Credit Spread Changes within Switching Regimes

Many empirical studies on credit spread determinants consider a single-regime model over the entire sample period and find limited explanatory power. We model the credit cycle independently from macroeconomic fundamentals using a Markov regime switching model. We show that accounting for endogenous credit cycles enhances the explanatory power of credit spread determinants. The single regime model cannot be improved when conditioning on the states of the NBER economic cycle. Furthermore, the regime-based model highlights a positive relation between credit spreads and the risk-free rate in the high regime. Inverted relations are also obtained for some other determinants.Credit spread, switching regimes, market risk, liquidity risk, default risk, credit cycle, NBER economic cycle

Within-subjects changes in lipreading and visual enhancement among older adults

After 10-14 years, 14 older adults were retested to assess changes in Vonly ability and VE. Results showed no significant declines, however, strong correlations were found between previous V-only performance and current Vonly performance, as well as between previous VE and current VE, although not as strong. Age and PTA were not predictors of changes in lipreading or VE. In addition, older adults perform less well on auditory-only tasks over time

Within-burst synchrony changes for coupled elliptic bursters

We study the appearance of a novel phenomenon for linearly coupled identical bursters: synchronized bursts where there are changes of spike synchrony within each burst. The examples we study are for normal form elliptic bursters where there is a periodic slow passage through a Bautin (codimension two degenerate Andronov-Hopf) bifurcation. This burster has a subcritical Andronov-Hopf bifurcation at the onset of repetitive spiking while end of burst occurs via a fold limit cycle bifurcation. We study synchronization behavior of two and three Bautin-type elliptic bursters for a linear direct coupling scheme. Burst synchronization is known to be prevalent behavior among such coupled bursters, while spike synchronization is more dependent on the details of the coupling. We note that higher order terms in the normal form that do not affect the behavior of a single burster can be responsible for changes in synchrony pattern; more precisely, we find within-burst synchrony changes associated with a turning point in the spiking frequency.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, 2 table

Changes in dietary patterns and body composition within 12 months of liver transplantation

Background: Cardiometabolic risk factors are increasing in liver transplant recipients (LTR). Influencing dietary factors have not been assessed. The aim of this observational study was to assess changes in weight, metabolic function, dietary intake and eating behaviours in the first year after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Methods: Consecutive recruitment of 17 patients (14 males) awaiting OLT at a single tertiary hospital. Dietary intake, food behaviours and anthropometry were recorded at baseline, and 6 and 12 months posttransplant. Results: By 12 months, patients had gained on average 7.3% of body weight. The prevalence of overweight or obesity increased from baseline 53% to 77% (P=0.001). By 6 months, 65% (n=11/17) of patients had altered glucose metabolism. Dietary intake was consistent with a Western-style dietary pattern with high saturated fat. Over half of the patients (69%, n=11/16) reported low to no depressive feelings and rated their self-esteem as good (53%, n=9/16). The Power of Food Scale increased between pre and post-transplant, indicating a stronger appetitive drive. Conclusions: Weight gain occurs early post-transplant, with significant metabolic dysfunction present within 6 months, however is not associated with significant psychological distress. Early dietary intervention designed to limit weight gain and target cardiometabolic health is recommended for this unique patient population

Seasonal changes in anthropometric and physical characteristics within English academy rugby league players.

Professional rugby league clubs implement training programmes for the development of anthropometric and physical characteristics within an academy programme. However, research that examines seasonal changes in these characteristics is limited. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the seasonal changes in anthropometric and physical characteristics of academy rugby league players by age category (i.e., under 14, 16, 18, 20). Data were collected on 75 players pre- and postseason over a 6-year period (resulting in a total of 195 assessments). Anthropometric (body mass, sum of 4 skinfolds) and physical (10- and 20-m sprint, vertical jump, Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test and 1 repetition maximum squat, bench press, and prone row) measures were collected. The under 14s and 16s showed greater seasonal improvements in body mass (e.g., under 14s = 7.4 ± 4.3% vs. under 20s = 1.2 ± 3.3%) and vertical jump performance than under 18s and under 20s. In contrast, under 18s and under 20s players showed greater seasonal improvements in Yo-Yo performance and 10-m sprint (e.g., under 14s = 1.3 ± 3.9% vs. under 20s = -1.9 ± 1.2%) in comparison to under 14s and under 16s. Seasonal strength improvements were greater for the under 18s compared with under 20s. This study provides comparative data for seasonal changes in anthropometric and physical characteristics within rugby league players aged 13-20 years. Coaches should be aware that seasonal improvements in speed may not exist within younger age categories, until changes in body mass stabilize and consider monitoring changes in other characteristics (e.g., momentum). Large interplayer variability suggests that player development should be considered on an individual and longitudinal basis

Changes in Faculty Composition Within the State University of New York System: 1985-2001

[Excerpt] The last two decades of the twentieth century saw a significant growth in the share of faculty members in American colleges and universities that are part-time or are full-time without tenure-track status. Growing student enrollments faced by academic institutions during tight financial times and growing differentials between the salaries of part-time and non-tenure track faculty on the one hand, and tenured and tenure-track faculty on the other hand, are among the explanations given for these trends. However, surprisingly, there has been no recent econometric evidence to test whether these hypotheses are true. Our study uses institutional level data provided to us by the Office of Institutional Research and Analysis of the State University of New York (SUNY) System to begin to address these issues. In the next section, we present background data on how the ratios of full-time lecturers to full-time professorial faculty and of part-time faculty to full-time faculty changed at SUNY during the fall 1985 to fall 2001 period. Counts of faculty numbers tell one little about who is actually teaching undergraduate students and so we also show how the share of undergraduate credit hours taught by part-time and non-tenure track faculty members increased during the part of the period for which we had access to credit hour data. Section III presents a simple conceptual framework that illustrates why an institution’s usage of part-time and non-tenure track faculty members should depend upon both the revenue per student received by the institution and the relative costs to the institution of the different types of faculty. While we have no data on the costs of part-time faculty members, we do have institutional level information for SUNY institutions for an eleven year period on the average salaries of tenured and tenure track faculty on the one hand, and of non-tenure track faculty on the other hand, as well as information on the revenue per student received by each institution each year. This enables us in section IV to estimate the roles that average salaries of both types of faculty members and revenues received by institutions play in explaining the observed changes in faculty composition

What Organizational Changes Have Companies Experienced upon Eliminating Ratings within their Performance Management System?

[Excerpt] Over the past decade, organizations have begun to move away from traditional performance management processes (annual reviews, assigned performance ratings, a link to compensation) to remove “performance ratings” based on the perception that traditional PM is not working. As of 2015, more than 55 companies have removed performance ratings. Among those are some high-profile companies such as GE, Microsoft, Accenture, etc. (see Appendix A). According to a study of 244 companies in 2016, almost all companies in the study use ongoing feedback, 52% of companies have adopted ratingless reviews, and 34% of companies use ratingless reviews and ongoing feedback. 80% of participating organizations say that managers make decisions how to allocate rewards without ratings while staying within budget constraints. The perceived impact of these new performance practices is high: 90% of companies that have redesigned performance management see direct improvements in engagement, 96% say processes are more simple, and 83% say they see the quality of conversations between employees and managers increasing. It is noteworthy that the positive impact may not all be attributed to the removal of performance ratings