Investment Patterns and Financial Leverage

This study Investigates the influence of the type of investment opportunities facing a firm on its choice of capital structure. It is shown that the more discretionary investment opportunities a firm faces,the lower its financial leverage. Inclusion of other possible determinants of capital structure, such as availability of internal funds, tax effects and risk, while significant, do not affect the importance of discretionary investment. The evidence supports (1) the existence of a moral bazzard problem which inversely relates risky debt and discretionary investment choice, and (2) a desire by most firms to use sources of internal funds prior to entering the capital market.

Closely Held Firms As Going Concerns

This current GAAP determination of a going concern is shortsighted for two important reasons. The most important deals with creditors and other stakeholders involved with the business. Do they enter into contracts with the business or with the individual owner/manager? Currently, they contract with both since, in reality, they make no determination whether a separate firm (entity) exists. The second deals with valuing a business. If the business is not really a separate going concern, it would typically be valued as the sum of its individual assets instead of the present value of its future cash flows. Many times when buying a business, the acquirer is really just buying the assets to start his own business. This is particularly true in most service businesses. The purpose of this paper is to advocate reintroducing a qualification to the going concern audit opinion when an entity separate from its owner/manager does not exist. Criteria for determination are also proposed. Arguably, this will make audited accounting statements more meaningful for closely-held firms. More important, this should produce information useful for potential creditors and outside owners. Traditionally, banks have extended loans to small, closely-held firms with only compiled statements; there was no need to provide audited statements. However, the process of lending is changing from a direct, face-to-face process between borrower and lender to an indirect one where credit scoring systems are used. Audited statements can provide better, higher quality information to lenders extending credit

Complement C3 serum levels in anorexia nervosa: a potential biomarker for the severity of disease?

BackgroundAnorexia nervosa carries the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder. Even the most critically ill anorexic patients may present with normal 'standard' laboratory values, underscoring the need for a new sensitive biomarker. The complement cascade, a major component of innate immunity, represents a driving force in the pathophysiology of multiple inflammatory disorders. The role of complement in anorexia nervosa remains poorly understood. The present study was designed to evaluate the role of complement C3 levels, the extent of complement activation and of complement hemolytic activity in serum, as potential new biomarkers for the severity of anorexia nervosa.Patients and methodsThis was a prospective cohort study on 14 patients with severe anorexia nervosa, as defined by a body mass index (BMI) <14 kg/m2. Serum samples were obtained in a biweekly manner until hospital discharge. A total of 17 healthy subjects with normal BMI values served as controls. The serum levels of complement C3, C3a, C5a, sC5b-9, and of the 50% hemolytic complement activity (CH50) were quantified and correlated with the BMIs of patients and control subjects.ResultsSerum C3 levels were significantly lower in patients with anorexia nervosa than in controls (median 3.7 (interquartile range (IQR) 2.5-4.9) vs 11.4 (IQR 8.9-13.7, P <0.001). In contrast, complement activation fragments and CH50 levels were not significantly different between the two groups. There was a strong correlation between index C3 levels and BMI (Spearman correlation coefficient = 0.71, P <0.001).ConclusionsComplement C3 serum levels may represent a sensitive new biomarker for monitoring the severity of disease in anorexia nervosa. The finding from this preliminary pilot study will require further investigation in future prospective large-scale multicenter trials

A Fresh Catch of Massive Binaries in the Cygnus OB2 Association

Massive binary stars may constitute a substantial fraction of progenitors to supernovae and gamma-ray bursts, and the distribution of their orbital characteristics holds clues to the formation process of massive stars. As a contribution to securing statistics on OB-type binaries, we report the discovery and orbital parameters for five new systems as part of the Cygnus OB2 Radial Velocity Survey. Four of the new systems (MT070, MT174, MT267, and MT734 (a.k.a. VI Cygni #11) are single-lined spectroscopic binaries while one (MT103) is a double-lined system (B1V+B2V). MT070 is noteworthy as the longest period system yet measured in Cyg OB2, with P=6.2 yr. The other four systems have periods ranging between 4 and 73 days. MT174 is noteworthy for having a probable mass ratio q<0.1, making it a candidate progenitor to a low-mass X-ray binary. These measurements bring the total number of massive binaries in Cyg OB2 to 25, the most currently known in any single cluster or association.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

A human antibody against Zika virus crosslinks the E protein to prevent infection

The recent Zika virus (ZIKV) epidemic has been linked to unusual and severe clinical manifestations including microcephaly in fetuses of infected pregnant women and Guillian-Barré syndrome in adults. Neutralizing antibodies present a possible therapeutic approach to prevent and control ZIKV infection. Here we present a 6.2 Å resolution three-dimensional cryo-electron microscopy (cryoEM) structure of an infectious ZIKV (strain H/PF/2013, French Polynesia) in complex with the Fab fragment of a highly therapeutic and neutralizing human monoclonal antibody, ZIKV-117. The antibody had been shown to prevent fetal infection and demise in mice. The structure shows that ZIKV-117 Fabs cross-link the monomers within the surface E glycoprotein dimers as well as between neighbouring dimers, thus preventing the reorganization of E protein monomers into fusogenic trimers in the acidic environment of endosomes

Institutional Barriers to Black and Latino Male Collegians’ Success in Engineering and Related STEM Fields

Diverse people and perspectives are needed to spur innovation and tackle societal problems. A wealth of untapped intellectual and economic potential exists among historically underrepresented racial/ethnic groups – including Blacks and Latinos – who have not had equitable access to engineering and related STEM fields. For Blacks and Latinos who are accepted into engineering and related STEM fields, they face a number of barriers to their success which lead to low retention and graduation rates. In historically male-dominated fields such as engineering and related STEM disciplines, Black and Latino men have remained underrepresented at the student and faculty ranks. To uncover and tackle the “institutional barriers” that men of color face, nearly 50 interviews with Black and Latino collegians were analyzed to better understand the mechanisms that prevent them from maximizing their potential for success in engineering and related STEM fields. Interviews revealed that students must overcome institutional obstacles such as: (a) inadequate academic advising, (b) poor quality teaching, (c) limited course offerings, and (d) insufficient financial aid. This paper includes recommendations that are helpful to faculty, staff and administrators who are interested in increasing the number of Black and Latino male graduates in engineering and related STEM fields

Clinical utility of rosuvastatin and other statins for cardiovascular risk reduction among the elderly

Age is one of the strongest predictors of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Treatment with statins can significantly reduce CVD events and mortality in both primary and secondary prevention. Yet despite the high CVD risk among the elderly, there is underutilization of statins in this population (ie, the treatment-risk paradox). Few studies have investigated the use of statins in the elderly, particularly for primary prevention and, as a result, guidelines for treating the elderly are limited. This is likely due to: uncertainties of risk assessment in older individuals where the predictive value of individual risk factors is decreased; the need to balance the benefits of primary prevention with the risks of polypharmacy, health care costs, and adverse medication effects in a population with decreased life expectancy; the complexity of treating patients with many other comorbidities; and increasingly difficult social and economic concerns. As life expectancy increases and the total elderly population grows, these issues become increasingly important. JUPITER (Justification for the Use of statins in Prevention: an Intervention Trial Evaluating Rosuvastatin) is the largest primary prevention statin trial to date and enrolled a substantial number of elderly adults. Among the 5695 JUPITER participants ≥70 years of age, the absolute CVD risk reduction associated with rosuvastatin was actually greater than for younger participants. The implications of this JUPITER subanalysis and the broader role of statins among older adults is the subject of this review

Atmospheric deposition in southeastern North Carolina and its impact on the Cape Fear River estuary

Concentrations of NHx, NO3 -, free amino acids, total and organic nitrogen, and inorganic anions were determined for 78 rain events between September 1, 2002 and August 31, 2003, on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington in southeastern North Carolina. The majority of N in Wilmington rain (78%) is inorganic, occurring as NO3 - and NHx in approximately equal proportions. Free amino acids make up a small portion of ON (11%). Correlation analysis and back trajectory analysis indicate that regional sources, rather than local emissions, determine the concentrations of inorganic N in UNCW rainwater and particle dry deposition. NO3 - concentration in rainwater at UNCW has decreased from 1990 to the present while wet deposition increased due to increased rainfall and possibly increased emissions from growing population and expanding industry in North Carolina. Wet and dry deposition of NHx are respectively 53% and 26% higher than a decade ago reflecting an increase in regional and possibly local emissions. Similar temporal patterns in are seen at UNCW and the NADP monitored sites with the greatest increase in Clinton, NC, where NHx concentrations and depositions have increased 58% and 107% respectively. Concentrations of H+ and major N analytes, with the exception of ON, vary significantly as a function of air mass origin with major increases in analytes correlating with locations of known anthropogenic sources. Seasonal and diurnal influences have a significant impact on the concentrations of H+ and N analytes in UNCW rainwater with significant concentration maximums in the spring and significantly lower concentrations from 6:00AM to 10:00PM. Direct atmospheric deposition is not a major source of bioavailable nitrogen to the Cape Fear River Estuary. The average total daily NHx and NO3 - dry depositions were small in comparison to their total amounts in the CFRE. Wet depositions of NHx reached 20% for a single event with an average per event deposition equivalent to 1.3% of NHx in the CFRE. Dry deposition accounts for 17% of inorganic N deposition to the CFRE; though it is possibly underestimated in this study