The Forward Exchange Rate Bias Puzzle: Evidence from New Cointegration Tests

An important puzzle in international finance is the failure of the forward exchange rate to be a rational forecast of the future spot rate. It has often been suggested that this puzzle may be resolved by using better statistical procedures that correct for both non-stationarity and nonnormality in the data. We document that even after accounting for non-stationarity, nonnormality, and heteroscedasticity using parametric and non-parametric tests on data for over a quarter century, US dollar forward rates for horizons ranging from one to twelve months for the major currencies, the British pound, Japanese yen, Swiss franc, and the German mark, are generally not rational forecasts of future spot rates. These findings of non-rationality in forward exchange rates for the major currencies continue to be puzzling especially as these foreign exchange markets are some of the most liquid asset markets with very low trading costs.flight-to-quality, contagion, multivariate GARCH

Burning mouth syndrome: a diagnostic and therapeutic dilemma

Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) has been considered an enigmatic condition because the intensity of pain rarely corresponds to the clinical signs of the disease. Various local, systemic and psychological factors are associated with BMS, but its etiology is not fully understood. Also there is no consensus on the diagnosis and classification of BMS. A substantial volume of research has been focused on BMS during the last two decades. Progress has been made but the condition remains a fascinating, yet poorly understood area, in the field of oral medicine. Recently, there has been a resurgence of interest in this disorder with the discovery that the pain of BMS may be neuropathic in origin and originate both centrally and peripherally. The aim of this paper is to explore the condition of BMS with the specific outcome of increasing awareness of the condition

Estimation of serum lipids in patients with Oral Submucous Fibrosis in India

Objectives: Oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) is the most prevalent precancerous condition in India. Low levels of lipids serves as a marker and prognostic indicator in the early detection of oral precancerous and cancerous states. In spite of the high prevalence and its potential to undergo malignant transformation, this condition has not widely been investigated with respect to the serum lipid levels. In the present study, an attempt was made to analyze the complete serum lipid profile, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high density lipoprotein (HDL) choleste - rol, low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) cholesterol in OSMF and controls. Material and Methods: The study was conducted in 45 clinically and histopathologically diagnosed cases of OSMF and 45 age and sex matched controls. The complete lipid profile including TC, TG, HDL cholesterol, LDL choles - terol and VLDL cholesterol was analyzed. Results: The serum lipid levels were significantly lower in the patients with OSMF than in the controls. When the values were compared between different disease stages, the maximum reduction of lipids was evident for stage 3 OSMF. From the present results, it is evident that the level of serum lipids decreases with progression of the disea - se. Conclusions: From these findings, it appears that the decrease in the lipid levels may be considered as a useful marker in the early diagnosis of oral premalignant condition like OSMF

Continuous control of lunar orbits via electric propulsion

To find definite answers for the presence of water on the poles of Moon, to facilitate selection of future lunar landing sites and aid in construction of architectural bases, to assist proper lunar resource utilization and to improve lunar gravity models there is a great interest and need for highly accurate, reliable and efficient lunar surface mapping and communication. This thesis is intended to aid in proper selection of orbits for future lunar missions by demonstrating the impact of using electric propulsion on the search space of feasible and useful lunar orbits. The requirements for future lunar mapping and communication are studied and possible options to meet them are investigated. Based on coverage analysis, a constellation of three satellites in high altitude, circular and polar geo-synchronous orbit is proposed to provide an improved lunar communications architecture compared to those previously recommended in literature. Low altitude, circular and polar Sun-synchronous orbits are found to be the best candidate to meet future lunar mapping needs. The feasibility of using electric propulsion for stationkeeping and providing the orbit plane rotation required by these lunar mapping and communication options is determined --Abstract, page iii

Concepts for the NANOSAT- 5 Satellite Design Competition

This paper presents feasible small space satellite missions which are of interest to the U.S. Air Force and can be used to get selected and win the NANOSAT-5 satellite design competition. Some thought on which of these missions can be used by the University of Missouri-Rolla to successfully take part in the competition hate also been presented

A novel modified Khatter’s approach for solving Neutrosophic Data Envelopment Analysis

The evaluation of the performance of decision-making units (DMUs) that use comparable inputs to produce related outputs can be accomplished through a non-parametric linear programming (LP) technique called Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). However, the observed data are occasionally imprecise, ambiguous, inadequate, and inconsistent which may result in incorrect decision-making when these criteria are ignored. Neutrosophic Set (NS) is an extension of fuzzy sets which is used to represent unclear, erroneous, missing, and wrong information. This paper proposes a neutrosophic version of the DEA model, and a novel solution technique for Neutrosophic DEA (Neu-DEA) model. The possibility mean for triangular neutrosophic number (TNN) is redefined and modified the Khatter’s approach to convert directly the Neu-DEA model into its crisp DEA model. As a result, the Neu-DEA model is simplified to a crisp LP problem with a risk parameter (δ ∈ [0, 1]) that represents the attitude of the decision-maker towards taking risk. The efficiency score of the DMUs is computed by using various risk factors and divided into efficient and inefficient groups. The ranking of DMUs is determined by calculating the mean efficiency score of DMUs, which is based on various risk parameters. A numerical example is illustrated here to describe the suggested approach’s flexibility and authenticity and compared with some of the existing approaches

Predicting Energy Requirement for Cooling the Building Using Artificial Neural Network

This paper explores total cooling load during summers and total carbon emissions of a six storey building by using artificial neural network (ANN). Parameters used for the calculation were conduction losses, ventilation losses, solar heat gain and internal gain. The standard back-propagation learning algorithm has been used in the network. The energy performance in buildings is influenced by many factors, such as ambient weather conditions, building structure and characteristics, the operation of sub-level components like lighting and HVAC systems, occupancy and their behavior. This complex situation makes it very difficult to accurately implement the prediction of building energy consumption. The calculated cooling load was 0.87 million kW per year. ANN application showed that data was best fit for the regression coefficient of 0.9955 with best validation performance of 0.41231 in case of conduction losses. To meet out this energy demand various fuel options are presented along with their cost and carbon emission

Psychedelics for brain injury: A mini-review

Objective: Stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI) are among the leading causes of disability. Even after engaging in rehabilitation, nearly half of patients with severe TBI requiring hospitalization are left with major disability. Despite decades of investigation, pharmacologic treatment of brain injury is still a field in its infancy. Recent clinical trials have begun into the use of psychedelic therapeutics for treatment of brain injury. This brief review aims to summarize the current state of the science's relevance to neurorehabilitation, and may act as a resource for those seeking to understand the precedence for these ongoing clinical trials.Methods: Narrative mini-review of studies published related to psychedelic therapeutics and brain injury.Results: Recent in vitro, in vivo, and case report studies suggest psychedelic pharmacotherapies may influence the future of brain injury treatment through modulation of neuroinflammation, hippocampal neurogenesis, neuroplasticity, and brain complexity.Conclusions: Historical data on the safety of some of these substances could serve in effect as phase 0 and phase I studies. Further phase II trials will illuminate how these drugs may treat brain injury, particularly TBI and reperfusion injury from stroke

Stentowanie techniką TAP jako metoda ratunkowa w jatrogennym rozwarstwieniu lewej tętnicy wieńcowej w miejscu jej rozwidlenia

Iatrogenic coronary dissection is a rare but potentially catastrophic complication of percutaneous coronary intervention. The proximal left anterior descending artery (LAD) dissection may extend into distal left main bifurcation which may further engulf left circumflex artery (LCx). Here, we report a case of a 69-year-old male where dissection at proximal edge of well deployed stent led to total closure of left circumflex artery causing hemodynamic compromise. It was bailed out using T-and-protrusion (TAP) stenting where LAD and LCx were stented using 3.5x12mm and 3x24 mm sirolimus-eluting stent (Yukon Choice, Translumina) respectively. TAP technique is a feasible and reasonable management strategy for immediate bail-out stenting for this lethal complicationJatrogenne rozwarstwienie tętnicy wieńcowej to rzadkie, ale potencjalnie katastrofalne w skutkach powikłanie przezskórnejinterwencji wieńcowej. Rozwarstwienie w proksymalnym odcinku gałęzi przedniej zstępującej lewej tętnicywieńcowej (LAD) może się rozszerzyć na rozwidlenie lewej tętnicy wieńcowej, a następnie objąć również gałąź okalającą(LCx). W niniejszej pracy opisano przypadek 69-letniego mężczyzny, u którego rozwarstwienie tętnicy przy bliższymkońcu skutecznie zaimplantowanego stentu doprowadziło do całkowitej niedrożności gałęzi okalającej powodującej zaburzenia hemodynamiczne. W ramach działań interwencyjnych wykonano zabieg z zastosowaniem techniki stentowaniaTAP (T-and-protrusion), w którym do LAD i LCx wprowadzono stenty uwalniające sirolimus (Yukon Choice, Translumina)o wymiarach odpowiednio 3.5 × 12 mm i 3 × 24 mm. Technika TAP jest dostępną i skuteczną metodą stentowaniaratunkowego w ramach leczenia tego zagrażającego życiu powikłania