75,606 research outputs found
What risks and challenges do credit default swaps pose to the stability of financial markets?
Credit default swaps (CDSs) pose a number of risks to institutions and markets, many of which are not unique. These risks include counterparty credit, operational, concentration, and jump-to-default risks. CDSs also pose other risks and challenges. For example, CDS markets generally lacked transparency, which may have compounded market uncertainty about participantsâ overall risk exposures, the concentration of exposures, and the market value of contracts during the recent crisis. Further, regulators note that the potential existed for market participants to manipulate certain CDS prices to profi t in other markets that CDS prices might infl uence, such as the equity market, and that the lack of transparency could contribute to this risk. Others also raised concerns about the use of CDSs for speculative purposes, including concerns about uncovered or ânakedâ CDS positions â the use of CDSs for speculative purposes when a party to a CDS contract does not own the underlying reference entity or obligation. While regulators and market participants note that over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives, to varying degrees, pose some similar risks, particularly equity derivatives, the US regulatory structure for CDSs does not provide any one regulator with authority over all participants in the CDS market, thereby making monitoring and managing potential systemic risk diffi cult.
The Orion constellation as an installation - An innovative three dimensional teaching and learning environment
Visualising the three dimensional distribution of stars within a
constellation is highly challenging for both students and educators, but when
carried out in an interactive collaborative way it can create an ideal
environment to explore common misconceptions about size and scale within
astronomy. We present how the common table top activities based upon the Orion
constellation miss out on this opportunity. Transformed into a walk-through
Orion installation that includes the position of our Solar system, it allows
the students to fully immerse themselves within the model and experience
parallax. It enables participants to explore within the installation many other
aspects of astronomy relating to sky culture, stellar evolution, and stellar
timescales establishing an innovative learning and teaching environment.Comment: 2 pages, submitted to The Physics Teacher - Colum
Inside Information and Public News: R-Squared and Beyond
This paper finds that the majority of stock price movements remain unexplained after controlling for both public and private information. This suggests that economistsâ inability to explain asset price movements is the result of either noise or naive asset pricing models.asset pricing; news; private information
Cavefish Population Status and Environmental Quality in Cave Springs Cave, Arkansas - Final Report submitted to Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission
This report summarizes the continuing effort to monitor environmental quality in the Cave Springs Cave Natural Area and to implement the Ozark Cavefish Recovery Plan. Last yearâs report (Brown et al., 1998) identified certain environmental stressors, including a trend over 15 years of increasing nutrient pollution, a low cavefish population count of only 106, and the presence of heavy metals in the cave water and one semi-volatile organic compound (the phthalate DEHP at 500 ppb) in resident crayfish tissue. This yearâs monitoring effort demonstrates that fecal coliforms continue to exceed Arkansas State Water Quality Standards (Regulation 2), sometimes by a factor of 1000. The presence of heavy metals is confirmed, in not only the cave water and sediments, but in crayfish tissue, which implies that it may be bioaccumulating in the cave foodweb. Furthermore, beryllium, copper, lead, selenium, and zinc are present in concentrations in the cave water that exceeded the Regulation 2 standards for chronic, and sometimes acute, toxicity to aquatic life. Significant amounts of nitrate are also present (with a yearly average of over 5 mg NO3-N/ L), and phosphate concentrations occasionally exceed Regulation 2 standards. Concentrations of nitrate, ortho-phosphate, total phosphate, total coliforms, and several dissolved metals (Al, Ba, Cu, Fe, and Pb) were all highly correlated with discharge, and concentrations were highest during stormflow events. No pesticides were detected in cave water, crayfish tissue or bat guano. Phthalates were again detected in crayfish tissue (DEP and DEHP at 1 ppb each), as well as the cave water (DEHP at 0.7 ppb). While the effects of these phthalates upon aquatic organisms are unknown, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency considers phthalates to be human carcinogens and hormone disrupters. Ironically, while the cavefish habitat appears to be quite polluted, this yearâs population survey counted 166 Ozark cavefish, the most ever counted for this (or any other) habitat. In order to integrate these pollution concerns and other data about this cave complex, a geographic information system was created for the Cave Springs Cave recharge zone. Preliminary analyses have detected several sensitive areas and pollution sources. The cave complex was determined to extend outside of the Natural Area boundary, and several sinkholes were identified. Photo-lineaments and fracture traces were identified, and other studies in Benton County demonstrate that these features, commonly expressed as intermittent streams on the surface, allow surface pollutants to rapidly enter the groundwater. Protection of these adjacent lands, sinkholes, and streams is recommended. The reduction or cessation of the land application of sewage sludge and agricultural waste in the recharge zone is also recommended
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GPS monitoring of a steel box girder viaduct
Structural performance monitoring of bridges has increased as major infrastructure ages and is required to sustain loads that are significantly greater than those predicted during design. Structural stiffness and/or mass distribution can change over the lifespan of a bridge structure. Resulting changes in profile or resonant frequency provide key indicators of change, and may identify structural defects. Field tests using GPS for monitoring relatively small deformations were carried out on a steel box girder viaduct bridge in the UK. The configuration consisted of five GPS receivers located at key locations on the viaduct and two reference GPS receivers. GPS data was collected at either 10 Hz or 20 Hz and post-processed using proprietary software, along with appropriate filtering and spectral analysis. Three main frequencies were clearly detected by the GPS in the vertical component. A previously reported frequency of approximately 0.56 Hz was identified along with two other frequencies. The peak vertical deflections lie in the range of ± 50 mm, while lateral and longitudinal deflections of much smaller magnitude - in the order of a few mm - are also measured. The use of GPS leads to readily obtained and useful engineering data for continued monitoring of structures
Sources of Funds and Quality Effects in Higher Education
Economists have suggested that the quality of higher education is not independent of the sources of funds used to fund that education. This paper examines the relationship between student measures of teaching quality and institutional revenue sources. The results indicate that a greater reliance on private subsides is associated with higher measures of teacher quality. A greater reliance on public subsidies, however, leads to lower teacher quality ratings. The importance of these results for shaping public policy decisions is also discussed.higher education; educational finance
The evolution of experiential learning: Tracing lines of research in the JEE
This essay introduces a collection of past articles from the Journal of Experiential Education (JEE) focused on the concept of experiential learning. It outlines the historical trajectory of the concept beginning with human relations training practices beginning in 1946, as it came to be understood as a naturally occurring psychological process and a grounding for pedagogical reforms. The eight articles included in the issue reflect the way JEE authors have contended with problems arising from the conceptâs departure from its origins in practice. We suggest that experiential learningâs evolution into a general theory was accomplished by decoupling it from its roots in a particular social practice and ideology, and then focusing on the conceptâs technical problems. It is now important for researchers to revisit assumptions underpinning current theory and practice, situate research on experiential learning in wider practical and scholarly traditions, and develop new vocabularies concerning the relationship between experience and learning in educational programs
Study of a quasi-microscope design for planetary landers
The Viking Lander fascimile camera, in its present form, provides for a minimum object distance of 1.9 meters, at which distance its resolution of 0.0007 radian provides an object resolution of 1.33 millimeters. It was deemed desirable, especially for follow-on Viking missions, to provide means for examing Martian terrain at resolutions considerably higher than that now provided. This led to the concept of quasi-microscope, an attachment to be used in conjunction with the fascimile camera to convert it to a low power microscope. The results are reported of an investigation to consider alternate optical configurations for the quasi-microscope and to develop optical designs for the selected system or systems. Initial requirements included consideration of object resolutions in the range of 2 to 50 micrometers, an available field of view of the order of 500 pixels, and no significant modifications to the fascimile camera
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