The role of equities in corporate finance in Belgium

Share issues are a significant source of finance for non-financial corporations in Belgium. Between 1995 and 2005, they represented around 32 p.c. of the cumulative new liabilities of non-financial corporations. Share issues are therefore the second most important source of finance, the first being non-bank credit, which accounts for 51 p.c. of the total. Share issues are a much more important source of funding than bank credit and issues of fixed-income securities. Unquoted shares represent the major part of this, namely 27 p.c., mainly because of the high level of foreign direct investment. Quoted shares represented only 5 p.c. of the cumulative new liabilities of non-financial corporations during the period 1995-2005. An empirical analysis of the determinants of the capital structure highlights the fact that quoted companies having more intangible fixed assets are more inclined to opt for equity financing. Conversely, other factors, such as the company’s debt level, size and internal resources have a negative influence on equity financing. The timing of the use of this type of financing depends partly on macroeconomic factors such as real and financial investments of the corporations. The cost of capital may also be regarded as a key determinant of the use of equity financing over time. Substantial issues were recorded during the period 1999-2001 and from mid 2005 onwards. These developments coincided with either a cost of capital well below its long-run average or a movement in the cost of capital which was more favourable than the price of alternative sources of finance. The recent government measure aimed at allowing the deduction of notional interest charges could also give a substantial boost to new share issues.capital structure, corporate finance, equities

The Role of Equities in Corporate Finance in Belgium.

Finance; Belgium;

Spitzer observations of Abell 1763 - I: infrared and optical photometry

We present a photometric analysis of the galaxy cluster Abell 1763 at visible and infrared wavelengths. Included are fully reduced images in r', J, H, and Ks obtained using the Palomar 200in telescope, as well as the IRAC and MIPS images from Spitzer. The cluster is covered out to approximately 3 virial radii with deep 24um imaging (a 5? depth of 0.2 mJy). This same field of 40' by 40' is covered in all four IRAC bands as well as the longer wavelength MIPS bands (70 and 160um). The r' imaging covers 0.8 deg2 down to 25.5 magnitudes, and overlaps with most of the MIPS field of view. The J, H, Ks images cover the cluster core and roughly half of the filament galaxies, which extend towards the neighboring cluster, Abell 1770. This first, in a series of papers on Abell 1763, discusses the data reduction methods and source extraction techniques used for each dataset. We present catalogs of infrared (IR) sources (with 24 and/or 70um emission) and their corresponding emission in the optical (u', g', r', i', z'), and Near- to Far-IR (J, H, Ks, IRAC, and MIPS 160um). We provide the catalogs and reduced images to the community through the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA).Comment: 25 pages, 16 figure

Studying the impact of a medication use evaluation for polymedicated older patients by the community pharmacist (SIMENON) : study protocol

Background: Aged polymedicated patients are particularly vulnerable for drug-related problems. A medication review aims to optimize the medication use of patients and improve health outcomes. In this study, the effect of a pharmacist-led medication use review is investigated for polymedicated ambulatory older patients with the aim of implementing this pharmaceutical care intervention across Belgium. Methods: This article describes the study protocol of the SIMENON study and reports the results of the feasibility study, which aimed to test and optimize this study protocol. In the SIMENON intervention study, 75 Belgian community pharmacies each recruit 12 patients for a medication use review. For each patient, the identified drug-related problems and subsequent interventions are registered using the PharmDISC classification. In a subset of Dutch speaking patients, a pretest-posttest single group design is used to measure the impact of this review on patient related outcomes using questionnaires. The main outcome of the study is the type and number of drug-related problems and related interventions. A second outcome is the impact of the medication use review on adherence, objectively measured with dispensing data. Evolution in medication related quality of life is another outcome, measured with the Living with Medicines Questionnaire version 3. Other patient reported outcomes include adherence, self-management, patient satisfaction, fall incidents and use of emergency healthcare services. Discussion: The findings of this study can provide data on the effectiveness of a medication use review in the Belgian primary care setting. Furthermore, it will provide insights in which patients benefit most of this intervention and therefore facilitate the implementation of medication review in Belgium

Dust temperature and CO-to-H2 conversion factor variations in the SFR-M* plane

Deep Herschel imaging and 12CO(2-1) line luminosities from the IRAM PdBI are combined for a sample of 17 galaxies at z>1 from the GOODS-N field. The sample includes galaxies both on and above the main sequence (MS) traced by star-forming galaxies in the SFR-M* plane. The far-infrared data are used to derive dust masses, Mdust. Combined with an empirical prescription for the dependence of the gas-to-dust ratio on metallicity (GDR), the CO luminosities and Mdust values are used to derive for each galaxy the CO-to-H2 conversion factor, alpha_co. Like in the local Universe, the value of alpha_co is a factor of ~5 smaller in starbursts compared to normal star-forming galaxies (SFGs). We also uncover a relation between alpha_co and dust temperature (Tdust; alpha_co decreasing with increasing Tdust) as obtained from modified blackbody fits to the far-infrared data. While the absolute normalization of the alpha_co(Tdust) relation is uncertain, the global trend is robust against possible systematic biases in the determination of Mdust, GDR or metallicity. Although we cannot formally distinguish between a step and a smooth evolution of alpha_co with the dust temperature, we can conclude that in galaxies of near-solar metallicity, a critical value of Tdust=30K can be used to determine whether the appropriate alpha_co is closer to the starburst value (1.0 Msun(K kms pc^2)^-1, if Tdust>30K) or closer to the Galactic value (4.35 Msun (K kms pc^2)^-1, if Tdust<30K). This indicator has the great advantage of being less subjective than visual morphological classifications of mergers/SFGs, which can be difficult at high z because of the clumpy nature of SFGs. In the absence of far-infrared data, the offset of a galaxy from the main sequence (i.e., log[SSFR(galaxy)/SSFR_MS(M*,z)]) can be used to identify galaxies requiring the use of an alpha_co conversion factor lower than the Galactic value.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics (A&A); 15 pages, 6 figures; V2: updated reference lis

Uv-to-fir analysis of spitzer/irac sources in the extended groth strip i: Multi-wavelength photometry and spectral energy distributions

We present an IRAC 3.6+4.5 microns selected catalog in the Extended Groth Strip (EGS) containing photometry from the ultraviolet to the far-infrared and stellar parameters derived from the analysis of the multi-wavelength data. In this paper, we describe the method used to build coherent spectral energy distributions (SEDs) for all the sources. In a companion paper, we analyze those SEDs to obtain robust estimations of stellar parameters such as photometric redshifts, stellar masses, and star formation rates. The catalog comprises 76,936 sources with [3.6]<23.75 mag (85% completeness level of the IRAC survey in the EGS) over 0.48 square degrees. For approximately 16% of this sample, we are able to deconvolve the IRAC data to obtain robust fluxes for the multiple counterparts found in ground-based optical images. Typically, the SEDs of the IRAC sources in our catalog count with more than 15 photometric data points, spanning from the UV to the FIR. Approximately 95% and 90% of all IRAC sources are detected in the deepest optical and near-infrared bands. Only 10% of the sources have optical spectroscopy and redshift estimations. Almost 20% and 2% of the sources are detected by MIPS at 24 and 70 microns, respectively. We also cross-correlate our catalog with public X-ray and radio catalogs. Finally, we present the Rainbow Navigator public web-interface utility designed to browse all the data products resulting from this work, including images, spectra, photometry, and stellar parameters.Comment: 28 pages, 12 figures, Accepted for publication in ApJ. Access the Rainbow Database at: http://rainbowx.fis.ucm.e

Sub-millimeter galaxies as progenitors of compact quiescent galaxies

Three billion years after the big bang (at redshift z=2), half of the most massive galaxies were already old, quiescent systems with little to no residual star formation and extremely compact with stellar mass densities at least an order of magnitude larger than in low redshift ellipticals, their descendants. Little is known about how they formed, but their evolved, dense stellar populations suggest formation within intense, compact starbursts 1-2 Gyr earlier (at 3<z<6). Simulations show that gas-rich major mergers can give rise to such starbursts which produce dense remnants. Sub-millimeter selected galaxies (SMGs) are prime examples of intense, gas-rich, starbursts. With a new, representative spectroscopic sample of compact quiescent galaxies at z=2 and a statistically well-understood sample of SMGs, we show that z=3-6 SMGs are consistent with being the progenitors of z=2 quiescent galaxies, matching their formation redshifts and their distributions of sizes, stellar masses and internal velocities. Assuming an evolutionary connection, their space densities also match if the mean duty cycle of SMG starbursts is 42 (+40/-29) Myr (consistent with independent estimates), which indicates that the bulk of stars in these massive galaxies were formed in a major, early surge of star-formation. These results suggests a coherent picture of the formation history of the most massive galaxies in the universe, from their initial burst of violent star-formation through their appearance as high stellar-density galaxy cores and to their ultimate fate as giant ellipticals.Comment: ApJ (in press

Frequency dependent relaxation rate in the superconducting YBa2Cu3O{6+delta}

The submillimeter-wave 3 cm{-1} < nu < 35 cm{-1} complex conductivity of the reduced YBa2Cu3O{6+delta} film (Tc=56.5 K) was investigated for temperatures 4 K < T < 300 K and compared to the properties of the same film in the optimally doped state. The frequency dependence of the effective quasiparticle scattering rate 1/tau*(nu) was extracted from the spectra. 1/tau*(nu) is shown to be frequency independent at low frequencies and high temperatures. A gradual change to 1/tau*~nu^{1.5} law is observed as temperature decreases. In order to explain the observed temperature dependence of the low frequency spectral weight above Tc, the quasiparticle effective mass is supposed to be temperature dependent for T>Tc.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Evidence for feedback in action from the molecular gas content in the z~1.6 outflowing QSO XID2028

Gas outflows are believed to play a pivotal role in shaping galaxies, as they regulate both star formation and black hole growth. Despite their ubiquitous presence, the origin and the acceleration mechanism of such powerful and extended winds is not yet understood. Direct observations of the cold gas component in objects with detected outflows at other wavelengths are needed to assess the impact of the outflow on the host galaxy interstellar medium (ISM). We observed with the Plateau de Bure Interferometer an obscured quasar at z~1.5, XID2028, for which the presence of an ionised outflow has been unambiguously signalled by NIR spectroscopy. The detection of CO(3-2) emission in this source allows us to infer the molecular gas content and compare it to the ISM mass derived from the dust emission. We then analyze the results in the context of recent insights on scaling relations, which describe the gas content of the overall population of star-forming galaxies at a similar redshifts. The Star formation efficiency (~100) and gas mass (M_gas=2.1-9.5x10^{10} M_sun) inferred from the CO(3-2) line depend on the underlying assumptions on the excitation of the transition and the CO-to-H2 conversion factor. However, the combination of this information and the ISM mass estimated from the dust mass suggests that the ISM/gas content of XID2028 is significantly lower than expected for its observed M⋆, sSFR and redshift, based on the most up-to-date calibrations (with gas fraction <20% and depletion time scale <340 Myr). Overall, the constraints we obtain from the far infrared and millimeter data suggest that we are observing QSO feedback able to remove the gas from the host