Hochster's theta invariant and the Hodge-Riemann bilinear relations

Let R be an isolated hypersurface singularity, and let M and N be finitely generated R-modules. As R is a hypersurface, the torsion modules of M against N are eventually periodic of period two (i.e., Tor_i^R(M,N) is isomorphic to Tor_{i+2}^R(M,N) for i sufficiently large). Since R has only an isolated singularity, these torsion modules are of finite length for i sufficiently large. The theta invariant of the pair (M,N) is defined by Hochster to be length(Tor_{2i}^R(M,N)) - length(Tor_{2i+1}^R(M,N)) for i sufficiently large. H. Dao has conjectured that the theta invariant is zero for all pairs (M,N) when R has even dimension and contains a field. This paper proves this conjecture under the additional assumption that R is graded with its irrelevant maximal ideal giving the isolated singularity. We also give a careful analysis of the theta pairing when the dimension of R is odd, and relate it to a classical pairing on the smooth variety Proj(R).Comment: 20 page

Can the stock market tell bank supervisors anything they don't already know?

This article provides evidence consistent with recent policy proposals calling for a greater role for market forces in promoting a safe and sound financial system. The authors' empirical results indicate a measure of expected default probability distilled from equity prices helps predict the financial condition of individual banking organizations, as reflected in their supervisory ratings. Moreover, the stock market data have predictive power over and above the information in the quarterly financial statements available to supervisors between inspections. These findings suggest financial markets can provide useful information to supplement supervisory assessments, particularly between inspections, and point to the value of additional research to further clarify the information content of market prices and quantities.Banks and banking ; Bank examination ; Bank supervision

Composition of the Ichthyofauna Inhabiting the 110-Meter Contour of the Gulf of Mexico, Mississippi River to the Rio Grande

The ichthyofauna inhabiting the 110-m bathymetric contour from the Mississippi River to the Rio Grande was very diverse in comparison to the inshore fauna, although the number of species collected decreased off south Texas. A total of 69 species were identified, although only 3662 specimens were examined. Dominant taxa were the families Sparidae, Lutjanidae, Triglidae, Serranidae and Synodontidae with Stenotomus caprinus, Pristipomoides aquilonaris, Prionotus paralatus, Serranus atrobranchus, and Synodus joetens being the most abundant species. Faunal composition was very similar along the entire 110-m contour except for large changes in abundance of Stenotomus caprinus, Pristipomoides aquilonaris, and Serranus atrobranchus. Abundance of Stenotomus caprinus decreased greatly off south Texas whereas the converse was true for Pristipomoides aquilonaris and Serranus atrobranchus. The composition of the ichthyofauna at a depth of 110-m is similar to that found on the brown shrimp grounds of the northern Gulf of Mexico

Analysis and use of VAS satellite data

A series of interrelated investigations has examined the analysis and use of VAS (VISSR Atmospheric Sounder) satellite data. A case study of VAS-derived mesoscale stability parameters suggested that they would have been a useful supplement to conventional data in the forecasting of thunderstorms on the day of interest. However, the meteorological significance of small or short lived stability features was uncertain. A second investigation examined the roles of first guess and VAS radiometric data in producing sounding retrievals. The radiance data often did not have a decisive influence on the final satellite soundings. Broad-scale patterns of the first guess, radiances, and retrievals frequently were similar, whereas small scale retrieval features, especially in the dew points, were often of uncertain origin

Analysis and use of VAS satellite data

Four interrelated investigations have examined the analysis and use of VAS satellite data. A case study of VAS-derived mesoscale stability parameters suggested that they would have been a useful supplement to conventional data in the forecasting of thunderstorms on the day of interest. A second investigation examined the roles of first guess and VAS radiometric data in producing sounding retrievals. Broad-scale patterns of the first guess, radiances, and retrievals frequently were similar, whereas small-scale retrieval features, especially in the dew points, were often of uncertain origin. Two research tasks considered 6.7 micron middle tropospheric water vapor imagery. The first utilized radiosonde data to examine causes for two areas of warm brightness temperature. Subsidence associated with a translating jet streak was important. The second task involving water vapor imagery investigated simulated imagery created from LAMPS output and a radiative transfer algorithm. Simulated image patterns were found to compare favorably with those actually observed by VAS. Furthermore, the mass/momentum fields from LAMPS were powerful tools for understanding causes for the image configurations

Drag of suction cup tags on swimming animals : modeling and measurement

© The Author(s), 2013. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Marine Mammal Science 30 (2014): 726–746, doi:10.1111/mms.12083.Bio-logging tags are widely used to study the behavior and movements of marine mammals with the tacit assumption of little impact to the animal. However, tags on fast-swimming animals generate substantial hydrodynamic forces potentially affecting behavior and energetics adversely, or promoting early removal of the tag. In this work, hydrodynamic loading of three novel tag housing designs are compared over a range of swimming speeds using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Results from CFD simulation were verified using tag models in a water flume with close agreement. Drag forces were reduced by minimizing geometric disruptions to the flow around the housing, while lift forces were reduced by minimizing the frontal cross-sectional area of the housing and holding the tag close to the attachment surface. Hydrodynamic tag design resulted in an experimentally measured 60% drag force reduction in 5.6 m/s flow. For all housing designs, off-axis flow increased the magnitude of the force on the tag. Experimental work with a common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) cadaver indicates that the suction cups used to attach the types of tags described here provide sufficient attachment force to resist failure to predicted forces at swimming speeds of up to 10 m/s.This work was supported by NOPP with NSF funds through ONR Grant N00014-11-1- 0113. MJ was supported by NOPP and the MASTS pooling initiative (The Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland)

Elucidation of the anaerobic pathway for the corrin component of cobalamin (vitamin B12)

It has been known for the past 20 years that two pathways exist in nature for the de novo biosynthesis of the coenzyme form of vitamin B12, adenosylcobalamin, representing aerobic and anaerobic routes. In contrast to the aerobic pathway, the anaerobic route has remained enigmatic because many of its intermediates have proven technically challenging to isolate, because of their inherent instability. However, by studying the anaerobic cobalamin biosynthetic pathway in Bacillus megaterium and using homologously overproduced enzymes, it has been possible to isolate all of the intermediates between uroporphyrinogen III and cobyrinic acid. Consequently, it has been possible to detail the activities of purified cobinamide biosynthesis (Cbi) proteins CbiF, CbiG, CbiD, CbiJ, CbiET, and CbiC, as well as show the direct in vitro conversion of 5-aminolevulinic acid into cobyrinic acid using a mixture of 14 purified enzymes. This approach has resulted in the isolation of the long sought intermediates, cobalt-precorrin-6A and -6B and cobalt-precorrin-8. EPR, in particular, has proven an effective technique in following these transformations with the cobalt(II) paramagnetic electron in the dyz orbital, rather than the typical dz2. This result has allowed us to speculate that the metal ion plays an unexpected role in assisting the interconversion of pathway intermediates. By determining a function for all of the pathway enzymes, we complete the tool set for cobalamin biosynthesis and pave the way for not only enhancing cobalamin production, but also design of cobalamin derivatives through their combinatorial use and modification

Alfalfa Yields from Mixtures of Dormant and Non-dormant Varieties

During the establishment year, alfalfa seedings typically yield only 40-60% of fully established stands. All alfalfa varieties grown in Iowa are classified as dormant or moderately dormant, a characteristic that is important for winter survival. However, as plants become dormant in late summer, their yield declines. Alfalfa varieties from the southwestern United States are non-dormant and continue to grow until the autumn freeze, but tend to die over winter. The objective of this experiment was to determine if including a proportion of non-dormant seed at planting could improve establishment year yield without affecting successive year yields or forage quality. The rationale for this experiment is that more plants are present in the first year of a stand than in successive years when individual plants grow larger as their crowns expand. Because of normal plant loss, we reasoned that death of non-dormant plants after the first winter might not adversely affect the yields of the remaining stand