The nature and causes of the Norwegian interbank offered rate

The importance of interbank rates for unsecured funding has increased vastly the last decades with the expansion of nancial instruments. Today's interbank rates are arguably the most in uential benchmarks in pricing of assets and an important indicator on the state an economy. In the aftermath of the nancial crisis, the awareness of weaknesses of interbank rates surfaced. The awareness has led to a tightening of the regulations regarding the Norwegian Interbank O ered Rate (NIBOR). The purpose of this paper is to identify the nature of NIBOR in both a domestic and international context, and expand on NIBOR's ability to accurately re ect the lending cost between Norwegian prime banks. The rst part of the paper uses the Nelson-Siegel and Vasicek models to compare o ered rates against observable nancing cost using unsecured corporate bonds. NIBOR has historically been quoted higher than both STIBOR and EURIBOR, and we nd that Norwegian banks contributing to NIBOR and STIBOR face the same nancing costs as European banks contributing to EURIBOR. This implies that the di erences between interbank rates cannot be justi ed by higher nancing costs. When comparing the interbank rates to domestic nancing costs, we are unable to determine if banks contributing to NIBOR are more or less accurate in the Norwegian interbank market compared to other interbank markets where these banks are present. In the second part of the paper, we compare individual interest rate quotes to credit default swaps, and observe an inconsistent relationship between panel banks' quotes and their market priced risk over time. By applying a hidden markov model, we examine individual short term behavioral dynamics during the opening of the day, and preceding the xing. Our results indicate that interpretation of information varies across participants, which is a possible weakness of the governance structure.nhhma

Association of ethanol with lipid membranes containing cholesterol, sphingomyelin and ganglioside: a titration calorimetry study

AbstractThe association of ethanol at physiologically relevant concentrations with lipid bilayers of different lipid composition has been investigated by use of isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). The liposomes examined were composed of combinations of lipids commonly found in neural cell membranes: dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine (DMPC), ganglioside (GM1), sphingomyelin and cholesterol. The calorimetric results show that the interaction of ethanol with fluid lipid bilayers is endothermic and strongly dependent on the lipid composition of the liposomes. The data have been used to estimate partitioning coefficients for ethanol into the fluid lipid bilayer phase and the results are discussed in terms of the thermodynamics of partitioning. The presence of 10 mol% sphingomyelin or ganglioside in DMPC liposomes enhances the partitioning coefficient by a factor of 3. Correspondingly, cholesterol (30 mol%) reduces the partitioning coefficient by a factor of 3. This connection between lipid composition and partitioning coefficient correlates with in vivo observations. Comparison of the data with the molecular structure of the lipid molecules suggests that ethanol partitioning is highly sensitive to changes in the lipid backbone (glycerol or ceramide) while it appears much less sensitive to the nature of the head group

Traditional and professional birth attendants influence on womens decisions of birth place and type of birth assistance : a qualitative study in Tanga District, Tanzania

Author's version of an article in the journal: Nordisk Sygeplejeforskning. Also available from the publisher at: http://www.idunn.no/ts/nsf/2012/01/art02Almost half of all Tanzanian women deliver at home, alone, assisted by family members or traditional birth attendants. The aim of this article was to expand existing knowledge on how pregnant and laboring women's preferences and decisions of birth place and type of assistance are influenced. A qualitative study with semi-structured interviews, with two traditional birth attendants and one midwife, and a participatory observation was conducted at a health clinic in Tanga District, Tanzania. It was found that the interaction between pregnant women and birth attendants is significant to the womenZs preferences and choice of birth place and type of assistance during labor. The traditional birth attendants have a high social position and are available in the villages. The financial burden attached to a professionally attended birth is at the same time reduced with the choice of a home delivery. It appears that scarcity of recourses within the maternal care reinforces ethical dilemmas and negative behavior among health personnel, which influence women's preferences of birth place and assistance in labor and consequently maternal health and safety

The nature and causes of the Norwegian interbank offered rate

The importance of interbank rates for unsecured funding has increased vastly the last decades with the expansion of nancial instruments. Today's interbank rates are arguably the most in uential benchmarks in pricing of assets and an important indicator on the state an economy. In the aftermath of the nancial crisis, the awareness of weaknesses of interbank rates surfaced. The awareness has led to a tightening of the regulations regarding the Norwegian Interbank O ered Rate (NIBOR). The purpose of this paper is to identify the nature of NIBOR in both a domestic and international context, and expand on NIBOR's ability to accurately re ect the lending cost between Norwegian prime banks. The rst part of the paper uses the Nelson-Siegel and Vasicek models to compare o ered rates against observable nancing cost using unsecured corporate bonds. NIBOR has historically been quoted higher than both STIBOR and EURIBOR, and we nd that Norwegian banks contributing to NIBOR and STIBOR face the same nancing costs as European banks contributing to EURIBOR. This implies that the di erences between interbank rates cannot be justi ed by higher nancing costs. When comparing the interbank rates to domestic nancing costs, we are unable to determine if banks contributing to NIBOR are more or less accurate in the Norwegian interbank market compared to other interbank markets where these banks are present. In the second part of the paper, we compare individual interest rate quotes to credit default swaps, and observe an inconsistent relationship between panel banks' quotes and their market priced risk over time. By applying a hidden markov model, we examine individual short term behavioral dynamics during the opening of the day, and preceding the xing. Our results indicate that interpretation of information varies across participants, which is a possible weakness of the governance structure.nhhma

Et amatørteater, et lokalsamfunn, en familie

Denne masteroppgaven omhandler deltageren (i denne oppgaven medlemmer av Eidsvoll amatørteater) imøte med amatørteater. Jeg har i denne masteroppgaven knyttet forskning opp mot mitt regiarbeid i Eidsvoll amatørteater. Stykket ”Folk og røvere i Kardemomme by” ble mitt praktiske feltarbeid. Som selvreflekterende praktiker har jeg basert denne forskningen på observasjoner og fokusgruppeintervju. De teoretiske perspektivene jeg anvender for denne masteroppgaven, springer i hovedsak ut fra Helen Nicholson og hennes artikler som omhandler community theatre. Samt relevant teori som knyttes til forskningsmetodene jeg har anvendt. Opplevelsen deltageren har gjennom sin deltagelse speiler amatørteateret som en sosial gruppe i sin helhet. Empirien min springer ut fra observasjoner og fokusgruppeintervju gjort i forbindelse med mitt praktiske feltarbeid

Public Key Infrastructure in Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems

Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) enable vehicles and infrastructure to exchange information and provide users with an enhanced situation overview. It can provide early warning in potentially dangerous situations, and help increase safety and efficiency on European roads. This thesis explores the use of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) in a Cooperative Intelligent Transport System, and how it can be used to achieve authentication within the system. The first part of the thesis consists of a theoretical presentation of C-ITS and PKI. The overall structure of the trust hierarchy is discussed before the technical specifications and requirements of the system are introduced. The second part describes an experimental implementation of a PKI in a C-ITS test network. By creating an ITS certificate hierarchy, and modifying the configuration of the Dynniq ITS units, message authentication was successfully introduced to the network. The certificate hierarchy was generated using both OpenSSL and itssec, where the use of the itssec tool proved successful. Multiple configurations were tested, and the results were analyzed using supplied applications and Wireshark. After the results were verified, the PKI was expanded to include an Authorization Authority. The use of an HTTP file-server and the MQTT protocol were explored in order to handle network authentication and certificate distribution. Both options were assessed as viable candidates for more extensive testing in the future

Thermodynamics of alcohol-lipid bilayer interactions:application of a binding model

AbstractSeveral recent reports have provided evidence that interactions of small alcohols with lipid bilayer membranes are dominated by adsorption to the membrane–water interface. This mode of interaction is better modeled by binding models than solution theories. In the present study, alcohol–membrane interactions are examined by applying the ‘solvent exchange model’ [J.A. Schellmann, Biophys. Chem. 37 (1990) 121] to calorimetric measurements. Binding constants (in mole fraction units) for small alcohols to unilamellar liposomes of dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine were found to be close to unity, and in contrast to partitioning coefficients they decrease through the sequence ethanol, 1-propanol, 1-butanol. Thus, the direct (intrinsic) affinity of the bilayer for these alcohols is lower the longer the acyl chain. A distinction between binding and partitioning is discussed, and it is demonstrated that a high concentration of solute in the bilayer (large partitioning coefficients) can be obtained even in cases of weak binding. Other results from the model suggest that the number of binding sites on the lipid bilayer interface is 1–3 times the number of lipid molecules and that the binding is endothermic with an enthalpy change of 10–15 kJ/mol. Close to the main phase transition of the lipid bilayer the results suggest the presence of two distinct classes of binding sites: ‘normal’ sites similar to those observed at higher temperatures, and a lower number of high-affinity sites with binding constants larger by one or two orders of magnitude. The occurrence of high-affinity sites is discussed with respect to fluctuating gel and fluid domains in bilayer membranes close to the main phase transition