Cognitive Limitation and Investment Performance: Evidence from Limit Order Clustering

We hypothesize that cognitive limitation may be manifested in a disproportionately large volume of limit orders submitted at round-number prices if investors use these numbers as cognitive shortcuts. Using detailed limit order data in the Taiwan Futures Exchange, we find that investors with lower cognitive abilities, defined as higher limit order submission ratios at round numbers, suffer greater losses in their round-numbered and non-round-numbered limit orders, market orders, and round-trip trades. The positive correlation between cognitive ability and investment performance is monotonic and robust across futures and options markets. In addition, past trading experience helps to mitigate the cognitive limitation.postprin

Do Superstitious Traders Lose Money?

Do superstitious traders lose money? We answer this question in the context of trading in the Taiwan Futures Exchange, where we exploit the Chinese superstition that the number 8 is lucky and the number 4 is unlucky. We find that individual investors, but not institutional investors, submit disproportionately more limit orders at 8 than at 4. This imbalance, defined as the “superstition index” for each investor, is positively correlated with trading losses. Superstitious investors lose money mainly because of their bad market timing and stale orders. Nevertheless, the reliance on number superstition for limit order submissions does decrease with trading experience.postprin

Mortality burdens in California due to air pollution attributable to local and nonlocal emissions.

Limited research has been conducted on the contributions of local and nonlocal emission sources to ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone (O3) and their associated mortality. In this study, we estimated the total mortality resulting from long-term PM2.5 and O3 exposures in California in 2012 using multiple concentration response functions (CRFs) and attributed the estimated mortality to different emission groups. The point estimates of PM2.5-associated mortality in California ranged from 12,700 to 26,700, of which 53% were attributable to in-state anthropogenic emissions. Based on new epidemiological evidence, we estimated that O3 could be associated with up to 13,700 deaths from diseases of both the respiratory and cardiovascular systems in California. In addition, 75% of the ambient O3 in California was due to distant emissions outside the western United States, leading to 92% of the O3-associated mortality. Overall, distant emissions lead to greater mortality burdens of air pollution in California than local anthropogenic emissions

Use of Biocides and Soy Oil in Preservative Treatment of Structural Flakeboard

Many uses of structural wood composite panels require preservative treatment to increase decay resistance. The most cost-effective way to treat structural flakeboard is done during manufacturing, but it is difficult to accomplish because of incompatibility between adhesive resins and preservatives. The objective of this study was to evaluate physical properties and decay resistance of flakeboard made with phenolic wood adhesive resins blended with biocides dissolved in soybean oil. The blended phenolic adhesive resins contained equal parts of iodo-propynyl butyl carbamate, propiconazole, and tebuconazole. Hybrid poplar flakeboards were made at the combined biocide retention levels of 0, 0.51, 0.81, and 1.63 kg/m3. Results indicated that the strength and dimensional stability properties of flakeboard were not affected by the in-process preservative treatment. The biocides were stable and maintained their efficacy against decay after pressing boards at 200°C for 7 min. Boards treated with 1.63 kg/m3 biocides sustained 2.5% to 5.0% weight loss after exposing to the brown-rot fungus (Postia placenta) for 12 wk compared with over 27% weight loss of nontreated boards

Clinical application of platelet-rich fibrin as the sole grafting material in periodontal intrabony defects

AbstractBackground/purposePlatelet-rich fibrin (PRF) obtained by Choukroun’s technique is a healing biomaterial that concentrates in a single autologous fibrin membrane, mostly of platelets and cytokines from blood harvest, and without any artificial biochemical modification. However, no data are presently available concerning the use of PRF for the treatment of periodontal intrabony defects. This report was to present the clinical and radiographic changes of a patient with periodontal intrabony defects treated with PRF.Material and methodsThe left mandibular first molar (#36) and left maxillary second molar (#27) with intrabony defects were filled with PRF as the sole grafting material in a 38-year-old female patient. The primary outcomes evaluated in this study included changes in probing depth, attachment level, and radiographic bone density between baseline and 6 months postoperatively.ResultsThe results showed that the application of PRF as the sole grafting material in intrabony defects exhibited pocket reduction and gain in clinical attachment after 3 months and 6 months. Using National institute of health program, the 6 months postoperative radiographic density of images for #27 and #36 showed an increase of 1.6 and 1.3 fold compared with each preoperative radiography, respectively.ConclusionsFrom a clinical and radiologic point of view at 6 months after surgery, the use of PRF as the sole grafting material seems to be an effective modality of regenerative treatment for periodontal intrabony defects