User Views On The Complex Accounting For Financial Instruments

This paper examines Australian and Singaporean users’ views on fair value accounting for all financial instruments in financial institutions via a survey on various aspects of contention in this debate. Overall, users showed general support for fair value accounting for all financial instruments. In addition, the findings revealed that users will support fair value accounting so long as there is no perceived difference between the banking and trading books, fair values of non-traded financial instruments are reliable and volatility in earnings will not be misunderstood. It was also found that user experience increases the level of support for the proposed fair value accounting model. These results highlight actual user preferences with noticeable support for arguments from both sides of the debate (JWG and JWGBA) in this highly contentious and topical area of accounting for financial instruments

Global Sensitivity Analysis of Parameter Uncertainty in Landscape Evolution Models

The evaluation and verification of landscape evolution models (LEMs) has long been limited by a lack of suitable observational data and statistical measures which can fully capture the complexity of landscape changes. This lack of data limits the use of objective function based evaluation prolific in other modelling fields, and restricts the application of sensitivity analyses in the models and the consequent assessment of model uncertainties. To overcome this deficiency, a novel model function approach has been developed, with each model function representing an aspect of model behaviour, which allows for the application of sensitivity analyses. The model function approach is used to assess the relative sensitivity of the CAESAR-Lisflood LEM to a set of model parameters by applying the Morris method sensitivity analysis for two contrasting catchments. The test revealed that the model was most sensitive to the choice of the sediment transport formula for both catchments, and that each parameter influenced model behaviours differently, with model functions relating to internal geomorphic changes responding in a different way to those relating to the sediment yields from the catchment outlet. The model functions proved useful for providing a way of evaluating the sensitivity of LEMs in the absence of data and methods for an objective function approach.</p

Diskless Image Management (DIM) for Cluster Administration

Large computing systems have large administration needs. But just as technologies have evolved to take advantage of certain parallelisms of large scale computing, administrating these technologies must evolve to take advantage of the associated operational efficiencies. Using a straightforward push technology, and scalable to thousands of blades, Diskless Image Management (DIM) allows system administrators to boot, patch, or modify one, several or all distributed images in minutes from a single management console. DIM was prototyped on the MareNostrum cluster with 2406 blades, but is scalable to 7000 blades. Using IBM JS20 blade technology MareNostrum consists of 172 BladeCenters

Which exercise for low back pain? (WELBack trial) Predicting response to exercise treatments for patients with low back pain : a validation randomized controlled trial protocol

Introduction Exercise therapy is the most recommended treatment for chronic low back pain (LBP). Effect sizes for exercises are usually small to moderate and could be due to the heterogeneity of people presenting with LBP. Thus, if patients could be better matched to exercise based on individual factors, then the effects of treatment could be greater. A recently published study provided evidence of better outcomes when patients are matched to the appropriate exercise type. The study demonstrated that a 15-item questionnaire, the Lumbar Spine Instability Questionnaire (LSIQ), could identify patients who responded best to one of the two exercise approaches for LBP (motor control and graded activity). The primary aim of the current study isill be to evaluate whether preidentified baseline characteristics, including the LSIQ, can modify the response to two of the most common exercise therapies for non-specific LBP. Secondary aims include an economic evaluations with a cost-effectiveness analysis. Methods and analysis Participants (n=414) will be recruited by primary care professionals and randomised (1:1) to receive motor control exercises or graded activity. Participants will undergo 12 sessions of exercise therapy over an 8-week period. The primary outcome will be physical function at 2 months using the Oswestry Disability Index. Secondary outcomes will be pain intensity, function and quality of life measured at 2, 6 and 12 months. Potential effect modifiers will be the LSIQ, self-efficacy, coping strategies, kinesiophobia and measures of nociceptive pain and central sensitisation. We will construct linear mixed models with terms for participants (fixed), treatment group, predictor (potential effect modifier), treatment group×predictor (potential effect modifier), physiotherapists, treatment group×physiotherapists and baseline score for the dependent variable

Application benchmark results for Big Red, an IBM e1350 BladeCenter Cluster

The purpose of this report is to present the results of benchmark tests with Big Red, an IBM e1350 BladeCenter Cluster. This report is particularly focused on providing details of system architecture and test run results in detail to allow for analysis in other reports and comparison with other systems, rather than presenting such analysis here

Developing and Validating a New Multi-Dimensional Scale for Anti-Social Behaviour in a Higher Education Setting

The purpose of this research is to construct and validate a multi-dimensional scale of Anti-social Behaviour (hereafter ASB) in a Western higher education context (i.e. USA). To achieve this, four studies, each with a different sample, were performed. Study 1 (n = 150) followed an exploratory design to generate a pool of potential items measuring ASB. Study 2 (n = 254) explored the dimensionality of the items produced in Study 1 using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and reliability measures. Study 3 (n = 654) confirmed the factorial structure from Study 2 and assessed the measurement model invariance using structural equation modelling (SEM). Finally, Study 4 (n = 287) assessed the predictive validity of the ASB measure through testing a hypothetical path model linking ASB to narcissism and Machiavellianism via an SEM procedure. In total, our research findings conclude that the ASB measurement model is a two-factor multi-dimensional structure comprising: Interpersonal Antagonistic Behaviour (six items) as well as Indirect Distractive Behaviour (four items). The research and practical implications for universities are thereafter discussed

Multi-ancestry meta-analysis of tobacco use disorder prioritizes novel candidate risk genes and reveals associations with numerous health outcomes

Tobacco use disorder (TUD) is the most prevalent substance use disorder in the world. Genetic factors influence smoking behaviors, and although strides have been made using genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to identify risk variants, the majority of variants identified have been for nicotine consumption, rather than TUD. We leveraged five biobanks to perform a multi-ancestral meta-analysis of TUD (derived via electronic health records, EHR) in 898,680 individuals (739,895 European, 114,420 African American, 44,365 Latin American). We identified 88 independent risk loci; integration with functional genomic tools uncovered 461 potential risk genes, primarily expressed in the brain. TUD was genetically correlated with smoking and psychiatric traits from traditionally ascertained cohorts, externalizing behaviors in children, and hundreds of medical outcomes, including HIV infection, heart disease, and pain. This work furthers our biological understanding of TUD and establishes EHR as a source of phenotypic information for studying the genetics of TUD

Goulburn River experimental catchment data set

This paper describes the data set from the 6540-km2 Goulburn River experimental catchment in New South Wales, Australia. Data have been archived from this experimental catchment since its inception in September 2002. Land use in the northern half of the catchment is predominantly cropping and grazing on basalt-derived soils, with the south being cattle and sheep grazing on sandstone-derived soils; only the floodplains are cleared of trees in the south. Monitoring sites are mainly concentrated in the nested Merriwa (651 km2) and Krui (562 km2) subcatchments in the northern half of this experimental catchment with a few monitoring sites located in the south. The data set comprises soil temperature and moisture profile measurements from 26 locations; meteorological data from two automated weather stations (data from a further three stations are available from other sources) including precipitation, atmospheric pressure, air temperature and relative humidity, wind speed and direction, soil heat flux, and up- and down-welling shortand long-wave radiation; streamflow observations at five nested locations (data from a further three locations are available from other sources); a total of three surface soil moisture maps across a 40 km x 50 km region in the north from ~ 200 measurement locations during intensive field campaigns; and a high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM) of a 175-ha microcatchment in the Krui catchment. These data are available on the World Wide Web at http://www.sasmas.unimelb.edu.au.Christoph Rüdiger, Greg Hancock, Herbert M. Hemakumara, Barry Jacobs, Jetse D. Kalma, Cristina Martinez, Mark Thyer, Jeffrey P. Walker, Tony Wells, and Garry R. Willgoos

Parallel Adaptive Divergence among Geographically Diverse Human Populations

Few genetic differences between human populations conform to the classic model of positive selection, in which a newly arisen mutation rapidly approaches fixation in one lineage, suggesting that adaptation more commonly occurs via moderate changes in standing variation at many loci. Detecting and characterizing this type of complex selection requires integrating individually ambiguous signatures across genomically and geographically extensive data. Here, we develop a novel approach to test the hypothesis that selection has favored modest divergence at particular loci multiple times in independent human populations. We find an excess of SNPs showing non-neutral parallel divergence, enriched for genic and nonsynonymous polymorphisms in genes encompassing diverse and often disease related functions. Repeated parallel evolution in the same direction suggests common selective pressures in disparate habitats. We test our method with extensive coalescent simulations and show that it is robust to a wide range of demographic events. Our results demonstrate phylogenetically orthogonal patterns of local adaptation caused by subtle shifts at many widespread polymorphisms that likely underlie substantial phenotypic diversity