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This article reviews the dramatic growth of nonbank mortgage lending after the Global Financial Crisis, especially to borrowers with lower credit scores, and the related importance of mortgage-backed securitization. Our literature review suggests that the existing theoretical and empirical work on securitization is more relevant to bank than to nonbank lenders, thus leaving outstanding questions as to why nonbank market shares have increased to their current levels and how best to structure nonbank oversight. To highlight key differences in the mortgage-lending incentives of banks and nonbanks, we build a simple theoretical model of bank versus nonbank mortgage lending and use it to generate and test empirical hypotheses. We find, in particular, that loans issued by nonbanks are more likely to prepay early than loans issued by banks, the difference not explainable by nonbank borrowers prepaying more rationally. Using regulatory filings from nonbanks that are typically unavailable to academic researchers, we examine the balance sheets and liquidity and capital positions of large Ginnie Mae nonbank servicers, which face and pose more risk in the current mortgage system. We find that on average these servicers have reasonable liquidity and capital positions relative to standard regulatory thresholds, particularly in 2022:Q1 after a few quarters of elevated profits. However, some large Ginnie Mae servicers appear to have inadequate capital, as gauged by risk-based capital measures. If defaults rise on a large scale, the liquidity and capital positions of these servicers may amplify the disruption in the mortgage and housing markets.

By allowing different agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) to be traded based on limited characteristics, the to-be-announced (TBA) market generates liquidity and benefits the MBS market broadly. We quantify effects of the TBA structure on mortgage borrowers. Exploiting discontinuities in TBA eligibility, we estimate that TBA eligibility reduces mortgage rates by 7 to 28 basis points. The TBA eligibility benefit is larger for mortgages with higher expected prepayments. We also find that TBA eligibility affects refinancing, which has implications for monetary policy transmission. Our finding is relevant for housing policies, such as housing finance reforms and uniform MBS. Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix, which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online.

Recently, there have been many forest park theme parks for night tours. Various media technologies are installed in these forest park theme parks. A case study was conducted to find out the purpose and use of various media technologies used in forest park theme parks at night. We divided media technology into three major types of forest park theme parks currently in operation at home and abroad. The case was analyzed by dividing the media technology into forms that used special effects for stage performances, forms with interactive technology, and forms of lighting used for the atmosphere of the theme park. The analysis of the cases with three factors has resulted in the pros and cons of the cases in each part. The advantage is that special effects, interactive technology, and theme lighting are pioneering the media market by bringing out a new type of attraction called the Forest Park Theme Park. The first solution to this was to overcome the difficulties caused by outdoor installation in nature. It was a method to maintain temperature, humidity, dust, etc. in factors such as housing of electronic electrical equipment elements and covers of lighting. Second, we found elements that do not fit in nature. Most of the factors that were not aesthetic to the use of content were artificially installed. To compensate for this, elements such as electroplate ng tubes and camouflage control boxes should be applied from the content design and spatial design stages. By optimizing the essential elements for operation and harmonizing with nature, visitors can minimize visual fatigue and maximize aesthetics. The needs and complements of the design of the forest park theme park studied in this paper deal with the areas that need to be improved for users who have come to the night tour. This is meaningful for the development of a more enjoyable and pleasant forest park theme park.

An accurate quantitative estimation of the radioactive tracer distribution in positron emission tomography (PET) requires correction of the observed emission data for the attenuation factors. For this purpose, transmission data, provided by X-ray computerized tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), are often used to measure the attenuation rate in observed PET data. In this paper, we propose an iterative simultaneous attenuation correction and activity estimation method without transmission data. In each iteration, the proposed method disperses the attenuation effect in the time-of-flight (TOF) PET sinogram in each line-of-response to the current iterates for the activity estimate, then uses that iterate to update the attenuation rate in the TOF PET sinogram, and finally use that updated attenuation rate in computing the next iterates. The simulation result shows that the proposed method corrects attenuation artifact accurately and produces activity estimates comparable to reconstructed ones from attenuation-free data.

We study the role of mortgage servicers in implementing the CARES Act mortgage forbearance program during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite universal eligibility, around one-third of the nonperforming federally-backed loans in our sample fail to enter into forbearance. The relative frequency of these "missing" forbearances varies significantly across servicers for observably similar loans, with small servicers and nonbanks, and especially nonbanks with small liquidity buffers, having a lower propensity to provide forbearance. The incidence of forbearance-related complaints by borrowers is also higher for these servicers. We also use servicer-level variation to estimate the causal effect of forbearance on borrower outcomes. Assignment to a "high-forbearance" servicer translates to a significant increase in the probability of nonpayment, which moves essentially 1:1 with the forbearance probability. Part of this additional household liquidity is used to pay down high-cost credit card debt.

We study optimal securitization and its impact on market quality when the secondary market structure leads to cheapest-to-deliver pricing in the context of agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS). A majority of MBS are traded in the to-be-announced (TBA) market, which concentrates trading of heterogeneous MBS into a few liquid TBA contracts but induces adverse selection. We find that lenders segregate loans of like values into separate pools and tend to trade low-value MBS in the TBA market and high-value MBS outside the TBA market. We then present a model of optimal securitization for agency MBS. Lenders do not internalize the negative impact of such pooling and trading strategies on TBA market quality and thus create too many high-value MBS, which leads to more heterogeneity in MBS values, more adverse selection, and lower TBA liquidity. Lastly, we provide empirical evidence consistent with model predictions on how MBS pooling changes with trading costs and underlying loan value dispersion and how pooling practices affect MBS heterogeneity and TBA market adverse selection.

Market concentration (HHI) based antitrust policy can be vulnerable to mismeasurement of substitutability. We provide evidence demonstrating this vulnerability in the banking industry, and argue that HHI-based bank antitrust review can be improved by incorporating a determinant of substitutability between merging banks: the proximity of their branch networks. Using difference-in-differences to estimate the effects of bank mergers, we find that mergers of close-proximity banks lead to more branch closures and to repositioning that is less beneficial for consumer access. Moreover, although rivals offer worse interest rates (prices) after close-proximity mergers, the merging parties' deposit growth (quantity) declines. These results hold for transactions that evade HHI-based enforcement criteria. Our findings also inform antitrust policy for other industries where firms’ locations are an important and observable determinant of substitutability.

We study the role of mortgage servicers in implementing the CARES Act mortgage forbearance program during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite universal eligibility, we document that a significant number of federally backed mortgage borrowers become delinquent during the pandemic without successfully entering into a forbearance program, and that the relative frequency of these "missing'' forbearances varies significantly across mortgage servicers for otherwise identical loans. Forbearance outcomes are systematically related to servicer characteristics including size, liquidity and organizational form, consistent with the role of economic incentives in shaping servicer behavior. We also use servicer-level variation in forbearance outcomes to estimate the causal effect of forbearance on borrower outcomes. We find that assignment to a "high-forbearance" servicer translates to a significantly higher non-payment rate, and we find evidence that part of this additional household liquidity is used to pay down high-cost credit card debt.

Does advertising help consumers to find the products they need or push them to buy products they don’t need? In this paper we study the heterogeneous effects of advertising on consumer mistakes in the market for mortgage refinancing and quantify the resulting overall effect on the net present value of mortgage debt. Mortgage borrowers frequently make costly refinancing mistakes by either refinancing when they should wait, or by waiting when they should refinance. We assemble a novel data set that combines a borrower’s exposure to direct mail refinance advertising and their subsequent refinancing decisions. Even though borrowers would lose on average $1229 by refinancing, the average monthly exposure of 0.13 refinancing direct mail advertisements reduces the expected net present value of mortgage payments on average by $7 each month, because borrowers who should refinance are targeted by advertisers and more responsive to advertising. A counterfactual advertising policy that redirects all advertising to borrowers who should refinance would increase the gain in borrower welfare to $36.

This paper studies the impact of advertising as a channel for risk selection in Medicare Advantage. We provide evidence that insurer advertising is responsive to the gains from risk selection. Then we develop and estimate an equilibrium model of Medicare Advantage with advertising, allowing rich individual heterogeneity. Our estimates show that advertising is effective in attracting healthy individuals who are newly eligible for Medicare, contributing to advantageous selection into Medicare Advantage. Moreover, risk selection through advertising substantially lowers premiums by improving insurers' risk pools. The distributional implication is that unhealthy consumers may be better off through cross-subsidization from healthy individuals. (JEL D81, G22, I13, I18, M37)

총간관에서 발생하는 부신경절종은 국내에서 아직 보고된 바가 없다. 저자들은 폐쇄성 황달을 유발한 총간관 부신경절종 1예를 경험하였기에 문헌고찰과 함께 보고하는 바이다.

Additional file 1. CONSORT 2010 checklist of information to include when reporting a randomised trial

This paper reports a new design of a 4-pack super-junction MOSFET power module using a transfer molding process. This module initially targets industrial applications, such as photovoltaic (PV) inverters or energy storage system (ESS). Many conventional 650V power modules are gel-filled IGBT modules, but our transfer molded super-junction MOSFET power module can satisfy electrical insulation and thermal conductivity with potential reduction in production cost and module volume. Super-junction MOSFET dies are soldered on a direct bonded copper (DBC) substrate in the power module. Fabrication process is also customized to the molded super-junction MOSFET module. The designed power modules are successfully fabricated, demonstrating a volume reduction. The fabricated modules are evaluated by FEM simulations and experiments, which exhibit excellent thermal and electrical performances. A small thermal resistance (~0.26 K/W) and package on-resistance (~15.7mΩ) are achieved.

The U.S. government guarantees a majority of residential mortgages to promote homeownership. This paper uses property-level data to estimate the effect of government guarantees on homeownership and other housing market outcomes, by exploiting variation of the conforming loan limits (CLLs) along county borders. We find that CLL changes had effects on government guarantees, house prices, house sales and construction activity, but find no robust effect on homeownership. The confidence intervals of our estimates suggest that one additional homeowner corresponds to an increase of government guarantees by at least $6 million. Therefore government guarantees could be considerably reduced with modest effects on homeownership. Our findings are relevant for housing finance reform plans that propose to lower the CLLs.

This paper studies government and private marketing activities in the context of the Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplace. Using detailed TV advertising data, we present evidence that government and private advertising are targeted to different geographical areas and provide different messaging content. Then, we estimate the impacts of government and private advertising on consumer demand by exploiting discontinuities in advertising along the borders of local TV markets. We find that government advertising has a market-expansion effect and enhances welfare. We also find that private advertising is not more effective than government advertising in increasing total program enrollment. Although private advertising is still effective in increasing insurer’s own enrollment, it does not have positive spillovers to other insurers but has a modest business-stealing effect. We then develop and estimate an equilibrium model of marketplaces to illustrate mechanisms through which government advertising affects the market equilibrium. Our simulation suggests that government advertising can simultaneously increase total program enrollment and reduce excessive advertising spending among private insurers.

In this note, we explore whether "universal banks" provide value to firms through their ability to provide both lending and underwriting services.

Non-banks originated about half of all mortgages in 2016, and 75% of mortgages insured by the FHA or VA. Both shares are much higher than those observed at any point in the 2000s. We describe in this paper how non-bank mortgage companies are vulnerable to liquidity pressures in both their loan origination and servicing activities, and we document that this sector in aggregate appears to have minimal resources to bring to bear in a stress scenario. We show how the same liquidity issues unfolded during the financial crisis, leading to the failure of many non-bank companies, requests for government assistance, and harm to consumers. The high share of non-bank lenders in FHA and VA lending suggests that the government has significant exposure to the vulnerabilities of non-bank lenders, but this issue has received very little attention in the housing-reform debate.

We present a dynamic structural model of subprime adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) borrowers making payment decisions taking into account possible consequences of different degrees of delinquency from their lenders. We empirically implement the model using unique data sets that contain information on borrowers' mortgage payment history, their broad balance sheets, and lender responses. Our investigation of the factors that drive borrowers' decisions reveals that subprime ARMs are not all alike. For loans originated in 2004 and 2005, the interest rate resets associated with ARMs, as well as the housing and labor market conditions were not as important in borrowers' delinquency decisions as in their decisions to pay off their loans. For loans originated in 2006, interest rate resets, housing price declines, and worsening labor market conditions all contributed importantly to their high delinquency rates. Counterfactual policy simulations reveal that even if the Libor rate c ould be lowered to zero by aggressive traditional monetary policies, it would have a limited effect on reducing the delinquency rates. We find that automatic modification mortgage designs under which the monthly payment or the principal balance of the loans are automatically reduced when housing prices decline can be effective in reducing both delinquency and foreclosure. Importantly, we find that automatic modification mortgages with a cushion, under which the monthly payment or principal balance reductions are triggered only when housing price declines exceed a certain percentage may result in a Pareto improvement in that borrowers and lenders are both made better off than under the baseline, with a lower delinquency and foreclosure rates. Our counterfactual analysis also suggests that limited commitment power on the part of the lenders to loan modification policies may be an important reason for the relatively small rate of modifications observed during the housing crisis.

We study the trading of dealers around new bond issues underwritten by their affiliates using a complete matched record of U.S. bond market transactions, bond issue deals, and underwriter ownership structure from 2005 to 2015. Compared to dealers unaffiliated with the lead underwriter, affiliated dealers pay up to 54 basis points more for the issuer's preexisting bonds—prior to, during, and after the issuance event. We interpret this phenomenon as cross-security price support and, prior to the event, price maneuvers aimed at lowering the reference yield for new issue investors. By examining dealer inventories and profits, we find no support for alternative explanations such as hedging, informed trading, or competitive advantage in market-making.

A 2-month-old female infant was admitted with progressive respiratory distress, fever, and diagnosed with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The primary pulmonary pathogen was proven to be cytomegalovirus (CMV) from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, urine, and blood specimens. Other immunologic findings were normal. CMV-induced ARDS has not been reported previously in immunocompetent infants.

We present a dynamic structural model of subprime adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) borrowers making payment decisions, taking into account possible consequences of di↵erent degrees of delinquency from their lenders. We empirically implement the model using unique data sets that contain information on borrowers’ mortgage payment history, their broad balance sheets, and lender responses. Our investigation of the factors that drive borrowers’ decisions reveals that subprime ARMs are not all alike. For loans originated in 2004 and 2005, the interest rate resets associated with ARMs as well as the housing and labor market conditions were not as important in borrowers’ delinquency decisions as in their decisions to pay o↵ their loans. For loans originated in 2006, interest rate resets, housing price declines, and worsening labor market conditions all contributed importantly to their high delinquency rates. Counterfactual policy simulations reveal that even if the London Interbank O↵ered Rate (LIBOR) could be lowered to zero by aggressive traditional monetary policies, it would have a limited e↵ect on reducing the delinquency rates. We find that automatic modification mortgages with cushions, under which the monthly payment or principal balance reductions are triggered only when housing price declines exceed a certain percentage, may result in a Pareto improvement, in that borrowers and lenders are both made better o↵ than under the baseline, with lower delinquency and foreclosure rates. Our counterfactual analysis also suggests that limited commitment power on the part of the lenders regarding loan modification policies may be an important reason for the relatively low rate of modifications observed during the housing crisis.

Background Water extract from the root of Allium hookeri (AH) shows anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and free radical scavenging effects. In this study, the ameliorating effects of AH on oxidative stress-induced inflammatory response and β-cell damage in the pancreas of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 1 diabetic rats were investigated. Methods AH (100 mg/kg body weight/day) was orally administered every day for 2 weeks to STZ-induced diabetic rats. After the final administration of AH, biochemical parameters including glucose, insulin, reactive oxygen species levels, and protein expressions related to antioxidant defense system in the pancreas of STZ-induced diabetic rats. Results The diabetic rats showed loss of body weight and increased pancreatic weight, while the oral administration of AH attenuated body and pancreatic weight changes. Moreover, the administration of AH caused a slightly decrease in the serum glucose level and a significant increase in the serum and pancreatic insulin levels in the diabetic rats. AH also significantly reduced the enhanced levels of reactive oxygen species, oxidative stress biomarker, in the serum and pancreas. The diabetic rats exhibited a down-regulation of the protein expression related to antioxidant defense system in the pancreas, but AH administration significantly up-regulated the expression of the heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1). Furthermore, AH treatment was reduced the overexpression of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-кB)p65 and NF-кBp65-induced inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6. In addition, AH treatment was less pancreatic β-cell damaged compared with those of the diabetic rats. Conclusion These results provide important evidence that AH has a HO-1 activity on the oxidative stress conditions showing pancreato-protective effects against the development of inflammation in the diabetic rats. This study provides scientific evidence that AH protects the inflammatory responses by modulated NF-кBp65 signaling pathway through activation of HO-1 in the pancreas of STZ-induced diabetic rats.

This paper builds and estimtates a dynamic equilibrium model to study renegotiation between borrowers and lenders over distressed fixed-rate mortage loans using a unqie mortgage loan level data. The model captures borrowers' as well as lenders' behavior prior to borrowers' mortgages becoming distressed and after mortgage renegotiation. It allows for private information regarding borrowers' payment ability and features various realistic transaction costs associated with mortgage modification and foreclosure. Our estimation of the model reveals that ...

Background: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) nasal colonization has been known as a predictor of intensive care unit (ICU)-acquired MRSA infections. We performed this study to survey the nasal colonization of MRSA among the patients admitted to an ICU and analyze risk factors associated with the colonization. Methods: A retrospective 1:1 matched case-control study was conducted with patients admitted to the ICU from March to December 2010 at Samsung Changwon Hospital. Results: A total of 602 patients among 846 patients admitted to the ICU during the study period were evaluated. The prevalence of nasal MRSA colonization was 67 (11.1%) of 602. Other factors, including underlying renal disease (odds ratio [OR]=12.37, 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.60-42.54; P