To lead or not to lead : analysis of the sprint in track cycling

This paper uses a statistical analysis of match sprint outcomes to guide tactical decisions in this highly tactical contest and to provide competitors and coaches with a potential, marginal gain. Logistic regression models are developed to predict the probability of the leading rider winning at different points of the race, based on how the race proceeds up to each point. Key tactics are successfully identified from the models, including how the leading rider might hold the lead and how the following rider might optimise overtaking

Novel critical point drying (CPD) based preparation and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging of protein specific molecularly imprinted polymers (HydroMIPs)

We report the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging of a hydrogel-based molecularly imprinted polymer (HydroMIP) specific to the template molecule bovine haemoglobin (BHb). A novel critical point drying based sample preparation technique was employed to prepare the molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) samples in a manner that would facilitate the use of TEM to image the imprinted cavities, and provide an appropriate degree of both magnification and resolution to image polymer architecture in the <10 nm range. For the first time, polymer structure has been detailed that clearly displays molecularly imprinted cavities, ranging from 5-50 nm in size, that correlate (in terms of size) with the protein molecule employed as the imprinting template. The modified critical point drying sample preparation technique used may potentially play a key role in the imaging of all molecularly imprinted polymers, particularly those prepared in the aqueous phase

Phase transitions in rotating neutron stars: Effects of stellar crusts

As a rapidly rotating neutron star spins down due to the loss of its angular momentum, its central density increases and the nuclear matter in its core converts to quark matter, which leads to a drastic decrease of the stellar moment of inertia, and even results in an era of spin-up of the pulsar (Glendenning, Pei, & Weber 1997). We find that given a certain equation of state in the liquid core, even if the backbending of the moment of inertia as a function of the rotating frequency occurs, an increase of the total moment of inertia by only 1% could carry adequate angular momentum and stop the star spin-up. This small discrepancy in the total moment of inertia might be due to the different properties of subnuclear matter in the crust, especially to different transition density and pressure at the inner boundary of the solid crust between various models. The strong dependence of the phenomenon of back-bending on the physical state of the crust provides, in principle, a new observational approach to check and constrain theories on subnuclear matter.published_or_final_versio

Real estate investments and financial stability : evidence from regional commercial banks in China

The 2008 United States subprime mortgage crisis demonstrated how developments in real estate markets can cause instability in the banking sector and raised concerns in many emerging economies with significant real estate development and a rapidly growing commercial banking sector, particularly in China. There is clear evidence that commercial banks in China, especially regional commercial banks, have lent significantly to the real estate sector. The recent slowdown in the housing market in China and the increase in nonperforming loans (NPLs) in China's commercial banking sector motivated us to investigate the connection between real estate markets and banking stability. This paper proposes three testable hypotheses linking the growth of investment in real estate and the stability of regional commercial banks in China, measured by NPLs. Our empirical results reveal a close connection between the growth of investment in real estate and the NPLs among regional commercial banks, and its sensitivity to real estate market cycles. When real estate market activity declines, our results suggest, regional commercial banks can find themselves in trouble if they have significant exposure to one type of (real estate) asset. In addition, we find that regional bank competition plays a critical role in defining the relationship between bank stability and real estate investment activity

Is hub-based pricing a better choice than oil indexation for natural gas? Evidence from a multiple bubble test

Oil indexation and hub-based pricing are two competing pricing mechanisms in the international natural gas markets. The debates over whether hub-based pricing is preferable to oil indexation have become intense among academics and practitioners, for example, whether and when East Asia should adopt hub pricing. This paper contributes empirically to the debate using a multiple bubble test. Adopting the generalized sup augmented Dickey-Fuller test proposed by Phillips et al. (2015), we show that more explosive bubbles exist in Japan and European gas prices than in the US prices. The argument is that hub-based pricing mechanism can better reflect fundamental values in the gas markets and thus is less subject to speculations. Given the recent trend of financialization in energy markets, gas prices are more likely to deviate from fundamental values when they are not clear to investors. Although oil indexation is simple and has been an effective tool over the past few decades, our results suggest that hub pricing is associated with less extreme price movements in the market and thus is a better choice for both policy makers and practitioners

Solving kk-means on High-dimensional Big Data

In recent years, there have been major efforts to develop data stream algorithms that process inputs in one pass over the data with little memory requirement. For the $k$-means problem, this has led to the development of several $(1+\varepsilon)$-approximations (under the assumption that $k$ is a constant), but also to the design of algorithms that are extremely fast in practice and compute solutions of high accuracy. However, when not only the length of the stream is high but also the dimensionality of the input points, then current methods reach their limits. We propose two algorithms, piecy and piecy-mr that are based on the recently developed data stream algorithm BICO that can process high dimensional data in one pass and output a solution of high quality. While piecy is suited for high dimensional data with a medium number of points, piecy-mr is meant for high dimensional data that comes in a very long stream. We provide an extensive experimental study to evaluate piecy and piecy-mr that shows the strength of the new algorithms.Comment: 23 pages, 9 figures, published at the 14th International Symposium on Experimental Algorithms - SEA 201

下地壳及壳慢过渡带化学不均一性 -- 河北汉诺坝地区深源捕虏体元素地球化学证据

河北汉诺坝玄武岩中长英质麻粒岩、镁铁质麻粒岩和辉石岩捕虏体的主量元素和微量元素特征, 反映了下地壳及壳鳗过渡带组成具有高度化学不均一性。不相容元素原始地慢标准化曲线特征的差异表明捕虏体成因复杂。MgO 与不相容元素无或仅有很弱的相关性, 与相容元素的相关性则相对较明显。这些特征反映了下地壳及壳慢过渡带存在较强和多元的混合作用。捕虏体的加权平均值比基于麻粒岩地体资料估算的下地壳平均组成偏基性, 揭示了二者可能的成因差异。The major and trace element data of granulite and pyroxenite xenoliths, which are entrained in Hannuoba basalt Hebei Province, North China, suggest the highly chemical heterogeneity in the lower crust and crust-mantle transitional zone. There is no or only POor linear correlation between MgO and incompatible elements. Whereas a bit remarked correlations are observed between MgO and most compatible elements.The geochemical characteristics suggest that the strong and multiple mixing processes may have Occurred universally both in the lower crust and crust-mantle transitional zone. The weighed average composition of xenoliths shows a more mafic composition of the lower crust than that estimated from granulite data, which may imply the difference in the genesis.published_or_final_versio

Sr, Nd Pb isotopic characteristics of granulite and pyroxenite xenoliths in Hannuoba basalts, Hebei Province, and their implications for geologic processes

Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd and Pb isotopic systematics are reported for granulite and pyroxenite xenoliths in Hannuoba basalts, Hebei Province. The isotopic characteristics of xenoliths suggest t hat they might have formed recently , although there is no strict constraint on the precise age. The decoupling of low Rb/Sr and high [87]Sr/[86]Sr ratios implies the multi-stage evolution history and strong mixing processes. There are close ties between granulite and pyroxenites with different mineral assemblages on the Sr-Nd, Pb-Sr and Pb-Nd correlation figures. The granulite is the common end-member o f the three kinds o f pyroxenite. Combined with the distribution of the xenoliths in space and their isotopic relationships, It is proposed that delamination can be well used to explain the ties.系统研究了河北汉诺坝玄武岩中二辉麻粒岩和辉石岩捕虏体的Sr、Nd、Pb 同位素特征。虽然未确定捕虏体的形成时代, 但同位素特征显示它们可能为较近期( 中生代以来) 形成。低的Rb/Sr 与高 的[87]Sr/[86]Sr 比值的解耦表明捕虏体的形成经历了较强的混合作用。在二元同位素相关图上, 三类具不同矿物组成的辉石岩与二辉麻粒岩有密切关系, 即二辉麻粒岩投点位置是三类辉石岩的共同端点。综合考虑捕虏体的空间分布及其在Sr 、Nd、Pb 同位素协变图上的关系, 可以认为层离作用可较好地解释这些现象。published_or_final_versio