The Effectiviness Of The Network Theory In Improving The Contribution To Financial Innovation Of Italian Cooperative Banks

Purpose: In light of international financial and structural crisis the local banks should carry out a review of their business models and management approaches of their relationships with customers in order to strenghten their supply model with particular reference to innovative financial services and above all private equity services and to respond quickly to competitive pressures. In this regard, this paper intends to highlight how the network theory can allow the cooperative banks to become more competitive in order to sustain the Italian small-medium enterprises (SMEs). The research intends to verify if a structure ? such as the cooperative banks? network ? is able to enhance the degree of financial and strategic services such as private equity. Methodology/approach: The field research will be conducted in three steps. Step 1: the paper begins with the analysis of the literature available with particular reference to network theory and service management and following a short review on particular case of the technological districts and banking networks. Step 2: this step intend is part of the theme of the role that banks can engage in financing districts. After a review of the literature on this theme, a territorial survey will be carried out through a quantitative questionnaire will be addressed to cooperative banks in North, Central and South Italy to underline strategic guidelines to improve the diffusion of private equity in the modus operandi of these banks. Step 3: an empirical analysis will be conducted in order to verify how much the financial services falling within the business area of private equity transactions are common in the cooperative banks and especially in those banks that operate in technological districts. Findings: The main finding is to determine which key factors are fundamental for increasing the financial diversification of the cooperative banks? network and reinforcing its competitive position by adding innovation such as private equity services) while maintaining a strong relationship with SMEs. Practical implications The study provides both theoretical and practical insights into the advantageousness for the cooperative banks? network to follow the strategies and managerial implications to renew the business models of local banks in light of the financial crisis and Originality/value: This study provides empirical evidence of how a network system could allow the cooperative banks to improve innovation and competitiveness in the relationship with SMEs without alter their mutual identity of local banks

Il ruolo delle banche locali e del relationship lending in scenari economici in profondo cambiamento

Lo scopo di questo lavoro \ue8 quello di esaminare la relazione tra banca locale e impresa in un contesto economico in profondo cambiamento. L\u2019obiettivo \ue8 comprendere se e come l\u2019orientamento all\u2019attivit\ue0 di finanziamento delle banche locali (pi\uf9 radicate nel territorio e pi\uf9 vicine ai principi del relationship lending) sia cambiato in seguito allo scoppio della crisi finanziaria

Design of physical random access channel for new radio (5G)

LAUREA MAGISTRALEQuesto lavoro si concentra sulla progettazione di Physical Random Access CHannel (PRACH) per New Radio (5G) e sull'implementazione di un simulatore in MATLAB. PRACH è un canale di uplink fisico responsabile della procedura di accesso casuale. Ho implementato un simulatore che comprende un trasmettitore e un ricevitore. La progettazione di PRACH deve seguire le specifiche 3GPP, in modo che sia compatibile con i requisiti del settore. La nostra idea iniziale è di adattare il simulatore LTE esistente (progettato per PRACH in LTE) allo standard 5G. La parte di adattamento deve includere l'introduzione della numerologia nella struttura del frame e il supporto per OFDMA in quanto questi sono alcuni dei cambiamenti evidenti nella transizione da LTE a NR. La parte del trasmettitore è stata adattata con successo, così è il ricevitore ma con un piccolo problema. Dopo aver utilizzato lo stesso algoritmo di rilevamento utilizzato per LTE, ci siamo resi conto che c'è un degrado nelle prestazioni dovuto al rilevamento del falso picco (picco extra che viene rilevato insieme al picco originale). La sfida principale era progettare un algoritmo in grado di evitare di rilevare o eliminare questo falso picco, che appare in modo casuale. Credevamo che un approccio convenzionale a questo problema non fosse adatto, dovremmo impiegare un approccio basato sull'apprendimento automatico. La ragione per scegliere l'apprendimento automatico è la natura del problema, è chiaramente il problema della classificazione. Ci sono ottimi algoritmi in letteratura per questo specifico problema, quindi abbiamo preferito utilizzare algoritmi di classificazione per differenziare il falso picco con il picco originale (preambolo). La nostra idea è di raccogliere i dati (media e varianza del profilo del ritardo di potenza del segnale ricevuto) usando il ricevitore esistente. E quindi utilizzare questi dati per prevedere la risposta del segnale ricevuto. Dopo aver testato diversi algoritmi come K-NN, Naïve Bayes, DTC sui dati raccolti usando lo strumento di machine learning in MATLAB, credevamo che questa idea avrebbe funzionato. Dopo aver utilizzato questa tecnica, abbiamo osservato un miglioramento delle prestazioni. Ma non era ancora sufficiente, quindi abbiamo deciso di utilizzare un metodo ibrido che combina DTC e Naïve Bayes per raggiungere l'obiettivo prestazionale. Questo ha risolto il problema di rilevare due picchi e, così facendo, ha migliorato le prestazioni del ricevitore.This work focuses on the design of Physical Random Access CHannel (PRACH) for New Radio(5G) and implementing a simulator in matlab. PRACH is a physical uplink channel responsible for random access procedure. I implemented a simulator which comprises of a transmitter and receiver. The design of PRACH must follow 3GPP specification, so that it would be compatible with the industry requirements. Our initial idea is to adapt the existing LTE simulator (which was designed for PRACH in LTE) to 5G standard. The adaptation part must include introduction of numerology in the frame structure and support for OFDMA as these are some of the noticeable changes in the transition from LTE to NR. The transmitter part has been successfully adapted, so is the receiver but with a small issue. After using the same detection algorithm that was used for LTE, we realized that there is degradation in the performance due to detection of false peak (extra peak that is being detected along with the original peak). The main challenge was to design an algorithm which can avoid detecting or eliminate this false peak, which is appearing so randomly. We believed a conventional approach to this problem is not suitable, we should employ a machine learning based approach. The reason for choosing machine learning is the nature of the issue, it clearly is the problem of classification. There are very good algorithms in literature for this specific issue, so we preferred to use classification algorithms to differentiate the false peak with the original peak (preamble). Our idea is to collect the data (mean and variance of the power delay profile of the received signal) using the existing receiver. And then use this data to predict the response of the received signal. After testing several algorithms like K - NN, Naïve Bayes, DTC on the collected data using the machine learning tool in matlab, we believed this idea would work. After employing this technique, we observed improvement in the performance. But it was still not sufficient, then we decided to use a hybrid method which combines DTC and Naïve Bayes to reach the performance target. This solved the problem of detecting two peaks and in doing so, it improved the performance of the receiver

Can unlisted firms benefit from market information? A data-driven approach

[EN] We employ a sample of 10,136 Italian micro-, small-, and mid-sized enterprises (MSMEs) that borrow from 113 cooperative banks to examine whether market pricing of public firms adds additional information to accounting measures in predicting default of private firms. Specifically, we first match the asset prices of listed firms following a data-driven clustering by means of Neural Networks Autoencoder so to evaluate the firm-wise probability of default (PD) of MSMEs. Then, we adopt three statistical techniques, namely linear models, multivariate adaptive regression spline, and random forest to assess the performance of the models and to explain the relevance of each predictor. Our results provide novel evidence that market information represents a crucial indicator in predicting corporate default of unlisted firms. Indeed, we show a significant improvement of the model performance, both on class-specific (F1-score for defaulted class) and overall metrics (AUC) when using market information in credit risk assessment, in addition to accounting information. Moreover, by taking advantage of global and local variable importance technique we prove that the increase in performance is effectively attributable to market information, highlighting its relevant effect in predicting corporate default.Bitetto, A.; Filomeni, S.; Modina, M. (2022). Can unlisted firms benefit from market information? A data-driven approach. En 4th International Conference on Advanced Research Methods and Analytics (CARMA 2022). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 65-72. https://doi.org/10.4995/CARMA2022.2022.15045657

The relationship between firm size and efficiency: why does default on bank loans matter?

This paper presents an investigation of the interconnection between firm size and efficiency under the financial constraints lens. Specifically, we used the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique to measure the efficiency of a sample of large, medium-sized and small private Italian firms, using the firms’ default risk as an undesirable output. Our findings indicate that larger companies perform better than medium-sized and smaller companies in terms of efficiency (across all business profiles), including default on bank loans. Based on indicators widely employed to characterize the bank-firm relationship, our study demonstrates the need to improve the efficiency of the Italian entrepreneurial system, consisting mainly of small companies, through their dimensional growth

Progesterone Receptor Membrane Component-1 (PGRMC1) nucleolar localization in bovine granulosa cells and its putative interaction with nucleolin.

PGRMC1 is a multifunctional protein that is found in multiple subcellular compartments, suggesting aspecific function at each site. Among the several subcellular sites of expression, PGRMC1 was found inthe nucleolus of human cells (Ahmad et al. 2009) and bovine zygotes (Luciano et al. 2010). However, therole at this site is not clear. Therefore, the aim of this study is to assess whether PGRMC1 modulatesnucleolar function. Immunofluorescence experiments confirmed nucleolar localization in ratspontaneously immortalized granulosa cells, bovine granulosa cells (bGC) and bovine oocytes.Moreover, in bGC PGRMC1 co-localizes with nucleolin, a well-known nucleolar marker exertingimportant functions within the nucleolus. Additionally, siRNA mediated gene knockdown experimentsshowed that when PGRMC1 expression is silenced, nucleolin localization shifts from the nucleolus to thenucleoplasm, suggesting a PGRMC1/nucleolin functional association. However, in situ proximity ligationassay did not detect a direct interaction between these two proteins, suggesting the involvement ofadditional molecules that could mediate PGRMC1/nucleolin interaction.In conclusion, these studies suggest a function for PGRMC1 in nucleolar activity and set the stage forfurther investigations aimed at dissecting PGRMC1’s molecular mechanisms of action in the nuclearcompartment

Endocrine pancreas development at weaning in goat kids

Eighteen three-day old Saanen goat kids were divided into MILK and WEAN groups. MILK kids received goat milk to age 48 days; WEAN kids were initially fed milk but started weaning at 25 days and were completely weaned by 40 days. Total intake per group was recorded daily. On day 25, 40 and 48, body weights were recorded, and plasma samples were taken and analyzed for glucose, free amino-acids and insulin. On day 48, all animals were slaughtered and pancreas samples were analyzed for total DNA and RNA content. Histological sections of pancreas were examined by light microscope and images analyzed by dedicated software. Seven days after the beginning of the weaning program, dry matter intake in the WEAN group began to decrease compared to the MILK one. Nonetheless, body weight did not differ throughout the study period. Weaning significantly decreased plasma levels of glucose, amino-acids and insulin. No difference was observed in pancreatic DNA and RNA content. Histological analysis of pancreas showed that the size of pancreatic islets was not different, but islet number per section was lower in the pancreas of WEAN animals. In conclusion, weaning affects glucose and amino-acid metabolism and influences endocrine pancreas activity and morphology

Nutritional Regulation of Gut Barrier Integrity in Weaning Piglets

Simple Summary Weaning is a very stressful period in the piglet's life in intensive farming: it is a sudden process occurring between three to four weeks of age, when the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) is still immature. The GIT is formed by the epithelial, immune and enteric nervous system which controls epithelial barrier integrity as well as gut functions including the transport of luminal nutrients, water and electrolytes. Early weaning is characterized by a breakdown of these gut functions, an increase in intestinal permeability and the appearance of gastrointestinal functional disorders, which can have long-lasting consequences in the pig's life. Weaning, therefore, requires the correct level of nutrients, high quality ingredients, and management, which are directed primarily at encouraging rapid feed intake whilst reducing mortality and morbidity. This review describes the organization of the GIT and highlights the interactions between feed components and the morphology and physiology of the epithelial barrier. Novel dietary strategies focused on improving gut health are also discussed, considering the impacts of selected feed ingredients or additives on the GIT such as functional amino acids, phytochemicals and organic acids. Abstract Weaning is very stressful for piglets and leads to alterations in the intestinal barrier, a reduction in nutrient absorption and a higher susceptibility to intestinal diseases with heavy economic losses. This review describes the structures involved in the intestinal barrier: the epithelial barrier, immune barrier and the enteric nervous system. Here, new insights into the interactions between feed components and the physiology and morphology of the epithelial barrier are highlighted. Dietary strategies focused on improving gut health are also described including amino acids, phytochemicals and organic acids