The economic impact of merger control legislation

Based on a unique dataset of legislative changes in industrial countries, we identify events that strengthen the competition control of mergers and acquisitions, analyze their impact on banks and non-financial firms and explain the different reactions observed with specific regulatory characteristics of the banking sector. Covering nineteen countries for the period 1987 to 2004, we find that more competition-oriented merger control increases the stock prices of banks and decreases the stock prices of non-financial firms. Bank targets become more profitable and larger, while those of non-financial firms remain mostly unaffected. A major determinant of the positive bank returns is the degree of opaqueness that characterizes the institutional setup for supervisory bank merger reviews. The legal design of the supervisory control of bank mergers may therefore have important implications for real activity

The Ebony Tower: Text and Intertexts

Fowles\u27s insistence in "A Personal Note" and elsewhere that the four short stories that make up The Ebony Tower collection were variations both on the themes and on the narrative methods employed in his previous novels interestingly contradicts the reaction of Fowles\u27s own editor and of the first professional reviewers, who were unable to see any kind of connexion among them. My purpose is to analyse the short story that gives the whole collection its title, "The Ebony Tower," with a view to establishing the intratextual form and meaning of the short story proper and its intertextual connexions with Fowles\u27s avowed major sources: medieval romance and The Magus.La insistencia de Fowles en «Una nota personal» y en otros lugares en que los cuatro relatos que componen la colección La torre de ébano eran variaciones tanto de los temas como de los métodos narrativos empleados en sus novelas anteriores contradice curiosamente la reacción del propio editor de Fowles y de los primeros críticos profesionales, que fueron incapaces de ver ningún tipo de conexión entre ellos. Mi propósito es analizar el relato corto que da título a toda la colección, «La torre de ébano», con vistas a establecer la forma y el significado intratextuales del relato corto propiamente dicho y sus conexiones intertextuales con las principales fuentes declaradas de Fowles: el romance medieval y El mago

Studies and application of the enzymes of fluorometabolite biosynthesis in Streptomyces cattleya

This thesis focuses on studies investigating the structure of intermediates involved in fluorometabolite biosynthesis, and the potential applications of the fluorinase enzyme in positron emission tomography (PET). Chapter 1 introduces the rare natural occurrence of fluorinated compounds. The bacterium Streptomyces cattleya is known to biosynthesise two fluorinated secondary metabolites: the toxin fluoroacetate (FAc) and the antibiotic 4-fluorothreonine (4-FT). The enzymes and intermediates identified on this fluorometabolite biosynthetic pathway in S. cattleya, prior to this research, are discussed in detail. Chapter 2 presents studies towards the unambiguous structural identification of (3R,4S)-5- deoxy-5-fluoro-D-ribulose-1-phosphate (5-FRulP) as the third fluorinated intermediate on the biosynthetic pathway to fluoroacetate and 4-fluorothreonine in S. cattleya. Chapter 3 describes the synthetic routes to key molecules, necessary as reference compounds and substrates, to underpin the subsequent studies in this thesis. In particular, synthetic routes to 5'-deoxy-5'-fluoroadenosine (5'-FDA), 5'-deoxy-5'-fluoroinosine (5'-FDI), 5-deoxy-5-fluoro-D-ribose (5-FDR) and 5-deoxy-5-fluoro-D-xylose (5-FDX) are described. Chapter 4 describes the use of the fluorinase enzyme from S. cattleya as a tool for the synthesis of new [¹⁸F]-labelled sugars with potential application in positron emission tomography (PET). A new route to 5-deoxy-5-[¹⁸F]fluoro-D-ribose ([¹⁸F]FDR) is developed in a two-step enzymatic synthesis. A total of three potential radiotracers ([¹⁸F]FDA, [¹⁸F]FDR and [¹⁸F]FDI) are synthesised using fluorinase-coupled enzyme reactions. In addition, in vitro studies are reported with these [¹⁸F]-labelled sugars to investigate their uptake and potential as PET radiotracers in cancer cells. A preliminary rat imaging study with [¹⁸F]FDA is reported. Chapter 5 details the experimental procedures for the compounds synthesised in this research and the biological procedures for chemo-enzymatic syntheses and protein purification

Imagining the blitz and its aftermath: the narrative performance of trauma in Sarah Waters’s the night watch

Critics agree that Sarah Waters’ fourth novel, The Night Watch (2006), marks a turn in her fiction, away from the farcical tone of her first three neo-Victorian novels and towards an ever-more serious concern with the changes in class structures and gender roles brought about by the fact of war. The novel tells the parallel stories of three women and one man living in various areas of London in the 1940s. Though they have different social status, ideology, and sexual orientation, they share similarly traumatic experiences as, together with war trauma, they harbour individual feelings of loss and/or shame related to their deviance from patriarchal norms. The article seeks to demonstrate that the palimpsestic and backward structure of the novel performs formally the ‘belatedness of trauma’ (Caruth 1995, pp. 4–5), in an attempt to respond aesthetically and ethically to the ‘mnemonic void’ (Freud [1014] 1950) or ‘black hole’ (Pitman and Orr 1990; Bloom 2010; Van der Kolk and McFarlane [1998] 2004) left both in the characters’ traumatised psyches and in our cultural memory of the 1940s by the erased memories of the decade’s non-normative or dissident others

The Impact of Voluntary Audits A Study on the Impact of Voluntary Audits on the Credit Ratings, Financial Costs, and Profitability of Small Limited Liability Companies in Norway

Small limited liability companies in Norway have been allowed to opt out of voluntary audits since May 1, 2011 (Auditors Act, 2020, §2-1). This change aimed to reduce regulatory burdens and achieve cost savings for small businesses. Allowing voluntary audits maintains the opportunity for businesses to demonstrate financial transparency and reliability to stakeholders, including investors, creditors, and partners, who might require audited financial statements. In this study, we explore the effects of the option for voluntary audits on small firms, focusing on credit ratings, financial costs, and profitability. We use a detailed dataset on all businesses in Norway, provided by Proff Forvalt. To conduct the study, we implement various regression techniques and present our results. We find a positive effect of opting for voluntary audits on increased credit ratings. However, we do not find evidence that voluntary audits lead to lower financial costs. Additionally, the results suggest a negative association between voluntary audits and profitability

Pennine Madness and Visionary Elements in Jeanette Winterson's Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

Oranges Are not the Only Fruit es una novela escrita por Jeanette Winterson cuando ella tenía 24 años, en 1985, sobre una mujer que se declara lesbiana y su búsqueda de la propia identidad. La novela fue publicada por Pandora Press, competidora directa de las editoriales Virago y Women’s Press. Esta editorial es feminista, lo cual condicionó sus posteriores críticas como novela autobiográfica y de humor. La obra ha sido estudiada principalmente bajo tres puntos de vista diferenctes: a) bajo la perspectiva feminista y lesbiana; b) bajo la mirada más profunda entre la relación madre e hija; y c) enfocada a su búsqueda particular de la identidad y del amor. Habiendo trabajado con estos tres puntos de vista de la crítica ya existente, decidí tomar una dirección nuva y dedicar mi Trabajo de fin de máster a esta novela, pero, enfocada, y esto es lo novedoso, desde el punto de vista de la propia autora, Jeantte Winterson y de lo que ella misma dice en su autobiografía: Donde naces, el entorno en que naces, el lugar, la historia del lugar. Como esa historia se acopla con tu propia historia, te hace quien eres […]. Éramos de clase trabajadora. Éramos la masa delante de las puertas de la fábrica […]. Y no quería desaparecer. No quería vivir y morir en el mismo lugar […]. Soñaba con escapar. Solo quería marcharme. Este comentario es la base de lo que yo llamo “Pennine madness”, la locura que se refleja en la región y el carácter de la gente que vive allí, algo que conozco bien, entiendo y he visto personalmente. La locura de los Peninos no es fácil de definir porque es una condición mental, una manera de pensar y ver la vida que afecta al espíritu de una personal hasta tal punto que, emocionalmente, la gente se transforma: nerviosa, irracioanly con una ernorme pasión y energía. La locura de los Peninos es una fuerza interior que puede ser muy destructiva para la gente del entorno. También significa estar abierto a los poderes sobrenaturales, los elementos d ela tierra, la conexción con la naturaleza. Ésta habla y la gente la escucha: esa es la razón por la ue doy ejemplos de Cumbres borrascosas, la novela de Emily Brontë y menciono a Ted Hughes, entre otros. La protagonista de la novela, su madre y los personajes menores de ésta tienen abundantes características de la locura de los Peninos, lo que hace al argumento de la novela más profundo y mucho más humano que el que se derivaría de un simple análisis superficial sobre la orientación sexual de la joven Jeanette, la búsquda de su propia identidad o su proceso de maduración. A través del poder de la imaginación podemos ver los elementos visionarios expuestos en la novela y también la influencia del inconformismo religioso y de William Blake. Todo esto lo utilizará la protagonista para decidir si quiere conformarse con la vida que su madre había planeado para ella, o ser un profeta y elegir su propia vida

The role of mothers-in-law in antenatal care decision-making in Nepal: a qualitative study

Background Antenatal care (ANC) has been recognised as a way to improve health outcomes for pregnant women and their babies. However, only 29% of pregnant women receive the recommended four antenatal visits in Nepal but reasons for such low utilisation are poorly understood. As in many countries of South Asia, mothers-in-law play a crucial role in the decisions around accessing health care facilities and providers. This paper aims to explore the mother-in-law’s role in (a) her daughter-in-law’s ANC uptake; and (b) the decision-making process about using ANC services in Nepal. Methods In-depth interviews were conducted with 30 purposively selected antenatal or postnatal mothers (half users, half non-users of ANC), 10 husbands and 10 mothers-in-law in two different (urban and rural) communities. Results Our findings suggest that mothers-in-law sometime have a positive influence, for example when encouraging women to seek ANC, but more often it is negative. Like many rural women of their generation, all mothers-in-law in this study were illiterate and most had not used ANC themselves. The main factors leading mothers-in-law not to support/ encourage ANC check ups were expectations regarding pregnant women fulfilling their household duties, perceptions that ANC was not beneficial based largely on their own past experiences, the scarcity of resources under their control and power relations between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law. Individual knowledge and social class of the mothers-in-law of users and non-users differed significantly, which is likely to have had an effect on their perceptions of the benefits of ANC. Conclusion Mothers-in-law have a strong influence on the uptake of ANC in Nepal. Understanding their role is important if we are to design and target effective community-based health promotion interventions. Health promotion and educational interventions to improve the use of ANC should target women, husbands and family members, particularly mothers-in-law where they control access to family resources

"In Her Own Right": Narrative Voice and Ideology in Angela Carter's "The Bloody Chamber"

ABSTRACT The aim of this essay is to demonstrate how narrative voice and style change the ideology of the same story. In the decade of the 1960s, in a society in which equal rights between men and women continued to be questioned, Angela Carter wrote short stories based on folk tales but from a different perspective. She highlighted the figure of women in line with the feminist movement of the 1960s and in opposition to the traditional patriarchal ideology. In "The Bloody Chamber", a story based on the folk tale "Blue Beard", Carter changed point of view and style in order to reflect her feminist ideology. She reverses the stereotyped roles of the characters and turns the protagonist into the narrator of her own story. Moreover, her mother represents feminism in itself since she challenges patriarchal ideas about women. So, she influences the protagonist's behaviour through the way she educates her and she is also her saviour at the end of the story. This fact means that the most important roles in the story, both of narrator and saviour, are carried out by women. This contrasts with Charles Perrault’s version of "Blue Beard", in which these roles are played by male characters while women are left behind as passive and secondary and voiceless characters. Thus, while the folk tale warned women about the terrible consequences of their actions, Carter claimed that women were victims of a patriarchal society in which men, despite of their atrocities, are represented as heroes and women were considered inferior to them. The narrative mode employed in each story reflects one or the other ideology. RESUMEN Este ensayo tiene como objeto mostrar cómo la voz y el estilo narrativo cambian la ideología de una misma historia. En la década de 1960, en una sociedad en la que la igualdad de derechos entre hombres y mujeres seguían siendo cuestionadas, Angela Carter escribió historias cortas basadas en cuentos tradicionales pero con un enfoque distinto, realzando la figura de la mujer según el movimiento feminista de los años 60 y en oposición a la tradicional ideología patriarcal. En "The Bloody Chamber", una historia basada en el cuento popular "Blue Beard", Carter hace un cambio de punto de vista y estilo narrativo para reflejar su ideología feminista. Invierte los roles estereotipados de los personajes y convierte a la protagonista en la narradora de su propia historia. Además, su madre es la que representa el feminismo en sí, ya que desafía las ideas patriarcales sobre las mujeres. Así, la madre influye en el comportamiento de la protagonista a través de la educación que le da y es su salvadora al final de la historia. Esto significa que los roles más importantes, tanto el de narradora como el de salvadora, son desarrollados por mujeres, contrastando con la versión de Charles Perrault de "Blue Beard" en el que estos papeles son masculinos, quedando las mujeres como personajes pasivos en un segundo plano y sin voz. De este modo, mientras el cuento tradicional prevenía a las mujeres sobre las terribles consecuencias de sus actos, Carter defiende que las mujeres son víctimas de una sociedad patriarcal en la que los hombres, pese a sus atrocidades, son representados como héroes y las mujeres son consideradas inferiores a ellos. El modo narrativo utilizado en cada una de las historias refleja una u otra ideología

Empiricism, the Scientia Umbrarum and the Reconciliation of the Two Cultures in Peter Ackroyd’s Hawksmoor

Peter Ackroyd (London, 1949–) is considered to be one of the most productive and inventive writers of the 1980s and a leading figure in contemporary English fiction. He occupies a central position in the generation of English writers of historiographic metafiction, the trend Linda Hutcheon considers to be the best literary expression of postmodernism. In keeping with the contradictory nature of postmodernist art, historiographic metafiction expresses incredulity toward grand narratives by levelling history and literature to the same status of human discourse. Echoing this, in Hawksmoor, Ackroyd defends not only the historical coexistence of the two basic forms of human knowledge: reason and intuition, represented in the novel by empiricism and the Scientia Umbrarum, but also their complementarity, through the juxtaposition of two plot lines. Thus, he alternates the story of the mysterious murders committed near the churches built by the early eighteenth-century architect, Nicholas Dyer, with the attempts of detective Nicholas Hawksmoor to puzzle out a similar round of murders committed in the same places in the twentieth century. The aim of the Dissertation is to analyse the dual plot and structure and the symbolism of the novel with a view to demonstrating that Ackroyd defends not only the historical coexistence of reason and magic, logic and intuition, as basic forms of knowledge, but also their complementarity, thus undermining the dominant assumptions since the Age of Reason that there is a radical antagonism and incompatibility between them. Together with this, the Dissertation argues that the confrontation of reason and magic initiated in the Enlightenment may be extended to the twentieth century, when the visibility of this separation may be said to have culminated in C. P. Snow’s lecture on the two cultures