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Network risk parity: graph theory-based portfolio construction
Get PDFThis study presents network risk parity, a graph theory-based portfolio construction methodology that arises from a thoughtful critique of the clustering-based approach used by hierarchical risk parity. Advantages of network risk parity include: the ability to capture one-to-many relationships between securities, overcoming the one-to-one limitation; the capacity to leverage the mathematics of graph theory, which enables us, among other things, to demonstrate that the resulting portfolios is less concentrated than those obtained with mean-variance; and the ability to simplify the model specification by eliminating the dependency on the selection of a distance and linkage function. Performance-wise, due to a better representation of systematic risk within the minimum spanning tree, network risk parity outperforms hierarchical risk parity and other competing methods, especially as the number of portfolio constituents increases
Suppressive effects of exercise-conditioned serum on cancer cells: A narrative review of the influence of exercise mode, volume, and intensity
Get PDFCancer is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and the incidence is increasing, highlighting the need for effective strategies to treat this disease. Exercise has emerged as fundamental therapeutic medicine in the management of cancer, associated with a lower risk of recurrence and increased survival. Several avenues of research demonstrate reduction in growth, proliferation, and increased apoptosis of cancer cells, including breast, prostate, colorectal, and lung cancer, when cultured by serum collected after exercise in vitro (i.e., the cultivation of cancer cell lines in an experimental setting, which simplifies the biological system and provides mechanistic insight into cell responses). The underlying mechanisms of exercise-induced cancer suppressive effects may be attributed to the alteration in circulating factors, such as skeletal muscle-induced cytokines (i.e., myokines) and hormones. However, exercise-induced tumor suppressive effects and detailed information about training interventions are not well investigated, constraining more precise application of exercise medicine within clinical oncology. To date, it remains unclear what role different training modes (i.e., resistance and aerobic training) as well as volume and intensity have on exercise-conditioned serum and its effects on cancer cells. Nevertheless, the available evidence is that a single bout of aerobic training at moderate to vigorous intensity has cancer suppressive effects, while for chronic training interventions, exercise volume appears to be an influential candidate driving cancer inhibitory effects regardless of training mode. Insights for future research investigating training modes, volume and intensity are provided to further our understanding of the effects of exercise-conditioned serum on cancer cells. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2023. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
From primary school teacher to ethno-psychotherapist: why sound and pedagogy mattered for Beryl Gilroy (1924–2001)
Get PDFBeryl Gilroy (1924–2001) is often referred to as one of the first Black primary school headteachers in London, England. Her refusal to continue teaching in schools once she reached her fifties has not been explored in recent publications. Her interest in sound, pedagogy and therapeutic recovery can be revisited retrospectively. She strove to counter racism through the power of communication as a teacher, radio broadcaster, headteacher, therapist and published writer of memoir, novels and children’s reading books. The unifying thread in this article interweaves different perspectives on why Beryl Gilroy tried to create colloquial and phonetic speech in her published writings. It is argued that perhaps this was devised to help the reader share in her own reimagining of “poignant veridicality” – an appreciation of truth as something reached through sonic immersion in valuable and contrasting interpretations and feelings that do not always have to have rational explanations
Distributional effects of immigration and imperfect labour markets
Get PDFIn canonical models, the labour share is orthogonal to immigration shocks in the long run, regardless of the impact of immigration on productivity. In contrast, this paper provides evidence that immigration increases labour productivity while reducing the labour share. We produce this evidence using data from Great Britain with a shift-share instrument that exploits European Union expansions and changes in immigration to other high-income countries. Our results are consistent with the predictions from imperfect labour market models, where immigrant and native workers are heterogeneous in skills, and the former have lower labour supply elasticities than the latter. A significant implication of our analysis is that immigration redistributes income from workers to employers
A SWOT analysis of an industry-organised contest using a vocational assessment lens
No full textThis paper aims to inspire wider student participation in appropriate categories of an industry-organised competition, hereafter referred to as “The Competition”, using the lens of vocational assessment design. An adapted version of vocational assessment process framework is employed, and semi-structured interviews with select stakeholders: “The Organiser”, “The Mentor” and “The Judge” are undertaken to populate a Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis. This novel combination of techniques and tools is repeatable and has wide applicability for competition ecosystem players
The potential of process-centred drama in activating the new curriculum reform in the post-2000 basic education system in China
Get PDFThis thesis explores the potential of process-centred drama (PCD) for achieving the standards of the New Curriculum Reform (NCR) in mainland China. In order to fulfil the objectives of cultivating (Yuren, 育人) and the all-round development (Quanmian Fahzhan, 全面发展) of learners, the NCR advocates a new teaching model which is strongly relevant to pupils’ life with a ‘participatory, actively-involved, enquiry-based and task-based’ approach. In this thesis, the benefits and profound significance of PCD as an innovative teaching strategy for filling the gap in existing pedagogic practices in the educational context of mainland China is investigated. This study makes use of mixed research methods and includes semi-structured interviews with Chinese educators, UK-based specialists and experienced facilitators, as well as case studies in UK-based theatre-in-education (TiE) and workshop observations. The two case studies with Big Brum and Freshwater focus on the existing practice of PCD in educational settings, facilitation skills and the response of learners through the engagement of PCD activities. In addition, this research investigates these practices from the perspective of Chinese educational ideas such as Yuren and all-round development, as well as Confucius’s ideas of reflective learning (Xue Er Bu Si Ze Wang, 学而不思则罔) and enjoying learning (Xue Er Bu Yan, 学而不厌). The thesis also offers a recommendation outlining a possible direction for the future growth of PCD in mainland China
The interests of justice in the practice of international criminal law
No full textAmong the concepts that apply within the international criminal justice system the ‘interests of justice’ frequently emerges. This apparently intuitive concept appears in several statutes, conventions, regulations, codes and legislative tools in general. The ‘interests of justice’ has been unanimously, expressly, and implicitly qualified as undefined concept within the international criminal practice. Despite its recognised indefinite nature, it has often applied and invoked to counterbalance several procedural guarantees of the parties in international criminal proceedings, or to allow courts, tribunals and the prosecution to exercise a certain grade of discretion. During the last few years, the matter related to the ‘interests of justice’, considering its inclusion in Article 53 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, returned on spotlight. After the decisions issued by the Pre – Trial Chamber and the Appeals Chamber in 2019 and in 2020 in relation to the investigation for the crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed in Afghanistan since the 1 of May 2003, the debate briefly resumed.. Passing through the sources and the case law of all the international criminal tribunals and the International Criminal Court, this investigation aims at answering the following questions: where the ‘interests of justice’ is located within the international criminal law sources and how the ‘interests of justice’ has been interpreted within the international criminal case law; what is the normative nature of the concept and from which elements can be deduced; how to identify constraints or safeguards that would minimise the issue of legal uncertainty that emerges in the use of the concept from the origin of the international criminal justice system.. The present study also aims at filling the current void in literature with a fully comprehensive work on the interpretation of the ‘interests of justice’ in international criminal tribunals and in the International Criminal Court case law. As procedural paradigm, the ‘interests of justice’ has been interpreted in the case law under a variety of meanings which have given the notion concrete meanings: therefore, the analysis of the international criminal law practice has disclosed a multifaceted concept, which includes and covers a variety of values which the international community should acknowledge
The test–retest reliability of a belt-fixated dynamometer for assessing maximal knee strength, inter-limb asymmetries, and hamstring–quadriceps ratios
Get PDFEvaluating maximal strength, inter-limb asymmetries, and the hamstring-to-quadriceps (HQ) ratio is essential for identifying strength deficits in athletes. This cross-sectional study assessed the test-retest (inter-visit) reliability of the EasyForce dynamometer for knee extension and flexion strength in 21 young healthy participants (11 women, 10 men; age = 19.4 ± 0.7 years). The dynamometer demonstrated excellent relative reliability, with ICC values of 0.99 for knee extension and 0.95 –0.98 for knee flexion. Absolute reliability was also acceptable (typical error = 5.63 –16.44 N; coefficient of variation = 3.94–6.80%). Reliability for inter-limb asymmetries (ICC = 0.90) and HQ ratios (ICC = 0.91-0.92) was good to excellent. Agreement for inter-limb asymmetry direction between visits was excellent for knee extension (κ = 0.90) and substantial for knee flexion (κ = 0.71). These findings suggest that EasyForce is reliable for assessing muscle strength, inter-limb asymmetries, and HQ ratios in physically active adults. Future research should explore broader applicability of EasyForce in muscle strength assessment, particularly for professional athletes and during rehabilitation
Amending the emotional solidarity theoretical framework through the addition of perceived similarity, empathy, and narcissism
No full textAs tourism rebounds globally, a growing need persists to understand the complex social dynamics between residents and tourists and how these dynamics shape residents’ support for the industry. By employing an amended theory of emotional solidarity, this study examined factors affecting residents’ solidarity and how that translates to pro-tourism behaviour. Data were collected from 438 residents in Fiji and analyzed using covariance-based structural equation modelling. Of Woosnam’s original antecedents—shared beliefs and interaction—were positively related to the two dimensions of emotional solidarity (communality and fairness); whereas shared behaviour was only positively associated with communality. Two dimensions of empathy (affective and cognitive) were positively associated with both emotional solidarity dimensions. Narcissism was negatively related to communality. A positive association was found between narcissism and the fairness dimension of solidarity, despite hypothesizing a negative relationship. Finally, both the communality and fairness dimensions of solidarity significantly explained residents’ pro-tourism behavioural intentions
DFAMiner: mining minimal separating DFAs from labelled samples
No full textWe propose DFAMiner, a passive learning tool for learning minimal separating deterministic finite automata (DFA) from a set of labelled samples. Separating automata are an interesting class of automata that occurs generally in regular model checking and has raised interest in foundational questions of parity game solving. We first propose a simple and linear-time algorithm that incrementally constructs a three-valued DFA (3DFA) from a set of labelled samples given in the usual lexicographical order. This 3DFA has accepting and rejecting states as well as don’t-care states, so that it can exactly recognise the labelled examples. We then apply our tool to mining a minimal separating DFA for the labelled samples by minimising the constructed automata via a reduction to SAT solving. Empirical evaluation shows that our tool outperforms current state-of-the-art tools significantly on standard benchmarks for learning minimal separating DFAs from samples. Progress in the efficient construction of separating DFAs can also lead to finding the lower bound of parity game solving, where we show that DFAMiner can create optimal separating automata for simple languages with up to 7 colours. Future improvements might offer inroads to better data structures