CEO network centrality and merger performance

© 2015 Elsevier B.V. We study the effects on M&A outcomes of CEO network centrality, which measures the extent and strength of a CEO[U+05F3]s personal connections. High network centrality can allow CEOs to efficiently gather and control private information, facilitating value-creating acquisition decisions. We show, however, that M&A deals initiated by high-centrality CEOs, in addition to being more frequent, carry greater value losses to both the acquirer and the combined entity than deals initiated by low-centrality CEOs. We also document that high-centrality CEOs are capable of avoiding the discipline of the markets for corporate control and the executive labor market, and that the mitigating effect of internal governance on CEO actions is limited. Our evidence suggests that corporate decisions can be influenced by a CEO[U+05F3]s position in the social hierarchy, with high-centrality CEOs using their power and influence to increase entrenchment and reap private benefits

Running the D.C. Circuit Gauntlet on Cost Benefit Analysis after Citizens United: Empirical Evidence from SOX and the JOBS Act

To require disclosure or not to require disclosure; that is the question faced by regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in light of the Supreme Court\u27s 2010 Citizens United decision, which allows anew free flow of corporate money into the political system. Pending before the SEC since 2011 is a petition by 10 law professors asking for transparency of corporate political spending. We write this article in anticipation of the SEC\u27s eventual promulgation of rules requiring disclosure of corporate political spending. Many of the core questions about the market\u27s reaction to increased regulation of listed companies that we can study now are likely to be implicated in the debate about regulation within the narrower subset of corporate political spending.Corporations who do not want to disclose their political spending are likely to challenge any rule that the SEC issues on the subject. Such a legal challenge is destined to be heard by the D.C. Circuit Court, which examines federal regulations with an increasingly jaundiced eye. One of the ground on which the D.C. Circuit can dispose of a new regulation is by finding that the SEC did not do a sufficiently rigorous cost-benefit analysis.This article addresses the potential hostility that the D.C. Circuit may harbor against a new SEC rule requiring greater corporate transparency in election activities and provides some data that might assist the SEC in navigating this gauntlet.In summary, our data showed that the market reacted positively to the new regulations in SOX and reacted negatively to the deregulations embodied in the JOBS Act. In short, and as discussed more fully below, the data demonstrate that the market values transparency and distrusts opaqueness. We hope that the D.C. Circuit will find these data useful in illuminating the larger debate over what securities regulations are allowable

Compliance costs and disclosure requirement mandates: Some evidence

© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. This note contributes to the discussion on the compliance costs of disclosure requirements for publicly traded companies. Prior research tends to focus on audit cost increases when disclosure requirements are stricter. We add some evidence from the point of views of shareholders. Particularly, we contrast stock market reaction to the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act which significantly enhanced public company disclosure requirements, with the 2012 Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act which alleviated disclosure requirements for small firms. Contrary to popular belief that more disclosure rules impose regulatory burdens on firms and are costly to implement, we find that the stock market reacted positively toward rules that require more disclosure; whereas it reacted negatively toward rules that require less disclosure, even though those disclosure rules were initially designed to reduce the costs of compliance

Annular pancreas: endoscopic and pancreatographic findings from a tertiary referral ERCP center

Background and Aims Annular pancreas is a congenital anomaly whereby pancreatic tissue encircles the duodenum. Current knowledge of endoscopic findings of annular pancreas is limited to small case series. The aim of this study was to describe the endoscopic and pancreatographic findings of patients with annular pancreas at a large tertiary care ERCP center. Methods This is a retrospective observational study. Our Institutional Review Board–approved, prospectively collected ERCP database was queried for cases of annular pancreas. The electronic medical records were searched for patient and procedure-related data. Results From January 1, 1994, to December 31, 2016, 46 patients with annular pancreas underwent ERCP at our institution. Index ERCP was technically successful in 42 patients (91.3%), and technical success was achieved in all 46 patients (100%) after 2 attempts, when required. A duodenal narrowing or ring was found in most patients (n = 39, 84.8%), yet only 2 (4.3%) had retained gastric contents. Pancreas divisum was found in 21 patients (45.7%), 18 of which were complete divisum. Pancreatobiliary neoplasia was the indication for ERCP in 7 patients (15.2%). Pancreatographic findings consistent with chronic pancreatitis were noted in 15 patients (32.6%) at the index ERCP. Conclusion This is the largest series describing the endoscopic and pancreatographic findings of patients with annular pancreas. We found that 45.7% of patients had concurrent pancreas divisum. Endoscopic therapy was successful in most patients at our institution after 1 ERCP, and in all patients after a second ERCP. Nearly one-third of patients had findings consistent with chronic pancreatitis at the time of index ERCP. It is unclear whether this may be a feature of the natural history of annular pancreas

Functional connectivity dynamics slow with descent from wakefulness to sleep

© 2019 El-Baba et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The transition from wakefulness to sleep is accompanied by widespread changes in brain functioning. Here we investigate the implications of this transition for interregional functional connectivity and their dynamic changes over time. Simultaneous EEG-fMRI was used to measure brain functional activity of 21 healthy participants as they transitioned from wakefulness into sleep. fMRI volumes were independent component analysis (ICA)-decomposed, yielding 42 neurophysiological sources. Static functional connectivity (FC) was estimated from independent component time courses. A sliding window method and k-means clustering (k = 7, L2-norm) were used to estimate dynamic FC. Static FC in Wake and Stage-2 Sleep (NREM2) were largely similar. By contrast, FC dynamics across wake and sleep differed, with transitions between FC states occurring more frequently during wakefulness than during NREM2. Evidence of slower FC dynamics during sleep is discussed in relation to sleep-related reductions in effective connectivity and synaptic strength

Endoscopic retrieval of a proximally migrated biliary stent: digital cholangioscope to the rescue

Endoscopic techniques for the retrieval of proximally migrated biliary stents include the following: fluoroscopy-guided grasping of the stent with a rat-tooth forceps, balloon placement parallel to the stent with traction retrieval, cannulation of the stent lumen with a wire (standard technique, or use of the curved plastic tip of a modified Soehendra stent retriever [Cook Medical, Bloomington, Ind]) followed by use of standard or modified Soehendra stent retriever, wire-guided retrieval basket, and snare. The technique used depends on the extent of proximal stent migration, the presence of ductal dilatation or biliary stricture, and the endoscopist’s experience. This report describes the retrieval of a proximally migrated biliary stent within an aberrant right hepatic duct (RHD) using a digital cholangioscope (SpyGlass DS system; Boston Scientific, Natick, Mass

Clinical response to dorsal duct drainage via the minor papilla in refractory obstructing chronic calcific pancreatitis

Background and study aims Complete stone removal from the main pancreatic duct might not be achieved in all patients with obstructive chronic calcific pancreatitis. We report our results for endoscopic dorsal pancreatic duct (DPD) bypass of obstructing stones in the ventral pancreatic duct (VPD). Patients and methods 16 patients with obstructive chronic calcific pancreatitis were treated with a DPD bypass. Clinical success was defined as significant pain relief and no hospital admissions for pain management during the ongoing treatment period. Results Among 16 patients meeting entry criteria, 10 (62.5%) had a history of unsuccessful endoscopic therapy, and 8 had failed extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL). Clinical success was achieved in 12 patients (75 %). Among these responders, 10 patients (83.3 %) had markedly improved or complete pain relief after the first stent placement, which persisted throughout the follow-up period; 11 patients (91.7 %) were able to discontinue their daily analgesics. Conclusions In selected patients with obstructive chronic calcific pancreatitis, the DPD bypass may be considered as a rescue endoscopic therapy, potentially obviating the need for surgery when standard endoscopic methods and ESWL fail

Low Serum Pancreatic Amylase and Lipase Values Are Simple and Useful Predictors to Diagnose Chronic Pancreatitis

Background/Aims This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic role of low serum amylase and lipase values in the detection of chronic pancreatitis. Methods Patients underwent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and were diagnosed with non-calcific chronic pancreatitis (NCCP; n=99) and calcific chronic pancreatitis (CCP; n=112). Patient serum amylase and lipase values were compared with those of healthy controls (H; n=170). Results The median serum amylase (normal range, 19 to 86 U/L) and lipase values (7 to 59 U/L) (P25–P75) were 47.0 (39.8 to 55.3) and 25.0 (18.0 to 35.0) for H, 34.0 (24.5 to 49.0) and 19.0 (9.0 to 30.0) for NCCP, and 30.0 (20.0 to 40.8) and 10.0 (3.0 to 19.0) for CCP, respectively. The cutoff values with the highest diagnostic accuracy for discriminating NCCP from H were 40 U/L for amylase and 20 U/L for lipase, respectively, and for CCP from H were 38 U/L for amylase and 15 U/L for lipase, respectively. For the diagnosis of NCCP with a criterion of serum amylase <40 and lipase <20 U/L, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive values were 37.4%, 88.8%, 66.1%, and 70.9%, respectively. Conclusions Serum amylase and/or lipase levels below the normal serum range are highly specific for chronic pancreatitis patients. Clinicians should not ignore low serum pancreatic enzyme values