4,512 research outputs found
Sizing the European Shadow Banking System: A New Methodology
One of the critical unanswered questions relating to the shadow-banking system has been to quantify its scale in an industry where entities, by design, are opaque and often outside of regulated and publically shared frameworks.
However almost all shadow banking entities, including hedge funds, private equity funds and special purpose vehicles ("SPVs"), interact with the financial markets via regulated investment banks. For example, many SPVs are in fact originated as part of investment banking business and hedge funds typically transact in financial markets exclusively via the "prime brokerage" division of investment banks.
This interface with the regulated banking environment combines with the typical practise by investment banks of equalizing compensation (Including bonus) ratios to revenues globally which then allows identification of the implied difference in revenues and hence assets that represents the shadow banking system.
The paper will present for critique the results of this methodology to estimate the UK shadow banking system including European business managed from the UK. The estimate will imply a larger scale of shadow banking than previous estimates at £548 billion which, when combined with hedge fund assets of £360 billion (FSA, 2011) gives total shadow banking assets of over £900 billion. It is proposed that the large gap between the estimates of this paper and other estimates reflects the huge, and previously unknown, scale of offshore activities of UK investment banks
A conserved and essential basic region mediates tRNA binding to the Elp1 subunit of the <em>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</em> Elongator complex
Elongator is a conserved, multi-protein complex discovered in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, loss of which confers a range of pleiotropic phenotypes. Elongator in higher eukaryotes is required for normal growth and development and a mutation in the largest subunit of human Elongator (Elp1) causes familial dysautonomia, a severe recessive neuropathy. Elongator promotes addition of mcm(5) and ncm(5) modifications to uridine in the tRNA anticodon ‘wobble’ position in both yeast and higher eukaryotes. Since these modifications are required for the tRNAs to function efficiently, a translation defect caused by hypomodified tRNAs may therefore underlie the variety of phenotypes associated with Elongator dysfunction. The Elp1 carboxy-terminal domain contains a highly conserved arginine/lysine-rich region that resembles a nuclear localization sequence (NLS). Using alanine substitution mutagenesis, we show that this region is essential for Elongator's function in tRNA wobble uridine modification. However, rather than acting to determine the nucleo-cytoplasmic distribution of Elongator, we find that the basic region plays a critical role in a novel interaction between tRNA and the Elp1 carboxy-terminal domain. Thus the conserved basic region in Elp1 may be essential for tRNA wobble uridine modification by acting as tRNA binding motif
Improved Parameters and New Lensed Features for Q0957+561 from WFPC2 Imaging
New HST WFPC2 observations of the lensed double QSO 0957+561 will allow
improved constraints on the lens mass distribution and hence will improve the
derived value of H. We first present improved optical positions and
photometry for the known components of this lens. The optical separation
between the A and B quasar images agrees with VLBI data at the 10 mas level,
and the optical center of the primary lensing galaxy G1 coincides with the VLBI
source G' to within 10 mas. The best previous model for this lens (Grogin and
Narayan 1996) is excluded by these data and must be reevaluated.
Several new resolved features are found within 10\arcsec of G1, including an
apparent fold arc with two bright knots. Several other small galaxies are
detected, including two which may be multiple images of each other. We present
positions and crude photometry of these objects.Comment: 7 pages including 2 postscript figures, LaTeX, emulateapj style. Also
available at
http://www.astro.lsa.umich.edu:80/users/philf/www/papers/list.htm
Flow Injection Atomic Absorption Spectrometry: The Kinetics of Instrument Response
The concept of dispersion coefficient is discussed with particular reference to flow injection atomic absorption spectrometry where the detector contributes appreciably to the analytical signal characteristics. Single- and parallel-tank models of instrument response are developed and critically examined. The progress made to date by investigators of nebuliser performance is briefly reviewed prior to developing a semi-empirical extended-tank model of instrument response. The capabilities of this model are explored by deriving a set of equations for instrument response, and comparing the predictions with experimental results. Agreement is generally good. Advantages of the modelling approach are discussed
The Size Distribution of Trans-Neptunian Bodies
[Condensed] We search 0.02 deg^2 for trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) with
m<=29.2 (diameter ~15 km) using the ACS on HST. Three new objects are
discovered, roughly 25 times fewer than expected from extrapolation of the
differential sky density Sigma(m) of brighter objects. The ACS and other recent
TNO surveys show departures from a power law size distribution. Division of the
TNO sample into ``classical Kuiper belt'' (CKB) and ``Excited'' samples reveals
that Sigma(m) differs for the two populations at 96% confidence. A double power
law adequately fits all data. Implications include: The total mass of the CKB
is ~0.010 M_Earth, only a few times Pluto's mass, and is predominately in the
form of ~100 km bodies. The mass of Excited objects is perhaps a few times
larger. The Excited class has a shallower bright-end size distribution; the
largest objects, including Pluto, comprise tens of percent of the total mass
whereas the largest CKBOs are only ~2% of its mass. The predicted mass of the
largest Excited body is close to the Pluto mass; the largest CKBO is ~60 times
less massive. The deficit of small TNOs occurs for sizes subject to disruption
by present-day collisions, suggesting extensive depletion by collisions. Both
accretion and erosion appearing to have proceeded to more advanced stages in
the Excited class than the CKB. The absence of distant TNOs implies that any
distant (60 AU) population must have less than the CKB mass in the form of
objects 40 km or larger. The CKB population is sparser than theoretical
estimates of the required precursor population for short period comets, but the
Excited population could be a viable precursor population.Comment: Revised version accepted to the Astronomical Journal. Numerical
results are very slightly revised. Implications for the origins of
short-period comets are substantially revised, and tedious material on
statistical tests has been collected into a new Appendi
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