Macro economy, stock market and oil prices: Do meaningful relationships exist among their cyclical fluctuations?

This paper examines the relationship among consumer price index, industrial production, stock market and oil prices in Greece. Initially we use a unified statistical framework (cointegration and VECM) to study the data in levels. We then employ a multivariate VAR model to examine the relationship between the cyclical components of our series. The period of the study is from 1996:1 – 2008:6. Findings suggest that oil prices and the stock market exercise a positive effect on the Greek CPI, in the long run. Cyclical components analysis suggests that oil prices exercise significant negative influence to the stock market. In addition, oil prices are negatively influencing CPI, at a significant level. However, we find no effect of oil prices on industrial production and CPI. Finally, no relationship can be documented between the industrial production and stock market for the Greek market. The findings of this study are of a particular interest and importance to policy makers, financial managers, financial analysts and investors dealing with the Greek economy and the Greek stock market

Possible Detection of Low Energy Solar Neutrons Using Boron Based Materials

Solar neutrons have been detected aboard the International Space Station (ISS), using lithium tetraborate and boron carbide detector elements. We find that evidence of a solar neutron flux, as detected in a neutron calorimeter following subtraction of the proton background, with an energy of about 2 to 4 MeV. This solar neutron flux is likely no more than 250 to 375 neutrons cm−2sec−1, with a lower bound of 50–75 neutrons cm−2sec−1 at one au

Effects of word-of-mouth versus traditional marketing: findings from an internet social networking site

The authors study the effect of word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing on member growth at an Internet social networking site and compare it with traditional marketing vehicles. Because social network sites record the electronic invitations from existing members, outbound WOM can be precisely tracked. Along with traditional marketing, WOM can then be linked to the number of new members subsequently joining the site (sign-ups). Because of the endogeneity among WOM, new sign-ups, and traditional marketing activity, the authors employ a vector autoregression (VAR) modeling approach. Estimates from the VAR model show that WOM referrals have substantially longer carryover effects than traditional marketing actions and produce substantially higher response elasticises. Based on revenue from advertising impressions served to a new member, the monetary value of a WOM referral can be calculated; this yields an upper-bound estimate for the financial incentives the firm might offer to stimulate WOM.pre-prin

Successful bone marrow transplantation in a patient with DNA ligase IV deficiency and bone marrow failure

BACKGROUND: DNA Ligase IV deficiency syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive disorder caused by hypomorphic mutations in the DNA ligase IV gene (LIG4). The clinical phenotype shows overlap with a number of other rare syndromes, including Seckel syndrome, Nijmegen breakage syndrome, and Fanconi anemia. Thus the clinical diagnosis is often delayed and established by exclusion. METHODS: We describe a patient with pre- and postnatal growth retardation and dysmorphic facial features in whom the diagnoses of Seckel-, Dubowitz-, and Nijmegen breakage syndrome were variably considered. Cellular radiosensitivity in the absence of clinical manifestations of Ataxia telangiectasia lead to the diagnosis of DNA ligase IV (LIG4) deficiency syndrome, confirmed by compound heterozygous mutations in the LIG4 gene. At age 11, after a six year history of progressive bone marrow failure and increasing transfusion dependency the patient was treated with matched sibling donor hematopoetic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) using a fludarabine-based conditioning regimen without irradiation. RESULTS: The post-transplantation course was uneventful with rapid engraftment leading to complete and stable chimerism. Now at age 16, the patient has gained weight and is in good clinical condition. CONCLUSION: HSCT using mild conditioning without irradiation qualifies as treatment of choice in LIG4-deficient patients who have a matched sibling donor

Boundary Capabilities in MNCs: Knowledge Transformation for Creative Solution Development

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.The management of knowledge across country units is critical to multinational corporations (MNCs). Building on the argument that boundary spanning leads to the development of creative problem solving outcomes, this study advances the concept of MNC knowledge transformation and examines its relationship with solution creativity. Using questionnaire data on 67 problem solving projects, we find that opportunity formation is an underlying mechanism linking MNC knowledge transformation to the development of creative solutions. These insights contribute to our understanding of boundary spanning in global organizations by substantiating MNC knowledge transformation and elaborating the relationship between boundary spanning and creative solution development. If successful at knowledge transformation, collaborators from across the MNC can construct previously unimagined opportunities for the generation of creative outcomes.This study was funded by the Irish Research Council with co-funding from the European Commission (Marie-Curie Fellowship). We are very grateful for the insightful comments of Phillip C. Nell, the three reviewers, editors and participants at the paper development workshop at Ivey Business School

News framing effects on destination risk perception

News coverage of hazards is often commented to be of critical importance to individuals' perceived risk associated with tourist destinations. Despite the significance of this issue to the global tourism industry, the link between portrayals of hazards and audience reception is rarely studied in this context. This study adopted the framing theory to evaluate media effect on tourists' perceived risk of portrayals of terrorism and political instability incidents. This involved a survey-embedded experiment which manipulated potential elements of a news report concerning a hazard. The content of fictitious articles used in the experiment was created on the basis of extant risk perception theories. Results revealed that the use of risk amplifying frame and risk attenuating frame result in higher and lower ratings of risk respectively. Moreover, tourist psychographic characteristics were found to moderate the influence of news frames on perceived risk. Implications for tourism destination managers and marketers were discussed

Properties of the Liquid-Vapor Interface of Acetone-Water Mixtures. A Computer Simulation and ITIM Analysis Study

Molecular dynamics simulations of the liquid-vapor interface of acetone-water mixtures of different compositions, covering the entire composition range have been performed on the canonical (N, V, T) ensemble at 298 K, using a model combination that excellently describes the mixing properties of these compounds. The properties of the intrinsic liquid surfaces have been analyzed in terms of the Identification of the Truly Interfacial Molecules (ITIM) method. Thus, the composition, width, roughness, and separation of the subsurface molecular layers, as well as self-association, orientation, and dynamics of exchange with the bulk phase of the surface molecules have been analyzed in detail. Our results show that acetone molecules are strongly adsorbed at the liquid surface, and this adsorption extends to several molecular layers. Like molecules in the surface layer are found to form relatively large lateral self-associates. The effect of the vicinity of the vapor phase on a number of properties of the liquid phase vanishes beyond the first molecular layer, with the second subsurface layer already part of the bulk liquid phase in these respects. The orientational preferences of the surface molecules are governed primarily by the dipole-dipole interaction of the neighboring acetone molecules, and hydrogen bonding interaction of the neighboring acetone-water pairs. (Figure Presented). © 2015 American Chemical Society

Roles of discharge and temperature in recruitment of a cold-water fish, the European grayling Thymallus thymallus, near its southern range limit

Recruitment of salmonids is a result of density-dependent factors, specifically egg production in the previous year, and density-independent environmental processes driven by discharge and temperature. With the plethora of knowledge on major drivers of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar and brown trout Salmo trutta recruitment, there is a requirement to explore less known species, such as European grayling Thymallus thymallus, whose postemergence time coincides with period of increasing temperature and low discharge. This study assessed drivers of grayling recruitment in a southern English chalk stream, a system vulnerable to discharge and temperature alterations under future climate change predictions. The analyses explored age 0+ grayling survival in relation to conspecific and heterospecific densities and discharge- and temperature-derived factors. The final mixed-effects model revealed a positive relationship between age 0+ grayling survival and incubation temperature anomaly and age 0+ trout abundance. Similarly, postincubation temperature anomaly had a positive effect on 0+ grayling survival, but only up to a threshold temperature of 13.5°C, beyond which it had a negative effect. In contrast, increasing number of days with low discharge postincubation negatively influenced age 0+ grayling survival, with no evidence of an effect of elevated discharges following spawning. Our results emphasise the importance of maintaining natural discharge regimes in salmonid rivers by tackling multiple stressors operating at the catchment scale, including land and water use to mitigate for predicted climate driven changes. In addition, further research on recruitment drivers in less stable, rain-fed systems, is required