Market anticipations of monetary policy actions

Monetary policy ; Federal funds rate

Internet-based psychoeducation for bipolar disorder: a qualitative analysis of feasibility, acceptability and impact

<p>Background: In a recent exploratory randomised trial we found that a novel, internet-based psychoeducation programme for bipolar disorder (Beating Bipolar) was relatively easy to deliver and had a modest effect on psychological quality of life. We sought to explore the experiences of participants with respect to feasibility, acceptability and impact of Beating Bipolar.</p> <p>Methods: Participants were invited to take part in a semi-structured interview. Thematic analysis techniques were employed; to explore and describe participants’ experiences, the data were analysed for emerging themes which were identified and coded.</p> <p>Results: The programme was feasible to deliver and acceptable to participants where they felt comfortable using a computer. It was found to impact upon insight into illness, health behaviour, personal routines and positive attitudes towards medication. Many participants regarded the programme as likely to be most beneficial for those recently diagnosed.</p> <p>Conclusions: An online psychoeducation package for bipolar disorder, such as Beating Bipolar, is feasible and acceptable to patients, has a positive impact on self-management behaviours and may be particularly suited to early intervention. Alternative (non-internet) formats should also be made available to patients.</p&gt

Heterogeneities in systems with quenched disorder

We study the strong role played by structural (quenched) heterogeneities on static and dynamic properties of the Frustrated Ising Lattice Gas in two dimensions, already in the liquid phase. Differently from the dynamical heterogeneities observed in other glass models in this case they may have infinite lifetime and be spatially pinned by the quenched disorder. We consider a measure of local frustration, show how it induces the appearance of spatial heterogeneities and how this reflects in the observed behavior of equilibrium density distributions and dynamic correlation functions.Comment: 8 page

Feedback from galactic stellar bulges and hot gaseous haloes of galaxies

We demonstrate that the feedback from stellar bulges can play an essential role in shaping the halo gas of galaxies with substantial bulge components by conducting 1-D hydrodynamical simulations. The feedback model we consider consists of two distinct phases: 1) an early starburst during the bulge formation and 2) a subsequent long-lasting mass and energy injection from stellar winds of low-mass stars and Type Ia SNe. An energetic outward blastwave is initiated by the starburst and is maintained and enhanced by the long-lasting stellar feedback. For a MW-like galactic bulge, this blastwave sweeps up the halo gas in the proto-galaxy and heats up the surrounding medium to a scale much beyond the virial radius of the halo, thus the accretion of the halo hot gas can be completely stopped. In addition, the long-lasting feedback in the later phase powers a galactic bulge wind that is reverse-shocked at a large radius in the presence of surrounding intergalactic medium and hence maintains a hot gaseous halo. As the mass and energy injection decreases with time, the feedback evolves to a subsonic and quasi-stable outflow, which is enough to prevent halo gas from cooling. The two phases of the feedback thus re-enforce each-other's impact on the gas dynamics. The simulation results demonstrate that the stellar bulge feedback may provide a plausible solution to the long-standing problems in understanding the MW type galaxies, such as the "missing stellar feedback" problem and the "over-cooling" problem. The simulations also show that the properties of the hot gas in the subsonic outflow state depend sensitively on the environment and the formation history of the bulge. This dependence and variance may explain the large dispersion in the X-ray to B-band luminosity ratio of the low $L_X/L_B$ Es.Comment: v2, discussions added, accepted for publication in MNRA

Comparison of front-loaded recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator, anistreplase and combination thrombolytic therapy for acute myocardial infarction: Results of the thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) 4 trial

AbstractObjectives. The aim of our study was to determine a superior tbrombolytic regimen from three: anistreplase (APSAC), frontloaded recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (rt-PA) or combination thrombolytic therapy.Background. Although thrombolytic therapy has been shown to reduce mortality and morbidity after acute myocardial infarction, it has not been clear whether more aggressive thrombolyticantithrombotic regimens could improve the outcome achieved with standard regimens.Methods. To address this issue, 382 patients with acute myocardial infection were randomized to receive in a double-blind fashion (along with intravenous heparin and aspirin) APSAC, front-loaded rt-PA or a combination of both agents. The primary end point “unsatisfactory outcome” was a composite clinical end point assessed through hospital discharge.Results. Patency of the infarct-related artery (Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction [TIMI] grade 2 or 3 flow) at 60 min after the start of thrombolysis was significantly higher in rt-PA-treated patients (77.8% vs. 59.5% for APSAC-treated patients and 59.3% for combination-treated patients [rt-PA vs. APSAC, p = 0.02; rt-PA vs. combination, p = 0.03]). At 90 min, the incidence of both infarct-related artery patency and TIMI grade 3 flow was significantly higher in rt-PA-treated patients (60.2% had TIMI grade 3 flow vs. 42.9% and 44.8% of APSAC- and combination-treated patients, respectively [rt-PA vs. APSAC, p < 0.01; rt-PA vs. combination, p = 0.02]). The incidence of unsatisfactory outcome was 41.3% for rt-PA compared with 49% for APSAC and 53.6% for the combination (rt-PA vs. APSAC, p = 0.19; rt-PA vs. combination, p = 0.06). The mortality rate at 6 weeks was lowest in the rt-PA-treated patients (2.2% vs. 8.8% for APSAC and 7.2% for combination thrombolytic therapy [rt-PA vs. APSAC, p = 0.02; rt-PA vs. combination, p = 0.06]).Conclusions. Front-loaded rt-PA achieved significantly higher rates of early reperfusion and was associated with trends toward better overall clinical benefit and survival than those achieved with a standard thrombolytic agent or combination thrombolytic therapy. These findings support the concept that more rapid reperfusion of the infarct-related artery is associated with improved clinical outcome

Discovery of very high energy gamma rays from PKS 1424+240 and multiwavelength constraints on its redshift

We report the first detection of very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray emission above 140 GeV from PKS 1424+240, a BL Lac object with an unknown redshift. The photon spectrum above 140 GeV measured by VERITAS is well described by a power law with a photon index of 3.8 +- 0.5_stat +- 0.3_syst and a flux normalization at 200 GeV of (5.1 +- 0.9_stat +- 0.5_syst) x 10^{-11} TeV^-1 cm^-2 s^-1, where stat and syst denote the statistical and systematical uncertainty, respectively. The VHE flux is steady over the observation period between MJD 54881 and 55003 (2009 February 19 to June 21). Flux variability is also not observed in contemporaneous high energy observations with the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). Contemporaneous X-ray and optical data were also obtained from the Swift XRT and MDM observatory, respectively. The broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) is well described by a one-zone synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) model favoring a redshift of less than 0.1. Using the photon index measured with Fermi in combination with recent extragalactic background light (EBL) absorption models it can be concluded from the VERITAS data that the redshift of PKS 1424+240 is less than 0.66.Comment: accepted for publication, Ap

The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey: star formation in UV-luminous galaxies from their luminosity functions

We present the ultraviolet (UV) luminosity function of galaxies from the GALEX Medium Imaging Survey with measured spectroscopic redshifts from the first data release of the WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey. Our sample consists of 39 996 NUV < 22.8 emissio

Proceedings of the third international molecular pathological epidemiology (MPE) meeting

Molecular pathological epidemiology (MPE) is a transdisciplinary and relatively new scientific discipline that integrates theory, methods and resources from epidemiology, pathology, biostatistics, bioinformatics and computational biology. The underlying objective of MPE research is to better understand the etiology and progression of complex and heterogeneous human diseases with the goal of informing prevention and treatment efforts in population health and clinical medicine. Although MPE research has been commonly applied to investigating breast, lung, and colorectal cancers, its methodology can be used to study most diseases. Recent successes in MPE studies include: 1) the development of new statistical methods to address etiologic heterogeneity; 2) the enhancement of causal inference; 3) the identification of previously unknown exposure-subtype disease associations; and 4) better understanding of the role of lifestyle/behavioral factors on modifying prognosis according to disease subtype. Central challenges to MPE include the relative lack of transdisciplinary experts, educational programs, and forums to discuss issues related to the advancement of the field. To address these challenges, highlight recent successes in the field, and identify new opportunities, a series of MPE meetings have been held at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA. Herein, we share the proceedings of the Third International MPE Meeting, held in May 2016 and attended by 150 scientists from 17 countries. Special topics included integration of MPE with immunology and health disparity research. This meeting series will continue to provide an impetus to foster further transdisciplinary integration of divergent scientific fields