Investor Sentiment and Corporate Finance: Micro and Macro

We document that net equity issuance is considerably more sensitive to aggregate stock returns and Q's than to firm-level stock returns and Q's. Very similar patterns also emerge when we look at merger activity. In light of earlier work (Campbell 1991, Vuolteenaho 2002) which finds that aggregate stock returns are less informative about future cashflows than are firm-level stock returns--and thus, potentially more strongly influenced by investor sentiment--these results suggest that both equity issuance and mergers are to a significant extent driven by market-timing considerations, as opposed to by purely fundamental factors.

Aggregate Short Interest and Market Valuations

We examine some basic data on the evolution of aggregate short interest, both during the dot-com era, and at other times in history. Total short interest moves in a countercyclical fashion. For example, short interest in NASDAQ stocks actually declines as the NASDAQ index approaches its peak. Moreover, this decline does not seem to reflect a substitution away from outright short-selling and towards put options, as the ratio of put-to-call volume displays the same countercyclical tendency. The evidence suggests that: i) arbitrageurs are reluctant to bet against aggregate mispricings; and ii) short-selling does not play a particularly helpful role in stabilizing the overall stock market.

Aggregate Short Interest and Market Valuations

We examine some basic data on the evolution of aggregate short interest, both during the dot-com era, and at other times in history. Total short interest moves in a countercyclical fashion. For example, short interest in NASDAQ stocks actually declines as the NASDAQ index approaches its peak. Moreover, this decline does not seem to reflect a substitution away from outright short-selling and towards put options, as the ratio of put-to-call volume displays the same countercyclical tendency. The evidence suggests that: i) arbitrageurs are reluctant to bet against aggregate mispricings; and ii) short-selling does not play a particularly helpful role in stabilizing the overall stock market.

K0s and \Lambda\ production in Pb--Pb collisions with the ALICE experiment

We present the study of K0s and Lambda production performed with the ALICE experiment at the LHC in Pb--Pb collisions at \sqrt{s_NN}=2.76 TeV and pp collisions at \sqrt{s}=0.9 and 7 TeV. The K0s and Lambda particles are reconstructed via their V0 decay topology allowing their identification up to high transverse momenta. The corresponding baryon/meson ratios as a function of transverse momentum are extracted for Pb--Pb collisions in centrality bins and in the transverse momentum range from 1 to 6 GeV/c. They are also compared with those measured in pp events at the LHC energies of 0.9 and 7 TeV as well as in Au--Au collisions at \sqrt{s_NN} = 62.4 and 200 GeV from RHIC.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, proceedings of Quark Matter 2011 (May 23rd-28th 2011, Annecy, France

Label-free proteomics identifies Calreticulin and GRP75/Mortalin as peripherally accessible protein biomarkers for spinal muscular atrophy

BACKGROUND: Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a neuromuscular disease resulting from mutations in the survival motor neuron 1 (SMN1) gene. Recent breakthroughs in preclinical research have highlighted several potential novel therapies for SMA, increasing the need for robust and sensitive clinical trial platforms for evaluating their effectiveness in human patient cohorts. Given that most clinical trials for SMA are likely to involve young children, there is a need for validated molecular biomarkers to assist with monitoring disease progression and establishing the effectiveness of therapies being tested. Proteomics technologies have recently been highlighted as a potentially powerful tool for such biomarker discovery. METHODS: We utilized label-free proteomics to identify individual proteins in pathologically-affected skeletal muscle from SMA mice that report directly on disease status. Quantitative fluorescent western blotting was then used to assess whether protein biomarkers were robustly changed in muscle, skin and blood from another mouse model of SMA, as well as in a small cohort of human SMA patient muscle biopsies. RESULTS: By comparing the protein composition of skeletal muscle in SMA mice at a pre-symptomatic time-point with the muscle proteome at a late-symptomatic time-point we identified increased expression of both Calreticulin and GRP75/Mortalin as robust indicators of disease progression in SMA mice. We report that these protein biomarkers were consistently modified in different mouse models of SMA, as well as across multiple skeletal muscles, and were also measurable in skin biopsies. Furthermore, Calreticulin and GRP75/Mortalin were measurable in muscle biopsy samples from human SMA patients. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that label-free proteomics technology provides a powerful platform for biomarker identification in SMA, revealing Calreticulin and GRP75/Mortalin as peripherally accessible protein biomarkers capable of reporting on disease progression in samples of muscle and skin

The adsorption structure of furan on Pd(1 1 1)

The structure of molecular furan, C4H4O, on Pd(1 1 1) has been investigated by O K-edge near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) and C 1s scanned-energy mode photoelectron diffraction (PhD). NEXAFS shows the molecule to be adsorbed with the molecular plane close to parallel to the surface, a conclusion confirmed by the PhD analysis. Chemical-state specific C 1s PhD data were obtained for the two inequivalent C atoms in the furan, the α-C atoms adjacent to the O atom, and the β-C atoms bonded only to C atoms, but only the PhD modulations for the α-C emitters were of sufficiently large amplitude for detailed evaluation using multiple scattering calculations. This analysis shows the α-C atoms to be located approximately 0.6 Å off-atop surface Pd atoms with an associated C–Pd bondlength of 2.13 ± 0.03 Å. Two alternative local geometries consistent with the data place the O atom in off-atop or near-hollow locations, and for each of these local structures there are two equally-possible registries relative to the fcc and hcp hollow sites. The results are in good agreement with earlier density functional theory calculations which indicate that the fcc and hcp registries are equally probable, but the PhD results fail to distinguish the two distinct local bonding geometries

A photoelectron diffraction investigation of vanadyl phthalocyanine on Au(1 1 1)

Scanned-energy mode photoelectron diffraction using the O 1s and V 2p emission perpendicular to the surface has been used to investigate the orientation and internal conformation of vanadyl phthalocyanine (VOPc) adsorbed on Au(1 1 1). The results confirm earlier indications from scanning tunnelling microscopy that the Vdouble bond; length as m-dashO vanadyl bond points out of, and not into, the surface. The Vdouble bond; length as m-dashO bondlength is 1.60 ± 0.04 Å, not significantly different from its value in bulk crystalline VOPc. However, the V atom in the adsorbed molecule is almost coplanar with the surrounding N atoms and is thus pulled down into the approximately planar region defined by the N and C atoms by 0.52 (+0.14/−0.10) Å, relative to its location in crystalline VOPc. This change must be attributed to the bonding interaction between the molecule and the underlying metal surface

Factors that affect the uptake of community-based health insurance in low-income and middle-income countries : a systematic protocol

Many people residing in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) are regularly exposed to catastrophic healthcare expenditure. It is therefore pertinent that LMICs should finance their health systems in ways that ensure that their citizens can use needed healthcare services and are protected from potential impoverishment arising from having to pay for services. Ways of financing health systems include government funding, health insurance schemes and out-of-pocket payment. A health insurance scheme refers to pooling of prepaid funds in a way that allows for risks to be shared. The health insurance scheme particularly suitable for the rural poor and the informal sector in LMICs is community-based health insurance (CBHI), that is, insurance schemes operated by organisations other than governments or private for-profit companies. We plan to search for and summarise currently available evidence on factors associated with the uptake of CBHI, as we are not aware of previous systematic reviews that have looked at this important topic

A structural study of a C3H3 species coadsorbed with CO on Pd(1 1 1)

The combination of chemical-state-specific C 1s scanned-energy mode photoelectron diffraction (PhD) and O K-edge near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) has been used to determine the local adsorption geometry of the coadsorbed C3H3 and CO species formed on Pd(1 1 1) by dissociation of molecular furan. CO is found to adopt the same geometry as in the Pd(1 1 1)c(4 × 2)-CO phase, occupying the two inequivalent three-fold coordinated hollow sites with the C–O axis perpendicular to the surface. C3H3 is found to lie with its molecular plane almost parallel to the surface, most probably with the two ‘outer’ C atoms in equivalent off-atop sites, although the PhD analysis formally fails to distinguish between two distinct local adsorption sites