126 research outputs found
Cross-country determinants of mergers and acquisitions
No full textWe study the determinants of mergers and acquisitions around the world by focusing on differences in laws and regulation across countries. We find that the volume of M&A activity is significantly larger in countries with better accounting standards and stronger shareholder protection. The probability of an all-cash bid decreases with the level of shareholder protection in the acquirer country. In cross-border deals, targets are typically from countries with poorer investor protection than their acquirers’ countries, suggesting that cross-border transactions play a governance role by improving the degree of investor protection within target firms
The governance motive in cross-border mergers and acquisitions
No full textThe critical question in this chapter is whether cross-border mergers and acquisitions are a channel through which companies can opt out of a poor governance regime. The main prediction is that in cross-border mergers and acquisitions companies from countries with good corporate governance should be acquirers, and companies from countries with poor corporate governance should be targets. This hypothesis is confirmed using a sample of cross-border mergers and acquisitions in 49 countries in the 1990s. Targets tend to come from countries with lower judicial efficiency and less developed banking sectors than their acquirers. The average corporate governance of companies acquiring in one country is higher than the governance standards of that country. A second prediction is that cross-border merger and acquisition activity
should be concentrated in industries that need more external capital and face greater agency problems. Hence, companies from countries with worse governance should be more likely to be acquired in cross-border deals in industries that need more external financing and in industries that face greater agency costs. This prediction is confirmed using a measure of external dependence at the industry level
Cell type-specific transcription of the alpha 1(VI) collagen gene - Role of the AP1 binding site and of the core promoter
No full textAnalysis of the chromatin of different cell types has identified four DNase I-hypersensitive sites in the 5'-flanking region of the alpha1(VI) collagen gene, mapping at -4.6, -4.4, -2.5, and -0.1 kilobase (kb) from the RNA start site. The site at -2.5 kb was independent from, whereas the other three sites could be related to, alpha1(VI) mRNA expression. The site at -0.1 kb was present in cells expressing (NIH3T3 and C2C12) but absent in cells not expressing (EL4) the mRNA; the remaining two sites were apparently related with high levels of mRNA. DNase I footprinting and gel-shift assays with NIH3T3 and C2C12 nuclear extracts have located a binding site for transcription factor AP1 (activator protein 1) between nucleotides -104 and -73. When nuclear extracts from EL4 lymphocytes were used, the AP1 site-containing sequence was bound by proteins not related to AP1. The existence of the hypersensitive site at -0.1 kb may be related to the binding of AP1 and of additional factors to the core promoter (Piccolo, S., Bonaldo, P., Vitale, P., Volpin, D., and Bressan, G. M. (1995) J. Biol. Chem. 270, 19583-19590). The function of the AP1 binding site and of the core promoter in the transcriptional regulation of the Col6a1 gene was investigated by expressing several promoter-reporter gene constructs in transgenic mice and in cell cultures. The results indicate that regulation of transcription of the Col6a1 gene by different cis-acting elements (core promoter, AP1 binding site and enhancers) is not completely modular, but the final output depends on the specific interactions among the three elements in a defined cell type
Formation of Early Dissident Movements Ideology in USSR in 1960s Years: Ethics of Alexander Yesenin-Volpin
No full textThe problem of the appearance of the Soviet dissident movement in 1965 is investigated. Particular attention is paid to the “Glasnost rally” on December 5, 1965, which, according to the recollections of the dissidents themselves, became the “assembly point” of the movement. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that the author offers an interpretation of the moral motives of the initiator of the rally, Alexander Yesenin-Volpin. The main sources of the study are the unpublished diaries of 1961—1965 and the political statement of Yesenin-Volpin in August 1965, kept in the archives of the International Memorial in Moscow. Particular attention is paid to the case of the publication of the “letter of repentance” by the well-known Moscow dissenter Alexander Ginzburg in the newspaper “Vechernyaya Moskva” in June 1965; it had not previously attracted the attention of researchers. It is shown that, having condemned the “repentance” of a dissenter in a political statement in August 1965, Yesenin-Volpin formulated a “dissident” ethic known in the late 1960s — early 1970s. It has been proven that the statement summed up the dissident’s moral reflections in his diaries and became the source of the slogans with which Yesenin-Volpin was preparing for the «Glasnost Rally». As a result of the study, the author comes to the conclusion that in the summer of 1965 in the imagination of the dissident there was already a social community united by “dissident” values
Transcriptional activation of the a1(VI) collagen gene during myoblast differentiation is mediated by multiple GA boxes.
No full textDuring differentiation of ClC12 myoblasts in vitro, expression of alpha 1(VI) collagen mRNA was transiently stimulated severalfold. Promoter assays on cells transfected with chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) chimeric constructs have identified a region of the alpha 1(VI) a collagen promoter that increases CAT activity about 8-fold during differentiation. The region, which overlaps with transcription initiation sites, was shown to contain three protected segments (A, B, and C) in DNase I footprinting assays. The contact points between nuclear factors and the protected segments were determined by methylation interference assay and included the sequence GGGAGGG (GA box) in all segments. Experiments in which CAT constructs were cotransfected with double-stranded oligonucleotides containing the GA box suggested that this motif was necessary for induction. Transfections with deletion constructs of the natural promoter and with minipromoters made of three copies of A, B, or C showed that the elements have inducing activity and that elements C and, to a lower extent, B are stimulatory for basal transcription, whereas the contribution of A in this process is limited. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays with nuclear extracts from C2C12 cells indicated that the three GA box-containing elements bound several transcription factors, including Sp1. Comparison of the properties of the bands shifted under different experimental conditions (presence of 10 mM EDTA, heating of the nuclear extracts, addition of different concentrations of competitor oligonucleotides) established that A, B, and C probes form nine, eight and five main retarded complexes, respectively, and indicated that nuclear factors binding to C and B are subsets of proteins binding to A. UV cross-linking assays identified several peptides (seven with probe A, six with B, And five with C) in the range of 150-32 kDa. Comparison of the gel retardation pattern obtained with nuclear extracts from proliferating and differentiating cells revealed a particular increased intensity of two retarded bands. The data establish that multiple GA boxes mediate induction of the alpha 1(VI) collagen promoter during myoblast differentiation and suggest the attractive hypothesis that the effect may be related to variations of expression of transcription factors binding to these motifs
The painting technique of Konrad Witz: An example of experimentation with innovative materials in 15th century
No full textKonrad Witz represents an artist of great interest having worked in a period (first half of 15th century) of experimentation of materials, in the field of painting. The four paintings on wooden panels, kept at the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire in Genève (Switzerland), are a clear example of the artist’s will to pay attention to detail, to the brilliance of colours and to shades.
A multi-analytical approach was applied in order to obtain information about materials, the technique used by the artist and the state of conservation of the four paintings, with the perspective of a restoration work. This purpose was achieved thanks to the application of non-invasive techniques, i.e. in situ X-ray fluorescence (XRF) through portable instrument, and micro sampling for Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled to microanalysis (SEM-EDS), micro Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Gas-Chromatography coupled to Mass Spectrometry (GC–MS) analyses.
Results showed the presence of a mixed technique “grease tempera” and the artist’s research in the use of innovative materials and technique for that period, i.e. the presence of small glassy violet particles inside a red lacquer layer, made of silicon, aluminium, potassium, sodium and manganese, as revealed by XRF and SEM-EDS analyses
Identification of a recognition element for CAAT-enhancer binding proteins (C/EBPs) in the elastin promoter.
No full textDNase I footprinting experiments with a DNA fragment of the human elastin promoter have revealed a protected segment comprised between -156 and -172 nucleotides from the translation start site. Various types of gel retardation experiments indicate that the protected element binds different members of the C/EBP family of transcription factors. CAT (chloramphenicol acetyltransferase) fusion constructs carrying the wild type or a mutated promoter sequence were transfected into NIH3T3 and chick embryo aorta cells. The mutation significantly lowered CAT expression in NIH3T3 cells, but was ineffective in aorta cells. Cotransfection of the CAT promoter constructs with eucaryotic vectors expressing C/EBPs, did not affect the production of the reporter gene in NIH3T3 cells; on the contrary a several-fold increase of CAT activity was observed in aortic cells. This increase, however, was identical for the wild type and the mutated constructs. Taken together the data indicate that the elastin promoter contains a recognition site for proteins of the C/EBP family and that the function of this cis-acting element on basal elastin transcription varies with the cell type
Il soffitto ligneo policromo della chiesa di san Sebastiano a Venezia. Le indagini scientifiche per lo studio dei materiali e della tecnica pittorica
No full textIl soffitto ligneo policromo della chiesa di san Sebastiano a Venezia. Le indagini diagnostiche
No full textINDAGINI DI LABORATORIO SVELANO I MATERIALI E LA TECNICA PITTORICA DI GIORGIO VASARI NELLA PALA ALBERGOTTI
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