Revisiting valuation practices throughout the business cycle: some symmetry is needed.

The current crisis exposed weaknesses in the application of accounting standards and gaps associated with the valuation of financial products. During the upturn, the revaluation of assets, build-up of off-balance sheet claims, and booking of unrealised gains obscured risk exposures taken by financial institutions. But as we have learned, when the cycles turn, the downward trends and uncertainties in the value of assets may lead to negative dynamics that may exaggerate the trough of the cycle. This is generally accepted, but we need to be more symmetrical in our approach: increasing valuations in the upturns can also create the incentives, through more profits, compensations and dividends, to purchase more of the appreciating assets and thereby exacerbate the peak. All this raises legitimate questions regarding the role of risk management systems, accounting standards and regulations in creating adequate incentives and conveying information on a financial entity’s risk profi le throughout the business cycle. More fundamentally, it raises questions about whether marking-to-market provides the necessary objective representation or may contribute to mispricing of risk during upturns and injecting artificial risk during downturns and thus distorting the information value of prices. Changing accounting standards at the height of the crisis would risk adversely impacting investor confidence and should be avoided. Furthermore, fair value accounting is the direction to go, but going forward, there is a need to revisit the implications of accounting standards on behavior and incentives, especially during good times, with a view to making possible adjustments to current accounting practices. Inconsistencies of accounting standards with best risk management practices and prudential norms can be very expensive for financial stability. Governance and risk management within financial institutions need to be improved, and supervisors should scrutinise more carefully internal processes and controls, as well as valuation and stress testing methodologies.

Hepatitis B immunisation : a survey of surgeons and theatre nurses

Acute viral hepatitis remains a serious condition. Its long-term sequelae include cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Health workers constitute a high-risk group for contracting hepatitis B. A group of clinicians associated with invasive procedures and nurses working in operating theatres were invited to answer a confidential questionnaire concerning hepatitis B immunisation and the use of protective measures. A self-administered confidential questionnaire was sent to 152 clinicians and 97 theatre nurses, of whom 82 and 74 respectively responded, giving an overall response rate of 63 %. Whilst 91% of respondents considered their speciality as being of high risk for hepatitis B only 63% of them were fully immunised and of these only 51% had had their immunity tested. Out of those who checked their antibody status 19% did so following a needle stick injury. 60% of our respondents had had a needle stick injury over the past year. Even so barrier precaution techniques were used infrequently with only 17% always or at least frequently using double gloving and 10% wearing a visor during operations. Some respondents also commented on the poor availability of resources such as impermeable gowns or blunt needles which are established precautions against contamination from hepatitis B.peer-reviewe

Learning Tasks for Multitask Learning: Heterogenous Patient Populations in the ICU

Machine learning approaches have been effective in predicting adverse outcomes in different clinical settings. These models are often developed and evaluated on datasets with heterogeneous patient populations. However, good predictive performance on the aggregate population does not imply good performance for specific groups. In this work, we present a two-step framework to 1) learn relevant patient subgroups, and 2) predict an outcome for separate patient populations in a multi-task framework, where each population is a separate task. We demonstrate how to discover relevant groups in an unsupervised way with a sequence-to-sequence autoencoder. We show that using these groups in a multi-task framework leads to better predictive performance of in-hospital mortality both across groups and overall. We also highlight the need for more granular evaluation of performance when dealing with heterogeneous populations.Comment: KDD 201

Dopaminergic Suppression of Synaptic Transmission in the Lateral Entorhinal Cortex

Dopaminergic projections to the superficial layers of the lateral entorhinal cortex can modulate the strength of olfactory inputs to the region. We have found that low concentrations of dopamine facilitate field EPSPs in the entorhinal cortex, and that higher concentrations of dopamine suppress synaptic responses. Here, we have used whole-cell current clamp recordings from layer II neurons to determine the mechanisms of the suppression. Dopamine (10 to 50 μM) hyperpolarized membrane potential and reversibly suppressed the amplitude of EPSPs evoked by layer I stimulation. Both AMPA- and NMDA-mediated components were suppressed, and paired-pulse facilitation was also enhanced indicating that the suppression is mediated largely by reduced glutamate release. Blockade of D2-like receptors greatly reduced the suppression of EPSPs. Dopamine also lowered input resistance, and reduced the number of action potentials evoked by depolarizing current steps. The drop in input resistance was mediated by activation of D1-like receptors, and was prevented by blocking K+ channels with TEA. The dopaminergic suppression of synaptic transmission is therefore mediated by a D2 receptor-dependent reduction in transmitter release, and a D1 receptor-dependent increase in a K+ conductance. This suppression of EPSPs may dampen the strength of sensory inputs during periods of elevated mesocortical dopamine activity

Islanding operation of hybrid micro-grid system with power management control scheme

In this paper, islanding operation of a hybrid micro-grid system is proposed with power management control scheme. When micro-grid system undergoes transition from grid connected to the islanded mode, it is required for the ac-dc based micro-grid system to provide adequate power to ac and dc loads connected in the system. Even when utility grid is disconnected from the micro-grid system, there is possibility of power imbalance in the system which may result in system instability. In this paper, control strategy of voltage source converter is presented which can maintain the terminal voltage of the micro-grid system constant during both grid connected and islanded modes. Another salient feature is the incorporation of power management control scheme which ensures the power management in the ac-dc based micro-grid system when it switches from grid connected to islanded mode or islanded mode to grid reconnected mode. The simulation results from PSCAD/EMTDC show that the micro-grid system may lose its stable operation without power management control scheme during islanded mode even if the voltage source converter is connected to the system. The effectiveness of the proposed control strategy is verified under three different scenarios

Stability enhancement of a hybrid micro-grid system in grid fault condition

Low voltage ride through capability augmentation of a hybrid micro-grid system is presented in this paper which reflects enhanced reliability in the system. The control scheme involves parallel connected multiple ac-dc bidirectional converters. When the micro-grid system is subjected to a severe voltage dip by any transient fault single power converter may not be able to provide necessary reactive power to overcome the severe voltage dip. This paper discusses the control strategy of additional power converter connected in parallel with main converter to support extra reactive power to withstand the severe voltage dip. During transient fault, when the terminal voltage crosses 90% of its pre-fault value, additional converter comes into operation. With the help of additional power converter, the micro-grid system withstands the severe voltage fulfilling the grid code requirements. This multiple converter scheme provides the micro-grid system the capability of low voltage ride through which makes the system more reliable and stable

Hymn to the heroes of Malta

Ġabra ta’ poeżiji u proża li tinkludi: Alla fil-ħolqien ta’ Ġużè Agius Bonello – Is-sena u l-bniedem ta’ Ġużè Ellul-Mercer – Li tiżra’ taħsad ta’ Vic. Apap – Huwa ta’ Gino Muscat-Azzopardi – Żewġ friefet ta’ Vincent Caruana – Iċ-ċagħka ta’ Ġużè Borg – Warda midbiela ta’ C. Gauci – It-tfajla tas-sulfarini ta’ Albert M. Cassola – L-aħħar traduzzjoni ta’ May Butcher qabel ma mietet – Hymn to the heroes of Malta.N/

Problematising international placements as a site of intercultural learning

This paper theorises some of the learning outcomes of a three-year project concerning student learning in international social work placements in Malaysia. The problematic issue of promoting cultural and intercultural competence through such placements is examined, where overlapping hegemonies are discussed in terms of isomorphism of social work models, that of the nation state, together with those relating to professional values and knowledge, and the tyrannies of received ideas. A critical discussion of cultural competence as the rationale for international placements is discussed in terms of the development of the graduating social worker as a self-reflexive practitioner. The development of sustainable international partnerships able to support student placement and the issue of non-symmetrical reciprocation, typical of wide socio-economic differentials across global regions, is additionally discussed

Experimental study and performance evaluation of the renewable energy conversion systems under realistic grid conditions using RTDS

This paper presents a new approach to analyze the steady-state and transient behavior of grid connected renewable energy sources. For this case, a permanent magnet generator based variable speed wind turbine interfaced to the grid through back to back fully rated converters is considered. The salient feature of this paper is the introduction of the realistic grid into real time digital simulation such that practical effects can be examined prior to the experimental test stage. The effect of power quality phenomena present on the supply voltage waveforms on the performance of the variable speed wind turbine system is examined. It is noted that tuning the grid side converter voltage loop for successful low voltage transient operation might not be sufficient for operation under the non-ideal voltage waveforms of actual grids. Simulation and hardware implementation have been carried out by RTDS/RSCAD