Credit Derivatives Pricing Models

Derivatives play an important role in the processes that take place in the global economy and economic growth. They are critical for hedging risks in the banking sector, managing the interest rate in the activities of pension funds, satisfying insurance claims for insurers and other market participants, i. e. reducing uncertainty arising from fluctuations in prices, credit rates, currency fluctuations, interest rates, etc. Today, they are actively used in the world practice of all industry sectors. The aim of the article is to develop pricing models for credit derivatives, taking into account the relationship between credit derivatives (CD) and structured credit products (SCP), as well as on the basis of identifying differences in the results of credit correlation of defaults, analyzing the evolutionary and essential characteristics of the CD and SCP markets. The authors systematized and classified them; their structural characteristics are provided; the main trends characteristic of the CD and SCP markets in the context of the markets of traditional derivatives are studied; the method of their design with the help of clinical documentation is determined; the major aspects of their modeling and pricing are considered, also an own credit product is designed and the spread is calculated using the pricing model. The article considers the problem of choosing an approach for assessing and calculating the correlation of defaults, which is an integral part of the pricing models of credit derivatives. On the basis of the given methodology for designing the SCP with the help of CD and the key aspects of modeling and pricing of CD and SCP, a basket credit default swap was designed on the basis of three corporate names. The designed product meets all the basic requirements for standard basket products in terms of content. The calculations were made based on the use of two different copulas to assess the correlation of defaults. The results can be used to design and evaluate a derivative on the correlation risk of issuers

Self-Isolation during the COVID-19 Pandemics: Everyday Discourse on a New Social Phenomenon among University Students

The COVID-19 pandemic was the first experience for the largest part of the world’s population of a new disease that spread rapidly across continents, a global threat to which unprecedented restrictive measures were elaborated. The purpose of the study was to analyse the everyday discourse on self-isolation among student youth based on the Theory of Social Representations. The study was conducted in two time periods corresponding to two “waves” of the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia (“first wave”: from 18, June to 10, July, 2020, and “second wave”: from 12, October to 18, November, 2020). The sample included 275 Russian university students (9.5 % male) aged 17 to 27 years. The main tool to reveal the social representations was free associations technique. The survey was conducted in online format via Google-forms. Comparison of the structure and content of social representations on self-isolation as a new social phenomenon at different stages of the pandemic made it possible to reveal their emergence and dynamics among student youth: (1) the opposition between voluntariness and coercion was characteristic of the everyday understanding of selfisolation at the very beginning of the pandemic, and (2) psychological experiences associated with the pandemic and the self-isolation caused by it turn out to be key further. In general, research findings show that self-isolation is understood by university students as a search for “pluses” in a situation of forced restrictions

Priority areas for development of scientific research: domestic and foreign experience

The collective monograph describes the priority areas for development of scientific research: domestic and foreign experience. The general issues of economic theory and history, economics and business management, finance and tax policy, modern management, public management and administration, etc. are considered. The publication is intended for scholars, teachers, postgraduate students, and students, as well as a wide readership

Phenological shifts of abiotic events, producers and consumers across a continent

Ongoing climate change can shift organism phenology in ways that vary depending on species, habitats and climate factors studied. To probe for large-scale patterns in associated phenological change, we use 70,709 observations from six decades of systematic monitoring across the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Among 110 phenological events related to plants, birds, insects, amphibians and fungi, we find a mosaic of change, defying simple predictions of earlier springs, later autumns and stronger changes at higher latitudes and elevations. Site mean temperature emerged as a strong predictor of local phenology, but the magnitude and direction of change varied with trophic level and the relative timing of an event. Beyond temperature-associated variation, we uncover high variation among both sites and years, with some sites being characterized by disproportionately long seasons and others by short ones. Our findings emphasize concerns regarding ecosystem integrity and highlight the difficulty of predicting climate change outcomes. The authors use systematic monitoring across the former USSR to investigate phenological changes across taxa. The long-term mean temperature of a site emerged as a strong predictor of phenological change, with further imprints of trophic level, event timing, site, year and biotic interactions.Peer reviewe

Chronicles of nature calendar, a long-term and large-scale multitaxon database on phenology

We present an extensive, large-scale, long-term and multitaxon database on phenological and climatic variation, involving 506,186 observation dates acquired in 471 localities in Russian Federation, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan. The data cover the period 1890-2018, with 96% of the data being from 1960 onwards. The database is rich in plants, birds and climatic events, but also includes insects, amphibians, reptiles and fungi. The database includes multiple events per species, such as the onset days of leaf unfolding and leaf fall for plants, and the days for first spring and last autumn occurrences for birds. The data were acquired using standardized methods by permanent staff of national parks and nature reserves (87% of the data) and members of a phenological observation network (13% of the data). The database is valuable for exploring how species respond in their phenology to climate change. Large-scale analyses of spatial variation in phenological response can help to better predict the consequences of species and community responses to climate change.Peer reviewe

Effect of aliskiren on post-discharge outcomes among diabetic and non-diabetic patients hospitalized for heart failure: insights from the ASTRONAUT trial

Aims The objective of the Aliskiren Trial on Acute Heart Failure Outcomes (ASTRONAUT) was to determine whether aliskiren, a direct renin inhibitor, would improve post-discharge outcomes in patients with hospitalization for heart failure (HHF) with reduced ejection fraction. Pre-specified subgroup analyses suggested potential heterogeneity in post-discharge outcomes with aliskiren in patients with and without baseline diabetes mellitus (DM). Methods and results ASTRONAUT included 953 patients without DM (aliskiren 489; placebo 464) and 662 patients with DM (aliskiren 319; placebo 343) (as reported by study investigators). Study endpoints included the first occurrence of cardiovascular death or HHF within 6 and 12 months, all-cause death within 6 and 12 months, and change from baseline in N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) at 1, 6, and 12 months. Data regarding risk of hyperkalaemia, renal impairment, and hypotension, and changes in additional serum biomarkers were collected. The effect of aliskiren on cardiovascular death or HHF within 6 months (primary endpoint) did not significantly differ by baseline DM status (P = 0.08 for interaction), but reached statistical significance at 12 months (non-DM: HR: 0.80, 95% CI: 0.64-0.99; DM: HR: 1.16, 95% CI: 0.91-1.47; P = 0.03 for interaction). Risk of 12-month all-cause death with aliskiren significantly differed by the presence of baseline DM (non-DM: HR: 0.69, 95% CI: 0.50-0.94; DM: HR: 1.64, 95% CI: 1.15-2.33; P < 0.01 for interaction). Among non-diabetics, aliskiren significantly reduced NT-proBNP through 6 months and plasma troponin I and aldosterone through 12 months, as compared to placebo. Among diabetic patients, aliskiren reduced plasma troponin I and aldosterone relative to placebo through 1 month only. There was a trend towards differing risk of post-baseline potassium ≥6 mmol/L with aliskiren by underlying DM status (non-DM: HR: 1.17, 95% CI: 0.71-1.93; DM: HR: 2.39, 95% CI: 1.30-4.42; P = 0.07 for interaction). Conclusion This pre-specified subgroup analysis from the ASTRONAUT trial generates the hypothesis that the addition of aliskiren to standard HHF therapy in non-diabetic patients is generally well-tolerated and improves post-discharge outcomes and biomarker profiles. In contrast, diabetic patients receiving aliskiren appear to have worse post-discharge outcomes. Future prospective investigations are needed to confirm potential benefits of renin inhibition in a large cohort of HHF patients without D

МЕТОДИЧНІ ОСНОВИ УПРАВЛІННЯ ЯКІСТЮ ПІДПРИЄМСТВ ЗАЛІЗНИЧНОГО ТРАНСПОРТУ

У статті розглядаються методичні основи управління якістю послуг залізничного транспорту. Наразі транспортна галузь України переживає надзвичайно складні часи. Це пов’язано з посиленням внутрішніх конфліктів щодо розвитку підприємств галузі, а також негативними зовнішніми факторами, пов’язаними з економічною та політичною діяльністю. Управління якістю на підприємствах залізничного транспорту передбачає створення систем управління якістю та заходів, необхідних для їх ефективного функціонування. Зазначено, що динаміка прибутку підприємств залізничного транспорту значною мірою залежить від соціально-економічних факторів щодо потреб і можливостей використання високоякісних транспортних послуг, а також від техніко-технологічних можливостей. У результаті було виявлено, що наявність вищевказаних розбіжностей і проблем має значний вплив на рівень управління якістю послуг, які надають залізничні компанії. На сучасному етапі інтеграції залізничної галузі України до транспортної системи ЄС необхідно чітко розуміти проблеми, які виникають у процесі. Тільки тоді можна буде ліквідувати розбіжності між очікуваннями споживачів і реальною якістю послуг, які вони отримують. У результаті було зроблено висновок, що управління якістю послуг підприємств залізничного транспорту повинне бути більш ефективним, використовуючи сучасні методи всебічного вивчення потреб споживачів і подальшого підвищення якості споживчих послуг. Це зроблено з метою отримання прибутку, підвищення соціальної значущості залізничного транспорту та отримання конкурентних переваг у майбутньому

Ribosome-controlled transcription termination is essential for the production of antibiotic microcin C

Microcin C (McC) is a peptide-nucleotide antibiotic produced by Escherichia coli cells harboring a plasmid-borne operon mccABCDE. The heptapeptide MccA is converted into McC by adenylation catalyzed by the MccB enzyme. Since MccA is a substrate for MccB, a mechanism that regulates the MccA/MccB ratio likely exists. Here, we show that transcription from a promoter located upstream of mccA directs the synthesis of two transcripts: a short highly abundant transcript containing the mccA ORF and a longer minor transcript containing mccA and downstream ORFs. The short transcript is generated when RNA polymerase terminates transcription at an intrinsic terminator located in the intergenic region between the mccA and mccB genes. The function of this terminator is strongly attenuated by upstream mcc sequences. Attenuation is relieved and transcription termination is induced when ribosome binds to the mccA ORF. Ribosome binding also makes the mccA RNA exceptionally stable. Together, these two effects-ribosome induced transcription termination and stabilization of the message-account for very high abundance of the mccA transcript that is essential for McC production. The general scheme appears to be evolutionary conserved as ribosome-induced transcription termination also occurs in a homologous operon from Helicobacter pylori