La crisi d'impresa e le procedure concorsuali. I controlli del revisore per l'attestazione dei piani di risanamento aziendale

Il lavoro intende illustrare il ruolo ed il lavoro del revisore legale dei conti nell’asseverazione dei piani di risanamento aziendale, così come concepiti dall’attuale formulazione della legge fallimentare. Il primo dei cinque capitoli che compongono la tesi è dedicato all’approfondimento del concetto di crisi aziendale e delle possibili soluzioni, alternative al fallimento, previste dalle riformate norme concorsuali. In particolare sono esaminate le caratteristiche delle tre figure giuridiche a cui il legislatore ha demandato la funzione di prevenire lo stato d’insolvenza delle imprese e con esso la disgregazione del valore aziendale, ovvero: i piani attestati di risanamento ex articolo 67, terzo comma, lettera d) della legge fallimentare, il concordato preventivo, ex articolo 160 della legge fallimentare, gli accordi di ristrutturazione ex articolo 182-bis della legge fallimentare. Il capitolo si conclude con un paragrafo in cui è illustrato il contenuto dei piani aziendali elaborati dall’imprenditore in crisi per descrivere il percorso di risanamento scelto per la propria azienda. Ad essi le recenti pronunce dottrinali hanno assimilato forma e contenuti tipici del business plan concepito secondo moderne teorie aziendalistiche. Il lavoro termina osservando che, per la loro rilevanza strategica, i piani aziendali hanno assunto un ruolo centrale nelle procedure sopra indicate ed a questi sono affidate le sorti del salvataggio dell’impresa. Nel secondo capitolo l’attenzione è rivolta alla figura del professionista incaricato ad analizzare il contenuto dei piani ed ad attestarne la loro riuscita in termini operativi. Viene poi illustrato il lavoro che il professionista svolge per accertare la veridicità dei dati contenuti nel piano e la concreta fattibilità delle azioni in esso descritte. Viene infine esaminato il contenuto della relazione con cui il professionista esprime il proprio giudizio e le responsabilità che esso si assume con l’attestazione del piano. Il terzo ed il quarto capitolo rappresentano il fulcro della tesi in quanto contengono la descrizione delle tecniche di revisione aziendale che il professionista deve applicare per giungere alla formulazione di un giudizio che risulti professionalmente ineccepibile. Il primo obiettivo del revisore è rappresentato dall’accertamento della “veridicità” dei dati contenuti nel piano: in particolare il professionista è chiamato a verificare la correttezza contabile e sostanziale dei saldi inseriti nel piano in quanto questi rappresentano il punto di partenza per le azioni volte al risanamento aziendale. Rappresentando le “fondamenta” del piano, i valori contabili iniziali dovranno essere attentamente revisionati con tecniche di audit di rapida attuazione ed efficaci. Contrariamente ad altri lavori di revisione, infatti, quelli svolti nell’ambito di procedure concorsuali sono caratterizzati dallo stato di necessità ed urgenza in cui l’impresa si trova. L’azione del professionista, pertanto, dovrà essere chirurgicamente rivolta alle poste contabili maggiormente significative al fine di ridurre al minimo i tempi di verifica ed ottimizzare, così, l’efficacia dei test sostanziali effettuati. Terminato il lavoro sui saldi contabili iniziali il professionista passerà a sviluppare la fase più delicata del proprio intervento che consiste, appunto, nell’attestazione di fattibilità del piano aziendale. Durante questa seconda fase il revisore è chiamato a formulare un parere sull’esito del business plan elaborato dall’imprenditore, soffermandosi sulla capacità delle azioni prospettate di determinare l’“inversione di rotta” dell’azienda. Il giudizio di attestazione del piano può essere influenzato da numerose componenti soggettive e discrezionali e l’assenza di specifici standard valutativi, nonché di statuite procedure per la validazione dei piani aziendali, rendono questo passaggio particolarmente insidioso e denso di rischi per il revisore. Solo la sensibilità del professionista e l’esperienza maturata nella gestione di crisi aziendali potranno supportarlo nella formulazione del giudizio finale. Il lavoro si conclude con un caso pratico suggerito dall’esperienza professionale maturata dallo scrivente

High quality sweet organic cherry ingredients by osmotic dehydration before freezing: the primary importance of cultivar

Sweet organic cherry (Prunus avium) is worth processing for its important nutritional value, linked to high anthocyanin content. Osmo-dehydrofreezing, a combined process where freezing is preceded by an osmotic dehydration step in concentrated sugar solution, could be the method of choice in order to maintain the original quality of fruit. The purpose of the present work was to evaluate the influence of cultivar on solid-liquid exchanges and on colour modification during osmotic dehydration carried out for 45 min at 25°C in a 65% (wt/wt) sucrose solution. For two consecutive years (2004, 2005) nine cultivars of sweet organic cherries were processed: two grown in the South and seven in the North of Italy. Water loss and soluble solids gain values were quite low, as already cited in literature, and they were strongly influenced by the cultivar. The process modi-fied cherry colour, causing a slight lightening mainly in cultivars with higher solid-liquid exchanges. The results underlined the utmost importance of the tis-sue structure, linked to the cultivar

Open field trial of genetically modified parthenocarpic tomato: seedlessness and fruit quality

BACKGROUND: Parthenocarpic tomato lines transgenic for the DefH9-RI-iaaM gene have been cultivated under open field conditions to address some aspects of the equivalence of genetically modified (GM) fruit in comparison to controls (non-GM). RESULTS: Under open field cultivation conditions, two tomato lines (UC 82) transgenic for the DefH9-RI-iaaM gene produced parthenocarpic fruits. DefH9-RI-iaaM fruits were either seedless or contained very few seeds. GM fruit quality, with the exception of a higher β-carotene level, did not show any difference, neither technological (colour, firmness, dry matter, °Brix, pH) nor chemical (titratable acidity, organic acids, lycopene, tomatine, total polyphenols and antioxidant capacity – TEAC), when compared to that of fruits from control line. Highly significant differences in quality traits exist between the tomato F1 commercial hybrid Allflesh and the three UC 82 genotypes tested, regardless of whether or not they are GM. Total yield per plant did not differ between GM and parental line UC 82. Fruit number was increased in GM lines, and GM fruit weight was decreased. CONCLUSION: The use in the diet of fruits from a new line or variety introduces much greater changes than the consumption of GM fruits in comparison to its genetic background. Parthenocarpic fruits, produced under open field conditions, contained 10-fold less seeds than control fruits. Thus parthenocarpy caused by DefH9-RI-iaaM gene represents also a tool for mitigating GM seeds dispersal in the environment

Personal PM10 exposure in asthmatic adults in Padova, Italy: seasonal variability and factors affecting individual concentrations of particulate matter

Abstract Personal exposure to PM10 measured in different seasons in a sample of asthmatic subjects living in Padova (Northern Italy) was compared with simultaneously measured outdoor PM10 concentrations. The specific contribution of ambient PM10 and other factors to individual exposure was evaluated in one of the areas of Europe with the worst air pollution. Thirty-one asthmatic subjects (21 non-smokers and 10 smokers) carried personal PM10 monitors for six 24-hr sessions, in different seasons of the year. Concomitant daily 24-hr ambient PM10 concentrations were measured by air quality monitoring networks. A multivariate analysis was performed to identify factors explaining personal exposure to PM10, using a random effect model. The analysis on the 31 subjects referred to a total of 155 observations. The mean personal PM10 exposure was higher (range 79.3-126.1 \u3bcg/m3) than the outdoor concentrations (range 37.3-85.4 \u3bcg/m3) in all seasons; and personal exposures varied less than outdoor PM10 levels from one season to another. Smokers had significantly higher personal PM10 concentrations than non-smokers (127.99 vs 78.8 \u3bcg/m3; T=-5.70; p<0.001). Moderate correlations emerged between outdoor and personal PM10 concentrations. The correlation improved after excluding subjects exposed to active or passive smoking (median Pearson's R 0.41 vs 0.26). Considering all the subjects, smoking was the main factor affecting personal exposure, contributing to 41% of the variability. Outdoor PM10 concentrations (25%), temperature (12%) and season (15%) also contributed to personal PM10 exposure. Outdoor PM10 (46%), temperature (20%), season (19%) and time spent indoors (6%) were significantly associated with personal exposure in non-smokers. We concluded that it is crucial to perform personal monitoring and to evaluate the complexity of factors that contribute to individual PM exposure. While tobacco smoke was the primary source of PM10 in all subjects, the contribution of ambient components was particularly relevant for the personal exposure levels of our non-smokers living in a highly-polluted environment. \ua9 2009 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved

Dual Carbonic Anhydrase IX/XII Inhibitors and Carbon Monoxide Releasing Molecules Modulate LPS-Mediated Inflammation in Mouse Macrophages

Low concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO) were reported to exhibit anti-inflammatory effects when administered in cells by suitable chemotypes such as CO releasing molecules (CO-RMs). In addition, the pH-modulating abilities of specific carbonic anhydrase isoforms played a crucial role in different models of inflammation and neuropathic pain. Herein, we report a series of chemical hybrids consisting of a Carbonic Anhydrase (CA) inhibitor linked to a CO-RM tail (CAI/CO-RMs). All compounds and their precursors were first tested in vitro for their inhibition activity against the human CA I, II, IX, and XII isoforms as well their CO releasing properties, aiming at corroborating the data by means of molecular modelling techniques. Then, their impact on metabolic activity modulation of RAW 264.7 mouse macrophages for 24 and 48 h was assessed with or without lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. The compounds were shown to counteract the inflammatory stimulus as also indicated by the reduced tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) release after treatment. All the biological results were compared to those of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) as a reference antioxidant compound. Within the series, two CAI/CO-RM hybrids (1 and 2), bearing both the well-known scaffold able to inhibit CAs (acesulfame) and the cobalt-based CO releasing portion, induced a higher anti-inflammatory effect up to 48 h at concentrations lower than NAC