Acquisitions may add value to resource companies

Resource acquisitions have added value to resource companies over the past two decades. This stems from the results of this research which has analysed 30 transactions and further reviewed 22 transactions with a total value A$240 billion. However, this figure is dominated by the 1997 BHP Billiton bid for Rio Tinto and if this attempted takeover is excluded from the list, the total value of the transactions analysed is A$60 billion.The consolidation has occurred in three waves since the early 1990s. These periods are: • First, a period starting in 1995 and ending in 2000; it included the end of the 1992-1996 bull run, the Asian Crisis and a period known as the 1998-2000 bull run and ending during the start of the Tech Boom drift, • Secondly, a period between 2002 and 2004 which combines the waning stages of the Tech Boom drift and the commencement of the 2002-2008 Resources Boom, and, • Thirdly, in a more recent period from 2006 to near the end of the 2002-2008 resources boom.Each of these periods has different characteristics but overall there is a broad trend of foreign bidders acquiring Australian companies during weaker markets except during the 2002-2008 Resources Boom.Cumulative abnormal returns (CAR) for both bidders and targets have been estimated using an adapted market model for event analysis. It draws on the strong correlation of absolute resource share with commodity prices.Friendly transactions offer target shareholders a lower final offer price premia to the 30-day average target share price prior to the announcement (dual listing – 17.8 per cent, mergers – 12.9 per cent) and compares to traditional takeovers which average 48.7 per cent. In traditional takeovers the initial offer to 30-day average premia was 37.2 per cent but increases to the final offer to 30-day average premia of 48.7 per cent mostly reflecting the impact of competitive bidding. Average increases in the final offer prices in non-competitive bidding were 16.6 per cent.While both scrip and cash bids offered similar premia to target shareholders, foreign scrip on average offer a 20 per cent higher premia. Elsewhere, there were no material differences between the premia offered in hostile compared to non-hostile takeovers.Bidders offering a 35 per cent premium (whether cash or scrip) to target shareholders are expected to create CAR for the target shareholders at around 24 per cent on the bid announcement. If the bid involves foreign scrip, the premium needs to be raised by 30 per cent but then the CAR for target shareholders will be slightly lower than non-foreign scrip bids at 22.9 per cent. If, however, the bidder can structure a merger the premium can reduce to zero in a ‘merger of equals’.Overall, the negative bidder CAR during the event window is more than offset by positive CAR during the post-event window, leading to a net positive CAR for acquirers of an average of 7.1 per cent. The positive net CAR for acquirers using scrip bids is 11.3 per cent; it falls to 3.5 per cent for bidders using cash offers.In the alternative investment of exploration there are attractive probability weighted exploration returns but these are dampened by the high levels of expenditure required to achieve satisfactory levels of certainty. This will continue to undermine the investment appeal of junior explorers while greenfield exploration will become solely the domain of the majors

Time course and regional distribution of cortical changes during acute alcohol ingestion

Behavioral effects of alcohol are known to be greater when the blood alcohol is rising, known as the Mellanby effect; however, research investigating the cortical changes during this period is scarce. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of consumption of alcohol on cortical activity measured by the electroencephalogram (EEG) during the absorption or rising phase of alcohol EEG signals were recorded using the entire 10/20 montage system. The experimental design consisted of a repeated measures randomized crossover design in which subjects acted as their own control. This involved recording two EEG baseline measures, each of which was followed by a placebo or alcohol condition, delivered over two days for ten subjects. All subjects had a 50% chance of receiving the alcohol first. All subjects were shown to have mean peak blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels of around .03%. No significant differences were found between the two baselines. Significant increases in EEG magnitude occurred in the theta (4-7.75 Hz), alpha 1 (8-9.75 Hz), and beta 1 (13.25-19.75 Hz) spectrum in the frontal EEG regions, and alpha 1 (8-9.75 Hz) in the central and posterior regions. No significant changes were found in the theta (4-7.75 Hz) or beta (13.5-30 Hz) spectrums in the central and posterior regions. There were also no significant results for alpha 2 (10-13 Hz) in any of the regions. These results suggest that rapid cortical changes occur within the first 35 min after alcohol consumption

Systematics and enzymatic activity of Foliar ascomycetes (Fungi) on Lepidozamia peroffskyana and Macrozamia lucida in Eastern Australia

The kingdom Fungi is deeply entangled in the evolutionary history and ecology of life on Earth. The diversity of fungi is poorly known with only 150,000 species described from at least 4 million species by most estimates. The leaf surfaces of plants shelter an extensive diversity of fungi, including filamentous, single-celled, and dimorphic forms. Many extant species may become extinct before their discovery and preservation, due to habitat destruction and a changing climate. Many plants are further under threat in their natural habitats from illegal removal because of their horticultural value. Cycads are one of these horticulturally valuable plants. Cycads are the earliest seed-bearing plants. The fungi found on cycad leaves are often subject to extreme conditions of temperature, humidity, and ultraviolet radiation, which makes them interesting candidates for bioprospecting. This thesis reports the foliar fungi found in association with the leaves of two endemic Australian cycads, Lepidozamia peroffskyana and Macrozamia lucida. Samsoniella sp. and Penicillium sp. were isolated from L. peroffskyana and represent novel species. Periconia cyperacearum was isolated from L. peroffskyana and represents a new host record. A novel species of Acrocalymma and an unidentified fungus were isolated from M. lucida. Several Cladosporium species were isolated from L. peroffskyana and M. lucida. The production of proteases, amylases, cellulases, and mannanases by these fungi was qualitatively investigated using skim milk, starch, cellulose, and galactomannan, as substrates, respectively. Acrocalymma sp. (BRIP 71369a) produced amylase. Cladosporium spp. (BRIP 71372a, BRIP 71364a and BRIP 71173c), and Samsoniella sp. (BRIP 71359b) produced protease and amylase

AUSTRALIA’S PARTICIPATION AND PERFORMANCE AT THE EVIAN CONFERENCE: INTEGRITY OR SHAME?

This article outlines and assesses the contribution made by the Commonwealth of Australia to the Evian Conference of July 1938. The attitude of the Australian government, it will be shown, was ambivalent from the start, with the Commonwealth not even prepared to attend unless Britain also attended. Having then made the commitment to send a representative to Evian, the Australian government chose a man who was neither an immigration expert nor a man with any foreign affairs expertise. Thomas (later Sir Thomas) White, the Australian Minister for Trade and Customs, was a senior minister in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Joseph Lyons, but the experience required for the task of representing Australia at a gathering such as Evian was simply beyond him. The legalistic and unsympathetic stance he adopted led to despair for many of the Jewish delegates at Evian. Upon elected to the chairmanship of one of the two subcommittees set up at the conference, White employed his position to treat the Jewish delegates with utter contempt. His record at the conference, lauded by many of the officials who were present, was one of the least humanitarian of any that can be attributed to Australian statesmen—hardly a ringing endorsement of Australia’s record at this crucial gathering in which the Commonwealth sought, at an early stage, to express itself as an autonomous nation on the international stage

Physiological correlates of bereavement and the impact of bereavement interventions

The death of a loved one is recognized as one of life's greatest stresses, with reports of increased mortality and morbidity for the surviving spouse or parent, especially in the early months of bereavement. The aim of this paper is to review the evidence to date to identify physiological changes in the early bereaved period, and evaluate the impact of bereavement interventions on such physiological responses, where they exist. Research to date suggests that bereavement is associated with neuroendocrine activation (cortisol response), altered sleep (electroencephalography changes), immune imbalance (reduced T-lymphocyte proliferation), inflammatory cell mobilization (neutrophils), and prothrombotic response (platelet activation and increased vWF-ag) as well as hemodynamic changes (heart rate and blood pressure), especially in the early months following loss. Additional evidence suggests that bereavement interventions have the potential to be of value in instances where sleep disturbance becomes a prolonged feature of complicated grief, but have limited efficacy in maintaining immune function in the normal course of bereavement

Bereavement and marriage are associated with antibody response to influenza vaccination in the elderly

Stressful life events exposure including bereavement, an event commonly experienced by elderly people, social support, marital status and satisfaction were examined in relation to antibody response to the annual trivalent influenza vaccination in an elderly community sample (N = 184). Antibody response was assessed at baseline, and at one and 12 months following vaccination. Taking into account baseline antibody titer, overall life events exposure and social support were not associated with response to any of the influenza strains. However, bereavement in the year prior to vaccination was negatively associated with the one-month response to the A/Panama and B/Shangdong strains. Being married and having higher marital satisfaction was also associated with higher peak responses to the A/Panama influenza strain at one month. The positive association between marital satisfaction and A/Panama response was particularly evident in the younger half of the married sample. These associations largely withstood adjustment for potential confounders. Thus, in the elderly, peak antibody response was associated with bereavement and marriage, and not the more general factors, life events and social support, related to antibody response in student samples. This suggests the importance of taking a life course approach to examining relationships between psychosocial factors and immunity, and that interventions to modify the impact of these factors should address those most salient for each age group

Stress, ageing and their influence on functional, cellular and molecular aspects of the immune system

The immune response is essential for keeping an organism healthy and for defending it from different types of pathogens. It is a complex system that consists of a large number of components performing different functions. The adequate and controlled interaction between these components is necessary for a robust and strong immune response. There are, however, many factors that interfere with the way the immune response functions. Stress and ageing now consistently appear in the literature as factors that act upon the immune system in the way that is often damaging. This review focuses on the role of stress and ageing in altering the robustness of the immune response first separately, and then simultaneously, discussing the effects that emerge from their interplay. The special focus is on the psychological stress and the impact that it has at different levels, from the whole system to the individual molecules, resulting in consequences for physical health

The Vaccination Model in Psychoneuroimmunology Research: A Review

This chapter explores the reasoning behind using the vaccination model to examine the influence of psychosocial factors on immunity. It then briefly discusses the mechanics of the vaccination response and the protocols used in psychoneuroimmunology vaccine research, before giving examples from the research literature of the studies examining relationships such as the association between stress and vaccination response. It also explores the ways the vaccination model can be used to answer key questions in psychoneuroimmunology, such as the following: “Does it matter when stressful life events occur relative to when the vaccine is received?” “What are the effects of prior exposure to the antigen?” “Do other psychosocial factors influence vaccine response besides stress?” Finally, it briefly considers the mechanisms underlying psychosocial factors and vaccination response associations and the future research needed to understand these better, and indeed to use current and future knowledge to improve and enhance vaccine responses in key at-risk populations