The End of Enterprise Risk Management

Enterprise risk management (ERM) has grown in significance since the mid-1990s to become a key resource in the conceptualization and design of risk management systems. We argue that this emphasis is misplaced and contributes to the problem of a divide between analysis and action. ERM may be relevant for regulators and others in need of proof of good governance, but its formulations have become progressively detached from the reality of modern financial organizations. We argue that buy-side risk management practices provide an alternative conception of risk management which is more grounded in operations and which avoids the problems of actionability created by controls-based ERM.

European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) skin and scale transcriptomes

Fish skin and their appendages, the mineralized scales, are important organs for protection and homeostasis, but little is known about their specific transcript or protein repertoire. This study used RNA-seq to generate transcriptome data for skin and scales in the European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), an important species for fisheries and aquaculture. RNA was extracted from the pectoral skin and from scales collected above the midline of immature one-year old sea bass. More than 20 x 10(6) reads were obtained for each tissue, using RNA-seq Illumina technology. De novo assembly resulted in 31,842 transcripts (of 500 base pairs or greater) for skin and 20,423 transcripts for scale. This dataset provides a useful resource for both aquaculture and fish conservation studies and for research into the physiology and molecular biology of fish skin and scales. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Foundation for Science and Technology of Portugal (FCT) [PTDC/AAG-GLO/4003/2012, CCMAR/Multi/04326/2013, SFRH/BPD/84033/2012

Accounting and the plasticity of valuation

This chapter explores exemplary moments of dissonance and innovation in accounting valuation. Examining the cases of value-added accounting, brand accounting, fair value accounting and impairment testing, this chapter traces debates and show that accounting valuation is ‘plastic’ due to both methodological variability and the different domains of worth that get registered within accounting concepts and techniques. Accounting is both a powerful vehicle of economization, valorising economic constructions of actors and things, and a practice which has been significantly destabilized by processes of financialization, namely ideas and practices of financial economics. The plasticity of accounting should not be read as weakness. This chapter confronts the apparent paradox that the power and reach of accounting as a practice of ordering and valorising has never been greater than at the time of crisis when its core practices of measurement and valuation are most contested and plural

Creativity, risk and the research impact agenda in the United Kingdom

This article describes the recent requirement for UK universities to account for the social and economic impact of their research, and asks whether this impact agenda may change the conduct of research itself. Three critical issues are highlighted: the epistemology of impact; the problem of quantifying qualities; and the likelihood of impact growing in significance and changing the landscape of research – so-called ‘impact creep’. Overall, the article identifies some features of the research impact agenda that pose risks to creativity and risk-taking by academics

Brazilian WHOQOL-OLD module version: a Rasch analysis of a new instrument

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the Brazilian version of WHOQOL-OLD Module and to test potential changes to the instrument to increase its psychometric adequacy. METHODS: A total of 424 older adults living in a city in Southern Brazil completed the WHOQOL-OLD instrument, in 2005. Rasch analysis was used to explore the psychometric performance of the scale, as implemented by the RUMM2020 software. Item-trait interaction, threshold disorders, presence of differential item functioning and item fit, were analyzed. RESULTS: Two ("death and dying" and "sensory abilities") out of six domains showed inadequate item-trait interactions. Rescoring the response scale and deleting the most misperforming items led to scale improvement. The evaluation of domains and items individually showed that the "intimacy" domain does perform well in contrast to the findings using the classical approach. In addition, the "sensory abilities" domain does not derive an interval measure in its current format. CONCLUSIONS: Unidimensionality and local independence were seen in all domains. Changes in the response scale and deletion of problematic items improved the scale's performance

Gill transcriptome response to changes in environmental calcium in the green spotted puffer fish

Abstract Background Calcium ion is tightly regulated in body fluids and for euryhaline fish, which are exposed to rapid changes in environmental [Ca2+], homeostasis is especially challenging. The gill is the main organ of active calcium uptake and therefore plays a crucial role in the maintenance of calcium ion homeostasis. To study the molecular basis of the short-term responses to changing calcium availability, the whole gill transcriptome obtained by Super Serial Analysis of Gene Expression (SuperSAGE) of the euryhaline teleost green spotted puffer fish, Tetraodon nigroviridis, exposed to water with altered [Ca2+] was analysed. Results Transfer of T. nigroviridis from 10 ppt water salinity containing 2.9 mM Ca2+ to high (10 mM Ca2+ ) and low (0.01 mM Ca2+) calcium water of similar salinity for 2-12 h resulted in 1,339 differentially expressed SuperSAGE tags (26-bp transcript identifiers) in gills. Of these 869 tags (65%) were mapped to T. nigroviridis cDNAs or genomic DNA and 497 (57%) were assigned to known proteins. Thirteen percent of the genes matched multiple tags indicating alternative RNA transcripts. The main enriched gene ontology groups belong to Ca2+ signaling/homeostasis but also muscle contraction, cytoskeleton, energy production/homeostasis and tissue remodeling. K-means clustering identified co-expressed transcripts with distinct patterns in response to water [Ca2+] and exposure time. Conclusions The generated transcript expression patterns provide a framework of novel water calcium-responsive genes in the gill during the initial response after transfer to different [Ca2+]. This molecular response entails initial perception of alterations, activation of signaling networks and effectors and suggests active remodeling of cytoskeletal proteins during the initial acclimation process. Genes related to energy production and energy homeostasis are also up-regulated, probably reflecting the increased energetic needs of the acclimation response. This study is the first genome-wide transcriptome analysis of fish gills and is an important resource for future research on the short-term mechanisms involved in the gill acclimation responses to environmental Ca2+ changes and osmoregulation.Peer Reviewe

Volatility Surface and Skewness in Live Cattle Futures Price Distributions with Application to North American BSE Announcements

options markets, live cattle, volatility, pricing density function, Financial Economics, Livestock Production/Industries, Risk and Uncertainty,