312 research outputs found
Application of “piercing the corporate veil” doctrine in the Ukrainian law
Purpose: In the article, authors develop a structure of applying the gaps of corporate law and the possibility of restricting all possible structures of the legal field in Ukraine. The functioning of corporate law is always exercised according to the principle of the company’s greatest possible involvement in the employee’s everyday life. There is always differentiation emerging, which determines to what extent the existence of corporate spirit and ethics are needed within the society. Design/Methodology/Approach: The method of comparative law was used as the subject of the study, which enabled us to compare the customary rules of law with specific corporate law rules. Additionally, it is appropriate to apply the historical method, which fully reflects that the article elaborates the historical aspect of the development of the studied phenomenon as well as the formation of the holistic component. Findings: The article implements the aspects of managing the legal regulation of corporate law on the basis of modernizing separate provisions of the legal area of a social environment. Practical Implications: The perspectives of applying the corporate law provisions in the state’s economic development can be defined as the conclusions of the study. Originality/Value: The authors clearly demonstrate the obligation to implement the provision that stipulates that the corporate law, in case its principles are violated, has still to be oriented at understanding the specificity of its application in commercial institutions.peer-reviewe
International cooperation in combating illicit trafficking in cultural property
The paper discusses the basics of international cooperation in the field of combating illicit trafficking in cultural property. The directions of international cooperation in the field of combating illicit trafficking in cultural property and works of art are considered: interaction between international organizations, representatives of governments of UN member states, non-governmental organizations and the private secto
Multi-Exciton Spectroscopy of a Single Self Assembled Quantum Dot
We apply low temperature confocal optical microscopy to spatially resolve,
and spectroscopically study a single self assembled quantum dot. By comparing
the emission spectra obtained at various excitation levels to a theoretical
many body model, we show that: Single exciton radiative recombination is very
weak. Sharp spectral lines are due to optical transitions between confined
multiexcitonic states among which excitons thermalize within their lifetime.
Once these few states are fully occupied, broad bands appear due to transitions
between states which contain continuum electrons.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, submitted for publication on Jan,28 199
Absolute and relative stability of loss aversion across contexts
Individuals’ decisions under risk tend to be in line with the notion that “losses loom larger than gains”. This loss aversion in decision making is commonly understood as a stable in- dividual preference that is manifested across different contexts. The presumed stability and generality, which underlies the prominence of loss aversion in the literature at large, has been recently questioned by studies reporting how loss aversion can disappear, and even reverse, as a function of the choice context. The present study investigated whether loss aversion reflects a trait-like attitude of avoiding losses or rather individuals’ adaptability to different contexts. We report three experiments investigating the within-subject context sensitivity of loss aversion in a two-alternative forced-choice task. Our results show that the choice context can shift people’s loss aversion, though somewhat inconsistently. Moreover, individual estimates of loss aversion are shown to have a considerable degree of stability. Altogether, these results indicate that even though the absolute value of loss aversion can be affected by external factors such as the choice context, estimates of people’s loss aversion still capture the relative dispositions towards gains and losses across individuals
Verbal extremism as a form of verbal influence on the recipient
This paper determines through the linguistic analysis the possibilities of verbal extremism aimed at manipulation with the actions and behavior of the recipient. The texts presented online in the Internet telecommunication network are investigated. The communicative attitudes to the control over the recipient's behavior, as well as the linguistic features of their implementation in the text are reveale
Ferritin is secreted via 2 distinct nonclassical vesicular pathways
Ferritin turnover plays a major role in tissue iron homeostasis, and ferritin malfunction is associated with impaired iron homeostasis and neurodegenerative diseases. In most eukaryotes, ferritin is considered an intracellular protein that stores iron in a nontoxic and bioavailable form. In insects, ferritin is a classically secreted protein and plays a major role in systemic iron distribution. Mammalian ferritin lacks the signal peptide for classical endoplasmic reticulum–Golgi secretion but is found in serum and is secreted via a nonclassical lysosomal secretion pathway. This study applied bioinformatics and biochemical tools, alongside a protein trafficking mouse models, to characterize the mechanisms of ferritin secretion. Ferritin trafficking via the classical secretion pathway was ruled out, and a 2:1 distribution of intracellular ferritin between membrane-bound compartments and the cytosol was observed, suggesting a role for ferritin in the vesicular compartments of the cell. Focusing on nonclassical secretion, we analyzed mouse models of impaired endolysosomal trafficking and found that ferritin secretion was decreased by a BLOC-1 mutation but increased by BLOC-2, BLOC-3, and Rab27A mutations of the cellular trafficking machinery, suggesting multiple export routes. A 13-amino-acid motif unique to ferritins that lack the secretion signal peptide was identified on the BC-loop of both subunits and plays a role in the regulation of ferritin secretion. Finally, we provide evidence that secretion of iron-rich ferritin was mediated via the multivesicular body–exosome pathway. These results enhance our understanding of the mechanism of ferritin secretion, which is an important piece in the puzzle of tissue iron homeostasis
Variability in above- and belowground Carbon Stocks in a Siberian Larch Watershed
Permafrost soils store between 1330 and 1580Pg carbon (C), which is 3 times the amount of C in global vegetation, almost twice the amount of C in the atmosphere, and half of the global soil organic C pool. Despite the massive amount of C in permafrost, estimates of soil C storage in the high-latitude permafrost region are highly uncertain, primarily due to undersampling at all spatial scales; circumpolar soil C estimates lack sufficient continental spatial diversity, regional intensity, and replication at the field-site level. Siberian forests are particularly undersampled, yet the larch forests that dominate this region may store more than twice as much soil C as all other boreal forest types in the continuous permafrost zone combined. Here we present above- and belowground C stocks from 20 sites representing a gradient of stand age and structure in a larch watershed of the Kolyma River, near Chersky, Sakha Republic, Russia. We found that the majority of C stored in the top 1m of the watershed was stored belowground (92%), with 19% in the top 10cm of soil and 40% in the top 30cm. Carbon was more variable in surface soils (10cm; coefficient of variation (CV) = 0.35 between stands) than in the top 30cm (CV = 0.14) or soil profile to 1m (CV = 0.20). Combined active-layer and deep frozen deposits (surface – 15m) contained 205kgCm−2 (yedoma, non-ice wedge) and 331kgCm−2 (alas), which, even when accounting for landscape-level ice content, is an order of magnitude more C than that stored in the top meter of soil and 2 orders of magnitude more C than in aboveground biomass. Aboveground biomass was composed of primarily larch (53%) but also included understory vegetation (30%), woody debris (11%) and snag (6%) biomass. While aboveground biomass contained relatively little (8%) of the C stocks in the watershed, aboveground processes were linked to thaw depth and belowground C storage. Thaw depth was negatively related to stand age, and soil C density (top 10cm) was positively related to soil moisture and negatively related to moss and lichen cover. These results suggest that, as the climate warms, changes in stand age and structure may be as important as direct climate effects on belowground environmental conditions and permafrost C vulnerability
Reversal of Dual Epigenetic Repression of Non-Canonical Wnt-5a Normalises Diabetic Corneal Epithelial Wound Healing and Stem Cells
AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Diabetes is associated with epigenetic modifications including DNA methylation and miRNA changes. Diabetic complications in the cornea can cause persistent epithelial defects and impaired wound healing due to limbal epithelial stem cell (LESC) dysfunction. In this study, we aimed to uncover epigenetic alterations in diabetic vs non-diabetic human limbal epithelial cells (LEC) enriched in LESC and identify new diabetic markers that can be targeted for therapy to normalise corneal epithelial wound healing and stem cell expression.
METHODS: Human LEC were isolated, or organ-cultured corneas were obtained, from autopsy eyes from non-diabetic (59.87±20.89 years) and diabetic (71.93±9.29 years) donors. The groups were not statistically different in age. DNA was extracted from LEC for methylation analysis using Illumina Infinium 850K MethylationEPIC BeadChip and protein was extracted for Wnt phospho array analysis. Wound healing was studied using a scratch assay in LEC or 1-heptanol wounds in organ-cultured corneas. Organ-cultured corneas and LEC were transfected with WNT5A siRNA, miR-203a mimic or miR-203a inhibitor or were treated with recombinant Wnt-5a (200 ng/ml), DNA methylation inhibitor zebularine (1-20 µmol/l) or biodegradable nanobioconjugates (NBCs) based on polymalic acid scaffold containing antisense oligonucleotide (AON) to miR-203a or a control scrambled AON (15-20 µmol/l).
RESULTS: There was significant differential DNA methylation between diabetic and non-diabetic LEC. WNT5A promoter was hypermethylated in diabetic LEC accompanied with markedly decreased Wnt-5a protein. Treatment of diabetic LEC and organ-cultured corneas with exogenous Wnt-5a accelerated wound healing by 1.4-fold (p
CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: We provide the first account of epigenetic changes in diabetic corneas including dual inhibition of WNT5A by DNA methylation and miRNA action. Overall, Wnt-5a is a new corneal epithelial wound healing stimulator that can be targeted to improve wound healing and stem cells in the diabetic cornea
Cognitive frames in corporate sustainability: managerial sensemaking with paradoxical and business case frames
Corporate sustainability confronts managers with tensions between complex economic, environmental, and social issues. Drawing on the literature on managerial cognition, corporate sustainability, and strategic paradoxes, we develop a cognitive framing perspective on corporate sustainability. We propose two cognitive frames—a business case frame and a paradoxical frame—and explore how differences between them in cognitive content and structure influence the three stages of the sensemaking process—that is, managerial scanning, interpreting, and responding with regard to sustainability issues. We explain how the two frames lead to differences in the breadth and depth of scanning, differences in issue interpretations in terms of sense of control and issue valence, and different types of responses that managers consider with regard to sustainability issues. By considering alternative cognitive frames, our argument contributes to a better understanding of managerial decision making regarding ambiguous sustainability issues, and it develops the underlying cognitive determinants of the stance that managers adopt on sustainability issues. This argument offers a cognitive explanation for why managers rarely push for radical change when faced with complex and ambiguous issues, such as sustainability, that are characterized by conflicting yet interrelated aspects
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