An analysis of stock market reactions to regulatory stress tests in the US banking industry

After the financial crisis, the Fed Reserve enacted the Dodd-Frank Act to maintain the sound and safety of the banking industry as well. Two related supervisory stress testing: Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review and Dodd-Frank Act Stress test were conducted in banking holding companies annually to supervise the banking industry. Two methods, event study and cross-sectional regression are utilized to analyze the reaction of banks’ equity price to the U.S. stress testing during the period of 2013-2016. The objective of this paper are to consider the importance of the impact of U.S. stress test to the banks, recognize whether the banks would be influenced by stress testing and compare the effect of stress tests to the stressed banks and non-stressed banks. The paper finds that the stress testing influences stressed banks, and non-stressed banks as well. However, little evidence shows that the stock market is complete transparency or complete opacity

Experimental study on laminar flame characteristics of methane-PRF95 dual fuel under lean burn conditions

This article was published in the journal Fuel [© Elsevier Ltd.] and the definitive version is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2016.07.065The effects of methane addition to PRF95 (primary reference fuel with 95% volume of iso-octane and 5% volume of n-heptane) on the fundamental combustion parameters are experimentally investigated in a cylindrical combustion vessel using classical schlieren technique. In this study, methane is added with three energy fractions of 25%, 50% and 75% to PRF95. The laminar flame propagation, Markstein length and flame instability of dual fuels under different initial pressures and with different equivalence ratios, especially under lean burn condition, are well studied. Spherical flames are experimentally investigated at the initial temperature of 373 K and under the pressures of 2.5 bar, 5 bar and 10 bar. The equivalence ratios vary with 0.8, 1.0 and 1.2. The stretched flame speeds are determined by outwardly spherical flame method. The results show that at low initial pressures, the addition of methane to PRF95 increases the stretched flame speeds with lean equivalence ratios while decreases it in rich region. Laminar flame of methane-PRF95 mixtures burn faster than those of pure methane and PRF95 with equivalence ratio of 0.8 over the whole range of the initial pressures investigated, and this trend is more obvious at low pressure. Comparing the data of 25% methane dual fuel (DF25) with that of base fuels with the equivalence ratio of 0.8 and under the initial pressure of 2.5 bar, it can be seen that the flame speed of DF25 is 57% faster than that of methane and 22% faster than that of PRF95. These results provide important theoretical references to lean burn SI engine with methane-gasoline dual fuels under lean burn conditions

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

An analysis of stock market reactions to regulatory stress tests in the US banking industry

After the financial crisis, the Fed Reserve enacted the Dodd-Frank Act to maintain the sound and safety of the banking industry as well. Two related supervisory stress testing: Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review and Dodd-Frank Act Stress test were conducted in banking holding companies annually to supervise the banking industry. Two methods, event study and cross-sectional regression are utilized to analyze the reaction of banks’ equity price to the U.S. stress testing during the period of 2013-2016. The objective of this paper are to consider the importance of the impact of U.S. stress test to the banks, recognize whether the banks would be influenced by stress testing and compare the effect of stress tests to the stressed banks and non-stressed banks. The paper finds that the stress testing influences stressed banks, and non-stressed banks as well. However, little evidence shows that the stock market is complete transparency or complete opacity

Palygorskite Supplementation Improves Growth Performance, Oxidative Status, and Intestinal Barrier Function in Cherry Valley Ducks

The effects of dietary palygorskite (Pal) supplementation on growth performance, oxidative status, and intestinal barrier function in ducks were investigated. In total, 720 one-day-old Cherry Valley ducks were categorized into 4 treatments comprising 6 replicates with 30 ducks each. Ducks were fed a basal diet supplemented with 0, 5, 10, or 20 g/kg Pal for 42 days. Twenty-four ducks (1 male/replicate) were slaughtered at 14 and 42 days and samples were collected for analysis. Pal supplementation quadratically increased weight gain and linearly and quadratically increased feed intake (P<0.05) during the starter period. Pal enhanced serum glutathione peroxidase activity (GSHPx) at 14 (linear and quadratic, P<0.05) and 42 days (linear, P<0.001), and lowered serum malondialdehyde (MDA) content at 14 and 42 days (quadratic, P<0.05). It enhanced 42-day liver superoxide dismutase activity (linear, P=0.003) and GSH-Px activity at 14 (quadratic, P=0.044) and 42 days (linear and quadratic, P<0.001), but decreased 14-day liver MDA content (quadratic, P=0.003). Pal reduced 42-day serum diamine oxidase activity (linear and quadratic, P<0.05) and serum endotoxin content at 14 (linear and quadratic, P<0.05) and 42 days (quadratic, P=0.017). It linearly and quadratically increased jejunal mucosal immunoglobulin (Ig) M at 42 days and IgG at 14 and 42 days, and 42-day ileal mucosal IgG and secretory IgA (P<0.05). Ileal mucosal IgM content was quadratically increased at 14 and 42 days (P<0.05) by Pal. Moreover, Pal enhanced the mRNA expression of 14-day occludin in the jejunal mucosa (quadratic, P=0.033) and that of 42-day zonula occludens-1 in the ileal mucosa (linear, P=0.027). Thus, dietary Pal supplementation exerts beneficial effects through improving growth performance, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal barrier function of ducks

Recent Advances on Endocrine Disrupting Effects of UV Filters

Ultraviolet (UV) filters are used widely in cosmetics, plastics, adhesives and other industrial products to protect human skin or products against direct exposure to deleterious UV radiation. With growing usage and mis-disposition of UV filters, they currently represent a new class of contaminants of emerging concern with increasingly reported adverse effects to humans and other organisms. Exposure to UV filters induce various endocrine disrupting effects, as revealed by increasing number of toxicological studies performed in recent years. It is necessary to compile a systematic review on the current research status on endocrine disrupting effects of UV filters toward different organisms. We therefore summarized the recent advances on the evaluation of the potential endocrine disruptors and the mechanism of toxicity for many kinds of UV filters such as benzophenones, camphor derivatives and cinnamate derivatives

Changes in Cardiovascular Health during Young Adulthood and Subclinical Atherosclerosis in Middle Age: The CARDIA Study

Background and aims: The benefits of reaching ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) are well known, but it is unclear whether positive CVH changes from young adulthood to middle age reduce subclinical atherosclerosis risk. This study examined associations of changes in CVH from young adulthood to middle age and CVH in young adulthood with subclinical atherosclerosis. Methods: Data was analyzed from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study. CVH was examined at years 0 and 20 using Life Simple 7 metrics from AHA guideline. Coronary artery calcium (CAC) was identified at years 20 and 25. Carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) was identified at year 20. Results: Among 2,935 participants (56.2% women, 46.7% black), the change of CVH score was –1.26 (2.13). For per 1-unit increase in CVH at baseline, the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of presence of CAC and IMT were 0.81 (95% CI 0.78, 0.86) and 0.85 (95% CI 0.76, 0.94), respectively. For per 1-unit increase in CVH changes, the adjusted ORs of CAC and IMT were 0.86 (95% CI 0.82, 0.90) and 0.81 (95% CI 0.73, 0.90). Compared with stable moderate CVH, improvement from moderate to high was associated with a lower risk of CAC (0.64 [95% CI 0.43, 0.96]), while retrogression from moderate to low was associated with a higher risk of CAC (1.45 [95% CI 1.19, 1.76]). Conclusions: Positive changes of CVH during young adulthood are associated with negative subclinical atherosclerosis risk in middle age, indicating the importance of reaching an ideal cardiovascular health status through young adulthood