The time-varying nature of the overreaction effect: evidence from the UK

Previous studies on the overreaction effect in the UK show that prior losers consistently outperform prior winners in the period 1975 to 1990. This paper extends current knowledge by assessing the above phenomenon in the UK market for the period 1987 to 2007. In contrast to earlier research, we produce evidence of a weak presence of the overreaction effect for the latest test period. Further, we show that, after adjusting for size, the overreaction effect almost disappears and any additional excess post-formation return to prior-losers is attributable to market cycles. This study implies that the presence of the overreaction effect in the UK stock market is time-varying and difficult to exploit in practice

Conversion as an option

The following thesis examines conversion as a suitable option in response to market requirements, as an alternative to building a new or to acquiring an existing vessel. While conversions often appear as an option in the industry, little has been said about them and the methodology they should follow. The thesis investigates and proposes a methodology that can be used to evaluate the techno-economic feasibility of converting a vessel. The thesis begins by discussing why and in which cases a conversion may be considered and examines why they should be looked upon with favour. It is acknowledged that conversions are not a new thing but have played a significant role thought maritime history by presenting several examples. A number of noteworthy conversion projects that have taken place in the industry, in more recent days, are then presented and discussed. The reasons behind conversion are examined and identified, and conversions are categorised in a number of types. A methodology is next presented for considering the conversion of a vessel. The methodology begins by evaluating the conversion option against building or acquiring an existing vessel. After the decision for conversion has been taken, a process that will shape the conversion and prepare the ground for analyzing the investment commences. In order to define the conversion characteristics, the reasons for conversion are thoroughly investigated and in combination with a broader market analysis a set of factors influencing the conversion are identified. Based on these factors conversion candidates are evaluated and a decision for conversion is taken on a cost and time basis while also considering other possible implications. The effectiveness of the methodology proposed is further examined in two case studies. Case study I considers a conversion targeting a certain cargo while Case study II considers a conversion as a result of regulation change. The outcome of the thesis investigation is discussed concluding that even though each conversion is unique and will heavily depend on the experiences of the individuals involved, a certain methodology for evaluating them can be followed that appears as a result of rational thinking.The following thesis examines conversion as a suitable option in response to market requirements, as an alternative to building a new or to acquiring an existing vessel. While conversions often appear as an option in the industry, little has been said about them and the methodology they should follow. The thesis investigates and proposes a methodology that can be used to evaluate the techno-economic feasibility of converting a vessel. The thesis begins by discussing why and in which cases a conversion may be considered and examines why they should be looked upon with favour. It is acknowledged that conversions are not a new thing but have played a significant role thought maritime history by presenting several examples. A number of noteworthy conversion projects that have taken place in the industry, in more recent days, are then presented and discussed. The reasons behind conversion are examined and identified, and conversions are categorised in a number of types. A methodology is next presented for considering the conversion of a vessel. The methodology begins by evaluating the conversion option against building or acquiring an existing vessel. After the decision for conversion has been taken, a process that will shape the conversion and prepare the ground for analyzing the investment commences. In order to define the conversion characteristics, the reasons for conversion are thoroughly investigated and in combination with a broader market analysis a set of factors influencing the conversion are identified. Based on these factors conversion candidates are evaluated and a decision for conversion is taken on a cost and time basis while also considering other possible implications. The effectiveness of the methodology proposed is further examined in two case studies. Case study I considers a conversion targeting a certain cargo while Case study II considers a conversion as a result of regulation change. The outcome of the thesis investigation is discussed concluding that even though each conversion is unique and will heavily depend on the experiences of the individuals involved, a certain methodology for evaluating them can be followed that appears as a result of rational thinking

Coupling between the TRPC3 ion channel and the NCX1 transporter contributed to VEGF-induced ERK1/2 activation and angiogenesis in human primary endothelial cells

This work was directly funded by the Barts and the London National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit. Support to PA and MMY by the Barts Health “Diabetic Kidney Disease Centre,” supported and funded by the Barts and the London Charity (Grant Number 577-2348) is gratefully acknowledged. SAE receives funding from The Institute of Cancer Research and Cancer Research United Kingdom Grant C309/A8274. The authors wish to thank Sam Ranasinghe (University College London) for assistance with the FLIPR – Tetra assays

Amylin in the periphery II: An updated mini-review

Amylin is a polypeptide that is cosecreted with insulin from the beta cells of the pancreas. Therefore, in states of diabetes in which the beta-cell mass is largely depleted or dysfunctional, insulin and amylin secretion are also lost or dysregulated. While the soluble monomeric form of amylin acts as a hormone that alters physiological responses related to feeding and acts as a specific growth factor, there has been renewed interest in the less-soluble oligomeric and insoluble polymeric forms of human (also monkey and cat) amylin that may contribute to the establishment of a pathophysiological pathway to overt diabetes. With this discovery has grown the hope of minimizing, with appropriate therapy, these toxic forms to preserve the functional (c) not-cell mass. Human beta cells may also be more vulnerable to these forms and one risk factor, a higher fat diet, may promote toxic forms. The generation and utilities of transgenic rodent models, which express enhanced levels of human amylin, have been accompanied by strategies that may lead to the reduction of toxic forms and associated risk factors. The successful definition and faithful expression of the physiological receptors (and complexes) for amylin that may differ for each target organ is an important development in the field of amylin research generally. Besides the heuristic value for the understanding of the molecular biology of receptors, the opportunity to screen and identify nonpeptide analogues that bind the physiological receptors has important implications for biomedicine and clinical practice in relation to treatments for diabetic complications, bone diseases, and eating disorders. In particular, in their capacities to mimic the effects of amylin as a growth factor, amylin analogues may prove useful in the stimulation of beta-cell mass (in conjunction with other factors), reduce the activity of the osteoclast population, and stimulate the regeneration of proximal tubules following toxic insult (and thus avoid the development of renal insufficiency)

System and software architecting harmonization practices in ultra-large-scale systems of systems:A confirmatory case study

Context: The challenges posed by the architecting of System of Systems (SoS) has motivated a significant number of research efforts in the area. However, literature is lacking when it comes to the interplay between the disciplines involved in the architecting process, a key factor in addressing these challenges.Objective: This paper aims to contribute to this line of research by confirming and extending previously characterized architecting harmonization practices from Systems and Software Engineering, adopted in an ultra-large-scale SoS. Method: We conducted a confirmatory case study on the Square-Kilometre Array (SKA) project to evaluate and extend the findings of our exploratory case on the LOFAR/LOFAR2.0 radio-telescope projects. In doing so, a pre-study was conducted to map the findings of the previous study with respect to the SKA context. A survey was then designed, through which the views of 46 SKA engineers were collected and analyzed. Results: The study confirmed in various degrees the four practices identified in the exploratory case, and provided further insights about them, namely: (1) the friction between disciplines caused by long-term system requirements, and how they can be ameliorated through intermediate, short-term requirements; (2) the way design choices with a cross-cutting impact on multiple agile teams have an indirect impact on the system architecture; (3) how these design choices are often caused by the criteria that guided early system decomposition; (4) the seemingly recurrent issue with the lack of details about the dynamic elements of the interfaces; and (5) the use of machine-readable interface specifications for aligning hardware/software development processes

System- and Software-level Architecting Harmonization Practices for Systems-of-Systems:An exploratory case study on a long-running large-scale scientific instrument

The problems caused by the gap between system- and software-level architecting practices, especially in the context of Systems of Systems where the two disciplines inexorably meet, is a well known issue with a disappointingly low amount of works in the literature dedicated to it. At the same time, organizations working on Systems of Systems have been developing solutions for closing this gap for many years now. This work aims to extract such knowledge from practitioners by studying the case of a large-scale scientific instrument, a geographically distributed radio telescope to be more specific, developed as a sequence of projects during the last two decades. As the means for collecting data for this study we combine online interviews with a virtual focus group of practitioners from the organization responsible for building the instrument. Through this process, we identify persisting problems and the best practices that have been developed to deal with them, together with the perceived benefits and drawbacks of applying the latter in practice. Some of our major findings include the need to avoid over-reliance on the flexibility of software to compensate for incomplete requirements, hidden assumptions, as well as late involvement of system architecting, and to facilitate the cooperation between the involved disciplines through dedicated architecting roles and the adoption of unifying practices and standards

A shadowed legal transplantation: takeover defence regulation in China

Compares the operation of the takeover and takeover defence regulations in the UK and China. Reviews the role of path dependence in corporate governance, the evolution of the UK's statutory regulation model with its self-regulatory aspects, and China's shareholder-centric takeover defence, which was transplanted from the UK via Hong Kong. Discusses the implications of the different corporate ownership structures in the two jurisdictions

On the origin of the λ\lambda-transition in liquid Sulphur

Developing a novel experimental technique, we applied photon correlation spectroscopy using infrared radiation in liquid Sulphur around $T_\lambda$, i.e. in the temperature range where an abrupt increase in viscosity by four orders of magnitude is observed upon heating within few degrees. This allowed us - overcoming photo-induced and absorption effects at visible wavelengths - to reveal a chain relaxation process with characteristic time in the ms range. These results do rehabilitate the validity of the Maxwell relation in Sulphur from an apparent failure, allowing rationalizing the mechanical and thermodynamic behavior of this system within a viscoelastic scenario.Comment: 5 pages, 4 eps figures, accepted in Phys. Rev. Let

Pressure screening in the interior of primary shells in double-wall carbon nanotubes

The pressure response of double-wall carbon nanotubes has been investigated by means of Raman spectroscopy up to 10 GPa. The intensity of the radial breathing modes of the outer tubes decreases rapidly but remain observable up to 9 GPa, exhibiting a behavior similar (but less pronounced) to that of single-wall carbon nanotubes, which undergo a shape distortion at higher pressures. In addition, the tangential band of the external tubes broadens and decreases in amplitude. The corresponding Raman features of the internal tubes appear to be considerably less sensitive to pressure. All findings lead to the conclusion that the outer tubes act as a protection shield for the inner tubes whereas the latter increase the structural stability of the outer tubes upon pressure application.Comment: PDF with 15 pages, 3 figures, 1 table; submitted to Physical Review