Pressure induced structural phase transition in solid oxidizer KClO3_3: A first-principles study

High pressure behavior of potassium chlorate (KClO$_3$) has been investigated from 0-10 GPa by means of first principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The calculated ground state parameters, transition pressure and phonon frequencies using semiempirical dispersion correction scheme are in excellent agreement with experiment. It is found that KClO$_3$ undergoes a pressure induced first order phase transition with an associated volume collapse of 6.4$\%$ from monoclinic (\emph{P2$_1$/m}) $\rightarrow$ rhombohedral (\emph{R3m}) structure at 2.26 GPa, which is in good accord with experimental observation. However, the transition pressure was found to underestimate (0.11 GPa) and overestimate (3.57 GPa) using LDA and GGA functionals, respectively. Mechanical stability of both the phases are explained from the calculated single crystal elastic constants. In addition, the zone center phonon frequencies have been calculated using density functional perturbation theory at ambient as well as at high pressure and the lattice modes are found to soften under pressure between 0.6 to 1.2 GPa. The present study reveals that the observed structural phase transition leads to changes in the decomposition mechanism of KClO$_3$ which corroborates with the experimental results.Comment: 6 Figure

Modified SPLICE and its Extension to Non-Stereo Data for Noise Robust Speech Recognition

In this paper, a modification to the training process of the popular SPLICE algorithm has been proposed for noise robust speech recognition. The modification is based on feature correlations, and enables this stereo-based algorithm to improve the performance in all noise conditions, especially in unseen cases. Further, the modified framework is extended to work for non-stereo datasets where clean and noisy training utterances, but not stereo counterparts, are required. Finally, an MLLR-based computationally efficient run-time noise adaptation method in SPLICE framework has been proposed. The modified SPLICE shows 8.6% absolute improvement over SPLICE in Test C of Aurora-2 database, and 2.93% overall. Non-stereo method shows 10.37% and 6.93% absolute improvements over Aurora-2 and Aurora-4 baseline models respectively. Run-time adaptation shows 9.89% absolute improvement in modified framework as compared to SPLICE for Test C, and 4.96% overall w.r.t. standard MLLR adaptation on HMMs.Comment: Submitted to Automatic Speech Recognition and Understanding (ASRU) 2013 Worksho

Role of managerial incentives and discretion in hedge fund performance

Using a comprehensive hedge fund database, we examine the role of managerial incentives and discretion in hedge fund performance. Hedge funds with greater managerial incentives, proxied by the delta of the option-like incentive fee contracts, higher levels of managerial ownership, and the inclusion of high-water mark provisions in the incentive contracts, are associated with superior performance. The incentive fee percentage rate by itself does not explain performance. We also find that funds with a higher degree of managerial discretion, proxied by longer lockup, notice, and redemption periods, deliver superior performance. These results are robust to using alternative performance measures and controlling for different data-related biases.Dieses Papier untersucht vier Themenbereiche: Erstens werden die Determinanten der Netto-Zuflüsse in Hedgefonds untersucht. Zweitens betrachten wir die Anreize für das Management von Hedgefonds. Drittens untersuchen wir das Verhalten von Hedgefondsinvestoren. Schließlich betrachten wir, was die Performance in der Hedgefondsindustrie treibt. Unsere Untersuchung der Performance-Zufluss Beziehung zeigt, dass Fonds mit bestimmten Eigenschaften größere Zuflüsse haben als andere Fonds. Insbesondere profitieren Fonds mit guter vergangener Performance, stärkeren Anreizen für das Fondsmanagement und niedrigeren Hindernissen beim Abzug von Kapital für Investoren von größeren Zuflüssen. Darüber hinaus analysieren wir, in welcher Beziehung heutige Zuflüsse zur zukünftigen Performance stehen. Wir stellen fest, dass Fonds mit höheren Zuflüssen in der Zukunft eine schlechtere Performance erzielen. Dieses Resultat deutet auf sinkende Skalenerträge in der Hedgefondsindustrie hin. Schließlich können wir zeigen, dass stärkere Anreize für das Fondsmanagement mit einer besseren zukünftigen Performance einhergehen. Daher ist das von uns gefundene Investitionsverhalten von Hedgefondsinvestoren insofern als rational zu bezeichnen, als sie tendenziell mehr Geld in Fonds mit stärkeren Managementanreizen investieren

Do hedge funds manage their reported returns?

For funds with greater incentives and greater opportunities to inflate returns, we find that (i) returns during December are significantly higher than those during the rest of the year even after controlling for risk in both time-series and the cross-section; (ii) this December spike is greater than that for funds with lower incentives and opportunities to inflate returns. These results suggest that hedge funds manage their returns upwards in an opportunistic fashion in order to earn higher fees. Finally, we provide strong evidence that funds inflate December returns by under-reporting returns earlier in the year but only weak evidence that funds borrow from January returns in the following year

Effect of plant and animal protein sources on the growth, gonadal maturity and proximate composition of Labeo rohita (Hamilton, 1822)

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of plant and animal sources in the diet of Labeo rohita with an overall goal of gaining sustainable fish and egg production. Fishes with an initial weight of 310-323 g were fed with five different isocaloric (3Kcalg-1) diets viz. D1 ( control diet- 30% rice bran + 70% groundnut meal), D2 (30% rice bran + 50% groundnut meal + 20% fish meal), D3 (30% rice bran + 50% groundnut meal + 20% mustard meal), D4 (30% rice bran + 30% groundnut meal + 20% mustard meal + 20 % fish meal) and D5 (30% rice bran + 30% soybean meal + 20% mustard meal + 20 % fish meal) @ 3% of fish biomass for 270 days. Significantly higher weight gain and better gonadal maturity was recorded in fishes fed with diet containing fish meal than other. Among diets containing fish meal (D2, D4, D5), fish fed on diet D2 resulted in higher somatic growth (35.67, 42.80, 28.10 and 18.48% higher net weight gain than D1, D3, D4 and D5, respectively) and better gonadal development (43.20, 50.08, 22.59 and 23.25% higher absolute fecundity than D1, D3, D4 and D5,respectively) in L. rohita. Hence, Our study revealed that for higher growth and better broodstock development, L. rohita may be fed on diet formulated with 30% rice bran, 50% groundnut meal and 20% fish meal

Germination and emergence of four rattan Calamus species of Western ghats in response to different pre-sowing seed treatments

The present investigation was carried out to study the effect of ten pre-sowing treatments on germination parameter of the four Calamus species in the nursery of College of Forestry, Vellanikkara. Most of the pre-sowing treatments of Calamus spp. gave better performance compared to the control. Complete removal of outer pericarp and sarcotesta of each seed manually (T2), Sulphuric acid treatment for 3-5 minutes after removing sarcotesta (T6) and Hot water treatment (500C) after removing sarcotesta for two minutes followed by soaking in water for 12 hours (T7) were found promising in all the species. The higher germination percentage (83.82, 89.96), mean daily germination (0.020, 3.39), peak value of germination (0.026, 3.45) and germination value (0.00041, 11.56) and was recorded for Calamus thwaitesii and C. metzianus in treatment with GA3 (T9) respectively. The maximum germination percentage (27.74), MDG (0.41), PVG (0.46) and GV (0.20) for C. hookerianus in T7 (Hot water treatment (500C) after removing sarcotesta for two minutes followed by soaking in water for 12 hours), and highest MDG (0.078), PVG (0.91) and GV (0.0065) for C. travancoricus in T5 (Sulphuric acid treatment for 3-5 minutes without removing sarcotesta). The present study reiterated that the pre-sowing treatments hold major scope in the propagation of rattan seedlings which usually could not germinate well under ordinary conditions due to dormancy

Impact of Japanese Mergers on Shareholder Wealth: An Analysis of Bidder and Target Companies

The market for corporate control in the second largest economy in the world behaves very different from that in the U.S. Using a sample of 91 mergers in the period 1982-2003 we document several distinctive features of this market in Japan. First, we show that in stark contrast to the pro-cyclical U.S. merger waves, mergers in Japan tend to be counter-cyclical, both with respect to the general economy as well as with respect to stock market valuations. Second, and again in contrast to the U.S. experience, we find that a significant fraction of Japanese mergers are orchestrated by the main banks; in such cases, mergers are not between two weak companies, but at least one of the merging companies is financially strong. Other distinctive features of Japanese mergers are the positive pre-announcement returns accruing to both bidders and targets, with bidders capturing approximately half the gains that accrue to target firms. We also find differential shareholder wealth effects in the bubble period (1982-1989), the early 1990s, and the post-financial regulation regime (1997-2003). Overall our results point to a market for corporate control that is distinctly less shareholder-centered than that in the U.S. and one where creditors play an important, perhaps dominant, role