Quantifying the behavior of stock correlations under market stress

Understanding correlations in complex systems is crucial in the face of turbulence, such as the ongoing financial crisis. However, in complex systems, such as financial systems, correlations are not constant but instead vary in time. Here we address the question of quantifying state-dependent correlations in stock markets. Reliable estimates of correlations are absolutely necessary to protect a portfolio. We analyze 72 years of daily closing prices of the 30 stocks forming the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). We find the striking result that the average correlation among these stocks scales linearly with market stress reflected by normalized DJIA index returns on various time scales. Consequently, the diversification effect which should protect a portfolio melts away in times of market losses, just when it would most urgently be needed. Our empirical analysis is consistent with the interesting possibility that one could anticipate diversification breakdowns, guiding the design of protected portfolios

Feasibility of Food Recognition and Calorie Estimation of Fast Food and Healthy Meals Available in the Philippines

This paper presents the design and development of a food recognition smartphone application which can also display the estimated calorie/s of the food itself. It is intended for people who would like to monitor their diet through food calorie intake measurement (i.e. user’s daily calorie intake record). It is equipped with a food database consisting of typical fruits and vegetables commonly found in the Philippines. As part of the study, it also includes some of the meals in food chains (i.e. McDonald's, and The Healthy Corner) found in the Philippines where the calorie information is readily available. The result shows 82.86 % accuracy for the top-1 category, and 99.29 % for the top-5 category. The algorithm being used in this project is Artificial Neural Network (ANN) wherein the recognition process must properly be achieved. Furthermore, the aforementioned database is supported by TensorFlow which is an open-source software library for Machine Intelligence

Hot electron injection into dense argon, nitrogen, and hydrogen

Hot electrons have been injected into very dense argon, nitrogen, and hydrogen gases and liquids. The current‐voltage characteristics are experimentally determined for densities (N) of argon, nitrogen, and hydrogen ranging from about 10²⁰ to 10²² cm⁻³ and applied fields (E) ranging from about 10 to 10⁴ V cm⁻¹. The argon data show a square root E∕N dependence of the current. The nitrogen and hydrogen data show a complicated dependence of the current on E∕N due to the rapid thermalization in the region of the image potential of the injected electrons through inelastic collision processes not present in argon. A hydrodynamic‐two‐fluid model is developed to analyze the nitrogen and hydrogen data. From the analysis of our data, we obtain the density dependence of the momentum exchange scattering cross section and the energy relaxation time for the injected hot electrons

A phase I dose-escalation study of TAK-733, an investigational oral MEK inhibitor, in patients with advanced solid tumors.

Purpose TAK-733, an investigational, selective, allosteric MEK1/2 inhibitor, has demonstrated antitumor effects against multiple cancer cell lines and xenograft models. This first-in-human study investigated TAK-733 in patients with solid tumors. Methods Patients received oral TAK-733 once daily on days 1-21 in 28-day treatment cycles. Adverse events (AEs) were graded using the Common Terminology Criteria for AEs version 3.0. Response was assessed using RECIST v1.1. Blood samples for TAK-733 pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (inhibition of ERK phosphorylation) were collected during cycle 1. Results Fifty-one patients received TAK-733 0.2-22 mg. Primary diagnoses included uveal melanoma (24 %), colon cancer (22 %), and cutaneous melanoma (10 %). Four patients had dose-limiting toxicities of dermatitis acneiform, plus fatigue and pustular rash in one patient, and stomatitis in one patient. The maximum tolerated dose was 16 mg. Common drug-related AEs included dermatitis acneiform (51 %), diarrhea (29 %), and increased blood creatine phosphokinase (20 %); grade ≥ 3 AEs were reported in 27 (53 %) patients. Median Tmax was 3 h; systemic exposure increased less than dose-proportionally over the dose range 0.2-22 mg. On day 21 maximum inhibition of ERK phosphorylation in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 46-97 % was seen in patients receiving TAK-733 ≥ 8.4 mg. Among 41 response-evaluable patients, 2 (5 %) patients with cutaneous melanoma (one with BRAF L597R mutant melanoma) had partial responses. Conclusions TAK-733 had a generally manageable toxicity profile up to the maximum tolerated dose, and showed the anticipated pharmacodynamic effect of sustained inhibition of ERK phosphorylation. Limited antitumor activity was demonstrated. Further investigation is not currently planned

Optically-Triggered Nanoscale Memory Effect in a Hybrid Plasmonic-Phase Changing Nanostructure

Nanoscale devices, such as all-optical modulators and electro-optical transducers, can be implemented in heterostructures that integrate plasmonic nanostructures with functional active materials. Here we demonstrate all-optical control of a nanoscale memory effect in such a heterostructure by coupling the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of gold nanodisk arrays to a phase-changing material (PCM), vanadium dioxide (VO<inf>2</inf>). By latching the VO<inf>2</inf> in a distinct correlated metallic state during the insulator-to-metal transition (IMT), while concurrently exciting the hybrid nanostructure with one or more ultraviolet optical pulses, the entire phase space of this correlated state can be accessed optically to modulate the plasmon response. We find that the LSPR modulation depends strongly but linearly on the initial latched state, suggesting that the memory effect encoded in the plasmon resonance wavelength is linked to the strongly correlated electron states of the VO<inf>2</inf>. The continuous, linear variation of the electronic and optical properties of these model heterostructures opens the way to multiple design strategies for hybrid devices with novel optoelectronic functionalities, which can be controlled by an applied electric or optical field, strain, injected charge, or temperature.Department of Applied Physic

Hysteresis of Backflow Imprinted in Collimated Jets

We report two different types of backflow from jets by performing 2D special relativistic hydrodynamical simulations. One is anti-parallel and quasi-straight to the main jet (quasi-straight backflow), and the other is bent path of the backflow (bent backflow). We find that the former appears when the head advance speed is comparable to or higher than the local sound speed at the hotspot while the latter appears when the head advance speed is slower than the sound speed bat the hotspot. Bent backflow collides with the unshocked jet and laterally squeezes the jet. At the same time, a pair of new oblique shocks are formed at the tip of the jet and new bent fast backflows are generated via these oblique shocks. The hysteresis of backflow collisions is thus imprinted in the jet as a node and anti-node structure. This process also promotes broadening of the jet cross sectional area and it also causes a decrease in the head advance velocity. This hydrodynamic process may be tested by observations of compact young jets.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ