Recent Developments in the European Private Equity Markets

This paper examines market developments in venture capital and buyout investment in Europe and the United States, through the analysis of funds raised, investments and exits. It discusses the profitability differential of European venture capital investment in comparison with the United States and suggests that it could originate in the different ways in which research is financed and the unequal supply of financing, notably from business angels, for young companies that are not sufficiently mature for venture capital financing. Investment performance measures used are the internal rate of return (IRR) and investment multiples. The analysis covers aggregated industry returns and venture capital funds' returns aggregated by vintage year. It relies on the VentureXpert private equity and venture capital performance database, maintained by Thomson Venture Economics.Venture Capital, profitability, performance, IRR, Europe, United States, Raade, Dantas Machado Rosa

Profitability of venture capital investment in Europe and the United States

This paper examines the profitability of venture capital investment in Europe and the United States. It highlights the unfavourable profitability differential of European venture capital investment in comparison with the United States. The investment performance measures used are the internal rate of return (IRR) and investment multiples. The analysis covers aggregated industry returns and venture capital funds' returns aggregated by vintage year. It relies on the VentureXpert private equity and venture capital performance database, maintained by Thomson Venture Economics. It also considers developments in the private equity and venture capital markets in Europe and the United States.venture capital, profitability, performance, IRR, capital investment, Dantas Machado Rosa, Raade

Organic constitution of the CO3 chondrites and implications for asteroidal processes

This paper reports the organic constitution of the CO3 chondrites identified by 4D TOFMS in order to decipher the composition, structure and alteration history of the CO3 parent asteroid

The Moss (CO3) meteorite: an integrated isotopic, organic and mineralogical study

The recent Moss meteorite fall presents a unique opportunity to investigate the processes that operated on the CO3 parent body. The results of an integrated study indicate that alteration on the CO3 asteroid was more complex than previously envisaged

“Why on earth am I an English teacher? I am terrified of it.”: A study of teachers experiencing English speaking anxiety in Norwegian primary schools

Denne masteroppgaven er en kvalitativ studie av lærere som opplever muntlig språkvegring i engelsk når de underviser i norsk grunnskole. Å snakke foran forsamlinger har vist seg å være den mest skremmende faktoren innenfor språkvegring (Horwitz et al., 1986; MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991), noe som er en uunngåelig del av læreryrket. Denne masteroppgaven undersøker læreres oppfatninger og erfaringer rundt hva som har forårsaket deres språkvegring i engelsk, hva som utløser språkvegringen, hvordan de håndterer det, og hvilke følger det får for engelskundervisningen deres. Data ble samlet inn gjennom semi-strukturerte intervjuer og spørreskjema som ble analysert kvalitativt. Funn blir diskutert i lys av relevant teori (f.eks. Bandura, 1977; Krashen, 1987) og tidligere forskning (f.eks Aydin, 2016; Horwitz et al., 1986; Horwitz, 1996; Tum, 2015). De empiriske forskningsfunnene indikerer at muntlig språkvegring i engelsk kan forårsakes av erfaringer fra egen skolegang og en følelse av å ha begrensede ferdigheter i engelsk. Resultater antyder også at læreres muntlige språkvegring øker ved uforutsette situasjoner, frykt for å gjøre feil og en følelse av underlegenhet når de underviser faglig sterke elever i engelsk, hvilket er særlig fremtredende på mellomtrinnet. Dette blir forklart som et generasjonsskille i engelskferdigheter mellom elever og lærere forårsaket av økende eksponering for engelsk i Norge i dag. Blant funnene fremgår det at lærere bruker strategier som å snakke norsk, benytte seg av andre språkmodeller og ekstrem forberedelse til undervisning. Dette gir igjen store konsekvenser for engelskundervisningen, som f.eks. begrensninger i muntlige aktiviteter og mindre impulsiv tale. Funn indikerer også at lærere vil jobbe med å redusere sin muntlige språkvegring, så lenge metodene ikke innebærer økt språkvegring, som tradisjonelle strategier som observasjon og eksponering for mer undervisning. Åpenhet rundt temaet og et faglig nettverk for lærere med samme erfaringer blir foreslått som mulige strategi for å redusere læreres muntlige språkvegring i engelsk.This thesis is a qualitative study of teachers experiencing language anxiety when speaking English during teaching in Norwegian primary school. Speaking publicly has shown to be the most intimidating factor within the topic of language anxiety (Horwitz et al., 1986; MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991), which is an inevitable part of the teacher profession. This thesis examines teachers’ beliefs and experiences regarding what has caused their English speaking anxiety, what triggers their English speaking anxiety, how they cope, and what implications it has on their teaching practices. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and questionnaire, which was analysed qualitatively. Findings are discussed in relation to relevant theory (e.g., Bandura, 1977; Krashen, 1987) and previous research (e.g., Aydin, 2016; Horwitz et al., 1986; Horwitz, 1996; Tum, 2015). Findings from empirical data indicate that English speaking anxiety can be caused by experiences from own schooling and a feeling of having limited English proficiency. Results also imply that English speaking anxiety among teachers is triggered by factors such as unexpected situations, fear of making mistakes and a feeling of inferiority when teaching pupils of high-proficiency in English, particularly in upper primary. This is explained as a generation gap in English skills between pupils and teachers caused by growing exposure to English in Norway today. According to the findings, this leads teachers to make use of coping strategies like switching to L1, use other language models than themselves and extreme levels of preparation. This again may have great consequences for English teaching, such as limitations of oral activities and less spontaneous speech. Findings also indicate that teachers are willing to work towards reducing their English speaking anxiety, as long as methods do not trigger their anxiety further, such as traditional strategies like observation and exposure to teaching. Openness, and a possible network of fellow sufferers is suggested as a possible strategy to reduce teachers’ level of English speaking anxiety

Benchmarking through Performance Indicators for Norwegian Academic Libraries

Journal home page at https://www.rrbsi.ro/index.php/rrbsi/index.How can leadership and strategic planning in academic libraries be based on statistical evidence - evidence based leadership? In this paper, the authors present how the National Library of Norway has led the way in developing indicators for the public and the academic libraries. These indicators may be used either longitudinally or for benchmarking within or between libraries. The authors will also give examples of how libraries can find indicators to support benchmarking. The indicators chosen as examples in this papers were mainly economic indicators

Suomalainen myrkkypilleri eli omistusosuuteen kytketty lunastusvelvollisuus osakeyhtiössä

In Finland, the term poison pill (Finnish: myrkkypilleri) refers to a clause in a company’s articles of association, obligating any shareholder whose share of the stock or the voting rights in the company reaches or exceeds a certain level, to buy out the other shareholders if they so demand. The motivation for the adoption of such a clause is that it, ex ante, hinders takeover attempts by way of raising the price of control, and, ex post, secures a viable exit for the remaining shareholders after a shift in control. Thus, the Finnish poison pill is effectively and terminologically vastly different from the poison pill defensive measures used in the US. The validity of said clauses has been debated particularly in the last decade of the twentieth century. Arguments in favor of validity include the discretionary nature of the Limited Liability Companies Act, the amelioration of minority shareholder protection, certain opinions expressed in the travaux préparatoires of the LLC Act, and the importance of efficiency in the equities market. The most prominent argument against the validity of such clauses is that they would be in breach of the principle of transferability of shares. The Act provides, exhaustively, only two possible transfer restrictions to be adopted in the articles of association: the redemption clause and the consent clause. It has been argued that both systematic reasons and the wording of the Act show that the so-called poison pill clauses inflict restrictions to the transferability of shares that cannot be adopted in the articles of association. In Sweden, where statutory law also enumerates the lawful transfer restrictions in a very similar way, it has been accepted that a clause of this type is clearly in breach of the law. In the case KKO:2005:122, the Finnish Supreme Court found that such clauses are not in breach of the Act by nature. According to the Court’s decision, while the clauses do not, in the Court’s view, impose legal restrictions on the purchase of shares, their validity should be assessed case by case. In the case at hand the so-called poison pill clauses were exceptionally strict. The Court concluded that the provisions the company had adopted imposed an effective limitation on the acquisition of shares in the company. On these grounds, the court found that the clauses were in casu invalid. In conclusion, the validity of so-called poison pill clauses remains unclear. The aforementioned Supreme Court case does not outline the rules that should be taken into consideration when assessing the validity of the clauses. On this basis, the article tries to establish grounds for the assessment of the validity of so-called poison pill clauses as well as suggest legislative changes to mitigate the difficulties arising from the uncertain validity of a key anti-takeover provision.Suomenkielinen tiivistelmä puuttuu

Benchmarking through Performance Indicators for Norwegian Academic Libraries

How can leadership and strategic planning in academic libraries be based on statistical evidence - evidence based leadership? In this paper, the authors present how the National Library of Norway has led the way in developing indicators for the public and the academic libraries. These indicators may be used either longitudinally or for benchmarking within or between libraries. The authors will also give examples of how libraries can find indicators to support benchmarking. The indicators chosen as examples in this papers were mainly economic indicatorspublishedVersionOpen Access article. Published by Romanian Library Association 2015

Deep Eutectic Salt Formulations Suitable as Advanced Heat Transfer Fluids

Concentrating solar power (CSP) facilities are comprised of many miles of fluid-filled pipes arranged in large grids with reflective mirrors used to capture radiation from the sun. Solar radiation heats the fluid which is used to produce steam necessary to power large electricity generation turbines. Currently, organic, oil-based fluid in the pipes has a maximum temperature threshold of 400 °C, allowing for the production of electricity at approximately 15 cents per kilowatt hour. The DOE hopes to foster the development of an advanced heat transfer fluid that can operate within higher temperature ranges. The new heat transfer fluid, when used with other advanced technologies, could significantly decrease solar electricity cost. Lower costs would make solar thermal electricity competitive with gas and coal and would offer a clean, renewable source of energy. Molten salts exhibit many desirable heat transfer qualities within the range of the project objectives. Halotechnics developed advanced heat transfer fluids (HTFs) for application in solar thermal power generation. This project focused on complex mixtures of inorganic salts that exhibited a high thermal stability, a low melting point, and other favorable characteristics. A high-throughput combinatorial research and development program was conducted in order to achieve the project objective. Over 19,000 candidate formulations were screened. The workflow developed to screen various chemical systems to discover salt formulations led to mixtures suitable for use as HTFs in both parabolic trough and heliostat CSP plants. Furthermore, salt mixtures which will not interfere with fertilizer based nitrates were discovered. In addition for use in CSP, the discovered salt mixtures can be applied to electricity storage, heat treatment of alloys and other industrial processes