The idiosyncratic pattern of Russian corporate dividend policy during its formative era

© 2018 The Authors Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics © 2018 CIRIEC In general, the dividend payout pattern for Russian corporations during their formative period from 1998 to 2006 was seemingly independent of company earnings, size, growth opportunities and capital structure, as such firm policies appear not to conform to any of the main extant dividend payout theories. The only exception we find is that of utility firms, which were inclined to pay consistent dividends. Utility firms tended to be partly owned by the state and were subject to price regulation. Consequently, they may have had limited investment prospects. Our findings suggest that dividend payout policies in non-market economies may be driven by non-traditional determinants, such as the state's overall industrial strategy

Facilitating accessible, rapid, and appropriate processing of ancient metagenomic data with AMDirT [version 1; peer review: 1 approved, 1 approved with reservations]

Background: Access to sample-level metadata is important when selecting public metagenomic sequencing datasets for reuse in new biological analyses. The Standards, Precautions, and Advances in Ancient Metagenomics community (SPAAM, https://spaam-community.github.io) has previously published AncientMetagenomeDir, a collection of curated and standardised sample metadata tables for metagenomic and microbial genome datasets generated from ancient samples. However, while sample-level information is useful for identifying relevant samples for inclusion in new projects, Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) library construction and sequencing metadata are also essential for appropriately reprocessing ancient metagenomic data. Currently, recovering information for downloading and preparing such data is difficult when laboratory and bioinformatic metadata is heterogeneously recorded in prose-based publications. Methods: Through a series of community-based hackathon events, AncientMetagenomeDir was updated to provide standardised library-level metadata of existing and new ancient metagenomic samples. In tandem, the companion tool 'AMDirT' was developed to facilitate automated metadata curation and data validation, as well as rapid data filtering and downloading. Results: AncientMetagenomeDir was extended to include standardised metadata of over 5000 ancient metagenomic libraries. The companion tool 'AMDirT' provides both graphical- and command-line interface based access to such metadata for users from a wide range of computational backgrounds. We also report on errors with metadata reporting that appear to commonly occur during data upload and provide suggestions on how to improve the quality of data sharing by the community.Conclusions: Together, both standardised metadata and tooling will help towards easier incorporation and reuse of public ancient metagenomic datasets into future analyses.Bioarchaeolog

Measurement of tree volume by means of non-metric 35mm photography and photogrammetric approach

Forest Mensuration employs certain measurement principles to obtain quantifiable information about the forest for sustainable decision making.  In this paper, a photogrammetric alternative employing 35mm non-metric photography has been suggested and used in the preparation of a Standard Volume Table (SVT) for Forest Mensuration. The forester is afforded volume information about trees in less time and at lower cost, without sacrificing accuracy. Comparisons are made between the photogrammetric and traditional methods used by foresters in measuring tree-volume.  From the three methods – use of the Spiegel Relaskop, measuring tape on felled tree, and the photogrammetric technique developed in this work, volumes were determined using the Huber formula and a regression equation. The use of measuring tape on felled tree to determine tree volume has been known to provide the most reliable volumetric determinations and commonly serves as a standard for such measurements. Results from the photogrammetric technique compared very well with those obtained using measuring tape on felled tree indicating that , photogrammetric technique herein devised proves a more effective means for deriving Tree Volume Tables, if factors like speed, cost, and convenience are considered. &nbsp

[Effects of acoustic treatment of a dialysis room on the quality of life of patients]

International audienceThe impairment of quality of life experienced by patients treated with chronic hemodialysis results from many factors, including the care environment. Current regulations have significantly improved reception and treatment conditions for patients, but perhaps insufficient attention has been paid to the noise nuisance associated with dialysis equipment. We therefore found it useful to conduct a study on acoustic parameters in the dialysis room, and to evaluate the effects on perceived quality of life of an acoustic treatment intended to reduce the level of ambient noise. After measurements carried out under standard conditions, adapted noise absorption (devices panels and trellis) were installed in a treatment room of 8 posts hosting 32 volunteer patients, and their effects evaluated by a quality of life questionnaire administered 3 times (before, at the end of one week, and after the removal of the devices), each patient being his own witness. Measurements of ambient noise during dialysis periods and numerical modeling of the room were performed in parallel in order to search for correlations between the subjective changes expressed by the patients and the quantitative noise criteria. The results show that such devices can significantly reduce the perceived acoustic discomfort and their consequences (headaches), and suggest that these improvements are due to the frequential homogenization of the reverberation time in the room and the reduction of the low frequency components induced by the different sources of noise identified

SPS WANF Dismantling: A Large Scale-Decommissioning Project at CERN

The operation of the SPS (Super Proton Synchrotron) West Area Neutrino Facility (WANF) was halted in 1998. In 2010 a large scale-decommissioning of this facility was conducted. Besides CERN’s commitment to remove non-operational facilities, the additional motivation was the use of the installation (underground tunnels and available infrastructure) for the new HiRadMat facility, which is designed to study the impact of high-intensity pulsed beams on accelerator components and materials. The removal of 800 tons of radioactive equipment and the waste management according to the ALARA (As Low As Reasonably Achievable) principles were two major challenges. This paper describes the solutions implemented and the lessons learnt confirming that the decommissioning phase of a particle accelerator must be carefully studied as from the design stage

" Heritagisation " , a challenge for tourism promotion and regional development : an example of food heritage

Best paper elected 2013International audienceAs a marker of regional identity, heritage remains a complex field of inquiry. The discussion proposed here will use food to investigate the process of heritage construction or ‘heritigisation’ as an important issue for rural tourism promotion. If food is today considered to be a locus of inter-cultural exchange that contributes to the construction of social identities, then it could also be considered as an important resource for rural development strategy. As it is also strongly associated with the tourism sector, gastronomic heritage, in its forms of construction and mobilisation, calls into question the social and cultural dynamics of a given space. The objective of this discussion is two-fold and will treat the notion of heritage as a social construct and as a resource for action. We will attempt to answer the following question: At what point can heritage become a resource and component of professional opportunities? To what extent does this prove to be undeniably subject to the process of local ownership

IEA SHC Task 42 / ECES Annex 29 - A Simple Tool for the Economic Evaluation of Thermal Energy Storages

ACTInternational audienceWithin the framework of IEA SHC Task 42 / ECES Annex 29, a simple tool for the economic evaluation of thermal energy storages has been developed and tested on various existing storages. On that account, the storage capacity costs (costs per installed storage capacity) of thermal energy storages have been evaluated via a Top-down and a Bottom-up approach. The Top-down approach follows the assumption that the costs of energy supplied by the storage should not exceed the costs of energy from the market. The maximum acceptable storage capacity costs depend on the interest rate assigned to the capital costs, the intended payback period of the user class (e.g. industry or building), the reference energy costs, and the annual number of storage cycles. The Bottom-up approach focuses on the realised storage capacity costs of existing storages. The economic evaluation via Top-down and Bottom-up approach is a valuable tool to make a rough estimate of the economic viability of an energy storage for a specific application. An important finding is that the annual number of storage cycles has the largest influence on the cost effectiveness. At present and with respect to the investigated storages, seasonal heat storage is only economical via large sensible hot water storages. Contrary, if the annual number of storage cycles is sufficiently high, all thermal energy storage technologies can become competitive. \textcopyright 2016 The Authors