Impacts Of Construction Events On The Project Equity Value Of The Channel Tunnel Project

With the growing strains on public resources, many governments in recent years have turned to the private sector for infrastructure project financing. The special purpose vehicles (SPVs) taking such projects usually have a 2-stage business model: a construction stage followed by an operating stage. However, the project risk in stage 1 is very high, and in most cases, the impacts of specific construction events on project risk and capital cost are unobservable due to lack of informational transparency. Eurotunnel (the Channel Tunnel project) is unique in that the share price data for the entire construction period is publicly available. Based on event study methodology, empirical tests were conducted for several well-documented Eurotunnel construction events to measure and assess the project risk and the impacts of such events on the SPV’s equity value. The test results show that: (1) during the construction stage, efforts to better manage the interests and incentives of contractors produce more significant positive impact from investors than efforts for cost containment; (2) during the construction stage, meeting the project deadline is a higher investor priority than containing construction cost; and (3) once the construction phase is complete, the investors’ priority then becomes the overall cost and the impact of construction events on the expected returns from investment. Finally, the level of risk and the potential conflicts of interest that arise during the construction phase of a mega infrastructure project are such that turning to IPOs to provide equity capital may not be appropriate

Global Financial Regulatory Reforms: Implications for Developing Asia

The objective of global regulatory reform is to build a resilient global financial system that can withstand shocks and dampen, rather than amplify, their effects on the real economy. Lessons drawn from the recent crisis have led to specific reform proposals with concrete implementation plans at the international level. Yet, these proposals have raised concerns of relevance to Asia’s developing economies and hence require further attention at the regional level. We argue that global financial reform should allow for the enormous development challenges faced by developing countries—while ensuring that domestic financial regulatory systems keep abreast of global standards. This implies global reforms should be complemented and augmented by national and regional reforms, taking into account the very different characteristics of emerging economies’ financial systems from advanced economies. Key areas of development focus should be (i) balancing regulation and innovation, (ii) establishing national and cross-border crisis management and resolution mechanisms, (iii) preparing a comprehensive framework and contingency plan for financial institution failure, including consumer protection measures such as deposit insurance, (iv) supporting growth and development with particular attention to the region’s financial needs for infrastructure and for SMEs, and (v) reforming the international and regional financial architecture.published_or_final_versio

A systematic review and meta-analysis of adverse outcomes following non-buried versus buried kirschner wires for paediatric lateral condyle elbow fractures

PURPOSE: Fractures of the lateral condyle of the humerus in children are a common injury. If displaced or unstable they may require surgical reduction and fixation with Kirschner wires (K-wires). K-wires are placed using either an open or closed technique. The decision to bury or leave the ends extending through the skin is surgeon-dependent and based on factors including post-operative infection risk, bony union and ease of wire removal. METHODS: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of non-buried versus buried K-wires for lateral condyle elbow fractures in children in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses methodology. A comprehensive search strategy included Medline, Embase and CINAHL via NICE Evidence from database inception to June 2017. Two authors independently reviewed, included or excluded articles, extracted data and assessed for quality with the ROBINS-I tool. We performed direct comparison meta-analysis for all adverse events, post-operative infection and failure of bony union. RESULTS: Three studies were analysed comprising of 434 participants. There was a significantly reduced relative risk of adverse events in the non-buried group, equating to approximately 45% reduced risk (RR 0.55, 95% confidence interval 0.34 to 0.88). There were no significant differences in risk of post-operative infection or failure of bony union. All three cost-analyses in the included studies observed savings with non-buried K-wires. CONCLUSION: Non-buried K-wires for lateral condyle elbow fractures convey a lower risk of adverse events and may be more cost-effective compared with buried K-wires. Non-buried K-wires do not appear to increase the risk of infection or failure of bony union. These findings are limited by a high risk of bias due to inherent methodological flaws in the design of included studies

N17 Modifies mutant Huntingtin nuclear pathogenesis and severity of disease in HD BAC transgenic mice.

The nucleus is a critical subcellular compartment for the pathogenesis of polyglutamine disorders, including Huntington's disease (HD). Recent studies suggest the first 17-amino-acid domain (N17) of mutant huntingtin (mHTT) mediates its nuclear exclusion in cultured cells. Here, we test whether N17 could be a molecular determinant of nuclear mHTT pathogenesis in vivo. BAC transgenic mice expressing mHTT lacking the N17 domain (BACHD-ΔN17) show dramatically accelerated mHTT pathology exclusively in the nucleus, which is associated with HD-like transcriptionopathy. Interestingly, BACHD-ΔN17 mice manifest more overt disease-like phenotypes than the original BACHD mice, including body weight loss, movement deficits, robust striatal neuron loss, and neuroinflammation. Mechanistically, N17 is necessary for nuclear exclusion of small mHTT fragments that are part of nuclear pathology in HD. Together, our study suggests that N17 modifies nuclear pathogenesis and disease severity in HD mice by regulating subcellular localization of known nuclear pathogenic mHTT species

Rheological behavior of blueberry

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)The physical and physicochemical characteristics of blueberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) fruits produced in Brazil were analyzed. Rheological properties were measured at 5, 25, 45 and 65 degrees C, on a stress controlled rheometer equipped with grooved a stainless-steel parallel-plate in a shear rate range of 0-300 s(-1), with the objective of determining the influence of temperature on the rheological properties. The pseudoplastic behavior with yield stress was well described by the Ostwald-de-Waele (Power Law), Herschel-Bulkley (HB) and Mizhari Berk models. The yield stress and behavior index decreased with the increase in the temperatures for 5, 25, and 45 degrees C whereas for the temperature of 65 degrees C the effects were the opposite exhibiting elevated values. The viscosity decreased with an increase in temperature, and the Arrhenius equation described adequately the effect of temperature on the apparent viscosity of the puree, in which the activation energy (Ea) determined at a shear rate of 100 s(-1) was 9.36 kJ.mol(-1).294732737UNICAMPFundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Nutrisaude Industria e Comercio de Frutas LtdaFundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

Exploring the Intrabinary Shock from the Redback Millisecond Pulsar PSR J2129-0429

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Discovery Of An Ultracompact Gamma-ray Millisecond Pulsar Binary Candidate

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Evaluation of 3D printed PCL/PLGA/beta-TCP versus collagen membranes for guided bone regeneration in a beagle implant model

Here, we compared 3D-printed polycaprolactone/poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)/beta-tricalcium phosphate (PCL/PLGA/beta-TCP) membranes with the widely used collagen membranes for guided bone regeneration (GBR) in beagle implant models. For mechanical property comparison in dry and wet conditions and cytocompatibility determination, we analyzed the rate and pattern of cell proliferation of seeded fibroblasts and preosteoblasts using the cell counting kit-8 assay and scanning electron microscopy. Osteogenic differentiation was verified using alizarin red S staining. At 8 weeks following implantation in vivo using beagle dogs, computed tomography and histological analyses were performed after sacrifice. Cell proliferation rates in vitro indicated that early cell attachment was higher in collagen than in PCL/PLGA/beta-TCP membranes; however, the difference subsided by day 7. Similar outcomes were found for osteogenic differentiation, with approximately 2.5 times greater staining in collagen than PCL/PLGA/beta-TCP, but without significant difference by day 14. In vivo, bone regeneration in the defect area, represented by new bone formation and bone-to-implant contact, paralleled those associated with collagen membranes. However, tensile testing revealed that whereas the PCL/PLGA/beta-TCP membrane mechanical properties were conserved in both wet and dry states, the tensile property of collagen was reduced by 99% under wet conditions. Our results demonstrate in vitro and in vivo that PCL/PLGA/beta-TCP membranes have similar levels of biocompatibility and bone regeneration as collagen membranes. In particular, considering that GBR is always applied to a wet environment (e.g. blood, saliva), we demonstrated that PCL/PLGA/beta-TCP membranes maintained their form more reliably than collagen membranes in a wet setting, confirming their appropriateness as a GBR membrane.11109Ysciescopu

Searches for Millisecond Pulsar Candidates among the Unidentified <i>Fermi</i> Objects

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The Hydration Structure at Yttria-Stabilized Cubic Zirconia (110)-Water Interface with Sub-Angstrom Resolution

The interfacial hydration structure of yttria-stabilized cubic zirconia (110) surface in contact with water was determined with ~0.5&amp;#8201;&amp;Aring; resolution by high-resolution X-ray reflectivity measurement. The terminal layer shows a reduced electron density compared to the following substrate lattice layers, which indicates there are additional defects generated by metal depletion as well as intrinsic oxygen vacancies, both of which are apparently filled by water species. Above this top surface layer, two additional adsorbed layers are observed forming a characteristic interfacial hydration structure. The first adsorbed layer shows abnormally high density as pure water and likely includes metal species, whereas the second layer consists of pure water. The observed interfacial hydration structure seems responsible for local equilibration of the defective surface in water and eventually regulating the long-term degradation processes. The multitude of water interactions with the zirconia surface results in the complex but highly ordered interfacial structure constituting the reaction front.ope