Stock Market Returns and Weather Anomaly: Evidence from an Emerging Economy

Financial economists believe that the arbitrage forces in the market are the main reason of market efficiency and these forces are the fundamental concept of efficient market hypothesis (EMH). During last few years, various theoretical and empirical evidences have been presented to support the work of financial modeling for the markets with less than rational investors whose trading strategies are based on psychological factors like mood and emotions. Weather condition is among the substantial factors affecting investors’ mood and emotions. Present study investigates the impact of temperature on stock market returns in emerging economy of Pakistan. Using the daily temperature records and stock market indices of Karachi and Islamabad, the study has employed auto regressive (AR) – generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) model from 2006 to 2010. Based on AR (1)-GARCH (1, 1) estimation the study has found that weather temperatures of both Karachi and Islamabad are negatively related with Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) and Islamabad Stock Exchange (ISE) index returns, respectively

Mapping SysML to modelica to validate wireless sensor networks non-functional requirements

International audienceWireless Sensor Networks (WSN) have registered a large success in the scientific and industrial communities for their broad application domains. Furthermore, the WSN specification is a complex task considering to their distributed and embedded nature and the strong interactions between their hardware and software parts. Moreover, most of approaches use semi-formal methods to design systems and generally simulation to validate their properties in order to produce models without errors and conform to the system specifications. In this context, we propose a Model Driven Architecture (MDA) approach to improve the verification of the WSN properties. This approach combines the advantages of the System Modeling Language (SysML) and the Modelica language which promote the reusability and improve the development process. In this work, we specify a model transformation from SysML static, dynamic and requirement diagrams to their corresponding elements in Modelica. Thanks to the SysML requirement diagram which is transformed into Modelica properties (constraints), we propose a technique using dynamic tests to verify WSN properties. We have used the Topcased platform to implement our approach 1 and chosen a crossroads monitoring system which is based on wireless sensors to illustrate it. Besides, we have verified and validated some wireless sensors properties of the studied system

Spécification et Validation d'un Contrôleur de Performances Sportives

International audienceCe papier a pour objectif de montrer l'intérêt d'utiliser les méthodes formelles pour spécifier et valider un système médical, nous utilisons les automates hiérarchiques pour modéliser ces systèmes. La sémantique utilisée est celle d'une structure de Kripke où les états sont valués par des propositions atomiques. Cette structure peut être de grande taille en nombre d'états. Par nature, les systèmes hiérarchiques sont définis de manière hiérarchique par un ensemble de sous systèmes en éclatant à chaque fois un ou plusieurs états en un ensemble d'automates. Dans cet article, nous proposons de vérifier des proporiétés, seulement sur ces sous-systèmes. Pour pallier au problème de l'explosion combinatoire et la vérification de propriétés, nous considérons que les sous systèmes concernés par la propriété à vérifier et en déduire sa vérification sur le système global. Les résultats sont illustrés sur l'exemple d'un contrôleur de performances sportives

Assembling Components using SysML with Non-Functional Requirements

International audienceNon-functional requirements of component based systems are important as their functional requirements, therefore they must be considered in components assembly. These properties are beforehand specified with SysML requirement diagram. We specify component based system architecture with SysML block definition diagram, and component behaviors with sequence diagrams. We propose to specify formally component interfaces with interface automata, obtained from requirement and sequence diagrams. In this formalism, transitions are annotated with costs to specify non-functional property. The compatibility between components is performed by synchronizing their interface automata. The approach is explained with the example of the electric car CyCab, where the costs are associated to energy consumption of component actions. Our approach verifies whether, a set of components, when composed according to the system architecture, achieve their tasks by respecting their non-functional requirements

Gender Diversity and Firm Performance: Evidence from Pakistan

Gender diversity and firm performance, is among the new but challenging topics of research in management sciences. Many researchers have studied the role of gender diversity in enhancing firms’ performance in developed economies (see for example, Dwyer et. al, 2003; and Kang et al, 2010). Existing literature on this subject is rare in emerging economies and to the best of author’s knowledge; this is the first study on relationship of gender diversity and firm’s performance in Pakistani context. Present study focuses on the impact of presence of female directors on corporate performance using a sample of 395 listed nonfinancial companies of Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) Pakistan from 2004 to 2009. Estimated results indicate that ratio of female directors is negatively related with firm performance

QuSecNets: Quantization-based Defense Mechanism for Securing Deep Neural Network against Adversarial Attacks

Adversarial examples have emerged as a significant threat to machine learning algorithms, especially to the convolutional neural networks (CNNs). In this paper, we propose two quantization-based defense mechanisms, Constant Quantization (CQ) and Trainable Quantization (TQ), to increase the robustness of CNNs against adversarial examples. CQ quantizes input pixel intensities based on a "fixed" number of quantization levels, while in TQ, the quantization levels are "iteratively learned during the training phase", thereby providing a stronger defense mechanism. We apply the proposed techniques on undefended CNNs against different state-of-the-art adversarial attacks from the open-source \textit{Cleverhans} library. The experimental results demonstrate 50%-96% and 10%-50% increase in the classification accuracy of the perturbed images generated from the MNIST and the CIFAR-10 datasets, respectively, on commonly used CNN (Conv2D(64, 8x8) - Conv2D(128, 6x6) - Conv2D(128, 5x5) - Dense(10) - Softmax()) available in \textit{Cleverhans} library

An Approach Combining Simulation and Verification for SysML using SystemC and Uppaal

International audienceEnsuring the correction of heterogeneous and complex systems is an essential stage in the process of engineering systems.In this paper we propose a methodology to verify and validate complex systems specified with SysML language using a combination of the two techniques of simulation and verification. We translate SysML specifications into SystemC models to validate the designed systems by simulation, then we propose to verify the derived SystemC models by using the Uppaal model checker. A case study is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach

Impact of Long-term Soft Relining of Mandibular Complete Dentures on Brain Activity and Cognitive Function of Elderly Patients

BACKGROUND: Stability and retention of mandibular complete denture are a chronic complaint in elderly patients and it may have potential effect on dementia. AIM: The study was conducted to evaluate the impact of the long-term soft liner (LTSL) for mandibular dentures on brain activity and cognitive function of completely edentulous elderly patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirty elderly completely edentulous denture wearer patients were selected to participate in the study. Patient’s brain activity and cognitive function were investigated before and after the relining of the mandibular complete dentures with an LTSL material. Patient’s brain activities were investigated by electroencephalograms, while patient’s cognitive functions were evaluated by the aid of mini-mental state examinations. RESULTS: Statistical analysis of obtained results revealed a significant difference in patient’s brain activity as well as a cognitive function before and after the relining of the mandibular complete dentures. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term soft-lined mandibular dentures seemed having an impact on brain activity and cognitive function for elderly completely edentulous denture wearers

Candida albicans keratitis in an immunocompromised patient

H Mohammed J Hassan1, Theocharis Papanikolaou2, Georgios Mariatos1, Amany Hammad3, Hala Hassan41Ophthalmology Department, Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, South Yorkshire, England, UK; 2Ophthalmology Department, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, England, UK; 3Ophthalmology Department, Rotherham Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, England, UK; 4Corneal and External Disease Service, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, England, UKPurpose: When investigating a case of unexplained corneal ulceration, we need to think of fungal infection and any predisposing factors.Methods: A case study of a corneal ulceration in a patient who was HIV positive with a devastating visual outcome.Results: Therapeutic corneal graft was necessary due to corneal perforation. Immunocompromised state of patient was retrospectively diagnosed.Conclusions: Candida albicans keratitis is an opportunistic infection of a compromised cornea, and sometimes unknowingly compromised host, which can be initially misdiagnosed. Despite intensive antifungal therapy, occasionally patients require corneal grafting to improve vision, and before it is possible to establish an accurate diagnosis.Keywords: fungal keratitis, corneal perforation, keratoplasty, human immunodeficiency virus, HI

Universidad popular en el Cabañal

[ES] El proyecto desarrollado es un centro de formación permanente. Se trata de una universidad popular, es decir un centro docente destinado tanto a gente joven como a gente adulta. Se encuentra en el barrio del Cabañal de Valencia, en una parcela situada en segunda linea de la playa de la Malvarrosa y que contiene la antigua lonja de los pescadores. También se desarrolla una pequeña unidad residencial vinculada a la universidad, con apartamentos para profesores y estudiantes no residentes en Valencia. Se plantea un proyecto donde ambos edificios, junto con la lonja, trataran de relacionarse entre sí y con el entorno marítimo y su barrio.Hammad Hassan, R. (2014). Centro de formación permanente en el Cabañal. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/119463Archivo delegad