Interaction between monetary policy and bank regulation: Theory and European practice

The European Union has pursued a number of initiatives to create a safer and sounder financial sector for the single market. In parallel, bold unconventional monetary policies have been implemented in order to combat low inflation, foster risk taking and, ultimately, reinvigorate growth. But monetary and macro-prudential policies interact with each other and thus may enhance or diminish the effectiveness of the other. Monetary policy affects financial stability by shaping, for instance, leverage and borrowing. Equally, macro-prudential policies constrain borrowing, which in turn have side-effects on output and prices, and therefore on monetary policy. When both monetary and macro- prudential functions are housed within the central bank, coordination is improved, but safeguards are needed to counter the risks from dual objectives. Against this background, this paper outlines the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of macro-prudential policy, and discusses the way it interacts with monetary policy. We identify advantages as well as risks from cooperating in the two policy areas, and provide suggestions in terms of institutional design on how to contain those risks. Against this backdrop, we evaluate the recent European practice

Assessing ECB Quantitative Easing: One Year On: In depth analysis

"This policy contribution was prepared on request of the ECON Committee of the European Parliament for the Monetary Dialogue with the President of the European Central Bank on 02/06/2016 (http://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/econ/monetary-dialogue.html). Copyright remains with the European Parliament at all times". © 2016 European UnionDISCLAIMER The opinions expressed in this document are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the European Parliament. Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorised, provided the source is acknowledged and the publisher is given prior notice and sent a copy."More than one year after the first implementation of the ECB programme of asset purchases, it is appropriate to assess its effectiveness and discuss pros and cons of potential further expansions. An in-depth analysis by key monetary experts is provided in this compilation. The notes have been requested by the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs as an input for the June 2016 session of the Monetary Dialogue."The ECB’s expanded asset purchase programme (EAPP) adds the purchase programme for public sector securities to the existing private sector asset purchase programmes to address the risks of a too prolonged period of low inflation. It now consists of a covered bond purchase programme (CBPP3), asset- backed securities purchase programme (ABSPP) and public sector purchase programme (PSPP). However, as the transmission mechanisms of monetary policy remains characterized by long, variable and uncertain time lags, the impact of asset purchases on the real economy continues to be a matter of discussion as confirmed by the slow recovery in bank lending. Some economists even argue that the most effective transmission channel of unconventional monetary policy is the exchange rate. Against this backdrop, the note assesses the effectiveness of the ECB programme of asset purchases one year after its first implementation.European Parliament - Monetary Policy Dialogu

Quantification and Genetic Analysis of Salivirus/Klassevirus in Wastewater in Arizona, USA

Salivirus/klassevirus sequences were identified in 7 (15 %) wastewater samples collected in Arizona monthly for a year, with the highest concentration of 2.28 × 105 and 2.46 × 104 copies/L in influent and effluent, respectively. This is the first report of quantification and genetic analysis of salivirus/klassevirus in water samples in the United States.International Fulbright Science & Technology AwardJapan Society for the Promotion of Science (Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research Abroad (FY 2011 no. 517)))National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Water and Environmental Technology (WET) Center, University of Arizona

Occurrence and genetic diversity of human cosavirus in influent and effluent of wastewater treatment plants in Arizona, United States

Human cosavirus (HCoSV) is a novel member of the family Picornaviridae. We investigated the prevalence and genetic diversity of HCoSV in influent and effluent wastewater in Arizona over a 12-month period, from August 2011 to July 2012. HCoSV sequences were identified in six (25 %) influent samples and one (4 %) effluent sample, with the highest concentration of 3.24 x 10[superscript 5] and 1.54 x 10³ copies/liter in influent and effluent, respectively. The strains were characterized based on their 5’ untranslated region and classified into species A and D, demonstrating that genetically heterogeneous HCoSV were circulating with a clear temporal shift of predominant strains in the study area.National Science Foundation (U.S.) Water and Environmental Technology (WET) CenterJapan Society for the Promotion of Science. Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research Abroad (FY 2011 no. 517

Could Public Restrooms Be an Environment for Bacterial Resistomes?

PMCID: PMC3547874This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Comparative study of enteric viruses, coliphages and indicator bacteria for evaluating water quality in a tropical high-altitude system

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Bacteria used as indicators for pathogenic microorganisms in water are not considered adequate as enteric virus indicators. Surface water from a tropical high-altitude system located in Mexico City that receives rainwater, treated and non-treated wastewater used for irrigation, and groundwater used for drinking, was studied.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The presence of enterovirus, rotavirus, astrovirus, coliphage, coliform bacteria, and enterococci was determined during annual cycles in 2001 and 2002. Enteric viruses in concentrated water samples were detected by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Coliphages were detected using the double agar layer method. Bacteria analyses of the water samples were carried out by membrane filtration.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The presence of viruses and bacteria in the water used for irrigation showed no relationship between current bacterial indicator detection and viral presence. Coliphages showed strong association with indicator bacteria and enterovirus, but weak association with other enteric viruses. Enterovirus and rotavirus showed significant seasonal differences in water used for irrigation, although this was not clear for astrovirus.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Coliphages proved to be adequate faecal pollution indicators for the irrigation water studied. Viral presence in this tropical high-altitude system showed a similar trend to data previously reported for temperate zones.</p

Food safety in hospital: knowledge, attitudes and practices of nursing staff of two hospitals in Sicily, Italy

BACKGROUND: Food hygiene in hospital poses peculiar problems, particularly given the presence of patients who could be more vulnerable than healthy subjects to microbiological and nutritional risks. Moreover, in nosocomial outbreaks of infectious intestinal disease, the mortality risk has been proved to be significantly higher than the community outbreaks and highest for foodborne outbreaks. On the other hand, the common involvement in the role of food handlers of nurses or domestic staff, not specifically trained about food hygiene and HACCP, may represent a further cause of concern. The purpose of this study was to evaluate knowledge, attitudes, and practices concerning food safety of the nursing staff of two hospitals in Palermo, Italy. Association with some demographic and work-related determinants was also investigated. METHODS: The survey was conducted, by using a semi-structured questionnaire, in March-November 2005 in an acute general hospital and a paediatric hospital, where nursing staff is routinely involved in food service functions. RESULTS: Overall, 401 nurses (279, 37.1%, of the General Hospital and 122, 53.5%, of the Paediatric Hospital, respectively) answered. Among the respondents there was a generalized lack of knowledge about etiologic agents and food vehicles associated to foodborne diseases and proper temperatures of storage of hot and cold ready to eat foods. A general positive attitude towards temperature control and using clothing and gloves, when handling food, was shared by the respondents nurses, but questions about cross-contamination, refreezing and handling unwrapped food with cuts or abrasions on hands were frequently answered incorrectly. The practice section performed better, though sharing of utensils for raw and uncooked foods and thawing of frozen foods at room temperatures proved to be widely frequent among the respondents. Age, gender, educational level and length of service were inconsistently associated with the answer pattern. More than 80% of the respondent nurses did not attend any educational course on food hygiene. Those who attended at least one training course fared significantly better about some knowledge issues, but no difference was detected in both the attitude and practice sections. CONCLUSION: Results strongly emphasize the need for a safer management of catering in the hospitals, where non professional food handlers, like nursing or domestic staff, are involved in food service functions

Microbial Biogeography of Public Restroom Surfaces

We spend the majority of our lives indoors where we are constantly exposed to bacteria residing on surfaces. However, the diversity of these surface-associated communities is largely unknown. We explored the biogeographical patterns exhibited by bacteria across ten surfaces within each of twelve public restrooms. Using high-throughput barcoded pyrosequencing of the 16 S rRNA gene, we identified 19 bacterial phyla across all surfaces. Most sequences belonged to four phyla: Actinobacteria, Bacteriodetes, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria. The communities clustered into three general categories: those found on surfaces associated with toilets, those on the restroom floor, and those found on surfaces routinely touched with hands. On toilet surfaces, gut-associated taxa were more prevalent, suggesting fecal contamination of these surfaces. Floor surfaces were the most diverse of all communities and contained several taxa commonly found in soils. Skin-associated bacteria, especially the Propionibacteriaceae, dominated surfaces routinely touched with our hands. Certain taxa were more common in female than in male restrooms as vagina-associated Lactobacillaceae were widely distributed in female restrooms, likely from urine contamination. Use of the SourceTracker algorithm confirmed many of our taxonomic observations as human skin was the primary source of bacteria on restroom surfaces. Overall, these results demonstrate that restroom surfaces host relatively diverse microbial communities dominated by human-associated bacteria with clear linkages between communities on or in different body sites and those communities found on restroom surfaces. More generally, this work is relevant to the public health field as we show that human-associated microbes are commonly found on restroom surfaces suggesting that bacterial pathogens could readily be transmitted between individuals by the touching of surfaces. Furthermore, we demonstrate that we can use high-throughput analyses of bacterial communities to determine sources of bacteria on indoor surfaces, an approach which could be used to track pathogen transmission and test the efficacy of hygiene practices