Corporate governance and dividend pay-out policy in UK listed SMEs: The effects of corporate board characteristics

Purpose: This paper examines the extent to which corporate board characteristics influence the level of dividend pay-out ratio using a sample of UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from 2010 to 2013 listed on the Alternative Investment Market. Design/methodology/approach: The data is analysed by employing multivariate regression techniques, including estimating fixed effects, lagged effects and two-stage least squares regressions. Findings: The results show that board size, the frequency of board meetings, board gender diversity and audit committee size have a significant relationship with the level of dividend pay-out. Audit committee size and board size have a positive association with the level of dividend pay-out, whilst the frequency of board meetings and board gender diversity has a significant negative relationship with the level of dividend pay-out. By contrast, the findings suggest that board independence and CEO role duality do not have any significant effect on the level of dividend pay-out. Originality/value: This is one of the first attempts at examining the relationship between corporate governance and dividend policy in the UK’s Alternative Investment Market, with the analysis distinctively informed by agency theoretical insights drawn from the outcome and substitution hypotheses

Whole genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of \u3ci\u3eBluetongue virus\u3c/i\u3e serotype 2 strains isolated in the Americas including a novel strain from the western United States

Bluetongue is a potentially fatal arboviral disease of domestic and wild ruminants that is characterized by widespread edema and tissue necrosis. Bluetongue virus (BTV) serotypes 10, 11, 13, and 17 occur throughout much of the United States, whereas serotype 2 (BTV-2) was previously only detected in the southeastern United States. Since 1998, 10 other BTV serotypes have also been isolated from ruminants in the southeastern United States. In 2010, BTV-2 was identified in California for the first time, and preliminary sequence analysis indicated that the virus isolate was closely related to BTV strains circulating in the southeastern United States. In the current study, the whole genome sequence of the California strain of BTV-2 was compared with those of other BTV-2 strains in the Americas. The results of the analysis suggest co-circulation of genetically distinct viruses in the southeastern United States, and further suggest that the 2010 western isolate is closely related to southeastern strains of BTV. Although it remains uncertain as to how this novel virus was translocated to California, the findings of the current study underscore the need for ongoing surveillance of this economically important livestock disease

Supersymmetric solutions of PT-/non-PT-symmetric and non-Hermitian Screened Coulomb potential via Hamiltonian hierarchy inspired variational method

The supersymmetric solutions of PT-symmetric and Hermitian/non-Hermitian forms of quantum systems are obtained by solving the Schrodinger equation for the Exponential-Cosine Screened Coulomb potential. The Hamiltonian hierarchy inspired variational method is used to obtain the approximate energy eigenvalues and corresponding wave functions.Comment: 13 page

Aspirin as an adjuvant treatment for cancer:feasibility results from the Add-Aspirin randomised trial

BACKGROUND: Preclinical, epidemiological, and randomised data indicate that aspirin might prevent tumour development and metastasis, leading to reduced cancer mortality, particularly for gastro-oesophageal and colorectal cancer. Randomised trials evaluating aspirin use after primary radical therapy are ongoing. We present the pre-planned feasibility analysis of the run-in phase of the Add-Aspirin trial to address concerns about toxicity, particularly bleeding after radical treatment for gastro-oesophageal cancer.METHODS: The Add-Aspirin protocol includes four phase 3 randomised controlled trials evaluating the effect of daily aspirin on recurrence and survival after radical cancer therapy in four tumour cohorts: gastro-oesophageal, colorectal, breast, and prostate cancer. An open-label run-in phase (aspirin 100 mg daily for 8 weeks) precedes double-blind randomisation (for participants aged under 75 years, aspirin 300 mg, aspirin 100 mg, or matched placebo in a 1:1:1 ratio; for patients aged 75 years or older, aspirin 100 mg or matched placebo in a 2:1 ratio). A preplanned analysis of feasibility, including recruitment rate, adherence, and toxicity was performed. The trial is registered with the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trials Number registry (ISRCTN74358648) and remains open to recruitment.FINDINGS: After 2 years of recruitment (October, 2015, to October, 2017), 3494 participants were registered (115 in the gastro-oesophageal cancer cohort, 950 in the colorectal cancer cohort, 1675 in the breast cancer cohort, and 754 in the prostate cancer cohort); 2719 (85%) of 3194 participants who had finished the run-in period proceeded to randomisation, with rates consistent across tumour cohorts. End of run-in data were available for 2253 patients; 2148 (95%) of the participants took six or seven tablets per week. 11 (0·5%) of the 2253 participants reported grade 3 toxicity during the run-in period, with no upper gastrointestinal bleeding (any grade) in the gastro-oesophageal cancer cohort. The most frequent grade 1-2 toxicity overall was dyspepsia (246 [11%] of 2253 participants).INTERPRETATION: Aspirin is well-tolerated after radical cancer therapy. Toxicity has been low and there is no evidence of a difference in adherence, acceptance of randomisation, or toxicity between the different cancer cohorts. Trial recruitment continues to determine whether aspirin could offer a potential low cost and well tolerated therapy to improve cancer outcomes.FUNDING: Cancer Research UK, The National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment Programme, The MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL.</p

The Life-Cycle Model of Consumption and Saving

The life-cycle framework is the standard way that economists think about the intertemporal allocation of time, e¤ort and money. The framework has a venerable history in the economics profession with roots in the in…nite horizon models of Ramsey (1926) and Friedman (1957) and the …nite horizon models of Fisher (1930) and Modigliani and Brumberg (1956). Developments since the 1950’s have considerably increased the breadth, depth and coherence of the framework so that the modern version provides a guide to thinking about the modeling of many life-cycle choices (such as consumption, saving, education, human capital, marriage, fertility and labor supply) while taking account of uncertainty in a rigorous way. However, the life-cycle framework is held in increasing disrepute within the profession. We believe that reports of the demise - or even ill health - of the theory are much exaggerated. In this article we provide a defence of the life-cycle framework as a source of models that can be taken to the data. We emphasize this distinction between the life-cycle framework (or tradition) and particular models with empirical content. The life-cycle framework is a conceptual framework within which we can develop useful models; in this view, there is no such thing as the life-cycle model, only particular life-cycle models

Differential regulation of the alpha-globin locus by Kruppel-like factor 3 in erythroid and non-erythroid cells

Background: Krüppel-like Factor 3 (KLF3) is a broadly expressed zinc-finger transcriptional repressor with diverse biological roles. During erythropoiesis, KLF3 acts as a feedback repressor of a set of genes that are activated by Krüppel-like Factor 1 (KLF1). Noting that KLF1 binds α-globin gene regulatory sequences during erythroid maturation, we sought to determine whether KLF3 also interacts with the α-globin locus to regulate transcription. Results: We found that expression of a human transgenic α-globin reporter gene is markedly up-regulated in fetal and adult erythroid cells of Klf3−/− mice. Inspection of the mouse and human α-globin promoters revealed a number of canonical KLF-binding sites, and indeed, KLF3 was shown to bind to these regions both in vitro and in vivo. Despite these observations, we did not detect an increase in endogenous murine α-globin expression in Klf3−/− erythroid tissue. However, examination of murine embryonic fibroblasts lacking KLF3 revealed significant de-repression of α-globin gene expression. This suggests that KLF3 may contribute to the silencing of the α-globin locus in non-erythroid tissue. Moreover, ChIP-Seq analysis of murine fibroblasts demonstrated that across the locus, KLF3 does not occupy the promoter regions of the α-globin genes in these cells, but rather, binds to upstream, DNase hypersensitive regulatory regions. Conclusions: These findings reveal that the occupancy profile of KLF3 at the α-globin locus differs in erythroid and non-erythroid cells. In erythroid cells, KLF3 primarily binds to the promoters of the adult α-globin genes, but appears dispensable for normal transcriptional regulation. In non-erythroid cells, KLF3 distinctly binds to the HS-12 and HS-26 elements and plays a non-redundant, albeit modest, role in the silencing of α-globin expression. </p

Country-level gender inequality is associated with structural differences in the brains of women and men

Gender inequality across the world has been associated with a higher risk to mental health problems and lower academic achievement in women compared to men. We also know that the brain is shaped by nurturing and adverse socio-environmental experiences. Therefore, unequal exposure to harsher conditions for women compared to men in gender-unequal countries might be reflected in differences in their brain structure, and this could be the neural mechanism partly explaining women´s worse outcomes in gender-unequal countries. We examined this through a random-effects meta-analysis on cortical thickness and surface area differences between adult healthy men and women, including a meta-regression in which country-level gender inequality acted as an explanatory variable for the observed differences. A total of 139 samples from 29 different countries, totaling 7,876 MRI scans, were included. Thickness of the right hemisphere, and particularly the right caudal anterior cingulate, right medial orbitofrontal, and left lateral occipital cortex, presented no differences or even thicker regional cortices in women compared to men in gender-equal countries, reversing to thinner cortices in countries with greater gender inequality. These results point to the potentially hazardous effect of gender inequality on women´s brains and provide initial evidence for neuroscience-informed policies for gender equality.Fil: Zugman, André. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: Alliende, Luz María. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; Chile. Universidad Católica de Chile; Chile. Northwestern University; Estados UnidosFil: Medel, Vicente. Universidad Adolfo Ibañez; ChileFil: Bethlehem, Richard A.I.. University of Cambridge; Estados UnidosFil: Seidlitz, Jakob. University of Pennsylvania; Estados UnidosFil: Ringlein, Grace. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: Arango, Celso. Universidad Complutense de Madrid; EspañaFil: Arnatkevičiūtė, Aurina. Monash University; AustraliaFil: Asmal, Laila. Stellenbosch University; SudáfricaFil: Bellgrove, Mark. Monash University; AustraliaFil: Benegal, Vivek. National Institute Of Mental Health And Neuro Sciences; IndiaFil: Bernardo, Miquel. Universidad de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Billeke, Pablo. Universidad del Desarrollo; ChileFil: Bosch Bayard, Jorge. McGill University. Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital; Canadá. Université Mcgill; CanadáFil: Bressan, Rodrigo. Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Busatto, Geraldo F.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Castro, Mariana Nair. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Chaim Avancini, Tiffany. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Compte, Albert. Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer; EspañaFil: Costanzi, Monise. Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre; BrasilFil: Czepielewski, Leticia. Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre; Brasil. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Dazzan, Paola. Kings College London (kcl);Fil: de la Fuente-Sandoval, Camilo. Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía; MéxicoFil: Gonzalez Campo, Cecilia. Universidad de San Andrés; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Zamorano, Francisco. Universidad del Desarrollo; Chile. Universidad San Sebastián; ChileFil: Zanetti, Marcus V.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Winkler, Anderson M.. University of Texas; Estados UnidosFil: Pine, Daniel S.. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: Evans Lacko, Sara. School of Economics and Political Science; Reino UnidoFil: Crossley, Nicolas A.. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; Chile. Universidad Católica de Chile; Chile. University of Oxford; Reino Unid

Activation and Deactivation of a Robust Immobilized Cp*Ir-Transfer Hydrogenation Catalyst: A Multielement in Situ X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy Study

A highly robust immobilized [Cp*IrCl2]2 precatalyst on Wang resin for transfer hydrogenation, which can be recycled up to 30 times, was studied using a novel combination of X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) at Ir L3-edge, Cl K-edge, and K K-edge. These culminate in in situ XAS experiments that link structural changes of the Ir complex with its catalytic activity and its deactivation. Mercury poisoning and “hot filtration” experiments ruled out leached Ir as the active catalyst. Spectroscopic evidence indicates the exchange of one chloride ligand with an alkoxide to generate the active precatalyst. The exchange of the second chloride ligand, however, leads to a potassium alkoxide–iridate species as the deactivated form of this immobilized catalyst. These findings could be widely applicable to the many homogeneous transfer hydrogenation catalysts with Cp*IrCl substructure

Patterns of Interspecific Variation in the Heart Rates of Embryonic Reptiles

New non-invasive technologies allow direct measurement of heart rates (and thus, developmental rates) of embryos. We applied these methods to a diverse array of oviparous reptiles (24 species of lizards, 18 snakes, 11 turtles, 1 crocodilian), to identify general influences on cardiac rates during embryogenesis. Heart rates increased with ambient temperature in all lineages, but (at the same temperature) were faster in lizards and turtles than in snakes and crocodilians. We analysed these data within a phylogenetic framework. Embryonic heart rates were faster in species with smaller adult sizes, smaller egg sizes, and shorter incubation periods. Phylogenetic changes in heart rates were negatively correlated with concurrent changes in adult body mass and residual incubation period among the lizards, snakes (especially within pythons) and crocodilians. The total number of embryonic heart beats between oviposition and hatching was lower in squamates than in turtles or the crocodilian. Within squamates, embryonic iguanians and gekkonids required more heartbeats to complete development than did embryos of the other squamate families that we tested. These differences plausibly reflect phylogenetic divergence in the proportion of embryogenesis completed before versus after laying