Herding behaviour and sentiment: Evidence in a small European market

AbstractThis work studies herding behaviour in a small European market, by analysing the stocks that constituted the Portuguese stock PSI-20 index, for the period between 2003 and 2011. The two different approaches used to measure herding intensity led to different results, suggesting that measurements of the herding phenomenon are sensitive to the method used. Consequently, there is a need for further research into the methodology used to test this phenomenon. Additionally, the study analyses the relationship between herd behaviour and investor sentiment, an area that has been little explored. In applying causality tests to the impact of sentiment on herd behaviour, only weak evidence is found that sentiment influences herding

SARS-CoV-2 introductions and early dynamics of the epidemic in Portugal

Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Portugal was rapidly implemented by the National Institute of Health in the early stages of the COVID-19 epidemic, in collaboration with more than 50 laboratories distributed nationwide. Methods By applying recent phylodynamic models that allow integration of individual-based travel history, we reconstructed and characterized the spatio-temporal dynamics of SARSCoV-2 introductions and early dissemination in Portugal. Results We detected at least 277 independent SARS-CoV-2 introductions, mostly from European countries (namely the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, and Switzerland), which were consistent with the countries with the highest connectivity with Portugal. Although most introductions were estimated to have occurred during early March 2020, it is likely that SARS-CoV-2 was silently circulating in Portugal throughout February, before the first cases were confirmed. Conclusions Here we conclude that the earlier implementation of measures could have minimized the number of introductions and subsequent virus expansion in Portugal. This study lays the foundation for genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Portugal, and highlights the need for systematic and geographically-representative genomic surveillance.We gratefully acknowledge to Sara Hill and Nuno Faria (University of Oxford) and Joshua Quick and Nick Loman (University of Birmingham) for kindly providing us with the initial sets of Artic Network primers for NGS; Rafael Mamede (MRamirez team, IMM, Lisbon) for developing and sharing a bioinformatics script for sequence curation (https://github.com/rfm-targa/BioinfUtils); Philippe Lemey (KU Leuven) for providing guidance on the implementation of the phylodynamic models; Joshua L. Cherry (National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health) for providing guidance with the subsampling strategies; and all authors, originating and submitting laboratories who have contributed genome data on GISAID (https://www.gisaid.org/) on which part of this research is based. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the view of the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Health and Human Services, or the United States government. This study is co-funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and Agência de Investigação Clínica e Inovação Biomédica (234_596874175) on behalf of the Research 4 COVID-19 call. Some infrastructural resources used in this study come from the GenomePT project (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022184), supported by COMPETE 2020 - Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), Lisboa Portugal Regional Operational Programme (Lisboa2020), Algarve Portugal Regional Operational Programme (CRESC Algarve2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Comportamiento gregario y sentimiento: la evidencia sobre un pequeño mercado europeo

This work studies herding behaviour in a small European market, by analysing the stocks that constituted the Portuguese stock PSI-20 index, for the period between 2003 and 2011. The two different approaches used to measure herding intensity led to different results, suggesting that measurements of the herding phenomenon are sensitive to the method used. Consequently, there is a need for further research into the methodology used to test this phenomenon. Additionally, the study analyses the relationship between herd behaviour and investor sentiment, an area that has been little explored. In applying causality tests to the impact of sentiment on herd behaviour, only weak evidence is found that sentiment influences herdingEste trabajo estudia el efecto rebaño en un mercado europeo de dimensión reducida, analizando los valores que constituyen el índice portugués PSI-20, para el período 2003-2011. Para ello, se consideran dos aproximaciones con objeto de medir la intensidad de este tipo de comportamiento, las cuales arrojan resultados diferentes, de lo que se deduce que el fenómeno manada es sensible al método de medición utilizado. Por consiguiente, existe la necesidad de promover investigaciones relacionadas con la metodología de medición asociada a este fenómeno. Este trabajo analiza, además, la relación existente entre el comportamiento de rebaño y el sentimiento del inversor, la cual no ha sido hasta la fecha suficientemente estudiada en profundidad. Aplicando tests de causalidad para evaluar el impacto del sentimiento del inversor sobre su comportamiento gregario, solo encontramos evidencias débiles de la influencia del primero sobre el segund

Processamento temporal, localização e fechamento auditivo em portadores de perda auditiva unilateral Temporal processing, localization and auditory closure in individuals with unilateral hearing loss

OBJETIVO: Avaliar os comportamentos de resolução e ordenação temporal, localização sonora e fechamento auditivo e investigar queixas de dificuldades escolares, de comunicação e linguagem em indivíduos portadores de perda auditiva unilateral. MÉTODOS: Participaram 26 indivíduos com idades entre 8 e 15 anos, divididos em dois grupos: Grupo com perda auditiva unilateral; e Grupo sem perda auditiva. Cada um deles foi constituído por 13 indivíduos que foram pareados conforme gênero, idade e escolaridade. Todos foram submetidos à anamnese, avaliação auditiva periférica e aos testes comportamentais de localização, memória sequencial, teste Random Gap Detection e ao teste de fala com ruído branco da avaliação do processamento auditivo. Foram utilizados testes estatísticos não paramétricos para comparar as repostas entre os grupos, considerando presença ou não da perda auditiva e o lado da orelha com perda. RESULTADOS: O início da perda ocorreu na fase pré-escolar, com etiologias desconhecidas ou identificadas como meningite, traumas ou caxumba. A maior parte dos indivíduos relatou atraso no desenvolvimento de fala, linguagem e escolar, principalmente aqueles com perda à direita. O grupo com perda auditiva apresentou piores respostas nas habilidades de ordenação e resolução temporal, localização sonora e fechamento auditivo. Indivíduos com perda à esquerda mostraram resultados piores do que aqueles com perda à direita em todas as habilidades, exceto na localização sonora. CONCLUSÃO: Na presença da perda auditiva unilateral ocorrem dificuldades de localização, fechamento, resolução e ordenação temporal. Indivíduos com perda auditiva unilateral à direita apresentam mais queixas do que aqueles com perda à esquerda. Indivíduos com perda à esquerda mostram mais dificuldade de fechamento, resolução e ordenação temporal.<br>PURPOSE: To assess the behaviors of temporal resolution and temporal ordering, sound localization, and auditory closure, and to investigate possible associations with complaints of learning, communication and language difficulties in individuals with unilateral hearing loss. METHODS: Participants were 26 individuals with ages between 8 and 15 years, divided into two groups: Unilateral hearing loss group; and Normal hearing group. Each group was composed of 13 individuals, matched by gender, age and educational level. All subjects were submitted to anamnesis, peripheral hearing evaluation, and auditory processing evaluation through behavioral tests of sound localization, sequential memory, Random Detection Gap test, and speech-in-noise test. Nonparametric statistical tests were used to compare the groups, considering the presence or absence of hearing loss and the ear with hearing loss. RESULTS: Unilateral hearing loss started during preschool, and had unknown or identified etiologies, such as meningitis, traumas or mumps. Most individuals reported delays in speech, language and learning developments, especially those with hearing loss in the right ear. The group with hearing loss had worse responses in the abilities of temporal ordering and resolution, sound localization and auditory closure. Individuals with hearing loss in the left ear showed worse results than those with hearing loss in the right ear in all abilities, except in sound localization. CONCLUSION: The presence of unilateral hearing loss causes sound localization, auditory closure, temporal ordering and temporal resolution difficulties. Individuals with unilateral hearing loss in the right ear have more complaints than those with unilateral hearing loss in the left ear. Individuals with hearing loss in the left ear have more difficulties in auditory closure, temporal resolution, and temporal ordering