Connecting VIX and Stock Index ETF with VAR and Diagonal BEKK

As stock market indexes are not tradeable, the importance and trading volume of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) cannot be understated. ETFs track and attempt to replicate the performance of a specific index. Numerous studies have demonstrated a strong relationship between the S&P500 Composite Index and the Volatility Index (VIX), but few empirical studies have focused on the relationship between VIX and ETF returns. The purpose of the paper is to investigate whether VIX returns affect ETF returns by using vector autoregressive (VAR) models to determine whether daily VIX returns with different moving average processes affect ETF returns. The ARCH-LM test shows conditional heteroskedasticity in the estimation of ETF returns, so that the diagonal BEKK model is used to accommodate multivariate conditional heteroskedasticity in the VAR estimates of ETF returns. Daily data on ETF returns that follow different stock indexes in the USA and Europe are used in the empirical analysis, which is presented for the full data set, as well as for the three sub-periods Before, During, and After the Global Financial Crisis. The estimates show that daily VIX returns have: (1) significant negative effects on European ETF returns in the short run; (2) stronger significant effects on single market ETF returns than on European ETF returns; and (3) lower impacts on the European ETF returns than on S&P500 returns. For the European Markets, the estimates of the mean equations tend to differ between the whole sample period and the sub-periods, but the estimates of the matrices A and B in the Diagonal BEKK model are quite similar for the whole sample period and at least two of the three sub-periods. For the US Markets, the estimates of the mean equations also tend to differ between the whole sample period and the sub-periods, but the estimates of the matrices A and B in the Diagonal BEKK model are very similar for the whole sample period and the three sub-periods

A one-year trial of lamivudine for chronic hepatitis B

Background and Methods: In preliminary trials, lamivudine, an oral nucleoside analogue, has shown promise for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B. We conducted a one-year double-blind trial of lamivudine in 358 Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis B. The patients were randomly assigned to receive 25 mg of lamivudine (142 patients), 100 mg of lamivudine (143), or placebo (73) orally once daily. The patients underwent liver biopsies before entering the study and after completing the assigned treatment regimen. The primary end point was a reduction of at least two points in the Knodell necroinflammatory score. Results: Hepatic necroinflammatory activity improved by two points or more in 56 percent of the patients receiving 100 mg of lamivudine, 49 percent of those receiving 25 mg of lamivudine, and 25 percent of those receiving placebo (P<0.001 and P=0.001, respectively, for the comparisons of lamivudine treatment with placebo). Necroinflammatory activity worsened in 7 percent of the patients receiving 100 mg of lamivudine, 8 percent of those receiving 25 mg, and 26 percent of those receiving placebo. The 100mg dose of lamivudine was associated with a reduced progression of fibrosis (P=0.01 for the comparison with placebo) and with the highest rate of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion (loss of HBeAg, development of antibody to HBeAg, and undetectable HBV DNA) (16 percent), the greatest suppression of HBV DNA (98 percent reduction at week 52 as compared with the base-line value), and the highest rate of sustained normalization of alanine aminotransferase levels (72 percent). Ninety-six percent of the patients completed the study. The incidence of adverse events was similar in all groups, and there were few serious events. Conclusions: In a one-year study, lamivudine was associated with substantial histologic improvement in many patients with chronic hepatitis B. A daily dose of 100 mg was more effective than a daily dose of 25 mg.published_or_final_versio

Maximising response to postal questionnaires – A systematic review of randomised trials in health research

Background Postal self-completion questionnaires offer one of the least expensive modes of collecting patient based outcomes in health care research. The purpose of this review is to assess the efficacy of methods of increasing response to postal questionnaires in health care studies on patient populations. Methods The following databases were searched: Medline, Embase, CENTRAL, CDSR, PsycINFO, NRR and ZETOC. Reference lists of relevant reviews and relevant journals were hand searched. Inclusion criteria were randomised trials of strategies to improve questionnaire response in health care research on patient populations. Response rate was defined as the percentage of questionnaires returned after all follow-up efforts. Study quality was assessed by two independent reviewers. The Mantel-Haenszel method was used to calculate the pooled odds ratios. Results Thirteen studies reporting fifteen trials were included. Implementation of reminder letters and telephone contact had the most significant effect on response rates (odds ratio 3.7, 95% confidence interval 2.30 to 5.97 p = <0.00001). Shorter questionnaires also improved response rates to a lesser degree (odds ratio 1.4, 95% confidence interval 1.19 to 1.54). No evidence was found that incentives, re-ordering of questions or including an information brochure with the questionnaire confer any additional advantage. Conclusion Implementing repeat mailing strategies and/or telephone reminders may improve response to postal questionnaires in health care research. Making the questionnaire shorter may also improve response rates. There is a lack of evidence to suggest that incentives are useful. In the context of health care research all strategies to improve response to postal questionnaires require further evaluation

Macrophages and Fc-receptor interactions contribute to the antitumour activities of the anti-CD40 antibody SGN-40

SGN-40 is a therapeutic antibody targeting CD40, which induces potent anti-lymphoma activities via direct apoptotic signalling cells and by cell-mediated cytotoxicity. Here we show antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis (ADCP) by macrophages to contribute significantly to the therapeutic activities and that the antitumour effects of SGN-40 depend on Fc interactions

A community-based validation study of the short-form 36 version 2 philippines (tagalog) in two cities in the philippines

10.1371/journal.pone.0083794PLoS ONE812-POLN

Neuroendocrine (Merkel cell) carcinoma of the retroperitoneum with no identifiable primary site

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Neuroendocrine carcinoma is an aggressive neoplasm that mainly affects elderly Caucasians and typically arises in sun-exposed areas of the skin. The disease is rather rare and only a relatively few cases present with no apparent primary lesion.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report a case of an 81-year-old Caucasian male with neuroendocrine carcinoma, which initially presented as a large retroperitoneal mass. Pathological and immunohistochemical analysis of the transabdominal CT-guided biopsy specimen revealed tissue consistent with neuroendocrine carcinoma. The patient underwent exploratory laparotomy and the mass was successfully excised along with an associated mesenteric lymph node.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>There are currently two possible explanations for what occurred in our patient. First, the retroperitoneal mass could be a massively enlarged lymph node where precursor cells became neoplastic. This would be consistent with a presumptive diagnosis of primary nodal disease. Alternatively, an initial skin lesion could have spontaneously regressed and the retroperitoneal mass represents a single site of metastasis. Since Merkel cell precursors have never been identified within lymph nodes, the latter theory seems more befitting. Moreover, metastasis to the retroperitoneal lymph nodes has been reported as relatively common when compared to other sites such as liver, bone, brain and skin.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Wide local excision of the primary tumor is the surgical treatment of choice for localized disease. We propose that further studies are needed to elucidate the true efficacy of chemotherapy in conventional as well as unconventional patients with neuroendocrine carcinoma.</p

Disparities in healthy food zoning, farmers’ market availability, and fruit and vegetable consumption among North Carolina residents

Background Context and purpose of the study. To examine (1) associations between county-level zoning to support farmers’ market placement and county-level farmers’ market availability, rural/urban designation, percent African American residents, and percent of residents living below poverty and (2) individual-level associations between zoning to support farmers’ markets; fruit and vegetable consumption and body mass index (BMI) among a random sample of residents of six North Carolina (NC) counties. Methods Zoning ordinances were scored to indicate supportiveness for healthy food outlets. Number of farmers’ markets (per capita) was obtained from the NC-Community Transformation Grant Project Fruit and Vegetable Outlet Inventory (2013). County-level census data on rural/urban status, percent African American, and percent poverty were obtained. For data on farmers’ market shopping, fruit and vegetable consumption, and BMI, trained interviewers conducted a random digit dial telephone survey of residents of six NC counties (3 urban and 3 rural). Pearson correlation coefficients and multilevel linear regression models were used to examine county-level and individual-level associations between zoning supportiveness, farmers’ market availability, and fruit and vegetable consumption and BMI. Results At the county-level, healthier food zoning was greater in more urban areas and areas with less poverty. At the individual-level, self-reported fruit and vegetable consumption was associated with healthier food zoning. Conclusions Disparities in zoning to promote healthy eating should be further examined, and future studies should assess whether amending zoning ordinances will lead to greater availability of healthy foods and changes in dietary behavior and health outcomes.ECU Open Access Publishing Support Fun

Systematic Planning of Genome-Scale Experiments in Poorly Studied Species

Genome-scale datasets have been used extensively in model organisms to screen for specific candidates or to predict functions for uncharacterized genes. However, despite the availability of extensive knowledge in model organisms, the planning of genome-scale experiments in poorly studied species is still based on the intuition of experts or heuristic trials. We propose that computational and systematic approaches can be applied to drive the experiment planning process in poorly studied species based on available data and knowledge in closely related model organisms. In this paper, we suggest a computational strategy for recommending genome-scale experiments based on their capability to interrogate diverse biological processes to enable protein function assignment. To this end, we use the data-rich functional genomics compendium of the model organism to quantify the accuracy of each dataset in predicting each specific biological process and the overlap in such coverage between different datasets. Our approach uses an optimized combination of these quantifications to recommend an ordered list of experiments for accurately annotating most proteins in the poorly studied related organisms to most biological processes, as well as a set of experiments that target each specific biological process. The effectiveness of this experiment- planning system is demonstrated for two related yeast species: the model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the comparatively poorly studied Saccharomyces bayanus. Our system recommended a set of S. bayanus experiments based on an S. cerevisiae microarray data compendium. In silico evaluations estimate that less than 10% of the experiments could achieve similar functional coverage to the whole microarray compendium. This estimation was confirmed by performing the recommended experiments in S. bayanus, therefore significantly reducing the labor devoted to characterize the poorly studied genome. This experiment-planning framework could readily be adapted to the design of other types of large-scale experiments as well as other groups of organisms

Merkel cell carcinoma of skin-current controversies and recommendations

The review covers the current recommendations for Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), with detailed discussion of many controversies. The 2010 AJCC staging system is more in-line with other skin malignancies although more complicated to use. The changes in staging system over time make comparison of studies difficult. A wide excision with margins of 2.5–3 cm is generally recommended. Even for primary </= 1 cm, there is a significant risk of nodal and distant metastases and hence sentinel node biopsy should be done if possible; otherwise adjuvant radiotherapy to the primary and nodal region should be given. Difficulties of setting up trials owing to the rarity of the disease and the mean age of the patient population result in infrequent reports of adjuvant or concurrent chemotherapy in the literature. The benefit, if any, is not great from published studies so far. However, there may be a subgroup of patients with high-risk features, e.g. node-positive and excellent performance status, for whom adjuvant or concurrent chemotherapy may be considered. Since local recurrence and metastases generally occur within 2 years of the initial diagnosis, patients should be followed more frequently in the first 2 years. However delayed recurrence can still occur in a small proportion of patients and long-term follow-up by a specialist is recommended provided that the general condition of the patient allows it. In summary, physician judgment in individual cases of MCC is advisable, to balance the risk of recurrence versus the complications of treatment