1,382 research outputs found
Roundtable discussion: reflection on twenty years of bank regulatory reform
In 1986 the American Bankers Association asked five banking academics to assess and recommend policy options to improve the banking system's efficiency, performance, and safety. The report these five economists produced, Perspectives on Safe and Sound Banking: Past, Present, and Future, has in many ways served as a roadmap for ensuing bank regulatory reforms. In this roundtable discussion, each of the five authors reflects on the past twenty years and the current status of the banking industry and, in some cases, shares thoughts about the industry's future direction.Banks and banking ; Bank supervision
The Lady Be Good: A Case Study in Radio Frequency Direction Finders, with Supplemental Material for On-Line Appendix
Understanding Super-Earths with MINERVA-Australis at USQ's Mount Kent Observatory
Super Earths, planets between 5-10 Earth masses, are the most common type of
exoplanet known, yet are completely absent from our Solar system. As a result,
their detailed properties, compositions, and formation mechanisms are poorly
understood. NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will identify
hundreds of Super-Earths orbiting bright stars, for the first time allowing
in-depth characterisation of these planets. At the University of Southern
Queensland, we are host to the MINERVA-Australis project, dedicated wholly to
the follow-up characterisation and mass measurement of TESS planets. We give an
update on the status of MINERVA-Australis and our expected performance.Comment: Accepted to appear in the peer-reviewed proceedings of the 17th
Australian Space Research Conference, held at the University of Sydney,
13th-15th November, 201
Truly eccentric. II. When can two circular planets mimic a single eccentric orbit?
When, in the course of searching for exoplanets, sparse sampling and noisy
data make it necessary to disentangle possible solutions to the observations,
one must consider the possibility that what appears to be a single eccentric
Keplerian signal may in reality be attributed to two planets in near-circular
orbits. There is precedent in the literature for such outcomes, whereby further
data or new analysis techniques reveal hitherto occulted signals. Here, we
perform suites of simulations to explore the range of possible two-planet
configurations that can result in such confusion. We find that a single
Keplerian orbit with 0.5 can virtually never be mimicked by such deceptive
system architectures. This result adds credibility to the most eccentric
planets that have been found to date, and suggests that it could well be worth
revisiting the catalogue of moderately eccentric 'confirmed' exoplanets in the
coming years, as more data become available, to determine whether any such
deceptive couplets are hidden in the observational data.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA
Self-reported effectiveness and physician consultation rate in users of over-the-counter histamine-2 receptor antagonists
Decreased physician visits for dyspepsia were predicted with the histamine-2 receptor antagonists (H2RA) release to over-the-counter (OTC) status. The aim of this study was to examine the presentation frequency for dyspeptic complaints before and after the OTC release of the H2RA and the self-reported effectiveness of OTC H2RA. METHODS : Two cross-sectional surveys were used in a community sample. The patients comprised a random age- and sex-stratified sample of 1600 ambulatory adults in 1993 and 1800 in 1997. Self-report, valid mail surveys gathered information on healthcare seeking and gastrointestinal symptoms in 1993 and 1997 and antisecretory use in 1997. RESULTS : Presentation frequency for dyspepsia was 22% in 1993 versus 23.5% in 1997. Only 16% of chronic users of the OTC H2RA obtained complete relief of symptomatic episodes. Use of an OTC H2RA was highly associated with presentation to a physician in the past year. CONCLUSIONS : OTC H2RA infrequently provided the complete relief desired by patients. Presentation frequency to physicians for dyspeptic complaints did not change with availability of H2RA OTC.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72813/1/j.1572-0241.2001.03602.x.pd
Special Problems in Civil Procedure - Complex Litigation
Organization and Presentation of a Complex Case lecture given by Francis H. Hare Jr., a partner in the law firm of Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton, in Birmingham, Alabama.
Judicial Management of Complex Cases lecture given by the Honorable Robert M. Parker, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
Complex Litigation in the Public Sector lecture given by Gerald A. Connell, a member of the firm of Baker & Hostetler, in Washington, D.C.
The Future of Complex Litigation lecture given by Mary Kay Kane, academic dean and Professor of Law at Hastings College of Law, University of California
Integrase-deficient lentiviral vectors mediate efficient gene transfer to human vascular smooth muscle cells with minimal genotoxic risk
We have previously shown that injury-induced neointima formation was rescued by adenoviral-Nogo-B gene delivery. Integrase-competent lentiviral vectors (ICLV) are efficient at gene delivery to vascular cells but present a risk of insertional mutagenesis. Conversely, integrase-deficient lentiviral vectors (IDLV) offer additional benefits through reduced mutagenesis risk, but this has not been evaluated in the context of vascular gene transfer. Here, we have investigated the performance and genetic safety of both counterparts in primary human vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) and compared gene transfer efficiency and assessed the genotoxic potential of ICLVs and IDLVs based on their integration frequency and insertional profile in the human genome. Expression of enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) mediated by IDLVs (IDLV-eGFP) demonstrated efficient transgene expression in VSMCs. IDLV gene transfer of Nogo-B mediated efficient overexpression of Nogo-B in VSMCs, leading to phenotypic effects on VSMC migration and proliferation, similar to its ICLV version and unlike its eGFP control and uninfected VSMCs. Large-scale integration site analyses in VSMCs indicated that IDLV-mediated gene transfer gave rise to a very low frequency of genomic integration compared to ICLVs, revealing a close-to-random genomic distribution in VSMCs. This study demonstrates for the first time the potential of IDLVs for safe and efficient vascular gene transfer
Cohesin is required for long-range enhancer action at the Shh locus
The regulatory landscapes of developmental genes in mammals can be complex, with enhancers spread over many hundreds of kilobases. It has been suggested that three-dimensional genome organisation, particularly topologically associating domains formed by cohesin-mediated loop extrusion, are important for enhancers to act over such large genomic distances. By coupling acute protein degradation with synthetic activation by targeted transcription factor recruitment, here we show that cohesin, but not CTCF, is required for activation of a target gene ā Shh - by distant enhancers in mouse embryonic stem cells. Cohesin is not required for activation directly at the promoter or from an enhancer located closer to the Shh gene. Our findings support the hypothesis that chromatin compaction mediated by cohesin-mediated loop extrusion allows for genes to be activated by enhancers that are located many hundreds of kilobases away in the linear genome but suggests that cohesin is dispensable for more genomically close enhancers
Wearable activity technology and action-planning (WATAAP) to promote physical activity in cancer survivors: Randomised controlled trial protocol
Background/Objective: Colorectal and gynecologic cancer survivors are at cardiovascular risk due to comorbidities and sedentary behaviour, warranting a feasible intervention to increase physical activity. The Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) is a promising theoretical frame-work for health behaviour change, and wearable physical activity trackers offer a novel means of self-monitoring physical activity for cancer survivors.
Method: Sixty-eight survivors of colorectal and gynecologic cancer will be randomised into 12- week intervention and control groups. Intervention group participants will receive: a Fitbit AltaTM to monitor physical activity, HAPA-based group sessions, booklet, and support phone-call. Participants in the control group will only receive the HAPA-based booklet. Physical activity (using accelerometers), blood pressure, BMI, and HAPA constructs will be assessed at baseline, 12-weeks (post-intervention) and 24-weeks (follow-up). Data analysis will use the Group x Time interaction from a General Linear Mixed Model analysis.
Conclusions: Physical activity interventions that are acceptable and have robust theoretical underpinnings show promise for improving the health of cancer survivors
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