University of Münster

About: University of Münster is a education organization based out in Münster, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Catalysis. The organization has 35609 authors who have published 69059 publications receiving 2278534 citations. The organization is also known as: University of Munster & University of Muenster.

Empirical Evidence on Corporate Governance in Europe. The Effect on Stock Returns, Firm Value and Performance

Abstract: In this paper we analyze whether good corporate governance leads to higher common stock returns and enhances firm value in Europe. Throughout this study we use Deminor Corporate Governance Ratings for companies included in the FTSE Eurotop 300. Following the approach of Gompers, Ishii and Metrick (2003) we build portfolios consisting of well-governed and poorly governed companies and compare their performance. We also examine the impact of corporate governance on firm valuation. Our results show a positive relationship between these variables and corporate governance. This relationship weakens substantially after adjusting for country differences. Finally, we analyze the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance, as approximated by Net-Profit-Margin (NPM) and Return-on-Equity (ROE). Surprisingly, and contrary to Gompers, Ishii and Metrick (2003), we find a negative relationship between governance standards and these earnings based performance ratios for which we discuss possible implications.

Antitrypanosomal and Antileishmanial Activities of Flavonoids and Their Analogues: In Vitro, In Vivo, Structure-Activity Relationship, and Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship Studies

Abstract: Trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis are important parasitic diseases affecting millions of people in Africa, Asia, and South America. In a previous study, we identified several flavonoid glycosides as antiprotozoal principles from a Turkish plant. Here we surveyed a large set of flavonoid aglycones and glycosides, as well as a panel of other related compounds of phenolic and phenylpropanoid nature, for their in vitro activities against Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, Trypanosoma cruzi, and Leishmania donovani. The cytotoxicities of more than 100 compounds for mammalian L6 cells were also assessed and compared to their antiparasitic activities. Several compounds were investigated in vivo for their antileishmanial and antitrypanosomal efficacies in mouse models. Overall, the best in vitro trypanocidal activity for T. brucei rhodesiense was exerted by 7,8-dihydroxyflavone (50% inhibitory concentration [IC50], 68 ng/ml), followed by 3-hydroxyflavone, rhamnetin, and 7,8,3′,4′-tetrahydroxyflavone (IC50s, 0.5 μg/ml) and catechol (IC50, 0.8 μg/ml). The activity against T. cruzi was moderate, and only chrysin dimethylether and 3-hydroxydaidzein had IC50s less than 5.0 μg/ml. The majority of the metabolites tested possessed remarkable leishmanicidal potential. Fisetin, 3-hydroxyflavone, luteolin, and quercetin were the most potent, giving IC50s of 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, and 1.0 μg/ml, respectively. 7,8-Dihydroxyflavone and quercetin appeared to ameliorate parasitic infections in mouse models. Generally, the test compounds lacked cytotoxicity in vitro and in vivo. By screening a large number of flavonoids and analogues, we were able to establish some general trends with respect to the structure-activity relationship, but it was not possible to draw clear and detailed quantitative structure-activity relationships for any of the bioactivities by two different approaches. However, our results can help in directing the rational design of 7,8-dihydroxyflavone and quercetin derivatives as potent and effective antiprotozoal agents.

Lipoprotein(a) is an independent risk factor for myocardial infarction at a young age.

Abstract: We quantified lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] immunochemically in young (less than 46 y) male survivors of myocardial infarction and in age-matched controls recruited from participants of the Prospective Cardiovascular Munster (PROCAM) study. We further determined apolipoprotein E polymorphism and measured triglycerides, total cholesterol, high- and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL and LDL), and apolipoproteins AI, AII, and B in the serum of these subjects. Lp(a) concentrations in serum were not correlated with other well-recognized risk factors for early myocardial infarction such as apolipoproteins AI and B, LDL cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol. Apolipoprotein E polymorphism did not affect Lp(a) concentrations, but had a major influence on apolipoprotein B concentration. Lp(a) concentrations were not influenced by age. Our data suggest that (a) an increased concentration of Lp(a) constitutes an independent risk factor for early myocardial infarction and (b) the concentrations of Lp(a) and LDL cholesterol (apolipoprotein B) in serum are under separate metabolic control.

nCTEQ15: Global analysis of nuclear parton distributions with uncertainties in the CTEQ framework

Abstract: We present the new nCTEQ15 set of nuclear parton distribution functions with uncertainties. This fit extends the CTEQ proton PDFs to include the nuclear dependence using data on nuclei all the way up to 208^Pb. The uncertainties are determined using the Hessian method with an optimal rescaling of the eigenvectors to accurately represent the uncertainties for the chosen tolerance criteria. In addition to the Deep Inelastic Scattering (DIS) and Drell-Yan (DY) processes, we also include inclusive pion production data from RHIC to help constrain the nuclear gluon PDF. Furthermore, we investigate the correlation of the data sets with specific nPDF flavor components, and asses the impact of individual experiments. We also provide comparisons of the nCTEQ15 set with recent fits from other groups.