Complexity analysis of planning is problematic. Even very simple planning languages are PSPACE-complete, yet cannot model many simple problems naturally. Many languages with much more powerful features are also PSPACE-complete. It is thus difficult to separate planning languages in a useful way and to get complexity figures that better reflect reality. This paper introduces new methods for comp...

In this issue of Blood, Palumbo and colleagues describe a trial in newly diagnosed patients with MM who are eligible for high-dose therapy. They compare 2 different dosages of double high-dose melphalan (100 mg/m2 vs 200 mg/m2) followed by autologous stem cell transplantation.1 It is concluded that MEL200 is superior to MEL100 with respect to progression-free survival and time to progression, b...

In this work we present a set of force fields for nine synthetically relevant and/or structurally interesting N-heterocyclic carbenes, including imidazol-, thiazol-, triazol-, imidazolidin-, and pyridine-ylidenes. The bonding parameters were calculated by using a series of geometry optimizations by ab initio methods. For fitting the non-bonding interactions, a water molecule was employed as a p...

The organocatalytic behavior of N-heterocyclic carbenes in the aerobic oxidation of aromatic aldehydes to esters with boronic acids has been explored. This transition metal-free protocol allows access to a wide variety of aromatic esters in good to excellent yields under mild reaction conditions.

A triazolium salt derived N-heterocyclic carbene catalyzes the redox esterification reaction between α-β-unsaturated aldehydes and oximes. The resulting saturated oxime esters were obtained in very good yields for a broad range of aliphatic, aromatic and heteroaromatic substrates.

Many scholars and managers endorse the idea that the primary purpose of the !rm is to make money for its owners. This shareholder wealth maximization objective is justi!ed on the grounds that it maximizes social welfare. In this article, the !rst of a two-part set, we argue that, although this shareholder primacy model may have been appropriate in an earlier era, it no longer is, given our curr...

Using a large sample of loans initiated by firms targeted by hedge fund activists during 19942008, we show that hedge fund activism has significant impacts on firms’ bank loan contracts. After the targeting announcement and relative to firms that are not targeted, the targeted firms pay significantly higher spreads, are more likely to be required to secure their loans, face more covenant restri...