Fair value accounting and financial stability.

Market prices give timely signals that can aid decision making. However, in the presence of distorted incentives and illiquid markets, there are other less benign effects that inject artifi cial volatility to prices that distorts real decisions. In a world of marking-to-market, asset price changes show up immediately on the balance sheets of financial intermediaries and elicit responses from them. Banks and other intermediaries have always responded to changes in economic environment, but marking-to-market sharpens and synchronises their responses, adding impetus to the feedback effects in financial markets. For junior assets trading in liquid markets (such as traded stocks), marking-to-market is superior to historical cost in terms of the trade-offs. But for senior, long-lived and illiquid assets and liabilities (such as bank loans and insurance liabilities), the harm caused by distortions can outweigh the benefi ts. We review the competing effects and weigh the arguments.

Evolution of the electronic structure with size in II-VI semiconductor nanocrystals

In order to provide a quantitatively accurate description of the band gap variation with sizes in various II-VI semiconductor nanocrystals, we make use of the recently reported tight-binding parametrization of the corresponding bulk systems. Using the same tight-binding scheme and parameters, we calculate the electronic structure of II-VI nanocrystals in real space with sizes ranging between 5 and 80 {\AA} in diameter. A comparison with available experimental results from the literature shows an excellent agreement over the entire range of sizes.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, accepted in Phys. Rev.

Dual-color emitting quantum-dot-quantum-well CdSe-ZnS heteronanocrystals hybridized on InGaN/GaN light emitting diodes for high-quality white light generation

Cataloged from PDF version of article.We report white light generation by hybridizing green-red emitting (CdSe)ZnS/CdSe (core)shell/shell quantum-dot-quantum-well heteronanocrystals on blue InGaN/GaN light emitting diodes with the photometric properties of tristimulus coordinates (x,y)=(0.36,0.30), luminous efficacy of optical radiation LE=278 lm/W, correlated color temperature CCT=3929 K, and color-rendering index CRI=75.1. We present the photometric analysis and the quantum mechanical design of these dual-color emitting heteronanocrystals synthesized to achieve high-quality white light when hybridized on light emitting diodes. Using such multicolor emitting heteronanocrystals facilitates simple device implementation while providing good photometric properties. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics

An accurate description of quantum size effects in InP nanocrystallites over a wide range of sizes

We obtain an effective parametrization of the bulk electronic structure of InP within the Tight Binding scheme. Using these parameters, we calculate the electronic structure of InP clusters with the size ranging upto 7.5 nm. The calculated variations in the electronic structure as a function of the cluster size is found to be in excellent agreement with experimental results over the entire range of sizes, establishing the effectiveness and transferability of the obtained parameter strengths.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, pdf file available at http://sscu.iisc.ernet.in/~sampan/publications.htm

Controlling for transactions bias in regional house price indices

Transactions bias arises when properties that trade are not a random sample of the total housing stock. Price indices are susceptible because they are typically based on transactions data. Existing approaches to this problem rely on Heckman-type correction methods, where a probit regression is used to capture the differences between properties that sell and those that do not sell in a given period. However, this approach can only be applied where there is reliable data on the whole housing stock. In many countries—the UK included—no such data exist and there is little prospect of correcting for transactions bias in any of the regularly updated mainstream house price indices. Thispaper suggests a possible alternative approach, using information at postcode sector level and Fractional Probit Regression to correct for transactions bias in hedonic price indices based on one and a half million house sales from 1996 to 2004, distributed across 1200 postcode sectors in the South East of England

Efficient unfolding pattern recognition in single molecule force spectroscopy data

BackgroundSingle-molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) is a technique that measures the force necessary to unfold a protein. SMFS experiments generate Force-Distance (F-D) curves. A statistical analysis of a set of F-D curves reveals different unfolding pathways. Information on protein structure, conformation, functional states, and inter- and intra-molecular interactions can be derived.ResultsIn the present work, we propose a pattern recognition algorithm and apply our algorithm to datasets from SMFS experiments on the membrane protein bacterioRhodopsin (bR). We discuss the unfolding pathways found in bR, which are characterised by main peaks and side peaks. A main peak is the result of the pairwise unfolding of the transmembrane helices. In contrast, a side peak is an unfolding event in the alpha-helix or other secondary structural element. The algorithm is capable of detecting side peaks along with main peaks.Therefore, we can detect the individual unfolding pathway as the sequence of events labeled with their occurrences and co-occurrences special to bR\u27s unfolding pathway. We find that side peaks do not co-occur with one another in curves as frequently as main peaks do, which may imply a synergistic effect occurring between helices. While main peaks co-occur as pairs in at least 50% of curves, the side peaks co-occur with one another in less than 10% of curves. Moreover, the algorithm runtime scales well as the dataset size increases.ConclusionsOur algorithm satisfies the requirements of an automated methodology that combines high accuracy with efficiency in analyzing SMFS datasets. The algorithm tackles the force spectroscopy analysis bottleneck leading to more consistent and reproducible results

Multi-layered CdSe/ZnS/CdSe heteronanocrystals to generate and tune white light

[No abstract available

Why have asset price properties changed so little in 200 years

We first review empirical evidence that asset prices have had episodes of large fluctuations and been inefficient for at least 200 years. We briefly review recent theoretical results as well as the neurological basis of trend following and finally argue that these asset price properties can be attributed to two fundamental mechanisms that have not changed for many centuries: an innate preference for trend following and the collective tendency to exploit as much as possible detectable price arbitrage, which leads to destabilizing feedback loops.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure

Tuning shades of white light with multi-color quantum-dot-quantum-well emitters based on onion-like CdSe-ZnS heteronanocrystals

We present white light generation controlled and tuned by multi-color quantum-dot-quantum-well emitters made of onion-like CdSe/ZnS/CdSe core/shell/shell heteronanocrystals integrated on InGaN/GaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs). We demonstrate hybrid white LEDs with (x, y) tristimulus coordinates tuned from (0.26, 0.33) to (0.37, 0.36) and correlated color temperatures from 27 413 to 4192 K by controlling the number of their integrated red-green-emitting heteronanocrystals. We investigate the modification of in-film emission from these multi-layered heteronanocrystals with respect to their in-solution emission, which plays a significant role in hybrid LED applications. Our proof-of-principle experiments indicate that these complex heteronanocrystals hold promise for use as nanoluminophors in future hybrid white LEDs. © IOP Publishing Ltd

Development and characterization of CD22-targeted pegylated-liposomal doxorubicin (IL-PLD)

Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) is the sixth most common cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. Most NHLs initially respond well to chemotherapy, but relapse is common and treatment is often limited due to the toxicity of chemotherapeutic agents. Pegylated-liposomal doxorubicin (PLD, Ben Venue Laboratories, Inc), a produces less myelotoxicity than non-liposomal (NL) doxorubicin. To further enhance efficacy and NHL targeting and to decrease toxicity, we conjugated an anti-CD22 monoclonal antibody (HB22.7) to the surface of PLD, thereby creating CD22-targeted immunoliposomal PLD (IL-PLD). HB22.7 was successfully conjugated to PLD and the resulting IL-PLD exhibits specific binding to CD22-expressing cells as assessed by immunofluorescence staining. IL-PLD exhibits more cytotoxicity than PLD in CD22 positive cell lines but does not increase killing of CD22 negative cells. The IC50 of IL-PLD is 3.1 to 5.4 times lower than that of PLD in CD22+ cell lines while the IC50 of IL-PLD is equal to that of PLD in CD22- cells. Furthermore, IL-PLD remained bound to the CD22+ cells after washing and continued to exert cytotoxic effects, while PLD and NL- doxorubicin could easily be washed from these cells