Respiratory Insufficiency Correlated Strongly with Mortality of Rodents Infected with West Nile Virus

West Nile virus (WNV) disease can be fatal for high-risk patients. Since WNV or its antigens have been identified in multiple anatomical locations of the central nervous system of persons or rodent models, one cannot know where to investigate the actual mechanism of mortality without careful studies in animal models. In this study, depressed respiratory functions measured by plethysmography correlated strongly with mortality. This respiratory distress, as well as reduced oxygen saturation, occurred beginning as early as 4 days before mortality. Affected medullary respiratory control cells may have contributed to the animals' respiratory insufficiency, because WNV antigen staining was present in neurons located in the ventrolateral medulla. Starvation or dehydration would be irrelevant in people, but could cause death in rodents due to lethargy or loss of appetite. Animal experiments were performed to exclude this possibility. Plasma ketones were increased in moribund infected hamsters, but late-stage starvation markers were not apparent. Moreover, daily subcutaneous administration of 5% dextrose in physiological saline solution did not improve survival or other disease signs. Therefore, infected hamsters did not die from starvation or dehydration. No cerebral edema was apparent in WNV- or sham-infected hamsters as determined by comparing wet-to-total weight ratios of brains, or by evaluating blood-brain-barrier permeability using Evans blue dye penetration into brains. Limited vasculitis was present in the right atrium of the heart of infected hamsters, but abnormal electrocardiograms for several days leading up to mortality did not occur. Since respiratory insufficiency was strongly correlated with mortality more than any other pathological parameter, it is the likely cause of death in rodents. These animal data and a poor prognosis for persons with respiratory insufficiency support the hypothesis that neurological lesions affecting respiratory function may be the primary cause of human WNV-induced death

Time-Varying Liquidity and Momentum Profits

A basic intuition is that arbitrage is easier when markets are most liquid. Surprisingly, we find that momentum profits are markedly larger in liquid market states. This finding is not explained by variation in liquidity risk, time-varying exposure to risk factors, or changes in macroeconomic condition, cross-sectional return dispersion, and investor sentiment. The predictive performance of aggregate market illiquidity for momentum profits uniformly exceeds that of market return and market volatility states. While momentum strategies have been unconditionally unprofitable in the United States, in Japan, and in the Eurozone countries in the last decade, they are substantial following liquid market states.</jats:p

Sustainable investing with ESG rating uncertainty

This paper analyzes the asset pricing and portfolio implications of an important barrier to sustainable investing: uncertainty about the corporate ESG profile. In equilibrium, the market premium increases and demand for stocks declines under ESG uncertainty. In addition, the CAPM alpha and effective beta both rise with ESG uncertainty and the negative ESG-alpha relation weakens. Employing the standard deviation of ESG ratings from six major providers as a proxy for ESG uncertainty, we provide supporting evidence for the model predictions. Our findings help reconcile the mixed evidence on the cross-sectional ESG-alpha relation and suggest that ESG uncertainty affects the risk-return trade-off, social impact, and economic welfare