Saint Mary's University

About: Saint Mary's University is a education organization based out in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Stars. The organization has 1931 authors who have published 4993 publications receiving 143226 citations.

Management Quality and the Cost of Debt: Does Management Matter to Lenders?

Abstract: This paper investigates the effect of organizational capital, typified by various management practices within a firm, on the cost of external debt financing. Using a sample of medium-sized manufacturing firms in the U.S., we find that better management practices enhance a firm's external financing capacity by lowering the firm's cost of bank loan. We do not find any evidence that the lower loan cost of a high-quality-management firm is associated with more restrictive non-price contract terms such as greater collateral requirements and stricter covenants. These results suggest that banks explicitly take into account the risk arising from poor management practices when pricing and designing debt contracts.

Was That Cheating? Perceptions Vary by Sex, Attachment Anxiety, and Behavior

Abstract: We generated an inventory of 27 interpersonal behaviors and examined the extent to which participants judged each behavior as cheating on a long-term partner. We predicted variation in these judgments based on participant sex and attachment insecurity. Ratings for items ranged considerably; participants rated sexual behaviors as most indicative of cheating, then erotic behaviors, followed by behaviors consistent with a romantic relationship, and then behaviors related to financial support. Women rated ten items higher than did men, and men's ratings were higher on a minor financial support item. Higher attachment anxiety was associated with higher ratings for 18 of 27 behaviors; higher attachment avoidance was associated with lower scores on five items and higher scores on one item. Principle Axis Factoring identified three dimensions; sexual interaction, behaviors indicating close relationships, and casual social interaction. We discuss these results using the framework of attachment theory and sex-specific mating strategies.

Development of an electrochemical surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (EC-SERS) aptasensor for direct detection of DNA hybridization

Abstract: Rapid detection of disease biomarkers at the patient point-of-care is essential to timely and effective treatment. The research described herein focuses on the development of an electrochemical surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (EC-SERS) DNA aptasensor capable of direct detection of tuberculosis (TB) DNA. Specifically, a plausible DNA biomarker present in TB patient urine was chosen as the model target for detection. Cost-effective screen printed electrodes (SPEs) modified with silver nanoparticles (AgNP) were used as the aptasensor platform, onto which the aptamer specific for the target DNA was immobilized. Direct detection of the target DNA was demonstrated through the appearance of SERS peaks characteristic for adenine, present only in the target strand. Modulation of the applied potential allowed for a sizeable increase in the observed SERS response and the use of thiol back-filling prevented non-specific adsorption of non-target DNA. To our knowledge, this work represents the first EC-SERS study of an aptasensor for the direct, label-free detection of DNA hybridization. Such a technology paves the way for rapid detection of disease biomarkers at the patient point-of-care.

No Conclusive Evidence for Transits of Proxima b in MOST Photometry

Abstract: D.M.K. and J.C. acknowledge support from NASA grant NNX15AF09G (NASA ADAP Program). D.B.G., J.M.M., A.F.J.M., and S.M.R. acknowledge support from NSERC (Canada). J.R.A.D. is supported by an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship under award AST-1501418. A.J. acknowledges support from FONDECYT project 1130857, BASAL CATA PFB-06, and the Ministry of the Economy, Development, and Tourism’s Programa Iniciativa Cientifica Milenio through grant IC 120009, awarded to the Millennium Institute of Astrophysics (MAS).