A Note on Return on Foreign Assets and Foreign Presence for UK Multinationals

Within the context of the international business literature on multinationality and performance we develop new data on the foreign presence and performance of large UK multinational enterprises (MNEs). There are 32 UK MNEs for which we can obtain data on both their degree of multinationality (measured by the ratio of foreign-to-total sales, F/T) and on their performance. Here, in addition to the traditional overall performance of the firm, shown as return on total assets (ROTA), we use new data on the return on foreign assets (ROFA). We conduct analytical work to show the positioning of the UK MNEs in the ROFA and F/T space and provide regression results showing a linear relationship between multinationality and performance, using the new ROFA metric.UK multinationals, return on foreign assets, foreign-to-total sales, performance, multinational strategy

International Success of British Companies

This paper examines the international success of British companies in a matrix combining global market share and international revenues. We identify those industry segments in which British companies are most successful internationally, and also investigate whether these are attractive industries in terms of profitability and growth. We find that the industries with the largest global market shares for British companies are Mining, Casinos (and Gaming), Oil Companies (Major), Distillers & Brewers, and Water Utilities. Four of the top ten might be considered to be “sin” industries. The industries with the highest international revenues are Precious Metals, Pharmaceuticals, Industrial (Diversified), Oil Companies (Secondary), and Mining. We also find that virtually all of the largest British firms average over a 10% global market share, in the “British Winners” segment of our matrix. However, we find the second measure, the extent of internationalization, to be ambiguous. The manufacturing (product-based) firms tried to be highly internationalized, as they compete globally, but the largest British services firms (financials, retailers) tend to have low internationalization, and therefore appear to benefit from a still somewhat regulated home market. In addition, British companies have done a good job of building up global market shares in higher growth industries. We provide recommendations for managers as to how British companies with different combinations of global market share and extent of internationalisation can improve their positions. Our methodology can also be applied to analyzing companies from other nations.

Proteoglycans in neurulation

Glycosaminoglycans are made up of repeating disaccharide subunits consisting of a hexosamine and a hexose or hexuronic acid. They occur freely or as carbohydrate side chains in proteoglycans. Although widely distributed, their importance in embryogenesis is incompletely understood. This thesis investigates their roles in neurulation and neural crest migration. Primary neurulation occurs between E8.5 and E10.5 in the mouse embryo. Neural tube closure in the spinal region is accomplished by bending at the median hinge point and at paired dorsolateral hinge points. Histochemical and immunohistochemical studies show that sulphated glycosaminoglycans are present in the basement membrane of the closing neural tube, as well as elsewhere in the embryo. Culturing E8.5 CD1 mouse embryos in the presence of chlorate, a competitive inhibitor of glycosaminoglycan sulphation, suppressed median hinge point formation. This was associated with increased bending at the dorsolateral hinge points, resulting in accelerated posterior neuropore closure. Suppression of median hinge point formation was prevented by addition of heparan sulphate, but not chondroitin sulphate, de-N- or de-O-sulphated heparan sulphate, to the culture medium. This may be due to the requirement for heparan sulphate in Sonic hedgehog induction of median hinge point formation. Chondroitin sulphate also influenced posterior neuropore closure. Chondroitinase treatment of CD1 mouse embryos in culture retarded closure of the neuropore, whereas exogenous chondroitin sulphate accelerated closure. However, the median and dorsolateral hinge points were unaffected. The mechanism of action of chondroitin sulphate is unknown and requires further investigation. Besides their role in neurulation, chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans are known to inhibit cell migration. Splotch mouse mutants, where mutations in Pax-3 result in deficiencies of neural crest derived structures, have been shown by in situ hybridisation to over-express versican mRNA. To determine whether the glycosaminoglycan component was increased, chondroitin sulphate was quantified in E9.5 splotch embryos photospectroscopically using a 1,9-dimethylmethylene blue binding assay. It was found that mutants contained larger amounts of chondroitin sulphate than wild type embryos. On the other hand, there was no difference in the net synthetic rate, as determined by 35S-labelling of chondroitin sulphate in cultured splotch embryos. This suggests that the defect may lie in the mutants ability to degrade chondroitin sulphate, resulting in its accumulation and inhibition of neural crest migration. These experiments underline the importance of sulphated glycosaminoglycans in mouse development and raise the possibility that these molecules may contribute to development of neural tube defects and neurocristopathies in humans

Assessment of Bridge Inspection and Maintenance in the United States

Bridge inspection and maintenance is extremely important to the country since it is the economic lifeblood of the United States business and people relying upon them to do business and get to work. Although bridge disasters are relatively rare, the consequence of a failure can be disastrous. Technical and management problems that under the identification of bridge deficiency and obsolesce need to be identified and solved in order to keep bridges from falling apart. The purpose of this paper is to understand the problem behind bridge inspection and maintenance system in the United States in order to develop potential solutions to solve the problems that the DOTs are facing on the aging bridges and limited budget. A cost management model and a maintenance spending model are analyzed from this research

Presynaptic Localization of Sodium/Calcium Exchangers in Neuromuscular Preparations

Calcium ions play a critical role in neurotransmitter release. The cytosolic Ca 2+ concentration ([Ca2+]cyt) at nerve terminals must therefore be carefully controlled. Several different mechanisms, including a plasmalemmal Na/Ca exchanger, are involved in regulating [Ca2+]cyta We employed immunofluorescence microscopy with polyclonal antiserum raised against dog cardiac sarcolemmal Na/Ca exchanger to determine the distribution of the exchanger in vertebrate neuromuscular preparations. Our data indicate that the Na/Ca exchanger is concentrated at the neuromuscular junctions of the rat diaphragm. The exchanger is also present in the nonjunctional sarcolemma, but at a much lower concentration than in the junctional regions. Denervation markedly lowers the concentration of the exchanger in the junctional regions; this implies that the Na/Ca exchanger is concentrated in the presynaptic nerve terminals. In Xenopus laevis nerve and muscle cell cocultures, high concentrations of the exchanger are observed along the neurites as well as at the nerve terminals. The high concentrations of Na/Ca exchanger at presynaptic nerve terminals in vertebrate neuromuscular preparations suggest that the exchanger may participate in the Ca-dependent regulation of neurotransmitter release. The Na/Ca exchanger is also abundant in developing neurites and growth cones, where it may also be important for Ca2+ homeostasis

Measure for measure: new ways of looking at the long-term performance of firms

The need for sustainable long-term performance is an expectation driving the actions of those at the top of organisations. Yet there are few illusions about just how difficult that is to achieve – nor is it easy to determine precisely what should be measured and how

The Effect of Sulfated Glycosaminoglycans Extracted from Acanthaster planci on Full Thickness Excision Wound Healing in Animal Model

In this study, sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) was extracted from Acanthaster planci and its wound healing effects was assessed. Macroscopic examination revealed significant (p<0.05) contraction percentage (%) of wound on each observation (Day 1, Day 6 and Day 12) as compared to control group. Microscopic evaluations using light microscope, scanning, and transmission electron microscope showed that sulfated GAGs from A. planci enhanced epithelial cells migration and fibroblasts proliferation, and stimulate dense organisation of collagen fibers on the 12th day of observation, significantly (p<0.05) compared to control group. The microscopic study concluded that the second-intention excisional wound healing occurs faster in the GAGs treated group as compared to the saline-treated control group, while microscopical study using light microscope, scanning and transmission electron microscope revealed that the GAGs treated group have a significant effect in enhanced epithelization formation, fibroblasts proliferation and collagen fibers organization parameters as compared to the control group

High Origin of Radial Arteries: A Report of Two Rare Cases

Variations in the arterial supply of the upper limb are relatively common, with reported prevalence rates ranging from 11 to 24.4%. Of these, the most commonly encountered variation in the arm is a high origin of the radial artery. However, after consecutively dissecting and examining 600 Singaporean Chinese cadavers (1,200 upper limbs), we found only two cases of this. In both cases, the brachioradial artery originated from the upper one-third of the brachial artery and continued distally as the radial artery in the forearm. The local prevalence of 0.33% of this variation is significantly lower compared against populations from other geographical regions. Although rare, recognition of the variation is of fundamental importance to clinical practice

Response to COVID-19 vaccination in patients on cancer therapy:Analysis in a SARS-CoV-2-naïve population

Background: Cancer patients have increased morbidity and mortality from COVID-19, but may respond poorly to vaccination. The Evaluation of COVID-19 Vaccination Efficacy and Rare Events in Solid Tumors (EVEREST) study, comparing seropositivity between cancer patients and healthy controls in a low SARS-CoV-2 community-transmission setting, allows determination of vaccine response with minimal interference from infection. Methods: Solid tumor patients from The Canberra Hospital, Canberra, Australia, and healthy controls who received COVID-19 vaccination between March 2021 and January 2022 were included. Blood samples were collected at baseline, pre-second vaccine dose and at 1, 3 (primary endpoint), and 6 months post-second dose. SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike-RBD (S-RBD) and anti-nucleocapsid IgG antibodies were measured. Results: Ninety-six solid tumor patients and 20 healthy controls were enrolled, with median age 62 years, and 60% were female. Participants received either AZD1222 (65%) or BNT162b2 (35%) COVID-19 vaccines. Seropositivity 3 months post vaccination was 87% (76/87) in patients and 100% (20/20) in controls (p =.12). Seropositivity was observed in 84% of patients on chemotherapy, 80% on immunotherapy, and 96% on targeted therapy (differences not satistically significant). Seropositivity in cancer patients increased from 40% (6/15) after first dose, to 95% (35/37) 1 month after second dose, then dropped to 87% (76/87) 3 months after second dose. Conclusion: Most patients and all controls became seropositive after two vaccine doses. Antibody concentrations and seropositivity showed a decrease between 1 and 3 months post vaccination, highlighting need for booster vaccinations. SARS-CoV-2 infection amplifies S-RBD antibody responses; however, cannot be adequately identified using nucleocapsid serology. This underlines the value of our COVID-naïve population in studying vaccine immunogenicity.</p

Kasha or state selective behavior in the photochemistry of ortho-nitrobenzaldehyde?

The photochemistry of ortho-nitrobenzaldehyde dissolved in tetrahydrofuran was studied by means of femtosecond UV/Vis and IR spectroscopy. Comparison was made of the spectral and temporal signatures for similar to 400 nm and similar to 260 nm excitation. The 400 nm excitation promotes NBA to its lowest excited singlet state of n pi* character whereas for 260 nm an upper excited state of pi pi* character is addressed. On the picosecond time scale, the molecule undergoes hydrogen transfer, yielding a ketene intermediate, internal conversion recovering the starting material, and intersystem crossing. Time constants and yields of these processes are virtually not affected by the excitation wavelength. For 400 nm excitation a similar to 100 fs decay component seen in the 260 nm experiment is absent, indicating that this component is due to a pi pi* -> n pi* internal conversion. In contrast to its formation, the decay of the ketene intermediate is influenced by the excitation wavelength. This can be attributed to different amounts of vibrational excitation