Tracking the relationship between euro area equities and sovereign bonds

This paper explores the relationship between stocks and sovereign bonds by means of the asymmetric detrended cross-correlation analysis (ADCCA). Drawing on data from 1999.01 to 2018.09 of the first wave of euro area countries, the full sample is divided into three subsets in accordance with economic and financial features. Some findings arise with striking implications for investors and policymakers. Firstly, empirical results show that cross-correlations differ from country to country, depending on the sub-period under analysis and on the time scale. Secondly, likewise within country estimates, cross-country linkages may point to fragmentation in the euro area with agents moving away from financial assets of lower-rated countries to invest in more robust economies in periods of turmoil. Thirdly, there is evidence of asymmetry since 'flight-to-quality' movements seem to be more relevant than 'flight-to-yield' episodes. Finally, while relationships were globally bidirectional until mid-2007, new causality patterns arose with the financial crisis.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Damage detections in nonlinear vibrating thermally loaded plates

In this work, geometrically nonlinear vibrations of fully clamped rectangular plates subjected to thermal changesare used to study the sensitivity of some vibration response parameters to the presence of damage and elevated temperature. The geometrically nonlinear version of the Mindlin plate theory is used to model the plate behaviour.Damage is represented as a stiffness reduction in a small area of the plate. The plates are subjected to harmonicloading leading to large amplitude vibrations and temperature changes. The plate vibration response is obtained by a pseudo-load mode superposition method. The main results are focussed on establishing the influence of damage on the vibration response of the heated and the unheated plates and the change in the time-history diagrams and the Poincaré maps caused by damage and elevated temperature. The damage criterion formulated earlier for nonheated plates, based on analyzing the points in the Poincaré sections of the damaged and healthy plate, is modified and tested for the case of plates additionally subjected to elevated temperatures. The importance of taking into account the actual temperature in the process of damage detection is shown

Temperature independent band structure of WTe2 as observed from ARPES

Extremely large magnetoresistance (XMR), observed in transition metal dichalcogendies, WTe$_2$, has attracted recently a great deal of research interests as it shows no sign of saturation up to the magnetic field as high as 60 T, in addition to the presence of type-II Weyl fermions. Currently, there has been a lot of discussion on the role of band structure changes on the temperature dependent XMR in this compound. In this contribution, we study the band structure of WTe$_2$ using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and first-principle calculations to demonstrate that the temperature dependent band structure has no substantial effect on the temperature dependent XMR as our measurements do not show band structure changes on increasing the sample temperature between 20 and 130 K. We further observe an electronlike surface state, dispersing in such a way that it connects the top of bulk holelike band to the bottom of bulk electronlike band. Interestingly, similar to bulk states, the surface state is also mostly intact with the sample temperature. Our results provide invaluable information in shaping the mechanism of temperature dependent XMR in WTe$_2$.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1705.0721

Using the best linear predictor (BLP) in the selection between and among half-sib progenies of the CMS-39 maize population.

Data of corn ear production (kg/ha) of 196 half-sib progenies (HSP) of the maize population CMS-39 obtained from experiments carried out in four environments were used to adapt and assess the BLP method (best linear predictor) in comparison with to the selection among and within half-sib progenies (SAWHSP). The 196 HSP of the CMS-39 population developed by the National Center for Maize and Sorghum Research (CNPMS-EMBRAPA) were related through their pedigree with the recombined progenies of the previous selection cycle. The two methodologies used for the selection of the twenty best half-sib progenies. BLP and SAWHSP, led to similar expected genetic grains. There was a tendency in the BLP methodology to select a greater number of related progenies because of the previous generation (pedigree) than the other method. This implies that greater care with the effictive size of the population must be taken with this method. The SAWHSP methodology was efficient in isolating tha aditive genetic variance component from the phenotypic component. The pedigree system, although unnecessary for the routine use of the SAWHSP methodology, allowed the prediction of an increase in the inbreeding of the population in the long term SAWHSP selection when recombination is simultaneous to creation of new progenies

The Luminosity Function of Galaxies in Compact Groups

From R-band images of 39 Hickson compact groups (HCGs), we use galaxy counts to determine a luminosity function extending to M_R=-14.0, approximately two magnitudes deeper than previous compact group luminosity functions. We find that a single Schechter function is a poor fit to the data, so we fit a composite function consisting of separate Schechter functions for the bright and faint galaxies. The bright end is best fit with M^*=-21.6 and alpha=-0.52 and the faint end with M^*=-16.1 and alpha=-1.17. The decreasing bright end slope implies a deficit of intermediate luminosity galaxies in our sample of HCGs and the faint end slope is slightly steeper than that reported for earlier HCG luminosity functions. Furthermore, luminosity functions of subsets of our sample reveal more substantial dwarf populations for groups with x-ray halos, groups with tidal dwarf candidates, and groups with a dominant elliptical or lenticular galaxy. Collectively, these results support the hypothesis that within compact groups, the initial dwarf galaxy population is replenished by "subsequent generations" formed in the tidal debris of giant galaxy interactions.Comment: 26 pages, to be published in The Astrophysical Journal, 8 greyscale plates (figures 1 and 2) can be retrieved at http://www.astro.psu.edu/users/sdh/pubs.htm

APOBEC3 host factors modulate viral production and infectivity of HIV-2

Poster presented at the 15th European AIDS Conference/EACS. Barcelona, 21-24 October 2015.This work was funded by FCT – SFRH/BD/81921/2011 and Egas Moniz, Cooperativa de Ensino Superior, CRL, Portugal

Realization of Rectangular Artificial Spin Ice and Direct Observation of High Energy Topology

In this letter, we have constructed and experimentally investigated frustrated arrays of dipoles forming two-dimensional artificial spin ices with different lattice parameters (rectangular arrays with horizontal and vertical lattice spacings denoted by $a$ and $b$ respectively). Arrays with three different ratios $\gamma =a/b = \sqrt{2}$, $\sqrt{3}$ and $\sqrt{4}$ are studied. Theoretical calculations of low-energy demagnetized configurations for these same parameters are also presented. Experimental data for demagnetized samples confirm most of the theoretical results. However, the highest energy topology (doubly-charged monopoles) does not emerge in our theoretical model, while they are seen in experiments for large enough $\gamma$. Our results also insinuate that magnetic monopoles may be almost free in rectangular lattices with a critical ratio $\gamma = \gamma_{c} = \sqrt{3}$, supporting previous theoretical predictions

Relación entre Medidas Zoométricas en Vacas Holstein-Friesian y Dimensiones de Cubículos en Granjas Lecheras

Body measurements in Portuguese Holstein-Friesian breed and its association with the dimensions of the cubicles were investigated. During a period of 5 months, body measurements and cubicles size data from 55 commercial Portuguese dairy herds were collected including in total 1054 individual cows. Data were analyzed using the general linear model and principal components. The most relevant body measurements were: height at withers (141.1±4.72 cm), height at rump (144.2±4.47 cm), length of trunk (170.8±8.31 cm), width of biiliac (55.9±4.17 cm) and perimeter of the thorax (206.8±10.43 cm). In general, the first class of parity showed significant different measures (P<0.001) associated with the development of animals. Head to head cubicle length and cubicle width were 223.0±11.0 cm and 113.0±5.0 cm respectively; whereas in cubicle against wall length was 227.0±18.0 cm and width 111.0±7.0 cm. The highest correlations were found for body measures between the different heights and between the height at chest and perimeter of the thorax. The analysis showed no relation between body measurements and dimensions of the cubicles. Principal component analysis of the different body measurements and cubicles dimensions expressed 51.4% of the total variability, in which the first factor represented 40.2% and the second factor 11.1%.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Optical Self Energy in Graphene due to Correlations

In highly correlated systems one can define an optical self energy in analogy to its quasiparticle (QP) self energy counterpart. This quantity provides useful information on the nature of the excitations involved in inelastic scattering processes. Here we calculate the self energy of the intraband optical transitions in graphene originating in the electron-electron interaction (EEI) as well as electron-phonon interaction (EPI). Although optics involves an average over all momenta ($k$) of the charge carriers, the structure in the optical self energy is nevertheless found to mirror mainly that of the corresponding quasiparticles for $k$ equal to or near the Fermi momentum $k_F$. Consequently plasmaronic structures which are associated with momenta near the Dirac point at $k=0$ are not important in the intraband optical response. While the structure of the electron-phonon interaction (EPI) reflects the sharp peaks of the phonon density of states, the excitation spectrum associated with the electron-electron interaction is in comparison structureless and flat and extends over an energy range which scales linearly with the value of the chemical potential. Modulations seen on the edge of the interband optical conductivity as it rises towards its universal background value are traced to structure in the quasiparticle self energies around $k_F$ of the lower Dirac cone associated with the occupied states.Comment: 30 pages, 10 figure