Following the conclusions of an information theory analysis that hydrophobic hydration is dictated by the equation of state of liquid water, we perform simulations of ten different water models to examine the correlation between the fidelity of each model to the experimental density of liquid water and the accuracy of its description of methane hydration. We find that the three- and five-point water models provide an inferior description of both the liquid density and methane solubility compared to the four-point water models. Of the four-point water models, TIP4P/2005 provides the best description of both the aqueous equation-of-state and methane hydration thermodynamics. When the optimized potentials for liquid simulation united-atom description for methane is used, we find that while the entropy and heat capacity of methane hydration are in excellent agreement with experiment, the chemical potential and enthalpy are systematically shifted upwards. We subsequently reoptimize the methane interaction to accurately reproduce the experimental solubilities as a function of temperature by accounting for missing attractive interactions.

It has long been recognized that accounting and finance students need multidisciplinary skills and most degree courses reflect this in the curriculum. In addition, the growth of business administration courses, with a high accounting and finance content, and the constant call for relevance and 'real world' application, has persuaded many academics that educational progress can be made by employing project-based group work to bring together diverse skills and disciplines. This paper endorses that view, but suggests that careful thought is required to match the aims of the project with the developing skills and experience of the student groups. It explores the role of project clients and student learning and also the level of faculty involvement necessary to fulfil learning objectives. These issues are explored within the context of a project on mergers and acquisitions, which combines strategy, economics, accounting and behavioural considerations and has been employed on full-time MBA courses at one UK university (disguised as 'Utopia' in the paper) for more than 20 years. Experience from the project suggests that renovation of old methods is often preferable to major innovations and that the involvement of outside clients needs to be thought through carefully. A semi-live close-bounded version of the project is shown to work better than an open-ended pure consultancy project.Educational Projects Group Work Mba Project Consultancy New Teaching Methods,

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It has long been suggested that one of the principal motivations for takeovers is for shareholder principles to exert control over managerial agents by encouraging the removal of underperforming directors through takeover. Outside shareholders can also try to align interests by encouraging high levels of equity ownership by the directors. With takeover waves during the 1980s and 1990s, and every sign that another sizeable increase in activity is upon us, the Cosh, Guest and Hughes (CGH) (2006) paper is timely. They seek to position the paper in terms of corporate governance issues and investigate acquiring company shareholder and accounting performance for different levels of board and CEO ownership. Essentially, the authors are testing whether board, CEO and outside shareholder wealth creation interests are aligned, so that greater levels of board and CEO share-ownership provide superior corporate performance, and, secondly, if there is a board and CEO ownership point at which improvements cease or diminish as boards and CEOs seek to satisfy other non-shareholder wealth benefits for themselves.The literature is well stocked with theoretical and empirical contributions to this debate within the takeover arena and more generally. Unfortunately, the results in most of the empirical studies are inconsistent. CGH cite seven US studies between 1968 and 1981 which find insignificant shareholder performance differences between high board shareholder and low board shareholder groups. In studies which do find a relationship between board ownership and performance, some studies find one turning point and others two. Often, the turning points are at different levels of board ownership. The US findings are echoed in UK studies and in studies which look specifically at ownership, takeovers and performance.CGH summarise that 'these [studies] provide mixed evidence in identifying significant ownership impacts.' So, two worrying possibilities emerge from this. First, the multitude of conflicting results may have led to theory development which suggests alignment and entrenchment to explain an empirical phenomenon which is only found in a minority of studies. Second, the mixed evidence suggests *The author is from the Manchester Business School.