bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Clowns of the Revolution: The Malas Twins and Syrian Oppositional Performance
Authors: ZITER EDWARD
Published: May 2013

Ahmed and Mohammad Malas, two Syrian actors who have made themselves the unofficial clowns of the revolution, have emerged from a vibrant culture of cyber-activism. They have made use of Facebook and YouTube to circulate work that simultaneously reflects on the possibilities for, and failures of, social media and satellite television to forge a new idea of Syrian identity – one that prominently features active participation in the public sphere. I argue that unlike earlier Syrian plays that employed similar tropes (the interrogation scene as emblematic of the state–citizen relation, the failed actor as symbol of the disheartened citizen), the Malas twins use these tropes to demonstrate the necessity of resistance. Their plays assert that Syrians will persist in resistance because new technologies have provided new options and have transformed Syrian identity.
Electron density distribution and crystal structure of 21R-AlON, Al7O3N5
Authors: Asaka Toru , Kudo Tatsunari , Banno Hiroki , Funahashi Shiro , Hirosaki Naoto , Fukuda Koichiro
Published: May 2013

The crystal structure of Al7O3N5was characterized by laboratory X-ray powder diffraction (CuKα1). The title compound is trigonal with a space groupR3m(centrosymmetric). The hexagonal unit-cell dimensions (Z = 3) area = 0.305 06(1) nm,c = 5.7216(1) nm, andV = 0.461 11(2) nm3. The initial structural model was derived by the charge-flipping method and refined by the Rietveld method. The final structural model showed the positional disordering of two of the four Al sites. The maximum-entropy method-based pattern fitting method was used to confirm the validity of the split-atom model, in which conventional structure bias caused by assuming intensity partitioning was minimized. The disordered crystal structure was successfully described by overlapping five types of domains with ordered atom arrangements. The distribution of atomic positions in one of the five types of domains can be achieved in the space groupR3m. The atom arrangements in the four other domains are non-centrosymmetric with the space groupR3m. Two of the four types of domains are related by a pseudo-symmetrical inversion, and the two remaining domains also have each other in the inversion pseudo-symmetry.
Peace as a Transnational Theme
Authors: Iriye Akira
Published: May 2013

Peace is normally understood as the absence of war among nations. But that definition presupposes the overarching importance of nations as the key units of human association. There are, however, many other non-national entities, such as races, ethnic communities, religions, cultures, and civilizations. These entities, too, engage in conflict from time to time, as exemplified by the interracial violence and religious antagonisms in various parts of the world today and, of course, that which took place in the past. Yet why do we preserve the terms “war” and “peace” only for interstate relations? This is a very limited perspective, inasmuch as wars are a phenomenon whose appearance long preceded the formation of nations in the modern centuries; and besides, a presumed state of peace among countries can conceal serious hostilities between races or religions within and across national boundaries. Nazi Germany was technically at peace with all countries till 1939, and yet violent acts were committed there against groups of people domestically who were not considered racially acceptable. In today's world, there are no large-scale international wars, but domestic tensions and physical assaults occur daily within many countries. Terrorists wage war against states and their citizens alike, but they are not nations. To counter their threat, war preparedness in the traditional sense may be useful, perhaps, but it is much less effective than the coming together of individuals and groups to create a condition of interdependence and mutual trust. World peace must fundamentally be founded on a sense of shared humanity, regardless of which country people happen to live in. To consider war and peace purely in the context of international relations, therefore, is insufficient, even anachronistic. What we need is less an international than a transnational idea of peace.
The Arab Spring Two Years On: Reflections on Dignity, Democracy, and Devotion
Authors: Hashemi Nader
Published: May 2013

The Arab Spring of 2011 is widely viewed today as one of the great historical moments of political transformation. Comparisons have been made to the European revolutions of 1848 and the post–cold war democratic transitions in Eastern Europe, while some have spoken of a possible “fourth wave” of democratization. These analogies make sense given that longstanding dictators who seemed impervious to political change, in a region known for persistent authoritarianism, were suddenly toppled by largely nonviolent protesters invoking the universal themes of political freedom, dignity, and social justice. From the outset, however, the Arab Spring was met by a small chorus of criticism and contempt from prominent intellectuals, writers, and politicians.
Drowning, Hypothermia and Cardiac Arrest: An 18-year-old Woman with an Automated External Defibrillator Recording
Authors: Claret Pierre-Géraud , Bobbia Xavier , Dingemans Geoffroy , Onde Olivier , Sebbane Mustapha , de La Coussaye Jean-Emmanuel
Published: May 2013

This report describes the case of an 18-year-old woman who was found in the sea suffering from cardiac arrest and hypothermia, 90 minutes after she entered the water to swim. The rescue team used an automated external defibrillator to record prehospital management. This recording showed an isoelectric electrocardiogram followed by a ventricular fibrillation, an unsuccessful defibrillation, and lastly, a return of spontaneous circulation with Osborn wave. When she was admitted to the intensive care unit two hours later, the woman's central temperature was 28°C.

The case is interesting because of several points. First, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the only case of cardiac arrest with severe hypothermia followed by a return of spontaneous circulation documented with an automated external defibrillator recording. Second, the hypothermia is an atypical case occurring in the summer. Hypothermia must be considered even in unlikely circumstances, such as summer in the south of France, when ambient temperatures are high. Lastly, after three days, the patient recovered successfully from cardiopulmonary arrest without cerebral dysfunction.

ClaretP-G, BobbiaX, DingemansG, OndeO, SebbaneM, de La CoussayeJ-E. Drowning, hypothermia and cardiac arrest: an 18-year-old woman with an automated external defibrillator recording. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2013;28(5):1-3.
Characterization of a Cold-Rolled 2101 Lean Duplex Stainless Steel
Authors: Bassani Paola , Breda Marco , Brunelli Katya , Mészáros Istvan , Passaretti Francesca , Zanellato Michela , Calliari Irene
Published: May 2013

Duplex stainless steels (DSS) may be defined as a category of steels with a two-phase ferritic–austenitic microstructure, which combines good mechanical and corrosion properties. However, these steels can undergo significant microstructural modification as a consequence of either thermo-mechanical treatments (ferrite decomposition, which causes σ- and χ-phase formation and nitride precipitation) or plastic deformation at room temperature [austenite transformation into strain-induced martensite (SIM)]. These secondary phases noticeably affect the properties of DSS, and therefore are of huge industrial interest. In the present work, SIM formation was investigated in a 2101 lean DSS. The material was subjected to cold rolling at various degrees of deformation (from 10 to 80% thickness reduction) and the microstructure developed after plastic deformation was investigated by electron backscattered diffraction, X-ray diffraction measurements, and hardness and magnetic tests. It was observed that SIM formed as a consequence of deformations higher than ~20% and residual austenite was still observed at 80% of thickness reduction. Furthermore, a direct relationship was found between microstructure and magnetic properties.
Preparation of Samples with Both Hard and Soft Phases for Electron Backscatter Diffraction: Examples from Gold Mineralization
Authors: Halfpenny Angela , Hough Robert M. , Verrall Michael
Published: May 2013

Preparation of high-quality polished sample surfaces is an essential step in the collection of microanalytical data on the microstructures of minerals and alloys. Poorly prepared samples can yield insufficient or inconsistent results and, in the case of gold, potentially no data due to the “beilby” layer. Currently, preparation of ore samples is difficult as they commonly contain both hard and soft mineral phases. The aim of our research is to produce suitably polished sample surfaces, on all phases, for electron backscatter diffraction analysis. A combination of chemical–mechanical polishing (CMP) and broad ion-beam polishing (BIBP) was used to tackle the problem. Our results show that it is critical to perform CMP first, as it produces a suitable polish on the hard mineral phases but tends to introduce more damage to the soft mineral surfaces. BIBP is essential to produce a high-quality polish to the soft phases (gold). This is a highly efficient method of sample preparation and is important as it allows the complete quantification of ore textures and all constituent mineral phases, including soft alloys.
Degradation of IF1 controls energy metabolism during osteogenic differentiation of stem cells
Authors: Sánchez‐Aragó María , García‐Bermúdez Javier , Martínez‐Reyes Inmaculada , Santacatterina Fulvio , Cuezva José M
Published: May 2013

Differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) requires the rewiring of energy metabolism. Herein, we demonstrate that the ATPase inhibitory factor 1 (IF1) is expressed in hMSCs and in prostate and colon stem cells but is not expressed in the differentiated cells. IF1 inhibits oxidative phosphorylation and regulates the activity of aerobic glycolysis in hMSCs. Silencing of IF1 in hMSCs mimics the metabolic changes observed in osteocytes and accelerates cellular differentiation. Activation of IF1 degradation acts as the switch that regulates energy metabolism during differentiation. We conclude that IF1 is a stemness marker important for maintaining the quiescence state.
Natural and Synthetic Biomaterials as Composites of Advanced Drug Delivery Nano Systems (ADDNSS). Biomedical Applications
Authors: Gardikis K. , Mourelatou E. A. , Ionov M. , Aserin A. , Libster D. , Klajnert B. , Bryszewska M. , Garti N. , Majoral J.‐P. , Dimas K. , Demetzos C.
Published: May 2013

The combination of natural and synthetic biomaterials leads to the formation of advanced Drug Delivery nano Systems (aDDnSs). The aDDnSs can be classified as hybridic (hy‐) or chimeric (chi‐) based on the nature – same or different respectively ‐ of biomaterials used. Such advanced bio complexes can alter the pharmacokinetic properties of the encapsulated drug and consequently its effectiveness. Numerous studies regarding the usage of natural or synthetic biomaterials as drug carriers have been performed, while only few studies concerning the combination of different kinds of biomaterials have been published. Carriers produced by the combination of liposomes and dendrimers were recently characterized as chi‐aDDnSs belonging to the class of Modulatory Liposomal Controlled Released Systems (MLCRSs) where the polymeric or the dendritic component act as modulator of the drug's release from the carrier. A small but significant number of studies have begun to shed light on the interactions between the components of the bio complexes that seem to be of utmost importance for the pharmacological effectiveness of the final formulation. This review deals with the categorization of the aDDnSs, the nature of the interacting forces between them and their potential biomedical applications.
Cationic Carbosilane Dendrimers as Non‐viral Vectors of Nucleic Acids (Oligonucleotide or siRNA) for Gene Therapy Purposes
Authors: Gómez R. , de la Mata F. J. , Jiménez‐Fuentes J. L. , Ortega P. , Klajnert B. , Pedziwiatr‐Werbicka E. , Shcharbin D. , Bryszewska M. , Maly M. , Maly J. , Serramía M.J. , Lorente R. , Muñoz‐Fernández M. A.
Published: May 2013

A new approach to develop novel non‐viral vector for HIV inhibition based on carbosilane dendrimers is described. Cationic ammonium‐terminated carbosilane dendrimers have been synthesized via alcoholysis of dendritic Si‐Cl bonds or hydrosylilation reactions with dendritic Si‐H bonds. Ammonium‐terminated carbosilane dendrimers are able to form dendriplexes which showed good biocompatibility profiles in vitro, and protect nucleic acids from binding to serum proteins or RNases and degradation. Finally, they were found to be a successful and efficient vehicle for the transport and delivery of genetic material (ODN or siRNA) to a wide range of immune cells, and according to this, a specific reduction of HIV p24 antigen release by anti‐HIV ODN or siRNA was observed.

Therefore, the carbosilane dendrimers presented here are in general good candidates as non‐viral vectors in the context of biological applications of small nucleic acids, and in particular, they may present a new interesting approach for the treatment of HIV infection.
Dendrimeric Antigens. New Approaches Towards Detection of IgE‐Mediated Drug Allergy Reactions
Authors: Montañez M.I. , Mayorga C. , Torres M.J. , Ruiz‐Sanchez A.J. , Malkoch M. , Hult A. , Blanca M. , Perez‐Inestrosa E.
Published: May 2013

Drugs are low molecular weight substances which cannot cause an immune response on their own. However, they can act as haptens and form covalent adducts with proteins. The resulting hapten‐carrier (drug‐protein) conjugate can induce an allergic reaction. Synthetic hapten‐carrier conjugates structurally comparable to those naturally formed in vivo, which in addition can be prepared in a control and reproducible manner, are often needed to diagnose drug allergy.

The contribution of this chapter takes account of the structural precision and tunable properties of dendrimers for applications in the diagnosis of drug allergy. Dendrimers are often referred to as synthetic compounds able to mimic proteins in their interaction with the immune system. This success suggests dendrimers can be used for in vitro diagnosis of allergy, thus avoiding the use of invasive in vivo tests, which are usually considered as the standard in the diagnosis of hypersensitivity reactions.

Different methodologies have been developed to prepare chemically controlled and reproducible dendronized and dendrimerized cellulose surfaces. These penicilloylated Dendrimeric Antigens interact with specific IgE antibodies meeting all the requirements in biosensor to detect penicillin allergy. Clinical evaluation of these materials shows that the use of a flexible spacer improves the IgE molecular recognition.
Characterization of Dendrimers and Their Interactions with Biomolecules for Medical use by Means of Electron Magnetic Resonance
Authors: Ottaviani M. F. , Appelhans D. , Javier de la Mata F. , García‐Gallego S. , Fattori A. , Coppola C. , Cangiotti M. , Fiorani L. , Majoral J. P. , Caminade A. M. , Bryszewska M. , Smith D. K. , Garti N. , Klajnert B.
Published: May 2013

The studies presented in this report arise from collaborations in the framework of the COST action TD0802. We used both the spin label and the spin probe techniques in order to characterize the dendrimers and their interactions with biomolecules by means of a computer aided analysis of the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra. First, we characterized different dendrimers by analysing the complexes formed with Cu2+ in water solutions in different experimental conditions. The oligosaccharide shell of glycodendrimers affects both the internal and external metal ion complexation providing axial and rhombic geometries. Anionic carbosilane dendrimers are able to selectively coordinate copper ions at the dendrimer internal/external surface, depending on generation and functionalization with sulfate or carboxylate groups. Amine‐functionalized dendrons with cholesterol groups at the focal point were also characterized for their structure and interacting ability, but we also analysed the aggregates formed by the self‐assembling dendrons using spin probes able to insert into the hydrophobic domain. Surfactant spin probes were also used to study the encapsulation of dendrimers into lamellar, cubic and hexagonal lyotropic liquid crystals (LLCs) as drug delivery systems. Finally, we used EPR probes to monitor the formation of amyloid and prion fibrils, responsible of neurodegenerative diseases, and the role of different dendrimers to prevent the fibril formation. The aggregation behavior over time was analyzed in the absence and presence of phosphorous dendrimers and glycodendrimers thus providing precious information on the kinetics of aggregation and the type of interactions occurring in the system
Poly(Aminoester) Dendrimers: Design, Synthesis and Characterization
Authors: Quéléver G. , Bouillon C. , Moreno P. , Tintaru A. , Charles L. , Pricl S. , Peng L.
Published: May 2013

Poly(aminoester) dendrimers are particularly appealing for drug delivery due to their advantageous properties including biodegradability, potentially lower toxicity and possibility of diverse chemical conjugations. In the course of the COST Action TD0802, we have developed a novel strategy for the synthesis of poly(aminoester) dendrimers based on active cyanomethyl ester intermediates and the iteration of 4 consecutive steps involving deprotection, activation, transesterification and scavenging. The overall synthesis can be performed under very mild conditions, allowing the corresponding products to be obtained in pure form and with good yields after easy purification.
From Multivalent Dendrons to Self‐asssembled Multivalent Dendrimers: a Combined Experimental and Theoretical Approach
Authors: Smith David K. , Pricl Sabrina
Published: May 2013

By using a combined experimental and theoretical approach, we have gained new insights into multivalent binding. We have elucidated a novel 'sacrifice and screening’ effect in which flexible multivalent arrays optimise their interactions with DNA, and dissected the thermodynamic parameters leading us to conclude that multivalent charge‐display is crucial. By modifying the dendron focal point we achieved the self‐assembly of supramolecular dendrimers with multivalent ligand arrays which were demonstrated to bind DNA much more effectively than non‐assembling analogues. The self‐organising hydrophobic units tune the overall surface charge of the self‐assembled nanostructures and hence control the multivalent interactions with the binding partner. We have also shown how degradability can be built into these systems – important for biological applications. Finally, we have studied different biological targets. This has allowed us to generate self‐assembling multivalent systems with high affinity for heparin, and our work with RGD peptides has demonstrated that the self‐assembly approach to multivalency is competitive in terms of binding affinity with a full dendritic approach. This chapter demonstrates that the combination of experiment and theory is powerful for providing fundamental insight into nanoscale recognition and will underpin potential future applications in nanomedicine.
Community safety during the 2009 Australian 'Black Saturday' bushfires: an analysis of household preparedness and response
Authors: Whittaker Joshua , Haynes Katharine , Handmer John , McLennan Jim
Published: May 2013

On Saturday 7 February 2009, 173 people lost their lives and more than 2000 houses were destroyed in bushfires (wildfires) in the Australian State of Victoria. The scale of life and property loss raised fundamental questions about community bushfire safety in Australia, in particular the appropriateness of the ‘Prepare, stay and defend or leave early’ policy. This paper presents findings from research undertaken as part of the Australian Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre’s (CRC) ‘2009 Victorian Bushfires Research Taskforce’. The research examined factors influencing patterns of life and property loss and survival across the fires through mail surveys (n=1314) of fire affected households. Just over half of the respondents (53%) stayed to defend their homes and properties, whereas the remainder left before or when the fires arrived (43%) or sheltered in a house, structure, vehicle, or outside (4%). Results reveal a survival rate of 77% for houses that were defended by one or more household members, compared to 44% for unattended houses. The paper identifies inadequate planning and preparedness and the tendency for people to wait until they are directly threatened before taking action as major factors leading to late evacuation, failed defence and passive shelter.
Swi/Snf chromatin remodeling/tumor suppressor complex establishes nucleosome occupancy at target promoters
Authors: Tolstorukov Michael Y. , Sansam Courtney G. , Lu Ping , Koellhoffer Edward C. , Helming Katherine C. , Alver Burak H. , Tillman Erik J. , Evans Julia A. , Wilson Boris G. , Park Peter J. , Roberts Charles W. M.
Published: May 2013

Precise nucleosome-positioning patterns at promoters are thought to be crucial for faithful transcriptional regulation. However, the mechanisms by which these patterns are established, are dynamically maintained, and subsequently contribute to transcriptional control are poorly understood. The switch/sucrose non-fermentable chromatin remodeling complex, also known as the Brg1 associated factors complex, is a master developmental regulator and tumor suppressor capable of mobilizing nucleosomes in biochemical assays. However, its role in establishing the nucleosome landscape in vivo is unclear. Here we have inactivated Snf5 and Brg1, core subunits of the mammalian Swi/Snf complex, to evaluate their effects on chromatin structure and transcription levels genomewide. We find that inactivation of either subunit leads to disruptions of specific nucleosome patterning combined with a loss of overall nucleosome occupancy at a large number of promoters, regardless of their association with CpG islands. These rearrangements are accompanied by gene expression changes that promote cell proliferation. Collectively, these findings define a direct relationship between chromatin-remodeling complexes, chromatin structure, and transcriptional regulation.
piggyBac
transposase tools for genome engineering
Authors: Li Xianghong , Burnight Erin R. , Cooney Ashley L. , Malani Nirav , Brady Troy , Sander Jeffry D. , Staber Janice , Wheelan Sarah J. , Joung J. Keith , McCray Paul B. , Bushman Frederic D. , Sinn Patrick L. , Craig Nancy L.
Published: May 2013

Significance

DNA transposons that translocate by excision from a donor site and insertion into a target site are often used for genome engineering by insertional mutagenesis and transgenesis. The
piggyBac
element is especially useful because it can excise precisely from an insertion site, restoring the site to its pretransposon state. Precise excision is particularly useful when transient transgenesis is needed, for example, in the transient introduction of transcription factors for induced pluripotent stem cell production. We have used mutagenesis to generate an Excision
+
Integration
−
transposase that allows
piggyBac
excision without potentially harmful reintegration. These mutations likely lie in a target DNA-binding domain.
Measuring how much work the chaperone GroEL can do
Authors: Corsepius Nicholas C. , Lorimer George H.
Published: May 2013

Significance

Noncovalently “stacked” tetramethylrhodamine dimers are used to report and perturb the allosteric equilibrium in GroEL. The spectroscopic differences between the TMR monomers and dimers allow for quantitative measurements of the population of allosteric states. The noncovalent intersubunit stacking interaction within a dimer mimics the cross-linking constraint that SP places on the structure of GroEL. This feature allows TMR dimers to be used as SP surrogates to quantitate the impact of SP on the chaperonin cycle of GroEL. GroEL overcomes a load of 7.8 kJ/mol, demonstrating its ability to perform work on SP.
Assessing Risk Tolerance
Authors: Hanna Sherman D. , Guillemette Michael A. , Finke Michael S.
Published: May 2013

Assessing risk tolerance is an important part of advising clients about portfolio selections. The expected utility approach underlying portfolio advice based on financial economics assumes that a household has some level of risk aversion that determines its utility from different wealth or consumption levels. Therefore, a household's risk aversion or its inverse—risk tolerance—is a key factor in determining the optimal portfolio for a household. Risk tolerance measures that offer choices without context as to how potential consumption would change do not provide estimates that measure the concept of risk aversion assumed in standard expected utility analyses of portfolio choices. Behavioral finance approaches, including prospect theory, may better explain household investment choices, but a consensus does not exist in regard to how to incorporate these approaches into rigorous portfolio recommendations. Risk capacity, based on human wealth and the investment horizon, is also crucial in determining optimal portfolio advice. This chapter provides a discussion of methods for estimating risk tolerance and the limitations of alternative measures.
Private Wealth Management
Authors: Preece Dianna C.
Published: May 2013

Private wealth management is a specialized field focused on investment management for high-net-worth individuals and families. The process is complex and must be customized to the individual. Historically, an assumption that investors were risk averse resulted in forecasts based on rational expectations with assets considered in a portfolio context. Increasingly accepted behavioral models indicate that investors do not necessarily follow the tenets of modern portfolio theory but instead exhibit loss aversion, have biased expectations, and do not integrate assets. Individual financial circumstances are unique and constructing an investment policy statement (IPS) is a critical step in understanding the investor's goals. Risk tolerance and return objectives are specified in the IPS, along with constraints that are relevant to the individual's portfolio. Liquidity needs and taxation are especially important. The portfolio asset allocation is a function of risk and return objectives and the investor's constraints. Retirement planning and estate planning are also part of the process.
Institutional Wealth Management
Authors: Robbins Eric J.
Published: May 2013

An institutional investment policy statement (IIPS) is a formal document designed to help guide the investment process. Although this document is not currently required by regulation, it is a useful tool in managing a pool of assets in the best interests of the beneficiaries. In the volatility of modern markets, letting emotions and short-term trends dictate an investment strategy can easily happen. The IIPS is designed to help mitigate this natural tendency and instead focus on long-term goals. The primary factors considered in creating an IIPS are objectives, risk tolerance, and unique constraints. Each type of institutional investor (e.g., pension plans, insurance companies, endowments, foundations, and banks) will have a different blend of needs within this framework and will require a customized plan for investing.
The Role of Asset Allocation in the Investment Decision-Making Process
Authors: Farrell James L.
Published: May 2013

This chapter focuses on asset allocation, which is an important aspect in the investment decision-making process. Asset allocation has the potential to add the most to longer-term performance, if executed properly, or detract greatly, if done poorly. Strategic asset allocation (SAA) takes a longer-term approach. One approach to SAA, called the historic approach, is to simply extrapolate the risk and return of asset classes experienced over, for example, the last 80 years into the future. Over such a long period, the economy experiences many different economic episodes. An alternative is the scenario approach that forecasts over a shorter, three-to-five-year period and allows for accommodating such episodes. The scenario approach also requires greater skill and analysis to execute than the historic approach. Tactical asset allocation (TAA) is a complementary approach and takes a much shorter-time horizon of, for example, one to three years. TAA has potential to add value by taking advantage of shorter-term opportunities. At the same time, this approach presents greater risk, which the portfolio manager or investor needs to consider. Other topics examined include risk premium valuation, stock-bond correlation, investor expectations, economic and technical indicators, cyclical markets, and secular trends.
Portfolio Construction with Downside Risk
Authors: Lohre Harald , Neumann Thorsten , Winterfeldt Thomas
Published: May 2013

Portfolio construction seeks an optimal tradeoff between a portfolio's mean return and its associated risk. Since risk may not be properly described by return volatility, portfolios are optimized in this chapter with respect to various measures of downside risk in an empirical out-of-sample setting. These optimizations are successful for most of the investigated measures when assuming perfect foresight of expected returns. Moreover, some of these findings continue to hold when using more naïve return estimates. The reductions in downside risk are most convincing for semivariance, semideviation, and conditional value at risk (VaR) while VaR and skewness appear useless for portfolio construction purposes.
Asset Allocation with Downside Risk Management
Authors: Davis Joshua M. , Page Sébastien
Published: May 2013

The 2007 to 2008 financial crisis has sparked a renewed skepticism of portfolio theory and financial engineering. As a result, key changes are taking place in how investors manage risk from the top down. Asset allocators have become increasingly aware of the pitfalls of a naïve approach to portfolio engineering that relies on the normal distribution and that fails to address downside risk. Additionally, asset classes are no longer the optimal way to look at diversification; instead, risk factor diversification is becoming the focus. This chapter focuses on these key changes. It presents the theoretical foundations behind the risk factor approach to asset allocation, demonstrates how risk concentration leads to tail risk, and analyzes the costs and benefits of tail risk hedging in practice.
Alternative Investments
Authors: Hass Lars Helge , Schweizer Denis , Proelss Juliane
Published: May 2013

Monthly return distributions of alternative assets are generally not normally distributed and typically show significantly smoothed returns, which can lead to an underestimation of risk. Furthermore, portfolio optimization in the mean-variance framework that includes alternative assets is suboptimal. This is because the variance of the return distributions for these investments fails to adequately capture all risks. This chapter provides an estimate of the efficient frontier for portfolios consisting of numerous alternative assets as well as traditional asset classes such as equities and bonds. This process enables incorporating the special characteristics of alternative investments, especially downside risk, in the optimization procedure for mixed-asset portfolios. Within this approach, mixed-asset portfolios containing the majority of alternative investments can be used to illustrate the previously unknown effects of skewness and excess kurtosis on the efficient frontier. The evidence shows that alternative investments are ideally suited to reduce portfolio risk and enhance risk-adjusted performance.
Trading Strategies, Portfolio Monitoring, and Rebalancing
Authors: Cesari Riccardo , Marzo Massimiliano
Published: May 2013

Trading strategies translate goals and constraints of asset management into dynamic, intertemporal, and coherent portfolio decisions. Under special assumptions, myopic portfolio policies are shown to be optimal and constant over time. In general, however, both optimal theoretical portfolios and current portfolio positions are subject to random movements so that periodic monitoring and rebalancing are necessary. Transaction and monitoring costs create a tradeoff between the cost of not being at the optimal allocation (tracking error) and the cost of swapping the current portfolio for the optimal one. Optimal rebalancing results in the replacement of the optimal allocation with a no-trade region delimited by rebalance boundaries. The factors influencing the boundaries and the rebalancing decisions can be analytically and numerically explained. Popular rebalancing rules imply a substantial amount of excess trading costs, but they can generate positive net returns in the case of mean-reverting market regimes.
Benchmarking
Authors: Lioui Abraham , Poncet Patrice
Published: May 2013

Benchmarking, the practice of designing a given portfolio or index as a reference for the portfolio adopted by the fund manager, serves two main purposes. First, benchmarking is an asset allocation tool for delegated portfolio management. Second, benchmarking is a tool for measuring the portfolio manager's performance and compensating her accordingly. The practice of benchmarking is booming in the delegated portfolio management industry. As an asset allocation tool, benchmarking is a reference to be followed by the manager in a more or less strict manner. As a tool for measuring relative performance, benchmarking helps in assessing the manager's skills as to market timing and/or security selection and allows for meaningful definitions of tracking error and the information ratio. The closely related issues of principal-agent contracting, compensation schemes and implicit incentives, and optimal benchmarking are discussed at length. The evolution in the design of appropriate benchmarks is also analyzed.
Use of Derivatives
Authors: Leblanc Matthieu
Published: May 2013

Derivatives are an ancient commercial practice. In the financial world, these products have become essential tools for any professional investor. Asset managers use them in their investment processes to take advantage of leverage, reactivity, hedging, and low transaction costs. However, the features of these instruments require technical expertise that is not always part of the managers' background. Investors often fear derivatives because they are poorly understood and sometimes misused. This chapter provides the prerequisites for using derivatives in portfolio management. It explains how the use of futures and standard options positions combined with traditional assets can alter risk-return profiles. The dynamic nature of basic options strategies associated with long positions in equity products is also covered.
Performance Presentation
Authors: Ryan Timothy P.
Published: May 2013

Performance presentation is highly important to investment managers, regulators, and existing clients as well as prospective clients and their intermediaries. Through performance presentations, portfolio or strategy performance and implementation are clarified in a direct and insightful manner. Presentation content may include portfolio or strategy absolute performance, peer-relative performance, index-relative performance, key drivers of performance, asset allocations or exposure weights, ex-post risk/reward characteristics, style analysis, and portfolio weighted-average characteristics. Performance presentations that are widely distributed and used by prospective clients or their intermediaries usually have specific content and presentation format that is consistent with industry guidelines and/or required by rules-based regulators. One-on-one presentations and presentations for existing clients on their portfolios typically are subject to less specific rules-based regulator-required content.
Exchange Traded Funds
Authors: Rompotis Gerasimos G.
Published: May 2013

This chapter discusses exchange traded funds (ETFs), which are one of the most successful financial innovations of the last two decades. A brief historical analysis of the evolution in ETF market is provided. Next, the unique characteristics and benefits, which made ETFs proliferate among investors worldwide, are discussed. Several types of ETFs are described as well as the various trading strategies available with ETFs. Then, the chapter focuses on the empirical findings of the literature in regard to the competition between ETFs and traditional mutual funds, the tracking ability of ETFs and the factors that usually affect their replication efficiency, and whether the divergence between the trading prices and net asset values of ETFs indicate future returns.
The Past, Present, and Future of Hedge Funds
Authors: Füss Roland , Müller Sarah
Published: May 2013

The finance literature documents that investors can benefit from adding hedge funds as part of the alternative asset class to their asset allocation. By outlining the most important literature, this chapter gives a comprehensive overview of the fundamental characteristics of hedge funds and provides evidence supporting their use in a tactical and strategic portfolio allocation context. Because hedge fund return properties differ from those of traditional asset classes, this chapter discusses appropriate performance measures as well as enhanced portfolio optimization approaches when considering hedge funds in mixed-asset portfolios. It also includes information on relevant organizational and regulatory issues. This chapter also focuses on the increased systemic relevance of hedge funds for financial markets, the complex connections they have with other financial institutions, and the implications for future regulatory developments in this industry.
Portfolio and Risk Management for Private Equity Fund Investments
Authors: Buchner Axel , Wagner Niklas
Published: May 2013

Private equity investments make up large portions of institutional investors' risky asset allocations. Thus, the risk of the asset class needs to be properly understood and managed. As private equity represents a relatively opaque and illiquid asset class, standard models are inapplicable. This chapter provides a novel framework based on modeling the stochastic cash flow dynamics of private equity funds. The model consists of a mean-reverting square root process, which represents a fund's capital drawdowns, and a geometric Brownian motion with a time-dependent drift, which captures the typical time-pattern of capital distributions. The empirical analysis reveals that the model can be calibrated to a given fund cash flow data. The chapter presents several application examples of the model in the portfolio and risk management areas
An Ethological Perspective on War and Peace
Authors: Verbeek Peter
Published: May 2013

This chapter introduces the idea of species-typical versus species-atypical aggression. Whereas most individuals display species-typical patterns of aggression because they have been favored by natural selection over past generations, nonetheless, occasional species-atypical behavior is to be expected as well, which generally speaking will not be adaptive. Peaceful behavior is often associated with intraspecific relationships, and areas such as research on post-conflict behavior that focuses on intraspecific relationships are already well-established in the ethology of aggression and peace. Peaceful behavior is not restricted to intraspecific relationships, however, and the study of tolerance and peacekeeping both within and between species is an up-and-coming research area.
Trends in Cooperation and Conflict in Native Eastern North America
Authors: Dye David H.
Published: May 2013

While conflict was entwined, if not entrenched, in indigenous eastern North America, so too was the ability to limit the scope of conflict and to engender alliances, coalitions, and cooperation. This chapter presents a model of evolving trends in violence and cooperation that incorporates changes in sociopolitical organization. The model accounts for temporal variations in indigenous conflict and cooperation as well as social and political issues. Three broad cultural trends may be posited for dominant institutions associated with peacemaking and lethal aggression in eastern North America: non-segmented foragers, segmented hunter-gatherer-gardeners, and village agriculturalists. These trends, each considered in turn, are not mutually exclusive, but appear to be dominating modes of behavior associated with varying degrees of sociopolitical integration.
Social Control and Conflict Management Among Australian Aboriginal Desert People Before and After the Advent of Alcohol
Authors: Tonkinson Robert
Published: May 2013

This chapter examines the Mardu of Australia. It describes social control and conflict management in Western Desert “traditional” culture, which suggests a number of mutually reinforcing dispositions, norms, values, and behaviors that work to minimize both interpersonal and intergroup conflict. Given the exceptionally marginal ecological setting, protracted feuding and boundary maintaining behaviors would be suicidal. The situational and shifting nature of leadership, in combination with the dominance of classificatory kinship in structuring interpersonal relations, ensures that cooperation is the dominant mode of social being. The discussion then turns to the intrusion of Europeans and alcohol in the early twentieth century, which heralded a massive period of reaction and adjustment.
Social Signaling, Conflict Management, and the Construction of Peace
Authors: Roscoe Paul
Published: May 2013

This chapter addresses the political dimensions of peace. What are the processes that generate and maintain peace within every political community? And what are the processes—economic, diplomatic/political, cultural, ideological—that maintain peace between allied communities (or even, for that matter, between communities linked in cold war relations)? The chapter focuses on small-scale societies, documenting in ethnographic detail the working of a “social signaling” system, a mechanism for managing internal conflict within and among allied political communities. Its ethnographic reference is the Yangoru Boiken of Papua New Guinea, among whom the author has conducted some two years' worth of fieldwork. It considers the role that competitive pig-exchange played in transforming potentially lethal conflicts over land-tenure into nonviolent, symbolic conflicts, thereby maintaining the peace and integrity of political communities and alliances of these communities.
The Birth of a Jungle
Authors: Lundblad Michael
Published: May 2013

Exemplifying a new methodology identified as “animality studies,” which focuses on constructions of animality at specific historical and cultural moments without the explicit emphasis on animal advocacy that is often found in animal studies, this book explores animality at the turn of the twentieth century in the United States. At that moment, shifts in what it meant to be both “human” and “animal” became crucial in terms of producing new ways of thinking about a wide range of human behaviors, including homosexuality, labor exploitation, and the lynching of black men. The discourse of “the jungle” was born at the confluence of Darwin and Freud; once human behavior could be explained, supposedly, by animal instincts that were naturally violent in the name of survival and heterosexual in the name of reproduction. Literary and cultural texts at the turn of the twentieth century addressed the “beast within,” shifting away from a Protestant Christian formulation of a devilish inner beast that was sinful and violent. This book’s central argument is that Darwinist-Freudian formulations of the human animal were often contested rather than reinforced by writers such as Jack London, Henry James and Frank Norris and cultural events such as a circus elephant publicly electrocuted at Coney Island and the Scopes “Monkey Trial.” This book reveals how the figure of the animal evolved in U.S. literature and culture at the turn of the century, particularly through the birth of the jungle: a discourse that continues to enable enduring justifications of homophobia, economic exploitation, and racism in the United States and beyond.
Archaeology of a Humane Society
Authors: Lundblad Michael
Published: May 2013

This chapter explores the problematic relationship between animality and U.S. race relations at the turn of the twentieth century. Engaging the work of critics and theorists such as Jacqueline Goldsby, Gail Bederman, and Marianna Torgovnick, the chapter highlights the significance of the “humane” movement for both animals and criminals in relation to shifting constructions of black and white identities. At the end of the nineteenth century, a new logic of humane reform contributed to a rewriting of black male identity as more “savage” than “animal.” At a moment when black men were attempting to distance themselves from racist constructions of their animality, humane reform worked to contrast whiteness with the “savagery” of blackness. William James’s work on antilynching and antivivisection advocacy reveals how white men could claim the capacity for humane behavior as a marker of racial difference. As a result, animality is essentially “elevated” over blackness, enabling white men to torture and vivisect black men, thus treating them worse than animals, at the turn of the century.
Animal Legacies
Authors: Lundblad Michael
Published: May 2013

The epilogue focuses on the reception of William Jennings Bryan’s anti-evolution arguments in the Scopes “Monkey Trial” of 1925, in contrast to his reputation as a progressive reformer at the turn of the century. Bryan’s objection to being characterized as an animal with “monkey” ancestors in the Scopes Trial reveals both the racist subtext of jungle discourse and the hegemony of that discourse by 1925. Ridiculed by writers such as H. L. Mencken, Joseph Wood Krutch, and W. E. B. Du Bois, Bryan’s resistance to evolutionary theory is mocked in a way that signals a fracture between progressivism of various kinds and Christian fundamentalism: a fracture that was not nearly as evident at the turn of the century, but resonates today with debates over intelligent design, sociobiology, and evolutionary psychology.