The trend is our friend: Risk parity, momentum and trend following in global asset allocation

We examine applying a trend following methodology to global asset allocation between equities, bonds, commodities and real estate. This strategy offers substantial improvement in risk-adjusted performance compared to buy-and-hold portfolios and a superior method of asset allocation than risk parity. We believe the discipline of trend following overcomes many of the behavioural biases investors succumb to, such as regret and herding, and offers a solution to the inappropriate sequence of returns which can be problematic for decumulation portfolios. The other side of behavioural biases is that they may be exploited by investors: an example is momentum investing where herding leads to continuation of returns and has been identified across many assets. Momentum and trend following differ as the former is a relative concept and the latter absolute. Combining both can achieve the higher return levels associated with momentum portfolios with much reduced volatility and drawdowns due to trend following. Measures based on utility of a representative investor reinforce the superiority of combining trend following with momentum strategies. These techniques help address the sequencing of returns issue which can be a serious issue for financial planning

United States Army contingency contracting operations: emerging roles, procedures, and challenges facing Contracting professionals

Joint Applied ProjectThis Joint Applied Project analyzed the extent to which Army leadership has acknowledged and is acting upon key improvement recommendations made by the Gansler Report (2007). This project explores roles, procedures, principles and emerging issues facing contingency contracting professionals in respect to their responsibilities in expeditionary operations. Basic principles of contingency contracting and current literature relative to Army expeditionary operations were analyzed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with both military and civilian acquisition professionals. Additionally, researcher developed surveys were distributed amongst deployed contingency contracting officers/specialists in order to approach this topic with a 'boots on the ground' perspective. From the research conducted, recommendations are provided that the Army can implement to improve modern wartime contingency contracting and better prepare and train the contracting workforce to support future contingency operations.http://archive.org/details/unitedstatesarmy1094510370Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Industrial and automotive applications of cyclone particulate separators

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DX204620 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Catalytic Dechlorination of Gas-Phase Perchloroethylene Under Mixed Redox Conditions

The validity of a new method to destroy gas-phase perchloroethylene (PCE) is demonstrated at bench scale using a fixed-bed reactor that contains a Pt/Rh catalyst. Hydrogen and oxygen were simultaneously fed to the reactor together with PCE. The conversion efficiencies of PCE were sensitive to H2/O2 ratio and reactor temperature. When the temperature was ≥400 °C and H2/O2 was ≥2.15, PCE conversion efficiency was maintained at ≥90%. No catalyst deactivation was observed for over 2 years, using only mild, convenient regeneration procedures. It is likely that PCE reduction steps precede oxidation reactions and that the importance of oxidation lies in its elimination of intermediates that would otherwise lead to catalyst poisoning. In practice, this catalytic dechlorination method holds potential for low-cost, large-scale field operation

Thermocatalytic Destruction of Gas-Phase Perchloroethylene Using Propane as a Hydrogen Source

The use of propane in combination with oxygen to promote the destruction of perchloroethylene (PCE) over a platinum (Pt)/rhodium (Rh) catalyst on a cerium/zirconium oxide washcoat supported on an alumina monolith was explored. Conversions of PCE were measured in a continuous flow reactor with residence times less than 0.5 s and temperatures ranging from 200 to 600 °C. The presence of propane was shown to increase significantly the conversion of PCE over oxygen-only conditions. Conversions close to 100% were observed at temperatures lower than 450 °C with 20% oxygen and 2% propane in the feed, which makes this process attractive from a practical standpoint. In the absence of oxygen, PCE conversion is even higher, but the catalyst suffers significant deactivation in less than an hour. Even though results show that oxygen competes with reactants for active sites on the catalyst, the long-term stability that oxygen confers to the catalyst makes the process an efficient alternative to PCE oxidation. A Langmuir–Hinshelwood competitive adsorption model is proposed to quantify PCE conversion

Physicochemical Characterization of Mine Tailing Dusts in the US Southwest

Census data reveal that the Southwest is the fastest growing region of the USA, while NOAA GFDL coupled- model results suggest that precipitation is expected to decline in the same region over the coming decades. Besides the obvious impact on water resources, the drier conditions will most likely also result in increased atmospheric dust loads that could impact the health of a rapidly increasing population. This year the US EPA began site assessment and remediation at two mine tailings piles in Arizona contaminated with arsenic, lead, chromium and cadmium. The first is located in the twin towns of Hayden and Winkleman, and the second at the Iron King mine near Humbolt. At a concentration of approximately 0.1 microgram per cubic meter, the level of arsenic in PM10 collected at Hayden/Winkelman sometimes exceeds the Arizona ambient hazardous air pollutant standard (HAPS) by several orders of magnitude. Lead, cadmium and chromium are also sometimes orders of magnitude higher than the HAPS. A top priority is to determine the physicochemical speciation of wind-blown dust as a function of particle diameter because this information can a) help with source apportionment of airborne pollutants (e.g., smelter emissions vs. tailings dust), and b) help to assess the potential health impacts of contaminated dust, since deposition efficiency in human lungs is a strong function of particle diameter. We will present the chemical and physical characteristics of mine tailings dust collected with 10-stage multiple orifice uniform deposit impactors (MOUDI) located at Hayden/Winkleman and Iron King. We will also present scanning mobility particle spectrometer (SMPS) data obtained from the same sites. The MOUDI yields particle composition by size fraction (0.056-18 micrometer aerodynamic diameter) while the SMPS yields particle number by size fraction (0.0025 to 1.0 micrometer diameter). Size selective characteristics such as these have never been previously reported for mine tailings dust, to our knowledge