A number of studies have found little economic impact of board gender diversity on firm performance. We return to this issue in the context of large European firms. Our contribution is twofold. ...First, using information on the gender of CEOs children as a source of exogenous variation in female director appointments, we demonstrate a robust positive effect of female board representation on firm performance. Second, while previous work has considered female representation broadly, we focus on membership of board committees as a proxy for active involvement in corporate governance. We demonstrate economically meaningful positive effects on performance of female representation on board committees. Our evidence is supportive of an economic rationale for increased female representation on corporate boards.
In order to maintain a smooth optical surface the corneal epithelium has to continuously renew itself so as to maintain its function as a barrier to fluctuating external surroundings and various ...environmental insults. After trauma, the cornea typically re-epithelializes promptly thereby minimizing the risk of infection, opacification or perforation. A persistent epithelial defect (PED) is usually referred to as a non-healing epithelial lesion after approximately two weeks of treatment with standard therapies to no avail. They occur following exposure to toxic agents, mechanical injury, and ocular surface infections and are associated with significant clinical morbidity in patients, resulting in discomfort or visual loss. In the case of deeper corneal injury and corneal pathology the wound healing cascade can also extend to the corneal stroma, the layer below the epithelium. Although significant progress has been made in recent years, pharmaco-therapeutic agents that promote corneal healing remain limited. This article serves as a review of current standard therapies, recently introduced alternative therapies gaining in popularity, and a look into the newest developments into ocular wound healing.
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In 2002, an amendment to UK parliamentary regulations removed restrictions on the participation of Members of Parliament (MPs) in parliamentary proceedings related to their corporate interests. Using ...this amendment, we demonstrate higher equity returns for FTSE 350 firms connected to an MP due to the increase in the expected value of political access. Following the amendment, MPs with corporate connections are more likely to be members of parliamentary select and joint committees where legislative bills are drafted. They also attend more committee meetings relative to MPs without corporate connections. Firms react to the increased value of direct political access by rebalancing their political activities. We demonstrate that firms shift board appointments towards sitting MPs, away from other politicians, and reduce their political donations. The benefits of higher political access are greater for firms with family ownership and lower accounting transparency.
Physically attractive individuals experience a range of advantages in adulthood including higher earnings; yet, how attractiveness influences earlier consequential decisions is not well understood. ...This paper estimates the effect of attractiveness on engagement in risky behaviours in adolescence. We find marked effects across a range of risky behaviours with notable contrasts. Attractive adolescents are more likely to engage in drinking; the gap between attractive and unattractive adolescents in terms of propensity to drink constitutes about 15% of the baseline mean. In contrast, more attractive adolescents are less likely to smoke, use drugs, or practice unprotected sex. Investigation into the underlying channels reveals that physically attractive adolescents are more popular, and have higher self-esteem and personality attractiveness. Popularity leads to a higher likelihood of engagement in “cool” risky behaviours and a lower likelihood for “uncool” behaviours, while self-esteem and personality generally predict a lower likelihood of engaging in all risky behaviours. Our findings suggest physical attractiveness in adolescence carries long-lasting consequences over the life course.
Abstract It is well known that gap junctions play an important role in wound healing, and bioactive glass (BG) has been shown to help healing when applied as a wound dressing. However, the effects of ...BG on gap junctional communication between cells involved in wound healing is not well understood. We hypothesized that BG may be able to affect gap junction mediated cell behavior to enhance wound healing. Therefore, we set out to investigate the effects of BG on gap junction related behavior of endothelial cells in order to elucidate the mechanisms through which BG is operating. In in vitro studies, BG ion extracts prevented death of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) following hypoxia in a dose dependent manner, possibly through connexin hemichannel modulation. In addition, BG showed stimulatory effects on gap junction communication between HUVECs and upregulated connexin43 (Cx43) expression. Furthermore, BG prompted expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and basic fibroblast growth factor as well as their receptors, and vascular endothelial cadherin in HUVECs, all of which are beneficial for vascularization. In vivo wound healing results showed that the wound closure of full-thickness excisional wounds of rats was accelerated by BG with reduced inflammation during initial stages of healing and stimulated angiogenesis during the proliferation stage. Therefore, BG can stimulate wound healing through affecting gap junctions and gap junction related endothelial cell behaviors, including prevention of endothelial cell death following hypoxia, stimulation of gap junction communication and upregulation of critical vascular growth factors, which contributes to the enhancement of angiogenesis in the wound bed and finally to accelerate wound healing. Although many studies have reported that BG stimulates angiogenesis and wound healing, this work reveals the relationship between BG and gap junction connexin 43 mediated endothelial cell behavior and elucidates one of the possible mechanisms through which BG stimulates wound healing.
Recent vehicle charging schemes aim to reduce pollution and other congestion externalities. We reexamine the London congestion charge introduced in 2003 and demonstrate significant reductions in ...several pollutants relative to controls. We even find evidence of reductions per mile driven suggesting amelioration of a congestion externality. Yet, we find a more robust countervailing increase in harmful NO2 likely reflecting the disproportionate share of diesel vehicles exempt from the congestion charge. This unintended consequence informs on-going concern about pollution from diesel-based vehicles and provides a cautionary note regarding substitution effects implicit in many congestion charging schemes.
•London congestion charge introduced in 2003 reduced several pollutants.•Reductions in pollution per mile driven suggests amelioration of a congestion externality.•Increases in harmful NO2 reflect substitution effects.•DD, time-trend DD, PSM and Synthetic control methods are implemented.
Using US panel data on young workers, we demonstrate that those who receive performance pay are more likely to consume alcohol and illicit drugs. Recognizing that this likely reflects worker sorting, ...we first control for risk, ability, and personality proxies. We further mitigate sorting concerns by introducing worker fixed effects, worker-employer match fixed effects, and worker-employer-occupation match fixed effects. Finally, we present fixed effect IV estimates. All of these estimates continue to indicate a greater likelihood of substance use when a worker receives performance pay. The results support conjectures that stress and effort increase with performance pay and that alcohol and drug use is a coping mechanism for workers.
Cognitive decline amongst older people is associated with poor health and lower quality of life. Previous studies demonstrate that retirement is a particularly critical period for cognitive decline ...and highlight the importance of post-retirement behaviours. Using longitudinal data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, this study examines the effect of information technology usage on cognitive function, focusing specifically on internet usage. To address the endogenous relationship between cognitive function and IT usage, we adopt an instrumental variable approach that exploits variation in pre-retirement computer exposure due to the uneven computerisation of occupations across countries during the 1980s and 1990s. Our results suggest moderating effects of IT usage on the cognitive decline of retirees. These results are concentrated amongst people who worked in middle-skill occupations, occupations that have previously been shown to have experienced large-scale computerisation.
In a rare effort to internalize congestion costs, London recently instituted charges for traveling by car to the central city during peak hours. Although the theoretical influence on the number and ...severity of traffic accidents is ambiguous, we show that the policy generated a substantial reduction in both the number of accidents and in the accident rate. At the same time, the spatial, temporal and vehicle specific nature of the charge may cause unintended substitutions as traffic and accidents shift to other proximate areas, times and to uncharged vehicles. We demonstrate that, to the contrary, the congestion charge reduced accidents and the accident rate in adjacent areas, times and for uncharged vehicles. These results are consistent with the government's objective to use the congestion charge to more broadly promote public transport and change driving habits.
•Estimate effect of London congestion charge on accidents and accident rates•Theoretical effect is ambiguous, less traffic but higher speeds.•Show robust, large reductions in number and rate of accidents and fatalities•These reductions spill over to proximate areas, times and uncharged vehicles.
Connexin43 hemichannels have been implicated in many inflammatory diseases including diabetic retinopathy (DR). Particularly, hemichannel-mediated ATP release has been associated with inflammasome ...pathway activation. Using an in vitro cell culture model, we evaluated hemichannel roles in response to inflammatory cytokines under high glucose (HG) conditions and propose a mechanism by which a connexin43 hemichannel-mediated autocrine ATP feedback loop augments chronic inflammatory disease.
Retinal pigment epithelial cells were exposed to HG, 10ng/mL pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β and TNF-α, or a combination of both. Quantitative Cytometric Bead Array analysis was used to measure the release of inflammatory cytokines IL-6, IL-8, MCP-1, and sICAM-1, as well as VEGF and ATP. To determine the role of connexin43 hemichannels in the disease process, changes in cytokine and ATP release were evaluated following treatment with Peptide5, a connexin43 hemichannel blocker. Immunohistochemistry was used to compare NLRP3 inflammasome assembly under control and treatment conditions.
Co-application of HG and cytokines increased the secretion of IL-6, IL-8, MCP-1, sICAM-1, VEGF and ATP, to significantly higher levels compared to cytokines alone. Peptide5 prevented cytokine release and prevented the increase in ATP release following co-application of HG and cytokines. Adding exogenous ATP negated Peptide5-mediated protection against inflammatory cytokine release in injury conditions.
Our findings show that connexin43 hemichannels play an important role in the amplification and perpetuation of inflammation by mediating an ATP autocrine feedback loop in the inflammasome/inflammation cycle.
Targeting connexin43 hemichannels offers a potential therapeutic strategy to break the inflammatory cycle in diseases such as DR, but also other chronic inflammatory indications.
•Hyperglycaemia and inflammation synergistically increase inflammatory cytokine release.•Peptide5, a connexin43 hemichannel blocker, decreases inflammatory cytokine and ATP release.•Exogenous ATP reverses Peptide5 protection.•Connexin43 hemichannel mediated ATP release amplifies the inflammasome response in an autocrine fashion.
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