Predicting free-space occupancy on novel artificial structures by an invasive intertidal barnacle using a removal experiment.

Artificial structures can create novel habitat in the marine environment that has been associated with the spread of invasive species. They are often located in areas of high disturbance and can vary significantly in the area of free space provided for settlement of marine organisms. Whilst correlation between the amount of free space available and recruitment success has been shown in populations of several marine benthic organisms, there has been relatively little focus on invasive species, a group with the potential to reproduce in vast numbers and colonise habitats rapidly. Invasion success following different scales of disturbance was examined in the invasive acorn barnacle, Austrominiusmodestus, on a unique art installation located in Liverpool Bay. Population growth and recruitment success were examined by comparing recruitment rates within disturbance clearings of 4 different sizes and by contrasting population development with early recruitment rates over a 10 week period. Disturbed areas were rapidly recolonised and monocultures of A. modestus formed within 6 weeks. The size of patch created during disturbance had no effect on the rate of recruitment, while a linear relationship between recruit density and patch size was observed. Density-dependent processes mediated initial high recruitment resulting in population stability after 8-10 weeks, but densities continued to greatly exceed those reported in natural habitats. Given that artificial structures are likely to continue to proliferate in light of climate change projections, free-space is likely to become more available more frequently in the future supporting the expansion of fast-colonising species

Risk factors for race-day fatality in flat racing Thoroughbreds in Great Britain (2000 to 2013)

A key focus of the racing industry is to reduce the number of race-day events where horses die suddenly or are euthanased due to catastrophic injury. The objective of this study was therefore to determine risk factors for race-day fatalities in Thoroughbred racehorses, using a cohort of all horses participating in flat racing in Great Britain between 2000 and 2013. Horse-, race- and course-level data were collected and combined with all race-day fatalities, recorded by racecourse veterinarians in a central database. Associations between exposure variables and fatality were assessed using logistic regression analyses for (1) all starts in the dataset and (2) starts made on turf surfaces only. There were 806,764 starts in total, of which 548,571 were on turf surfaces. A total of 610 fatalities were recorded; 377 (61.8%) on turf. In both regression models, increased firmness of the going, increasing racing distance, increasing average horse performance, first year of racing and wearing eye cover for the first time all increased the odds of fatality. Generally, the odds of fatality also increased with increasing horse age whereas increasing number of previous starts reduced fatality odds. In the ‘all starts’ model, horses racing in an auction race were at 1.46 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06–2.01) times the odds of fatality compared with horses not racing in this race type. In the turf starts model, horses racing in Group 1 races were at 3.19 (95% CI 1.71–5.93) times the odds of fatality compared with horses not racing in this race type. Identification of novel risk factors including wearing eye cover and race type will help to inform strategies to further reduce the rate of fatality in flat racing horses, enhancing horse and jockey welfare and safety

Switching dynamics of spatial solitary wave pixels

Separatrices and scaling laws in the switching dynamics of spatial solitary wave pixels are investigated. We show that the dynamics in the full model are similar to those in the plane-wave limit. Switching features may be indicated and explained by the motion of the (complex) solitary wave amplitude in the phase plane. We report generalization, into the domain of transverse effects, of the pulse area theorem for the switching process and a logarithmic law for the transient dynamics. We also consider, for what is the first time to our knowledge, phase-encoded address of solitary pixels and find that a near-square-wave temporal switching pattern is permitted without (transverse) cross switching

Hexagon patterns in optical bistability

The mean-field model of optical bistability in a ring cavity is extended to include diffraction in two transverse dimensions. Nonlinear analysis in the neighborhood of the instability of the homogeneous solution indicates the formation of stable hexagonal patterns, and this is confirmed by numerical simulation, with reasonable quantitative agreement. Simulations with higher excitation show defect structures and complex dynamical patterns

Corporate governance and firm efficiency: Evidence from China's publicly listed firms

This paper applies a two-stage, double bootstrapping data envelope analysis approach to investigate whether and to what extent various distinctive corporate governance practices affect productive efficiency in a sample of 461 publicly listed manufacturing firms in China between 1999 and 2002. We find that firm efficiency is negatively related to state ownership while positively related to public and employee share ownership. In addition, the relationship between ownership concentration and firm efficiency is U-shaped, indicating the presence of tunneling activities by the largest shareholder. Among three types of controlling shareholder, state exerts the most negative impact on firm efficiency, followed by state-owned legal entities. These results provide strong evidence that political interferences have reduced firm efficiency. It shows that the proportion of outside directors and the number of board meetings are positively associated with firm efficiency, suggesting that board of directors can be an effective internal governance mechanism. Furthermore, provincial market development, a proxy for the strength of external governance mechanism, is positively related to firm efficiency. Overall, our findings illustrate that restructuring state-owned enterprises via improvements in corporate governance has enhanced firm efficiency, but partial privatization without transfer of ownership and control from the state to the public remains a major source of inefficiency in corporate China. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.postprin

Multiple large shareholders, excess leverage and tunneling: evidence from an emerging market

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Manuscript Type: Empirical Research Question/Issue: Past empirical efforts in corporate governance have examined the effects of large shareholders with the excess control rights on tunneling activities. However, no study has systematically investigated the effects of multiple large shareholders on excess leverage policies and tunneling in an emerging country environment where minority rights protection is weak. In this study, we examine the role of multiple large shareholders and the effects of control contestability of multiple large shareholders on firm excess leverage decision and tunneling by controlling shareholders. Research Findings/Insights: Using a sample of 2,341 Chinese firms for the years 2001 to 2013, we document that the contestability of multiple non-controlling large shareholders relative to controlling shareholders reduces the adoption of excess leverage policies, tunneling and enhances capital investment. Another intriguing finding is that the government as a controlling shareholder exerts significant influence and reduces the monitoring effectiveness of multiple larger shareholders. Theoretical/Academic Implications: By addressing the role of multiple large shareholders on excess leverage decisions, this study makes an important contribution to the corporate governance literature. We extend the recent developments in agency theory regarding the role of multiple large shareholders in constraining expropriation of controlling shareholders with excess control rights and their effect on firm leverage decisions. Our results support the theoretical models which indicate that the presence of multiple large shareholders is an important and efficient internal governance mechanism that mitigates a firm’s agency costs, particularly, in an emerging market environment where corporate governance is weak and inadequate to curb tunneling problem. JEL classification: G15; G34; G3

Supporting local planning and budgeting for maternal, neonatal and child health in the Philippines.

BACKGROUND: Responsibility for planning and delivery of health services in the Philippines is devolved to the local government level. Given the recognised need to strengthen capacity for local planning and budgeting, we implemented Investment Cases (IC) for Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health (MNCH) in three selected sub-national units: two poor, rural provinces and one highly-urbanised city. The IC combines structured problem-solving by local policymakers and planners to identify key health system constraints and strategies to scale-up critical MNCH interventions with a decision-support model to estimate the cost and impact of different scaling-up scenarios. METHODS: We outline how the initiative was implemented, the aspects that worked well, and the key limitations identified in the sub-national application of this approach. RESULTS: Local officials found the structured analysis of health system constraints helpful to identify problems and select locally appropriate strategies. In particular the process was an improvement on standard approaches that focused only on supply-side issues. However, the lack of data available at the local level is a major impediment to planning. While the majority of the strategies recommended by the IC were incorporated into the 2011 plans and budgets in the three study sites, one key strategy in the participating city was subsequently reversed in 2012. Higher level systemic issues are likely to have influenced use of evidence in plans and budgets and implementation of strategies. CONCLUSIONS: Efforts should be made to improve locally-representative data through routine information systems for planning and monitoring purposes. Even with sound plans and budgets, evidence is only one factor influencing investments in health. Political considerations at a local level and issues related to decentralisation, influence prioritisation and implementation of plans. In addition to the strengthening of capacity at local level, a parallel process at a higher level of government to relieve fund channelling and coordination issues is critical for any evidence-based planning approach to have a significant impact on health service delivery

Do Harmonised Accounting Standards Lead to Harmonised

The objective of this paper is to investigate the level of harmonisation for IAS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement and to identify if different levels of harmonisation are associated with company-specific factors. Based on Rahman et al. (2002), we used the Jaccard (JACC) index to determine the level of harmonisation between IAS 39 and the financial reporting practice of a broad-based sample of European-listed companies in 2005.We applied regression analysis to identify companies’ specific characteristics that affect the level of convergence of the reporting practice of financial instruments. The results of this study show a high level of harmonisation between accounting practices of European companies included in our sample and IAS 39

Transcriptional regulation of the IGF signaling pathway by amino acids and insulin-like growth factors during myogenesis in Atlantic salmon

The insulin-like growth factor signalling pathway is an important regulator of skeletal muscle growth. We examined the mRNA expression of components of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signalling pathway as well as Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 (FGF2) during maturation of myotubes in primary cell cultures isolated from fast myotomal muscle of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). The transcriptional regulation of IGFs and IGFBP expression by amino acids and insulin-like growth factors was also investigated. Proliferation of cells was 15% d(-1) at days 2 and 3 of the culture, increasing to 66% d(-1) at day 6. Three clusters of elevated gene expression were observed during the maturation of the culture associated with mono-nucleic cells (IGFBP5.1 and 5.2, IGFBP-6, IGFBP-rP1, IGFBP-2.2 and IGF-II), the initial proliferation phase (IGF-I, IGFBP-4, FGF2 and IGF-IRb) and terminal differentiation and myotube production (IGF2R, IGF-IRa). In cells starved of amino acids and serum for 72 h, IGF-I mRNA decreased 10-fold which was reversed by amino acid replacement. Addition of IGF-I and amino acids to starved cells resulted in an 18-fold increase in IGF-I mRNA indicating synergistic effects and the activation of additional pathway(s) leading to IGF-I production via a positive feedback mechanism. IGF-II, IGFBP-5.1 and IGFBP-5.2 expression was unchanged in starved cells, but increased with amino acid replacement. Synergistic increases in expression of IGFBP5.2 and IGFBP-4, but not IGFBP5.1 were observed with addition of IGF-I, IGF-II or insulin and amino acids to the medium. IGF-I and IGF-II directly stimulated IGFBP-6 expression, but not when amino acids were present. These findings indicate that amino acids alone are sufficient to stimulate myogenesis in myoblasts and that IGF-I production is controlled by both endocrine and paracrine pathways. A model depicting the transcriptional regulation of the IGF pathway in Atlantic salmon muscle following feeding is proposed.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe