TARP Assistance for Chrysler: Restructuring and Repayment Issues

[Excerpt] During the recession, both of these U.S. automakers and two auto financing companies, Chrysler Financial and GMAC, received federal financial assistance from the Bush and Obama Administrations. Alone among the world’s major automakers, Old Chrysler and Old GM filed for bankruptcy and, with oversight from the Obama Administration as well as the bankruptcy court, restructured their operations in an attempt to become more competitive companies. Both bankruptcies took place in the summer of 2009. Reasoning that Chrysler was not financially strong enough to be an independent company, the Obama Administration reached an agreement with Fiat to take over the management of New Chrysler in a bankruptcy reorganization; Fiat also received a 20% equity ownership stake in the new company. The U.S. government’s assistance to Chrysler ultimately resulted in New Chrysler owing the government several billions of dollars in loans and the government having an initial 9.9% ownership stake in New Chrysler. In May 2011, the loans directly owed by New Chrysler were repaid; in July 2011, Fiat purchased the U.S. government’s remaining interests in the company, thereby ending direct government involvement with New Chrysler. The TARP assistance for Chrysler, however, was not fully recouped due to losses in the bankruptcy process and because the ultimate value of the government’s ownership stake in Chrysler was less than the amount of outstanding TARP assistance. This report describes the progress that New Chrysler has made since it was created from the sale of the Old Chrysler assets in July 2009 and the path of the divestment of the federal government’s stake in Chrysler

The Role of TARP Assistance in the Restructuring of General Motors

[Excerpt] This report analyzes the crisis leading to Old GM’s bankruptcy, the U.S. government’s assistance to, and role in, the new company, the progress that General Motors Company has made since it was created, and the recoupment of the U.S. government’s assistance for GM

U.S. Motor Vehicle Industry Restructuring and Dealership Terminations

[Exerpt] As Chrysler and General Motors (GM) moved toward and into bankruptcy, they sought and received permission from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to terminate about 2,000 contracts with auto dealers. Many of the dealers want their contracts reinstated and have sought relief from Congress to accomplish that goal. This report examines the changed economic landscape facing the auto sector, automaker arguments in favor of dealer reductions, and dealer counterpoints. It also highlights recent legislation introduced to address dealers\u27 concerns. Chrysler and GM have emerged from bankruptcy as significantly smaller companies, reflecting the end of a multiyear restructuring process for both companies. Chrysler is now controlled by the Italian carmaker, Fiat, while GM\u27s current majority owner is the U.S. Government. GM, which in 2008 operated 47 assembly, powertrain, and stamping facilities, is to operate 34 plants by the end of 2010 and 33 by 2012. The number of hourly employees will have declined from 78,000 onDecember 31, 2007 to 62,200 at end-2008, to an estimated 40,000 in 2010. By way of contrast, GM had 304,000 hourly workers in 1991. GM also discontinued one brand (Pontiac) and is to sell Hummer, Saab, and Saturn, and some percentage of its GM Europe operations, Opel and Vauxhall. The new Chrysler reduced its number of production facilities from 25 to 17 as part of its restructuring. The company employed 45,000 hourly U.S. employees in January 2008 and 27,000 in February 2009. For the first time, GM and Chrysler are not owned by private investors; rather, the UAW\u27s retiree health trust, the U.S. Treasury, and the Canadian government have taken ownership stakes in both companies. The auto dealership network, a critical intermediary between automakers and final consumers, has not escaped this turmoil. Auto dealers are independent businesses with contracts with the automakers Most of the approximately 20,000 U.S. auto dealers are family-owned and have been in business in their hometowns for decades. As with all stakeholders in GM and Chrysler, the dealer owners are faced with stark choices as the automakers downsize and seek a more competitive business model. As part of their restructuring, Chrysler cut 789 dealers immediately and GM is to eliminate more than 1,300 when the dealer\u27s contracts expire in October 2010. While dealer reductions of this magnitude would not have been possible in the normal course of business, the bankruptcy court approved both the Chrysler and GM requests to terminate dealerships as part of larger processes that have allowed a new GM and a new Chrysler to emerge from bankruptcy with many fewer assets and no liabilities. Of the roughly 2,000 dealers affected by these changes, many oppose the changes and have taken their battle against GM and Chrysler to Congress. Congressional hearings have been held and a number of bills to restore the dealer terminations have been introduced. On July 16, 2009, the House passed the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2010 (H.R. 3170), which includes a committee-approved amendment offered by Representative LaTourette that would require automobile companies that receive federal funds and are partially owned by the federal government to reinstate agreements with franchise dealerships that had a valid dealer agreement prior to Chapter 11 proceedings. It would apply only to General Motors and Chrysler and would require them to reinstate the roughly 2,000 dealerships they have dropped or would like to drop as part of their cost cutting, downsizing, and overall restructuring. On July 17 the House Committee on Financial Services voted in support of H.Res. 591, requiring an Administration report on the work of the Auto Task Force, including decisions on dealerships. This report will be updated as necessary

The U.S. Motor Vehicle Industry: Confronting a New Dynamic in the Global Economy

[Excerpt] This report provides an in-depth analysis of the 2009 crisis in the U.S. auto industry and its prospects for regaining domestic and global competitiveness. It also analyzes business and policy issues arising from the unprecedented restructurings that occurred within the industry. The starting point for this analysis is June-July 2009, with General Motors Company (GM or new GM) and Chrysler Group LLC (or new Chrysler) incorporated as new companies, having selectively acquired many, but not all, assets from their predecessor companies. The year 2009 was marked by recession and a crisis in global credit markets; the bankruptcy of General Motors Corporation and Chrysler LLC; the incorporation of successor companies under the auspices of the U.S. Treasury; hundreds of parts supplier bankruptcies; plant closings and worker buyouts; the cash-for-clunkers program; and increasing production and sales at year’s end. This report also examines the relative successes of the Ford Motor Company and the increasing presence of foreign-owned original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), foreign-owned parts manufacturers, competition from imported vehicles, and a serious buildup of global overcapacity that potentially threatens the recovery of the major U.S. domestic producers. This report, which establishes a context for examining the industry and analyzes a unique but highly specific period in the U.S. automobile industry’s history, will not be updated

Betahistine exerts a dose-dependent effect on cochlear stria vascularis blood flow in guinea pigs in vivo

Objective: Betahistine is a histamine H1-receptor agonist and H3-receptor antagonist that is administered to treat Menière’s disease. Despite widespread use, its pharmacological mode of action has not been entirely elucidated. This study investigated the effect of betahistine on guinea pigs at dosages corresponding to clinically used doses for cochlear microcirculation. Methods: Thirty healthy Dunkin-Hartley guinea pigs were randomly assigned to five groups to receive betahistine dihydrochloride in a dose of 1,000 mg/kg b. w. (milligram per kilogram body weight), 0.100 mg/kg b. w., 0.010 mg/kg b. w., 0.001 mg/kg b. w. in NaCl 0.9% or NaCl 0.9% alone as placebo. Cochlear blood flow and mean arterial pressure were continuously monitored by intravital fluorescence microscopy and invasive blood pressure measurements 3 minutes before and 15 minutes after administration of betahistine. Results: When betahistine was administered in a dose of 1.000 mg/kg b. w. cochlear blood flow was increased to a peak value of 1.340 arbitrary units (SD: 0.246; range: 0.933–1.546 arb. units) compared to baseline (p<0.05; Two Way Repeated Measures ANOVA/Bonferroni t-test). The lowest dosage of 0.001 mg/kg b. w. betahistine or NaCl 0.9% had the same effect as placebo. Nonlinear regression revealed that there was a sigmoid correlation between increase in blood flow and dosages. Conclusions: Betahistine has a dose-dependent effect on the increase of blood flow in cochlear capillaries. The effects of the dosage range of betahistine on cochlear microcirculation corresponded well to clinically used single dosages to treat Menière’s disease. Our data suggest that the improved effects of higher doses of betahistine in the treatment of Menière’s disease might be due to a corresponding increase of cochlear blood flow

Do Faculae Affect Autocorrelation Rotation Periods in Sun-like Stars?

Rotational periods derived from autocorrelation (ACF) techniques on stars photometrically similar to the Sun in Kepler data have proven difficult to reliably determine. We investigate various instrumental and astrophysical factors affecting the accuracy of these measurements, including the effects of observational windows and noise, stellar activity and inclination, spectral passbands, and the separate normalization of contiguous segments. We validate that the flux variations due to faculae are very periodic, but starspots are the dominant source of bolometric and visible differential variability in Sun-like stars on rotational timescales. We quantify how much stronger the relative contribution of faculae would have to be to render Sun-like light curves periodic enough to reliably measure with autocorrelation methods. We also quantify how long starspot lifetimes need to be to render pure spot light curves periodic enough. In general, longer observational windows yield more accurate ACF measurements, even when faculae are not present. Due to the enhancement of the relative contribution of faculae, observing stars with intermediate inclinations, during activity minima, and/or through bluer passbands has the effect of strengthening the periodicity of the light curve. We search for other manifestations of faculae in broadband photometry of Sun-like stars and conclude that without absolute flux measurements or restriction to shorter wavelength passbands, differential light curves are uninformative about faculae.Comment: 19 pages, 14 figures, accepted by Ap

Robot Troli Pengikut Pelanggan Otomatis Berbasis Image Processing

Abstract - This research presents information about automatic trolley robot customer followers of image processing and microcontrollers. Generally, when we shopping at supermarkets usually provided baskets and trolleys to carry their groceries. Usually customers are required to drive the trolley or bring their own basket, so customers still feel troubled if they have to choose groceries while pushing the luggage cart. Of these problems came the idea of integrating between conventional trolleys and automation technology. The aim of the author making research about this robot trolley to make it easier and more convenient for supermarket customers to shop and carry their groceries. Where trolleys are made capable of following the movements of users without the need to push them so that customers just have to buy items that are purchased and customers can walk in front of their shopping trolleys. The additional devices needed to drive the trolley automatically include camera, microcontroller, DC motor, servo motor, motorbike driver, and battery installed on the trolley. Image processing uses a camera on the system that is made to work by detecting the color of the object that has been determined to determine the distance of the object with the trolley. The method used to process image processing is a hue-based color filtering algorithm hue-based color filtering. So that the use of trolleys can move automatically to follow customers. The end result of this automatic follower trolley design is an 80% success rate with the maximum distance between objects and trolleys is 5.65m.Keyword : camera, image processing, microcontroller, DC motor. &nbsp; &nbsp;Abstrak - Penelitian ini memaparkan informasi tentang robot troli otomatis pengikut pelanggan berbasis image processing dan mikrokontroler. Pada umumnya ketika kita belanja di supermarket biasanya disediakan keranjang dan troli unrtuk membawa barang belanjaan. Biasanya pelanggan diharuskan untuk mendorong troli atau membawa keranjang sendiri, sehingga pelanggan masih merasa repot jika harus memilih barang belanjaan sambil mendorong troli bawaannya. Dari permasalahan tersebut muncul gagasan untuk mengintegrasikan antara troli konvensional dengan teknologi otomatisasi. Tujuan penulis membuat penelitian tentang robot troli ini untuk mempermudah dan mempernyaman pelanggan supermarket dalam belanja dan membawa barang belanjaannya, dimana troli dibuat mampu mengikuti gerak penggunanya tanpa perlu mendorongnya sehingga pelanggan tinggal memlih barang yang di beli dan pelanggan bisa berjalan di depan troli belanjaanya. Adapun perangkat tambahan yang diperlukan untuk menggerakan troli secara otomatis antara lain yaitu kamera, mikrokontroler, motor DC, motor servo, driver motor, dan baterai yang dipasang pada troli. Image processing menggunakan kamera pada sistem yang dibuat bekerja dengan cara mendeteksi warna objek yang sudah di tentukan untuk mengetahui jarak objek dengan troli. Metode yang digunakan untuk memproses image processing adalah algoritma hue-based color filtering. Sehingga pada penggunaannya troli mampu bergerak otomatis mengikuti pelanggan. Hasil akhir dari perancangan troli pengikut otomatis ini yaitu tingkat keberhasilan 80% dengan jarak maksimum antara objek dan troli adalah 5.65m.Kata kunci: kamera, image processing, mikrokontroler, motor D

Neurotoxin injection in benign submandibular gland hypertrophy: A first choice treatment

Background Various benign clinical entities with a symptomatology of hypertrophic submandibular glands like sialadenitis, sialadenosis, sialolithiasis, or an ageing neck have been described. Botulinum toxin type A is an elegant tool in the management of these conditions. Methods This article is an original article, describing the Munich Concept of treating persistent submandibular swelling with Botulinum Toxin Type A from aesthetic and functional aspect. To shrink the affected tissue, 15 Units of Botox or Xeomin are applied in a single injection technique and under ultrasound guidance into the glands. Therefore, the 100 Units vial is being diluted with 3.5 of NaCl. Results Intraglandular injections, using a specific dilution and dosage of the neurotoxin preparations, are very effective in the management of these swellings, offering safe and long‐lasting results, with a high satisfaction rate. Our working group treated in the last 18 months 23 patients with benign, bilateral submandibular gland hypertrophies, which did not have any major complications. Conclusion As there is not yet described an ideal therapeutic strategy for the management of this symptomatology, we suggest, based on our experience, a concept with very promising results from functional and cosmetic aspect