Dividend Policy of German Firms

German firms pay out a lower proportion of their cash flows than UK and US firms.However, on a published profits basis, the pattern is reversed.Company law provisions and accounting policies account for these conflicting results.A partial adjustment model is used to estimate the implicit target payout ratio and the speed of adjustment of dividends towards a long run target payout ratio. We find that German firms do not base their dividend decisions on published earnings, but on cash flows.The reasons for the use of a cash flow-based payout policy are: (i) published earnings figures do not correctly reflect corporate performance as German firms tend to retain a significant part of their earnings to build up legal reserves, (ii) the conservative nature of German accounting policies, (iii) published earnings are subject to a higher degree of smoothing than cash flows.Regarding the speed of adjustment of dividends towards the long term target payout ratio, UK and US companies only slowly adjust their dividend policy whereas German are more willing to cut the dividend in the wake of a temporary decrease in profitability.This causes a higher degree of 'discreteness' in the dividends-pershare time series as opposed to the 'smoothness' (i.e., frequent annual small adjustments in the dividend per share) observed in the US and the UK.Dividend policy;payout policy;Lintner dividend model;dividend smoothing;partial adjustment model;corporate governance

Existential Psychotherapies: Similarities and Differences Among the Main Branches

Authors agree that a range of different existential therapies exist. However, not much has been written about what is characteristic and distinctive of each existential therapy, and the few claims that have been made are mainly hypothetical. Practitioners from the four main branches of existential therapy were asked about the authors and texts that have most influenced their practice and the practices they considered most characteristic of existential therapy. From all over the world, 29 daseinsanalysts, 82 existential-humanistic, 573 existential-phenomenological, and 303 logotherapy and/or existential analysis practitioners participated in this study. Data show that the scope of influence of an author is pretty much limited to the branch he or she is related to and only a few authors, in particular Frankl and Yalom, influence practitioners from all four branches. Five categories of practice are shared among the main existential branches as the most characteristics of existential therapy, with phenomenological practices being the most shared category: But the frequency of each of these categories of practice differs significantly depending on respondents’ training or affiliated branch. Data corroborate the idea of different existential therapies, with logotherapy and/or existential analysis being the most markedly different branch of them all

When do German Firms Change their Dividends?

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the dividend policy of German firms is more flexible than the one of their Anglo-American counterparts.This paper analyses the decision to change the dividend for a panel of 221 German firms from 1984 to 1994.The choice of the period of study is motivated by the fact that at the start of this period there was an economic boom which was followed by a recession.Consistent with the traditional dividend literature, e.g.Lintner (1956), net earnings are key determinants of the decision to change the dividend.However, the study comes up with two findings which are contrary to Lintner (1956) and Miller and Modigliani (1961).First, the level of net earnings is not the only key determinant of the dividend decision, as the occurrence of a loss - whatever its magnitude - has an explanatory power exceeding the one of the level of the loss.Second, dividend cuts or omissions tend to be temporary and the majority of German firms quickly (within two years) revert to their initial dividend level.This stands in marked contrast with DeAngelo et al.(1992) who find that US firms are more likely to reduce their dividend when earnings deteriorate on a permanent basis.Furthermore, the fact that German firms frequently omit and cut their dividend and quickly return to their initial dividend suggests that dividends in Germany have less of a signalling role than dividends in the US and the UK.Our findings also contradict Bhattacharya's (1979) argument that the costs of dividend changes are asymmetric with dividend reductions being more costly to the firm than dividend increases.Finally, we find evidence that firms with banks as their major shareholder are more willing to omit their dividend than firms controlled by other types of shareholder.corporate control;dividend policy;corporate governance;corporate ownership

Access to General Practitioners during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal: a nationwide survey of doctors

BackgroundThe Portuguese National Health System (NHS) provides universal coverage and near-free health care, but the population has high out-of-pocket expenses and unmet care needs. This suggests impaired accessibility, a key dimension of primary care. The COVID-19 pandemic has further affected access to health care. Understanding General Practitioners' (GP) experiences during the pandemic is necessary to reconfigure post-pandemic service delivery and to plan for future emergencies. This study aimed to assess accessibility to GPs, from their perspective, evaluating determinants of accessibility during the second pandemic year in Portugal.MethodsAll GPs working in NHS Family Practices in continental Portugal were invited to participate in a survey in 2021. A structured online self-administered anonymous questionnaire was used. Accessibility was assessed through waiting times for consultations and remote contacts and provision of remote access. NHS standards were used to assess waiting times. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the study sample. Associations between categorical variables were tested using the chi 2 statistic and the Student t-test was used to compare means of continuous variables.ResultsA total of 420 GPs were included (7% of the target population). Median weekly working hours was 49.0 h (interquartile range 42.0-56.8), although only 14% reported a contracted weekly schedule over 40 h. Access to in-person consultations and remote contacts was reported by most GPs to occur within NHS time standards. Younger GPs more often reported waiting times over these standards. Most GPs considered that they do not have enough time for non-urgent consultations or for remote contacts with patients.ConclusionsMost GPs reported compliance with standards for waiting times for most in-person consultations and remote contacts, but they do so at the expense of work overload. A persistent excess of regular and unpaid working hours by GPs needs confirmation. If unpaid overtime is necessary to meet the regular demands of work, then workload and specific allocated tasks warrant review. Future research should focus on younger GPs, as they seem vulnerable to restricted accessibility. GPs' preferences for more in-person care than was feasible during the pandemic must be considered when planning for the post-pandemic reconfiguration of service delivery

Ubiquitin-specific proteases: Players in cancer cellular processes

Ubiquitination represents a post-translational modification (PTM) essential for the maintenance of cellular homeostasis. Ubiquitination is involved in the regulation of protein function, localization and turnover through the attachment of a ubiquitin molecule(s) to a target protein. Ubiquitination can be reversed through the action of deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs). The DUB enzymes have the ability to remove the mono-or poly-ubiquitination signals and are involved in the maturation, recycling, editing and rearrangement of ubiquitin(s). Ubiquitin-specific proteases (USPs) are the biggest family of DUBs, responsible for numerous cellular functions through interactions with different cellular targets. Over the past few years, several studies have focused on the role of USPs in carcinogenesis, which has led to an increasing development of therapies based on USP inhibitors. In this review, we intend to describe different cellular functions, such as the cell cycle, DNA damage repair, chromatin remodeling and several signaling pathways, in which USPs are involved in the development or progression of cancer. In addition, we describe existing therapies that target the inhibition of USPs.This work was funded (in part) by the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte and co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the project “The Porto Comprehensive Cancer Center” with the reference NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-072678—Consórcio PORTO.CCC— Porto.Comprehensive Cancer Center. The authors acknowledge the support from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) that funded the contract to MC through the project PTDC/MED-ONC/31438/2017 (The Other Faces of Telomerase: Looking beyond Tumor Immortalization). The project is supported by NORTE 2020 under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)/COMPETE 2020?Operacional Program for Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI) and by Portuguese funds through FCT

First contact with the health system: a survey study in northern Portugal

Objective The objective of this study is to characterise the self-reported first contact with the health system and the reasons stated for each choice, testing associations with population characteristics. Design Cross-sectional survey. Setting Primary care department of a local health unit in northern Portugal. Participants Random sample of 4286 persons, retrieved from all registered adults. Outcomes Participants who stated they usually see the same doctor when a health problem arises were considered to adopt first-contact care and were asked to identify their regular doctor. Participants were asked why they adopt first-contact care or why they choose to do otherwise. Associations between personal characteristics and the adoption of first-contact care were tested using logistic regression. Results There were 808 valid questionnaires received (19% response rate). The mean age of respondents was 53 years, 58% were women and 60% had a high school or higher degree. Most (71%) stated always seeing the same doctor when facing a health problem. This was a general practitioner (GP) in 84%. The main reasons were previous knowledge and trust in the doctor. When this doctor was not a GP, the main reason was the need to obtain an appointment quickly. Participants who chose first-contact care were less likely to have university degrees than those who did not (OR 0.31; 95% CI 0.13 to 0.76). Being registered with the same GP for over 1 year increased the odds of adopting first-contact care: twice as likely for those registered for 1-4 years with the same GP (2.07; 95% CI 1.04 to 4.11), and three times more likely for those registered for over 10 years (3.21; 95% CI 1.70 to 6.08). Conclusions The high adoption of first-contact care and the reasons given for this suggest a strong belief in primary care in this population. The longer patients experience continuity, the more they adopt first-contact care. The preferences of higher-educated patients regarding first-contact care deserve reflection. © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.Funding text 1: Funding Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, covered the costs of printing the paper questionnaires. Matosinhos Local Health Unit (National Health Service, Portugal) supported this study by covering the costs of stamped institutional envelopes for sending and returning the questionnaire. This work is financed by national funds through the FCT- Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., within the scope of projects UIDB/04750/2020 and LA/P/0064/2020

Hermitian Yang-Mills instantons on resolutions of Calabi-Yau cones

We study the construction of Hermitian Yang-Mills instantons over resolutions of Calabi-Yau cones of arbitrary dimension. In particular, in d complex dimensions, we present an infinite family, parametrised by an integer k and a continuous modulus, of SU(d) instantons. A detailed study of their properties, including the computation of the instanton numbers is provided. We also explain how they can be used in the construction of heterotic non-Kahler compactifications.Comment: 20 pages, 1 figure; typos corrected, section 3.1 expande

As cabras leiteiras de Sobradinho.

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Seed bank and control of Rottboellia exaltata using clomazone alone and in combination with other herbicides.

Objetivou-se, com este trabalho, estudar o banco de sementes e o controle de Rottboellia exaltata L.f. com clomazone, isolado e em associação com outros herbicidas, em áreas de cana-soca com baixa e alta infestação.bitstream/item/131076/1/4466-18529-1-PB-Nubia.pdfOn line