A Guarantee Systems Classification: The Latin American Experience

Guarantee systems are financial tools designed to mitigate the dysfunctions, within credit operations, generated from the entrepreneurs’ demand for collaterals. The present work diagnoses the unwanted effects, triggered by international rules, on the access to funds by micro, small, and medium enterprises; it posits as well the guarantee systems as solutions to these specific circumstances. Thus, it examines their legal configurations, their operational features, their relation to the financial system, and the performance levels they have achieved in Latin America. This paper has deemed virtually all the existing systems so that the results are highly significant, providing an outstanding contribution of knowledge to this field of study. This work purposes and introduces an original compilation of guarantee financial schemes, unveiling a new reality from the perspective of an empirical classification for Latin America. The set has been sorted by the different forms in which they have operated and supported the guarantee coverage on its assets or whether they have merely acted as operators and managers of an autonomous and liquid resource known as guarantee trust or fund –which is predominant within public participation schemes that not often bear the collateral coverage on their own financial equity. This classification defines and establishes diverse operational and administrative situations

A study on wear evaluation of railway wheels based on multibody dynamics and wear computation

The wear evolution of railway wheels is a very important issue in railway engineering. In the past, the reprofiling intervals of railway vehicle steel wheels have been scheduled according to designers' experience. Today, more reliable and accurate tools in predicting wheel wear evolution and wheelset lifetime can be used in order to achieve economical and safety benefits. In this work, a computational tool that is able to predict the evolution of the wheel profiles for a given railway system, as a function of the distance run, is presented. The strategy adopted consists of using a commercial multibody software to study the railway dynamic problem and a purpose-built code for managing its pre- and post-processing data in order to compute the wear. The tool is applied here to realistic operation scenarios in order to assess the effect of some service conditions on the wheel wear progression

La asimetría de la información en la crisis financiera, el racionamiento del crédito y la garantía como mecanismo simbiótico del sistema

Tras la caída de Lehman brothers y el inicio de la crisis financiera se produce un parón en la actividad económica y se evidencia una falta de financiación atribuible a la asimetría de información que sufre el sistema financiero, en este trabajo veremos como ha sido analizado por distintos economistas este fenómeno que produce el racionamiento del crédito y el riesgo moral. Realizamos un recorrido por la economía española demostrando esta falta de financiación y el endurecimiento de las condiciones financieras con datos actuales, y como, a través de la garantía se puede salvar dicho racionamiento del crédito en la pequeña empresa. No obstante, comprobamos como no se desarrolla el sistema de garantía en la economía española para alcanzar los volúmenes deseable

The interfruta project and its contribution to the knowledge of chestnut moth (Cydia splendana Hubner)(Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) dispersal and infestation on Terceira Island, Azores

The chestnut moth is one of the principal pests on Terceira Island affecting the quality of all chestnut production. Investigation work developed by the Interfruta II Project (a project of interregional cooperation among the three Atlantic regions: Azores, Madeira and Canaries) aims at increasing interest in fruit and the vineyard production in the three partner regions. The chestnut moth (Cydia splendana Hubner) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is the only specie responsible for chestnut fruit damage. The monitoring of this pest using Delta traps with sex pheromone revealed the adult abundance during the season. The higher activity period was between July and October, the months when the chestnut harvest begins. A map of Terceira Island using a GPS and ArcGis 8.0 software was made showing the locality of all the chestnut production areas studied. In the evaluated orchards, fruit damage reached its maximum of 38% at Terra Chã, 218 m of altitude and a southern exposure, and a minimum of 0% damage at Biscoitos, at about the same altitude but with a northern exposure. In both cases, the percentages of infestation were achieved by analyzing a sample of 2.500 chestnuts for each parcel of land.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Functional consequences of seven novel mutations in the CYP11B1 Gene: four mutations associated with nonclassic and three mutations causing classic 11 -Hydroxylase Deficiency

Context: Steroid 11β-hydroxylase (CYP11B1) deficiency (11OHD) is the second most common form of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). Cases of nonclassic 11OHD are rare compared with the incidence of nonclassic 21-hydroxylase deficiency. Objective: The aim of the study was to analyze the functional consequences of seven novel CYP11B1 mutations (p.M88I, p.W116G, p.P159L, p.A165D, p.K254_A259del, p.R366C, p.T401A) found in three patients with classic 11OHD, two patients with nonclassic 11OHD, and three heterozygous carriers for CYP11B1 mutations. Methods: We conducted functional studies employing a COS7 cell in vitro expression system comparing wild-type (WT) and mutant CYP11B1 activity. Mutants were examined in a computational three-dimensional model of the CYP11B1 protein. Results: All mutations (p.W116G, p.A165D, p.K254_A259del) found in patients with classic 11OHD have absent or very little 11β-hydroxylase activity relative to WT. The mutations detected in patients with nonclassic 11OHD showed partial functional impairment, with one patient being homozygous (p.P159L; 25% of WT) and the other patient compound heterozygous for a novel mild p.M88I (40% of WT) and the known severe p.R383Q mutation. The two mutations detected in heterozygous carriers (p.R366C, p.T401A) also reduced CYP11B1 activity by 23 to 37%, respectively. Conclusion: Functional analysis results allow for the classification of novel CYP11B1 mutations as causative for classic and nonclassic 11OHD, respectively. Four partially inactivating mutations are predicted to result in nonclassic 11OHD. These findings double the number of mild CYP11B1 mutations previously described as associated with mild 11OHD. Our data are important to predict phenotypic expression and provide important information for clinical and genetic counseling i

Propuesta para una clasificación y terminología internacional de los sistemas / esquemas de garantía: conceptos, características y definiciones

The objective of this article is to propose a classification and a vocabulary for the guarantee systems/schemes. It is absolutely necessary, because it is very usual to find merely descriptive evaluations, analyses and classifications of guarantee systems/schemes, which have not been compared to other. This document is the result of some previous review made for Pombo & Herrero (2001), and Pombo, Molina & Ramirez (2006b, 2007a). When establishing classifications we must make two basic groups: guarantee societies and guarantee programs. The former ones have two options: mutual guarantee societies and corporate guarantee societies. The latter include institutional guarantee programs and guarantee programs on risk coverage funds.El objetivo de este artículo es identificar y definir una tipología y clasificación las principales de sistemas/esquemas de garantía. Esto es necesario porque lo habitual es encontrarse con evaluaciones, análisis y clasificaciones de sistemas/esquemas de garantía meramente descriptivos y evalua- ciones de sistemas/esquemas heterogéneos como si fueran homogéneos. Esta propuesta se deriva de una investigación más profunda sobre los sistemas como lo son las de Pombo y Herrero (2001) y Pombo, Molina y Ramírez (2006b, 2007a). Nuestra principal conclusión es la identificación de dos grandes grupos de sistemas/esquemas de garantía: 1) las sociedades de garantía, que tienen dos opciones: las sociedades mutualistas o asociativas empresariales y las sociedades mercantiles – corporativas, y 2) los programas de garantía que incluyen los programas de garantía gestionados por instituciones públicas especializadas y los programas de garantía gestionados por organismos de la administración pública o institucionalidad delegada por ella

IKZF1 Deletions with COBL Breakpoints Are Not Driven by RAG-Mediated Recombination Events in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

IKZF1 deletion (ΔIKZF1) is an important predictor of relapse in both childhood and adult B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). Previously, we revealed that COBL is a hotspot for breakpoints in leukemia and could promote IKZF1 deletions. Through an international collaboration, we provide a detailed genetic and clinical picture of B-ALL with COBL rearrangements (COBL-r). Patients with B-ALL and IKZF1 deletion (n = 133) were included. IKZF1 ∆1-8 were associated with large alterations within chromosome 7: monosomy 7 (18%), isochromosome 7q (10%), 7p loss (19%), and interstitial deletions (53%). The latter included COBL-r, which were found in 12% of the IKZF1 ∆1-8 cohort. Patients with COBL-r are mostly classified as intermediate cytogenetic risk and frequently harbor ETV6, PAX5, CDKN2A/B deletions. Overall, 56% of breakpoints were located within COBL intron 5. Cryptic recombination signal sequence motifs were broadly distributed within the sequence of COBL, and no enrichment for the breakpoint cluster region was found. In summary, a diverse spectrum of alterations characterizes ΔIKZF1 and they also include deletion breakpoints within COBL. We confirmed that COBL is a hotspot associated with ΔIKZF1, but these rearrangements are not driven by RAG-mediated recombination

Core Microbiota and Metabolome of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Corvina Grapes and Musts.

The composition and changes of the fungal population and of the metabolites present in grapes and in ferments of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Corvina, one of the major components of the Amarone musts, were dissected aiming at the identification of constant characteristics possibly influenced by the productive process. The fungal populations and metabolomic profiles were analyzed in three different vintages. 454-pyrosequencing on the ribosomal ITS1 region has been used to identify the fungal population present in Corvina grapes and fresh must. Samples were also subjected to metabolomics analysis measuring both free volatile compounds and glycosylated aroma precursors through an untargeted approach with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Albeit strongly dependent on the climate, both the mycobiota and metabolome of Corvina grapes and fresh musts show some characteristics recursive in different vintages. Such persistent characteristics are likely determined by the method adopted to produce Amarone or other dry wines made from partially dried grapes. In particular, the harsh conditions imposed by the prolonged withering appear to contribute to the shaping of the fungal populations. The fungal genera and metabolites present in different vintages in V. vinifera L. cv. Corvina grapes and fresh musts represent core components of the peculiar technique of production of Amarone. Their identification allows the in-depth understanding and improved control of the process of production of this economically and culturally relevant wine

Evaluation of Lu-177-Dotatate treatment in patients with metastatic neuroendocrine tumors and prognostic factors

BACKGROUND: (177)Lu peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) is a recently approved therapy in Spain that has been demonstrated to be a well-tolerated therapy for positive somatostatin receptor advanced gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. AIM: To determine the impact of PRRT on quality of life, radiologic and metabolic response, overall survival, prognostic factors and toxicity. METHODS: Thirty-six patients treated with (177)Lu-PRRT from 2016 to 2019 were included. The most frequent location of the primary tumor was the gastrointestinal tract (52.8%), pancreas (27.8%), and nongastropancreatic neuroendocrine tumor (11.1%). The liver was the most common site of metastasis (91.7%), followed by distant nodes (50.0%), bone (27.8%), peritoneum (25.0%) and lung (11.1%). Toxicity was evaluated after the administration of each dose. Treatment efficacy was evaluated by two parameters: stable disease and disease progression in response evaluation criteria in solid tumors 1.1 criterion and prognostic factors were tested. RESULTS: From 36 patients, 55.6% were men, with a median age of 61.1 +/- 11.8 years. Regarding previous treatments, 55.6% of patients underwent surgery of the primary tumor, 100% of patients were treated with long-acting somatostatin analogues, 66.7% of patients were treated with everolimus, 27.8% of patients were treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitor, and 27.8% of patients were treated with interferon. One patient received radioembolization, three patients received chemoembolization, six patients received chemotherapy. Hematological toxicity was registered in 14 patients (G1-G2: 55.5% and G3: 3.1%). Other events presented were intestinal suboclusion in 4 cases, cholestasis in 2 cases and carcinoid crisis in 1 case. The median follow-up time was 3 years. Currently, 24 patients completed treatment. Nineteen are alive with stable disease, two have disease progression, eight have died, and nine are still receiving treatment. The median overall survival was 12.5 mo (95% confidence interval range: 9.8-15.2), being inversely proportional to toxicity in previous treatments (P < 0.02), tumor grade (P < 0.01) and the presence of bone lesions (P = 0.009) and directly proportional with matching lesion findings between Octreoscan and computed tomography pre-PRRT (P < 0.01), , primary tumor surgery (P = 0.03) and metastasis surgery (P = 0.045). In a multivariate Cox regression analysis, a high Ki67 index (P = 0.003), a mismatch in the lesion findings between Octreoscan and computed tomography pre-PRRT (P < 0.01) and a preceding toxicity in previous treatments (P < 0.05) were risk factors to overall survival. CONCLUSION: Overall survival was inversely proportional to previous toxicity, tumor grade and the presence of bone metastasis and directly proportional to matching lesion findings between Octreoscan and computed tomography pre-PRRT and primary tumor and metastasis surgery