Search results for "BT"
showing 10 items of 1498 documents
The Psychological Science Accelerator’s COVID-19 rapid-response dataset
2023
Funder: Amazon Web Services (AWS) Imagine Grant
The effects of structural changes on the anti-microbial and anti-proliferative activities of diimidazolium salts
2017
An array of diimidazolium salts has been synthesized and used to investigate their anti-microbial and anti-proliferative activities. In particular, salts based on the 3,30-di-n-alkyl-1,10-(1,n-phenylenedimethylene)- diimidazolium cation and differing in the alkyl chain length on the imidazolium ion, the isomeric substitution on the aromatic spacer and in the anion nature were used. The anti-proliferative activity was evaluated against cervical (HeLa), colon adenocarcinoma (HT-29) and breast (SKBR3) cancer cell lines. In the latter case, also a morphological assessment after treatment with salts was performed. All salts were tested for their hemolytic activity against human erythrocytes. On …
Fiscal Policy Discretion, Private Spending, and Crisis Episodes
2011
In this paper, we assess the impact of fiscal policy discretion on economic activity in the short and medium-term. Using a panel of 132 countries from 1960 to 2008, we find that fiscal policy discretion provides a net stimulus to the economy in the short-run and crowding-in effects are amplified once crisis episodes are controlled for– in particular, banking crises - giving a great scope for fiscal policy stimulus packages. However, crowding-out effects take over in the long-run – especially, in the case of debt crises -, in line with the concerns about long-term debt sustainability.
A MULTISTAGE DECISION MODEL FOR THE OPTIMAL ISSUANCE OF SOVEREIGN DEBT UNDER ESA95
2014
The aim of this paper is to develop a stochastic programming model for the optimal composition of debt portfolios. Such a prob- lem has recently acquired a more and more major interest, being the indebtedness of many countries quite worrying. We propose a stochastic programming model where the decision maker desires to minimize a certain cost function while bounding the interest rate risk. Our analysis focus mainly on the cost function ESA95, which is a methodology developed by the European System of Accounts to gauge the cost of servicing the debt. The model is implemented under two financing strategies, one as- sumes the government cannot resort to budget surplus to pay interest expenses,…
An agency approach to debt maturity of unlisted and listed firms in the European setting
2019
Abstract This study analyses the debt maturity of two groups of companies – unlisted and listed – throughout the period 2005–2013. The research takes an agency costs approach to explore the determinants of firms' debt maturity structure for a set of five countries, chosen for being representative of the European Union (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom). Agency costs, as well as institutional and macroeconomic factors, turn out to be decisive in explaining firms’ financial policies regarding debt maturity, during the economic crisis that started in 2007–2008. Our findings indicate that contracting costs had a greater impact on unlisted firms during the post-crisis subperi…
The Sensor Kinase DctS Forms a Tripartite Sensor Unit with DctB and DctA for Sensing C4-Dicarboxylates in Bacillus subtilis
2013
The DctSR two-component system of Bacillus subtilis controls the expression of the aerobic C4-dicarboxylate transporter DctA. Deletion of DctA leads to an increased dctA expression. The inactivation of DctB, an extracellular binding protein, is known to inhibit the expression of dctA. Here, interaction between the sensor kinase DctS and the transporter DctA as well as the binding protein DctB was demonstrated in vivo using streptavidin (Strep) or His protein interaction experiments (mSPINE or mHPINE), and the data suggest that DctA and DctB act as cosensors for DctS. The interaction between DctS and DctB was also confirmed by the bacterial two-hybrid system (BACTH). In contrast, no indicati…
Intersectionalities, dis/abilities and subjectification in deaf LGBT people: An exploratory study in Sicily
2016
The article discusses the multiple discrimination, normalization and stigmatization experienced by deaf LGBT youth in Sicily, Italy, on the basis of a study of their everyday life (specifically school years and peer interactions). So far in Italy, very little attention has been paid to multiple discrimination and, specifically, to homophobic violence towards disabled individuals. It is, therefore, impossible to consider any valid sampling of the desired population and very few reports have been produced. The authors, a sociologist and a psychologist, carry out an analysis of the results obtained from interviews with 15 LGBT individuals recruited through social networks, thematic chats, and …
Subordinated debt in banking: a regulatory perspective
2018
The banking industry during the 1980s was characterised by the rapid spread of products and services innovations. A vast growth in this area belongs to subordinated debt. Among the instruments created for the banks' need of self-financing, subordinated debts are identified as a particular category: people who are granted a subordinated debt mainly assume the risk of the issuer's insolvency accepting to place themselves in an intermediate position between the owners and all the other creditors. Purpose of this study is to analyse the framework of this particular class of debt. Subordinated debts tend to be the first shock absorber able to incorporate the losses and tend to be very volatile w…
The zona incerta system: Involvement in attention and movement
2021
The zona incerta (ZI) is a large structure made of four neurochemically defined regions (at least, in rodents). It is globally involved in complex connections with telencephalic and brainstem centers. In this work, we focus on some of the anatomical links this structure develops with the cerebral cortex and the tectum. We also point to its integration within a larger basal ganglia network. The functions of this region are still mysterious, even if recent works suggest its participation in behavioral expression. Studies about the functional organization of the vibrissal system have provided the first integrated model, illustrating the ZI's role in sensory-motor programing. In addition, ZI co…
Accessible film festivals: a pilot study
2020
This work provides an overview of the state of accessibility at film festivals all over the world, identifies its selected audiences and also encourages innovative solutions in relation to linguistic and technical issues emerged during the processes of subtitling. The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 has resulted in many film festivals all over the world being either cancelled, postponed or moved to online platforms. What has arisen is the question whether and to what extent people with sensorial disabilities, in particular deaf and hard-of-hearing and blind and visually impaired people, have been left behind or have been part of projects of inclusion. The accessibility of forms of…