The Persistence of Earnings and Corporate Governance in IPO Firms

In this study, we investigate the earnings persistence in IPO firms by examining the two components of earnings: accruals and cash flows. We also analyze the impact of corporate governance on earnings and the two earnings components. In our comparison of the top and bottom quartiles based on the firms\u27 earnings at the IPO year, we find that although the top quartile firms have a significantly positive accrual component in the IPO year, they eventually have the same negative accrual component of earnings as the bottom quartile firms in the second year after the IPO. In contrast, we find that the significant difference in the cash flow component between the top and bottom quartiles persists during the two years after the IPO. This finding supports the existing literature that the cash flow component contributes to the persistence of earnings while the accrual component does not. We also find that the corporate governance structure has a significant impact on earnings and the components of earnings for the top quartile firms, but not for the bottom quartile firms. This is particularly evident since the top quartile firms have the opportunity to manage their earnings, while firms in the lowest quartile are unable to manage their earnings

Corporate Social Responsibility and Earnings Reporting

Despite increasing interests on corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities among managers, the relationship between CSR and firm value through earnings reporting quality is still unclear. Absence of a strong positive effect of CSR on firm value has led researchers to believe that CSR is a res ult of a principal-agent issue between shareholders and managers. This study argues CSR represents a corporate culture that influences how a corporation reports its earnings. CSR influ ences earnings reporting ·instead ofearnings reporting drives CSR to delude shareholders. CSR induces better earnings reporting quality, therefore, CSR has an indirect but positive effect on firm value

A highly conserved circular RNA is required to keep neural cells in a progenitor state in the mammalian brain

circSLC45A4 is the main RNA splice isoform produced from its genetic locus and one of the highest expressed circRNAs in the developing human frontal cortex. Knockdown of this highly conserved circRNA in a human neuroblastoma cell line is sufficient to induce spontaneous neuronal differentiation, measurable by increased expression of neuronal marker genes. Depletion of circSlc45a4 in the developing mouse cortex causes a significant reduction of the basal progenitor pool and increases the expression of neurogenic regulators. Furthermore, knockdown of circSlc45a4a induces a significant depletion of cells in the cortical plate. In addition, deconvolution of the bulk RNA-seq data with the help of single-cell RNA-seq data validates the depletion of basal progenitors and reveals an increase in Cajal-Retzius cells. In summary, we present a detailed study of a highly conserved circular RNA that is necessary to maintain the pool of neural progenitors in vitro and in vivo

Influence of winter cover crops and tillage systems on corn stalk rot incidence in Paraná, Brazil

Corn stalk rot – CSR is a complex disease caused by many organisms, among fungi and bacteria, due to interactions between soil- or residue-borne organisms and environmental stresses acting on the plant. Studies have been done to understand this complex to find ways to minimize losses due to the disease. The main objective of this work was to assess CSR incidence after different winter crop rotations under conventional and no tillage conditions. A winter crop rotation experiment under no till and conventional tillage has been carried out at Pato Branco Iapar Exp. Sta. since 1986, and corn hybrid DKB 240 PRO was planted in all plots at Spring. There were 10 winter alternatives and fallow and clean fallow, totaling 12 treatments, planted in conventional and no tillage stripes, with randomized rotations within the stripes, and 3 reps. Plots were 20 m long by 6 m for each planting system. Only half of plots had N dressing. CSR was assessed in 20 random plants per rotation, planting system and N dressing, using finger pressure at the third internode above soil level. Separate statistical analyses were done using SAS procedures for CSR incidence with and without N dressing. There was no CSR incidence difference within cropping systems. Rotation including leguminous crops (lupine, hairy, or common vetch) decreased CSR incidence, whereas those with grass crops (wheat, rye, ryegrass, or oats) favored the disease. Fallow and oilseed radish favored the most, whereas clean fallow disfavored the most CSR incidence

Tracking primary thermalization events in graphene with photoemission at extreme timescales

Direct and inverse Auger scattering are amongst the primary processes that mediate the thermalization of hot carriers in semiconductors. These two processes involve the annihilation or generation of an electron-hole pair by exchanging energy with a third carrier, which is either accelerated or decelerated. Inverse Auger scattering is generally suppressed, as the decelerated carriers must have excess energies higher than the band gap itself. In graphene, which is gapless, inverse Auger scattering is instead predicted to be dominant at the earliest time delays. Here, $<8$ femtosecond extreme-ultraviolet pulses are used to detect this imbalance, tracking both the number of excited electrons and their kinetic energy with time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Over a time window of approximately 25 fs after absorption of the pump pulse, we observe an increase in conduction band carrier density and a simultaneous decrease of the average carrier kinetic energy, revealing that relaxation is in fact dominated by inverse Auger scattering. Measurements of carrier scattering at extreme timescales by photoemission will serve as a guide to ultrafast control of electronic properties in solids for PetaHertz electronics.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figure

Attosecond spectroscopy of bio-chemically relevant molecules

Understanding the role of the electron dynamics in the photochemistry of bio-chemically relevant molecules is key to getting access to the fundamental physical processes leading to damage, mutation and, more generally, to the alteration of the final biological functions. Sudden ionization of a large molecule has been proven to activate a sub-femtosecond charge flow throughout the molecular backbone, purely guided by electronic coherences, which could ultimately affect the photochemical response of the molecule at later times. We can follow this ultrafast charge flow in real time by exploiting the extreme time resolution provided by attosecond light sources. In this work recent advances in attosecond molecular physics are presented with particular focus on the investigation of bio-relevant molecules

Phase-matching effects in the generation of high-energy photons by mid-infrared few-cycle laser pulses

We report on our experimental and theoretical investigations on the generation of high-order harmonics driven by 1500 nm few-cycle laser pulses in xenon. In contrast to the common belief, we found experimental evidence suggesting that harmonic generation driven by mid-infrared laser pulses can be realized with high efficiency; in particular, an enhancement of very high harmonic orders can be achieved under suitable conditions of the laser–medium interaction. The experimental results were simulated by a 3D non-adiabatic model. The theoretical outcomes confirm the experimental findings and provide a physical explanation for the counter-intuitive results. In particular, a time-dependent phase-matching analysis threw light on the generation mechanisms at a timescale of half optical cycle of the fundamental pulse