Should hedge funds be regulated?

The rapid growth of the hedge fund industry has attracted increasing attention from government regulators. In the United States, for example, the Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC) voted in October 2004 to require many hedge funds to officially register with the Commission beginning in 2006. Actions such as this have led to a widening debate over whether(or to what extent) government should play a role in the development of the hedge fund industry. To address this issue, The Program on Alternative Investments at Columbia Business School's Center on Japanese Economy and Business sponsored a symposium entitled "Should Hedge Funds Be Regulated?" which was held at New York's University Club in November 2004. U.S. SEC Commissioner Harvey Goldschmid, currently on leave from Columbia Law School, delivered the keynote speech, arguing in favor of the Commission's October decision. Following Commissioner Goldschmid's address, Program Director Mark Mason moderated a panel of leading experts from the business, government, and academic communities who debated the pros and cons of government involvement in the industry. These panelists included Franklin Edwards, Arthur F. Burns Professor of Free and Competitive Enterprise at Columbia Business School; John Gaine, President of the Managed Funds Association, a leading hedge fund industry group; Sudhir Krishnamurthi, Managing Director of Rock Creek Capital, a Washington, D.C.-based fund of hedge funds; and Nobuyuki Kinoshita, Director at the Financial Services Agency of Japan.This report covers the keynote address by Commissioner Goldschmid, together with the remarks of the expert panelists and selected exchanges with the audience. Columbia Business School Dean Glenn Hubbard and Center on Japanese Economy and Business Director Hugh Patrick delivered opening remarks, which are also reproduced in this report

Are Dietary Bioactives Ready for Recommended Intakes?12

Research has shown that numerous dietary bioactive components that are not considered essential may still be beneficial to health. The dietary reference intake (DRI) process has been applied to nonessential nutrients, such as fiber, yet the majority of bioactive components await a recommended intake. Despite a plethora of new research over the past several years on the health effects of bioactives, it is possible that the field may never reach a point where the current DRI framework is suitable for these food components. If bioactives are to move toward dietary guidance, they will likely require an alternative path to get there

Strategies to optimize the impact of nutritional surveys and epidemiological studies

The development of nutrition and health guidelines and policies requires reliable scientific information. Unfortunately, theoretical considerations and empirical evidence indicate that a large percentage of science-based claims rely on studies that fail to replicate. The session "Strategies to Optimize the Impact of Nutrition Surveys and Epidemiological Studies" focused on the elements of design, interpretation, and communication of nutritional surveys and epidemiological studies to enhance and encourage the production of reliable, objective evidence for use in developing dietary guidance for the public. The speakers called for more transparency of research, raw data, consistent data-staging techniques, and improved data analysis. New approaches to collecting data are urgently needed to increase the credibility and utility of findings from nutrition epidemiological studies. Such studies are critical for furthering our knowledge and understanding of the effects of diet on health

Rhetorical Transformations in Multimodal Advertising Texts: From General to Local Degree Zero

The use of rhetoric in advertising research has been steadily gaining momentum since the 1980’s. Coupled with an increased interest in multimodality and the multiple interactions among verbal, pictorial and auditory registers, as structural components of an ad filmic text, the hermeneutic tools furnished by traditional rhetoric have been expanded and elaborated. This paper addresses the fundamental question of how ad filmic texts assume signification from a multimodal rhetorical point of view, by engaging in a fruitful dialogue with various research streams within the wider semiotic discipline and consumer research. By critically addressing the context of analysis of a multimodal ad text in the course of the argumentation deployed by different approaches, such as Social Semiotics (Kress/Leeuwen 2001), Film Semiotics (i.e. Metz 1982, Carroll 1980, Branigan 1982), Visual Semiotics (i.e. Sonesson 2008; 2010, Eco 1972;1976;1986, Groupe " 1992), Consumer Research (i.e. Mick/McQuarrie 1999; 2004, Philips 2003, Scott 1994), the relative merits of a structuralist approach that prioritizes the distinction between local and general degree zero, as put forward by Groupe " (1992), are highlighted. Furthermore, the modes whereby rhetorical transformations are enacted are outlined, with view to deepening the conceptual tackling of degree zero of signification, while addressing its applicability to branding discourse and multimodal ad texts

Riociguat treatment in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension: Final safety data from the EXPERT registry

Objective: The soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator riociguat is approved for the treatment of adult patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and inoperable or persistent/recurrent chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) following Phase

Right heart and pulmonary vessels structure and function

The right ventricle (RV) can be described in terms of 3 components: the inlet, the apex, and the infundibulum. In the normal adult, the RV shows an arrangement suited for pumping blood against low resistance, with a mass about one sixth that of left ventricle (LV) mass, and a larger volume than the LV. The RV is able to manage a progressive increase in the afterload by increasing contractility and remodeling. The gold standard measurement of contractility is maximal elastance (Emax), or the ratio between end-systolic pressure (ESP) and end-systolic volume (ESV), and the best measurement of afterload is arterial elastance (Ea), or the ratio between ESP and stroke volume (SV). The ratio Emax/Ea defines RV-arterial coupling. The optimal energy transfer from the RV to the pulmonary circulation is measured at Emax/Ea ratios of 1.5-2. In the presence of pulmonary hypertension, the SV/ESV ratio may be an acceptable surrogate of Emax/Ea. The right atrium (RA) has 3 anatomical components: the appendage, the venous part, and the vestibule. It is a dynamic structure having different functions: reservoir, conduit, and booster pump function. In case of increased afterload, the RA is enlarged, denoting high RA pressure, as a consequence of elevated RV diastolic pressure. RA area is a strong predictor of adverse clinical outcome in pulmonary arterial hypertension. In patients with severe pulmonary hypertension, in several congenital heart diseases, and in Eisenmenger syndrome, symptoms and prognosis are greatly dependent on RV function and its ability to adapt to a chronic increase in afterload.SCOPUS: ar.jFLWINinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Hutchins improved: being an almanack and ephemeris ... for the year of our Lord 1795 ... [electronic resource] : By John Nathan Hutchins, philom.

Hutchins died in 1782, and the calculator of the present almanac is Andrew Beers. The calculations in the ephemeris and for the moon's rising and setting are identical (except for a few misprints in January) with those in his Beers's almanac and ephemeris for 1795, published at Hartford. The other columns of calculations vary to a degree reflecting the difference in meridian between Hartford and New York. Most of the astronomical and horological notes on the calendar pages of Beers are repeated in Hutchins, with some slight differences in the times given.The Anatomy is the only illustration.Printer's advertisement, p. [3].Signatures: [A]p4s Bp2s C-Fp4sEvans,Drake, M. Almanacs,Electronic reproduction.English Short Title Catalog,Reproduction of original from Boston Public Library

Strategies to optimize the impact of nutritional surveys and epidemiological studies.

The development of nutrition and health guidelines and policies requires reliable scientific information. Unfortunately, theoretical considerations and empirical evidence indicate that a large percentage of science-based claims rely on studies that fail to replicate. The session "Strategies to Optimize the Impact of Nutrition Surveys and Epidemiological Studies" focused on the elements of design, interpretation, and communication of nutritional surveys and epidemiological studies to enhance and encourage the production of reliable, objective evidence for use in developing dietary guidance for the public. The speakers called for more transparency of research, raw data, consistent data-staging techniques, and improved data analysis. New approaches to collecting data are urgently needed to increase the credibility and utility of findings from nutrition epidemiological studies. Such studies are critical for furthering our knowledge and understanding of the effects of diet on health