Ranking Portfolio Performance: An Application of a Joint Means and Variances Equality Test

We propose a new procedure to rank portfolio performance. Given a set of N portfolios, we use statistical tests of dominance which produce direct mean-variance comparisons between any two portfolios in the set. These tests yield an NxN matrix of pairwise comparisons. A ranking function maps the elements of the comparison matrix into a numerical ranking. To illustrate the procedure we use a set of 133 mutual funds, including the S&P500 index and the CRSP equal and value weighted indexes. We explore the empirical and theoretical relationships between our ranking procedure and the Treynor, Sharpe and Jensen performance measures. In general, the new procedure?s ranking is relatively robust, does not allow for gaming and can be performed with small samples.

Impact of Capital Controls and Transaction Costs on the Return Distribution of Dually Traded Securities: Evidence from Chile and Argentina

In this paper we compare the distributions of ADR returns and the returns of the locally traded shares between Chile and Argentina. This comparison is interesting because both countries are emerging economies with a similar free market orientation. Both countries have similar free market orientation, but they differ in two important respects: (1) exchange rate regime and (2) restrictions to foreign investments. We find several differences between the two economies. Consistent with previous research, we find that the volatility of ADR returns tends to be higher than the return volatility of the underlying securities. We also find that the return distributions of Chilean ADRs are significantly different from the distributions of the returns on the respective underlying Chilean shares. The results reveal that while the mean returns are the same, the return standard deviations are significantly different. In contrast, Argentinean ADRs and their respective underlying shares tend to have the same distribution of returns. Finally, we employ a threshold model to estimate the transaction cost of trading the ADRs and the locally traded shares. We find that transaction costs that must be added to the returns difference before arbitrage is possible are between 1% and 2% for Chilean ADRs, and slightly lower - 0.66% to 1.65% for Argentinean ADRs. We also find that the daily return differential reversion caused by arbitrage activities is around 30% for Chilean ADRs and 40% for Argentinean ADRs.

Impact of thermal loads on interfacial debonding in FRP strengthened beams

AbstractThe effect of thermal loads on the debonding mechanisms in beams strengthened with externally bonded composite materials is analytically investigated. The analytical approach adopts a high-order stress analysis model and a fracture mechanics model that uses the concept of the energy release rate through the thermo-mechanical form of the J-integral. The two models are combined to synthesize the relation between the energy release rate, the mechanical loads, the thermal loads, and the interfacial crack length simulating the thermo-mechanical debonding process. The model is supported through comparison with experimental results taken from the literature. The comparison quantifies and explains various phenomena observed in the experiments and mainly the non-monotonic dependency of the debonding failure load on the temperature. The impact of the temperature on the interfacial stresses and on the stability of the debonding process is also studied. Finally, the effect of an uniform thermal load on the debonding behavior of a strengthened beam is studied revealing the impact of the thermal load on the debonding stability and strength characteristics

THE MEDIATING ROLE OF MENTAL HEALTH IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DISCRIMINATION AND RISKY BEHAVIORS IN LGBT ADULTS IN LATIN AMERICA

The study explored relationships among discrimination experiences, mental health (i.e., anxiety symptoms, depression symptoms), risky behaviors (i.e., suicidal ideation, illicit substance use), religiosity, and social support in LGBT adults residing in Latin America. First, multiple regression analyses were conducted to identify patterns of connections among discrimination, mental health, suicidal ideation, and illicit substance use in sexual and gender minority adults from Latin American. Harassment/Rejection discrimination, but neither Work/School nor Other discrimination predicted suicidal ideation. None of the three discrimination subscales predicted illicit substance use. Work/School discrimination predicted mental health problems (Anxiety and Depression subscales of HSCL-25 combined), while Harassment/Rejection and Other discrimination did not. Depression predicted suicidal ideation, but failed to predict illicit substance use, and anxiety symptoms alone neither uniquely predicted suicidal ideation nor illicit substance use. Subsequently, separate mediational models were conducted to examine whether depression mediated relationships between Work/School discrimination and suicidal ideation, as well as Harassment/Rejection discrimination and suicidal ideation. Depression was a significant mediator of both of these relationships. To assess whether the relationships among discrimination, depression symptoms, and suicidal ideation varied as a function of religiosity and social support, the two mediation models were expanded to six moderated mediations. Depression symptoms mediated the effects of Work/School and Harassment/Rejection discrimination on suicidal ideation when participants had low to moderate levels of social support, but not high social support. Depression symptoms also mediated the effects of Work/School discrimination on suicidal ideation when participants had low to moderate levels of both Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Religiosity, but not when participants had high levels. Finally, Depression symptoms mediated the effect of Harassment/Rejection discrimination on suicidal ideation when participants had low to moderate levels of Intrapersonal Religiosity, but not when participants had high levels; depression symptoms mediated the effect of Harassment/Rejection discrimination on suicidal ideation at all levels of Interpersonal Religiosity. Limitations to the current study included a homogenous sample with respect to country of residence, education level, and socioeconomic status, with participants primarily residing in Mexico, having high levels of education, and being primarily middle class. These drawbacks limit generalizability of study findings to sociodemographically and demographically diverse samples of LGBT adults in Latin America. Nevertheless, results from this study indicate that high, but not low or moderate levels of social support and religiosity seem to buffer LGBT adults in Latin America against discrimination, specifically by weakening links among discrimination, depression symptoms, and suicidal ideation. Clinical intervention research with LGBT adults in Latin America should focus on increasing social support networks for this population and on helping LGBT adults reconcile conflicts between religious identities and sexual or gender minority identities, as religiosity may serve as a protective factor against mental health problems generally, and suicidal ideation specifically

Work in Progress. Haydn’s Schemata and Hexachords: Two Analytical Case Studies

Two analytical case studies, from Haydn’s minuet al roverso (from the Symphony Hob. I: 47) and the opening movement of the String Quartet Op. 50, no. 6, show the interaction of galant schemata (Gjerdingen 2007) and the hexachordal solmization of the solfeggio tradition (Baragwanath 2020). Haydn plays upon conventional galant schemata—presumably elements of style shared by listeners who are closely familiar with the idiom (even if they do not have explicit schema labels); he also plays upon a more esoteric element of his own training and that of many other musicians in the period: hexachordal solmization. By considering both schemata and hexachords, I argue that Haydn’s conceits work on multiple levels, communicating with both stylistic insiders familiar with schemata, as well as with a narrower group of insiders trained in hexachordal solmization

Isobutanol production from cellobionic acid in Escherichia coli.

BackgroundLiquid fuels needed for the global transportation industry can be produced from sugars derived from plant-based lignocellulosics. Lignocellulosics contain a range of sugars, only some of which (such as cellulose) have been shown to be utilizable by microorganisms capable of producing biofuels. Cellobionic acid makes up a small but significant portion of lignocellulosic degradation products, and had not previously been investigated as an utilizable substrate. However, aldonic acids such as cellobionic acid are the primary products of a promising new group of lignocellulosic-degrading enzymes, which makes this compound group worthy of study. Cellobionic acid doesn't inhibit cellulose degradation enzymes and so its inclusion would increase lignocellulosic degradation efficiency. Also, its use would increase overall product yield from lignocellulose substrate. For these reasons, cellobionic acid has gained increased attention for cellulosic biofuel production.ResultsThis study describes the discovery that Escherichia coli are naturally able to utilize cellobionic acid as a sole carbon source with efficiency comparable to that of glucose and the construction of an E. coli strain able to produce the drop-in biofuel candidate isobutanol from cellobionic acid. The gene primarily responsible for growth of E. coli on cellobionic acid is ascB, a gene previously thought to be cryptic (expressed only after incurring specific mutations in nearby regulatory genes). In addition to AscB, the ascB knockout strain can be complemented by the cellobionic acid phosphorylase from the fungus Neurospora crassa. An E. coli strain engineered to express the isobutanol production pathway was successfully able to convert cellobionic acid into isobutanol. Furthermore, to demonstrate potential application of this strain in a sequential two-step bioprocessing system, E. coli was grown on hydrolysate (that was degraded by a fungus) and was successfully able to produce isobutanol.ConclusionsThese results demonstrate that cellobionic acid is a viable carbon source for biofuel production. This work suggests that with further optimization, a bacteria-fungus co-culture could be used in decreased-cost biomass-based biofuel production systems

Universal Jurisdiction in Absentia

The issue of universal jurisdiction has become increasingly relevant in recent years as proceedings have been initiated in certain States against individuals such as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and former United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. It remains unclear whether the concept of universal jurisdiction permits proceedings to be initiated against these individuals even though they are not present in the prosecuting State. This issue has received a great deal of media attention over the past year, in the wake of the Belgian Cour de Cassation’s ruling in September 2003 (overturning a decision by the Belgian Court of Appeal) that the assertion of universal jurisdiction “in absentia” is consistent with international law. In the present article, it is argued that the opposite position is in fact the correct one

Narrow scoping content question items in shifty contexts: A case of surprising non-quotation in Uyghur

This paper analyses finite (indexically shifted) complements in Uyghur with narrow scoping content question items. Using novel data, this paper discusses the distribution of null subjects in Uyghur, which can be licensed without a controlle in embedded clauses except for interrogative intensional complements. I argue, following Suñer (1993), that complements with interrogative intensional interpretations (containing narrow scoping content question items) are syntactically larger than their extensional counterparts, containing a Force phrase (ForceP). Following Holmberg et al. (2009)’s theory of null subject licensing, I argue that Uyghur is a partial null subject language in which the heads of referential CPs contain a valued [D] feature which can check with the unvalued [uD] feature on typically controlled pronouns (in the Holmberg et al. 2009 sense), resulting in an interpretation in which the embedded (null) subject is not coreferent with a controller but rather some discourse provided individual. Referential CPs cannot be embedded directly under ForcePs, and so complements with narrow scoping content question items, which I take to be ForcePs, ban this kind of null subject

Island sensitivity and case matching in Uyghur pseudo-prolepsis

Movement and binding constitute two classes of dependencies between nominals. Movement dependencies tend to have stricter locality requirements and involve connectivity effects between positions, while binding can often occur over longer distances and does not involve featural connectivity between the two positions. While the objects in movement are restricted to be identical — only surfacing differently in the case of deletion or use of pronominals — the objects of a binding dependency can have independent lexical content (Nunes 1995; Aoun et al. 2001). This paper concerns a kind of dependency between two DPs in Uyghur, originally classified as proleptic (Major 2021a; Rabinovitch 2022), in which the two positions associated with the dependency possess the locality restrictions and case connectivity effects of movement, while also having the independence of form associated with a binding dependency. This paper argues that this construction, dubbed here as ‘pseudo-prolepsis’, is a form of subextraction, in which a complex DP contains two coreferent DPs, one of which undergoes movement into a higher position. Locality and connectivity properties of the dependency derive from this movement, while the presence of a coreferent DP in the base position gives the illusion that the movement involves a chain of two lexically independent elements. The existence of ‘pseudo-prolepsis’ demonstrates that the independence of form between two elements in a dependency is not sufficient to rule out a movement dependency or diagnose binding