High Frequency (4th order) Sequence Stratigraphy of Early Miocene Deltaic Shorelines, Offshore Texas and Louisiana

DOE-NETL Award Numbers DE-FE0026083 and DEFE0029487Bureau of Economic Geolog

Estructura financiera y logro empresarial en cooperativas agrarias: una aproximación empírica

[EN] This paper analyzes the economic and financial information of a sample of Spanish agricultural co-operatives in order to identify the variables that determine the nature and composition of its financial structure. A new variable named “business achievement” has been defined using the statistical technique of principal component analysis (PCA); this, and other ratios, have been used in the regression models. Results show no relationship between financial structure and “business achievement”, but they support the Pecking order theory, thus validating the hypothesis that, in absence of self-financing, the prevalent funding sources in agricultural cooperatives are debt and capitalization. Also, in line with the Agency theory, it has been shown that in these entities growths in sales, and therefore cash flow generation, lead to higher short-term debt, while the use of long-term debt decreases.[ES] Este trabajo utiliza la información económico-financiera de una muestra de cooperativas agrarias españolas para identificar las variables que determinan la naturaleza y composición de su estructura financiera. Se define una variable relativa al logro empresarial, a partir de la técnica estadística del análisis de componentes principales que, junto con otros ratios, se introduce en los modelos de regresión. Los resultados no evidencian relación entre estructura financiera y logro empresarial, pero sí corroboran la teoría del Pecking order, apoyando la hipótesis del endeudamiento y la capitalización como fuentes de financiación predominantes. También se verifica la Teoría de la agencia, ya que crecimientos de ventas conllevan un mayor endeudamiento a corto plazo.Los autores agradecen los comentarios anónimos de los revisores de la revista. Este trabajo se enmarca dentro del Proyecto DER2008-03475 “Pérdidas, disolución e insolvencia en la sociedad cooperativa”, financiado por el Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (IV Plan Nacional de Investigación Científica, Desarrollo e Innovación Tecnológica 2008-2011).Lajara-Camilleri, N.; Mateos-Ronco, A. (2012). Financial structure and business achievement in agricultural cooperatives: an empirical approach. Economía Agraria y Recursos Naturales - Agricultural and Resource Economics. 12(2):77-101. https://doi.org/10.7201/earn.2012.02.04SWORD7710112

Corporate governance and financial constraints on strategic turnarounds

The paper extends the Robbins and Pearce (1992) two-stage turnaround response model to include governance factors. In addition to the retrenchment and recovery, the paper proposes the addition of a realignment stage, referring specifically to the re-alignment of expectations of principal and agent groups. The realignment stage imposes a threshold that must be crossed before the retrenchment and hence recovery stage can be entered. Crossing this threshold is problematic to the extent that the interests of governance-stakeholder groups diverge in a crisis situation. The severity of the crisis impacts on the bases of strategy contingent asset valuation leading to the fragmentation of stakeholder interests. In some cases the consequence may be that management are prevented from carrying out turnarounds by governance constraints. The paper uses a case study to illustrate these dynamics, and like the Robbins and Pearce study, it focuses on the textile industry. A longitudinal approach is used to show the impact of the removal of governance constraints. The empirical evidence suggests that such financial constraints become less serious to the extent that there is a functioning market for corporate control. Building on governance research and turnaround literature, the paper also outlines the general case necessary and sufficient conditions for successful turnarounds

Climate change impacts on US agriculture and forestry: benefits of global climate stabilization

Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, higher temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and other climate change impacts have already begun to affect US agriculture and forestry, with impacts expected to become more substantial in the future. There have been numerous studies of climate change impacts on agriculture or forestry, but relatively little research examining the long-term net impacts of a stabilization scenario relative to a case with unabated climate change. We provide an analysis of the potential benefits of global climate change mitigation for US agriculture and forestry through 2100, accounting for landowner decisions regarding land use, crop mix, and management practices. The analytic approach involves a combination of climate models, a crop process model (EPIC), a dynamic vegetation model used for forests (MC1), and an economic model of the US forestry and agricultural sector (FASOM-GHG). We find substantial impacts on productivity, commodity markets, and consumer and producer welfare for the stabilization scenario relative to unabated climate change, though the magnitude and direction of impacts vary across regions and commodities. Although there is variability in welfare impacts across climate simulations, we find positive net benefits from stabilization in all cases, with cumulative impacts ranging from $32.7 billion to$54.5 billion over the period 2015–2100. Our estimates contribute to the literature on potential benefits of GHG mitigation and can help inform policy decisions weighing alternative mitigation and adaptation actions.United States. Environmental Protection Agency. Climate Change Division (Contract EP-BPA-12-H-0023, Call Order EP-B13H-00143

Do dividends signal future earnings in the Nordic stock markets?

We study the informational content of dividends on three Nordic civil law markets, where other simultaneous but blurring motives for dividends may be weaker. Using aggregate data on real earnings per share and payout ratios, long time series from 1969 to 2010, and methodologies which address problems of endogeneity, non-stationarity and autocorrelation (including a Vector Error Correction Model approach), we find evidence on dividend signaling in Nordic markets. However, we also find heterogeneity in the relationship between dividends and earnings on markets similar in many respects, suggesting that even small variations in the institutional surroundings may be important for the results

Allogeneic stem cell transplantation for acute myeloid leukemia in first complete remission: systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective clinical trials.

The optimal treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in first complete remission (CR1) is uncertain. Current consensus, based on cytogenetic risk, recommends myeloablative allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) for poor-risk but not for good-risk AML. Allogeneic SCT, autologous transplantation, and consolidation chemotherapy are considered of equivalent benefit for intermediate-risk AML

MPLW515L Is a Novel Somatic Activating Mutation in Myelofibrosis with Myeloid Metaplasia

BACKGROUND: The JAK2V617F allele has recently been identified in patients with polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocytosis (ET), and myelofibrosis with myeloid metaplasia (MF). Subsequent analysis has shown that constitutive activation of the JAK-STAT signal transduction pathway is an important pathogenetic event in these patients, and that enzymatic inhibition of JAK2V617F may be of therapeutic benefit in this context. However, a significant proportion of patients with ET or MF are JAK2V617F-negative. We hypothesized that activation of the JAK-STAT pathway might also occur as a consequence of activating mutations in certain hematopoietic-specific cytokine receptors, including the erythropoietin receptor (EPOR), the thrombopoietin receptor (MPL), or the granulocyte-colony stimulating factor receptor (GCSFR). METHODS AND FINDINGS: DNA sequence analysis of the exons encoding the transmembrane and juxtamembrane domains of EPOR, MPL, and GCSFR, and comparison with germline DNA derived from buccal swabs, identified a somatic activating mutation in the transmembrane domain of MPL (W515L) in 9% (4/45) of JAKV617F-negative MF. Expression of MPLW515L in 32D, UT7, or Ba/F3 cells conferred cytokine-independent growth and thrombopoietin hypersensitivity, and resulted in constitutive phosphorylation of JAK2, STAT3, STAT5, AKT, and ERK. Furthermore, a small molecule JAK kinase inhibitor inhibited MPLW515L-mediated proliferation and JAK-STAT signaling in vitro. In a murine bone marrow transplant assay, expression of MPLW515L, but not wild-type MPL, resulted in a fully penetrant myeloproliferative disorder characterized by marked thrombocytosis (Plt count 1.9–4.0 × 10 (12)/L), marked splenomegaly due to extramedullary hematopoiesis, and increased reticulin fibrosis. CONCLUSIONS: Activation of JAK-STAT signaling via MPLW515L is an important pathogenetic event in patients with JAK2V617F-negative MF. The bone marrow transplant model of MPLW515L-mediated myeloproliferative disorders (MPD) exhibits certain features of human MF, including extramedullary hematopoiesis, splenomegaly, and megakaryocytic proliferation. Further analysis of positive and negative regulators of the JAK-STAT pathway is warranted in JAK2V617F-negative MPD