Loan sales as a response to market-based capital constraints

A model of bank asset sales in which information asymmetries create the incentive for unregulated banks to originate and sell loans to other banks, rather than fund them with deposit liabilities. Private information implies that bankers can fund local loans only to the extent that their capital can absorb potential losses. Loan sales are effectively a means of employing nonlocal bank capital to support local investments.Bank capital ; Bank loans

The fate of captured gas: NGC 3077 and star formation in the M81 system

NGC 3077 is the third largest system in the M81 swarm of galaxies, after the giant spiral M81 itself and dwarf oddity M82. We are interested in exploring the fate of molecular material in NGC 3077. For that reason we have mapped the distribution of J = 1 to 0 CO emission in the central approximately 1 arcmin (1 kpc) diameter region of the galaxy using the Owens Valley millimeter-array with an angular resolution of 6.'7 x 5.'7 (110 pc x 90 pc). The results are shown on the following page as a series of velocity channel maps with delta v = 13 km s(exp -1)

Examining the microfoundations of market incentives for asset-backed lending

A review of four papers that model market-based (as opposed to regulatory-based) forces driving the asset-backed lending market, revealing that under certain conditions, the information costs that make financial markets important as conduits of credit can also create nonregulatory incentives for asset-backed lending as an efficient funding mode.Asset-backed financing ; Bank loans

The Influence of Short-term Quercetin Supplementation on Peak Oxygen Uptake During Simulated Altitude Exposure in Trained Cyclists

International Journal of Exercise Science 8(4): 394-402, 2015. Endurance performance and peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) decline as altitude increases. Some data exist suggesting that quercetin supplementation improves aerobic capacity in trained and untrained individuals at sea-level (normobaric normoxic conditions). Few studies have examined the effects of quercetin on endurance performance during simulated altitude exposure (normobaric hypoxic conditions). The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of consuming 1000 mg·day-1 of quercetin for two weeks on cycling VO2peak in healthy trained male cyclists performing under normobaric normoxic and hypoxic conditions (NP and HP, respectively). Fourteen age-matched healthy male subjects were randomized to either a placebo or quercetin group. Baseline and post supplementation VO2peak values were quantified during incremental cycling under normobaric normoxic (FIO2 = 20.9%) and normobaric hypoxic (FIO2 = 13.6 + 0.2%) conditions. Subjects consumed capsules twice daily with either 500 mg quercetin or placebo (Tang) for two weeks and were re-assessed. Test order was randomized and assessments were separated by 48-72 hours. At baseline, there were no significant differences between groups for VO2peak normobaric normoxic trials (NPbaseline Placebo vs. NPbaseline Quercetin = 58.7+8.8 and 61.5+7.9 ml . kg-1 . min-1, respectively, p = 0.541) and normobaric hypoxic trials (HPbaseline Placebo vs. HPbaseline Quercetin = 48.5+8.3 and 50.8+4.8 ml . kg-1 . min-1, respectively, p = 0.534). No significant differences were found after treatment (Placebo: NPbaseline vs. NPpost = 58.7+ 8.8 and 56.7+7.4 ml . kg-1 . min-1, respectively, p = 0.10; HPbaseline vs .HPpost = 48.5+8.3 and 47.1+8.3, respectively, p = 0.50; Quercetin: NPbaseline vs. NPpost = 61.5+7.9 and 62.4+7.3 ml . kg-1 . min-1, respectively, p = 0.558; HPbaseline vs. HPpost = 50.8+4.8 and 51.2+3.8 ml . kg-1 . min-1, respectively, p= 0.656. These data suggest that short-term quercetin supplementation at 1000 mg . day-1 does not affect VO2peak elicited via incremental maximal cycle testing under normobaric normoxic and hypoxic conditions in trained male cyclists. Furthermore, quercetin supplementation did not attenuate the decline in VO2peak that was evident in the normobaric hypoxic condition

HCl Absorption Toward Sagittarius B2

We have detected the 626 GHz J = 1 → 0 transition of hydrogen chloride (H^(35)Cl) in absorption against the dust continuum emission of the molecular cloud Sagittarius B2. The observed line shape is consistent with the blending of the three hyperfine components of this transition by the velocity profile of Sgr B2 observed in other species. The apparent optical depth of the line is t ≈ 1, and the minimum HCl column density is 1.6 x 10^(14) cm^(-2) A detailed radiative transfer model was constructed which includes collisional and radiative excitation, absorption and emission by dust, and the radial variation of temperature and density. Good agreement between the model and the data is obtained for HCl/H_2 ~ 1.1 x 10^(-9). Comparison of this result to chemical models indicates that the depletion factor of gas-phase chlorine is between 50–180 in the molecular envelope surrounding the SgrB2(N) and (M) dust cores

Deprojection of Rich Cluster Images

We consider a general method of deprojecting 2D images to reconstruct the 3D structure of the projected object, assuming axial symmetry. The method consists of the application of the Fourier Slice Theorem to the general case where the axis of symmetry is not necessarily perpendicular to the line of sight, and is based on an extrapolation of the image Fourier transform into the so-called cone of ignorance. The method is specifically designed for the deprojection of X-ray, Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) and gravitational lensing maps of rich clusters of galaxies. For known values of the Hubble constant, H0, and inclination angle, the quality of the projection depends on how exact is the extrapolation in the cone of ignorance. In the case where the axis of symmetry is perpendicular to the line of sight and the image is noise-free, the deprojection is exact. Given an assumed value of H0, the inclination angle can be found by matching the deprojected structure out of two different images of a given cluster, e.g., SZ and X-ray maps. However, this solution is degenerate with respect to its dependence on the assumed H0, and a third independent image of the given cluster is needed to determine H0 as well. The application of the deprojection algorithm to upcoming SZ, X-ray and weak lensing projected mass images of clusters will serve to determine the structure of rich clusters, the value of H0, and place constraints on the physics of the intra-cluster gas and its relation to the total mass distribution.Comment: 7 pages, LaTeX, 2 Postscript figures, uses as2pp4.sty. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters. Also available at: http://astro.berkeley.edu:80/~squires/papers/deproj.ps.g

A λ = 1.3 Millimeter Aperture Synthesis Molecular Line Survey of Orion Kleinmann-Low

We present a 1".3 spatial resolution interferometric spectral line survey of the core of the Orion molecular cloud, obtained with the OVRO millimeter array. Covering 4 GHz bandwidth in total, the survey contains ~100 emission lines from 18 chemical species. The spatial distributions of a number of molecules point to source I near the IRc2 complex as the dominant energy source in the region but do not rule out the presence of additional lower luminosity objects. At arcsecond resolution, the offsets between dust emission and various molecular tracers suggest that the spectacular "hot core" emission in the Orion core arises via the heating and ablation of material from the surfaces of very high density clumps located ≳500 AU from source I and traced by the dust emission. We find no evidence for a strong internal heating source within the hot core condensation(s)

Markov Chain Monte Carlo joint analysis of Chandra X-ray imaging spectroscopy and Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect data

X-ray and Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect data can be combined to determine the distance to galaxy clusters. High-resolution X-ray data are now available from the Chandra Observatory, which provides both spatial and spectral information, and Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect data were obtained from the BIMA and OVRO arrays. We introduce a Markov chain Monte Carlo procedure for the joint analysis of X-ray and Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect data. The advantages of this method are the high computational efficiency and the ability to measure simultaneously the probability distribution of all parameters of interest, such as the spatial and spectral properties of the cluster gas and also for derivative quantities such as the distance to the cluster. We demonstrate this technique by applying it to the Chandra X-ray data and the OVRO radio data for the galaxy cluster Abell 611. Comparisons with traditional likelihood-ratio methods reveal the robustness of the method. This method will be used in follow-up papers to determine the distances to a large sample of galaxy clusters.Comment: ApJ accepted, scheduled for ApJ 10 October 2004, v614 issue. Title changed, added more convergence diagnostic tests, Figure 7 converted to lower resolution for easier download, other minor change

Submillimeter spectroscopy of interstellar hydrides

We discuss airborne observations of rotational transitions of various hydride molecules in the interstellar medium, including H_2^(18)O and HCI. The detection of these transitions is now feasible with a new, sensitive submillimeter receiver which has been developed for the NASA Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO) over the past several years

Plans for a 10-m Submillimeter-wave Telescope at the South Pole

A 10 meter diameter submillimeter-wave telescope has been proposed for the NSF Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Current evidence indicates that the South Pole is the best submillimeter-wave telescope site among all existing or proposed ground-based observatories. Proposed scientific programs place stringent requirements on the optical quality of the telescope design. In particular, reduction of the thermal background and offsets requires an off-axis, unblocked aperture, and the large field of view needed for survey observations requires shaped optics. This mix of design elements is well-suited for large scale (square degree) mapping of line and continuum radiation from submillimeter-wave sources at moderate spatial resolutions (4 to 60 arcsecond beam size) and high sensitivity (milliJansky flux density levels). the telescope will make arcminute angular scale, high frequency Cosmic Microwave Background measurements from the best possible ground-based site, using an aperture which is larger than is currently possible on orbital or airborne platforms. Effective use of this telescope will require development of large (1000 element) arrays of submillimeter detectors which are background-limited when illuminated by antenna temperatures near 50 K.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure