pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
Pension plan solvency and extreme market movements : a regime switching approach

We develop and test a new approach to assess defined benefit pension plan solvency risk in the presence of extreme market movements. Our method captures both the ‘fat-tailed’ nature of asset returns and their correlation with discount rate changes. We show that the standard assumption of constant discount rates leads to dramatic underestimation of future projections of pension plan solvency risk. Failing to incorporate leptokurtosis into asset returns also leads to downward biased estimates of risk, but this is less pronounced than the time-varying discount rate e§ect. Further modifying the model to capture the correlation between asset returns and the discount rate provides additional improvements in the projection of future pension plan solvency. This reduces the perceived future risk of underfunding because of the negative correlation between interest rate changes and asset returns. These results have important implications for those with responsibility for balancing risk against expected return when seeking to improve the current poor funding positions of defined benefit pension schemes
Higgs-inflaton coupling from reheating and the metastable Universe

Current Higgs boson and top quark data favor metastability of our vacuum
which raises questions as to why the Universe has chosen an energetically
disfavored state and remained there during inflation. In this Letter, we point
out that these problems can be solved by a Higgs-inflaton coupling which
appears in realistic models of inflation. Since an inflaton must couple to the
Standard Model particles either directly or indirectly, such a coupling is
generated radiatively, even if absent at tree level. As a result, the dynamics
of the Higgs field can change dramatically.Comment: v2: 5 pages, minor correction
On the domain of convergence and poles of complex J-fractions

24 pages, no figures.-- MSC2000 code: 30B60.MR#: MR1616769 (99b:30003)Zbl#: Zbl 0909.30002Consider the infinite $J$-fraction $$\cfrac a_0 \\ z-b_0-\cfrac a_1 \\ z-b_1-\cfrac a_2 \\ z-b_2-{\lower6pt\hbox{$\ddots$}}\endcfrac$$ where $a_n\in{\bf C}\sbs\{0\},\ b_n\in{\bf C}$. Under very general conditions on the coefficients $\{a_n\},\ \{b_n\}$, we prove that this continued fraction coverges to a meromorphic function in ${\bf C}\sbs{\bf R}$. Such conditions hold, in particular, if $\lim_n{\rm Im}(a_n)=\lim_n{\rm Im}(b_n)=0$ and $\sum_{n\ge0}(1/ _n =\infty$ (or $\sum_{n\ge0}( _n _na_{n+1} =\infty)$. The poles are located in the point spectrum of the associated tridiagonal infinite matrix and their order determined in terms of the asymptotic behavior of the zeros of the denominators of the corresponding partial fractions.Research by second author (G.L.L.) partially supported by RG-297 Maths/LA from Third World Academy of Science.Publicad
Search for Higgs boson decays to a photon and a Z boson in pp collisions at s=7 and 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Â© 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). Funded by SCOAP3.\ud
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2014.03.015A search is reported for a neutral Higgs boson in the decay channel Hâ\u86\u92ZÎ³, Zâ\u86\u92â\u84\u93 +â\u84\u93 -(â\u84\u93 = e, Î¼), using 4.5 fb-1of pp collisions at s=7 TeV and 20.3 fb-1of pp collisions at s=8 TeV, recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The observed distribution of the invariant mass of the three final-state particles,mâ\u84\u93â\u84\u93Î³, is consistent with the Standard Model hypothesis in the investigated mass range of 120-150 GeV. For a Higgs boson with a mass of 125.5 GeV, the observed upper limit at the 95% confidence level is 11 times the Standard Model expectation. Upper limits are set on the cross section times branching ratio of a neutral Higgs boson with mass in the range 120-150 GeV between 0.13 and 0.5 pb for s=8 TeV at 95% confidence level. Â© 2014
Encoding and estimation of first- and second-order binocular disparity in natural images

Research supported by BBSRC Grant Nos. BB/G004803/1 (RG) and BB/K018973/1 (PH/DH).The first stage of processing of binocular information in the visual cortex is performed by mechanisms that are bandpass-tuned for spatial frequency and orientation. Psychophysical and physiological evidence have also demonstrated the existence of second-order mechanisms in binocular processing, which can encode disparities that are not directly accessible to first-order mechanisms. We compared the responses of first- and second-order binocular filters to natural images. We found that the responses of the second-order mechanisms are to some extent correlated with the responses of the first-order mechanisms, and that they can contribute to increasing both the accuracy, and depth range, of binocular stereopsis.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
Study of hadronic event-shape variables in multijet final states in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

Event-shape variables, which are sensitive to perturbative and nonperturbative aspects of quantum chromodynamic (QCD) interactions, are studied in multijet events recorded in proton-proton collisions at s√=7 TeV. Events are selected with at least one jet with transverse momentum pT > 110 GeV and pseudorapidity |η| < 2.4, in a data sample corresponding to integrated luminosities of up to 5 fb−1. The distributions of five event-shape variables in various leading jet pT ranges are compared to predictions from different QCD Monte Carlo event generators
Explosive solutions of a stochastic non-local reaction–diffusion equation arising in shear band formation

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Kavallaris, N. I. (2015). Explosive solutions of a stochastic non-local reaction–diffusion equation arising in shear band formation. Mathematical Methods in the Applied Sciences 38(16): 3564-3574, which has been published in final form at DOI: 10.1002/mma.3514. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.In this paper, we consider a non-local stochastic parabolic equation which actually serves as a mathematical model describing the adiabatic shear-banding formation phenomena in strained metals. We first present the derivation of the mathematical model. Then we investigate under which circumstances a finite-time explosion for this non-local SPDE, corresponding to shear-banding formation, occurs. For that purpose some results related to the maximum principle for this non-local SPDE are derived and afterwards the Kaplan's eigenfunction method is employed
Rapid and multi-band variability of the TeV-bright active nucleus of the galaxy IC 310

The galaxy IC 310 has recently been identified as a $\gamma$-ray emitter by the Fermi-LAT and at very high energies by the MAGIC telescopes. Originally classified as a head-tail radio galaxy, the nature of this object is subject of controversy because its nucleus shows blazar-like behavior. In order to understand the nature of IC 310 and the origin of the VHE emission we studied the spectral and flux variability of IC 310 from the X-ray band to the VHE regime. The daily light curve of IC 310 above 300 GeV has been measured with MAGIC from 2009 October to 2010 February. Contemporaneous Fermi-LAT data (2008-2011) in the 10-500 GeV energy range were also analyzed. In X-ray, archival observations from 2003 to 2007 with XMM-Newton, Chandra, and Swift-XRT in the 0.5-10 keV band were studied. Several flares with similar amplitude can be seen in the MAGIC light curve. Day to day flux variability is clearly present. The photon index between 120 GeV and 8 TeV is measured to be $\Gamma=2.0$ during both low and high flux states. It does not show variability, whereas the flux at 1 TeV changes by a factor of 7. Fermi-LAT detected only eight $\gamma$ rays in the energy range 10 GeV-500 GeV in three years of observation. The measured photon index of $\Gamma=1.3\pm0.5$ in the Fermi-LAT range is very hard. The X-ray measurements show strong variability in both flux and photon index. The latter varied from 1.76 to 2.55. The rapid variability measured in $\gamma$ rays and X-rays confirms the blazar-like behavior of the source. The spectral behavior measured in both energy bands suggest IC 310 could be linked to extreme HBL objects. The apparent luminosity of IC 310 is a few orders of magnitude lower than other extreme HBLs however and, atypical for an HBL, it harbors a kiloparsec-scale radio structure. Thus, IC 310 could be a peculiar type of a HBL
Search for neutral color-octet weak-triplet scalar particles in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV

A search for pair production of neutral color-octet weak-triplet scalar particles (Theta) is performed in processes where one Theta decays to a pair of b quark jets and the other to a Z boson plus a jet, with the Z boson decaying to a pair of electrons or muons. The search is performed with data collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV. The number of observed events is found to be in agreement with the standard model predictions. The 95% confidence level upper limit on the product of the cross section and branching fraction is obtained as a function of the Theta mass. The 95% confidence level lower bounds on the Theta mass are found to be 623 and 426 GeV, for two different octo-triplet theoretical scenarios. These are the first direct experimental bounds on particles predicted by the octo-triplet model
Fabrication of epitaxial CoSi2-nanowires

We have developed a method for fabricating epitaxial CoSi2 nanowires using only conventional optical lithography and standard silicon processing steps. This method was successfully applied to ultrathin epitaxial CoSi2 layers grown on Si(100) and silicon-on-insulator substrates. A nitride mask induces a stress field near its edges into the CoSi2/Si heterostructure and leads to the separation of the CoSi2 layer in this region during a rapid thermal oxidation step. A subsequent etching step and a second oxidation generate highly homogenous silicide wires with dimensions down to 50 nm. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics
The XMM-Newton serendipitous survey. IV. Optical identification of the XMM-Newton medium sensitivity survey (XMS)

30 páginas, 6 figuras, 7+5 tablas.-- et al.[Aims] X-ray sources at intermediate fluxes (a few x 10-14 erg cm-2 s-1) with a sky density of ~100 deg-2 are responsible for a significant fraction of the cosmic X-ray background at various energies below 10 keV. The aim of this paper is to provide an unbiased and quantitative description of the X-ray source population at these fluxes and in various X-ray energy bands.[Methods] We present the XMM-Newton Medium sensitivity Survey (XMS), including a total of 318 X-ray sources found among the serendipitous content of 25 XMM-Newton target fields. The XMS comprises four largely overlapping source samples selected at soft (0.5-2 keV), intermediate (0.5-4.5 keV), hard (2-10 keV) and ultra-hard (4.5-7.5 keV) bands, the first three of them being flux-limited.[Results] We report on the optical identification of the XMS samples, complete to 85-95%. At the flux levels sampled by the XMS we find that the X-ray sky is largely dominated by Active Galactic Nuclei. The fraction of stars in soft X-ray selected samples is below 10%, and only a few per cent for hard selected samples. We find that the fraction of optically obscured objects in the AGN population stays constant at around 15-20% for soft and intermediate band selected X-ray sources, over 2 decades of flux. The fraction of obscured objects amongst the AGN population is larger (~35-45%) in the hard or ultra-hard selected samples, and constant across a similarly wide flux range. The distribution in X-ray-to-optical flux ratio is a strong function of the selection band, with a larger fraction of sources with high values in hard selected samples. Sources with X-ray-to-optical flux ratios in excess of 10 are dominated by obscured AGN, but with a significant contribution from unobscured AGN.Based on observations obtained with XMM-Newton, an ESA science mission with instruments and contributions directly funded by ESA Member States and the USA (NASA). Based on observations\ud
made with the INT/WHT, TNG and NOT operated on the island of La Palma by the Isaac Newton Group, the Centro Galileo Galilei and ESA Member States and the USA (NASA). Based on observations\ud
made with the INT/WHT, TNG and NOT operated on the island of La Palma by the Isaac Newton Group, the Centro Galileo Galilei and the Nordic Optical Telescope Science Association respectively, in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos. Based on observations\ud
collected at the Centro Astronómico Hispano Alemán (CAHA) at Calar Alto, operated jointly by the Max-Planck Institut für Astronomie and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC). Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, Paranal, Chile, as part of programme 75.A-0336.Peer reviewe
Rethinking dog domestication by integrating genetics, archeology, and biogeography

The dog was the first domesticated animal but it remains uncertain when the domestication process began and whether it occurred just once or multiple times across the Northern Hemisphere. To ascertain the value of modern genetic data to elucidate the origins of dog domestication, we analyzed 49,024 autosomal SNPs in 1,375 dogs (representing 35 breeds) and 19 wolves. After combining our data with previously published data,we contrasted the genetic signatures of 121 breeds with a worldwide archeological assessment of the earliest dog remains. Correlating the earliest archeological dogswith the geographic locations of 14 so-called >ancient> breeds (defined by their genetic differentiation) resulted in a counterintuitive pattern. First, none of the ancient breeds derive fromregionswhere the oldest archeological remains have been found. Second, three of the ancient breeds (Basenjis, Dingoes, and New Guinea Singing Dogs) come from regions outside the natural range of Canis lupus (the dog's wild ancestor) and where dogs were introduced more than 10,000 y after domestication. These results demonstrate that the unifying characteristic among all genetically distinct so-called ancient breeds is a lack of recent admixturewith other breeds likely facilitated by geographic and cultural isolation. Furthermore, these genetically distinct ancient breeds only appear so because of their relative isolation, suggesting that studies of modern breeds have yet to shed light on dog origins. We conclude by assessing the limitations of past studies and how next-generation sequencing of modern and ancient individuals may unravel the history of dog domestication.Peer Reviewe
Advanced functionality for radio analysis in the offline software framework of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The advent of the Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) necessitates the development of a powerful framework for the analysis of radio measurements of cosmic ray air showers. As AERA performs “radio-hybrid” measurements of air shower radio emission in coincidence with the surface particle detectors and fluorescence telescopes of the Pierre Auger Observatory, the radio analysis functionality had to be incorporated in the existing hybrid analysis solutions for fluorescence and surface detector data. This goal has been achieved in a natural way by extending the existing Auger Offline software framework with radio functionality. In this article, we lay out the design, highlights and features of the radio extension implemented in the Auger Offline framework. Its functionality has achieved a high degree of sophistication and offers advanced features such as vectorial reconstruction of the electric field, advanced signal processing algorithms, a transparent and efficient handling of FFTs, a very detailed simulation of detector effects, and the read-in of multiple data formats including data from various radio simulation codes. The source code of this radio functionality can be made available to interested parties on request.CNPqFINEPFAPERJFAPESPMCTEntre outra
Positive Youth Development, Life Satisfaction and Problem Behaviour Among Chinese Adolescents in Hong Kong: A Replication

The purpose of this replication study was to examine the relationships among life satisfaction, positive youth development and problem behaviour. The respondents were 7,151 Chinese Secondary 2 (Grade 8) students (3,707 boys and 3,014 girls) recruited from 44 schools in Hong Kong. Validated assessment tools measuring positive youth development, life satisfaction and problem behaviour were used. As predicted, positive youth development was positively correlated with life satisfaction, and positive youth development and life satisfaction were negatively correlated with adolescent problem behaviour. Based on a series of structural equation models, the present findings replicated the previous findings that adolescents with a higher level of positive youth development were more satisfied with life and had lesser problem behaviour, with higher level of life satisfaction and lower level of problem behaviour mutually influencing each other. These replicated findings provide a further advance in the literature on positive youth development, particularly in the Chinese context. Implications for future research and intervention were discussed. © 2011 The Author(s).published_or_final_versionSpringer Open Choice, 21 Feb 201
ZnO nanorod/GaN light-emitting diodes: The origin of yellow and violet emission bands under reverse and forward bias

ZnO nanorods have been prepared by electrodeposition under identical conditions on various p-GaN-based thin film structures. The devices exhibited lighting up under both forward and reverse biases, but the turn-on voltage and the emission color were strongly dependent on the p-GaN-based structure used. The origin of different luminescence peaks under forward and reverse bias has been studied by comparing the devices with and without ZnO and by photoluminescence and cathodoluminescence spectroscopy. We found that both yellow-orange emission under reverse bias and violet emission under forward bias, which are commonly attributed to ZnO, actually originate from the p-GaN substrate and/or surface/interface defects. While the absolute brightness of devices without InGaN multiple quantum wells was low, high brightness with luminance exceeding 10 000 cd/m 2 and tunable emission (from orange at 2.1 V to blue at 2.7 V, with nearly white emission with Commission internationale de l'éclairage (CIE) coordinates (0.30, 0.31) achieved at 2.5 V) was obtained for different devices containing InGaN multiple quantum wells. © 2011 American Institute of Physics.published_or_final_versio
Automorphisms fixing a variable of K 〈x, y, z〉

We study automorphisms of φ the free associative algebra K 〈x, y, z〉 over a field K such that φ(x), φ(y) are linear with respect to x, y and φ(z) = z. We establish a sufficient and necessary condition for the tameness of these automorphisms in the class of all automorphisms fixing z, which gives an algorithm to recognize the wild ones. In particular, we prove that the well-known Anick automorphism is wild in this sense. This class of automorphisms induces tame automorphisms of the polynomial algebra K[x, y, z]. For n > 2 the automorphisms of K 〈x1,..., xn, z〉 which fix z and are linear in the xis are tame. © 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.postprin
Increased blood levels of IgG reactive with secreted Streptococcus pyogenes proteins in chronic plaque psoriasis.

A pathogenic role for Streptococcus pyogenes infections in chronic plaque psoriasis is suspected but poorly defined. We separated cellular and supernatant proteins from S pyogenes cultures by high-resolution two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, and used immunoblotting to demonstrate the diversity of serum or plasma IgGs that react with elements of the proteome of this bacterium. We have shown that a substantial proportion of IgG-reactive proteins from cultured S pyogenes are secreted. The total secreted protein fraction, including diverse IgG-binding elements, was subsequently used in an ELISA to measure blood titers of reactive IgG. This ELISA showed that blood samples from patients with chronic plaque psoriasis contained significantly higher titers of reactive IgG than samples from age- and sex-matched healthy controls (p = 0.0009). In contrast, neither a standard assay measuring antistreptolysin O titers nor ELISAs measuring titers of IgG reactive with protein fractions from Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis, were able to distinguish between blood samples from the two groups. These findings justify the hypothesis that S pyogenes infections are more important in the pathogenesis of chronic plaque psoriasis than has previously been recognised, and indicate the need for further controlled therapeutic trials of antibacterial measures in this common skin disease.Peer reviewedPost prin
Beyond metrics? Utilizing ‘soft intelligence’ for healthcare quality and safety

Formal metrics for monitoring the quality and safety of healthcare have a valuable role, but may not, by themselves, yield full insight into the range of fallibilities in organizations. ‘Soft intelligence’ is usefully understood as the processes and behaviours associated with seeking and interpreting soft data—of the kind that evade easy capture, straightforward classification and simple quantification—to produce forms of knowledge that can provide the basis for intervention. With the aim of examining current and potential practice in relation to soft intelligence, we conducted and analysed 107 in-depth qualitative interviews with senior leaders, including managers and clinicians, involved in healthcare quality and safety in the English National Health Service. We found that participants were in little doubt about the value of softer forms of data, especially for their role in revealing troubling issues that might be obscured by conventional metrics. Their struggles lay in how to access softer data and turn them into a useful form of knowing. Some of the dominant approaches they used risked replicating the limitations of hard, quantitative data. They relied on processes of aggregation and triangulation that prioritised reliability, or on instrumental use of soft data to animate the metrics. The unpredictable, untameable, spontaneous quality of soft data could be lost in efforts to systematize their collection and interpretation to render them more tractable. A more challenging but potentially rewarding approach involved processes and behaviours aimed at disrupting taken-for-granted assumptions about quality, safety, and organizational performance. This approach, which explicitly values the seeking out and the hearing of multiple voices, is consistent with conceptual frameworks of organizational sensemaking and dialogical understandings of knowledge. Using soft intelligence this way can be challenging and discomfiting, but may offer a critical defence against the complacency that can precede crisis.Peer-reviewedPublisher Versio