Statistical arbitrage and FX exposure with South American ADRs listed on the NYSE

An American Depositary Receipt (ADR) represents ownership in the shares of a foreign company trading in US financial markets. We test a pair trading rule based on the mean reversion assumption for six South American stocks and their ADR counterparts on the NYSE. In our opinion, such a strategy should separate the spread risk from the currency risk. This paper aims to challenge the positive results found in similar settings. The main achievement is to show that isolating FX exposure turns such strategies that were presented as profitable to unprofitable and abnormal returns are just due to an appreciation in the home currencies versus the USD. Hence the results in some of literature should be revised

Scientometric Analyses of Studies on the Role of Innate Variation in Athletic Performance

Historical events have produced an ideologically charged atmosphere in the USA surrounding the potential influences of innate variation on athletic performance. We tested the hypothesis that scientific studies of the role of innate variation in athletic performance were less likely to have authors with USA addresses than addresses elsewhere because of this cultural milieu. Using scientometric data collected from 290 scientific papers published in peer-reviewed journals from 2000–2012, we compared the proportions of authors with USA addresses with those that listed addresses elsewhere that studied the relationships between athletic performance and (a) prenatal exposure to androgens, as indicated by the ratio between digits 2 and 4, and (b) the genotypes for angiotensin converting enzyme, α-actinin-3, and myostatin; traits often associated with athletic performance. Authors with USA addresses were disproportionately underrepresented on papers about the role of innate variation in athletic performance. We searched NIH and NSF databases for grant proposals solicited or funded from 2000–2012 to determine if the proportion of authors that listed USA addresses was associated with funding patterns. NIH did not solicit grant proposals designed to examine these factors in the context of athletic performance and neither NIH nor NSF funded grants designed to study these topics. We think the combined effects of a lack of government funding and the avoidance of studying controversial or non-fundable topics by USA based scientists are responsible for the observation that authors with USA addresses were underrepresented on scientific papers examining the relationships between athletic performance and innate variation

Development of Methodologies and Tools—The HKKH Partnership Project

High mountains have sensitive social-ecological systems (SESs) characterized by fragility, complexity, and marginality. The local economies of these environments mainly rely on primary production, tourism, and leisure activities; thus human-ecosystem interactions are intricately linked. Many authors stress that this strict relationship must be assisted with a participatory approach involving interested stakeholders in the conceptualization, specification, and synthesis of knowledge and experience into useable information for the express purpose of addressing a problem complex. This paper presents experience garnered with a participatory modeling framework combining hard and soft methodology in 2 case studies: the Sagarmatha National Park and Buffer Zone (Nepal) and the Central Karakoram National Park (Pakistan). The modeling framework was developed based on local stakeholders' demands and needs; it consists of 5 modules, briefly presented here along with their conceptual background. In developing the framework, particular emphasis was given to considering the needs of decision-makers at the local level, rather than simply providing technical solutions to abstract problems. From the development of this modeling process, a need emerged to structure a management-oriented research module in order to generate management knowledge that is both stakeholderrelevant and evidence-based. The application of the framework in the 2 cases studies showed that the modeling can trigger valuable discussion among stakeholders as well as guidance for management-oriented research and feedback loops ensuring validation of knowledge. In addition, the resulting scenarios can help decision-makers in defining pathways for sustainable development in mountain areas, where people's livelihoods are closely dependent on ecosystems. The framework was developed in such a way that it can be replicated in other mountain areas with similar challenges

Broadly engaging with tranquillity in protected landscapes:A matter of perspective identified in GIS

References to the subjective notion of tranquillity have long been extensively deployed in marketing\ud literature and in planning policy in relation to both its promotion and its protection, particularly in protected\ud areas. Whilst a liberal use of the term has ensued, a plethora of research interprets tranquillity\ud primarily with noise, and where broader interpretations are progressed, traditional, directional questioning\ud techniques are evident in attempts to understand tranquillity and quantify its features. Surprisingly,\ud few enquiries have taken a broader, inductive approach to determining the range of stakeholders’ views\ud and of these even fewer have engaged specifically with local residents and particularly those classed as\ud hard-to-reach. Using these latter approaches, of the few and most recent studies conducted, the Broadly\ud Engaging with Tranquillity project provides a replicable framework for determining and mapping tranquillity.\ud An extensive community engagement process launched the study, using participatory principles\ud from which stakeholders’ views were modelled using Geographical Information Systems. Results of this\ud research are reported together with an interpretation of the models created according to four distinct\ud groups representing views of institutions and members of the public. Similar views are identified amongst\ud the groups with tranquillity commonly related to natural environments, whereas nontranquillity was\ud primarily equated to seeing and hearing people and the products of human activity. Yet distinctions are\ud identified between the four groups that have important implications for who should be involved in determining\ud local characteristics of tranquillity and for how protected area managers might include nonexpert\ud views in their understanding and conservation of tranquillity

Reductions in carbon emissions : the role of facade refurbishment

Thesis (Undergrad) -- University of Melbourne, Faculty of Architecture, Building and PlanningMinor Thesis Research Project

Adaptation capabilities of functional systems of the body of adolescents with vegetative dystonia syndrome

The publication discusses the mechanisms of adaptation to physical activity in adolescents with autonomic dystonia syndrome, depending on gender and the presence of a history of perinatal pathology of the central nervous system. Analysis of the adaptive capabilities of the functional systems of the body of adolescents with autonomic dystonia syndrome and adolescents in the Youth Center of the city of Tashkent in dynamics for the period 2018-2020 revealed the tension of the adaptive capabilities of the heart rate regulation systems in the groups of examined adolescents with PPNS, the most pronounced in adolescent girls with PPNS