Risk-shifting Through Issuer Liability and Corporate Monitoring

This article explores how issuer liability re-allocates fraud risk and how risk allocation may reduce the incidence of fraud. In the US, the apparent absence of individual liability of officeholders and insufficient monitoring by insurers under-mine the potential deterrent effect of securities litigation. The underlying reasons why both mechanisms remain ineffective are collective action problems under the prevailing dispersed ownership structure, which eliminates the incentives to moni-tor set by issuer liability. This article suggests that issuer liability could potentially have a stronger deterrent effect when it shifts risk to individuals or entities holding a larger financial stake. Thus, it would enlist large shareholders in monitoring in much of Europe. The same risk-shifting effect also has implications for the debate about the relationship between securities litigation and creditor interests. Credi-tors’ claims should not be given precedence over claims of defrauded investors (e.g., because of the capital maintenance principle), since bearing some of the fraud risk will more strongly incentivise large creditors, such as banks, to monitor the firm in jurisdictions where corporate debt is relatively concentrated

Internet-based medical education: a realist review of what works, for whom and in what circumstances

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Exotic dense-matter states pumped by a relativistic laser plasma in the radiation-dominated regime

In high-spectral resolution experiments with the petawatt Vulcan laser, strong x-ray radiation of KK hollow atoms (atoms without n = 1 electrons) from thin Al foils was observed at pulse intensities of 3 x 10(20) W/cm(2). The observations of spectra from these exotic states of matter are supported by detailed kinetics calculations, and are consistent with a picture in which an intense polychromatic x-ray field, formed from Thomson scattering and bremsstrahlung in the electrostatic fields at the target surface, drives the KK hollow atom production. We estimate that this x-ray field has an intensity of >5 x 10(18) W/cm(2) and is in the 3 keV range

Isolated and dynamical horizons and their applications

Over the past three decades, black holes have played an important role in quantum gravity, mathematical physics, numerical relativity and gravitational wave phenomenology. However, conceptual settings and mathematical models used to discuss them have varied considerably from one area to another. Over the last five years a new, quasi-local framework was introduced to analyze diverse facets of black holes in a unified manner. In this framework, evolving black holes are modeled by dynamical horizons and black holes in equilibrium by isolated horizons. We review basic properties of these horizons and summarize applications to mathematical physics, numerical relativity and quantum gravity. This paradigm has led to significant generalizations of several results in black hole physics. Specifically, it has introduced a more physical setting for black hole thermodynamics and for black hole entropy calculations in quantum gravity; suggested a phenomenological model for hairy black holes; provided novel techniques to extract physics from numerical simulations; and led to new laws governing the dynamics of black holes in exact general relativity.Comment: 77 pages, 12 figures. Typos and references correcte

Testing for the Dual-Route Cascade Reading Model in the Brain: An fMRI Effective Connectivity Account of an Efficient Reading Style

Neuropsychological data about the forms of acquired reading impairment provide a strong basis for the theoretical framework of the dual-route cascade (DRC) model which is predictive of reading performance. However, lesions are often extensive and heterogeneous, thus making it difficult to establish precise functional anatomical correlates. Here, we provide a connective neural account in the aim of accommodating the main principles of the DRC framework and to make predictions on reading skill. We located prominent reading areas using fMRI and applied structural equation modeling to pinpoint distinct neural pathways. Functionality of regions together with neural network dissociations between words and pseudowords corroborate the existing neuroanatomical view on the DRC and provide a novel outlook on the sub-regions involved. In a similar vein, congruent (or incongruent) reliance of pathways, that is reliance on the word (or pseudoword) pathway during word reading and on the pseudoword (or word) pathway during pseudoword reading predicted good (or poor) reading performance as assessed by out-of-magnet reading tests. Finally, inter-individual analysis unraveled an efficient reading style mirroring pathway reliance as a function of the fingerprint of the stimulus to be read, suggesting an optimal pattern of cerebral information trafficking which leads to high reading performance

Histone deacetylases as new therapy targets for platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian cancer

Introduction: In developed countries, ovarian cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women. Due to the nonspecific symptomatology associated with the disease many patients with ovarian cancer are diagnosed late, which leads to significantly poorer prognosis. Apart from surgery and radiotherapy, a substantial number of ovarian cancer patients will undergo chemotherapy and platinum based agents are the mainstream first-line therapy for this disease. Despite the initial efficacy of these therapies, many women relapse; therefore, strategies for second-line therapies are required. Regulation of DNA transcription is crucial for tumour progression, metastasis and chemoresistance which offers potential for novel drug targets. Methods: We have reviewed the existing literature on the role of histone deacetylases, nuclear enzymes regulating gene transcription. Results and conclusion: Analysis of available data suggests that a signifant proportion of drug resistance stems from abberant gene expression, therefore HDAC inhibitors are amongst the most promising therapeutic targets for cancer treatment. Together with genetic testing, they may have a potential to serve as base for patient-adapted therapies

Systematic review of studies generating individual participant data on the efficacy of drugs for treating soil-transmitted helminthiases and the case for data-sharing

Preventive chemotherapy and transmission control (PCT) by mass drug administration is the cornerstone of the World Health Organization (WHO)’s policy to control soil-transmitted helminthiases (STHs) caused by Ascaris lumbricoides (roundworm), Trichuris trichiura (whipworm) and hookworm species (Necator americanus and Ancylostama duodenale) which affect over 1 billion people globally. Despite consensus that drug efficacies should be monitored for signs of decline that could jeopardise the effectiveness of PCT, systematic monitoring and evaluation is seldom implemented. Drug trials mostly report aggregate efficacies in groups of participants, but heterogeneities in design complicate classical meta-analyses of these data. Individual participant data (IPD) permit more detailed analysis of drug efficacies, offering increased sensitivity to identify atypical responses potentially caused by emerging drug resistance

Diagnostische Bedeutung der Proteinbindung von Plasmacortisol, bestimmt durch Dextrangelfiltration

1. Mittels Dextrangelfiltration wurde nach Inkubation von markiertem Cortisol und Plasma der proteingebundene und der sog. freie Anteil (%) des endogenen Plasmacortisols ermittelt und bei gleichzeitiger fluorimetrischer Bestimmung der 11-OHCS auch die Menge proteingebundenen, bzw. sog. freien Cortisols (µg-%) berechnet. 2. Die diagnostische Brauchbarkeit der Methode wurde bei Patienten mit Nebennierenrindeninsuffizienz, mit Hypophysentumoren, nach Hypophysektomie, mit Cushing-Syndrom mit der fluorimetrischen Bestimmung der 11-OHCS verglichen. Die einfache Bestimmung der Cortisolbindung war bei hypophysektomierten Patienten der Bestimmung der 11-OHCS überlegen und entsprach der aufwendigeren ACTH-Belastung. 3. Falsch hohe fluorimetrische 11-OHCS-Spiegel im Plasma unter Spirolacton- oder Oestrogenbehandlung und in der Gravidität lassen sich durch Bestimmung der Cortisolbindung klären. Bei Schilddrüsenüberfunktion war das sog. freie Cortisol im Plasma relativ und absolut vermehrt, bei Schilddrüsenunterfunktion fand sich eine Zunahme des plasmaproteingebundenen Cortisols.1. Following incubation of labeled cortisol and plasma the percentages of protein bound and socalled free endogenous cortisol were determined by means of dextran gel filtration. 2. The diagnostic value of this method was compared with fluorimetric determinations of 11-OHCS for patients with adrenal insufficiency, Cushing-Syndrome, pituitary tumors and after hypophysectomy. In hypophysectomized patients the simple determination of protein bound cortisol was found to correlate well with diagnostic ACTH-infusion tests and to be more sensitive than fluorimetric determinations of 11-OHCS in 9 a.m. plasma. 3. Falsely elevated fluorimetric values of plasma 11-OHCS in patients treated with spirolactone or estrogens, resp. during pregnancy may be recognized through determination of cortisol binding. — In thyrotoxicosis socalled free cortisol was elevated, both relatively and absolutely; in hypothyroidism an increase of protein bound cortisol was found

Stationary Black Holes: Uniqueness and Beyond

The spectrum of known black-hole solutions to the stationary Einstein equations has been steadily increasing, sometimes in unexpected ways. In particular, it has turned out that not all black-hole-equilibrium configurations are characterized by their mass, angular momentum and global charges. Moreover, the high degree of symmetry displayed by vacuum and electro-vacuum black-hole spacetimes ceases to exist in self-gravitating non-linear field theories. This text aims to review some developments in the subject and to discuss them in light of the uniqueness theorem for the Einstein-Maxwell system.Comment: Major update of the original version by Markus Heusler from 1998. Piotr T. Chru\'sciel and Jo\~ao Lopes Costa succeeded to this review's authorship. Significantly restructured and updated all sections; changes are too numerous to be usefully described here. The number of references increased from 186 to 32