Legal determinants of external finance revisited : the inverse relationship between investor protection and societal well-being

This paper investigates relationships between corporate governance traditions and quality of life as measured by a number of widely reported indicators. It provides an empirical analysis of indicators of societal health in developed economies using a classification based on legal traditions. Arguably the most widely cited work in the corporate governance literature has been the collection of papers by La Porta et al. which has shown, inter alia, statistically significant relationships between legal traditions and various proxies for investor protection. We show statistically significant relationships between legal traditions and various proxies for societal health. Our comparative evidence suggests that the interests of investors may not be congruent with the interests of wider society, and that the criteria for judging the effectiveness of approaches to corporate governance should not be restricted to financial metrics

Investigation of a generalized Obukhov Model for Turbulence

We introduce a generalization of Obukhov's model [A.M. Obukhov, Adv. Geophys. 6, 113 (1959)] for the description of the joint position-velocity statistics of a single fluid particle in fully developed turbulence. In the presented model the velocity is assumed to undergo a continuous time random walk. This takes into account long time correlations. As a consequence the evolution equation for the joint position-velocity probability distribution is a Fokker-Planck equation with a fractional time derivative. We determine the solution of this equation in the form of an integral transform and derive a relation for arbitrary single time moments. Analytical solutions for the joint probability distribution and its moments are given.Comment: 10 page

The environmental impacts of different mask options for healthcare settings in the UK

During the COVID-19 pandemic, different strategies emerged to combat shortages of certified face masks used in the healthcare sector. These strategies included increasing production from the original manufacturing sites, commissioning new production facilities locally, exploring and allowing the reuse of single-use face masks via various decontamination methods, and developing reusable mask alternatives that meet the health and safety requirements set out in European Standards. In this article, we quantify and evaluate the life-cycle environmental impacts of selected mask options available for use by healthcare workers in the UK, with the objective of supporting decision- and policy-making. We investigate alternatives to traditional single-use face masks like surgical masks and respirators (or FFP3 masks), including cloth masks decontaminated in washing machines; FFP3 masks decontaminated via vapour hydrogen peroxide, and rigid half masks cleaned with antibacterial wipes. Our analysis demonstrates that: (1) the reuse options analysed are environmentally preferential to the traditional “use then dispose” of masks; (2) the environmental benefits increase with the number of reuses; and (3) the manufacturing location and the material composition of the masks have great influence over the life-cycle environmental impacts of each mask use option, in particular for single-use options

Can Observers Predict Trustworthiness?

We investigate whether experimental subjects can predict behavior in a prisoner's dilemma played on a TV show. Subjects report probabilistic beliefs that a player cooperates, before and after the players communicate. Subjects correctly predict that women and players who make a voluntary promise are more likely to cooperate. They are able to distinguish truth from lies when a player is asked about her intentions by the host. Subjects are to some extent able to predict behavior; their beliefs are 7~percentage points higher for cooperators than for defectors. We also study their Bayesian updating. Beliefs do not satisfy the martingale property and display mean reversion

Luminescent conjugates between dinuclear rhenium complexes and 17α-ethynylestradiol: synthesis, photophysical characterization, and cell imaging

Three new luminescent conjugates between dinuclear rhenium complexes and an estradiol, namely E2-Re, are described. The derivatives have the general formula [Re2(\u3bc-Cl)2(CO)6(\u3bc-R-pydz-17\u3b1-ethynylestradiol)] (R-pydz = functionalized 1,2-pyridazine), where the estradiol moiety is covalently bound to the \u3b2 position of the pyridazine ligand. Different synthetic pathways are investigated, including the inverse-type [4 + 2] Diels Alder cycloaddition reaction between the electron poor 1,2,4,5-tetrazine and 17\u3b1-ethynylestradiol for the synthesis of E2-Re1. The three E2-Re conjugates are purified on silica gel and isolated in a spectroscopically pure form in moderate to good yields (28-50%). All the E2-Re conjugates are comprehensively characterized from the spectroscopic and photophysical points of view. Cellular internalization experiments on human MCF-7 and 231 cells are also reported, displaying interesting staining differences depending on the nature of the spacer linking the estradiol unit to the organometallic fragment. Furthermore, the suitability of these conjugates to also stain simple multicellular organisms, i.e. Ciona intestinalis embryos and larvae at different stages of development, is reported here for the first time