Ownership Concentration, Cash Holding and Firm Value

The purpose of the study is to explore the relationship between ownership concentration and firm value in the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE).  The previous research indicates that ownership structure as an external corporate governance mechanism can influence firm value. In this study, the effect of the type of ownership on company assessment is examined along with level of cash holding. It is expected that firm value will increase as management ownership increases by reducing cash holdings. We also predict firm value is lower in companies with high cash holding and having ownership concentration. In the study, using financial statement information of companies listed on the TSE from 2004 to 2013, the relationship of this subject is addressed. The results of regression analysis in support of the hypothesis indicate firm value declines as ownership concentration increases when company’s cash holding mounts. On the whole, the results of the study shows that level of cash holdings which goes hand in hand with level of ownership concentration can reduce firm value

Status of soluble ST2 levels in serum of HTLV-1 infected individuals

ST2 is a member of IL-1 receptor family expressed on Th2 cells and regulates Th2 responces. The gene of ST2 encodes soluble ST2 (sST2) and the transmembrane ST2 (ST2L) isoforms through alternative mRNA splicing. The discovery of IL33/ ST2 signaling pathway, has drawn a great scientific attention to this system. sST2 has been shown to be an indacating factor in various infl ammatory conditions. This study aims to evaluate serum sST2 levels in HTLV-1 infected patients. This study included 49 HTLV-1 seropositive cases of which 14 were sympthomatic. Controls consisted of 30 healthy volunteers. sST2 level was measured using a quantitative ELISA assay and the results of the study groups were compared. Corroborating the previous reports, sST2 was lower in females (P = 0.003). The sST2 levels was slightly increased in HTLV-1 patients, though such increase was not statistically significant (P = 0.91), in addition sST2 level did not correlate significantly to the disease duration (P = 0.78). Despite some other chronic viral infection, HTLV-1 seems not to induce high serum sST2. However owing to relatively high normal variation of sST2 levels and rather small sample size, we stongly recommend further reseach with preferably larger sample size to evalute sST2 in HTLV-1 infected patients