Risk of the Cross-Sectional Returns in Foreign Exchange Markets

The cross-section of foreign exchange returns has substantial exposure to the risk captured by the marketwide moments. We investigate if the foreign exchange market risks are appropriately priced in exchange rates of individual countries. We use cross-sectional analysis to explore the correlation between the marketwide risks and risk premiums of foreign currencies. The results from analysis with the Fama and MacBeth regressions indicate that, while the market beta is negatively associated with the cross-sectional returns in foreign exchange markets, higher exposures to market-wide volatility, skewness, and kurtosis are positively related to individual countries’ exchange-rate risk premiums. These results are robust in the empirical setup

Comparative Field Study of Cable Tension Measurement for a Cable-Stayed Bridge

Cable tension is one of the important indexes of cable integrity as well as bridge stability and can be measured by various tension measurement methods. In this study, three widely used methods (i.e., the lift-off test, electromagnetic sensor method, and vibration method) have been implemented for two multistrand cables of a cable-stayed bridge under construction. The test bridge is Hwamyung Bridge in Korea, which has a prestressed concrete box girder. The field tests are executed during the second tensioning stage just after the installation of the key segment. The tensions are estimated before and after tensioning the cable and 5 days later (i.e., after finishing the tensioning of all the cables). The tensions measured by the three methods are compared with the design tension of the tensioning stage, and all three methods show very good performance in accuracy with minimal difference. Their cost and difficulty are compared based on test experiences. Additionally, an improved vibration method is proposed by ignoring apparent negative bending stiffness identified from measurement errors and validated in this test by improving the accuracy.close0

Field application of elasto-magnetic stress sensors for monitoring of cable tension force in cable-stayed bridges

Recently, a novel stress sensor, which utilizes the elasto-magnetic (EM) effect of ferromagnetic materials, has been developed to measure stress in steel cables and wires. In this study, the effectiveness of this EM based stress sensors for monitoring of the cable tension force of a real scale cable-stayed bridge was investigated. Two EM stress sensors were installed on two selected multi-strand cables in Hwa-Myung Bridge, Busan, South Korea. Conventional lift-off test was conducted to obtain reference cable tension forces of two test cables. The reference forces were used to calibrate and validate cable tension force measurements from the EM sensors. Tension force variations of two test cables during the second tensioning work on Hwa-Myung Bridge were monitored using the EM sensors. Numerical simulations were conducted to compare and verify the monitoring results. Based on the results, the effectiveness of EM sensors for accurate field monitoring of the cable tension force of cable-stayed bridge is discussed.open0

Broad-spectrum neutralization of avian influenza viruses by sialylated human milk oligosaccharides: in vivo assessment of 3′-sialyllactose against H9N2 in chickens

Abstract Two sialylated human milk oligosaccharides (SHMOs) 3′-sialyllactose (3′-SL) and 6′-sialyllactose (6′-SL) were accessed for their possible antiviral activity against six different subtypes of thirteen avian influenza (AI) viruses in vitro. 3′-SL exhibited promising antiviral activity against almost all subtypes of tested AI viruses in hemagglutination inhibition assay, whereas 6′-SL showed activity against few selected H1N1, H1N2, and H3N2 subtype strains. 3′-SL has minimum inhibitory concentration values of 15.62 mM or less in more than half of the viruses examined. 3′-SL also showed effective inactivation of H9N2 Korea isolate (A/Chicken/Korea/MS96/1996) at 12.5 mM concentration in Madin Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cell line. Thus, 3′-SL was further studied for in vivo study against H9N2 virus in pathogen free chicken experiment models. In vivo study exhibited improved clinical symptoms on H9N2 infected chickens when treated with 3′-SL. Moreover, treating chickens with 3′-SL resulted in complete elimination of H9N2 viruses within 24 h of virus infection (0.8 HAU of H9N2). Indirect ELISA assay confirmed complete wash-out of H9N2 viruses from the colon after neutralization by 3′-SL without entering the blood stream. These in vivo results open up possible applications of 3′-SL for the prevention of AI virus infections in birds by a simple cleansing mechanism

Advances in Machine Learning Techniques Can Assist Across a Variety of Stages in Sea Ice Applications

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