Experience of Crisis-Hit Asian Countries: Do Asset Management Companies Increase Moral Hazard?

This paper attempts to examine the performances of Asian AMCs. Our analysis reveals that the AMCs vary significantly in their design and performances. We claim that AMCs can trigger moral hazard-inspired bank lending, especially when the mode of NPL transfer from banks to AMC entails little cost to banks. Empirical examination of Thai experience of AMCs reveals that the moral hazardinspired bank lending resulted in creating more new NPLs in the case of public AMCs. On the other hand, the new centralized AMC, the Thai Asset Management Company (TAMC) decreases the new NPL ratio, suggesting that TAMC provokes no adverse moral hazard effect on financial institutions. In addition, we find that the same institutional consideration significantly decreases new NPL in foreign banks and finance companies. The former because they are generally considered better managed, and the latter because they are the institutions that survived the Asian crisis, and hence the more viable and presumably better run finance companies

Identification and characterization of an inhibitory fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2) molecule, up-regulated in an Apert Syndrome mouse model

AS (Apert syndrome) is a congenital disease composed of skeletal, visceral and neural abnormalities, caused by dominant-acting mutations in FGFR2 [FGF (fibroblast growth factor) receptor 2]. Multiple FGFR2 splice variants are generated through alternative splicing, including PTC (premature termination codon)-containing transcripts that are normally eliminated via the NMD (nonsense-mediated decay) pathway. We have discovered that a soluble truncated FGFR2 molecule encoded by a PTC-containing transcript is up-regulated and persists in tissues of an AS mouse model. We have termed this IIIa–TM as it arises from aberrant splicing of FGFR2 exon 7 (IIIa) into exon 10 [TM (transmembrane domain)]. IIIa–TM is glycosylated and can modulate the binding of FGF1 to FGFR2 molecules in BIAcore-binding assays. We also show that IIIa–TM can negatively regulate FGF signalling in vitro and in vivo. AS phenotypes are thought to result from gain-of-FGFR2 signalling, but our findings suggest that IIIa–TM can contribute to these through a loss-of-FGFR2 function mechanism. Moreover, our findings raise the interesting possibility that FGFR2 signalling may be a regulator of the NMD pathway

Could we identify hot Ocean-Planets with CoRoT, Kepler and Doppler velocimetry?

Planets less massive than about 10 MEarth are expected to have no massive H-He atmosphere and a cometary composition (50% rocks, 50% water, by mass) provided they formed beyond the snowline of protoplanetary disks. Due to inward migration, such planets could be found at any distance between their formation site and the star. If migration stops within the habitable zone, this will produce a new kind of planets, called Ocean-Planets. Ocean-planets typically consist in a silicate core, surrounded by a thick ice mantle, itself covered by a 100 km deep ocean. The existence of ocean-planets raises important astrobiological questions: Can life originate on such body, in the absence of continent and ocean-silicate interfaces? What would be the nature of the atmosphere and the geochemical cycles ? In this work, we address the fate of Hot Ocean-Planets produced when migration ends at a closer distance. In this case the liquid/gas interface can disappear, and the hot H2O envelope is made of a supercritical fluid. Although we do not expect these bodies to harbor life, their detection and identification as water-rich planets would give us insight as to the abundance of hot and, by extrapolation, cool Ocean-Planets.Comment: 47 pages, 6 Fugures, regular paper. Submitted to Icaru

Direct Imaging of Fine Structures in Giant Planet Forming Regions of the Protoplanetary Disk around AB Aurigae

We report high-resolution 1.6 \micron polarized intensity ($PI$) images of the circumstellar disk around the Herbig Ae star AB Aur at a radial distance of 22 AU ($0."15$) up to 554 AU (3.$"$85), which have been obtained by the high-contrast instrument HiCIAO with the dual-beam polarimetry. We revealed complicated and asymmetrical structures in the inner part ($\lesssim$140 AU) of the disk, while confirming the previously reported outer ($r$ $\gtrsim$200 AU) spiral structure. We have imaged a double ring structure at $\sim$40 and $\sim$100 AU and a ring-like gap between the two. We found a significant discrepancy of inclination angles between two rings, which may indicate that the disk of AB Aur is warped. Furthermore, we found seven dips (the typical size is $\sim$45 AU or less) within two rings as well as three prominent $PI$ peaks at $\sim$40 AU. The observed structures, including a bumpy double ring, a ring-like gap, and a warped disk in the innermost regions, provide essential information for understanding the formation mechanism of recently detected wide-orbit ($r$ $>$20 AU) planets.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure

Imaging of a Transitional Disk Gap in Reflected Light: Indications of Planet Formation Around the Young Solar Analog LkCa 15

We present H- and Ks-band imaging data resolving the gap in the transitional disk around LkCa 15, revealing the surrounding nebulosity. We detect sharp elliptical contours delimiting the nebulosity on the inside as well as the outside, consistent with the shape, size, ellipticity, and orientation of starlight reflected from the far-side disk wall, whereas the near-side wall is shielded from view by the disk's optically thick bulk. We note that forward-scattering of starlight on the near-side disk surface could provide an alternate interpretation of the nebulosity. In either case, this discovery provides confirmation of the disk geometry that has been proposed to explain the spectral energy distributions (SED) of such systems, comprising an optically thick outer disk with an inner truncation radius of ~46 AU enclosing a largely evacuated gap. Our data show an offset of the nebulosity contours along the major axis, likely corresponding to a physical pericenter offset of the disk gap. This reinforces the leading theory that dynamical clearing by at least one orbiting body is the cause of the gap. Based on evolutionary models, our high-contrast imagery imposes an upper limit of 21 Jupiter masses on companions at separations outside of 0.1" and of 13 Jupiter masses outside of 0.2". Thus, we find that a planetary system around LkCa 15 is the most likely explanation for the disk architecture.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letters. Minor change to Figure

SEEDS direct imaging of the RV-detected companion to V450 Andromedae, and characterization of the system

We report the direct imaging detection of a low-mass companion to a young, moderately active star V450 And, that was previously identified with the radial velocity method. The companion was found in high-contrast images obtained with the Subaru Telescope equipped with the HiCIAO camera and AO188 adaptive optics system. From the public ELODIE and SOPHIE archives we extracted available high-resolution spectra and radial velocity (RV) measurements, along with RVs from the Lick planet search program. We combined our multi-epoch astrometry with these archival, partially unpublished RVs, and found that the companion is a low-mass star, not a brown dwarf, as previously suggested. We found the best-fitting dynamical masses to be $m_1=1.141_{-0.091}^{+0.037}$ and $m_2=0.279^{+0.023}_{-0.020}$ M$_\odot$. We also performed spectral analysis of the SOPHIE spectra with the iSpec code. The Hipparcos time-series photometry shows a periodicity of $P=5.743$ d, which is also seen in SOPHIE spectra as an RV modulation of the star A. We interpret it as being caused by spots on the stellar surface, and the star to be rotating with the given period. From the rotation and level of activity, we found that the system is $380^{+220}_{-100}$ Myr old, consistent with an isochrone analysis ($220^{+2120}_{-90}$ Myr). This work may serve as a test case for future studies of low-mass stars, brown dwarfs and exoplanets by combination of RV and direct imaging data.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, 7 tables, to appear in Ap