Using attribute construction to improve the predictability of a GP financial forecasting algorithm

Financial forecasting is an important area in computational finance. EDDIE 8 is an established Genetic Programming financial forecasting algorithm, which has successfully been applied to a number of international datasets. The purpose of this paper is to further increase the algorithm’s predictive performance, by improving its data space representation. In order to achieve this, we use attribute construction to create new (high-level) attributes from the original (low-level) attributes. To examine the effectiveness of the above method, we test the extended EDDIE’s predictive performance across 25 datasets and compare it to the performance of two previous EDDIE algorithms. Results show that the introduction of attribute construction benefits the algorithm, allowing EDDIE to explore the use of new attributes to improve its predictive accuracy

The ideal-valued index for a dihedral group action, and mass partition by two hyperplanes

We compute the complete Fadell-Husseini index of the 8 element dihedral group D_8 acting on S^d \times S^d, both for F_2 and for integer coefficients. This establishes the complete goup cohomology lower bounds for the two hyperplane case of Gr"unbaum's 1960 mass partition problem: For which d and j can any j arbitrary measures be cut into four equal parts each by two suitably-chosen hyperplanes in R^d? In both cases, we find that the ideal bounds are not stronger than previously established bounds based on one of the maximal abelian subgroups of D_8.Comment: new version revised according to referee's comments, 44 pages, many diagrams; a shorter version of this will appear in Topology and its Applications (ATA 2010 proceedings

Social Security's Earnings Test Penalty and the Employment Rates of Elderly Men Aged 65 to 69

In 1990, the rate at which Social Security reduces benefits as a result of earnings above an annually adjusted threshold of $9,360 was reduced from 50 percent to 33 percent for individuals age 65 to 69. In all twelve difference-in-differences models, the change in Social Security's earnings test penalty has a positive but statistically insignificant impact on both the employment rate and the annual hours worked of 66 to 69 year old men relative to those in valid control groups (consistent with the substitution effect).Elderly; Social Security

EU adoption of the IFRS 8 standard on operating segments

In this paper, presented to the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, Nicolas Véron discusses whether the EU should adopt the controversial IFRS 8 standard, a convergence project on how companies should report the performance of their individual business segments. VéronÂ?s recommendation is for the European Union not to adopt the current version of IFRS 8.

Extensions of theorems of Rattray and Makeev

We consider extensions of the Rattray theorem and two Makeev's theorems, showing that they hold for several maps, measures, or functions simultaneously, when we consider orthonormal $k$-frames in $\R^n$ instead of orthonormal basis (full frames). We also present new results on simultaneous partition of several measures into parts by $k$ mutually orthogonal hyperplanes. In the case $k=2$ we relate the Rattray and Makeev type results with the well known embedding problem for projective spaces

Biogas production from the landfilled easily degradable fraction of municipal solid waste: mining strategy for energy recovery

The growing demand for space and fnancial resources to manage current and new municipal solid waste (MSW) landflls has become a massive challenge for several countries. Additionally, landflls contribute to adverse environmental impacts such as pollution and CO2 (carbon dioxide) and CH4 (methane) emissions. This paper has analyzed the possibility of producing biogas from landflled MSW. An easily degradable fraction of landflled MSW with 8 years of landflling was mined and subjected to chemical characterization and elemental composition analysis. The abbreviation for the study sample was called ED8 – Mined. The low values of lignin (24.5%) and nitrogen content (0.7%) and high values of holocellulose (75.9%) and C/N (46.1%) on dry basis were obtained resulting in materials with the potential to be used for biogas generation. Recal‑citrant materials were found in greater amounts than easily biodegradable fresh MSW fractions. The reuse of energy from landflled MSW can contribute positively to the country’s environment and economy, reducing environmental liabilities and generating energy in a controlled way. In Delta A Sanitary Landfll, Southeastern Brazil, the recovery of the ED8 – Mined would refect a signifcant recovery of about 100,000 tonnes of landflled materials for annual MSW cells of about 450,000 tonnes, allowing recovery of materials and space expansion for rejects.Campus Lima Su

Uma proposta de ensino do princípio multiplicativo por meio de uma sequência didática

Disponível em: http://ojs.ifes.edu.br/index.php/saladeaula/article/viewFile/446/283Relata uma experiência didática em relação ao ensino do princípio multiplicativo realizada em uma escola estadual do município de São Mateus. Visa analisar a aplicação de uma sequência didática com materiais concretos e uso das tecnologias digitais aliadas às Tendências em Educação Matemática com o objetivo de conceituar e aplicar o Princípio Multiplicativo na resolução de problemas. Busca descrever cada momento das atividades desenvolvidas em sala de aula. Apoiase nos estudos de Zabala (1998) e teóricos da Educação Matemática. Considera a importância de o professor planejar suas aulas considerando a sequência didática como oportunidade de articular diversas estratégias de ensin

THE ROLE OF SCHOOLING IN THE ALLEVIATION OF RURAL POVERTY IN ETHIOPIA

The impact of education on farmers' choice of activities and household welfare are modelled and estimated using farm household data for rural Ethiopia. We find that education has significant effects on household welfare. Schooling increases the adoption of new technologies and facilitates entry into highly profitable farm and non-farm activities, all of which may increase welfare and help farm households escape out of income poverty. An additional year of schooling in a household increases the welfare by 8.5 percent. These findings provide a rationale to governments and donor organisations to include the expansion of rural schooling (through encouragement of parents to send their children to school) in their policy reform as a means of reducing material deprivation.Education, welfare, poverty and rural Ethiopia, Food Security and Poverty, Labor and Human Capital,

Low complexity video compression using moving edge detection based on DCT coefficients

In this paper, we propose a new low complexity video compression method based on detecting blocks containing moving edges us- ing only DCT coe±cients. The detection, whilst being very e±cient, also allows e±cient motion estimation by constraining the search process to moving macro-blocks only. The encoders PSNR is degraded by 2dB com- pared to H.264/AVC inter for such scenarios, whilst requiring only 5% of the execution time. The computational complexity of our approach is comparable to that of the DISCOVER codec which is the state of the art low complexity distributed video coding. The proposed method ¯nds blocks with moving edge blocks and processes only selected blocks. The approach is particularly suited to surveillance type scenarios with a static camera

The temporal expression of fast skeletal muscle myosin heavy chain isoforms related to muscle growth in poultry

In all animals, fast skeletal muscle grows during development by completing a series of temporal expression of muscle proteins and myosin heavy chain (MyHC) isoforms. During development, the muscle is populated with ventricular MyHC, then by embryonic 1, 2, 3, (Cemb1, Cemb2, Cemb3), followed by neonatal (Cneo) and finally an adult (Cadult) MyHC isoform. The functional roles of the MyHC isoforms are unknown. In order to identify the roles of MyHC isoforms during development, we investigated MyHC expression in broiler and layer chickens at the RNA level. Total RNA was extracted from Pectoralis major (PM) muscle samples taken from broiler chickens, layer chickens and quail and run with isoform-specific primers in semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reactions (RT-PCR). The broiler chickens were found to start developing the adult isoform sooner, chronologically, than the layers. The neonatal isoform concentration was also showed to peak sooner in the broilers than the layers. The quail samples were run with the embryonic isoforms and only have preliminary results showing differences between three different strains and their isoform transition rates. This information can be used as a base to develop a method to study muscle development at similar cellular times for comparative studies of temporal events.Jaap Poultry Endowment Fund awarded to JMR and the Undergraduate CFAES Honors Scholarship and Small Project GrantNo embarg