Competitors’ stock price reactions in response to private equity placements: evidence from a transitional economy

This paper examines whether information conveyed by private equity placement decisions transfers to non-applying companies within the same industry. In particular, it investigates the impact of a company’s announcements of the application for, withdrawal, rejection, approval and completion of private equity placement, while examining the cross-sectional differences of the market performance of their industry counterparts, both in the short- and long-term. It was found that an intra-industry reaction exists; competitors experience a decrease in stock prices in response to the announcement of the application for, approval and completion of private equity placement and an increase in stock prices around the announcement of the withdrawal or rejection of applications. Further, it was found that competitors experience a decrease in their long-term stock performance following private placements. A higher discount on private equity placement is detrimental for private equity (P.E.) issuing companies in the long-term. This study, therefore, provides evidence of the existence of a contagion effect in the long-term while a competitive effect dominates in the short-term

Doxorubicin loaded magnesium oxide nanoflakes as ph dependent carriers for simultaneous treatment of cancer and hypomagnesemia

© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Doxorubicin (DOX) is an anticancer drug commonly used in treating cancer; however, it has severe cytotoxicity effects. To overcome both the adverse effects of the drug and mineral deficiency (i.e., hypomagnesemia) experienced by cancer patients, we have developed magnesium oxide (MgO) nanoflakes as drug carriers and loaded them with DOX for use as a targeted drug delivery (TDD) system for potential application in cancer therapy. The synthesis employed herein affords pure, highly porous MgO nanoparticles that are void of the potentially harmful metal contaminants often discussed in the literature. Purposed for dual therapy, the nanoparticles exhibit an impressive 90% drug loading capacity with pH dependent drug releasing rates of 10% at pH 7.2, 50.5% at pH 5.0, and 90.2% at pH 3. Results indicate that therapy is achievable via slow diffusion where MgO nanoflakes degrade (i.e., dissolve) under acidic conditions releasing the drug and magnesium ions to the cancerous region. The TDD system therefore minimizes cytotoxicity to healthy cells while supplying magnesium ions to overcome hypomagnesemia

Molecular Characterization of Rickettsial Agents in Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) from Sri Lanka

Because the majority of spotted fever group rickettsiae are transmitted to humans by tick bites, it is important to understand which ticks might play a role in transmission of rickettsial pathogens in Sri Lanka. The purpose of our study was to conduct molecular surveillance of 847 ticks collected in different locations in central Sri Lanka to determine which were infected with Rickettsia and Anaplasmataceae. Molecular methods were used to identify the ticks and the agents detected. Most ticks (Amblyomma, Haemaphysalis, and Rhipicephalus) were collected by flagging, and lower number was collected from dogs, cattle, pigs, a pangolin, and tortoises. Five spotted fever genotypes were identified: a Rickettsia africae-like agent in Amblyomma larvae, Rhipicephalus massiliae and a related genotype identified in association with the tropical type of Rhipicephalus sanguineus from dogs and Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides from dogs and cattle, and Candidatus R. kellyi and another novel genotype (SL94) in R. haemaphysaloides. Twenty-three ticks were positive for Anaplasmataceae, including one Anaplasma and two Ehrlichia genotypes. Because the sequence database for both ticks and rickettsial agents from Sri Lanka and southern India is not extensive, additional molecular characterization of the tick species of Sri Lanka and their rickettsial agents is required to understand their pathogenic potential more completely. However, several of the agents we identified in this survey may well be pathogenic for humans and domestic animals, and should be considered as a part of epidemiological surveillance and patient management

Domestic violence and self-poisoning in Sri Lanka

Background. There is increasing evidence that domestic violence (DV) is an important risk factor for suicidal behaviour. The level of risk and its contribution to the overall burden of suicidal behaviour among men and women has not been quantified in South Asia. We carried out a large case-control study to examine the association between DV and self-poisoning in Sri Lanka. Methods. Cases (N = 291) were patients aged ⩾18 years, admitted to a tertiary hospital in Kandy Sri Lanka for self-poisoning. Sex and age frequency matched controls were recruited from the hospital’s outpatient department (N = 490) and local population (N = 450). Exposure to DV was collected through the Humiliation, Afraid, Rape, Kick questionnaire. Multivariable logistic regression models were conducted to estimate the association between DV and self-poisoning, and population attributable fractions were calculated. Results. Exposure to at least one type of DV within the previous 12 months was strongly associated with self-poisoning for women [adjusted OR (AOR) 4.08, 95% CI 1.60–4.78] and men (AOR 2.52, 95% CI 1.51–4.21), compared to those reporting no abuse. Among women, the association was strongest for physical violence (AOR 14.07, 95% CI 5.87–33.72), whereas among men, emotional abuse showed the highest risk (AOR 2.75, 95% CI 1.57–4.82). PAF % for exposure to at least one type of DV was 38% (95% CI 32–43) in women and 22% (95% CI 14–29) in men. Conclusions. Multi-sectoral interventions to address DV including enhanced identification in health care settings, community-based strategies, and integration of DV support and psychological services may substantially reduce suicidal behaviour in Sri Lanka

The interactions between different types of financial and human resource slacks on firm performance: Evidence from a developing country

This paper investigates the effect of both FS and HR slack together on firm performance and how different levels of these slack resources affect performance of private-owned enterprises (POEs) and state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Hypotheses are tested using a longitudinal data set of 11,985 listed Chinese companies from 2000 to 2009. Findings reveal that the unabsorbed-financial slack and HR slack show an inverse U shape relationship on firm performance for both POEs and SOEs. However, a less-negative interaction occurs for unabsorbed-financial and HR slacks for POEs. The absorbedfinancial and HR slacks also shows an inverse U shape relationship on performance and this relationship does not have a significant negative effect on SOE’s performance. The article concludes with theoretical contributions and practical implications of the findings

A dynamical model reveals gene co-localizations in nucleus

Co-localization of networks of genes in the nucleus is thought to play an important role in determining gene expression patterns. Based upon experimental data, we built a dynamical model to test whether pure diffusion could account for the observed co-localization of genes within a defined subnuclear region. A simple standard Brownian motion model in two and three dimensions shows that preferential co-localization is possible for co-regulated genes without any direct interaction, and suggests the occurrence may be due to a limitation in the number of available transcription factors. Experimental data of chromatin movements demonstrates that fractional rather than standard Brownian motion is more appropriate to model gene mobilizations, and we tested our dynamical model against recent static experimental data, using a sub-diffusion process by which the genes tend to colocalize more easily. Moreover, in order to compare our model with recently obtained experimental data, we studied the association level between genes and factors, and presented data supporting the validation of this dynamic model. As further applications of our model, we applied it to test against more biological observations. We found that increasing transcription factor number, rather than factory number and nucleus size, might be the reason for decreasing gene co-localization. In the scenario of frequency-or amplitude-modulation of transcription factors, our model predicted that frequency-modulation may increase the co-localization between its targeted genes

The phylogeography of Indoplanorbis exustus (Gastropoda: Planorbidae) in Asia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The freshwater snail <it>Indoplanorbis exustus </it>is found across India, Southeast Asia, central Asia (Afghanistan), Arabia and Africa. <it>Indoplanorbis </it>is of economic importance in that it is responsible for the transmission of several species of the genus <it>Schistosoma </it>which infect cattle and cause reduced livestock productivity. The snail is also of medical importance as a source of cercarial dermatitis among rural workers, particularly in India. In spite of its long history and wide geographical range, it is thought that <it>Indoplanorbis </it>includes only a single species. The aims of the present study were to date the radiation of <it>Indoplanorbis </it>across Asia so that the factors involved in its dispersal in the region could be tested, to reveal potential historical biogeographical events shaping the phylogeny of the snail, and to look for signs that <it>I. exustus </it>might be polyphyletic.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results indicated a radiation beginning in the late Miocene with a divergence of an ancestral bulinine lineage into Assam and peninsular India clades. A Southeast Asian clade diverged from the peninsular India clade late-Pliocene; this clade then radiated at a much more rapid pace to colonize all of the sampled range of <it>Indoplanorbis </it>in the mid-Pleistocene.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The phylogenetic depth of divergences between the Indian clades and Southeast Asian clades, together with habitat and parasitological differences suggest that <it>I. exustus </it>may comprise more than one species. The timescale estimated for the radiation suggests that the dispersal to Arabia and to Southeast Asia was facilitated by palaeogeographical events and climate change, and did not require human involvement. Further samples from Afghanistan, Africa and western India are required to refine the phylogeographical hypothesis and to include the African Recent dispersal.</p

Strength Reduction in Electrical and Elastic Networks

Particular aspects of problems ranging from dielectric breakdown to metal insu- lator transition can be studied using electrical o elastic networks. We present an expression for the mean breakdown strength of such networks.First, we intro- duce a method to evaluate the redistribution of current due to the removal of a finite number of elements from a hyper-cubic network of conducatances.It is used to determine the reduction of breakdown strength due to a fracture of size $\kappa$.Numerical analysis is used to show that the analogous reduction due to random removal of elements from electrical and elastic networks follow a similar form.One possible application, namely the use of bone density as a diagnostic tools for osteorosporosis,is discussed.Comment: one compressed file includes: 9 PostScrpt figures and a text fil

Discovery and Validation of a New Class of Small Molecule Toll-Like Receptor 4 (TLR4) Inhibitors

Many inflammatory diseases may be linked to pathologically elevated signaling via the receptor for lipopolysaccharide (LPS), toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). There has thus been great interest in the discovery of TLR4 inhibitors as potential anti-inflammatory agents. Recently, the structure of TLR4 bound to the inhibitor E5564 was solved, raising the possibility that novel TLR4 inhibitors that target the E5564-binding domain could be designed. We utilized a similarity search algorithm in conjunction with a limited screening approach of small molecule libraries to identify compounds that bind to the E5564 site and inhibit TLR4. Our lead compound, C34, is a 2-acetamidopyranoside (MW 389) with the formula C17H27NO9, which inhibited TLR4 in enterocytes and macrophages in vitro, and reduced systemic inflammation in mouse models of endotoxemia and necrotizing enterocolitis. Molecular docking of C34 to the hydrophobic internal pocket of the TLR4 co-receptor MD-2 demonstrated a tight fit, embedding the pyran ring deep inside the pocket. Strikingly, C34 inhibited LPS signaling ex-vivo in human ileum that was resected from infants with necrotizing enterocolitis. These findings identify C34 and the β-anomeric cyclohexyl analog C35 as novel leads for small molecule TLR4 inhibitors that have potential therapeutic benefit for TLR4-mediated inflammatory diseases. © 2013 Neal et al