Political, social and economic determinants of corporate social disclosure by multi-national firms in environmentally sensitive industries

Using examples from environmentally sensitive industries, the paper examines the determinants of corporate social disclosure (CSD). The paper moves beyond the traditional literature in two respects. First it is international in scope, examining the accounting disclosure responses of multi-national companies to the pressures implied by the nature and scope of their operations. Second, variables measuring political risk and social development are developed so that these pressures can be measured, thereby introducing new dimensions to the literature. In common with previous studies, financial risk, size and other control variables are included. The relationships are tested econometrically utilising regression techniques not previously applied in the CSD literature but nonetheless more generally appropriate when using count dependent variables. Results suggest that managers feel an unequal sense of responsibility to different constituencies and their disclosure priorities are determined by stock market accountability, lobbying power of their domestic audience and the political risk of their activities rather than the impact of their activities in countries of operation

Political, social and economic determinants of corporate social disclosure by multi-national firms in environmentally sensitive industries.

Using examples from environmentally sensitive industries, the paper examines the determinants of corporate social disclosure (CSD). The paper moves beyond the traditional literature in two respects. First it is international in scope, examining the accounting disclosure responses of multi-national companies to the pressures implied by the nature and scope of their operations. Second, variables measuring political risk and social development are developed so that these pressures can be measured, thereby introducing new dimensions to the literature. In common with previous studies, financial risk, size and other control variables are included. The relationships are tested econometrically utilising regression techniques not previously applied in the CSD literature but nonetheless more generally appropriate when using count dependent variables. Results suggest that managers feel an unequal sense of responsibility to different constituencies and their disclosure priorities are determined by stock market accountability, lobbying power of their domestic audience and the political risk of their activities rather than the impact of their activities in countries of operation.

Two-spin relaxation of P-dimers in Silicon

We study two-electron singlet-triplet relaxation of donor-bound electrons in Silicon. Hyperfine interaction of the electrons with the phosphorus (P) nuclei, in combination with the electron-phonon interaction, lead to relaxation of the triplet states. Within the Heitler-London and effective mass approximations, we calculate the triplet relaxation rates in the presence of an applied magnetic field. This relaxation mechanism affects the resonance peaks in current Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) experiments on P-dimers. Moreover, the estimated time scales for the spin decay put an upper bound on the gate pulses needed to perform fault-tolerant two-qubit operations in donor-spin-based quantum computers (QCs).Comment: 3 figures, 1 tabl

Association of INOS, TRAIL, TGF-b2, TGF-b3, and IgL Genes with Response to Salmonella enteritidis in Poultry

Several candidate genes were selected, based on their critical roles in the host’s response to intracellular bacteria, to study the genetic control of the chicken response to Salmonella enteritidis (SE). The candidate genes were: inducible nitric oxide synthase (INOS), tumor necrosis factor related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL), transforming growth factor b2 (TGF-b2), transforming growth factor b3 (TGF-b3), and immunoglobulin G light chain (IgL). Responses to pathogenic SE colonization or to SE vaccination were measured in the Iowa Salmonella response resource population (ISRRP). Outbred broiler sires and three diverse, highly inbred dam lines produced 508 F1 progeny, which were evaluated as young chicks for either bacterial load isolated from spleen or cecum contents after pathogenic SE inoculation, or the circulating antibody level after SE vaccination. Fragments of each gene were sequenced from the founder lines of the resource population to identify genomic sequence variation. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) were identified, then PCR-RFLP techniques were developed to genotype the F1 resource population. Linear mixedmodels were used for statistical analyses. Because the inbred dam lines always contributed one copy of the same allele, the heterozygous sire allele effects could be assessed in the F1 generation. Association analyses revealed significant effects of the sire allele of TRAIL-StyI on the spleen (P \u3c 0:07) and cecum (P \u3c 0:0002) SE bacterial load. Significant effects (P \u3c 0:04) were found on the cecum bacterial load for TGF-b3-BsrI. Varied and moderate association was found for SE vaccine antibody response for all genes. This is the first reported study on the association of SNP in INOS, TRAIL, TGF-b2, TGF-b3, and IgL with the chicken response to SE. Identification of candidate genes to improve the immune response may be useful for marker-assisted selection to enhance disease resistance

Observation on hydatid cyst infection in Kordestan province (West of Iran) using epidemiological and seroepidemiological criteria

Echinococcosis is the major helminthic parasitic infection in Iran. The health hazard and economic loss in man and livestock is significant. In this study 3 major topics as the prevalence of hydatid cyst in human population, in livestock and echinococcosis in stray dogs, were studied. Total of 1114 serum samples in different age groups in Sanandaj and Divandareh area of Kurdestan province in west of Iran were examined by indirect immunoflurecent test (IFA). In Sanandaj area 3.3 and in Divandareh 9.5 of serum samples were positive for hydatidosis. In livestock using abattoir inspection the rate of infection was 51.9 and 28.02 for sheep and cattle, respectively. Nine stray dogs (44) autopsied in Sanandaj were positive for Echinococcosis

PBPK modelling of inter-individual variability in the pharmacokinetics of environmental chemicals

International audienceGeneric PBPK models, applicable to a large number of substances, coupled to parameter databases and QSAR modules, are now available for predictive modelling of inter-individual variability in the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of environmental chemicals. When needed, Markov chain Monte Carlo methods and multilevel population models can be jointly used for a Bayesian calibration of a PBPK model, to improve our understanding of the determinants of population heterogeneity and differential susceptibility. This article reviews those developments and illustrates them with recent applications to environmentally relevant questions

Discharge rate of cryogens in microgravity - What ground based experimentation cannot resolve

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/76407/1/AIAA-1991-3545-390.pd

Transient cryogenic liquid discharge in normal and micro-gravity

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/76393/1/AIAA-1991-486-786.pd

Development of a Portable Device for Thermoelectrical Power Measurement—Application to the Inspection of Duplex Stainless Steel Components

Some cast components of the primary loop of French Pressurized Water Reactors are made of cast duplex stainless steels. The mechanical characteristics of these components, working in the temperature range from 285°C to 325°C, may be altered by thermal aging : the hardness of the materials increases whereas its toughness decreases with aging time and temperature. The metallurgical explanation of this phenomena is the unmixing of the ferritic Fe-Cr-Ni solid solution by spinodal decomposition and the precipitation of intermetallic G-phase particles rich in nickel and silicium [1]