Beyond financial repression and regulatory capture. The recomposition of European financial ecosystems after the crisis

The financial crisis has radically and rapidly changed the political economy of the European financial system. The evolution of relations between European states and their respective financial systems has given rise to two competing narratives. On the one hand, government agencies are often described as being at the mercy of the financial sector, regularly highjacking political, regulatory and supervisory processes. This trend is often referred to as "regulatory capture" and would explain the "soft touch" regulation and bank bailout. On the other hand, governments are portrayed as subverting markets and abusing the financial system for their benefit, mainly to obtain better financing conditions and allocate credit to the economy on preferential terms, a trend called "financial repression" that is considered corrosive to the proper functioning of free markets and a source of capital misallocation. This paper takes a critical look at this debate in the European context. First, he argues that the relationship between governments and financial systems in Europe cannot be reduced to the polar notions of "capture" and "repression", but that the channels of pressure and influence between governments and their financial systems have often been two-way. Secondly, it puts these issues in a historical perspective and shows that the current reconfiguration of national financial systems in Europe is not simply a return to the "interventionist" policies of the past, although it is influenced by the path-dependency of national institutions and characterised by a broader political and economic role for public bodies (public credit institutions, financial supervision agencies, central bank, European relief fund, etc.)

Amorphization of ZnAl2O4 spinel under heavy ion irradiation

ZnAl2O4 spinels have been irradiated with several ions (Ne, S, Kr and Xe) at the IRRSUD beam-line of the GANIL facility, in order to determine irradiation conditions (stopping power, fluence) for amorphisation. We observed by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) that with Xe ions at 92 MeV, individual ion tracks are still crystalline, whereas an amorphisation starts below a fluence of 5.1012 cm-2 up to a total amorphisation between 1x1013 and 1x1014 cm-2. The coexistence of amorphous and crystalline domains in the same pristine grain is clearly visible in the TEM images. All the crystalline domains remain close to the same orientation as the original grain. According to TEM and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) results, the stopping power threshold for amorphisation is between 9 and 12 keV.nm-1

NGC 7331: the Galaxy with the Multicomponent Central Region

We present the results of the spectral investigation of the regular Sb galaxy NGC 7331 with the Multi-Pupil Field Spectrograph of the 6m telescope. The absorption-line indices H-beta, Mgb, and are mapped to analyse the properties of the stellar populations in the circumnuclear region of the galaxy. The central part of the disk inside ~3" (200 pc) -- or a separate circumnuclear stellar-gaseous disk as it is distinguished by decoupled fast rotation of the ionized gas -- is very metal-rich, rather young, ~ 2 billion years old, and its solar magnesium-to-iron ratio evidences for a very long duration of the last episode of star formation there. However the gas excitation mechanism now in this disk is shock-like. The star-like nucleus had probably experienced a secondary star formation burst too: its age is 5 billion years, much younger than the age of the circumnuclear bulge. But [Mg/Fe]=+0.3 and only solar global metallicity imply that the nuclear star formation burst has been much shorter than that in the circumnuclear disk. The surrounding bulge is rather old, 9--14 billion years old, and moderately metal-poor. The rotation of the stars and gas within the circumnuclear disk is axisymmetric though its rotation plane may be slightly inclined to the global plane of the galaxy. Outside the circumnuclear disk the gas may experience non-circular motions, and we argue that the low-contrast extended bulge of NGC 7331 is triaxial.Comment: LATEX, 27 pages, + 15 Postscript figures. Accepted to Astronomical Journal, July issu

Molecular Gas Dynamics in NGC 6946: a Bar-driven Nuclear Starburst "Caught in the Act"

We present high angular resolution ~1" and 0.6" mm-interferometric observations of the 12CO(1-0) and 12CO(2-1) line emission in the central 300pc of the late-type spiral galaxy NGC6946. The data, obtained with the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer (PdBI), allow the first detection of a molecular gas spiral in the inner ~10" (270pc) with a large concentration of molecular gas (M(H_2) ~1.6x10^7M_sun) within the inner 60pc. This nuclear clump shows evidence for a ring-like geometry with a radius of ~10pc as inferred from the p-v diagrams. Both the distribution of the molecular gas as well as its kinematics can be well explained by the influence of an inner stellar bar of about 400pc length. A qualitative model of the expected gas flow shows that streaming motions along the leading sides of this bar are a plausible explanation for the high nuclear gas density. Thus, NGC6946 is a prime example of molecular gas kinematics being driven by a small-scale, secondary stellar bar.Comment: accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal; 47 pages, 17 figures, 1 tabl

Discovery of a maximum damage structure for Xe-irradiated borosilicate glass ceramics containing powellite

In order to increase the waste loading efficiency in nuclear waste glasses, alternate glass ceramic (GC) materials are sought that trap problematic molybdenum in a water-durable CaMoO4 phase within a borosilicate glass matrix. In order to test the radiation resistance of these candidate wasteforms, accelerated external radiation can be employed to replicate long-term damage. In this study, several glasses and GCs were synthesized with up to 10 mol% MoO3 and subjected to 92 MeV Xe ions with fluences ranging between 5 × 10^12 to 1.8 × 10^14 ions/cm2. The main mechanisms of modification following irradiation involve: (i) thermal and defect-assisted diffusion, (ii) relaxation from the ion's added energy, (iii) localized damage recovery from overlapping ion tracks, and (iv) the accumulation of point defects or the formation of voids that created significant strain and led to longer-range modifications. Most significantly, a saturation in alteration could be detected for fluences greater than 4 × 10^13 ions/cm2, which represents an average structure that is representative of the maximum damage state from these competing mechanisms. The results from this study can therefore be used for long-term structural projections in the development of more complex GCs for nuclear waste applications.EPSRC (Grant No. EP/K007882/1

Cell type-specific expression and localization of cytochrome P450 isoforms in tridimensional aggregating rat brain cell cultures.

Within the Predict-IV FP7 project a strategy for measurement of in vitro biokinetics was developed, requiring the characterization of the cellular model used, especially regarding biotransformation, which frequently depends on cytochrome P450 (CYP) activity. The extrahepatic in situ CYP-mediated metabolism is especially relevant in target organ toxicity. In this study, the constitutive mRNA levels and protein localization of different CYP isoforms were investigated in 3D aggregating brain cell cultures. CYP1A1, CYP2B1/B2, CYP2D2/4, CYP2E1 and CYP3A were expressed; CYP1A1 and 2B1 represented almost 80% of the total mRNA content. Double-immunolabeling revealed their presence in astrocytes, in neurons, and to a minor extent in oligodendrocytes, confirming the cell-specific localization of CYPs in the brain. These results together with the recently reported formation of an amiodarone metabolite following repeated exposure suggest that this cell culture system possesses some metabolic potential, most likely contributing to its high performance in neurotoxicological studies and support the use of this model in studying brain neurotoxicity involving mechanisms of toxication/detoxication

Flux pinning in (1111) iron-pnictide superconducting crystals

Local magnetic measurements are used to quantitatively characterize heterogeneity and flux line pinning in PrFeAsO_1-y and NdFeAs(O,F) superconducting single crystals. In spite of spatial fluctuations of the critical current density on the macroscopic scale, it is shown that the major contribution comes from collective pinning of vortex lines by microscopic defects by the mean-free path fluctuation mechanism. The defect density extracted from experiment corresponds to the dopant atom density, which means that dopant atoms play an important role both in vortex pinning and in quasiparticle scattering. In the studied underdoped PrFeAsO_1-y and NdFeAs(O,F) crystals, there is a background of strong pinning, which we attribute to spatial variations of the dopant atom density on the scale of a few dozen to one hundred nm. These variations do not go beyond 5% - we therefore do not find any evidence for coexistence of the superconducting and the antiferromagnetic phase. The critical current density in sub-T fields is characterized by the presence of a peak effect, the location of which in the (B,T)-plane is consistent with an order-disorder transition of the vortex lattice.Comment: 12 pages, submitted to Phys Rev.

Uranium resources, scenarios, nuclear and energy dynamics

ISBN 978-1-49-51-6286-2International audienceA dynamic simulation of coupled supply and demand of energy, resources and nuclear reactors is done with the global model Prospective Outlook for Long Term Energy Supply (POLES) over this century. In this model, both electricity demand and uranium supply are not independent of the cost of all base load electricity suppliers. Uranium consuming Thermal Neutron Reactors and future generation, free from the uranium market once started, breeder reactors are only one part of the market and are in a global competition, not limited to the other nuclear generation. In this paper we present a new model of the impact of uranium scarcity on the development of nuclear reactors. Many scenarios rely on the subjective definition of ultimate uranium resources. We suggest that when uranium will mainly be extracted together with other resources, its cost should not be simply a function of cumulated uranium mined but also of mine yearly outputs. We describe the sensitivities of our model to breeder reactor physical performance indicators. Used fuels can be seen as a liability or as a source of usable material and a scarce resource limiting fast reactor startups in fast development in India or China. We present the impact of synergetic strategies where countries with opposite strategies share used fuels

Consensus on circulatory shock and hemodynamic monitoring. Task force of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine.

OBJECTIVE: Circulatory shock is a life-threatening syndrome resulting in multiorgan failure and a high mortality rate. The aim of this consensus is to provide support to the bedside clinician regarding the diagnosis, management and monitoring of shock. METHODS: The European Society of Intensive Care Medicine invited 12 experts to form a Task Force to update a previous consensus (Antonelli et al.: Intensive Care Med 33:575-590, 2007). The same five questions addressed in the earlier consensus were used as the outline for the literature search and review, with the aim of the Task Force to produce statements based on the available literature and evidence. These questions were: (1) What are the epidemiologic and pathophysiologic features of shock in the intensive care unit ? (2) Should we monitor preload and fluid responsiveness in shock ? (3) How and when should we monitor stroke volume or cardiac output in shock ? (4) What markers of the regional and microcirculation can be monitored, and how can cellular function be assessed in shock ? (5) What is the evidence for using hemodynamic monitoring to direct therapy in shock ? Four types of statements were used: definition, recommendation, best practice and statement of fact. RESULTS: Forty-four statements were made. The main new statements include: (1) statements on individualizing blood pressure targets; (2) statements on the assessment and prediction of fluid responsiveness; (3) statements on the use of echocardiography and hemodynamic monitoring. CONCLUSIONS: This consensus provides 44 statements that can be used at the bedside to diagnose, treat and monitor patients with shock