Recent MOST space photometry

The Microvariability and Oscillations of STars (MOST) photometric satellite has already undertaken more than 64 primary campaigns which include some clusters and has obtained observations of >850 secondary stars of which ~180 are variable. More than half of the variables pulsate, with the majority being of B-type. Since 2006 January, MOST has operated with only a single CCD for both guiding and science. The resulting increase in read-out cadence has improved precision for the brightest stars. The 2007 light curve for Procyon confirms the lack of predicted p-modes with photometric amplitudes exceeding 8 ppm as we found in 2004 and 2005. p-modes have been detected in other solar-type stars as well as pre-main sequence objects, roAp and delta Scuti variables. g-modes have been detected in a range of slowly pulsating B stars, Be stars and beta Cephei variables. Differential rotation has been defined for several spotted solar-type stars and limits set to the albedo of certain transiting planets and the presence of other perturbing planets. The mission is expected to continue as long as the experiment operates.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, from HELAS-II meetin

Globalization: An Analytical Framework

The paradigm example of globalization is the global integration of financial markets. Globalization has significant implications for New Zealand--a small island nation far from the centers of world capital--that flow from the particular characteristics of New Zealand\u27s economy. In order to sustain current levels of economic growth, the New Zealand government has adopted a liberal policy to attractf oreign capital. In the future, a major taskf or New Zealand is to align further the internal logic of the deregulatory process as expressed in domestic legislation with an international environment in which domestic economies are more globally integrated. This article argues that the concept of globalization provides a new analytical framework for accomplishing that task. The article commences by identifying different meanings of globalization and key drivers in the globalization of the financial markets. Because globalization is an ambiguous concept, the second half of the paper attempts to sharpen understanding of the concept by considering concrete instances in which globalization has affected New Zealand. Examples provided are: the crash of 1987; the improvement of New Zealand\u27s international investment position through a noticeable increase in foreign investment; capital shortage; capital flight; political debate in New Zealand; New Zealand\u27s tax treatment of foreign investors; and exemptions for foreign issuers. Here, it is argued that as far as domestic policymakers are concerned, globalization demands, first, a clear set ofpriorities in the particular area (a microscopic view), and, second, a global view of the subject matter (a macroscopic view).The article concludes by suggesting n analyticalf rameworkf or domestic policymakers and legislators addressing globalizationissues. Complex systems can be viewed as the subject of macroscopic knowledge; hence, globalization can be characterized as macroscopic knowledge since it is complex, conceptual, and fuzzy. By contrast, domestic legislation can be characterized as microscopic knowledge; i.e.,focused on one domain in which there is little or no contradiction.On this view, globalization can be used as a tool to examine the context of any given domestic legislation, thereby enriching our understanding of specific legislation by introducing dynamic and predictive criteria. The concept of globalization radiates the possibility of a new analytical framework for policymakers. Coupled with the macroscopic/microscopic viewpoint, it enables us to avoid the pitfall of domestic introspection by introducing criteria of internal and external coherence. Internal coherence asks whether a proposed domestic policy is congruent with policy in related areas. For example, is there regulatory symmetry between domestic legislation in taxation, securities, and foreign investment areas? External coherence asks the globalization question: How should domestic legislation reflect change in the international context

Globalization: An Analytical Framework

The paradigm example of globalization is the global integration of financial markets. Globalization has significant implications for New Zealand--a small island nation far from the centers of world capital--that flow from the particular characteristics of New Zealand\u27s economy. In order to sustain current levels of economic growth, the New Zealand government has adopted a liberal policy to attractf oreign capital. In the future, a major taskf or New Zealand is to align further the internal logic of the deregulatory process as expressed in domestic legislation with an international environment in which domestic economies are more globally integrated. This article argues that the concept of globalization provides a new analytical framework for accomplishing that task. The article commences by identifying different meanings of globalization and key drivers in the globalization of the financial markets. Because globalization is an ambiguous concept, the second half of the paper attempts to sharpen understanding of the concept by considering concrete instances in which globalization has affected New Zealand. Examples provided are: the crash of 1987; the improvement of New Zealand\u27s international investment position through a noticeable increase in foreign investment; capital shortage; capital flight; political debate in New Zealand; New Zealand\u27s tax treatment of foreign investors; and exemptions for foreign issuers. Here, it is argued that as far as domestic policymakers are concerned, globalization demands, first, a clear set ofpriorities in the particular area (a microscopic view), and, second, a global view of the subject matter (a macroscopic view).The article concludes by suggesting n analyticalf rameworkf or domestic policymakers and legislators addressing globalizationissues. Complex systems can be viewed as the subject of macroscopic knowledge; hence, globalization can be characterized as macroscopic knowledge since it is complex, conceptual, and fuzzy. By contrast, domestic legislation can be characterized as microscopic knowledge; i.e.,focused on one domain in which there is little or no contradiction.On this view, globalization can be used as a tool to examine the context of any given domestic legislation, thereby enriching our understanding of specific legislation by introducing dynamic and predictive criteria. The concept of globalization radiates the possibility of a new analytical framework for policymakers. Coupled with the macroscopic/microscopic viewpoint, it enables us to avoid the pitfall of domestic introspection by introducing criteria of internal and external coherence. Internal coherence asks whether a proposed domestic policy is congruent with policy in related areas. For example, is there regulatory symmetry between domestic legislation in taxation, securities, and foreign investment areas? External coherence asks the globalization question: How should domestic legislation reflect change in the international context

Corporate Governance Research on New Zealand Listed Companies

"The purpose of this article is to review and add to approximately fifty years of research on New Zealand listed companies from various disciplines. The main findings are not controversial, as corporate governance standards are high by international standards. To be sure, there has been a rolling set of corporate failures in the finance company sector since the global financial crisis--principally involving nonlisted finance companies issuing debt securities to the public--but these failures have been comprehensively addressed by recent legislative reforms. In this regard, the article will be of interest to corporate governance researchers seeking a topical review of corporate governance in a small, common law jurisdiction. A key commercial context, however, is supplied by the regional free trade agreement between New Zealand and Australia, the recent free trade agreement between Australia and the United States, and the (largely moot) free-trade agreement between New Zealand and the United States....As stated, this article comprehensively reviews and adds to extant research on corporate governance of New Zealand listed companies. It is crossdisciplinary in nature and considers legal, managerial, and accounting perspectives, as well as literature on corporate governance....We conclude that while corporate governance of listed companies was good, the same cannot be said for nonlisted issuers of debt securities. Here, poor corporate governance and supervisory failures were causal in the failure of nonlisted finance companies.

Modulation of Ca II H & K Emission by Short-Period Planets

We have detected modulation of the Ca II H&K reversal structure in four out of five 51 Peg-type stars whose planets have orbital periods between 3 and 4 days. We observe two effects in the K-core: (1) a broad 3-A variation at ~1% level and (2) changes on a scale of 0.5 A (~1-3%) in each of the three reversal features. The nightly variations are coherent in both H and K. From differential radial velocities measured to better than 20 m/s, up-to-date phases were extracted. The enhancements in the reversals tend to be greatest at the sub-planetary points which may imply that there is a magnetic interaction between the star's outer layers and the magnetosphere of the planet. These high-S/N (500 per pixel in the continuum) and high-resolution (R = 110,000) data are too few to confirm orbital synchronization.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, in newpasp.sty format. To be published by PASP (ed. Drake Deming) in the proceedings of the conference entitled "Scientific Frontiers in Research on Extrasolar Planets," held at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, DC, June 18-21, 200

Evidence for Planet-induced Chromospheric Activity on HD 179949

We have detected the synchronous enhancement of Ca II H & K emission with the short-period planetary orbit in HD 179949. High-resolution spectra taken on three observing runs extending more than a year show the enhancement coincides with phi ~ 0 (the sub-planetary point) of the 3.093-day orbit with the effect persisting for more than 100 orbits. The synchronous enhancement is consistent with planet-induced chromospheric heating by magnetic rather than tidal interaction. Something which can only be confirmed by further observations. Independent observations are needed to determine whether the stellar rotation is sychronous with the planet's orbit. Of the five 51 Peg-type systems monitored, HD 179949 shows the greatest chromospheric H & K activity. Three others show significant nightly variations but the lack of any phase coherence prevents us saying whether the activity is induced by the planet. Our two standards, tau Ceti and the Sun, show no such nightly variations.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures. Submitted to Ap

The Radial Velocity Precision of Fiber-fed Spectrographs

We have measured the radial velocities of five 51 Peg-type stars and one star with constant velocity. Our measurements, on 20 \AA centered at 3947 \AA, were conventional using Th/Ar comparison spectra taken every 20 or 40 minutes between the stellar exposures. Existing IRAF routines were used for the reduction. We find $\sigma_{RV}$ $\leq$ 20 m s$^{-1}$, provided 4 measurements (out of 72) with residuals $>5\sigma_{RV}$ are neglected. The observations were made with the CFHT Gecko spectrograph, fiber-fed with the CAFE system (R$\sim$110,000). $\sigma_{RV}$ $\leq$10 m s$^{-1}$ seems possible with additional care. This study was incidental to the main program and so not exhaustive but the small value of $\sigma_{RV}$ implies that the fiber feed/image slicer system on Gecko + CAFE, essentially eliminates the long standing problem of guiding errors in radial velocity measurements. We are not suggesting this conventional approach for serious Doppler planet searches (especially with Gecko which has such a small multiplex gain), but the precision is valuable for observations made in spectral regions remote from telluric lines or captive-gas fiducials. Instrument builders might consider the advantages of the CAFE optics which incorporate agitation and invert the object and pupil for slit and grating illumination in future spectrograph designs.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure

Fruit and vegetable consumption and all-cause, cancer and CVD mortality : analysis of Health Survey for England data

Background Governments worldwide recommend daily consumption of fruit and vegetables. We examine whether this benefits health in the general population of England. Methods Cox regression was used to estimate HRs and 95% CI for an association between fruit and vegetable consumption and all-cause, cancer and cardiovascular mortality, adjusting for age, sex, social class, education, BMI, alcohol consumption and physical activity, in 65 226 participants aged 35+ years in the 2001–2008 Health Surveys for England, annual surveys of nationally representative random samples of the non-institutionalised population of England linked to mortality data (median follow-up: 7.7 years). Results Fruit and vegetable consumption was associated with decreased all-cause mortality (adjusted HR for 7+ portions 0.67 (95% CI 0.58 to 0.78), reference category <1 portion). This association was more pronounced when excluding deaths within a year of baseline (0.58 (0.46 to 0.71)). Fruit and vegetable consumption was associated with reduced cancer (0.75 (0.59–0.96)) and cardiovascular mortality (0.69 (0.53 to 0.88)). Vegetables may have a stronger association with mortality than fruit (HR for 2 to 3 portions 0.81 (0.73 to 0.89) and 0.90 (0.82 to 0.98), respectively). Consumption of vegetables (0.85 (0.81 to 0.89) per portion) or salad (0.87 (0.82 to 0.92) per portion) were most protective, while frozen/canned fruit consumption was apparently associated with increased mortality (1.17 (1.07 to 1.28) per portion). Conclusions A robust inverse association exists between fruit and vegetable consumption and mortality, with benefits seen in up to 7+ portions daily. Further investigations into the effects of different types of fruit and vegetables are warranted

The On/Off Nature of Star-Planet Interactions

Evidence suggesting an observable magnetic interaction between a star and its hot Jupiter appears as a cyclic variation of stellar activity synchronized to the planet's orbit. In this study, we monitored the chromospheric activity of 7 stars with hot Jupiters using new high-resolution echelle spectra collected with ESPaDOnS over a few nights in 2005 and 2006 from the CFHT. We searched for variability in several stellar activity indicators (Ca II H, K, the Ca II infrared triplet, Halpha, and He I). HD 179949 has been observed almost every year since 2001. Synchronicity of the Ca II H & K emission with the orbit is clearly seen in four out of six epochs, while rotational modulation with P_rot=7 days is apparent in the other two seasons. We observe a similar phenomenon on upsilon And, which displays rotational modulation (P_rot=12 days) in September 2005, in 2002 and 2003 variations appear to correlate with the planet's orbital period. This on/off nature of star-planet interaction (SPI) in the two systems is likely a function of the changing stellar magnetic field structure throughout its activity cycle. Variability in the transiting system HD 189733 is likely associated with an active region rotating with the star, however, the flaring in excess of the rotational modulation may be associated with its hot Jupiter. As for HD 179949, the peak variability as measured by the mean absolute deviation for both HD 189733 and tau Boo leads the sub-planetary longitude by 70 degrees. The tentative correlation between this activity and the ratio of Mpsini to the planet's rotation period, a quantity proportional to the hot Jupiter's magnetic moment, first presented in Shkolnik et al. 2005 remains viable. This work furthers the characterization of SPI, improving its potential as a probe of extrasolar planetary magnetic fields.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa