The Effects of Voluntary Disclosure and Dividend Propensity on Prices Leading Earnings

We investigate the joint effects of dividend propensity (i.e. whether a firm pays cash dividends) and voluntary disclosure on the relationship between current stock returns and future earnings. We examine whether dividend propensity and voluntary disclosure act as substitutes or complements in the financial communication process. We also examine whether the effects of dividend propensity and voluntary disclosure vary between high- and lowgrowth firms. Consistent with prior studies, we find that share price anticipation of earnings improves with increasing levels of annual report narrative disclosure, and that firms that pay dividends exhibit higher levels of share price anticipation of earnings than non-dividend-paying firms. The paper adds to the literature on share price anticipation of earnings in two crucial respects. First we show that the associations of voluntary disclosure and dividend propensity with share price anticipation of earnings are statistically significant for high-growth firms and insignificant for low-growth firms. Second we show that the significant effects we find for dividend propensity and voluntary disclosure in high-growth firms are not perfectly additive

Cholangiocarcinoma in north east Thailand. A hospital-based study

The population of Northeast Thailand has one of the highest known rates of cholangiocarcinoma (cancer of the bile ducts). We sought firstly to obtain an estimate of the frequency of hospital-based diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma in the northeastern province of Khon Kaen. All pathology, ultrasound and in-patient and out-patient records were searched for cases diagnosed in tertiary hospitals in a random calendar month in 1988. A total of 203 persons from various parts of northeastern Thailand were newly-diagnosed in the two hospitals, 75 of whom resided in Khon Kaen province. We estimated the minimal age-standardised annual incidence rate in this province to be 135.4 per 100,000 among males and 43.0 per 100,000 among females (world standard). Truncated standardised incidence rates (ages 35-64 years only) were 334.2 and 104.3 per 100,000 for males and females respectively. Secondly we aimed to assess the feasibility of secondary prevention by early clinical diagnosis. However, the symptoms and signs observed were typically non-specific and associated with advanced disease in patients with cholangiocarcinoma who presented to hospital. Primary preventive measures appear to be the key to decreasing the mortality from this disease

Burkholderia pseudomallei stimulates low interleukin-8 production in the human lung epithelial cell line A549

Melioidosis is a life-threatening disease caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei. The lung is the most commonly affected organ, resulting in abscess formation in patients with chronic melioidosis. Previous study has shown that B. pseudomallei was able to invade and multiply in epithelial cells. In the present study, we have demonstrated that B. pseudomallei is able to stimulate interleukin 8 (IL-8) production from the human alveolar lung epithelium cell line A549. However, the level of IL-8 production was significantly lower than when the cells were infected with other Gram-negative bacteria such as Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. typhi) which were used for comparison. The degree of IκBα degradation in the B. pseudomallei-infected cells was lower than that of the S. typhi-infected cells, suggesting that B. pseudomallei is also a poorer cell activator. Inhibition of B. pseudomallei invasion by cytochalasin D did not interfere with either IL-8 production or IκBα degradation, indicating that bacterial uptake is not required for the production of this chemokine. Thus, it appears that the signalling initiated by the interaction of B. pseudomallei with the epithelial cell surface is sufficient for epithelial cell activation

Relationship between intensity of Opisthorchis viverrini infection and hepatobiliary disease detected by ultrasonography

Twenty-four locality-, age- and sex-matched groups of village residents with no light, moderate and heavy Opisthorchis viverrini infection were examined by ultrasonography. Highly significant differences were observed between the groups in the relative size of the left lobe of the liver and the fasting and post-meal size of the gall-bladder. In addition, indistinct gall-bladder wall, the presence of gall-bladder sludge and strongly enhanced portal vein radicle echoes were most frequently observed in the heavily infected group. Two suspected cases of cholangiocarcinoma were identified from the heavy group. The results highlight the importance of intensity of infection on the frequency and severity of fluke-associated hepatobiliary disease