The merit of high-frequency data in portfolio allocation

This paper addresses the open debate about the usefulness of high-frequency (HF) data in large-scale portfolio allocation. Daily covariances are estimated based on HF data of the S&P 500 universe employing a blocked realized kernel estimator. We propose forecasting covariance matrices using a multi-scale spectral decomposition where volatilities, correlation eigenvalues and eigenvectors evolve on different frequencies. In an extensive out-of-sample forecasting study, we show that the proposed approach yields less risky and more diversified portfolio allocations as prevailing methods employing daily data. These performance gains hold over longer horizons than previous studies have shown

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

IDriveSense: Dynamic Route Planning Involving Roads Quality Information

Owing to the expeditious growth in the information and communication technologies, smart cities have raised the expectations in terms of efficient functioning and management. One key aspect of residents' daily comfort is assured through affording reliable traffic management and route planning. Comprehensively, the majority of the present trip planning applications and service providers are enabling their trip planning recommendations relying on shortest paths and/or fastest routes. However, such suggestions may discount drivers' preferences with respect to safe and less disturbing trips. Road anomalies such as cracks, potholes, and manholes induce risky driving scenarios and can lead to vehicles damages and costly repairs. Accordingly, in this paper, we propose a crowdsensing based dynamic route planning system. Leveraging both the vehicle motion sensors and the inertial sensors within the smart devices, road surface types and anomalies have been detected and categorized. In addition, the monitored events are geo-referenced utilizing GPS receivers on both vehicles and smart devices. Consequently, road segments assessments are conducted using fuzzy system models based on aspects such as the number of anomalies and their severity levels in each road segment. Afterward, another fuzzy model is adopted to recommend the best trip routes based on the road segments quality in each potential route. Extensive road experiments are held to build and show the potential of the proposed system.This research is supported by a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) under grant number: STPGP 479248. In addition, this work was made possible by NPRP grant NPRP 9-185-2-096 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of The Qatar Foundation).Scopu

A framework for adaptive resolution geo-referencing in intelligent vehicular services

Future smart cities are profoundly looking forward to providing services that assure daily competent functionality. Efficient traffic management and related vehicular services are crucial aspects when considering the city's decent operation. The significant presence of the vehicular and smartphone sensing and computing capabilities within and amongst the vehicles open the door towards robust vehicular and road services. The retrofitted present and future vehicles will be able to provide accurate real-time information about the road conditions and hazards, driver behaviour, and traffic. Adequate geo-referencing is remarkably demanded in order to preserve robustness while providing vehicular services. Present and widely spread global positioning systems (GPS) receivers are providing low- resolution position update at 1 Hz, which is not sufficient at high speeds. Also, alternative high data rate geo-referencing technologies may face self-contained or environmental-based performance limitations. In this paper, we propose an adaptive resolution integrated geo-referencing framework that augments GPS and inertial sensors to provide accurate localization and positioning for road information services. Also, we examine the effectiveness of the proposed system in geo- referencing for selected real-life road services. - 2019 IEEE.This research is supported by a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) under grant number: STPGP 479248. In addition, this work was made possible by NPRP grant NPRP 9-185-2-096 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of The Qatar Foundation).Scopu

Utilization of Wavelet Packet Sensor De-noising for Accurate Positioning in Intelligent Road Services

Recently, smart cities functionality and management have captured notable consideration. Owing to the rapid development in the information and communication technologies (ICT), various applications and services are highly engaged in the cities' operation. Specifically, intelligent road services as traffic management, driver behavior assessment and crowdsensing based road condition monitoring contribute towards better operability. To sustain decent performance of these applications, accurate and continuous positioning is an essential concern. Generally, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers are vulnerable to partial or complete outages due to multipath or signal blockage. Consequently, inertial navigation systems integrated with GNSS receivers are affected by inertial sensors noises and biases. In this paper, we apply wavelet packet de-nosing to eliminate noises of the Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) grade inertial sensors. Afterwards, we integrate the de-noised reduced inertial sensor system (RISS) with GNSS receivers in real road experiment to assess the system performance. In addition, we show the significance ofthe proposed integration over the conventional one during multiple GNSS outages under various driving scenarios.This research is supported by a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) under grant number: STPGP 479248. In addition, this work was made possible by NPRP grant NPRP 9-185-2-096 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of The Qatar Foundation)

Assessment of time delays and synchronization errors in real-time INS/GNSS systems and its impact on the navigation performance

In practical real-time integrated navigation systems that fuse data from Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) [1][3][4][5] and Inertial Navigation Systems (INS) [2][5], latencies (time delays) in inertial sensors or GNSS measurements may cause significant degradation of the navigation performance. These delays could be a significant contributor and source of errors in low-cost MEMS-based inertial sensors and GNSS receivers [8][9]. This is because the processed data in a real-time system doesn't perfectly reflect current system dynamics. Instead, it represents the system dynamics a short period of time ago. Consequently, accurate analysis and assessment of such delays are of great importance in order to compensate for their effect in real-time system designs. Thus, this work introduces a software framework for simulating, analyzing and assessing the effects of time delays on an integrated INS/GPS n