Decentralized Investment Banking: The Case of Discount Dividend-Reinve stment and Stock-Purchase Plans

Discount dividend-reinvestment and stock-purchase plans allow shareholders to capture part of the underwriting fees incurred in new stock offerings and save sponsoring firms some of the usual underwriting costs. We tested the degree to which individual investors can profitably serve this investment banking function by implementing simple investment/trading strategies designed to capture the discounts and distribute the shares in the market. The large profits earned by our strategies raise serious questions about why it takes firms so long to raise the target level of capital and why many eligible shareholders do not participate in these discount plans.

Employee Stock Ownership Plans and Corporate Restructuring: Myths and Realities

During the first six months of 1989 U.s. corporations acquired over $19 billion of their own stock to establish employer stock ownership plans (ESOPs). We evaluate the common claims that there exist unique tax and incentive contracting advantages to establishing ESOPs. Our analysis suggests that, particularly for large firms, where the greatest growth in ESOPs has occurred, the case is very weak for taxes being the primary motivation to establish an ESOP. The case is also weak for employee incentives being the driving force behind their establishment. We conclude that the main motivation for the growth of ESOPs is their anti-takeover characteristics.

Leafy Spurge - A Review

Leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.) is a perennial herbaceous weed that infests millions of acres of range and pasture in the northern Great Plains. It outcompetes grasses and lowers land productivity because cattle will not graze infested areas even if spurge makes up only 10% of the vegetative biomass. This presentation will cover the history, taxonomy, and phenology of leafy spurge. A discussion of chemical, mechanical, and biocontrol techniques that aid in leafy spurge management will also be included

Income-based inequalities in hypertension and in undiagnosed hypertension: analysis of Health Survey for England data

Objective: To quantify income-based inequalities in hypertension and in undiagnosed hypertension. Methods: We used nationally representative data from 28 002 adults (aged 16 years and older) living in private households who participated in the cross-sectional Health Survey for England 2011–2016. Using bivariate probit regression modelling, we jointly modelled hypertension and self-reported previous diagnosis of hypertension by a doctor or nurse. We then used the model estimates to quantify inequalities in undiagnosed hypertension. Inequalities, using household income tertiles as an indicator of socioeconomic status, were quantified using average marginal effects (AMEs) after adjustment for confounding variables. Results: Overall, 32% of men and 27% of women had survey-defined hypertension (measured blood pressure ≥140/90 mmHg and/or currently using medicine to treat high blood pressure). Higher proportions (38% of men and 32% of women) either self-reported previous diagnosis or had survey-defined hypertension. Of these, 65% of men and 70% of women had diagnosed hypertension. Among all adults, participants in low-income versus high-income households had a higher probability of being hypertensive [AMEs: men 2.1%; 95% confidence interval (CI): −0.2, 4.4%; women 3.7%; 95% CI: 1.8, 5.5%] and of being diagnosed as hypertensive (AMEs: men 2.0%; 95% CI: 0.4, 3.7%; women 2.5%; 95% CI: 1.1, 3.9%). Among those classed as hypertensive, men in low-income households had a marginally lower probability of being undiagnosed than men in high-income households (AME: −5.2%; 95% CI: −10.5, 0.1%), whereas no difference was found among women. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that income-based inequalities in hypertension coexist with equity in undiagnosed hypertension

Are Changes in Heart Rate Variability in Middle-Aged and Older People Normative or Caused by Pathological Conditions? Findings From a Large Population-Based Longitudinal Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: No study to date has investigated longitudinal trajectories of cardiac autonomic modulation changes with aging; therefore, we lack evidence showing whether these changes occur naturally or are secondary to disease or medication use. This study tested whether heart rate variability (HRV) trajectories from middle to older age are largely normative or caused by pathological changes with aging in a large prospective cohort. We further assessed whether HRV changes were modified by socioeconomic status, ethnicity, or habitual physical activity. METHODS AND RESULTS: This study involved 3176 men and 1238 women initially aged 44 to 69 years (1997-1999) from the UK Whitehall II population-based cohort. We evaluated time- and frequency-domain HRV measures of short-term recordings at 3 time points over a 10-year period. Random mixed models with time-varying covariates were applied. Cross-sectionally, HRV measures were lower for men than for women, for participants with cardiometabolic conditions, and for participants reporting use of medications other than beta blockers. Longitudinally, HRV measures decreased significantly with aging in both sexes, with faster decline in younger age groups. HRV trajectories were not explained by increased prevalence of cardiometabolic problems and/or medication use. In women, cardiometabolic problems were associated with faster decline in the standard deviation of all intervals between R waves with normal-to-normal conduction, in low-frequency HRV, and in low-frequency HRV in normalized units. Socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and habitual physical activity did not have significant effects on HRV trajectories. CONCLUSIONS: Our investigation showed a general pattern and timing of changes in indices of cardiac autonomic modulation from middle to older age. These changes seem likely to reflect the normal aging process rather than being secondary to cardiometabolic problems and medication use

Healthy Lifestyle and Cardiac Vagal Modulation Over 10 Years: Whitehall II Cohort Study

Background: Increased vagal modulation is a mechanism that may partially explain the protective effect of healthy lifestyles. However, it is unclear how healthy lifestyles relate to vagal regulation longitudinally. We prospectively examined associations between a comprehensive measure of 4 important lifestyle factors and vagal modulation, indexed by heart rate variability (HRV) over 10 years. / Methods and Results: The fifth (1997–1999), seventh (2002–2004), and ninth (2007–2009) phases of the UK Whitehall II cohort were analyzed. Analytical samples ranged from 2059 to 3333 (mean age: 55.7 years). A healthy lifestyle score was derived by giving participants 1 point for each healthy factor: physically active, not smoking, moderate alcohol consumption, and healthy body mass index. Two vagally mediated HRV measures were used: high‐frequency HRV and root mean square of successive differences of normal‐to‐normal R‐R intervals. Cross‐sectionally, a positively graded association was observed between the healthy lifestyle score and HRV at baseline (Poverall≤0.001). Differences in HRV according to the healthy lifestyle score remained relatively stable over time. Compared with participants who hardly ever adhered to healthy lifestyles, those with consistent healthy lifestyles displayed higher high‐frequency HRV (β=0.23; 95% CI, 0.10–0.35; P=0.001) and higher root mean square of successive differences of normal‐to‐normal R‐R intervals (β=0.15; 95% CI, 0.07–0.22; P≤0.001) at follow‐up after covariate adjustment. These differences in high‐frequency HRV and root mean square of successive differences of normal‐to‐normal R‐R intervals are equivalent to ≈6 to 20 years differences in chronological age. Compared with participants who reduced their healthy lifestyle scores, those with stable scores displayed higher subsequent high‐frequency HRV (β=0.24; 95% CI, 0.01–0.48; P=0.046) and higher root mean square of successive differences of normal‐to‐normal R‐R intervals (β=0.15; 95% CI, 0.01–0.29; P=0.042). / Conclusions: Maintaining healthy lifestyles is positively associated with cardiac vagal functioning, and these beneficial adaptations may be lost if not sustained

Literacy for digital futures : Mind, body, text

The unprecedented rate of global, technological, and societal change calls for a radical, new understanding of literacy. This book offers a nuanced framework for making sense of literacy by addressing knowledge as contextualised, embodied, multimodal, and digitally mediated. In today’s world of technological breakthroughs, social shifts, and rapid changes to the educational landscape, literacy can no longer be understood through established curriculum and static text structures. To prepare teachers, scholars, and researchers for the digital future, the book is organised around three themes – Mind and Materiality; Body and Senses; and Texts and Digital Semiotics – to shape readers’ understanding of literacy. Opening up new interdisciplinary themes, Mills, Unsworth, and Scholes confront emerging issues for next-generation digital literacy practices. The volume helps new and established researchers rethink dynamic changes in the materiality of texts and their implications for the mind and body, and features recommendations for educational and professional practice

Symmetric Rotating Wave Approximation for the Generalized Single-Mode Spin-Boson System

The single-mode spin-boson model exhibits behavior not included in the rotating wave approximation (RWA) in the ultra and deep-strong coupling regimes, where counter-rotating contributions become important. We introduce a symmetric rotating wave approximation that treats rotating and counter-rotating terms equally, preserves the invariances of the Hamiltonian with respect to its parameters, and reproduces several qualitative features of the spin-boson spectrum not present in the original rotating wave approximation both off-resonance and at deep strong coupling. The symmetric rotating wave approximation allows for the treatment of certain ultra and deep-strong coupling regimes with similar accuracy and mathematical simplicity as does the RWA in the weak coupling regime. Additionally, we symmetrize the generalized form of the rotating wave approximation to obtain the same qualitative correspondence with the addition of improved quantitative agreement with the exact numerical results. The method is readily extended to higher accuracy if needed. Finally, we introduce the two-photon parity operator for the two-photon Rabi Hamiltonian and obtain its generalized symmetric rotating wave approximation. The existence of this operator reveals a parity symmetry similar to that in the Rabi Hamiltonian as well as another symmetry that is unique to the two-photon case, providing insight into the mathematical structure of the two-photon spectrum, significantly simplifying the numerics, and revealing some interesting dynamical properties.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure