Portfolio Optimization Using the Business Cycle Approach

The purpose of the study is to investigate whether a portfolio manager could enhance his/her portfolio optimization strategy by periodically adjusting the equity sector weights to a diversified stock portfolio. The business cycle approach focuses on providing a framework for adjusting sector weightings to take advantage of recurring trends in economic growth that signal a phase transition soon. Once a shift in stages is detected, investors are advised to adjust their portfolio to overweight a specific sector that is projected to outperform in the next phase of the cycle and to offset exposure in sectors that tend to underperform during the same period. To optimize portfolio returns with minimal risk, the business cycle approach must align with macro-fundamental analysis metrics to identify unique variables in each sector that can significantly impact its performance. This study proposes using the Conference Board Leading Economic Indicator Index (LEI) to reformat the initial business cycle framework created by Burns and Mitchell (1946) and evaluate the performance of S&P 500 sector indices since 1993

Little Trees

I believe in the power of film as a medium of storytelling. My desire to head a year-long production as well as create a moving story that underlined my interest in sibling relationships motivated me to create a short film as my honors thesis. My film, Little Trees, emphasizes themes such as alienation and growth within a broken household. My ultimate goal is to become an artist who creates meaningful cinema by telling deeply personal stories, and creating Little Trees was a successful first step in that process

Portfolio Optimization Using the Business Cycle Approach

The purpose of the study is to investigate whether a portfolio manager could enhance his/her portfolio optimization strategy by periodically adjusting the equity sector weights to a diversified stock portfolio. The business cycle approach focuses on providing a framework for adjusting sector weightings to take advantage of recurring trends in economic growth that signal a phase transition soon. Once a shift in stages is detected, investors are advised to adjust their portfolio to overweight a specific sector that is projected to outperform in the next phase of the cycle and to offset exposure in sectors that tend to underperform during the same period. To optimize portfolio returns with minimal risk, the business cycle approach must align with macro-fundamental analysis metrics to identify unique variables in each sector that can significantly impact its performance. This study proposes using the Conference Board Leading Economic Indicator Index (LEI) to reformat the initial business cycle framework created by Burns and Mitchell (1946) and evaluate the performance of S&P 500 sector indices since 1993

Wearable activity technology and action-planning (WATAAP) to promote physical activity in cancer survivors: Randomised controlled trial protocol

Background/Objective: Colorectal and gynecologic cancer survivors are at cardiovascular risk due to comorbidities and sedentary behaviour, warranting a feasible intervention to increase physical activity. The Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) is a promising theoretical frame-work for health behaviour change, and wearable physical activity trackers offer a novel means of self-monitoring physical activity for cancer survivors. Method: Sixty-eight survivors of colorectal and gynecologic cancer will be randomised into 12- week intervention and control groups. Intervention group participants will receive: a Fitbit AltaTM to monitor physical activity, HAPA-based group sessions, booklet, and support phone-call. Participants in the control group will only receive the HAPA-based booklet. Physical activity (using accelerometers), blood pressure, BMI, and HAPA constructs will be assessed at baseline, 12-weeks (post-intervention) and 24-weeks (follow-up). Data analysis will use the Group x Time interaction from a General Linear Mixed Model analysis. Conclusions: Physical activity interventions that are acceptable and have robust theoretical underpinnings show promise for improving the health of cancer survivors

Working memory capacity limits motor learning when implementing multiple instructions.

Although it is generally accepted that certain practice conditions can place large demands on working memory (WM) when performing and learning a motor skill, the influence that WM capacity has on the acquisition of motor skills remains unsubstantiated. This study examined the role of WM capacity in a motor skill practice context that promoted WM involvement through the provision of explicit instructions. A cohort of 90 children aged 8 to 10 years were assessed on measures of WM capacity and attention. Children who scored in the lowest and highest thirds on the WM tasks were allocated to lower WM capacity (n D 24) and higher WM capacity (n D 24) groups, respectively. The remaining 42 participants did not participate in the motor task. The motor task required children to practice basketball shooting for 240 trials in blocks of 20 shots, with pre- and post-tests occurring before and after the intervention. A retention test was administered 1 week after the post-test. Prior to every practice block, children were provided with five explicit instructions that were specific to the technique of shooting a basketball. Results revealed that the higher WM capacity group displayed consistent improvements from pre- to post-test and through to the retention test, while the opposite effect occurred in the lower WM capacity group. This implies that the explicit instructions had a negative influence on learning by the lower WM capacity children. Results are discussed in relation to strategy selection for dealing with instructions and the role of attention control

Topological modes bound to dislocations in mechanical metamaterials

Mechanical metamaterials are artificial structures with unusual properties, such as negative Poisson ratio, bistability or tunable vibrational properties, that originate in the geometry of their unit cell. At the heart of such unusual behaviour is often a soft mode: a motion that does not significantly stretch or compress the links between constituent elements. When activated by motors or external fields, soft modes become the building blocks of robots and smart materials. Here, we demonstrate the existence of topological soft modes that can be positioned at desired locations in a metamaterial while being robust against a wide range of structural deformations or changes in material parameters. These protected modes, localized at dislocations, are the mechanical analogue of topological states bound to defects in electronic systems. We create physical realizations of the topological modes in prototypes of kagome lattices built out of rigid triangular plates. We show mathematically that they originate from the interplay between two Berry phases: the Burgers vector of the dislocation and the topological polarization of the lattice. Our work paves the way towards engineering topologically protected nano-mechanical structures for molecular robotics or information storage and read-out.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures; changes to text and figures and added analysis on mode localization; see http://www.lorentz.leidenuniv.nl/~paulose/dislocation-modes/ for accompanying video

Static non-reciprocity in mechanical metamaterials

Reciprocity is a fundamental principle governing various physical systems, which ensures that the transfer function between any two points in space is identical, regardless of geometrical or material asymmetries. Breaking this transmission symmetry offers enhanced control over signal transport, isolation and source protection. So far, devices that break reciprocity have been mostly considered in dynamic systems, for electromagnetic, acoustic and mechanical wave propagation associated with spatio-temporal variations. Here we show that it is possible to strongly break reciprocity in static systems, realizing mechanical metamaterials that, by combining large nonlinearities with suitable geometrical asymmetries, and possibly topological features, exhibit vastly different output displacements under excitation from different sides, as well as one-way displacement amplification. In addition to extending non-reciprocity and isolation to statics, our work sheds new light on the understanding of energy propagation in non-linear materials with asymmetric crystalline structures and topological properties, opening avenues for energy absorption, conversion and harvesting, soft robotics, prosthetics and optomechanics.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figures, Supplementary information (11 pages and 5 figures

Strain-controlled criticality governs the nonlinear mechanics of fibre networks

Disordered fibrous networks are ubiquitous in nature as major structural components of living cells and tissues. The mechanical stability of networks generally depends on the degree of connectivity: only when the average number of connections between nodes exceeds the isostatic threshold are networks stable (Maxwell, J. C., Philosophical Magazine 27, 294 (1864)). Upon increasing the connectivity through this point, such networks undergo a mechanical phase transition from a floppy to a rigid phase. However, even sub-isostatic networks become rigid when subjected to sufficiently large deformations. To study this strain-controlled transition, we perform a combination of computational modeling of fibre networks and experiments on networks of type I collagen fibers, which are crucial for the integrity of biological tissues. We show theoretically that the development of rigidity is characterized by a strain-controlled continuous phase transition with signatures of criticality. Our experiments demonstrate mechanical properties consistent with our model, including the predicted critical exponents. We show that the nonlinear mechanics of collagen networks can be quantitatively captured by the predictions of scaling theory for the strain-controlled critical behavior over a wide range of network concentrations and strains up to failure of the material

Molecular profiling of signet ring cell colorectal cancer provides a strong rationale for genomic targeted and immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies

We would like to thank all patients whose samples were used in this study. We are also thankful to the Northern Ireland Biobank and Grampian Biorepository for providing us with tissue blocks and patient data; and Dr HG Coleman (Queen’s University Belfast) for her advice on statistical analyses. This work has been carried out with financial support from Cancer Research UK (grant: C11512/A18067), Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre Network (grant: C36697/A15590 from Cancer Research UK and the NI Health and Social Care Research and Development Division), the Sean Crummey Memorial Fund and the Tom Simms Memorial Fund. The Northern Ireland Biobank is funded by HSC Research and Development Division of the Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland and Cancer Research UK through the Belfast CRUK Centre and the Northern Ireland Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre; additional support was received from Friends of the Cancer Centre. The Northern Ireland Molecular Pathology Laboratory which is responsible for creating resources for the Northern Ireland Biobank has received funding from Cancer Research UK, Friends of the Cancer Centre and Sean Crummey Foundation.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Wearable activity technology and action-planning (WATAAP) to promote physical activity in cancer survivors: Randomised controlled trial protocol

FUNDAMENTOS/OBJETIVO: Los sobrevivientes de cáncer colorrectal y ginecológico corren riesgo cardiovascular debido a las comorbilidades y al comportamiento sedentario, lo que justifica una intervención factible para aumentar la actividad física. El Enfoque del Proceso de Acción Sanitaria (HAPA) es un marco teórico prometedor para el cambio de comportamiento en materia de salud, y los rastreadores de actividad física que se pueden llevar puestos ofrecen un medio novedoso de autocontrol de la actividad física para los supervivientes de cáncer. MÉTODO: Sesenta y ocho sobrevivientes de cáncer colorrectal y ginecológico serán asignados al azar a grupos de intervención y control de 12 semanas. Los participantes del grupo de intervención recibirán: un Fitbit AltaTM para monitorear la actividad física, sesiones de grupo basadas en HAPA, un folleto y una llamada telefónica de apoyo. Los participantes del grupo de control sólo recibirán el folleto basado en HAPA. La actividad física (utilizando acelerómetros), la presión sanguínea, el IMC y las construcciones HAPA se evaluarán en la línea de base, a las 12 semanas (después de la intervención) y a las 24 semanas (seguimiento). El análisis de los datos utilizará la interacción Grupo x Tiempo de un análisis de Modelo Mixto Lineal General. CONCLUSIONES: Las intervenciones de actividad física que son aceptables y que tienen sólidos fundamentos teóricos son prometedoras para mejorar la salud de los sobrevivientes de cáncer.BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Colorectal and gynecologic cancer survivors are at cardiovascular risk due to comorbidities and sedentary behaviour, warranting a feasible intervention to increase physical activity. The Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) is a promising theoretical framework for health behaviour change, and wearable physical activity trackers offer a novel means of self-monitoring physical activity for cancer survivors. METHOD: Sixty-eight survivors of colorectal and gynecologic cancer will be randomised into 12-week intervention and control groups. Intervention group participants will receive: a Fitbit AltaTM to monitor physical activity, HAPA-based group sessions, booklet, and support phonecall. Participants in the control group will only receive the HAPA-based booklet. Physical activity (using accelerometers), blood pressure, BMI, and HAPA constructs will be assessed at baseline, 12-weeks (post-intervention) and 24-weeks (follow-up). Data analysis will use the Group x Time interaction from a General Linear Mixed Model analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Physical activity interventions that are acceptable and have robust theoretical underpinnings show promise for improving the health of cancer survivors.• The Tonkinson Colorectal Cancer Research. Subvención 57838 • St. John of God Gynecologic Oncology Research Group (Western Australia). AyudapeerReviewe