Sentiment effects in professionally traded markets: evidence from oil and emissions futures

This thesis shows that sentiment has influence in professionally traded oil and emissions markets. The sentiment index of Baker and Wurgler (2006) is adapted for the oil markets and is used to show that sentiment has a positive effect on WTI and Brent crude oil prices. Having established the value of this index in the oil markets it is extended to include the wider energy markets and used to show that sentiment also has an effect in the EU emissions trading scheme (EU ETS). It is found that there is some evidence that decisions of the European Parliament (EP) are associated with a drop in emission allowance (EUA) prices particularly when these decisions occur at times of low sentiment, low news exposure and when they come from non-party political sources. It is found that an increase in volatility of EUA returns is associated with EP decisions made at these times. In order to investigate further the effect of sentiment in the EU ETS, sentiment measured from tweets concerning the emissions market is shown to predict price level and volatility using intra-day data. Bi-directional Granger causality is found between changes in emissions market sentiment and EUA returns, this is especially true for negative sentiment. There is only very weak evidence of an association between climate change sentiment and the EUA returns showing that the EU ETS is not very high in the consciousness of people posting tweets about climate change. Finally, there is some evidence that energy commodity prices and stock market returns can explain, but not predict, EUA prices. This suggests that the EU ETS is efficient with regard to this fundamental information but that in general the Efficient Market Hypothesis does not provide a complete description of the market dynamics. This thesis therefore shows not only that the Efficient Market Hypothesis does not provide a complete description of market dynamics but that sentiment does not rely on uninformed traders to have a real and substantial effect in the emissions and oil markets

Should You Disclose a Data Breach via Social Media? Evidence from US Listed Companies

Data breaches represent one of the main concerns for executives across all sectors. Data breaches open a period of crisis for the affected firm and require them to disclose complex information to a variety of stakeholders in a timely and proper manner. This paper investigates the relationship between social media disclosure of a data breach and its cost, as proxied by the response of the affected firm’s stock price. Using an event study methodology on a sample of 32 data breaches from 29 US publicly-traded firms from 2011 to 2014, we find that social media disclosure exacerbates the negative stock price’ s response to the announcement. However, such a negative association is contingent on firm’s visibility on traditional media with social media disclosure having a beneficial effect for low-visibility companies

Experimental observation of plasma formation and current transfer in fine wire expansion experiments.

When several kA pulses are passed through single, fine 25 {micro}m diameter wires, the wire material heats, melts, vaporizes and expands. Initially the voltage across--and current through--a wire increases until an abrupt voltage collapse occurs. After this collapse the voltage remains at a relative small value while the current continues to increase. In order to understand how this early time behavior may affect the subsequent implosion, small-scale experiments at Cornell University's Laboratory of Plasma Studies concentrated on diagnosing expanding single wire dynamics. X-ray backlighting, interferometry and Schlieren imaging as well as current and voltage measurements have been employed. The voltage collapse has been attributed to the formation of plasma around the wire and a transfer of current to this highly conducting coronal plasma. Interferometry has confirmed the plasma formation, but the current transfer has only been postulated. Subsequent experiments on the Z-Facility at Sandia National Laboratories have produced impressive x-ray yields etc

In vivo testing of novel vaccine prototypes against Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae

Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (A. pleuropneumoniae) is a Gram-negative bacterium that represents the main cause of porcine pleuropneumonia in pigs, causing significant economic losses to the livestock industry worldwide. A. pleuropneumoniae, as the majority of Gram-negative bacteria, excrete vesicles from its outer membrane (OM), accordingly defined as outer membrane vesicles (OMVs). Thanks to their antigenic similarity to the OM, OMVs have emerged as a promising tool in vaccinology. In this study we describe the in vivo testing of several vaccine prototypes for the prevention of infection by all known A. pleuropneumoniae serotypes. Previously identified vaccine candidates, the recombinant proteins ApfA and VacJ, administered individually or in various combinations with the OMVs, were employed as vaccination strategies. Our data show that the addition of the OMVs in the vaccine formulations significantly increased the specific IgG titer against both ApfA and VacJ in the immunized animals, confirming the previously postulated potential of the OMVs as adjuvant. Unfortunately, the antibody response raised did not translate into an effective protection against A. pleuropneumoniae infection, as none of the immunized groups following challenge showed a significantly lower degree of lesions than the controls. Interestingly, quite the opposite was true, as the animals with the highest IgG titers were also the ones bearing the most extensive lesions in their lungs. These results shed new light on A. pleuropneumoniae pathogenicity, suggesting that antibody-mediated cytotoxicity from the host immune response may play a central role in the development of the lesions typically associated with A. pleuropneumoniae infections

Social Media and Website Setup Deliverable 1.1

<p>Initial report of the setting up of the Twitter Account and Website for the Wind Value Project. Wind Value seeks to estimate a financial valuation for onshore wind farms in Ireland. The task is to develop decision support tools which will assist wind farm managers to decide between decommissioning, repowering and life extension for the end-of-life of a wind farm, depending on the valuation for each. This research will also assist local communities who may be interested in buying part or all of their local wind farm and owning their own energy source.</p&gt

Wind Value Social Media and Website Report 1 Deliverable 1.2

<p>This is a report of the activity of the Wind Value Project's Twitter account @windvalue and website https://windvalue.ie/, six months after the project began.</p&gt

Wind Value Data Management Plan Deliverable 1.3

<p>The Wind Value Data Management Plan describes what types of data will be gathered and used by the Wind Value project, and how the data is to be stored. It also describes various outputs from the project.</p><p>https://windvalue.ie/</p&gt

Ca2+, NAD(P)H and membrane potential changes in pancreatic beta-cells by methyl succinate: comparison with glucose

The present study was undertaken to determine the main metabolic secretory signals generated by the mitochondrial substrate MeS (methyl succinate) compared with glucose in mouse and rat islets and to understand the differences. Glycolysis and mitochondrial metabolism both have key roles in the stimulation of insulin secretion by glucose. Both fuels elicited comparable oscillatory patterns of Ca2+ and changes in plasma and mitochondrial membrane potential in rat islet cells and clonal pancreatic beta-cells (INS-1). Saturation of the Ca2+ signal occurred between 5 and 6 mM MeS, while secretion reached its maximum at 15 mM, suggesting operation of a K(ATP)-channel-independent pathway. Additional responses to MeS and glucose included elevated NAD(P)H autofluorescence in INS-1 cells and islets and increases in assayed NADH and NADPH and the ATP/ADP ratio. Increased NADPH and ATP/ADP ratios occurred more rapidly with MeS, although similar levels were reached after 5 min of exposure to each fuel, whereas NADH increased more with MeS than with glucose. Reversal of MeS-induced cell depolarization by Methylene Blue completely inhibited MeS-stimulated secretion, whereas basal secretion and KCl-induced changes in these parameters were not affected. MeS had no effect on secretion or signals in the mouse islets, in contrast with glucose, possibly due to a lack of malic enzyme. The data are consistent with the common intermediates being pyruvate, cytosolic NADPH or both, and suggest that cytosolic NADPH production could account for the more rapid onset of MeS-induced secretion compared with glucose stimulatio

Sentiment in Oil Markets

Abstract Sentiment is shown to inuence both West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent futures prices during the period 2002 -2013. This is demonstrated while controlling for stock indices, exchange rates, nancial costs, inventory and supply levels as well as OPEC activity. Sentiment indices are developed for WTI and Brent crude oils using a suite of nancial proxies similar to those used in equity research where the inuence of sentiment has already been established. Given the novel nature of this study, multiple hypothesis testing techniques are used to ensure that these conclusions are statistically robust