Pengukuran Value at Risk pada Aset Perusahaan dengan Metode Simulasi Monte Carlo

Telah dilakukan penelitian untuk mengukur Value at Risk (VaR) pada aset perusahaan PT. Indo Tambangraya Megah Tbk (ITMG), PT. Bank Mandiri Tbk (BMRI), dan PT. Astra International Tbk (ASII) serta portofolio yang dapat dibentuk oleh ketiga aset tersebut menggunakan metode simulasi Monte Carlo. Data yang digunakan adalah data return harian diperoleh dari harga penutupan (closing price) saham harian ketiga perusahaan tersebut selama periode tahun 2011. Bobot masing-masing portofolio ditentukan dengan metode Mean Variance Efficient Portofolio. Hasil pengukuran menunjukan bahwa jika dana yang diinvestasikan sebesar Rp 100.000.000,00 dengan tingkat kepercayaan 95% dengan periode adalah 1 hari, maka VaR ITMG sebesar Rp 4.103.963,33, VaR BMRI sebesar Rp 4.060.096,67, dan VaR ASII sebesar Rp 3.353.913,33. Sedangkan VaR portofolio1 (terdiri dari aset ITMG dan BMRI) adalah Rp 3.726.543,33. VaR portofolio2 (terdiri dari aset ITMG dan ASII) adalah Rp 3.233.133,33. VaR portofolio3 (terdiri dari aset BMRI dan ASII) adalah Rp 3.278.933,33. VaR portofolio4 (terdiri dari aset ITMG, BMRI, dan ASII) adalah Rp 3.218.906,67. Nilai VaR portofolio yang lebih rendah dari VaR aset tunggal disebabkan karena adanya efek diversifikasi.Research has been conducted to measure the Value at risk (VaR) at assets PT. Indo Tambangraya Megah Tbk (ITMG), PT. Bank Mandiri Tbk (BMRI), and PT. Astra International Tbk (ASII) and portfolios that can be formed by the three assets using Monte Carlo simulation method. The data used daily return data by the three assets obtained from the closing price of daily stock over a period in 2011. The weight of each portfolio is determined by the Mean Variance Efficient Portfolio method. If the funds invested amounting to Rp 100.000.000,00 with 95% confidence level and the period is 1 day, then the results from measurement VaR ITMG is Rp 4.103.963,33, VaR BMRI is Rp 4.060.096,67 and VaR ASII is Rp 3.353.913,33. While VaR portofolio1 (consists of ITMG and BMRI asset) is Rp 3.726.543,33. VaR portofolio2 (consists of ITMG and ASII asset) Rp 3.233.133,33. VaR portofolio3 (consists of BMRI and ASII asset) is Rp 3.278.933,33. VaR portofolio4 (consists of ITMG, BMRI and ASII asset) is Rp 3.218.906,67. VaR portfolios are lower than VaR of each single asset due to diversification effects

HUBUNGAN ANTARA KEBIASAAN MEROKOK DENGAN HIPERTENSI DI KOTA TOMOHON

Hipertensi merupakan penyakit berbahaya yang dikenal dengan “silent killer” dikarenakan penyakit ini biasanya tidak minimbulkan gejala peringatan sehingga banyak orang yang tidak menyadari jika memiliki penyakit ini. Salah satu faktor yang dapat menyebabkan kejadian hipertensi yaitu faktor kebiasaan merokok. Penelitian bertujuan yaitu untuk mengetahui hubungan antara kebiasaan merokok dengan hipertensi di Kelurahan Kakaskasen Tiga Kecamatan Tomohon Utara Kota Tomohon. Metode penelitian adalah penelitian survei analitik dengan desain Cross Sectional Study (Studi Potong Lintang). Penelitian dilakukan di Kelurahan Kakaskasen Tiga Kecamatan Tomohon Utara Kota Tomohon. Responden pada penelitian ini sebanyak 93 responden yang berusia antara 18-40 tahun. Pengumpulan data denganmenggunakan kuesioner untuk wawancara dan menggunakan tensimeter dan stetoskop untuk mengukur tekanan darah. Hasil uji Chi Square menunjukkan bahwa p value = 0,219 (p ˃ α = 0,05) maka penelitian ini dapat disimpulkan bahwa tidak terdapat hubungan antara kebiasaan merokok dengan hipertensi di Kelurahan Kakaskasen Tiga Kecamatan Tomohon Utara Kota Tomohon.Kata Kunci: Hipertensi, Kebiasaan MerokokABSTRACTHypertension is a dangerous disease known as the "silent killer" because this disease usually does not cause warning symptoms so many people are not aware that they have this disease. One of the factors that can cause hypertension is smoking. This study aims to determine the relationship between smoking habitsand hypertension in Kakaskasen Tiga Village, North Tomohon District, Tomohon City. The research method is an analytic survey research with a cross sectional study design. The research was conducted in Kakaskasen Tiga Village, North Tomohon District, Tomohon City. Respondents in this study were 93 respondents aged between 18-40 years. Collecting data using a questionnaire for interviews and using a sphygmomanometer and a stethoscope to measure blood pressure. The results of the Chi Square test show that p value = 0.219 (p = 0.05) so there is no relationship between smoking and hypertension. This study can be concluded that there is no relationship between smoking habits and hypertension in Kakaskasen Tiga Village, North Tomohon District, Tomohon City.Keywords: Hypertension, Smoking Habit

New fossils of Australopithecus sediba reveal a nearly complete lower back.

Adaptations of the lower back to bipedalism are frequently discussed but infrequently demonstrated in early fossil hominins. Newly discovered lumbar vertebrae contribute to a near-complete lower back of Malapa Hominin 2 (MH2), offering additional insights into posture and locomotion in Australopithecus sediba. We show that MH2 possessed a lower back consistent with lumbar lordosis and other adaptations to bipedalism, including an increase in the width of intervertebral articular facets from the upper to lower lumbar column ('pyramidal configuration'). These results contrast with some recent work on lordosis in fossil hominins, where MH2 was argued to demonstrate no appreciable lordosis ('hypolordosis') similar to Neandertals. Our three-dimensional geometric morphometric (3D GM) analyses show that MH2's nearly complete middle lumbar vertebra is human-like in overall shape but its vertebral body is somewhat intermediate in shape between modern humans and great apes. Additionally, it bears long, cranially and ventrally oriented costal (transverse) processes, implying powerful trunk musculature. We interpret this combination of features to indicate that A. sediba used its lower back in both bipedal and arboreal positional behaviors, as previously suggested based on multiple lines of evidence from other parts of the skeleton and reconstructed paleobiology of A. sediba

Effects of EpCAM overexpression on human breast cancer cell lines

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Recently, EpCAM has attracted major interest as a target for antibody- and vaccine-based cancer immunotherapies. In breast cancer, the EpCAM antigen is overexpressed in 30-40% of all cases and this increased expression correlates with poor prognosis. The use of EpCAM-specific monoclonal antibodies is a promising treatment approach in these patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In order to explore molecular changes following EpCAM overexpression, we investigated changes of the transcriptome upon EpCAM gene expression in commercially available human breast cancer cells lines Hs578T and MDA-MB-231. To assess cell proliferation, a tetrazolium salt based assay was performed. A TCF/LEF Reporter Kit was used to measure the transcriptional activity of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. To evaluate the accumulation of β-catenin in the nucleus, a subcellular fractionation assay was performed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>For the first time we could show that expression profiling data of EpCAM transfected cell lines Hs578T^EpCAMand MDA-MB-231^EpCAMindicate an association of EpCAM overexpression with the downregulation of the Wnt signaling inhibitors SFRP1 and TCF7L2. Confirmation of increased Wnt signaling was provided by a TCF/LEF reporter kit and by the finding of the nuclear accumulation of ß-catenin for MDA-MB-231^EpCAMbut not Hs578T^EpCAMcells. In Hs578T cells, an increase of proliferation and chemosensitivity to Docetaxel was associated with EpCAM overexpression.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These data show a cell type dependent modification of Wnt signaling components after EpCAM overexpression in breast cancer cell lines, which results in marginal functional changes. Further investigations on the interaction of EpCAM with SFRP1 and TCF7L2 and on additional factors, which may be causal for changes upon EpCAM overexpression, will help to characterize unique molecular properties of EpCAM-positive breast cancer cells.</p

Cellular and complement-dependent cytotoxicity of Ep-CAM-specific monoclonal antibody MT201 against breast cancer cell lines

MT201 is a fully human monoclonal IgG1 antibody with moderate affinity for epithelial cell adhesion molecule (Ep-CAM) being clinically developed for the treatment of carcinomas. Like many other clinically validated IgG1 monoclonal antibodies, MT201 primarily acts by antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC). Here, we analysed ADCC and CDC induced by MT201 and, as reference, trastuzumab against a panel of nine human breast cancer cell lines expressing distinct surface levels of Ep-CAM and human epithelial growth factor receptor type 2 antigen. Maximal cell lysis by ADCC by MT201 and trastuzumab in the presence of peripheral mononuclear cells did not significantly differ when averaged over the nine cell lines, but showed marked differences with respect to individual cell lines. The extent of cell lysis at intermediate surface target density was highly variable, suggesting a dominant influence of other susceptibility factors. Only one breast cancer cell line was eliminated via CDC, but only by MT201. Resistance to CDC appeared to correlate with high expression levels of complement resistance factors. Our present data as well as recent data on the prevalence and prognostic relevance of Ep-CAM expression in metastatic breast cancer suggest that Ep-CAM-specific monoclonal IgG1 antibodies may have a significant therapeutic potential in the treatment of breast cancer

Entorhinal Denervation Induces Homeostatic Synaptic Scaling of Excitatory Postsynapses of Dentate Granule Cells in Mouse Organotypic Slice Cultures

Denervation-induced changes in excitatory synaptic strength were studied following entorhinal deafferentation of hippocampal granule cells in mature (≥3 weeks old) mouse organotypic entorhino-hippocampal slice cultures. Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings revealed an increase in excitatory synaptic strength in response to denervation during the first week after denervation. By the end of the second week synaptic strength had returned to baseline. Because these adaptations occurred in response to the loss of excitatory afferents, they appeared to be in line with a homeostatic adjustment of excitatory synaptic strength. To test whether denervation-induced changes in synaptic strength exploit similar mechanisms as homeostatic synaptic scaling following pharmacological activity blockade, we treated denervated cultures at 2 days post lesion for 2 days with tetrodotoxin. In these cultures, the effects of denervation and activity blockade were not additive, suggesting that similar mechanisms are involved. Finally, we investigated whether entorhinal denervation, which removes afferents from the distal dendrites of granule cells while leaving the associational afferents to the proximal dendrites of granule cells intact, results in a global or a local up-scaling of granule cell synapses. By using computational modeling and local electrical stimulations in Strontium (Sr2+)-containing bath solution, we found evidence for a lamina-specific increase in excitatory synaptic strength in the denervated outer molecular layer at 3–4 days post lesion. Taken together, our data show that entorhinal denervation results in homeostatic functional changes of excitatory postsynapses of denervated dentate granule cells in vitro

Frequent high-level expression of the immunotherapeutic target Ep-CAM in colon, stomach, prostate and lung cancers

Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (Ep-CAM; CD326) is used as a target by many immunotherapeutic approaches, but little data are available about Ep-CAM expression in major human malignancies with respect to level, frequency, tumour stage, grade, histologic tumour type and impact on survival. We analysed by immunohistochemical staining tissue microarrays with 4046 primary human carcinoma samples from colon, stomach, prostate and lung cancers for both frequency and intensity of Ep-CAM expression under highly standardised conditions. A total of 3360 samples were analysable. High-level Ep-CAM expression was observed in 97.7% (n=1186) of colon, 90.7% of gastric (n=473), and 87.2% of prostate cancers (n=414), and in 63.9% of lung cancers (n=1287). No detectable Ep-CAM staining was found with only 0.4% of colon, 2.5% of gastric, 1.9% of prostate cancers, and 13.5% of lung cancers. The only significant correlation of Ep-CAM expression with tumour grading was observed in colon cancer where high-level Ep-CAM expression on grade 3 tumours was down to 92.1% (P<0.0001). Adenosquamous and squamous carcinomas of the lung had a lower percentage of high-level Ep-CAM expression compared to adenocarcinomas with 35.4 and 53.6%, respectively, and with 45.5 and 17.3% of tumours being Ep-CAM negative. With the exception of moderately differentiated colon carcinoma, where patients not expressing Ep-CAM on their tumours showed an inferior survival (P=0.0014), correlation of Ep-CAM expression with survival did not reach statistical significance for any of the other cancer indications and subgroups. In conclusion, the data strongly support the notion that Ep-CAM is a prime target for immunotherapies in major human malignancies. This is because the most common human cancers show (i) a low frequency of Ep-CAM-negative tumours, (ii) a high frequency of Ep-CAM expression on cells of a given tumour, and (iii) for most cancers, an insignificant influence of tumour staging, grading and histology on Ep-CAM expression

An overview of tissue engineering approaches for management of spinal cord injuries

Severe spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to devastating neurological deficits and disabilities, which necessitates spending a great deal of health budget for psychological and healthcare problems of these patients and their relatives. This justifies the cost of research into the new modalities for treatment of spinal cord injuries, even in developing countries. Apart from surgical management and nerve grafting, several other approaches have been adopted for management of this condition including pharmacologic and gene therapy, cell therapy, and use of different cell-free or cell-seeded bioscaffolds. In current paper, the recent developments for therapeutic delivery of stem and non-stem cells to the site of injury, and application of cell-free and cell-seeded natural and synthetic scaffolds have been reviewed