Regulation, valuation and systemic liquidity.

It is a commonly held view that International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs), adopted by the European Union in 2005 and by other jurisdictions, compounded the recent fi nancial crisis. Application of the IAS 39 rule that governs loan-loss provisions and extends mark-to-market valuation of assets meant that when credit prices fell sharply in 2007 and assets were revalued using the new lower prices, it triggered a need for institutions to raise capital by selling assets, which pushed prices down further, causing more revaluations and more selling in a vicious circle. Mark-to-market volatility added to this unstable dynamic by keeping new buyers away. Fair value accounting rules are pro-cyclical and can contribute to the systemic disappearance of liquidity.1 The price of assets if they were to be sold immediately fell substantially below the price of the same assets if they were to be held to maturity or for some time period beyond the crisis. This liquidity premium was no longer a fraction of a percentage point, but tens of percentage points. A number of observers have concluded that mark-to-market accounting should be suspended during a crisis. On its own, I believe this initiative would further weaken incentives for responsible lending in the good times. Nor would it solve the problem in bad times. The pro-cyclical use of market prices is not the preserve of accounting standards –it also lies at the heart of modern financial regulation. Financial crashes are not random. They always follow booms. Offering forbearance from mark-to-market accounting or other rules during a crisis, yet using these rules at other times, such as during the preceding boom, would promote excessive lending and leverage in the good times. This asymmetry would contribute to more frequent and severe crashes. Second, crises are a time where a rumour becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy, as panic and fear spread. It is, arguably, not the time to generate a rise in uncertainty by changing accounting standards. There is room for a revision to the application of mark-to-market rules, but not a revision based on relying on the messenger’s every last word in good times and shooting him in the bad times. But the mechanisms that lead market participants to greet price declines with sell orders have not all to do with value accounting. Current prices, including spot and forward prices, play an important role in the market risk and credit risk management systems approved by financial regulators. Risk limits and sell orders are triggered in response to a rise in price volatility and/or a fall in price. The very philosophy of current banking regulation –risk sensitivity– is about incorporating market prices into the assessment and response to risk. It should be no surprise that if prices, both prices for current and future delivery, are pro-cyclical, then placing an increasing emphasis on price in the management and regulation of risk, will lead us to systemic collapse. This article examines the role of valuation and systemic liquidity and argues that an approach to how we apply mark-to-market accounting and market prices or risk that is driven more by an economic view can improve the systemic resilience of the fi nancial system.

Laser cooling of new atomic and molecular species with ultrafast pulses

We propose a new laser cooling method for atomic species whose level structure makes traditional laser cooling difficult. For instance, laser cooling of hydrogen requires single-frequency vacuum-ultraviolet light, while multielectron atoms need single-frequency light at many widely separated frequencies. These restrictions can be eased by laser cooling on two-photon transitions with ultrafast pulse trains. Laser cooling of hydrogen, antihydrogen, and many other species appears feasible, and extension of the technique to molecules may be possible.Comment: revision of quant-ph/0306099, submitted to PR

Detection of low energy single ion impacts in micron scale transistors at room temperature

We report the detection of single ion impacts through monitoring of changes in the source-drain currents of field effect transistors (FET) at room temperature. Implant apertures are formed in the interlayer dielectrics and gate electrodes of planar, micro-scale FETs by electron beam assisted etching. FET currents increase due to the generation of positively charged defects in gate oxides when ions (121Sb12+, 14+, Xe6+; 50 to 70 keV) impinge into channel regions. Implant damage is repaired by rapid thermal annealing, enabling iterative cycles of device doping and electrical characterization for development of single atom devices and studies of dopant fluctuation effects

Processing Issues in Top-Down Approaches to Quantum Computer Development in Silicon

We describe critical processing issues in our development of single atom devices for solid-state quantum information processing. Integration of single 31P atoms with control gates and single electron transistor (SET) readout structures is addressed in a silicon-based approach. Results on electrical activation of low energy (15 keV) P implants in silicon show a strong dose effect on the electrical activation fractions. We identify dopant segregation to the SiO2/Si interface during rapid thermal annealing as a dopant loss channel and discuss measures of minimizing it. Silicon nanowire SET pairs with nanowire width of 10 to 20 nm are formed by electron beam lithography in SOI. We present first results from Coulomb blockade experiments and discuss issues of control gate integration for sub-40nm gate pitch levels

Absolute calibration of GafChromic film for very high flux laser driven ion beams.

We report on the calibration of GafChromic HD-v2 radiochromic film in the extremely high dose regime up to 100 kGy together with very high dose rates up to 7 × 1011 Gy/s. The absolute calibration was done with nanosecond ion bunches at the Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment II particle accelerator at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and covers a broad dose dynamic range over three orders of magnitude. We then applied the resulting calibration curve to calibrate a laser driven ion experiment performed on the BELLA petawatt laser facility at LBNL. Here, we reconstructed the spatial and energy resolved distributions of the laser-accelerated proton beams. The resulting proton distribution is in fair agreement with the spectrum that was measured with a Thomson spectrometer in combination with a microchannel plate detector

Careif Position Statement on Migration and Mental Health

People have moved from one place to another within the same country or across national borders for millennia. The reasons for such movements have varied, as does the duration for which people migrate. With globalisation and global connections across countries, migration has increased. The process of migration and its impact on the mental health of individuals has been and will remain heterogeneous. The responses of migrants to the process vary, depending upon a number of factors. Individuals may migrate individually, with their families or in groups. They may move to avoid political or religious persecution and seek political asylum in another country (forced migration) or migrate for personal, employment, economic or educational reasons (voluntary migration). Although these two categorisations are often a little more complex than this. Not all migrants will feel negatively affected by migration. People may migrate on a seasonal, recurrent, permanent or temporary basis. It may be within or across generations. Many migrants will never access mental health services, whilst others may use these in varying ways and with diverse requirements or presentations. The experiences and requirements of voluntary and involuntary migrants may differ. Mental health Services may need to ensure that they are accessible and appropriate to all members of society including those who have migrated. This paper makes some suggestions in relation to this

Examination of the recommended safe and unsafe zone for placement of surgical instruments in thoracentesis and video-assisted thoracic surgery: a cadaveric study

Background: Thoracentesis and video-assisted thoracic surgery procedures can result in haemorrhage as a consequence of severing the collateral branches of the posterior intercostal artery. These branches have been shown to be most common in the 5th intercostal space (ICS). Tortuosity has been shown to be especially prevalent nearer to midline. A group of investigators have recommended the 4th and 7th ICS, 120 mm lateral to midline as a safe zone, least likely to hit branches when cutting into the ICS. The present study aimed to investigate that safe zone as a better entry points for procedures. In addition, investigation of the least safe 5th ICS was also performed. Materials and methods: A total of 56 embalmed human cadavers were selected for the study. With the cadavers laid prone, 2 cm incisions were made at the 4th, 5th and 7th ICS, 120 mm lateral to midline bilaterally. The cadavers were then placed supine and the incisions were dissected. Careful attention was paid to identify if any collateral branches were cut. Results: After thorough dissection of the 4th, 5th and 7th ICS incision sites, it was shown that damage to the 5th intercostal was seen most frequently. Conclusions: Based on this cadaveric study, a 2 cm incision at the 4th, 5th and 7th ICS 120 mm lateral from midline resulted in the most damage at the level of the 5th ICS. The 4th ICS had the least damage seen. Therefore, it is recommended that insertion should be placed at the level of the 4th ICS bilaterally

Global mental health and climate change: A geo-psychiatry perspectiv

Climate changes affect planet ecosystems, living beings, humans, including their lives, rights, economy, housing, migration, and both physical and mental health. Geo-psychiatry is a new discipline within the field of psychiatry studying the interface between various geo-political factors including geographical, political, economic, commercial and cultural determinants which affect society and psychiatry: it provides a holistic overview on global issues such as climate changes, poverty, public health and accessibility to health care. It identifies geopolitical factors and their effects at the international and national levels, as well as considers the politics of climate changes and poverty within this context. This paper then introduces the Compassion, Assertive Action, Pragmatism, and Evidence Vulnerability Index (CAPE-VI) as a global foreign policy index: CAPE-VI calculates how foreign aid should be prioritised for countries that are at risk or already considered to be fragile. These countries are characterised by various forms of conflict, disadvantaged by extremes of climate change, poverty, human rights abuses, and suffering from internal warfare or terrorism

Mapping of ion beam induced current changes in FinFETs

We report on progress in ion placement into silicon devices with scanning probe alignment. The device is imaged with a scanning force microscope (SFM) and an aligned argon beam (20 keV, 36 keV) is scanned over the transistor surface. Holes in the lever of the SFM tip collimate the argon beam to sizes of 1.6 um and 100 nm in diameter. Ion impacts upset the channel current due to formation of positive charges in the oxide areas. The induced changes in the source-drain current are recorded in dependence of the ion beam position in respect to the FinFET. Maps of local areas responding to the ion beam are obtained.Comment: IBMM 2008 conference proceedin