Rejoinder to 'Performance of different synchronisation measures in real data: A case study on electroencephalograhic signals

We agree with Duckrow and Albano [Phys. Rev. E 67, 063901 (2003)] and Quian Quiroga et al. [Phys. Rev. E 67, 063902 (2003)] that mutual information (MI) is a useful measure of dependence for electroencephalogram (EEG) data, but we show that the improvement seen in the performance of MI on extracting dependence trends from EEG is more dependent on the type of MI estimator rather than any embedding technique used. In an independent study we conducted in search for an optimal MI estimator, and in particular for EEG applications, we examined the performance of a number of MI estimators on the data set used by Quian Quiroga et al. in their original study, where the performance of different dependence measures on real data was investigated [Phys. Rev. E 65, 041903 (2002)]. We show that for EEG applications the best performance among the investigated estimators is achieved by k-nearest neighbors, which supports the conjecture by Quian Quiroga et al. in Phys. Rev. E 67, 063902 (2003) that the nearest neighbor estimator is the most precise method for estimating MI.

Further clarifying the competition–performance relation: reply to D. W. Johnson et al. (2012)

In their commentary, D. W. Johnson, Johnson, and Roseth (2012) provided some laudatory statements about our article, but they also expressed a number of concerns. The concerns focus on the following issues: types and definitions of competition, our choice of control group, the nature of performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals, the comprehensiveness of the opposing processes model, and performance-approach goals and constructive competition. We respond to each of these issues in turn and conclude with a statement regarding working to build an integrative model of the competition–performance relation (and beyond).

Ventilation performance in a passage between two non-parallel buildings

A great number of studies on wind conditions in passages between slab-type buildings have been conducted in the past. However, wind conditions under different structure and configuration of buildings is still unclear and studies existed still can’t provide guidance on urban planning and design, due to the complexity of buildings and aerodynamics. The aim of this paper is to provide more insight in the mechanism of wind conditions in passages. In this paper, a simplified passage model with non-parallel buildings is developed on the basis of the wind tunnel experiments conducted by Blocken et al. (2008). Numerical simulation based on CFD is employed for a detailed investigation of the wind environment in passages between two long narrow buildings with different directions and model validation is performed by comparing numerical results with corresponding wind tunnel measurements.

A review of Islamic mutual funds’ financial performance and investment style in Muslim and non-Muslim countries

Islamic finance has grown beyond its reputation of providing small-scale banking options and now provides investment and financing options for complex large-scale commercial transactions. Islamic investments are one area that has attracted the attention of investors due to its performance, especially during the economic downturn. The Shari’ah compliance nature of Islamic funds provides an opportunity for those Muslim investors to be part of the global investment sector who have previously been reluctant to invest in conventional mutual funds. The fact that the funds’ managers are prohibited from investing in activities such as weapons production, alcohol production and interest-bearing finance operations, makes Islamic mutual funds also attractive for those Non-Muslim investors who wish to invest ethically. Today there are hundreds of Islamic equity indices offered by Dow Jones, FTSE, MSCI and S&P. Despite the growing importance of Islamic funds, there have been limited studies exploring the performance of Islamic funds worldwide. Due to very limited data sets and not too rigorous analytical methods, these existent studies have neither investigated Islamic funds’ financial performance in noticeable detail nor analysed the investment style of more than six funds. For instance, relevant questions such as the financial performance of Islamic mutual funds’ beyond their investment styles or a difference in performance between funds from Muslim and non-Muslim countries have nearly not been investigated at all. Very recently, a study by Hoepner, Rammal and Rezec (2011) analysed the financial performance and investment style of 262 Islamic equity funds from 20 countries in five regions (Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Gulf Cooperative Council-GCC, and North America). As comparison, previous studies did not even analyse 60 funds. Hoepner et al.’s study sampled a period of two decades and was therefore able to test the performance of the funds during economic booms as well as economic downturns. The findings of the study provide new insights into the performance of Islamic mutual funds in Muslim and Western markets and during financial crisis.