Can bank supervisors rely on market data? A critical assessment from a Swiss perspective

Market data, such as bond spreads or equity price volatility, are a complementary source to bank supervisory information. In Switzerland, meaningful market data are available for a number of banks which constitute a major part of the banking system. Notwithstanding some limitations (biases due to state guarantee for cantonal banks and potential "too-big-to-fail" expectations for big banks) these market data are likely to play a supervisory role in the future. However, once the market expects supervisors to react to market data, these data become endogenous. This may jeopardize the very potential of market data to serve as policy guides.bank-supervision

Numerical and experimental modal analysis of the reed and pipe of a clarinet

International audienceA modal computation of a complete clarinet is presented by the association of finite-elementmodels of the reed and of part of the pipe with a lumped-element model of the rest of the pipe. In the first part, we compare modal computations of the reed and the air inside the mouthpiece and barrel with measurements performed by holographic interferometry. In the second part, the complete clarinet is modeled by adjoining a series of lumped elements for the remaining part of the pipe. The parameters of the lumped-resonator model are determined from acoustic impedance measurements. Computed eigenmodes of the whole system show that modal patterns of the reed differ significantly whether it is alone or coupled to air. Some modes exhibit mostly reed motion and a small contribution of the acoustic pressure inside the pipe. Resonance frequencies measured on a clarinet with the mouthpiece replaced by the cylinder of equal volume differ significantly from the computed eigenfrequencies of the clarinet taking the actual shape of the mouthpiece into account and from those including the (linear) dynamics of the reed. This suggests revisiting the customary quality index based on the alignment of the peaks of the input acoustical impedance curve

Modèles d'écrouissage pour flexion pure de tôles d'acier : de l'identification à l'estimation des contraintes résiduelles

National audienceLes composants pour la liaison au sol sont classiquement dimensionnés à la fatigue polycyclique. Le comportement du matériau est donc très simple à prédire car élastique. Néanmoins, la connaissance du comportement plastique ne peut être écartée pour deux raisons principales : tout d'abord, les pièces de liaison au sol sont mises en forme par déformation plastique (emboutissage), opération générant des états mécaniques locaux complexes qu'il est nécessaire de prendre en compte dans les étapes de dimensionnement ultérieures ; ensuite car le dimensionnement doit permettre d'assurer l'intégrité du composant lorsque celui-ci est soumis à des coups forts, pouvant générer localement de la plasticité. Dans ce contexte, les travaux exposés ici portent sur deux points. Dans un premier temps, nous nous sommes intéressés à l'identification de modèles élastoplastiques (isotrope, cinématique et mixte [3]) réalisée sur une base expérimentale constituée d'essais de pliage/dépliage sur tôle. Une attention toute particulière est portée à la compétition entre écrouissage cinématique et isotrope. Les essais sont réalisés sur un dispositif de flexion pure développé au CEMEF. L'identification est permise par un algorithme spécifique d'identification présenté en figure 2-b. Dans un second temps, les modèles identifiés sont testés sur une base expérimentale enrichie combinant des essais de pliage/dépliage cyclique à des mesures de contraintes résiduelles après relâchement. Un indicateur d'erreur est mis en place afin de hiérarchiser les capacités de prédiction des modèles. Celui-ci nous permet de conclure à la supériorité du modèle mixte

MOON HABITAT MODULE: NEW WAYS OF LIVING IN EXTREME SPACES

Will humans be able to keep their habits even in extreme conditions such as on the Moon? Or will their habits change to adjust to new spaces? In order to answer these questions, we decided to analyze the primary needs of humans to design to new living spaces. In extreme contexts or confined spaces, it is very hard to preserve one’s emotional and psychological balance. Therefore, man becomes an actor within the space, adjusting to make it his own and changing his habits. This is why we chose to use the philosophy of User Centered Design for our design: humans are the source of our inspiration. We aim to design a living space employing a standard container that can be used as a research station for working and living on both the Moon and Mars, or in emergency contexts on Earth. This project is divided into three equally important parts: analysis, meta-design, and technical design. We started by researching confined spaces under extreme conditions, such as military shelters, submarines, emergency housing after natural or chemical disasters, etc. Moreover, we studied space perception, proxemics, and human needs. Second, we analyzed the given space we have to design and the people who will be living there, including their work activities and hobbies. The third phase consisted of the actual designing of the space. Our goal is to create a familiar but innovative, functional, and emotional environment to guarantee effective standards both for living and working. The design took into account every relevant piece of information found in our research. The space is multifunctional and convertible; the different areas (working station, kitchen, and lounge area) are mostly open and common, but guarantee privacy when convenient. Shapes, colors, materials, scents, and sounds are an essential part of the project. In summary, this paper focuses on the design of a minimum habitat on the Moon characterized by: applicability of the design to extreme contexts on Earth (e.g., disasters); study of existing habits and human interaction in extreme contexts; proposal of a new way of living; User Centered Design; familiar spaces; sensorial interaction through materials, shapes and colors, flexible and organized spaces; and zoning

Activity of the EGFR-HER2 dual inhibitor afatinib in EGFR-mutant lung cancer patients with acquired resistance to reversible EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of afatinib in EGFR-mutant metastatic NSCLC patients with acquired resistance to erlotinib or gefitinib. Materials and methods: We retrospectively analyzed the outcome of patients with EGFR-mutant advanced NSCLC treated with afatinib after failure of chemotherapy and EGFR TKIs. Results: A total of 96 individuals were included in the study. According to EGFR status, most patients (n = 63; 65.6%) harbored a deletion in exon 19, and de novo T790M mutation was detected in 2 cases (T790M and exon 19). Twenty-four (25%) patients underwent repeated biopsy immediately before starting afatinib and secondary T790M was detected in 8 (33%) samples. Among the 86 patients evaluable for efficacy, response rate was 11.6%, with a median progression free-survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of 3.9 and 7.3 months, respectively. No significant difference in PFS and OS was observed according to type of last therapy received before afatinib, type of EGFR mutation or adherence to Jackman criteria, and patients benefiting from afatinib therapy had longer PFS and OS (P < .001). Outcome results for repeated biopsy patients were similar to the whole population, with no evidence of response in T790M-positive patients. All patients were evaluable for toxicity, and 81% experienced an AE of any grade, with grade 3 to 4 AEs, mainly diarrhea and skin toxicity, occurring in 19 (20%) patients. Conclusion: Our results showed that afatinib has only modest efficacy in a real life population of EGFR mutant NSCLC patients with acquired resistance to erlotinib or gefitinib

Market discipline in banking regulation: theory and evidence from Switzerland

In Switzerland, relatively little effort has been put into assessing the role and potential of market information and market discipline in banking regulation and supervision. This thesis represents the first attempt to address the issue in a comprehensive way. The first two papers explore to what degree the market disciplines Swiss banks, both directly and indirectly. The empirical results provide evidence for the existence of direct market discipline in the Swiss banking sector, but not for banks that benefit from a state guarantee. At the same time, market data do not appear to provide the Swiss supervisor with additional information. Thus, the prospects for indirect market discipline are less promising. In order to avoid regulatory forbearance, some economists suggest that supervisors should use market data as triggers for prompt corrective actions. The third paper examines the informational implications of such a proposal. The paper shows that the supervisor should be very careful in using market signals as triggers for prompt corrective actions, as tying intervention to market prices may distort their informational content and hence lead to inefficient actions

Load spectra and fatigue damage: applications to the automotive industry

High cycle fatigue behaviour of materials is historically assessed with constant amplitude and variable amplitude loads, respectively. Thus, a long-lasting debate is extremely active in the academic community, trying to link experimental results coming from these different approaches. Overcoming all this, since the 1970s several industrial fields have been choosing to consider representative customer load spectra (in terms of amplitude, not frequency) as the best way to test both materials and structures. In particular, the automotive industry makes use of specific car loading spectra, regularly fed by the customer knowledge and practised on proving grounds. This paper presents a highlight on such spectra, neglecting any sequence effect of the load time history, thus accepting the Palmgren-Miner’s rule as an assumption. Whereas a recent communication on this very topic focused on the basic occurrence spectra, which is absolutely independent from the material properties of the car parts, here we deal with the final damage assessment. Obviously, it is worth knowing which part of the spectrum is mainly responsible for the most relevant fatigue damage