Social priorities of internal banking assortment (products) policy

Motivations of social responsibility, social orientation and social priorities are described in the context of special quasi social bank status and other credit organizations, Russian historic traditions, and specific peculiarities of bank management. Subjects and objects of social priorities, their concurring and alternative interests, goals and tasks are defined and explained on the basis of the analysis of theoretical and methodological insights, research and ranking of statistic data. Subjective, objective (institutional) and process concentrations of social priorities in bank management are framed. Benchmarks of social priorities, their levels and nominations are marked out. This work emphasizes and describes with relevant explanations such areas of socially oriented activity of banks as provision of banking services to enterprises and organizations of social areas and those that are entirely or partially socially oriented, financial and/or organizational participation in proper socially motivated events, financial and/or organizational participation in social projects of third parties including specialized ones, creation and selling of banking socially oriented products. Certain weak points and inaccuracy in implementing social projects by Russian banks are revealed. The subject matter and structure of internal banking policy, factors and terms and conditions that have an impact on its parameters concretized to the peculiarities of the assortment (products) policy are regarded. The formulated areas of social priorities are regarded as an optimized complex. On its basis, social components of preferences, limitations and prohibitions of the internal banking assortment (products) banking policy are developed and recommended.peer-reviewe

The diversification of banking capital sources and cash flow granularity in merger and acquisition transactions

The article analyzes banking merger and acquisition (M&A) market over the past three years. The conducted analysis has shown that there is a market outflow of foreign investors, while deals become larger, and banks are consolidating, including that with other non-banking sectors in order to strengthen market positions and consolidate capital, the cost of which is dependent on several factors. The authors have developed price parameters characterizing banking capitals involved in transactions on M&A market. The price parameters include inflation rate, present discounted value, tax level, capital structure, interest rates for attraction and placement of funds of credit institutions, as well as the parameters, which have not yet been considered in the existing theories. These are the diversification level of capital sources and the granularity of the banking cash flows. The authors put forward the hypothesis about the significant impact of these price parameters on the capital cost of banks involved in mergers and acquisitions (M&As), and proposed three optimization options, namely spatial, temporal, and spatiotemporal optimization. Confirmation of the hypothesis was reflected in spatiotemporal optimization of capital sources diversification and cash flow granularity of the credit organizations.peer-reviewe

Voting: a citizen's right, or duty? The case against compulsory voting.

The case of compulsory voting. The case against compulsory voting. Incentives: a modern alternative to compulsion

The Formation of Filopodia-Like Protrusions During Preparation of Cell Suspensions for Scanning Electron Microscopy

The standard preparation of cell suspensions (e.g., blood cells, cell suspensions derived from monolayer cultures or from various tissues, etc.) for scanning electron microscopy (SEM) includes fixation of the cells in suspension and subsequent dehydration and critical point drying (CPD) of the cells after their preliminary attachment to the special substrata. In the course of the SEM examination of cell suspensions of various origins, unusual morphological cell surface structures, filopodia-like protrusions (FLP), were consistently detected in 3-20% of the cells in the populations. FLP can be effectively observed only by using a stage tilt angle of no less than 30°. FLP were single or multiple thin threads extending from basal parts of a spherical cell and attaching to the substratum surface used. FLP strikingly resembled substratum-attached filopodia formed by a viable cell at its earliest stages of spreading. The percentages of the cells with FLP were not significantly affected by the character of cell fixation (primary aldehyde fixation alone or primary aldehyde with subsequent OsO4 post-fixation) or the raising of the temperature and pressure inside the CPD bomb. It seems that the protrusions imitating the natural cell surface structures can probably be formed at later stages of the preparation of cell suspensions for SEM, namely during dehydration and (or) CPD when the cells undergo substantial shrinkage. One of the possible mechanisms by which the cell shrinkage could induce FLP formation follows. A prefixed spherical cell which settles down to the substratum sticks to it at some discrete points on the cell surface. As a result of the subsequent cell shrinkage, FLP could be formed and then stretched, connecting the same points on the cell surface with the points of the initial cell-substratum adhesion

Viscosity Measurement of Silver Based Nano-inks

The paper deals with the analysis and viscosity measurement of five commonly available silver based nano-inks at different temperatures. The kind of solvent, dimension of nano-particles and temperature play a key role for the viscosity of nano-inks. For the controlling of the deposition process of nano-inks by inkjet printing technology, knowledge of the rheological properties of applied nano-inks are necessary. For this reason, this paper offers the theoretical description of applied test method as well as practical results from the viscosity measurements, which were done by rheometer MCR 502 Anton Paar. Furthermore, the paper offers the comparative study of the viscosity measurements of different kind of silver based nano-inks. The twin gap method was applied due to achieving of high accuracy of measurements

Metabolic and crystal arthropathies: 112. Rapid Improvement in Health-Related Quality of Life in Gouty Arthritis Patients Treated with Canakinumab (ACZ885) Compared to Triamcinolone Acetonide

Background: Canakinumab, a fully human anti-IL-1β antibody has been shown to control inflammation in gouty arthritis. This study evaluated changes in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients treated with canakinumab or triamcinolone acetonide (TA). Methods: An 8-wk, dose-ranging, active controlled, single-blind study in patients (≥18 to ≤80 years) with acute gouty arthritis flare, refractory to or contraindicated to NSAlDs and/or colchicine, were randomized to canakinumab 10, 25, 50, 90, 150 mg sc or TA 40 mg im. HRQoL was assessed using patient reported outcomes evaluating PCS and MCS, and subscale scores of SF-36® [acute version 2]) and functional disability (HAQ-DI©). Results: In canakinumab 150 mg group, the most severe impairment at baseline was reported for physical functioning and bodily pain; levels of 41.5 and 36.0, respectively, which improved in 7 days to 80.0 and 72.2 (mean increases of 39.0 and 35.6) and at 8 wks improved to 86.1 and 86.6 (mean increases of 44.6 and 50.6); these were higher than levels seen in the general US population. TA group, showed less improvement in 7 days (mean increases of 23.3 and 21.3 for physical function and bodily pain). Functional disability scores, measured by the HAQ-DI© decreased in both treatment groups (Table 1). Conclusions: Gouty arthritis patients treated with canakinumab showed a rapid improvement in physical and mental well-being based on SF-36® scores. In contrast to the TA group, patients treated with canakinumab showed improvement in 7 days in physical function and bodily pain approaching levels of the general population. Disclosure statement: U.A., A.F., V.M., D.R., P.S. and K.S. are employees and shareholders of Novartis Pharma AG. A.P. has received research support from Novartis Pharma AG. N.S. has received research support and consultancy fees from Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, has served on advisory boards for Novartis, Takeda, Savient, URL Pharma and EnzymeRx, and is/has been a member of a speakers' bureau for Takeda. A.S. has received consultation fees from Novartis Pharma AG, Abbott, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Essex, Pfizer, MSD, Roche, UCB and Wyeth. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interes

Terra Dispositions: A Lithospheric Investigation of Wet-Matter

Human intervention of the landscape by damming, filling wetlands and over-extracting is resulting in the rapid perversion of water bodies through the desertification or flooding of terrain and the ensuing contamination of reservoirs. In turn, these changes are disrupting ecosystems, reshaping geological borders, and causing irreversible damage that poses a threat to clean water supplies. As humans exert agency over local hydrology, there is scarce consideration of the ensuing ecological consequences. This thesis aims to expose the ecological transformations of territories laced with human agency by examining the residues left by water in order to deviate from the misplaced nostalgia of a return to nature in favor of a critical awareness. Clay, a residue historically significant for its elasticity and widespread availability, becomes a registration of these transformations. Through the integration of traditional slip-casting and contemporary digital fabrication methods, the thesis attempts to reveal these changes through the form-making of a temporal ecological monument