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Discrete Groups (discrete + groups)
Selected AbstractsPatterns of Compliance with the German Corporate Governance CodeCORPORATE GOVERNANCE, Issue 4 2008Till Talaulicar ABSTRACT Manuscript Type: Empirical Research Question/Issue: This study investigates whether the form of compliance with the recommendations of the German Corporate Governance Code (GCGC) appears to be idiosyncratic to a specific company or features similarities across firms. The major aim of this research is thus to explore the ability of a classification of compliance patterns to account for the similarities and differences between firms regarding their conformity with the GCGC. Research Findings/Insights: Based on seven dimensions of code compliance, cluster analysis is used to identify discrete groups of companies with similar patterns of code observance. We determine eight patterns of compliance which are characterized by distinct forms of code conformity. Theoretical Academic Implications: The identified cluster solution does not merely reflect the number of rejected code recommendations. Rather, companies with very similar rates of overall compliance with the GCGC are assigned to different clusters because they feature, at the same time, different patterns of code conformity. These findings imply that governance prediction and governance performance studies have to overcome overly aggregated measures of code compliance which only incorporate the number of rejected code recommendations. Practitioner/Policy Implications: This study provides evidence to practitioners and policy makers that firms can be classified regarding their compliance with the code recommendations. In-depth analyses of the identified patterns of compliance furthermore reveal that some patterns may indicate less well substantiated deviations from the code and partly even decouplings of the declared compliance practices. [source] Identification of brain neurons expressing the dopamine D4 receptor gene using BAC transgenic miceEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 9 2006Daniela Noaín Abstract The dopamine D4 receptor (D4R) has received considerable interest because of its higher affinity for atypical antipsychotics, the extremely polymorphic nature of the human gene and the genetic association with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Several efforts have been undertaken to determine the D4R expression pattern in the brain using immunohistochemistry, binding autoradiography and in situ hybridization, but the overall published results present large discrepancies. Here, we have explored an alternative genetic approach by studying bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) transgenic mice that express enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) under the transcriptional control of the mouse dopamine D4 receptor gene (Drd4). Immunohistochemical analysis performed in brain sections of Drd4 -EGFP transgenic mice using an anti-EGFP polyclonal antibody showed that transgenic expression was predominant in deep layer neurons of the prefrontal cortex, particularly in the orbital, prelimbic, cingulate and rostral agranular portions. In addition, discrete groups of Drd4 -EGFP labelled neurons were observed in the anterior olfactory nucleus, ventral pallidum, and lateral parabrachial nucleus. EGFP was not detected in the striatum, hippocampus or midbrain as described using other techniques. Given the fine specificity of EGFP expression in BAC transgenic mice and the high sensitivity of the EGFP antibody used in this study, our results indicate that Drd4 expression in the adult mouse brain is limited to a more restricted number of areas than previously reported. Its leading expression in the prefrontal cortex supports the importance of the D4R in complex behaviours depending on cortical dopamine (DA) transmission and its possible role in the etiopathophysiology of ADHD. [source] Loss of STARD10 expression identifies a group of poor prognosis breast cancers independent of HER2/Neu and triple negative statusINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue 6 2010Niamh C. Murphy Abstract The phospholipid transfer protein STARD10 cooperates with c-erbB signaling and is overexpressed in Neu/ErbB2 breast cancers. We investigated if STARD10 expression provides additional prognostic information to HER2/neu status in primary breast cancer. A published gene expression dataset was used to determine relationships between STARD10 and HER2 mRNA levels and patient outcome. The central findings were independently validated by immunohistochemistry in a retrospective cohort of 222 patients with breast cancer with a median follow-up of 64 months. Kaplan,Meier and Cox proportional hazards analyses were used for univariate and multivariate analyses. Patients with low STARD10 or high HER2 tumor mRNA levels formed discrete groups each associated with a poor disease-specific survival (p = 0.0001 and p = 0.0058, respectively). In the immunohistochemical study low/absent STARD10 expression i.e. ,10% positive cells was observed in 24 of 222 (11%) tumors. In a univariate model, low/absent STARD10 expression was significantly associated with decreased patient survival (p = 0.0008). In multivariate analyses incorporating tumor size, tumor grade, lymph node status, ER, PR and HER2 status, low STARD10 expression was an independent predictor of death from breast cancer (HR: 2.56 (95% CI: 1.27,5.18), p = 0.0086). Furthermore, low/absent STARD10 expression, HER2 amplification and triple negative status were independent prognostic variables. Loss of STARD10 expression may provide an additional marker of poor outcome in breast cancer identifying a subgroup of patients with a particularly adverse prognosis, which is independent of HER2 amplification and the triple negative phenotype. [source] Amino-acid geochronology and the British Pleistocene: secure stratigraphical framework or a case of circular reasoning?JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE, Issue 7 2002Danny McCarroll Abstract Aminostratigraphy is central to the recently revised correlation of Quaternary deposits in the British Isles, providing a link between terrestrial deposits and marine Oxygen Isotope Stages. The central tenet of British aminostratigraphy, however, that shells from the same interglacial yield very similar ratios, so that the characteristic ratios from different interglacials are distinct, remains uncertain. The data available suggest that amino-acid ratios from different interglacials do not fall into discrete groups, but overlap considerably. It is therefore not valid to assign individual shells to Oxygen Isotope Stages simply on the basis of their amino-acid ratios, which means that filtering data to remove high or low values, on the assumption that they represent reworked shells, is unacceptable. The range of ,characteristic ratios' assigned to British warm stages may have been underestimated and the degree of separation between them overestimated. Amino-acid ratios should be treated as sample data that are naturally variable. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Upper limb musculoskeletal stress markers among middle Holocene foragers of Siberia's Cis-Baikal regionAMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 4 2009Angela R. Lieverse Abstract This evaluation of musculoskeletal stress markers (MSMs) in the Cis-Baikal focuses on upper limb activity reconstruction among the region's middle Holocene foragers, particularly as it pertains to adaptation and cultural change. The five cemetery populations investigated represent two discrete groups separated by an 800,1,000 year hiatus: the Early Neolithic (8000,7000/6800 cal. BP) Kitoi culture and the Late Neolithic/Bronze Age (6000/5800,4000 cal. BP) Isakovo-Serovo-Glaskovo (ISG) cultural complex. Twenty-four upper limb MSMs are investigated not only to gain a better understanding of activity throughout the middle Holocene, but also to independently assess the relative distinctiveness of Kitoi and ISG adaptive regimes. Results reveal higher heterogeneity in overall activity levels among Early Neolithic populations,with Kitoi males exhibiting more pronounced upper limb MSMs than both contemporary females and ISG males,but relative constancy during the Late Neolithic/Bronze Age, regardless of sex or possible status. On the other hand, activity patterns seem to have varied more during the latter period, with the supinator being ranked high among the ISG, but not the Kitoi, and forearm flexors and extensors being ranked generally low only among ISG females. Upper limb rank patterning does not distinguish Early Neolithic males, suggesting that their higher MSM scores reflect differences in the degree (intensity and/or duration), rather than the type, of activity employed. Finally, for both Kitoi and ISG peoples, activity patterns,especially the consistently high-ranked costoclavicular ligament and deltoid and pectoralis major muscles,appear to be consistent with watercraft use. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2009. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] | ||||||||||