A Dynamic Factor Analysis of the Response of U.S. Interest Rates to News

This paper uses a dynamic factor model recently studied by Forni, Hallin, Lippi and Reichlin (2000) to analyze the response of 21 U.S. interest rates to news. Using daily data, we find that the news that affects interest rates daily can be summarized by two common factors. This finding is robust to both the sample period and time aggregation. Each rate has an important idiosyncratic component; however, the relative importance of the idiosyncratic component declines as the frequency of the observations is reduced, and nearly vanishes when rates are observed at the monthly frequency. Using an identi.cation scheme that allows for the fact that when policy actions are unknown to the market the funds rate should respond first to policy actions, we are unable to identifying a unique effect of monetary policy in the funds rate at the daily frequency.

A dynamic factor analysis of the response of U. S. interest rates to news

This paper uses a dynamic factor model recently studied by Forni, Hallin, Lippi and Reichlin (2000) and Forni, Giannone, Lippi and Reichlin (2004) to analyze the response of 21 U.S. interest rates to news. Using daily data, we find that the news that affects interest rates daily can be summarized by two common factors. This finding is robust to both the sample period and time aggregation. Each rate has an important idiosyncratic component; however, the relative importance of the idiosyncratic component declines as the frequency of the observations is reduced, and nearly vanishes when rates are observed at the monthly frequency. Using an identification scheme that allows for the fact that when policy actions are unknown to the market the funds rate should respond first to policy actions, we are unable to identify a unique effect of monetary policy in the funds rate at the daily frequency.Interest rates

Ontogenetic foraging activity and feeding selectivity of the Brazilian endemic parrotfishScarus zelindae

Parrotfish are fundamental species in controlling algal phase-shifts and ensuring the resilience of coral reefs. Nevertheless, little is known on their ecological role in the south-western Atlantic Ocean. The present study analysed the ontogenetic foraging activity and feeding selectivity of the Brazilian endemic parrotfish Scarus zelindae using behavioural observation and benthic composition analyses. We found a significant negative relationship between fish size and feeding rates for S. zelindae individuals. Thus, terminal phase individuals forage with lower feeding rates compared to juveniles and initial phase individuals. The highest relative foraging frequency of S. zelindae was on epilithic algae matrix (EAM) with similar values for juveniles (86.6%), initial phase (88.1%) and terminal phase (88.6%) individuals. The second preferred benthos for juveniles was sponge (11.6%) compared with initial (4.5%) and terminal life phases (1.3%). Different life phases of S. zelindae foraged on different benthos according to their availability. Based on Ivlev's electivity index, juveniles selected EAM and sponge, while initial phase and terminal phase individuals only selected EAM. Our findings demonstrate that the foraging frequency of the endemic parrotfish S. zelindae is reduced according to body size and that there is a slight ontogenetic change in feeding selectivity. Therefore, ecological knowledge of ontogenetic variations on resource use is critical for the remaining parrotfish populations which have been dramatically reduced in the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean

The khmer software package: enabling efficient nucleotide sequence analysis [version 1; referees: 2 approved, 1 approved with reservations]

The khmer package is a freely available software library for working efficiently with fixed length DNA words, or k-mers. khmer provides implementations of a probabilistic k-mer counting data structure, a compressible De Bruijn graph representation, De Bruijn graph partitioning, and digital normalization. khmer is implemented in C++ and Python, and is freely available under the BSD license at https://github.com/dib-lab/khmer/

CMS physics technical design report : Addendum on high density QCD with heavy ions

Peer reviewe

Detecting the impact of temperature on transmission of Zika, dengue, and chikungunya using mechanistic models

Recent epidemics of Zika, dengue, and chikungunya have heightened the need to understand the seasonal and geographic range of transmission by Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus mosquitoes. We use mechanistic transmission models to derive predictions for how the probability and magnitude of transmission for Zika, chikungunya, and dengue change with mean temperature, and we show that these predictions are well matched by human case data. Across all three viruses, models and human case data both show that transmission occurs between 18–34°C with maximal transmission occurring in a range from 26–29°C. Controlling for population size and two socioeconomic factors, temperature-dependent transmission based on our mechanistic model is an important predictor of human transmission occurrence and incidence. Risk maps indicate that tropical and subtropical regions are suitable for extended seasonal or year-round transmission, but transmission in temperate areas is limited to at most three months per year even if vectors are present. Such brief transmission windows limit the likelihood of major epidemics following disease introduction in temperate zones

Ontogenetic foraging activity and feeding selectivity of the Brazilian endemic parrotfish Scarus zelindae Ontogenetic foraging activity and feeding selectivity of the Brazilian endemic parrotfish Scarus zelindae 2 3 4 3 -Reef Conservation Project -Projeto

View the peer-reviewed version (peerj.com/articles/2536), which is the preferred citable publication unless you specifically need to cite this preprint. Pereira PHC, Santos M, Lippi DL, Silva P. 2016. Ontogenetic foraging activity and feeding selectivity of the Brazilian endemic parrotfish Scarus zelindae

Pliocene-Pleistocene Lineage Diversifications In The Eastern Indigo Snake (Drymarchon Couperi) In The Southeastern United States

Indigo Snakes (Drymarchon; with five currently recognized species) occur from northern Argentina, northward to the United States in southern Texas and eastward in disjunct populations in Florida and Georgia. Based on this known allopatry and a difference in supralabial morphology the two United States taxa previously considered as subspecies within D. corais (Boie 1827), the Western Indigo Snake, D. melanurus erebennus (Cope 1860), and Eastern Indigo Snake, D. couperi (Holbrook 1842), are currently recognized as separate species. Drymarchon couperi is a Federally-designated Threatened species by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Act, and currently being incorporated into a translocation program. This, combined with its disjunct distribution makes it a prime candidate for studying speciation and genetic divergence. In this study, we (1) test the hypothesis that D. m. erebennus and D. couperi are distinct lineages by analyzing 2411 base pairs (bp) of two mitochondrial (mtDNA) loci and one single copy nuclear (scnDNA) locus; (2) estimate the timing of speciation using a relaxed phylogenetics method to determine if Milankovitch cycles during the Pleistocene might have had an influence on lineage diversifications; (3) examine historical population demography to determine if identified lineages have undergone population declines, expansions, or remained stable during the most recent Milankovitch cycles; and (4) use this information to assist in an effective and scientifically sound translocation program. Our molecular data support the initial hypothesis that D. melanurus and D. couperi should be recognized as distinct species, but further illustrate that D. couperi is split into two distinct genetic lineages that correspond to historical biogeography and sea level changes in peninsular Florida. These two well-supported genetic lineages (herein termed Atlantic and Gulf lineages) illustrate a common biogeographic distributional break previously identified for other plants and animals, suggesting that these organisms might have shared a common evolutionary history related to historic sea level changes caused by Milankovitch cycles. Our estimated divergence times suggest that the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) between D. melanurus and southeastern United States Drymarchon occurred ca. 5.9 Ma (95% HPD = 2.5-9.8 Ma; during the late Blancan of the Pleistocene through the Hemphillian of the Miocene), whereas the MRCA between the Atlantic and Gulf lineages in the southeastern United States occurred ca. 2.0 Ma (95% HPD = 0.7-3.7 Ma; during the Irvingtonian of the Pleistocene through the Blancan of the Pliocene). During one or more glacial intervals within these times, these two lineages must have become separated and evolved independently. Despite numerous Milankovitch cycles along with associated forming of physical barriers (i.e., sea level fluctuations, high elevation sand ridges, clayey soils, and/or insufficient habitats) since their initial lineage diversification, these two lineages have likely come in and out of contact with each other many times, yet today they still illustrate near discrete geographic distributions. Although the Atlantic and Gulf lineages appear to be cryptic, a thorough study examining morphological characters should be conducted. We believe that our molecular data is crucial and should be incorporated in making conscious decisions in the management of a translocation program. We suggest that source populations for translocations include maintaining the integrity of the known genetic lineages found herein, as well as those coming from the closest areas that currently support sizable Drymarchon populations