Investor inattention to all-cash acquisition announcements: a joint day-time analysis in the Spanish market

Prior studies suggest that investors have limited attention, which determines the speed with which information is incorporated into share prices and, in turn, affects the efficiency of the markets. Unlike other corporate events, the information contained in an acquisition announcement is generally less standard and more complicated to process. Therefore, investor inattention is less likely around this event. In this study we test the existence of investor inattention for a sample of all-cash acquisition announcements of listed and unlisted target firms released by listed Spanish firms from 1998 to 2018. Cash acquisitions allow us to control for the strategic behavior of overvalued companies engaged in stock-financed acquisitions. We perform a joint analysis of day of the week and time of trade from both a univariate and a multivariate perspective, after controlling for several factors that are related to the market reaction to acquisition announcements. Consistent with the notion that investors are less attentive to Friday announcements, we find a significant lower market reaction to acquisition announcements released during market trading hours both in terms of price and trading volume

Shareholder wealth creation in response to announcements of acquisitions of unlisted firms: Evidence from Spain

We investigate shareholder value creation of Spanish listed firms in response to announcements of acquisitions of unlisted companies and compare this experience to the purchase of listed firms over the period 1991–2006. Similar to foreign markets, acquirers of listed targets earn insignificant average abnormal returns, whereas acquirers of unlisted targets gain significant positive average abnormal returns. When we relate these results to company and transaction characteristics our findings diverge from those reported in the literature for other foreign markets, as our evidence suggests that the listing status effect is mainly associated with the fact that unlisted firms tend to be smaller and lesser–known firms, and thus suffer from a lack of competition in the market for corporate control. Consequently, the payment of lower premiums and the possibility of diversifying shareholders’ portfolios lead to unlisted firm acquisitions being viewed as value–orientated transactions

Mineral composition through soil-wine system of portuguese vineyards and its potential for wine traceability

The control of geographic origin is one of a highest priority issue regarding traceability and wine authenticity. The current study aimed to examine whether elemental composition can be used for the discrimination of wines according to geographical origin, taking into account the effects of soil, winemaking process, and year of production. The elemental composition of soils, grapes, musts, and wines from three DO (Designations of Origin) and for two vintage years was determined by using the ICP-MS semi-quantitative method, followed by multivariate statistical analysis. The elemental composition of soils varied according to geological formations, and for some elements, the variation due to soil provenance was also observed in musts and wines. Li, Mn, Sr and rare-earth elements (REE) allowed wine discrimination according to vineyard. Results evidenced the influence of winemaking processes and of vintage year on the wine’s elemental composition. The mineral composition pattern is transferred through the soil-wine system, and differences observed for soils are reflected in grape musts and wines, but not for all elements. Results suggest that winemaking processes and vintage year should be taken into account for the use of elemental composition as a tool for wine traceability. Therefore, understanding the evolution of mineral pattern composition from soil to wine, and how it is influenced by the climatic year, is indispensable for traceability purposesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Circular Economy and Innovation: a Systematic Literature Review

The circular economy is presented as the sustainable solution as opposed to the current linear model of production and resource management, whose effects impact negatively on the economic, social and environmental dimensions. Through a systematic review of the literature, this article aims to unify and to uncover the available evidence on innovation in relation to the circular economy and to determine those aspects that remain unexplored or should be studied in more depth in order to be able to continue to make progress in this field. Thus, it was found that although the circular economy is at an early stage of implementation, both its benefits and drivers as well as its challenges and barriers to implementation have already been investigated. More importantly, it was found that ecological innovations, which reduce the environmental impact of production and consumption activities, are necessary for the research of new business models and new ways of operating in supply chains that allow closing the circle and taking advantage of all the waste, such as the system of products and services, dynamic capabilities, 3D printing, the biography of the product and the software recycling. To achieve this goal, the evidence shows that it is mandatory to raise awareness of the situation, especially through marketing actions, as well as for companies, including SMEs, to be willing to act together and to align their interests. Implications for Central European audience: The United Nations 2030 Agenda includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to which countries should implement the circular economy in order to move towards greater sustainability. In this context, European Union is key for this development, as it is one of the world’s major power. This article aims to unify and uncover the available evidence on innovation in relation to the circular economy and to determine those aspects that remain unexplored or should be studied in more depth. By doing so, it will be able to continue to make progress in the framework of the circular economy, enabling the achievement of the ODS. In addition, the majority of the articles reviewed take place in Europe. © 2022, Central European Business Review. All Rights Reserved

Partially-coherent spirally-polarized gradual-edge imaging

In this work we develop a partially-coherent spirally-polarized imaging system for generating gradual edge detection images. A rotating diffuser is used for producing illumination sources with tunable degree of coherence. Using a 4f configuration, the frequency content of the image is modified by means of a vortex half-wave retarder as a spatial filter. Accordingly, we analytically describe a spirally-polarized imaging system illuminated with a Gauss-Schell source using paraxial coherence-polarization theory. Numerical simulations and experimental results demonstrate the validity of our approach. We use a referenceless spatial content descriptor to assess the quality of the recorded images as a function of the coherence state of the source

Evaluation of trace element status of organic dairy cattle

The present study aimed to evaluate trace mineral status of organic dairy herds in northern Spain and the sources of minerals in different types of feed. Blood samples from organic and conventional dairy cattle and feed samples from the respective farms were analysed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry to determine the concentrations of the essential trace elements (cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), iodine (I), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni), selenium (Se) and zinc (Zn)) and toxic trace elements (arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg) and lead (Pb)). Overall, no differences between organic and conventional farms were detected in serum concentrations of essential and toxic trace elements (except for higher concentrations of Cd on the organic farms), although a high level of inter-farm variation was detected in the organic systems, indicating that organic production greatly depends on the specific local conditions. The dietary concentrations of the essential trace elements I, Cu, Se and Zn were significantly higher in the conventional than in the organic systems, which can be attributed to the high concentration of these minerals in the concentrate feed. No differences in the concentrations of trace minerals were found in the other types of feed. Multivariate chemometric analysis was conducted to determine the contribution of different feed sources to the trace element status of the cattle. Concentrate samples were mainly associated with Co, Cu, I, Se and Zn (i.e. with the elements supplemented in this type of feed). However, pasture and grass silage were associated with soil-derived elements (As, Cr, Fe and Pb) which cattle may thus ingest during grazingThis study was supported by the Spanish Government (project code AGL2010-21026). Inmaculada Orjales is in receipt of a FPU fellowship (Ref. FPU14/01473) from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and SportsS

Valor diagnóstico y pronóstico de la evaluación de la capa de fibras nerviosas de la retina en la esclerosis múltiple

Introducción: El tema principal de las cuatro publicaciones internacionales que componen esta tesis doctoral se centra en el estudio de la capa de fibras nerviosas de la retina en pacientes con esclerosis múltiple como método para mejorar y acelerar el proceso diagnóstico así como el seguimiento y la monitorización de esta enfermedad. Material y Métodos: Se realizó un estudio observacional y prospectivo donde se incluyeron 150 sujetos con esclerosis múltiple y 150 sujetos sanos. El protocolo exploratorio se realizó de modo coordinado entre oftalmología, neurofisiología y neurología y constó de tres tipos de pruebas: una exploración oftalmológica completa; una exploración neurofisiológica, que incluyó los potenciales evocados visuales (PEV); y una exploración neurológica que incluyó la valoración neurológica. Se analizaron las diferencias en los distintos parámetros entre sujetos sanos y pacientes con esclerosis múltiple, y entre pacientes con antecedente de neuritis óptica y sin el antecedente de la misma. Conclusiones: El análisis de la capa de fibras nerviosas de la retina es un buen biomarcador de la degeneración axonal progresiva que se produce en la esclerosis múltiple y es útil para evaluar la progresión de la enfermedad y la eficacia de los tratamientos en la protección de la degeneración axonal. La función lineal discriminante que combina varios espesores de la capa de fibras nerviosas de la retina mejora la capacidad de la tomografía de coherencia óptica Spectralis para detectar esclerosis múltiple y distinguir entre ojos con antecedente y sin antecedente de neuritis óptica. La técnica estadística de redes neuronales artificiales puede identificar correctamente un alto porcentaje de sujetos con esclerosis múltiples y permite clasificar aquellos ojos que han presentado antecedente de neuritis ópticas, con mayor precisión diagnóstica que cualquier parámetro aislado de la capa de fibras nerviosas de la retina obtenido a partir de la tomografía de coherencia óptica La representación del espesor de la capa de fibras nerviosas de la retina utilizando el modelo de geometría en tres dimensiones nos permite observar la distribución del daño axonal en pacientes con esclerosis múltiple con una mayor afectación del sector temporal, especialmente en aquellos pacientes con neuritis óptica previa

Validation of a simple sample preparation method for multielement analysis of bovine serum

Here we propose a single acid digestion (SAD) sample preparation method for ICP-MS analysis of animal serum samples to determine trace element contents. The method was evaluated in comparison with a commonly used procedure involving dilution of samples in an alkaline solution (AKD). In the SAD procedure, aliquots (1 mL) of bovine serum samples were treated at low temperature with a mixture of concentrated nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide. Trace elements (As, B, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Li, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, Sr, U, and Zn) were directly determined by ICP-MS analysis of diluted solutions of samples. Both methods were sufficiently sensitive to enable quantification of most trace elements, with the exception of the AKD method for Cd, Hg and Pb. The quality of the data was verified by using certified reference material. Good results were obtained for the SAD procedure and all elements, but recoveries were unacceptable with the AKD procedure for Se (recovery: 57%), Cd (154%) and Fe (139%). Strong associations (R2 >0.90, P = 0.000) between the data obtained by both methods were demonstrated for the elements considered. The proposed SAD sample preparation method produced satisfactory results for determining most toxic and essential trace elements targeted in monitoring studies.S

TDR pressure cell for monitoring water content retention and bulk electrical conductivity curves in undisturbed soil samples

30 Pags., 4 Tabls., 5 Figs.-- The .pdf file is the last author version.-- The definitive version is avalaible at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-1085The water retention curve (θ(ψ)), which defines the relationship between soil volumetric water content (θ) and matric potential (ψ), is of paramount importance in characterizing the hydraulic behaviour of soils. However, few methods are so far available for estimating θ(ψ) in undisturbed soil samples. We present a new design of TDR-pressure cell (TDR-Cell) for estimating θ(ψ) in undisturbed soil samples. The TDR-Cell consists of a 50-mm-long and 50-mm internal diameter stainless steel cylinder (which constitutes the outer frame of a coaxial line) attached to a porous ceramic disc and closed at the ends with two aluminium lids. A 49-mm-long and 3-mm-diameter stainless steel rod, which runs longitudinally through the centre of the cylinder, constitutes the inner rod of a coaxial TDR probe. The TDR-Cell was used to determine the θ(ψ) curves of a packed sand and seven undisturbed soil samples from three profiles of agricultural soils. These θ(ψ) curves were subsequently compared to those obtained from the corresponding 2-mm sieved soils using the pressure plate method. Measurements of bulk electrical conductivity, σa, as a function of the water content, σa(θ), of the undisturbed soil samples were also performed. An excellent correlation (R2 = 0·988) was found between the θ values measured by TDR on the different undisturbed soils and the corresponding θ obtained from the soil gravimetric water content. A typical bimodal θ(ψ) function was found for most of the undisturbed soil samples. Comparison between the θ(ψ) curves measured with the TDR-Cell and those obtained from the 2-mm sieved soils showed that the pressure plate method overestimates θ at low ψ values. The σa(θ) relationship was well described by a simple power expression (R2 > 0·95), in which the power factor, defined as tortuosity, ranged between 1·18 and 3·75.This research was supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Inovación (Grants: AGL2007-66320-CO2-02/AGR), CSIC (Grants: PIE-200840I214 and 2008401246) and DGA-Obra social La Caixa (Grants: GA-LC-010/2008; GA-LC-006-2008).Peer reviewe

Measuring haemolysis in cattle serum by direct UV–VIS and RGB digital image-based methods

A simple, rapid procedure is required for the routine detection and quantification of haemolysis, one of the main sources of unreliable results in serum analysis. In this study, we compared two different approaches for the rapid determination of haemolysis in cattle serum. The first consisted of estimating haemolysis via a simple direct ultraviolet–visible (UV–VIS) spectrophotometric measurement of serum samples. The second involved analysis of red, green, blue (RGB) colour data extracted from digital images of serum samples and relating the haemoglobin (Hb) content by means of both univariate (R, G, B and intensity separately) and multivariate calibrations (R, G, B and intensity jointly) using partial least squares regression and artificial neural networks. The direct UV–VIS analysis and RGB-multivariate analysis using neural network methods were both appropriate for evaluating haemolysis in serum cattle samples. The procedures displayed good accuracy (mean recoveries of 100.7 and 102.1%, respectively), adequate precision (with coefficients of variation from 0.21 to 2.68%), limit of detection (0.14 and 0.21 g L–1, respectively), and linearity of up to 10 g L–S