Effects Of Comprehensive Income On ROE In A Context Of Crisis: Empirical Evidence For IBEX-35 Listed Companies (2004-2008)

Comprehensive income is becoming increasingly important as an indicator of corporate performance at an international level [SFAS 130 by the FASB (1997) and NIC 1 by the IASB, revised in 2007, among others]. Given this importance, this paper intends to assess its impact on the Return on Equity (ROE), as opposed to the more traditional net income, for the period 2004-2008 for the select group of the Spanish IBEX-35 listed companies. Moreover, working on this period will also allow us to verify the incidence of comprehensive income on the ROE within a context of economic crisis, especially for the year 2008, with a large recession and steep drops in the stock markets. For this empirical study, we took as reference the pertinent information disclosed in the Consolidated Annual Reports of these listed companies, formulated pursuant to the IFRS by the IASB, especially pursuant to IAS 1.The non-parametric Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test was used to perform the corresponding statistic comparisons, as the variables in certain years did not conform to normalcy. The results of our paper show a statistically significant impact of the ROE calculated pursuant to comprehensive income as opposed to the ROE determined pursuant to the net income. This was evidenced for three of the five years that were studied, especially for 2008, when there was a spectacular decline in the ROE calculated pursuant to the comprehensive income as opposed to that calculated pursuant to the net income. We consider this could be a contribution to the international debate regarding the need to include other measurements of corporate performance that are broader than the traditional net income in certain ratios of the fundamental analysis. This could represent the basis for adopting financial decisions that are much more in tune with the reality of the market

Click Chemistry with Polymers, Dendrimers, and Hydrogels for Drug Delivery

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Pharmaceutical Research. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11095-012-0683-yDuring the last decades, great efforts have been devoted to design polymers for reducing the toxicity, increasing the absorption, and improving the release profile of drugs. Advantage has been also taken from the inherent multivalency of polymers and dendrimers for the incorporation of diverse functional molecules of interest in targeting and diagnosis. In addition, polymeric hydrogels with the ability to encapsulate drugs and cells have been developed for drug delivery and tissue engineering applications. In the long road to this successful story, pharmaceutical sciences have been accompanied by parallel advances in synthetic methodologies allowing the preparation of precise polymeric materials with enhanced properties. In this context, the introduction of the click concept by Sharpless and coworkers in 2001 focusing the attention on modularity and orthogonality has greatly benefited polymer synthesis, an area where reaction efficiency and product purity are significantly challenged. The purpose of this Expert Review is to discuss the impact of click chemistry in the preparation and functionalization of polymers, dendrimers, and hydrogels of interest in drug deliveryThis work was financially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (CTQ2009-10963 and CTQ2009-14146-C02-02) and the Xunta de Galicia (10CSA209021PR and CN2011/037)S

Tuning the Size of Nanoassembles: A Hierarchical Transfer of Information from Dendrimers to Polyion Complexes

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Amaral, S., Tawara, M., Fernandez-Villamarin, M., Borrajo, E., Martínez-Costas, J., & Vidal, A. et al. (2018). Tuning the Size of Nanoassembles: A Hierarchical Transfer of Information from Dendrimers to Polyion Complexes. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 57(19), 5273-5277, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201712244. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived VersionsThe generation of dendrimers is a powerful tool in the control of the size and biodistribution of polyion complexes (PIC). Using a combinatorial screening of six dendrimers (18–243 terminal groups) and five oppositely charged PEGylated copolymers, a dendrimer‐to‐PIC hierarchical transfer of structural information was revealed with PIC diameters that increased from 80 to 500 nm on decreasing the dendrimer generation. This rise in size, which was also accompanied by a micelle‐to‐vesicle transition, is interpreted according to a cone‐ to rod‐shaped progression in the architecture of the unit PIC (uPIC). This precise size tuning enabled dendritic PICs to act as nanorulers for controlled biodistribution. Overall, a domino‐like control of the size and biological properties of PIC that is not attainable with linear polymers is feasible through dendrimer generationMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad. Grant Numbers: CTQ2015-69021-R, CTQ2014-61470-EXP, BFU2013-43513-R Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria, Xunta de Galicia. Grant Numbers: GRC2014/040, Centro Singular de Investigación de Galicia Accreditation 2016-2019, ED431G/09 European Regional Development FundS

Meta-analysis: implications of interleukin-28B polymorphisms in spontaneous and treatment-related clearance for patients with hepatitis C

BACKGROUND: Since 2009, several studies have identified single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) near the gene encoding for interleukin (IL)-28 (IL28B) that are strongly associated with spontaneous and treatment-induced hepatitis C virus (HCV) clearance. Because this large amount of data includes some inconsistencies, we consider assessment of the global estimate for each SNP to be essential. METHODS: Relevant studies assessing IL28B polymorphisms associated with sustained virologic response (SVR) and spontaneous clearance (SC) were identified from a literature search of PubMed up to 9 July, 2012. Studies were eligible studies if they included patients infected with HCV or HCV/HIV, or assessed any SNP located within or near the IL28B gene, SVR data available under standard treatment, and/or SC data in patients with acute HCV infection. Pooled odds ratios were estimated by fixed or random effects models when appropriate. Variables such as HCV genotype, ethnicity, and type of co-infection were studied. RESULTS: Of 282 screened studies, 67 were selected for SVR and 10 for SC. In total, 20,163 patients were studied for SVR and 3,554 for SC. For SVR, we found that all SNPs showed strong associations in patients with HCV genotypes 1 and 4, whereas the pooled ORs were almost three times lower for genotypes 2 and 3 (rs12979860 and rs8099917). Regarding ethnicity, the SNP most associated with SVR was rs12979860 in white patients, whereas in East Asians it seemed to be rs8099917. The most studied SNP (rs12979860) showed similar results for patients co-infected with HCV/HIV, as for those infected with HCV only. Finally, rs12979860 and rs8099917 both appeared to be associated with SC. CONCLUSIONS: IL28B polymorphisms influence both the outcome of interferon treatment and the natural clearance of HCV. However we did not identify a universal predictor SNP, as the best genetic markers differed depending on patient ethnicity, genotype, and type of infection. Nevertheless, our results may be useful for more precise treatment decision-making.This work was supported by grants from the 'Health Institute Carlos III (ISCIII)' [PI08/0738 and PI11/00245]. MAJS, AFR MGF and MGA were supported by the after grants [CM10/00105, PI08/0738, CM09/00031, and CM08/00101 respectively].S

Spiral inertial microfluidics for size based microalgae separation

The identifcation of toxic microalgae is essential for the sustainable management of activities, such as aquaculture, being also relevant for environmental monitoring and marine research purposes [1]. For these reasons, there is an increasing demand for in situ, reliable, portable, autonomous, low-cost and of easy operation technologies and devices able to detect early signs of potential toxic algal populations within the context of long term monitoring programmes. To this aim, a multisensory platform for in-situ phytoplankton quantifcation and taxonomic identifcation designed for underwater deployment and based on lab-on-chip (LoC) technology has been developed. It combines fow cytometry with optical and electrical measurements. The separation of microalgae based on cell size prior to analysis is key to reduce the complexity and heterogeneous nature of seawater samples while also ofering a degree of distinction between taxonomic groups. This work investigates and develops a simple inertial microfuidic device based on a spiral microchannel that achieves size-based separation of microparticles/ cells. The theoretical principle of their separation was analysed trough numerical simulations and experimental tests were also performed. Using a 5-loop spiral (300 μm width and 100 μm height), 20 μm and 40 μm polystyrene (PS) microparticles were successfully separated for a fow rate of 2000 μl/min, showing its potential for microalgae size-based separation. Furthermore, the simple structure and high throughout makes this technique suitable for integration in LoC devices [2, 3].Peer Reviewe

Effect of State Feedback Coupling and System Delays on the Transient Performance of Stand-Alone VSI with LC Output Filter

The influence of state feedback coupling in the dynamics performance of power converters for stand-alone microgrids is investigated. Computation and PWM delays are the main factors that limit the achievable bandwidth of current regulators in digital implementations. In particular, the performance of state feedback decoupling is degraded because of these delays. Two decoupling techniques to improve the transient response of the system are investigated, named non-ideal and ideal capacitor voltage decoupling respectively. In particular, the latter solution consists in leading the capacitor voltage on the state feedback decoupling path in order to compensate for system delays. Practical implementation issues are discussed with reference to both the decoupling techniques. A design methodology for the voltage loop, that considers the closed loop transfer functions developed for the inner loop, is also provided. A proportional resonant voltage controller is designed according to Nyquist criterion taking into account application requirements. For this purpose, a mathematical expression based on root locus analysis is proposed to find the minimum value of the fundamental resonant gain. Experimental tests performed in accordance to UPS standards verify the theoretical analysis

Discrete-Time Domain Modelling of Voltage Source Inverters in Standalone Applications:Enhancement of Regulators Performance by Means of Smith Predictor

The decoupling of the capacitor voltage and inductor current has been shown to improve significantly the dynamic performance of voltage source inverters in standalone applications. However, the computation and pulse width modulation delays still limit the achievable bandwidth. In this paper, a discrete-time domain modeling of an LC plant with consideration of delay and sample-and-hold effects on the state feedback cross-coupling decoupling is derived. From this plant formulation, current controllers with wide bandwidth and good relative stability properties are developed. Two controllers based on lead compensation and Smith predictor design, respectively, are obtained. Subsequently, the voltage regulator is also designed for a wide bandwidth, which permits the inclusion of resonant filters for the steady-state mitigation of odd harmonics at nonlinear unbalance load terminals. Discrete-time domain implementation issues of an antiwind up scheme are discussed as well, highlighting the limitations of some discretization methods. Extensive experimental results, including a short-circuit test, verify the theoretical analysis