Do Mutual Fund Managers Outperform by Low-Balling their Benchmarks?

Do mutual fund managers outperform through a bias toward smaller-cap stocks than represented by the benchmark index? This study attempts to explain mutual fund outperformance through testing the average market cap (AMC) of mutual funds relative to their respective benchmark indexes. If outperforming funds show a bias toward smaller average holdings, then outperformance may be attributed to the value premium associated with small-cap stocks. Using Morningstar Direct, excess returns and average market cap of Holdings were collected on a quarterly basis for 1542 actively managed funds citing the S&P 500, S&P MidCap 400 and Russell 2000 as their primary benchmark. Fund managers were expected to have smaller average holdings than represented in the benchmark index. The results of the correlation analysis were significant and consistent with this hypothesis for all three indexes

Using Networks To Understand Medical Data: The Case of Class III Malocclusions

A system of elements that interact or regulate each other can be represented by a mathematical object called a network. While network analysis has been successfully applied to high-throughput biological systems, less has been done regarding their application in more applied fields of medicine; here we show an application based on standard medical diagnostic data. We apply network analysis to Class III malocclusion, one of the most difficult to understand and treat orofacial anomaly. We hypothesize that different interactions of the skeletal components can contribute to pathological disequilibrium; in order to test this hypothesis, we apply network analysis to 532 Class III young female patients. The topology of the Class III malocclusion obtained by network analysis shows a strong co-occurrence of abnormal skeletal features. The pattern of these occurrences influences the vertical and horizontal balance of disharmony in skeletal form and position. Patients with more unbalanced orthodontic phenotypes show preponderance of the pathological skeletal nodes and minor relevance of adaptive dentoalveolar equilibrating nodes. Furthermore, by applying Power Graphs analysis we identify some functional modules among orthodontic nodes. These modules correspond to groups of tightly inter-related features and presumably constitute the key regulators of plasticity and the sites of unbalance of the growing dentofacial Class III system. The data of the present study show that, in their most basic abstraction level, the orofacial characteristics can be represented as graphs using nodes to represent orthodontic characteristics, and edges to represent their various types of interactions. The applications of this mathematical model could improve the interpretation of the quantitative, patient-specific information, and help to better targeting therapy. Last but not least, the methodology we have applied in analyzing orthodontic features can be applied easily to other fields of the medical science.</p

Complex networks for data-driven medicine: the case of Class III dentoskeletal disharmony

In the last decade, the availability of innovative algorithms derived from complexity theory has inspired the development of highly detailed models in various fields, including physics, biology, ecology, economy, and medicine. Due to the availability of novel and ever more sophisticated diagnostic procedures, all biomedical disciplines face the problem of using the increasing amount of information concerning each patient to improve diagnosis and prevention. In particular, in the discipline of orthodontics the current diagnostic approach based on clinical and radiographic data is problematic due to the complexity of craniofacial features and to the numerous interacting co-dependent skeletal and dentoalveolar components. In this study, we demonstrate the capability of computational methods such as network analysis and module detection to extract organizing principles in 70 patients with excessive mandibular skeletal protrusion with underbite, a condition known in orthodontics as Class III malocclusion. Our results could possibly constitute a template framework for organising the increasing amount of medical data available for patients' diagnosis

Phylogenomics of Acinetobacter species and analysis of antimicrobial resistance genes

Introduction: Non-baumannii Acinetobacter species are increasingly isolated in the clinical setting and the environment. The aim of the present study was to analyze a genome database of 837 Acinetobacter spp. isolates, which included 798 non-baumannii Acinetobacter genomes, in order to define the concordance of classification and discriminatory power of 7-gene MLST, 53-gene MLST, and single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) phylogenies. Methods: Phylogenies were performed on Pasteur Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST) or ribosomal Multilocus Sequence Typing (rMLST) concatenated alleles, or SNPs extracted from core genome alignment. Results: The Pasteur MLST scheme was able to identify and genotype 72 species in the Acinetobacter genus, with classification results concordant with the ribosomal MLST scheme. The discriminatory power and genotyping reliability of the Pasteur MLST scheme were assessed in comparison to genome-wide SNP phylogeny on 535 non-baumannii Acinetobacter genomes assigned to Acinetobacter pittii, Acinetobacter nosocomialis, Acinetobacter seifertii, and Acinetobacter lactucae (heterotypic synonym of Acinetobacter dijkshoorniae), which were the most clinically relevant non-baumannii species of the A. baumannii group. The Pasteur MLST and SNP phylogenies were congruent at Robinson-Fould and Matching cluster tests and grouped genomes into four and three clusters in A. pittii, respectively, and one each in A. seifertii. Furthermore, A. lactucae genomes were grouped into one cluster within A. pittii genomes. The SNP phylogeny of A. nosocomialis genomes showed a heterogeneous population and did not correspond to the Pasteur MLST phylogeny, which identified two recombinant clusters. The antimicrobial resistance genes belonging to at least three different antimicrobial classes were identified in 91 isolates assigned to 17 distinct species in the Acinetobacter genus. Moreover, the presence of a class D oxacillinase, which is a naturally occurring enzyme in several Acinetobacter species, was found in 503 isolates assigned to 35 Acinetobacter species. Conclusion: In conclusion, Pasteur MLST phylogeny of non-baumannii Acinetobacter isolates coupled with in silico detection of antimicrobial resistance makes it important to study the population structure and epidemiology of Acinetobacter spp. isolates

Bulge formed cooling channels with a variable lead helix on a hollow body of revolution

A method of constructing a nozzle having cooling channels comprises a shell and a liner which are formed into a body of revolution having an axis of revolution. Helical welds are formed to hold the liner and shell to each other with a channel position being defined between each pair of helical welds. Pressurized fluid which may be a gas or a liquid, is introduced between the weld pairs to outwardly bulge the material of at least one of the liner and shell to define the channels

Every Picture Tells a Story: The 2010 Round of Congressional Redistricting in New England

The United States Constitution requires that the number of representatives in Congress be reapportioned among the states based on a decennial census, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled half a century ago that congressional districts within each state must be, as nearly as practicable, equal in population. However, the actual drawing of district lines for our national lower house and the methods employed for doing so are largely left to the individual states. Redistricting thus presents a fertile field for the comparative examination of state politics and political institutions

Berkeley Supernova Ia Program I: Observations, Data Reduction, and Spectroscopic Sample of 582 Low-Redshift Type Ia Supernovae

In this first paper in a series we present 1298 low-redshift (z\leq0.2) optical spectra of 582 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) observed from 1989 through 2008 as part of the Berkeley SN Ia Program (BSNIP). 584 spectra of 199 SNe Ia have well-calibrated light curves with measured distance moduli, and many of the spectra have been corrected for host-galaxy contamination. Most of the data were obtained using the Kast double spectrograph mounted on the Shane 3 m telescope at Lick Observatory and have a typical wavelength range of 3300-10,400 Ang., roughly twice as wide as spectra from most previously published datasets. We present our observing and reduction procedures, and we describe the resulting SN Database (SNDB), which will be an online, public, searchable database containing all of our fully reduced spectra and companion photometry. In addition, we discuss our spectral classification scheme (using the SuperNova IDentification code, SNID; Blondin & Tonry 2007), utilising our newly constructed set of SNID spectral templates. These templates allow us to accurately classify our entire dataset, and by doing so we are able to reclassify a handful of objects as bona fide SNe Ia and a few other objects as members of some of the peculiar SN Ia subtypes. In fact, our dataset includes spectra of nearly 90 spectroscopically peculiar SNe Ia. We also present spectroscopic host-galaxy redshifts of some SNe Ia where these values were previously unknown. [Abridged]Comment: 34 pages, 11 figures, 11 tables, revised version, re-submitted to MNRAS. Spectra will be released in January 2013. The SN Database homepage (http://hercules.berkeley.edu/database/index_public.html) contains the full tables, plots of all spectra, and our new SNID template

Polymorphisms in folate-metabolizing genes, chromosome damage, and risk of Down syndrome in Italian women: identification of key factors using artificial neural networks

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Studies in mothers of Down syndrome individuals (MDS) point to a role for polymorphisms in folate metabolic genes in increasing chromosome damage and maternal risk for a Down syndrome (DS) pregnancy, suggesting complex gene-gene interactions. This study aimed to analyze a dataset of genetic and cytogenetic data in an Italian group of MDS and mothers of healthy children (control mothers) to assess the predictive capacity of artificial neural networks assembled in TWIST system in distinguish consistently these two different conditions and to identify the variables expressing the maximal amount of relevant information to the condition of being mother of a DS child.</p> <p>The dataset consisted of the following variables: the frequency of chromosome damage in peripheral lymphocytes (BNMN frequency) and the genotype for 7 common polymorphisms in folate metabolic genes (<it>MTHFR </it>677C>T and 1298A>C, <it>MTRR </it>66A>G, <it>MTR </it>2756A>G, <it>RFC1 </it>80G>A and <it>TYMS </it>28bp repeats and 1494 6bp deletion). Data were analysed using TWIST system in combination with supervised artificial neural networks, and a semantic connectivity map.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>TWIST system selected 6 variables (BNMN frequency, <it>MTHFR </it>677TT, <it>RFC1 </it>80AA, <it>TYMS </it>1494 6bp +/+, <it>TYMS </it>28bp 3R/3R and <it>MTR </it>2756AA genotypes) that were subsequently used to discriminate between MDS and control mothers with 90% accuracy. The semantic connectivity map provided important information on the complex biological connections between the studied variables and the two conditions (being MDS or control mother).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Overall, the study suggests a link between polymorphisms in folate metabolic genes and DS risk in Italian women.</p

The Use of Preoperative Prophylactic Systemic Antibiotics for the Prevention of Endopthalmitis in Open Globe Injuries:A Meta-Analysis

Topic:This study reports the effect of systemic prophylactic antibiotics (and their route) on the risk of endophthalmitis after open globe injury. Clinical relevance:Endophthalmitis is a major complication of open globe injury, it can lead to rapid sight loss in the affected eye. The administration of systemic antibiotic prophylaxis is common practice in some health care systems, although there is no consensus on their use. PubMed, CENTRAL, Web of Science, CINAHL and Embase were searched. This was completed 6th July 2021 and updated 10th Dec 2022. We included randomised and non-randomised prospective studies which reported the rate of post-open globe injury endophthalmitis, when systemic pre-operative antibiotic prophylaxis (via the oral or intravenous route) was given. The Cochrane Risk of Bias tool and ROBINS-I tool were used for assessing the risk of bias. Where meta-analysis was performed results were reported as odds ratio. PROSPERO registration: CRD42021271271. Three studies were included. One prospective observational study compared outcomes of patients who had received systemic or no systemic pre-operative antibiotics. The endophthalmitis rates reported were 3.75% and 4.91% in the systemic and no systemic pre-operative antibiotics groups, a non-significant difference (p = 0.68). Two randomised controlled trials were included (1,555 patients). The rates of endophthalmitis were 17 events in 751 patients (2.26%) and 17 events in 804 patients (2.11%) in the oral antibiotics and intravenous (+/- oral) antibiotics groups, respectively. Meta-analysis demonstrated no significant differences between groups (OR 1.07 [95% confidence interval 0.54 – 2.12]). The incidences of endophthalmitis after open globe injury were low with and without systemic antibiotic prophylaxis, although high risk cases were excluded in the included studies. When antibiotic prophylaxis is considered, there is moderate evidence that oral antibiotic administration is non-inferior to intravenous

The Risk of Sympathetic Ophthalmia Associated with Open-Globe Injury Management Strategies:A Meta-analysis

Topic: Sympathetic ophthalmia (SO) is a sight-threatening granulomatous panuveitis caused by a sensitizing event. Primary enucleation or primary evisceration, versus primary repair, as a risk management strategy after open-globe injury (OGI) remains controversial.Clinical Relevance: This systematic review was conducted to report the incidence of SO after primary repair compared with that of after primary enucleation or primary evisceration. This enabled the reporting of an estimated number needed to treat.Methods: Five journal databases were searched. This review was registered with International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (identifier, CRD42021262616). Searches were carried out on June 29, 2021, and were updated on December 10, 2022. Prospective or retrospective studies that reported outcomes (including SO or lack of SO) in a patient population who underwent either primary repair and primary enucleation or primary evisceration were included. A systematic review and meta-analysis were carried out in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses guidelines. Random effects modelling was used to estimate pooled SO rates and absolute risk reduction (ARR).Results: Eight studies reporting SO as an outcome were included in total. The included studies contained 7500 patients and 7635 OGIs. In total, 7620 OGIs met the criteria for inclusion in this analysis; SO developed in 21 patients with OGI. When all included studies were pooled, the estimated SO rate was 0.12% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.00%–0.25%) after OGI. Of 779 patients who underwent primary enucleation or primary evisceration, no SO cases were reported, resulting in a pooled SO estimate of 0.05% (95% CI, 0.00%–0.21%). For primary repair, the pooled estimate of SO rate was 0.15% (95% CI, 0.00%–0.33%). The ARR using a random effects model was −0.0010 (in favour of eye removal; 95% CI, −0.0031 [in favor of eye removal] to 0.0011 [in favor of primary repair]). Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations analysis highlighted a low certainty of evidence because the included studies were observational, and a risk of bias resulted from missing data.Discussion: Based on the available data, no evidence exists that primary enucleation or primary evisceration reduce the risk of secondary SO.Financial Disclosure(s): Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article