Distributing excess cash: the role of specially designated dividends

This study explores why firms distribute excess cash as specially designated dividends (SDDs) instead of using regular dividends or repurchasing shares. We survey top managers of NASDAQ, AMEX, and NYSE firms issuing at least one SDD between 1994 and 2001. The results show that firms tend to pay SDDs when they experience strong earnings and cash flows and want to increase at least temporarily the yield to shareholders. Having strong earnings and cash flows also provide an impetus for regular dividend increases, but paying regular dividends is part of a firm\u27s standard dividend policy. The primary motives for repurchasing shares are to take advantage of perceived market undervaluation of the firm\u27s shares and to improve performance measures, especially. Overall, the results lend support to the signaling explanation for the disbursement of excess funds, but not the free cash flow or wealth transfer explanations

Michael addition of thiols with 4-methyleneglutamic acid: Preparation of adducts, their properties and presence in peanuts

The thioethers, S-(4-amino-2,4-dicarboxybutyl)cysteamine, S-(4-amino-2,4-dicarboxybutyl)cysteine and S-(4-amino-2,4-dicarboxybutyl)glutathione, were synthesized by a Michael addition between 4-methyleneglutamic acid and the respective thiol. In dilute aqueous solution, the reactions exhibit second order kinetics; glutathione reacts much slower than cysteine or cysteamine. The adducts were characterized chromatographically, electrophoretically, and by their infra-red and nuclear magnetic resonance spectra. None of these thioethers was detected in peanut plants (Arachis hypogaea L.), even though large amounts of 4-methyleneglutamic acid, its amide, and glutathione are synthesized during peanut germination.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/24005/1/0000254.pd

Parasitism perturbs the mucosal microbiome of Atlantic Salmon

Interactions between parasite, host and host-associated microbiota are increasingly understood as important determinants of disease progression and morbidity. Salmon lice, including the parasitic copepod Lepeophtheirus salmonis and related species, are perhaps the most important problem facing Atlantic Salmon aquaculture after feed sustainability. Salmon lice parasitize the surface of the fish, feeding off mucus, scales and underlying tissue. Secondary bacterial infections are a major source of associated morbidity. In this study we tracked the diversity and composition of Salmo salar skin surface microbiota throughout a complete L. salmonis infection cycle among 800 post-smolts as compared to healthy controls. Among infected fish we observed a significant reduction in microbial richness (Chao1, P = 0.0136), raised diversity (Shannon, P < 7.86e-06) as well as highly significant destabilisation of microbial community composition (Pairwise Unifrac, beta-diversity, P < 1.86e-05; P = 0.0132) by comparison to controls. While undetectable on an individual level, network analysis of microbial taxa on infected fish revealed the association of multiple pathogenic genera (Vibrio, Flavobacterium, Tenacibaculum, Pseudomonas) with high louse burdens. We discuss our findings in the context of ecological theory and colonisation resistance, in addition to the role microbiota in driving primary and secondary pathology in the host

The 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century.

A rank-ordered list was constructed that reports the first 99 of the 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century. Eminence was measured by scores on 3 quantitative variables and 3 qualitative variables. The quantitative variables were journal citation frequency, introductory psychology textbook citation frequency, and survey response frequency. The qualitative variables were National Academy of Sciences membership, election as American Psychological Association (APA) president or receipt of the APA Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award, and surname used as an eponym. The qualitative variables were quantified and combined with the other 3 quantitative variables to produce a composite score that was then used to construct a rank-ordered list of the most eminent psychologists of the 20th century. The discipline of psychology underwent a remarkable transformation during the 20th cen-tury, a transformation that included a shift away from the European-influenced philosophical psychology of the late 19th century to th

Neighborhood fast food restaurants and fast food consumption: A national study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Recent studies suggest that neighborhood fast food restaurant availability is related to greater obesity, yet few studies have investigated whether neighborhood fast food restaurant availability promotes fast food consumption. Our aim was to estimate the effect of neighborhood fast food availability on frequency of fast food consumption in a national sample of young adults, a population at high risk for obesity.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We used national data from U.S. young adults enrolled in wave III (2001-02; ages 18-28) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (n = 13,150). Urbanicity-stratified multivariate negative binomial regression models were used to examine cross-sectional associations between neighborhood fast food availability and individual-level self-reported fast food consumption frequency, controlling for individual and neighborhood characteristics.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In adjusted analysis, fast food availability was not associated with weekly frequency of fast food consumption in non-urban or low- or high-density urban areas.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Policies aiming to reduce neighborhood availability as a means to reduce fast food consumption among young adults may be unsuccessful. Consideration of fast food outlets near school or workplace locations, factors specific to more or less urban settings, and the role of individual lifestyle attitudes and preferences are needed in future research.</p

Phenotypic Anchoring of Acetaminophen-Induced Oxidative Stress with Gene Expression Profiles in Rat Liver

Toxicogenomics provides the ability to examine in greater detail the underlying molecular events that precede and accompany toxicity, thus allowing prediction of adverse events at much earlier times compared to classical toxicological endpoints. Acetaminophen (APAP) is a pharmaceutical that has similar metabolic and toxic responses in rodents and humans. Recent gene expression profiling studies with APAP found an oxidative stress signature at a sub-toxic dose that we hypothesized can be phenotypically anchored to conventional biomarkers of oxidative stress. Liver tissue was obtained from experimental animals used to generate microarray data where male rats were given APAP at sub-toxic (150 mg/kg), or overtly toxic (1500 and 2000 mg/kg) doses and sacrificed at 6, 24, or 48 hrs. Oxidative stress in liver was evaluated by a diverse panel of markers that included assessing expression of base excision repair (BER) genes, quantifying oxidative lesions in genomic DNA, and evaluating protein and lipid oxidation. A sub-toxic dose of APAP produced significant accumulation of nitrotyrosine protein adducts, while both sub-toxic and toxic doses caused a significant increase in 8-hydroxy-deoxyguanosine. Only toxic doses of APAP significantly induced expression levels of BER genes. None of the doses examined resulted in a significant increase in the number of abasic sites, or in the amount of lipid peroxidation. The accumulation of nitrotyrosine and 8-hydroxy-deoxyguanosine adducts phenotypically anchors the oxidative stress gene expression signature observed with a sub-toxic dose of APAP, lending support to the validity of gene expression studies as a sensitive and biologically-meaningful endpoint in toxicology

Observational Signatures and Non-Gaussianities of General Single Field Inflation

We perform a general study of primordial scalar non-Gaussianities in single field inflationary models in Einstein gravity. We consider models where the inflaton Lagrangian is an arbitrary function of the scalar field and its first derivative, and the sound speed is arbitrary. We find that under reasonable assumptions, the non-Gaussianity is completely determined by 5 parameters. In special limits of the parameter space, one finds distinctive ``shapes'' of the non-Gaussianity. In models with a small sound speed, several of these shapes would become potentially observable in the near future. Different limits of our formulae recover various previously known results.Comment: 53 pages, 5 figures; v3, minor revision, JCAP version; v4, numerical coefficients corrected in Appendix B, discussion on consistency condition revise

Observational Signatures and Non-Gaussianities of General Single Field Inflation

We perform a general study of primordial scalar non-Gaussianities in single field inflationary models in Einstein gravity. We consider models where the inflaton Lagrangian is an arbitrary function of the scalar field and its first derivative, and the sound speed is arbitrary. We find that under reasonable assumptions, the non-Gaussianity is completely determined by 5 parameters. In special limits of the parameter space, one finds distinctive ``shapes'' of the non-Gaussianity. In models with a small sound speed, several of these shapes would become potentially observable in the near future. Different limits of our formulae recover various previously known results.Comment: 53 pages, 5 figures; v3, minor revision, JCAP version; v4, numerical coefficients corrected in Appendix B, discussion on consistency condition revise