Impact of Macroeconomic Announcements on Implied Volatility Slope of SPX Options and VIX

Cataloged from PDF version of article.This paper examines the impact of macroeconomic announcements on the high-frequency behavior of the observed implied volatility skew of S&P 500 index options and VIX. We document that macroeconomic announcements affect VIX significantly and slope at a lesser extent. We also find evidence that good and bad announcements significantly and asymmetrically change implied volatility slope and VIX. 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Gender Awareness of Women’s Role among Male University Students

The study aimed at identifying gender awareness of women’s role among male students. The sample consisted of (200) student from the college of art at Baghdad University and Al Qadisiyah University. The sample was selected randomly and equally from the two universities. In order to achieve this aim, a questioner of 20 items was used. The results of the study refers that male Students have Gender Awareness of Women’s role in society. The results revealed no significant differences due to university, place of residence, and marital statu

Brain computer interface based smart keyboard using neurosky mindwave headset

In the last decade, numerous researches in the field of ‎electro-encephalo-graphy (EEG) and brain-computer-interface ‎‎(BCI) have been accomplished. BCI has been developed to aid ‎disabled/partially disabled people to efficiently communicate ‎with the community. This paper presents a control tool using ‎the Neurosky Mindwave headset, which detects brainwaves ‎‎(voluntary blinks and attention) to form a brain-computer ‎interface (BCI) by receiving the system signals from the frontal lobe. This paper proposed an alternative computer input device ‎for those disabled people (who are physically challenged) ‎rather than the conventional one. The work suggested to use ‎two virtual keyboard designs. The conducted experiment ‎revealed a significant result in developing user printing skills ‎on PCs. Encouraging results (1.55-1.8 word per minute ‎‎(WPM)) were obtained in this research in comparison to other ‎studies

Impact of Water Injection System on Diesel Engine Brake Power and Exhaust Emissions

A series of experiments were carried out to study and clarify the effect of Water Injection system (WI) on diesel engine performance and exhaust gas emissions (Nitrogen Oxides, Sulfur Dioxide, and Carbon Monoxide). The results obtained showed that, water injection increases the power output of the engine. Adding water to the incoming air allows for greater charge density. The water absorbs a large amount of heat as it vaporizes, thus reducing peak temperature and Nitrogen Oxides (NOX) emissions. WI also decreases the emissions of Sulfur Dioxide (SO2); the presence of water converts some of SO2 gas into sulfuric acid (H2SO4). Similarly, WI system was found to decrease the emissions of Carbon Monoxide (CO)

A serological study of brucellosis in camels south of Kirkuk, Iraq

A study of the prevalence of antibodies to camel brucellosis has been carried out in the south of Kirkuk city during March 2011. A total of 66 camels (6 male, 60 female) involved in this study with age between 6 months to 22 years. Blood samples were collected from jugular vein and the sera samples were screened by using Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBPT). The sera that were positive by using RBPT have been tested again by using the 2-Mercaptoethanol (2ME) test. The results of this study revealed that two camels from 66 camels (3.03%) were seropositive for brucella antibodies in South of Kirkuk city

On Some Shrinkage Techniques For Estimating The Parameters Of Exponential Distribution

A variety of shrinkage methods have been proposed for estimation of some unknown parameter by considering estimators based on a prior guess of the value of the parameter. We compare some of the shrunken estimators for the parameters^ and 9 of the exponential distribution through simulatio

Heterochromatin Polymorphisms and Chromosomes Damage in Heavy Smoking Men

Objective: The goal of the study is to appraise the heterochromatin polymorphism and chromosomal abnormalities associated with chromosome in smoking men. Methods: During a 9-months period (January 2014 to September 2014) a total of 60 heavy smoking men (more than 20 cigarettes daily) together with 60 normal controls were subjected to the present investigation. A study of the variants heterochromatin of chromosomes1, 9 and 16 was performed on lymphocyte culture followed by C-banding from a total of 60 heavy smokers and 60 nonsmoker persons. Constitutive evaluation was based on qualitative method, blood culture, chromosomes harvesting and C-band technique were carry out according to the standard methods. Results: Study indicates smoking men had significantly increased frequency of larger C- band variants on chromosome 1 and 9 as compared with nonsmoking men (p˂0.05).  The frequency of inversions revealed significant differences for variants heterochromatin of chromosome 1, 9 and to less extent 16 between smokers and nonsmokers control group and significant association (p<0.05). Conclusion: These results confirm the positive correlation between the amount of heterochromatin on chromosomes 1 and 9 and susceptibility of the smoking men to early development of cancer. Keywords: Polymorphisms, Chromosomes, Heterochromatin, Smoking

Ultra-fast sampling of terahertz pulses from a quantum cascade laser using superconducting antenna-coupled NbN and YBCO detectors

We demonstrate the ultra-fast detection of terahertz pulses from a quantum cascade laser (QCL) using superconducting NbN and YBCO detectors. This has enabled both the intrapulse and interpulse dynamics of a THz QCL to be measured directly, including interpulse heating effects on sub-μs timescales

Actividad antifúngica de algunos extractos de plantas medicinales contra algunos aislados de hongos.

Introduction: Fungi live everywhere in the environment, most of them are not dangerous, but some types of fungi can be harmful to humanhealth. The medicinal plants contain many antimicrobial components that make them recently used as powerful drugs. The aim of the present investigation was to examine the antifungal potential and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of three plant extract: Aloe vera gel, cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) and turmeric (Curcuma longa) against three fungal species: Aspergillus niger, Candida albicans and Fusarium oxysporum. Materials and Methods: The plant materials were extracted using solvents DMSO and ethanol and then were tested against the selected fungal isolates using well diffusion method. Results and Discussion: Antifungal activity of Aloe vera against Aspergillus niger showed MIC value of 25% whereas for Candida albicans and Fusarium oxysporum the MIC obtained was 100%. Both cinnamon and turmeric showed maximum potency against Aspergillus niger, Candida albicans and Fusarium oxysporum at highest MIC value of 100 %. The degree of inhibition increased correspondingly with increasing concentrations of the plant extracts. Conclusions: the tested plant extracts have an antifungal activity and could be used as alternative drugs

Calculation of Electron Swarm Parameters in Tetrafluoromethane

The electron swarm parameters and electron energy distribution function (EEDF) are necessary, especially onunderstanding quantitatively plasma phenomena and ionized gases. The EEDF and electron swarm parameters including the reduce effective ionization coefficient (α-η)/N (α and η are the ionization and attachment coefficient, respectively), electron drift velocity, electron mean energy, characteristic energy, density  normalized longitudinal diffusion coefficient, and density normalized electron mobility in tetrafluoromethane (CF4) which was analyzed and calculated using the two-term approximation of the Boltzmann equation method at room temperature, over a range of the reduced electric field strength (E/N) between 0.1 and 1000 Td(1Td=10-17 V.cm2), where E is the electric field and N is the gas density of the gas. The calculations required cross-sections of the electron beam, thus published momentum transfer, vibration, electronic excitation, ionization, and attachment cross-sections for CF4 were used, the results of the Boltzmann equation in a good agreement with experimental and theoretical values over the entire range of E/N. In all cases, negative differential conductivity regions were found. It is found that the calculated EEDF closes to Maxwellian distribution and decreases sharply at low E/N. The low energy part of EEDF flats and the high-energy tail of EEDF increases with increase E/N. The EEDF found to be non-Maxwellian when the E/N> 10Td, havingenergy variations which reflect electron/molecule energy exchange processes. In addition, limiting field strength (E/N)limit has been calculated from the plots of (α-η)/N, for which the ionization exactlybalances the electron attachment, which is valid for the analysis of insulation characteristics and application to power equipment