Banking on Basel : an alternative for capital requirements

Equity capital represents a bank’s net worth—the difference between its assets and liabilities. Put another way, it’s the value of assets financed by the bank’s owners, rather than depositors or other sources of funds. Capital serves as a buffer to absorb losses and prevent failures and figures prominently in the banking industry’s ability to lend.Equity ; Asset pricing ; Liabilities (Accounting) ; Capital ; Risk ; Basel capital accord

Gyroless Nanosatellite Attitude Determination Using an Array of Spatially Distributed Accelerometers

The low size and budget of typical nanosatellite missions limit the available sensors for attitude estimation. Relatively high noise MEMS gyroscopes often must be employed when accurate knowledge of the spacecraft’s angular velocity is necessary for attitude determination and control. This thesis derived and tested in simulation the “Virtual Gyroscope” algorithm, which replaced a standard gyroscope with an array of spatially distributed accelerometers for a 1U CubeSat mission. A MEMS accelerometer model was developed and validated using Root Allan Variance, and the Virtual Gyroscope was tested both in the open loop configuration and as a replacement for a gyroscope in a Multiplicative Extended Kalman Filter. It was found that the quality of the Virtual Gyroscope’s rate measurement improved with a larger and higher quality array, but the error in the estimate was very large. The low signal-to-noise ratio and the unknown bias in the accelerometers caused the angular velocity estimate from the accelerometer array to be too poor for use in the propagation step of the Kalman filter. The Kalman filter performed better with attitude measurements alone than with the Virtual Gyroscope, even when the attitude were delivered at a low rate with added noise. Overall, the current Virtual Gyroscope algorithm that is presented in this thesis is not suitable to replace a MEMS gyroscope in a nanosatellite mission, although there is room for future improvements using bias prediction for the individual accelerometers in the array

Correlation of Trust and Outcomes Following Physical Therapy for Chronic Low Back Pain

Background: Trust is a key component for developing therapeutic alliance. Improvements in trust have been found to improve outcomes forpatients receiving psychiatric and medical physician care. Current trust measurement scales have not been utilized in a physical therapy setting and no studies have explored the relation of trust in provider to physical therapy outcomes. Purpose: The primary goal was to explore the correlation of patient trust measured at various points within the therapeutic encounter to the change in outcome measurements after receiving physical therapy care. Research Design and Methods: Non-experimental correlational quantitative analysis of patient trust in their physical therapist as they received care for chronic and persistent low back pain. Participants (n = 30) completed three different trust measurement scales along with a general provider trust scale and therapeutic alliance measurement prior to initial visit, after initial visit, and at discharge. These scales were correlated to outcome measurements through the course of the encounter related to pain, function, and global improvement. Physical therapist measurement of patient connection and engagement was collected from physical therapist during episode of care. Data Analysis: The Spearman rho correlation was utilized to provide correlational statistics for various trust measurement scales with therapeutic alliance scale, patient connection and engagement, and outcome measurement instruments. Linear regression was applied to individual trust measurement scales and outcome variables for predictive modeling of trust and outcomes. Results: Trust scores at discharge correlated the most with Global Rate of Change score and change in function at discharge (rs = 0.47–0.72). Change in trust score from post-initial visit to discharge provided the most correlation with pain scores at discharge and change of pain score (rs = 0.49–0.80). Trustmeasurement scores correlated strongly with therapeutic alliance scale (rs = 0.74–0.86) during the two measurement points. Discussion: Higher levels of end trust scores showed strong correlation to improved function and global rate of change at discharge. The change in trust scores over treatment showed moderate to strong correlation with increasing trust to lower pain at discharge and greater improvements in change of pain

Luscher Term for k-string Potential from Holographic One Loop Corrections

We perform a systematic analysis of k-strings in the framework of the gauge/gravity correspondence. We discuss the Klebanov-Strassler supergravity background which is known to be dual to a confining supersymmetric gauge theory with chiral symmetry breaking. We obtain the k-string tension in agreement with expectations of field theory. Our main new result is the study of one-loop corrections on the string theoretic side. We explicitly find the frequency spectrum for both the bosons and the fermions for quadratic fluctuations about the classical supergravity solution. Further we use the massless modes to compute 1/L contributions to the one loop corrections to the k-string energy. This corresponds to the Luscher term contribution to the k-string potential on the gauge theoretic side of the correspondence.Comment: 39 pages, 3 figures. New Calculation showing explicit k -> M - k symmetry of Energy utilizing the new figure. Discussion of non-k-dependence of Luscher term at end of last section right before Conclusion. Same version to be published in JHE

The Effects of CEO Compensation Structure on Reported Earnings and Shareholder Wealth

Corporate executives are paid at extremely high levels compared to lower-level employees, especially in the United States, and their level of compensation usually does not change based on company performance with respect to competitors, but rather with changes in their company\u27s stock price. It is well known that executive compensation among U.S. corporations is comprised mostly of stock options, sometimes up to 90% of overall compensation (Edgar 2002). These stock options allow executives, namely chief executive officers (CEOs), to cash in big bucks during good times and risk zero losses during bad times

A perfect storm: An archaeological management crisis in the Mississippi River Delta

Engineered projects resulting in unintended consequences, coastal erosion, subsidence, and sea-level rise are rapidly destroying archaeological sites in the Mississippi River Delta (MRD). The processes of site obliteration are intensifying and accelerating due to anthropogenic transformation of the environment, including cumulative engineered alterations of the landscape and climate change. Combined with increased inundation and erosion from storm surges, hundreds of terrestrial sites formerly located on natural levees, barrier islands, and other coastal landforms are progressively eroded, redeposited, deeply buried, and submerged. These include thousand-year-old earthen mounds and shell middens constructed by Native Americans, as well as centuries-old fishing communities along the coast. These irreplaceable cultural properties can provide crucial information on the unique history and ecology of the MRD. Ongoing studies include consulting with interested parties and implementing data sharing agreements. Re- searchers have formed a consortium of universities and state and federal agencies, and are partnering with culturally affiliated Native American tribes, descendant groups, and coastal communities. The consortium is developing a robust GIS-enabled risk matrix for analyzing threats and effects to endangered sites. It is using the risk matrix to select 30 sites for monitoring, assessment, aerial photogrammetry, and recording environmental data on water table fluctuations. Analysis of action-based scientific data on these imperiled and rapidly disappearing places is urgently needed and will provide the impetus and baseline for future studies. Otherwise, ongoing site destruction will erase any remaining opportunities for learning about Louisiana’s deep history and diverse cultural heritage

Scalable Synthesis of Two-dimensional Polymer Crystals and Exfoliation into Nanometer-thin Sheets

Two-dimensional materials have moved into the spotlight of researchers. The isolation of single graphene sheets has shown that restricted dimensionality can lead to interesting properties. Bottom-up synthesis of organic, covalently-bonded structures is, however, still challenging. In this publication we give a synopsis of a recently published monomer that is easily accessible and reversibly provides chiral two-dimensional polymer single crystals, which can be exfoliated into nanometer-thin sheets and show promise for applications in, for example, nonlinear optics and ultrathin membranes

Three-dimensional flow structure and bed morphology in large elongate meander loops with different outer bank roughness characteristics

© 2016. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. Few studies have examined the three-dimensional flow structure and bed morphology within elongate loops of large meandering channels. The present study focuses on the spatial patterns of three-dimensional flow structure and bed morphology within two elongate meander loops and examines how differences in outer bank roughness influence near-bank flow characteristics. Three-dimensional velocities were measured during two different events—a near-bankfull flow and an overbank event. Detailed data on channel bathymetry and bed form geometry were obtained during a near-bankfull event. Flow structure within the loops is characterized by strong topographic steering by the point bar, by the development of helical motion associated with flow curvature, and by acceleration of flow where bedrock is exposed along the outer bank. Near-bank velocities during the overbank event are less than those for the near-bankfull flow, highlighting the strong influence of the point bar on redistribution of mass and momentum of the flow at subbankfull stages. Multiple outer bank pools are evident within the elongate meander loop with low outer bank roughness, but are not present in the loop with high outer bank roughness, which may reflect the influence of abundant large woody debris on near-bank velocity characteristics. The positions of pools within both loops can be linked to spatial variations in planform curvature. The findings indicate that flow structure and bed morphology in these large elongate loops is similar to that in small elongate loops, but differs somewhat from flow structure and bed morphology reported for experimental elongate loops

Should Unemployment Insurance Vary With the Unemployment Rate? Theory and Evidence

We study how the level of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits that trades off the consumption smoothing benefit with the moral hazard cost of distorting job search behavior varies over the business cycle. Empirically, we find that the moral hazard cost is procyclical, greater when the unemployment rate is relatively low. By contrast, our evidence suggests that the consumption smoothing benefit of UI is acyclical. Using these estimates to calibrate our model, we find that a one standard deviation increase in the unemployment rate leads to a roughly 14 to 27 percentage point increase in the welfare-maximizing wage replacement rate.