Bank Failure prediction: corporate governance and financial indicators

Most failure prediction studies have relied on using financial ratios as predictors. The most suitable financial predictors for banks are financial ratios following the CAMEL rating system. Also, corporate governance has been proven to be an important aspect of banks, especially after the financial crisis. Given its importance, we test the ability of corporate governance to enhance the prediction of bank failure. While there are only few studies that examine efficiency of corporate governance as a failure predictor, there are scarcely any studies that examine it as predictor of US banks failure. Using discriminant analysis, we predict the failure of banks insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation during the period from 2010 to 2018 using financial and non-financial predictors. We find that combining CAMEL ratios with corporate governance variables not only enhances the accuracy of prediction but also extends the time horizon of prediction to three years before failure. We also show that the earnings of banks are more significant in predicting bank failure than the capital structure and asset quality. The results further reveal that the CEO compensation, voting rights and institutional ownership are more significant predictors than the board characteristics. These results are robust when using logit regression. This paper provides insight to banks, regulators and shareholders by showing that corporate governance and banks earnings are strong predictors of bank failure

Revisiting Corporate Governance and Financial Risk-Taking

Corporate governance attributes have varying effects on risk taking when variables are examined separately. We study the effects of a large range of corporate governance attributes on risk taking using a comprehensive US sample. Our findings confirm that although there are certain characteristics that drive this positive effect such as compensation structure, there are those which have the opposite effect such as board-level attributes. Our paper contributes to the broader literature on the relationship between corporate governance and risk in financial institutions, which are often overlooked in traditional studies. We shed light on the importance of studying corporate governance at a granular level rather than using a single index. The findings offer insights to regulators in determining suitable corporate governance frameworks to ensure the protection of investors rights in financial institutions

Thallium 2223 high T(sub c) superconductor in a silver matrix and its magnetic shielding, hermalcycle and time aging properties

Superconducting Tl2Ba2Ca2Cu3O10 (Tl2223) was ground to powder. Mixture with silver powder (0-80% weight) and press to desired shape. After proper annealing, one can get good silver-content Tl2223 bulk superconductor. It is time-stable and has good superconducting property as same as pure Tl2223. It also has better mechanical property and far better thermal cycle property than pure Tl2223

X-ray photoelectron spectrum, X-ray diffraction data, and electronic structure of chalcogenide quaternary sulfide Ag2In2GeS6: experiment and theory

We report measurements of the X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectrum on single crystals of Ag2In2GeS6. We also present first principles calculations of the band structure and density of states using the state-of-the-art full potential augmented plane wave method with different possible approximation for the exchange correlation potential. In this paper, we make a detailed comparison of the density of states deduced from the X-ray photoelectron spectra with our calculations. The theoretical results of the density of states are in reasonable agreement with the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (VB-XPS) measurements with respect to peak positions. The calculated density of states shows there is a strong hybridization between the states in the valence and conduction bands states. We have calculated the electron charge density distribution in the (100) and (110) planes. In the plane (100), there exists Ag, In, and S atoms, while the plane (110) Ag, S, and Ge atoms are present. The bonding properties are obtained from the charge density distributions. The calculation show that there is partial ionic and strong covalent bonding between Ag-S, In-S, and Ge-S atoms depending on Pauling electro-negativity difference of S (2.58), Ge (2.01), Ag (1.93), and In (31.78) atoms

Development and Validation of Rapid In-House Diagnostic ELISA Kits for Detection of Human Orthopneumovirus in Clinical Samples

Currently, the standard assay employed to diagnose human orthopneumovirus infection is real-time reverse transcriptase PCR assay (rRT-PCR), a costly and time-consuming procedure that requires the manipulation of infectious viruses. In addition to RT-PCR, serological tests can complement the molecular diagnostic methods and have proven to be important tools in sero-surveillance. In this study, we report the development, optimization, and validation of a novel and rapid in-house diagnostic ELISA kit to detect human orthopneumovirus in clinical samples. We developed three sensitive ELISA formats through the immunization of rats with novel recombinant pPOE-F or pPOE-TF vectors. The two vectors expressed either the full-length (pPOE-F) or the truncated form (pPOE-TF) of the fusion (F) protein. The developed ELISA kits were optimized for coating buffer, capture antibody, blocking buffer, sample antigen, detection antibodies, and peroxidase-conjugated antibody, and validated using 75 rRT-PCR-confirmed nasopharyngeal aspirate (NPA) human orthopneumovirus samples and 25 negative samples collected from hospitalized children during different epidemic seasons between 2014 and 2017. Our results indicate that rats immunized with pPOE-F or pPOE-TF showed significant induction of high levels of MPAs. Validation of the ELISA method was compared to the rRT-PCR and the sensitivity hierarchy of these developed ELISA assays was considered from highest to lowest: indirect competitive inhibition ELISA (93.3%) > indirect antigen-capture ELISA (90.6%) > direct antigen-capture ELISA (86.6%). The development of the rapid in-house diagnostic ELISA kits described in this study demonstrates that a specific, rapid and sensitive test for human orthopneumovirus antigens could be successfully applied to samples collected from hospitalized children during different epidemics and can help in the efficient diagnosis of respiratory syncytial viral infections

A filter index for complex queries on semi-structured data

Answering a query on XML data usually involves breaking it into a number of small components (e.g., edges, paths, twigs, etc.), evaluating them and joining the results. In this paper we propose an alternative technique that uses these components to filter a large part of the database that does not qualify them, before validating the query on the actual data. Our methodology uses a signature index to search fast and prune effectively the search space. The efficiency of the proposed technique is demonstrated by comparison with an existing index, on real data. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2003.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

ON-1 and BA-IX Are the Dominant Sub-Genotypes of Human Orthopneumovirus A&B in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Human orthopneumovirus (HOPV) is the major viral pathogen responsible for lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) in infants and young children in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Yet, predominant HOPV subtypes circulating in this region and their molecular and epidemiological characteristics are not fully ascertained. A total of 300 clinical samples involving nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPAs), throat swabs, and sputum were collected during winter seasons of 2019/2020 and 2021/2022 for HOPV subtyping and genotyping. Of the 300 samples, HOPV was identified in 55 samples (18.3%) with a distinct predominance of type A viruses (81.8%) compared to type B viruses (18.2%). Importantly, the ON1 strain of HOPV-A and BA-IX strain of HOPV-B groups were found to be responsible for all the infections. Sequence analysis revealed a duplication region within 2nd HVR of G protein gene of ON1 and BA-IX strains. This nucleotide duplication exerted a profound effect on protein length and affinity towards cell receptors. Further, these modifications may aid the HOPV in immune evasion and recurrent infections. Data from this study showed that ON-1 genotype of HOPV-A and BA-IX genotype of HOPV-B were dominant in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Further, a duplication of sequence within 2nd HVR of G protein gene was found

Indukowane światłem właściwości optyczne monokryształów Tl1-xIn1-xSixSe2

The influence of temperature on electroconductivity and photoinduced changes of the absorption at 0.15 eV under influence of the second harmonic generation of CO2 laser for the two type of single crystals were investigated. The single crystals Tl1−xIn1−xSixSe2 (x=0.1 and 0.2) have been grown by the two-zone Bridgaman-Stockbarger method. The temperature studies of electroconductivity were done in cryostat with thermoregulation in the temperature 77 - 300 K, with stabilization ±0.1 K. Photoinduced treatment of the investigated single crystals were performed using the 180 ns pulses second harmonic generation of the CO2 laser operating at 5.3 μm. Experimental studies have shown that for the Tl1−xIn1−xSixSe2 single crystals with decreasing temperature from 300 up to 240 K and from 315 up to 270 K the conductivity is realized by thermally excited impurities with activation energies equal to about 0.24 eV and 0.22 eV for x= 0.1 and 0.2, respectively. Photoinduced absorption achieves its maximum at a power density below 100 mJ/cm2. Has been shown that the samples with x=0.2 demonstrated higher changes of the photoinduced absorption with respect to the x=0.1. With further decreasing temperature is observed monotonic decrease in the activation energy of conductivity. The origin of these effects is caused by the excitations of both the electronic as well as phonon subsystem. At some power densities the anharmonic excitations become dominant and as a consequence the photoinduced absorption dependence is saturated what were observed. Additionally, we were evaluated at given temperature the average jump length of R for localized states near Fermi level.W pracy badano wpływ temperatury na przewodnictwo elektryczne oraz indukowane światłem zmiany absorpcji optycznej przy 0.15 eV, pod działaniem drugiej harmonicznej lasera CO2 dla dwóch typów monokryształów. Monokryształy Tl1−xIn1−xSixSe2 (x=0.1 i 0.2) otrzymano w pionowym dwustrefowym piecu metodą Bridgamana-Stockbargera. Badania temperaturowe przewodności elektrycznej przeprowadzono w kriostacie z termoregulacją, w temperaturze 77-300 K, przy stabilizacji ±0,1 K. Fotoindukowaną obróbkę laserową monokryształów wykonano przy użyciu 180 ns impulsów drugiej harmonicznej lasera CO2 o długości fali 5,3 μm. Eksperymentalnie wykazano, że z obniżaniem temperatury od 300 do 240 K i od 315 do 270 K przewodnictwo elektryczne monokryształów Tl1−xIn1−xSixSe2 jest wywołane przez wzbudzenia termicznie domieszek z energią aktywacji równą około 0,24 eV i 0,22 eV dla ő = 0,1 i 0,2, odpowiednio. Indukowana optycznie absorpcja osiąga maksimum przy gęstości mocy poniżej 100 mJ/cm2. Stwierdzono, że próbka z x = 0,2 wykazuje większe zmiany absorpcji indukowanej światłem w porównaniu do próbki z x = 0.1. Z dalszym spadkiem temperatury obserwowano monotoniczny spadek energii aktywacji przewodnictwa. Pochodzenie tych efektów jest spowodowane przez wzbudzanie zarówno podsystemu elektronowego jak i fonononowego. Przy niektórych gęstościach mocy wzbudzenia anharmoniczne zaczynają dominować, co w konsekwencji prowadzi do nasycenia indukowanej światłem zależności absorpcji optycznej. Dodatkowo w pracy wyznaczono dla danej temperatury średnią długość skoku R dla stanów zlokalizowanych w pobliżu poziomu Fermiego