Meeting the challenge for foot health in rheumatic diseases

Background: National guidelines recommend that patients with rheumatic diseases should have access to podiatry services and evidence is emerging that podiatry interventions are effective in the management of foot problems in this patient group. Despite this recognition it is generally perceived that access to podiatry services appears to be varied or absent. Objectives: To identify the nature of foot health problems presenting in a rheumatology clinic and to ascertain the availability and suitability of foot care for these problems. Method: A convenience sample of 139 patients (100 female and 39 male) was recruited. An assessment of foot health, and footwear was carried out and patients completed the foot function index (FFI). Any unmet foot care needs were identified. Results: The majority of the 139 patients presented with symptomatic callus and toenail problems and over half with foot deformity. There was no clear difference between genders. There was evidence of the effects of foot pain caused by these problems but low prescription of foot orthoses and specialist footwear. Conclusion: Overall this study indicates that poor foot health and foot pain as being common in patients with rheumatic diseases. The lack of foot care could lead to reduction in mobility and in some cases serious complications. This paper recommends that a specialist and dedicated foot care service is provided for these patients

Does sovereign creditworthiness affect bank valuations in emerging markets?

We analyse the impact of sovereign rating actions by S&P, Moody's and Fitch on bank valuations in emerging markets. We find strong evidence of a rating channel for the transmission of sovereign risk to bank valuations. Collateral and guarantee channels play modest roles, but are more relevant to countries that experienced positive actions. Positive sovereign actions by S&P have the strongest impact on bank valuations. Both negative and positive new rating information, outlook and watch actions are associated with strong market impact. The findings identify clear evidence of links between emerging market governments� external credit standing and banks� market valuation

Market reactions to the implementation of the Banking Union in Europe

How did announcements about the implementation of the Banking Union (BU) in Europe impact on financial markets? This paper investigates the effect of the overall bank regulatory reform, considering each associated individual announcement, on Credit Default Swaps (CDS), bank stocks and stock futures during 2012-14. Announcements related to the implementation of the supervisory mechanism, as well as those on the new resolution framework, led to a surge in bank CDS spreads, while having a detrimental effect on the wealth of banks’ shareholders. The CDS market response to sub-events associated with the ECB’s 2014 Comprehensive Assessment (CA) was positive and reflected in a decrease in bank CDS spreads. Furthermore, CDS of Global Systemically Important Banks (G-SIBs) demonstrated a significant reaction to the implementation steps in the BU. Banks’ stock prices reacted in a consistent manner with the CDS market. The stock futures market did not reveal any strong reaction to the changes in the European regulatory landscape. Cross-sectional analysis reveals that bank capitalization is positively associated with responses of G-SIBs’ CDS spreads, but is inversely related to responses of CDS spreads for other bank groups. Weak underlying credit quality is also a relevant factor in explaining abnormal increases in quoted CDS spreads. For the stock market, positive associations of the cumulative abnormal returns (CARs) with capital levels and with the business model orientation are revealed

The European Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive: A market assessment

This paper provides evidence of the impact of the new European bank resolution regime on the sovereign-bank nexus. The implementation of the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) is considered as an exogenous shock which provides the setting for a natural experiment. This investigation tests the financial markets’ perception of the effectiveness of the new rules in weakening the tight interconnectedness between sovereign and bank risk. A Difference-in-Differences (DiD) approach is adopted, building evidence from the Credit Default Swap (CDS) market for banks and nonfinancial corporates over the period 2011-18. The main findings do not indicate a significant weakening in the interaction between bank and sovereign CDS spreads, compared to the corresponding evidence for the non-financial corporate sector. An overall narrowing of the gap between bank and sovereign risk occurs, which initially implies a lack of credibility of the BRRD in financial markets. However, substantial cross-country variations are identified, particularly for Italy and non-euro area countries. These insights make a significant contribution to the policy debate on effective regulation of the sovereign-bank nexus, in the light of recent developments in the EU postcrisis reform agenda

The effect of stimulus intensity on response time and accuracy in dynamic, temporally constrained environments

The ability to make accurate judgments and execute effective skilled movements under severe temporal constraints are fundamental to elite performance in a number of domains including sport, military combat, law enforcement, and medicine. In two experiments, we examine the effect of stimulus strength on response time and accuracy in a temporally constrained, real-world, decision-making task. Specifically, we examine the effect of low stimulus intensity (black) and high stimulus intensity (sequin) uniform designs, worn by teammates, to determine the effect of stimulus strength on the ability of soccer players to make rapid and accurate responses. In both field- and laboratory-based scenarios, professional soccer players viewed developing patterns of play and were required to make a penetrative pass to an attacking player. Significant differences in response accuracy between uniform designs were reported in laboratory- and field-based experiments. Response accuracy was significantly higher in the sequin compared with the black uniform condition. Response times only differed between uniform designs in the laboratory-based experiment. These findings extend the literature into a real-world environment and have significant implications for the design of clothing wear in a number of domains

Amygdala responses to fearful and happy facial expressions under conditions of binocular suppression

The human amygdala plays a crucial role in processing affective information conveyed by sensory stimuli. Facial expressions of fear and anger, which both signal potential threat to an observer, result in significant increases in amygdala activity, even when the faces are unattended or presented briefly and masked. It has been suggested that afferent signals from the retina travel to the amygdala via separate cortical and subcortical pathways, with the subcortical pathway underlying unconscious processing. Here we exploited the phenomenon of binocular rivalry to induce complete suppression of affective face stimuli presented to one eye. Twelve participants viewed brief, rivalrous visual displays in which a fearful, happy, or neutral face was presented to one eye while a house was presented simultaneously to the other. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to study activation in the amygdala and extrastriate visual areas for consciously perceived versus suppressed face and house stimuli. Activation within the fusiform and parahippocampal gyri increased significantly for perceived versus suppressed faces and houses, respectively. Amygdala activation increased bilaterally in response to fearful versus neutral faces, regardless of whether the face was perceived consciously or suppressed because of binocular rivalry. Amygdala activity also increased significantly for happy versus neutral faces, but only when the face was suppressed. This activation pattern suggests that the amygdala has a limited capacity to differentiate between specific facial expressions when it must rely on information received via a subcortical route. We suggest that this limited capacity reflects a tradeoff between specificity and speed of processing