Legal determinants of external finance revisited : the inverse relationship between investor protection and societal well-being

This paper investigates relationships between corporate governance traditions and quality of life as measured by a number of widely reported indicators. It provides an empirical analysis of indicators of societal health in developed economies using a classification based on legal traditions. Arguably the most widely cited work in the corporate governance literature has been the collection of papers by La Porta et al. which has shown, inter alia, statistically significant relationships between legal traditions and various proxies for investor protection. We show statistically significant relationships between legal traditions and various proxies for societal health. Our comparative evidence suggests that the interests of investors may not be congruent with the interests of wider society, and that the criteria for judging the effectiveness of approaches to corporate governance should not be restricted to financial metrics

Examining the Seyfert - Starburst Connection with Arcsecond Resolution Radio Continuum Observations

We compare the arcsecond-scale circumnuclear radio continuum properties between five Seyfert and five starburst galaxies, concentrating on the search for any structures that could imply a spatial or causal connection between the nuclear activity and a circumnuclear starburst ring. No evidence is found in the radio emission for a link between the triggering or feeding of nuclear activity and the properties of circumnuclear star formation. Conversely, there is no clear evidence of nuclear outflows or jets triggering activity in the circumnuclear rings of star formation. Interestingly, the difference in the angle between the apparent orientation of the most elongated radio emission and the orientation of the major axis of the galaxy is on average larger in Seyferts than in starburst galaxies, and Seyferts appear to have a larger physical size scale of the circumnuclear radio continuum emission. The concentration, asymmetry, and clumpiness parameters of radio continuum emission in Seyferts and starbursts are comparable, as are the radial profiles of radio continuum and near-infrared line emission. The circumnuclear star formation and supernova rates do not depend on the level of nuclear activity. The radio emission usually traces the near-infrared Br-gamma and H2 1-0 S(1) line emission on large spatial scales, but locally their distributions are different, most likely because of the effects of varying local magnetic fields and dust absorption and scattering.Comment: 21 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journa

The Iowa Homemaker vol.41, no.8

“I Was the Editor of the First Homemaker”, Bess Ferguson, page 4 And After May ’26?, page 5 1920s, Rose Summers, page 6 1930s, Laura Daily, page 6 1940s, Ruth Webber, page 7 1950s, Ruth Remy, page 7 Food Class for Foresters, Russel B. McKennan, page 8 Mortar Board Presents: Know Your Neighbor, page 9 Decorating Your Home With the Family in Mind, Jan Wheeler, page 10 Let’s Split A Pizza, Barbara Pierson, page 12 Easter Bonnet In An Hour, page 13 Here’s How We Look, page 14 The Younger Generation, Sherry Stoddard, page 15 Part-time Jobs After Marriage, Diane Sharbo, page 16 Looking Abroad, Barbara Brown, page 17 40 Years From Now, Anne Collison, page 1

The Nature of Composite LINER/HII Galaxies, As Revealed from High-Resolution VLA Observations

A sample of 37 nearby galaxies displaying composite LINER/HII and pure HII spectra was observed with the VLA in an investigation of the nature of their weak radio emission. The resulting radio contour maps overlaid on optical galaxy images are presented here, together with an extensive literature list and discussion of the individual galaxies. Radio morphological data permit assessment of the ``classical AGN'' contribution to the global activity observed in these ``transition'' LINER galaxies. One in five of the latter objects display clear AGN characteristics: these occur exclusively in bulge-dominated hosts.Comment: 31 pages, 27 figures, accepted by ApJ

Polarimetry of Li-rich giants

Protoplanetary nebulae typically present non-spherical envelopes. The origin of such geometry is still controversial. There are indications that it may be carried over from an earlier phase of stellar evolution, such as the AGB phase. But how early in the star's evolution does the non-spherical envelope appear? Li-rich giants show dusty circumstellar envelopes that can help answer that question. We study a sample of fourteen Li-rich giants using optical polarimetry in order to detect non-spherical envelopes around them. We used the IAGPOL imaging polarimeter to obtain optical linear polarization measurements in V band. Foreground polarization was estimated using the field stars in each CCD frame. After foreground polarization was removed, seven objects presented low intrinsic polarization (0.19 - 0.34)% and two (V859 Aql and GCSS 557) showed high intrinsic polarization values (0.87 - 1.16)%. This intrinsic polarization suggests that Li-rich giants present a non-spherical distribution of circumstellar dust. The intrinsic polarization level is probably related to the viewing angle of the envelope, with higher levels indicating objects viewed closer to edge-on. The correlation of the observed polarization with optical color excess gives additional support to the circumstellar origin of the intrinsic polarization in Li-rich giants. The intrinsic polarization correlates even better with the IRAS 25 microns far infrared emission. Analysis of spectral energy distributions for the sample show dust temperatures for the envelopes tend to be between 190 and 260 K. We suggest that dust scattering is indeed responsible for the optical intrinsic polarization in Li-rich giants. Our findings indicate that non-spherical envelopes may appear as early as the red giant phase of stellar evolution.Comment: to be published in A&A, 15 pages, 10 figures. Fig. 3 is available in ftp://astroweb.iag.usp.br/pub/antonio/4270/4270.fig3.pd

The 2D Continuum Radiative Transfer Problem: Benchmark Results for Disk Configurations

We present benchmark problems and solutions for the continuum radiative transfer (RT) in a 2D disk configuration. The reliability of three Monte-Carlo and two grid-based codes is tested by comparing their results for a set of well-defined cases which differ for optical depth and viewing angle. For all the configurations, the overall shape of the resulting temperature and spectral energy distribution is well reproduced. The solutions we provide can be used for the verification of other RT codes.We also point out the advantages and disadvantages of the various numerical techniques applied to solve the RT problem.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, To appear in Astronomy and Astrophysic

The effects of remote ischaemic preconditioning on coronary artery function in patients with stable coronary artery disease

Background: Remote ischaemic preconditioning (RIPC) is a cardioprotective intervention invoking intermittent periods of ischaemia in a tissue or organ remote from the heart. The mechanisms of this effect are incompletely understood. We hypothesised that RIPC might enhance coronary vasodilatation by an endothelium-dependent mechanism. Methods: We performed a prospective, randomised, sham-controlled, blinded clinical trial. Patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) undergoing elective invasive management were prospectively enrolled, and randomised to RIPC or sham (1:1) prior to angiography. Endothelial-dependent vasodilator function was assessed in a non-target coronary artery with intracoronary infusion of incremental acetylcholine doses (10−6 , 10−5 , 10−4 mol/l). Venous blood was sampled pre- and post-RIPC or sham, and analysed for circulating markers of endothelial function. Coronary luminal diameter was assessed by quantitative coronary angiography. The primary outcome was the between-group difference in the mean percentage change in coronary luminal diameter following the maximal acetylcholine dose (Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT02666235). Results: 75 patients were enrolled. Following angiography, 60 patients (mean ± SD age 57.5 ± 8.5 years; 80% male) were eligible and completed the protocol (n = 30 RIPC, n = 30 sham). The mean percentage change in coronary luminal diameter was −13.3 ± 22.3% and −2.0 ± 17.2% in the sham and RIPC groups respectively (difference 11.32%, 95%CI: 1.2– 21.4, p = 0.032). This remained significant when age and sex were included as covariates (difference 11.01%, 95%CI: 1.01– 21.0, p = 0.035). There were no between-group differences in endothelial-independent vasodilation, ECG parameters or circulating markers of endothelial function. Conclusions: RIPC attenuates the extent of vasoconstriction induced by intracoronary acetylcholine infusion. This endothelium-dependent mechanism may contribute to the cardioprotective effects of RIP

Bidirectional Modulation of Alcohol-Associated Memory Reconsolidation through Manipulation of Adrenergic Signaling.

Alcohol addiction is a problem of great societal concern, for which there is scope to improve current treatments. One potential new treatment for alcohol addiction is based on disrupting the reconsolidation of the maladaptive Pavlovian memories that can precipitate relapse to drug-seeking behavior. In alcohol self-administering rats, we investigated the effects of bidirectionally modulating adrenergic signaling on the strength of a Pavlovian cue-alcohol memory, using a behavioral procedure that isolates the specific contribution of one maladaptive Pavlovian memory to relapse, the acquisition of a new alcohol-seeking response for an alcohol-associated conditioned reinforcer. The β-adrenergic receptor antagonist propranolol, administered in conjunction with memory reactivation, persistently disrupted the memory that underlies the capacity of a previously alcohol-associated cue to act as a conditioned reinforcer. By contrast, enhancement of adrenergic signaling by administration of the adrenergic prodrug dipivefrin at reactivation increased the strength of the cue-alcohol memory and potentiated alcohol seeking. These data demonstrate the importance of adrenergic signaling in alcohol-associated memory reconsolidation, and suggest a pharmacological target for treatments aiming to prevent relapse through the disruption of maladaptive memories.This work was supported by a UK Medical Research Council Programme Grant (G1002231) to BJE and ALM and was conducted in the Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute (BCNI), an initiative jointly funded by the MRC and the Wellcome Trust. MJWS was supported by an MRC Doctoral Training Grant and the James Baird Fund at the Medical School of the University of Cambridge. ALM was partly supported by a BCNI lectureship and the Ferreras-Willetts Fellowship from Downing College, Cambridge.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Nature Publishing Group via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/npp.2015.24

Complement-independent Modulation of Influenza A virus infection by Factor H

Copyright © 2020 Murugaiah, Varghese, Saleh, Tsolaki, Alrokayan, Khan, Collison, Sim, Nal, Al-Mohanna and Kishore. The complement system is an ancient innate immune defence mechanism that can recognise molecular patterns on the invading pathogens. Factor H, as an inhibitor of the alternative pathway, down-regulates complement activation on the host cell surface. Locally synthesised factor H at the site of infection/injury, including lungs, can act as a pattern recognition molecule without involving complement activation. Here, we report that factor H, a sialic acid binder, interacts with influenza A virus (IAV) and modulates IAV replication, as observed by an upregulation of matrix protein 1 (M1) expression in H3N2-infected A549 cells, while downregulating M1 in H1N1 subtype-infected cells. Far-western blot revealed that factor H binds hemagglutinin (HA, ~70kDa), neuraminidase (NA, ~60kDa), and M1 (~25kDa). IAV-induced transcriptional levels of IFN-α, TNF-α, IL-12, IL-6, IFN-α, while RANTES were reduced following factor H treatment for the H1N1 subtype at 6 h post-infection. However, for the H3N2 subtype, mRNA levels of these pro-inflammatory cytokines were enhanced. Recombinant form of vaccinia virus complement control protein (VCP), which like factor H, contains CCP modules and has complement-regulatory activity, mirrored the results obtained with factor H. Both factor H (25%) and VCP (45%) were found to reduce luciferase reporter activity in MDCK cells transduced with H1N1 pseudotyped lentiviral particles. Factor H (50%) and VCP (30%) enhanced the luciferase reporter activity for H3N2, suggesting an entry inhibitory role of factor H and VCP against H1N1, but not H3N2. Thus, factor H can modulate IAV infection and inflammatory response independent of its complement-related functions.King Saud University, Riyadh, International Scientific Partnership Programme (ISPP) ISPP-145