The short term debt vs. long term debt puzzle: a model for the optimal mix

This paper argues that the existing finance literature is inadequate with respect to its coverage of capital structure of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). In particular it is argued that the cost of equity (being both conceptually ill defined and empirically non quantifiable) is not applicable to the capital structure decisions for a large proportion of SMEs and the optimal capital structure depends only on the mix of short and long term debt. The paper then presents a model, developed by practitioners for optimising the debt mix and demonstrates its practical application using an Italian firm's debt structure as a case study

Proliferative activity in human breast cancer: Ki-67 automated evaluation and the influence of different Ki-67 equivalent antibodies

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ki67 labeling index (Ki67 LI), the percentage Ki67 immunoreactive cells, is a measure of tumor proliferation, with important clinical relevance in breast cancer, and it is extremely important to standardize its evaluation.</p> <p>Aim</p> <p>To test the efficacy of computer assisted image analysis (CAIA) applied to completely digitized slides and to assess its feasibility in routine practice and compare the results obtained using two different Ki67 monoclonal antibodies.</p> <p>Materials and methods</p> <p>315 consecutive breast cancer routinely immunostained for Ki-67 (223 with SP6 and 92 with MM1 antibodies previously examined by an experienced pathologist, have been re-evaluated using Aperio Scanscope Xs.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mean human Ki67 LI values were 36%± 14.% and 28% ± 18% respectively for SP6 and MM1 antibodies; mean CAM Ki67 LI values were 31%± 19% and 22% ± 18% respectively for SP6 and MM1. Human and CAIA evaluation are statistically highly correlated (Pearson: 0.859, p<0.0001), although human LI are systematically higher. An interobserver variation study on CAIA performed on 84 cases showed that the correlation between the two evaluations was linear to an excellent degree.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Our study shows that a) CAIA can be easily adopted in routine practice, b) human and CAIA Ki67 LI are highly correlated, although human LI are systematically higher, c) Ki67 LI using different evaluation methods and different antibodies shows important differences in cut-off values.</p

The beginning of the Neolithic in the Po Plain (northern Italy): Problems and perspectives

The Po Valley is one of the major physiographic units of northern Italy. It can be considered as a key area for the interpretation of long-term historical events and processes because of its location midway between the Mediterranean world and continental Europe. This paper is an updated summary of our knowledge of the Early Neolithic farming communities of the region. In particular it discusses data derived from radiocarbon dated sites. Its aim is to provide the international audience with an updated view of the topic, based on the discussion of a new series of AMS radiocarbon results, to frame the earliest producing communities of the Po Valley into the more general picture of the Neolithization of Italy. To achieve the goal, apart from radiocarbon assays, we have taken into consideration material culture remains, subsistence economy, environmental resources, and data gathered from archaeometric analyses and technology

Reformulation in bilingual speech: Italian cio\ue8 in German and Ladin

This paper deals with the borrowing of the Italian reformulation marker cio\ue8 in the German and Ladin linguistic minorities in Italy. A corpus of bi- and multilingual conversations is analyzed in order to verify the sociolinguistic distribution and the functional scope of borrowed markers in bilingual and monolingual discourse. Our hypothesis is that the metalinguistic processes involved in reformulation are particularly relevant for bilingual speakers who are constantly dealing with bilingual texts and other bilingual interlocutors. The analysis reveals that, unlike other well studied discourse markers, reformulation markers are borrowed only when contact languages are employed in every-day informal domains by actual bilingual speakers who are used to engaging in language alternation practices

Acoustic sensing of renal stone fragmentation in extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy

This thesis describes the research carried out by the author on the exploitation of acoustic emissions detected during extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (a non-invasive procedure for the treatment of urinary stones) to develop a new diagnostic system. The work formed part of a research project on lithotripsy undertaken by the University of Southampton in collaboration with Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust (London) and a UK based company, Precision Acoustics Ltd (Dorchester). It takes to a clinical conclusion the proposition made by Leighton and Coleman in 1992 that it might be possible to build a sensor which would automatically exploit these passive acoustic emissions to monitor the efficacy of a lithotripsy treatment. The work, predominantly experimental, involved both in vitro and in vivo investigations. In particular, a first prototype diagnostic system (i.e. sensor plus analysis software) was developed and tested in vitro during trials which included the use of a novel cavitation sensor (on loan from the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington) and stone phantoms designed by the author. This initial system was, then, refined and tested during clinical trials that involved 130 patients. A preliminary trial on 51 patients aimed at refining the system and gathering knowledge on the features of emissions recorded in vivo to produce an on-line monitoring system. This trial was followed by other two trials that compared the output of the on-line acoustic system against the ‘gold standard’ X-Ray assessment of treatments outcomes. The former of these two trials involved 30 patients, and empirically defined the values of the key parameters (identified during the in vitro tests) that would be used as the basis of the diagnosis. In particular, a classification rule of treatments as being successful or unsuccessful was identified, and shown to agree significantly (kappa=0.95) with the ‘gold standard’ follow-up assessment. The latter trial tested the final system on 49 patients and confirmed an accurate treatment classification (kappa=0.94) in terms of the successful/unsuccessful criterion.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo