Lending to Small Businesses: The Role of Loan Maturity in Adressing Information Problems

We investigate what determines the maturity of loans to small, informationally opaque businesses.We find that longer maturities are associated with collateral pledges, better financial condition, good credit history, and less informational opacity of the borrower.However, we do not find a positive association between stronger firm-creditor relationships (which can attenuate these information asymmetries) and longer maturities.The evidence suggests that creditors use shorter maturities to induce more frequent renegotiation of contract terms, thus enforcing closer monitoring of more informationally opaque and risky borrowers.Overall, our results are consistent with shorter loan maturities mitigating the consequences of borrower-lender informational asymmetries.small business;bank lending;loans;information

Career Concerns of Top Executives, Managerial Ownership and CEO Succession

We model the portfolio decisions by managers with career concerns in a context where ownership of the firm's stock can affect the outcome of promotion contests. In addition to their utility from wealth, such managers derive utility from the monetary and non-monetary benefits (prestige) of running a corporation. Our theory predicts that top managers competing for the CEO position will distort their investment decisions away from the optimum portfolio choice in the absence of career concerns. Thus, our model suggests that changing career opportunities can explain portfolio decisions by managers and that insider ownership can help explain the outcomes of promotion contests. Our main testable predictions are that higher ownership by insiders increases their chances of being appointed CEO; that lower ownership by inside managers makes outside CEO appointments more likely; and that a lower probability of CEO turnover (and thus reduced promotion opportunities) leads inside managers to reduce their ownership in the firm and/or to leave the company. Using data on managerial ownership surrounding CEO turnover events, we find evidence supporting the predictions of our model. Overall, our main insight is that insider ownership, the outcome of promotion contests, the choice between inside and outside CEO replacements, and executive departure decisions are all related. Nous développons un modèle de choix de portefeuille des gestionnaires dans un environnement où leurs chances d'être promu PDG sont liées à leur actionnariat dans l'entreprise. Puisque les gestionnaires valorisent leur nomination potentielle au rang de PDG, nous prédisons que leur choix de portefeuille sera biaisé par rapport au choix qu'ils auraient fait en l'absence d'anticipations carriéristes. Notre modèle prédit que des changements dans les chances d'être promu expliquent les choix de portefeuille des gestionnaires. En particulier, nous montrons empiriquement qu'un plus grand actionnariat augmente la chance d'être promu au rang de PDG, réduit la chance qu'un gestionnaire externe à l'entreprise soit nommé. De plus, une réduction dans la possibilité d'être promu réduit l'actionnariat des gestionnaires ou induit leur départ. Nous testons les hypothèses découlant du modèle en utilisant les changements dans l'actionnariat des gestionnaire lors de la démission du PDG. Les hypothèses importantes du modèle sont confirmées.managerial compensation, CEO succession, corporate tournament, portfolio allocation, rémunération des dirigeants, changement de PDG, tournoi corporatif, choix de portefeuille

Cancer immunotherapy as a new treatment option

Cancer can coaptate the immune control of the immune system (IS), evade immunity and its destruction. So, could we say openly that immunotherapy is a viable treatment option for patients with advanced cancer? Yes, immunotherapy would give us great advances in the war against cancer. Therefore, the development of a new generation of immune modulators (which have been analyzed in the following article) is necessary. In addition, these will be more effective if we use them in combination, taking advantage of their synergy.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Generic helical edge states due to Rashba spin-orbit coupling in a topological insulator

We study the helical edge states of a two-dimensional topological insulator without axial spin symmetry due to the Rashba spin-orbit interaction. Lack of axial spin symmetry can lead to so-called generic helical edge states, which have energy-dependent spin orientation. This opens the possibility of inelastic backscattering and thereby nonquantized transport. Here we find analytically the new dispersion relations and the energy dependent spin orientation of the generic helical edge states in the presence of Rashba spin-orbit coupling within the Bernevig-Hughes-Zhang model, for both a single isolated edge and for a finite width ribbon. In the single-edge case, we analytically quantify the energy dependence of the spin orientation, which turns out to be weak for a realistic HgTe quantum well. Nevertheless, finite size effects combined with Rashba spin-orbit coupling result in two avoided crossings in the energy dispersions, where the spin orientation variation of the edge states is very significantly increased for realistic parameters. Finally, our analytical results are found to compare well to a numerical tight-binding regularization of the model.Comment: 21 pages (main text 11 pages), 11 figure

The effect of Midazolam and Propranolol on fear memory reconsolidation in ethanol-withdrawn rats: Influence of D-cycloserine

Background: Withdrawal from chronic ethanol facilitates the formation of contextual fear memory and delays the onset to extinction, with its retrieval promoting an increase in ethanol consumption. Consequently, manipulations aimed to reduce these aversive memories, may be beneficial in the treatment of alcohol discontinuation symptoms. Related to this, pharmacological memory reconsolidation blockade has received greater attention due to its therapeutic potential. Methods: Here, we examined the effect of post-reactivation amnestic treatments such as Midazolam (MDZ, 3 mg/kg i.p) and Propranolol (PROP, 5 mg/kg i.p) on contextual fear memory reconsolidation in ethanol- withdrawn (ETOH) rats. Next, we examined whether the activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors induced by d-cycloserine (DCS, 5 mg/kg i.p., a NMDA partial agonist) before memory reactivation can facilitate the disruptive effect of PROP and MDZ on fear memory in ETOH rats. Results: We observed a resistance to the disruptive effect of both MDZ and PROP following memory reactivation. Although intra-basolateral amygdala (BLA; 1.25 ug/side) and systemic PROP administration attenuated fear memory in DCS pre-treated ETOH rats, DCS/MDZ treatment did not affect memory in these animals. Finally, a decrease of both total and surface protein expression of the α1 GABAA receptor (GABAA-R) subunit in BLA was found in the ETOH rats. Conclusions: Ethanol withdrawal facilitated the formation of fear memory resistant to labilization post-reactivation. DCS administration promoted the disruptive effect of PROP on memory reconsolidation in ETOH rats. The resistance to MDZ's disruptive effect on fear memory reconsolidation may be, at least in part, associated with changes in the GABAA-R composition induced by chronic ethanol administration/withdrawal.Fil: Ortiz, Vanesa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Farmacología Experimental de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Farmacología Experimental de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Giachero, Marcelo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Farmacología Experimental de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Farmacología Experimental de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Espejo, Pablo Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Farmacología Experimental de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Farmacología Experimental de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Molina, Víctor Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Farmacología Experimental de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Farmacología Experimental de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Martijena, Irene Delia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Farmacología Experimental de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Farmacología Experimental de Córdoba; Argentin

Automatización de apertura de puertas y dosificación de agua y alimentos para un recinto avícola en La Mesa-Cundinamarca

Trabajo de InvestigaciónUna de las principales problemáticas que enfrentan los campesinos, es poder mantener la crianza y engorde de sus aves de manera óptima, ya que generalmente tienen que despertarse a la madrugada para recoger sus siembras y desempeñar distintas actividades durante el día por lo cual, los animales en ocasiones fallecen por falta de suministro alimento y agua, esto por la falta de industrialización y automatización en el proceso para la crianza de aves de corral. Esto es debido principalmente a la falta de recursos económicos y patrocinio del Estado, para mejorar las condiciones de producción, por lo que los campesinos se ven forzados a seguir realizando procesos como llenar los comederos de las aves y dosificadores de agua de forma manual.INTRODUCCIÓN 1. GENERALIDADES 3. PRUEBAS 4. CONCLUSIONES 5. RECOMENDACIONES BIBLIOGRAFÍA ANEXOSPregradoIngeniero Electrónic

The Subjective Well-Being Challenge in the Accounting Profession: The Role of Job Resources

The main activity of the accountant is the preparation and audit of the financial information of a company. The subjective well-being of the accountant is important to ensure a balanced professional judgment and to offer a positive image of the profession in the face of the incorporation and retention of talent. However, accountants are subjected to intense pressures that affect their well-being in the performance of their tasks. In this paper, the job demands–resources theoretical framework is adopted to analyze the relationships between job demands, job resources, and the subjective well-being of a large sample of 739 accounting experts at the European level. Applying a structural equations model, the results confirm, on the one hand, the direct effects provided in the theoretical framework and, on the other, a new mediating role of job demands–subjective well-being relationship resources

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Description of the Journal, its essence and history…Grupo de Investigación HUM-672 AREA (Análisis de la Realidad EducativA

Editorial status of the journal

Information about the history and functioningGrupo de Investigación HUM-672 AREA (Análisis de la Realidad EducativA

Bauxitas kársticas jurásicas en la zona subbética (Zarzadilla de Totana, prov. de Murcia, sureste de España): Interpretación paleogeográfica

Los yacimientos de bauxitas de Zarzadilla de Totana (Murcia) selocalizan en materiales jurásicos del Subbético interno. Las bauxitas se emplazan rellenando cavidades kársticas en el seno de calizas del Lias infradomerense indicando claramente una etapa de emersión de un umbral pelágico que pudo durar parte del Lias superior y del Dogger