Contracting Costs and the Window of Opportunity for Straight Debt Issues;

We analyze whether fluctuation in economy-wide factors cause time-series variation in the contracting costs of moral hazard, adverse selection, and financial distress, and so create windows of opportunity for firms to issue debt. Using the announcement period abnormal returns as one measure of the overall contracting costs of debt issues, we specifically study whether economy-wide factors affect the impact of firm-specific measures of contracting costs on the abnormal returns. We find that debt issues are more costly in periods of higher interest rates and in industry downturns. When we partition the impact of each issue- and firm-specific measure of contracting costs across high and low levels of each economy-wide variable, we find that only the measures of agency cost become significant in general, but issue-specific measures of financial distress also become relevant in subsamples

Determinants of Convertible Bond Structure;

Theoretical research argues that convertible bonds mitigate the contracting costs of moral hazard, adverse selection, and financial distress. Using firm-specific and macroeconomic factors of the contracting costs, we examine the extent to which they impact the likelihood of issuance and the structure of convertible bonds. Our evidence indicates that moral hazard, adverse selection, and expected financial distress costs are all important determinants of the likelihood of issuing convertible bonds over straight bonds. We also analyze the structure of convertible bonds issued by studying whether these bonds are more debt-like or equity-like. The evidence indicates that moral hazard costs do not influence bond structure, while adverse selection costs are somewhat important in determining the structure. Expected financial distress costs have the strongest statistical and economic impact on convertible bond structure

Share Structure And Wealth Effects Of Corporate Takeovers

In this study we examine the stock price effects of corporate takeovers by dual class firms and unified firms. Our sample consists of 852 firms that were bidders in takeovers between 1993 and 2009. Our univariate and OLS regression results show that both dual class firms and unified firms obtain insignificant returns for various takeover announcement periods. The average and median returns for these two groups are similar to each other. We also identify several factors that the literature suggests should affect the bidder announcement returns in takeovers. Our results indicate that smaller firms in our sample and firms that pay for the acquisition in cash obtain higher abnormal returns when they announce the takeover. In addition, we find that the factors we identify have different influences on the announcement returns of dual class and unified firms. Specifically, unified firms that engage in tender offers and larger firms obtain more positive announcement returns compared to dual class firms whereas unified firms obtain more negative results when the target firm is a public firm

Choroidal Thickness in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s Type Dementia

Aim. To asses both choroidal thickness differences among Alzheimer’s type dementia (ATD) patients, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients, and healthy control (C) subjects and choroidal thickness relationships with cognitive performance. Methods. A total of 246 eyes of 123 people (41 ATD, 38 MCI, and 44 healthy C subjects) were included in this study. Complete ophthalmological and neurological examination was performed in all subjects. Choroidal thicknesses (CT) were measured at seven locations: the fovea, 500-1500-3000 μm temporal and 500-1500-3000 μm nasal to the fovea by enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT). Detailed neurological examination including mini mental state examination (MMSE) test which evaluates the cognitive function was applied to all participants. Results. The ages and genders of all participants were similar in all groups. Compared with healthy C subjects, the CT measurements at all regions were significantly thinner both in patients with ATD and in patients with MCI than in healthy C subjects (p<0.05). The MMSE scores were significantly different among ATD patients, MCI patients, and healthy C subjects. They were 19.3±1.8, 24.8±0.9, and 27.6±1.2 in ATD, MCI, and healthy controls, respectively (p<0.001). There were also significant correlation between MMSE score and choroidal thickness at each location (p<0.05). Conclusions. CT was reduced in ATD patients and MCI patients. Since vascular structures were affected in ATD patients and MCI patients, they had thin CT. Besides CT was correlated with degree of cognitive impairment. Therefore CT may be a new biomarker in diagnosis and follow-up of MCI and ATD patients

Cognitive performance of primary open-angle glaucoma and normal-tension glaucoma patients

ABSTRACT Purpose: To assess cognitive performance differences among primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) patients, normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) patients, and healthy control (C) subjects. Methods: A total of 60 participants (20 POAG, 20 NTG, and 20 C subjects) were included in this study. A detailed ophthalmologic examination was performed on all participants. A spectral domain-optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) system was used to measure the ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GC-IPL) and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thicknesses. To assess the cognitive performance of all participants, detailed neurological examinations, including the mini-mental state examination (MMSE), were performed by the same neurologist. Results: There were no significant differences among the groups in terms of age (p =0.348) or gender (p =0.935). The mean RNFL thicknesses were significantly different among the groups (85.2 ± 14.7, 76.8 ± 10.3, and 91.4 ± 7.7 µm in the POAG, NTG, and C subjects, respectively; p <0.001). The mean GC-IPL thicknesses were 77.5 ± 9.7 µm in the POAG group, 73.4 ± 7.8 µm in the NTG group, and 78.8 ± 3.8 µm in the C group. Differences among the groups were not statistically significant (p =0.085). MMSE scores were 26.1 ± 1.4, 25.7 ± 2.3, and 28.8 ± 0.9 in the POAG, NTG, and C groups, respectively. There were significant differences among the three groups (p <0.001). Specifically, there were significant differences between the NTG and C groups (p <0.001), and between the POAG and C groups (p =0.001). There was no significant difference between the POAG and NTG groups (p =0.595). Conclusions: There appear to be similar risk factors in glaucoma and neurodegenerative disorders that cause deterioration in cognitive performance. Comparing the low MMSE scores of the POAG and NTG patients with the scores of healthy C participants supports our hypothesis. Consequently, it is recommended that a neurologist should also examine glaucoma patients

Financial constraints and security issuance

We examine the security issuance decisions of financially constrained firms. Since constrained firms are more susceptible to revenue management problems, our study sheds light on the financing behaviour of firms with revenue-related issues. Our results show that financially constrained firms obtain higher announcement returns than unconstrained firms when they issue bonds whereas the returns are similar when they issue stocks. Also, firms that face higher financial constraints are more likely to issue bonds than common stocks. We find that financially constrained firms assign different weights to the factors that affect the debt-equity choice than the weights assigned by unconstrained firms.debt-equity choice; financial constraints; revenue management; security issues; stock price reaction; bond issues; stock issues.

Analgesic efficacy of ultrasound guided paravertebral block in percutaneous nephrolithotomy patients: a randomized controlled clinical study

WOS:000576902600002PubMed: 32993528Background: Paravertabral blocks (PVB) are in use to adequately manage pain arising from a variety of operations on the thorax, abdomen or pelvis. PVB is straightforward, efficacious in operations performed. This study was undertaken to evaluate how efficacious ultrasound-guided thoracic paravertebral block is when used in patients undergoing percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCN). Methods: A total of 44 patients, falling in categories I to III of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, and aged between 18 and 65 years, who were scheduled for PCN, were randomly distributed into two groups. The anaesthetic intervention group (PVB) contained 22 individuals, who were injected at level T8-T9 with 20 mL 0.25% bupivacaine as a single administration. In the control group C, also containing 22 individuals, the intervention was not carried out The groups were compared after PCN in terms of opioid use, pain score, opioid adverse effects profile and the need for supplemental analgesia. Results: Visual analogue scale pain scores whilst at rest or moving were lower at the level of statistical significance in the PVB group compared to controls at 2 and 4 h post-surgery. At 6 and 8 h post-surgery, the control group had a lower VAS score when moving, and this result reached statistical significance (p < 0.05). The controls used more opioid relief than the PVB group and had lower scores for satisfaction (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Ultrasound-guided PVB using bupivacaine and an in-plane technique provides effective analgesia in PNL. It is associated with high scores on patient satisfaction and minimal complications

Contracting Costs and the Window of Opportunity for Straight Debt Issues;

We analyze whether fluctuation in economy-wide factors cause time-series variation in the contracting costs of moral hazard, adverse selection, and financial distress, and so create windows of opportunity for firms to issue debt. Using the announcement period abnormal returns as one measure of the overall contracting costs of debt issues, we specifically study whether economy-wide factors affect the impact of firm-specific measures of contracting costs on the abnormal returns. We find that debt issues are more costly in periods of higher interest rates and in industry downturns. When we partition the impact of each issue- and firm-specific measure of contracting costs across high and low levels of each economy-wide variable, we find that only the measures of agency cost become significant in general, but issue-specific measures of financial distress also become relevant in subsamples