Russia–Ukraine crisis: The effects on the European stock market

We examine the effect of the Russia–Ukraine crisis on the European stock markets. Because of increased political uncertainty, geographic proximity and the ramifications of the fresh sanctions imposed on Russia, the European stock markets tended to react negatively to this crisis. We find that on 21 February 2022, when Russia recognized two Ukrainian states as autonomous regions, European stocks incurred a significant negative abnormal return. Moreover, the negative stock price reactions continued in the post-event period. The magnitude of the stock price reactions to this crisis exhibits considerable variation across industries, countries and size of the company.© 2022 The Authors. European Financial Management, published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution‐NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

The impact of the Russia-Ukraine crisis on the stock market : Evidence from Australia

This paper investigates the effect of the Russia–Ukraine crisis on the Australian stock market. Using the event study methodology, we find significantly negative abnormal returns on the event date (i.e., the first trading day after Russia recognized the two Ukrainian states as autonomous regions) in the Australian stock market. However, this negative stock market reaction mostly disappeared in the post-event period. We also find that small and medium-sized firms were adversely affected during the pre-event and event periods. Interestingly, the magnitude and the direction of the abnormal returns vary across industries. We also find that high-growth, illiquid and export-oriented firms are more exposed to the Russia–Ukraine crisis.© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Vitamin D supplementation on prediabetic adults with vitamin D deficiency: a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial

Hypovitaminosis D (<20 ng/mL) is thought to increase insulin resistance and meta-inflammation contributing to the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus (DM). Correcting vitamin D deficiency in people with prediabetes might halt its progression to DM. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of vitamin D supplementation on insulin resistance, glycemic status, and inflammation in prediabetic adults with vitamin D deficiency. This doubleblind randomized placebo-controlled trial was done among 27 newly detected prediabetic adults with hypovitaminosis D randomly assigned to 60,000 IU of vitamin D weekly for eight weeks followed by monthly for the next four months or placebo along with lifestyle modification in both groups [vitamin D (n= 14) vs. Placebo (n=13). They were comparable in terms of sex, age and borlymass index. Glycemic status, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and Hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C), insulin resistance (homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and inflammatory marker high sensitivity C reactive protein (hs-CRP) were measured at baseline and after six months of intervention. Vitamin D levels (ng/mL) increased in both groups from baseline (vitamin D vs. placebo: 12.2±5.9 vs. 3.9±3.5, mean±SD). FPG (mmol/L) significantly decreased in the Vitamin D group (before vs. after: 5.9±0.6 vs. 5.5±0.7, P=0.016, mean±SD), whereas HbA1C (%) and hs- CRP (mg/L) significantly increased in the placebo group (before vs. after- HbA1C: 5.8±0.3 vs. 6.0±0.4, P<0.001; hs-CRP: 5.0±4.4 vs. 5.6±4.9, P=0.039, mean±SD). Percent changes in glycemic status, HOMA-IR, and hs-CRP were statistically similar between the groups. Our study failed to demonstrate the positive effects of vitamin D supplementation on reducing glucose, insulin resistance, or inflammatory marker in prediabetic adult patients with hypovitaminosis D. BSMMU J 2022; 15(3): 167-17

Biological activity of Mesua ferrea (Nageswar) seed extracts: An in vitro and in silico study

Overuse of antimicrobial drugs has led to selective resistance to existing antibiotics, necessitating the development of different and improved alternatives. Natural substances, particularly those derived from plants, are well-known for their therapeutic characteristics, including antibacterial and antifungal properties. Over the last decade, several pharmacological investigations on medicinal plants have been carried out based on their traditional uses in complementary therapies. In our current study, we have evaluated the pharmacological properties of Mesua ferrea seed ethanolic extract. To test their antioxidant properties, a 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH)-radical scavenging activity test was performed. Using the agar well diffusion method, the antimicrobial activity of ethanolic extracts of M. ferra seed was investigated against four bacteria such as Salmonella typhi, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. The ethanol extract of M. ferra seed was shown to be efficient against gram positive and gram-negative bacteria in this investigation, although Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli. Demonstrated resistance to this extract. The results revealed that gram positive bacteria were more sensitive than gram negative bacteria to the ethanolic extract of M. ferra seed at all concentrations utilized (from 20 μL to 100 μL). The lowest inhibition zone was produced by a dose of 20 μL with an inhibition zone equal to 11 mm and 14.33 mm, while the maximum inhibition zone was produced by a high concentration of 100 μL with an inhibition zone 19.33 mm and 18 mm against Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus respectively. Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) was performed to identify the compounds in the extract to determine their pharmacological effects and then we performed in-silico experiments to determine the biological activity of the compounds. We have concluded from the study that M. ferrea seed can be a potential source for lead compound development

Epidemiology and outcomes of hospital-acquired bloodstream infections in intensive care unit patients: the EUROBACT-2 international cohort study

Purpose In the critically ill, hospital-acquired bloodstream infections (HA-BSI) are associated with significant mortality. Granular data are required for optimizing management, and developing guidelines and clinical trials. Methods We carried out a prospective international cohort study of adult patients (≥ 18 years of age) with HA-BSI treated in intensive care units (ICUs) between June 2019 and February 2021. Results 2600 patients from 333 ICUs in 52 countries were included. 78% HA-BSI were ICU-acquired. Median Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score was 8 [IQR 5; 11] at HA-BSI diagnosis. Most frequent sources of infection included pneumonia (26.7%) and intravascular catheters (26.4%). Most frequent pathogens were Gram-negative bacteria (59.0%), predominantly Klebsiella spp. (27.9%), Acinetobacter spp. (20.3%), Escherichia coli (15.8%), and Pseudomonas spp. (14.3%). Carbapenem resistance was present in 37.8%, 84.6%, 7.4%, and 33.2%, respectively. Difficult-to-treat resistance (DTR) was present in 23.5% and pan-drug resistance in 1.5%. Antimicrobial therapy was deemed adequate within 24 h for 51.5%. Antimicrobial resistance was associated with longer delays to adequate antimicrobial therapy. Source control was needed in 52.5% but not achieved in 18.2%. Mortality was 37.1%, and only 16.1% had been discharged alive from hospital by day-28. Conclusions HA-BSI was frequently caused by Gram-negative, carbapenem-resistant and DTR pathogens. Antimicrobial resistance led to delays in adequate antimicrobial therapy. Mortality was high, and at day-28 only a minority of the patients were discharged alive from the hospital. Prevention of antimicrobial resistance and focusing on adequate antimicrobial therapy and source control are important to optimize patient management and outcomes