The Limits of Discipline: Ownership and Hard Budget Constraints in the Transition Economies

This paper argues that the imposition of financial discipline is not sufficient to remedy ownership and governance-related deficiencies of corporate performance. Using evidence from the postcommunist transition economies, the paper shows that a policy of hard budget constraints falters when state firms, because of inferior revenue performance and lesser willingness to meet payment obligations, continue to pose higher credit risk than privatized firms. The brunt of state firms' lower creditworthiness falls on state creditors. But the "softness" of these creditors is unavoidable if it prevents a demise of firms that are in principle capable of successful restructuring through ownership changes.OWNERSHIP; FINANCIAL DISCIPLINE; PERFORMANCE; TRANSITION.

Visible-light-mediated selective arylation of cysteine in batch and flow

A mild visible-light-mediated strategy for cysteine arylation is presented. The method relies on the use of eosin Y as a metal-free photocatalyst and aryldiazonium salts as arylating agents. The reaction can be significantly accelerated in a microflow reactor, whilst allowing the in situ formation of the required diazonium salts. The batch and flow protocol described herein can be applied to obtain a broad series of arylated cysteine derivatives and arylated cysteine-containing dipeptides. Moreover, the method was applied to the chemoselective arylation of a model peptide in biocompatible reaction conditions (room temperature, phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) buffer) within a short reaction time

Diagnosis Of Alpha-1-antitrypsin Deficiency By Dna Analysis Of Children With Liver Disease.

Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency is a genetic disorder which is transmitted in a co-dominant, autosomal form. Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency affects mainly the lungs and the liver leading, in the latter case, to neonatal cholestasis, chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis. A precise diagnosis of Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency may be obtained by biochemical or molecular analysis. The purpose of this study was to use DNA analysis to examine the presence of an alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency in 12 children suspected of having this deficiency and who showed laboratory and clinical characteristics of the disease. Twelve patients, aged 3 months to 19 years, who had serum alpha-1-antitrypsin levels lower than normal and/or had hepatic disease of undefined etiology were studied. The mutant alleles S and Z of the alpha-1-antitrypsin gene were investigated in the 12 children. Alpha-1-antitrypsin gene organization was analyzed by amplification of genome through the polymerase chain reaction and digestion with the restriction enzymes Xmnl (S allele) and Taq-1 (Z allele). Seven of the 12 patients had chronic liver disease of undefined etiology and the other five patients had low serum levels of alpha-1-antitrypsin as well as a diagnosis of neonatal cholestasis and/or chronic liver disease of undefined etiology. Five of the 12 patients were homozygous for the Z allele (ZZ) and two had the S allele with another allele (*S) different from Z. These results show that alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency is relatively frequent in children with chronic hepatic disease of undefined etiology and/or low alpha-1-antitrypsin levels (41.6%). A correct diagnosis is important for effective clinical follow-up and for genetic counseling.3863-

Адаптація в українській термінології іншомовних лексем на позначення засобів розміщення туристів

Розглянуто шляхи та причини запозичення іншомовної лексики на позначення засобів розміщення туристів, подано значення окремих запозичених лексем.The article studies the ways and reasons for lexical units denoting tourist accommodation borrowing. The meanings of some borrowed terms are given

Distribuição e impacto da sigatoka-negra na bananicultura do Estado do Acre.

A sigatoka-negra (Mycosphaerella fijiensis) é a doença de maior severidade que afeta as cultivares de banana (Musa spp.) de importância econômica no mundo. Foi constatada no Brasil em 1998, no Estado do Amazonas, e tem se disseminado pelo Estado do Acre, atacando severamente as cultivares do Subgrupo Terra (AAB). Realizou-se um diagnóstico da sigatoka-negra e dos impactos econômicos causados por esta doença nos municípios do Estado do Acre. Foram visitados plantios em 16 municípios e amostras de folhas de bananeiras com sintomas característicos da doença foram coletadas para diagnóstico. Verificou-se que a sigatoka-negra estava presente em todos os municípios visitados. As conseqüências econômicas da doença podem ser evidenciadas pela redução de 42% na produção total de banana do Estado do Acre no período de 2000/2001, enquanto o valor da produção foi reduzido em 47% no ano de 2001, com repercussão nos diversos segmentos da cadeia produtiva. Nesse aspecto, observou-se que os municípios de Plácido de Castro e Acrelândia, foram os mais afetados pela sigatoka-negra

The burden of mild cognitive impairment attributable to physical inactivity in Colombia

BACKGROUND: Mild cognitive impairment often precedes dementia. The purpose of this analysis was to estimate the population attributable fraction for physical activity in Colombia, which is the reduction in cases that would occur if all participants were physically active. METHODS: The sample included 20,174 men and women aged 70.04 +/- 7.68 years (mean +/- SD) from the National Survey of Health, Wellbeing and Ageing. Trained interviewers administered a shorter version of the mini-mental state examination and mild cognitive impairment was defined as a score of 12 or less out of 19. Logistic regression models were fitted and population attributable fractions for physical activity were calculated. All analyses were adjusted for age, sex, height, education, income, civil status, smoking, and alcohol drinking. RESULTS: The prevalence of physical activity was approximately 50% when defined as walking between 9 and 20 blocks at least three times per week. Theoretically, 19% of cases of mild cognitive impairment would be eliminated if all adults were to walk (95% confidence interval: 16%, 22%). The prevalence was approximately 20% when defined as taking part in vigorous sport or exercise at least three times per week. Theoretically, 23% of cases of mild cognitive impairment would be eliminated if all adults were to take part in vigorous sport or exercise (16%, 30%). Similar results were observed after removing those who reported mental health problems. CONCLUSION: Physical activity, whether walking or vigorous sport and exercise, has the potential to substantially reduce the burden of mild cognitive impairment in Colombia

Levantamento de insetos-praga associados aos capins tanner-grass, tangola e estrela-africana no Acre.

O presente estudo teve o objetivo de realizar um levantamento de insetos-praga em pastagens formadas com os capins tanner-grass (Brachiaria arrecta), tangola (B. arrecta x B. mutica) e estrelaafricana (Cynodon nlemfuensis) nas condições do estado do Acre, avaliando as injúrias causadas a essas espécies forrageiras. A metodologia de amostragem para avaliação populacional e de injúrias foi diferenciada conforme a espécie e o hábito de cada inseto-praga. As populações adultas das cigarrinhas-das-pastagens foram amostradas quinzenalmente com uso de rede entomológica de 30 cm de diâmetro, em dez pontos de amostragem por hectare em cada pastagem selecionada. A contagem de ninfas foi feita utilizando-se um quadrado de 25 cm de lado, lançado ao acaso por dez vezes na área de 1 ha. Concomitantemente, foram atribuídas notas de danos variando de 1 a 5 a cada pastagem, baseadas no seu aspecto. Cochonilhas e ácaros foram amostrados no ato do levantamento das ninfas de cigarrinhas-das-pastagens, contando-se as colônias presentes, utilizando-se uma lupa de bolso para a contagem dos indivíduos. As lagartas desfolhadoras foram contadas no interior de quadrados de 100 cm x 100 cm, lançados 20 vezes aleatoriamente sobre o pasto, atribuindo-se notas de 0 (zero) a 10 (dez) para o nível de injúria encontrado. Em áreas atacadas pelo percevejo-das-gramíneas, foram retiradas dez amostras de 0,25 m2 da biomassa do pasto, incluindo a liteira, que foram acondicionadas em sacos plásticos e transportadas ao laboratório para a contagem de ninfas e adultos. Os resultados mostraram que o consórcio de capim-tangola com capim-tanzânia (P. maximum cv. Tanzânia) pode favorecer ao incremento populacional de Mahanarva tristis. Pastagens de capim-tangola em monocultura favorecem o incremento populacional de Notozulia entreriana. Por outro lado, altas populações de Blissus antillus (percevejo-das-gramíneas) foram encontradas em áreas de baixada plantadas com o capim tanner-grass durante o início da estação chuvosa (setembro-outubro). Os capins tangola e estrela-africana são suscetíveis ao ataque de Spodoptera frugiperda, principalmente após períodos de estiagem prolongada

Transmission of light through periodic arrays of square holes: From a metallic wire mesh to an array of tiny holes

J. Bravo-Abad, L. Martín-Moreno, F. J. García-Vidal, Euan Hendry, and J. Gómez Rivas, Physical Review B, Vol. 76, article 241102(R) (2007). "Copyright © 2007 by the American Physical Society."A complete landscape is presented of the electromagnetic coupling between square holes forming a two-dimensional periodic array in a metallic film. By combining both experimental and theoretical results along with a first-principles Fano model, we study the crossover between the physics of metallic wire meshes (when holes occupy most of the unit cell) and the phenomenon of extraordinary optical transmission, which appears when the size of the holes is very small in comparison with the period of the array