Tender offers versus block trades: empirical evidence

In this paper we test whether the determinant of a block trade and tender offer probabilities differ and whether the relative magnitude of the security and private benefits can explain the choice of transfer mode. We investigate the Swedish market for corporate control and use the wedge between cash flow rights and voting rights as a proxy for the incentives to extract private benefits. Our results indicate the importance of considering the control transfers through takeovers and block trades as two distinctive events. The likelihood of a public tender offer (block trade) decreases (increases) with the use of dual class shares. The results are consistent with our general hypothesis that the likelihood of block trades relative to public tender offers increases with the incumbent’s incentives to extract private benefits

Developing the Svalbard Integrated Arctic Earth Observing System (SIOS)

Based on the ongoing large climatic and environmental changes and the history of science coordination in Svalbard leading to the development of Svalbard Integrated Arctic Earth Observing System (SIOS), we present an overview of the current gaps in knowledge and infrastructure based on a synthesis of the recommendations presented in the annual State of Environmental Science in Svalbard (SESS) reporting of SIOS. Recommendations from the first 4 years of SESS reporting represent the point of view of the wide scientific community operating the large observing system implemented in Svalbard (SIOS) since 2018 and aim to identify the scientific potential to further develop the observing system. The recommendations are bottom-up inputs for a continuous process that aims to accomplish the vision and mission of SIOS: optimizing, integrating and further developing the observing system in an Earth system science (ESS) perspective. The primary outcome of the synthesis work is the evidence that ESS in SIOS has, during the first 4 years of operation, naturally developed from individual scientists or smaller groups of scientists to larger disciplinary international groups of scientists working together within the different environments (the atmosphere, the cryosphere, and marine and terrestrial environments). It is clear that strategic efforts towards interdisciplinarity are necessary for operating fully at ESS scale in Svalbard. As Svalbard is experiencing the largest ongoing warming in the Arctic and worldwide, SIOS is in a unique position to perform a full-scale study of all processes impacting ESS dynamics and controlling the water cycle using all parts of the SIOS observation network, with a large potential for increasing the understanding of key mechanisms in the Earth system. We also identify the potential to upscale Svalbard-based observations collected in SIOS to pan-Arctic and global scales, contributing to full-scale ESS.</p

Adsorption of hydroxamate siderophores and EDTA on goethite in the presence of the surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate

Siderophore-promoted iron acquisition by microorganisms usually occurs in the presence of other organic molecules, including biosurfactants. We have investigated the influence of the anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) on the adsorption of the siderophores DFOB (cationic) and DFOD (neutral) and the ligand EDTA (anionic) onto goethite (α-FeOOH) at pH 6. We also studied the adsorption of the corresponding 1:1 Fe(III)-ligand complexes, which are products of the dissolution process. Adsorption of the two free siderophores increased in a similar fashion with increasing SDS concentration, despite their difference in molecule charge. In contrast, SDS had little effect on the adsorption of EDTA. Adsorption of the Fe-DFOB and Fe-DFOD complexes also increased with increasing SDS concentrations, while adsorption of Fe-EDTA decreased. Our results suggest that hydrophobic interactions between adsorbed surfactants and siderophores are more important than electrostatic interactions. However, for strongly hydrophilic molecules, such as EDTA and its iron complex, the influence of SDS on their adsorption seems to depend on their tendency to form inner-sphere or outer-sphere surface complexes. Our results demonstrate that surfactants have a strong influence on the adsorption of siderophores to Fe oxides, which has important implications for siderophore-promoted dissolution of iron oxides and biological iron acquisition

Rapid fucosylation of intestinal epithelium sustains host–commensal symbiosis in sickness

Systemic infection induces conserved physiological responses that include both resistance and ‘tolerance of infection’ mechanisms. Temporary anorexia associated with an infection is often beneficial, reallocating energy from food foraging towards resistance to infection or depriving pathogens of nutrients. However, it imposes a stress on intestinal commensals, as they also experience reduced substrate availability; this affects host fitness owing to the loss of caloric intake and colonization resistance (protection from additional infections). We hypothesized that the host might utilize internal resources to support the gut microbiota during the acute phase of the disease. Here we show that systemic exposure to Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands causes rapid α(1,2)-fucosylation of small intestine epithelial cells (IECs) in mice, which requires the sensing of TLR agonists, as well as the production of interleukin (IL)-23 by dendritic cells, activation of innate lymphoid cells and expression of fucosyltransferase 2 (Fut2) by IL-22-stimulated IECs. Fucosylated proteins are shed into the lumen and fucose is liberated and metabolized by the gut microbiota, as shown by reporter bacteria and community-wide analysis of microbial gene expression. Fucose affects the expression of microbial metabolic pathways and reduces the expression of bacterial virulence genes. It also improves host tolerance of the mild pathogen Citrobacter rodentium. Thus, rapid IEC fucosylation appears to be a protective mechanism that utilizes the host’s resources to maintain host–microbial interactions during pathogen-induced stress

Charity, incentives, and performance

We propose that donating profits to charity may improve firm performance through reduced moral hazard and increased effort in incomplete contract environments. This proposition is tested and confirmed in an incomplete contract principal-agent laboratory experiment where principals’ profits are donated to charity. The results show that both principals and agents have higher earnings in treatments where principals are working on behalf of a charity. Only in the charity treatments do agents respond positively to the effort levels suggested by the principals, and do higher requested levels of effort result in higher principal earnings

O-glycosylation of intestinal and respiratory mucins in health and disease

Mucins are large glycoproteins with a diverse O-glycosylation constituting up to 80% of the total mucin mass. The mucus layer covering the epithelial cells of the gastrointestinal and respiratory tract is largely made up of gel-forming mucins. MUC2 is the main gel-forming mucin in the intestinal tract and its O-glycosylation has been studied in health and disease in this thesis. Glycosylation alterations in relation to infection/inflammation in diseases affecting the mucosa as Cystic Fibrosis and Ulcerative colitis, have been identified. The glycosylation of mouse small intestinal mucins was studied during an infection cycle induced by the parasite Nippostrongylus brasiliensis. The O-linked oligosaccharides were released from the guanidinium chloride insoluble mucins and structurally characterized by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Two oligosaccharides containing blood group H-type epitopes (Fuc Ñ1-2Gal-) were transiently expressed with a peak at day 6. Northern blot analysis on total RNA showed a transient expression at day 4-6 of the Fut2 gene encoding the Fuc Ñ1-2 fucosyltransferase synthesizing the H-epitope. Additional oligosaccharides with the common structure HexNAc-Gal-3GalNAcol were transiently expressed with a peak at day 10. Secretor-negative women have an increased risk for recurrent vaginitis caused by C. albicans. A model of this disease is the Fut2-LacZ-null mice lacking the Fut2 enzyme. The aim of the study was to determine if the lack of Fut2 affected the glycosylation of mucins in the gastrointestinal tract. Mass spectrometry showed a complete loss of terminal fucosylation on the O-linked oligosaccharides of the colonic insoluble mucins in the mutant mice. Inoculation by gastric lavage with C. albicans showed no differences in colonization between mouse genotypes. The results suggest that the increased risk of recurrent vaginitis in secretor negative women, is not due to less intestinal colonization.There has been a long time controversy in Cystic Fibrosis (CF) research regarding the observed changes in mucin glycosylation. Are they due to an absent CFTR channel or secondary effects due to infection/ inflammation? We addressed this question by studying mucins secreted by non-infected second passage primary human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cell cultures. The O-linked oligosaccharides, released from purified non-CF and CF mucins, showed large inividual variations, but no significant differences between the two groups. To conclude, no differences in the mucin O-glycan repertoire was found, suggesting that observed CF glycosylation alterations are due to infection/inflammation. Novel proteomic and glycoproteomic methods were used to study sigmoid colon biopsies from active and inactive ulcerative colitis patients and compared to controls. In a total of 50 patients, the monomeric form of MUC2 was semiquantified and 5-10-fold individual differences in MUC2 amounts were observed. The O-glycosylation of colonic MUC2 was studied with a high sensitivity nanoLC/MS setup, developed in-house. More than 50 O-linked oligosaccharides were identified and quantified. Some of the glycan structures have not been characterized previously. A subpopulation of patients with ulcerative colitis showed an accumulation of some precursor glycans and a decrease of complex glycans. This glycan pattern was especially frequent among the active ulcerative colitis patients

Transitions, transformations and reproduction : dynamics in socio-technical systems

This chapter explores innovating and technological transformation in terms of competing socio-technical systems which evolve over long time periods. It examines changes in functional systems both from a theoretical and empirical perspective. It offers a typology of system changes and two brief case studies based on multilevel analysis: the hygienic transition from cesspools to integrated sewer systems (1870-1930) and the transformation in waste management (1960-2000) in the Netherlands. Three types of processes through which systems may change are described: reproduction, transformation, and transition. In the case of reproduction, there is no fundamental change at the meso level (the orientation of dominant actors, regime rules, and key technology or knowledge base), which is the case when stabilizing factors dominate. In the case of transitions and transformations in sociotechnical systems, there are meso-level changes created either by problems or new opportunities afforded by changes in technology and changes in the overall landscape. Transitions and transformations can only occur when developments at multiple levels amplify each other. This is worked out in a scheme of dynamic interactions between actors, systems rules, and social networks. The novelty of the scheme is that a regime perspective is combined with an actor perspective

Rank Matters-The impact of social competition on portfolio choice

Tournament incentives schemes have been criticized for inducing excessive risktaking among financial market participants. In this paper we investigate how relative performance-based incentive schemes and status concerns for higher rank influence portfolio choice in laboratory experiments. We find that both underperformers and over-performers adapt their portfolios to their current relative performance, preferring either positively or negatively skewed assets, respectively. Most importantly, these results hold both when relative performance is instrumental for higher payoffs in a tournament and when it is only intrinsically motivating and not payout-relevant. We find no effects when no relative performance information is given