Professional Asset Managers and the Evolution of Corporate Governance in France and Japan: Lessons from a Questionnaire Survey

International audienceA corporate governance system consists of a set of mechanisms which restrict managerial discretion. The constraints on managerial discretion in the Anglo-Saxon environment, considered as a benchmark, are usually described as being primarily driven by shareholder interests, whereas the French and Japanese systems are traditionally thought of as more stakeholder oriented. However, the increasing share of international ownership has had a significant impact on corporate governance in both countries over the last two decades. The shareholder-driven discourse on corporate governance best practice, which leans heavily on agency theory, has been progressively institutionalized on a global scale (Aguilera & Cuervo-Cazurra, 2004). Institutional investors and professional asset management firms are likely to have been powerful advocates of institutionalizing discourse on corporate governance best practice (Wirtz, 2008a). We conducted a survey in order to study asset management firms' underlying perceptions and motivations in actively influencing corporate governance in France and Japan. Specifically, we set out to know to what extent professional asset managers endorse standard discourse on corporate governance best practice and feel they exert an active influence on corporate governance in France and Japan. In this paper, we present the major results of the survey

Nonprofit Business Plan Development: From Vision, Mission and Values to Implementation

Describes steps for nonprofit planning, with sections that cover organizational assessment, vision and mission statements, goal-setting, and plan implementation

Presence of Cartilage Stem/Progenitor Cells in Adult Mice Auricular Perichondrium

BACKGROUND: Based on evidence from several other tissues, cartilage stem/progenitor cells in the auricular cartilage presumably contribute to tissue development or homeostasis of the auricle. However, no definitive studies have identified or characterized a stem/progenitor population in mice auricle. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) label-retaining technique was used to label dividing cells in fetal mice. Observations one year following the labeling revealed that label-retaining cells (LRCs) were present specifically in auricular perichondrium at a rate of 0.08±0.06%, but LRCs were not present in chondrium. Furthermore, LRCs were successfully isolated and cultivated from auricular cartilage. Immunocytochemical analyses showed that LRCs express CD44 and integrin-α(5). These LRCs, putative stem/progenitor cells, possess clonogenicity and chondrogenic capability in vitro. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We have identified a population of putative cartilage stem/progenitor cells in the auricular perichondrium of mice. Further characterization and utilization of the cell population should improve our understanding of basic cartilage biology and lead to advances in cartilage tissue engineering and novel therapeutic strategies for patients with craniofacial defects, including long-term tissue restoration

A case of locally advanced adenosquamous carcinoma of the cecum with long-term survival

A 63-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with a right lower abdominal mass and general fatigue. Preoperative examination suggested a large ovarian tumor or cecal carcinoma. However, her intraoperative diagnosis was colon cancer; we therefore performed an ileocecal resection with oophorectomy. The tumor was pathologically diagnosed as adenosquamous carcinoma T4bN1M-stage IIIa. We administrated CapeOX adjuvant chemotherapy for 6 months. Adenosquamous carcinoma is extremely rare, at around 0.1% of all colorectal cancers, and usually has a poor prognosis. The patient is still alive without recurrence after 84 post-operative months, even with later developments of metachronous early colorectal cancer and breast cancer. We herein report a rare case of cecal ASC with good prognosis

On Exact Polytropic Equilibria of Self-Gravitating Gaseous and Radiative Systems: Their Application to Molecular Cloud Condensation

We propose a novel mathematical method to construct an exact polytropic sphere in self-gravitating hydrostatic equilibrium, improving the non-linear Poisson equation. The central boundary condition for the present equation requires a ratio of gas pressure to total one at the centre, which is uniquely identified by the whole mass and molecular weight of the system. The special solution derived from the Lane-Emden equation can be reproduced. This scheme is now available for modelling the molecular cloud cores in interstellar media. The mass-radius relation of the first core is found to be consistent with the recent results of radiation hydrodynamic simulations.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Synthesis and pharmacological characterization of potent, selective, and orally bioavailable isoindoline class dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitors

Focused structure-activity relationships of isoindoline class DPP-IV inhibitors have led to the discovery of 4b as a highly selective, potent inhibitor of DPP-IV. In vivo studies in Wistar/ST rats showed that 4b was converted into the strongly active metabolite 4l in high yield, resulting in good in vivo efficacy for antihyperglycemic activity

An Endoscopic Case Report of Jejunal Leiomyosarcoma and Review of the Japanese Literature

Jejunoscopy for a small intestinal leiomyosarcoma was performed on a 73-year-old male. The patient was admitted because of a palpable abdominal mass. A barium meal study, abdominal ultrasonography, computed tomography and angiography suggested a leiomyogenic tumor with a central cavity arising from the jejunal loop extraluminally. Enteroscopy with a pediatric colonofiberscope (PCF) enabled us to observe a mucosal ulcer and a part of the cavity of the tumor. Histology of the resected tumor revealed it to be a leiomyosarcoma with a large central hollow connected to the mucosal ulcer. The authors discussed the endoscopic findings of 17 previously reported Japanese cases of jejunal leiomyosarcoma and the present case