devices (i.e. in the absence of regulatory guidance), firms most frequently think in experiential terms and focus on a director’s prior experience, or knowledge and skills — rather than in socio-demographic terms with an eye to gender or racial diversity. As I have reported elsewhere, only approximately half of firms in my sample fell into the latter camp

Physical Properties of Denture Base Resins Potentially Resistant to \u3cem\u3eCandida\u3c/em\u3e Adhesion

Purpose: The addition of anionic charge on denture base resins has been shown to inhibit Candida albicans adhesion and to facilitate adsorption of salivary defense molecules. The aim of this study was to evaluate the physical properties of a modified denture base resin for denture fabrication. Materials and Methods: Specimens made from heat polymerizing resin Lucitone 199 were used as the control group. The two experimental groups, E-10 and E-20, had 10% and 20%, respectively, of the monomer substituted with an experimental phosphate-containing monomer. Flexural strength and modulus, water sorption, solubility, and color stability tests were conducted to ensure compliance with ADA specification No. 12. Water diffusion coefficient into the resins and stainability were also assessed. ANOVA and Scheffé tests were performed for statistical significance. Results: There was an overall decline in all properties with the addition of the experimental phosphate compound. The flexural strength and modulus, water sorption and solubility for E-10, as well as the control were, however, within the ADA specifications. The diffusion coefficients were significantly different (p \u3c 0.05) for the three groups. Staining and color specimens showed no significant difference (p \u3e 0.05) among the three groups. Conclusions: Within the limitations of this study, the physical properties of the phosphate denture base resin at 10% should be suitable for denture fabrication based on the properties assessed

Branching ratios of Bc Meson Decaying to Pseudoscalar and Axial-Vector Mesons

We study Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) favored weak decays of Bc mesons in the Isgur-Scora-Grinstein-Wise (ISGW) quark model. We present a detailed analysis of the Bc meson decaying to a pseudoscalar meson (P) and an axial-vector meson (A). We also give the form factors involving transition in the ISGW II framework and consequently, predict the branching ratios of decays.Comment: 19 pages,7 table

Effect of Phosphate Group Addition on the Properties of Denture Base Resins

Statement of problem Acrylic resins are prone to microbial adherence, especially by Candida albicans. Surface-charged resins alter the ionic interaction between the denture resin and Candida hyphae, and these resins are being developed as a means to reduce microbial colonization on the denture surface. Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the physical and mechanical properties of phosphate-containing polymethyl methacrylate resins for their suitability as a denture material. Material and methods Using PMMA with cross-linker (Lucitone 199) as a control, 4 experimental groups containing various levels of phosphate with and without cross-linker were generated. The properties examined were impact strength, fracture toughness, wettability (contact angle), and resin bonding ability to denture teeth. Impact strength was tested in the Izod configuration (n=16), and fracture toughness (n=13) was measured using the single-edge notched bend test. Wettability was determined by calculating the contact angle of water on the material surface (n=12), while ISO 1567 was used for bonding ability (n=12). The data were analyzed by 1- and 2-way ANOVA (α=.05). Results A trend of increased hydrophilicity, as indicated by lower contact angle, was observed with increased concentrations of phosphate. With regard to the other properties, no significant differences were found when compared with the control acrylic resin. Conclusions No adverse physical effect due to the addition of a phosphate-containing monomer was found in the acrylic denture resins. Additional mechanical and physical properties, biocompatibility, and clinical efficacy studies are needed to confirm the in vivo anti-Candida activity of these novel resins

Preconditioning in situ concrete for permeation testing Part 1: Initial surface absorption

A new method for testing concrete using the initial surface absorption test (ISAr) has been developed for site use. It is based on applying a vacuum to an ISAT cap placed on the concrete surface until drying is achieved. The progress of the drying is monitored by placing indicating silica gel desiccant in the ISAT cap and observing the colour change. The method is quick, simple and practical for in situ applications. Results of comparisons with the existing in situ method in BS 1881 show that the new method is potentially more capable of producing reliable and reproducible measurements, and therefore will allow better comparison of in situ and laboratory-obtained data

NLO QCD Corrections to BcB_c-to-Charmonium Form Factors

The $B_c(^1S_0)$ meson to S-wave Charmonia transition form factors are calculated in next-to-leading order(NLO) accuracy of Quantum Chromodynamics(QCD). Our results indicate that the higher order corrections to these form factors are remarkable, and hence are important to the phenomenological study of the corresponding processes. For the convenience of comparison and use, the relevant expressions in asymptotic form at the limit of $m_c\rightarrow0$ for the radiative corrections are presented

Optimal antisense target reducing INS intron 1 retention is adjacent to a parallel G quadruplex

Splice-switching oligonucleotides (SSOs) have been widely used to inhibit exon usage but antisense strategies that promote removal of entire introns to increase splicing-mediated gene expression have not been developed. Here we show reduction of INS intron 1 retention by SSOs that bind transcripts derived from a human haplotype expressing low levels of proinsulin. This haplotype is tagged by a polypyrimidine tract variant rs689 that decreases the efficiency of intron 1 splicing and increases the relative abundance of mRNAs with extended 5' untranslated region (5' UTR), which curtails translation. Co-expression of haplotype-specific reporter constructs with SSOs bound to splicing regulatory motifs and decoy splice sites in primary transcripts revealed a motif that significantly reduced intron 1-containing mRNAs. Using an antisense microwalk at a single nucleotide resolution, the optimal target was mapped to a splicing silencer containing two pseudoacceptor sites sandwiched between predicted RNA guanine (G) quadruplex structures. Circular dichroism spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance of synthetic G-rich oligoribonucleotide tracts derived from this region showed formation of a stable parallel 2-quartet G-quadruplex on the 3' side of the antisense retention target and an equilibrium between quadruplexes and stable hairpin-loop structures bound by optimal SSOs. This region interacts with heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins F and H that may interfere with conformational transitions involving the antisense target. The SSO-assisted promotion of weak intron removal from the 5' UTR through competing noncanonical and canonical RNA structures may facilitate development of novel strategies to enhance gene expression

Qualitative and Mixed Methods Social Media Research: A Review of the Literature

Social media technologies have attracted substantial attention among many types of users including researchers who have published studies for several years. This article presents an overview of trends in qualitative and mixed methods social media research literature published from 2007 through 2013. A collection of 229 qualitative studies were identified through a systematic literature review process. A subset of 55 of these articles report studies involving a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. Articles were reviewed, analyzed, and coded through a qualitative content analysis approach. Overall trends are presented with respect to the entire collection of articles followed by an analysis of mixed methods research approaches identified in the subset of 55 studies. The most commonly used research approaches involved collecting data from people through interview, focus group, and survey methodologies. Content analysis was the second most commonly used approach whereby researchers use Facebook posts, Tweets (Twitter posts), YouTube videos, or other social media content as a data source. Many of the studies involving combinations of quantitative and qualitative data followed a design resembling Creswell and Plano Clark’s basic mixed methods typology (e.g., convergent parallel, explanatory sequential, and exploratory sequential)

Impact of fly ash content and fly ash transportation distance on embodied greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption in concrete

Background, aim and scope Fly ash, a by-product of coal-fired power stations, is substituted for Portland cement to improve the properties of concrete and reduce the embodied greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Much of the world's fly ash is currently disposed of as a waste product. While replacing some Portland cement with fly ash can reduce production costs and the embodied emissions of concrete, the relationship between fly ash content and embodied GHG emissions in concrete has not been quantified. The impact of fly ash content on embodied water is also unknown. Furthermore, it is not known whether a global trade in fly ash for use in concrete is feasible from a carbon balance perspective, or if transport over long distances would eliminate any CO(2) savings. This paper aims to quantify GHG emissions and water embodied in concrete (f'(c)= 32 MPa) as a function of fly ash content and to determine the critical fly ash transportation distance, beyond which use of fly ash in concrete increases embodied GHG emissions

Homogeneous Corporate Governance Cultures

The lack of gender parity in the governance of business corporations has ignited a heated global debate, leading policymakers to wrestle with difficult questions that lie at the intersection of market activity and social identity politics. Challenging Boardroom Homogeneity draws on semi-structured interviews with corporate board directors in Norway and documentary content analysis of corporate securities filings in the United States to investigate empirically two distinct regulatory models designed to address diversity in the boardroom — quotas and disclosure. The author’s study of the Norwegian quota model demonstrates the important role diversity can play in enhancing the quality of corporate governance, while also revealing the challenges diversity mandates pose. His analysis of the US regime shows how a disclosure model has led corporations to establish a vocabulary of “diversity.” At the same time, the analysis highlights the downsides of affording firms too much discretion in defining that concept. This book thus deepens ongoing policy conversations and offers new insights into the role law can play in reshaping the gendered dynamics of corporate governance cultures