Balancing Project Financing and Mezzanine Project Financing with Option Value to Mitigate Sponsor’s Risks for Overseas Investment Projects

Major steel-making companies in Korea have recently been trying to advance into international markets for better profitability and new market shares. Even with strategic partnerships with local organizations, the Korean steel companies are facing and incurring significant risks which impact their ability to achieve a sustainable profit. The objective of this research is to determine an optimum combination of financial models, specifically Project (PF) and Mezzanine Financing (MF) with an option (convertible bond and bond with warrant). The results of the proposed model can lower interest rates of financing, thereby increasing the profitability of the project investors. To analyze the MF method’s effectiveness and proper use, the following three steps are applied: (1) Monte-Carlo Simulations (MCS) using Excel and @Risk software are performed for the Net Present Value (NPV) of the project and its volatility; (2) the Black-Scholes model (BSM) is applied to evaluate MF based on project value; and (3) interest rate of MF is calculated from its option value and is reapplied back to the NPV calculation of the project to determine the effects of MF. Assuming a 50% debt/equity ratio, these simulations were performed on five cases (50% senior debt, 0% MF for a base case then increasing MF and decreasing senior debt by 10% four times). Through this process, using the 10%, MF lowered the borrowing size by 20% and using MF continued to lower the borrowing size up to 40% borrowing when using 40% MF. Based on this result, the researchers support the use of MF to optimize Korean steel international financial models. The resultant data will serve as an effective method to increase net cash flow in overseas steel-plant project investments. This research was performed for a steel plant located in Iran as a case-study, but this optimized financing method using MF with an option product can be applied sustainably not only for overseas investment of steel plants but also any other business, such as oil & gas, power generation, and transportation industries.11Ysciessciscopu

Melting temperature of ice \u3ci\u3eI\u3c/i\u3e\u3csub\u3e\u3ci\u3eh\u3c/i\u3e\u3c/sub\u3e calculated from coexisting solid-liquid phases

The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) to compute the melting temperature (Tm) of ice Ih with both TIP4P and TIP5P models by using the two-phase coexistence method and to compare with previously obtained Tm; (2) to compute the Tm using recently improved TIP4P and TIP5P models, namely, the TIP4P-Ew (Ref. 6) and TIP5P-Ew (Ref. 7) models. Both models are developed specifically for use with Ewald techniques. The TIP4P-Ew model, in particular, has shown substantial improvement over the original TIP4P model as it can reproduce the density maximum at about 274 K, very close to 277 K of the real water. The original TIP5P model can reproduce the measured Tm. It will be of interest to see whether the improved TIP5P-Ew model can still hold the same level of prediction as far as the Tm is concerned

Distribution of Extended-Spectrum-β-Lactamase-Producing Diarrheagenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> Clonal Complex 10 Isolates from Patients with Diarrhea in the Republic of Korea

ESBL-producing E. coli is a public health concern in healthcare settings and the community. Between 2009 and 2018, a total of 187 ESBL-producing pathogenic E. coli isolates were identified, and clonal complex (CC) 10 was the predominant clone (n = 57). This study aimed to characterize the ESBL-producing pathogenic E. coli CC10 strains obtained from patients with diarrhea to improve our understanding of CC10 distribution in the Republic of Korea. A total of 57 CC10 strains were selected for comprehensive molecular characterization, including serotype identification, the analysis of antibiotic resistance genes, the investigation of genetic environments, the determination of plasmid profiles, and the assessment of genetic correlations among CC10 strains. Among the CC10 isolates, the most prevalent serotype was O25:H16 (n = 21, 38.9%), followed by O6:H16 (10, 19.6%). The most dominant ESBL genes were blaCTX-M-15 (n = 31, 55%) and blaCTX-M-14 (n = 15, 27%). Most blaCTXM genes (n = 45, 82.5%) were located on plasmids, and these incompatibility groups were confirmed as IncB/O/K/Z, IncF, IncI1, and IncX1. The mobile elements located upstream and downstream mainly included ISEcp1 (complete or incomplete) and IS903 or orf477. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the CC10 strains were genetically diverse and spread among several distinct lineages. The results of this study show that ESBL-producing pathogenic E. coli CC10 has been consistently isolated, with CTX-M-15-producing E. coli O25:H16 isolates being the major type associated with the distribution of CC10 clones over the past decade. The identification of ESBL-producing pathogenic E. coli CC10 isolates underscores the possible emergence of resistant isolates with epidemic potential within this CC. As a result, continuous monitoring is essential to prevent the further dissemination of resistant ESBL-producing E. coli CC10 strains

Nationwide Surveillance Study of Vancomycin-Intermediate Staphylococcus aureus Strains in Korean Hospitals from 2001 to 2006

We investigated the prevalence and the molecular characteristics of vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus (VISA) among methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains isolated from clinical samples at tertiary or general hospitals participating in a nationwide surveillance program for VISA and vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA) in Korea during an 8-week period in each year from 2001 to 2006. Of 41,639 MRSAs isolated, 37,856 were screened and 169 grew on brain heart infusion agar supplemented with 4 mu g/ml vancomycin. A vancomycin MIC of 4 mu g/ml was confirmed for 33 VISA isolates of the 169 isolates. Eighteen of the 33 isolates were classified as hetero-VISA (hVISA) by the population analysis profile (PAP) method. All VISA isolates were susceptible to linezolid, tigecycline, and quinupristin dalfopristin. Most VISA isolates (MIC 4 mu g/ml) showed a PFGE C pattern with sec, seg, and sei enterotoxin genes, including ST5-SCCmec type II, or a PFGE A pattern with sea, including ST239-SCCmec type III.Lulitanond A, 2009, J CLIN MICROBIOL, V47, P2311, DOI 10.1128/JCM.01749-08Finks J, 2009, EMERG INFECT DIS, V15, P943, DOI 10.3201/eid1506.081312Rybak MJ, 2008, J CLIN MICROBIOL, V46, P2950, DOI 10.1128/JCM.00582-08Saha B, 2008, J MED MICROBIOL, V57, P72, DOI 10.1099/jmm.0.47144-0Aligholi M, 2008, MED PRIN PRACT, V17, P432, DOI 10.1159/000141513HANAKI H, 2007, J INFECT CHEMOTHER, V13, P118, DOI 10.1007/s10156-006-0498-zGoldstein F, 2007, J ANTIMICROB CHEMOTH, V59, P1, DOI 10.1093/jac/dkl429Tiwari HK, 2006, BMC INFECT DIS, V6, DOI 10.1186/1471-2334-6-156Cui LZ, 2006, ANTIMICROB AGENTS CH, V50, P1079, DOI 10.1128/AAC.50.3.1079-1082.2006Robert J, 2006, J ANTIMICROB CHEMOTH, V57, P506, DOI 10.1093/jac/dki486Kim HB, 2006, MICROB DRUG RESIST, V12, P33*CLIN LAB STAND I, 2006, M7A7 CLSIVan Griethuysen AA, 2003, J CLIN MICROBIOL, V41, P2487, DOI 10.1128/JCM.41.6.2487-2491.2003Moore MR, 2003, ANTIMICROB AGENTS CH, V47, P1262, DOI 10.1128/AAC.47.4.1262-1266.2003Denis O, 2002, J ANTIMICROB CHEMOTH, V50, P383, DOI 10.1093/jac/dkf142Hussain FM, 2002, J INFECT DIS, V186, P661Oliveira DC, 2002, ANTIMICROB AGENTS CH, V46, P2155, DOI 10.1128/AAC.46.7.2155-2161.2002Kim MN, 2002, J CLIN MICROBIOL, V40, P1376, DOI 10.1128/JCM.40.4.1376-1380.2002*CDCP, 2002, MMWR-MORBID MORTAL W, V51, P565Ike Y, 2001, J CLIN MICROBIOL, V39, P4445Reverdy ME, 2001, CLIN MICROBIOL INFEC, V7, P267Wootton M, 2001, J ANTIMICROB CHEMOTH, V47, P399Kim MN, 2000, J CLIN MICROBIOL, V38, P3879Lee K, 2000, YONSEI MED J, V41, P497Guerin F, 2000, J CLIN MICROBIOL, V38, P2985Marchese A, 2000, J CLIN MICROBIOL, V38, P866*CDCP, 2000, MMWR-MORBID MORTAL W, V48, P1165Monday SR, 1999, J CLIN MICROBIOL, V37, P3411Bierbaum G, 1999, EUR J CLIN MICROBIOL, V18, P691Wong SSY, 1999, CLIN INFECT DIS, V29, P760Smith TL, 1999, NEW ENGL J MED, V340, P493Sieradzki K, 1999, NEW ENGL J MED, V340, P517Becker K, 1998, J CLIN MICROBIOL, V36, P2548POLY MC, 1998, LANCET, V351, P1212Hiramatsu K, 1997, LANCET, V350, P1670Hiramatsu K, 1997, J ANTIMICROB CHEMOTH, V40, P135TENOVER FC, 1995, J CLIN MICROBIOL, V33, P2233CLARK NC, 1993, ANTIMICROB AGENTS CH, V37, P2311