Wrapping and unwrapping, concepts and approaches

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Non-Linearity in the Determinants of Capital Structure: Evidence from UK Firms

We develop a model of the firm’s maximization programme in which the firm’s capital structure is a non linear function of a vector of costs including asymmetric information costs and is subject to a debt ceiling. Using conditional quantile regression methods, we test for the existence of such a non- linearity in a heterogeneous sample of UK firms and demonstrate that, by exploiting more fully the distribution of leverage, this technique yields new insights into the choice of leverage ratio. Not only is the estimated effect of the explanatory variables different at different quantiles of the distribution, we find evidence that the effect of a variable changes sign between low leveraged and high leveraged firms

In search of “the Holy Grail of permanent price stability”: How the Bank of England communicates trust via story and argument

This research paper examines the communication strategies adopted by the Bank of England to create trust in financial markets using narrative and argument. The corpus under scrutiny consists of 71 speeches delivered by Governors of the UK Central Bank – the Bank of England – at the Mansion House in the City of London, from 1946, when the Bank was nationalised, to 2016, shortly before the Brexit referendum. The question of how story and argument are used to create trust is analysed using three narrative threads deployed by successive Governors of the Bank of England in the annual Mansion House speech: the myth surrounding the City, the travails of Britain inside and outside of Europe and the “story of monetary policy”. This research, which lays bare the discursive techniques underpinning institutional trust, aims to provide an insight into the symbolic power of language and modes of authority and legitimation

Evaluating the stability requirements for mounting and dismounting from the top of leaning ladders

This report details the methodology and findings of an investigation into the suitability of leaning ladders as a means to access high surfaces. This work has been funded by the Health and Safety Executive to provide a factual basis on which to make recommendations regarding safe practice. In particular it addresses a gap in the knowledge generated in previous studies into safe ladder use. This gap is generated by those individuals for whom the pressures of work make use of a ladder necessary but for whom safe practice is compromised. In particular, environmental demands, multiple unpredictable locations and challenging tasks combine to make a ladder an obvious, yet arguably unsafe, choice of equipment

Effects of defoliation from an outbreak of the teak skeletoniser, Paliga damastesalis walker (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), on the growth of teak, Tectona grandis L.

The effects of defoliation by the teak skeletoniser Paliga damastesalis Walker (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) on a six-month old stand of teak Tectona grandis L. was evaluated on the subsequent year-long growth in the field. Defoliation did not exceed 10%. It had a transient negative effect on post-defoliation height increment and new leaf production of up to two and three months of growth. However, defoliation severity significantly affected collar diameter increment up to the seventh month. A peak in the mean monthly growth increments for new leaf production occurred in April, followed by collar diameter increment in June and height in July. In addition, a peak in one of these three growth parameters also corresponded with a trough in the other or both of the other parameters; as such, the height increment peaked with a concomitant trough in collar diameter increment a month later. As for the remaining period of the dry season after July, new leaf production remained at a constant low level, while increments for both the height and collar diameter were found to decrease. Tree recovery appeared rapid with regard to these growth parameters, thus the impact of defoliation was generally and relatively negligible on the growth parameters measured

A Mouse Model of Vitiligo with Focused Epidermal Depigmentation Requires IFN-γ for Autoreactive CD8+CD8^+ T Cell Accumulation in the Skin

Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease of the skin causing disfiguring patchy depigmentation of the epidermis and, less commonly, hair. Therapeutic options for vitiligo are limited, reflecting in part limited knowledge of disease pathogenesis. Existing mouse models of vitiligo consist of hair depigmentation but lack prominent epidermal involvement, which is the hallmark of human disease. They are thus unable to provide a platform to fully investigate disease mechanisms and treatment. $CD8^+$ T cells have been implicated in the pathogenesis of vitiligo and expression of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) is increased in the lesional skin of patients, however it is currently unknown what role IFN-γ plays in disease. Here, we have developed an adoptive transfer mouse model of vitiligo using melanocyte-specific $CD8^+$ T cells, which recapitulates the human condition by inducing epidermal depigmentation while sparing the hair. Like active lesions in human vitiligo, histology of depigmenting skin reveals a patchy mononuclear infiltrate and single-cell infiltration of the epidermis. Depigmentation is accompanied by accumulation of autoreactive $CD8^+$ T cells in the skin, quantifiable loss of tyrosinase transcript, and local IFN-γ production. Neutralization of IFN-γ with antibody prevents $CD8^+$ T cell accumulation and depigmentation, suggesting a therapeutic potential for this approach

A Circuit-Level Model of Hippocampal Place Field Dynamics Modulated by Entorhinal Grid and Suppression-Generating Cells

Hippocampal “place cells” and the precession of their extracellularly recorded spiking during traversal of a “place field” are well-established phenomena. More recent experiments describe associated entorhinal “grid cell” firing, but to date only conceptual models have been offered to explain the potential interactions among entorhinal cortex (EC) and hippocampus. To better understand not only spatial navigation, but mechanisms of episodic and semantic memory consolidation and reconsolidation, more detailed physiological models are needed to guide confirmatory experiments. Here, we report the results of a putative entorhinal-hippocampal circuit level model that incorporates recurrent asynchronous-irregular non-linear (RAIN) dynamics, in the context of recent in vivo findings showing specific intracellular–extracellular precession disparities and place field destabilization by entorhinal lesioning. In particular, during computer-simulated rodent maze navigation, our model demonstrate asymmetric ramp-like depolarization, increased theta power, and frequency (that can explain the phase precession disparity), and a role for STDP and KAHP channels. Additionally, we propose distinct roles for two entorhinal cell populations projecting to hippocampus. Grid cell populations transiently trigger place field activity, while tonic “suppression-generating cell” populations minimize aberrant place cell activation, and limit the number of active place cells during traversal of a given field. Applied to place-cell RAIN networks, this tonic suppression explains an otherwise seemingly discordant association with overall increased firing. The findings of this circuit level model suggest in vivo and in vitro experiments that could refute or support the proposed mechanisms of place cell dynamics and modulating influences of EC