Risk-free

Each of the endoscopic imaging procedures is relatively risk free and painless when performed by competent and weU-trained individuals using a local anesthetic. Eetoscopy has the highest risk. There is a 10% increased probabiUty of premature deUvery and 10% higher fetal loss rate. 

They suggested that each project should pay an insurance premium i to guarantee the expected profits. The magnitude of b is proportional to the amount of capital to be risked. It is also a function of the degree of risk involved. Working capital and capital for auxiliary facilities are assumed to be risk-free. Thus, the risk rate is applied only to the fraction of the capital investment hkely to be lost it the project is unexpectedly terminated. 

The main objection to the venture-premium method is that the assessment of the riskiness of a project may be too subjective. This could lead to the rejec tion of potentially attractive proposals and the acceptance of projects that merely appear to be risk-free. 

Example 18 Risk-Free Cost of Capital A company requires an investment of 100,000 in new plant to maintain its present sales. Let us determine the current cost of capital to the company and the risk-free cost of capital that it should assign to the plant-replacement project, given the following data. 

As has been stated, it is alternatively possible to assign to the cost of capital the best risk-free return available on the money. The assessment then proceeds as discussed in connection with Eq. (9-108). 

Nelson, R.L. (1992). Dietary iron and colorectal cancer risk. Free Rad. Biol. Med. 12, 161-168. 

Routine Application of Complex Theories. Technical people in the coatings and many other industries tend to shy away from theoretical approaches in their work. There are many legitimate and practical reasons for this, such as complexity of real systems, lack of comprehensive theories, inability to understand theories and the mathematics involved, and time consuming to apply theories. In many cases, it is easier, quicker and more reliable to use the experimental approach. On the other hand, if pertinent theories are computerized and the computer programs contain the required physical properties data, it becomes risk free and easy, to apply theories. We have found that computerization of theories does encourage more people to use them, thus improving both productivity and quality of technical efforts. 

A 25,000-pound per year production rate is not a demarcation between large and small ventures. Such a point would be at a far higher scale of production. Instead, the proposed 25,000-pound exemption represents an economically-justified and virtually risk-free means of aiding innovation in the chemical industry, particularly when coupled with appropriate chronic hazard control language as for intermediates. 

The financial heart of a biotech story is a positive risk-adjusted net present value (rNPV). If the projected payback could happen very quickly, and if investors regarded a business plan as a sure thing (risk-free), then the "value" of the story would simply be the payback minus the investment. However, biotech paybacks do not happen quickly and are certainly not risk free. Hence, investors discount the payback value to reflect (1) the time value of their money and (2) the risk of failure. If discounted payback values are thought to exceed the required investments, stories get funded if this rNPV is perceived as negative, the flow of money stops. 

The two key elements of any biotech story are the importance of the medical need and the rationale for why this idea is likely to work when previous efforts have failed. While the time value of money should theoretically be important, given the long timelines for drug development, in practice estimates of successful drug valuations and technical risks usually overshadow the risk-free time cost of money. 

While it is clear that some people will not accept a definition of safety that is relative, it appears that most people feel safe when they are convinced that risks to their well-being are sufficiently low, even if not completely absent. (There are some dramatic and important qualifications on this conclusion, as we shall see in the later section concerning people s perceptions of risk. While for the most part people accept that the condition of safety is not equivalent to the condition of being completely risk-free, most people do not perceive risk as simply a matter of probability, as do the experts. This intriguing and well-documented fact complicates greatly the public dialogue on matters of risk.)... 

We do not live in a risk-free society. Discuss this statement in terms of asbestos. 

Because there is no risk-free world and resources are limited, society must set priorities based on cost-effectiveness in order to save the most lives.56 The EPA projected in 1991 that the cost to society of U.S. environmental regulations in 1997 would be about US 140 billion per year (about 2.6 percent of gross national prod-... 

In the dose-response assessment to determine a dosage that is risk-free for human health, the JFCFA has never used mathematical models to extrapolate risks at low dose and determine a virtually safe dose, on the grounds that the lack of validation would produce very different results. However, the IFCFA could usefully address this matter in its deliberations. When progress in this area permits selection from various validated models, this exercise should no longer be solely associated with risk assessment but will also incorporate an element of risk management. 

It is of particular clinical relevance to test the effects of mucosal allergen application in already sensitized organisms. The obvious advantage of the use of so-called hypoallergenic molecules lies in their risk-free application. Thus, the practical consequences from such experimental studies could include the development of low-risk mucosal vaccines based on the induction of tolerance - with or without the use of certain mucosal antigen delivery systems. 

CHAIRMAN SEGLIN They want to be assured of a reasonably risk-free investment, and anything you could do in the marketplace to remove the risk would be almost imperative. I guess you do that by means of arm s-length negotiations with the government, but I don t know how you implement it. 

Two methods are commonly used for determining the cost of owned capital. In the first method, the capital is charged at a low interest rate on the assumption that it could be used to pay off funded debts or invest in risk-free loans. The second method requires interest to be paid on the owned capital at a rate equal to the present return on all the company s capital. 

There is no good evidence (i.e. there are no large randomized trials) (Coward et al. 2005) that surgery improves the prognosis for patients with vertebrobasilar ischemia. There is, however, no shortage of ingenious, if technically demanding, techniques, which are far from risk free (Box 26.1). 

Nevertheless, the denomination green solvents does not imply that there is no risk associated with them. For example, ethyl lactate is a strong irritant that is also flammable—its use therefore is still risky. Likewise, many solvent substitutes currently under development present the same or similar characteristics, which is why care must be taken in the knowledge that nothing can be absolutely risk-free. 

---