Deep Learning for Forecasting Stock Returns in the Cross-Section

Many studies have been undertaken by using machine learning techniques, including neural networks, to predict stock returns. Recently, a method known as deep learning, which achieves high performance mainly in image recognition and speech recognition, has attracted attention in the machine learning field. This paper implements deep learning to predict one-month-ahead stock returns in the cross-section in the Japanese stock market and investigates the performance of the method. Our results show that deep neural networks generally outperform shallow neural networks, and the best networks also outperform representative machine learning models. These results indicate that deep learning shows promise as a skillful machine learning method to predict stock returns in the cross-section.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, 8 tables, accepted at PAKDD 201

Microencapsulated foods as a functional delivery vehicle for omega-3 fatty acids: a pilot study

It is well established that the ingestion of the omega-3 (N3) fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) positively benefit a variety of health indices. Despite these benefits the actual intake of fish derived N3 is relatively small in the United States. The primary aim of our study was to examine a technology capable of delivering omega-3 fatty acids in common foods via microencapsulation (MicroN3) in young, healthy, active participants who are at low risk for cardiovascular disease. Accordingly, we randomized 20 participants (25.4 ± 6.2 y; 73.4 ± 5.1 kg) to receive the double blind delivery of a placebo-matched breakfast meal (~2093 kJ) containing MicroN3 (450–550 mg EPA/DHA) during a 2-week pilot trial. Overall, we observed no differences in overall dietary macronutrient intake other than the N3 delivery during our treatment regimen. Post-test ANOVA analysis showed a significant elevation in mean (SE) plasma DHA (91.18 ± 9.3 vs. 125.58 ± 11.3 umol/L; P < 0.05) and a reduction in triacylglycerols (89.89 ± 12.8 vs. 80.78 ± 10.4 mg/dL; P < 0.05) accompanying the MicroN3 treatment that was significantly different from placebo (P < 0.05). In post study interviews, participants reported that the ingested food was well-tolerated, contained no fish taste, odor or gastrointestinal distress accompanying treatment. The use of MicroN3 foods provides a novel delivery system for the delivery of essential fatty acids. Our study demonstrates that MicroN3 foods promote the absorption of essential N3, demonstrate bioactivity within 2 weeks of ingestion and are well tolerated in young, active participants who are at low risk for cardiovascular disease

Accreting Millisecond X-Ray Pulsars

Accreting Millisecond X-Ray Pulsars (AMXPs) are astrophysical laboratories without parallel in the study of extreme physics. In this chapter we review the past fifteen years of discoveries in the field. We summarize the observations of the fifteen known AMXPs, with a particular emphasis on the multi-wavelength observations that have been carried out since the discovery of the first AMXP in 1998. We review accretion torque theory, the pulse formation process, and how AMXP observations have changed our view on the interaction of plasma and magnetic fields in strong gravity. We also explain how the AMXPs have deepened our understanding of the thermonuclear burst process, in particular the phenomenon of burst oscillations. We conclude with a discussion of the open problems that remain to be addressed in the future.Comment: Review to appear in "Timing neutron stars: pulsations, oscillations and explosions", T. Belloni, M. Mendez, C.M. Zhang Eds., ASSL, Springer; [revision with literature updated, several typos removed, 1 new AMXP added

Pax6 Represses Androgen Receptor-Mediated Transactivation by Inhibiting Recruitment of the Coactivator SPBP

The androgen receptor (AR) has a central role in development and maintenance of the male reproductive system and in the etiology of prostate cancer. The transcription factor Pax6 has recently been reported to act as a repressor of AR and to be hypermethylated in prostate cancer cells. SPBP is a transcriptional regulator that previously has been shown to enhance the activity of Pax6. In this study we have identified SPBP to act as a transcriptional coactivator of AR. We also show that Pax6 inhibits SPBP-mediated enhancement of AR activity on the AR target gene probasin promoter, a repression that was partly reversed by increased expression of SPBP. Enhanced expression of Pax6 reduced the amount of SPBP associated with the probasin promoter when assayed by ChIP in HeLa cells. We mapped the interaction between both AR and SPBP, and AR and Pax6 to the DNA-binding domains of the involved proteins. Further binding studies revealed that Pax6 and SPBP compete for binding to AR. These results suggest that Pax6 represses AR activity by displacing and/or inhibiting recruitment of coactivators to AR target promoters. Understanding the mechanism for inhibition of AR coactivators can give rise to molecular targeted drugs for treatment of prostate cancer

The importance of the concepts of disaster, catastrophe, violence, trauma and barbarism in defining posttraumatic stress disorder in clinical practice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Several terms in the scientific literature about posttraumatic stress disorder are used with different meanings in studies conducted by different authors. Words such as <it>trauma, violence, catastrophe, disaster </it>and <it>barbarism </it>are often used vaguely or confusingly, and their meanings change in different articles. The lack of conceptual references for these expressions complicates the organization of literature. Furthermore, the absence of clear concepts may be an obstacle to clinical treatment because the use of these words by the patients does not necessarily point to a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>A critical review of scientific literature showed that stress can be divided in stages to facilitate specific terminological adjustments to the event itself, to the subject-event interaction and to psychological responses. Moreover, it demonstrated that the varying concept of trauma expands into fundamental psychotherapeutic definitions and that the meanings of violence associated with barbarism are an obstacle to resilience. Therefore, this study updates the etymological origins and applications of these words, connects them to the expansions of meanings that can be operated in the clinical care of patients with posttraumatic stress disorder, and analyzes them critically according to the criterion A of DSM-IV and ICD-10.</p> <p>Summary</p> <p>The terminology in the literature about posttraumatic stress disorder includes a plethora of terms whose meanings are not fully understood, and that, therefore, limit this terminology. The analysis of these terms suggested that the transformation of the concept of <it>trauma </it>led to a broader understanding of this phenomenon in its psychic dimensions, that a barbarian type of violence constitutes an obstacle to resilience, and that the criterion A of the DSM-IV and ICD-10 shows imprecision and conceptual fragilities.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To develop this debate article, a current specialized literature review was achieved by searching and retrieving the key terms from two major databases: PubMed and PsycINFO. The key terms included "disaster", "catastrophe", "barbarism", "terrorism", "trauma", "psychic trauma" and "violence", also in combination with the terms "PTSD", "concept" and "conceptual aspects". The data were captured specially from review articles. The included studies were those mostly identified by the authors as relevant by the presence of a <it>conceptual approach </it>in any part of the paper. Researches that relied solely on empirical indicators, like psychopathological, neurobiological or pharmacological aspects, were excluded. The focus here was in conceptual aspects, even when some few empirical studies were included.</p> <p>As it was noted a paucity of medical references related to conceptual aspects of these terms, a wider literature needed to be included, including chapters, books and articles proceeded from the Humanities areas. "Interdisciplinary research is needed in this area to include perspectives from a range of different disciplines" once that "to promote public health (...) new dimensions of such interactions and the implications thereof should be pursued in collaboration with researchers from broader areas" <abbrgrp><abbr bid="B1">1</abbr></abbrgrp>.</p

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Search for direct stau production in events with two hadronic tau-leptons in root s=13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of the supersymmetric partners ofτ-leptons (staus) in final stateswith two hadronically decayingτ-leptons is presented. The analysis uses a dataset of pp collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of139fb−1, recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LargeHadron Collider at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. No significant deviation from the expected StandardModel background is observed. Limits are derived in scenarios of direct production of stau pairs with eachstau decaying into the stable lightest neutralino and oneτ-lepton in simplified models where the two staumass eigenstates are degenerate. Stau masses from 120 GeV to 390 GeV are excluded at 95% confidencelevel for a massless lightest neutralino

Supreme activity of gramicidin S against resistant, persistent and biofilm cells of staphylococci and enterococci.

Three promising antibacterial peptides were studied with regard to their ability to inhibit the growth and kill the cells of clinical strains of Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium. The multifunctional gramicidin S (GS) was the most potent, compared to the membranotropic temporin L (TL), being more effective than the innate-defence regulator IDR-1018 (IDR). These activities, compared across 16 strains as minimal bactericidal and minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC), are independent of bacterial resistance pattern, phenotype variations and/or biofilm-forming potency. For S. aureus strains, complete killing is accomplished by all peptides at 5 × MIC. For E. faecalis strains, only GS exhibits a rapid bactericidal effect at 5 × MIC, while TL and IDR require higher concentrations. The biofilm-preventing activities of all peptides against the six strains with the largest biofilm biomass were compared. GS demonstrates the lowest minimal biofilm inhibiting concentrations, whereas TL and IDR are consistently less effective. In mature biofilms, only GS completely kills the cells of all studied strains. We compare the physicochemical properties, membranolytic activities, model pharmacokinetics and eukaryotic toxicities of the peptides and explain the bactericidal, antipersister and antibiofilm activities of GS by its elevated stability, pronounced cell-penetration ability and effective utilization of multiple modes of antibacterial action