How Does U.S. Monetary Policy Influence Sovereign Spreads in Emerging Markets?

This paper quantifies the impact of changes in U.S. monetary policy on sovereign bond spreads in emerging market countries. Specifically, the paper explores empirically how country risk, as proxied by sovereign bond spreads, is influenced by U.S. monetary policy, country-specific fundamentals, and conditions in global capital markets. While country-specific fundamentals are important in explaining fluctuations in country risk, the stance and predictability of U.S. monetary policy are also important for stabilizing capital flows and capital market conditions in emerging markets. Copyright 2002, International Monetary Fund

Intent Preserving 360 Video Stabilization Using Constrained Optimization

A system and method are disclosed, that solve for rotational updates in 360 videos by removing camera shakes, while preserving user intended motions. The method uses a constrained nonlinear optimization approach in quaternion space. At first, optimal 3D camera rotations are computed between key frames. 3D camera rotations between consecutive frames are then computed. The first, second, and third derivatives of the resulting camera path are minimized, to stabilize the camera orientation path. The computation strives to find a smooth path, while also limiting its deviation from the original path. The system keeps the orientations close to the original, for example, even when the videographer takes a turn. Each frame is then warped to the stabilized path, which results in a smoother video. The rotational camera updates may be applied to the input stream at source or added as metadata. The technology may influence standards by making rotational updates metadata a component of 360 videos. KEYWORDS: 360 degree video, camera rotation, removing camera shake, computing camera rotatio

EVALUATION OF KNOWLEDGE, PRACTICES OF VITAMIN D AND ATTITUDE TOWARDS SUNLIGHT AMONG INDIAN STUDENTS

ABSTRACTObjective: The current study was carried out to assess the knowledge, practice of Vitamin D and attitudes toward sunlight exposure among Indianstudents.Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study on students, studying in Amity University, Noida, India. A pre-designed and self-administeredquestionnaire was given to all students to collect the information regarding their knowledge about Vitamin D.Results: Almost all (99.5%) students had heard of Vitamin D. The majority of students (53.3%) indicated that sunlight as the main source of Vitamin D,however, knowledge in terms of required daily dose and time in the sun were low among students. Despite having awareness regarding the mainsource of Vitamin D, 64.2% students did not like going in the sun and percentage (%) of female students who disliked being exposed in the sun weresignificantly higher (71.1% and 51.6%, respectively; p=0.000). Moreover, female students were a frequent user of sunscreen, applied sunscreen inboth summer and winter seasons (47.2% females vs. 37% males; p=0.000). No significant associations were found for the factors, associated with theknowledge of Vitamin D such as the use of sunscreen and hours per day outdoor.Conclusion: The findings of this survey show a lack of consistency between knowledge and attitude, negative approach toward sunlight exposuremay severely affect the Vitamin D status of young students. Implementing awareness campaigns and future health programs such as a workshop ortraining at the college level may help in building more awareness and knowledge about the Vitamin D importance.Keywords: Vitamin D, Sun exposure, Knowledge.Â

India's rank and global share in scientific research -- how publication counting method and subject selection can vary the outcomes

During the last two decades, India has emerged as a major knowledge producer in the world, however different reports put it at different ranks, varying from 3rd to 9th places. The recent commissioned study reports of Department of Science and Technology (DST) done by Elsevier and Clarivate Analytics, rank India at 5thand 9th places, respectively. On the other hand, an independent report by National Science Foundation (NSF) of United States (US), ranks India at 3rd place on research output in Science and Engineering area. Interestingly, both, the Elsevier and the NSF reports use Scopus data, and yet surprisingly their outcomes are different. This article, therefore, attempts to investigate as to how the use of same database can still produce different outcomes, due to differences in methodological approaches. The publication counting method used and the subject selection approach are the two main exogenous factors identified to cause these variations. The implications of the analytical outcomes are discussed with special focus on policy perspectives

MRI findings in ruptured ovarian ectopic pregnancy: an unexplored avenue

Ovarian ectopic pregnancy (OEP) is a rare form of ectopic pregnancy (EP) and constitutes approximately 0.5-3% of all ectopic cases. Its presentation mimics the symptoms of tubal ectopic pregnancy, hemorrhagic ovarian cyst/follicle, tubo-ovarian abscess, urinary tract calculi, appendicitis or ovarian torsion. Occasionally determining the anatomic location of an extra-tubal ectopic pregnancy based on ultrasound imaging and presentation alone can be challenging, particularly when it is adherent to the fallopian tube. Although transvaginal ultrasound (TVS) is the primary modality used in the diagnosis, various forms of OEP and its complications may be incidentally detected and further evaluated on computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) when an alternative diagnosis is suspected. We reported a case of a second gravid para zero, 25 years old lady, who came with pain in the left lower abdomen. Her urine pregnancy test was positive. TVS showed empty uterine cavity, an extremely tender, heterogenous hyperechoic right adnexal mass, but no obvious gestation sac (GS). A large hematoma was detected adjacent to it in the pouch of Douglas (POD). Keeping a high suspicion of ectopic pregnancy, MRI was performed to evaluate the lesion better which revealed a natural, non-assisted, ruptured right ovarian ectopic pregnancy and was subsequently confirmed at laparotomy and proven on histopathology. Patient underwent left oophorectomy and discharged on 4th day with uneventful follow up.

Influence of journals indexed from a country on its research output: An empirical investigation

Scientific journals are currently the primary medium used by researchers to report their research findings. The transformation of print journals into e-journals has simplified the process of submissions to journals and also their access has become wider. Journals are usually published by commercial publishers, learned societies as well as Universities. There are different number of journals published from different countries. This paper attempts to explore whether the number of journals published from a country influences its research output. Scopus master journal list is analysed to identify journals published from 50 selected countries with significant volume of research output. The following relationship are analysed: (a) number of journals from a country and its research output, (b) growth rate of journals and research output for different countries, (c) global share of journals and research output for different countries, and (d) subject area-wise number of journals and research output in that subject area for different countries. Factors like journal packing density are also analysed. The results obtained show that for majority of the countries, the number of journals is positively correlated to their research output volume, though some other factors also play a role in growth of research output. The study at the end presents a discussion of the analytical outcomes and provides useful suggestions on policy perspectives for different countries.Comment: 6 figures and 4 table

KDM6A loss triggers an epigenetic switch that disrupts urothelial differentiation and drives cell proliferation in bladder cancer

UNLABELLED: Disruption of KDM6A, a histone lysine demethylase, is one of the most common somatic alternations in bladder cancer. Insights into how KDM6A mutations affect the epigenetic landscape to promote carcinogenesis could help reveal potential new treatment approaches. Here, we demonstrated that KDM6A loss triggers an epigenetic switch that disrupts urothelial differentiation and induces a neoplastic state characterized by increased cell proliferation. In bladder cancer cells with intact KDM6A, FOXA1 interacted with KDM6A to activate genes instructing urothelial differentiation. KDM6A-deficient cells displayed simultaneous loss of FOXA1 target binding and genome-wide redistribution of the bZIP transcription factor ATF3, which in turn repressed FOXA1-target genes and activated cell-cycle progression genes. Importantly, ATF3 depletion reversed the cell proliferation phenotype induced by KDM6A deficiency. These data establish that KDM6A loss engenders an epigenetic state that drives tumor growth in an ATF3-dependent manner, creating a potentially targetable molecular vulnerability. SIGNIFICANCE: A gain-of-function epigenetic switch that disrupts differentiation is triggered by inactivating KDM6A mutations in bladder cancer and can serve as a potential target for novel therapies