Measuring reseach outputs across borders-a comment

This papers starts from an article published by Chan et al. in Accounting and Business Research in 2006 on accounting research in Europe. It develops the idea that accounting research in Europe is much more diversified than it appears, is not limited to British academics output, and relies upon very diversified vectors (journals or books) across countries. The case of France and Germany are particularly highlighted. More generally, the addresses the question of research evaluation and its consequences on academic communities.Accounting; Control; Research; Europe

Heterogenous catalysis of substitution reactions

Imperial Users onl

Assignments of Book Debts – outright transfers of rights or unregistered securities?

Businesses are increasingly being financed by receivables financiers who take assignments of a company’s book debts. The receivables finance industry is estimated to be worth over €1.6 trillion across Europe with the U.K. market leading the way. In the event that the company goes bust, the assigned book debts are swept away by the financier, as legal owner, and consequently what is often the only significant asset of a company is not available to the general body of creditors. The financier will either give notice to the debtor at the time of taking the assignment (“debt factoring”) or delay such notice until sometime later (“invoice discounting”). The accepted wisdom is that such agreements are absolute assignments and not security interests and therefore do not require registration under the Companies Act 2006. This article considers the history of assignments of book debts and suggests that an equitable assignment of a debt is not an out-and-out transfer of the debt but operates by way of charge. Such an agreement is therefore a security interest which is void against other creditors without registration. Although the invoice discounter may convert the equitable assignment into a legal assignment by giving notice to the debtor, if that notice is subsequent to the commencement of a formal insolvency process, that notice will be of no effect

Directors’ duty to act in the interests of creditors under section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 – Aussie Rules Gone Walkabout

Sections 171 to 177 of the Companies Act 2006 (“the Act”) codified the duties owed by directors to their companies in equity and at common law. Section 170(4) of the Act states that the codified duties: “shall be interpreted and applied in the same way as common law rules or equitable principles, and regard shall be had to the corresponding common law rules and equitable principles in interpreting and applying the general duties.

Pre-packs- patronus or dementor?

As fans of Harry Potter will be aware, a Dementor is a dark creature which glories in decay, draining happiness and hope from people and creating an atmosphere of misery and disturbance. A Patronus, on the other hand, is a positive force of hope and happiness providing the desire to survive. The purpose of this note is to consider whether the magic of a pre-packaged administration is more Patronus than Dementor. It is widely, but not universally, accepted that pre-packs often produce the best result for a company in financial distress. They often permit an ailing business to be sold, at a higher price than in liquidation, which safeguards the future of that business as a trading entity with minimal disruption and jobs saved

Accounting and Politics in Europe: Influencing the Standard

The paper considers the case of lobbying to influence the content or other aspects of a standard within Europe. It reviews the institutional framework to identify opportunities for lobbying and then considers the mechanics and constraints that affect lobbying in this context

Gated metabolic myocardial imaging, a surrogate for dual perfusion-metabolism imaging by positron emission tomography

Acknowledgments The authors are grateful for the help from Dr H Ali and Dr A Dawson. Funding: This study was performed using a research grant from the Aberdeen Royal Hospitals Trust's Endowment Fund, with further support from the Department of Medical Physics at the University of Aberdeen, for which the authors express their gratitude.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Alteration of hyaloclastites in the HSDP 2 Phase 1 Drill Core 1. Description and paragenesis

This is the publisher's version. Copyright 2003 by Chinese Geophysical Society. All rights reserved.The core from the Hawaii Scientific Drilling Project 2 Phase 1 provides a unique opportunity for studying the low-temperature alteration processes affecting basalt in suboceanic-island environments. In hyaloclastites, which make up about one half of the lower 2 km of this core (the portion that accumulated below sea level), these processes have resulted in zones of incipient, smectitic, and palagonitic alteration. The alteration of sideromelane in these hyaloclastites has four distinct outcomes: dissolution, replacement by two different textural varieties of smectite (i.e., reddened and green grain-replacive), and conversion to palagonite. All samples show evidence of the incipient stage of alteration, suggesting that every sample passed through that zone. However, most samples that show palagonitic alteration do not also show evidence of smectitic alteration and vice versa, suggesting these two outcomes represent divergent paths of alteration. Incipient alteration (1080 to 1335 m depth) includes fracturing and mechanical reduction of porosity from 40–45% to about 20–30%; growth of one form of pore-lining smectite; dissolution of sideromelane; and formation of sideromelane-grain replacements consisting of Fe-hydroxide-strained smectite, titaniferous nodules, and tubules. DNA-specific stains and morphological features indicate that tubules are the result of microbial activity. Smectitic alteration (1405 to 1573 m) includes growth of a second variety of pore-lining smectite, pore-filling and grain-replacing smectite, and cements of phillipsite and Ca-silicate minerals. Palagonitic alteration (1573 m to the deepest samples) includes replacement of margins of shards with palagonite and growth of pore-filling chabazite. The porosity is reduced by cementation to less than 4% at 1573 m. Porosity does not decrease further down hole, nor does the thickness of palagonite rims on shards increase through the zone of palagonitic alteration. In these samples, palagonite is not an intermediate alteration product in the development of smectite. Rather, in hyaloclastites from the HSDP core, palagonite has formed after all observed smectites. Current downhole temperatures at the boundaries between the three alteration zones are in the range from 12° to 15°C, suggesting that geochemical thresholds or vital effects, not temperature conditions, control different outcomes of alteration