Evaluating Greek equity funds using data envelopment analysis

This study assesses the relative performance of Greek equity funds employing a non-parametric method, specifically Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Using an original sample of cost and operational attributes we explore the e¤ect of each variable on funds' operational efficiency for an oligopolistic and bank-dominated fund industry. Our results have significant implications for the investors' fund selection process since we are able to identify potential sources of inefficiencies for the funds. The most striking result is that the percentage of assets under management affects performance negatively, a conclusion which may be related to the structure of the domestic stock market. Furthermore, we provide evidence against the notion of funds' mean-variance efficiency

The Prevalence of Latent Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Infection Based on an Interferon-γ Release Assay: A Cross-Sectional Survey Among Urban Adults in Mwanza, Tanzania.

One third of the world's population is estimated to be latently infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (LTBI). Surveys of LTBI are rarely performed in resource poor TB high endemic countries like Tanzania although low-income countries harbor the largest burden of the worlds LTBI. The primary objective was to estimate the prevalence of LTBI in household contacts of pulmonary TB cases and a group of apparently healthy neighborhood controls in an urban setting of such a country. Secondly we assessed potential impact of LTBI on inflammation by quantitating circulating levels of an acute phase reactant: alpha-1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) in neighborhood controls. The study was nested within the framework of two nutrition studies among TB patients in Mwanza, Tanzania. Household contacts- and neighborhood controls were invited to participate. The study involved a questionnaire, BMI determination and blood samples to measure AGP, HIV testing and a Quantiferon Gold In tube (QFN-IT) test to detect signs of LTBI. 245 household contacts and 192 neighborhood controls had available QFN-IT data. Among household contacts, the proportion of QFT-IT positive was 59% compared to 41% in the neighborhood controls (p = 0.001). In a linear regression model adjusted for sex, age, CD4 and HIV, a QFT-IT positive test was associated with a 10% higher level of alpha-1-acid glycoprotein(AGP) (10(B) 1.10, 95% CI 1.01; 1.20, p = 0.03), compared to individuals with a QFT-IT negative test. LTBI is highly prevalent among apparently healthy urban Tanzanians even without known exposure to TB in the household. LTBI was found to be associated with elevated levels of AGP. The implications of this observation merit further studies

Participant- and disease-related factors as independent predictors of treatment outcomes in the RESTORE-IMI 2 clinical trial: A multivariable regression analysis

BACKGROUND: In the RESTORE-IMI 2 trial, imipenem/cilastatin/relebactam (IMI/REL) was noninferior to piperacillin/tazobactam in treating hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia/ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia. This post hoc analysis was conducted to determine independent predictors of efficacy outcomes in the RESTORE-IMI 2 trial, to assist in treatment decision making. METHODS: A stepwise multivariable regression analysis was conducted to identify variables that were independently associated with day 28 all-cause mortality (ACM), favorable clinical response at early follow-up (EFU), and favorable microbiologic response at end of treatment (EOT). The analysis accounted for the number of baseline infecting pathogens and in vitro susceptibility to randomized treatment. RESULTS: Vasopressor use, renal impairment, bacteremia at baseline, and Acute Physiologic Assessment and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II scores ≥15 were associated with a greater risk of day 28 ACM. A favorable clinical response at EFU was associated with normal renal function, an APACHE II score \u3c15, no vasopressor use, and no bacteremia at baseline. At EOT, a favorable microbiologic response was associated with IMI/REL treatment, normal renal function, no vasopressor use, nonventilated pneumonia at baseline, intensive care unit admission at randomization, monomicrobial infections at baseline, and absence of CONCLUSIONS: This analysis, which accounted for baseline pathogen susceptibility, validated well-recognized patient- and disease-related factors as independent predictors of clinical outcomes. These results lend further support to the noninferiority of IMI/REL to piperacillin/tazobactam and suggests that pathogen eradication may be more likely with IMI/REL. CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION: NCT02493764

Time, hydrologic landscape and the long‐term storage of peatland carbon in sedimentary basins

Peatland carbon may enter long‐term storage in sedimentary basins preserved as either coal or lignite. The time required to account for the carbon in 1 – 10 m thick coal seams must represent 105 to 106 years, an order of magnitude more than previously assumed. To understand the process by which this happens requires extrapolation of our understanding of peatland carbon accumulation over timescales that greatly exceed those of Holocene peat. We analyse the consequences of extrapolating peat growth to periods of 106 years. We deduce that that key to sustained peat growth are hydrologic landscapes that can maintain a saturated peat body above the level of clastic deposition. Contrary to current stratigraphic frameworks we conclude that the generation of accommodation space at low rates of 0.1 to 0.2 mm/yr can adequately accommodate thick peat accumulation over periods >105 yrs. However, generation of accommodation space at rates >0.5 mm/yr cannot. The low rates that permit accommodation of thick peat are typical of the rates of subsidence in specific tectonic settings, particularly foreland basins, and this has implications for our understanding of the links between terrestrial carbon burial, tectonics and the carbon cycle. The long‐term stability of extensive peatland required to form coal also requires sediment bypass, modifying basin wide sediment transport and deposition. Limits to peatland growth under very low accommodation rates must exist but the relative importance of the limiting process is not understood. Finally, we discuss the consequences of these factors for predicting the future of the peatland carbon reservoir

Ageing in the critical contact process: a Monte Carlo study

The long-time dynamics of the critical contact process which is brought suddenly out of an uncorrelated initial state undergoes ageing in close analogy with quenched magnetic systems. In particular, we show through Monte Carlo simulations in one and two dimensions and through mean-field theory that time-translation invariance is broken and that dynamical scaling holds. We find that the autocorrelation and autoresponse exponents lambda_{Gamma} and lambda_R are equal but, in contrast to systems relaxing to equilibrium, the ageing exponents a and b are distinct. A recent proposal to define a non-equilibrium temperature through the short-time limit of the fluctuation-dissipation ratio is therefore not applicable.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, Latex2e with IOP macros; final for

Advantages of cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) in the orthodontic treatment planning of cleidocranial dysplasia patients: a case report

Our aim was to discuss, by presenting a case, the possibilities connected to the use of a CBCT exam in the dental evaluation of patients with Cleidocranial Dysplasia (CCD), an autosomal dominant skeletal dysplasia with delayed exfoliation of deciduous and eruption of permanent teeth and multiple supernumeraries, often impacted. We think that CBCT in this patient was adequate to accurately evaluate impacted teeth position and anatomy, resulting thus useful both in the diagnostic process and in the treatment planning, with an important reduction in the radiation dose absorbed by the patient

A glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist reduces intracranial pressure in a rat model of hydrocephalus

GLP-1R agonists show promise as a therapeutic agent to lower intracranial pressure in rodents.</jats:p

Experimental assessment of inter-centre variation in stopping-power and range prediction in particle therapy

Purpose: Experimental assessment of inter-centre variation and absolute accuracy of stopping-power ratio (SPR) prediction within 17 particle therapy centres of the European Particle Therapy Network. Material and methods: A head and body phantom with seventeen tissue-equivalent materials were scanned consecutively at the participating centres using their individual clinical CT scan protocol and translated into SPR with their in-house CT-number-to-SPR conversion. Inter-centre variation and absolute accuracy in SPR prediction were quantified for three tissue groups: lung, soft tissues and bones. The integral effect on range prediction for typical clinical beams traversing different tissues was determined for representative beam paths for the treatment of primary brain tumours as well as lung and prostate cancer. Results: An inter-centre variation in SPR prediction (2 sigma) of 8.7%, 6.3% and 1.5% relative to water was determined for bone, lung and soft-tissue surrogates in the head setup, respectively. Slightly smaller variations were observed in the body phantom (6.2%, 3.1%, 1.3%). This translated into inter-centre variation of integral range prediction (2 sigma) of 2.9%, 2.6% and 1.3% for typical beam paths of prostate-, lung-and primary brain-tumour treatments, respectively. The absolute error in range exceeded 2% in every fourth participating centre. The consideration of beam hardening and the execution of an independent HLUT validation had a positive effect, on average. Conclusion: The large inter-centre variations in SPR and range prediction justify the currently clinically used margins accounting for range uncertainty, which are of the same magnitude as the inter-centre variation. This study underlines the necessity of higher standardisation in CT-number-to-SPR conversion. (C) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V