Portfolio rebalancing and the dynamics between equity flow, exchange rates and equity returns

In this paper we use simple panel regression augmented by a VAR framework and impulse response function to test the presence of portfolio rebalancing between US and 7 developed countries. We find that overall portfolio rebalancing does hold, however some countries in the sample, specifically Australia and Canada display information asymmetry whereby US investors are less informed than local investors, and chase the returns in foreign markets during bullish times. We hypothesize that this phenomena and the increasing supply elasticity of the FOREX markets interfere with the explanatory power of equity flow over the portfolio rebalancing channel in the long term. We find that the portfolio rebalancing channel itself generates a fleeting exchange rate change, however the effect persists through two distinct channels of magnification, with the causality running from exchange rates to equity flow which further appreciates the USD. We hold that US faces a tradeoff between current account and capital account inflows. We also hold that equity flow can be an effective measure to assess foreign exchange intervention in the US only with currencies belonging to countries it has no information frictions with, and countries that have minimal intervention in their FOREX markets

Early-career international academics’ learning and teaching experiences during COVID-19 in Australia: A collaborative autoethnography

Scholarly articles on international academics mainly focuses on personal and professional challenges endured by international academics’ during conventional times. This includes adjustments to new roles and living in a foreign country, pedagogical differences stemming from intercultural differences, language barriers and unequal access to resources (funding, exploitation). This paper explores experiences of two international early-career academics in Australia highlighting their teaching-related challenges, strategies and opportunities during COVID-19, using a collaborative autoethnography qualitative approach. At this Australian university, teaching was paused for a week in March 2020 to cope with the learning and teaching ‘shock’ – to reorientate teaching from face-to-face to completely offer courses remotely to ensure that students were not disadvantaged in their learning and provide space for academic staff to reorientate their learning and teaching materials to suit online delivery. Personalised reflections encapsulate some bizarre teaching related experiences of these international academics in the online learning and teaching space, underpinned by their cultural differences. There were four major challenges identified: transition to online learning and teaching, learning and teaching online practices, relationship issues between students and academic staff, and language-related issues. Specific strategies to overcome these challenges are also identified that led to overall teaching success endured by these international early-career academics in Australia

Exploring Academic Writing Proficiency of Tertiary EFL Learners of Bangladesh: A Pedagogical Implication

 It is essential that tertiary EFL students become proficient in all key aspects of writing, such as content, arrangement of ideas, usage of appropriate vocabulary, use of language and grammatical precision, and mechanics, in order to improve their formal writing skills. As a result, the current study\u27s objective is to assess the level of writing competency of tertiary EFL students in terms of the key writing components and to provide some recommendations for EFL teachers, syllabus writers, and material designers. This study is qualitative in nature that collected 49 narrative essays from 49 tertiary students. The participants comprised both English and non-English majors from seven private and public universities in Bangladesh. The data were generated from English writing tests where students wrote one narrative essay. The texts were then analyzed on the basis of the analytic writing rubrics proposed by Jacobs et al. (1981) to see students’ writing ability in general. The findings of the analysis indicate that Bangladeshi tertiary EFL learners’ proficiency in all the major components falls in the category of Fair to Poor. The findings also indicate that the most challenging writing skills for the learners are the use of language and the use of vocabulary. The study concludes with some pedagogical suggestions for tertiary EFL teachers, syllabus designers, and material designers. This study stands out as unique and important since little research has previously attempted to evaluate the writing proficiency levels of Bangladeshi tertiary students under the key writing components

MEDICINAL FORMULATIONS OF A KANDA TRIBAL HEALER – A TRIBE ON THE VERGE OF DISAPPEARANCE IN BANGLADESH

The Kanda tribe is one of the lesser known small tribes of Bangladesh with an estimated population of about 1700 people (according to them), and on the verge of extinction as a separate entity. To some extent, they have assimilated with the surrounding mainstream Bengali-speaking population, but they still maintain their cultural practices including traditional medicinal practices, for which they have their own tribal healers. Nothing at all has been documented thus far about their traditional medicinal practices and formulations, which are on the verge of disappearance. The Kanda tribe can be found only in scattered tea gardens of Sreemangal in Sylhet district of Bangladesh; dispersion of the tribe into small separated communities is also contributing to the fast losing of traditional medicinal practices. The objective of the present study was to conduct an ethnomedicinal survey among the traditional healers of the Kanda tribe (in fact, only one such healer was found after extensive searches). Information was collected from the healer with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire and the guided field-walk method. A total of 24 formulations were obtained from the healer containing 34 plants including two plants, which could not be identified. Besides medicinal plants, the Kanda healer also used the body hairs of the Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) and bats (Pteropus giganteus giganteus) in one of his formulation for treatment of fever with shivering. The ailments treated by the Kanda healer were fairly common ailments like cuts and wounds, skin diseases, helminthiasis, fever, respiratory problems (coughs, asthma), gastrointestinal disorders (stomach pain, constipation, diarrhea), burning sensations during urination, various types of pain (headache, body ache, toothache, ear ache), conjunctivitis, poisonous snake, insect or reptile bites, jaundice, and bone fractures. A number of important drugs in allopathic medicine like quinine, artemisinin, and morphine (to name only a few) have been discovered from observing indigenous medicinal practices. From that view point, the formulations used by the Kanda healer merit scientific studies for their potential in the discovery of cheap and effective new drugs. Scientific validation of the medicinal formulations of the Kanda healer can also be effective for treatment of ailments among this tribe, which does not have or does not want to have any contact with modern medicine

Systematic evaluation and external validation of 22 prognostic models among hospitalised adults with COVID-19: an observational cohort study.

The number of proposed prognostic models for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is growing rapidly, but it is unknown whether any are suitable for widespread clinical implementation.We independently externally validated the performance of candidate prognostic models, identified through a living systematic review, among consecutive adults admitted to hospital with a final diagnosis of COVID-19. We reconstructed candidate models as per original descriptions and evaluated performance for their original intended outcomes using predictors measured at the time of admission. We assessed discrimination, calibration and net benefit, compared to the default strategies of treating all and no patients, and against the most discriminating predictors in univariable analyses.We tested 22 candidate prognostic models among 411 participants with COVID-19, of whom 180 (43.8%) and 115 (28.0%) met the endpoints of clinical deterioration and mortality, respectively. Highest areas under receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curves were achieved by the NEWS2 score for prediction of deterioration over 24 h (0.78, 95% CI 0.73-0.83), and a novel model for prediction of deterioration <14 days from admission (0.78, 95% CI 0.74-0.82). The most discriminating univariable predictors were admission oxygen saturation on room air for in-hospital deterioration (AUROC 0.76, 95% CI 0.71-0.81), and age for in-hospital mortality (AUROC 0.76, 95% CI 0.71-0.81). No prognostic model demonstrated consistently higher net benefit than these univariable predictors, across a range of threshold probabilities.Admission oxygen saturation on room air and patient age are strong predictors of deterioration and mortality among hospitalised adults with COVID-19, respectively. None of the prognostic models evaluated here offered incremental value for patient stratification to these univariable predictors

Portfolio rebalancing and the dynamics between equity flow, exchange rates and equity returns

In this paper we use simple panel regression augmented by a VAR framework and impulse response function to test the presence of portfolio rebalancing between US and 7 developed countries. We find that overall portfolio rebalancing does hold, however some countries in the sample, specifically Australia and Canada display information asymmetry whereby US investors are less informed than local investors, and chase the returns in foreign markets during bullish times. We hypothesize that this phenomena and the increasing supply elasticity of the FOREX markets interfere with the explanatory power of equity flow over the portfolio rebalancing channel in the long term. We find that the portfolio rebalancing channel itself generates a fleeting exchange rate change, however the effect persists through two distinct channels of magnification, with the causality running from exchange rates to equity flow which further appreciates the USD. We hold that US faces a tradeoff between current account and capital account inflows. We also hold that equity flow can be an effective measure to assess foreign exchange intervention in the US only with currencies belonging to countries it has no information frictions with, and countries that have minimal intervention in their FOREX markets

Advising the immunocompromised traveller: a review of immunocompromise at The London Hospital for Tropical Diseases Travel Clinic between 1st April 2019 and 30th April 2020

Abstract Background Immunocompromised travellers (ICTs) face greater infectious and non-infectious travel-associated risks than their immunocompetent counterparts. Increasing travel and emergence of novel immunosuppressants poses great challenges for travel medicine practitioners to confidently provide up-to-date evidence-based risk management advice and pre-travel care for ICTs. Methods We reviewed the records of ICTs attending the London Hospital for Tropical Diseases (HTD) Travel Clinic between 1st April 2019 and 30th April 2020 with the aim to describe demographic and travel characteristics, type, and severity of immunocompromise, the degree of risk associated with intended travel and evaluate travel advice. Results Of the 193 ICTs identified, immunocompromise was due to physiological reasons (42%), chronic infection (17.1%) and immunosuppressive therapy (16.6%). Median age was 38 (range 9 months to 84 years) and male to female ratio 0.75 (83:110). Travel was intended to 80 countries for a median of 16 days (range 2 to 3167), predominantly for leisure (53%), non-medical work (17%) and visiting friends and relatives (12%). Live vaccine safety dominated discussion in the pre-travel consultation. Existing guidelines arguably fell short in dealing with travel risks associated with hyper-specific conditions, targeted immunosuppressants and non-vaccine preventable infections. Conclusions Our cohort represents a wide spectrum of immunocompromise, for whom we arguably need more measurable ways to approach travel-associated risks. We propose prospective qualitative participatory research to inform our unit of the priorities of ICTs in the pre-travel consultation. We further recommend the formation of a repository of specialists and formulary of complex cases to direct subsequent informative systematic review and prospective risk studies

Additional file 1 of Advising the immunocompromised traveller: a review of immunocompromise at The London Hospital for Tropical Diseases Travel Clinic between 1st April 2019 and 30th April 2020

Supplementary Material

Effectiveness of high-intensity interval training and continuous moderate-intensity training on blood pressure in physically inactive pre-hypertensive young adults

The likelihood of pre-hypertensive young adults developing hypertension has been steadily increasing in recent years. Despite the fact that aerobic exercise training (AET) has demonstrated positive results in lowering high blood pressure, the efficacy of different types of AET among pre-hypertensive young adults has not been well-established. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and continuous moderate-intensity training (CMT) on the blood pressure (BP) of physically inactive pre-hypertensive young adults. In total, 32 adults (age 20.0 ± 1.1 years and BMI 21.5 ± 1.8) were randomly assigned to three groups: HIIT, CMT and control (CON). The HIIT and CMT groups participated in 5 weeks of AET, while the CON group followed a DASH diet plan only. The HIIT protocol consisted of a 1:4 min work to rest ratio of participants, at an 80–85% heart rate reserve (HR-reserve) and a 40–60% HR-reserve, respectively, for 20 min; the CMT group exercised at 40–60% of their HR-reserve continuously for 20 min. In both the HIIT and CMT groups, systolic blood pressure (SBP) (3.8 ± 2.8 mmHg, p = 0.002 vs. 1.6 ± 1.5 mmHg, p = 0.011) was significantly reduced, while significant reductions in the diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (2.9 ± 2.2 mmHg, p = 0.002) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) (3.1 ± 1.6 mmHg, p < 0.0005) were noted only in the HIIT group. No significant differences in SBP (−0.4 ± 3.7 mmHg, p = 0.718), DBP (0.4 ± 3.4 mmHg, p = 0.714), or MAP (0.1 ± 2.5 mmHg, p = 0.892) were observed in the CON group. Both HIIT and CMT decreased BP in physically inactive pre-hypertensive young adults; however, HIIT yielded more beneficial results in terms of reducing the SPB, DBP and MAP

Side Effects Following Administration of the First Dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield Vaccine in Bangladesh: A Cross-Sectional Study

In response to the raging COVID-19 pandemic, Bangladesh started its vaccine administration in early 2021; however, due to the rapid development and launch of the vaccines in the market, many people had concerns regarding the safety of these vaccines. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the side effects that were experienced by the Bangladeshi residents after receiving the first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield vaccine (ChAdOx1nCoV-19). The study was conducted using both online and printed questionnaires and the data were analysed using SPSS. The results included the responses of 474 vaccine recipients from March–April 2021. Pain at the site of injection, fever, myalgia, fatigue and headache were the most commonly reported symptoms, and the overall side effects were found to be significantly more prevalent in the younger population (p ≤ 0.05). These findings were consistent with the results indicated by the clinical trial of ChAdOx1nCoV-19. Logistic regression analysis further revealed that compared to people aged 70 years or above, the incidence of reported side effects was significantly higher in people aged 18–30 years (odds ratio (OR) = 8.56), 31–40 years, (OR = 5.05), 41–50 years (OR = 4.08), 51–60 years (OR = 3.77) and 61–70 years (OR = 3.67). In addition, a significantly higher percentage of female participants suffered from post-vaccination side effects compared to males (OR = 1.51). It was concluded that the Covishield vaccine was well-tolerated among people of different age groups. Nevertheless, further long-term follow-up study with a larger sample size is warranted to establish the long-term safety of the COVID-19 vaccine