Ownership Structure and Corporate Performance: Australian Evidence

This paper seeks to analyse the relationship between ownership structure and corporate performance for fifty firms listed on the Australian Stock Exchange during 2002-2003. The study initially tests a two equation model similar to that in the existing literature, but is distinguished from prior literature by subsequently reclassifying leverage. By categorising leverage as an endogenous variable, an examination of the relationship between ownership and performance is undertaken through ordinary least squares and two stage least squares analysis of a three equation econometric model. Interestingly, empirical results illustrate the fact that managerial ownership impacts negatively on firm performance which is consistent with the management entrenchment hypothesis.Ownership Structure, Corporate Performance, Endogenous Leverage

Streaming motions of abell clusters: new evidence for a high-amplitude bulk flow on very large scales

Streaming motions of galaxies and clusters provide the only method for probing the distribution of mass, as opposed to light, on scales of 20 - 100 h(^-1)Mpc. This thesis presents a new survey of the local peculiar velocity field, based upon Fundamental Plane (FP) distances for an all-sky sample of 56 clusters to cz = 12000 km s(^-1). Central velocity dispersions have been determined from new spectroscopic data for 429 galaxies. From new R-band imaging data the FP photometric parameters (effective diameter and effective surface brightness) have been measured for 324 galaxies. The new spectroscopic and photometric data have been carefully combined with an extensive body of measurements compiled from the literature, to yield a closely homogeneous catalogue of FP data for 725 early type galaxies. Fitting the inverse FP relation to the merged catalogue yields distance estimates with a scatter of 22% per galaxy, resulting in cluster distance errors of 2-13%. The distances are consistent, on a cluster-by-cluster basis, with those determined from Tully-Fisher-Fisher studies and from earlier FP determinations. The distances are marginally inconsistent with distance estimates based on brightest cluster galaxies, but this disagreement can be traced to a few highly discrepant clusters. The resulting peculiar velocity field is dominated by a bulk streaming component, with amplitude of 810 ± 180km s(^-1) (directed towards l = 260 ,b = -5 ), a result which is robust against a range of potential systematic effects. The flow direction is ~35 from the CMB dipole and ~15 from the X-ray cluster dipole direction. Two prominent superclusters (the Shapley Concentration and the Horologium-Reticulum Supercluster) may contribute significantly to the generation of this flow. More locally, there is no far- side infall into the 'Great Attractor' (GA), apparently due to the opposing pull of the Shapley Concentration. A simple model of the flow in this direction suggests that the GA region generates no more than ~60% of the Local Group's motion in this direction. Contrary to some previous studies, the Perseus-Pisces supercluster is found to exhibit no net streaming motion. On small scales the velocity field is extremely quiet, with an rms cluster peculiar velocity of < 270 km s(^-1) in the frame defined by the bulk-flow. The results of this survey suggest that very distant mass concentrations contribute significantly to the local peculiar velocity field. This result is difficult to accommodate within currently popular cosmological models, which have too little large-scale power to generate the observed flow. The results may instead favour models with excess fluctuation power on 60-150h(^-1)Mpc scales

The chemistry of some fluorinated internal olefins

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The human presence in Robert Henryson's Fables and William Caxton's The History of Reynard the Fox

This study is a comparison of the human presence in the text of Robert Henryson’s Fables , and that of William Caxton’s 1481 edition of The History of Reynard the Fox (Blake:1970). The individual examples of Henryson’s Fables looked at are those that may be called the ‘Reynardian’ fables (Mann:2009); these are The Cock and the Fox; The Fox and the Wolf; The Trial of the Fox; The Fox, the Wolf, and the Cadger, and The Fox, the Wolf, and the Husbandman. These fables were selected to provide a parallel focus, through the main protagonists and sources, with the text of The History of Reynard the Fox. The reason for the choice of these two texts, in a study originally envisaged as an examination of the human presence of Henryson’s Fables, is that Caxton’s text, although a translation, is precisely contemporary with the Fables, providing a specifically contemporary comparison to Henryson, as well as being a text that is worthwhile of such research in its own right. What may be gained from such a study is that the comparison of the contemporary texts, from Scotland and England, with parallel or similar main protagonists, may serve to sharpen the focus on each. The aspect of the human presence to be examined may be seen in the research question. 1. What are the functions of the different strands of human presence in the two texts? The principal method used is the gathering of specific instances of human presence in the two texts, and the categorising or coding of such instances, with the aid of the qualitative-data computer program QSR N6. The human presence was thus categorised under the separate aspects of i) The tangible human presence (actual human characters who are actors within the narrative). ii) The human as social context, present in the social situations and behaviour of the animal protagonists. iii) The human presence as narrator, both within and outside of the narrative. iv) The human presence in the transmission and reception of the two texts. The resulting categories of human presence were used to generate a theory concerning the functions of the human presence within the texts. The findings for the research question are as follows: The human presence in the text serves a far more explicit moral function in the Fables than in Reynard, where it serves a primarily entertaining and satirical function. The less explicit moral function of the human presence in Reynard is found beyond the text, in the reader reception

Is there life after a PhD? Proceeedings from a symposium presented by the Graduate School

The flippant title conceals a real and serious question. How does one go about building a career after completing a PhD? The larger context includes the motivation for doing a PhD in the first place and the various market places which might employ PhD graduates and their needs. Most students undertake PhDs after successful undergraduate careers that awaken their interests in a particular subject and a desire to penetrate more deeply into it. The implicit expectation is usually a career in research and/or teaching in a university. The rewards and the style that can be expected of a life in the academy have, however, changed greatly over the last two or three decades. The impetus for arranging the symposium was our increasing concern that students undertaking PhD studies are not sufficiently aware of the shrinking job opportunities and intense competition now endemic in the traditional arena and, conversely, of the potential of other less often considered avenues providing for rewarding careers. There is plenty of hard, as well as anecdotal, evidence for the first proposition. For example a recent Nature (vol. 383, p195, 1996) review of an American study reports that it found that fewer than half of PhDs in academic institutions hold tenure track positions. In the light of this finding, the US National Academy of Sciences recommends that young scientists 'approach their careers with a broad view, with the well-developed set of professional survival skills that today's job market requires'.Good advice surely. But what are these skills and how do you acquire them? It occurred to us that a good way to explore this question and to illustrate the wider horizons that PhD graduates, and, better, intending PhD candidates, should be scanning, would be to enlist as speakers in a symposium people who had successfully deployed a PhD degree as a spring- board to develop careers outside the conventional sphere. To our surprise there are many such individuals and, more gratifyingly, these outstanding Australians when approached were generous in agreeing to participate in our symposium. As may be judged from the accounts collected here, the presentations were interesting, pertinent and often provocative. We are grateful to the participants for their time, their enthusiasm and for agreeing to provide the written scripts which form the basis of this publication. It was evident from the capacity audience throughout the day and the lively discussion following each talk, that students in the Graduate School do feel the need for creative and practical career advice. It seemed to us well worthwhile to make the proceedings available for continuing reference as a Graduate School Occasional Paper. For this first symposium we decided to focus on PhDs in science and engineering. Clearly, a good deal that was said was relevant to other disciplines too. Still, we hope in future to broaden the scope of related symposia to include, explicitly, career options for PhDs in the social sciences, humanities and other areas. We hope that Symposia like 'Is There Life after a PhD?; will form a nice complement to the Induction Program-- 'How to Manage Your Research Degree'--offered by the Graduate School,whose emphasis is on giving students good advice on how to equip themselves for a successful career

Is the creation of artificial life morally significant?

AbstractIn 2010, the Venter lab announced that it had created the first bacterium with an entirely synthetic genome. This was reported to be the first instance of ‘artificial life,’ and in the ethical and policy discussions that followed it was widely assumed that the creation of artificial life is in itself morally significant. We cast doubt on this assumption. First we offer an account of the creation of artificial life that distinguishes this from the derivation of organisms from existing life and clarify what we mean in asking whether the creation of artificial life has moral significance. We then articulate and evaluate three attempts to establish that the creation of artificial life is morally significant. These appeal to (1) the claim that the creation of artificial life involves playing God, as expressed in three distinct formulations; (2) the claim that the creation of artificial life will encourage reductionist attitudes toward the living world that undermine the special moral value accorded to life; and (3) the worry that artificial organisms will have an uncertain functional status and consequently an uncertain moral status. We argue that all three attempts to ground the moral significance of the creation of artificial life fail, because none of them establishes that the creation of artificial life is morally problematic in a way that the derivation of organisms from existing life forms is not. We conclude that the decisive moral consideration is not how life is created but what non-genealogical properties it possesses

Genome Sequencing of a Historic Staphylococcus aureus Collection Reveals New Enterotoxin Genes and Sheds Light on the Evolution and Genomic Organization of This Key Virulence Gene Family.

We take advantage of a historic collection of 133 Staphylococcus aureus strains accessioned between 1924 and 2016, whose genomes have been long-read sequenced as part of a major National Collection of Type Cultures (NCTC) initiative, to conduct a gene family-wide computational analysis of enterotoxin genes. We identify two novel staphylococcal enterotoxin (pseudo)genes (sel29p and sel30), the former of which has not been observed in any contemporary strain to date. We provide further information on five additional enterotoxin genes or gene variants that either have recently entered the literature or for which the nomenclature or description is currently unclear (selz, sel26, sel27, sel28, and ses-2p). An examination of over 11,000 RefSeq genomes in search of wider support for these seven (pseudo)genes led to the identification of an additional three novel enterotoxin gene family members (sel31, sel32, and sel33) plus two new variants (seh-2p and ses-3p). We cast light on the genomic distribution of the enterotoxin genes, further defining their arrangement in gene clusters. Finally, we show that cooccurrence of enterotoxin genes is prevalent, with individual NCTC strains possessing as many as 18 enterotoxin genes and pseudogenes, and that clonal complex membership rather than time of isolation is the key factor in determining enterotoxin load.IMPORTANCEStaphylococcus aureus strains pose a significant health risk to both human and animal populations. Key among this species' virulence factors is the staphylococcal enterotoxin gene family. Certain enterotoxin forms can induce a potentially life-threatening immune response, while others are implicated in less fatal though often severe conditions such as food poisoning. Genetic characterization of staphylococcal enterotoxin gene family members has steadily accumulated over recent decades, with over 20 genes now established in the literature. Despite the current wealth of knowledge on this important gene family, questions remain about the presence of additional enterotoxin genes and the genomic composition of family members. This study further expands knowledge of the staphylococcal enterotoxins while shedding light on their evolution over the last century

Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge - The Incompressibles - Final Design Report

This report provides a comprehensive description of the research, analysis and design work that The Incompressibles have completed thus far in the senior project process. This document includes all the work that The Incompressibles have completed for the team’s Preliminary Design Review (PDR), Critical Design Review (CDR), the work leading up to the 2019 FPVC competiton and the competition results. This report includes the initial research that the team completed for the fluid power competition, first iterations of designs, final iterations of designs, manufacturing results and processes, and finally testing and results from competition. With a new design for the bike frame, drivetrain, mechatronics, power decoupling and hydraulics, The Incompressibles dramatically changed Cal Poly’s fluid power bike platform in the Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge. This bike was built with the direct intention of getting first place at this year’s fluid powered bike challenge competition

Variable sexually dimorphic gene expression in laboratory strains of Drosophila melanogaster.

BACKGROUND: Wild-type laboratory strains of model organisms are typically kept in isolation for many years, with the action of genetic drift and selection on mutational variation causing lineages to diverge with time. Natural populations from which such strains are established, show that gender-specific interactions in particular drive many aspects of sequence level and transcriptional level variation. Here, our goal was to identify genes that display transcriptional variation between laboratory strains of Drosophila melanogaster, and to explore evidence of gender-biased interactions underlying that variability. RESULTS: Transcriptional variation among the laboratory genotypes studied occurs more frequently in males than in females. Qualitative differences are also apparent to suggest that genes within particular functional classes disproportionately display variation in gene expression. Our analysis indicates that genes with reproductive functions are most often divergent between genotypes in both sexes, however a large proportion of female variation can also be attributed to genes without expression in the ovaries. CONCLUSION: The present study clearly shows that transcriptional variation between common laboratory strains of Drosophila can differ dramatically due to sexual dimorphism. Much of this variation reflects sex-specific challenges associated with divergent physiological trade-offs, morphology and regulatory pathways operating within males and females.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are