853 research outputs found
The Valuation of Mortgage Backed Securities with Stochastic Probabilities of Default and Prepayment
The aim of this paper is to provide a new approach to project the Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) cash flows in emerging markets where collateral information is limited, wrong or scarce. Under this framework, we use the Cox Process to model stochastic probabilities of prepayment and default. The model deals with general intensity dynamics and is applied to the starting MBS Mexican market.Mortgage valuation, MBS prepayment, MBS default, MBS curtailment, Cox Process.
Sea anemone model has a single Toll-like receptor that can function in pathogen detection, NF-ÎşB signal transduction, and development
In organisms from insects to vertebrates, Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are primary pathogen detectors that activate downstream pathways, specifically those that direct expression of innate immune effector genes. TLRs also have roles in development in many species. The sea anemone Nematostella vectensis is a useful cnidarian model to study the origins of TLR signaling because its genome encodes a single TLR and homologs of many downstream signaling components, including the NF-κB pathway. We have characterized the single N. vectensis TLR (Nv-TLR) and demonstrated that it can activate canonical NF-κB signaling in human cells. Furthermore, we show that the intracellular Toll/IL-1 receptor (TIR) domain of Nv-TLR can interact with the human TLR adapter proteins MAL and MYD88. We demonstrate that the coral pathogen Vibrio coralliilyticus causes a rapidly lethal disease in N. vectensis and that heat-inactivated V. coralliilyticus and bacterial flagellin can activate a reconstituted Nv-TLR–to–NF-κB pathway in human cells. By immunostaining of anemones, we show that Nv-TLR is expressed in a subset of cnidocytes and that many of these Nv-TLR–expressing cells also express Nv-NF-κB. Additionally, the nematosome, which is a Nematostella-specific multicellular structure, expresses Nv-TLR and many innate immune pathway homologs and can engulf V. coralliilyticus. Morpholino knockdown indicates that Nv-TLR also has an essential role during early embryonic development. Our characterization of this primitive TLR and identification of a bacterial pathogen for N. vectensis reveal ancient TLR functions and provide a model for studying the molecular basis of cnidarian disease and immunity.IOS-1354935 - National Science Foundation (NSF); GRFP - National Science Foundation (NSF); GRFP - National Science Foundation (NSF); 1262934 - National Science Foundation (NSF); 2014-BSP - Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundatio
G332.5-5.6, a new Galactic supernova remnant
We present radio observations of the source G332.5-5.6, a candidate supernova
remnant (SNR). Observations have been performed with the Australia Telescope
Compact Array (ATCA) at two frequencies, at 1.4 and 2.4 GHz. Our results
confirm that G332.5-5.6 is an SNR, with a spectral index equal to -0.7 +/- 0.2
for the whole source and an average fractional polarization of ~35% at 2.4 GHz.
The central component is coincident with extended X-ray emission and the
distance to the SNR is estimated to be ~3.4 kpc. Based on its radio and X-ray
morphology, this SNR should be classified as a composite, and we suggest that
it belongs to a trident-shaped subclass like G291.0-0.1.Comment: Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical
Societ
A molecular shell with star formation toward the supernova remnant G349.7+0.2
A field of ~38'x38' around the supernova remnant (SNR) G349.7+0.2 has been
surveyed in the CO J=1-0 transition with the 12 Meter Telescope of the NRAO,
using the On-The-Fly technique. The resolution of the observations is 54". We
have found that this remnant is interacting with a small CO cloud which, in
turn, is part of a much larger molecular complex, which we call the ``Large CO
Shell''. The Large CO Shell has a diameter of about 100 pc, an H_2 mass of
930,000 solar masses, and a density of 35 cm-3. We investigate the origin of
this structure and suggest that an old supernova explosion ocurred about 4
million years ago, as a suitable hypothesis. Analyzing the interaction between
G349.7+0.2 and the Large CO Shell, it is possible to determine that the shock
front currently driven into the molecular gas is a non-dissociative shock
(C-type), in agreement with the presence of OH 1720 MHz masers. The positional
and kinematical coincidence among one of the CO clouds that constitute the
Large CO Shell, an IRAS point-like source and an ultracompact H II region,
indicate the presence of a recently formed star. We suggest that the formation
of this star was triggered during the expansion of the Large CO Shell, and
suggest the possibility that the same expansion also created the progenitor
star of G349.7+0.2. The Large CO Shell would then be one of the few
observational examples of supernova-induced star formation.Comment: accepted in Astronomical Journal, corrected typo in the abstract (in
first line, 38' instead of 38"
Imaging transverse electron focusing in semiconducting heterostructures with spin-orbit coupling
Transverse electron focusing in two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) with
strong spin-orbit coupling is revisited. The transverse focusing is related to
the transmission between two contacts at the edge of a 2DEG when a
perpendicular magnetic field is applied. Scanning probe microscopy imaging
techniques can be used to study the electron flow in these systems. Using
numerical techniques we simulate the images that could be obtained in such
experiments. We show that hybrid edge states can be imaged and that the
outgoing flux can be polarized if the microscope tip probe is placed in
specific positions.Comment: Contribution to the Book/Proceedings of the PITP Les Houches School
on "Quantum Magnetism" held on June, 2006. Final forma
Cyclotron motion and magnetic focusing in semiconductor quantum wells with spin-orbit coupling
We investigate the ballistic motion of electrons in III-V semiconductor
quantum wells with Rashba spin-orbit coupling in a perpendicular magnetic
field. Taking into account the full quantum dynamics of the problem, we explore
the modifications of classical cyclotron orbits due to spin-orbit interaction.
As a result, for electron energies comparable with the cyclotron energy the
dynamics are particularly rich and not adequately described by semiclassical
approximations. Our study is complementary to previous semiclassical approaches
concentrating on the regime of weaker fields.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures included, version to appear in Phys. Rev.
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