Profiteering from the Dot-com Bubble, Sub-Prime Crisis and Asian Financial Crisis

This paper explores the characteristics associated with the formation of bubbles that occurred in the Hong Kong stock market in 1997 and 2007, as well as the 2000 dot-com bubble of Nasdaq. It examines the profitability of Technical Analysis (TA) strategies generating buy and sell signals with knowing and without trading rules. The empirical results show that by applying long and short strategies during the bubble formation and short strategies after the bubble burst, it not only produces returns that are significantly greater than buy and hold strategies, but also produces greater wealth compared with TA strategies without trading rules. We conclude these bubble detection signals help investors generate greater wealth from applying appropriate long and short Moving Average (MA) strategies

A Small-Molecule Inhibitor of Mps1 Blocks the Spindle-Checkpoint Response to a Lack of Tension on Mitotic Chromosomes

SummaryThe spindle checkpoint prevents chromosome loss by preventing chromosome segregation in cells with improperly attached chromosomes [1–3]. The checkpoint senses defects in the attachment of chromosomes to the mitotic spindle [4] and the tension exerted on chromosomes by spindle forces in mitosis [5–7]. Because many cancers have defects in chromosome segregation, this checkpoint may be required for survival of tumor cells and may be a target for chemotherapy. We performed a phenotype-based chemical-genetic screen in budding yeast and identified an inhibitor of the spindle checkpoint, called cincreasin. We used a genome-wide collection of yeast gene-deletion strains and traditional genetic and biochemical analysis to show that the target of cincreasin is Mps1, a protein kinase required for checkpoint function [8]. Despite the requirement for Mps1 for sensing both the lack of microtubule attachment and tension at kinetochores, we find concentrations of cincreasin that selectively inhibit the tension-sensitive branch of the spindle checkpoint. At these concentrations, cincreasin causes lethal chromosome missegregation in mutants that display chromosomal instability. Our results demonstrate that Mps1 can be exploited as a target and that inhibiting the tension-sensitive branch of the spindle checkpoint may be a way of selectively killing cancer cells that display chromosomal instability

Total and Active Rabbit Antithymocyte Globulin (rATG;Thymoglobulin®) Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients Undergoing Unrelated Donor Bone Marrow Transplantation

AbstractRabbit antithymocyte globulin (rATG; Thymoglobulin®) is currently used to prevent or treat graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) during hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The dose and schedule of rATG as part of the preparative regimen for unrelated donor (URD) bone marrow transplantation (BMT) have not been optimized in pediatric patients. We conducted a prospective study of 13 pediatric patients with hematologic malignancies undergoing URD BMT at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital from October 2003 to March 2005, to determine the pharmacokinetics and toxicities of active and total rATG. The conditioning regimen comprised total body irradiation (TBI), thiotepa, and cyclophosphamide (Cy); cyclosporine (CsA) and methotrexate (MTX) were administered as GVHD prophylaxis. Patients received a total dose of 10 mg/kg rATG, and serial blood samples were assayed for total rATG by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and active rATG by florescein activated cell sorting (FACS). We found that our weight-based dosing regimen for rATG was effective and well tolerated by patients. The half-lives of total and active rATG were comparable to those from previous studies, and despite high doses our patients had low maximum concentrations of active and total rATG. There were no occurrences of grade iii-iv GVHD even in patients having low peak rATG levels, and the overall incidence of grade II GVHD was only 15%. None of the patients had serious infections following transplantation. These data support the use of a 10 mg/kg dose of rATG in children with hematologic malignancies because it can be administered without increasing the risk of graft rejection, or serious infection in pediatric patients with a low rate of GVHD. These conclusions may not apply to patients with nonmalignant disorders

Confucius and herding behaviour in the stock markets in China and Taiwan

It has been argued in the literature that financial markets with a Confucian background tend to exhibit herding behaviour, or correlated behavioural patterns in individuals. This paper applies the return dispersion model to investigate financial herding behaviour by examining index returns from the stock markets in China and Taiwan. The sample period is from 1 January 1999 to 31 December 2014, and the data were obtained from Thomson Reuters Datastream. Although the sample period finishes in 2014, the data are more than sufficient to test the three hypotheses relating to the stock markets in China and Taiwan, both of which have Confucian cultures. The empirical results demonstrate significant herding behaviour under both general and specified markets conditions, including bull and bear markets, and high-low trading volume states. This paper contributes to the herding literature by examining three different hypotheses regarding the stock markets in China and Taiwan, and showing that there is empirical support for these hypotheses

Confucius and herding behaviour in the stock markets in China and Taiwan

It has been argued in the literature that financial markets with a Confucian background tend to exhibit herding behaviour, or correlated behavioural patterns in individuals. This paper applies the return dispersion model to investigate financial herding behaviour by examining index returns from the stock markets in China and Taiwan. The sample period is from 1 January 1999 to 31 December 2014, and the data were obtained from Thomson Reuters Datastream. Although the sample period finishes in 2014, the data are more than sufficient to test the three hypotheses relating to the stock markets in China and Taiwan, both of which have Confucian cultures. The empirical results demonstrate significant herding behaviour under both general and specified markets conditions, including bull and bear markets, and high-low trading volume states. This paper contributes to the herding literature by examining three different hypotheses regarding the stock markets in China and Taiwan, and showing that there is empirical support for these hypotheses

Construction of a bacterial artificial chromosome library from the spikemoss Selaginella moellendorffii: a new resource for plant comparative genomics

BACKGROUND: The lycophytes are an ancient lineage of vascular plants that diverged from the seed plant lineage about 400 Myr ago. Although the lycophytes occupy an important phylogenetic position for understanding the evolution of plants and their genomes, no genomic resources exist for this group of plants. RESULTS: Here we describe the construction of a large-insert bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library from the lycophyte Selaginella moellendorffii. Based on cell flow cytometry, this species has the smallest genome size among the different lycophytes tested, including Huperzia lucidula, Diphaiastrum digita, Isoetes engelmanii and S. kraussiana. The arrayed BAC library consists of 9126 clones; the average insert size is estimated to be 122 kb. Inserts of chloroplast origin account for 2.3% of the clones. The BAC library contains an estimated ten genome-equivalents based on DNA hybridizations using five single-copy and two duplicated S. moellendorffii genes as probes. CONCLUSION: The S. moellenforffii BAC library, the first to be constructed from a lycophyte, will be useful to the scientific community as a resource for comparative plant genomics and evolution

Phase I Study of the Tolerability and Pharmacokinetics of Palifermin in Children Undergoing Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

The maximum tolerated dose of palifermin, a keratinocyte growth factor, in children is not known, and its pharmacokinetics in this population has not been well studied. This is a phase I study of palifermin was designed to evaluate its tolerability at doses of 40, 60, and 90 μg/kg/day in children age 2–18 years of age, receiving a myeloablative preparative regimen for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). In each cohort, palifermin was given for 3 consecutive days before the preparative regimen and for 3 days after the stem cell infusion. Twelve patients were enrolled. Palifermin 90 μg/kg/day was tolerated in 6 patients without dose-limiting toxicity. All patients had at least 1 adverse event, mostly National Cancer Institute grade 1 or 2 severity. Skin rash, grade 2 or lower, was the most common adverse event, seen in 67% of patients. Only 3 patients (25%) had mucositis. The area under the concentration–time curve increased proportionally to the dose, and approximately 97% of palifermin exposure occurred in the first 24 hours after administration. Palifermin clearance increased linearly with body weight, supporting dosing by body weight. The mean clearance was 1893 mL/hour/kg, and it did not change significantly between administration of the first and last doses (P =.80). The mean elimination half-life was 4.6 hours. Our data show that palifermin was tolerated at a dose of 90 μg/kg/day, and exhibits linear pharmacokinetics in children undergoing allogeneic HSCT