Does increased creditworthiness lead to a reduced interest rate? : a study of external credit ratings' potential to influence a company's average interest rate

The main objective is to explain whether increased creditworthiness leads to decreased average interest rates. The creditworthiness is represented by Bisnode’s credit rating codes. Involved in the study are Norwegian limited liability companies. The assessment extends from 2005 to 2011, and the analyses were executed for each year separately. The motivation has been to verify if creditors are covering credit risk responsibly by requiring an amount of compensation, in the form of an interest rate, which is at par with the perceived level of company credit risk. The credit rating codes are divided into five categories and regression analysis has been applied in order to detect whether the differences between the interest rate per credit rating code are statistically and economically significant. Almost all interest rate differences between the credit rating codes are found statistically significant. The findings do not apply to the interest rate difference between AAA- and AA-rated companies or between AA- and A-rated companies, due to insignificant results. The order of the differences is as expected. C-rated companies carry higher interest rates than B-rated companies, which carry higher interest rates than A-rated companies, etc. The economic significance is considered high due to the large size of the interest rate differences and because credit rating code changes are detected frequently. This proves that firms extending credit rating codes contribute to enable well-functioning credit markets between debtor and creditor on the capital market. One of the limitations of this thesis has been the aggregated level of the interest rates. When executing further research, it would be advantageous to access less aggregated data and also to increase the sample size. In to obtain more accurate average interest rate calculations, the interest rates should be weighed according to the size of the relevant firm’s interest-bearing debt.nhhma

Epilepsy prevalence by individual interview in a Norwegian community

SummaryIncomplete case finding is a problem in epidemiological studies of epilepsy. We tried to optimize case ascertainment by combining information from individual interviews and medical records. During 2 years, 1838 inhabitants of Vågå, Norway, aged 18–65 (88.6% of the target population) were interviewed as part of an epidemiological study of headache. Individuals with learning disability, mental disorders and dementia were excluded. One question concerning epilepsy was presented to 1793 consecutive cases (mean age 35, males 49%): “Have you ever had convulsions, epileptic fits or other epileptic symptoms?” The medical records of the 133 subjects who acknowledged this possibility were reviewed, and telephone interviews were performed when needed. A diagnosis of epilepsy had been made in 41 subjects. Twenty-one were treated with antiepileptic drugs, of whom 12 had had seizures within the last 5 years. By this unique method of case ascertainment, the prevalence of epilepsy in adults (cases under treatment) was 1.2%, and of active cases 0.7%, despite the fact that high-risk groups for epilepsy, such as elderly people and individuals with cognitive deficits, were excluded. Although these findings were derived from a small population in a circumscribed rural area, they suggest that the true prevalence of epilepsy may be higher than reflected in many previous studies

Could the choice of patient versus proxy ratings for assessing quality of life in dementia affect resource allocation in health care?

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how the choice of patient versus proxy ratings of patient health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in dementia, for use in cost-effectiveness analyses (CEAs), could potentially affect resource allocation in health care.METHODS:A model of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) based on cognitive ability was used to assess the consequences of using HRQoL ratings from either patients themselves or proxies if a new treatment was to be introduced. The model was based on previously published data on costs related to AD stages as well as HRQoL ratings from AD patients and from their caregivers as proxy raters.RESULTS:The results show that there can be large differences in the results of the CEAs depending on whether the ratings of patients’ HRQoL were made by the patients themselves or by the proxy. When patient self-ratings of HRQoL were used, the cost/quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained was much higher as compared to the scenario when proxy ratings were used for the same analysis.CONCLUSIONS: The choice of patient self-ratings compared to proxy ratings of patients’ HRQoL can have a substantial effect on the results of CEAs. These differences in results may have an important impact on decision making and, ultimately, on resource allocation. In order to critically appraise the results of CEA studies in dementia we advise that both patient and proxy ratings are used in the CEA. To decide on methodology it is of great importance that focus is directed towards determining the most valid way to measure HRQoL in AD

Coastal ocean forecasting on the GPU using a two-dimensional finite-volume scheme

In this work, we take a modern high-resolution finite-volume scheme for solving the rotational shallow-water equations and extend it with features required to run real-world ocean simulations. Our contributions include a spatially varying north vector and Coriolis term required for large scale domains, moving wet-dry fronts, a static land mask, bottom shear stress, wind forcing, boundary conditions for nesting in a global model, and an efficient model reformulation that makes it well-suited for massively parallel implementations. Our model order is verified using a grid convergence test, and we show numerical experiments using three different sections along the coast of Norway based on data originating from operational forecasts run at the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. Our simulation framework shows perfect weak scaling on a modern P100 GPU, and is capable of providing tidal wave forecasts that are very close to the operational model at a fraction of the cost. All source code and data used in this work are publicly available under open licenses.publishedVersio

Social Innovation Toward a Meaningful Everyday Life for Nursing Home Residents: An Ethnographic Study

Background: The literature shows that innovation, which includes culture change, may be important to create a meaningful everyday life for nursing home residents. However, there is a gap in how social innovation practices may contribute to this. The theoretical discourse for the study is person-centered care. Aim: The main aim was to explore phenomena within social innovation that can contribute to improving nursing home residents’ everyday lives. Design and Method: This study uses an ethnographic design with observations and interviews in two nursing homes in Southern Norway. Findings: The main theme was that social innovation within working practices in nursing homes includes phenomena that contribute to a meaningful everyday life for the residents. This main theme includes five subthemes: (1) opening the nursing home to the surroundings; (2) expanding and strengthening the community of practice; (3) facilitating customized activities; (4) ensuring sufficient nutrition and facilitating enjoyable mealtimes; and (5) preventing unrest and disturbing behavior. Conclusion: The study reveals that innovation practices grounded in person-centered care in nursing homes may contribute to opening the nursing home to the community and establishing a common community practice for all members of the nursing home. This enables residents to experience meaningful everyday life through customized activities, sufficient nutrition, and a pleasant milieu during mealtimes. Disturbing behavior is also prevented, making it possible to promote meaningful lives in nursing homes.publishedVersio

Kollektiv dominans etter art. 54 EØS : En analyse av rettspraksis og teori for å finne kollektiv dominans etter atferdskontrollen i art. 54 EØS

Tema i oppgaven er kollektiv dominans etter atferdskontrollen i art. 54 EØS / art. 102 TFEU. Oppgavens hoveddel fremstiller og drøfter vilkårene for når flere aktører til sammen innehar en dominerende stilling på et marked. Oppgaven behandler også spesielle problemstillinger ved misbruksvurderingen når det er flere aktører som innehar den dominerende stillingen. Oppgaven baserer seg på rettspraksis fra EU-domstolene og relevant juridisk og økonomisk teori

The graphics processor as a mathematical coprocessor

Abstract We present an interface to the graphics processing unit (GPU) from MATLAB, and four algorithms from numerical linear algebra available through this interface; matrix-matrix multiplication, Gauss-Jordan elimination, PLU factorization, and tridiagonal Gaussian elimination. In addition to being a high-level abstraction to the GPU, the interface offers background processing, enabling computations to be executed on the CPU simultaneously. The algorithms are shown to be up-to 31 times faster than highly optimized CPU code. The algorithms have only been tested on single precision hardware, but will easily run on new double precision hardware

Gradients of anthropogenic stress in Indonesian coral reefs Implications for bacterial community composition and aggregate formation

The Indonesian Spermonde Archipelago, like other coral reefs located in close vicinity to urban areas, is confronted with a multitude of local anthropogenic stressors. A combination of experimental and observational studies was conducted at several fringing reefs and in the water column of the Archipelago during two sampling campaigns. Water quality parameters were not gradually decreasing with increasing distance from Makassar. Instead, there were two contrasting regions, one eutrophic inshore zone and the remaining, oligotrophic shelf. Bacterial community compositions were very distinct between those two described zones. Additionally, significantly higher total aggregated volume and sedimentation rates were observed in the eutrophic zone compared sampling within the oligotrophic outer shelf zone. Data presented in this thesis conclusively showed that dense human populations on the mainland and on the individual islands exerted a clear and measurable influence on the investigated water quality parameters, but that influence was restricted to a narrow zone close to the coast