Abstract Shareholders aren't passive observers anymore—and increasingly they have been rallying to defeat corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&As) that they don't like. So what strategies can management use to plan and govern in the face of today's growing shareholder activism? © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Optical properties of a Ho-doped LaF3 single crystal have been detailed investigated as a promising material for 2 mu m and 2.9 mu m lasers for the first time. Judd-Ofelt theory was applied to analyze the absorption spectrum to determine the J-O intensity parameters Omega(t(t=2,4,6)), based on which the emission probabilities, branching ratio and radiative lifetime for the as-grown crystal were all calculated. The stimulated emission cross-sections of the I-5(7) -> I-5(8) and I-5(6) -> I-5(7) transitions were obtained by using the Fuchtbauer-Ladenburg method. The gain cross-section for 2 mu m emission becomes positive once the population inversion level reaches 30%. The Ho:LaF3 crystal shows long fluorescence lifetime of I-5(7) manifold (25.81 ms) as well as I-5(6) manifold (10.37 ms) compared with other Ho3+-doped crystals. It can be proposed that the Ho:LaF3 crystal may be a promising material for 2 mu m and 2.9 mu m laser applications. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Firms contributing to politicians or involved in lobbying are less likely to receive a bid and, if so, their takeover process is lengthier. Additionally, firms making political contributions, but not those engaged in lobbying, receive a higher takeover premium. These results are consistent with the notion that corporate political strategies can be regarded valuable intangible-like assets which affect takeover deals. Finally, we show that political geography also matters in acquisitions with the takeover premium effect being exacerbated by target firms’ proximity to political power.

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The benefits of warm-up in sports performance has received a special interest in the current literature. However, there is a large gap of knowledge about the tasks to be performed, specifically in the real competitive environment. The purpose of the study was to verify the acute effects of a warm-up including ballistic exercises in 100 m running performance. In addition, a second 100 m trial was assessed to better understand the warm-up effects in training and competition. Eleven men (25.4 +/- 6.2 years of age, 1.76 +/- 0.08 m of height, 78.2 +/- 8.6 kg of body mass) were submitted to three different protocols, in a randomized order: no warm-up (NWU), typical warm-up (WU) and WU complemented with ballistic exercises (PAP). Biomechanical, physiological and psychophysiological variables were assessed. Differences were found between the three conditions assessed in the first 100 m sprint with 7.4% and 7.6% faster performances after the WU and PAP, compared to NWU. Stride length was higher in the second part of the 100 m after PAP compared with WU. These results highlight the positive effects of warm-up for sprinting performance. The inclusion of ballistic exercises, besides being used to improve sprint performance, can increase stride length in the final of the 100 m race.

In a unified theory of forward- and backward-looking mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and divestitures, an M&A today may be a cause for a divestiture in the future; conversely a divestiture today may be a consequence of an M&A in the past. M&As and divestitures are not only two sides of the same coin, they are also causes and consequences of each other. In this paper, in a two-period model, two firms consider integrating or separating in each period. We analyze forward- and backward-looking M&As and divestitures, and compare them with static M&As and divestitures.