Financial disclosure and the Board: A case for non-independent directors

In listed companies, the Board of directors has ultimate responsibility for information disclosure. The conventional wisdom is that director independence is an essential factor in improving the quality of that disclosure. In a sense, this approach subordinates expertise to independence. We argue that effective certification may require firm-specific expertise, in particular for intangible-intensive business models. However, this latter form of expertise is negatively related to independence as it is commonly measured and evaluated. Accordingly, there exists an optimal share of independent directors for each company, related to the level of intangible resources.

Much ado about making money: The impact of disclosure, news and rumors over the formation of security market prices over time

This article develops an agent-based model of security market pricing process, capable to capture main stylised facts. It features a collective market pricing mechanism based upon evolving heterogenous expectations that incorporate signals of security issuer fundamental performance over time. Distinctive signaling sources on this performance correspond to institutional mechanisms of information diffusion. These sources differ by duration effect (temporary, persistent, and permanent), confidence, and diffusion degree among investors over space and time. Under full and immediate diffusion and balanced reaction by all the investors, the value of these sources should be consistently and timely integrated by the market price process, implying efficient pricing. By relaxing these quite heroic conditions, we assess the impact of distinctive information sources over market price dynamics, through financial systemic properties such as market price volatility, exuberance and errancy, as well as market liquidity. Our simulation analysis shows that transient information shocks can have permanent effects through mismatching reactions and self-reinforcing feedbacks, involving mispricing in both value and timing relative to the efficient market price series. This mispricing depends on both the information diffusion process and the ongoing information confidence mood among investors over space and time. We illustrate our results through paradigmatic cases of stochastic news, before generalising them to autocorrelated news. Our results are further corroborated by robustness checks over the parameter space

What does the financial market pricing do? A simulation analysis with a view to systemic volatility, exuberance and vagary

Biondi et al. (Phys A 391(22):5532–5545, 2012) develop an analytical model to examine the emergent dynamic properties of share market price formation over time, capable to capture important stylized facts. These latter properties prove to be sensitive to regulatory regimes for fundamental information provision, as well as to market confidence conditions among actual and potential investors. We comparatively assess accounting models belonging to two main families: historical cost accounting and mark-to-market (fair value) accounting regimes. Regimes based upon mark-to-market measurement of traded security, while generating higher linear correlation between market prices and fundamental signals, also involve higher market instability and volatility. These regimes also incur more relevant episodes of market exuberance and vagary in some regions of the market confidence space, where lower market liquidity further occurs

The Current Challenges for EU Company and Financial Law and Regulation

Please note that this is a paper authored by the Business and Financial Law SIG of the ELI. The statements and recommendations contained in this paper have not been approved or endorsed by any statutory body of the ELI and thus should not be taken to represent an official Statement, Instrument or position of the ELI.European company and financial law and regulation have been evolving over time along with business and financial practices. The resulting ‘social licence’ established by company and financial law and regulation aimed to balance the granted privileges of limited liability and share transferability with the corporate social contribution to economic development and employment. Recent transformations driven by shareholder value and financialisation have been challenging this balance of interests between stakeholders (including employees and shareholders) and society. The EU institutional framework may respond to these challenges by reaffirming the centrality of the enterprise as a going concern. On this basis, corporate accountability and responsibility may be enforced to make ongoing corporate affairs accountable and responsible for their contribution to economy and society. Ongoing corporate capacity to cope with social and environmental responsibilities may be assured along with the fair and sustainable remuneration of stakeholders, including shareholding investors, and a fair tax contribution. The EU institutional design and policy mix may be organised to respond to this comprehensive set of corporate dimensions. Here the most relevant fields to be reconsidered include: enterprise groups and corporate social responsibility; financial reporting and transparency; financial investment and asset management

Dynamics of two phosphorelays controlling cell cycle progression in 1 Caulobacter crescentus

In Caulobacter crescentus, progression through the cell cycle is governed by the periodic activation and inactivation of the master regulator CtrA. Two phosphorelays, each initiating with the histidine kinase CckA, promote CtrA activation by driving its phosphorylation and by inactivating its proteolysis. Here, we examined whether the CckA phosphorelays also influence the downregulation of CtrA. We demonstrate that CckA is bifunctional, capable of acting as either a kinase or phosphatase to drive the activation or inactivation, respectively, of CtrA. By identifying mutations that uncouple these two activities, we show that CckA's phosphatase activity is important for downregulating CtrA prior to DNA replication initiation in vivo but that other phosphatases may exist. Our results demonstrate that cell cycle transitions in Caulobacter require and are likely driven by the toggling of CckA between its kinase and phosphatase states. More generally, our results emphasize how the bifunctional nature of histidine kinases can help switch cells between mutually exclusive states

The Past, Present, and Future of Non-Viral CAR T Cells

Adoptive transfer of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T lymphocytes is a powerful technology that has revolutionized the way we conceive immunotherapy. The impressive clinical results of complete and prolonged response in refractory and relapsed diseases have shifted the landscape of treatment for hematological malignancies, particularly those of lymphoid origin, and opens up new possibilities for the treatment of solid neoplasms. However, the widening use of cell therapy is hampered by the accessibility to viral vectors that are commonly used for T cell transfection. In the era of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines and CRISPR/Cas (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat-CRISPR-associated) precise genome editing, novel and virus-free methods for T cell engineering are emerging as a more versatile, flexible, and sustainable alternative for next-generation CAR T cell manufacturing. Here, we discuss how the use of non-viral vectors can address some of the limitations of the viral methods of gene transfer and allow us to deliver genetic information in a stable, effective and straightforward manner. In particular, we address the main transposon systems such as Sleeping Beauty (SB) and piggyBac (PB), the utilization of mRNA, and innovative approaches of nanotechnology like Lipid-based and Polymer-based DNA nanocarriers and nanovectors. We also describe the most relevant preclinical data that have recently led to the use of non-viral gene therapy in emerging clinical trials, and the related safety and efficacy aspects. We will also provide practical considerations for future trials to enable successful and safe cell therapy with non-viral methods for CAR T cell generation

Mössbauer characterization of microbially mediated iron and manganese ores of variable geological ages

A combination of various techniques was applied to investigate the mineralogy of the Neoproterozoic Urucum iron and manganese deposit (Brazil) and Carboniferous and Permian manganese carbonate deposits (China). The examined deposits exhibited signs of microbial mediation from Fe and Mn bacteria and cyanobacteria. The studied samples showed diversity in their composition and particle size. Probes from Urucum deposit revealed that the rocks consist mainly of hematite, showing Mn substitution which reflects the oxidation of Mn on the active surface of Fe-rich biomat. Nanominerals occurring in significant concentration also supported the microbial contribution to the formation of these ores. Representative samples of Neoproterozoic and Permian deposits showed considerable amount of mixed carbonates with variable composition. 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy analysis supported by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy data provided a detailed characterization of Fe-rich mineral phases of the samples, including metal ratio outlooks, particle size dimension and presence and type of impurities. Integrity and high resolution of the methods allowed to determine new features of the samples reflecting important signatures of microbial activity revealing the biogeochemistry of the biomat formation

Mid-infrared Hall effect in thin-film metals: Probing the Fermi surface anisotropy in Au and Cu

A sensitive mid-infrared (MIR, 900-1100 cm-1, 112-136 meV) photo-elastic polarization modulation technique is used to measure simultaneously Faraday rotation and circular dichroism in thin metal films. These two quantities determine the complex AC Hall conductivity. This novel technique is applied to study Au and Cu thin films at temperatures down to 20 K and magnetic fields up to 8 T. The Hall frequency is consistent with band theory predictions. We report the first measurement of the MIR Hall scattering rate, which is significantly lower than that derived from Drude analysis of zero magnetic field MIR transmission measurements. This difference is qualitatively explained in terms of the anisotropy of the Fermi surface in Au and Cu.Comment: 14 pages of text, 5 figure

Right versus left radial artery access for coronary procedures: an international collaborative systematic review and meta-analysis including 5 randomized trials and 3210 patients

BACKGROUND: Radial artery access is a mainstay in the diagnosis and treatment of coronary artery disease. However, there is uncertainty on the comparison of right versus left radial access for coronary procedures. We thus undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis comparing right versus left radial access for coronary diagnostic and interventional procedures. METHODS: Pertinent studies were searched in CENTRAL, Google Scholar, MEDLINE/PubMed, and Scopus, together with international conference proceedings. Randomized trials comparing right versus left radial (or ulnar) access for coronary diagnostic or interventional procedures were included. Risk ratios (RR) and weighted mean differences (WMD) were computed to generate point estimates (95% confidence intervals). RESULTS: A total of 5 trials (3210 patients) were included. No overall significant differences were found comparing right versus left radial access in terms of procedural time (WMD=0.99 [-0.53; 2.51]min, p=0.20), contrast use (WMD=1.71 [-1.32; 4.74]mL, p=0.27), fluoroscopy time (WMD=-35.79 [-3.54; 75.12]s, p=0.07) or any major complication (RR=2.00 [0.75; 5.31], p=0.49). However, right radial access was fraught with a significantly higher risk of failure leading to cross-over to femoral access (RR=1.65 [1.18; 2.30], p=0.003) in comparison to left radial access. CONCLUSIONS: Right and left radial accesses appear largely similar in their overall procedural and clinical performance during transradial diagnostic or interventional procedures. Nonetheless, left radial access can be recommended especially during the learning curve phase to reduce femoral cross-overs