Do Option Markets Substitute for Stock Markets?

Using a sample of cash tender offers occurring between 1993 and 2002, we find evidence that the options market has become the preferred venue for traders attempting to profit on anticipated announcements. Options offer advantages relative to stocks. Traders gain leverage by trading in options and multiple options contracts on an individual stock. The results of our study indicate that a substitution effect does exist. Abnormal volume in the option market replaces abnormal volume in the stock market prior to cash tender offer announcements, and this abnormal option volume precedes abnormal stock volume for targets with or without traded options

The seven impediments in invertebrate conservation and how to overcome them

Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Despite their high diversity and importance for humankind, invertebrates are often neglected in biodiversity conservation policies. We identify seven impediments to their effective protection: (1) invertebrates and their ecological services are mostly unknown to the general public (the public dilemma); (2) policymakers and stakeholders are mostly unaware of invertebrate conservation problems (the political dilemma); (3) basic science on invertebrates is scarce and underfunded (the scientific dilemma); (4) most species are undescribed (the Linnean shortfall); (5) the distribution of described species is mostly unknown (the Wallacean shortfall); (6) the abundance of species and their changes in space and time are unknown (the Prestonian shortfall); (7) species ways of life and sensitivities to habitat change are largely unknown (the Hutchinsonian shortfall). Numerous recent developments in taxonomy, inventorying, monitoring, data compilation, statistical analysis and science communication facilitate overcoming these impediments in both policy and practice. We suggest as possible solutions for the public dilemma: better public information and marketing. For the political dilemma: red-listing, legal priority listing and inclusion in environmental impact assessment studies. For the scientific dilemma: parataxonomy, citizen science programs and biodiversity informatics. For the Linnean shortfall: biodiversity surrogacy, increased support for taxonomy and advances in taxonomic publications. For the Wallacean shortfall: funding of inventories, compilation of data in public repositories and species distribution modeling. For the Prestonian shortfall: standardized protocols for inventorying and monitoring, widespread use of analogous protocols and increased support for natural history collections. For the Hutchinsonian shortfall: identifying good indicator taxa and studying extinction rates by indirect evidence

The Economic Loss Rule: Is a Building a “Product?” — Another View

This Article addresses how the Florida Supreme Court in Tiara Condominium Association v. Marsh & McLennan Cos. receded from its definition of “other property” in Casa Clara Condominium Association, Inc. v. Charley Toppino & Sons, Inc. In Casa Clara the Florida Supreme Court held that a building is to be treated as a “product” for purposes of applying the Economic Loss Rule’s bar to tort claims for defective building materials incorporated into the building. Although Casa Clara adopted the economic loss rule established by Seely v. White Motor Co. and East River Steamship Corp. v. Transamerica Delaval, Inc., it departed from those seminal cases by adopting the “object of the bargain” rationale and, in doing so, determining that real property is the “product itself.” In addition, Casa Clara departed from prior Florida precedent which held that real property is not a product in the context of products liability actions. Moreover, in Saratoga Fishing Co. v. J.M. Martinac & Co. the United States Supreme Court rejected the “object of the bargain” analysis that served as the sole basis for the Florida Supreme Court’s characterization of real property as the “the product itself.” The Saratoga Court recognized that the focus should be on the product that was “placed in the stream of commerce” instead. Thus, when the Florida Supreme Court returned the economic loss rule to its original interpretation under Seely and East River in Tiara, it receded from Casa Clara’s holding that a building must be treated as a “product” for the purposes of applying the economic loss rule

Methylation array data can simultaneously identify individuals and convey protected health information: an unrecognized ethical concern

BACKGROUND: Genome-wide methylation arrays are increasingly used tools in studies of complex medical disorders. Because of their expense and potential utility to the scientific community, current federal policy dictates that data from these arrays, like those from genome-wide genotyping arrays, be deposited in publicly available databases. Unlike the genotyping information, access to the expression data is not restricted. An underlying supposition in the current nonrestricted access to methylation data is the belief that protected health and personal identifying information cannot be simultaneously extracted from these arrays. RESULTS: In this communication, we analyze methylation data from the Illumina HumanMethylation450 array and show that genotype at 1,069 highly informative loci, and both alcohol and smoking consumption information, can be derived from the array data. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that both potentially personally identifying information and substance-use histories can be simultaneously derived from methylation array data. Because access to genetic information about a database subject or one of their relatives is critical to the de-identification process, this risk of de-identification is limited at the current time. We propose that access to genome-wide methylation data be restricted to institutionally approved investigators who accede to data use agreements prohibiting re-identification

Trypanosoma brucei bloodstream forms depend upon uptake of myo-inositol for Golgi phosphatidylinositol synthesis and normal cell growth

myo-Inositol is a building block for all inositol-containing phospholipids in eukaryotes. It can be synthesized de novo from glucose-6-phosphate in the cytosol and endoplasmic reticulum. Alternatively, it can be taken up from the environment via Na+- or H+-linked myo-inositol transporters. While Na+-coupled myo-inositol transporters are found exclusively in the plasma membrane, H+-linked myo-inositol transporters are detected in intracellular organelles. In Trypanosoma brucei, the causative agent of human African sleeping sickness, myo-inositol metabolism is compartmentalized. De novo synthesized myo-inositol is used for glycosylphosphatidylinositol production in the endoplasmic reticulum, whereas the myo-inositol taken up from the environment is used for bulk phosphatidylinositol synthesis in the Golgi. We now provide evidence that the Golgi localized T. brucei H+-linked myo-inositol transporter (TbHMIT) is essential in bloodstream forms. Down-regulation of TbHMIT expression by RNA interference blocked phosphatidylinositol production and inhibited growth of parasites in culture. Characterization of the transporter in a heterologous expression system demonstrated a remarkable selectivity of TbHMIT for myo-inositol. It only tolerates a single modification on the inositol ring, such as the removal of a hydroxyl group, or the inversion of stereochemistry at a single hydroxyl group relative to myo-inositol.PostprintPeer reviewe

Increasing biomass in Amazonian forest plots

A previous study by Phillips et al. of changes in the biomass of permanent sample plots in Amazonian forests was used to infer the presence of a regional carbon sink. However, these results generated a vigorous debate about sampling and methodological issues. Therefore we present a new analysis of biomass change in old-growth Amazonian forest plots using updated inventory data. We find that across 59 sites, the above-ground dry biomass in trees that are more than 10 cm in diameter (AGB) has increased since plot establishment by 1.22 ± 0.43 Mg per hectare per year (ha-1 yr-1), where 1 ha = 104 m2), or 0.98 ± 0.38 Mg ha-1 yr-1 if individual plot values are weighted by the number of hectare years of monitoring. This significant increase is neither confounded by spatial or temporal variation in wood specific gravity, nor dependent on the allometric equation used to estimate AGB. The conclusion is also robust to uncertainty about diameter measurements for problematic trees: for 34 plots in western Amazon forests a significant increase in AGB is found even with a conservative assumption of zero growth for all trees where diameter measurements were made using optical methods and/or growth rates needed to be estimated following fieldwork. Overall, our results suggest a slightly greater rate of net stand-level change than was reported by Phillips et al. Considering the spatial and temporal scale of sampling and associated studies showing increases in forest growth and stem turnover, the results presented here suggest that the total biomass of these plots has on average increased and that there has been a regional-scale carbon sink in old-growth Amazonian forests during the previous two decades