Do Financial Analysts Facilitate Investors’ Assessment Of Earnings?: Evidence From The Korean Stock Market

This paper seeks to enhance our understanding of financial analysts in assisting market investors’ use of accounting earnings in the Korean stock market. We examine whether stock returns differentially reflect earnings information for firms with analyst coverage. We propose that the role of analysts as external monitors as well as information intermediaries enhances the market investors’ valuation of earnings. We find that market valuation of earnings is higher for firms with analyst following. Furthermore, market investors’ valuation of earnings increases (or decreases) with the number of analysts (or with the dispersion of analysts’ forecasts). This suggests that the beneficial effect of analysts arises through the quantity and quality of analysts’ information. This study contributes to the literature by investigating the important role of analysts in emerging market

β-Catenin binds to the downstream region and regulates the expression C-reactive protein gene

C-Reactive protein (CRP) is a major acute-phase response protein, which is activated by various cytokines. We investigated the mechanism of TNF-α-induced CRP expression and found that the p50 subunit of NF-κB was responsible for the transcriptional activation of CRP. Since the p50 protein acts as a positive regulator of CRP expression without an inherent transactivation domain, we looked for an interaction partner that could provide p50 with such a domain. We found that β-catenin enhanced the expression of a CRP mRNA in concert with p50 subunit. Protein–protein interaction between p50 and β-catenin was important for CRP expression and their interactions to CRP promoter were induced after TNF-a treatment. Since gene expression depends upon the proximity of promoters and distal regulatory sites, we explored the long-range genomic interaction at the CRP locus by chromosome conformation capture (3C). We identified a binding site for β-catenin in the downstream of CRP gene by 3C and confirmed TNF-α-induced association of β-catenin and p50 by chromatin immunoprecipitation and co-immunoprecipitation assays. Our findings provide evidence that transcription of the CRP gene depends upon p50 and β-catenin proteins, which is accompanied by close proximity between promoter and the downstream region of CRP gene

Total Reflection and Negative Refraction of Dipole-Exchange Spin Waves at Magnetic Interfaces: Micromagnetic Modeling Study

We demonstrated that dipole-exchange spin waves traveling in geometrically restricted magnetic thin films satisfy the same laws of reflection and refraction as light waves. Moreover, we found for the first time novel wave behaviors of dipole-exchange spin waves such as total reflection and negative refraction. The total reflection in laterally inhomogeneous thin films composed of two different magnetic materials is associated with the forbidden modes of refracted dipole-exchange spin waves. The negative refraction occurs at a 90 degree domain-wall magnetic interface that is introduced by a cubic magnetic anisotropy in the media, through the anisotropic dispersion of dipole-exchange spin waves.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure

Identification of predictive variables for the recurrence of oral mucocele

Oral mucocele is the most common minor salivary gland lesion with good prognosis after surgical removal. However, its recurrence is not rare, sometimes bothersome. This study aimed to identify the possible predictive variables affecting the recurrence rate of oral mucocele. The histoclinical data of 164 patients diagnosed with oral mucocele were retrospectively obtained by reviewing dental records. The predictive variables for its recurrence were identified by analyzing its recurrence rate according to clinical variables. The recurrence rate showed the significant differences according to location and age. Oral mucocele recurred with significantly higher frequency on the ventral mucosa of tongue (50.0%) than on the labial/buccal mucosa (8.8%). Its recurrence was significantly more common in the younger patients (aged 30 years, 4.4%). However, there was no significant difference in recurrence rates between surgical procedures using scalpels and those using lasers. Patients with oral mucocele should be more carefully informed of its possible recurrence, especially when it is found on the ventral surface of the tongue or in a younger population

Serum BDNF levels in patients with gambling disorder are associated with the severity of gambling disorder and Iowa Gambling Task indices

Background and aims Gambling disorder (GD) shares many similarities with substance use disorders (SUDs) in clinical, neurobiological, and neurocognitive features, including decision-making. We evaluated the relationships among, GD, decision-making, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), as measured by serum BDNF levels. Methods Twenty-one male patients with GD and 21 healthy sex- and age-matched control subjects were evaluated for associations between serum BDNF levels and the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI), as well as between serum BDNF levels and Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) indices. Results The mean serum BDNF levels were significantly increased in patients with GD compared to healthy controls. A significant correlation between serum BDNF levels and PGSI scores was found when controlling for age, depression, and duration of GD. A significant negative correlation was obtained between serum BDNF levels and IGT improvement scores. Discussion These findings support the hypothesis that serum BDNF levels constitute a dual biomarker for the neuroendocrine changes and the severity of GD in patients. Serum BDNF level may serve as an indicator of poor decision-making performance and learning processes in GD and help to identify the common physiological underpinnings between GD and SUDs