Cyclical Effects of Bank Capital Buffers with Imperfect Credit Markets: international evidence

This paper analyzes the cyclical effects of bank capital buffers using an international sample of 2,361 banks from 92 countries over the 1990-2007 period. We find that capital buffers reduce the bank credit supply but – through what could be “monitoring or signaling effects” – have also an expansionary effect on economic activity by reducing lending and deposit rate spreads. This influence on lending and deposit rate spreads is more pronunced in developing countries and during downturns. The results suggest that capital buffers have a counter-cyclical effect in these countries. Our data do not suggest differences in the cyclical effects of capital buffers between Basel I and Basel II.

Neurophysiology

Contains reports on three research projects.National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 ROl NB-04985-04)U. S. Air Force (Aerospace Medical Division) under Contract AF33(615)-3885Bioscience Division of National Aeronautics and Space Administration through Contract NSR 22-009-13

First records of 13 echinoderm species on the southwest coast of Portugal

En el ámbito de un análisis de caracterización del área marina adyacente al Parque Natural do Sudoeste Alentejano y Costa Vicentina (PNSACV) se ha estudiado material biológico diverso proveniente de campañas del programa SEPLAT (SEdimentos de la PLATaforma), del que es responsable el Instituto Hidrográfico de la Marina Portuguesa. Las muestras se obtuvieron en el área de plataforma continental adyacente al PNSACV, entre Sines y el cabo de San Vicente, a profundidades comprendidas entre los 15 y los 387 metros. Los equinodermos constituyeron, en esas campañas, un grupo bien representativo de la fauna marina presente en esta área de la plataforma continental. Se recogieron 60 especies de equinodermos distribuidos en las clases siguientes: 2 Crinoidea, 2 Asteroidea, 32 Ophiuroidea, 12 Echinoidea y 12 Holothurioidea. Trece de las 60 especies tienen aquí su primera cita para la costa portuguesa.As part of a characterisation study of the marine area contiguous to the Sudoeste Alentejano e Costa Vicentina Natural Park (PNSACV), biological material proceeding from cruises of the SEPLAT (PLATform SEdiments) programme (Portuguese Navy's Hydrographic Institute) has been studied. The sampling took place on the continental shelf contiguous to the PNSACV, between Sines and Cape St Vicente, at water depths ranging from 15-387 m. During these cruises, equinoderms were found to be a well-represented faunal group. Sixty echinoderm species were identified, distributed as follows, by classes: 2 crinoids, 2 asteroids, 32 ophiuroids, 12 equinoids and 12 holothuroids. Thirteen of the 60 species are first records on the Portuguese coast.Instituto Español de Oceanografí

Tendências genéticas para peso aos 240 e 420 dias de idade de bovinos da raça Nelore.

Nesse sentido, o presente trabalho objetivou avaliar as tendências genéticas dos efeitos diretos para o peso aos 240 (P240) e 420 (P420) dias de idade de animais da raça Nelore criados na região de Goiás

A resource for sustainable management:<i>De novo</i> assembly and annotation of the liver transcriptome of the Atlantic chub mackerel, <i>Scomber colias</i>

Mackerels represent a valuable fishery worldwide. Their ample geographic distribution and capture levels make them an insightful model to address stock management strategies in the context of global changes. Yet, and despite recent impressive genome and transcriptome sequencing efforts from teleost species, available resources from the Scombridae family are comparatively scarce. Here, we generated the first high-quality de novo assembly of the liver transcriptome of the Atlantic chub mackerel (Scomber colias). Through the use of RNA-Seq Illumina technology, 111,124,228 clean reads were obtained for the liver transcriptome. De novo assembly resulted in 93,731 transcripts with an N50 of 1462 bp. This dataset provides an important insight into the context of fisheries management. Keywords: RNA-Seq, Scombridae, Stock management, Atlantic chub mackerel, Live

Human-driven Machine-automation of Engineering Research

This paper presents a framework for efficiently producing engineering research in a global collaborative effort in a rigorous scientific manner. The proposed framework reduces subjective analysis, automates several mundane research tasks and provides a suitable formal structure for efficient information sharing and collaboration. The implementation of the framework involves multiple research groups setting up different web-servers that can perform the steps of the scientific method and automatically determine the quality and value of new research by directly communicating between servers via public and private Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) using a set of object-oriented protocols. The automation of many mundane research tasks (e.g. data manipulation), would allow researchers to focus more on the novel aspects of their research efforts. The increased clarity around the quality and value of research would allow the research efforts of individuals and available research funding to be better disbursed. The paper discusses the major aspects of the scientific method, object-orientated programming, the application of the proposed research framework for experimental/analytical/numerical engineering research, some of the potential benefits and drawbacks, as well as the current state of implementation