Working with OpenCL to Speed Up a Genetic Programming Financial Forecasting Algorithm: Initial Results

The genetic programming tool EDDIE has been shown to be a successful financial forecasting tool, however it has suffered from an increase in execution time as new features have been added. Speed is an important aspect in financial problems, especially in the field of algorithmic trading, where a delay in taking a decision could cost millions. To offset this performance loss, EDDIE has been modified to take advantage of multi-core CPUs and dedicated GPUs. This has been achieved by modifying the candidate solution evaluation to use an OpenCL kernel, allowing the parallel evaluation of solutions. Our computational results have shown improvements in the running time of EDDIE when the evaluation was delegated to the OpenCL kernel running on a multi-core CPU, with speed ups up to 21 times faster than the original EDDIE algorithm. While most previous works in the literature reported significantly improvements in performance when running an OpenCL kernel on a GPU device, we did not observe this in our results. Further investigation revealed that memory copying overheads and branching code in the kernel are potentially causes of the (under-)performance of the OpenCL kernel when running on the GPU device

A network characterization of the interbank exposures in Peru

After the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), systemic risk measurement became crucial for policy makers as well as for academics. We have witnessed an important increase in the number of methodologies proposed. Among such proposals, DebtRank arose as perhaps one of the most relevant in this context, as it resorts to network modeling and captures the all-important aspect of interconnectedness in the financial system. Additionally, within the network modeling approach, there is the multilayer approach, which provides additional insights on the decomposition of systemic risk. In this paper, we apply a multilayer network analysis to study systemic risk in the Peruvian banking system by utilizing DebtRank centrality. The main contributions of this work are as follows: i) It fully characterizes the multilayer exposure network of the Peruvian banking system, and ii) it obtains the systemic risk profile of the banking system according to different types of exposures

5-h¡droxi-2-metil-1,4-naftoquinona obtenida de pera nítida (benth.) jablonski(euforbiaceae)

Del extracto clorofórmico de la corteza del tronco de Pera nítida (Benth.) Jablonski se aisló una sustancia amarilla que fue identificada como 5—hidro.x¡-2— metil —1,4—naftoquinona. Esta sustancia es conocida como plumbagina y ha mostrado una destacada acción biológica. La estructura fue deducida con base en los datos espectroscópicos y su presencia en esta especie tiene importancia quimiotaxonómica

A metabolite-derived protein modification integrates glycolysis with KEAP1-NRF2 signalling.

Mechanisms that integrate the metabolic state of a cell with regulatory pathways are necessary to maintain cellular homeostasis. Endogenous, intrinsically reactive metabolites can form functional, covalent modifications on proteins without the aid of enzymes1,2, and regulate cellular functions such as metabolism3-5 and transcription6. An important 'sensor' protein that captures specific metabolic information and transforms it into an appropriate response is KEAP1, which contains reactive cysteine residues that collectively act as an electrophile sensor tuned to respond to reactive species resulting from endogenous and xenobiotic molecules. Covalent modification of KEAP1 results in reduced ubiquitination and the accumulation of NRF27,8, which then initiates the transcription of cytoprotective genes at antioxidant-response element loci. Here we identify a small-molecule inhibitor of the glycolytic enzyme PGK1, and reveal a direct link between glycolysis and NRF2 signalling. Inhibition of PGK1 results in accumulation of the reactive metabolite methylglyoxal, which selectively modifies KEAP1 to form a methylimidazole crosslink between proximal cysteine and arginine residues (MICA). This posttranslational modification results in the dimerization of KEAP1, the accumulation of NRF2 and activation of the NRF2 transcriptional program. These results demonstrate the existence of direct inter-pathway communication between glycolysis and the KEAP1-NRF2 transcriptional axis, provide insight into the metabolic regulation of the cellular stress response, and suggest a therapeutic strategy for controlling the cytoprotective antioxidant response in several human diseases

Informal entrepreneurship in developing economies: the impacts of starting-up unregistered on firm performance

To advance understanding of the entrepreneurship process in developing economies, this paper evaluates whether registered enterprises that initially avoid the cost of registration, and focus their resources on overcoming other liabilities of newness, lay a stronger foundation for subsequent growth. Analyzing World Bank Enterprise Survey data across 127 countries, and controlling for other firm performance determinants, registered enterprises that started-up unregistered and spent longer operating unregistered are revealed to have significantly higher subsequent annual sales, employment and productivity growth rates compared with those that registered from the outset. The theoretical and policy implications are then discussed

Structural Maintenance of Chromosomes (SMC) Proteins Promote Homolog-Independent Recombination Repair in Meiosis Crucial for Germ Cell Genomic Stability

In meiosis, programmed DNA breaks repaired by homologous recombination (HR) can be processed into inter-homolog crossovers that promote the accurate segregation of chromosomes. In general, more programmed DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are formed than the number of inter-homolog crossovers, and the excess DSBs must be repaired to maintain genomic stability. Sister-chromatid (inter-sister) recombination is postulated to be important for the completion of meiotic DSB repair. However, this hypothesis is difficult to test because of limited experimental means to disrupt inter-sister and not inter-homolog HR in meiosis. We find that the conserved Structural Maintenance of Chromosomes (SMC) 5 and 6 proteins in Caenorhabditis elegans are required for the successful completion of meiotic homologous recombination repair, yet they appeared to be dispensable for accurate chromosome segregation in meiosis. Mutations in the smc-5 and smc-6 genes induced chromosome fragments and dismorphology. Chromosome fragments associated with HR defects have only been reported in mutants, which have disrupted inter-homolog crossover. Surprisingly, the smc-5 and smc-6 mutations did not disrupt the formation of chiasmata, the cytologically visible linkages between homologous chromosomes formed from meiotic inter-homolog crossovers. The mutant fragmentation defect appeared to be preferentially enhanced by the disruptions of inter-homolog recombination but not by the disruptions of inter-sister recombination. Based on these findings, we propose that the C. elegans SMC-5/6 proteins are required in meiosis for the processing of homolog-independent, presumably sister-chromatid-mediated, recombination repair. Together, these results demonstrate that the successful completion of homolog-independent recombination is crucial for germ cell genomic stability