1,720,976 research outputs found
Panda bonds: Opportunity or threat for europe?
No full textWe analyse the effect of panda bonds on indebted firms default probability. The theoretical default probability as a function of debt is evaluated in the Black, Scholes (1973) and Merton (1974) framework for various set of parameters values. We consider as benchmark the prevailing default rates for speculative-grade corporate companies based on the last reports by S&P (2019) and Moody’s (2018)
Are NPL-backed securities an investment opportunity?
No full textThis paper focuses on the risk-return profile of the asset-backed securities deriving from the securitization of non-performing loans (NPLs). We test several hypotheses concerning the portfolio sell price, tranche note size and use of a public guarantee supporting the senior notes. We observe the return distribution of junior notes as a function of the portfolio recovery rate, assuming a lognormal distribution. Moreover, we focus on the probability of achieving selected target returns using a value-at-risk approach. Our results provide evidence that securitization is the most valuable deleveraging strategy from the perspective of both investors and banks
A Quasi-IRR for a Project Without IRR
No full textThe internal rate of return (IRR) and the corresponding criterion has well-known difficulties of applicability and reliability. Among other problems, a project may have no real-valued IRR. The latter problem has been recently solved by Magni (2010a), who shows that, for any project, a unique return function exists which maps aggregate capitals into rates of return, each of which is a weighted average of one-period (internal) rates of return, so it is called Average Internal Rate of Return (AIRR). Given the extent to which the IRR notion is rooted in real-life applications as well as in academia, this paper aims to supply a genuine IRR even for a project which has no IRR. This seemingly paradoxical result is achieved by introducing a twin project which has a unique IRR and the same NPV as the original project's, and which is obtained through an appropriate minimization of the distance between the original project's cash flow stream and the twin project's. Given that the latter's IRR lies on the original project's return function, it genuinely expresses a rate of return (an AIRR) of the original project. And while it is not the IRR of the project, the measure presented is 'almost' the IRR of the project, so it is actually the "quasi-IRR" of the project
Radiotherapy treatment verification
No full textDuring a radiotherapy treatment, a dosimetric verification or a geometric localization can be done, in order to assess the quality of the treatment. The dosimetric verification is generally performed measuring the dose at some points inside (natural cavities) or outside the patient, and comparing it to the dose at the same points calculated and predicted by the treatment planning system. This can be done either with thermoluminescent or diodes dosimeters or with ionization chambers. The geometric localization can be done acquiring a portal image of the patient. Portal imaging can be performed either with films placed between metallic screens, or with an electronic portal imaging device such as fluoroscopic systems, solid state devices or matrix ionization chamber systems. In order to assess possible field placement errors, the portal images have to be compared with images have to be compared with images obtained with the simulator in the same geometric conditions and/or with the digitally reconstructed radiograph (DRR) obtained with the treatment planning system. In particular, when using matrix ionization chamber systems, the portal images contain also information regarding the exit dose. This means that this kind of imaging device can be used both for geometric localization and for dosimetric verification. In this case, the exit dose measured by the portal image can be compared with the exit dose calculated and predicted by the treatment planning system. Some 'in-vivo' applications of this methodology are presented
Intra or periprostatic calcifications as natural fiducial markers for prostate localization in image guided radiotherapy
No full textGoing Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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