The Effects of Capital Infusions after IPO on Diversification and Cash Holdings

This paper examines how the number and the timing of capital infusions after the IPO affect the firm’s diversification decision and the firm’s level of cash-holdings. We find that the frequent capital infusions ultimately affect the firm’s liquidity management policy, resulting in holding less cash consistent with the behavior life-cycle hypothesis. At the same time, the hurried external financings after the IPO influence managers to be more conservative in management, resulting in a high propensity for the firm’s diversification and a relatively high level of firm’s cash holdings

An investigation of the evidence of benefits from climate compatible development

Climate change is likely to have profound effects on developing countries both through the climate impacts experienced, but also through the policies, programmes and projects adopted to address climate change. Climate change mitigation (actions taken to reduce the extent of climate change), adaptation (actions taken to ameliorate the impacts), and on-going development are all critical to reduce current and future losses associated with climate change, and to harness gains. In the context of limited resources to invest in climate change, policies, programmes, or projects that deliver ‘triple wins’ (i.e. generating climate adaptation, mitigation and development benefits) – also known as climate compatible development – are increasingly discussed by bilateral and multilateral donors. Yet there remains an absence of empirical evidence of the benefits and costs of triple win policies. The purpose of this paper is therefore to assess evidence of ‘triple wins’ on the ground, and the feasibility of triple wins that do not generate negative impacts. We describe the theoretical linkages that exist between adaptation, mitigation and development, as well as the trade-offs and synergies that might exist between them. Using four developing country studies, we make a simple assessment of the extent of climate compatible development policy in practice through the lens of ‘no-regrets’, ‘low regrets’ and ‘with regrets’ decision making. The lack of evidence of either policy or practice of triple wins significantly limits the capacity of donors to identify, monitor or evaluate ‘triple wins at this point in time. We recommend a more strategic assessment of the distributional and financial implications of 'triple wins' policies

Applicability of the ISO Reference Terminology Model for Nursing to the Detailed Clinical Models of Perinatal Care Nursing Assessments

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the applicability of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) reference terminology model for nursing to describe the terminological value domain content regarding the entities and attributes of the detailed clinical models (DCMs) used for nursing assessments. Methods: The first author mapped 52 DCM entities and 45 DCM attributes used for perinatal care nursing assessments to semantic domains and their qualifiers to the ISO model. The mapping results of the entity and attribute concepts were classified into four categories: mapped to a semantic domain qualifier, mapped to a semantic domain, mapped to a broader semantic domain concept, and not mapped. The DCM mapping results were classified into three categories: fully mapped, partially mapped, and not mapped. The second author verified the mapping. Results: All of the entities and 53.3 % of the attribute concepts of the DCMs were mapped to semantic domains or semantic domain qualifiers of the ISO model, 37.8 % of the attributes were mapped to the broader semantic domain concept, and 8.9 % of the attributes were not mapped. At the model level, 48.1 % of the DCMs were fully mapped to semantic domains or semantic domain qualifiers of the ISO model, and 51.9 % of the DCMs were partially mapped. Conclusions: The findings of this study demonstrate that the ISO reference terminology model for nursing is applicable in representing the DCM structure for perinatal care nursing assessment. However, more qualifiers of the Judgment semantic domain are required in orde

NF-κB/STAT3/PI3K signaling crosstalk in iMycEμ B lymphoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Myc is a well known driver of lymphomagenesis, and Myc-activating chromosomal translocation is the recognized hallmark of Burkitt lymphoma, an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. We developed a model that mimics this translocation event by inserting a mouse <it>Myc </it>cDNA gene into the immunoglobulin heavy chain locus, just upstream of the intronic Eμ enhancer. These mice, designated iMyc^Eμ, readily develop B-cell lymphoma. To study the mechanism of Myc-induced lymphoma, we analyzed signaling pathways in lymphoblastic B-cell lymphomas (LBLs) from iMyc^Eμmice, and an LBL-derived cell line, iMyc^Eμ-1.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) were constitutively activated in iMyc^Eμmice, not only in LBLs but also in the splenic B-lymphocytes of young animals months before tumors developed. Moreover, inhibition of either transcription factor in iMyc^Eμ-1 cells suppressed growth and caused apoptosis, and the abrogation of NF-κB activity reduced DNA binding by both STAT3 and Myc, as well as Myc expression. Inhibition of STAT3 signaling eliminated the activity of both NF-κB and Myc, and resulted in a corresponding decrease in the level of Myc. Thus, in iMyc^Eμ-1 cells NF-κB and STAT3 are co-dependent and can both regulate Myc. Consistent with this, NF-κB and phosphorylated STAT3 were physically associated with one another. In addition, LBLs and iMyc^Eμ-1 cells also showed constitutive AKT phosphorylation. Blocking AKT activation by inhibiting PI3K reduced iMyc^Eμ-1 cell proliferation and caused apoptosis, via downregulation of NF-κB and STAT3 activity and a reduction of Myc levels. Co-treatment with NF-κB, STAT3 or/and PI3K inhibitors led to additive inhibition of iMyc^Eμ-1 cell proliferation, suggesting that these signaling pathways converge.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our findings support the notion that constitutive activation of NF-κB and STAT3 depends on upstream signaling through PI3K, and that this activation is important for cell survival and proliferation, as well as for maintaining the level of Myc. Together, these data implicate crosstalk among NF-κB, STAT3 and PI3K in the development of iMyc^EμB-cell lymphomas.</p

A speedy cardiovascular diseases classifier using multiple criteria decision analysis

Each year, some 30 percent of global deaths are caused by cardiovascular diseases. This figure is worsening due to both the increasing elderly population and severe shortages of medical personnel. The development of a cardiovascular diseases classifier (CDC) for auto-diagnosis will help address solve the problem. Former CDCs did not achieve quick evaluation of cardiovascular diseases. In this letter, a new CDC to achieve speedy detection is investigated. This investigation incorporates the analytic hierarchy process (AHP)-based multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to develop feature vectors using a Support Vector Machine. The MCDA facilitates the efficient assignment of appropriate weightings to potential patients, thus scaling down the number of features. Since the new CDC will only adopt the most meaningful features for discrimination between healthy persons versus cardiovascular disease patients, a speedy detection of cardiovascular diseases has been successfully implemented

Characterization of porous low-k films using variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry

doi:10.1063/1.2189018Variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry (VASE™) is used as a tool to characterize properties such as optical constant, thickness, refractive index depth profile, and pore volume fraction of single and bilayer porous low-k films. The porous films were prepared using sacrificial pore generator (porogen) approach. Two sets of porous films with open- and closed-pore geometries were measured. Three models were used for data analysis: Cauchy, Bruggeman effective medium approximation (BEMA), and graded layer. Cauchy, a well-known model for transparent films, was used to obtain thickness and optical constant, whereas BEMA was utilized to calculate the pore volume fraction from the ellipsometric data. The Cauchy or BEMA models were then modified as graded layers, resulting in a better fit and a better understanding of the porous film. The depth profile of the porous film implied a more porous layer at the substrate-film interface. We found 3%-4% more porosity at the interface compared with the bulk for both films. This work shows that VASE™, a nondestructive measurement tool, can be used to characterize single- and multigraded layer porous films quickly and effectively.The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC)

Mutations in the Beta Propeller WDR72 Cause Autosomal-Recessive Hypomaturation Amelogenesis Imperfecta

Healthy dental enamel is the hardest and most highly mineralized human tissue. Though acellular, nonvital, and without capacity for turnover or repair, it can nevertheless last a lifetime. Amelogenesis imperfecta (AI) is a collective term for failure of normal enamel development, covering diverse clinical phenotypes that typically show Mendelian inheritance patterns. One subset, known as hypomaturation AI, is characterised by near-normal volumes of organic enamel matrix but with weak, creamy-brown opaque enamel that fails prematurely after tooth eruption. Mutations in genes critical to enamel matrix formation have been documented, but current understanding of other key events in enamel biomineralization is limited. We investigated autosomal-recessive hypomaturation AI in a consanguineous Pakistani family. A whole-genome SNP autozygosity screen identified a locus on chromosome 15q21.3. Sequencing candidate genes revealed a point mutation in the poorly characterized WDR72 gene. Screening of WDR72 in a panel of nine additional hypomaturation AI families revealed the same mutation in a second, apparently unrelated, Pakistani family and two further nonsense mutations in Omani families. Immunohistochemistry confirmed intracellular localization in maturation-stage ameloblasts. WDR72 function is unknown, but as a putative β propeller is expected to be a scaffold for protein-protein interactions. The nearest homolog, WDR7, is involved in vesicle mobilization and Ca2+-dependent exocytosis at synapses. Vesicle trafficking is important in maturation-stage ameloblasts with respect to secretion into immature enamel and removal of cleaved enamel matrix proteins via endocytosis. This raises the intriguing possibility that WDR72 is critical to ameloblast vesicle turnover during enamel maturation