On credit spread slopes and predicting bank risk

The authors examine whether credit-spread curves, engendered by a mandatory subordinated-debt requirement for banks, would help predict bank risk. They extract the credit-spread curves each quarter for each bank in our sample, and analyze the information content of credit-spread slopes. They find that credit-spread slopes are significant predictors of future credit spreads. However, credit-spread slopes do not provide significant additional information on future bank-risk variables, over and above other bank-specific and market-wide information.Bank capital ; Risk

Monitoring and controlling bank risk: does risky debt serve any purpose?

To examine whether mandating banks to issue subordinated debt would enhance market monitoring and control risk-taking, the authors extract the credit-spread curve for each banking firm in their sample. After controlling for changes in market and liquidity variables, they find that changes in credit spreads do not reflect changes in bank risk variables. The result is robust to firm type, examination rating, size, leverage, and profitability, as well as to different model specifications. They also find that issuing subordinated debt does not alter banks' risk-taking behavior. They conclude that a mandatory subordinated debt requirement for banks is unlikely to provide the intended benefits of enhancing risk-monitoring or controlling risk-taking.Bank capital ; Risk

Relativistic spin precession in the binary PSR J1141−-6545

PSR J1141$-$6545 is a precessing binary pulsar that has the rare potential to reveal the two-dimensional structure of a non-recycled pulsar emission cone. It has undergone $\sim 25 \deg$ of relativistic spin precession in the $\sim18$ years since its discovery. In this paper, we present a detailed Bayesian analysis of the precessional evolution of the width of the total intensity profile, to understand the changes to the line-of-sight impact angle ($\beta$) of the pulsar using four different physically motivated prior distribution models. Although we cannot statistically differentiate between the models with confidence, the temporal evolution of the linear and circular polarisations strongly argue that our line-of-sight crossed the magnetic pole around MJD 54000 and that only two models remain viable. For both these models, it appears likely that the pulsar will precess out of our line-of-sight in the next $3-5$ years, assuming a simple beam geometry. Marginalising over $\beta$ suggests that the pulsar is a near-orthogonal rotator and provides the first polarization-independent estimate of the scale factor ($\mathbb{A}$) that relates the pulsar beam opening angle ($\rho$) to its rotational period ($P$) as $\rho = \mathbb{A}P^{-0.5}$ : we find it to be $> 6 \rm~deg~s^{0.5}$ at 1.4 GHz with 99\% confidence. If all pulsars emit from opposite poles of a dipolar magnetic field with comparable brightness, we might expect to see evidence of an interpulse arising in PSR J1141$-$6545, unless the emission is patchy.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letter

Technology Assessment and Refinement of Farming Practices in Vypeen Island, Kerala: Implications for Designing Effective and Socially Optimal Development Strategies

Traditional farming practices of diverse production systems in a defined coastal agro-ecosystem is assessedthrough participatoryapproachesand later refinedthrougha plannedset of techno-interventions,as part of the widely acclaimed Institution Village Linkage Programme (IVLP). The strategies adopted for the implementationand executionof IVLPbythe Central MarineFisheriesResearchInstitute,Kochi hasembedded with tools for a socially optimal development paradigm. The techno-interventions are carried out in a coastal village of Vypeen Island -Elamkunnapuzha- in Ernakulam district during first phase and later to the whole of Vypeen Island, for horizontally expanded interventions in second phase. The present paper focuses on the extension processes that contributedto the success of IVLPand alsoon a comparativeeconomic assessment of the consumptive value of the various produce brewed out of plannedscientific interventions in aquaculture, livestock management and agri-hortifarming.The study made useof the secondary data from IVLPof CMFRI and a rapid rural appraisal on linkages and sustainability components. The IVLP has been successful in building instantaneous linkagesamong farmers, fisherfolk, researchinstitutions, agricultural universitiesand the local extension system. The linkages established by IVLP is assessed by way of actor-linkage-matrix developed for monitoring partnership building and found that it has made significant linkages with various institutions. There is enough space for building further linkages especially with NGOs and other community based organisations for an intensivesustainability of the project benefit. Onthe output side, the comparative economic assessment revealsthe considerable improvement in overall productionand earnings comparedto traditional farming practices. Aquaculture demands comparatively more investment than those of livestock management and agri-horti farming,and resulted in better economic returns

On the Fermionic Frequencies of Circular Strings

We revisit the semiclassical computation of the fluctuation spectrum around different circular string solutions in AdS_5xS^5 and AdS_4xCP^3, starting from the Green-Schwarz action. It has been known that the results for these frequencies obtained from the algebraic curve and from the worldsheet computations sometimes do not agree. In particular, different methods give different results for the half-integer shifts in the mode numbers of the frequencies. We find that these discrepancies can be removed if one carefully takes into account the transition matrices in the spin bundle over the target space.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figur

Weakly coupled N=4 Super Yang-Mills and N=6 Chern-Simons theories from u(2|2) Yangian symmetry

In this paper we derive the universal R-matrix for the Yangian Y(u(2|2)), which is an abstract algebraic object leading to rational solutions of the Yang-Baxter equation on representations. We find that on the fundamental representation the universal R-matrix reduces to the standard rational R-matrix R = R_0(1 + P/u), where the scalar prefactor is surprisingly simple compared to prefactors one finds e.g. for sl(n) R-matrices. This leads precisely to the S-matrix giving the Bethe Ansatz of one-loop N = 4 Super Yang-Mills theory and two-loop N = 6 Chern-Simons theory.Comment: 16 page

Can Quantum de Sitter Space Have Finite Entropy?

If one tries to view de Sitter as a true (as opposed to a meta-stable) vacuum, there is a tension between the finiteness of its entropy and the infinite-dimensionality of its Hilbert space. We invetsigate the viability of one proposal to reconcile this tension using $q$-deformation. After defining a differential geometry on the quantum de Sitter space, we try to constrain the value of the deformation parameter by imposing the condition that in the undeformed limit, we want the real form of the (inherently complex) quantum group to reduce to the usual SO(4,1) of de Sitter. We find that this forces $q$ to be a real number. Since it is known that quantum groups have finite-dimensional representations only for $q=$ root of unity, this suggests that standard $q$-deformations cannot give rise to finite dimensional Hilbert spaces, ruling out finite entropy for q-deformed de Sitter.Comment: 10 pages, v2: references added, v3: minor corrections, abstract and title made more in-line with the result, v4: published versio

Dietetic hepatic lesions: influence of protein level and vitamin B<SUB>2</SUB> complex deficiency on the liver of rats

1. Attempts have been made to induce hepatic lesions in albino rats by varying the quantity of the protein (casein) and by withholding the supply of the vitamins of the B2 complex. 2. On the vitamin B2 complex deficient diets, the average life-span of the rats was largely influenced by the casein content of the diet, while those which received similar casein diets with yeast as supplement lived longer. 3. Fatty infiltration of the liver with progressive fibrosis (akin to human portal cirrhosis) can be more easily produced in rats by prolonged feeding of diets low in protein (casein) content and deficient in the vitamins of the B2 complex. 4. Increasing the level of protein (casein) in the diet or supplementing low protein diets with yeast has a marked corrective effect on fatty infiltration of the liver and this is attributed to their respective methionine and choline content. 5. In general, the vitamins of the B2 complex have a marked beneficial effect on the fatty livers when given early enough as a supplement

Evolution of dopant-induced helium nanoplasmas

Two-component nanoplasmas generated by strong-field ionization of doped helium nanodroplets are studied in a pump-probe experiment using few-cycle laser pulses in combination with molecular dynamics simulations. High yields of helium ions and a pronounced, droplet size-dependent resonance structure in the pump-probe transients reveal the evolution of the dopant-induced helium nanoplasma. The pump-probe dynamics is interpreted in terms of strong inner ionization by the pump pulse and resonant heating by the probe pulse which controls the final charge states detected via the frustration of electron-ion recombination