Estimating WACC for regulated industries on developing financial markets and in times of market uncertainty

The paper deals with the estimation of weighted average cost of capital (WACC) for regulated industries in developing financial markets from the perspective of the current financial-economic crisis. In current financial market situation some evident changes have occurred: risk-free rates in solid and developed financial markets (e. g. USA, Germany) have fallen, but due to increased market volatility, the risk premiums have increased. The latter is especially evident in transition economies where the amplitude of market volatility is extremely high. In such circumstances, there is a question of how to calculate WACC properly. WACC is an important measure in financial management decisions and in our case, business regulation. We argue in the paper that the most accurate method for calculating WACC is the estimation of the long-term WACC, which takes into consideration a long-term stable yield of capital and not the current market conditions. Following this, we propose some solutions that could be used for calculating WACC for regulated industries on the developing financial markets in times of market uncertainty. As an example, we present an estimation of the capital cost for a selected Slovenian company, which operates in the regulated industry of electric distribution

The “Autothixotropic” Phenomenon of Water and its Role in Proton Transfer

In an experimental study, significantly higher conductivity values than those of freshly prepared chemically analogous solutions were found in aged (~one year old) aqueous solutions, except for those stored frozen. The results surprisingly resemble a previously noticed phenomenon in liquid water, which develops when water is stored in closed vessels. This was observed as a disturbing phenomenon in gravimetric measurements and in luminescence spectroscopy measurements. The phenomenon was termed “autothixotropy of water” due to the weak gel-like behavior which develops spontaneously over time, in which ions seem to play an important role. Here, according to experimental results we propose that contact with hydrophilic surfaces also plays an important role. The role of the “autothixotropy of water” in proton transfer is also discussed

Possible Time-Dependent Effect of Ions and Hydrophilic Surfaces on the Electrical Conductivity of Aqueous Solutions

The purpose of this work was to determine the influence of mechanical and electrical treatment on the electrical conductivity of aqueous solutions. Solutions were treated mechanically by iteration of two steps: 1:100 dilution and vigorous shaking. These two processes were repeated until extremely dilute solutions were obtained. For electrical treatment the solutions were exposed to strong electrical impulses. Effects of mechanical (as well as electrical) treatment could not be demonstrated using electrical conductivity measurements. However, significantly higher conductivity than those of the freshly prepared chemically analogous solutions was found in all aged solutions except for those samples stored frozen. The results surprisingly resemble a previously observed weak gel-like behavior in water stored in closed flasks. We suggest that ions and contact with hydrophilic glass surfaces could be the determinative conditions for the occurrence of this phenomenon

Highly Diluted Glyphosate Mitigates Its Effects on Artemia salina: Physicochemical Implications.

Glyphosate is an herbicide widely used in agriculture but can present chronic toxicity in low concentrations. Artemia salina is a common bio-indicator of ecotoxicity; it was used herein as a model to evaluate the effect of highly diluted-succussed glyphosate (potentized glyphosate) in glyphosate-based herbicide (GBH) exposed living systems. Artemia salina cysts were kept in artificial seawater with 0.02% glyphosate (corresponding to 10% lethal concentration or LC10) under constant oxygenation, luminosity, and controlled temperature, to promote hatching in 48 h. Cysts were treated with 1% (v/v) potentized glyphosate in different dilution levels (Gly 6 cH, 30 cH, 200 cH) prepared the day before according to homeopathic techniques, using GBH from the same batch. Controls were unchallenged cysts, and cysts treated with succussed water or potentized vehicle. After 48 h, the number of born nauplii per 100 µL, nauplii vitality, and morphology were evaluated. The remaining seawater was used for physicochemical analyses using solvatochromic dyes. In a second set of experiments, Gly 6 cH treated cysts were observed under different degrees of salinity (50 to 100% seawater) and GBH concentrations (zero to LC 50); hatching and nauplii activity were recorded and analyzed using the ImageJ 1.52, plug-in Trackmate. The treatments were performed blind, and the codes were revealed after statistical analysis. Gly 6 cH increased nauplii vitality (p = 0.01) and improved the healthy/defective nauplii ratio (p = 0.005) but delayed hatching (p = 0.02). Overall, these results suggest Gly 6cH treatment promotes the emergence of the more GBH-resistant phenotype in the nauplii population. Also, Gly 6cH delays hatching, another useful survival mechanism in the presence of stress. Hatching arrest was most marked in 80% seawater when exposed to glyphosate at LC10. Water samples treated with Gly 6 cH showed specific interactions with solvatochromic dyes, mainly Coumarin 7, such that it appears to be a potential physicochemical marker for Gly 6 cH. In short, Gly 6 cH treatment appears to protect the Artemia salina population exposed to GBH at low concentrations

A Further Indication of the Self-Ordering Capacity of Water Via the Droplet Evaporation Method

The droplet evaporation method (DEM) is increasingly used for assessing various characteristics of water. In our research we tried to use DEM to detect a possible self-ordering capability of (spring) water that would be similar to the already found and described autothixotropic phenomenon, namely increasing order of non-distilled water subject to aging. The output of DEM is a droplet remnant pattern (DRP). For analysis of DRP images we used a specially developed computer program that does the frequency distribution analysis of certain parameters of the images. The results of experiments demonstrated statistically significant differences in both aging of water as well as in the glass exposed surface/volume ratio of the aged water. The most important result supporting the self-ordering character of water was found in an increasing dependence between two analyzed parameters: distance and frequency, at the peak frequency. As the result concerns mostly aging and shows increasing order it further corroborates other findings concerning increasing order by aging. Such further confirmation of self-ordering capacity of water is not important only for physical chemistry, but also for biology