Intervention, exchange-rate volatility, and the stable paretian distribution

A look at whether the United States' decision to cease intervention after March 1981 had a perceptible influence on the day-to-day behavior of exchange rates, using the stable paretian distribution.Foreign exchange rates ; Foreign exchange - Law and legislation

Genomic insights into the overlap between psychiatric disorders: implications for research and clinical practice

Psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder are common and result in significant morbidity and mortality. Although currently classified into distinct disorder categories, they show clinical overlap and familial co-aggregation, and share genetic risk factors. Recent advances in psychiatric genomics have provided insight into the potential mechanisms underlying the overlap between these disorders, implicating genes involved in neurodevelopment, synaptic plasticity, learning and memory. Furthermore, evidence from copy number variant, exome sequencing and genome-wide association studies supports a gradient of neurodevelopmental psychopathology indexed by mutational load or mutational severity, and cognitive impairment. These findings have important implications for psychiatric research, highlighting the need for new approaches to stratifying patients for research. They also point the way for work aiming to advance our understanding of the pathways from genotype to clinical phenotype, which will be required in order to inform new classification systems and to develop novel therapeutic strategies

United States Regulation of Stem Cell Research: Recasting Government\u27s Role and Questions to Be Resolved

This article directly addresses the stem cell controversy, but also the broader history and norms regarding the roles of federal and state government in U.S. science research funding

The Dynamics of Abell 2125

We present 371 galaxy velocities in the field of the very rich cluster Abell 2125 (z~0.25). These were determined using optical spectroscopy collected over several years from both the WIYN 3.5m telescope and NOAO Mayall 4m telescope. Prior studies at a variety of wavelengths (radio, optical, and X-ray) have indicated that A2125 is a likely cluster-cluster merger, a scenario which we are able to test using our large velocity database. We identified 224 cluster galaxies, which were subjected to a broad range of statistical tests using both positional and velocity information to evaluate the cluster dynamics and substructure. The tests confirmed the presence of substructures within the Abell 2125 system at high significance, demonstrating that A2125 is a complex dynamical system. Comparison of the test results with existing simulations strengthens the merger hypothesis, and provides clues about the merger geometry and stage. The merger model for the system can reconcile A2125's low X-ray temperature and luminosity with its apparently high richness, and might also explain A2125's high fraction of active galaxies identified in prior radio and optical studies.Comment: 34 pages, including tables and 3 color figures; to appear in Ap

“Couch-to-5k or Couch to Ouch to Couch!?” Who Takes Part in Beginner Runner Programmes in the UK and Is Non-Completion Linked to Musculoskeletal Injury?

Physical activity has mental and physical health benefits, however globally, three-quarters of the population do not meet physical activity guidelines. The Couch-to-5k is a beginner runners pro-gramme aimed at increasing physical activity. However, this programme lacks an evidence-base and it is unclear who is attracted to the programme, plus running has a high rate of musculoskel-etal (MSK) injuries. The aims of this study were to identify the characteristics of people taking part, the incidence of MSK injuries and to explore the experiences of people who dropped out of a modified 9-week Couch-to-5k programme. 110 runners (average age was 47.1±13.7 years) partic-ipated in the study which involved completion of questionnaires (running experience and foot-wear information, quality of life (EQ-5D-5L), physical activity level (IPAQ-short form), MSK inju-ry history and knee condition (SNAPPS and KOOS-PS)) at the start, middle and end of the pro-gramme collecting socio-demographics (age, gender, social economic status, relationship status, education level), body mass index, running experience , footwear information, quality of life, physical activity levels, MSK injuries and knee condition. Fifteen drop-outs were interviewed to explore experiences of the programme. Runners were mainly females (81.8%) with an average age 47.1-year-olds, average body mass index of 28.1kg.m2, mainly from high socio-economic lev-els, married and educated to degree level. 64% of the sample had previous running experience and were classified as active. Half the sample self-reported pain / discomfort and 37.2% reported anxiety / depression at the start of the programme via the EQ-5D-5L scale. Self-reported health scores increased (p = 0.047) between baseline (73.1±18.8 out of 100) and at the midpoint (81.2±11.6) but were no significant differences between any other time points (end point 79.7±17.5, p>0.05). Twenty-one injuries were reported during the programme (19%). Previous in-jury increased the risk of new injury (OR 7.56 95% CI 2.06 to 27.75). Only 27.3% completed the programme. Three themes emerged from interviews; MSK injury, negative emotions linked to non-completion and design of the programme. The Couch-to-5k may not attract diverse inactive populations, future work with larger sample sizes is needed to substantiate this finding. Drop-ping out was linked to MSK injury and progressive design, future programmes should consider including injury prevention advice and more flexible designs