Alternative finance in bank-firm relationship: how does board structure affect the cost of debt?

In this paper, we examine the relationship between alternative finance and board structure on the cost of debt for firms, focusing on the unique effects of differing board characteristics. Using a dataset of 176 European listed companies observed annually from 2013 to 2022, we dissect this relationship through several hypotheses considering factors such as the supply of alternative finance, board gender composition, age, expertise, and board turnover. Our findings reveal that increased alternative finance credit supply escalates the cost of debt, especially for firms with lower ESG scores. Firms with young boards, boards specialized in economics or low, and board turnover also experience a rise in borrowing costs with increasing of alternative finance. Through a pooling 2SLS model, we provide robust evidence about the interplay of alternative finance and varying board structures on the cost of debt. This research clarifies the intricacies of bank-firm relationships in alternative finance and holds significant implications for supervisory authorities, banks, and policymakers. It underscores the necessity of good corporate governance in managing the cost implications of alternative finance. It calls for tailored risk assessment strategies, conducive regulatory frameworks, and vigilant supervisory approaches to create a resilient financial ecosystem where alternative finance can thrive without inordinately inflating the cost of debt

Identification in Saccharomyces cerevisiae of two isoforms of a novel mitochondrial transporter for 2-oxoadipate and 2-oxoglutarate.

The nuclear genome of Saccharomyces cerevisiae encodes 35 members of a family of membrane proteins. Known members transport substrates and products across the inner membranes of mitochondria. We have localized two hitherto unidentified family members, Odc1p and Odc2p, to the inner membranes of mitochondria. They are isoforms with 61% sequence identity, and we have shown in reconstituted liposomes that they transport the oxodicarboxylates 2-oxoadipate and 2-oxoglutarate by a strict counter exchange mechanism. Intraliposomal adipate and glutarate and to a lesser extent malate and citrate supported [14C]oxoglutarate uptake. The expression of Odc1p, the more abundant isoform, made in the presence of nonfermentable carbon sources, is repressed by glucose. The main physiological roles of Odc1p and Odc2p are probably to supply 2-oxoadipate and 2-oxoglutarate from the mitochondrial matrix to the cytosol where they are used in the biosynthesis of lysine and glutamate, respectively, and in lysine catabolism

The Sequence, Bacterial Expression, and Functional Reconstitution of the Rat Mitochondrial Dicarboxylate Transporter Cloned via Distant Homologs in Yeast and Caenorhabditis elegans

The dicarboxylate carrier (DIC) belongs to a family of transport proteins found in the inner mitochondrial membranes. The biochemical properties of the mammalian protein have been characterized, but the protein is not abundant. It is difficult to purify and had not been sequenced. We have used the sequence of the distantly related yeast DIC to identify a related protein encoded in the genome of Caenorhabditis elegans. Then, related murine expressed sequence tags were identified with the worm sequence, and the murine sequence was used to isolate the cDNA for the rat homolog. The sequences of the worm and rat proteins have features characteristic of the family of mitochondrial transport proteins. Both proteins were expressed in bacteria and reconstituted into phospholipid vesicles where their transport characteristics closely resembled those of whole rat mitochondria and of the rat DIC reconstituted into vesicles. As expected from the role of the DIC in gluconeogenesis and ureogenesis, its transcripts were detected in rat liver and kidney, but unexpectedly, they were also detected in rat heart and brain tissues where the protein may fulfill other roles, possibly in supplying substrates to the Krebs cycle

Dendrochronological and geomorphological investigations to assess water erosion and mass wasting processes in the Apennines of Southern Tuscany (Italy)

The Tyrrhenian side of the Central Apennines is located in a lively geological context, in which uplift/denudation dynamics played a key role in landscape evolution. Intense water erosion and gravitational processes led to the development of spectacular badlands on the widespread clayey hillslopes. The Crete d'Arbia badlands (as part of the Crete Senesi of Southern Tuscany) represent one of the most beautiful examples of these landforms developed on Pliocene clays. On the other hand, these rapidly evolving landforms endanger the artistic heritage of the area, as with the Monte Oliveto Maggiore Abbey that was constructed on the top of a badland hillslope and confers additional value to the landscape.In the perspective of monitoring and reconstructing some significant phases of the relief evolution of this area an integrated approach has been used, which is based on dendrogeomorphology and geomorphological monitoring techniques. In particular, the correspondence between the data from dendrogeomorphological indicators and the measured denudation rates on badland hillslopes was tested. The sampling for dendrogeomorphological analysis has been performed in two stages on 45 trees of the Pinus pinea L. species, on hillslopes affected by soil creep and shallow landslides, in order to identify annual ring growth anomalies, compression wood and roots exposure. Trees' local behaviour is not homogeneous but some common trends have been detected on the basis of the anomaly index and compression wood. Since 1993 several monitoring stations at badland denudation "hot spots" have been equipped with erosion pins; quantitative data from monitoring stations, compared to pluviometric series, indicated critical phases of denudation that were supported by dendrochronological data. The integrated approach between dendrogeomorphology and geomorphological monitoring techniques allowed calibration of both tools in order to extend the analysis in the period preceding the field measurements. This kind of approach, capable of implementation in many contexts, could be particularly helpful in order to forecast the relief evolutionary trend

Health-related quality of life and functional changes in DMD:A 12-month longitudinal cohort study

Family caregivers of people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) live stressful lives in which they spend most of their time caring for their loved ones and managing difficult situations, thereby reducing the time spent in taking care of themselves. This situation may last several years. Previous literature has widely highlighted that this situation reduces caregivers' quality of life and increases their psychological distress and risk of health problems, but there is a lack of studies that focus on psychological interventions for these situations. This qualitative study examined a pilot experience of two mutual support groups for family caregivers of people with ALS. The aim was to identify caregivers' needs, the prominent aspects of their experience, and to understand whether and how this intervention strategy might help them. Six partners (four men and two women) and six adult children (five women and one man) participated in the groups, which were conducted in northern Italy. After the support groups finished, participants underwent semi-structured interviews. The authors conducted a content analysis of the transcripts of the interviews and the 20 group sessions. The thematic areas identified were "caregiving," "being the son/daughter of a person with ALS," "being the partner of a person with ALS," "group experience" and "group evaluation." The caregiving experience was profoundly different depending on whether the caregiver was a son/daughter or a partner of a patient with ALS. Moreover, comparison with peers and mutual support helped participants to better cope with ALS and its consequences, to improve their care for their relatives and to overcome typical caregiver isolation. These results suggest the usefulness of involving communities in caregiver support in order to create new networks and activate personal and social resources for well-being

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene YPR011c encodes a mitochondrial transporter of adenosine 5'-phosphosulfate and 3'-phospho-adenosine 5'-phosphosulfate

The genome of Saccharomyces cerevisiae contains 35 members of the mitochondrial carrier family, nearly all of which have been functionally characterized. In this study, the identification of the mitochondrial carrier for adenosine 5'-phosphosulfate (APS) is described. The corresponding gene (YPR011c) was overexpressed in bacteria. The purified protein was reconstituted into phospholipid vesicles and its transport properties and kinetic parameters were characterized. It transported APS, 3'-phospho-adenosine 5'-phosphosulfate, sulfate and phosphate almost exclusively by a counter-exchange mechanism. Transport was saturable and inhibited by bongkrekic acid and other inhibitors. To investigate the physiological significance of this carrier in S. cerevisiae, mutants were subjected to thermal shock at 45°C in the presence of sulfate and in the absence of methionine. At 45°C cells lacking YPR011c, engineered cells (in which APS is produced only in mitochondria) and more so the latter cells, in which the exit of mitochondrial APS is prevented by the absence of YPR011cp, were less thermotolerant. Moreover, at the same temperature all these cells contained less methionine and total glutathione than wild-type cells. Our results show that S. cerevisiae mitochondria are equipped with a transporter for APS and that YPR011cp-mediated mitochondrial transport of APS occurs in S. cerevisiae under thermal stress condition

Influence of oxidative stress, diaphragm fatigue, and inspiratory muscle training on the plasma cytokine response to maximum sustainable voluntary ventilation

The influence of oxidative stress, diaphragm fatigue, and inspiratory muscle training (IMT) on the cytokine response to maximum sustainable voluntary ventilation (MSVV) is unknown. Twelve healthy males were divided equally into an IMT or placebo (PLA) group, and before and after a 6-wk intervention they undertook, on separate days, 1h of (1) passive rest and (2) MSVV, whereby participants undertook volitional hyperpnea at rest that mimicked the breathing and respiratory muscle recruitment patterns commensurate with heavy cycling exercise. Plasma cytokines remained unchanged during passive rest. There was a main effect of time (P < 0.01) for plasma interleukin-1 (IL-1) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) concentrations and a strong trend (P = 0.067) for plasma interleukin-1 receptor antagonist concentration during MSVV. Plasma IL-6 concentration was reduced after IMT by 27 + 18% (main effect of intervention, P = 0.029), whereas there was no change after PLA (P = 0.753). There was no increase in a systemic marker of oxidative stress [DNA damage in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC)], and diaphragm fatigue was not related to the increases in plasma IL-1 and IL-6 concentrations. A dose-response relationship was observed between respiratory muscle work and minute ventilation and increases in plasma IL-6 concentration. In conclusion, increases in plasma IL-1 and IL-6 concentrations during MSVV were not due to diaphragm fatigue or DNA damage in PBMC. Increases in plasma IL-6 concentration during MSVV are attenuated following IMT, and the plasma IL-6 response is dependent upon the level of respiratory muscle work and minute ventilation

The HIE-ISOLDE Superconducting Cavities: Surface Treatment and Niobium Thin Film Coating

CERN has designed and prepared new facilities for the surface treatment and niobium sputter coating of the HIE-ISOLDE superconducting cavities. We describe here the design choices, as well as the results of the first surface treatments and test coatings

Hybrid photonic-bandgap accelerating cavities

In a recent investigation, we studied two-dimensional point-defected photonic bandgap cavities composed of dielectric rods arranged according to various representative periodic and aperiodic lattices, with special emphasis on possible applications to particle acceleration (along the longitudinal axis). In this paper, we present a new study aimed at highlighting the possible advantages of using hybrid structures based on the above dielectric configurations, but featuring metallic rods in the outermost regions, for the design of extremely-high quality factor, bandgap-based, accelerating resonators. In this framework, we consider diverse configurations, with different (periodic and aperiodic) lattice geometries, sizes, and dielectric/metal fractions. Moreover, we also explore possible improvements attainable via the use of superconducting plates to confine the electromagnetic field in the longitudinal direction. Results from our comparative studies, based on numerical full-wave simulations backed by experimental validations (at room and cryogenic temperatures) in the microwave region, identify the candidate parametric configurations capable of yielding the highest quality factor.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables. One figure and one reference added; minor changes in the tex