Does uncertainty matter for loan charge-offs?

International audienceUsing a stylized real options model, we show that discretion over the timing of charging off a non-performing loan could be economically justified when collateral values are uncertain and there is a chance of loan recovery. The implied hypothesis of an “uncertainty dependence” aspect in loan charge-offs is empirically tested and validated using a panel of European banks. A welfare-maximizing regulator might want to let banks pursue such discretionary loan charge-off behavior, with the problem of distinguishing it from alternative capital management and income smoothing objectives, while transparency-seeking accounting standards setters would presumably not

Physical and perceptual differences between two trumpets of the same model type

For large-scale musical wind instrument manufacturers, the ability to produce instruments in a repeatable fashion is essential. In this paper, two mass-produced trumpets of the same model type are compared in terms of physical and perceptual differences. Input impedance and bore profile measurements show significant acoustical differences due to the presence of a tiny leak in the bore of one of the two instruments. Psychophysical tests demonstrate that these acoustical differences do not necessarily result in perceptible differences in the playing characteristics of the two trumpets. Only a small number of trumpet players successfully distinguish between the instruments when subjected to a playing test, although those that do are shown to be able to provide distinct and consistent quality assessments for each one

“BIRTH IS LIKE A MARATHON” REVISITING CHILDBIRTH BY USING SPORT BIOMECHANICS APPROACHES

Childbirth is a sport according to women who have experienced it. The physiological demand of this specific sport activity is indeed close to what is measured in many other sport activities. From a biomechanical point of view, it also seems possible to consider childbirth as a sport activity that can be optimized. After explaining how childbirth is similar to a sport activity, we will present the methodology and preliminary results of an innovative approach in delivery biomechanics. A biomechanical analysis of childbirth as performed in many sport activities seems to be appropriate in order to optimize some parameters of this sport activity so special in a lifetime

Preliminary Investigation of the `Learnable Evolution Model' for Faster/Better Multiobjective Water Systems Design

The design of large scale water distribution systems is a very difficult optimisation problem which invariably requires the use of time-expensive simulations within the fitness function. The need to accelerate optimisation for such problems has not so far been seriously tackled. However, this is a very important issue, since as MOEAs become more and more recognised as the lsquoindustry standardrsquo technique for water system design, the demands placed on such systems (larger and larger water networks) will quickly meet with problems of scaleup. Meanwhile, LEM (Learnable Evolution Modelrsquo) has appeared in the Machine Learning literature, and provides a general approach to integrating machine learning into evolutionary search. Published results using LEM show very great promise in terms of finding near-optimal solutions with significantly reduced numbers of evaluations. Here we introduce LEMMO (Learnable Evolution Model for Multi-Objective optimization), which is a multi-objective adaptation of LEM, and we apply it to certain problems commonly used as benchmarks in the water systems community. Compared with NSGA-II, we find that LEMMO both significantly improves performance, and significantly reduces the number of evaluations needed to reach a given target. We conclude that the general approach used in LEMMO is a promising direction for meeting the scale-up challenges in multiobjective water system design

Auditory evoked potential audiograms in post-settlement stage individuals of coral reef fishes

peer reviewe

Multi-objective local search for mining Pittsburgh classification rules

International audienceThis abstract presents a modeling of the classification rule mining problem as a dominance-based multi-objective local search, with Pittsburgh solution encoding, using accuracy and the number of terms as objectives. This solution is then compared to results from literature of 22 rule mining classification algorithms

Characterization of the Compounds Released in the Gaseous Waste Stream during the Slow Pyrolysis of Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.)

This study aims to characterize and valorize hemp residual biomass by a slow pyrolysis process. The volatile by-products of hemp carbonization were characterized by several methods (TGA, UV-VIS, TLC, Flash Prep-LC, UHPLC, QTOF-MS) to understand the pyrolysis reaction mechanisms and to identify the chemical products produced during the process. The obtained carbon yield was 29%, generating a gaseous stream composed of phenols and furans which was collected in four temperature ranges (F1 at 20–150 °C, F2 at 150–250 °C, F3 at 250–400 °C and F4 at 400–1000 °C). The obtained liquid fractions were separated into subfractions by flash chromatography. The total phenolic content (TPC) varied depending on the fraction but did not correlate with an increase in temperature or with a decrease in pH value. Compounds present in fractions F1, F3 and F4, being mainly phenolic molecules such as guaiacyl or syringyl derivatives issued from the lignin degradation, exhibit antioxidant capacity. The temperature of the pyrolysis process was positively correlated with detectable phenolic content, which can be explained by the decomposition order of the hemp chemical constituents. A detailed understanding of the chemical composition of pyrolysis products of hemp residuals allows for an assessment of their potential valorization routes and the future economic potential of underutilized biomass.This research was funded by the European Commission for funding the InnoRenew project (Grant agreement #739574 under the Horizon 2020 WIDESPREAD-2-Teaming program) and the Republic of Slovenia (investment funding from the Republic of Slovenia and the European Regional Development Fund), the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (Grant Number 898179). Kristine Meile received funding from the ERDF Project No. 1.1.1.2/VIAA/3/19/388 “A biorefinery approach to the separation and application of the products of lignocellulose pyrolysis”. Rene Herrera received funding from Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU (POSTDOC: IJC2020-043740-I)