A practical approach to managing patients with HCV infection.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major worldwide public health concern. It is a common cause of chronic liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma. HCV antibody and HCV RNA testing are available diagnostic studies that offer high degree of accuracy. Current standard therapy includes a combination of pegylated interferon and ribavirin. Response rate is approximately 40% for genotype 1 and 80% for genotypes 2 and 3, respectively. Successful treatment can stop the progression of chronic liver disease, reduce the need for liver transplantation, and possibly decrease the risk for Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Evaluating for potential treatment candidacy is an important initial step in the management of chronic HCV infection as not all individuals may need or qualify for the treatment. Understanding the natural history, the different diagnostic modalities, the current therapeutic options and, the treatment response and adverse effect profiles can help the practitioners better manage chronic HCV infection

IS CHINA'S AGRICULTURAL FUTURES MARKET EFFICIENT?

In this paper, we study the efficiency of the Chinese wheat and soybeans futures markets and assess the conditions in agricultural commodity futures and cash markets in China. Formal statistical tests are conducted through Johansen's cointegration approach to identify the long-term equilibrium relationship between futures and cash markets. Three different cash prices from Zhengzhou Grain Wholesale Market, Tianjin Grain Wholesale Market, and the national average wholesale price are used. The wheat futures price from China Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange and soybeans futures price from Dalian Commodity Exchange with different forecasting horizons ranging from one week to six months are also used. Results suggest that a long-term equilibrium relationship between the futures price and cash price for soybeans has been established. A weak short-term efficiency of the soybean futures market is revealed. The futures market for wheat is inefficient. The relative inefficient wheat market may be caused by over-speculation and government intervention, because wheat is the staple food in China and the government has more control over it than soybeans. Another reason is geographic proximities between the cash market in Tianjin and both the soybean production area and the futures market in Dalian.Marketing,

Efficiency tests of agricultural commodity futures markets in China

The efficiency of the Chinese wheat and soybean futures markets is studied. Formal statistical tests were conducted based on Johansen’s cointegration approach for three different cashmarkets and six different futures forecasting horizons ranging from1 week to 4 months.The results suggest a long-termequilibrium relationship between the futures price and cash price for soybeans and weak short-term efficiency in the soybean futures market. The futures market for wheat is inefficient, which may be caused by overspeculation and government intervention.cointegration, futures market, price, soybean, wheat, Marketing, Risk and Uncertainty,