Preemptive Horizontal Mergers: Theory and Evidence

This paper proposes an explanation of why it can be rational for the profit-maximizing managers of an acquiring firm to conduct a takeover, even when doing so reduces shareholder value. If a firm fears that one of its rivals will gain competitive advantage from taking over some third firm, i can be rational for the first firm to preempt this merger with a takeover attempt of its own. This attempt can be optimal even if it requires the first firm to “overpay” relative to the increase in the joint profits of the combined firms. The paper first presents a model formalizing the above intuition. Then an event study is conducted to test the preemption theory. The empirical results are consistent with the predictions of the preemption theory, as opposed to the alternatives of hubris and agency theories.

A model based DC analysis of SiPM breakdown voltages

A new method to determine the breakdown voltage of SiPMs is presented. It is backed up by a DC model which describes the breakdown phenomenon by distinct avalanche turn-on ($V_{01}$) and turn off ($V_{10}$) voltages. It is shown that $V_{01}$ is related to the 'breakdown voltage' that previous DC methods derive from simple reverse current-voltage measurements, while $V_{10}$ is the 'real' breakdown voltage commonly obtained from complex gain-voltage measurements. The proposed method reveals how the microcell population distributes around $V_{01}$ and $V_{10}$. It is found that if this distribution is assumed to be normal, then both voltages and even their standard deviation can readily be extracted from current-voltage curves. Measurements are in good agreement with the theoretical model

Preventing Hospital Acquired Infections Through a Workflow-Based Cyber-Physical System

Hospital acquired infections (HAI) are infections acquired within the hospital from healthcare workers, patients or from the environment, but which have no connection to the initial reason for the patient's hospital admission. HAI are a serious world-wide problem, leading to an increase in mortality rates, duration of hospitalisation as well as significant economic burden on hospitals. Although clear preventive guidelines exist, studies show that compliance to them is frequently poor. This paper details the software perspective for an innovative, business process software based cyber-physical system that will be implemented as part of a European Union-funded research project. The system is composed of a network of sensors mounted in different sites around the hospital, a series of wearables used by the healthcare workers and a server side workflow engine. For better understanding, we describe the system through the lens of a single, simple clinical workflow that is responsible for a significant portion of all hospital infections. The goal is that when completed, the system will be configurable in the sense of facilitating the creation and automated monitoring of those clinical workflows that when combined, account for over 90\% of hospital infections.Comment: Proceedings of ENASE 2016, ISBN: 978-989-758-189-