Progress as educational myth

The article is organized in seven chapters. The first one treats the historical perspective. Progress is conceived as the central category of the historical development in Western Civilisation. In the second chapter the process of civilisation and its effects on the formation of modern man is examined. The third chapter focuses on progress as on educational goal and its relation with the "invention" of childhood and youth. The fourth chapter treats concepts and procedures of international educational aid. The fifth chapter explores the mythical structure of progress. In the sixth chapter doubts concerning the adequateness of progress as an exclusive goal for educational and societal development are expressed and perspectives for an analysis of educational myths are elaborated. Finally, future aspects of progress as an educational and societal concept are developed. (DIPF/Orig.)L\u27article est organisé en sept chapitres. Le premier traite la perspective historique. Le progrès est conçu comme la catégorie centrale du développement historique dans les civilisations de l\u27ouest. Dans le second chapitre, le procès de la civilisation et ses effets sur la formation de l\u27homme moderne est examiné. Le troisième chapitre met en évidence le progres comme but de l\u27éducation et sa relation avec "l\u27invention" de l\u27enfance et de l\u27adolescence. Le quatrième traite des concepts et procédures du secours pédagogique international. Le cinquième chapitre explore la structure mythique du progrès. Dans le sixième le progrès comme but exclusif de l\u27évolution pédagogique et sociale est mis en doute. Puis l\u27analyse des mythes pédagogiques est faite. A la fin, les aspects futurs du progrès en tant que concept pédagogique et social sont développés. (DIPF/Orig.

Symmetries and transport in site-dependently driven quantum lattices

We explore the quantum dynamics of particles in a spatiotemporally driven lattice. A powerful numerical scheme is developed, which provides us with the Floquet modes and thus enables a stroboscopic propagation of arbitrary initial states. A detailed symmetry analysis represents the cornerstone for an intricate manipulation of the Floquet spectrum. Specifically, we show how exact crossings can be converted into avoided ones, while the width of these resulting avoided crossings can be engineered by adjusting parameters of the local driving. Asymptotic currents are shown to be controllable over a certain parameter range

Analysis of interface conversion processes of ballistic and diffusive motion in driven superlattices

We explore the non-equilibrium dynamics of non-interacting classical particles in a one-dimensional driven superlattice which is composed of domains exposed to different time-dependent forces. It is shown how the combination of directed transport and conversion processes from diffusive to ballistic motion causes strong correlations between velocity and phase for particles passing through a superlattice. A detailed understanding of the underlying mechanism allows us to tune the resulting velocity distributions at distinguished points in the superlattice by means of local variations of the applied driving force. As an intriguing application we present a scheme how initially diffusive particles can be transformed into a monoenergetic pulsed particle beam whose parameters such as its energy can be varied

Contingent Capital with Sequential Triggers

Contingent capital has great potential to help make systemically important financial institutions (SIFIs) safer, minimize systemic risk, and help avoid another financial crisis. United States policymakers may not have fully utilized the potential of contingent capital. A draft by the European Union (EU) Commission already suggests the mandatory issuance of contingent capital securities in the resolution phase of systemically important banks in Europe. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act mandates a study on the feasibility of contingent capital. This Article proposes the use of contingent capital with a sequential trigger as an early preventative tool and as a reorganization tool before liquidation, independent of protection under bankruptcy proceedings. The first preventative trigger, in a going concern conversion, would convert a fixed amount of debt to equity at a stage when the institution is still sound on a micro prudential basis but shows early signs of substantial weakening. The first trigger in this proposal would help prevent an externality on taxpayers. The second reorganization trigger would increase voting rights for holders of contingent capital after conversion to equity at the reorganization stage. Sequential triggers could incentivize corrective action by SIFI management. The second trigger, gone concern conversion, introduces a quasi-preparation stage for bankruptcy, independent of management decisions or corrective action by regulators. The second trigger would only be utilized if evidence proves that the first conversion did not internalize the costs of bank failure through the equity conversion induced capital increase. The second trigger could be used either to prevent a SIFI resolution or to assist in a SIFI?s resolution or bankruptcy. The proposal would work seamlessly with the regulatory framework proposed by the EU Commission and could provide U.S. policymakers with a new perspective on the multiple uses of contingent capital in the context of bank restructuring

Resolving the spin polarization and magnetic domain wall width of (Nd,Dy)2_{2}Fe14_{14}B with spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy

The electronic structure and the domain wall width of industrial (Nd,Dy)$_{2}$Fe$_{14}$B hard magnets were investigated using low-temperature, spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) in ultra-high vacuum. In a first step, atomically clean and flat surfaces were prepared. The flat terraces were separated by monatomic steps. Surface termination was identified as the Fe c layer from atomically resolved STM imaging. The electronic density of states and its spin polarization agree well with ab initio predictions of the Fe c layer. High-resolution spin-polarized STM images allowed to finally resolve the domain wall width w of only 3.2 ± 0.4 nm

Contingent Capital in European Union Bank Restructuring

The uncoordinated reorganization and resolution of Systemically Important Financial Institutions in different countries pose many challenges. Contingent capital provides a viable alternative for the efficient restructuring and resolution of failing financial institutions. Contingent Capital provides a mechanism for internalizing banks’ failure costs and helps return distressed financial institutions to solvency. This article offers a comparative perspective on bank resolution and restructuring in the European Union, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Germany and shows that Contingent Capital could play a substantial role in bank restructuring