Implicit contracts, takeovers and corporate governance: in the shadow of the city code

This paper offers a qualitative, case-study based analysis of hostile takeover bids mounted in the UK in the mid-1990s under the regime of the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers. It is shown that during bids, directors of bid targets focus on the concerns of target shareholders to the exclusion of other stakeholder groups. A review of the case studies five years on find that, almost withouth exception, mergers led to large-scale job losses and asset disposals. However, almost none of the bids were considered by financial commentators, at this point, to have generated shareholder value for investors in that merged company. While there is therefore clear evidence that the Takeover Code is effective in protecting the interests of target shareholders, the implications of the Code for efficiency in corporate performance are much less certain.hostile takeovers, stakeholding, implicit contracts, breach of trust

Evolution: sympatric speciation the eusocial way

SummarySympatric speciation normally requires particular conditions of ecological niche differentiation. However, ant social parasites have been suspected to arise sympatrically, because (dis)loyalty to eusocial kin-structures induces disruptive selection for dispersal and inbreeding. A new study documents this process in unprecedented detail

The dynamics of 0-group herring Clupea harengus and sprat Sprattus sprattus populations along the Norwegian Skagerrak coast

Coastal areas are important habitats for early life stages of many fish species. These habitats are used as nursery grounds and can provide a significant contribution to the recruitment of a fish population. In 1919, standardized sampling with a beach seine along the Norwegian Skagerrak coastline was established mainly to target 0-group fish. Here, we focus on Atlantic herring and European sprat to explore whether inter-annual variability in the abundance of these species is indicative of variability in recruitment. We investigated if the abundance of 0-group herring and sprat are affected by environmental factors. Further, the beach seine abundance indices were compared with recruitment estimates of neighboring stocks. There was a clear correlation between herring and sprat abundance in the beach seine samples. While sprat abundance was mainly affected by environmental factors such as temperature and current drift, herring abundance was positively affected by the recruitment of the neighboring stock of western Baltic spring spawners. One plausible explanation could be that sprat recruit to a more local component, while herring of the neighboring stock utilize the Skagerrak coastline as nursery grounds. This study demonstrates the importance of long time series and can provide new insight into the dynamics and structure of multiple fish species.publishedVersio

Development stage distribution as a proxy for feeding success and growth for first feeding Norwegian spring spawning herring larvae

The estimation of growth rates in young herring larvae (Clupea harengus) in the field can be difficult because the primary increments in the otoliths may not be discernible or formed at a daily level. Likewise, the estimation of mortality rates of fish larvae in the field is very difficult to achieve, especially in a rigorous quantitative manner. In this study, the authors suggest the use of a stage‐based proxy of feeding success, growth and potential survival or mortality risk of field‐caught larvae. The stage‐based proxy is derived based on observations from previous laboratory studies where larvae successfully completing start‐feeding on external food sources will advance through the early development stages, whereas those that do not (unsuccessful larvae) remain and accumulate in the development stage preceding first feeding. The relative occurrence of larvae in the early development stages is therefore expected to reflect feeding conditions of the larvae, with higher ratios of unsuccessful larvae indicative of poor feeding success and higher mortality risk. Using field data on Norwegian spring spawning herring, the authors document that the relative occurrence of larvae in the late non‐feeding stage is significantly higher at lower average zooplankton concentrations, in line with the predictions of the authors that this novel approach of using a stage‐based proxy could be a useful indication of feeding success, growth and mortality in the field. Further, there was a significant interaction effect with ambient temperature, with the ratio being higher at low zooplankton concentrations at higher temperatures. This study also suggests that these findings are not population specific as the same accumulation of non‐feeding larvae in the late non‐feeding stage was observed in laboratory‐reared larvae of both autumn and spring spawning herring populations.publishedVersio

Reduced entomopathogen abundance in <i>Myrmica</i> ant nests-testing a possible immunological benefit of myrmecophily using <i>Galleria mellonella</i> as a model

Social insects such as ants have evolved collective rather than individual immune defence strategies against diseases and parasites at the level of their societies (colonies), known as social immunity. Ants frequently host other arthropods, so-called myrmecophiles, in their nests. Here, we tested the hypothesis that myrmecophily may partly arise from selection for exploiting the ants’ social immunity. We used larvae of the wax moth Galleria mellonella as ‘model myrmecophiles’ (baits) to test this hypothesis. We found significantly reduced abundance of entomopathogens in ant nests compared with the surrounding environment. Specific entomopathogen groups (Isaria fumosorosea and nematodes) were also found to be significantly less abundant inside than outside ant nests, whereas one entomopathogen (Beauveria brongniartii) was significantly more abundant inside nests. We therefore hypothesize that immunological benefits of entering ant nests may provide us a new explanation of why natural selection acts in favour of such a life-history strategy

Lemon sole Microstomus kitt in the northern North Sea: a multidisciplinary approach to the early life-history dynamics

Lemon sole Microstomus kitt is a commercially valuable flatfish species that occurs in shelf waters around the northeast Atlantic. Only the most basic life-history information is available for the North Sea. Spawning is generally assumed to occur between early May and October, with a peak between May and August. Lemon sole larvae have been found in the water column in the northern North Sea in winter during standard surveys. Larvae captured in November/December 2016 and January/February 2017 using the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas standard 2 m Midwater Ring trawls (MIK) were analysed to gain a better understanding of the pelagic early life-history stages of lemon sole, especially in relation to the timing of spawning and the dispersal of overwintering larvae. Larval age was estimated from sagittal otolith primary increment counts. The larvae caught in November/December ranged in nominal age from 4 to 45 days post-hatching which suggests that spawning continues into late October and November. Most, but not all, of the larvae caught in January/February were post metamorphosis, and the difference in age between the two sampling dates was consistent with the elapsed time between samplings. The estimated hatching dates confirm that lemon sole spawning extends into late autumn in the northern North Sea, with overwintering larvae in all developmental stages. Drift modelling of eggs and larvae released at historically documented spawning grounds in the northern North Sea suggests that these grounds are also the source for all of the larvae sampled during the 2016–2017 surveys.publishedVersio

Pain control in healthcare organizations: Developing effective disease management programs

Although medicine possesses the knowledge and technology for preventing or relieving most pain, poor pain control is still widespread. Unrelieved pain causes unnecessary suffering and increases health care expenditures. Among the barriers to improving pain control are poor provider education in pain management, misguided beliefs about the inevitability of pain and the dangers of pain medication, provider resistance to changing practice patterns, and administrative resistance to implementing improvements that incur short-term costs but lead to long-term savings. In short, poor pain relief in America\u27s health care institutions is a system issue, and improvement requires a system-wide change. An effective program for improving pain management requires a multidisciplinary team committed to the task, ideally a triad consisting of a physician, a nurse, and a pharmacist. The triad needs administrative support in order to undertake needs assessment, offer provider and patient education, and perform continuous cycles of assessment, intervention, and reassessment of pain management. A strong information management base and an analytic engine are essential so that the team can evaluate outcomes from multiple perspectives (provider, payer, patient). The triad should identify a service area with clear pain problems, demonstrate improvements in this area, and then systematically move to other service areas. Educating providers and patients about pain and its control is essential for bringing about change. Improved pain management is a win-win situation for patients and institutions alike. Patients and families benefit from reduced suffering and improved quality of life, while institutions can offer more cost-effective care to patients