Adjunctive quetiapine for serotonin reuptake inhibitor-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder: A meta-analysis of randomised controlled treatment trials

Small studies have shown positive effects from adding a variety of antipsychotic agents in patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder who are unresponsive to treatment with serotonin reuptake inhibitors. The evidence, however, is contradictory. This paper reports a meta-analysis of existing double-blind randomized placebo-controlled studies looking at the addition of the second-generation antipsychotic quetiapine in such cases. Three studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Altogether 102 individuals were subjected to analysis using Review Manager (4.2.7). The results showed evidence of efficacy for adjunctive quetiapine (< 400 mg/day) on the primary efficacy criterion, measured as changes from baseline in total Yale–Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale scores (P = 0.008), the clinical significance of which was limited by between-study heterogeneity. The mechanism underlying the effect may involve serotonin and/or dopamine neurotransmission

КОРПОРАТИВНЕ УПРАВЛІННЯ В ДЕРЖАВНИХ БАНКАХ

In the article, based on application of agency theory, the specifics of corporate governance in state-owned banks are highlighted. It is determined that the key distinction of state-owned banks is the fact that a state simultaneously can act as an owner, manager, creditor and regulator. The differences of corporate relations in state-owned banks such as the more complicated multilevel system of agency relations, the higher level of information asymmetry and risk of agent’s opportunism, the another character of trust manifestation are substantiated. It is highlighted that the presence of complicated corporate relations causes the following risks: the state as an agent of population may be ineffective and use the state-owned banks not so for ensuring of socio-economic development, as for financing the state’s projects or state-owned enterprises; in the case of certain political forces’ impact on the formation of the government the state-owned banks activities may be  subordinated by motives of certain politicians, interested in using of state-owned banks for achieving their own political goals; the ineffective multi-level delegation of management, monitoring and regulation functions can lead to inefficiencies of state-owned banks in general; the lobbying of state-owned banks’ interests may lead to the breach of competitive environment of financial market, manipulation of movement of credit and investment resources etc. The hypotheses, regarding to the factors that can be decisive for the effective corporate governance in the state-owned banks, are formulated. As main factors which may determine the efficiency of corporate governance in the state-owned banks are considered follow: the structure and composition of agency contracts of management in the state-owned banks, level of banking regulator independence and character of its relations with state-owned banks and other government structures; the formation of supervisory boards, taking into account the absence of political engagement of supervisory boards, the appropriate level of professionalism and reputation, the presence of independent members, the application other procedures for the selection of state-owned banks managers, based on the balance of all stakeholders’ interests; the appropriate balanced level of transparency.Определено, что ключевым отличием государственных банков является то, что государство может одновременно выступать владельцем, менеджером, кредитором и регулятором. Обоснованно различия корпоративных отношений в государственных банках: более сложную многоступенчатую систему агентских отношений, высокий уровень информационной асимметрии и риска оппортунизма агентов, иной характер проявления фактора доверия. Освещено, что наличие осложненных корпоративных отношений влечет за собой дополнительные риски. На основе использования классических теорий сформулировано гипотезы относительно факторов, которые могут быть определяющими для эффективного корпоративного управления в государственных банках.На основі теорії агентських відносин висвітлено специфіку корпоративного управління в державних банках. Визначено, що ключовою відмінністю державних банків є те, що держава може одночасно виступати власником, менеджером, кредитором і регулятором. Проаналізовано особливості корпоративних відносин у державних банках: більш складну багатоступеневу систему агентських відносин, вищий рівень інформаційної асиметрії та ризику опортунізму агентів, інший характер прояву чинника довіри. Обґрунтовано, що наявність ускладнених корпоративних відносин спричиняє такі ризики: держава як агент населення може бути неефективним і використовувати державні банки не для забезпечення соціально-економічного розвитку, а для фінансування державних проектів чи держпідприємств; на формування уряду під впливом окремих політичних сил функціонування державних банків може бути підпорядковане мотивам окремих політиків зацікавлених у використанні державних банків для досягнення власних політичних цілей; неефективне багатоступеневе делегування функцій управління, моніторингу та регулювання може спричинити неефективність державних банків загалом; лобіювання інтересів державних банків може спричинити порушення конкурентного середовища на ринку фінансових послуг, маніпулювання рухом кредитних та інвестиційних коштів тощо. На основі використання теорії агентських відносин обґрунтовано гіпотези щодо чинників, які можуть бути визначальними для ефективного корпоративного управління в державних банках, а саме: структура і склад агентських контрактів на управління державними банками та рівень незалежності банківського регулятора, характер його взаємовідносин із державними банками та з іншими урядовими структурами; формування наглядових рад з урахуванням відсутності політичної заангажованості наглядових рад, належного рівня професійності та репутації, наявності незалежних членів, застосування процедур відбору керівних кадрів державних банків з урахуванням паритетності інтересів усіх зацікавлених сторін; належний збалансований рівень транспарентності

Enhancement and suppression of tunneling by controlling symmetries of a potential barrier

We present a class of 2D systems which shows a counterintuitive property that contradicts a semi classical intuition: A 2D quantum particle "prefers" tunneling through a barrier rather than traveling above it. Viewing the one particle 2D system as the system of two 1D particles, it is demonstrated that this effect occurs due to a specific symmetry of the barrier that forces excitations of the interparticle degree of freedom that, in turn, leads to the appearance of an effective potential barrier even though there is no "real" barrier. This phenomenon cannot exist in 1D.Comment: 10 pages and 7 figure

Tell me who's your neighbour and I'll tell you how much time you've got: The spatiotemporal consequences of residential segregation

Relying on data from the United States Census and the American Time Use Survey (2010–2017), we examine how residential segregation influences per capita discretionary time availability in Los Angeles, New York City and Miami. We find a sizable disadvantage of being Latinx for discretionary time availability. Non-Latinx Whites have 182 extra hours of per capita discretionary time per year than do Latinx individuals. Both within-neighbourhood and adjacent-neighbourhood influences matter. In most neighbourhoods, segregation is correlated with having more discretionary time. Individuals in highly segregated areas have approximately 80 more hours of discretionary time per year than those living in diverse areas. This suggests that in addition to socioeconomic, cultural and well-being benefits, ethnic enclaves may also impart temporal advantages. However, we find that there may be diminishing marginal returns with increasing segregation in surrounding areas. Sociodemographic characteristics explain over one-quarter of the variance between segregation and discretionary time availability

Interventional oncology at the time of COVID-19 pandemic: Problems and solutions.

The COVID-19 pandemic has deeply impacted the activity of interventional oncology in hospitals and cancer centers. In this review based on official recommendations of different international societies, but also on local solutions found in different expert large-volume centers, we discuss the changes that need to be done for the organization, safety, and patient management in interventional oncology. A literature review of potential solutions in a context of scarce anesthesiologic resources, limited staff and limited access to hospital beds are proposed and discussed based on the literature data

Gynecological, reproductive and sexual outcomes after uterine artery embolization for post-partum haemorrage.

In this case control study, long-term gynecological, reproductive and sexual outcomes after uterine artery embolization (UAE) for postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) were evaluated. The study was performed in a single referral hospital for PPH in Lausanne from 2003 to 2013. Each woman whose delivery was complicated by PPH and treated by UAE was included, and compared to a control group of women whose delivery was uncomplicated. Cases were matched by maternal age, parity, ethnicity, year and mode of delivery, birth weight and gestational age in a 1-3 ratio. A total of 77 patients treated by UAE for PPH were identified in our obstetrical database. Among them, 63 were included and compared to 189 matched patients (no PPH). The mean interval time between UAE and this study was 8.1 years. Time to menstrual cycle recovery after delivery (3.9 vs 5.6 months, p = 0.66), spotting (7.9% vs 7.2%, p = 0.49), dysmenorrhea (25.4% vs 22.2%, p = 0.60) and amenorrhea (14.3% vs 12.2%, p = 0.66) were similar between the two groups. There was no difference in the FSFI score between the groups (23.2 ± 0.6 vs 23.8 ± 0.4; p = 0.41). However, the interval time to subsequent pregnancy was longer for patients after UAE than the control group (35 vs 18 months, p = 0.002). In case of pregnancy desire, the success rate was lower after UAE compared to controls (55% vs 93.5%, p &lt; 0.001). The rate of PPH was higher in those with previous PPH (6.6% vs 36.4%, p = 0.010). Patients treated by UAE for PPH did not report higher rates of gynecological symptoms or sexual dysfunction compared to patients with uneventful deliveries. The inter-pregnancy interval was increased and the success rate was reduced. In subsequent pregnancies, a higher rate of PPH was observed in those that underwent UAE

Spectral Gaps via Imaginary Time

The spectral gap occupies a role of central importance in many open problems in physics. We present an approach for evaluating the spectral gap of a Hamiltonian from a simple ratio of two expectation values, both of which are evaluated using a quantum state that is evolved in imaginary time. In principle, the only requirement is that the initial state is supported on both the ground and first excited states. We demonstrate this approach for the Fermi-Hubbard and transverse field Ising models through numerical simulation.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure, 1 tabl

Effectiveness and tolerability of pegylated interferon alfa-2b in combination with ribavirin for treatment of chronic hepatitis C: the PegIntrust Study

Background and study aims : Large international clinical trials conducted in the past 5 years rapidly improved the treatment of chronic hepatitis C; however, it is unclear whether the advances seen in clinical trials are being paralleled by similar improvements in routine clinical practice. PegIntrust is a Belgian community-based trial evaluating the sustained virological response. Patients and Methods : Observational study of 219 patients receiving pegylated interferon alfa-2b (1.5 mu g/kg/wk) and weight. based ribavirin (800-1200 mg/day) for 48 weeks. Primary study end point was sustained virological response (SVR), defined as undetectable HCV RNA 6 months after the completion of treatment. Results : In total, 108 patients (49.3 %) had undetectable HCV RNA at the end of therapy, 91(41.6%) attaining SVR. Of the 111 patients without an end-of-treatment response, 28 were non-responders, and 21 had virological breakthrough. In total, 134 patients attained early virological response (EVR); 88 (65.7%) of those patients attained SVR. In contrast, 82 (96.5 %) of the 85 patients who did not attain EVR also did not attain SVR. Age, fibrosis score and baseline viral load were identified as important predictors of treatment outcome. The most frequently reported serious adverse events resulting in treatment discontinuation were anemia (n = 10), fatigue/asthenia/malaise (n = 6) and fever (n = 3). Conclusion : Our data indicate that treatment of chronic hepatitis C with PEG-IFN alfa-2b plus weight-based ribavirin results in favourable treatment outcomes in a Belgian cohort of patients treated in community-based clinical practice. (Ada gastroenterol. belg., 2010, 73, 5-11)

АГЕНТСЬКІ ВИТРАТИ ЯК ФІНАНСОВІ ПЕРЕДУМОВИ ПОЯВИ КОРПОРАТИВНИХ КОНФЛІКТІВ

In the article the economic essence of the category "corporate conflict" and "agency costs" was investigated. It is summarized that from the position of agency theory, corporate conflict can be interpreted as a result of violation of contract terms by one of the parties – an agent or a principal. It is shown that agency costs arise from separation of ownership of capital and capital management. The distinctive features of the category "agent costs " were highlighted. The influence of growth of residual agency costs on the emergence of corporate conflicts was substantiated. The differences of distribution of residual costs in concentrated and dispersed property were highlighted. It is shown that the estimation of residual costs is possible by indirect methods to finding dependencies between characteristics of financial relations and profitability. The approaches to estimating residual agency costs were given.В статті досліджено економічну сутність категорії «корпоративний конфлікт» та «агентські витрати». Узагальнено, що з позиції агентської теорії корпоративний конфлікт можна трактувати як результат порушення умов контракту однією із сторін – агентом чи принципалом. Показано, що агентські витрати виникають внаслідок відокремлення власності на капітал та управління капіталом. Виділено відмінні ознаки категорії «агентські витрати». Наведено структуру агентських витрат. Обґрунтовано вплив зростання залишкових агентських витрат на появу корпоративних конфліктів. Висвітлено відмінності розподілу залишкових втрат в умовах концентрованої та розпорошеної власності. Показано, що оцінка залишкових втрат можлива опосередкованими методами через знаходження залежностей між характеристиками фінансових відносин та прибутковістю. Наведено підходи до оцінки залишкових агентських витрат.