Board monitoring and firm performance: evidence from the UK

There are several research papers regarding the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance. One of the aspects of corporate governance is the board of directors. Board monitoring is a critical aspect which can be measured by number of board meetings and number of board committees. There are several studies on board diversity and composition of board of directors and firm performance, while there are few research studies on the number of board committees and board meetings and their relationship with the firm performance. Accordingly, this thesis focuses on the relationship between board monitoring measured by number of board meetings and number of board committees and firm performance in the UK. The sample is Financial Times and London Stock Exchange (FTSE) 150 which includes the largest 150 listed companies on London Stock Exchange. Firm performance is measured by an accounting measure which is return on assets (ROA) and a market performance measure which is Tobin\u27s Q. The results of this study show that there is no significant relationship between number of board meetings and firm performance. However, there is a significant negative relationship between number of board committees and firm performance. Keywords: board committees, board meetings, corporate governance, firm performance, FTSE150, UK

On dynamical net-charge fluctuations within a hadron resonance gas approach

The dynamical net-charge fluctuations (${\nu}_{dyn}$) in different particle ratios $K/{\pi}$, $K/p$, and $p/{\pi}$ are calculated from the hadron resonance gas (HRG) model and compared with STAR central Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=7.7-200~$GeV and NA49 central Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=6.3-17.3~$GeV. The three charged-particle ratios ($K/{\pi}$, $K/p$, and $p/{\pi}$) are determined as total and average of opposite and average of same charges. We find an excellent agreement between the HRG calculations and the experimental measurements, especially from STAR beam energy scan (BES) program, while the strange particles in the NA49 experiment at lower Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) energies are not reproduced by the HRG approach. We conclude that the utilized HRG version seems to take into consideration various types of correlations including strong interactions through the heavy resonances and their decays especially at BES energies.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in Advances in High Energy Physic

Particle production and chemical freezeout from the hybrid UrQMD approach at NICA energies

The energy dependence of various particle ratios is calculated within the Ultra-Relativistic Quantum Molecular Dynamics approach and compared with the hadron resonance gas (HRG) model and measurements from various experiments, including RHIC-BES, SPS and AGS. It is found that the UrQMD particle ratios agree well with the experimental results at the RHIC-BES energies. Thus, we have utilized UrQMD in simulating particle ratios at other beam energies down to 3 GeV, which will be accessed at NICA and FAIR future facilities. We observe that the particle ratios for crossover and first-order phase transition, implemented in the hybrid UrQMD v3.4, are nearly indistinguishable, especially at low energies (at large baryon chemical potentials or high density).Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables, one reference is added and one paragraph is rephrased. To appear in EPJ

Infected pancreatic necrosis: outcomes and clinical predictors of mortality. A post hoc analysis of the MANCTRA-1 international study

: The identification of high-risk patients in the early stages of infected pancreatic necrosis (IPN) is critical, because it could help the clinicians to adopt more effective management strategies. We conducted a post hoc analysis of the MANCTRA-1 international study to assess the association between clinical risk factors and mortality among adult patients with IPN. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression models were used to identify prognostic factors of mortality. We identified 247 consecutive patients with IPN hospitalised between January 2019 and December 2020. History of uncontrolled arterial hypertension (p = 0.032; 95% CI 1.135-15.882; aOR 4.245), qSOFA (p = 0.005; 95% CI 1.359-5.879; aOR 2.828), renal failure (p = 0.022; 95% CI 1.138-5.442; aOR 2.489), and haemodynamic failure (p = 0.018; 95% CI 1.184-5.978; aOR 2.661), were identified as independent predictors of mortality in IPN patients. Cholangitis (p = 0.003; 95% CI 1.598-9.930; aOR 3.983), abdominal compartment syndrome (p = 0.032; 95% CI 1.090-6.967; aOR 2.735), and gastrointestinal/intra-abdominal bleeding (p = 0.009; 95% CI 1.286-5.712; aOR 2.710) were independently associated with the risk of mortality. Upfront open surgical necrosectomy was strongly associated with the risk of mortality (p < 0.001; 95% CI 1.912-7.442; aOR 3.772), whereas endoscopic drainage of pancreatic necrosis (p = 0.018; 95% CI 0.138-0.834; aOR 0.339) and enteral nutrition (p = 0.003; 95% CI 0.143-0.716; aOR 0.320) were found as protective factors. Organ failure, acute cholangitis, and upfront open surgical necrosectomy were the most significant predictors of mortality. Our study confirmed that, even in a subgroup of particularly ill patients such as those with IPN, upfront open surgery should be avoided as much as possible. Study protocol registered in ClinicalTrials.Gov (I.D. Number NCT04747990)

Impact of CYP1A1, GSTP1 and XRCC1 genes polymorphisms on toxicity and response to chemotherapy in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Background: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common childhood malignancy. The interindividual genetic variations in drug metabolizing enzymes and DNA repair genes influence the efficacy and toxicity of numerous chemotherapeutic drugs affecting the treatment outcome. Aim of the work: The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of drug metabolizing CYP1, GSTP1 and DNA repair (XRCC1) genes polymorphisms on the toxicity and response to chemotherapy in childhood ALL. Patients and methodology: Ninety seven ALL pediatric patients were genotyped for CYP1A1, GSTP1 ILe105 Val and XRCC1 Arg194Tryp single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) using PCR-RFLP. Results: No statistically significant differences were observed between the wild and variant (homozygous and heterozygous) genotypes of the polymorphisms studied in CYP1A1, GSTP1 or XRCC1 genes regarding age, total leukocyte count, immunophenotyping, cytogenetic or risk group. The SNPs in CYP1A1, GSTP1 and XRCC1 genes did not show significant association with complete remission (CR) rate, overall survival (OS) or event free survival (EFS). However, XRCC1 Arg194Trp SNP was associated with higher drug toxicity; carriers of variant genotypes (CT and TT) had a significantly higher frequency of myelosuppression compared to those with the wild CC genotype (21/43[48.8%]) compared to (14/54[25.9%]) (p = 0.020). The analysis of the combined effect of studied SNPs did not show any significant association with patient outcome. Conclusion: Our study reported a significant association between the DNA repair gene polymorphism and myelosuppression in childhood ALL patients. Adjustment of the dose of chemotherapeutic agents according to XRCC1 Arg194Trp polymorphism may improve outcome in cases with risk of toxicity

A pilot- cross sectional study of palatal Rugae shape and direction among Egyptians and Malaysians

Abstract Background To evaluate the role of different morphological palatal rugae patterns (palatal print) as a tool for personal identification. Method A pilot cross-sectional study was carried out on 60 Egyptian subjects and 60 Malaysian subjects. All were above 6 years old, nonsmokers and were sharing the same dietary habits. Palatal impressions were taken from the subjects and a rugogram was issued. Many parameters were included in the rugogram. Rugae shape, direction and unification pattern were the main parameters involved. Modified Trobo classification and Thomas & Kotz classification were used. Results The present study revealed that lines, sinouses and curve shaped rugae were the most frequent rugae patterns among both Egyptians and Malaysians. Forward directed and divergent rugae were more frequent than backwardly directed and convergent rugae among both groups. No significant differences regarding rugae shape, direction and unification status among both sexes in each group were observed. Curve shaped rugae, sinous shaped rugae and complexly shaped rugae were significantly higher in the Malaysian males compared to Egyptian males. Malaysian females had a significant greater number of sinuous shaped rugae than the Egyptian females while the Egyptian females had a greater number of line-shaped rugae than the Malaysian females. Conclusions This present pilot study revealed that Egyptians and Malaysians shared specific characteristic rugae patterns and direction. Sexual dimorphism was not evident among both populations regarding rugae shape, direction and unification status

Control the corrosion of mild steel using synthesized polymers based on polyacrylamide

In this work polyacrylamide (PACM) was prepared by radical polymerization technique using ammonium persulfate (APS) as initiator under nitrogen atmosphere. The viscosity average molecular weight of the prepared PACM was found to be 177858. The free amino groups of PACM, poly(2-methoxyaniline) was grafted by the oxidation of 2-methoxyaniline using APS in acidic medium under nitrogen atmosphere. The grafting percent is found to be 96%. The morphology of the obtained PACM and PACM-g-P2-MeOANI was studied by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope. The grafting process enhances the morphology of both PACM and poly(2-methoxyaniline). The inhibiting effect of the three polymers on the mild steel corrosion in the 1.0 M HCl as aggressive environments have been measured gravimetrically at three different temperatures 25, 40 and 55 °C and electrically at 25 °C. The inhibition efficiencies of the three tested polymers were found to increase with temperature. The poly(2-methoxyaniline) is the most effective one as a corrosion inhibitor at all tested temperatures. The adsorption behavior of the polymers was found to follow Villamil isotherm and the values of the change in free energy refer to a mixed chemical and physical adsorption on the steel surface. Tafel curves indicate that the tested polymers act as mixed anodic and cathodic inhibitor. The double layer capacitance was found to decrease with increasing the inhibitor concentration. Keywords: Polyacrylamide-graft-poly (2-methoxyaniline), Carbon steel, Corrosion inhibitio

Exogenous Calcium Reinforces Photosynthetic Pigment Content and Osmolyte, Enzymatic, and Non-Enzymatic Antioxidants Abundance and Alleviates Salt Stress in Bread Wheat

One of the main environmental stresses that hinder crop development as well as yield is salt stress, while the use of signal molecules such as calcium (Ca) has a substantial impact on reducing the detrimental effects of salt on different crop types. Therefore, a factorial pot experiment in a completely randomized design was conducted to examine the beneficial role of Ca (0, 2.5, and 5 mM) in promoting the physiological, biochemical, and growth traits of the wheat plant under three salt conditions viz. 0, 30, and 60 mM NaCl. Foliar application of Ca increased the growth of salt-stressed wheat plants through increasing photosynthetic pigments, IAA, proline, and total soluble sugars contents and improving antioxidant enzymes in addition to non-enzymatic antioxidants glutathione, phenol and flavonoids, β-carotene, and lycopene contents, thus causing decreases in the over-accumulation of free radicals (ROS). The application of Ca increased the activity of antioxidant enzymes in wheat plants such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT), which scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS) and relieved salt stress. An additional salt tolerance mechanism by Ca increases the non-antioxidant activity of plants by accumulating osmolytes such as free amino acids, proline, and total soluble sugar, which maintain the osmotic adjustment of plants under salinity stress. Exogenous Ca application is a successful method for increasing wheat plants’ ability to withstand salt stress, and it has a considerable impact on the growth of wheat under salt stress

Synergistic Hypolipidemic and Immunomodulatory Activity of Lactobacillus and <i>Spirulina platensis</i>

Hyperlipidemia is a significant risk factor for atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease (CHD). The aim of this study was to investigate hypolipidemic effects of Lactobacillus, Spirulina and their combination on Swiss albino mice fed a regular or high-cholesterol diet. Rosuvastatin was used as a reference drug The highest body weight, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol LDL-C and the lowest high-density lipoprotein cholesterol were recorded in a positive control group (G5). Treatment with Lactobacillus or Spirulina or by their combination resulted in a significant decrease in body weight, TC, TG, LDL-C and significant increase in HDL-C (p p p p p < 0.05. They also stimulated the innate immunity represented by both monocyte and neutrophil cells in mice fed a regular diet, while this immunity was reduced in mice fed a high-cholesterol diet. It also caused a marked reduction in inflammation and an improvement in the congestion of cardiac tissues, the aorta, and the spleen. The treatment of hyperlipidemic mice with combination of Lactobacillus and Spirulina gave similar results to those obtained with treatment by rosuvastatin