Fee Structure, Financing, and Investment Decisions: The Case of REITs

We propose a model to show how the fee structure of listed Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) can increase instead of decrease Management Company opportunistic behaviors. Distinguishing between performance fees paid on the fund market value and management fees paid either on the Net Asset Value (NAV) or on the Gross Asset Value (GAV), we show that only the former aligns the Management Company and shareholder interests. In particular, we demonstrate that management fees lead Management Companies to make suboptimal financing and investment decisions in order to maximize their own wealth at the expense of shareholders. We test the predictions of the model empirically using a panel of Italian listed REITs.Real Estate Investment Trusts, Fees, Debt, Investment

Cellular Prion Protein and Caveolin-1 Interaction in a Neuronal Cell Line Precedes Fyn/Erk 1/2 Signal Transduction

It has been reported that cellular prion protein (PrPc) is enriched in caveolae or caveolae-like domains with caveolin-1 (Cav-1) participating to signal transduction events by Fyn kinase recruitment. By using the Glutathione-S-transferase (GST)-fusion proteins assay, we observed that PrPc strongly interacts in vitro with Cav-1. Thus, we ascertained the PrPc caveolar localization in a hypothalamic neuronal cell line (GN11), by confocal microscopy analysis, flotation on density gradient, and coimmunoprecipitation experiments. Following the anti-PrPc antibody-mediated stimulation of live GN11 cells, we observed that PrPc clustered on plasma membrane domains rich in Cav-1 in which Fyn kinase converged to be activated. After these events, a signaling cascade through p42/44 MAP kinase (Erk 1/2) was triggered, suggesting that following translocations from rafts to caveolae or caveolaelike domains PrPc could interact with Cav-1 and induce signal transduction events

Dietary geraniol by oral or enema administration strongly reduces dysbiosis and systemic inflammation in dextran sulfate sodium-treated mice

(Trans)-3,7-Dimethyl-2,6-octadien-1-ol, commonly called geraniol (Ge-OH), is an acyclic monoterpene alcohol with well-known anti-inflammatory, antitumoral, and antimicrobial properties. It is widely used as a preservative in the food industry and as an antimicrobial agent in animal farming. The present study investigated the role of Ge-OH as an anti-inflammatory and anti-dysbiotic agent in the dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis mouse model. Ge-OH was orally administered to C57BL/6 mice at daily doses of 30 and 120 mg kg(-1) body weight, starting 6 days before DSS treatment and ending the day after DSS removal. Furthermore, Ge-OH 120 mg kg(-1) dose body weight was administered via enema during the acute phase of colitis to facilitate its on-site action. The results show that orally or enema-administered Ge-OH is a powerful antimicrobial agent able to prevent colitis-associated dysbiosis and decrease the inflammatory systemic profile of colitic mice. As a whole, Ge-OH strongly improved the clinical signs of colitis and significantly reduced cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression in colonocytes and in the gut wall. Ge-OH could be a powerful drug for the treatment of intestinal inflammation and dysbiosis

Responses of peripheral blood mononucleated cells from non-celiac gluten sensitive patients to various cereal sources

Non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) is still an undefined syndrome whose triggering mechanisms remain unsettled. This study aimed to clarify how cultured peripheral blood mononucleated cells (PBMC) obtained from NCGS patients responded to contact with wheat proteins. Results demonstrated that wheat protein induced an overactivation of the proinflammatory chemokine CXCL10 in PBMC from NCGS patients, and that the overactivation level depends on the cereal source from which proteins are obtained. CXCL10 is able to decrease the transepithelial resistance of monolayers of normal colonocytes (NCM 460) by diminishing the mRNA expression of cadherin-1 (CDH1) and tight junction protein 2 (TJP2), two primary components of the tight junction strands. Thus, CXCL10 overactivation is one of the mechanisms triggered by wheat proteins in PBMC obtained from NCGS patients. This mechanism is activated to a greater extent by proteins from modern with respect to those extracted from ancient wheat genotypes