In numerous Gram-positive bacteria, the glmS ribozyme or catalytic riboswitch regulates the expression of glucosamine-6-phosphate (GlcN6P) synthase via site-specific cleavage of its sugar-phosphate backbone in response to GlcN6P ligand binding. Biochemical data have suggested a crucial catalytic role for an active site guanine (G40 in Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis, G33 in Bacillus anthracis)...

In this paper models of default prediction conditional on financial statements of Austrian firms are presented. Apart from giving a discussion on the suggested 65 variables the issue of potential problems in developing rating models is raised and possible solutions are reviewed. A unique data set on credit risk analysis for the Austrian market is constructed and used to derive rating models for...

We study privatization under moral hazard and adverse selection. We show that if the fraction of efficient investors is either insignificant or productivity differences between efficient and inefficient investors are negligible, the government would offer a pooling contract and sell the same fraction of equity to both types of investors. The lower the productivity difference, the greater the eq...

This paper examines the interaction between investment and financing decisions of a firm using a real options approach. The firm is endowed with a perpetual option to invest in a project at any time by incurring an irreversible investment cost at that instant. The amount of the irreversible investment cost is directly related to the intensity of investment that is endogenously chosen by the fir...

This paper develops a real options model of capital structure to understand two distinct roles played by intellectual capital in corporate financing decisions. First, intellectual capital limits a firm’s debt capacity because of its low liquidation value. Second, intellectual capital enhances a firm’s debt capacity through its positive impact on the earnings dynamics. We show that the former is...

How important are differences in owner personal characteristics (risk tolerance or optimism) versus the environment in which a firm operates (bankruptcy institutions or access to credit) for firm financial structure, size, owner net-worth and welfare? To answer this question we construct a dynamic, computable model with heterogeneous agents and endogenous default in which entrepreneurs weigh th...

To analyze the orientation in target cell membranes of the pediocin-like bacteriocin (antimicrobial peptide) curvacin A, 55 variants were generated by site-directed mutagenesis and their potencies against four different target cells determined. The result suggest that the somewhat hydrophilic short central helix (residues 19 to 24), along with the N-terminal beta-sheet-like structure (residues ...

There have been a number of studies that have sought to understand the pattern of aggregate business failure rates and model the macro-economic determinants of aggregate corporate liquidations in the UK. This paper uses quarterly data (1961.1-1998.2) on failure rates and potential macroeconomic determinants to build a time-series econometric model which explicitly tests for the impact of change...

We examine the optimal mixture and priority structure of bank and market debt using a trade-off model in which banks have the unique ability to renegotiate outside formal bankruptcy. Flexible bank debt offers a superior trade-off between tax shields and bankruptcy costs. Ease of renegotiation limits bank debt capacity, however. Optimal debt structure hinges upon which party has bargaining power...

Two new red pericarp transgressive variants (advanced breeding lines from BC2F7 generation) with high yield, derived from a cross between the wild relative, O. rufipogon Griff. and O. sativa subsp. indica cv. MR219, were analysed to determine their proximate composition, total antioxidant activity, phenolic acid composition and tocochromanol content in comparison with two commonly consumed rice...