Financial Market Integration in the Greater China Region: A Multivariate Asymmetric Approach

This paper examines the volatility dynamics of the greater China stock markets (Shanghai A- and B-shares, Shenzhen A- and B-shares, Taiwan, and Hong Kong) by employing a multivariate (tetravariate) framework that incorporates the features of asymmetries, persistence, and time-varying correlations, which are typically observed in stock markets of developed economies. Our results indicate that, unlike the Shenzhen and Shanghai Ashares, Hong Kong and Taiwan markets, the B-share markets do not exhibit significant asymmetric volatility (“leverage effect”), and return volatility in the A-share market is substantially higher than the B-share market before April 1997, but this result is reversed after that. Also, contrary to the stylized fact that emerging markets exhibit greater fluctuations compared with their more advanced counterparts, the mainland Chinese markets are actually less volatile than the Taiwan and Hong Kong stock exchanges in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In addition, there is strong evidence of volatility persistence in all the markets, and this finding is robust to changes in model specification. The greater China stock markets apparently share a common degree of persistence (fractional integration) in volatility. Moreover, the Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchanges are positively but not perfectly correlated with each other, with the strength of correlation increasing after the late nineties. Their correlations with the Hong Kong and Taiwan markets are much weaker, and they do not display any clear trends. These findings have important implications for hedging and portfolio management and diversificatio

Demographic Crisis: Challenges for Retirement Schemes in Hong Kong

After the Hong Kong baby boom in the 1950's, the population are now approaching retirement. The Hong Kong Special Administrative government is facing pressure both medical and financial in catering for this aging population. There was lack of retirement protection in Hong Kong before 2000 which recognised it was a real demographic problem. Only one third of the working population was protected by an Occupation Retirement Scheme. Since December 2000, a formal and comprehensive retirement benefit scheme: The Mandatory Provident Fund Scheme (MPF) was launched by the government to cover the majority of working population. This study aims to examine the extent of people's understanding of the MPF in relation to saving behaviour, investment knowledge, retirement attitudes and demographic factors. The research result indicated that the MPF seems to be ineffective in enhancing a saving culture, because of the low level of MPF and investment knowledge. According to demographic analysis, having a child, homeownership and age has substantial influence on retirement saving. Gender, income level and marital status have limited impacts on it. The level of education has no significance at all. The concluding section suggests that education and information about the MPF play a critical role in improving understanding and saving with the MPF. It promotes financial inclusion, improves knowledge of risk and investment, offering more investment instruments, so as to enhance the commitment of works and enable them to value the MPF scheme. In future, retirement benefit reform should be incorporated with social security reform, with the cooperation among government, employers, financial institutions and individuals

Demographic Crisis: Challenges for Retirement Schemes in Hong Kong

After the Hong Kong baby boom in the 1950's, the population are now approaching retirement. The Hong Kong Special Administrative government is facing pressure both medical and financial in catering for this aging population. There was lack of retirement protection in Hong Kong before 2000 which recognised it was a real demographic problem. Only one third of the working population was protected by an Occupation Retirement Scheme. Since December 2000, a formal and comprehensive retirement benefit scheme: The Mandatory Provident Fund Scheme (MPF) was launched by the government to cover the majority of working population. This study aims to examine the extent of people's understanding of the MPF in relation to saving behaviour, investment knowledge, retirement attitudes and demographic factors. The research result indicated that the MPF seems to be ineffective in enhancing a saving culture, because of the low level of MPF and investment knowledge. According to demographic analysis, having a child, homeownership and age has substantial influence on retirement saving. Gender, income level and marital status have limited impacts on it. The level of education has no significance at all. The concluding section suggests that education and information about the MPF play a critical role in improving understanding and saving with the MPF. It promotes financial inclusion, improves knowledge of risk and investment, offering more investment instruments, so as to enhance the commitment of works and enable them to value the MPF scheme. In future, retirement benefit reform should be incorporated with social security reform, with the cooperation among government, employers, financial institutions and individuals

Distributed optimization in transportation and logistics networks

Many important problems in communication networks, transportation networks, and logistics networks are solved by the minimization of cost functions. In general, these can be complex optimization problems involving many variables. However, physicists noted that in a network, a node variable (such as the amount of resources of the nodes) is connected to a set of link variables (such as the flow connecting the node), and similarly each link variable is connected to a number of (usually two) node variables. This enables one to break the problem into local components, often arriving at distributive algorithms to solve the problems. Compared with centralized algorithms, distributed algorithms have the advantages of lower computational complexity, and lower communication overhead. Since they have a faster response to local changes of the environment, they are especially useful for networks with evolving conditions. This review will cover message-passing algorithms in applications such as resource allocation, transportation networks, facility location, traffic routing, and stability of power grids

New method for characterizing electron mediators in microbial systems using a thin-layer twin-working electrode cell

Microbial biofilms are significant ecosystems where the existence of redox gradients drive electron transfer often via soluble electron mediators. This study describes the use of two interfacing working electrodes (WEs) to simulate redox gradients within close proximity (250 µm) for the detection and quantification of electron mediators. By using a common counter and reference electrode, the potentials of the two WEs were independently controlled to maintain a suitable “voltage window”, which enabled simultaneous oxidation and reduction of electron mediators as evidenced by the concurrent anodic and cathodic currents, respectively. To validate the method, the electrochemical properties of different mediators (hexacyanoferrate, HCF, riboflavin, RF) were characterized by stepwise shifting the “voltage window” (ranging between 25 and 200 mV) within a range of potentials after steady equilibrium current of both WEs was established. The resulting differences in electrical currents between the two WEs were recorded across a defined potential spectrum (between −1 V and +0.5 V vs. Ag/AgCl). Results indicated that the technique enabled identification (by the distinct peak locations at the potential scale) and quantification (by the peak of current) of the mediators for individual species as well as in an aqueous mixture. It enabled a precise determination of mid-potentials of the externally added mediators (HCF, RF) and mediators produced by pyocyanin-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa (WACC 91) culture. The twin working electrode described is particularly suitable for studying mediator-dependent microbial electron transfer processes or simulating redox gradients as they exist in microbial biofilms

Sequence-selective encapsulation and protection of long peptides by a self-assembled Fe II 8 L 6 cubic cage

Self-assembly offers a general strategy for the preparation of large, hollow high-symmetry structures. Although biological capsules, such as virus capsids, are capable of selectively recognizing complex cargoes, synthetic encapsulants have lacked the capability to specifically bind large and complex biomolecules. Here we describe a cubic host obtained from the self-assembly of Fe II and a zinc-porphyrin-containing ligand. This cubic cage is flexible and compatible with aqueous media. Its selectivity of encapsulation is driven by the coordination of guest functional groups to the zinc porphyrins. This new host thus specifically encapsulates guests incorporating imidazole and thiazole moieties, including drugs and peptides. Once encapsulated, the reactivity of a peptide is dramatically altered: encapsulated peptides are protected from trypsin hydrolysis, whereas physicochemically similar peptides that do not bind are cleaved

A comparison of the effects of oral and transdermal estrogen replacement on insulin sensitivity in postmenopausal women

Previous studies have shown that oral, but not transdermal, administration of estrogen stimulates GH secretion in postmenopausal women. Because GH impairs insulin action, the impact of estrogen replacement therapy on carbohydrate metabolism may be influenced by the route of administration. The aim of this study was to prospectively compare the effects of oral and transdermal estrogen replacement on glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity in postmenopausal women. In an open label, randomized, cross-over study, nine postmenopausal women were randomized to transdermal estrogen patches (Estraderm-TTS 100) or oral conjugated estrogen (Premarin, 1.25 mg) daily for 12 weeks and then crossed over to receive the alternative treatment for a further 12 weeks. An oral glucose tolerance test and hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp (HEC) were performed before treatment and at the end of 10 weeks of treatment. Oral and transdermal estrogen both significantly reduced LH to the same degree. Mean GH did not significantly change with transdermal estrogen, but rose significantly during oral estrogen therapy. Peak and mean glucose and insulin levels during the oral glucose tolerance test were not altered by estrogen therapy and were not significantly different between treatments. Mean glucose and insulin levels were maintained at an identical level during the HEC performed at pretreatment and during estrogen therapy. The mean glucose infusion rate required to maintain euglycemia during the HEC (mean +/- SEM, pretreatment, 40.4 +/- 4.8 mumol/kg.min) was unaltered by oral (39.8 +/- 4.6 mumol/kg.min) or transdermal estrogen treatment (42.1 +/- 4.2 mumol/kg.min). However, during the transdermal estrogen phase (60 +/- 10 mumol/L), the mean nonesterified free fatty acid concentration was suppressed to a significantly lower level during the HEC than during the oral estrogen phase (120 +/- 20 mumol/L; P < 0.05). We conclude that compared to the oral route, transdermal estrogen therapy is associated with a slight, but significant, improvement of insulin action on lipid metabolism. However, in the short term, the route of estrogen replacement therapy does not have a major impact on glucose metabolism in postmenopausal women

Therapeutic capsule endoscopy: Opportunities and challenges

10.1260/2040-2295.2.4.459Journal of Healthcare Engineering24459-47