Preliminary results of the AMIGA engineering array at the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Auger Muons and Infill for the Ground Array (AMIGA) aims to both extend the detection range of the Pierre Auger Observatory down to energies $\sim 10^{16.5}~\mathrm{eV}$ and to measure the muon content of extensive air showers. To accomplish these goals, its detection system is composed of an array of coupled water-Cherenkov and scintillation detectors deployed in a graded triangular grid of 433 and 750\,m spacings. At each position, the scintillation detector is buried $2.3~\mathrm{m}$ deep so as to shield it from the air shower electromagnetic component and thus only measure the muon component. These muon detectors have $30~\mathrm{m^2}$ area split into modules, each of them highly segmented in 64 plastic-scintillator strips with an embedded wavelength-shifter optical fiber to transport light to an optical sensor located at the center of the module. During the engineering array phase (finished in November 2017) two module areas ($5~\mathrm{m^2}$ and $10~\mathrm{m^2}$) and two optical sensors (photo-multiplier tubes and silicon-photomultipliers) were tested. In this work, we present the final performance of the muon detectors equipped with silicon-photomultipliers which were thereafter selected as the baseline design for the AMIGA production phase. Analyses and results are based both on laboratory and field measurements.Comment: Proceeding of the UHECR 2018 conference, submitted to the forthcoming EPJ Web of Conference

In search of greater regulatory freedom, some banks resort to cross-border acquisitions

This type of regulatory arbitrage may be beneficial to both sides, write Andrew Karolyi and Alvaro Taboad

Do improvements in the information environment affect real investment decisions?

We examine how changes in the information environment can affect real investment decisions. Using the events surrounding mandatory adoption of IFRS as exogenous shocks in information asymmetry, we find a significant increase in firms’ investment-to-price sensitivity following IFRS adoption that persists for years after the adoption. These results are in line with the learning hypothesis and suggest that the improvements in the information environment lead to stock prices that are more informative, which enhances managers’ reliance on stock prices in making investment and other decisions. We document that this increase in investment-to-stock price sensitivity is stronger for firms in countries with weaker exante institutional and accounting quality as well as for firms that experience a larger improvement in stock price informativeness. Finally, we also show that higher investment-to-stock-price sensitivity is associated with improvements in performance.COMPETE, QREN, FEDER, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Equity offerings abroad and the adoption of IFRS : a test of the capital markets liability of foreignness

We examine how the reduction in information asymmetry brought about by the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) affects the adverse selection costs of issuing equity at home and abroad. In particular, we examine whether there has been a reduction in the costs of raising equity in foreign markets- the capital markets liability of foreignness (CMLOF). Consistent with the view that mandatory IFRS adoption reduces information asymmetry, we find an increase in equity issues following IFRS adoption. In addition, we find an increase in the probability of firms issuing equity (and in the amount of equity raised) in foreign markets following IFRS adoption, suggesting a reduction in CMLOF costs. These results are more pronounced for smaller firms, with lower analyst coverage, and for firms with more need of external finance. Finally, we find lower adverse reaction to the announcement of equity offerings in foreign markets following IFRS adoption.COMPETE, QREN, FEDER, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Equity offerings, stock price crash risk, and the impact of securities regulation: international evidence

We examine whether earnings manipulation around seasoned equity offerings (SEOs) is associated with an increase in the likelihood of a stock price crash post-issue and test whether the enactment of securities regulations attenuate the relation between SEOs and crash risk. Empirical evidence documents that managerial tendency to conceal bad news increases the likelihood of a stock price crash (Jin and Myers, 2006; Hutton, Marcus, and Tehranian, 2009). We test this hypothesis using a sample of firms from 29 EU countries that enacted the Market Abuse Directive (MAD). Consistent with our hypothesis, we find that equity issuers that engage in earnings management experience a significant increase in crash risk post-SEO relative to control groups of non-issuers; this effect is stronger for equity issuers with poor information environments. In addition, our findings show a significant decline in crash risk post-issue after the enactment of MAD that is stronger for firms that actively manage earnings. This decline in post-issue crash risk is more effective in countries with high ex-ante institutional quality and enforcement. These results suggest that the implementation of MAD helps to mitigate managers’ ability to manipulate earnings around SEOs.COMPETE, QREN, FEDER, FC

Gender quotas and bank risk

We assess the effects of board gender quota laws using a sample of banks from 39 countries. We document an increase in both stand-alone and systemic risk post-quota among banks that did not meet the quota prereform; the effect is stronger for banks in countries with a smaller pool of women in finance and low gender equality. We find that the propagation of poor governance practices by overlapping female directors and deterioration in the information environment post quota are likely channels driving the results. The evidence is consistent with some banks “gaming” the reform by strategically appointing insiders, which weakens the board’s monitoring function. Our results have policy implications and suggest that supply-side factors are key determinants of the outcome of mandated quotas

A new species of Astacilla (Crustacea: Isopoda: Valvifera) from the Le Danois Bank (N Spain, NE Atlantic), living on Placogorgia sp. (Cnidaria: Octocorallia) with notes on the cnidarian host

15 p.Located in the Cantabrian Sea (NE Atlantic), El Cachucho is the largest o?shore Marine Protected Area (MPA) in Spain. One of the most abundant keystone megafauna species occurring in this MPA is a yellow gorgonian of genus Placogorgia Wright and Studer (1889), occurring in relatively high densities in steep slopes with rocky outcrops at depths ranging 500?1200 m. Here, we describe a new species of isopod, Astacilla andresmeixidei sp. nov., living in association with a specimen of a yellow gorgonian collected at 525 m depth. Females of the new species are characterised by a trapezoidal pereonite 4 with a middorsal bifurcate tubercle on posterior margin; males have a rectangular pereonite 4 with small tubercles irregularly distributed and pereonite 3 with a mid-ventral process. The new species is distinguished from the most morphologically similar species Astacilla gor-gonophila Monod (1925) by its dorsal sculpture, having a shorter antenna 2 with a ?agellum of three articles plus a claw, and also by its geographic and bathymetric distribution. Phylogenetic analysis using the mitochondrial marker COI con?rmed that the new isopod is a member of the family Arcturidae and placed it in a clade, recovered with low support, including other species of the genus Astacilla Cordiner, 1793. As with other pre-viously described arcturids, we suggest that A. andresmeixidei sp. nov. is a commensal of the gorgonian using its branches to reach higher in the water column and thus increase its chances to get more particulate organic matter. Our morphological analyses on the gorgonian host, suggest that it belongs to the genus Placogorgia although in our phylogenetic results using the nuclear marker msh1 the gorgonian shows a?nities with the genus Paramuricea Kölliker (1865). This taxonomic inconsistency is discussed.Ministerio de Medio AmbienteUnión Europe

Liderazgo transformacional y comportamiento organizacional en el centro de salud de Santa María, distrito de Santa María – provincia Huaura, 2021

El estudio que se desarrolla tuvo como propósito principal determinar la relación que existe entre el liderazgo transformacional y el comportamiento organizacional, en El Centro De Salud De Santa María, Distrito De Santa María – Provincia Huaura, 2021. Las dos variables se sustentaron de forma teórica. La investigación fue del tipo básica, se desarrolló a través del modo científico, tuvo un enfoque cuantitativo, cuyo nivel fue descriptivo correlacional, de corte transversal y de diseño no experimental. La recogida de información se ejecutó mediante del instrumento de cuestionario con escala de Likert, la cual se realizó a 50 trabajadores del Centro de Salud de Santa María. Los resultados fueron procesados mediante Excel y el programa estadístico SPSS versión 25. El valor del Sig. Bilateral de 0.002, aprobó la Hipótesis alterna, afirmando que existe relación entre la variable de liderazgo transformacional y comportamiento organizacional, rechazando la Hipótesis nula. En lo que respecta a el coeficiente correlación de Spearman observando cuyo valor fue de 17.483, afirmando que existe una correlación significativa, de tal manera que nuestras variables Liderazgo Transformacional y Comportamiento Organizacional tienen una relación significativa, es decir al tener un mejor liderazgo transformacional los colaboradores tendrán un mejor comportamiento organizacional en la empresa