INVESTMENT IDEAS IN A VOLATILE ENVIRONMENT - A STUDY CASE FOR THE 2012 SOCIETY

The year 2011 has proven to be a highly volatile year, especially if we take into account the Eurozone crisis. Even so, the year 2011 has proved to be a year in which great opportunities were created, as well. Our article “Investment Ideas in a Volatile Environment - A Study Case for the 2012 Society” starts by presenting both the strong and the weak points of the year 2011, in terms of assets markets and net results, continuing with the general outlook of the year 2012 and putting a strong emphasis on the investment ideas for 2012. In our study we are going to describe the opportunities that exist in the year 2012, providing answers to questions such as: what equities should investors focus on, what changes can be predicted in terms of foreign exchange market, what will the evolution of the commodities be like, how will the evolution of different types of currencies look like

Design and baseline characteristics of the finerenone in reducing cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in diabetic kidney disease trial

Background: Among people with diabetes, those with kidney disease have exceptionally high rates of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality and progression of their underlying kidney disease. Finerenone is a novel, nonsteroidal, selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist that has shown to reduce albuminuria in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) while revealing only a low risk of hyperkalemia. However, the effect of finerenone on CV and renal outcomes has not yet been investigated in long-term trials. Patients and Methods: The Finerenone in Reducing CV Mortality and Morbidity in Diabetic Kidney Disease (FIGARO-DKD) trial aims to assess the efficacy and safety of finerenone compared to placebo at reducing clinically important CV and renal outcomes in T2D patients with CKD. FIGARO-DKD is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, event-driven trial running in 47 countries with an expected duration of approximately 6 years. FIGARO-DKD randomized 7,437 patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate >= 25 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and albuminuria (urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio >= 30 to <= 5,000 mg/g). The study has at least 90% power to detect a 20% reduction in the risk of the primary outcome (overall two-sided significance level alpha = 0.05), the composite of time to first occurrence of CV death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for heart failure. Conclusions: FIGARO-DKD will determine whether an optimally treated cohort of T2D patients with CKD at high risk of CV and renal events will experience cardiorenal benefits with the addition of finerenone to their treatment regimen. Trial Registration: EudraCT number: 2015-000950-39; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02545049

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Correction to: Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

From Errors Treatment to Exceptions Treatment Regarding the Execution Control over Visual Basic Programs

In order to comply with the quality standards and with the best practices, the execution of the professional programs must be rigorously controlled so that to avoid occurrence of unpredictable situations that might generate anomalies and could lead to computer blockage, forced termination of the execution and data loss. In traditional programming languages, including Visual Basic 6, the concept of error is extremely evolved. It is considered as error any situation in which the program fails to execute correctly, regardless if such anomaly is generated by a software or hardware cause. Nowadays the modern platforms, including VB.NET have introduced a new concept: exception. Unfortunately, perhaps by mistake, exception is assimilated by many IT specialists as an exceptional (extraordinary) situation or a rare situation.We agree with the opinion of those IT specialists asserting that error is strictly dependant on the programmer, when he/she fails in correctly generating the application’s structures, whilst exception is a situation not fitting in the usual natural execution or as desired by the programmer or user, without meaning that it occurs more often or more rarely.Designing robust programs implies for such not to terminate abnormally or block, not even upon receiving improper parameters. Two aspects are referred to: the behavior regarding low level errors (caused by the operation system, memory allocation, reading/writing in files or hardware malfunctions) and the reaction to the user’s errors, such as providing incorrect input data or incorrect use of operations in respect with their sequences. Notwithstanding what platform is used in designing the programs and regardless the controversy between the specialists, in order for the execution to be terminated under the program’s control, the commands that might generate anomalies and interruptions should be strictly monitored. Implicitly, the execution control should be handed over to specialized procedures, able to analyze the causes generating the anomaly and to launch into execution the most adequate remedy processes, or, as a last resort, to allow for the controlled termination of the program. These elements that are specific to Visual Basic programming are unitarily and systematically presented both by the traditional unstructured approach of errors and by the modern vision of structured exceptions’ approach, finally emphasizing the uncontestable advantages of the .NET platform

The Entrepreneur`s Role in the Performance Growth of the Financial Audit Activity in Romania

For the study of entrepreneurship, a cornerstone of modern competitive economy, perhaps there is no liberal profession better suited to be analysed than the financial audit. The financial auditor is meant to be an entrepreneur, to take his destiny into his own hands, because, in order to be independent, a demand induced by the ethical code provides that he cannot work as an employee of his services’ users. This paper proposes a research for identifying and presenting the entrepreneur’s role in the performance growth in the financial audit. The main objective of the conducted research is to present an overview of the entrepreneurship environment, to identify opportunities and challenges faced by the entrepreneur involved in the financial auditing of the level of development reached by the auditing market in Romania, by analysing representative statistical indicators in the market development and financial management of the audit activity. The proposed research methodology focuses on the collection, processing and analysis of statistical data on entrepreneurship of financial audit activity, based on official data published by the Chamber of Financial Auditors of Romania (CAFR), and on the identification of the main factors leading to the development of supply and demand of financial auditing and of the shortcomings the financial audit contractor involved in his own surveys is facing. Being a fairly new regulated profession, I had the privilege to analyse the developments in the entrepreneurship activity of the financial audit market for the entire period of existence: 1999-2013, showing the dynamic structure of supply and demand of financial auditing, the development and characteristics of the business environment during the period under review, the specificity of the financial audit entrepreneurship and I could outline a sketch of the entrepreneur involved in the financial audit activity. The research results show that the number of financial auditors, individuals and legal entities, had experienced a continuous growth, reflecting on one hand the attraction for the new profession and, on the other hand the role of modelling highlighted of the new professions, especially, the effects of organizational or regulatory measures such as the introduction of the three years stage in 2002, or the ability to harness the social and economic entrepreneurial opportunities induced by the economic and financial crisis, which imposed the necessity of audit entities to be subject to restructuring, or else becoming insolvent. The major role of entrepreneurship in developing the financial audit activity in Romania is revealed by empowering entrepreneurs, auditors, able to contribute to the growth and diversification of demand, audits reaching from 197 in 2001 to 6,588 in 2013. The research analyses in the end the dynamics of performance in audit work by defining specific performance indicators which show, synthetically, the entrepreneur`s role in the improvement of the financial audit activity, and the growth of its performance