Using jet mass to discover vector quarks at the LHC

We illustrate the utility of jet mass distributions as probes of new physics at the LHC, focusing on a heavy vector-quark doublet that mixes with the top as a concrete example. For 1 TeV vector-quark masses, we find that signals with greater than 5 sigma significance can be achieved after 100 fb^-1. More generally, jet mass distributions have the potential to provide signals for heavy states that produce highly boosted weak gauge bosons and/or top quarks.Comment: 7pages, 5 figures; references adde

Advances in Atomic Data for Neutron-Capture Elements

Neutron(n)-capture elements (atomic number Z>30), which can be produced in planetary nebula (PN) progenitor stars via s-process nucleosynthesis, have been detected in nearly 100 PNe. This demonstrates that nebular spectroscopy is a potentially powerful tool for studying the production and chemical evolution of trans-iron elements. However, significant challenges must be addressed before this goal can be achieved. One of the most substantial hurdles is the lack of atomic data for n-capture elements, particularly that needed to solve for their ionization equilibrium (and hence to convert ionic abundances to elemental abundances). To address this need, we have computed photoionization cross sections and radiative and dielectronic recombination rate coefficients for the first six ions of Se and Kr. The calculations were benchmarked against experimental photoionization cross section measurements. In addition, we computed charge transfer (CT) rate coefficients for ions of six n-capture elements. These efforts will enable the accurate determination of nebular Se and Kr abundances, allowing robust investigations of s-process enrichments in PNe.Comment: To be published in IAU Symp. 283: Planetary Nebulae, an Eye to the Future; 2 page

Validation of the Satisfaction Scale of Basic Psychological Needs in Physical Education with the Incorporation of the Novelty in the Spanish Context

The purpose of the study was to validate to the physical education context, the Spanish version of the Scale of the Satisfaction of Psychological Needs toward the Physical Education classes of Menéndez and Fernández-Rio, with the incorporation of the novelty, since they contemplated its inclusion. In this study, 1444 students participated (mean = 15.34, standard deviation = 1.12) from several schools in Almeria. To analyze the psychometric properties of the scale, several analyses were carried out. The results offered support for both the four-factor structure and the higher-order model called satisfaction. The analysis of invariance with respect to gender showed that the factor structure of the questionnaire was invariant. The Cronbach alpha values were higher than 0.70 in the subscales. The results of this study demonstrated the reliability and validity of the Scale of the Satisfaction of Psychological Needs, with the incorporation of novelty in the Spanish context of Physical Education

Hypothalamic Vitamin D Improves Glucose Homeostasis and Reduces Weight

Despite clear associations between vitamin D deficiency and obesity and/or type 2 diabetes, a causal relationship is not established. Vitamin D receptors (VDRs) are found within multiple tissues, including the brain. Given the importance of the brain in controlling both glucose levels and body weight, we hypothesized that activation of central VDR links vitamin D to the regulation of glucose and energy homeostasis. Indeed, we found that small doses of active vitamin D, 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25D3) (calcitriol), into the third ventricle of the brain improved glucose tolerance and markedly increased hepatic insulin sensitivity, an effect that is dependent upon VDR within the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. In addition, chronic central administration of 1,25D3 dramatically decreased body weight by lowering food intake in obese rodents. Our data indicate that 1,25D3-mediated changes in food intake occur through action within the arcuate nucleus. We found that VDR colocalized with and activated key appetite-regulating neurons in the arcuate, namely proopiomelanocortin neurons. Together, these findings define a novel pathway for vitamin D regulation of metabolism with unique and divergent roles for central nervous system VDR signaling. Specifically, our data suggest that vitamin D regulates glucose homeostasis via the paraventricular nuclei and energy homeostasis via the arcuate nuclei

On the use of multiple criteria distance indexes to find robust cash management policies

[EN] Cash management decision-making can be handled from a multiobjective perspective by optimizing not only cost but also risk. Nevertheless, choosing the best policies under a changing context is by no means straightforward. To this end, we rely on compromise programming to incorporate robustness as an additional goal to cost and risk within a multiobjective framework. As a result, we propose to calculate robustness as a multiple criteria distance index that is able to identify the best compromise policies in terms of cost and risk. Such policies are also robust to cash flow regime changes. We show its utility by transforming the Miller and Orr s cash management model into its robust counterpart using real data from an industrial company.Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad [grant number Collectiveware TIN2015-66863-C2-1-R], [grant number 2014 SGR 118]. Work partially funded by projects Collectiveware TIN2015-66863-C2-1-R (MINECO/FEDER) and 2014 SGR 118.Salas-Molina, F.; Rodriguez-Aguilar, JA.; Pla Santamaría, D. (2019). On the use of multiple criteria distance indexes to find robust cash management policies. INFOR Information Systems and Operational Research. 57(3):345-360. https://doi.org/10.1080/03155986.2017.1282291S34536057

An analytic derivation of the efficient frontier in biobjective cash management and its implications for policies

[EN] Cash managers who optimize returns and risk rely on biobjective optimization models to select the best policies according to their risk preferences. In the related portfolio selection problem, Merton (J Financ Quant Anal 7(4):1851¿1872, 1972) provided the first analytical derivation of the efficient frontier with all non-dominated return and risk combinations. This first proposal was later extended to account for three or more criteria by other authors. However, the cash management literature needs an analytical derivation of the efficient frontier to help cash managers evaluate the implications of selecting policies and risk measures. In this paper, we provide three analytic derivations of the efficient frontier determining a closed-form solution for the expected returns and risk relationship using three different risk measures. We study its main properties and its theoretical implications for policies. Using the variance of returns as a risk measure imposes limitations due to invertibility reasons.Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature.Salas-Molina, F.; Pla Santamaría, D.; Rodriguez-Aguilar, JA. (2023). An analytic derivation of the efficient frontier in biobjective cash management and its implications for policies. Annals of Operations Research (Online). 328(2):1523-1536. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-023-05433-z152315363282Baumol, W. J. (1952). The transactions demand for cash: An inventory theoretic approach. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 66(4), 545–556.Constantinides, G. M., & Richard, S. F. (1978). Existence of optimal simple policies for discounted-cost inventory and cash management in continuous time. Operations Research, 26(4), 620–636.da Costa Moraes, M. B., Nagano, M. S., Sobreiro, V. A., et al. (2015). Stochastic cash flow management models: A literature review since the 1980s. In P. Guarnieri (Ed.), Decision Models in Engineering and Management (pp. 11–28). Berlin: Springer.Markowitz, H. (1952). The Portfolio selection. Journal of Finance, 7(1), 77–91.Merton, R. C. (1972). An analytic derivation of the efficient portfolio frontier. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 7(4), 1851–1872.Miller, M. H., & Orr, D. (1966). A model of the demand for money by firms. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 80(3), 413–435.Qi, Y. (2020). Parametrically computing efficient frontiers of portfolio selection and reporting and utilizing the piecewise-segment structure. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 71(10), 1675–1690.Qi, Y. (2022). Classifying the minimum-variance surface of multiple-objective portfolio selection for capital asset pricing models. Annals of Operations Research, 311(2), 1203–1227.Qi, Y., & Li, X. (2020). On imposing ESG constraints of portfolio selection for sustainable investment and comparing the efficient frontiers in the weight space. SAGE Open, 10(4), 1–17.Qi, Y., & Steuer, R. E. (2020). On the analytical derivation of efficient sets in quad-and-higher criterion portfolio selection. Annals of Operations Research, 293(2), 521–538.Qi, Y., Steuer, R. E., & Wimmer, M. (2017). An analytical derivation of the efficient surface in portfolio selection with three criteria. Annals of Operations Research, 251(1–2), 161–177.Salas-Molina, F. (2019). Selecting the best risk measure in multiobjective cash management. International Transactions in Operational Research, 26(3), 929–945.Salas-Molina, F. (2020). Risk-sensitive control of cash management systems. Operational Research, 20(2), 1159–1176.Salas-Molina, F., Pla-Santamaria, D., & Rodríguez-Aguilar, J. A. (2018). Empowering cash managers through compromise programming. In H. Masri, B. Perez-Gladish, & C. Zopounidis (Eds.), Financial decision aid using multiple criteria (pp. 149–173). Berlin: Springer.Salas-Molina, F., Pla-Santamaria, D., & Rodriguez-Aguilar, J. A. (2018). A multi-objective approach to the cash management problem. Annals of Operations Research, 267(1), 515–529.Salas-Molina, F., Rodriguez-Aguilar, J. A., & Díaz-García, P. (2018). Selecting cash management models from a multiobjective perspective. Annals of Operations Research, 261(1), 275–288.Salas-Molina, F., Rodriguez-Aguilar, J. A., Pla-Santamaria, D., & García-Bernabeu, A. (2021). On the formal foundations of cash management systems. Operational Research, 21(2), 1081–1095.Salas-Molina, F., Rodríguez-Aguilar, J. A., & Guillen, M. (2023). A multidimensional review of the cash management problem. Financial Innovation, 9(67), 1–35.Savage, L. J. (1951). The theory of statistical decision. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 46(253), 55–67.Schroeder, P., & Kacem, I. (2019). Optimal cash management with uncertain, interrelated and bounded demands. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 133, 195–206.Schroeder, P., & Kacem, I. (2020). Competitive difference analysis of the cash management problem with uncertain demands. European Journal of Operational Research, 283(3), 1183–1192

Characterizing compromise solutions for investors with uncertain risk preferences

[EN] The optimum portfolio selection for an investor with particular preferences was proven to lie on the normalized efficient frontier between two bounds defined by the Ballestero (1998) bounding theorem. A deeper understanding is possible if the decision-maker is provided with visual and quantitative techniques. Here, we derive useful insights as a way to support investor's decision-making through: (i) a new theorem to assess balance of solutions; (ii) a procedure and a new plot to deal with discrete efficient frontiers and uncertain risk preferences; and (iii) two quality metrics useful to predict long-run performance of investors.Work partially funded by projects Collectiveware TIN2015-66863-C2-1-R (MINECO/FEDER) and 2014 SGR 118Salas-Molina, F.; Rodriguez-Aguilar, JA.; Pla Santamaría, D. (2019). Characterizing compromise solutions for investors with uncertain risk preferences. Operational Research. 19(3):661-677. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12351-017-0309-6S661677193Amiri M, Ekhtiari M, Yazdani M (2011) Nadir compromise programming: a model for optimization of multi-objective portfolio problem. Expert Syst Appl 38(6):7222–7226Ballestero E (1998) Approximating the optimum portfolio for an investor with particular preferences. J Oper Res Soc 49:998–1000Ballestero E (2007) Compromise programming: a utility-based linear-quadratic composite metric from the trade-off between achievement and balanced (non-corner) solutions. Eur J Oper Res 182(3):1369–1382Ballestero E, Pla-Santamaria D (2004) Selecting portfolios for mutual funds. Omega 32(5):385–394Ballestero E, Pla-Santamaria D, Garcia-Bernabeu A, Hilario A (2015) Portfolio selection by compromise programming. In: Ballestero E, Pérez-Gladish B, Garcia-Bernabeu A (eds) Socially responsible investment. A multi-criteria decision making approach, vol 219. Springer, Switzerland, pp 177–196Ballestero E, Romero C (1996) Portfolio selection: a compromise programming solution. J Oper Res Soc 47(11):1377–1386Ballestero E, Romero C (1998) Multiple criteria decision making and its applications to economic problems. Kluwer Academic Publishers, BerlinBilbao-Terol A, Pérez-Gladish B, Arenas-Parra M, Rodríguez-Uría MV (2006) Fuzzy compromise programming for portfolio selection. Appl Math Comput 173(1):251–264Bravo M, Ballestero E, Pla-Santamaria D (2012) Evaluating fund performance by compromise programming with linear-quadratic composite metric: an actual case on the caixabank in spain. J Multi-Criteria Decis Anal 19(5–6):247–255Ehrgott M, Klamroth K, Schwehm C (2004) An MCDM approach to portfolio optimization. Eur J Oper Res 155(3):752–770Fawcett T (2006) An introduction to ROC analysis. Pattern Recognit Lett 27(8):861–874Hernández-Orallo J, Flach P, Ferri C (2013) ROC curves in cost space. Mach Learn 93(1):71–91Markowitz H (1952) Portfolio selection. J Finance 7(1):77–91Pla-Santamaria D, Bravo M (2013) Portfolio optimization based on downside risk: a mean-semivariance efficient frontier from dow jones blue chips. Ann Oper Res 205(1):189–201Ringuest JL (1992) Multiobjective optimization: behavioral and computational considerations. Springer Science & Business Media, BerlinSteuer RE, Qi Y, Hirschberger M (2007) Suitable-portfolio investors, nondominated frontier sensitivity, and the effect of multiple objectives on standard portfolio selection. Ann Oper Res 152(1):297–317Xidonas P, Mavrotas G, Krintas T, Psarras J, Zopounidis C (2012) Multicriteria portfolio management. Springer, BerlinYu P-L (1973) A class of solutions for group decision problems. Manag Sci 19(8):936–946Yu P-L (1985) Multiple criteria decision making: concepts, techniques and extensions. Plenum Press, BerlinZeleny M (1982) Multiple criteria decision making. McGraw-Hill, New Yor

Direct Hydroxylation of Phenol to Dihydroxybenzenes by H2O2 and Fe-based Metal-Organic Framework Catalyst at Room Temperature

A semi-crystalline iron-based metal-organic framework (MOF), in particular Fe-BTC, that contained 20 wt.% Fe, was sustainably synthesized at room temperature and extensively characterized. Fe-BTC nanopowders could be used as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for the synthesis of dihydroxybenzenes (DHBZ), from phenol with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), as oxidant under organic solvent-free conditions. The influence of the reaction temperature, H2O2 concentration and catalyst dose were studied in the hydroxylation performance of phenol and MOF stability. Fe-BTC was active and stable (with negligible Fe leaching) at room conditions. By using intermittent dosing of H2O2, the catalytic performance resulted in a high DHBZ selectivity (65%) and yield (35%), higher than those obtained for other Fe-based MOFs that typically require reaction temperatures above 70◦C. The long-term experiments in a fixed-bed flow reactor demonstrated good Fe-BTC durability at the above conditionsThe authors thank the financial support by Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT) for the grant number 764635 and the project 256296; and to TNM for the supporting project 5627.19.P. Also, to the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (MICINN) and FEDER program (EU) through the projects: CTM2016-76454-R (MICINN) and RTI2018-095052-B-I00 ((MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE

Mechanical Isolation of Highly Stable Antimonene under Ambient Conditions

Using mechanical exfoliation combined with a controlled double step transfer procedure we demonstrate that single layers of antimony can be readily produced. These flakes are not significantly contaminated upon exposure to ambient conditions and they do not react with water. DFT calculations confirm our experimental observations and predict a band gap of 1.2-1.3 eV (ambient conditions) for single layer antimonene, which is smaller than that calculated under vacuum conditions at 0 K. Our work confirms antimonene as a highly stable 2D material with promising relevant applications in optoelectronics.Comment: main paper: 5 pages, 4 figures supporting: 9 pages, 7 figures, Advanced Materials, 201