The Simulation of Financial Markets by Agent-Based Mix-Game Models

This paper studies the simulation of financial markets using an agent-based mix-game model which is a variant of the minority game (MG). It specifies the spectra of parameters of mix-game models that fit financial markets by investigating the dynamic behaviors of mix-game models under a wide range of parameters. The main findings are (a) in order to approach efficiency, agents in a real financial market must be heterogeneous, boundedly rational and subject to asymmetric information; (b) an active financial market must be dominated by agents who play a minority game; otherwise, the market would die; (c) the system could be stable if agents who play a majority game have a faster learning rate than those who play a minority game; otherwise, the system could be unstable. The paper then induces the rules for simulating financial markets with mix-game models and gives an example. Finally, the appendix of this paper presents background information about \'El Farol bar\', MG and mix-games.Financial Markets, Simulation, Minority Game, Mix-Game

Polymerase-endonuclease amplification reaction for large-scale enzymatic production of antisense oligonucleotide

Synthetic oligonucleotides are contaminated with highly homologous failure sequences. Oligonucleotide synthesis is difficult to scale up because it requires expensive equipments, hazardous chemicals, and tedious purification process. Here we report a novel thermocyclic reaction, polymerase-endonuclease amplification reaction (PEAR), for the amplification of oligonucleotides. A target oligonucleotide and a tandem repeated antisense probe are subjected to repeated cycles of denaturing, annealing, elongation and cleaving, in which thermostable DNA polymerase elongation and strand slipping generate duplex tandem repeats, and thermostable endonuclease (PspGI) cleavage releases monomeric duplex oligonucleotides. Each round of PEAR achieves >100-fold amplification. The product can be used in one more round of PEAR directly, and the process can be further repeated. In addition to avoiding dangerous materials and improved product purity, this reaction is easy to scale up and amenable to full automation, so it has the potential to be a useful tool for large-scale production of antisense oligonucleotide drugs

GLAST Prospects for Swift-Era Afterglows

We calculate the GeV spectra of GRB afterglows produced by inverse Compton scattering of the sub-MeV emission of these objects. We improve on earlier treatments by using refined afterglow parameters and new model developments motivated by recent Swift observations. We present time-dependent GeV spectra for standard, constant parameter models, as well as for models with energy injection and with time-varying parameters, for a range of burst parameters. We evaluate the limiting redshift to which such afterglows can be detected by the GLAST LAT, as well as AGILE.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures, ApJ, in pres