Externalities of Sales Information Along the Supply Chain

Prior studies have shown that earnings information of customer firms is value relevant to the investors of their suppliers, but it remains unclear whether sales information has similar effects. In this study, we investigate the value relevance of customer firms’ sales information to suppliers’ investors using a large sample of monthly sales disclosures from U.S. retailers. We find that within the narrow window of retailers’ monthly sales disclosures, suppliers’ abnormal stock returns are positively related to retailers’ sales growth in both same-store sales and store numbers. This finding suggests that sales information has spillover effects, or externalities, along the supply chain. We further conduct cross-sectional tests and find that the externalities of sales information vary with a supplier’s dependence on the retailer. We also develop a prediction model to separate the expected and unexpected components of retailers’ sales information and find that the unexpected component of sales growth is the primary source of externalities. Overall, this study provides new insights into the value relevance of sales disclosures

Soft Hydraulics in Channels with Thick Walls: The Finite-Reynolds-Number Base State and Its Stability

We analyze the linear stability of the base state of the problem of coupled flow and deformation in a long and shallow rectangular soft hydraulic conduit with a thick top wall. Specifically, the steady base state is computed at low but finite Reynolds number. Then, we show that with the upstream flux fixed and the outlet pressure set to gauge, the flow is linearly stable to infinitesimal flow-wise perturbations. Multiple oscillatory but stable eigenmodes are computed in a range of the reduced Reynolds number, $\hat{Re}$, and the so-called fluid--structure interaction (FSI) parameter, $\lambda$, indicating the stiffness of this FSI system. These results provide a framework to address, in future work, the individual effects of various aspects of two-way FSI coupling on instability and flow transition in soft hydraulic conduits.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, REVTeX, submitted to the proceedings of the Twelfth Conference of the Euro-American Consortium for Promoting the Application of Mathematics in Technical and Natural Science

Circadian activation of mast cells mediates the nocturnal response in allergic asthma

Circadian rhythm is a conserved physiological feature of most organisms. Nocturnal symptoms are a common feature of allergic asthma in humans. Patients with nocturnal asthma show circadian variation of their pulmonary function and inflammation, but nocturnal asthmatic responses have not been documented in animal models. In this study we tested the hypotheses that house dust mite (HDM) allergen-sensitive nonhuman primates (NHP) manifest nocturnal symptoms, and whether intrinsic circadian activity in mast cells might underlie nocturnal asthma response. Dynamic compliance (Cdyn) and lung resistance (RL) measured as indicators of bronchoconstriction in anesthetized NHP, at rest and following exposure to HDM allergen, methacholine, and albuterol, were highly correlated with 3 respiratory inductive plethysmography (RIP) parameters: Phase Angle of the rib cage and abdomen waveforms (PhAng), Baseline Effort Phase Relation (eBPRL) and Effort Phase Relation (ePhRL). 21 allergic subjects were challenged with HDM early in the morning, and eBPRL and ePhRL were monitored for 20 hours after provocation. 15 of the allergic subjects exhibited gradual increases in eBPRL and ePhRL between midnight and 6 AM, with peak activity at 4 AM. The results demonstrate that animals exhibiting acute responses to allergen exposure during the day also exhibit nocturnal airway obstruction, possibly resulting from bronchoconstriction. Mast cells are central effector cells in asthma, and were subsequently investigated for intrinsic circadian activity that could underlie nocturnal asthma responses. Bone marrow derived mast cells (BMMCs) were exposed to high concentrations of serum (serum shocked) to synchronize gene expression. Following serum shock, circadian genes (mPer2, Bmal1, Rev-erbá, and Dbp) exhibit oscillations for up to 72 hours. Likewise, the high affinity IgE receptor in BMMCs (FcåRIá) exhibited circadian expression. The fcer1a gene and FcåRIá protein following serum shock exhibited mean periods of 18.9 and 28.6 hours, respectively. Synchronized BMMCs stimulated with IgE/Ag at different circadian time display circadian rhythms in IL-13 mRNA. Taken together, synchronized BMMCs suggest an underlying circadian mechanism of nocturnal asthma in vitro.  Ph.D

A PSO Approach to Search for Adaptive Trading Rules in the EUA Futures Market

AbstractThe carbon emission futures markets become more and more important in worldwide. More and more counties begin to emphasize environmental protection in the economicdevelopment. Carbon emission trading has become an important part of the energy finance. How to make more profits in the carbon emission futures market is concern by more and more traders and scholars. This paper proposed an approach to search for optimal trading rules in the CO2 allowance futures markets. A group of different moving average trading rules with different weights are used to constitute an integrated trading rule. This is better than a single fixed moving average trading rule.Similarity of trading rules, a parameter we designed, is used to help select basic rules. The authors use static particle swarm optimization process to find the best weights distributions of the selected basic trading rules. After the initial weight distribution is determined, the weights of the basic trading rules will adjusted dynamically every day in the trading process using particle swarm optimization algorithms. Experiments using the EUA Futures Market price data were conducted to find out best adaptive trading rules in the carbon emission futures market. According to our results, it is not necessary to use two moving average trading rules that making same investment advice at a probability higher than 70%. The results show this approach have good performance in adjusting the weights according to the price changes. We found that the adaptive trading rules can help traders make profit in the EUA Futures Marketexcept extreme specialcircumstancesafter price change significantly. This approach might be helpful for traders to make scientificdecision in actual investments

Magnetization Dynamics in Synthetic Antiferromagnets with Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy

Understanding the rich physics of magnetization dynamics in perpendicular synthetic antiferromagnets (p-SAFs) is crucial for developing next-generation spintronic devices. In this work, we systematically investigate the magnetization dynamics in p-SAFs combining time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect (TR-MOKE) measurements with theoretical modeling. These model analyses, based on a Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert approach incorporating exchange coupling, provide details about the magnetization dynamic characteristics including the amplitudes, directions, and phases of the precession of p-SAFs under varying magnetic fields. These model-predicted characteristics are in excellent quantitative agreement with TR-MOKE measurements on an asymmetric p-SAF. We further reveal the damping mechanisms of two procession modes co-existing in the p-SAF and successfully identify individual contributions from different sources, including Gilbert damping of each ferromagnetic layer, spin pumping, and inhomogeneous broadening. Such a comprehensive understanding of magnetization dynamics in p-SAFs, obtained by integrating high-fidelity TR-MOKE measurements and theoretical modeling, can guide the design of p-SAF-based architectures for spintronic applications.Comment: 24 pages, 5 figure

Revolutionising health care: Exploring the latest advances in medical sciences

Recent years have seen a revolution in the domain of medical science, with ground-breaking discoveries changing health care as we once knew it [1]. These advances have considerably improved disease diagnosis, treatment, and management, improving patient outcomes and quality of life [2–5]. . .

Effect of electro-acupuncture on gene expression in heart of rats with stress-induced pre-hypertension based on gene chip technology

AbstractObjectiveTo explore electro-acupuncture's (EA's) effect on gene expression in heart of rats with stress-induced pre-hypertension and try to reveal its biological mechanism based on gene chip technology.MethodsTwenty-seven Wistar male rats were randomly divided into 3 groups. The stress-induced hypertensive rat model was prepared by electric foot-shocks combined with generated noise. Molding cycle lasted for 14 days and EA intervene was applied on rats in model + EA group during model preparation. Rat Gene 2.0 Sense Target Array technology was used for the determination of gene expression profiles and the screened key genes were verified by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method.ResultsCompared with blank control group, 390 genes were changed in model group; compared with model control group, 330 genes were changed in model+EA group. Significance analysis of gene function showed that the differentially expressed genes are those involved in biological process, molecular function and cellular components. RT-PCR result of the screened key genes is consistent with that of gene chip test.ConclutionEA could significantly lower blood pressure of stress-induced pre-hypertension rats and affect its gene expression profile in heart. Genes that related to the contraction of vascular smooth muscle may be involved in EA's anti-hypertensive mechanism