An exploration of the association between global expectations regarding corporate behaviour and corporate social disclosure practices of multinational organisations from culturally diverse countries

This thesis explores the social disclosure policies of large multinational organisations from culturally diverse countries. Arguments are advanced about why large multinational organisations will respond to 'global expectations', rather than simply the expectations of those people residing in the corporations' 'home' country. It is proposed that social disclosure is a reaction (or anticipation) by management to the perceived social and political environment, and that some organisations are more 'exposed' than others. It is also proposed that voluntary social disclosure is a function of country culture, but that large multinational organisations from culturally diverse countries, operating in a global market, are susceptible to borrowing a 'global culture'. Disclosure against 'global expectations' by large multinational organisations from culturally diverse countries is predicted to be a function of 'global exposure'. To determine global expectations, reliance is placed on two large international surveys conducted in 1998 and 1999. Five proxies for 'global exposure' are developed and tested relating to size, industry and stock exchange listings. The results of analysis indicate minimal alignment between global expectations, as represented by the two surveys, and the social disclosure policies of large multinational organisations. Initial results of multiple regression indicate that 'foreign listing status' is very highly significant in explaining minimal disclosure against global expectations, but this is no longer true when a control variable for 'country of origin' is added. Social disclosure practices overall, appear to be a reaction to the perceived social and political environment in the country at the time of reporting, with certain voluntary disclosures explained by recent regulatory intervention or Government initiatives. Political economy theory is adopted to explain the lack of disclosure against global expectations, and legitimacy theory is adopted to explain disclosure practices within countries overall

Recent Cases

Civil Procedure--Attorney-Client Privilege-- Privilege Protects Communications Made by Corporate Employee To Secure Legal Advice and a Matter Committed to a Professional Legal Advisor Is Prima Facie Committed To Secure Legal Advice James S. Hutchinson attorney-client privilege, the predominance test, legal activities In summary, courts have not yet resolved how to determine who may qualify as the corporate client for purposes of the attorney-client privilege... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Constitutional Law-- Confrontation Clause-Admission at Trial of Slain Informant\u27s Prior Grand Jury Testimony Against Defendants Does Not Violate Confrontation Guarantee Despite Lack of Cross-Examination James Robert Newson III Although the trend in the law of evidence is toward greater admissibility of hearsay, the sixth amendment confrontation clause presents a countervailing consideration in the criminal law. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Constitutional Law-Equal Protection-- Federal Statutes Differentiating Between Sentence Credit for Probation and Parole Time Satisfy Rational Basis Test Andrew W. Byrd Since its decision in Bolling v. Sharpe, which invalidated racial segregation in the public schools of the District of Columbia, the Supreme Court has utilized the due process clause of the fifth amendment to prohibit arbitrary discrimination by the federal government in much the same manner that it has employed the fourteenth amendment to limit similar state action.\u27 Through the 1950\u27sand 1960\u27s equal protection cases challenging both state and federal action fell within two distinct analytical categories-those subjected to a rational basis test and those required to withstand strict scrutiny. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Labor Law-Taft-Hartley Section 301- Union May Be Liable for Sympathy Strike Damages When It Has Failed To Use Reasonable Care To Prevent Spread of Wildcat Strike Judith Miller Janssen Citing the national policy of promoting peaceful settlement of labor disputes and avoiding the violence resulting from wildcat strikes in the coal mining industry, the court found that the international union had a duty to prevent the spread of wildcat strikes of the sort that caused the work stoppage at plaintiff\u27s two mines. The court distinguished, however, between the liability of the inter-national union and that of the subdivisions of the union on the basis of ability to control both the underlying and sympathy strikers. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Uniform Commercial Code--Secured Transactions-- Article Nine Does Not Permit Unsecured Claims To Achieve Secured and Perfected Status by a Post-Bankruptcy Assignment to a Senior Secured Creditor John Eric Tavss The instant court\u27s refusal to sanction floating secured parties demonstrates the unwillingness of courts to expand permissible floating arrangements beyond those clearly allowed by the Code.This case further illustrates the struggle that courts face when confronted with the competing principles of floating arrangements, the notice requirements of the Code, and the Bankruptcy Act

Status of Silicon Nitride Material Properties, Component Fabrication, and Applications for Small Gas Turbines

ABSTRACT Extensive progress has been made in the development of high performance silicon nitride structural ceramics and component fabrication

Frequent use of paracetamol and risk of allergic disease among women in an Ethiopian population

Introduction The hypothesis that paracetamol might increase the risk of asthma and other allergic diseases have gained support from a range of independent studies. However, in studies based in developed countries, the possibility that paracetamol and asthma are associated through aspirin avoidance is difficult to exclude. Objectives To explore this hypothesis among women in a developing country, where we have previously reported aspirin avoidance to be rare. Methods In 2005/6 a population based cohort of 1065 pregnant women was established in Butajira, Ethiopia and baseline demographic data collected. At 3 years post birth, an interview-based questionnaire administered to 945 (94%) of these women collected data on asthma, eczema, and hay fever in the past 12 month, frequency of paracetamol use and potential confounders. Allergen skin tests to Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and cockroach were also performed. The independent effects of paracetamol use on allergic outcomes were determined using multiple logistic regression analysis. Findings The prevalence of asthma, eczema and hay fever was 1.7%, 0.9% and 3.8% respectively; of any one of these conditions 5.5%, and of allergen sensitization 7.8%. Paracetamol use in the past month was reported by 29%, and associations of borderline significance were seen for eczema (adjusted OR (95% CI) = 8.51 (1.68 to 43.19) for 1–3 tablets and 2.19 (0.36 to 13.38) for ≥4 tablets, compared to no tablets in the past month; overall p = 0.055) and for ‘any allergic condition’ (adjusted OR (95% CI) = 2.73 (1.22 to 6.11) for 1–3 tablets and 1.35 (0.67 to 2.70) for ≥4 tablets compared to 0 in the past month; overall p = 0.071). Conclusions This study provides further cross-sectional evidence that paracetamol use increases the risk of allergic disease

Emerging Infectious Disease leads to Rapid Population Decline of Common British Birds

Emerging infectious diseases are increasingly cited as threats to wildlife, livestock and humans alike. They can threaten geographically isolated or critically endangered wildlife populations; however, relatively few studies have clearly demonstrated the extent to which emerging diseases can impact populations of common wildlife species. Here, we report the impact of an emerging protozoal disease on British populations of greenfinch Carduelis chloris and chaffinch Fringilla coelebs, two of the most common birds in Britain. Morphological and molecular analyses showed this to be due to Trichomonas gallinae. Trichomonosis emerged as a novel fatal disease of finches in Britain in 2005 and rapidly became epidemic within greenfinch, and to a lesser extent chaffinch, populations in 2006. By 2007, breeding populations of greenfinches and chaffinches in the geographic region of highest disease incidence had decreased by 35% and 21% respectively, representing mortality in excess of half a million birds. In contrast, declines were less pronounced or absent in these species in regions where the disease was found in intermediate or low incidence. Also, populations of dunnock Prunella modularis, which similarly feeds in gardens, but in which T. gallinae was rarely recorded, did not decline. This is the first trichomonosis epidemic reported in the scientific literature to negatively impact populations of free-ranging non-columbiform species, and such levels of mortality and decline due to an emerging infectious disease are unprecedented in British wild bird populations. This disease emergence event demonstrates the potential for a protozoan parasite to jump avian host taxonomic groups with dramatic effect over a short time period

The motion of trees in the wind : a data synthesis

Interactions between wind and trees control energy exchanges between the atmosphere and forest canopies. This energy exchange can lead to the widespread damage of trees, and wind is a key disturbance agent in many of the world’s forests. However, most research on this topic has focused on conifer plantations, where risk management is economically important, rather than broadleaf forests, which dominate the forest carbon cycle. This study brings together tree motion time-series data to systematically evaluate the factors influencing tree responses to wind loading, including data from both broadleaf and coniferous trees in forests and open environments. Wefoundthatthetwomostdescriptive features of tree motion were (a) the fundamental frequency, which is a measure of the speed at which a tree sways and is strongly related to tree height, and (b) the slope of the power spectrum, which is related to the efficiency of energy transfer from wind to trees. Intriguingly, the slope of the power spectrum was found to remain constant from medium to high wind speeds for all trees in this study. This suggests that, contrary to some predictions, damping or amplification mechanisms do not change dramatically at high wind speeds, and therefore wind damage risk is related, relatively simply, to wind speed. Conifers from forests were distinct from broadleaves in terms of their response to wind loading. Specifically, the fundamental frequency of forest conifers was related to their size according to the cantilever beam model (i.e. vertically distributed mass), whereas broadleaves were better approximated by the simple pendulum model (i.e. dominated by the crown). Forest conifers also had a steeper slope of the power spectrum. We interpret these finding as being strongly related to tree architecture; i.e. conifers generally have a simple shape due to their apical dominance, whereas broadleaves exhibit a much wider range of architectures with more dominant crowns

Can hedgerow management mitigate the impacts of predation on songbird nest survival?

Nest predators can have significant impacts on songbird reproductive success. These impacts may be amplified by habitat simplification and here we test whether sympathetic management of farmland hedgerows can reduce nest depredation, especially by corvids. We test whether songbirds select nest sites according to structural features of hedgerows (including nest visibility and accessibility), and whether these features influence nest predation risk. Songbirds selected nesting sites affording higher vegetation cover above the nest, increased visibility on the nest-side of the hedgerow and reduced visibility on the far side of the hedge. Nest survival was unrelated to corvid abundance and only weakly related (at the egg stage) to corvid nest proximity. Nest survival at the chick stage was higher where vegetation structure restricted access to corvid-sized predators (averaging 0.78 vs. 0.53), and at nests close to potential vantage points. Overall nest survival was sensitive to hedgerow structure (accessibility) particularly at low exposure to corvid predation, while the overall impact of corvid exposure was dependent on the relationship involving proximity to vantage points. Nest survival over the chick stage was much higher (0.67) in stock-proof, trimmed and mechanically cut hedgerows, (which tended to provide lower side visibility and accessibility) than in recently laid, remnant or leggy hedgerows (0.18). Long-term reductions in the management of British hedgerows may therefore be exposing nesting songbirds to increased predation risk. We recommend regular rotational cutting of hedgerows to maintain a dense woody structure and thereby reduce songbird nest predation

Prolonged immune alteration following resolution of acute inflammation in humans.

Acute inflammation is an immediate response to infection and injury characterised by the influx of granulocytes followed by phagocytosing mononuclear phagocytes. Provided the antigen is cleared and the immune system of the host is fully functional, the acute inflammatory response will resolve. Until now it is considered that resolution then leads back to homeostasis, the physiological state tissues experienced before inflammation occurred. Using a human model of acute inflammation driven by intradermal UV killed Escherichia coli, we found that bacteria and granulocyte clearance as well as pro-inflammatory cytokine catabolism occurred by 72h. However, following a lag phase of about 4 days there was an increase in numbers of memory T cells and CD163+ macrophage at the post-resolution site up to day 17 as well as increased biosynthesis of cyclooxygenase-derived prostanoids and DHA-derived D series resolvins. Inhibiting post-resolution prostanoids using naproxen showed that numbers of tissue memory CD4 cells were under the endogenous control of PGE2, which exerts its suppressive effects on T cell proliferation via the EP4 receptor. In addition, we re-challenged the post-resolution site with a second injection of E. coli, which when compared to saline controls resulted in primarily a macrophage-driven response with comparatively fewer PMNs; the macrophage-dominated response was reversed by cyclooxygenase inhibition. Re-challenge experiments were also carried out in mice where we obtained similar results as in humans. Therefore, we report that acute inflammatory responses in both humans and rodents do not revert back to homeostasis, but trigger a hitherto unappreciated sequence of immunological events that dictate subsequent immune response to infection.Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellowship (Grant number: WT087520), Sir Henry Dale Fellowship jointly funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Royal Society (Grant number: 107613/Z/15/Z) and the Barts Charity (Grant number: MGU0343)

Key challenges in bringing CRISPR-mediated somatic cell therapy into the clinic.

Genome editing using clustered regularly interspersed short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated proteins offers the potential to facilitate safe and effective treatment of genetic diseases refractory to other types of intervention. Here, we identify some of the major challenges for clinicians, regulators, and human research ethics committees in the clinical translation of CRISPR-mediated somatic cell therapy