Books on the topic 'Radio lines:ISM'

The questions of studying the amplitude and phase characteristics of communication channels of radio engineering systems are considered. As part of the research, a homodyne method for converting microwave signals is proposed, which makes it possible to measure amplitude and phase fluctuations with high accuracy and with the utmost simplicity of measuring equipment. The development of the homodyne method of signal transformation for the purposes and tasks of determining the amplitude and phase fluctuations of signals during the propagation of radio waves on open lines of sight is presented. The features of homodyne signal transformation in the presence of various destabilizing factors are considered. The issues of synchronization of reference generators on different parts of the measuring route are considered. The results of theoretical and experimental studies of amplitude and phase fluctuations on land and sea lines of sight are presented. For students and teachers, as well as anyone interested in radio engineering.

For virtually all of our lives, we are surrounded by music. From lullabies to radio to the praises sung in houses of worship, we encounter music at home and in the street, during work and in our leisure time, and not infrequently at birth and death. But what is music, and what does it mean to humans? How do we process it, and how do we create it? Musician Leo Samama discusses these and many other questions while shaping a vibrant picture of music's importance in human lives both past and present. What is remarkable is that music is recognised almost universally as a type of language that we can use to wordlessly communicate. We can hardly shut ourselves off from music, and considering its primal role in our lives, it comes as no surprise that few would ever want to. Able to transverse borders and appeal to the most disparate of individuals, music is both a tool and a gift, and as Samama shows, a unifying thread running throughout the cultural history of mankind.

Black Radio is a window into the most famous radio show you never heard of. The Tom Joyner Morning Show is a quarter-century-old syndicated black morning radio show reaching more than eight million adult, largely working-class listeners. It offers progressive political talk, soul music, humor, advice, philanthropy, and celebrity gossip. But the TJMS is not just an adult “old-school music” radio show: it is an on-air organizer, fusing progressive politics and aesthetics. It focuses on specific political issues affecting and enraging African Americans. Black Radio analyzes the TJMS’s rise in the Clinton era, and its coverage of key events—9/11, Hurricane Katrina, President Obama’s elections and terms, the murders of unarmed black Americans and the rise of Black Lives Matter, and the shocking 2016 Donald Trump electoral triumph. It showcases the varied, contentious, and blackly humorous voices of anchors, guests, and audience members. Finally, it investigates the new synergistic set of cross-medium ties and political connections now affecting print, broadcast, and online politics in anti-racist directions. Despite the dismal present, this new multiracial progressive public sphere has extraordinary potential for shaping future American politics. Black Radio, then, is more than the project of making the invisible visible, bringing to light a major counterpublic phenomenon unjustly ignored for reasons of color, class, generation, and medium. It tunes us in to an alternative understanding of the black public sphere in the digital age. Like the show itself, Black Radio is politically progressive, music-drenched, angry, and blisteringly funny.

Laurie Cohen and Joanne Duberley describe their use of an unconventional data source—a radio programme—to study celebrity careers. This source also includes music, which evokes memories, and elicits emotions not readily captured in conventional interviews. They used the archives of the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs to study the careers of well-known research scientists. The programme’s format has been consistent over its 70-year history; ‘castaways’ from all walks of life are interviewed about their careers and are asked to select eight pieces of music, which reveal many other aspects of their lives. This research focused on the relationships between work and life course, the notion of career as performance, and the role of emotion in the narration of career. Desert Island Discs is part of an extensive archive. As time and funding for research are tight, rapid no-cost access to such data is valuable.

This paper estimates the output cost of fighting inflation—the sacrifice ratio—for the South African economy using quarterly data spanning the period 1998Q1–2019Q3. To compute the sacrifice ratio, the structural vector autoregressive model developed by Cecchetti and Rich (2001) based on Cecchetti (1994) is employed. Our findings show us a small sacrifice ratio, which lies within the range 0.00002–0.231 per cent with an average of 0.031 per cent, indicating a low level of output to be sacrificed while fighting inflation. Hence, the reserve bank is recommended to sustain an inflation rate within the target range and reap the benefits of a predictable and stable price path, as restrictive monetary policy has only a transitory effect on real variables like output.

Some hold life to be meaningless because humanity is so evil. The chapter challenges several arguments that conclude that evil is highly pervasive, such as the argument from history; the argument from the significant failings of great people; the argument from psychological egoism, which claims that everything we do is ultimately based on the egoistic urge to increase the ratio of pleasant to unpleasant feelings we experience; and the argument from human malleability. The chapter suggests that there are many good people in the world. Moreover, even if most people were as evil as some arguments portray them, we could still lead meaningful lives.

Millions of people have listened to John H. Lienhard's radio program "The Engines of Our Ingenuity." In this fascinating book, Lienhard gathers his reflections on the nature of technology, culture, and human inventiveness. The book brims with insightful observations. Lienhard writes that the history of technology is a history of us--we are the machines we create. Thus farming dramatically changed the rhythms of human life and redirected history. War seldom fuels invention--radar, jets, and the digital computer all emerged before World War II began. And the medieval Church was a driving force behind the growth of Western technology--Cistercian monasteries were virtual factories, whose water wheels cut wood, forged iron, and crushed olives. Lienhard illustrates his themes through inventors, mathematicians, and engineers--with stories of the canoe, the DC-3, the Hoover Dam, the diode, and the sewing machine. We gain new insight as to who we are, through the familiar machines and technologies that are central to our lives.

This chapter discusses several more epistemic adjectives. Certain and its near-synonym sure are maximum adjectives that combine with proportional and percentage modifiers. A comparison with non-modal adjectives suggests a ratio-scale classification with at least an upper bound. Several lines of evidence indicate that certainty and likelihood are formally closely related. However, there are puzzles around the interpretation of uncertain that indicate that the relation may not be one of identity. I consider three possible analyses, all of which have certain advantages and drawbacks. I then turn to possible, which is often claimed to be non-gradable. Naturalistic data indicate that possibility is a graded concept (e.g., increase the possibility of), and that possible is gradable (e.g., too/very/n% possible). While an analysis in terms of some kind of scalar coercion is technically feasible, the most natural explanation is that possible is a gradable adjective whose scale is closely related to likely’s scale.

This chapter focuses on the behavioural and psychological symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and the different approaches clinicians can take in their treatment of the condition. The behavioural and psychological symptoms are defined as primary manifestations of cerebral dysfunction, and appear specifically as a result of damage to a system or circuit such as the limbic system or the cortico-subcortical circuits. During the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, the presence of at least one BPSD is common and can vary, depending especially on the severity of the dementia-related syndrome at the time of diagnosis. Management of BPSD should preferentially be based on non-pharmacologic approaches first. Pharmacologic treatments should constitute second line treatment and are to be prescribed only after assessment of the individual risk:benefit ratio.

Building on the previous chapter, this chapter examines gas phase chemical equilibrium, and the equilibrium constant. This chapter takes a rigorous, yet very clear, ‘first principles’ approach, expressing the total Gibbs free energy of a reaction mixture at any time as the sum of the instantaneous Gibbs free energies of each component, as expressed in terms of the extent-of-reaction. The equilibrium reaction mixture is then defined as the point at which the total system Gibbs free energy is a minimum, from which concepts such as the equilibrium constant emerge. The chapter also explores the temperature dependence of equilibrium, this being one example of Le Chatelier’s principle. Finally, the chapter links thermodynamics to chemical kinetics by showing how the equilibrium constant is the ratio of the forward and backward rate constants. We also introduce the Arrhenius equation, closing with a discussion of the overall effect of temperature on chemical equilibrium.

Seamus Heaney and Society presents a comprehensive and dynamic new engagement with the work of one of the most celebrated poets of the modern period. In approaching Heaney’s poetry it also recognizes the value of the other roles he took on in the course of his career, notably in education, journalism, and broadcasting, appreciating how his work as a poet was shaped by his work as a teacher, lecturer, critic, and public figure. Mindful of the various spheres of his career it assesses his achievements and status in Ireland, Britain, and the United States. Drawing on a range of archival material, it seeks to revive the network of associations in which Heaney’s work was written, published, and circulated—including newspapers and magazines in London, radio and television programmes in Northern Ireland, and manuscript drafts of key writings now held in the National Library of Ireland. Through asserting the significance of the cultural, institutional, and historical circumstances of Heaney’s writing life, it offers a re-examination of the writer in public, the social lives of the work of art, and the questions of obligation and responsibility which Heaney confronted throughout his career. Throughout, though, its primary concern is with the nature and singularity of poetry, and the ways in which these qualities are asserted, challenged, and sustained in Heaney’s work.

A number of treatment guidelines have been developed to optimize the treatment of osteoarthritis, some of which were recently updated. Fifty-one non-pharmacological, pharmacological, and surgical treatments are addressed in these guidelines but only two (oral opioid and intra-articular steroid injection) reach the minimal clinically important difference above placebo. Recommendations for these treatments vary depending on joint sites, risk:benefit ratio, and population. Exercise, self-management, and weight reduction if obese are universally recommended. While topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) remain a safe first-line drug option, the safety of paracetamol, the universally recommended first-line oral analgesic is increasingly questioned. Other analgesics such as oral NSAIDs (including selective cyclooxygenase 2 inhibitors), opioids, and antidepressants should be used according to patient characteristics and comorbidities. Nutraceuticals and complementary medicines remain controversial. While lavage is not recommended, total joint replacement is still considered as an effective treatment for the later stage of the disease irrespective of lack of placebo (sham) controlled trials. Stratified care has been attempted for recommendation according to joint affected and comorbidities but there is no evidence to support whether this can improve treatment outcomes. Guideline development groups differ in their composition and methodology. While the overall quality of guidelines has been improved, their applicability remains poor. Of the various factors that may influence implementation, suboptimal publishing and the efficacy paradox need to be recognized as important barriers.

Neil Gaiman (1960-present) currently reigns in the literary world as one of the most critically-decorated and popular authors of the last fifty years. Perhaps best known as the writer of the Harvey, Eisner, and World Fantasy-award winning DC/ Vertigo series, The Sandman, Gaiman quickly became equally-renowned in literary circles for works such as Neverwhere, Coraline, the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, etc. award-winning American Gods, as well as the Newbery and Carnegie Medal-winning The Graveyard Book. For adults, for children, for the comic reader to the viewer of the BBC's Doctor Who, Gaiman's writing has crossed the borders of virtually all media and every language making him a celebrity on a world-wide scale. Despite Gaiman's incredible contributions to multiple national comics traditions (from such works as Miracleman to the aforementioned The Sandman), to the maturation of American comics as a serious storytelling medium, and to changing the rights of creators to retain ownership of their works, his work continues to be underrepresented in sustained fashion in comics studies. As American Gods tops ratings charts for Starz, Anansi Boys can be found in radio play from the BBC, and adaptations of some of his work from Trigger Warning and Fragile Things become standalone comics by renowned artists, it seems timely to bring the bulk of Gaiman's comics into the scholarly discussion. The thirteen essays and two interviews with Gaiman and his frequent collaborator, artist P. Craig Russell, a formal introduction, forward, and afterword examine the work (specifically-comics, graphic novels, picture books, visual adaptations of prose works, etc.) of Gaiman and a multitude of his collaborative illustrators. The essays radiate from an examination of Gaiman's work surrounding proclamations challenging his readers to "make good art'; what makes Gaiman's work unique and worthy of study lies in his eschewing of typical categorizations and typologies, his constant efforts to make good art-whatever form that art may take-howsoever the genres and audiences may slip into one another. What emerges is a complicated picture of a man who always seems fully-assembled virtually from the start of his career, but only came to feel comfortable in his own skin and his own voice far later in his life.

Peru is one of the most biodiverse countries on the planet. More than 65% of the country is covered by the Amazon rainforest, and the Andes region is home to more than 70% of the world’s tropical glaciers. This abundance of natural resources also makes the country highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.The Peruvian government therefore requires the development and implementation of action plans to adapt to the present and future impacts of climate change. At the same time, it requires the development of sound communication strategies that include collaboration with stakeholders such as the media and nongovernmental organizations. Media coverage of climate change can have important implications for policy decision making. This is especially salient in a context of low information availability where media reports play an important role in filling knowledge gaps that in turn can affect the way policies are developed.Climate change, as an environmental and social issue in Peru, is not highly politicized, as it is in countries such as the United States and Australia. There is no major debate about the reality of climate change, the scientific evidence, or the need for political action and technological and policy innovations. This approach is also reflected in the media’s coverage of the issue. Peru’s media tend to focus on climate change mostly during key policy events. Among these major events was the capital city of Lima’s hosting in 2010 of the V meeting of Latin American, Caribbean, and European Union countries, where the main topics of discussion were climate change and poverty. In addition, Lima hosted the COP20, which preceded the Paris meeting in 2015 that led to a major global agreement. The media’s coverage of these events was intense. These were the exceptions: A good proportion of Peru’s newspaper coverage comes from international news wire agencies. Coverage from those sources focuses mostly on mitigation actions, instead of adaptation, which is more relevant to vulnerable countries such as Peru. This coverage is in line with the government’s view of mitigation as a business opportunity. There is, however, a lack of studies that explore, first, the factors that affect this coverage, and, second, the way other mediums such as television or radio cover the issue.Strategic communication by governmental organizations, as well as accurate and fact-based media reporting about climate change, is necessary to better communicate the urgency and magnitude of the problem to the general public, grassroots organizations, industry, and international agencies, among others.

Bones are multifunctional passive organs of movement that supports soft tissue and directly attached muscles. They also protect internal organs and are a reserve of calcium, phosphorus and magnesium. Each bone is covered with periosteum, and the adjacent bone surfaces are covered by articular cartilage. Histologically, the bone is an organ composed of many different tissues. The main component is bone tissue (cortical and spongy) composed of a set of bone cells and intercellular substance (mineral and organic), it also contains fat, hematopoietic (bone marrow) and cartilaginous tissue. Bones are a tissue that even in adult life retains the ability to change shape and structure depending on changes in their mechanical and hormonal environment, as well as self-renewal and repair capabilities. This process is called bone turnover. The basic processes of bone turnover are: • bone modeling (incessantly changes in bone shape during individual growth) following resorption and tissue formation at various locations (e.g. bone marrow formation) to increase mass and skeletal morphology. This process occurs in the bones of growing individuals and stops after reaching puberty • bone remodeling (processes involve in maintaining bone tissue by resorbing and replacing old bone tissue with new tissue in the same place, e.g. repairing micro fractures). It is a process involving the removal and internal remodeling of existing bone and is responsible for maintaining tissue mass and architecture of mature bones. Bone turnover is regulated by two types of transformation: • osteoclastogenesis, i.e. formation of cells responsible for bone resorption • osteoblastogenesis, i.e. formation of cells responsible for bone formation (bone matrix synthesis and mineralization) Bone maturity can be defined as the completion of basic structural development and mineralization leading to maximum mass and optimal mechanical strength. The highest rate of increase in pig bone mass is observed in the first twelve weeks after birth. This period of growth is considered crucial for optimizing the growth of the skeleton of pigs, because the degree of bone mineralization in later life stages (adulthood) depends largely on the amount of bone minerals accumulated in the early stages of their growth. The development of the technique allows to determine the condition of the skeletal system (or individual bones) in living animals by methods used in human medicine, or after their slaughter. For in vivo determination of bone properties, Abstract 10 double energy X-ray absorptiometry or computed tomography scanning techniques are used. Both methods allow the quantification of mineral content and bone mineral density. The most important property from a practical point of view is the bone’s bending strength, which is directly determined by the maximum bending force. The most important factors affecting bone strength are: • age (growth period), • gender and the associated hormonal balance, • genotype and modification of genes responsible for bone growth • chemical composition of the body (protein and fat content, and the proportion between these components), • physical activity and related bone load, • nutritional factors: – protein intake influencing synthesis of organic matrix of bone, – content of minerals in the feed (CA, P, Zn, Ca/P, Mg, Mn, Na, Cl, K, Cu ratio) influencing synthesis of the inorganic matrix of bone, – mineral/protein ratio in the diet (Ca/protein, P/protein, Zn/protein) – feed energy concentration, – energy source (content of saturated fatty acids - SFA, content of polyun saturated fatty acids - PUFA, in particular ALA, EPA, DPA, DHA), – feed additives, in particular: enzymes (e.g. phytase releasing of minerals bounded in phytin complexes), probiotics and prebiotics (e.g. inulin improving the function of the digestive tract by increasing absorption of nutrients), – vitamin content that regulate metabolism and biochemical changes occurring in bone tissue (e.g. vitamin D3, B6, C and K). This study was based on the results of research experiments from available literature, and studies on growing pigs carried out at the Kielanowski Institute of Animal Physiology and Nutrition, Polish Academy of Sciences. The tests were performed in total on 300 pigs of Duroc, Pietrain, Puławska breeds, line 990 and hybrids (Great White × Duroc, Great White × Landrace), PIC pigs, slaughtered at different body weight during the growth period from 15 to 130 kg. Bones for biomechanical tests were collected after slaughter from each pig. Their length, mass and volume were determined. Based on these measurements, the specific weight (density, g/cm3) was calculated. Then each bone was cut in the middle of the shaft and the outer and inner diameters were measured both horizontally and vertically. Based on these measurements, the following indicators were calculated: • cortical thickness, • cortical surface, • cortical index. Abstract 11 Bone strength was tested by a three-point bending test. The obtained data enabled the determination of: • bending force (the magnitude of the maximum force at which disintegration and disruption of bone structure occurs), • strength (the amount of maximum force needed to break/crack of bone), • stiffness (quotient of the force acting on the bone and the amount of displacement occurring under the influence of this force). Investigation of changes in physical and biomechanical features of bones during growth was performed on pigs of the synthetic 990 line growing from 15 to 130 kg body weight. The animals were slaughtered successively at a body weight of 15, 30, 40, 50, 70, 90, 110 and 130 kg. After slaughter, the following bones were separated from the right half-carcass: humerus, 3rd and 4th metatarsal bone, femur, tibia and fibula as well as 3rd and 4th metatarsal bone. The features of bones were determined using methods described in the methodology. Describing bone growth with the Gompertz equation, it was found that the earliest slowdown of bone growth curve was observed for metacarpal and metatarsal bones. This means that these bones matured the most quickly. The established data also indicate that the rib is the slowest maturing bone. The femur, humerus, tibia and fibula were between the values of these features for the metatarsal, metacarpal and rib bones. The rate of increase in bone mass and length differed significantly between the examined bones, but in all cases it was lower (coefficient b <1) than the growth rate of the whole body of the animal. The fastest growth rate was estimated for the rib mass (coefficient b = 0.93). Among the long bones, the humerus (coefficient b = 0.81) was characterized by the fastest rate of weight gain, however femur the smallest (coefficient b = 0.71). The lowest rate of bone mass increase was observed in the foot bones, with the metacarpal bones having a slightly higher value of coefficient b than the metatarsal bones (0.67 vs 0.62). The third bone had a lower growth rate than the fourth bone, regardless of whether they were metatarsal or metacarpal. The value of the bending force increased as the animals grew. Regardless of the growth point tested, the highest values were observed for the humerus, tibia and femur, smaller for the metatarsal and metacarpal bone, and the lowest for the fibula and rib. The rate of change in the value of this indicator increased at a similar rate as the body weight changes of the animals in the case of the fibula and the fourth metacarpal bone (b value = 0.98), and more slowly in the case of the metatarsal bone, the third metacarpal bone, and the tibia bone (values of the b ratio 0.81–0.85), and the slowest femur, humerus and rib (value of b = 0.60–0.66). Bone stiffness increased as animals grew. Regardless of the growth point tested, the highest values were observed for the humerus, tibia and femur, smaller for the metatarsal and metacarpal bone, and the lowest for the fibula and rib. Abstract 12 The rate of change in the value of this indicator changed at a faster rate than the increase in weight of pigs in the case of metacarpal and metatarsal bones (coefficient b = 1.01–1.22), slightly slower in the case of fibula (coefficient b = 0.92), definitely slower in the case of the tibia (b = 0.73), ribs (b = 0.66), femur (b = 0.59) and humerus (b = 0.50). Bone strength increased as animals grew. Regardless of the growth point tested, bone strength was as follows femur > tibia > humerus > 4 metacarpal> 3 metacarpal> 3 metatarsal > 4 metatarsal > rib> fibula. The rate of increase in strength of all examined bones was greater than the rate of weight gain of pigs (value of the coefficient b = 2.04–3.26). As the animals grew, the bone density increased. However, the growth rate of this indicator for the majority of bones was slower than the rate of weight gain (the value of the coefficient b ranged from 0.37 – humerus to 0.84 – fibula). The exception was the rib, whose density increased at a similar pace increasing the body weight of animals (value of the coefficient b = 0.97). The study on the influence of the breed and the feeding intensity on bone characteristics (physical and biomechanical) was performed on pigs of the breeds Duroc, Pietrain, and synthetic 990 during a growth period of 15 to 70 kg body weight. Animals were fed ad libitum or dosed system. After slaughter at a body weight of 70 kg, three bones were taken from the right half-carcass: femur, three metatarsal, and three metacarpal and subjected to the determinations described in the methodology. The weight of bones of animals fed aa libitum was significantly lower than in pigs fed restrictively All bones of Duroc breed were significantly heavier and longer than Pietrain and 990 pig bones. The average values of bending force for the examined bones took the following order: III metatarsal bone (63.5 kg) <III metacarpal bone (77.9 kg) <femur (271.5 kg). The feeding system and breed of pigs had no significant effect on the value of this indicator. The average values of the bones strength took the following order: III metatarsal bone (92.6 kg) <III metacarpal (107.2 kg) <femur (353.1 kg). Feeding intensity and breed of animals had no significant effect on the value of this feature of the bones tested. The average bone density took the following order: femur (1.23 g/cm3) <III metatarsal bone (1.26 g/cm3) <III metacarpal bone (1.34 g / cm3). The density of bones of animals fed aa libitum was higher (P<0.01) than in animals fed with a dosing system. The density of examined bones within the breeds took the following order: Pietrain race> line 990> Duroc race. The differences between the “extreme” breeds were: 7.2% (III metatarsal bone), 8.3% (III metacarpal bone), 8.4% (femur). Abstract 13 The average bone stiffness took the following order: III metatarsal bone (35.1 kg/mm) <III metacarpus (41.5 kg/mm) <femur (60.5 kg/mm). This indicator did not differ between the groups of pigs fed at different intensity, except for the metacarpal bone, which was more stiffer in pigs fed aa libitum (P<0.05). The femur of animals fed ad libitum showed a tendency (P<0.09) to be more stiffer and a force of 4.5 kg required for its displacement by 1 mm. Breed differences in stiffness were found for the femur (P <0.05) and III metacarpal bone (P <0.05). For femur, the highest value of this indicator was found in Pietrain pigs (64.5 kg/mm), lower in pigs of 990 line (61.6 kg/mm) and the lowest in Duroc pigs (55.3 kg/mm). In turn, the 3rd metacarpal bone of Duroc and Pietrain pigs had similar stiffness (39.0 and 40.0 kg/mm respectively) and was smaller than that of line 990 pigs (45.4 kg/mm). The thickness of the cortical bone layer took the following order: III metatarsal bone (2.25 mm) <III metacarpal bone (2.41 mm) <femur (5.12 mm). The feeding system did not affect this indicator. Breed differences (P <0.05) for this trait were found only for the femur bone: Duroc (5.42 mm)> line 990 (5.13 mm)> Pietrain (4.81 mm). The cross sectional area of the examined bones was arranged in the following order: III metatarsal bone (84 mm2) <III metacarpal bone (90 mm2) <femur (286 mm2). The feeding system had no effect on the value of this bone trait, with the exception of the femur, which in animals fed the dosing system was 4.7% higher (P<0.05) than in pigs fed ad libitum. Breed differences (P<0.01) in the coross sectional area were found only in femur and III metatarsal bone. The value of this indicator was the highest in Duroc pigs, lower in 990 animals and the lowest in Pietrain pigs. The cortical index of individual bones was in the following order: III metatarsal bone (31.86) <III metacarpal bone (33.86) <femur (44.75). However, its value did not significantly depend on the intensity of feeding or the breed of pigs.

The EBA Guidelines on loan origination and monitoring (hereinafter "GL LOM") undoubtedly represent a substantially new piece of the banking regulatory framework. In fact, for the first time, the regulator moves into a topic that was traditionally outside the scope of financial regulation, so far almost exclusively focused on aspects directly linked to both micro- and macro-prudential stability, notably through capital and liquidity management requirements and guidelines on Business Model and Internal Governance. The credit management process, and in particular loan origination and monitoring, has always been typically considered as a business issue under sole responsibility of banks, as it is considered one of the "core" processes (if not the "core" process) of the banking business. As a matter of fact, since the issue of the capital requirement regulation (i.e., Basel II and Basel III), and the introduction of the use requirements for the rating systems, the regulator moved very close, but not yet, to prescribe specific credit assessment criteria, while dictating methodological and organizational requirements for the authorization of the rating systems, and leaving substantial freedom to banks to define their own models and embedded assessment criteria and indicators. With the GL LOM, the regulator takes a further step, remarkably beyond its traditional remit, dictating principles and rules for the evaluation of the credit quality of borrowers. The starting point for this new approach from the regulator can be found in the ECB guidelines on Non-Performing Loans, later endorsed by the Bank of Italy Guidelines for Less Significant Banks, aimed at encouraging banks to define their NPL management processes and establish reduction plans to achieve NPL ratio targets in line with the regulator's expectations. Consistently with the focus on NPL, the regulation on Calendar Provisioning, amending the CRR was issued; as being a Regulation, it involves all banks, and not only significant ones (for which the ECB Addendum also applies). In addition, the new definition of default (the so-called "new Dod") has defined stricter criteria for the transition of exposures to the default status and also made the return of "cured" exposures to the performing status more difficult. The combined effect of these regulatory changes has been to make the default of counterparties not only more probable but also much more "expensive" for the banks. The natural “next step” of these regulatory changes was to "move backward" into the management process covering loan origination and monitoring . The EBA's stated objective with the issuance of the GL LOM is to define "robust and prudent" standards of lending practices so as to maintain a low level of NPLs in the future. Therefore, the focus of the GL LOM is the definition of requirements (some outlined as prescriptions, others in terms of principles) for the creditworthiness assessment of counterparties and for the management of the related data and information. Notwithstanding the fact that the Final Report has articulated the principle of proportionality much more clearly as compared to the Consultation Paper, the GLs set out three macro-categories of counterparties for which specific requirements are defined: • Individuals • Micro and small businesses • Medium and large companies. The GL LOM also provide recommendations about the valuation of guarantees both at origination and during ongoing monitoring, encouraging the use of advanced statistical models. The GL LOM focus on real estate guarantees, while financial collateral is outside the scope of the GL LOM. In the mind of the regulator, the GL LOM should not only reflect industry practices, but also incorporate the latest supervisory guidance on lending, and provide the stimulus to include ESG, AML/CTF and the use of innovative technologies into banking origination and, where applicable, monitoring processes.