Critical Innovations in the UK Peer-to-Peer (P2P) and Equity Alternative Finance Markets for Small Firm Growth

© The Author(s) 2016. The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation by Sage Publications Ltd. All rights reserved. It is available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/1465750316655906This paper examines the disruptive nature of financial innovations available to small firms by the growing range of online platforms that have emerged in the UK since the financial crisis. It is unveiled that finance provided to small firms via such mechanisms is not identical to more traditional sources and its adoption therefore cannot be said to be simply a question of direct substitution based, for example, on a price comparison. These offer a series of important advantages over more traditional sources of early-stage capital for entrepreneurs seeking funding. Service innovations around security, flexibility of terms, speed of access and transparency of pricing are as important as price considerations for many users, as are innovations made possible by the way these online markets are structured and in particular in the way these innovative structures allow important types of risk to be dispersed and mitigated.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Human Amniotic Epithelial Cell Transplantation Induces Markers of Alternative Macrophage Activation and Reduces Established Hepatic Fibrosis

Chronic hepatic inflammation from multiple etiologies leads to a fibrogenic response that can progress to cirrhosis and liver failure. Transplantation of human amniotic epithelial cells (hAEC) from term delivered placenta has been shown to decrease mild to moderate hepatic fibrosis in a murine model. To model advanced human liver disease and assess the efficacy of hAEC therapy, we transplanted hAEC in mice with advanced hepatic fibrosis. Immunocompetent C57BL/6 mice were administered carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) twice weekly resulting in bridging fibrosis by 12 weeks. hAEC (2×106) were infused via the tail vein at week 8 or weeks 8 and 10 (single and double dose, respectively). Human cells were detected in mouse liver four weeks after transplantation showing hAEC engraftment. CCl4 treated mice receiving single or double hAEC doses showed a significant but similar decrease in liver fibrosis area associated with decreased activation of collagen-producing hepatic stellate cells and decreased hepatic protein levels of the pro-fibrogenic cytokine, transforming growth factor-beta1. CCl4 administration caused hepatic T cell infiltration that decreased significantly following hAEC transplantation. Hepatic macrophages play a crucial role in both fibrogenesis and fibrosis resolution. Mice exposed to CCl4 demonstrated increased numbers of hepatic macrophages compared to normal mice; the number of macrophages decreased significantly in CCl4 treated mice given hAEC. These mice had significantly lower hepatic protein levels of the chemokine monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 than mice given CCl4 alone. Alternatively activated M2 macrophages are associated with fibrosis resolution. CCl4 treated mice given hAEC showed increased expression of genes associated with M2 macrophages including YM-1, IL-10 and CD206. We provide novel data showing that hAEC transplantation induces a wound healing M2 macrophage phenotype associated with reduction of established hepatic fibrosis that justifies further investigation of this potential cell-based therapy for advanced hepatic fibrosis

The influence of land-surface heterogeneities on heavy convective rainfall in the Washington-Baltimore metropolitan area

Low-level convergence induced by land surface heterogeneities can have substantial influence on atmospheric convection and rainfall. Analyses of heavy convective rainfall in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area are performed using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model, coupled with the Princeton Urban Canopy Model (PUCM) that resolves urban subfacet heterogeneity. Analyses center on storms that produced heavy rainfall and record urban flooding in Baltimore on 1 June 2012. The control simulation using PUCM shows a better performance in reproducing the surface energy balance and rainfall than the simulation using a traditional slab model for the urban area. Sensitivity experiments are carried out to identify the role of the land surface heterogeneities, arising from land-water and urban-nonurban contrasts in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area, on heavy rainfall from organized thunderstorm systems. The intersection of low-level convergence zones from thunderstorm downdrafts and from the bay breeze from the Chesapeake Bay enhances the upward motion of preexisting convective storms. The larger sensible heating from the urban area modifies the low-level temperature and wind fields, which in turn modifies the bay breeze. The enhanced moisture supply in the deepened bay-breeze inflow layer due to urban heating promotes intense convection and heavy rainfall in conjunction with the enhanced upward motion at intersecting convergence zones. This study suggests that better representations of surface heat and moisture fluxes in urban areas along major water bodies are required to better capture the timing and location of severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall.11Nsciescopu

The regional water cycle and heavy spring rainfall in Iowa: Observational and modeling analyses from the IFloodS campaign

`The regional water cycle is examined with a special focus on water vapor transport in Iowa during the Iowa Flood Studies (IFIoodS) campaign period, April June 2013. The period had exceptionally large rainfall accumulations, and rainfall was distributed over an unusually large number of storm days. Radar-derived rainfall fields covering the 200 000 km(2) study region; precipitable water from a network of global positioning system (GPS) measurements; and vertically integrated water vapor flux derived from GPS precipitable water, radar velocity azimuth display (VAD) wind profiles, and radiosonde humidity profiles are utilized. They show that heavy rainfall is relatively weakly correlated with precipitable water and precipitable water change, with somewhat stronger direct relationships to water vapor flux. Thermodynamic properties tied to the vertical distribution of water vapor play an important role in determining heavy rainfall distribution, especially for periods of strong southerly water vapor flux. The diurnal variation of the water cycle during the IFIoodS field campaign is pronounced, especially for rainfall and water vapor flux. To examine the potential effects of relative humidity in the lower atmosphere on heavy rainfall, numerical simulations are performed. It is found that low-level moisture can greatly affect heavy rainfall amount under favorable large-scale environmental conditions.11Nsciescopu