The benefits of combining seasonal anomalies and technical trading rules

Although many seasonal anomalies and technical trading rules have been shown to have predictive ability, investigations have focused only on them operating individually. We study the benefits of trading based on combinations of three of the best known effects: the moving average rule, the turn of the month effect, and the Halloween effect. We show that the rules can be combined effectively, giving significant levels of returns predictability with low risk and offering the possibility of profitable trading. This new investment approach is especially beneficial for a typical individual investor, who faces high transaction costs and is poorly diversified

The price, quality and distribution of mortgage payment protection insurance: a hedonic pricing approach

Mortgage payment protection insurance (hereafter MPPI) provides varying combinations of accident, sickness and unemployment insurance and is used to protect the mortgage payments of policyholders in the event of a fall in income. Despite alleviating housing market failures, this service has been heavily criticised for providing poor value for money and being associated with unhelpful sales techniques especially when sold jointly with a mortgage in the UK. Consequently, the Competition Commission (2009) ruled that after February 2011 MPPI should not be sold jointly with mortgage lending within seven days of the credit transaction. We examine whether this prohibition was justified and if the form of distribution, either jointly with the mortgage or independently influences the premium levels. This assessment uses a hedonic pricing approach with details and premiums of MPPI policies in 2010 and 2012. Despite the success in reducing MPPI premium levels, we conclude that the Competition Commission judgement has raised concerns as to mortgagee protection

A new method of observing weak extended x-ray sources with RHESSI

We present a new method, fan-beam modulation, for observing weak extended x-ray sources with the Reuven Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI). This space-based solar x-ray and gamma-ray telescope has much greater sensitivity than previous experiments in the 3-25 keV range, but is normally not well suited to detecting extended sources since their signal is not modulated by RHESSI's rotating grids. When the spacecraft is offpointed from the target source, however, the fan-beam modulation time-modulates the transmission by shadowing resulting from exploiting the finite thickness of the grids. In this paper we detail how the technique is implemented and verify its consistency with sources with clear known signals that have occurred during RHESSI offpointing: microflares and the Crab Nebula. In both cases the results are consistent with previous and complementary measurements. Preliminary work indicates that this new technique allows RHESSI to observe the integrated hard x-ray spectrum of weak extended sources on the quiet Sun.Comment: Publishe

Contaminants in Unionid Mussels from the Confluence of the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers

Unionid mussels were collected from three mussel beds near the confluence of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers in 2003 to evaluate concentrations of selected elements and organic compounds in three abundant species and to preliminarily investigate the relative contribution of these waterways to observed contaminant burdens. Copper (Cu), selenium (Se), and zinc (Zn) concentrations were higher and lead (Pb) concentrations were lower in Amblema plicata collected downstream of the confluence than in those collected upstream. Mean concentrations of nickel (Ni), total mercury (Hg), methylmercury (MeHg), Pb, and Zn varied by species. Concentrations of cadmium (Cd) decreased with age in A. plicata from two of three sites. Tissue concentrations of some elements, e.g., arsenic (As), Cd, Cu, Pb, Se, and Zn, were similar to or higher than those previously reported for unionid mussels from areas of contaminated sediment. Concentrations of Cd, Cu, and Zn in A. plicata were comparable to those collected from the Mississippi River approximately 450 and 900 km upstream from our study sites (Naimo et al. 1992). Although total Hg concentrations we observed were an order of magnitude lower than in that study, MeHg concentrations were above those associated with reductions in soft tissue mass in a study of Elliptio complanata (Salazar et al. 1995). A number of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners were detected in A. plicata tissues, with 85% of detections occurring in mussels from downstream of the confluence. Concentrations of individual PCB congeners were ???33 ng/g ww and the maximum summed PCB congener concentration was 100.2 ng/g ww. Although few persistent pesticides were detected, -hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) was detected in each of the species collected from below the confluence of the two rivers, and in A. plicata collected above it on both the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, at a maximum concentration of 103.5 ng/g ww. Aldrin, ??-HCH and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) were detected in few of the specimens collected. The findings of this preliminary investigation suggest that unionid mussels from near the confluence of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers may be at risk of negative health effects of elevated exposure to certain environmental contaminants. Studies examining the health and productivity of unionid mussels from this area appear warranted.published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe

Method and apparatus for joining metals

The present invention discloses methods and apparatus for joining of two workpieces. The present invention includes special preparation of the joining ends of the two workpieces to be joined. Methods of the present invention include delivering a high current, low voltage pulse to a pair of workpieces to be joined while applying and maintaining a constantly high load on said workpieces to thereby join the workpieces.Board of Regents, University of Texas Syste

Epidemiology of Cigarette and Smokeless Tobacco Use among South Asian Immigrants in the Northeastern United States

As the most preventable cause of death in the world today, understanding tobacco use among one of the fastest growing ethnic/racial groups is warranted. We explore cigarette and smokeless tobacco (SLT) use among South Asians in NJ and the Northeast using the Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey. Overall, tobacco use rates among South Asians were similar or lower than the population. However, in NJ, South Asian males had the highest SLT rate (2.7%) and in the Northeast, White (AOR = 5.8, 95%  CI = 3.7–9.4) and South Asian males (AOR = 4.0, 95%  CI = 1.5–10.6) had significantly higher odds of current SLT use relative to non-White males. Tobacco use among South Asians was not homogeneous; Pakistanis are overrepresented among cigarette smokers while Indians are overrepresented among SLT users. Given the differential tobacco use among and within South Asian, disaggregating data to understand tobacco use behaviors is necessary to develop effective interventions for tobacco cessation

Dayside response of the magnetosphere to a small shock compression: Van Allen Probes, Magnetospheric MultiScale, and GOES-13.

Observations from Magnetospheric MultiScale (~8 Re) and Van Allen Probes (~5 and 4 Re) show that the initial dayside response to a small interplanetary shock is a double-peaked dawnward electric field, which is distinctly different from the usual bipolar (dawnward and then duskward) signature reported for large shocks. The associated E × B flow is radially inward. The shock compressed the magnetopause to inside 8 Re, as observed by Magnetospheric MultiScale (MMS), with a speed that is comparable to the E × B flow. The magnetopause speed and the E × B speeds were significantly less than the propagation speed of the pulse from MMS to the Van Allen Probes and GOES-13, which is consistent with the MHD fast mode. There were increased fluxes of energetic electrons up to several MeV. Signatures of drift echoes and response to ULF waves also were seen. These observations demonstrate that even very weak shocks can have significant impact on the radiation belts

The maize brown midrib6 (bm6) mutation encodes a functional GTP Cyclohydrolase1

Brown midrib mutations in maize (Zea mays L.) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) alter lignin composition and enhance cell wall digestibility. These mutations are prime candidates for silage breeding. Six brown midrib mutants are currently known, brown midrib1 (bm1) to brown midrib6 (bm6). The bm1 and bm3 mutations are being used commercially for silage. The underlying genes responsible for five of the six bm mutations in maize (bm1, bm2, bm3, bm4, and bm5) are known. Chen and co-workers (2012) characterized the bm6 mutation, demonstratingthat bm6 increases cell wall digestibility and physically mapped bm6 within a 180 kilobase region on chromosome 2. The present investigation utilized map-based cloning to identify the candidate gene responsible for the bm6 phenotype as GTP Cyclohydrolase1 (GCH1) and validated the candidate gene through reverse genetics. Orthologs of bm6 include at least one paralogous gene in maize on chromosome 10 and various homologs in other grasses and dicots. The discovery that GCH1 is  responsible for the maize bm6 phenotype suggests that GCH1 plays a role in the tetrahydrofolate biosynthetic process

Influence of the Spatial Distribution of Cationic Functional Groups at Nanoparticle Surfaces on Bacterial Viability and Membrane Interactions

While positively charged nanomaterials induce cytotoxicity in many organisms, much less is known about how the spatial distribution and presentation of molecular surface charge impact nanoparticle–biological interactions. We systematically functionalized diamond nanoparticle surfaces with five different cationic surface molecules having different molecular structures and conformations, including four small ligands and one polymer, and we then probed the molecular-level interaction between these nanoparticles and bacterial cells. Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 was used as a model bacterial cell system to investigate how the molecular length and conformation of cationic surface charges influence their interactions with the Gram-negative bacterial membranes. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) demonstrate the covalent modification of the nanoparticle surface with the desired cationic organic monolayers. Surprisingly, bacterial growth-based viability (GBV) and membrane damage assays both show only minimal biological impact by the NPs functionalized with short cationic ligands within the concentration range tested, yet NPs covalently linked to a cationic polymer induce strong cytotoxicity, including reduced cellular viability and significant membrane damage at the same concentration of cationic groups. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images of these NP-exposed bacterial cells show that NPs functionalized with cationic polymers induce significant membrane distortion and the production of outer membrane vesicle-like features, while NPs bearing short cationic ligands only exhibit weak membrane association. Our results demonstrate that the spatial distribution of molecular charge plays a key role in controlling the interaction of cationic nanoparticles with bacterial cell membranes and the subsequent biological impact. Nanoparticles functionalized with ligands having different lengths and conformations can have large differences in interactions even while having nearly identical zeta potentials. While the zeta potential is a convenient and commonly used measure of nanoparticle charge, it does not capture essential differences in molecular-level nanoparticle properties that control their biological impact