Investment banks, scope, and unavoidable conflicts of interest

In recent years investment banks have drawn particular criticism for the lack of objectivity and independence in their research reports and analyst recommendations. This article argues that this conflict of interest is but one of many potential conflicts that arise as banks take advantage of the scope economies inherent in providing the customary business lines of investment banking under one roof. ; The author considers academic evidence on investment bank analysts’ jobs, which entail both an acknowledged sales function and an unacknowledged information brokerage function. In these two roles, analysts are often serving two or more parties whose interests are not aligned. Though some research shows that analyst buy-sell recommendations are biased, the market appears to understand and correct for this bias, the author finds. Evidence on research quality also indicates that analysts at large banks make less biased and more precise earnings forecasts than do analysts at independent research firms. ; The author also examines conflicts of interest between banks’ research and corporate finance functions and between internal proprietary trading and the customer-driven sales-and-trading function. These conflicts center around how and when research and proprietary trading information are disseminated to investors. Even more subtle conflicts may arise between investment banks and their customers when either party tries to further its own ends at the expense of a third party. ; Ultimately, the author believes there is little evidence that the mandated regulatory changes that physically and economically separate banking from research or that require banks to make independent research available to retail clients will improve investor welfare.Investment banking

The CNGS neutrino beam

The CNGS (CERN Neutrinos to Gran Sasso) project aims to produce a muon neutrino beam for the investigation of the oscillations of neutrinos. The beam is directed from CERN SPS accelerator to the Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS) of the INFN in Italy, 730 km from CERN, where the OPERA experiment is designed to search for the appearance of tau neutrinos in the beam. Construction of the beam started in September 2000 and commissioning ended in early August 2006. The beam was first sent to Gran Sasso on August 17, 2006. An overview of the CNGS project and of the commissioning is provided

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Designing a Luminescence Assay to Measure In Vitro Binding of the Fibronectin Attachment Protein (FAP) of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis to Fibronectin

The attachment and penetration of epithelial cells by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) requires a bacterial fibronectin (FN) attachment protein FAP-P, which facilitates binding of FN by MAP. The region of FAP-P that interacts with FN is known, however, the region of FN that is bound by FAP-P is to be determined. Identification of the region of FN to which FAP-P binds would enable the synthesis of a competing peptide that could prevent FN binding by MAP. The first step toward locating this binding site is the design of a reliable FN binding assay. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the optimal conditions (time, temperature, probe concentration, specificity, and color of assay plates) necessary for sensitive, specific binding of FN by FAP-P. Biotinylated peptides representing the FN binding domain of FAP-P and a control peptide were used as probes in a chemiluminescence assay to evaluate the binding of FAP-P to FN. The FAP-P probe bound specifically to FN when probes were incubated for 30 minutes at 37oC in black 96-well microtiter plates. A 10-fold increase in specific FN binding by the FAP-P probe resulted when incubation was increased from 30 minutes to 60 minutes in combination with the use of white microtiter plates over black microtiter plates. A dose dependent binding of FN by the FAP-P probe was observed with increasing probe concentrations (1.0 µg FAP-P, 2.0 µg FAP-P, and 4.0 µg FAP-P) using optimized conditions. The assay thus described can be used to locate the FAP-P binding site on FN in protease-generated FN fragments. This, in turn will enable the design of peptides that could be incorporated into calf management programs that could block FN binding by MAP and reduce the reduce the incidence of Johne’s disease

NESSiE: An experimental search for sterile neutrinos with the CERN-SPS beam

Anomalies observed in neutrino oscillation experiments show a tension with the standard three-flavor neutrino framework and seem to require at least an additional sterile neutrino with a mass at the eV scale. NESSiE (Neutrino Experiment with SpectrometerS in Europe) is an experiment at a new CERN Short-Baseline neutrino beam proposed to definitely address the sterile neutrino issue. The experiment is composed by two magnetic spectrometers at different distances from the proton target. Their design allows to measure the charge and momentum of the muons in a wide energy range, from few hundred MeV, using a magnetic field in air, up to several GeV measuring the bending and range of the muon in a large iron dipolar magnet. The spectrometers will complement large LAr detectors used as a target. The time scale foresees to start taking data by 2016

Ignition-and-Growth Modeling of NASA Standard Detonator and a Linear Shaped Charge

The main objective of this study is to quantitatively investigate the ignition and shock sensitivity of NASA Standard Detonator (NSD) and the shock wave propagation of a linear shaped charge (LSC) after being shocked by NSD flyer plate. This combined explosive train was modeled as a coupled Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) model with LS-DYNA hydro code. An ignition-and-growth (I&G) reactive model based on unreacted and reacted Jones-Wilkins-Lee (JWL) equations of state was used to simulate the shock initiation. Various NSD-to-LSC stand-off distances were analyzed to calculate the shock initiation (or failure to initiate) and detonation wave propagation along the shaped charge. Simulation results were verified by experimental data which included VISAR tests for NSD flyer plate velocity measurement and an aluminum target severance test for LSC performance verification. Parameters used for the analysis were obtained from various published data or by using CHEETAH thermo-chemical code

Improving Breastfeeding Knowledge of Staff Nurses

The World Health Organization advocates that newborn babies require exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months of age to attain a desired level of growth. Despite this recommendation, exclusive breastfeeding rates continue to be at low levels globally. The purpose of this DNP project was to examine best practices for increasing the breastfeeding knowledge of health care workers, and to understand how breastfeeding is promoted in different healthcare systems. The Critical Appraisal Checklist and the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews framed this systematic literature review. Additionally, Melnyk\u27s levels of evidence was used to evaluate each article. Articles for inclusion were limited to adults over the age of 18, nurses as providers, and literature published in English between 2012 and 2017. Keywords used in the literature search included breastfeeding promotion, breastfeeding support, breastfeeding outcomes, and breastfeeding education. The search identified 159 articles, of which 40 were selected for the final review. Twenty-two articles met the criteria for levels V-VI (qualitative), 11 met the criteria for levels III-IV (case control or cohort), 1 met the criteria for level II (randomized control trials), and 6 were level 1 (systematic review). The analysis of evidence demonstrated the importance of exclusive breastfeeding and led to the development of breastfeeding education recommendations. The recommendations will be presented to the organization and will provide nurses with the tools to support breastfeeding education. Application of the findings may lead to social change because new mothers will receive enhanced breastfeeding information, which will result in higher rates of breastfeeding of newborns and increased benefits for both infants and mothers