It has been long recognized that endogenous default probabilities cannot explain spreads between corporate and the riskless bonds. Recently, this issue has been subjected to rigorous scrutiny. Previous studies have found that for investment-grade debt, structural models explain only 15-25% of the observed spreads. On the other hand, for the high-yield debt, the structural models exaggerate actu...

There is a high demand around the world for the learning of English as a second language. Correspondingly, there is a need to assess the proficiency level of learners both during their studies and for formal qualifications. A number of automatic methods have been proposed to help meet this demand with varying degrees of success. This paper considers the automatic assessment of spoken English pr...

' 2004 Canadian Medical Association W to do when dysplasia is found in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) has remained one of the most controversial questions in their management. Should one opt for continued colonoscopic surveillance, or proceed to prophylactic colectomy with intent to avoid the development of a colorectal cancer? Despite the experience gained in the management of this dise...

making capital and investment is the main driving forces of economic development. based on the investment sensitivity to the changes of some of macro-economic variables and risk and uncertainty, the present study evaluated the effective factors on investment in private sector in iran during 1980-2007. at first, the uncertainty variables of real informal exchange rate, nominal interest rate and ...

one studies the $hx$-hypergroups, corresponding to the chinese hypergroups associated with the direct products of some ${bf z}/n {bf z},$ calculating their fuzzy grades.

in this study we have described our varicocele cases in terms of associated symptoms/signs. in addition, we have tested the correlation between semen parameters and varicocele grades and compared the relative frequencies of associated symptoms/signs in different varicocele grades. 1 19 referred cases of varicocele were categorized based on clinical criteria into 3 grades by one examiner. the re...

Requirements Prioritization is to ensure the product developed resonates with the expectations of the stakeholders. Requirements prioritization techniques assist in ensuring this where assessments about the priorities of the requirements will be carried out by stakeholders whose judgment is all about their perception of the system which cannot be precise always. Guesses to be made about yet to ...