Assessing performance factors in the UK banking sector: A multicriteria methodology

Further consolidation takes place not only among UK banks but also across borders, since some banks see size as a key factor in remaining competitive in international markets. Therefore, it is interesting to investigate the effectiveness and performance of UK banks. Based on their assets, banks are distinguished into small and large ones and a classification of UK banks in a multivariate environment for the period 1998–2002 takes place. The PAIRCLAS multicriteria methodology is employed to investigate the performance of UK small and large banks over multiple criteria, such as asset quality, capital adequacy, liquidity and efficiency/profitability. A comparison with discriminant analysis (DA) and logistic regression (LR) facilitates the investigation of the relative performance of PAIRCLAS against them. The results of the study determine the key factors that specify the classification of a bank as small or large and provide us with the responsible banking decision makers for future readjustments.     

Structural and electrical characterization of PZT on gold for micromachined piezoelectric membranes

Piezoelectric membranes have been fabricated that incorporate a gold bottom electrode with an adhesion layer of titanium–tungsten (10:90 wt. %). For solution-deposited acetic acid based lead zirconate titanate (HoAc-PZT) with a Zr:Ti ratio of 40:60, the film’s average piezoelectric coefficient, e₃₁, is -5.31 C/m², with a dielectric constant of 814 at 200 Hz, which is similar to values for platinum bottom electrodes. The PZT structure remains columnar on both types of bottom electrodes. Initial fabrication attempts resulted in cracking that initiated in the PZT layer of the structure. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was utilized to establish how processing affects diffusion throughout the composite membrane structure. Crack-free membranes were fabricated and tested. This paper discusses the performance properties and piezoelectric fatigue results for these membranes. PACS 77.84.-s; 77.84.Lf     

LIGHTWAVE PROPAGATION IN SUBWAVELENGTH HOLES

In this paper we evaluate methods for calculating dispersion relations for waves with wavelengths of the order of hundreds of nanometres propagating in square waveguides with imperfectly conducting walls. The methods considered here are based on those used previously for rectangular dielectric waveguides.     

Evidence for complex magnetic order in U2Zn17: A μ+ SR studySR study

μ⁺ SR-measurements in transversally applied magnetic fields of 2000 G and 4000 G on heavy-electron single crystal U₂Zn₁₇ are presented. They reveal that at least two types of interstitial sites are occupied by the positive muons. One of these sites (1/3, 2/3, 5/6) could be identified via induced local dipolar fields which aboveT _N=9.7 K can exactly be derived from the magnetic susceptibility. The corresponding component of the μ⁺-signal exhibits a steplike decrease by about 40% atT _N which is caused by the onset of a very broad distribution of static internal magnetic fields (ΔB≈1000 G) with zero average. Such a field distribution is in distinct contrast to dipolar-field calculations performed for the simple antiferromagnetic structure deduced from neutron diffraction. The remaining 60% of the muons contributing to this component belowT _N are subject to a narrow static field distribution (ΔB≈1 G). The induced dipolar fields at the site (1/3, 2/3, 5/6) are temperature-independent belowT _N. A weak dipolar coupling to the U-moments renders similar observations for muons occupying the second type of interstitial impossible.     

Baire category and boundary value problems for ordinary and partial differential inclusions under Carathéodory assumptions

By using the Baire category method we prove an existence result for boundary value problem of Dirichlet type, for non-convex ordinary differential inclusions under Caratheodory assumptions. By counterexamples we show that an analogous existence result is non-valid for non-convex partial differential inclusions.     

Cantor exchange systems and renormalization

We prove a one-to-one correspondence between (i) C¹⁺ conjugacy classes of C^1+H Cantor exchange systems that are C^1+H fixed points of renormalization and (ii) C¹⁺ conjugacy classes of C^1+H diffeomorphisms f with a codimension 1 hyperbolic attractor Λ that admit an invariant measure absolutely continuous with respect to the Hausdorff measure on Λ. However, we prove that there is no C^1+α Cantor exchange system, with bounded geometry, that is a C^1+α fixed point of renormalization with regularity α greater than the Hausdorff dimension of its invariant Cantor set.