Servant Leadership and Its Impact on Ethical Climate

Many leaders in intercollegiate athletics are under attack due to an overemphasis on winning and revenue generation. In response, some have recommended a transition to a servant leadership approach because of its focus on the well-being of followers and ethical behaviors (Burton & Welty Peachey, 2013; Welty Peachey, Zhou, Damon, & Burton, 2015). The purpose of this study was to examine athletic directors’ potential demonstration of servant leadership and possible contribution to an ethical climate in NCAA Division III institutions. Participants were 326 athletic staff members from NCAA Division III institutions. Results indicated athletic staff members believed athletic directors displayed characteristics of servant leadership. Athletic department employees perceived athletic directors exhibited servant leadership characteristics of accountability, standing back, stewardship, authenticity, humility, and empowerment most often. Staff members who perceived athletic directors displayed servant leadership characteristics were more likely to report working in an ethical climate. If athletic directors choose to model the characteristics of servant leaders, they could promote more fully the NCAA Division III philosophy of prioritizing the well-being of others, being a positive role model for employees, and fostering ethical work climates within their athletic departments

Pooling, tranching, and credit expansion

Traditionally banks have used securitization for expanding credit and thus their profitability. It has been well documented that, at least before the 2008 crisis, many banks were keeping a high proportion of the securities that they created on their own balance-sheets. Those securities retained included both the high-risk ‘equity’ tranche and the low-risk AAA-rated tranche. This paper builds a simple model of securitization that accounts for the above retention strategies. Banks in the model retained the equity tranche as skin in the game in order to mitigate moral hazard concerns while they post the low-risk tranche as collateral in order to take advantage of the yield curve. When variations in loan quality are introduced the predicted retention strategies match well those found in empirical studies

Piscine (Sparus aurata) transthyretin cDNA cloning and characterization

Transthyretin (TTR) is one of the three plasma proteins that participate in the transport of thyroid hormones, thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3); it is also involved in the carriage of retinol through the mediation of retinol-binding protein.1 The liver and choroid plexus are the major sites of TTR synthesis in mammals, birds, and diprotodont marsupials; in reptiles, TTR is only synthesized in the choroid plexus. 2 cDNA coding for TTR has been cloned from several mammalian, reptilian, and avian species and is highly conserved especially in the domains involved in binding to thyroid hormones.3 TTR expression has never been reported in fish, in which albumin is considered to be the main carrier for T3 and T4.2 We report the cloning of a TTR cDNA from sea bream (Sparus aurata) and demonstrate the presence of TTR mRNA in the liver of this fish

Strategy and Sample Selection -- A Strategic Selection Estimator

The development and proliferation of strategic estimators has narrowed the gap between theoretical models and empirical testing. But despite recent contributions that extend the basic strategic estimator, researchers have continued to neglect a classic social science phenomenon: selection. Compared to non-strategic estimators, strategic models are even more prone to selection effects. First, external shocks or omitted variables can lead to correlated errors. Second, because the systematic parts of actors? utilities usually overlap on certain key variables, the two sets of explanatory variables are correlated. As a result, both the systematic and the stochastic components can be correlated. However, given that the estimates for the first mover are computed based on the potentially biased predicted probabilities of the second actor, we also generate biased estimates for the first actor. In applied work researchers neglect the potential shortcomings due to selection bias. This paper presents an alternative strategic estimator that takes selection into account and allows scholars to obtain consistent, unbiased, and efficient estimates in the presence of both selection and strategic action. I present a Monte Carlo analysis as well as a real world application to illustrate the superior performance of this estimator relative to the standard practice

Protecting People from Natural Disasters: Political Institutions and Ocean-Originated Hazards

Why do some leaders protect their citizens from natural disasters while others do not? This paper argues that leaders in large coalition systems provide more protection against natural disasters than leaders in small coalition systems. Yet, autocrats also provide large-scale disaster protection if members of their winning coalition are exposed to natural hazards. The paper tests these propositions by examining cross-country variation in the number of sea-level stations as a lower bound for protection against ocean-originated disasters. Empirical evidence indicates that leaders in large coalition systems deploy more sea-level stations than their counterparts in small coalition systems. The evidence also shows that if the national capital is close to the coast, thus exposing members of the ruling coalition to ocean-originated hazards, leaders across political systems install more sea-level stations

Shopping Facilities and Mobility Behaviour in East Germany

After the collapse of the socialist system, far-reaching structural changes took place in East Germany, with particular rapidity in two specific areas: in retailing with the trend towards large-scale outlets in peripheral locations, and in passenger transport with the trend towards longer journeys made by car. As far as attractive local retail facilities are concerned, it is important to establish what potential they have in this specific context with regards to both supply and demand. A closely linked issue is that of the significance of distance as a deter- mining factor in the choice of store for grocery shopping

Differential receptor binding and regulatory mechanisms for the lymphangiogenic growth factors VEGF-C and VEGF-D

VEGF-C and VEGF-D are secreted glycoproteins that induce angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis in cancer, thereby promoting tumor growth and spread. They exhibit structural homology and activate VEGFR-2 and VEGFR-3, receptors on endothelial cells that signal for growth of blood vessels and lymphatics. VEGF-C and VEGF-D were thought to exhibit similar bioactivities, yet recent studies indicated distinct signaling mechanisms (e.g. tumor-derived VEGF-C promoted expression of the prostaglandin biosynthetic enzyme COX-2 in lymphatics, a response thought to facilitate metastasis via the lymphatic vasculature, whereas VEGF-D did not). Here we explore the basis of the distinct bioactivities of VEGF-D using a neutralizing antibody, peptide mapping, and mutagenesis to demonstrate that the N-terminal α-helix of mature VEGF-D (Phe(93)–Arg(108)) is critical for binding VEGFR-2 and VEGFR-3. Importantly, the N-terminal part of this α-helix, from Phe(93) to Thr(98), is required for binding VEGFR-3 but not VEGFR-2. Surprisingly, the corresponding part of the α-helix in mature VEGF-C did not influence binding to either VEGFR-2 or VEGFR-3, indicating distinct determinants of receptor binding by these growth factors. A variant of mature VEGF-D harboring a mutation in the N-terminal α-helix, D103A, exhibited enhanced potency for activating VEGFR-3, was able to promote increased COX-2 mRNA levels in lymphatic endothelial cells, and had enhanced capacity to induce lymphatic sprouting in vivo. This mutant may be useful for developing protein-based therapeutics to drive lymphangiogenesis in clinical settings, such as lymphedema. Our studies shed light on the VEGF-D structure/function relationship and provide a basis for understanding functional differences compared with VEGF-C