Modeling and Measuring Russian Corporate Governance: The Case of Russian Preferred and Common Shares

This paper examines governance explanations for the discount of preferred shares to common shares in the Russian market. conflicts between shareholder classes may help explain the discount. However, for this to be the sole explanation the estimated models suggest that the magnitude of future adverse shareholder events would have to be very high. Nevertheless, evidence of a common factor potentially related to governance seems evident in the date, implying that corporate control issues may at least be partially responsible for the observed preferred share discount

Exact on-event expressions for discrete potential systems

The properties of systems composed of atoms interacting though discrete potentials are dictated by a series of events which occur between pairs of atoms. There are only four basic event types for pairwise discrete potentials and the square-well/shoulder systems studied here exhibit them all. Closed analytical expressions are derived for the on-event kinetic energy distribution functions for an atom, which are distinct from the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution function. Exact expressions are derived that directly relate the pressure and temperature of equilibrium discrete potential systems to the rates of each type of event. The pressure can be determined from knowledge of only the rate of core and bounce events. The temperature is given by the ratio of the number of bounce events to the number of disassociation/association events. All these expressions are validated with event-driven molecular dynamics simulations and agree with the data within the statistical precision of the simulations

Habitable Climates: The Influence of Eccentricity

In the outer regions of the habitable zone, the risk of transitioning into a globally frozen "snowball" state poses a threat to the habitability of planets with the capacity to host water-based life. We use a one-dimensional energy balance climate model (EBM) to examine how obliquity, spin rate, orbital eccentricity, and ocean coverage might influence the onset of such a snowball state. For an exoplanet, these parameters may be strikingly different from the values observed for Earth. Since, for constant semimajor axis, the annual mean stellar irradiation scales with (1-e^2)^(-1/2), one might expect the greatest habitable semimajor axis (for fixed atmospheric composition) to scale as (1-e^2)^(-1/4). We find that this standard ansatz provides a reasonable lower bound on the outer boundary of the habitable zone, but the influence of obliquity and ocean fraction can be profound in the context of planets on eccentric orbits. For planets with eccentricity 0.5, our EBM suggests that the greatest habitable semimajor axis can vary by more than 0.8 AU (78%!) depending on obliquity, with higher obliquity worlds generally more stable against snowball transitions. One might also expect that the long winter at an eccentric planet's apoastron would render it more susceptible to global freezing. Our models suggest that this is not a significant risk for Earth-like planets around Sun-like stars since such planets are buffered by the thermal inertia provided by oceans covering at least 10% of their surface. Since planets on eccentric orbits spend much of their year particularly far from the star, such worlds might turn out to be especially good targets for direct observations with missions such as TPF-Darwin. Nevertheless, the extreme temperature variations achieved on highly eccentric exo-Earths raise questions about the adaptability of life to marginally or transiently habitable conditions.Comment: References added, text and figures updated, accepted by Ap

On the penetration of meridional circulation below the solar convection zone

Meridional flows with velocities of a few meters per second are observed in the uppermost regions of the solar convection zone. The amplitude and pattern of the flows deeper in the solar interior, in particular near the top of the radiative region, are of crucial importance to a wide range of solar magnetohydrodynamical processes. In this paper, we provide a systematic study of the penetration of large-scale meridional flows from the convection zone into the radiative zone. In particular, we study the effects of the assumed boundary conditions applied at the convective-radiative interface on the deeper flows. Using simplified analytical models in conjunction with more complete numerical methods, we show that penetration of the convectively-driven meridional flows into the deeper interior is not necessarily limited to a shallow Ekman depth but can penetrate much deeper, depending on how the convective-radiative interface flows are modeled.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures. Subitted to Ap

Multi-scale theory of rotating turbulence

We consider turbulence induced by an arbitrary forcing and derive turbulence amplitude and turbulent transport coefficients, first by using a quasi-linear theory and then by using a multi-scale renormalisation analysis. With an isotropic forcing, the quasi-linear theory gives that the turbulent transport coefficients, both parallel and perpendicular to the rotation vector, have the asymptotic scaling $\Omega^{-1}$ for rapid rotation (i.e. when the rotation rate $\Omega$ is larger than the inverse of the correlation time of the forcing and the diffusion time), while the renormalisation analysis suggests a weaker dependence on $\Omega$, with $\Omega^{-1/2}$ scaling. The turbulence amplitude is found to scale as $\Omega^0 - \Omega^{-1}$ in the rapid rotation limit depending on the property of the forcing. In the case of an anisotropic forcing, we find that non-diffusive fluxes of angular momentum scale as $\Omega^{-2} - \Omega^{-1}$ for rapid rotation, depending on the temporal correlation of the forcing

Having both hands on the steering wheel:Driving behaviour of white-collar workers with degenerative eye conditions

Because people in the United States are highly reliant on cars for transportation, individuals with restricted driving abilities face severe accessibility constraints in the labour market. Guided by the social exclusion framework, we used a qualitative approach to gain insights into the role of car driving and alternative commute modes in the lives of white-collar workers with degenerative eye conditions. The study participants gradually restricted their driving behaviour as the disease progressed. They also exhibited several types of commute solutions, which lent themselves to a variation in the experienced degree of exclusion (both between participants and within participants over time), with changes in vision state and available resources. Another aim of our study Was to identify the motivations for driving behaviour. The results showed that while a desire to reduce the risk of an accident motivated the participants to stop driving, certain normative (for men) and practical considerations motivated participants to continue driving. While all of the participants eventually stopped driving due to vision decline, the decision to quit often occurred only after the participants experienced one or more car accidents. Workplace accessibility is a factor that hinders labour market participation of individuals with degenerative eye conditions and encourages individuals to engage in risky behaviour. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.</p

Seedless x seedless grape progeny: Technique, results and perspectives

Recent refinements in the in vitro embryo rescue technique employed to raise progenies from abortive ovules of seedless x seedless cultivars include addition of 0.2 ppm NAA (naphtaleneacetic acid) to the medium, inducing highly improved root systems and faster plant development. Selling seedless Vitis vinifera yielded seedless progeny only. Open pollinated Perlette and Flame Seedless gave rise to a high percentage (75 and 87%, respectively) of seedless progeny. Progeny from various crosses between seedless cultivars segregated into 65 normal seeded and 204 seedless. From the totality of 204 seedless progeny 192 bore fruit with very slight seed traces. Progeny from crosses between seeded and seedless segregated only 7.5-8% individuals with comparably slight seed traces, amounting to 1/3 of the progeny rated as seedless. Fresh weight determinations of aborted seeds per berry showed a pronouncedly lower weight in progenies from seedless x seedless crosses. Reduction in average berry size in the seedless fraction of seedless x seedless progenies compared to midparent values was of a similar order of magnitude as that obtained in seedless progeny derived from seeded x seedless crosses

Inheritance of seedlessness in seeded x seedless progeny of Vitis vinifera L.

Die Vererbung der Kernlosigkeit auf die Nachkommen der Kreuzungskombination „kernhaltig x kernlos" bei Vitis vinifera L.In 5jährigen Versuchen wurden kernhaltige (Mutter) und kernlose (Vater) Vitis vinifera-Reben gekreuzt und die Verteilung des Merkmals „Kernlosigkeit" bei den Nachkommen analysiert. Die Aufspaltung in kernhaltige und kernlose Sämlinge erfolgte nahezu im Verhältnis 3 : 1. Der x2-Wert für die einzelnen Jahre (1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988) betrug 0,03; 0,11; 1,17; 1,97 und 3,01. Die Homogenität für x2 lag nur 1986 innerhalb der tolerierbaren Grenzen (0,3-0,5). Die meisten Populationen hatten in allen Jahren x2-Werte, die dem 3: 1-Verhältnis entsprachen. Zwei Independenz-Tests für aufeinanderfolgende Jahre ergaben keine Interaktionen. Auf der Grundlage dieser Ergebnisse wird postuliert, daß die Vererbung der Kernlosigkeit durch zwei komplementäre rezessive Gene bestimmt wird. Nur bei 30,7 % der als ,,kernlos" klassifizierten Kreuzungsnachkommen konnten die Kernreste organoleptisch nicht wahrgenommen werden

Using Responsive Evaluation to Evaluate a Professional Conference

In a statewide conference on alternative methods for assessing students’ learning, we incorporated responsive evaluation methods into the structure of the conference. The application of these interactive evaluation techniques serves as a pilot study that illustrates the possible utility of these tech-niques in evaluating conferences. This paper provides a brief review of the literature surrounding responsive evaluation, a description of the responsive evaluation methods applied to this conference, and a discussion of the results and implications of this pilot study