Information Network Modeling for U.S. Banking Systemic Risk

In this work we investigate whether information theory measures like mutual information and transfer entropy, extracted from a bank network, Granger cause financial stress indexes like LIBOR-OIS (London Interbank Offered Rate-Overnight Index Swap) spread, STLFSI (St. Louis Fed Financial Stress Index) and USD/CHF (USA Dollar/Swiss Franc) exchange rate. The information theory measures are extracted from a Gaussian Graphical Model constructed from daily stock time series of the top 74 listed US banks. The graphical model is calculated with a recently developed algorithm (LoGo) which provides very fast inference model that allows us to update the graphical model each market day. We therefore can generate daily time series of mutual information and transfer entropy for each bank of the network. The Granger causality between the bank related measures and the financial stress indexes is investigated with both standard Granger-causality and Partial Granger-causality conditioned on control measures representative of the general economy conditions.     

Phylogenetic characterization of a mixed microbial community capable of degrading carbon tetrachloride

Two bacterial communities (NO92 and GBS) capable of degrading carbon tetrachloride (CT) were enriched from in-house CT-contaminated water. These communities are able to degrade CT in the presence of toluene. To characterize the community structure and diversity, one enrichment (NO92) was subjected to 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene-based molecular analysis. The 16S rRNA genes were amplified from the bulk genomic community DNA and cloned into plasmid vectors. Unique 16S rRNA gene clones, i.e., phylotypes, were detected by four tetrameric restriction enzymes. Together, 123 16S rRNA gene clones were obtained; thirty-one showed different restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) patterns. About 73% of the clones belong to two dominant RFLP patterns. Phylogenetic analysis based on the partial 16S rRNA gene sequences of 10 major phylotypes showed that all the phylotypes that were sequenced were affiliated with the high G+C Gram-positive bacteria. Whereas seven of the phylotypes (∼80% of the clones) were closely related to Rhodococcus, the other three (∼5% of the clones) were related to Curtobacterium. These results suggest that this CT-degrading community is diverse but is predominated by closely related bacterial groups.     

Boron‐Containing Probes for Non‐optical High‐Resolution Imaging of Biological Samples

Boron has been employed in materials science as a marker for imaging specific structures by electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) or secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). It has a strong potential in biological analyses as well; however, the specific coupling of a sufficient number of boron atoms to a biological structure has proven challenging. Herein, we synthesize tags containing closo‐1,2‐dicarbadodecaborane, coupled to soluble peptides, which were integrated in specific proteins by click chemistry in mammalian cells and were also coupled to nanobodies for use in immunocytochemistry experiments. The tags were fully functional in biological samples, as demonstrated by nanoSIMS imaging of cell cultures. The boron signal revealed the protein of interest, while other SIMS channels were used for imaging different positive ions, such as the cellular metal ions. This allows, for the first time, the simultaneous imaging of such ions with a protein of interest and will enable new biological applications in the SIMS field.     

Rhodium catalyzed hydroformylation of 2-phenylsulfonylbicyclo[2.2.1] alkenes: effect of the phenylsulfonyl group

The preliminary results of the hydroformylation of 2-phenylsulfonyl substituted norbornene and norbornadiene derivatives catalyzed by the unmodified Rh(CO)₂acac system are presented. The reaction, occurring under standard oxo conditions, gives polyfunctionalized exo norbornene- and exo norbornanecarboxaldehydes. The effect of the phenylsulfonyl group has been evaluated: it has been found that the steric properties of the sulfonyl substituent, more than the electronic ones, influence the regioselectivity of the process.     

Mechanically-based approach to non-local elasticity: Variational principles

The mechanically-based approach to non-local elastic continuum, will be captured through variational calculus, based on the assumptions that non-adjacent elements of the solid may exchange central body forces, monotonically decreasing with their interdistance, depending on the relative displacement, and on the volume products. Such a mechanical model is investigated introducing primarily the dual state variables by means of the virtual work principle. The constitutive relations between dual variables are introduced defining a proper, convex, potential energy. It is proved that the solution of the elastic problem corresponds to a global minimum of the potential energy functional. Moreover, the Euler–Lagrange equations together with the natural boundary conditions associated to the total potential energy functional are established with variational calculus and they coincide with analogous relations already obtained by means of mechanical considerations. Numerical analysis of a tensile specimen has been introduced to show the capabilities of the proposed approach.     

A dynamic model for road protection against flooding

This paper focuses on the problem of identifying optimal protection strategies to reduce the impact of flooding on a road network. We propose a dynamic mixed-integer programming model that extends the classic concept of road network protection by shifting away from single-arc fortifications to a more general and realistic approach involving protection plans that cover multiple components. We also consider multiple disruption scenarios of varying magnitude. To efficiently solve large problem instances, we introduce a customised GRASP heuristic. Finally, we provide some analysis and insights from a case study of the Hertfordshire road network in the East of England. Results show that optimal protection strategies mainly involve safeguarding against flooding events that are small and likely to occur, whereas implementing higher protection standards are not considered cost-effective.     

Subexpansions,superexpansions and uniqueness properties in non-integer bases

The β-expansions, i.e., greedy expansions with respect to non-integer bases q>1, were introduced by Réenyi and then investigated by many authors. Some years ago, Erdős, Horváth and Joó found the surprising fact that there exist infinitely many numbers 1<q<2 for which the β-expansion of 1 is the unique possible expansion with coefficients 0 or 1. Subsequently, the unique expansions were characterized in [9] and this characterization led to the determination (in [17]) of the smallest number q having this curious property. It is intimately related to the classical Thue-Morse sequence. Allouche and Cosnard recently proved that this q is transcendental. The purpose of this paper is to extend the previous results for expansions in arbitrary non-integer bases q>1. We also determine the smallest q having the corresponding uniqueness property in each case, and we prove that all of them are transcendental. We will also obtain some probably new properties of the Thue-Morse sequence. In the last section we answer a question concerning the existence of universal expansions, a notion introduced in [12]. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.