How Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Affect the Excluded Companies’ Stock Price

This thesis examines the effect Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) has on the companies it excludes from the portfolio. The data sample consists of 25 companies excluded based on environmental damage and unacceptable greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. An event study has been conducted to examine whether the exclusion from the fund has a negative impact on the companies’ stock prices. This makes it possible to examine the abnormal returns, and whether they are affected by the exclusion. The main findings and conclusion are that the exclusions do not negatively influence the excluded firms. The influence of exclusions does not result in statistically significant negative abnormal returns, and thus we fail to reject the null hypothesis. These findings are inconsistent with the majority of earlier studies, which found that the exclusion had a statistically significant negative impact on the excluded companies. This may be because of the differences in the data selection, and information leakage, or it might be explained by the fact that there are always willing buyers. One explanation may also be that investors do not regard sustainability as important and essential for their investments

The role of adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with resected pancreatic cancer: Systematic review of randomized controlled trials and meta-analysis

Background: In patients undergoing surgery for resectable pancreatic cancer prognosis still remains poor. The role of adjuvant treatment strategies (including chemotherapy and chemoradiotherapy) following resection of pancreatic cancer remains controversial. Methods: A Medline-based literature search was undertaken to identify randomized controlled trials that evaluated adjuvant chemotherapy after complete macroscopic resection for cancer of the exocrine pancreas. Five trials of adjuvant chemotherapy were eligible and critically reviewed for this article. A meta-analysis (based on published data) was performed with survival (median survival time and 5-year survival rate) being the primary endpoint. Results: For the meta-analysis, 482 patients were allocated to the chemotherapy group and 469 patients to the control group. The meta-analysis estimate for prolongation of median survival time for patients in the chemotherapy group was 3 months (95% CI 0.3-5.7 months, p = 0.03). The difference in 5-year survival rate was estimated with 3.1% between the chemotherapy and the control group (95% CI -4.6 to 10.8%, p > 10.05). Conclusion: Currently available data from randomized trials indicate that adjuvant chemotherapy after resection of pancreatic cancer may substantially prolong disease-free survival and cause a moderate increase in overall survival. In the current meta-analysis, a significant survival benefit was only seen with regard to median survival, but not for the 5-year survival rate. The optimal chemotherapy regimen in the adjuvant setting as well as individualized treatment strategies (also including modern chemoradiotherapy regimens) still remain to be defined. Copyright (C) 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel

Meta-analysis of randomised adjuvant therapy trials for pancreatic cancer

The aim of this study was to investigate the worldwide evidence of the roles of adjuvant chemoradiation and adjuvant chemotherapy on survival in potentially curative resected pancreatic cancer. Five randomised controlled trials of adjuvant treatment in patients with histologically proven pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma were identified, of which the four most recent trials provided individual patient data (875 patients). This meta-analysis includes previously unpublished follow-up data on 261 patients. The pooled estimate of the hazard ratio (HR) indicated a 25% significant reduction in the risk of death with chemotherapy (HR=0.75, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.64, 0.90, P-valuesstratified (Pstrat)=0.001) with median survival estimated at 19.0 (95% CI: 16.4, 21.1) months with chemotherapy and 13.5 (95% CI: 12.2, 15.8) without. The 2- and 5-year survival rates were estimated at 38 and 19%, respectively, with chemotherapy and 28 and 12% without. The pooled estimate of the HR indicated no significant difference in the risk of death with chemoradiation (HR=1.09, 95% CI: 0.89, 1.32, Pstrat=0.43) with median survivals estimated at 15.8 (95% CI: 13.9, 18.1) months with chemoradiation and 15.2 (95% CI: 13.1, 18.2) without. The 2- and 5-year survival rates were estimated at 30 and 12%, respectively, with chemoradiation and 34 and 17% without. Subgroup analyses estimated that chemoradiation was more effective and chemotherapy less effective in patients with positive resection margins. These results show that chemotherapy is effective adjuvant treatment in pancreatic cancer but not chemoradiation. Further studies with chemoradiation are warranted in patients with positive resection margins, as chemotherapy appeared relatively ineffective in this patient subgroup

A novel biweekly pancreatic cancer treatment schedule with gemcitabine, 5-fluorouracil and folinic acid

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is a common disease considered to be poorly responsive to antiblastic treatment. Recent clinical and preclinical results suggest that a combined treatment of gemcitabine (GEM), 5-flurouracil (5-FU) and folinic acid (FA) offers a clinical benefit in patients with advanced pancreas adenocarcinoma. The aim of this phase II clinical trial was to evaluate the antitumour activity and toxicity of a novel biweekly schedule of this combination in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma. A total of 42 patients received a 30 min infusion of FA (100 mgm2) and 5-FU (400 mgm2) (FUFA) on days 1–3, and GEM 1000 mgm2 on day 1 every 15 days. We observed 13 objective responses (two complete, 11 partial) and 23 stable diseases. The median time to progression was 9.75 months (95% Confidence Interval (CI), 6.88–12.62) and the median overall survival was 13.10 months (95% CI 9.64–16.56). There were seven cases of each grade III gastroenteric and haematological toxicity. The GEM plus FUFA combination appears to be well tolerated and very active in patients with pancreatic carcinoma

Utviklingsgruppen - gull verdt? Utviklingsgruppens betydning for utvikling av det profesjonelle fellesskapet

Sammendrag Den nasjonale satsningen på skolebasert kompetanseutvikling har som hovedmålsetting å utvikle lærernes undervisningskompetanse, slik at elevene presterer bedre. Til tross for at målene er like for skolene, er det variasjoner skolene imellom med tanke på hvordan utviklingsarbeidet organiseres og ledes. I denne oppgaven presenteres hvordan en utviklingsgruppe leder skolens utviklingsarbeid. Skolen hvor studien ble gjennomført, omtales som en «spydspiss-skole», da den i kommunen blir ansett som ledende når det gjelder organisering og ledelse av et godt og systematisk utviklingsarbeid. Dette er en kvalitativ studie, hvor intervju og observasjon er benyttet for innhenting av data. Problemstillingen for studien er: Hvordan kan utviklingsgruppens arbeid bidra til utvikling av det profesjonelle fellesskapet? Funnene viser at utviklingsgruppen på skolen er en avgjørende faktor for utvikling av det profesjonelle fellesskapet. Konklusjonen bunner i at medlemmene av utviklingsgruppen har den nødvendige (1) fagkunnskapen, og benytter denne kunnskapen til å tilrettelegge for et utviklingsarbeid som er (2) praksisnært. Disse to elementene er viktige, da de er medvirkende til at ledelsen og lærerne sammen arbeider for å skape en felles forståelse av hvordan undervisningspraksisen kan forbedres. I tillegg blir (3) lojalitet og tillit til lærerrepresentantene i utviklingsgruppen, som har likt kunnskapsgrunnlag og lik arbeidsbelastning med resten lærerkollegiet, trukket frem som avgjørende. Kompetansen til medlemmene av utviklingsgruppen er bred, og medvirkende til at de klarer å løse de komplekse utviklingsoppgavene. Ut fra funnene i denne studien er det nærliggende å beskrive utviklingsgruppen som et (4) effektivt team. I tillegg til betydningen av at utviklingsgruppen leder utviklingsarbeidet, er det viktig å trekke frem rektors rolle i arbeidet. Han har indirekte påvirkning på lærerne og elevenes læring gjennom måten han organiserer utviklingsarbeidet på. Ambisjonene og verdiene hans er medvirkende til en utviklingskultur der lærerne reflekterer rundt undervisningspraksis og lærernes og elevens læring