Does the CEO elite education affect firm hedging policies?

This paper studies the relationship between CEO elite education and firm hedging decisions. It uses the particular specificities of the French post-secondary educational institutions to examine the effect of CEO educational background on the use of foreign currency derivatives. The results show a positive and significant relationship between education quality and derivatives use. Neither the level nor the type of education has any significant effect. The results also show that the use of derivatives enhances firm performance only when CEOs are from elite institutions. These results are robust to a battery of tests that involve alternative estimation techniques, the use of different subsamples, additional control variables, and control for endogeneity and selection bias

Assessment of Electrical Safety Beliefs and Practices: A Case Study

In this paper, the electrical safety beliefs and practices in Hail region, Saudi Arabia, have been assessed. Based on legislative recommendations and rules applied in Saudi Arabia, on official statistics regarding the electricity-caused accidents and on the analysis of more than 200 photos captured in Hail (related to electrical safety), a questionnaire composed of 36 questions (10 for the respondents information, 16 for the home safety culture and 10 for the electrical devices purchasing culture) has been devised and distributed to residents. 228 responses have been collected and analyzed. Using a scale similar to the one adopted for a university student GPA calculation, the electrical safety level (ESL) in Hail region has been found to be 0.76 (in a scale of 4 points) which is a very low score and indicates a poor electrical safety culture. Several recommendations involving different competent authorities have been proposed. Future work will concern the assessment of safety in industrial companies in Hail region

Reaching for Yield and the Diabolic Loop in a Monetary Union

We use the theoretical framework of Acharya and Naqvi (2019) to introduce a macro-financial model where the “reaching for yield” incentivized by a loosening monetary policy in the United States mitigates the diabolic loop in a Monetary Union. We provide empirical evidence that the introduction of an accommodative monetary policy by the Fed lowers the yields in US assets and increases liquidity and, by extension, the threshold above which a liquidity shock can damage a bank. This, in turn, incentivizes bank managers to optimize their portfolios by investing in risky assets. We use a monetary VAR to provide novel empirical evidence that there is an increase in the flow of funds to European assets, a result which can be attributed to the “reaching-for-yield” incentive. This portfolio balance channel attenuates the effects of financial fragility and improves government funding costs as well as credit conditions by providing liquidity to domestic banks and assets. As a result, the “reaching-for-yield” incentive mitigates the diabolic loop effect

A Numerical Approach for Solving Optimal Control Problems Using the Boubaker Polynomials Expansion Scheme

In this paper, we present a computational method for solving optimal control problems and the controlled Duffing oscillator. This method is based on state parametrization. In fact, the state variable is approximated by Boubaker polynomials with unknown coefficients. The equation of motion, performance index and boundary conditions are converted into some algebraic equations. Thus, an optimal control problem converts to a optimization problem, which can then be solved easily. By this method, the numerical value of the performance index is obtained. Also, the control and state variables can be approximated as functions of time. Convergence of the algorithms is proved. Numerical results are given for several test examples to demonstrate the applicability and efficiency of the method

Axillary Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy for Breast Cancer and Melanoma Patients after Previous Axillary Surgery: A Systematic Review

Objective: Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is a validated staging technique for breast carcinoma. Some women are exposed to have a second SLNB due to breast cancer recurrence or a second neoplasia (breast or other). Due to modi- fied anatomy, it has been claimed that previous axillary surgery represents a contra-indication to SLNB. Our objective was to analyse the literature to assess if a second SLNB is to be recommended or not. Methods: For the present study, we performed a review of all published data during the last 10 years on patients with previous axilla surgery and second SLNB. Results: Our analysis shows that second SLNB is feasible in 70%. Extra-axillary SNs rate (31%) was higher after radical lymph node dissection (ALND) (60% - 84%) than after SLNB alone (14% - 65%). Follow-up and com- plementary ALND following negative and positive second SLNB shows that it is a reliable procedure. Conclusion: The review of literature confirms that SLNB is feasible after previous axillary dissection. Triple technique for SN mapping is the best examination to highlight modified lymphatic anatomy and shows definitively where SLNB must be per- formed. Surgery may be more demanding as patients may have more frequently extra-axillary SN only, like internal mammary nodes. ALND can be avoided when second SLNB harvests negative SNs. These conclusions should however be taken with caution because of the heterogeneity of publications regarding SLNB and surgical technique

Influence of annealing and processing conditions on nano-structured thin films of tungsten trioxide

Transition metal oxides represent a novel class of compounds which have attracted a considerable interest in the recent literature. Among these materials, tungsten trioxide has shown great potential due to photo-oxidation of water with visible light, high photocurrent with nano-crystals and good sensing properties towards several gases. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of conditions of heat treatment on properties of WO3 thin films prepared by hermal evaporation under vacuum. Physico-chemical properties of WO3 thin layers for different heat processing conditions were determined by X-ray diffraction XRD, microprobe electronics and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).Optical measurement yieldedt ransmission and reflection measurements. The study of the physicochemical properties of thin layers of thermally post-treated tungsten trioxide showed that layers processed under vacuum have an unidentifiable structure than those annealed in air and crystallized under different crystallographic structures depending on processing temperature. Layers annealed in oxygen hadmonoclinic crystalline structures.It has been recorded that crystallinity and transmission of these films were drastically improved

Nosocomial outbreak of imipenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa producing VIM-2 metallo-β-lactamase in a kidney transplantation unit

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Twenty four non replicate imipenem resistant <it>P. aeruginosa </it>were isolated between January and November 2008, in the kidney transplantation unit of Charles Nicolle Hospital of Tunis (Tunisia). This study was conducted in order to establish epidemiological relationship among them and to identify the enzymatic mechanism involved in imipenem resistance.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Analysis included antimicrobial susceptibility profile, phenotypic (imipenem-EDTA synergy test) and genotypic detection of metallo-β-lactamase (MBL) (PCR), O-serotyping and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>All strains showed a high level of resistance to all antimicrobials tested except to colistin. The presence of MBL showed concordance between phenotypic and genotypic methods. Sixteen isolates were identified as VIM-2 MBL-producers and 13 of them were serotype O4 and belonged to a single pulsotype (A).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study describes an outbreak of VIM-2-producing <it>P. aeruginosa </it>in a kidney transplantation unit. Clinical spread of <it>bla</it>_VIM-2gene is a matter of great concern for carbapenem resistance in Tunisia.</p

Fermat-linked relations for the Boubaker polynomial sequences via Riordan matrices analysis

The Boubaker polynomials are investigated in this paper. Using Riordan matrices analysis, a sequence of relations outlining the relations with Chebyshev and Fermat polynomials have been obtained. The obtained expressions are a meaningful supply to recent applied physics studies using the Boubaker polynomials expansion scheme (BPES).Comment: 12 pages, LaTe

Time-Delay Systems: Modeling, Analysis, Estimation, Control, and Synchronization

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The role of peer effects in corporate employee welfare policies

This paper investigates the role of peer effects in the employee welfare policies of organizations. Using US panel data for a sample of 11,451 firm-year observations from 1996 to 2017, we find that firms’ employee welfare decisions are driven by their peers and show that peer firms play a significant role in defining corporate employee welfare policies. Our findings are robust to various sensitivity checks, including alternative definitions of employee welfare, alternative peer proxies and several identification strategies. Our additional analysis shows that herding behaviour is prevalent in followers, who mimic leaders’ behaviour, but we do not find any such relationship for industry leaders. Further, we show evidence suggesting that mimetic and normative isomorphic pressures are driving the peer effects. Finally, we examine the economic consequences of peer mimicking in employee welfare policies and show that it improves focal firms’ value and innovation. Our findings on firms’ peer effects and herding behaviour have policy implications