Mortgage Timing

We study how the term structure of interest rates relates to mortgage choice, both at the household and the aggregate level. A simple utility framework of mortgage choice points to the long-term bond risk premium as theoretical determinant: when the bond risk premium is high, fixed-rate mortgage payments are high, making adjustable-rate mortgages more attractive. This long-term bond risk premium is markedly different from other term structure variables that have been proposed, including the yield spread and the long yield. We confirm empirically that the bulk of the time variation in both aggregate and loan-level mortgage choice can be explained by time variation in the bond risk premium. This is true whether bond risk premia are measured using forecasters' data, a VAR term structure model, or from a simple household decision rule based on adaptive expectations. This simple rule moves in lock-step with mortgage choice, lending credibility to a theory of strategic mortgage timing by households

Towards optimising distributed data streaming graphs using parallel streams

Modern scientific collaborations have opened up the op-portunity of solving complex problems that involve multi-disciplinary expertise and large-scale computational experi-ments. These experiments usually involve large amounts of data that are located in distributed data repositories running various software systems, and managed by different organi-sations. A common strategy to make the experiments more manageable is executing the processing steps as a work-flow. In this paper, we look into the implementation of fine-grained data-flow between computational elements in a scientific workflow as streams. We model the distributed computation as a directed acyclic graph where the nodes rep-resent the processing elements that incrementally implement specific subtasks. The processing elements are connected in a pipelined streaming manner, which allows task executions to overlap. We further optimise the execution by splitting pipelines across processes and by introducing extra parallel streams. We identify performance metrics and design a mea-surement tool to evaluate each enactment. We conducted ex-periments to evaluate our optimisation strategies with a real world problem in the Life Sciences—EURExpress-II. The paper presents our distributed data-handling model, the op-timisation and instrumentation strategies and the evaluation experiments. We demonstrate linear speed up and argue that this use of data-streaming to enable both overlapped pipeline and parallelised enactment is a generally applicable optimisation strategy

A randomized controlled trial to test the effect of multispecies probiotics on cognitive reactivity to sad mood

AbstractBackground: Recent insights into the role of the human microbiota in cognitive and affective functioning have led to the hypothesis that probiotic supplementation may act as an adjuvant strategy to ameliorate or prevent depression. Objective: Heightened cognitive reactivity to normal, transient changes in sad mood is an established marker of vulnerability to depression and is considered an important target for interventions. The present study aimed to test if a multispecies probiotic containing Bifidobacterium bifidum W23, Bifidobacterium lactis W52, Lactobacillus acidophilus W37, Lactobacillus brevis W63, Lactobacillus casei W56, Lactobacillus salivarius W24, and Lactococcus lactis (W19 and W58) may reduce cognitive reactivity in non-depressed individuals. Design: In a triple-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, pre- and post-intervention assessment design, 20 healthy participants without current mood disorder received a 4-week probiotic food-supplement intervention with the multispecies probiotics, while 20 control participants received an inert placebo for the same period. In the pre- and post-intervention assessment, cognitive reactivity to sad mood was assessed using the revised Leiden index of depression sensitivity scale. Results: Compared to participants who received the placebo intervention, participants who received the 4-week multispecies probiotics intervention showed a significantly reduced overall cognitive reactivity to sad mood, which was largely accounted for by reduced rumination and aggressive thoughts. Conclusion: These results provide the first evidence that the intake of probiotics may help reduce negative thoughts associated with sad mood. Probiotics supplementation warrants further research as a potential preventive strategy for depression

Mortgage Timing

We study how the term structure of interest rates relates to mortgage choice, both at the household and the aggregate level. A simple utility framework of mortgage choice points to the long-term bond risk premium as theoretical determinant: when the bond risk premium is high, fixed-rate mortgage payments are high, making adjustable-rate mortgages more attractive. This long-term bond risk premium is markedly different from other term structure variables that have been proposed, including the yield spread and the long yield. We confirm empirically that the bulk of the time variation in both aggregate and loan-level mortgage choice can be explained by time variation in the bond risk premium. This is true whether bond risk premia are measured using forecasters' data, a VAR term structure model, or from a simple household decision rule based on adaptive expectations. This simple rule moves in lock-step with mortgage choice, lending credibility to a theory of strategic mortgage timing by households

Malabsorption syndrome in broilers

Malabsorption syndrome (MAS) is a multifactorial disease that causes intestinal disorders in broilers due to infection of the gastrointestinal tract with different infectious agents. The exact aetiology is unknown, although several viruses are isolated from MAS affected chickens. None of these isolated infectious agents alone inducted the malabsorption syndrome. MAS in broilers is characterised by poor growth and lesions in the Gl-tract, mainly in the small intestine. Experimentally, MAS can be induced in one-day old broilers by oral inoculation of homogenates obtained from digestive tract tissues of MAS affected broilers. Susceptibility to the MAS syndrome differs between broiler lines. The susceptibility to MAS is correlated with the severity of the lesions, apoptosis and heterophil infiltration of the jejunum. Susceptibility to MAS is also related to the frequency of CD4 and CDS positive T-cells in the intestinal villus and the mRNA expression level of different cytokines in control and in MAS induced broilers. With the use of micro-arrays differences in gene expression levels between broiler lines that differ in MAS susceptibility were observed. From these experiments genes that are immune and food absorption related were identified. If some of these genes or the T-cell population in the gut and the other MAS susceptible related parameters could predict or prevent MAS susceptibility in broilers needs to be further investigated but can be interestingly for breeding programmes

A Pathway Analysis Tool for Analyzing Microarray Data of Species with Low Physiological Information

Pathway information provides insight into the biological processes underlying microarray data. Pathway information is widely available for humans and laboratory animals in databases through the internet, but less for other species, for example, livestock. Many software packages use species-specific gene IDs that cannot handle genomics data from other species. We developed a species-independent method to search pathways databases to analyse microarray data. Three PERL scripts were developed that use the names of the genes on the microarray. (1) Add synonyms of gene names by searching the Gene Ontology (GO) database. (2) Search the Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database for pathway information using this GO-enriched gene list. (3) Combine the pathway data with the microarray data and visualize the results using color codes indicating regulation. To demonstrate the power of the method, we used a previously reported chicken microarray experiment investigating line-specific reactions to Salmonella infection as an example

Harmful algal blooms in the Alaskan Arctic: an emerging threat as the ocean warms

© The Author(s), 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Anderson, D., Fachon, E., Hubbard, K., Lefebvre, K., Lin, P., Pickart, R., Richlen, M., Sheffield, G., & Van Hemert, C. Harmful algal blooms in the Alaskan Arctic: an emerging threat as the ocean warms. Oceanography, 35(2), (2022), https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2022.121.Harmful algal blooms (HABs) present an emerging threat to human and ecosystem health in the Alaskan Arctic. Two HAB toxins are of concern in the region: saxitoxins (STXs), a family of compounds produced by the dinoflagellate Alexandrium catenella, and domoic acid (DA), produced by multiple species in the diatom genus Pseudo-nitzschia. These potent neurotoxins cause paralytic and amnesic shellfish poisoning, respectively, in humans, and can accumulate in marine organisms through food web transfer, causing illness and mortality among a suite of wildlife species. With pronounced warming in the Arctic, along with enhanced transport of cells from southern waters, there is significant potential for more frequent and larger HABs of both types. STXs and DA have been detected in the tissues of a range of marine organisms in the region, many of which are important food resources for local residents. The unique nature of the Alaskan Arctic, including difficult logistical access, lack of response infrastructure, and reliance of coastal populations on the noncommercial acquisition of marine resources for nutritional, cultural, and economic well-being, poses urgent and significant challenges as this region warms and the potential for impacts from HABs expands.The authors acknowledge that the Alaskan Arctic as described here includes the lands and waters of the Inupiaq, Saint Lawrence Island Yupik, and Central Yupik peoples. Funding for DMA, RSP, EF, PL, and MLR was provided by grants from NSF Office of Polar Programs (OPP-1823002 and OPP-1733564) and NOAA’s Arctic Research program (through the Cooperative Institute for the North Atlantic Region [CINAR]; NA14OAR4320158 and NA19OAR4320074), and for DMA, KH, and KAL through NOAA’s Center for Coastal and Ocean Studies ECOHAB Program (NA20NOS4780195). Additional support was provided for DMA, MLR, and EF by the US National Park Service Shared Beringian Heritage Program (P21AC12214-00). We also thank Natalie Renier (WHOI Graphic Services) and Emily Bowers (Northwest Fisheries Science Center) for creating figures. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US Government. This is ECOHAB Contribution number 1007

The effects of the multispecies probiotic mixture Ecologic®Barrier on migraine: results of an open-label pilot study

Migraine prevalence is associated with gastrointestinal disorders. Possible underlying mechanisms could be increased gut permeability and inflammation. Probiotics may decrease intestinal permeability as well as inflammation, and therefore may reduce the frequency and/or intensity of migraine attacks. Therefore we assessed feasibility, possible clinical efficacy, and adverse reactions of probiotic treatment in migraine patients. 29 migraine patients took 2 g/d of a probiotic food supplement (Ecologic®Barrier, 2.5×109 cfu/g) during 12 weeks. Participants recorded frequency and intensity of migraine in a headache diary and completed the Migraine Disability Assessment Scale (MIDAS) and Henry Ford Hospital Headache Disability Inventory (HDI) at baseline and after 12 weeks of treatment. Compliance was measured every 4 weeks by counting the remaining sachets with probiotics. The study was completed by 27/29 (93%) patients who took 95% of the supplements. Obstipation was reported by 4 patients during the first 2 weeks of treatment only. The mean±standard deviation (SD) number of migraine days/month decreased significantly from 6.7±2.4 at baseline to 5.1±2.2 (P=0.008) in week 5-8 and 5.2±2.4 in week 9-12 (P=0.001). The mean±SD intensity of migraine decreased significantly from 6.3±1.5 at baseline to 5.5±1.9 after treatment (P=0.005). The MIDAS score improved from 24.8±25.5 to 16.6±13.5 (P=0.031). However, the mean HDI did not change significantly. In conclusion, probiotics may decrease migraine supporting a possible role for the intestine in migraine management. Feasibility and lack of adverse reactions justify further placebo-controlled studies