Unconditional Value Research Articles

Do coherent risk measures identify assets risk profiles similarly? Evidence from international futures markets

The authors consider Lévy processes with conditional distributions belonging to a generalized hyperbolic family and compare and contrast full density-based Lévy-expected shortfall (ES) risk measures and Lévy-spectral risk measures (SRM) with those of a traditional tail-based unconditional extreme value (EV) approach. Using the futures data of leading markets the authors find that ES and SRM often differ in recognizing the risk profiles of different assets. While EV (extreme value) is often found to be more consistent than Lévy models, Lévy measures often perform better than EV measures when compared with empirical values. This becomes increasingly apparent as investors become more risk averse.

PowerPoint slide provision and student performance: the moderating roles of self-efficacy and gender

Research on the pedagogical value of providing students with PowerPoint (PPT) slide handouts has produced mixed results. One reason for the inconsistent findings may be that most studies in this stream of research have neglected to examine individual differences. In the current study, we aimed to advance research on the pedagogical value of providing students with access to PPT slide handouts by examining whether self-efficacy and gender influence the effect of PPT slide provision on academic performance. We found no evidence to suggest that the provision of slide handouts has broad, unconditional pedagogical value. Instead, we found that both self-efficacy and gender moderated the extent to which the availability of the handouts enhanced or hindered students’ performance. As predicted, both students high on self-efficacy and males performed significantly better when they were provided with handouts. Conversely, students low on self-efficacy performed significantly worse when the handouts were provided. Female students also trended toward lower performance when the handouts were provided. Additionally, we found that students who were provided with PPT handouts perceived their instructor as more effective, and that this relation was mediated by students’ feeling of preparation. Finally, students also considered the provision of PPT handouts more valuable to their learning and course performance than one-to-one interactions with the professor. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

P238 Homonymous Ib inhibition during remote muscle contraction

Objective Conflicting theoretical models exist regarding the mechanism related to the ability of the Jendrassek maneuvre to reinforce reflex parameters. Our objective was to investigate if eventually inhibition of the spinal Ib motoneurone during remote muscle contraction would contribute to H-reflex enhancement. Method Soleus H-reflex from 26 healthy subjects was evoked on both sides by stimulating the tibial nerve at rest and during bilateral vigorous hadgrip. This procedure was repeated using paired stimulation at interstimulus intervals ranging from 2 ms to 15 ms. Mean conditioned H-wave amplitude expressed as a percentage of its unconditioned value (H-ratio) evoked during handgrip was compared with the H-ratio obtained at the same interstimulus interval at rest. Results The size of H-reflex evoked during handgrip was significantly higher then of that evoked at rest. The H-ratio value plotted against the interstimulus interval showed both at rest and during handgrip a similar decrease that was maximal at 5 ms and lasted less than 10 ms. Discussion The size of the conditioned H-reflex is determined by the balance between test Ia excitation and Ib inhibition elicited by the conditioning stimulus. According to our results the interneurones intercalated in pathways from Ib afferents retain their inhibitory effect on the alpha motoneurone during remote muscle contraction. Conclusion H-reflex enhancement during Jendrassek maneuvre is not due to inhibition of Ib interneurones. Significance Further studies are needed in order to test the role of other spinal circuits or descending drives that produce subthreshold excitation of alpha motoneurones by remote muscle contraction.

Justice and Unconditional Valuing in Nietzsche's genealogy

Justice and Unconditional Valuing in Nietzsche's <i>genealogy</i>

Информация как феномен философско-управленческого знания

In modern terms, the information permeates all aspects of an individual and society business: economy, social sphere, politics. Information is a resource of a manager. The process of managing is an information process. When philosophers consider questions relating to information, they made to focus on one or more properties of the information, while others are not mentioned at all. But in the management science the basic properties of information are clearly defined. This is reliability, objectivity, accuracy, complete- ness, topicality, usefulness. With the evolution of the theory of management, the balance of the importance of information properties has changed. But we should not forget that all basic properties of information are important and losing sight of some of them and giving absolute and unconditional value of just one is unacceptable. Properties of the information and the leading of one of them can be assigned to different control concepts interpretation, depending on the period of evolution of the theory of management. In the classical paradigm of management the most important properties of the information is completeness, objectivity and accuracy. Neoclassical paradigm of management focuses on the accuracy and topicality of the information received. Modern paradigm of management is fundamentally different from the classical and neoclassical ones that recognizes a priori the impossibility of obtaining perfectly accurate, objective and complete information. Usefulness of the information comes to the fore, even if the information is knowingly false, distorted or subjective. The manager, acting in modern environment can not only transform, but also artificially create the information that later he uses. The difference of modern management paradigm from the classical and neoclassicalonesis that the information is now viewed not as some external resource. At the present stage of evolution of management science information can be created artificially and is an important feature of a manager is the ability to transform information, increasing the usefulness, one of its properties. In the context of such an attitude to the management of general and management information such as the chaos it is not perceived as a threat but as an opportunity to obtain significant competitive advantages for the shortest possible time. The chaotic state of the system, contrary to the prevailing views in the classical period, is not complicated, and simplifies the management process. Information is one of the most important resource of our time. The information was an important tool for management at all stages of evolution of management science, it is actively used in any management paradigm, but the nature of the use of the information has changed, according to the natural changes in managerial philosophy, adhering to new paradigms.

Unconditional reference values for the amniotic fluid index measurement between 26w0d and 41w6d of gestation in low-risk pregnancies

Objective: To establish reference values for the amniotic fluid index (AFI) measurement between 26w0d and 41w6d of gestation in a Brazilian population.Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study with 1984 low-risk singleton pregnant women between 26w0d and 41w6d of gestation. AFI was measured according to the technique proposed by Phelan et al. Maternal abdomen was divided into four quadrants using the umbilicus and linea nigra as landmarks. Single vertical pocket in each quadrant was measured and the AFI was generated by the sum of these four values without umbilical cord or fetal parts. All ultrasound exams were performed by only two experienced examiners. AFI was expressed as median, interquartile range, mean and ranges in each gestational age (GA) interval. Polynomial regressions were performed to obtain the best fit with adjustment by the determination coefficient (R2).Results: Mean of AFI ranged from 14.0 ± 4.1 cm (range, 9.7–14.0) at 26w0d to 8.3 ± 4.7 cm (range, 1.9–16.5) at 41w6d, respectively. The best polynomial regression fit curve was a first-degree: AFI = 16.29–0.125*GA (R2 = 0.01). According the scatterplot, AFI values practically did not vary with advancing GA.Conclusion: Reference values for the AFI measurement between 26w0d and 41w6d of gestation in a low-risk Brazilian population were established.

Physical and mechanical characteristics of new basalt-FRP bars for reinforcing concrete structures

This paper introduces an experimental study that investigated the physical, mechanical, and durability characteristics of basalt fiber-reinforced polymer (BFRP) bars. Durability and long-term performance were assessed by conditioning the BFRP bars in an alkaline solution simulating the concrete environment (up to 3000h at 60°C) to determine their suitability as internal reinforcement for concrete elements. Thereafter, the properties were assessed and compared with the unconditioned (reference) values. In this study, three types of BFRP bars were investigated. The test results revealed that the BFRP bars had good mechanical behavior and could be placed in the same category as grade II and grade III GFRP bars (according to tensile modulus of elasticity). Their tensile strength, however, was higher than that provided by CAN/CSA S807-10 for CFRP bars. On the other hand, the BFRP bars showed poor alkali resistance and exhibited a remarkable reduction in mechanical properties due to the resin–fiber interface issues, which needs to be remedied to achieve the desired durability characteristics.

Characterization and Comparative Durability Study of Glass/Vinylester, Basalt/Vinylester, and Basalt/Epoxy FRP Bars

AbstractThis paper presents an experimental study that investigated the physical, mechanical, and durability characteristics of three different types of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) bars made of basalt and glass fibers with vinylester and epoxy resins, namely basalt/vinylester (B/V) FRP bars, glass/vinylester (G/V) FRP bars, and basalt/epoxy (B/E) FRP bars. First, their physical and mechanical properties were assessed. Then, a comparative durability study was performed on the three types of FRP bars under alkaline exposure simulating a concrete environment. The alkaline exposure was achieved by immersing the bars in an alkaline solution for up to 5,000 h at 60°C. Thereafter, the properties were assessed and compared with the unconditioned (reference) values. The test parameters were (1) fiber type (basalt or glass); (2) resin type (vinylester or epoxy); and (3) conditioning time (1,000, 3,000, and 5,000 h). The test results reveal that the G/V composite had the best physical and mechanical properties an...

Entre déontologisme et utilitarisme : retour sur les enjeux éthiques de la maîtrise des dépenses de santé

Opinion no 101 “Health, ethics and money” allows the National Consultative Ethics Committee to place special attention to confrontational approach between utilitarianism and “deontologism”. The Committee agreed utilitarian attitude can help “to highlight the contradictory interests that pervade society” and offered some clarification to democratic debate. However, this committee doesn’t give to utilitarianism a value equivalent to “deontologism”, guarantor of unconditional value of the human person.

Human dignity in religion-embedded cross-cultural nursing

Although human dignity is an unconditional value of every human being, it can be shattered by extrinsic factors. It is necessary to discover the authentic meaning of patients' dignity preservation from different religious perspectives to provide professional cross-cultural care in a diverse setting. This article identifies common experiences of Iranian Muslim and Armenian Christian patients regarding dignified care at the bedside. This is a qualitative study of participants' experiences of dignified care elicited by individual in-depth semi-structured interviews. A purposeful sample of 10 participants (five Iranian Muslims and five Iranian Armenians) from various private and governmental hospital settings was chosen. This study was approved by the ethics committee of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All the participants were provided with information about the purpose and the nature of the study, the voluntary condition of their participation in this study, and the anonymous reporting of recorded interviews. The common experiences of Christian and Muslim patients regarding dignity preservation emerged as "exigency of respecting human nobility" and "providing person-centered care." It is essential to recognize the humanness and individuality of each patient to preserve and promote human dignity in diverse cross-cultural settings. The findings support and expand current understanding about the objective and subjective nature of dignity preservation in cross-cultural nursing.

What Drives the Value Premium?: The Role of Asset Risk and Leverage

This paper shows empirically how asset risk and financial leverage interact to explain the equity risk dynamics of value versus growth stocks. During economic downturns, the asset betas and leverage of value firms increase, contributing to a sharp rise in equity betas. Asset betas of growth firms are much less sensitive to economic conditions, and, consistent with the tradeoff theory of capital structure, growth firms are also less levered, contributing to the relative stability of their equity betas. By incorporating instruments that better capture beta dynamics, I show that the interactions of conditional betas with the market risk premium and volatility explain approximately 40% of the unconditional value premium. The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Society for Financial Studies. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com., Oxford University Press.

What Drives the Value Premium: The Role of Asset Risk and Leverage

This paper shows empirically how asset risk and financial leverage interact to explain the equity risk dynamics of value versus growth stocks. During economic downturns, the asset betas and leverage of value firms increase, contributing to a sharp rise in equity betas. Asset betas of growth firms are much less sensitive to economic conditions, and, consistent with the tradeoff theory of capital structure, growth firms are also less levered, contributing to the relative stability of their equity betas. By incorporating instruments that better capture beta dynamics, I show that the interactions of conditional betas with the market risk premium and volatility explain approximately 40% of the unconditional value premium.

Speaking Up Is Related to Better Team Performance in Simulated Anesthesia Inductions

Our goal in this study was to test the relationship between speaking up--i.e., questioning, correcting, or clarifying a current procedure--and technical team performance in anesthesia. Hypothesis 1: team members' higher levels of speaking up are related to higher levels of technical team performance. Hypothesis 2: team members will react to speaking up by either clarifying their procedure or initiating a procedural change. Hypothesis 3: higher levels of speaking up during an earlier phase of teamwork will be related to higher levels of speaking up during a later phase. This prospective observational study involved 2-person ad hoc anesthesia teams performing simulated inductions of general anesthesia with minor nonroutine events (e.g., bradycardia) in a large teaching hospital. Subjects were registered anesthesia nurses and residents. Each team consisted of 1 nurse and 1 resident. Synchronized video and vital parameter recordings were obtained. Two trained observers blinded to the hypotheses coded speaking up and further team communication and coordination behavior on the basis of 12 distinct categories. All teamwork measures were quantified as percentage of total time spent on the respective teamwork category. Two experienced staff anesthesiologists blinded to the hypotheses evaluated technical team performance using a Delphi-validated rating checklist. Hypotheses 1 and 3 were tested using linear regression with residents' and nurses' levels of speaking up as 2 separate predictor variables. Hypothesis 2 was analyzed using lag sequential analysis, resulting in Z values representing the extent to which the observed value for a conditional transition significantly differs from its unconditional value. Thirty-one nurses and 31 residents participated. Technical team performance could be predicted by the level of speaking up from nurses (R(2) = 0.18, P = 0.017) but not from residents (R(2) = 0.19, P = 0.053); this result supports Hypothesis 1 for nurses. Supporting Hypothesis 2, residents reacted to speaking up with clarifying the procedure by providing information (Z = 18.08, P < 0.001), initiating procedural change by giving instructions (Z = 4.74, P < 0.001) and team member monitoring (Z = 3, P = 0.0013). Likewise, nurses reacted with clarifying the procedure by providing or evaluating information (Z = 16.09, P < 0.001; Z = 3.72, P < 0.001) and initiating procedural change by providing assistance (Z = 0.57, P < 0.001). Indicating a trend for Hypothesis 3, nurses' level of speaking up before intubation predicted their level of speaking up during intubation (R(2) = 0.15, P = 0.034), although this did not reach the Bonferroni-corrected significance level of P = 0.025. No respective relationship was found for residents (R(2) = 0.15, P = 0.096). This study provides empirical evidence and shows mechanisms for the positive relationship between speaking-up behavior and technical team performance.

Stimulus Point Distribution in Deep or Superficial Peroneal Nerve for Treatment of Ankle Spasticity

To develop effective electrical stimulation treatment to reduce spasticity, we examined the optimal stimulus point of the common peroneal nerve. The locations of selective stimulus points for the deep peroneal nerve or superficial peroneal nerve fiber were examined in 25 healthy subjects in both legs (50 legs) using the ratio of the tibialis anterior (TA) to the peroneus longus (PL) M-wave amplitude (TA/PL ratio). In addition, we measured reciprocal Ia inhibition in ten healthy subjects. The amount of inhibition was determined from short-latency suppression of the soleus (Sol) H-reflex by conditioning stimuli to the deep or superficial peroneal nerve. The paired t-test was used for statistical analysis. The mean TA/PL ratio during deep peroneal nerve stimulation was significantly different from superficial peroneal nerve stimulation (p < 0.001). The mean stimulus point for the deep peroneal nerve was located 7 ± 5 mm distal and 3 ± 6 mm anterior from the distal edges of the head of fibula and was markedly different from the stimulus point for the superficial peroneal nerve (20 ± 7 mm distal and 12 ± 8 mm posterior). During deep peroneal nerve stimulation, the mean conditioned H-reflex was depressed to 83.8 ± 10.7% of the unconditioned value of the H-reflex. In contrast, during superficial peroneal nerve stimulation, the mean conditioned H-reflex increased to 105.3 ± 5.2%. These values were significantly different (p < 0.001). In the present study, we revealed a stimulus area of the deep peroneal nerve. Also, we observed the inhibitory effects of stimulation upon the deep peroneal nerve at individual stimulus point. Our results appear to indicate that localized stimulation of the deep peroneal nerve is more useful for the reduction of ankle spasticity.

Credit Migration Risk and Point in Time Credit Dynamics: A New Perspective for Credit Risk Management

This paper presents a credit migration model that aims to consistently capture the point-in-time dynamics of the credit worthiness of debt issuers and their obligations, and a calibration routine that permits the model to effectively fit historical ratings data. Our approach is to view the rating migration matrices as the operator semi-group associated to an approximated parametric infinitesimal generators. Our credit model accounts not only for default risk dynamics but also for the entire transition among states of the rating migration matrix. This modeling feature is fundamental for an efficient risk management of credit derivatives and credit risk portfolios conditionally on a state of the economy or specific macro factors. We fit our model to the historical average rating migration matrices published by Moody’s Investors Service, focusing on the banking sector over the period 1920-2005. Our results show that the model can identify the through-the-cycle transition across rating scales and that the point-in-time migration probabilities are only generated by stressed economic conditions and can only be justified by the influence of macro factors on the through-the-cycle unconditional probability values. The great level of modeling details and the accuracy of the produced results is an improvement over those of other available models.

Between Subjects: Commentary on Paper by Robert P. Drozek

This commentary on Drozek's paper outlines its key points under 10 headings, looking at various aspects of the intrapsychic and intersubjective elements involved in understanding motivation. There is discussion of issues of autonomy and dignity based upon Kant's philosophy that underpin the paper's assumptions about unconditional valuing of the other as a universal element of intersubjective motivation. In the commentary attention is paid to the role of desire in motivation, as well as some of the psychoanalytical literature on motivation, including papers by Sandler, Loewald, and Winnicott, some aspects of which connect up with the paper's theses. At various points, some of the clinical relevance of the paper's proposals are brought to light, in particular how the patient may be in a position to use the analyst's interventions as a source of intersubjective motivation.

Extreme Movements and Measuring Risk in WTI Oil Prices

We investigate the performance of Value at Risk (VaR) models at measuring risk for WTI oil one-month futures returns. VaR models are used to calculate commodity market risk at extreme quantiles: 0.95, 0.99, 0.995 and 0.999 for both long and short trading positions. Widespread VaR models do not provide adequate risk coverage and their performance is especially weak for short position in oil. Conditional and unconditional extreme value theory VaR models are found to be the only ones correctly forecasting the true level of upside and downside risk. We also investigate the closeness of fit of theoretical distributions to the extreme tails of oil returns. Results show that generalised Pareto distribution provides the best fit to both tails of oil returns although tails differ significantly, with the right tail having a higher tail index, indicative of more extreme events.

Correlations and spillovers among three euro rates: evidence using realised variance

This paper uses three euro exchange rates – the US dollar, sterling and yen – to test for the presence of volatility spillovers and time-varying correlations using the realised variance approach, which has significant advantages over the multivariate-GARCH methodology. Our results suggest that the three currencies do exhibit some degree of volatility spillover and hence commonality in the driving force behind volatility movement. With regard to the nature of time-variation within the correlation coefficients, there is substantial evidence that correlations are time-varying but that the strength of correlation coefficients has not increased over the sample period. Furthermore, there is evidence that correlations themselves are predictable and interrelated. These results support the view that the three rates do exhibit interrelationships, commonality and time-varying correlation, factors that are important to portfolio managers. This latter point is illustrated by using the realised variances and covariances to determine portfolio weights, the portfolio variance of which is lower than constructing portfolios using (rolling) unconditional values.

Chapitre 1. Dignité et liberté : vers une contradiction insoluble ?

Dignity is a distinctive trait that our culture has chosen to attach to the individual. Dignity is an unconditional value and the prerogative of man. It goes without saying for us today that whatever his worldly status, his age, his sex, the colour of his skin, his state of health, etc, a man possesses dignity. However, from the point of view of history, nothing seems less spontaneous than to attribute to all men equal dignity. The idea of an ontological dignity, a dignity rooted in the depths of the human being, is the fruit of a long, laborious history which bears the mark of Judeo-Christian culture, of the philosophy of the age of Enlightenment, and of the international legal clauses that followed the atrocities committed during the second world war. Yet the semantic inflation of the concept, henceforth omnipresent in texts of law, society debates or ethical recommendations, threatens to make it sink into insignificance. Instead of enriching the argument, it becomes a pretext for not having to argue. A concept with an imprecise content, dignity has become through time a sort of magic word which, in the name of ethics, makes it possible to defend any position and the contrary. Thus the dignity argument makes it possible to justify the depenalising of euthanasia (it would be an attempt on the dignity of a being if he was refused the right to put an end to a life which is nothing but suffering) and its condemning (it would be an insult to a man's dignity if the only answer to his appeal for moral support was the administration of a lethal substance). Confused with the exercising of freedom or the quality of life, dignity has a regrettable tendency to cease to define an unconditional value; it has become a malleable, fluctuating property, sometimes even considered as related to living conditions or the state of physical and mental breakdown.

Gradient trajectory analysis of a scalar field with external intermittency

The passive scalar field of a temporally evolving shear layer is investigated using gradient trajectories as a means to analyse the scalar probability density function and the conditional scalar dissipation rate in the presence of external intermittency. These results are of significance for turbulent combustion, where improved predictions of the statistics of the conditional dissipation rate are needed in several models. First, the variation of the conventional first and second moments of the conditional dissipation rate across the layer is quantitatively documented in detail. A strong dependence of the conditional dissipation rate on the lateral position and on the conditioning value of the scalar is observed. The dependence on the transverse distance to the centre-plane partially explains the double-hump profile usually reported when this dependence is ignored. The variation with the scalar observed in the ratio between the second and first moments would invalidate certain assumptions commonly done in turbulent combustion. It is also seen that conditioning on the scalar does not reduce the fluctuation of the dissipation rate with respect to unconditional values. Next, the role of external intermittency in these results is investigated. For that purpose, the flow is partitioned into different zones based on different types of gradient trajectories passing through each point, thereby introducing non-local information in comparison with the standard turbulent/non-turbulent separation based on the conventional intermittency function. In addition to the homogeneous outer regions, three zones are identified: a turbulent zone, a turbulence interface and quasi-laminar diffusion layers. The relative contribution from each of these zones to the conventional intermittency factor is reported. The statistics are then conditioned on each of these zones, and the spatial variation of the scalar distribution and of the conditional scalar dissipation rate is explained in terms of the observed zonal statistics. For the Reynolds numbers of the present simulation, between 1500 and 3000 based on the vorticity thickness and the velocity difference, and a Schmidt number equal to 1, it results that the major contribution to both statistics is due to the turbulence interfaces. At the same time, the turbulent zone shows a distinct behaviour, being approximately homogeneous but anisotropic.