This research has studied bank risk management in relation to efficient bank regulation in the form of optimal bank financial reorganization. Efficient banking regulation can be achieved only if it includes closure policies which prevent moral hazard behaviour; in turn, they should enhance bank regulators' accountability. Yet, Basel II gives more discretion to domestic banking authorities and focuses more on the implementation of best practices of risk management. This creates a gap between the needs of efficient banking regulation and the objectives of Basel II, on the one hand, and Indonesian bank regulation on the other. To fill the gaps, the Fries, Mella-Barral, Peraudin (FMP) model, under a robust regulatory regime concept, is used to provide a framework for banking regulation. Optimal bank reorganization aims at achieving efficient bank regulation, where bank regulators are assumed to act as social planners. In this thesis, optimal bank reorganization is analysed within the concept of a "robust regulatory regime". Optimal bank reorganization comprises closure rules and bailout policies arising endogenously through the interaction of two factors, namely regulators' attempts to minimize discounted, expected bankruptcy costs, and equity-holders' incentives to recapitalise banks. The shareholders will be allowed to continue to control the bank if the bank is well capitalized. The cash flow approach to optimal bank financial reorganization is adopted. The subsidy policies for financially ailing banks consider the implementation of socially-optimal closure rules at minimum financial cost to regulators and which reduce moral hazard. The FMP model implies that optimal bank reorganization requires a deposit insurance scheme. The FMP model involves capital and risk management as crucial factors. This research includes an empirical study of the implementation of the FMP model in Indonesia using the American call option approach. Maximum likelihood estimates in VAR and GARCH are applied to monthly data on the market return and equity and deposit values for relatively-large Indonesian banks, including regional banks and foreign banks. The results indicate that the authorities can establish an optimal closure rule for each bank, levy fair deposit insurance premiums that can be adjusted to take account of quantitative and qualitative factors, estimate optimal subsidies at different deposit insurance premiums, and identify the banks' imminence to bankruptcy. (Continues...).

Les cellules, et tout particulièrement les cellules germinales, maintiennent l'intégrité de leur génome en prévenant d'éventuelles mutations comme celles dues à la mobilité des éléments transposables (ET). Dans la lignée germinale des animaux, une classe particulière de petits ARN régulateurs, les PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA), sont les acteurs majeurs du contrôle des ET. Chez Drosophila melanogaster, il existe des souches dites réactives, dépourvues de copies actives de l'élément I, ET exprimé dans la lignée germinale femelle. Les femelles de ces souches voient leur capacité à réprimer l'invasion de leur génome par l'élément I augmenter avec l'âge. Des données antérieures ont montré qu'une fois acquise, la capacité à réprimer l'élément I est transmise maternellement au travers des générations. Mes travaux de thèse ont permis de montrer que la transmission de la capacité à réprimer l'élément I n'est pas corrélée à des modifications de l'activité transcriptionnelle des loci producteurs de piRNA, mais semble uniquement véhiculée par les piRNA. En effet, les piRNA de l'élément I déposés dans l'embryon vont amorcer la production de piRNA complémentaires dans les ovaires de la descendance, ce qui induit une forte accumulation de piRNA antisens à l'élément I. Ainsi, les piRNA maternellement déposés assurent la transmission de la capacité à réprimer l'élément I, acquise suite au vieillissement des ascendants maternels. Mes résultats mettent en évidence le rôle des piRNA comme support moléculaire d'une composante non génétique de l'information héritable, indépendante de la chromatine et déterminante pour le maintien de l'intégrité du génome. / Cells, especially germinal stem cells, maintain genomic integrity by averting the propagation of mutations, generated as a consequence of DNA damage. In particular, they must avoid the deleterious activity of transposable elements (TEs). In animal germlines, one of the key players of the TE repression involves a specific class of small regulatory RNAs, the PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs). In Drosophila melanogaster, there are reactive strains that are devoid of functional copies of the I element, a TE specifically expressed in the female germ line. When they get older, females of these strains can acquire a strong capacity to repress the I element invasion. Anterior works have shown that once acquired, this capacity to repress the I element is maternally transmitted over generations. The results obtained during my thesis revealed that the transmission of the capacity to repress the I element is not correlated with increased transcriptional activity of piRNA producer loci but seems only mediated by the piRNAs. Indeed, I element piRNAs deposition in the embryo after aging treatment correlates with the production of complementary piRNAs in the ovaries of the progeny. This results in a strong accumulation of antisense I element piRNAs. The maternally deposited piRNAs ensure the transmission of the capacity to repress the I element acquired after ancestor aging. My results highlight the molecular support of a DNA- and chromatin-independant component of heritable information essential for the maintenance of genome integrity.

/ Banking transactions and their legal regulation The aim of my diploma thesis is to analyse banking transactions and to inform about their substential elements, legislation in the Czech legal order and business conditions used by banks. I did not explain all the kinds of banking transactions conducted by banks in this diploma thesis due to their extensive range, but I just focused on the most important transactions in my point of view. The thesis is composed of four chapters, each of them dealing with different aspects of banking operations. Chapter One is introductory and defines basic facts about banks and legal conditions of their running activities. The chapter consists of three parts. Part One focuses on concept of banking transactions. Part Two investigates divisions of banking transactions and Part Three addresses the issues of bank as an entrepreneur. It also describes relevant legal regime necessary to obey to perform banking transactions and question of acquiring banking licence. Chapter Two is subdivided into two parts and provides explanation of active banking transactions. Part One illustrates single credits, which are subdivided into five parts focused on credit bureaus, residential and commercial mortgages, consumer credits, current account credits and discount credits. Part Two...

1 Title: Client Protection in Financial Services Key words: client, consumer, financial service, deposit, credit Abstract The present diploma thesis focuses on the client protection in financial services. It introduces relevant legislature and provides a reader with the analysis of the level of legal protection. Introduction part explains my motivation for the choice of the topic, mostly influenced by current debate over certain forms of financial services. It also presents a processing method of the thesis and kinds of resources used. The first chapter of the thesis is dedicated to an elaborate definition of the analysed key terms - the client and the financial services. In the contewxt of this work is client understood as a consumer. First part provides the reader with comparison of legal definitions of consumer presented in various legislation. A broad term of finacial services is hereby narrowed to accepting deposits and providing credit loans. The second chapter consists of analysis of legislation which regulates client protection in this field. Substantial part is provided for the proper decription of the EU legislature. Last part of the chapter sketches a short summary of changes brought by the new legislation in the field of private law, that comes into force in January 2014. Chapter Three concernes...

O presente trabalho visa a analisar aspectos específicos da microeconomia bancária no que se refere à relação entre banco e consumidor. Três diferentes abordagens são adotadas. No primeiro capítulo a abordagem é teórica. Um modelo de equilíbrio geral com incerteza é desenvolvido, com o objetivo de analisar a relação depositante banco e as características do equilíbrio dos contratos de depósito bancários. Questões como eficiência e concentração são analisadas, tanto em um contexto estático quanto na relação de longo prazo entre bancos e depositante. Os resultados sugerem contratos de equilíbrio com características contingentes ao espaço de contratos factíveis e uma relação entre esforço eficiente do banco e não comprometimento pleno do depositante na relação de longo prazo. A segunda parte do trabalho se concentra em analisar empiricamente a relação entre banco e tomador de recursos e tem como objetivo contribuir com avanços metodológicos para a decomposição do spread bancário no Brasil. Para tanto, estima-se uma função custo multiproduto para o setor bancário brasileiro e calcula-se, a partir dela, os preços de Aumann-Shapley dos diversos produtos oferecidos pelos bancos. Essa aplicação da teoria de alocação de custos conjuntos à firma bancária permite que se faça a alocação dos custos administrativos de forma mais precisa, melhorando a decomposição do spread no Brasil. Além disso, novos avanços são conseguidos em termos de precisão por meio da ampliação da amostra e portanto pela correção de um grave viés de seleção presente na abordagem original do Banco Central. A terceira - e última - parte do trabalho faz uma discussão institucional dos sistemas de resolução de insolvências coorporativas e da relação destes com a decisão do banco de emprestar e portanto com o funcionamento do mercado de crédito. A motivação foi a de analisar um aspecto específico da relação banco tomador com impactos diretos sobre preço e volume de empréstimos concedidos. Neste ponto, questões relacionadas a incentivos e eficiência emergem e são analisados tendo como pano de fundo a reforma do sistema legal de insolvência brasileiro, atualmente em curso. / The present work analyzes specific aspects of microeconomics of banking, concerning the relationship between financial intermediaries and non-financial agents. Three different approaches are adopted. In the first chapter the approach is theoretical. A model of general equilibrium with uncertainty is developed, analyzing the relationship between banks and depositors and the characteristics of the equilibrium deposit contracts. Efficiency and concentration issues are analyzed, in a static context and in a long-term relationship among banks and depositors. Results suggest that deposit contracts observed in equilibrium are contingent to the space of contract possibilities and that it exists a relationship between efficient effort exerted by the bank and no full commitment by depositors in a long term relationship. Chapter 2 makes an empirical analysis of the bank-borrower relationship, contributing with methodological improvements for the decomposition of banking spreads in Brazil. A multi-product cost function for the Brazilian banking industry is estimated and used to calculate the Aumann-Shapley prices for each of the defined banking products. That application of cost allocation to the banking firm allows a better allocation of administrative costs, improving on the original decomposition made by Brazilian Central Bank. Additionally, a more accurate decomposition results from the use of a larger sample and therefore the correction of a serious selection bias present in the original approach. The third chapter concentrates on an institutional discussion about insolvency resolution. The main motivation was the analysis of a specific aspect of the bank-borrower relationship and its impacts on price and volumes of loan concessions. At this point, incentives and efficiency issues emerge and are analyzed having the Brazilian legal system of insolvency reform, now in course, as a background.

Nenhuma / O Brasil consome enormes quantidades de fertilizantes a base de fósforo devido às características do solo, pobre em nutrientes principais, e à grande produção agrícola. Apesar do grande consumo, a produção de produtos fosfatados é insuficiente para atender a demanda interna. Uma das razões é que os depósitos fosfáticos brasileiros não apresentam a qualidade necessária para a produção de fertilizantes fosfatados. Dentre estes depósitos, está a jazida de Itataia, uma ocorrência ígnea de fósforo e urânio localizada no estado do Ceará. Este depósito apresenta significativas quantidades de carbonatos, principalmente a calcita, o que causa sérios inconvenientes durante a produção do ácido fosfórico. Este trabalho compreendeu a realização de testes de flotação direta com o minério fósforo-uranífero de Itataia realizado com o intuito de obter um concentrado final de P2O5 com teor de 32%, adequado para a produção de ácido fosfórico, e recuperação a mais elevada possível. Foi avaliado em escala de laboratório o desempenho dos depressores inorgânicos (Calgon e silicato de sódio) e dos orgânicos compostos por amidos não modificados (Flotamil 75 e fécula de mandioca) amidos modificados (Filmplus 9002 ACC, EP2031 e dextrina) e a carboximetilcelulose. Foi verificado que, dentre os depressores estudados, a fécula de mandioca apresentou desempenho superior. Estes resultados, obtidos em laboratório, serviram de subsídio para a realização de testes piloto de flotação utilizando coluna. Os resultados do teste rougher-cleaner utilizando circuito aberto (Teste ADP-5) produziram um concentrado final com teor e recuperação de P2O5 de 33,49 e 80,7%, respectivamente. Os teores de CaCO3 e de U3O8 neste produto foram 8,54 e 0,27%. / Brazil consumes huge amounts of phosphorus-based fertilizers due to the characteristics of its soil, poor in major nutrients, and the vast agricultural production. Despite the large consumption, the production of phosphate is insufficient to meet the domestic demand. One reason is that the Brazilian phosphatic deposits do not have the quality needed for producing phosphate fertilizers. Among these deposits is the Itataias deposit, an igneous occurrence of phosphorus and uranium in the state of Ceará. This deposit has significant amounts of carbonates, mainly calcite, which causes serious inconveniences for the phosphoric acid production. This work involved the testing of the direct flotation of Phosphorus-Uraniferous ore from Itataias deposit carried out in order to obtain a final concentrate with a P2O5 content of 32%, suitable for production of phosphoric acid, and the highest possible recovery. The performance of inorganic depressants (Calgon and sodium silicate) and organic compounds including unmodified starches (Flotamil 75 and cassava starch) and modified starches (Filmplus 9002 ACC, EP2031 and dextrin) and carboxymethylcellulose were evaluated on a laboratory scale. It was found that among the studied depressants cassava starch showed the better performance. These results obtained in the laboratory provided subsidies for pilot testing using a flotation column. These tests were carried out using rougher-cleaner open circuit (ADP-5 Test) and produced a final concentrate grade and recovery of P2O5 of 33.49 and 80.7%, respectively. The content of CaCO3 and U3O8 of this product were 8.54 and 0.27%, respectively.

As corridas bancárias são motivo de preocupação das autoridades monetárias desde pelo menos o início da década de 20. Isso se justifica pelos impactos que uma crise financeira sistêmica pode causar na economia, a partir da falência de bancos. A quebra de uma instituição financeira, ou ainda uma situação temporária de dificuldade para honrar compromissos imediatos, pode gerar desconfiança nos depositantes, pelo receio de perder suas economias, fazendo com que corram aos bancos para retirar seus recursos ali depositados. Essa situação pode se espalhar por todo o sistema bancário por meio de efeitodominó, em virtude do sentimento de pânico que os assola, levando a economia a um colapso. Para minimizar o temor e a desconfiança, preservando a estabilidade do sistema financeiro, é prudente se ter no sistema financeiro um mecanismo de proteção aos depositantes, cujo objetivo seja o de inibir o início de uma crise bancária. Esse mecanismo, aqui chamado sistema de seguro de depósito, é formado por um grupo de bancos que pagam um prêmio de seguro, com o objetivo de formar um grande fundo, cuja função é reembolsar os depositantes quando da quebra de um desses bancos participantes. Para que funcione apropriadamente, o sistema de seguro de depósito deve ter suas características bem delineadas, no intuito de minimizar a possibilidade de que atitudes, mais arriscadas por parte dos bancos e menos precavidas por parte dos depositantes, elevem o risco de quebra de um banco. Este estudo tem o objetivo de analisar, por meio de pesquisa exploratória, tais características, trazendo para a discussão contribuições teóricas e práticas recentes em matéria de mecanismos de seguro depósito no Brasil e no exterior, de modo a elencar os aspectos mais eficientes das características, que poderiam ser aproveitados com vistas a aprimorar o sistema de seguro depósito brasileiro, o FGC, Fundo Garantidor de Créditos, já que há previsão de regulamentá-lo via Lei Complementar ao artigo 192 da Constituição Federal de 1988. A análise das características trouxe como diferenciais em relação ao que já existe no FGC, a atribuição de maiores poderes e responsabilidades ao FGC, deixando de ser um simples intermediário para reembolso de depositantes, e o prêmio do seguro, cuja metodologia de cálculo poderia evoluir do método linear, igual para todos os bancos, para o ajustado ao risco incorrido por cada instituição participante. A ampliação dos poderes e responsabilidades poderia atribuir maior competência ao FGC para atuar em situações de insolvência bancária, imputando-lhe o papel de encontrar a melhor e mais eficiente solução, mas isso exigiria mudanças estruturais enormes na agência, especialmente quanto ao tamanho da equipe técnica. A tarefa de definir a forma de cálculo do prêmio de seguro é demasiadamente complexa, uma vez que a metodologia pode não ser simples, pois deveria atender a particularidades de diferentes tipos de bancos. Além disso, a tendência da regulação bancária brasileira caminha cada vez mais ao encontro das normas baseadas em princípios, não em regras, isto é, a regulação cada vez mais vai trabalhar o que deve ser feito pelas instituições financeiras, ao invés de como elas devem fazer. Essa dinâmica não permite a definição uma metodologia de cálculo único, que permita comparar o risco tomado de uma instituição com seus pares. / Bank runs concern monetary authorities at least since the beginning of the 1920\'s, due to the harming impacts a systemic financial crisis may cause on the whole economy, beginning after a bank failure. A bank disruption or just a temporary liquidity problem can generate mistrust on depositors, that fearing the loss of their savings would run to the bank to withdraw all their money. This situation may be spread all over the financial system in an accumulated effect caused by panic, leading to a collapse in the local economy. In the attempt to minimize the fear and mistrust, as well as to preserve the financial system stability, there must be a mechanism of depositor protection aiming to stop the starting up of a bank crisis. This mechanism, hereinafter called deposit insurance system, DIS, consists in the collection of an insurance premium by a group of banks in order to establish a fund that will refund depositors if one of the member banks fails. DIS must have its features well designed to work properly, and to avoid riskier attitudes from the banks and less caution from the depositors that could increase the chance of bankrupting. The purpose of this work is to research literature and international recent practices regarding DIS, in order to list the most efficient points which could be considered to improve the Brazilian DIS, named Fundo Garantidor de Créditos, FGC. Besides, the Brazilian Federal Constitution prescribes regulation of this matter by particular law, but this is still not accomplished. The analysis brought out some important issues which are not in course in the FGC such as the assignment of major powers and responsibilities to FGC, and the increment of its functions so that it turns out to be more than just a pay-box. Other important issue is the change in the methodology in which the deposit insurance premium is calculated, from a flat method to a risk adjusted one. The enlarging of powers and responsibilities could give FGC new attributions in the case of insolvent banks resolution, but it would certainly demand large modifications in FGC present structure, especially regarding technical staff. The task of establishing the insurance premium calculation is highly complex, since the methodology is supposed to achieve different kind of banks. Moreover, national banking regulation Moreover, national banking regulation tends to be more principles-based than rules-based, which means, it tends to specify what banks should do, not how they should do it. This dynamic does not allow the use of a unique methodology to calculate DIS, and imposing, as consequence, obstacles to the comparison of the risk taken by different institutions.

Decades of research on compression ignition engines have led to a highly efficient combustion cycle in contemporary diesel engines. Nonetheless, the combustion process is being studied perpetually to meet both current and future emission regulations. One of the most influential parameters that impacts the combustion quality, is the fuel spray evolution during injection, and subsequent fuel-air mixture formation inside the engine cylinder. The spray evolution has been investigated to a high level of detail, and the highly complex processes of mixture formation and combustion are well-documented for diesel engines. Most of these investigations are limited to studying either research-grade injectors, or brand new production injectors. Injectors in real-world diesel engines, i.e. normal passenger cars and trucks that are used on a daily basis, are however subject to deposit formation at the tip of the injector nozzle. These deposits have the potential of altering the internal nozzle flow and fuel spray pattern, which in turn degrades combustion quality and increases engine emissions. In the work presented in this thesis the spray evolution of production injectors has been studied over a wide range of injector conditions. Common rail light-duty injectors with a usage history of up to 90 000 miles were acquired from the UK commuter car parc, and several brand new injectors were studied for comparison purposes. It is shown that the spray pattern of the injected fuel changes over the lifetime of the injector. For used injectors a reduced penetration rate was observed in the transient regime of fuel injection, during needle lift. The reduced penetration rate was often accompanied by anomalous radial expansions. Although the magnitude of the effects varied from injector to injector, the highest mileage injectors tended to produce the strongest spray deviations. For several high-mileage injectors the end of injection appeared retarded with respect to new injectors. Expulsions of liquid ligaments and droplets after the end of injection were observed from all injectors, irrespective of the mileage of the injector.

O presente trabalho analisou o comportamento tribológico do revestimento superficial cromo duro, aplicado em cilindros de laminação e sua influência durante o processo de laminação a frio, para ligas de aço, cobre e alumínio. Iniciou-se o processo com a análise dos mecanismos de desgaste que ocorrem em cilindros de laminação. Em função das dimensões dos cilindros de laminação, foram produzidas réplicas obtidas em vários cilindros de laminação em diferentes empresas, antes e após a campanha dos cilindros de laminação. Consideramos no processo de amostragem, 3 tipos de acabamento do cilindro: texturizado, jateado e retificado. E ainda, cilindro sem e com revestimento de cromo. A estrutura da Texturização Shot Blaster (SBT) não atende todos os requisitos relacionados ao produto acabado. A camada de cromo duro, aplicado sobre estes cilindros de laminação SBT, melhora a qualidade da superfície da chapa, sendo de interesse para aquelas siderúrgicas que não têm outra alternativa às novas estruturas de superfície, podendo ser obtidas pelos métodos: Electro Discharge Texturing (EDT), Laser Texturing (LT), Electro Beam Texturing (EBT). A função das superfícies geradas, obtidas por estes métodos diferentes vai influenciar as propriedades tribológicas durante os processos de laminação e deformação de chapa. Por outro lado, pode aumentar o custo final do produto ou exigem grandes investimentos para obtenção de tais métodos. / The present work analyzed the tribological behavior of the hard chrome surface coating applied in rolling cylinders and their influence during the cold rolling process for steel, copper and aluminum alloys. The process started by analyzing the wear mechanisms that occur in work rolls. In function on the dimensions of the work rolls, replicas were obtained from several rolls and in different companies, before and after the roll chance. We consider in the sampling process, three types of work rolls finish: texturing, shot blasted and rectified. And still, work rolls without and with chrome coating. The Texture Shot Blaster (SBT) structure is not available in all respects related to the finished product. The hard chromium layer applied to these SBT rollers improves the surface quality of the sheet and is of interest to steel parts that are not of good capacity: EDT Textures, Laser texturing (LT), electrical beam texturization (EBT). The function of the generated surfaces obtained by these different methods is going to influence the tribological properties during the subsequent forming processes. On the other hand, they can increase the product final cost or require large investments to obtain such methods.

Alumínio Pulverizado Termicamente (TSA) é amplamente utilizado em instalações offshore como revestimento de ânodo de sacrifício em tubulações de aço carbono. O transporte e a instalação desses componentes podem levar a pequenos danos no revestimento, o que pode expor a superfície do aço à água do mar. Sabe-se que o depósito calcário é formado na superfície do aço polarizado catodicamente. Assim, esta pesquisa avaliou o TSA aplicado por sistema de pulverização de arco duplo (TWAS) no aço ao carbono S355J2 + N quando ocorrem danos (holidays) para estudar a formação de depósitos calcários no aço e adquirir dados sobre o desempenho do TSA sob altas temperaturas. A aplicação de diferentes condições também foi considerada: presença de selantes; liga do revestimento (99,5% de Al e Al-5% de Mg) e condições enterradas/não enterradas. Dois tipos de experimentos foram realizados: i) testes em potencial livre sob temperaturas constantes (30, 60 e 90°C) e diferentes tamanhos de holidays (expondo 5, 10 e 20% da superfície do aço) e ii) testes sob gradient térmico onde óleo a ~125°C foi adicionado em uma torre polimérica e água externa a ~10°C ficou em contato com a superfície das amostras (tanto potencial livre como polarização de -950 mVAg/AgCl foram aplicados). Análises incluíram inspeção visual, microscópio eletrônico de varredura e difração de Raio-X. A partir dos testes em temperaturas constante, o TSA atingiu um bom potencial de proteção (-800 a -900 mVAg/AgCl) e pouca diferença nos resultados devido à diferença na composição doTSA e no tamanho do holiday foi observada. As taxas de corrosão foram mantidas entre 0,02 e 0,01 mm/ano. No ensaio sob gradiente térmico e potencial livre, a perda de revestimento e as taxas de corrosão foram de 0,4 a 0,002 mm/ano. Além disso, o potencial alcançado foi de uma faixa menor do que a obtida anteriormente (-745 a -835 mVAg/AgCl). No entanto, quando o TSA foi combinado com proteção catódica externa e gradiente térmico, a espessura do TSA foi satisfatório e as taxas de corrosão obtidas foram inferiores a 0,076 mm/ano. O depósito calcário formado no holiday protegeu o aço contra a corrosão e seu mecanismo de crescimento baseado nesta pesquisa foi construído. / Thermally Sprayed Aluminium (TSA) is widely used in offshore facilities as sacrificial anode coating for carbon-steel risers and pipelines. Transportation and installation of those components can lead to small damages in the coating, which can expose the steel surface to the seawater. It is known that calcareous deposit is formed on the cathodically polarised steel surface. Thus, this research evaluated the TSA applied by twin wire arc spray system (TWAS) on S355J2+N carbon-steel when damage (holidays) is present in order to study the calcareous deposit formation on steel and acquire data regarding the TSA performance at high temperatures. Application of different conditions was also considered: presence of sealing; coating alloy (99.5%Al and Al-5%Mg) and buried/unburied conditions. Generally, two types of experiment were conducted – i) tests at free potential at steady temperatures (30, 60 and 90°C) and different holiday sizes (exposing 5, 10 and 20% of the steel surface) and ii) tests under thermal gradient where oil at ~125°C was added in polymeric tower and external water at ~10°C was in contact with the samples surface (both free potential and polarisation of -950 mVAg/AgCl were applied). Methodology of analyses included visual inspection, scanning electron microscope and X-ray Diffraction. From the tests at steady temperatures, the TSA reached a very good protective potential (-800 to -900 mVAg/AgCl) and little difference in results due to difference in TSA composition and holiday size was observed. Corrosion rates were kept between 0.02 and 0.01 mm/year. From the thermal gradient test under free potential, the coating loss and corrosion rates were 0.4 to 0.002 mm/year. Also, the potential achieved was in a lower range than previously obtained (-745 to -835 mVAg/AgCl). However, when TSA was combined with external cathodic protection and thermal gradient, the thickness of the TSA was satisfactory and corrosion rates obtained were below 0.076 mm/year. The calcareous deposit formed within the holiday protected the steel substrate against corrosion and its growth mechanism based in this research was built.