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We examine whether stock‐level options information drives mutual fund performance. Our paper is motivated by existing studies indicating that options prices or implied volatilities predict stock returns. We find that stock‐implied volatility innovations forecast mutual fund performance. Specifically, mutual funds investing in fewer optionable stocks or optionable stocks with favorable information outperform other funds. In addition, mutual fund managers overall do not trade on past options information. However, well‐performing fund managers use that information to decrease their holdings in poorly performing stocks. Moreover, well‐performing mutual funds containing strong options information tend to increase their holdings in optionable stocks in subsequent periods. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 38:390–412, 2018 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on significance of accounting information related to bonds for bondholders. Topics discussed include association of credit markets in aggregation of cash flow (CF) with discount rate (DR); usage of vector autoregressive model approach for decomposition of market aggregation for CF; determination of return on invested capital (ROIC) along with return on assets (ROA) and description of profits over investment in non-investment-grade (NIG) bonds by corporate firms.

In order to take into account the influence of welding residual stresses on fatigue crack growth, thermo-elastic-plastic finite element models of steel cruciform welded joints were developed by the ABAQUS software. The distribution and magnitude of longitudinal and transverse residual stresses were obtained in consideration of different welding currents and speeds. Uniaxial tensile fatigue tests on cracked cruciform joints strengthened with carbon fiber reinforced polymer were conducted. The coupling actions of residual stresses and fatigue loads were applied to subsequently simulate fatigue crack propagation via using the Extended Finite Element Method. Good agreement between the simulated and theoretical transverse residual stresses at the weld toe along the plate thickness direction verifies the accuracy of numerical results. The welding speed has a greater impact on residual stresses than the welding current. The stiffness ratio of carbon fiber reinforced polymer and steel plate is larger, and a better reinforcement effect will be achieved. Whether specimens repaired or not, it significantly decreases the fatigue life of cracked welded joints in the presence of residual stresses, but the fatigue crack growth trajectory is almost unchanged. • The effect of welding currents and welding speeds on residual stresses of cruciform joints is investigated. • Fatigue tests on cracked welded cruciform joints strengthened with different CFRP sheets were conducted. • Fatigue crack propagation of welded joints repaired with CFRP were obtained by the XFEM considering residual stresses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a new model for conditional covariances based on predetermined idiosyncratic shocks as well as macroeconomic andowninformation instruments. The specification ensures positive definiteness by construction, is unique within the class of linear functions for our covariance decomposition, and yields a simple yet rich model of covariances. We introduce a property,invariance to variate order, that assures estimation is not impacted by a simple reordering of the variates in the system. Simulation results using realized covariances show smaller mean absolute errors (MAE) and root mean square errors (RMSE) for every element of the covariance matrix relative to a comparably specified BEKK model withowninformation instruments. We also find a smaller mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) and root mean square percentage error (RMSPE) for the entire covariance matrix. Supplementary materials for practitioners as well as all Matlab code used in the article are available online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides a model explaining how small changes in asset prices may disrupt an entire financial market. Based on the capital asset pricing model (CAPM), our model implies that during a market crash, asset price changes affect the relative distribution of the CAPM betas of individual assets and force all tradable assets to co-move. Using US stock market data, our empirical results are consistent with the model's predictions. Overall, the study aids understanding of the price patterns of assets during substantial market downturns, such as financial crises. • This study proposes a model to show that small changes in asset prices can abruptly shrink a financial market. • Based on the capital asset pricing model (CAPM), we show that economic shocks affect the relative distribution of CAPM betas and cause asset prices to free fall at the same speed. • Using US stock market data, we validate the model's implications. • Our model provides new insights to aid understanding of asset price movements during a market crash. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the effect of related party transactions on corporate environmental responsibility and find that firms with more related party transactions tend to have more controversial environmental reports, less emissions reduction, and less environmental expenditures. This relationship is more significant for firms with a high investment-cash flow sensitivity and those with a low ESG score. Overall, the results corroborate the hypothesis that the marginal costs of corporate environmental responsibility outweigh the benefits for financially constrained firms, thus deterring these firms from engaging in corporate environmental responsibility activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We examine firm-level activities and characteristics that mitigate the impact of political risk on firm investment. • Firms with higher political exposure and political risk spend less on capital investment. • Political lobbying effectively reduces the negative impact of political exposure and political risk on corporate investment. • The negative relationship between firm-level political risk and corporate investment is affected by certain firm activities and characteristics. Extant literature shows that firms reduce their capital investment in response to political risk. We examine firm-level activities and characteristics that mitigate the impact of political risk on firm investment. First, we empirically investigate the relationship between firm-level political risk and future investment, showing that firms with higher political exposure and political risk spend less on capital investment. Next, we examine the mechanisms behind the negative relationship between firm-level political risk and corporate investment. We find that political lobbying effectively reduces the negative impact of political exposure and political risk on corporate investment. In addition to corroborating the key findings documented in the literature that firms react to political risk by cutting investment, we show that this relationship is affected by certain firm activities and characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, absolute gravity comparison experiments between cold atomic gravimeter and traditional gravimeter have been carried out by combining cold atomic gravimeter with stable platform. Due to the working characteristics of the stable platform, the tilt angle of the cold atomic gravimeter will change slightly in the process of dynamic measurement, and the measurement noise will be introduced. In order to improve the accuracy of dynamic measurement, this paper first analyzes the trajectory of the mirror and atom in the atomic gravimeter combined with carrier motion information, obtains the phase expression of the atomic interferometer using the translation and rotation matrix, evaluates the main terms of the gravity deviation using the 20-min navigation data on the ship in the South China Sea, and simplifies the higher-order small-terms in the main terms to deduce the simplified form of the gravity deviation. Then, the Fourier transform is used to transform the simplified expression into the power spectrum expression of phase noise, the corresponding noise sensitivity function is used in the form of trigonometric. The 20-min data is divided into 10 intervals, the root-mean-square (RMS) value of the overall gravity deviation is 1.5–3 mGal using the power spectrum of the platform angle, angular velocity and carrier acceleration in each interval. The variation fluctuation of the RMS value is consistent with the fluctuation of solving the gravity deviation through the trajectory. The conclusion provides the calculation method of gravity noise caused by dynamic tilt change and horizontal acceleration, and also provides the basis for platform design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glass-metal hetero-bonding through optical epoxy adhesive is frequently used in opto-mechanics and requires high stability. However, the bonding stability is difficult to achieve and predict in massive use cases, where dozens to thousands of metal pads are bonded to mount large optics. Here a universal adhesive bonding technology was proposed and evaluated through reliability analyses based on a limited number of sample tests. Specimens were prepared and tested via standard procedures and equipment; afterward, the lower strength limits were calculated with high reliability. Nominal tensile (6.7 MPa) and shear (4.3 MPa) strength limits at 99.95% reliability were expected for ongoing 30 m aperture telescopes. This study may improve the quality of opto-mechanical interfaces and reduce the risk on constructing extremely large telescopes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shipborne atomic gravimeter (SAG) is an instrument that can directly measure absolute gravity in dynamic environments. As a new type of gravity sensor, a standard method for evaluating its detailed performance has not been proposed and the detailed performance of SAG was rarely reported. In this paper, a system of dynamic gravity measurement, which was integrated with a home-made atomic gravimeter, is demonstrated, and a novel and simple method for testing the performance of SAG on the lake based on the modulated Coriolis effect is put forward. Firstly, in the state of ship mooring, a tilt modulation of the gravity sensor has been realized to make sure the Raman wave vector is parallel to the gravity axis. Moreover, a comparison between the measurement result of CG-5 and SAG has also been carried out to evaluate the accuracy of the SAG. Then, the Coriolis effect modulating experiment is carried out with various routes on lake to test its performance in dynamic environments. In the ship mooring state, the accuracy has been demonstrated to be 0.643 mGal. The internal consistency reliabilities are evaluated to be 0.8 mGal and 1.2 mGal under the conditions of straight line and circle navigation, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stay cable composed of high-strength steel wires is susceptible to external corrosion during service, and multiple pitting damage will occur on the surface of steel wires. For the sake of simplifying the pitting morphology, this paper used artificial notches to simulate corrosion pits, and the fatigue properties of high-strength steel wires with multiple notches were systematically studied. First, fatigue tests of steel wires with multiple pits were performed, and the finite element models were established by ABAQUS software. The fitting equations related to stress concentration factor (SCF) and corrosion pit parameters were obtained. Subsequently, the fatigue life of corroded high-strength steel wires was predicted by the Point method (PM) and the Line method (LM) originated from the Theory of Critical Distances (TCD). Finally, the prediction results compared with the experimental results. The results show that the fatigue life of steel wires with a single pit is mainly related to the pit depth-to-length ratio. The fatigue life of steel wires with double pits located on the same side mainly depends on deeper pits, but it slightly decreases as the increase of the depth of shallow pits. The effect of the spacing of double pits is very small. The fatigue life of steel wires with double pits in the circumferential direction decreases as the angle between the double pits increases. The reliability of the TCD for fatigue evaluation of multi-notch components is verified. • Fatigue S-N curves of high-strength steel wires with different multiple pits are given. • The effects of different depths, spacings, circumferential angles of pits on the SCF and fatigue life are analyzed. • The effective of the Theory of Critical Distances used to assess the fatigue life of multiple notches is verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein misfolding and aggregation can lead to various diseases. Recent studies have shed light on the aggregated protein in breast cancer pathology, which suggests that it is crucial to design chemical sensors that visualize protein aggregates in breast cancer, especially in clinical patient-derived samples. However, most reported sensors are constrained in cultured cell lines. In this work, we present the development of two isophorone-based crystallization-induced-emission fluorophores for detecting proteome aggregation in breast cancer cell line and tissues biopsied from diseased patients, designated as A1 and A2. These probes exhibited viscosity sensitivity and recovered their fluorescence strongly at crystalline state. Moreover, A1 and A2 exhibit selective binding capacity and strong fluorescence for various aggregated proteins. Utilizing these probes, we detect protein aggregation in stressed breast cancer cells, xenograft mouse model of human breast cancer and clinical patient-derived samples. Notably, the fluorescence intensity of both probes light up in tumor tissues. The synthesized isophorone-based crystallization-induced-emission fluorophores, A1 and A2, enable sensitive detection of protein aggregation in breast cancer cells and tissues. In the future, aggregated proteins are expected to become indicators for early diagnosis and clinical disease monitoring of breast cancer. Crystallization-induced-emission sensors visualize and detect proteome aggregation in live cells and tissues with breast cancer. [Display omitted] • Isophorone-based crystallization-induced-emission sensors are sensitive to viscosity. • Crystallization-induced-emission sensors detect proteome aggregation in breast cancer cell. • Proteome aggregation in tissues biopsied from diseased patients were detected by this method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the Sequential Ensemble Transform (SET) method, an approach for generating approximate samples from a Bayesian posterior distribution. The method explores the posterior distribution by solving a sequence of discrete optimal transport problems to produce a series of transport plans which map prior samples to posterior samples. We prove that the sequence of Dirac mixture distributions produced by the SET method converges weakly to the true posterior as the sample size approaches infinity. Furthermore, our numerical results indicate that, when compared to standard Sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) methods, the SET approach is more robust to the choice of Markov mutation kernels and requires less computational efforts to reach a similar accuracy when used to explore complex posterior distributions. Finally, we describe adaptive schemes that allow to completely automate the use of the SET method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical data analysis reveals that the expression of the EphB4 receptor tyrosine kinase is significantly elevated in HER2-positive breast cancer and high levels of EphB4 strongly correlate with poor disease prognosis. However, the impact of EphB4 activation on HER2-positive breast cancer cells and the potential of EphB4 as a therapeutic target remain to be explored. Here, we show that EphB4 overexpression confers gain-of-function activities to HER2-positive breast cancer cells, rendering resistance to a HER2/EGFR inhibitor Lapatinib. Furthermore, using integrated transcriptomic and tyrosine phosphoproteomic analyses, followed by biochemical confirmation, we establish that EphB4 activation engages the SHP2/GAB1-MEK signaling cascade and downstream c-MYC activation, and thereby limits the overall drug responses to Lapatinib. Finally, we demonstrate that, in HER2-positive breast tumors, inhibition of EphB4 combined with Lapatinib is more effective than either alone. These findings provide new insights into the signaling networks dictating therapeutic response to Lapatinib as well as a rationale for co-targeting EphB4 in HER2-positive breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A mathematical model describing the dynamics of road transport vehicle is proposed in this paper. The system consists of a cab, a carriage, a chassis, the road, and mounts/suspensions between them. The coupled correlations between substructures are studied using the state space theory. A factor, coupling coefficient, for describing the coupling effect in the subsystem and a factor, vibration attenuation coefficient, for characterizing the vibration reduction of the substructures are derived. The joint location, the stiffness, and the damping of the mount/suspension, as well as the mass and inertia moment of the substructures are considered as design variables affecting system vibration coupling and reduction. The contribution of design variables is analyzed using Latin hypercube sampling and quadratic regression, top ten contributing variables are obtained, and their effects on the subsystem coupling are analyzed and discussed. The back propagation neural network is employed to investigate the nonlinear correlation between subsystem coupling and substructure vibration reduction. The results show the cab vibration reduction achieves optimum when the cab–chassis coupling is high and the carriage–chassis coupling is low. However, the optimal carriage vibration reduction requires the exact opposite coupling correlations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a novel adsorbent, Air Environment-prepared Adsorbent at 250 ℃ (AEPA 250), was used to detoxify the main fermentation inhibitor (ferulic acid) present in the alkali-pretreated hydrolysate. AEPA 250 reduced the effective concentration of ferulic acid by its adsorption, thereby decreasing the possible interaction of ferulic acid with Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The results indicated that AEPA 250 functionalized with hydroxyl, carboxyl, and amino groups under acidic conditions with higher binding energies (−45.667, −27.046, and −11.008 kcal mol−1, respectively) and electronic cloud overlap and shorter bond distances (1.015, 1.010, and 2.094 Å, respectively) than those under the other pH conditions. These differences revealed that the electrostatic interaction dominated ferulic acid adsorption on AEPA 250. Additionally, under acidic conditions and for carboxyl group functionalized AEPA 250 , energy band gap values of Eg1 were higher than those of Eg2 , indicating that ferulic acid provided the π-electrons for the π-π electron donor-acceptor interactions with AEPA 250. Furthermore, ferulic acid detoxification after AEPA 250 adsorption caused the regulation of YDR316W-B and YPR137C-B genes of S. cerevisiae. These results might contribute to the development of other more efficient adsorbents and pretreatment methods and allow yeast engineering for improving the scale-up and self-sufficient production of bioethanol in the future. [Display omitted] • -OH, -COOH and NH 2 functional groups on AEPA 250 were identified for DFT simulation. • π-π EDA and electrostatic interaction contributed to ferulic acid adsorption. • Ferulic acid detoxification caused regulations of differential genes and metabolites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alkaline pretreatment is an efficient method to destroy the lignocellulose structure of rice straw for bioethanol production. This process generates various toxic compounds, such as ferulic acid, which could inhibit bioethanol production. In this study, a waste biomass-based adsorbent from the enzymatic hydrolysis of rice straw (AEPA 250) was used for ferulic acid detoxification in the alkali-pretreated hydrolysate. The AEPA 250 detoxification process was first optimized by response surface methodology to increase ferulic acid removal, while reducing glucose loss. This optimization of detoxification resulted in 99.268% ferulic acid removal coupled with 3.028% glucose loss. The fermentation processing parameters and bioethanol production for different fermentation systems were evaluated after adopting the optimal AEPA 250 detoxification conditions to select the most suitable optimization method. The result revealed that optimized detoxified fermentation with AEPA 250 filtration (ODF) system was more suitable for bioethanol production than optimized detoxified fermentation containing AEPA 250 (ODFA) system followed by non-detoxified fermentation (NDF) system. A logistic model was applied to further compare the yeast growth kinetics of the ODF and NDF systems. The ODF system had a maximum specific growth rate (μ max) of 0.532 h−1, indicating that the ODF system possessed greater bioethanol fermentation potential. Metabonomics and transcriptomics analyses were used to identify differentially expressed metabolites and functional genes that contribute to detoxification by the ODF system. AEPA 250 was produced by the enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass waste of rice straw in the bioethanol production process, and a self-sufficient bioethanol production system could be established by in-situ AEPA 250 detoxification using the ODF system. These results pave the way for the realization of a cleaner bioethanol production process by reducing environmental waste production, exogenous adsorbent use, and the cost of enzymatic hydrolysis residue treatment. Image 1 • The detoxification of ferulic acid by AEPA 250 was optimized using RSM method. • The production of bioethanol could increase 38.368% by ODF system at 12 h. • The ODF system was more effective than ODFA system followed by NDF system. • Omics and yeast growth kinetics study revealed the optimized-detoxified mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three different local approaches, the Theory of Critical Distances (TCD), the Notch Stress Intensity Factor (NSIF) and the Strain Energy Density (SED), and the Extended Finite Element Method (XFEM) were applied to estimate the fatigue life of unrepaired and CFRP patches repaired cracked welded joints. The effects of CFRP modulus and thickness on the fatigue life of welded joints with different initial crack depths were investigated. The fatigue damage evolution equation using the loading frequency as a new damage variable was used to describe the degradation process. Fatigue life assessment results and crack growth paths compared with experimental results using these methods. The results show that the fatigue life and fatigue strength decrease as the increase of the initial crack depth. Three different fatigue failure modes can be observed from experimental results. The TCD, NSIF, and SED can reliably predict the fatigue life of welded joints without CFRP patches, but it needs to further investigate the values of estimation parameters of welded joints with CFRP patches for the NSIF and the SED. Fatigue crack growth paths and lives predicted by the XFEM and actual results are in good agreement, and the accuracy and reliability are validated by test data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The incidence of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in China is increasing. We aim to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the burden of PAD., Methods: We collected information from 1990 to 2019 in the Global Burden of Disease (GBD 2019) study. Joinpoint regression analysis was used to calculate the annual percentage change (APC). Trends in incidence, mortality and DALYs were forecasted by Bayesian age-period-cohort (BAPC) analysis., Results: In 2019, the number of new cases and prevalence of PAD in China accounted for nearly a quarter of the global proportion. The age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR) declined after rising until 2005. The age-standardized death rate (ASDR) maintained an upward trend. The DALYs was 0.16 million. Incidence, prevalence and DALYs are predominantly female, except for mortality, which is predominantly male. Smoking predominantly affected males, while hypertension and diabetes had a greater impact on females. By 2030, ASDR is elevated, predominantly in males. ASIR and age-standardized DALY rate decline, predominantly in females., Conclusion: It is urgent for China to develop strategies based on the specific distribution characteristics of the PAD burden., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they do not have any conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Hu, Gao, Zhuo, Liu, Wang, Jiang, Wang, Wang, Zhao and Li.)