Can Corporate Diversification Promote Firm Value? A Survey

This paper performs a rigorous survey of existing measures of diversification and fills a number of missing gaps between the theoretical and empirical literature surveyed by previous authors. In addition, the study outlines the areas where future work is possible and in which direction researchers may advance their thoughts. A detailed discussion on the various methodologies employed by earlier researchers and their findings are presented. This survey indicates that there is further scope for development of new theories and the empirical literature suggests that there is scope for development of new measures of diversification.corporate diversification, firm valuation, discount, premium

INFLUENCE ACTIVITY AND ALLOCATION OF FIRMS' INTERNAL CAPITAL: EVIDENCE FROM AUSTRALIA

This paper analyzes how influence activities in the form of signal jamming affect the capital budgeting process of corporate organizations in Australia. First, the relationship between investment in the smallest division and its past performances is tested. The relationship is defined as investment sensitivity. Second, how the investment sensitivity varies as influence problems become more severe is examined. Finally, the relationship between compensation incentives for the large division manager and the investment sensitivity is reviewed. The findings suggest that investment sensitivity is positive for Australian firms. Mixed evidence is obtained between investment sensitivity and increase in the severity of influence problems when measures such as, relatedness and number of divisions are used. With increase in number of divisions, influence activity becomes more severe and headquarters relies more on public signal. However, with the increase in relatedness across divisions, influence problem increases and headquarters relies more on private information from manager of the large division. Evidence suggest that Australian firms provide high short term incentive payments to managers of large divisions to mitigate the influence activity problems and thus rely more on managerial recommendations for investing in smallest division as compared to noisy accounting measures.Influence activity, capital budgeting, compensation incentives

Prevalence study of common environmental allergens in children with asthma and allergic rhinitis in Kolkata: A hospital-based study

Background: Studies evaluating the role of skin prick testing (SPT) as the sole testing technique in children below 12 years of age involving a broader and more relevant group of aero- and food-allergens in this part of India are still lacking. Objectives: To identify the commonly prevalent environmental allergens by SPT in children with asthma as per British Thoracic Society and Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network Criteria and allergic rhinitis (AR) as per British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology Criteria attending the OPD of a tertiary care pediatric unit in the eastern part of India. Methods: Testing of inhalant and food allergens by SPT in children from 4 to 12 years age group with asthma and AR satisfying the inclusion criteria. Results: Total 106 children (70 males and 36 females) were included in the study. Study of inhalant allergens in asthmatic patients revealed the highest positivity for house dust mite followed by male cockroach and among food allergens, highest positivity for egg/egg products, followed by milk/milk products. Study of inhalant allergens in asthmatic patients with coexistent AR revealed the highest positivity for house dust mite, cockroach male and female and among food allergens, highest for milk/milk products, egg/egg products, banana, and mustard. Conclusions: In Kolkata, in the eastern part of the country, among the asthmatic children of 4-12 years age group, the most common inhalant allergens were house dust mite and cockroach, whereas the common food allergens identified were milk and milk products, egg and egg products, and mustard

THERMAL PROPERTIES OF A SUSTAINABLE CEMENT MATERIAL: EFFECT OF CURE CONDITIONS

This paper presents the effect of cure temperature and cure time on the thermal properties of wollastonite-based calcium phosphate cement, a sustainable cement material. Mass losses of 11.7 % at 105 - 220oC and 1.8 % at 380 - 500oC in TGA experiment were attributed to brushite to monetite and monetite to calcium pyrophosphate conversion, respectively; which was further confirmed by FTIR. TGA results also indicated that the mass loss can be minimized by increasing curing time and decreasing curing temperature. Deformation values recorded from the first heating cycle of TMA results revealed a linearly decreasing trend with increase in curing time. CTE values, as obtained from the second heating cycle of TMA results remained more-or-less constant with variation in curing time and slightly increased with increase in cure temperature, possibly due to change in moisture content. From the (exothermic) DSC curves, the rate of hydration at different cure temperatures were evaluated using the linear slope in the accelerating period of cement hydration and the data was matched with a model-free Freidman analysis. The activation energy was found to be 57.8 kJ∙mol-1

Can Corporate Diversification Promote Firm Value? A Survey

This paper performs a rigorous survey of existing measures of diversification and fills a number of missing gaps between the theoretical and empirical literature surveyed by previous authors. In addition, the study outlines the areas where future work is possible and in which direction researchers may advance their thoughts. A detailed discussion on the various methodologies employed by earlier researchers and their findings are presented. This survey indicates that there is further scope for development of new theories and the empirical literature suggests that there is scope for development of new measures of diversification

Contrast-enhanced computed tomography assessment of aortic stenosis

Abstract Objectives Non-contrast CT aortic valve calcium scoring ignores the contribution of valvular fibrosis in aortic stenosis. We assessed aortic valve calcific and non-calcific disease using contrast-enhanced CT. Methods This was a post hoc analysis of 164 patients (median age 71 (IQR 66–77) years, 78% male) with aortic stenosis (41 mild, 89 moderate, 34 severe; 7% bicuspid) who underwent echocardiography and contrast-enhanced CT as part of imaging studies. Calcific and non-calcific (fibrosis) valve tissue volumes were quantified and indexed to annulus area, using Hounsfield unit thresholds calibrated against blood pool radiodensity. The fibrocalcific ratio assessed the relative contributions of valve fibrosis and calcification. The fibrocalcific volume (sum of indexed non-calcific and calcific volumes) was compared with aortic valve peak velocity and, in a subgroup, histology and valve weight. Results Contrast-enhanced CT calcium volumes correlated with CT calcium score (r=0.80, p<0.001) and peak aortic jet velocity (r=0.55, p<0.001). The fibrocalcific ratio decreased with increasing aortic stenosis severity (mild: 1.29 (0.98–2.38), moderate: 0.87 (1.48–1.72), severe: 0.47 (0.33–0.78), p<0.001) while the fibrocalcific volume increased (mild: 109 (75–150), moderate: 191 (117–253), severe: 274 (213–344) mm3/cm2). Fibrocalcific volume correlated with ex vivo valve weight (r=0.72, p<0.001). Compared with the Agatston score, fibrocalcific volume demonstrated a better correlation with peak aortic jet velocity (r=0.59 and r=0.67, respectively), particularly in females (r=0.38 and r=0.72, respectively). Conclusions Contrast-enhanced CT assessment of aortic valve calcific and non-calcific volumes correlates with aortic stenosis severity and may be preferable to non-contrast CT when fibrosis is a significant contributor to valve obstruction

Quantitative Computed Tomography Angiography for the Evaluation of Valvular Fibrocalcific Volume in Aortic Stenosis

BackgroundAortic stenosis (AS) is characterized by calcification and fibrosis. The ability to quantify these processes simultaneously has been limited with previous imaging methods.ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the aortic valve fibrocalcific volume by computed tomography (CT) angiography in patients with AS, in particular, to assess its reproducibility, association with histology and disease severity, and ability to predict/track progression.MethodsIn 136 patients with AS, fibrocalcific volume was calculated on CT angiograms at baseline and after 1 year. CT attenuation distributions were analyzed using Gaussian-mixture-modeling to derive thresholds for tissue types enabling the quantification of calcific, noncalcific, and fibrocalcific volumes. Scan-rescan reproducibility was assessed and validation provided against histology and in an external cohort.ResultsFibrocalcific volume measurements took 5.8 ± 1.0 min/scan, demonstrating good correlation with ex vivo valve weight (r = 0.51; P &lt; 0.001) and excellent scan-rescan reproducibility (mean difference −1%, limits of agreement −4.5% to 2.8%). Baseline fibrocalcific volumes correlated with mean gradient on echocardiography in both male and female participants (rho = 0.64 and 0.69, respectively; both P &lt; 0.001) and in the external validation cohort (n = 66, rho = 0.58; P &lt; 0.001). The relationship was driven principally by calcific volume in men and fibrotic volume in women. After 1 year, fibrocalcific volume increased by 17% and correlated with progression in mean gradient (rho = 0.32; P = 0.003). Baseline fibrocalcific volume was the strongest predictor of subsequent mean gradient progression, with a particularly strong association in female patients (rho = 0.75; P &lt; 0.001).ConclusionsThe aortic valve fibrocalcific volume provides an anatomic assessment of AS severity that can track disease progression precisely. It correlates with disease severity and hemodynamic progression in both male and female patients

Capability driven development: an approach to designing digital enterprises

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12599-014-0362-0[EN] The need for organizations to operate in changing environments is addressed by proposing an approach that integrates organizational development with information system (IS) development taking into account changes in the application context of the solution. This is referred to as Capability Driven Development (CDD). A meta-model representing business and IS designs consisting of goals, key performance indicators, capabilities, context and capability delivery patterns, is being proposed. The use of the meta-model is validated in three industrial case studies as part of an ongoing collaboration project, whereas one case is presented in the paper. 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