The Interaction between Technical Currency Trading and Exchange Rate Fluctuations

This paper examines the mutually reinforcing interactions between exchange rate dynamics and technical trading strategies. I first show that technical trading systems have been quite profitable during the floating rate period. This profitability stems from the successful exploitation of exchange-rate trends and not from taking winning positions relatively frequently. I then show that technical models exert an excess demand pressure on currency markets. When these models produce trading signals, almost all signals are on the same side of the market, either buying or selling. When technical models maintain open positions they are either long or short. Initial exchange rate movements triggered by news or by stop-loss orders are strengthened by technical trading and are often transformed into a trend. This 'multiplier effect' is reflected by the close relationship between technical trading signals and order flows. Hence, order flows are not only driven by (fundamental) news but also by technical trading, which reinforces exchange rate trends to which it responds.Exchange rate; Technical trading; Heterogeneous agents.

Plädoyer für Offene Lernumgebungen

Ich möchte eingangs drei Behauptungen oder Thesen aufstellen, und vielleicht gelingt es mir, sie im nachfolgenden Aufsatz durch einige Argumente plausibel zu machen: - Lehren und Lernen unterscheiden sich nicht danach, ob sie in Präsenzlernphasen oder in virtuellen Lernumgebungen stattfinden. Diese Aussage gilt auch für Lehrmethoden und Lernmethoden. - Einige Lehr-Lernmethoden scheinen allerdings für virtuelle Lernumgebungen geeigneter zu sein als andere Methoden. Zu den für virtuelles Lernen eher geeigneten Lehr-Lernmethoden zähle ich die sog. „offenen Lernumgebungen“. - Virtuelles Lernen erreicht erst dann eine dem Präsenzlernen adäquate Qualität, wenn es einen hohen Grad an Aktivität erlaubt und/oder eine intensive Kommunikation ermöglicht. Eine Unterscheidung muss ich allerdings vorab einführen, die den Geltungsbereich dieser Thesen etwas eingrenzt: Ich unterscheide eLearning-Umgebungen danach, ob sie einen relativ standardisierten Wissenskanon anbieten und damit ein individuelles Lernen ermöglichen oder ob sie anfänglich keinen Wissensbestand vorgeben, sondern einen projektorientierten Ansatz verfolgen und auf die Bildung sog. Wissensgemeinschaften zielen. Mit anderen Worten: eLearning-Umgebungen variieren vom individuellen Selbststudium bis hin zu kooperativen Lern- und Wissensgemeinschaften (Schulmeister 2003, S. 163-187), von einem asynchronen Lernen mit digitalen Lernobjekten bis hin zu synchronen Diskussionen mit anderen Studierenden

Diversität von Studierenden und die Konsequenzen für E-Learning

Zufriedenheit ist keine unabhängige Variable. Es ist deshalb notwendig, nach Faktoren zu suchen, die Zufriedenheit differentiell erklären können. Eine Variable wie Zufriedenheit mit dem Fernstudium oder dem E-Learning muss für Gruppen von Studierenden differenziert und durch unabhängige Variablen erklärt werden. Ein gravierender Fehler im E-Learning ist die Wahl eines Lernmodells, das keine Rücksicht auf die Diversität der Studierenden nimmt und kein lernerzentriertes Lernen erlaubt […]. Was macht die Diversität der Studierenden aus? Der Autor geht in diesem Beitrag auf wenige lernrelevante Variablen ein, die die Diversität der Studierenden konstituieren: Motivation, Kognition und Lernstile, Lernstrategien, Lernpräferenzen, Bewusstsein und Selbstreflexion. (DIPF/Orig.

The management of cytotoxic chemotherapy extravasation: A systematic review of the literature to evaluate the evidence underpinning contemporary practice

Management of cytotoxic drug extravasation remains contentious, with differing views on the most effective management strategy. With the increasing drive to provide effective, evidence-based healthcare, while ensuring the patient experience of the treatment provided plays a significant part in the development of clinical practice guidelines, the purpose of this literature review was to both critically analyse the quality of evidence that underpins contemporary practice and to determine if the patient experience is taken into account. A literature search was undertaken sourcing publications from the 1960s to July 2014 identifying all studies detailing strategies aimed at preventing the need for surgical debridement and all studies evaluating extravasation management from the patient's perspective. No conclusive evidence was found to suggest one clinical strategy as more effective than the other. No studies were identified that evaluated outcome from the patient's perspective. It is therefore suggested that outcomes-based research should underpin contemporary extravasation management guidelines to determine what the final outcome or 'end result' is and how this impacts on the patient and that the current lack of research into the patient experience of extravasation management is an area that needs to be addressed

Unterrichtsentwicklung durch Wettbewerbe: Analyse zweier Informatikwettbewerbe für den Schulunterricht

When the first PISA-results were published in Germany in the end of 2001 (“PISA-Shock”), many discussions started about reforming teaching with the help of new ideas and innovative approaches. Around the same time, the number of competitions in German schools started to grow immensely. Although many schools have taken part in such competitions, we are lacking studies investigating their potential. Only as recent as 2006, a scientific meeting was held at the Körber-Forum in Hamburg called “Why competitions for pupils? Impulses for education and learning”, which initiated a wider and more systematic discussion about the meaning of competitions at school and in teaching. Two competitions in computer science – the Movingart-Competition for the lower secondary school ages and the Software Challenge for the senior years, both organized by the computer science department of Kiel University – are investigated in this dissertation as to whether and how far they represent useful tools in the development of teaching. The findings show that both competitions offer new and important impulses for teaching in its structure and its organization: pupils develop more competences, their motivation rises, and they get deeper insights into the subject; teachers start cooperations across different subjects and receive more options for adapting their teaching to invidual pupils. Thus, both competitions offer a great contribution to improve the quality of teaching and strongly offer the schools taking part an increased educational benefit. It is to be presumed that new future competitions for schools which are constructed in the same or a comparable way as Movingart and Software-Challenge will contribute in a similar improving way to the quality of teaching

Modeling the White Sands Missile Range Fast Burst Reactor Using a Discrete Ordinates Code, PENTRAN

The goal of this research was to develop and characterize a deterministic model of a fast burst reactor (FBR) using a discrete ordinates neutral particle transport code, PENTRAN. The White Sands Missile Range FBR design was chosen for this research because this FBR is important to the DoD due to its short duration, high energy neutron flux which is representative of the neutron flux output created by a nuclear weapon. One, two, and three dimensional PENTRAN models of the FBR were developed and neutron transport based eigenvalue calculations were performed. These eigenvalue calculations were conducted using two different set of nuclear cross-section data: the Bugle-96 47- energy group library (intended for a thermal reactor design), and a 10-group version of the Bugle-96 library which captured the fast neutron energy groups and a single thermal group. The PENTRAN neutron transport calculation results were compared to an analogous MCNP Monte Carlo model, using continuous energy neutron cross sections. The least computationally expensive PENTRAN neutron flux calculations which also compared favorably with the MCNP calculations, was a 24 direction S4 Pn-Tn based quadrature with a first order Legendre Polynomial (P1) expansion of the scattering term and the 10-energy group neutron cross-section library

Motivation and teaching organisation as elements of learning culture

Lernverhalten und Lehrorganisation werden als komplementäre Komponenten einer Lernkultur betrachtet. Auf der Grundlage eines Modells der Lernmotivation wurde das Lernverhalten Studierender mit einer Latenten Klassenanalyse untersucht. Die Gruppenprofile wurden zu Noten und Workload-Daten einer Zeitbudget-Erhebung in Bezug gesetzt. Es zeigte sich, dass nur eine Gruppe Studierender ihren Lernprozess unter herkömmlichen Bedingungen selbstbestimmt erfolgreich gestaltet. Eine andere Lehrorganisation könnte Lernende anderer Typen der Motivationsregulation besser unterstützen.Learning behavior and teaching organisation are regarded as complementary components of a learning culture. Using a model of learning motivation, we investigated the learning behavior of students using a latent class analysis. We then matched the group profiles to grades and to workload, as measured by a time-budget analysis. We found that only one group of students operating under conditions typical of traditional teaching organisation was able to regulate their learning behavior sucessfully. An alternative type of teaching organisation may assist groups of students with different profiles much more effectively

Effects of receptor modification and temperature on dynamics of sensory complexes in Escherichia coli chemotaxis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Extracellular stimuli in chemotaxis of <it>Escherichia coli </it>and other bacteria are processed by large clusters of sensory complexes. The stable core of these clusters is formed by transmembrane receptors, a kinase CheA, and an adaptor CheW, whereas adaptation enzymes CheR and CheB dynamically associate with the clusters via interactions with receptors and/or CheA. Several biochemical studies have indicated the dependence of the sensory complex stability on the adaptive modification state of receptors and/or on temperature, which may potentially allow environment-dependent tuning of its signalling properties. However, the extent of such regulation <it>in vivo </it>and its significance for chemotaxis remained unclear.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here we used fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) to confirm <it>in vivo </it>that the exchange of CheA and CheW shows a modest dependency on the level of receptor modification/activity. An even more dramatic effect was observed for the exchange kinetics of CheR and CheB, indicating that their association with clusters may depend on the ability to bind substrate sites on receptors and on the regulatory phosphorylation of CheB. In contrast, environmental temperature did not have a discernible effect on stability of the cluster core. Strain-specific loss of <it>E. coli </it>chemotaxis at high temperature could instead be explained by a heat-induced reduction in the chemotaxis protein levels. Nevertheless, high basal levels of chemotaxis and flagellar proteins in common wild type strains MG1655 and W3110 enabled these strains to maintain their chemotactic ability up to 42°C.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results confirmed that clusters formed by less modified receptors are more dynamic, which can explain the previously observed adjustment of the chemotaxis response sensitivity according to the level of background stimulation. We further propose that the dependency of CheR exchange on the availability of unmethylated sites on receptors is important to improve the overall chemotaxis efficiency by suppressing molecular noise under conditions of high ligand concentrations. Moreover, the observed stability of the cluster core at high temperature is in line with the overall thermal robustness of the chemotaxis pathway and allows maintenance of chemotaxis up to 42°C in the common wild type strains of <it>E. coli</it>.</p