5,066 research outputs found
And then there were four: a study of UK market concentration - causes, consequences and the scope for market adjustment
While concentration measures are a good indicator of market structure, the link with competitiveness is more complex than often assumed. In particular, the modern theory of industrial organisation makes no clear statement regarding the impact of concentration on competition - the focus of this paper is concentration and no inferences are made about competitive aspects of the market. The extent and nature of concentration within the UK listed company audit market as at April, 2002 and, pro forma, after the collapse of Andersen is documented and analysed in detail (by firm, market segment and industry sector). The largest four firms held 90 per cent of the market (based on audit fees) in 2002, rising to 96 per cent with the demise of Andersen. A single firm, Pricewaterhouse-Coopers, held 70 per cent or more of the share of six out of 38 industry sectors, with a share of 50 per cent up to 70 per cent in a further seven sectors. The provision of non-audit services (NAS) by incumbent auditors is also considered. As at April 2002, the average ratio of non-audit fees (paid to auditor) to audit fees was 208 per cent, and exceeded 300 per cent in seven sectors. It is likely, however, that disposals by firms of their management consultancy and outsource firms, combined with the impact of the Smith Report on audit committees will serve to reduce these ratios. Another finding is that audit firms with expertise in a particular sector appeared to earn significantly higher nonaudit fees from their audit clients in that sector. The paper thus provides a solid empirical basis for debate. The subsequent discussion considers the implications for companies and audit firms of the high level of concentration in the current regulatory climate, where no direct regulatory intervention is planned
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British research in accounting and finance (2001â2007): the 2008 research assessment exercise
No abstract available
Efficient Production of Large 39K Bose-Einstein Condensates
We describe an experimental setup and the cooling procedure for producing 39K
Bose-Einstein condensates of over 4x10^5 atoms. Condensation is achieved via a
combination of sympathetic cooling with 87Rb in a
quadrupole-Ioffe-configuration (QUIC) magnetic trap, and direct evaporation in
a large volume crossed optical dipole trap, where we exploit the broad Feshbach
resonance at 402 G to tune the 39K interactions from weak and attractive to
strong and repulsive. In the same apparatus we create quasi-pure 87Rb
condensates of over 8x10^5 atoms.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures; figure font compatibility improve
Political trials and the suppression of popular radicalism in England, 1799-1820
This chapter examines the decision-making process between the Home Office and the governmentâs law officers in prosecuting individuals for sedition and treason in the period 1799â1820. The term state trial suggests a more centralised and government-led repression of popular radicalism than the process was in practice. Provincial reformers also faced the complex layers of their local justice system, which was more loyalist, committed to stamping out political radicalism. The trial of the âThirty Eightâ Manchester radicals in June 1812 demonstrates the mutable definitions of treason, sedition and processes of justice in the theatre of the court.Peer reviewe
Coherent Behavior and Nonmagnetic Impurity Effects of the Spin Disordered State in NiGaS
Nonmagnetic impurity effects of the spin disordered state in the triangular
antiferromagnet NiGaS was studied through magnetic and thermal
measurements for NiZnGaS (0.0\le x\le 0.3). Only 1 %
substitution is enough to strongly suppress the coherence observed in the spin
disordered state. However, the suppression is not complete and the robust
feature of the T^2 dependent specific heat and its scaling behavior with the
Weiss temperature indicate the existence of a coherent Nambu-Goldstone mode.
Absence of either conventional magnetic order or bulk spin freezing suggests a
novel symmetry breaking of the ground state.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Can a Bose gas be saturated?
Bose-Einstein condensation is unique among phase transitions between
different states of matter in the sense that it occurs even in the absence of
interactions between particles. In Einstein's textbook picture of an ideal gas,
purely statistical arguments set an upper bound on the number of particles
occupying the excited states of the system, and condensation is driven by this
saturation of the quantum vapour. Dilute ultracold atomic gases are celebrated
as a realisation of Bose-Einstein condensation in close to its purely
statistical form. Here we scrutinise this point of view using an ultracold gas
of potassium (39K) atoms, in which the strength of interactions can be tuned
via a Feshbach scattering resonance. We first show that under typical
experi-mental conditions a partially condensed atomic gas strongly deviates
from the textbook concept of a saturated vapour. We then use measurements at a
range of interaction strengths and temperatures to extrapolate to the
non-interacting limit, and prove that in this limit the behaviour of a Bose gas
is consistent with the saturation picture. Finally, we provide evidence for the
universality of our observations through additional measurements with a
different atomic species, 87Rb. Our results suggest a new way of characterising
condensation phenomena in different physical systems.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
Hulless barley (Hordeum vulgare l.) with altered starch traits: rumen degradation kinetics
Non-Peer ReviewedThe objective of this study was to determine the effect of new hulless barley lines
(zero-amylose waxy, CDC Fibar; 5%-amylose waxy, CDC Rattan; normal-amylose, CDC
McGwire and high-amylose, HB08302) on rumen degradation kinetics and in vitro intestinal
nutrient digestion with CDC Copeland included as a hulled control. Three dry Holstein cows
fitted with rumen cannula were used for measuring rumen degradation of barley varieties. The
estimation of intestinal digestion was determined by a modification of the three-step in vitro
procedure described by Calsamiglia and Stern with duplicate of each in situ residue. Among
the hulless barley lines, CDC Rattan was greater (P<0.05) in effectively degradable starch
(EDST: 461 g/kg DM) but reduced (P<0.05) in rumen undegradable protein (RUP: 55g/kg
DM) while CDC Fibar was greater (P<0.05) in effectively degradable crude protein (EDCP:
90 g/kg DM) and total digestible protein (TDP: 147 g/kg DM) than other hulless barley lines.
CDC McGwire showed greater (P<0.05) in total digestible bypass starch (TDST: 590 g/kg
DM), effectively degradable CHO (EDCHO: 581 g/kg DM) and total digestible CHO
(TDCHO: 600 g/kg DM) than other hulless barley lines but no significant difference
compared to CDC Copeland (P>0.05). HB08302 was greater (P<0.05) in rumen bypass starch
(BST: 218 g/kg DM vs. 146 g/kg DM and 155 g/kg DM) and effective degradable NDF
(EDNDF: 74 g/kg DM vs. 49 g/kg DM and 52 g/kg DM) than CDC Fibar and CDC Rattan.
HB08302 was also greater in total digestible NDF (TDNDF: 93 g/kg DM vs. 62 g/kg DM and
67 g/kg DM) and intestinal digestible rumen bypass starch (IDBST: 180 g/kg DM vs. 122
g/kg DM and 130 g/kg DM) compared to CDC Fibar and CDC McGwire. HB08302 also
showed greater (P<0.05) in bypass CHO (BCHO: 179 g/kg DM) and intestinal digestible
bypass CHO (IDBCHO: 31 g/kg DM) than other hulless barley lines. Amylose and
amylopectin were significantly correlated (P<0.001) to EDCP (r=-0.71, r=0.64) and TDP
(r=-0.85; r=0.77), while amylose, ratio of amylose and amylopectin were positively correlated
(P<0.01) to EDNDF, TDNDF, BST, IDBST and TDCHO (P<0.05). BCP, IDP, TDP, BNDF
were positively correlated to beta-glucan levels (P<0.001) while EDST, TDST, EDCHO and
TDCHO were negatively correlated to beta-glucan levels in hulless barley lines (P<0.01). in
conclusion hulless barley lines with altered carbohydrate traits have the potential to increase
rumen and intestinal nutrient availability to ruminants. Altered beta-glucan levels had a
greater effect on rumen carbohydrates and crude protein degradation than altered starch traits
Excitation spectrum of a two-component Bose-Einstein condensate in a ring potential
A mixture of two distinguishable Bose-Einstein condensates confined in a ring
potential has numerous interesting properties under rotational and
solitary-wave excitation. The lowest-energy states for a fixed angular momentum
coincide with a family of solitary-wave solutions. In the limit of weak
interactions, exact diagonalization of the many-body Hamiltonian is possible
and permits evaluation of the complete excitation spectrum of the system.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
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