1,058 research outputs found
Corporate financing decisions: UK survey evidence
Despite theoretical developments in recent years, our understanding of corporate capital structure remains incomplete. Prior empirical research has been dominated by archival regression studies which are limited in their ability to fully reflect the diversity found in practice. The present paper reports on a comprehensive survey of corporate financing decision-making in UK listed companies. A key finding is that firms are heterogeneous in their capital structure policies. About half of the firms seek to maintain a target debt level, consistent with trade-off theory, but 60 per cent claim to follow a financing hierarchy, consistent with pecking order theory. These two theories are not viewed by respondents as either mutually exclusive or exhaustive. Many of the theoretical determinants of debt levels are widely accepted by respondents, in particular the importance of interest tax shield, financial distress, agency costs and also, at least implicitly, information asymmetry. Results also indicate that cross-country institutional differences have a significant impact on financial decisions
Schwinger boson theory of anisotropic ferromagnetic ultrathin films
Ferromagnetic thin films with magnetic single-ion anisotropies are studied
within the framework of Schwinger bosonization of a quantum Heisenberg model.
Two alternative bosonizations are discussed. We show that qualitatively correct
results are obtained even at the mean-field level of the theory, similar to
Schwinger boson results for other magnetic systems. In particular, the
Mermin-Wagner theorem is satisfied: a spontaneous magnetization at finite
temperatures is not found if the ground state of the anisotropic system
exhibits a continuous degeneracy. We calculate the magnetization and effective
anisotropies as functions of exchange interaction, magnetic anisotropies,
external magnetic field, and temperature for arbitrary values of the spin
quantum number. Magnetic reorientation transitions and effective anisotropies
are discussed. The results obtained by Schwinger boson mean-field theory are
compared with the many-body Green's function technique.Comment: 14 pages, including 7 EPS figures, minor changes, final version as
publishe
Dyonic Kerr-Newman black holes, complex scalar field and Cosmic Censorship
We construct a gedanken experiment, in which a weak wave packet of the
complex massive scalar field interacts with a four-parameter (mass, angular
momentum, electric and magnetic charges) Kerr-Newman black hole. We show that
this interaction cannot convert an extreme the black hole into a naked
sigularity for any black hole parameters and any generic wave packet
configuration. The analysis therefore provides support for the weak cosmic
censorship conjecture.Comment: Refined emphasis on the weak cosmic censorship conjecture,
conclusions otherwise unchanged. Also, two sections merged, literature review
updated, references added, a few typos correcte
Chiral Magnetic Effect in Hydrodynamic Approximation
We review derivations of the chiral magnetic effect (ChME) in hydrodynamic
approximation. The reader is assumed to be familiar with the basics of the
effect. The main challenge now is to account for the strong interactions
between the constituents of the fluid. The main result is that the ChME is not
renormalized: in the hydrodynamic approximation it remains the same as for
non-interacting chiral fermions moving in an external magnetic field. The key
ingredients in the proof are general laws of thermodynamics and the
Adler-Bardeen theorem for the chiral anomaly in external electromagnetic
fields. The chiral magnetic effect in hydrodynamics represents a macroscopic
manifestation of a quantum phenomenon (chiral anomaly). Moreover, one can argue
that the current induced by the magnetic field is dissipation free and talk
about a kind of "chiral superconductivity". More precise description is a
ballistic transport along magnetic field taking place in equilibrium and in
absence of a driving force. The basic limitation is exact chiral limit while
the temperature--excitingly enough- does not seemingly matter. What is still
lacking, is a detailed quantum microscopic picture for the ChME in
hydrodynamics. Probably, the chiral currents propagate through
lower-dimensional defects, like vortices in superfluid. In case of superfluid,
the prediction for the chiral magnetic effect remains unmodified although the
emerging dynamical picture differs from the standard one.Comment: 35 pages, prepared for a volume of the Springer Lecture Notes in
Physics "Strongly interacting matter in magnetic fields" edited by D.
Kharzeev, K. Landsteiner, A. Schmitt, H.-U. Ye
Changes in the immune landscape of TNBC after neoadjuvant chemotherapy: correlation with relapse
Introduction: Patients with high-risk, triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) often receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) alone or with immunotherapy. Various single-cell and spatially resolved techniques have demonstrated heterogeneity in the phenotype and distribution of macrophages and T cells in this form of breast cancer. Furthermore, recent studies in mice have implicated immune cells in perivascular (PV) areas of tumors in the regulation of metastasis and anti-tumor immunity. However, little is known of how the latter change during NAC in human TNBC or their impact on subsequent relapse, or the likely efficacy of immunotherapy given with or after NAC.
Methods: We have used multiplex immunofluorescence and AI-based image analysis to compare the immune landscape in untreated and NAC-treated human TNBCs. We quantified changes in the phenotype, distribution and intercellular contacts of subsets of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, and regulatory T cells (Tregs) in PV and non-PV various areas of the stroma and tumor cell islands. These were compared in tumors from patients who had either developed metastases or were disease-free (DF) after a three-year follow up period.
Results: In tumors from patients who remained DF after NAC, there was a marked increase in stromal CD163+ TAMs, especially those expressing the negative checkpoint regulator, T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain 3 (TIM-3). Whereas CD4+ T cells preferentially located to PV areas in the stroma of both untreated and NAC-treated tumors, specific subsets of TAMs and Tregs only did so only after NAC. Distinct subsets of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells formed PV clusters with CD163+ TAMs and Tregs. These were retained after NAC.
Discussion: Quantification of stromal TIM-3+CD163+ TAMs in tumor residues after NAC may represent a new way of identifying patients at high risk of relapse. PV clustering of immune cells is highly likely to regulate the activation and function of T cells, and thus the efficacy of T cell-based immunotherapies administered with or after NAC
Some general properties of the renormalized stress-energy tensor for static quantum states on (n+1)-dimensional spherically symmetric black holes
We study the renormalized stress-energy tensor (RSET) for static quantum
states on (n+1)-dimensional, static, spherically symmetric black holes. By
solving the conservation equations, we are able to write the stress-energy
tensor in terms of a single unknown function of the radial co-ordinate, plus
two arbitrary constants. Conditions for the stress-energy tensor to be regular
at event horizons (including the extremal and ``ultra-extremal'' cases) are
then derived using generalized Kruskal-like co-ordinates. These results should
be useful for future calculations of the RSET for static quantum states on
spherically symmetric black hole geometries in any number of space-time
dimensions.Comment: 9 pages, no figures, RevTeX4, references added, accepted for
publication in General Relativity and Gravitatio
One-year follow-up on liraglutide treatment for prediabetes and overweight/obesity in clozapine- or olanzapine-treated patients
Bessel Process and Conformal Quantum Mechanics
Different aspects of the connection between the Bessel process and the
conformal quantum mechanics (CQM) are discussed. The meaning of the possible
generalizations of both models is investigated with respect to the other model,
including self adjoint extension of the CQM. Some other generalizations such as
the Bessel process in the wide sense and radial Ornstein- Uhlenbeck process are
discussed with respect to the underlying conformal group structure.Comment: 28 Page
Treatment planning for patients with low rectal cancer in a multicenter prospective organ preservation study
Background
Non-surgical management of rectal cancer relies on (chemo)radiotherapy as the definitive treatment modality. This study reports and evaluates the clinical high dose radiotherapy treatment plans delivered to patients with low resectable rectal cancer in a Danish multicenter trial.
Methods
The Danish prospective multicenter phase II Watchful Waiting 2 trial (NCT02438839) investigated definitive chemoradiation for non-surgical management of low rectal cancer. Three Danish centers participated in the trial and committed to protocol-specified treatment planning and delivery requirements. The protocol specified a dose of 50.4 Gy in 28 fractions to the elective volume (CTV-/PTV-E) and a concomitant boost of 62 Gy in 28 fractions to the primary target volume (CTV-/PTV-T).
Results
The trial included 108 patients, of which 106 treatment plans were available for retrospective analysis. Dose coverage planning goals for the main target structures were fulfilled for 94% of the treatment plans. However, large intercenter differences in doses to organs-at-risk (OARs) were seen, especially for the intestines. Five patients had a V60Gy>10 cm3 for the intestines and two patients for the bladder.
Conclusion
Prescribed planning goals for target coverage were fulfilled for 94% of the treatment plans, however analysis of OAR doses and volumes indicated intercenter variations. Dose escalation to 62 Gy (as a concomitant boost to the primary tumor) introduced no substantial high dose volumes (>60 Gy) to the bladder and intestines. The treatment planning goals may be used for future prospective evaluation of highdose radiotherapy for organ preservation for low rectal cancer
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