Complex assessment of ukrainian agroholdings' economic security

Retrospective diagnostics of main financial results of activity (profit, earnings and yield of shares); business capital, market capitalization, EBITDA, operating margin and net profit margin, P / E, ROA, ROE, ROC as of 2018 and an average of 5 years; Consideration of Montier C-Score and Piotroski F-Score indicators on financial issues of companies; liquidity of the balance of agroholdings on the criterion of the ratio of assets and liabilities; the coefficient analysis of enterprises and the diagnosis of bankruptcy probabilities using models of multiple discriminant analysis (MDA model), logistic regression (Logit-model) and rating methods (Beaver's indicators and definition of the class of the potential beneficiary of the investment prokect) helped to formulate a generalized conclusion on the probability of bankruptcy according to models and a general assessment of the financial condition of agricultural companies. Based on the analysis, it has been determined that, according to all methods of the agroholding, the sample collectively generates a series from the highest to the lowest: MHP / Kernel, IMC, Agroton and Avangard. In view of this, it is necessary to formulate and continuously improve integrated risk management systems (integrated systems of enterprise economic security), rather than separate procedures at the level of different departments of the compan

Investing in Long-Term Customer Relationships

In many markets consumers form long-term relationships with firms. In such settings, a firm's existing customers are valuable assets whose "loyalty" must be maintained through continued investment. In this paper we assume that consumer loyalty is strengthened with repeated buying but may erode if the relationship is interrupted. In this context we show how a firm's history of costs and sales and the size of its customer base determine the extent to which it invests in maintaining its long term customer relationships by satisfying demand even when this involves a short-term loss. In particular, our model shows that very young firms with small customer bases will prefer losing customers in the short run to absorbing losses in high cost periods, middling sized firms will take the opposite position, absorbing losses for the sake of continuing to build customer bases, while established firms with very large customer bases revert to a willingness to lose customers in the short run

The values and risks of an Intergovernmental Panel for One Health to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the need for better global governance of pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPR) and has emphasised the importance of organised knowledge production and uptake. In this Health Policy, we assess the potential values and risks of establishing an Intergovernmental Panel for One Health (IPOH). Similar to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an IPOH would facilitate knowledge uptake in policy making via a multisectoral approach, and hence support the addressing of infectious disease emergence and re-emergence at the human-animal-environment interface. The potential benefits to pandemic PPR include a clear, unified, and authoritative voice from the scientific community, support to help donors and institutions to prioritise their investments, evidence-based policies for implementation, and guidance on defragmenting the global health system. Potential risks include a scope not encompassing all pandemic origins, unclear efficacy in fostering knowledge uptake by policy makers, potentially inadequate speed in facilitating response efforts, and coordination challenges among an already dense set of stakeholders. We recommend weighing these factors when designing institutional reforms for a more effective global health system

Discrimination of common and unique RNA-binding activities among Fragile X mental retardation protein paralogs

Fragile X mental retardation is caused by loss-of-function of a single gene encoding FMRP, an RNA-binding protein that harbors three canonical RNA-binding domains, two KH-type and one RGG box. Two autosomal paralogs of FMRP, FXR1P and FXR2P, are similar to FMRP in their overall structure, including the presence of putative RNA-binding domains, but to what extent they provide functional redundancy with FMRP is unclear. Although FMRP has been characterized as a polyribosome-associated regulator of translation, less is known about the functions of FXR1P and FXR2P. For example, FMRP binds intramolecular G-quadruplex and kissing complex RNA (kcRNA) ligands via the RGG box and KH2 domain, respectively, although the RNA ligands of FXR1P and FXR2P are unknown. Here we demonstrate that FXR1P and FXR2P KH2 domains bind kcRNA ligands with the same affinity as the FMRP KH2 domain although other KH domains do not. RNA ligand recognition by this family is highly conserved, as the KH2 domain of the single Drosophila ortholog, dFMRP, also binds kcRNA. kcRNA was able to displace FXR1P and FXR2P from polyribosomes as it does for FMRP, and this displacement was FMRP-independent. This suggests that all three family members recognize the same binding site on RNA mediating their polyribosome association, and that they may be functionally redundant with regard to this aspect of translational control. In contrast, FMRP is unique in its ability to recognize G-quadruplexes, suggesting the FMRP RGG domain may play a non-redundant role in the pathophysiology of the disease