Random risk aversion and the cost of eliminating the foreign exchange risk of the Euro

This paper answers the following questions. If the Euro foreign exchange risk is given, what is the cost of eliminating such a risk? How does risk aversion affect this cost? What is the relation between the insurance premium on the Euro and this cost? Is it possible to find out the level of risk aversion by looking upon actual risk-free yields? If risk aversion is random, how do risk-free yields move with the return on the Euro currency? Economists usually take for granted that preferences are stable. By contrast, business news networks mention frequently changing risk appetite, or changing investor sentiment, in order to explain market behavior. This paper shows that it is worthwhile to presume that risk aversion is random, because such randomness provides direct answers to the questions raised above.The Euro, foreign exchange risk, expected utility, cost of risk, risk aversion, risk compensation, insurance premium, risk-free yields, Monte Carlo simulations, bootstrap sampling, EU financial markets

Pancreatitis following Olanzapine Therapy: A Report of Three Cases

CONTEXT: Atypical antipsychotic agents (clozapine, olanzapine) have been linked to metabolic effects and acute pancreatitis. CASE REPORT: We reviewed the inpatient and outpatient records of three patients who developed acute pancreatitis while being treated with olanzapine. The mean age of the patients was 37.7 years (range 18–54 years, 2 female, 1 male). No alternative cause of acute pancreatitis was found in two of the three patients. In the remaining patient, olanzapine may have contributed to acute pancreatitis in the setting of hypertriglyceridemia. Olanzapine was discontinued in all instances. Over a mean follow-up of 14 months, one patient has had a relapsing course, but the remaining two patients have been symptom free without recurrence of acute pancreatitis. CONCLUSIONS: Our case series adds further support to the potential link between olanzapine use and acute pancreatitis. Close monitoring of metabolic parameters is suggested in patients treated with olanzapine. Alternative antipsychotic agents should be considered in patients at high risk for pancreatitis

Scheduling Packets with Values and Deadlines in Size-bounded Buffers

Motivated by providing quality-of-service differentiated services in the Internet, we consider buffer management algorithms for network switches. We study a multi-buffer model. A network switch consists of multiple size-bounded buffers such that at any time, the number of packets residing in each individual buffer cannot exceed its capacity. Packets arrive at the network switch over time; they have values, deadlines, and designated buffers. In each time step, at most one pending packet is allowed to be sent and this packet can be from any buffer. The objective is to maximize the total value of the packets sent by their respective deadlines. A 9.82-competitive online algorithm has been provided for this model (Azar and Levy. SWAT 2006), but no offline algorithms have been known yet. In this paper, We study the offline setting of the multi-buffer model. Our contributions include a few optimal offline algorithms for some variants of the model. Each variant has its unique and interesting algorithmic feature. These offline algorithms help us understand the model better in designing online algorithms.Comment: 7 page

Effect of work experience on graduate students\u27 anxiety for future work

Part-time vs. full-time students -- Age range of 23 to 51 years -- Business and social work majors -- Self-efficacy -- Work apprehension

Effects of dietary L-arginine on orthodontic tooth movement in rats

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary L-arginine as nitric oxide (NO) precursor on orthodontic tooth movement in rats. 36 male ten-week old Wistar rats were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group received 2% (w/w) dietary Larginine in drinking water six days before the insertion of springs to elevate their blood level. On the seventh day, in both groups, maxillary incisors was moved by the insertion of springs and 12 days after insertion of springs, the rats were sacrificed, then the mesioincisal distance between maxillary incisors was measured. Afterwards, 12 and six rats from both groups were selected randomly for preparing histological section to count osteoclasts under a light microscope and for examining the surface area of root resorption lacunae under a scanning electron microscope, respectively. The data on the extent of orthodontic tooth movement and the number of osteoclasts were analyzed by independent sample t test and findings on root resorption were analyzed by using Mann-Whitney U test. The results showed that in L-arginine group, the orthodontic tooth movement (p < 0.001) and the number of osteoclasts (p < 0.05) were significantly higher when compared with the control grou. However, there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of the surface area of resorption lacunae.Key words: L-Arginine, dietary, orthodontic tooth movement, nitric oxide, root resorption, osteoclast, nitric oxide synthase (NOS)

Increasing gland number and red pigments in St. John’s wort in vitro

In order to develop a protocol for increasing the gland number and red pigments of Hypericum perforatum, this study was carried out to evaluate the effect of hydrolyzed casein (0.0 and 500 mg l-1), mannitol (0.0, 5 and10 g l-1) and sucrose (20 and 30 g l-1) on the synthesis of these pigments and glands on the produced leaves. Leaf discs of in vitro plantlets, were prepared and cultured on MS medium with 0.5 mg l-1 BAP to induce the shoot. All the cultures were incubated in the dark at 25 ± 2°C for 1 month. In all of the treatments, callus and shoot induction were observed. Percentage of calli and leaves containing red pigments, number of glands and percentage of leaves containing gland were noted as indicating the presence of hypericin and pseudohypericin pigments. Percentage of calli and leaves containing red pigments were significantly influenced by different concentrations of the hydrolyzed casein, mannitol and sucrose. The highest percentage of calli containing red pigments was observed in the culture medium which had 500 or 0.0 mg l-1 hydrolyzed casein and 20 g l-1 sucrose, without mannitol. Glands were observed on all the produced leaves. Number of glands and percentage of leaves containing gland were significantly influenced by the different concentrations of mannitol and sucrose and their interaction. The highest number of gland and percentage of leaves containing gland was achieved when explants were cultured in medium that included 30 g l-1 sucrose with 5 or 10 g l-1 mannitol and in medium containing 20 g l-1 sucrose, with 5 g l-1 mannitol. Morphological changes induced by carbon source and hydrolyzed casein were observed and described in detail. The obtained results will be applied in experimental botany and in the technology of H. perforatum cultivation for pharmaceutical applications.Key words: Hydrolyzed casein, hypericin, Hypericum perforatum, mannitol, pseudohypericin, sucrose