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Common theories as to why companies purchase their stock include signaling to the market the stock is selling at a discount, using treasury stock for the issuance of contingent shares, as a substitute for dividends, and increasing earnings per share. These theories are tested by examining the treasury stock transactions from 2016 to 2021 of the 100 largest companies in the S&P 500. Although each of these motivations has merit, the results show that none provides a dominant cause for the purchase of treasury shares. An alternative cause is proposed.

Previous studies using imaging techniques such as electroencephalography (EEG) or functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have identified neurophysiological markers of impaired feedback processing in patients with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). These mainly include reduced oscillatory activity in the theta frequency range in the EEG and altered activations in frontal and striatal regions in fMRI studies. The aim of the present study is to integrate these results using a coupling of simultaneously recorded EEG and fMRI. Simultaneous EEG (64-channel) and fMRI (3-Tesla Siemens Prisma) was recorded whilst participants (19 BPD patients and 18 controls) performed a gambling task. Data was analysed for the two imaging techniques separately as well as in a single-trial coupling of both modalities. Evoked theta oscillatory power as a response to loss feedback was reduced in BPD patients. EEG-fMRI coupling revealed an interaction between feedback valence and group in prefrontal regions centering in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), with healthy controls showing stronger modulation by theta responses during loss when compared to gain feedback and the opposite effect in BPD patients. Our results show multiple alterations in the processing of feedback in BPD, which were partly linked to impulsivity. The dlPFC was identified as the seed of theta-associated activation differences.

Objectives Reward system dysfunctions are considered to be a pathophysiological mechanism in schizophrenia. Electrophysiological studies of reward system functions have identified frequency-specific brain networks for the processing of positive (high-beta frequency) and negative (theta frequency) events. Remarkably, midbrain dopaminergic signalling also includes theta and high-beta frequency modes, which have been assumed to reflect tonic and phasic dopamine responses, respectively. The aim of the present study was to identify alterations of oscillatory responses to reward feedback in patients with schizophrenia. Methods Seventeen patients with schizophrenia and 18 healthy controls performed a gambling task during recording of 64-channel electroencephalography. The theta and high-beta band total power were investigated in response to feedback events depending on feedback valence (loss or gain) and magnitude (5 vs. 25 points). Results Both the increase of theta oscillatory activity in response to loss feedback (compared to gain feedback) and the increase of high-beta oscillatory activity in response to gain feedback (compared to loss feedback) were reduced in patients. The difference in high-beta responses to gain versus loss feedback in patients was associated with the severity of negative symptoms. Conclusions Our findings are consistent with current models of reward system dysfunction in schizophrenia, and indicate deficits in both cortical tonic and subcortical phasic dopamine activity, consistent with the complex dopaminergic abnormalities in schizophrenia.

Several studies using electroencephalography (EEG) demonstrate that the processing of feedback in patients suffering from borderline personality disorder (BPD) is altered in comparison to healthy controls. Differences occur in the theta (ca. 5 Hz) and high-beta frequency-ranges (ca. 20 Hz) of oscillations in response to negative and positive feedback, respectively. However, alpha (ca. 10 Hz) and low-beta (ca. 15 Hz) oscillations have also been shown to be involved in feedback processing. We hypothesized that additional alterations might occur in these frequency ranges in BPD. Eighteen patients with BPD and twenty-two healthy controls performed a gambling task while 64-channel-EEG was recorded. Induced oscillatory responses to positive (i.e. gain) and negative (i.e. loss) feedback in the alpha and low-beta frequency range were investigated. No significant differences were found in the alpha frequency range. Regarding the low-beta frequency range a significant Group (i.e. BPD vs. healthy controls) × Valence (i.e. gain vs. loss) interaction in the time frame between 600 and 700 milliseconds after feedback was found. This effect showed a significant correlation with symptom severity (assessed with the BSL-23). The results indicate that feedback processing in BPD could be more heavily altered than previously expected, with more severe symptomatology being linked to stronger alterations in oscillatory responses to feedback in the low-beta range.

The association between auditor size and audit quality is examined for a sample of not-for-profit (NFP) entities. The audit quality measure is based on the entities' compliance with eight GAAP reporting requirements. The numbers on compliance supports policymakers' contention (prior to the recent issuance of three new statements) that reporting by NFPs was inconsistent. Of the eight reporting requirements examined, noncompliance is highest for those that pertain specifically to NFPs, for example, disclosures about pledges and donated materials. However, the extent of noncompliance decreases as one moves from the small non-Big 6 to the large non-Big 6 and from the large non-Big 6 to the then Big 6. This positive association between auditor size and audit quality is borne out in multivariate regression analyses, after controlling for other correlates of audit quality. Another measure of audit firm size, based on the number of professionals employed by the firm, further confirms this finding. In addition, the results indicate that there are other factors, i.e., client size, financial health, client wealth, and participation in a peer-review process, that impact audit quality.

This presentation is a report of the testing activities of the CableLabs Network Integrity Working Group. The working group consisted of several CableLabs member companies which conducted rf analog and digital bit-error testing at five CATV networks in the U.S. and Canada. The purpose of the working group was to measure the reliability and availability of the contemporary CATV network as specified by traditional switched access telephony performance parameters. Transmission data was collected for both forward and reverse (sub- split) paths of the rf broadband network, in both traditional and hybrid fiber/coax architectures, and for baseline and controlled variation events. The basic premise of this testing was to ascertain which cable television network elements adversely affected transmission of a 'generic' digital communications system and how they can be managed or controlled. The digital transmission utilized in the test was a QPSK modulated, T-1 rate (1.544 Mbit/second), modem without error correction. The intent was not to derive the necessary modulation technique and error correction scheme to properly operate in every cable television system, but rather to determine the principal sources of impairments existing in these networks and deduce corrective measures. The full report of the Network Integrity Working Group is published by CableLabs, Inc., and is titled, 'Two-Way Cable Television System Characterization -- Final Report', April 1995.© (1995) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

One-day-old Artemia were fed for 14 d on nine different rice bran diets, most containing either [1-14C]18:2 ω6 or [1-14C]18:3 ω3, along with various nonlabeled fatty acids. The 15-d-old Artemia were then fed as labeled diets to winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus). Although 18:2 ω6, 18:3 ω3, and 20:5 ω3 were primarily bioaccumulated, all 15-d-old Artemia groups contained some22:6 ω3, even when it was not present in the diet. Therefore, the 15-d-old Artemia had bioconverted small amounts of 18:2 ω6 and 18:3 ω3 to 20:5 ω3 and 22:6 ω3. The bioconversion rate was substantially reduced when either 20:5 ω3 or 22:6 ω3 was present in the diet. When fed the 15-d-old Artemia, the winter flounder accumulated 20:5 ω3 and 22:6 ω3 and also bioconverted some of the 18:3 ω3 to 20:5 ω3 and 22:6 ω3. Those fish fed diets that contained lower levels of 20:5 ω3 and 22:6 ω3 contained higher levels of radioactively labeled 20:5 ω3 and 22:6 ω3. When 20:5 ω3 and 22:6 ω3 were present from the diet, the radioactivity generally accumulated in the 20:4 ω3 and 20:5 ω3 fatty acids.

In a joint study, live, unfed 3-day-old brine shrimp, Artemia salina, and artficial, flake diets were fed to Atlantic silversides, Menidia menidia, either separately or in various combination. The combination diets also varied in proportion of live to artifical components. After each experiment was terminated, growth and survival of the silversides were determined and analyses were made for amino acid and fatty acid compostion. Overall grwoth and survial data showed that unstreessed fish and could be cultured on a combination of artificial + brine shrimp diet in as little as a 7:1 day (artificial: brine shrimp) feeding ratio. Biochemical data were compared to reported requirement levels for essential amino acids and essential fatty acids in marine fish, and it was concluded that all diets seemed adequate in these two components. These data also indicated that fish accepted both artificial and live diets equally. Results further showed that dietary amino acids were generally not stored by silversides beyond levels required for tissue formation, whereas dietary fatty acids were accumulated to a much greater degree. Altantic silversides cultured on an artificial diet alone, exhibited poorer growth and survival than fish cultured exclusively on a live brine shrimp diet. Although the reason for the live diet's nutritive superiority remains a question, our results seem to eliminate an amino acid, fatty acid or diegestive enzyme as the key to promoting good grwoth.