Institutions and firm ownership structure:evidence from Central and Eastern Europe

FDI plays a key role in development, particularly in resource-constrained transition economies of Central and Eastern Europe with relatively low savings rates. Gains from technology transfer play a critical role in motivating FDI, yet potential for it may be hampered by a large technology gap between the source and host country. While the extent of this gap has traditionally been attributed to education, skills and capital intensity, recent literature has also emphasized the possible role of institutional environment in this respect. Despite tremendous interest among policy-makers and academics to understand the factors attracting FDI (Bevan and Estrin, 2000; Globerman and Shapiro, 2003) our knowledge about the effects of institutions on the location choice and ownership structure of foreign firms remains limited. This paper attempts to fill this gap in the literature by examining the link between institutions and foreign ownership structures. To the best of our knowledge, Javorcik (2004) is the only papers, which use firm-level data to analyse the role of institutional quality on an outward investor’s entry mode in transition countries. Our paper extends Javorcik (2004) in a number of ways: (a) rather than a cross-section, we use panel data for the period 1997-2006; (b) rather than a binary variable, we use the percentage foreign ownership as continuous variable; (c) we consider multi-dimensional institutional variables, such as corruption, intellectual property rights protection and government stability. We also use factor analysis to generate a composite index of institutional quality and see how stronger institutional environment could affect foreign ownership; (d) we explore how the distance between institutional environment in source and host countries affect foreign ownership in a host country. The firm-level data used includes both domestic and foreign firms for the period 1997-2006 and is drawn from ORBIS, a commercially available dataset provided by Bureau van Dijk. In order to examine the link between institutions and foreign ownership structures, we estimate four log-linear ownership equations/specifications augmented by institutional and other control variables. We find evidence that the decision of a foreign firm to either locate its subsidiary or acquire an existing domestic firm depends not only on factor cost differences but also on differences in institutional environment between the host and source countries.

Is the clustering of neurofibrillary tangles in Alzheimer's patients related to the cells of origin of specific cortico-cortical projections?

The spatial pattern of cellular neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) was studied in the supra- and infragranular layers of various cortical regions in cases of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The objective was to test the hypothesis that NFT formation was associated with the cells of origin of specific cortico-cortical projections. The novel feature of the study was that pattern analysis enabled the dimension and spacing of NFT clusters along the cortical ribbon to be estimated. In the majority of brain regions studied, NFT occurred in clusters of neurons which were regularly spaced along the cortical strip. This pattern is consistent with the predicted distribution of the cells of origin of specific cortico-cortico projections. Mean NFT cluster size varied from 250 to > 12800 microns in different cortical tissues suggesting either variation in the size of the cell clusters or a dynamic process in the development of NFT in relation to these cell clusters. The formation of NFT in cell clusters which may give rise to the feed-forward and feed-back cortico-cortical projections suggests a possible route of spread of NFT pathology in AD between cortical regions and from the cortex to subcortical areas.

Factors associated with lobe division in the lichen Parmelia conspersa (Ehrh. ex. Ach.)Ach.

The factors associated with lobe division were studied in thalli of the lichen Parmelia conspersa (Ehrh. ex Ach.)Ach. Lobe division was studied in sequences of adjacent lobes using spatial pattern analysis. In five large thalli, lobe division within the thallus margin was randomly distributed. Correlations between the degree of lobe division, the radial growth of the lobe and lobe morphology were studied in six thalli. Lobe division was positively correlated with either lobe width or area in four thalli. Correlations were observed with radial growth or morphology of the adjacent lobes in two thalli. Dividing and non-dividing lobes were removed from large thalli and glued to pieces of slate with their tips either at the same level or in front of neighbouring lobes. Dividing lobes divided more rapidly when their tips were glued in front of their neighbours. The levels of ribitol, arabitol and mannitol were measured within a 2 mm region of the tip in dividing and non-dividing lobes on four occasions in 1994. Carbohydrate levels were significantly increased in dividing compared with non-dividing lobes. In addition, the mean size of the algal cells was greater in non-dividing compared with dividing lobes especially at the lobe base. However, the percentage of zoosporangia and aplanosporangia did not vary significantly in dividing and non-dividing lobes. These results suggest that: 1) the pattern of lobe division within the thallus margin may be random, 2) lobe division may be determined by lobe size and the location of the lobe tip relative to the neighbouring lobes and 3) there may be an increase in the productivity of lobes associated with lobe division.

The spatial arrangement patterns of senile plaques in senile dementia of the Alzheimer type (SDAT)

The spatial arrangement patterns of senile plaques have been studied in 10 micron cresyl violet stained sections cut from embedded portions of 20 brain regions from SDAT brains. Two studies are reported: an initial study using the Poisson distribution and a subsequent study using pattern analysis. The initial study indicated that plaques are arranged in discrete clumps in all brain regions when examined at x100 and x400 – suggesting that both small and larger scale clumping may be present. The pattern analysis study was applied to 8 cortical regions. This technique allows a more detailed study of pattern to be made. In all regions the technique revealed that the basic pattern of plaque arrangement is the regularly spaced discrete clump – which may be present on both large and small scales.

Spatial arrangement patterns of senile plaques in post-mortem senile dementia of the Alzheimer type brains

We have studied the spatial distribution of plaques in coronal and tangential sections of the parahippocampal gyrus (PHG), the hippocampus, the frontal lobe and the temporal lobe of five SDAT patients. Sections were stained with cresyl violet and examined at two magnifications (x100 and x400). in all cases (and at both magnifications) statistical analysis using the Poisson distribution showed that the plaques were arranged in clumps (x100: V/M = 1.48 - 4.49; x400 V/M = 1.17 - 1.95). this indicates that both large scale and small scale clumping occurs. Application of the statistical techniques of pattern analysis to coronal sections of frontal and temporal cortex and PHG showed. furthermore, that both large (3200-6400 micron) and small scale (100 - 400 micron) clumps were arranged with a high degree of regularity in the tissue. This suggests that the clumps of plaques reflect underlying neural structure.

A morphometric study of the spatial patterns of TDP-43 immunoreactive neuronal inclusions in frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) with progranulin (GRN) mutation

Mutations of the progranulin (GRN) gene are a major cause of familial frontotemporal lobar degeneration with transactive response (TAR) DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa (TDP-43) proteinopathy (FTLD-TDP). We studied the spatial patterns of TDP-43 immunoreactive neuronal cytoplasmic inclusions (NCI) and neuronal intranuclear inclusions (NII) in histological sections of the frontal and temporal lobe in eight cases of FTLD-TDP with GRN mutation using morphometric methods and spatial pattern analysis. In neocortical regions, the NCI were clustered and the clusters were regularly distributed parallel to the pia mater; 58% of regions analysed exhibiting this pattern. The NII were present in regularly distributed clusters in 35% of regions but also randomly distributed in many areas. In neocortical regions, the sizes of the regular clusters of NCI and NII were 400-800 µm, approximating to the size of the modular columns of the cortico-cortical projections, in 31% and 36% of regions respectively. The NCI and NII also exhibited regularly spaced clustering in sectors CA1/2 of the hippocampus and in the dentate gyrus. The clusters of NCI and NII were not spatially correlated. The data suggest degeneration of the cortico-cortical and cortico-hippocampal pathways in FTLD-TDP with GRN mutation, the NCI and NII affecting different clusters of neurons.

Overcoming shadows in 3-source photometric stereo

Light occlusions are one of the most significant difficulties of photometric stereo methods. When three or more images are available without occlusion, the local surface orientation is overdetermined so that shape can be computed and the shadowed pixels can be discarded. In this paper, we look at the challenging case when only two images are available without occlusion, leading to a one degree of freedom ambiguity per pixel in the local orientation. We show that, in the presence of noise, integrability alone cannot resolve this ambiguity and reconstruct the geometry in the shadowed regions. As the problem is ill-posed in the presence of noise, we describe two regularization schemes that improve the numerical performance of the algorithm while preserving the data. Finally, the paper describes how this theory applies in the framework of color photometric stereo where one is restricted to only three images and light occlusions are common. Experiments on synthetic and real image sequences are presented.

Multiview photometric stereo

This paper addresses the problem of obtaining complete, detailed reconstructions of textureless shiny objects. We present an algorithm which uses silhouettes of the object, as well as images obtained under changing illumination conditions. In contrast with previous photometric stereo techniques, ours is not limited to a single viewpoint but produces accurate reconstructions in full 3D. A number of images of the object are obtained from multiple viewpoints, under varying lighting conditions. Starting from the silhouettes, the algorithm recovers camera motion and constructs the object's visual hull. This is then used to recover the illumination and initialize a multiview photometric stereo scheme to obtain a closed surface reconstruction. There are two main contributions in this paper: First, we describe a robust technique to estimate light directions and intensities and, second, we introduce a novel formulation of photometric stereo which combines multiple viewpoints and, hence, allows closed surface reconstructions. The algorithm has been implemented as a practical model acquisition system. Here, a quantitative evaluation of the algorithm on synthetic data is presented together with complete reconstructions of challenging real objects. Finally, we show experimentally how, even in the case of highly textured objects, this technique can greatly improve on correspondence-based multiview stereo results.

Video normals from colored lights

We present an algorithm and the associated single-view capture methodology to acquire the detailed 3D shape, bends, and wrinkles of deforming surfaces. Moving 3D data has been difficult to obtain by methods that rely on known surface features, structured light, or silhouettes. Multispectral photometric stereo is an attractive alternative because it can recover a dense normal field from an untextured surface. We show how to capture such data, which in turn allows us to demonstrate the strengths and limitations of our simple frame-to-frame registration over time. Experiments were performed on monocular video sequences of untextured cloth and faces with and without white makeup. Subjects were filmed under spatially separated red, green, and blue lights. Our first finding is that the color photometric stereo setup is able to produce smoothly varying per-frame reconstructions with high detail. Second, when these 3D reconstructions are augmented with 2D tracking results, one can register both the surfaces and relax the homogenous-color restriction of the single-hue subject. Quantitative and qualitative experiments explore both the practicality and limitations of this simple multispectral capture system.

Spatial patterns of the tau pathology in progressive supranuclear palsy

Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is characterized neuropathologically by neuronal loss, gliosis, and the presence of tau-immunoreactive neuronal and glial cell inclusions affecting subcortical and some cortical regions. The objectives of this study were to determine (1) the spatial patterns of the tau-immunoreactive pathology, viz., neurofibrillary tangles (NFT), oligodendroglial inclusions (GI), tufted astrocytes (TA), and Alzheimer's disease-type neuritic plaques (NP) in PSP and (2) to investigate the spatial correlations between the histological features. Post-mortem material of cortical and subcortical regions of eight PSP cases was studied. Spatial pattern analysis was applied to the NFT, GI, TA, NP, abnormally enlarged neurons (EN), surviving neurons, and glial cells. NFT, GI, and TA were distributed either at random or in regularly distributed clusters. The EN and NP were mainly randomly distributed. Clustering of NFT and EN was more frequent in the cortex and subcortical regions, respectively. Variations in NFT density were not spatially correlated with the densities of either GI or TA, but were positively correlated with the densities of EN and surviving neurons in some regions. (1) NFT were the most widespread tau-immunoreactive pathology in PSP being distributed randomly in subcortical regions and in regular clusters in cortical regions, (2) GI and TA were more localized and exhibited a regular pattern of clustering in subcortical regions, and (3) neuronal and glial cell pathologies were not spatially correlated. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.

Future challenges for manufacturing

Purpose - This Editorial Viewpoint explores what changes are taking place in manufacturing technology management with the aim of identifying future challenges that should be represented in the scope of JMTM. Design/methodology/ approach - The viewpoints use an analysis of relevant articles in JMTM, published since 2007, which have focused on future challenges for manufacturing. It also draws on two recent reports. Findings - While the analysis confirms the inclusion of some subjects already in the journal scope, there are elsewhere gaps that merit it being expanded. Research limitations/implications - Evidence for the findings is only from a limited number of articles identified in this journal together supplemented by other secondary sources. Practical implications - There are implications for practice concerning the future of manufacturing from the analysis and the sources used, especially the reports. Originality/value - Although it has limitations, the article is based on original bibliographic research. Copyright © 2014 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.

Preface

The Semantic Web has come a long way since its inception in 2001, especially in terms of technical development and research progress. However, adoption by non- technical practitioners is still an ongoing process, and in some areas this process is just now starting. Emergency response is an area where reliability and timeliness of information and technologies is of essence. Therefore it is quite natural that more widespread adoption in this area has not been seen until now, when Semantic Web technologies are mature enough to support the high requirements of the application area. Nevertheless, to leverage the full potential of Semantic Web research results for this application area, there is need for an arena where practitioners and researchers can meet and exchange ideas and results. Our intention is for this workshop, and hopefully coming workshops in the same series, to be such an arena for discussion. The Extended Semantic Web Conference (ESWC - formerly the European Semantic Web conference) is one of the major research conferences in the Semantic Web field, whereas this is a suitable location for this workshop in order to discuss the application of Semantic Web technology to our specific area of applications. Hence, we chose to arrange our first SMILE workshop at ESWC 2013. However, this workshop does not focus solely on semantic technologies for emergency response, but rather Semantic Web technologies in combination with technologies and principles for what is sometimes called the "social web". Social media has already been used successfully in many cases, as a tool for supporting emergency response. The aim of this workshop is therefore to take this to the next level and answer questions like: "how can we make sense of, and furthermore make use of, all the data that is produced by different kinds of social media platforms in an emergency situation?" For the first edition of this workshop the chairs collected the following main topics of interest: • Semantic Annotation for understanding the content and context of social media streams. • Integration of Social Media with Linked Data. • Interactive Interfaces and visual analytics methodologies for managing multiple large-scale, dynamic, evolving datasets. • Stream reasoning and event detection. • Social Data Mining. • Collaborative tools and services for Citizens, Organisations, Communities. • Privacy, ethics, trustworthiness and legal issues in the Social Semantic Web. • Use case analysis, with specific interest for use cases that involve the application of Social Media and Linked Data methodologies in real-life scenarios. All of these, applied in the context of: • Crisis and Disaster Management • Emergency Response • Security and Citizen Journalism The workshop received 6 high-quality paper submissions and based on a thorough review process, thanks to our program committee, the decision was made to accept four of these papers for the workshop (67% acceptance rate). These four papers can be found later in this proceedings volume. Three out of four of these papers particularly discuss the integration and analysis of social media data, using Semantic Web technologies, e.g. for detecting complex events in social media streams, for visualizing and analysing sentiments with respect to certain topics in social media, or for detecting small-scale incidents entirely through the use of social media information. Finally, the fourth paper presents an architecture for using Semantic Web technologies in resource management during a disaster. Additionally, the workshop featured an invited keynote speech by Dr. Tomi Kauppinen from Aalto university. Dr. Kauppinen shared experiences from his work on applying Semantic Web technologies to application fields such as geoinformatics and scientific research, i.e. so-called Linked Science, but also recent ideas and applications in the emergency response field. His input was also highly valuable for the roadmapping discussion, which was held at the end of the workshop. A separate summary of the roadmapping session can be found at the end of these proceedings. Finally, we would like to thank our invited speaker Dr. Tomi Kauppinen, all our program committee members, as well as the workshop chair of ESWC2013, Johanna Völker (University of Mannheim), for helping us to make this first SMILE workshop a highly interesting and successful event!

Discretion in accounting for pensions under IAS 19:using the ‘magic telescope’?

We use a panel data set of UK-listed companies over the period 2005–2009 to analyse the actuarial assumptions used to value pension plan liabilities under IAS 19. The valuation process requires companies to make assumptions about financial and demographic variables, notably discount rate, price inflation, salary inflation and mortality/life expectancy of plan members/beneficiaries. We use regression analysis to analyse the relationships between these key assumptions (except mortality, where disclosures are limited) and company-specific factors such as the pension plan funding position and duration of pension liabilities. We find evidence of selective ‘management’ of the three assumptions investigated, although the nature of this appears to differ from the findings of US authors. We conclude that IAS 19 does not prevent the use of managerial discretion, particularly by companies whose pension plan funding positions are weak, thereby reducing the representational faithfulness of the reported pension figures. We also highlight that the degree of discretion used reflects the extent to which IAS 19 defines how the assumptions are to be determined. We therefore suggest that companies should be encouraged to justify more explicitly their choice of assumptions.

Spontaneous Unfolding and Refolding of FNIII Domains Assayed by Thiol Exchange

Fibronectin (FN) is a large extracellular matrix (ECM) protein that is made up of

type I (FNI), type II (FNII), & type III (FNIII) domains. It assembles into an insoluble

supra-­‐‑molecular structure: the fibrillar FN matrix. FN fibrillogenesis is a cell‐‑mediated process, which is initiated when FN binds to integrins on the cell surface. The FN matrix plays an important role in cell migration, proliferation, signaling & adhesion. Despite decades of research, the FN matrix is one of the least understood supra-­‐‑molecular protein assemblies. There have been several attempts to elucidate the exact mechanism of matrix assembly resulting in significant progress in the field but it is still unclear as to what are FN-­‐‑FN interactions, the nature of these interactions and the domains of FN that

are in contact with each other. FN matrix fibrils are elastic in nature. Two models have been proposed to explain the elasticity of the fibrils. The first model: the ‘domain unfolding’ model postulates that the unraveling of FNIII domains under tension explains fibril elasticity.

The second model relies on the conformational change of FN from compact to extended to explain fibril elasticity. FN contain 15 FNIII domains, each a 7-­‐‑strand beta sandwich. Earlier work from our lab used the technique of labeling a buried Cys to study the ‘domain unfolding’ model. They used mutant FNs containing a buried Cys in a single FNIII domain and found that 6 of the 15 FNIII domains label in matrix fibrils. Domain unfolding due to tension, matrix associated conformational changes or spontaneous folding and unfolding are all possible explanation for labeling of the buried Cys. The present study also uses the technique of labeling a buried Cys to address whether it is spontaneous folding and unfolding that labels FNIII domains in cell culture. We used thiol reactive DTNB to measure the kinetics of labeling of buried Cys in eleven FN III domains over a wide range of urea concentrations (0-­‐‑9M). The kinetics data were globally fit using Mathematica. The results are equivalent to those of H-­‐‑D exchange, and

provide a comprehensive analysis of stability and unfolding/folding kinetics of each

domain. For two of the six domains spontaneous folding and unfolding is possibly the reason for labeling in cell culture. For the rest of the four domains it is probably matrix associated conformational changes or tension induced unfolding.

A long-­‐‑standing debate in the protein-­‐‑folding field is whether unfolding rate

constants or folding rate constants correlate to the stability of a protein. FNIII domains all have the same ß sandwich structure but very different stabilities and amino acid sequences. Our study analyzed the kinetics of unfolding and folding and stabilities of eleven FNIII domains and our results show that folding rate constants for FNIII domains are relatively similar and the unfolding rates vary widely and correlate to stability. FN forms a fibrillar matrix and the FN-­‐‑FN interactions during matrix fibril formation are not known. FNI 1-­‐‑9 or the N-­‐‑ terminal region is indispensible for matrix formation and its major binding partner has been shown to be FNIII 2. Earlier work from our lab, using FRET analysis showed that the interaction of FNI 1-­‐‑9 with a destabilized FNIII 2 (missing the G strand, FNIII 2ΔG) reduces the FRET efficiency. This efficiency is restored in the presence of FUD (bacterial adhesion from S. pyogenes) that has been known to interact with FNI 1-­‐‑9 via a tandem ß zipper. In the present study we

use FRET analysis and a series of deletion mutants of FNIII 2ΔG to study the shortest fragment of FNIII 2ΔG that is required to bind FNI 1-­‐‑9. Our results presented here are qualitative and show that FNIII 2ΔC’EFG is the shortest fragment required to bind FNI 1-­‐‑9. Deletion of one more strand abolishes the interaction with FNI 1-­‐‑9.

El conflicto sobre la peeregrinación entre Arabia Saudí e Irán: La posición de la República Islámica

El conflicto geopolítico entre Arabia Saudí e Irán es un hecho conocido en la academia y los medios de comunicación. Tiene diferentes focos. Quizás su cara más oculta es el Hajj. Incidentes trágicos durante la peregrinación a la Meca y Medina pueden incrementar las tensiones entre los dos países. En esto intervienen agentes políticos y estatales igual que personas privadas. Nos interesa especialmente cómo el discurso y la acción política se utilizan con fines de legitimación del régimen. Para ello, hacemos uso del análisis del discurso. Este artículo se centra en la posición de la República Islámica de Irán. Por esto, entre nuestras fuentes destacan medios de comunicación iraníes y las páginas web gubernamentales de este país. A partir de ellos, analizamos la cultura política y la identidad étnico-religiosa de este país. También identificamos las reacciones a los incidentes y las demandas de la República Islámica.