Impact of Foreign Portfolio Investments on Select Advanced Economies

Advanced economies or developed countries are the ones at the top of all developmental, economic and social indicators. They have post-industrial economies, they were the first ones to have reaped the benefits of industrialization. According to the International Monetary Fund, advanced economies comprise 60.8% of global nominal GDP and 42.9% of global GDP (PPP) in 2014.   Since advanced countries were the first one to develop and prosper after industrialization, they also possess the most mature and developed financial markets too. In this paper we examine the relationship between Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) and major stock market indices of the selected advanced nations, viz. US, UK, Japan and Germany. We used net flows of foreign portfolio investments received by these advanced countries and their major stock market indices to establish the relationship. The stationarity of the data series are checked using Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) Test and tested for the autocorrelation, regression analysis is undertaken and Vector Autoregression (VAR) is applied. Keywords: foreign portfolio investments, advanced countries, stock marke

Disruption of the MyoD/p21 Pathway in Rhabdomyosarcoma

Purpose. Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is an embryonal tumor thought to arise from skeletal muscle cells that fail to differentiate terminally. The majority of RMSs express MyoD, a protein essential to the differentiation of skeletal muscle. It was recently shown that during myogenesis, MyoD activates the expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor (CDKi), p21, which itself plays a critical role in normal muscle development. To investigate the integrity of the MyoD/p21 pathway in RMS, we analyzed p21 and its relationship to MyoD expression in RMS

HIV and cancer registry linkage identifies a substantial burden of cancers in persons with HIV in India.

We utilized computerized record-linkage methods to link HIV and cancer databases with limited unique identifiers in Pune, India, to determine feasibility of linkage and obtain preliminary estimates of cancer risk in persons living with HIV (PLHIV) as compared with the general population.Records of 32,575 PLHIV were linked to 31,754 Pune Cancer Registry records (1996-2008) using a probabilistic-matching algorithm. Cancer risk was estimated by calculating standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) in the early (4-27 months after HIV registration), late (28-60 months), and overall (4-60 months) incidence periods. Cancers diagnosed prior to or within 3 months of HIV registration were considered prevalent.Of 613 linked cancers to PLHIV, 188 were prevalent, 106 early incident, and 319 late incident. Incident cancers comprised 11.5% AIDS-defining cancers (ADCs), including cervical cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), but not Kaposi sarcoma (KS), and 88.5% non-AIDS-defining cancers (NADCs). Risk for any incident cancer diagnosis in early, late, and combined periods was significantly elevated among PLHIV (SIRs: 5.6 [95% CI 4.6-6.8], 17.7 [95% CI 15.8-19.8], and 11.5 [95% CI 10-12.6], respectively). Cervical cancer risk was elevated in both incidence periods (SIRs: 9.6 [95% CI 4.8-17.2] and 22.6 [95% CI 14.3-33.9], respectively), while NHL risk was elevated only in the late incidence period (SIR: 18.0 [95% CI 9.8-30.20]). Risks for NADCs were dramatically elevated (SIR > 100) for eye-orbit, substantially (SIR > 20) for all-mouth, esophagus, breast, unspecified-leukemia, colon-rectum-anus, and other/unspecified cancers; moderately elevated (SIR > 10) for salivary gland, penis, nasopharynx, and brain-nervous system, and mildly elevated (SIR > 5) for stomach. Risks for 6 NADCs (small intestine, testis, lymphocytic leukemia, prostate, ovary, and melanoma) were not elevated and 5 cancers, including multiple myeloma not seen.Our study demonstrates the feasibility of using probabilistic record-linkage to study cancer/other comorbidities among PLHIV in India and provides preliminary population-based estimates of cancer risks in PLHIV in India. Our results, suggesting a potentially substantial burden and slightly different spectrum of cancers among PLHIV in India, support efforts to conduct multicenter linkage studies to obtain precise estimates and to monitor cancer risk in PLHIV in India

HLA polymorphisms and detection of kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus DNA in saliva and peripheral blood among children and their mothers in the uganda sickle cell anemia KSHV Study

Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV, also called Human herpesvirus 8 or HHV8) is a γ-2 herpesvirus that causes Kaposi sarcoma. KSHV seroprevalence rates vary geographically with variable rates recorded in different sub Sahara African countries, suggesting that effects of genetic and/or environmental factors may influence the risk of infection. One study conducted in South Africa, where KSHV seroprevalence is relatively low, found that carriage of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles HLA-A*6801, HLA-A*30, HLA-A*4301, and HLA-DRB1*04 was associated with increased shedding of KSHV DNA in saliva. Confirmation of those results would strengthen the hypothesis that genetic factors may influence KSHV distribution by modulating KSHV shedding in saliva. To explore these associations in another setting, we used high resolution HLA-A, B, and DRB1 typing on residual samples from the Uganda Sickle Cell Anemia KSHV study, conducted in a high KSHV seroprevalence region, to investigate associations between HLA and KSHV shedding in saliva or peripheral blood among 233 children and their mothers. HLA-A and HLA-DRB1 alleles were not associated with KSHV shedding in our study, but our study was small and was not adequately powered to exclude small associations. In exploratory analyses, we found marginal association of KSHV DNA shedding in saliva but not in peripheral blood among children carrying HLA- B*4415 and marginal association of KSHV DNA shedding in peripheral blood but not in saliva among children carrying HLA- B*0801 alleles. The contribution of individual HLA polymorphisms to KSHV shedding is important but it may vary in different populations. Larger population-based studies are needed to estimate the magnitude and direction of association of HLA with KSHV shedding and viral control

Exploring the effectiveness of the output-based aid voucher program to increase uptake of gender-based violence recovery services in Kenya: a qualitative evaluation

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Background: Few studies in Africa have explored in detail the ability of output-based aid (OBA) voucher programs to increase access to gender-based violence recovery (GBVR) services. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted in 2010 and involved: (i) in-depth interviews (IDIs) with health managers, service providers, voucher management agency (VMA) managers and (ii) focus group discussions (FGDs) with voucher users, voucher non-users, voucher distributors and opinion leaders drawn from five program sites in Kenya. Results: The findings showed promising prospects for the uptake of OBA GBVR services among target population. However, a number of factors affect the uptake of the services. These include lack of general awareness of the GBVR services vouchers, lack of understanding of the benefit package, immediate financial needs of survivors, as well as stigma and cultural beliefs that undermine reporting of cases or seeking essential medical services. Moreover, accreditation of only hospitals to offer GBVR services undermines access to the services in rural areas. Poor responsiveness from law enforcement agencies and fear of reprisal from perpetrators also undermine treatment options and access to medical services. Low provider knowledge on GBVR services and lack of supplies also affect effective provision and management of GBVR services. Conclusions: The above findings suggest that there is a need to build the capacity of health care providers and police officers, strengthen the community strategy component of the OBA program to promote the GBVR services voucher, and conduct widespread community education programs aimed at prevention, ensuring survivors know how and where to access services and addressing stigma and cultural barriers.The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundatio

Cancer risk in persons with HIV/AIDS in India: a review and future directions for research

Background India has a large and evolving HIV epidemic. Little is known about cancer risk in Indian persons with HIV/AIDS (PHA) but risk is thought to be low. Methods To describe the state of knowledge about cancer patterns in Indian PHA, we reviewed reports from the international and Indian literature. Results As elsewhere, non-Hodgkin lymphomas dominate the profile of recognized cancers, with immunoblastic/large cell diffuse lymphoma being the most common type. Hodgkin lymphoma is proportionally increased, perhaps because survival with AIDS is truncated by fatal infections. In contrast, Kaposi sarcoma is rare, in association with an apparently low prevalence of Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus. If confirmed, the reasons for the low prevalence need to be understood. Cervical, anal, vulva/vaginal and penile cancers all appear to be increased in PHA, based on limited data. The association may be confounded by sexual behaviors that transmit both HIV and human papillomavirus. Head and neck tumor incidence may also be increased, an important concern since these tumors are among the most common in India. Based on limited evidence, the increase is at buccal/palatal sites, which are associated with tobacco and betel nut chewing rather than human papillomavirus. Conclusion With improving care of HIV and better management of infections, especially tuberculosis, the longer survival of PHA in India will likely increase the importance of cancer as a clinical problem in India. With the population's geographic and social diversity, India presents unique research opportunities that can be embedded in programs targeting HIV/AIDS and other public health priorities