The Relationship between Free Cash Flows and Agency Costs Levels: Evidence from Tehran Stock Exchange

The objective of this study is to examine this matter that how those firms in Iran which own a significant amountof free cash flow prevent the occurrence of its related agency problems and test the effect of dividend andleverage on free cash flow.Furthermore, there will be an examination of the difference in agency costs between companies that have andcompanies that do not have a low growth opportunity. In order to test the related hypotheses, profit, growth,leverage, size, and free cash flow were employed to measure the level of agency costs of the firms, whereasleverage and dividend were used as indices for financial policies to direct free cash flow problems. Following theusage of regression analysis and data collection of the firms in Iran over the period 2006-2010, the acquiredresults showed a positive insignificant effect of dividend on free cash flow, but they implied a positivesignificant effect of leverage on free cash flow. Regression results also indicated a positive insignificant effect offree cash flow on dividend, negative significant effect of growth on dividend and negative insignificant effect ofleverage on dividend. Meanwhile, a positive and statistically significant effect of profit and firm’s size ondividend was witnessed. For firms that have a low growth, a positive significant effect of leverage on free cashflow was observed, whereas for firms that have a high growth, results proved a positive but not significant effect.Finally, the effect of dividend on free cash flow for both categories of firms was positive but not significant.Keywords: Agency Costs, Free Cash Flow, Dividend, Leverag

The internal drivers of women's post-conflict representation

Despite a substantive expansion in the literature on women's legislative representation in countries emerging from civil conflict, such as conflict trajectories or country characteristics, women's mobilization during conflict has been rather assumed than explored. In this thesis I explore the changes on women's roles during conflict, they ways in which they challenge gender socialization and their effect on women's post-conflict political status. The first paper examines the presence of two contrasting concepts, agency and victimization, and investigates the effect of different types of violence on changes on women's legislative percentage in the first two post-conflict elections. The second paper directs its focus on different types of women's mobilization and ways they transform women to political actors through their direct and indirect challenge of gender relationships. I subsequently examine this mechanism on the short, medium, and long term to assess its magnitude. Building on the results of the first two papers, the third paper focuses solely on women's mobilization in civil society groups and organizations, and employs a willingness and opportunity framework to assess the optimal conditions under which women's mobilization has an effect on women's post-conflict political participation. This dissertation contributes to understanding the the effects of armed violence on women's status during conflict and post-conflict. It shifts the focus to the social processes that take place during armed conflict and the ways they reconfigure social and gender relationships. The theoretical arguments of the three papers are linked through the argument that civil wars are not asocial process but in fact create new social hierarchies that are transferred in the post-conflict society. This thesis also contributes to the literature by affirming the importance of an analysis of war under gender lens

MUMUN DİLİNDEN BİR TEKKE ŞAİRİNİN HASB-İ HÂLİ: ŞEM‘A-NÂME-İ NECMÎ

Ömer Necmi Efendi (Necmi) (H. 1230 ? / M. 1815 - H. 1307 / M. 1889) is a dervish lodge-mystic poet who was affiliated with the Halvetiyye, Rıfa’iyye, Şazeliyye and Şettariyye orders. The poet, who did not stray from the path of mysticism throughout his life, calls his circle “Necmi Baba”. The name “father”, which attracted attention among the Sufis and Yesevi dervishes who took the path of Hajagan in Turkestan in the 12th century, was given to people who distinguished themselves in the upper parts of the society in the following centuries. This shows that the poet is in a respectable position among mystics. Şem‘a-name-i Necmi, which is the subject of our study, is in the Süleymaniye Library Galata Mevlevihane Collection (Asset No: 257/untitled) was found in a manuscript. As a literary genre, Şem‘a-name-i Necmi can be considered as a hasb-i hal that describes the poet’s ordeal through the language of a candle. The work, which consists of 69 couplets and written in ode verse, is based on mystical love. The text, which has an allegorical feature, describes the poet’s journey in the background of candle and propeller symbols. In the study, firstly, detailed information about candles was given, after mentioning the use of candles in divan poetry and the tradition of Şem‘ ü Pervane masnavi, Şem‘a-name-i Necmi was emphasized. After the work was evaluated in terms of literary genre, it was also examined in terms of form and content. In the analysis part of the research, only the prose translation of the text was presented, and the transcribed text and facsimile were added to the end of the article

Unwired Planet v Huawei – is FRAND appealing?

The Court of Appeal delivered its eagerly awaited judgment in the appeal filed against Birss J's judgment in the Unwired Planet v Huawei case on 23 October 2018. Birss J's judgment included an analysis of some of the most controversial issues related to standard essential patents (SEPs) and particularly the fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) concept. The Court of Appeal reviewed these issues and handed down a judgment (together with Birss J's judgment) that has the potential to become a legal foundation for SEP-related disputes in England. It is highly likely that these judgments will also provide a guidance to courts in other jurisdictions and shape the practice in this highly dynamic and developing area. The judgments also represent the English courts’ unbiased view towards SEP owners

Οι Έλληνες της Κωνσταντινούπολης και οι ελληνοτουρκικές σχέσεις κατά τα έτη 1955-1964.

Η παρούσα εργασία χωρίζεται σε τρία κεφάλαια. Πριν από το Κεφάλαιο Ι, στην Εισαγωγή, εκτίθενται τα σχετικά με την πορεία των ελληνοτουρκικών σχέσεων από τη συνθήκη της Λωζάννης μέχρι τα μέσα της δεκαετίας 1950. Στο Κεφάλαιο Ι επιχειρείται η ανάλυση της επίθεσης που δέχτηκαν οι Έλληνες της Κωνσταντινούπολης τη νύχτα της 6ης/7ης Σεπτεμβρίου 1955, καθώς και των υλικών και ηθικών συνεπειών των γεγονότων. Ακολούθως, αναλύεται το θέμα των αποζημιώσεων και γίνεται λόγος για τις αιτιάσεις της ελληνικής κυβέρνησης όσον αφορά τις αποζημιώσεις, καθώς και για τις προσπάθειες αιτιολόγησης των γεγονότων. Στο Κεφάλαιο ΙΙ αναλύονται τα μετά τα Σεπτεμβριανά γεγονότα έως τις απελάσεις των Ελλήνων της Κωνσταντινούπολης, ξεκινώντας από την ελληνοτουρκική κρίση των ετών 1956-1959. Στη συνέχεια, γίνεται αναφορά στο διάλειμμα στην ελληνοτουρκική κρίση των ετών 1959-1963, στην κυπριακή κρίση του Δεκεμβρίου 1963 και σ’ όσα προηγήθηκαν των απελάσεων των Ελλήνων της Κωνσταντινούπολης. Στο Κεφάλαιο ΙΙΙ αναλύονται τα αίτια των διώξεων των Ελλήνων της Κωνσταντινούπολης και κατατίθενται τα συμπεράσματα.This thesis is divided into three chapters. Prior to Chapter I, in the Introduction, there is an outline of the course of Greek-Turkish relations from the Treaty of Lausanne to the mid-1950s. Chapter I attempts to analyze the attack received by the Greeks of Constantinople on the night of 6/7 September 1955, as well as the material and moral consequences of the events. Subsequently, the issue of compensation is analyzed and the Greek Government's complaints regarding compensation and attempts to justify the events are discussed. Chapter II analyzes the post-September events until the expulsions of the Greeks of Constantinople, starting with the Greek-Turkish crisis of 1956-1959. Then, there is a reference to the break in the Greek-Turkish crisis of 1959-1963, the Cyprus crisis of December 1963 and what preceded the deportations of the Greeks of Constantinople. Chapter III analyzes the causes of the persecution of the Greeks in Constantinople and the conclusions are put forward

Improving the SEP licensing framework by revising SSOs’ IPR policies

This thesis examines the SEP licensing framework with a view to understanding whether it can be improved by revising IPR policies. The ICT standardisation, which provides interoperability, is one of the building blocks of the modern economy. Put simply, without standards, there would not be IoT or for example, consumers would only be able to connect to a wireless network with devices specifically built for that network. Standards are not a new phenomenon; however, they became more complex with the increasing importance of technology, which made them, in return, more dependent on patented technologies (i.e. SEPs). SEPs cause complications in standardisation as they require SEP owners and potential licensees to negotiate/agree on usually complex licensing agreements. Although SSOs have attempted to regulate this relationship with their IPR policies, now it seems these policies cannot keep up with the changing dynamics and needs in standardisation. Dysfunctions in the system do not only affect competition in the relevant markets, they also prejudice consumers’ interests, for example, by passing on higher prices to cover supra-competitive royalties. In particular, since the first Rambus case in the US, competition/antitrust agencies and courts have been dealing with SEP-related issues. Recently, the EU has been considering addressing some of those with legislation. Conversely, this research derives from the notion that active standardisation participants are better equipped to deal with SEP-related issues, and flexible IPR policies are more suitable for addressing these issues in the dynamic standardisation ecosystem. Against this backdrop, this comparative research aims to identify areas where SEP licensing framework can be improved by reforming IPR policies, and it develops some proposals using the black-letter and empirical research methods that SSOs can implement

Pituitary tumor transforming gene-1 haplotypes and risk of pituitary adenoma: a case-control study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It has been suggested that pituitary adenoma results from accumulation of multiple genetic and/or epigenetic aberrations, which may be identified through association studies. As pituitary tumor transforming gene-1 (<it>PTTG1</it>)/securin plays a critical role in promoting genomic instability in pituitary neoplasia, the present study explored the association of <it>PTTG1 </it>haplotypes with the risk of pituitary adenoma.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We genotyped five <it>PTTG1 </it>haplotype-tagging SNPs (htSNP) by PCR-RFLP assays in a case-control study, which included 280 Han Chinese patients diagnosed with pituitary adenoma and 280 age-, gender- and geographically matched Han Chinese controls. Haplotypes were reconstructed according to the genotyping data and linkage disequilibrium status of the htSNPs.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>No significant differences in allele and genotype frequencies of the htSNPs were observed between pituitary adenoma patients and controls, indicating that none of the individual <it>PTTG1 </it>SNPs examined in this study is associated with the risk of pituitary adenoma. In addition, no significant association was detected between the reconstructed <it>PTTG1 </it>haplotypes and pituitary adenoma cases or the controls.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Though no significant association was found between <it>PTTG1 </it>haplotypes and the risk of pituitary adenoma, this is the first report on the association of individual <it>PTTG1 </it>SNPs or <it>PTTG1 </it>haplotypes with the risk of pituitary adenoma based on a solid study; it will provide an important reference for future studies on the association between genetic alterations in <it>PTTG1 </it>and the risk of pituitary adenoma or other tumors.</p

Explainable Recommendations in Intelligent Systems: Delivery Methods, Modalities and Risks

With the increase in data volume, velocity and types, intelligent human-agent systems have become popular and adopted in different application domains, including critical and sensitive areas such as health and security. Humans’ trust, their consent and receptiveness to recommendations are the main requirement for the success of such services. Recently, the demand on explaining the recommendations to humans has increased both from humans interacting with these systems so that they make an informed decision and, also, owners and systems managers to increase transparency and consequently trust and users’ retention. Existing systematic reviews in the area of explainable recommendations focused on the goal of providing explanations, their presentation and informational content. In this paper, we review the literature with a focus on two user experience facets of explanations; delivery methods and modalities. We then focus on the risks of explanation both on user experience and their decision making. Our review revealed that explanations delivery to end-users is mostly designed to be along with the recommendation in a push and pull styles while archiving explanations for later accountability and traceability is still limited. We also found that the emphasis was mainly on the benefits of recommendations while risks and potential concerns, such as over-reliance on machines, is still a new area to explore