538 research outputs found
Federal Home Loan Bank advances and commercial bank portfolio composition
This paper considers the role of Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) advances in stabilizing their commercial bank members' residential mortgage lending activities. Our theoretical model shows that using mortgage-related membership criteria or requiring mortgage-related collateral does not ensure that FHLB advances will be put to use for stabilizing members' financing of housing. Using panel vector autoregression (VAR) techniques, we estimate recent dynamic responses of U.S. bank portfolios to FHLB advance shocks, bank lending shocks, and macroeconomic shocks. Our empirical findings suggest that FHLB advances are just as likely to fund other types of bank credit as to fund single-family mortgages.
Data documentation for the bare soil experiment at the University of Arkansas
The reflectivities of several controlled moisture test plots were investigated. These test plots were of a similar soil texture which was clay loam and were prepared to give a desired initial soil moisture and density profile. Measurements were conducted on the plots as the soil water redistributed for both long term and diurnal cycles. These measurements included reflectivity, gravimetric and volumetric soil moisture, soil moisture potential, and soil temperature
Optical Properties of High-Frequency Radio Sources from the Australia Telescope 20 GHz (AT20G) Survey
Our current understanding of radio-loud AGN comes predominantly from studies
at frequencies of 5 GHz and below. With the recent completion of the Australia
Telescope 20 GHz (AT20G) survey, we can now gain insight into the
high-frequency radio properties of AGN. This paper presents supplementary
information on the AT20G sources in the form of optical counterparts and
redshifts. Optical counterparts were identified using the SuperCOSMOS database
and redshifts were found from either the 6dF Galaxy survey or the literature.
We also report 144 new redshifts. For AT20G sources outside the Galactic plane,
78.5% have optical identifications and 30.9% have redshift information. The
optical identification rate also increases with increasing flux density.
Targets which had optical spectra available were examined to obtain a spectral
classification.
There appear to be two distinct AT20G populations; the high luminosity
quasars that are generally associated with point-source optical counterparts
and exhibit strong emission lines in the optical spectrum, and the lower
luminosity radio galaxies that are generally associated with passive galaxies
in both the optical images and spectroscopic properties. It is suggested that
these different populations can be associated with different accretion modes
(cold-mode or hot-mode). We find that the cold-mode sources have a steeper
spectral index and produce more luminous radio lobes, but generally reside in
smaller host galaxies than their hot-mode counterparts. This can be attributed
to the fact that they are accreting material more efficiently. Lastly, we
compare the AT20G survey with the S-cubed semi-empirical (S3-SEX) models and
conclude that the S3-SEX models need refining to correctly model the compact
cores of AGN. The AT20G survey provides the ideal sample to do this.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA
Probing Unstable Massive Neutrinos with Current Cosmic Microwave Background Observations
The pattern of anisotropies in the Cosmic Microwave Background depends upon
the masses and lifetimes of the three neutrino species. A neutrino species of
mass greater than 10 eV with lifetime between 10^{13} sec and 10^{17} sec
leaves a very distinct signature (due to the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect):
the anisotropies at large angles are predicted to be comparable to those on
degree scales. Present data exclude such a possibility and hence this region of
parameter space. For eV, sec, we find
an interesting possibility: the Integrated Sachs Wolfe peak produced by the
decaying neutrino in low- models mimics the acoustic peak expected in
an model.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Effect of BMAP-28 Antimicrobial Peptides on Leishmania major Promastigote and Amastigote Growth: Role of Leishmanolysin in Parasite Survival
Protozoan parasites are the causative agent of much disease in tropical areas of the world. Currently, the control of these diseases is dependent on outdated drug treatment, with associated high toxicity and drug resistance. There is an urgent need for novel anti-parasitic therapies. One emerging anti-parasitic therapies is Host defence peptides (HDPs). Here we test the HDP BMAP-28 as an anti-leishmanial therapy against two lifecycle stages of Leishmania major, the promastigotes (insect infective form) and the intracellular amastigote (mammalian infective form). Two stereoisomers of BMAP-28, the D-amino acid form (D-BMAP-28) and the retro-inverso form (RI-BMAP-28), were also tested for anti-leishmanial activity. The BMAP-28 form (L-form) was susceptible to degradation by GP63, the metalloproteinase that covers the promastigotes cell surface. However, the BMAP-28 isomers, the D-form and RI-form were resistant, and therefore more potent against the promastigote parasite. Though other anti-leishmanial HDP studies focus on the promastigote form of the parasite, it is the mammalian infective form, the amastigote, which causes the disease symptoms. Here we demonstrate that BMAP-28 and its isomers D-BMAP-28 and RI-BMAP-28 are effective against the amastigote form of the parasite using a macrophage infection model. These findings show that BMAP-28 has excellent potential as a novel anti-leishmanial therapeutic
Observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background and Implications for Cosmology and Large Scale Structure
Observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) are discussed, with
particular emphasis on current ground-based experiments and on future
satellite, balloon and interferometer experiments. Observational techniques and
the effects of contaminating foregrounds are highlighted. Recent CMB data is
used with large scale structure (LSS) data to constrain cosmological parameters
and the complementary nature of CMB, LSS and supernova distance data is
emphasized.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A., 1998, in pres
Recommended from our members
Beyond words: Aesthetic knowledge and knowing in design
Aesthetic knowledge comes from practitioners understanding the look, feel, smell, taste and sound of things. It is vital to work in many organizational contexts. In this paper, we explore aesthetic knowledge and knowing in organizations through detailed observation of design work in the architectural practice Edward Cullinan Architects. Through our research, we explore aesthetic knowledge in the context of architectural work, we unpack what it is, how it is generated, and how it is applied in design projects, shared between practitioners and developed at the level of the organization. Our analysis suggests that aesthetic knowledge plays an important part in organizational practice, not only as the symbolic context for work, but as an integral part of the work that people do. It suggests that aesthetic reflexivity, which involves an opening up and questioning of what is known, is experienced as part of practice as well as a `time out' from practice
- …