SMEs finance and bankruptcies: The role of credit guarantee schemes in the UK

With reference to consideration on the future of credit guarantees in the world, it may be interesting to analyze the UK framework of guarantee schemes in favour of SMEs, where there are no private guarantee providers and where there is a substantial public monopoly. In particular, in this paper it emerges that among the countries examined by the OECD, the country where the credit guarantees are least widespread is the United Kingdom. However, the trend in bankruptcies recorded in recent years by British firms is better than the median of the other countries considered. Results from the regression analysis show that among years of operation where EFG has been introduced, possibly this kind of government loan guarantees scheme for SMEs played a minor role, compared to macroeconomic indicators as GDP, in dealing with SMEs bankruptcies

A Semantic Web Annotation Tool for a Web-Based Audio Sequencer

Music and sound have a rich semantic structure which is so clear to the composer and the listener, but that remains mostly hidden to computing machinery. Nevertheless, in recent years, the introduction of software tools for music production have enabled new opportunities for migrating this knowledge from humans to machines. A new generation of these tools may exploit sound samples and semantic information coupling for the creation not only of a musical, but also of a "semantic" composition. In this paper we describe an ontology driven content annotation framework for a web-based audio editing tool. In a supervised approach, during the editing process, the graphical web interface allows the user to annotate any part of the composition with concepts from publicly available ontologies. As a test case, we developed a collaborative web-based audio sequencer that provides users with the functionality to remix the audio samples from the Freesound website and subsequently annotate them. The annotation tool can load any ontology and thus gives users the opportunity to augment the work with annotations on the structure of the composition, the musical materials, and the creator's reasoning and intentions. We believe this approach will provide several novel ways to make not only the final audio product, but also the creative process, first class citizens of the Semantic We

Circular and linear magnetic birefringences in xenon at λ=1064\lambda = 1064 nm

The circular and linear magnetic birefringences corresponding to the Faraday and the Cotton-Mouton effects, respectively, have been measured in xenon at $\lambda = 1064$ nm. The experimental setup is based on time dependent magnetic fields and a high finesse Fabry-Perot cavity. Our value of the Faraday effect is the first measurement at this wavelength. It is compared to theoretical predictions. Our uncertainty of a few percent yields an agreement at better than 1$\sigma$ with the computational estimate when relativistic effects are taken into account. Concerning the Cotton-Mouton effect, our measurement, the second ever published at $\lambda = 1064$ nm, agrees at better than $1\sigma$ with theoretical predictions. We also compare our error budget with those established for other experimental published values

Biomarkers and efficacy: Are we nearly there yet?

EDITORIA

Two-Photon Polarization Dependent Spectroscopy in Chirality: A Novel Experimental-Theoretical Approach to Study Optically Active Systems

Many phenomena, including life itself and its biochemical foundations are fundamentally rooted in chirality. Combinatorial methodologies for catalyst discovery and optimization remain an invaluable tool for gaining access to enantiomerically pure compounds in the development of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and flavors. Some exotic metamaterials exhibiting negative refractive index at optical frequencies are based on chiral structures. Chiroptical activity is commonly quantified in terms of circular dichroism (CD) and optical rotatory dispersion (ORD). However, the linear nature of these effects limits their application in the far and near-UV region in highly absorbing and scattering biological systems. In order to surmount this barrier, in recent years we made important advancements on a novel non linear, low-scatter, long-wavelength CD approach called two-photon absorption circular dichroism (TPACD). Herein we present a descriptive analysis of the optics principles behind the experimental measurement of TPACD, i.e., the double L-scan technique, and its significance using pulsed lasers. We also make an instructive examination and discuss the reliability of our theoretical-computational approach, which uses modern analytical response theory, within a Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory (TD-DFT) approach. In order to illustrate the potential of this novel spectroscopic tool, we first present the experimental and theoretical results obtained in C(2)-symmetric, axially chiral R-(+)-1,1\u27-bi(2-naphthol), R- BINOL, a molecule studied at the beginning of our investigation in this field. Next, we reveal some preliminary results obtained for (R)-3,3\u27-diphenyl- 2,2\u27-bi-1-naphthol, R-VANOL, and (R)-2,2\u27-diphenyl-3,3\u27-( 4-biphenanthrol), R-VAPOL. This family of optically active compounds has been proven to be a suitable model for the structure-property relationship study of TPACD, because its members are highly conjugated yet photo-stable, and easily derivatized at the 5- and 6-positions. With the publication of these outcomes we hope to motivate more members of the scientist community to engage in state-of-the-art TPACD spectroscopy

Linked Data approach for selection process automation in Systematic Reviews

Background: a systematic review identifies, evaluates and synthesizes the available literature on a given topic using scientific and repeatable methodologies. The significant workload required and the subjectivity bias could affect results. Aim: semi-automate the selection process to reduce the amount of manual work needed and the consequent subjectivity bias. Method: extend and enrich the selection of primary studies using the existing technologies in the field of Linked Data and text mining. We define formally the selection process and we also develop a prototype that implements it. Finally, we conduct a case study that simulates the selection process of a systematic literature published in literature. Results: the process presented in this paper could reduce the work load of 20% with respect to the work load needed in the fully manually selection, with a recall of 100%. Conclusions: the extraction of knowledge from scientific studies through Linked Data and text mining techniques could be used in the selection phase of the systematic review process to reduce the work load and subjectivity bia