Board composition, monitoring and credit risk: evidence from the UK banking industry

This paper examines the effects of board composition and monitoring on the credit risk in the UK banking sector. The study finds CEO duality, pay and board independence to have a positive and significant effect on credit risk of the UK banks. However, board size and women on board have a negative and significant influence on credit risk. Further analysis using sub-samples divided into pre-financial crisis, during the financial crisis and post crisis reinforce the robustness of our findings. Overall, the paper sheds light on the effectiveness of the within-firm monitoring arrangement, particularly, the effects of CEO power and board independence on credit risk decisions thereby contributing to the agency theory

Quality of type I Portland cement from Ghana and UK

Type I Portland cement is general purpose cement found in many countries and it is manufactured by different companies. This study sought to compare the properties of Type I Portland cements from Ghana (less economically developed country) and United Kingdom (more economically developed country) to ascertain whether the quality of Ghana cement is a contributing factor for recent spate of building collapse in the country. The study adopted a laboratory-based experimental approach to determine the properties of three cement samples: one from Ghana and two from the United Kingdom (UK). It was identified that UK cements particles were the fineness, contained more Calcium oxide (CaO), recorded earlier setting times and achieved early strength. Ghana cement on the other hand, had more Alkali (Na2O + K2O) content, higher density, good resistance to water and achieved better late strength development than UK grey cement. The study has revealed that although there are some differences in the properties of Ghana and UK Type I Portland cements, they all meet international standard requirements and therefore, the quality of Ghana cement may not be one of the contributing factors of recent building collapse in the country

Coherent vibrational and dissociation dynamics of polyatomic radical cations

The ultrafast dynamics of polyatomic radical cat- ions contribute to important processes including energy transfer in photovoltaics, electron transfer in photocataly- sis, radiation-induced DNA damage, and chemical reac- tions in the upper atmosphere and space. Probing these dynamics in the gas phase is challenging due to the rapid dissociation of polyatomic radical cations following elec- tron removal, which arises from excess electronic excita- tion of the molecule during the ionization process. This Concept article introduces the reader to how the pump- probe technique of femtosecond time-resolved mass spectrometry (FTRMS) can overcome this challenge to capture coherent vibrational dynamics on the femtosec- ond timescale in polyatomic radical cations and enable the analysis of their dissociation pathways. Examples of FTRMS applied to three families of polyatomic radical cat- ions are discussed

Hepatoprotective properties of Gentiana SPP: Against non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a metabolic disease characterised by the accumulation of fat in the liver. It is estimated that 33 % of the UK population have NAFLD with 2-5 % progressing to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Due to a lack of an outright therapy for NAFLD, treatment has been mainly focussed on managing the conditions associated with the disease such as obesity, diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidaemia. This study aimed to investigate the means by which hepatocyte protection is conferred by Gentiana plants (Gentiana lutea, Gentiana macrophylla, Gentiana scabra and Gentiana rigescens) used in herbal medicine for the management of non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLD). The role played by some of the inherent Gentiana phytochemicals including: gentiopicroside, sweroside and swertiamarin in promoting hepatocyte protection against the cytotoxic effects of fatty acids were also investigated. Gentiana species: lutea, macrophylla, rigescens, and scabra are known to protect and enhance hepatocyte viability via their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and bitter components including: amarogentin gentianine, iso-orientin, swertiamarin, gentiopicroside, and sweroside. This study was necessitated due to a lack of adequate research on the hepatoprotective effects of the above-named Gentiana species and phytochemicals with special emphasis on their effect on mitochondrial respiration in the presence of fatty acids. At the time of submission, this was the first study to utilise the seahorse mitochondria stress assay to investigate the Gentiana species as well as phytochemicals: gentiopicroside, sweroside and swertiamarin. It was also found that the most abundant phytochemical in all four Gentiana species was gentiopicroside (up to 4.6% g/g), followed by swertiamarin (0.21–0.45% g/g), and sweroside (0.03- 0.4 % g/g). Furthermore, it was also observed that the methanolic extracts of all four Gentiana protected HepG2 and THLE-2 cells by inhibiting arachidonic acid from diminishing cell replication but showed a mitogenic effect mostly observed in gentiopicroside, Gentiana lutea and Gentiana macrophylla. It was concluded that phytochemicals: gentiopicroside, sweroside and swertiamarin play key roles in the hepatocyte protection exerted by methanolic extracts of Gentiana lutea, Gentiana macrophylla, Gentiana scabra and Gentiana rigescens against the cytotoxic effects of fatty acids. This protection is conferred by enhancing mitochondrial function in terms of increasing maximal respiratory capacity in response to high influx of fatty acids, promoting ATP production as well as scavenging ROS produced as a result of high fatty acid influx and increased mitochondrial respiration. However, the mitogenic effect observed in gentiopicroside and Gentiana macrophylla requires further studies using unmodified primary hepatocytes to gain better understanding