Interest rates volatility and its consequences on stock returns: The case study from Amman Stock Exchange, Jordan

Abstract. This paper examines the special effects of interest rates on the stock market return by using monthly time series data for the economy of Jordan over the period of 2006 to 2016. An extensive variety of econometric procedures have been involved to analyze the relationship between the interest rate and stock market return. The study exposes a constant and significant long-run relationship between the variables. By using Cointegration methods the experimental in the long run represents that a one percent rise in interest rate causes (12.3459 %)reduction in market index. The assessed error correction coefficient highlight that (-0.678522) percent deviation of stock returns are corrected in the short run. Impulse response function of the study furthermore sustains the positive relationship between the variables. The result of Variance decompositions recommends that about (99.99705%) of the variation in stock market returns is referring to its own shock which denotes that stock market returns are mostly independent of the other variables in the structure. To go over the main points, Granger causality analysis yield that there is no presence of a unidirectional causality as of interest rate to the market index.Keywords. Stock market, Cointegration, Granger causality, Interest rate, ASE.JEL. E40, E43, G12

I-Support: A robotic platform of an assistive bathing robot for the elderly population

In this paper we present a prototype integrated robotic system, the I-Support bathing robot, that aims at supporting new aspects of assisted daily-living activities on a real-life scenario. The paper focuses on describing and evaluating key novel technological features of the system, with the emphasis on cognitive human–robot interaction modules and their evaluation through a series of clinical validation studies. The I-Support project on its whole has envisioned the development of an innovative, modular, ICT-supported service robotic system that assists frail seniors to safely and independently complete an entire sequence of physically and cognitively demanding bathing tasks, such as properly washing their back and their lower limbs. A variety of innovative technologies have been researched and a set of advanced modules of sensing, cognition, actuation and control have been developed and seamlessly integrated to enable the system to adapt to the target population abilities. These technologies include: human activity monitoring and recognition, adaptation of a motorized chair for safe transfer of the elderly in and out the bathing cabin, a context awareness system that provides full environmental awareness, as well as a prototype soft robotic arm and a set of user-adaptive robot motion planning and control algorithms. This paper focuses in particular on the multimodal action recognition system, developed to monitor, analyze and predict user actions with a high level of accuracy and detail in real-time, which are then interpreted as robotic tasks. In the same framework, the analysis of human actions that have become available through the project’s multimodal audio–gestural dataset, has led to the successful modeling of Human–Robot Communication, achieving an effective and natural interaction between users and the assistive robotic platform. In order to evaluate the I-Support system, two multinational validation studies were conducted under realistic operating conditions in two clinical pilot sites. Some of the findings of these studies are presented and analyzed in the paper, showing good results in terms of: (i) high acceptability regarding the system usability by this particularly challenging target group, the elderly end-users, and (ii) overall task effectiveness of the system in different operating modes

Varespladib and cardiovascular events in patients with an acute coronary syndrome: the VISTA-16 randomized clinical trial

IMPORTANCE: Secretory phospholipase A2(sPLA2) generates bioactive phospholipid products implicated in atherosclerosis. The sPLA2inhibitor varespladib has favorable effects on lipid and inflammatory markers; however, its effect on cardiovascular outcomes is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of sPLA2inhibition with varespladib on cardiovascular outcomes. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A double-blind, randomized, multicenter trial at 362 academic and community hospitals in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, India, and North America of 5145 patients randomized within 96 hours of presentation of an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) to either varespladib (n = 2572) or placebo (n = 2573) with enrollment between June 1, 2010, and March 7, 2012 (study termination on March 9, 2012). INTERVENTIONS: Participants were randomized to receive varespladib (500 mg) or placebo daily for 16 weeks, in addition to atorvastatin and other established therapies. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The primary efficacy measurewas a composite of cardiovascular mortality, nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI), nonfatal stroke, or unstable angina with evidence of ischemia requiring hospitalization at 16 weeks. Six-month survival status was also evaluated. RESULTS: At a prespecified interim analysis, including 212 primary end point events, the independent data and safety monitoring board recommended termination of the trial for futility and possible harm. The primary end point occurred in 136 patients (6.1%) treated with varespladib compared with 109 patients (5.1%) treated with placebo (hazard ratio [HR], 1.25; 95%CI, 0.97-1.61; log-rank P = .08). Varespladib was associated with a greater risk of MI (78 [3.4%] vs 47 [2.2%]; HR, 1.66; 95%CI, 1.16-2.39; log-rank P = .005). The composite secondary end point of cardiovascular mortality, MI, and stroke was observed in 107 patients (4.6%) in the varespladib group and 79 patients (3.8%) in the placebo group (HR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.02-1.82; P = .04). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In patients with recent ACS, varespladib did not reduce the risk of recurrent cardiovascular events and significantly increased the risk of MI. The sPLA2inhibition with varespladib may be harmful and is not a useful strategy to reduce adverse cardiovascular outcomes after ACS. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01130246. Copyright 2014 American Medical Association. All rights reserved

The state of HRM in the Middle East:Challenges and future research agenda

Based on a robust structured literature analysis, this paper highlights the key developments in the field of human resource management (HRM) in the Middle East. Utilizing the institutional perspective, the analysis contributes to the literature on HRM in the Middle East by focusing on four key themes. First, it highlights the topical need to analyze the context-specific nature of HRM in the region. Second, via the adoption of a systematic review, it highlights state of development in HRM in the research analysis set-up. Third, the analysis also helps to reveal the challenges facing the HRM function in the Middle East. Fourth, it presents an agenda for future research in the form of research directions. While doing the above, it revisits the notions of “universalistic” and “best practice” HRM (convergence) versus “best-fit” or context distinctive (divergence) and also alternate models/diffusion of HRM (crossvergence) in the Middle Eastern context. The analysis, based on the framework of cross-national HRM comparisons, helps to make both theoretical and practical implications

Current trends in cannulation and neuroprotection during surgery of the aortic arch in Europe†‡

OBJECTIVES To conduct a survey across European cardiac centres to evaluate the methods used for cerebral protection during aortic surgery involving the aortic arch. METHODS All European centres were contacted and surgeons were requested to fill out a short, comprehensive questionnaire on an internet-based platform. One-third of more than 400 contacted centres completed the survey correctly. RESULTS The most preferred site for arterial cannulation is the subclavian-axillary, both in acute and chronic presentation. The femoral artery is still frequently used in the acute condition, while the ascending aorta is a frequent second choice in the case of chronic presentation. Bilateral antegrade brain perfusion is chosen by the majority of centres (2/3 of cases), while retrograde perfusion or circulatory arrest is very seldom used and almost exclusively in acute clinical presentation. The same pumping system of the cardio pulmonary bypass is most of the time used for selective cerebral perfusion, and the perfusate temperature is usually maintained between 22 and 26°C. One-third of the centres use lower temperatures. Perfusate flow and pressure are fairly consistent among centres in the range of 10-15 ml/kg and 60 mmHg, respectively. In 60% of cases, barbiturates are added for cerebral protection, while visceral perfusion still receives little attention. Regarding cerebral monitoring, there is a general tendency to use near-infrared spectroscopy associated with bilateral radial pressure measurement. CONCLUSIONS These data represent a snapshot of the strategies used for cerebral protection during major aortic surgery in current practice, and may serve as a reference for standardization and refinement of different approache

Practical guidelines for rigor and reproducibility in preclinical and clinical studies on cardioprotection

The potential for ischemic preconditioning to reduce infarct size was first recognized more than 30 years ago. Despite extension of the concept to ischemic postconditioning and remote ischemic conditioning and literally thousands of experimental studies in various species and models which identified a multitude of signaling steps, so far there is only a single and very recent study, which has unequivocally translated cardioprotection to improved clinical outcome as the primary endpoint in patients. Many potential reasons for this disappointing lack of clinical translation of cardioprotection have been proposed, including lack of rigor and reproducibility in preclinical studies, and poor design and conduct of clinical trials. There is, however, universal agreement that robust preclinical data are a mandatory prerequisite to initiate a meaningful clinical trial. In this context, it is disconcerting that the CAESAR consortium (Consortium for preclinicAl assESsment of cARdioprotective therapies) in a highly standardized multi-center approach of preclinical studies identified only ischemic preconditioning, but not nitrite or sildenafil, when given as adjunct to reperfusion, to reduce infarct size. However, ischemic preconditioning—due to its very nature—can only be used in elective interventions, and not in acute myocardial infarction. Therefore, better strategies to identify robust and reproducible strategies of cardioprotection, which can subsequently be tested in clinical trials must be developed. We refer to the recent guidelines for experimental models of myocardial ischemia and infarction, and aim to provide now practical guidelines to ensure rigor and reproducibility in preclinical and clinical studies on cardioprotection. In line with the above guideline, we define rigor as standardized state-of-the-art design, conduct and reporting of a study, which is then a prerequisite for reproducibility, i.e. replication of results by another laboratory when performing exactly the same experiment

Теоретичне моделювання структурної стабільності, еластичних, електронних, магнітних та термодинамічних властивостей нових напівметалевих сплавів Cr2GdSn1 – xPbx

На основі методу повнопотенціальної лінеарізованої розширеної плоскої хвилі (FP-LAPW) у рамках теорії функціоналу щільності (DFT) досліджено структурні, пружні, електронні, магнітні, термодинамічні та теплові властивості четвертинних сплавів Гейслера Cr2GdSn1 – xPbx з використанням узагальненого градієнтного наближення (GGA). Структурні властивості показують стабільність сплавів Cr2GdSn1 – xPbx у феромагнітній фазі, де оцінюються їх рівноважні структурні параметри (стала решітки a(Å), об'ємний модуль B (ГПа) та його перша похідна від тиску (B')). Константи пружності для кубічної системи (C11, C12 і C44) та анізотропії розраховано для доказу механічної стабільності цих сполук. Результати дослідження електронних властивостей показують, що обидва сплави Cr2GdSn1 – xPbx мають ідеальну напівметалічну природу. Показано, що загальний магнітний момент кубічних сполук Cr2GdSn та Cr2GdPb дорівнює відповідно – 12µB і – 11µB, що підтверджує їх повну напівметалеву поведінку. Квазігармонічна модель Дебая була реалізована в коді Гіббса та використовувалася для прогнозу теплових властивостей сплавів Cr2GdSn1 – xPbx як перспективних матеріалів для пристроїв спінтроніки.Based on full-potential linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method within the density functional theory (DFT), the structural, elastic, electronic, magnetic, thermodynamic and thermal properties of quaternary Heusler Cr2GdSn1 – xPbx alloys have been studied under the generalized gradient approximation (GGA). The structural properties show the stability of Cr2GdSn1 – xPbx alloys in the ferromagnetic phase, where their equilibrium structural parameters (lattice constant a(Å), bulk modulus B(GPa) and its first-pressure derivative (B') are evaluated. The elastic constants for the cubic system (C11, C12, and C44) and anisotropy are computed to prove the mechanical stability of these compounds. The electronic results reveal that both Cr2GdSn1 – xPbx alloys have a perfect half-metallic nature. The magnetic properties reveal that the total magnetic moment of cubic Cr2GdSn and Cr2GdPb compounds is equal to – 12µB and – 11µB, respectively, affirming their complete half-metallic behavior. The quasi-harmonic Debye model, as implemented in the Gibbs code, was used to predict the thermal properties of Cr2GdSn1 – xPbx. These alloys seem to be a potential candidate of spintronic devices