The role of currency swaps in the domestic banking system and the functioning the swap market during the crisis

The basic purpose of this study is to didactically demonstrate the factors shaping the currency swap stock of domestic banks prior to the crisis and to provide a descriptive analysis of how the structure and the functioning of the market changed during the crisis. The main conclusions of the study are as follows. In addition to the wide ranging applicability of the transaction, the rise in the currency swap stock of domestic credit institutions is also attributable to macroeconomic factors. The bulk of the exchange rate risk resulting from the high external borrowing requirement and rising external debt was carried by the domestic private sector, while the foreign sector shared a decreasing portion of the risk. The rapid increase in the swap stock was also due to the fact that the synthetic production of foreign currency funds with currency swaps was often more successful than the direct inflow of foreign currency funds. On the basis of the decomposition of the domestic banking system’s on-balance sheet foreign currency position, we can state that it increased mainly as a result of items that also increased the balance sheet total. Following the outbreak of the global financial crisis in the autumn of 2008, the conditions for ensuring foreign currency liquidity deteriorated significantly, which had a substantial effect on implied forint yields, and the turnover and structure of the swap market. While the total average turnover of the domestic FX swap market did not drop radically when the crisis was spreading, market liquidity did decline significantly for a few days and access to foreign currency liquidity became limited. The active role assumed by parent banks and shortening maturities contributed to moderating the decline in turnover. Anecdotal information relating to the tightening of counterparty limits vis-a-vis domestic banks is supported by the decline in the number of non-resident counterparties. The crisis also contributed to changes in the structure of the swap stock. The average remaining maturity of the gross stock began to decline directly after the Lehman bankruptcy, at the time of global dollar liquidity problems, followed by a rise starting from early 2009, principally owing to transactions concluded with parent banks. Domestic subsidiary banks managed to increase maturity primarily through cross-currency swap transactions concluded with intra-group counterparties, but non-group counterparties also concluded transactions with longer maturity with domestic banks.FX swap, currency swap, foreign currency based loan, crisis, counterparty limit, margin call, liquidity requirement

An experimental and theoretical study on the effect of sampling time delay on the stability of a PI position controller of a hydraulic cylinder

The stability properties of the feedback control of a hydraulic cylinder is analysed with an emphasis on the effect of the control delay due to the discrete sampling. A simple theoretical model is developed for low-load cases, i.e. if the forces acting of the piston are small compared to the pressure forces inside the cylinder. It is shown that in the case of a traditional PI controller, there is an upper and lower limit on the proportional gain corresponding to significantly different mechanisms of stability loss. It is shown that the frequency of the appearing oscillations at low proportional gains is one range smaller than that the sampling frequency. The theoretical results are confirmed by measurements

Efficiency of different marker systems for genotype fingerprinting and for genetic diversity studies in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)

AbstractGenetic relationships between 38 barley genotypes were determined with the aid of 36 RAPD, 54 STS and 26 SSR markers. The dendrogram groups showed high coincidence with growth habit and ear type. There were significant correlations between the Jaccard coefficients obtained using the matrices of each single marker type and their combined matrix. When the varieties were grouped using markers with above-average Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) values, the same groups were obtained as when using all markers, outlining their usefulness for estimating diversity between the varieties. Three RAPD or four SSR primers were sufficient to distinguish all the barley varieties from each other. The applicability of the various types of primers differed. The STS markers could best be used for estimating relationships between the varieties and the SSR markers for distinguishing genotypes from each other, while RAPD markers could be employed both for estimating the relationships between varieties and for variety identification

Numerical Examination of a Forest Area Fire

An important task of sustainability is the protection of Earth's forests and the prevention of forest fires. In this paper, the numerical examination of a typical Hungarian ash forest fire is presented. The connection between sustainability and forest fire simulations is also discussed. For the simulation, a Fire Dynamics Simulator was selected, and a particle-based model was used. The simulation setup, which includes a random location of trees following Poisson distribution, is also explained. Then, the simulation of a 10x10 m area of ash forest is presented. It was found that in case of arson, the fire spreads rapidly among the trees, and there will be a high-intensity fire in which the forest area burns down in 4 min. The mass loss rate, the temperature, and the heat release rate also increased fast (above 50 kg/s, above 2,000 °C and above 800,000 kW). The aerosol concentration reached a high pollutant concentration (1.3x10-6), and the carbon dioxide concentration also increased significantly (above 14,000 ppm). These changes have a direct effect on climate change. Therefore, it is important to examine them in a simulation environment. The simulation was compared to a pine tree forest simulation, and it could be observed that in the case of the pine tree, the values are similar, but phenomena occur faster. With the computer simulation, it is easier to determine the areas affected by the fire, which also helps fire prevention and firefighting. The aim of the research is to contribute to the prevention and more efficient extinguishment of wildfires and the sustainability of the Earth

Phenotypical and physiological study of near-isogenic durum wheat lines under contrasting water regimes

Irrigation treatments involving two water regimes were carried out in a controlled environment on eight nearisogenic durum wheat lines that differed in a major yield-related QTL region (QYld. idw-3B) in order to assess the relationship between morpho-physiological traits, antioxidant enzyme activities, and polyamine contents in the flag leaves, and drought tolerance. Drought stress, simulated under a rain-out shelter, negatively affected the performance of the isogenic lines, leading to significant reductions in seed yield, tiller number, chlorophyll content, plant height, leaf area, and ascorbate peroxidase activity, while the polyamine content and guaiacol peroxidase activity increased. The ascorbate peroxidase activity was negatively correlated with seed weight per main (r = -0.446) and side spike (r = -0.465) and the 1000-grain weight of the main and side spike (r = -0.396 and r = -0.49, respectively) and the guaiacol peroxidase activity with the number of seeds per main (r = -0.457) and side spike (r = -0.378) and the seed weight per side spike (r = -0.38). PUT, SPD, and SPN contents showed a significant positive relationship with the number of seeds per main spike (0.534***, 0.496***, and 0.481**, respectively) and the seed weight per main spike (0.383*, 0.352*, and 0.399**, respectively). ANOVA showed that the QYld. idw-3B++ lines had significantly better yield performance under non-watered conditions than the QYld. idw-3B--lines, but their response to drought stress was not uniform regarding other yield-related traits. (C) 2016 SAAB. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

The metabolic stress response: Adaptation to acute-, repeated- and chronic challenges in mice

There is a strong relationship between stress and metabolism. Because acute traumatic- and chronic stress events are often accompanied with metabolic pathophysiology, it is important to understand the details of the metabolic stress response. In this study we directly compared metabolic effects of acute stress with chronic repeated- and chronic unpredictable stress in mouse models. All types of adversities increased energy expenditure, chronic stress exposure decreased body weight gain, locomotor activity and differentially affected fuel utilization. During chronic exposure to variable stressors, carbohydrates were the predominant fuels, whereas fatty acids were catabolized in acutely and repeatedly restrained animals. Chronic exposure to variable stressors in unpredictable manner provoked anxiety. Our data highlight differences in metabolic responses to acute- repeated- and chronic stressors, which might affect coping behavior and underlie stress-induced metabolic and psychopathologies. © 202

Identification of superior spring durum wheat genotypes under irrigated and rain-fed conditions

An important objective of wheat improvement programmes is to breed varieties for high yield in optimum conditions and for minimum yield reduction under stress-prone conditions such as heat and drought. Analyses of yield and its components in multiple years allow a comprehensive and comparative understanding of genetic yield potential and stress-tolerance mechanisms in the study germplasm. The present study was carried out to evaluate performance of elite varieties and landraces of spring durum wheat under different water regimes, determine the repeatability of the examined traits, and identify superior genotypes for their potential use in breeding for drought tolerance. A total of 97 accessions of spring durum wheat (T. durum Desf.) were evaluated under rain-fed and well-watered conditions in the nursery of the Centre for Agricultural Research at Martonvasar, Hungary (2011-2013). The experiments were laid out in an unbalanced, incomplete alpha lattice block design. The trait with the lowest broad-sense repeatability was seed length (0.075), while high h(2) values were observed for heading date (0.89), thousand-grain weight (0.85) and the protein content (0.85). Grain yield showed moderate level of repeatability (0.53) across the three years. The principal component analysis revealed that grain yield (t/ha) is positively associated with the fertile tiller number, chlorophyll content values at early waxy ripeness stages and plant height. Based on biplot analysis, 'DP-133 ', 'DP-017 ' and 'DP-061 ' proved to be the best durum cultivars in terms of yield whereas genotypes 'DP-011 ', 'DP-185 ', 'DP-126 ' and 'DP-136 ' preceded them with their good yield stability