A Multifractal Analysis of Asian Foreign Exchange Markets

We analyze the multifractal spectra of daily foreign exchange rates for Japan, Hong-Kong, Korea, and Thailand with respect to the United States Dollar from 1991 to 2005. We find that the return time series show multifractal spectrum features for all four cases. To observe the effect of the Asian currency crisis, we also estimate the multifractal spectra of limited series before and after the crisis. We find that the Korean and Thai foreign exchange markets experienced a significant increase in multifractality compared to Hong-Kong and Japan. We also show that the multifractality is stronge related to the presence of high values of returns in the series

Metronidazole Causes Skeletal Muscle Atrophy and Modulates Muscle Chronometabolism.

Antibiotics lead to increased susceptibility to colonization by pathogenic organisms, with different effects on the host-microbiota relationship. Here, we show that metronidazole treatment of specific pathogen-free (SPF) mice results in a significant increase of the bacterial phylum <i>Proteobacteria</i> in fecal pellets. Furthermore, metronidazole in SPF mice decreases hind limb muscle weight and results in smaller fibers in the tibialis anterior muscle. In the gastrocnemius muscle, metronidazole causes upregulation of <i>Hdac4</i> , <i>myogenin</i> , <i>MuRF1</i> , and <i>atrogin1</i> , which are implicated in skeletal muscle neurogenic atrophy. Metronidazole in SPF mice also upregulates skeletal muscle <i>FoxO3</i> , described as involved in apoptosis and muscle regeneration. Of note, alteration of the gut microbiota results in increased expression of the muscle core clock and effector genes <i>Cry2</i> , <i>Ror</i> - <i>β</i> , and <i>E4BP4</i> . <i>PPARγ</i> and one of its important target genes, <i>adiponectin</i> , are also upregulated by metronidazole. Metronidazole in germ-free (GF) mice increases the expression of other core clock genes, such as <i>Bmal1</i> and <i>Per2</i> , as well as the metabolic regulators <i>FoxO1</i> and <i>Pdk4</i> , suggesting a microbiota-independent pharmacologic effect. In conclusion, metronidazole in SPF mice results in skeletal muscle atrophy and changes the expression of genes involved in the muscle peripheral circadian rhythm machinery and metabolic regulation

Charmed Strange Pentaquarks in the Large NcN_c Limit

The properties of pentaquarks containing a heavy anti-quark and strange quarks are studied in the bound state picture. In the flavor SU(3) limit, there are many pentaquark states with the same binding energy. When the SU(3) symmetry breaking effects are included, however, three states become particularly stable due to a ``Gell-Mann--Okubo mechanism''. They are the $\bar Qsuud$ and $\bar Qsudd$ states discussed by Lipkin, and a a previously unstudied $\bar Qssud$ state. These states will have $J^P={1\over2}^+$ and their masses are estimated. These states, if exist, may be seen in experiments in the near future.Comment: 12 pages in REVTeX, no figure

From Tetraquark to Hexaquark: A Systematic Study of Heavy Exotics in the Large NcN_c Limit

A systematic study of multiquark exotics with one or $N_c-1$ heavy quarks in the large $N_c$ limit is presented. By binding a chiral soliton to a heavy meson, either a normal $N_c$-quark baryon or an exotic $(N_c+2)$-quark baryon is obtained. By replacing the heavy quark with $N_c-1$ heavy antiquarks, exotic $(2N_c-2)$-quark and $2N_c$-quark mesons are obtained. When $N_c = 3$, they are just the normal triquark baryon $Qqq$, the exotic pentaquark baryon $Q\bar q\bar q\bar q\bar q$, tetraquark di-meson $\bar Q \bar Q qq$ and the hexaquark di-baryon $\bar Q \bar Q \bar q \bar q\ bar q \bar q$ respectively. Their stabilities and decays are also discussed. In particular, it is shown that the ``heavy to heavy'' semileptonic decays are described by the Isgur--Wise form factors of the normal baryons.Comment: 14 pages in REVTeX, no Figure

Cost-benefit analysis of introducing next-generation sequencing (metagenomic) pathogen testing in the setting of pyrexia of unknown origin

Pyrexia of unknown origin (PUO) is defined as a temperature of >38.3°C that lasts for >3 weeks, where no cause can be found despite appropriate investigation. Existing protocols for the work-up of PUO can be extensive and costly, motivating the application of recent advances in molecular diagnostics to pathogen testing. There have been many reports describing various analytical methods and performance of metagenomic pathogen testing in clinical samples but the economics of it has been less well studied. This study pragmatically evaluates the feasibility of introducing metagenomic testing in this setting by assessing the relative cost of clinically-relevant strategies employing this investigative tool under various cost and performance scenarios using Singapore as a demonstration case, and assessing the price and performance benchmarks, which would need to be achieved for metagenomic testing to be potentially considered financially viable relative to the current diagnostic standard. This study has some important limitations: we examined only impact of introducing the metagenomic test to the overall diagnostic cost and excluded costs associated with hospitalization and makes assumptions about the performance of the routine diagnostic tests, limiting the cost of metagenomic test, and the lack of further work-up after positive pathogen detection by the metagenomic test. However, these assumptions were necessary to keep the model within reasonable limits. In spite of these, the simplified presentation lends itself to the illustration of the key insights of our paper. In general, we find the use of metagenomic testing as second-line investigation is effectively dominated, and that use of metagenomic testing at first-line would typically require higher rates of detection or lower cost than currently available in order to be justifiable purely as a cost-saving measure. We conclude that current conditions do not warrant a widespread rush to deploy metagenomic testing to resolve any and all uncertainty, but rather as a front-line technology that should be used in specific contexts, as a supplement to rather than a replacement for careful clinical judgement

Light-Front Approach for Heavy Pentaquark Transitions

Assuming the two diquark structure for the pentaquark state as advocated in the Jaffe-Wilczek model, there exist exotic parity-even anti-sextet and parity-odd triplet heavy pentaquark baryons. The theoretical estimate of charmed and bottom pentaquark masses is quite controversial and it is not clear whether the ground-state heavy pentaquark lies above or below the strong-decay threshold. We study the weak transitions of heavy pentaquark states using the light-front quark model. In the heavy quark limit, heavy-to-heavy pentaquark transition form factors can be expressed in terms of three Isgur-Wise functions: two of them are found to be normalized to unity at zero recoil, while the third one is equal to 1/2 at the maximum momentum transfer, in accordance with the prediction of the large-Nc approach or the quark model. Therefore, the light-front model calculations are consistent with the requirement of heavy quark symmetry. Numerical results for form factors and Isgur-Wise functions are presented. Decay rates of the weak decays Theta_b+ to Theta_c0 pi+ (rho+), Theta_c0 to Theta+ pi- (rho-), Sigma'_{5b}+ to Sigma'_{5c}0 pi+ (rho+) and Sigma'_{5c}0 to N_8+ pi- (rho-) with Theta_Q, Sigma'_{5Q} and N_8 being the heavy anti-sextet, heavy triplet and light octet pentaquarks, respectively, are obtained. For weakly decaying Theta_b+ and Theta_c0, the branching ratios of Theta_b+ to Theta_c0 pi+, Theta_c0 to Theta+ pi- are estimated to be at the level of 10^{-3} and a few percents, respectively.Comment: 33 pages, 3 figures, version to be published in Phys. Rev.

1/Nc1/N_c Expansion for Excited Baryons

We derive consistency conditions which constrain the possible form of the strong couplings of the excited baryons to the pions. The consistency conditions follow from requiring the pion-excited baryon scattering amplitudes to satisfy the large-N_c Witten counting rules and are analogous to consistency conditions used by Dashen, Jenkins and Manohar and others for s-wave baryons. The consistency conditions are explicitly solved, giving the most general allowed form of the strong vertices for excited baryons in the large-N_c limit. We show that the solutions to the large-N_c consistency conditions coincide with the predictions of the nonrelativistic quark model for these states, extending the results previously obtained for the s-wave baryons. The 1/N_c corrections to these predictions are studied in the quark model with arbitrary number of colors N_c.Comment: 56 pages, REVTeX; one new Appendix added containing a discussion of the results in the language of quark operator

Full adoption of the most effective strategies to mitigate methane emissions by ruminants can help meet the 1.5 °C target by 2030 but not 2050

To meet the 1.5 °C target, methane (CH) from ruminants must be reduced by 11 to 30% by 2030 and 24 to 47% by 2050 compared to 2010 levels. A meta-analysis identified strategies to decrease product-based (PB; CH per unit meat or milk) and absolute (ABS) enteric CH emissions while maintaining or increasing animal productivity (AP; weight gain or milk yield). Next, the potential of different adoption rates of one PB or one ABS strategy to contribute to the 1.5 °C target was estimated. The database included findings from 430 peer-reviewed studies, which reported 98 mitigation strategies that can be classified into three categories: animal and feed management, diet formulation, and rumen manipulation. A random-effects meta-analysis weighted by inverse variance was carried out. Three PB strategies—namely, increasing feeding level, decreasing grass maturity, and decreasing dietary forage-to-concentrate ratio—decreased CH per unit meat or milk by on average 12% and increased AP by a median of 17%. Five ABS strategies—namely CH inhibitors, tanniferous forages, electron sinks, oils and fats, and oilseeds—decreased daily methane by on average 21%. Globally, only 100% adoption of the most effective PB and ABS strategies can meet the 1.5 °C target by 2030 but not 2050, because mitigation effects are offset by projected increases in CH due to increasing milk and meat demand. Notably, by 2030 and 2050, low- and middle-income countries may not meet their contribution to the 1.5 °C target for this same reason, whereas high-income countries could meet their contributions due to only a minor projected increase in enteric CH emissions.We thank the GLOBAL NETWORK project for generating part of the database. The GLOBAL NETWORK project (https://globalresearchalliance.org/research/livestock/collaborative-activities/global-research-project/; accessed 20 June 2020) was a multinational initiative funded by the Joint Programming Initiative on Food Security, Agriculture, and Climate Change and was coordinated by the Feed and Nutrition Network (https://globalresearchalliance.org/research/livestock/networks/feed-nutrition-network/; accessed 20 June 2020) within the Livestock Research Group of the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural GHG (https://globalresearchalliance.org; accessed 20 June 2020). We thank MitiGate, which was part of the Animal Change project funded by the EU under Grant Agreement FP7-266018 for sharing their database with us (http://mitigate.ibers.aber.ac.uk/, accessed 1 July 2017). Part of C.A., A.N.H., and S.C.M.’s time in the early stages of this project was funded by the Kravis Scientific Research Fund (New York) and a gift from Sue and Steve Mandel to the Environmental Defense Fund. Another part of C.A.’s work on this project was supported by the National Program for Scientific Research and Advanced Studies - PROCIENCIA within the framework of the "Project for the Improvement and Expansion of the Services of the National System of Science, Technology and Technological Innovation" (Contract No. 016-2019) and by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (issued through Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbei) through the research “Programme of Climate Smart Livestock” (Programme 2017.0119.2). Part of A.N.H.’s work was funded by the US Department of Agriculture (Washington, DC) National Institute of Food and Agriculture Federal Appropriations under Project PEN 04539 and Accession no. 1000803. E.K. was supported by the Sesnon Endowed Chair Fund of the University of California, Davis

Polynomial modeling for time-varying systems based on a particle swarm optimization algorithm

In this paper, an effective particle swarm optimization (PSO) is proposed for polynomial models for time varying systems. The basic operations of the proposed PSO are similar to those of the classical PSO except that elements of particles represent arithmetic operations and variables of time-varying models. The performance of the proposed PSO is evaluated by polynomial modeling based on various sets of time-invariant and time-varying data. Results of polynomial modeling in time-varying systems show that the proposed PSO outperforms commonly used modeling methods which have been developed for solving dynamic optimization problems including genetic programming (GP) and dynamic GP. An analysis of the diversity of individuals of populations in the proposed PSO and GP reveals why the proposed PSO obtains better results than those obtained by GP

A measurement of the tau mass and the first CPT test with tau leptons

We measure the mass of the tau lepton to be 1775.1+-1.6(stat)+-1.0(syst.) MeV using tau pairs from Z0 decays. To test CPT invariance we compare the masses of the positively and negatively charged tau leptons. The relative mass difference is found to be smaller than 3.0 10^-3 at the 90% confidence level.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, Submitted to Phys. Letts.