Modeling Comovement among Emerging Stock Markets: The Case of Budapest and Istanbul

A double world index model is proposed as an ideal way of characterizing the comovement among emerging stock markets, and applied to Budapest-Istanbul as an interesting case. An exclusive increase in the correlation between Budapest and Istanbul during the recent crisis period is documented. To decompose this correlation into information dynamics, a structural vector autoregression (SVAR) model is employed which controls for global indices that enter the system exogenously. Istanbul and Budapest contain incremental information for each other after controlling for global factors, in particular during and after the recent global crisis. Impulse response results suggest significant lagged responses, which imply predictability. Istanbul appears to respond to global information faster.comovement of stock markets; European emerging markets; structural VAR; world index model

The effects of nanoclay on mechanical properties of high density polyethylene and polypropylene materials

Polymeric materials find usage in most places in daily life. Expected features vary depending on the use of these materials. Composite material can be formed by combining one or more different materials. Physical and chemical properties of a new produced composite material can be improved with the addition of additives and fillers to polymer materials. The addition of additives and fillers improve one or more properties at the same time, despite that, it may lead to deteriorate another property. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the mechanical and thermal properties of these produced composite structures. This study was carried out by nanoclay addition to high density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP) materials. Nanoclay additions were made to the polymer matrix at mass ratios of 5% and 10%. Tensile test, tear test and the Izod impact tests were performed. It has been observed that the tensile strengths of HDPE composites decreased whereas PP composites increased with respect to the pure products. Also, the tear strengths of composites decreased compared to pure products. In the Izod impact tests, all notched specimens were broken. The values of impact strength of the PP composites were not changed in the notched Izod impact tests, whereas the HDPE composites showed a decrease. © 2018 Polish Academy of Sciences Institute of Physics. All rights reserved

Bigger Fish in Small Pond : The Interaction between Foreigners' Trading and Emerging Stock Market Returns under the Microscope

This paper provides the first study of foreign investors’ trading in a sizeable European emerging stock market, using a combination of daily and monthly complete data col-lected at the destination. It also introduces the structural conditional correlation (SCC) methodology to identify the contemporaneous interaction between foreign flows and returns. We show that global emerging market returns are an additional driver of foreign flows after controlling for global developed market returns. Foreigners do negative (positive)-feedback-trade with respect to local returns at the monthly (daily) frequency. SCC methodology shows that the standard assumption in the literature, that flows cause returns contemporaneously but not vice versa, is not justified, even at the daily fre-quency, making price impact estimates reported in previous literature questionable

Influence of Maternal Care on Behavioural Development of Domestic Dogs (Canis Familiaris) Living in a Home Environment

Maternal care has been shown to affect the development of the brain, behaviour, social skills and emotional systems of the young of many mammalian species including dogs. The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of maternal care on the behavioural responses of family dog puppies towards environmental and social stimuli. In order to do this, maternal care (licking puppy’s ano-genital area, licking the puppy, nursing and mother-puppy contact) during the first three weeks after birth was assessed in 12 litters of domestic dog puppies reared in home environments (total = 72 puppies). The behavioural responses of puppies were assessed in an arena and an isolation test, which were performed when the puppies were two-month old. Data were analysed using principal components analysis and projection to latent structures regression. A systematic relationship was found between maternal care and behaviour in both tests. In the arena test, maternal care was found to be positively associated with approach to the stranger, attention oriented to the stranger, time spent near the enclosure, yawning, whining and yelping (R2Y = 0.613, p = 8.2 × 10−9). Amount of maternal care was negatively associated with the number of squares crossed and the time spent individually playing with the rope. In the isolation test, the amount of maternal care was positively associated with standing posture, paw lifting, and howling, and it was negatively associated with yawning, lying down and nose licking (R2Y = 0.507, p = 0.000626). These results suggest that the amount of maternal care received during early life influences the pattern of behavioural responses and coping strategies of puppies at two-months of age. On the basis of these findings it could be speculated that early maternal care contributes to adaption to the environment in which family puppies are developing, with particular regard to social relationships with people

PERFORMA MESIN DAN EMISI GAS BUANG MOTOR BENSIN BERBAHAN BAHAN BAKAR LPG DENGAN PENAMBAHAN GAS HHO

Konsumsi bahan bakar minyak dari tahun ke tahun selalu mengalami peningkatan. Sementara cadangan minyak bumiIndonesia dari tahun ke tahun selalu mengalami penurunan. Penggunaan bahan bakar pengganti bahan bakar minyak(BBM) dalam hal ini LPG (Liquified Petroluem Gas) diharapkan mampu menjaga ketahanan energi nasional sertamenurunkan emisi gas buang motor bensin. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui pengaruh penggunaan bahanbakar LPG dengan penambahan gas HHO pada motor bensin 1 silinder 4 langkah terhadap performa mesin dan emisigas buang. Standar pengujian performa mesin yang digunakan ialah SAE J1349 dengan katup terbuka penuh, sementarauntuk standar pengujian emisi gas buang digunakan standar SNI 19 – 71118. 3 – 2005 dengan putaran mesin yangdivariasikan. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian dapat disimpulkan bahwa pada pengunaan LPG maupun LPG denganpenambahan gas HHO, terjadi penurunan pada performa mesin, konsumsi bahan bakar, dan menurunkan emisi CO danHC yang dihasilkan

The Review of Some Commonly Used Methods and Techniques to Measure the Thermal Conductivity of Insulation Materials

The use of insulation materials is considered as one of the most effective means of conserving energy in various fields. Thermal insulation materials enable systems to achieve energy efficiency. Many different thermal insulation materials have been developed to reduce heat flow by limiting conduction, convection, and/or radiation while performing one or more functions. These functions may vary in the context of thermal design, numerical simulations, and a wide range of engineering problems, such as determining the heat loss, temperature field, isolation, and cooling conservation, and in a variety of other technologies. One of the most effective ways to identify and determine performance is effective thermal conductivity. The thermal measurement performance is usually evaluated in a temperature and signal gradient for single or combined homogeneous/heterogenous materials. The two main categories of thermal conductivity measurement techniques are steady‐state methods and transient methods. The aim of this chapter is to present various measurement methods and to investigate their suitability for method purposes. This chapter presents new and accurate experimental techniques and methods for measuring the thermal conductivity of several most commonly used insulation materials. Some of these methods are commonly used in the field for measuring the thermal property of insulation materials. On the other hand, different insulation measurement practices are presented depending upon the overall structures. The analysis predicting the thermal conductivities of insulation materials is also discussed

Asymmetric Synthesis of Phosphate Mimics: From Chemistry to Biotechnology

Oligonucleotide based therapeutics have been pursued in the clinic for the treatment of many disease indications. However, unmodified oligonucleotides are polyanionic macromolecules with poor drug-like properties. Modifications of the phosphodiester backbone provide resistance to nucleases in vivo, making them more efficacious than unmodified nucleotides. However, these backbone modifications have added the structural complexity of a stereogenic phosphorus center. Stereochemically pure isomers exhibit differential efficiency dependent on its enantiopurity. The catalytic, stereocontrolled synthesis of a phosphorus-stereogenic center is challenging, and traditionally, depends on a resolution or use of stochiometric auxiliaries. Herein, asymmetric nucleophilic catalysis has been investigated to provide enantio-enriched phosphonates using phosphoramidite or H-phosphonate approaches. Both investigations utilized commercially available chiral catalysts with the enantioselectivity determined by HPLC on a chiral stationary phase. The requisite starting materials, phosphoramidite and H-phosphonates, have been prepared in racemic form with a variety of alcohol substituents. Chiral phosphonate products were synthesized in acceptable yield (33%-92%) and modest enantioselectivity (up to 62% ee) after identification of an appropriate chiral catalyst and optimization of the solvent, base, temperature, and stoichiometric additives. The potential applications of these approaches will be discussed in the context of catalysis and biotechnology. Following our interest in phosphorus nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31P NMR), quantitative analysis of phosphorus abundance in environmental samples was conducted. To prepare samples for NMR analysis pre- and post-treatment, extraction, dissolution, and pH adjustment were performed. Quantitatively accurate 31P NMR were acquired by optimizing delay time, proton decoupling parameters, and acquisition time