Placing the Czech shadow banking sector under the light

The size of the shadow banking sector (SBS) has more than doubled in the Czech Republic over the last decade. This places a potential burden on policy makers. On the one hand, the SBS complements regular banking by expanding access to credit and investments, enabling better risk sharing and maturity transformation, and supporting market liquidity. On the other hand, SBS activities can put the stability of the financial system at risk and amplify its procyclicality by exacerbating the buildup of leverage and asset price bubbles. We implement a FAVAR model of the Czech economy to determine the impact of macroeconomic factors on the SBS. We find that the SBS: (i) is sensitive to changes in market interest rates and term spread; (ii) exhibits great procyclicality; (iii) can act as a complement to regular banking and satisfy some additional demand for credit. We also define some potential risks of continued growth of the SBS, linked to our empirical evidence.Web of Science29128

Mezőgazdasági gépek fogaskerék-hajtóműveinek az optimálása

1. Meghatároztuk a szerszámgép-beállításnak és a fogakat megmunkáló szerszám geometriájának megfelelő fogfelületek valós geometriáját és az így kialakított fogak egymással történő kapcsolódásának a jellemzőit. 2. Új módszert dolgoztunk ki a pillanatnyilag kapcsolódó fogpárok közötti és a fogak menti terheléseloszlás számítására. Az új módszer alapgondolata, hogy terhelés alatt az elméleti pontérintkezés egy meghatározott vonal teljes hosszában, vagy részhosszában húzódó, kis szélességű, felületi érintkezésbe megy át. A módszer figyelembe veszi a fogak hajlításból és nyírásból eredő deformációját, a fogak lokális Hertz-féle összenyomódását, a tengelyek alakváltozását, a kapcsolódó fogaskerekek beállítási hibáit, valamint a csapágyakban fellépő hézagokat. A fogak deformációjának és a bennük fellépő feszültségek számítására egy külön végeselem módszert dolgoztunk ki. 3. Kidolgoztunk egy új módszert a hipoid fogaskerékpár és az íveltfogú kúpkerekpár termo-elasztohidrodinamikus kenésvizsgálatára4. Megalkottuk a megfelelő számítógépes programokat. 5. Eredmények: A szerszámprofil körívsugarainak, illetve a szerszám átmérőjének optimálásával a maximális fogfelületi nyomás 16.22 %-kal, a hajtott kerék szögelfordulási hibája pedig 178.72 %-kal csökkent, a gépbeállítási paraméterek helyes megválasztásával még további 5.8 %-kos, illetve 65.4 %-kos csökkenés érhető el. | 1. The tooth geometry due to cutter geometry and machine tool settings for pinion and gear teeth processing was defined. 2. A new method for load distribution calculation was developed: It was assumed that the theoretical point contact of the mismatched (modified) spiral bevel and hypoid gears under load spreads over a surface along the whole or part of the ?potential? contact line made up of the points of the mating teeth surfaces in which the separations of these surfaces along the tooth face width are minimal. The bending and shearing deflections of gear teeth, the local contact deformation of mating surfaces, gear body bending and torsion, the deflection of supporting shafts, and the manufacturing and alignment errors were included. A new finite element method for the calculation of tooth deflections and stresses was developed. 3. A new method for the thermal elastohydrodynamic analysis of lubrication in spiral bevel and hypoid gears was developed. 4. The corresponding computer programs were developed. 5. The obtained results: By applying the optimal geometry and diameter of the cutter for pinion processing the maximum tooth contact pressure was reduced by 16.22% and the angular position error of the driven gear by 178.72%. The optimization of the machine tool settings in pinion teeth processing yields to further reductions of 5.8% and 65.4%, respectively

Shadow banking in the Euro area: an overview

Shadow banking, as one of the main sources of financial stability concerns, is the subject of much international debate. In broad terms, shadow banking refers to activities related to credit intermediation and liquidity and maturity transformation that take place outside the regulated banking system. This paper presents a first investigation of the size and the structure of shadow banking within the euro area, using the statistical data sources available to the ECB/Eurosystem. Although overall shadow banking activity in the euro area is smaller than in the United States, it is significant, at least in some euro area countries. This is also broadly true for some of the components of shadow banking, particularly securitisation activity, money market funds and the repo markets. This paper also addresses the interconnection between the regulated and the non-bank-regulated segments of the financial sector. Over the recent past, this interconnection has increased, likely resulting in a higher risk of contagion across sectors and countries. Euro area banks now rely more on funding from the financial sector than in the past, in particular from other financial intermediaries (OFIs), which cover shadow banking entities, including securitisation vehicles. This source of funding is mainly shortterm and therefore more susceptible to runs and to the drying-up of liquidity. This finding confirms that macro-prudential authorities and supervisors should carefully monitor the growing interlinkages between the regulated banking sector and the shadow banking system. However, an in-depth assessment of the activities of shadow banking and of the interconnection with the regulated banking system would require further improvements in the availability of data and other sources of information

Clinical sub-phenotypes of Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia

Background: Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (SAB) is a clinically heterogeneous disease. The ability to identify sub-groups of patients with shared traits (sub-phenotypes) is an unmet need that could allow patient stratification for clinical management and research. We aimed to test the hypothesis that clinically-relevant sub-phenotypes can be reproducibly identified amongst patients with SAB. Methods: We studied three cohorts of hospitalised adults with monomicrobial SAB: a UK retrospective observational study (Edinburgh cohort, n=458), the UK ARREST randomised trial (n=758), and the Spanish SAFO randomised trial (n=214). Latent class analysis was used to identify sub-phenotypes using routinely-collected clinical data, without considering outcomes. Mortality and microbiologic outcomes were then compared between sub-phenotypes. Results: Included patients had predominantly methicillin-susceptible SAB (1366/1430,95.5%). We identified five distinct, reproducible clinical sub-phenotypes: (A) SAB associated with older age and comorbidity, (B) nosocomial intravenous catheter-associated SAB in younger people without comorbidity, (C) community-acquired metastatic SAB, (D) SAB associated with chronic kidney disease, and (E) SAB associated with injection drug use. Survival and microbiologic outcomes differed between the sub-phenotypes. 84-day mortality was highest in sub-phenotype A, and lowest in B and E. Microbiologic outcomes were worse in sub-phenotype C. In a secondary analysis of the ARREST trial, adjunctive rifampicin was associated with increased 84-day mortality in sub-phenotype B and improved microbiologic outcomes in sub-phenotype C. Conclusions: We have identified reproducible and clinically-relevant sub-phenotypes within SAB, and provide proof-of-principle of differential treatment effects. Through clinical trial enrichment and patient stratification, these sub-phenotypes could contribute to a personalised medicine approach to SAB