The Problem of Holdout Creditors in Eurozone Sovereign Debt Restructuring

The Eurozone official sector has declared that the belated restructuring of Greek bonds held by private sector creditors in 2012 was a “unique and exceptional” event, never, ever to be repeated in any other Eurozone country. Maybe so. But if this assurance proves in time to be as fragile as the official sector’s prior pronouncements on the subject of “private sector involvement” in Eurozone sovereign debt problems, any future Eurozone debt restructuring will be surely plagued by the problem of non-participating creditors --- holdouts. Indeed, it is the undisguised fear of holdouts and the prospect of a messy, Argentine-style debt restructuring in the belly of Europe that has been one of the principal motivations for the official sector’s willingness to use its taxpayer money to repay, in full and on time, all of the private sector creditors of Eurozone countries receiving bailouts (the belated Greek restructuring being the sole exception). This article argues that a simple amendment of the Treaty Establishing the European Stability Mechanism (the Eurozone’s new bailout facility) could immunize within the confines of the Eurozone the assets of a Eurozone country receiving ESM bailout assistance from attachment by litigious holdout creditors. By thus increasing the difficulties that holdouts would face in enforcing court judgments against a debtor country, the objective of the amendment is to deflate creditor expectations that staying out of an ESM-supported sovereign debt restructuring will lead to a preferential recovery for the holdouts. This measure would also, when taken together with the other steps that the Eurozone has already implemented, substantially replicate the important features of the Sovereign Debt Restructuring Mechanism proposed by the IMF in 2002

Reprofiling Sovereign Debt

• The IMF staff’s 2013 proposal to reprofile (i.e., stretch out for a short period without haircutting principal or interest) the maturing debt of a country that has lost market access is a sensible policy in cases where the IMF is uncertain whether the country’s debt stock is sustainable. • The motivation for the policy is to avoid situations, such as occurred during the Eurozone debt crisis, in which Fund resources are used to bail-out commercial creditors in full. • But a debt reprofiling is a species of debt restructuring and as such is susceptible to holdout creditor behaviour. • By allowing a small portion of its loans to the debtor country to be used to neutralise some or all of the additional credit risk caused by the reprofiling, the IMF could minimise holdout creditors in these operations. • The authors propose a technique for minimizing the risk that certain creditors may elect to decline a reprofiling proposal, no matter how lenient its terms

Classification of a Haemophilus influenzae ABC Transporter HI1470/71 through Its Cognate Molybdate Periplasmic Binding Protein, MoIA

molA (HI1472) from H. influenzae encodes a periplasmic binding protein (PBP) that delivers substrate to the ABC transporter MolB_2C_2 (formerly HI1470/71). The structures of MolA with molybdate and tungstate in the binding pocket were solved to 1.6 and 1.7 Å resolution, respectively. The MolA-binding protein binds molybdate and tungstate, but not other oxyanions such as sulfate and phosphate, making it the first class III molybdate-binding protein structurally solved. The ~100 μM binding affinity for tungstate and molybdate is significantly lower than observed for the class II ModA molybdate-binding proteins that have nanomolar to low micromolar affinity for molybdate. The presence of two molybdate loci in H. influenzae suggests multiple transport systems for one substrate, with molABC constituting a low-affinity molybdate locus

Volunteering attitude, mental well-being, and loyalty for the non-profit religious organization of volunteer tourism

The present research aimed to explore volunteer travelers’ loyalty formation for the non-profit religious organization of volunteer tourism by considering the gender influence. A quantitative process along with a survey method was utilized to attain the research purpose. Our empirical results showed that awareness of the need, performance of the organization, attitude, and the mental well-being were critical contributors to increasing loyalty. Attitude and mental well-being were vital mediators. The performance of the non-profit religious organization included a comparative importance in building loyalty. In addition, gender moderated the effect of awareness of the need and performance of the organization on the travelers’ attitudes toward it. As very little is known about volunteer tourists’ behaviors, the current study satisfactorily provides an apparent comprehension regarding how their loyalty for the non-profit religious organization is generated and what factors drive this loyalty

On the optical extinction and distance of GRS 1915+105

Based on new millimeter and radio observations, we reevaluate the total hydrogen column density along the line of sight to the microquasar GRS 1915+105 to NH=(3.5 +/- 0.3) 10^22 cm^-2. Our value is consistent with the one derived from X-ray measurements, namely (3.8 +/- 0.3) 10^22 cm^-2 (Ebisawa et al. 1998). Using the empirical law between the visual extinction and the total column density of hydrogen, Av is found to 19.6 +/- 1.7 mag. This result is 7 mag lower than previously thought, and therefore, a reevaluation of infrared fluxes after derredening is needed. The revisited kinematic study allows to give a lower limit to the distance of GRS 1915+105, namely 6.0 kpc. Taking into account the most accurate upper limit of distance inferred from radio data (11.2 +/- 0.8 kpc; Fender et al. 1999) as well as this lower limit, this implies a distance of 9.0 +/- 3.0 kpc .Comment: 8 pages, 2 Postscript figures, Latex2e, documentclass A&A 5.2, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Microbiological assessment and evaluation of rehydration instructions on powdered infant formulas, follow-up formulas, and infant foods in Malaysia

A total of 90 samples comprised of powdered infant formulas (51), follow-up formulas (21) and infant foods (18) from 15 domestic and imported brands were purchased from various retailers in Klang Valley, Malaysia and evaluated in terms of microbiological quality and the similarity of rehydration instructions on the product label to guidelines set by the World Health Organization. Microbiological analysis included the determination of aerobic plate count (APC) and the presence of Enterobacteriaceae and Cronobacter spp. Isolates of interest were identified using ID 32E (bioMerieux®). In this study 87% of powdered infant formulas, follow-up formulas and infant foods analyzed had aerobic plate counts below the permitted level of 70°C for formula preparation as specified by the 2008 revised World Health Organization guidelines. Six brands instructed the use of water at 40-55°C, a temperature range which would support the survival and even growth of Enterobacteriaceae

Is the plateau state in GRS 1915+105 equivalent to canonical hard states?

GRS1915+105 is a very peculiar black hole binary that exhibits accretion-related states that are not observed in any other stellar-mass black hole system. One of these states, however -- referred to as the plateau state -- may be related to the canonical hard state of black hole X-ray binaries. Both the plateau and hard state are associated with steady, relatively lower X-ray emission and flat/inverted radio emission, that is sometimes resolved into compact, self-absorbed jets. However, while generally black hole binaries quench their jets when the luminosity becomes too high, GRS1915+105 seems to sustain them despite the fact that it accretes at near- or super-Eddington rates. In order to investigate the relationship between the plateau and the hard state, we fit two multi-wavelength observations using a steady-state outflow-dominated model, developed for hard state black hole binaries. The data sets consist of quasi-simultaneous observations in radio, near-infrared and X-ray bands. Interestingly, we find both significant differences between the two plateau states, as well as between the best-fit model parameters and those representative of the hard state. We discuss our interpretation of these results, and the possible implications for GRS 1915+105's relationship to canonical black hole candidates.Comment: accepted for publication in MNRA

Sensitivity analysis of an unsteady char particle combustion

International audienceSimulations of unsteady char particle combustion rely on various models that are necessary in order to correctly predict the governing flow and combustion processes. These models, in turn, rely on model parameters, which are determined by experiments or small scale simulations and contain a certain level of uncertainty. It is therefore, essential to correctly determine the sensitivities of quantities of interest measured using such simulations, with respect to the existing parameters. In this study, a discrete adjoint algorithm is employed to extract sensitivities of various quantities of interest with respect to physical and model parameters. This adjoint framework bears a great advantage in cases where a large input space is analyzed, since a single forward and backward sweep provides sensitivity information with respect to all parameters of interest. Sensitivities are extracted for relevant quantities of interest, such as burning rate and particle temperature, and are then compared as free stream composition changes from air to oxy atmosphere. The evolution of sensitivities in time is shown to be dependent on the selected quantity of interest. Model sensitivities with respect to heterogeneous reaction parameters (oxidation of carbon, in particular) are shown to be the highest, whereas the sensitivities with respect to free stream composition are shown to be significantly lower

Measuring the Spin of GRS 1915+105 with Relativistic Disk Reflection

GRS 1915+105 harbors one of the most massive known stellar black holes in the Galaxy. In May 2007, we observed GRS 1915+105 for 117 ksec in the low/hard state using Suzaku. We collected and analyzed the data with the HXD/PIN and XIS cameras spanning the energy range from 2.3-55 keV. Fits to the spectra with simple models reveal strong disk reflection through an Fe K emission line and a Compton back-scattering hump. We report constraints on the spin parameter of the black hole in GRS 1915+105 using relativistic disk reflection models. The model for the soft X-ray spectrum (i.e. < 10 keV) suggests a/M = 0.56(2) and excludes zero spin at the 4 sigma level of confidence. The model for the full broadband spectrum suggests that the spin may be higher, a/M = 0.98(1) (1 sigma confidence), and again excludes zero spin at the 2 sigma level of confidence. We discuss these results in the context of other spin constraints and inner disk studies in GRS 1915+105.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

Ion-exchanged geopolymer for photocatalytic degradation of a volatile organic compound

In thepresentworkitisshownhowgeopolymerscanbeusedtocontrolindoorandoutdoorair pollution byphotolysisof2-ButanoneasaVolatileOrganicCompound(VOC).Anionexchange procedurewasfollowedtoincorporateTiO2 into ageopolymer(IEG),anddifferent2-Butanone concentrations wereusedinabatchreactorunderdryandhumidconditions.Variationon 2-Butanone concentrationwasfollowedbygaschromatography.ALangmuir Hinshelwood modelwas used todeterminethedisappearancerateofreactantattheinitialstageofthereaction.Gasca-Tirado, J.; Manzano-Ramirez, A.; Vazquez-Landaverde, PA.; Herrera-Diaz, EI.; Rodriguez-Ugarte, ME.; Rubio-Avalos, JC.; Amigó Borrás, V.... (2014). Ion-exchanged geopolymer for photocatalytic degradation of a volatile organic compound. Materials Letters. 134:222-224. doi:10.1016/j.matlet.2014.07.090S22222413