Alpha Marine (Greece)

Congenital external auditory canal atresia (EACA) is a rare developmental anomaly in dogs with limited information to guide management. This report describes the clinical presentation, diagnostic work-up, surgical technique, and long-term outcome in two young dogs with unilateral congenital EACA. An 8-month-old Caucasian Shepherd and a 9-month-old Maltese presented with left-sided otalgia and absence of the external canal opening. Computed tomography identified segmental atresia of the vertical canal with intraluminal soft-tissue attenuating material and mild otitis externa and media in both dogs. Cytology and culture of canal contents were unremarkable, supporting a congenital, non-infectious origin. Both dogs underwent a canal-preserving vertical canal-to-external acoustic meatus anastomosis using a pull-through approach. Minor postoperative complications (partial wound dehiscence, mild canal stenosis) were successfully managed. At the 5-year and 1.5-year follow-up, respectively, both dogs remained free of clinical signs, with preserved hearing, supporting this procedure as a functional, cosmetically acceptable option in carefully selected dogs.

The goal of this chapter is to assess the influence of specific corporate and market features on Greek firms' profitability and the determination of the optimal debt ratio before and during the Greek crisis. The empirical results exhibit an average profitability of 6.97%, which varies significantly both between firms and during the time period examined. Another finding of this study is the verification of the theoretical relationship between the independent variables and Greek firms' profitability between 2005 and 2016. Related to the determination of the optimal debt ratio of Greek firms, the authors found that during the first sub-period examined (before the Greek economic crisis – 2005-2009), the results extracted are not consistent with the MM theory in contrary to the second sub-period (the period of the deep recession 2010-2016). During this period, the optimal debt ratio is estimated to be 40.9% and the turning point decreased considerably compared to the whole period sample (52.6%) 2005-2016.

Despite detailed financial modeling by project developers, investors, and lenders, projects seldom work out as planned, leading to questions about the value of modeling. The main uses of a project finance model, however, are not for predicting the future but for identifying the most important risks, for describing in greater detail the project outlined in signed documentation, for monitoring the project throughout its implementation, and for developing early warning signs of trouble and laying out possible solutions. In this case, the author, a lender, finds that the process of building a model to check a project’s viability helps him create and then answer the questions that allow him to understand the risks and various factors that can make or break a project. <b>TOPICS:</b>Project finance, other real assets, legal/regulatory/public policy