Share Retention, Underwriter Reputation, and Initial Public Offering Underpricing

Initial public offering (IPO) underpricing is a costly practice that decreases the IPO proceeds accruing to the issuing firms and can derail a firm\u27s growth objectives. The purpose of this correlational study was to determine the relationship between share retention, underwriter reputation, and IPO underpricing among a population of IPOs issued in Jamaica. The efficient market hypothesis served as the theoretical framework for this study. Archived data for 52 IPOs issued in Jamaica from 1986 to 2018 were collected and Spearman\u27s correlation matrix and heteroscedasticity-consistent standard errors regression analysis were applied. The outcomes of this study indicated no significant relationship between share retention and IPO underpricing, α = .1 and α = .05, r = .059, p = .35; however, there was partial acceptance of the alternative hypothesis that underwriter reputation is related to IPO underpricing at α = .1, r = .234, p = .055, but not α = .05. Additionally, underpricing was higher for IPOs supported by the high reputation underwriters, and share retention was a slightly better predictor of IPO underpricing for this group of IPOs, R2 = .02, p = .31 versus R2 = .01, p = .75. Finally, the overall model indicated that the independent variables did not jointly explain IPO underpricing, F(2, 45) = .78, p = .455, R2 = .032. The results of this study might contribute to social change because successful IPOs can increase employment opportunities as well as improve income distribution and socioeconomic indicators for the communities served by IPO firms

Accessing Soybase and Other Genome Databases Via the Internet

The Internet or World Wide Web is increasingly in the news. It seems to be much like Mark Twain\u27s comment about the weather - everyone talks about the Internet but no one knows much about it. In fact the Internet is full of useful information if one only can find it. This paper (and associated computer demonstration) will first describe some of the genome databases that are accessible via the Internet and then give some strategies for searching the Internet for other types of information

The Challenges of Oral Agents as Antineoplastic Treatments

OBJECTIVE: Given the increasing use of oral antineoplastic agents in cancer management, patient adherence is critical to successful treatment outcomes. This article reviews the scope of the problem and issues of adherence to oral antineoplastic agents. DATA SOURCES: Research based and other articles, newsletters, and conference presentations. CONCLUSION: Suboptimal adherence to oral antineoplastic agents is a significant clinical problem that may result in disease or treatment complications, adjustment in treatment regimen, disease progression, and premature death. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: Healthcare providers need to monitor and facilitate adherence by identifying barriers and implementing strategies to assure adherence, and therefore, improve clinical outcomes

Policy Implications of Oral Agents

OBJECTIVE: With the increasing use of oral antineoplastic agents in cancer management, patients and family members need to understand of how to obtain, safely handle, and store the medication, how and when the medications should be taken, and when to report toxic side effects to accomplish efficacious treatment. DATA SOURCES: Research based articles and conference presentations. CONCLUSION: Cancer centers to modify policies, protocols, or practices to assure safe and proper administration of oral antineoplastic agents. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: Clinicians need to monitor and facilitate administration of oral antineoplastic agents, and ultimately improve clinical outcomes

The validity of a behavioural multiple-mini-interview within an assessment centre for selection into specialty training

Background Entry into specialty training was determined by a National Assessment Centre (NAC) approach using a combination of a behavioural Multiple-Mini-Interview (MMI) and a written Situational Judgement Test (SJT). We wanted to know if interviewers could make reliable and valid decisions about the non-cognitive characteristics of candidates with the purpose of selecting them into general practice specialty training using the MMI. Second, we explored the concurrent validity of the MMI with the SJT. Methods A variance components analysis estimated the reliability and sources of measurement error. Further modelling estimated the optimal configurations for future MMI iterations. We calculated the relationship of the MMI with the SJT. Results Data were available from 1382 candidates, 254 interviewers, six MMI questions, five alternate forms of a 50-item SJT, and 11 assessment centres. For a single MMI question and one assessor, 28% of the variance between scores was due to candidate-to-candidate variation. Interviewer subjectivity, in particular the varying views that interviewer had for particular candidates accounted for 40% of the variance in scores. The generalisability co-efficient for a six question MMI was 0.7; to achieve 0.8 would require ten questions. A disattenuated correlation with the SJT (r = 0.35), and in particular a raw score correlation with the subdomain related to clinical knowledge (r = 0.25) demonstrated evidence for construct and concurrent validity. Less than two per cent of candidates would have failed the MMI. Conclusion The MMI is a moderately reliable method of assessment in the context of a National Assessment Centre approach. The largest source of error relates to aspects of interviewer subjectivity, suggesting enhanced interviewer training would be beneficial. MMIs need to be sufficiently long for precise comparison for ranking purposes. In order to justify long term sustainable use of the MMI in a postgraduate assessment centre approach, more theoretical work is required to understand how written and performance based test of non-cognitive attributes can be combined, in a way that achieves acceptable generalizability, and has validity

Examination of the Role of Religious and Psychosocial Factors in HIV Medication Adherence Rates

Optimal adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is associated with favorable HIV outcomes, including higher CD4 cell counts, HIV virus suppression and a lower risk of HIV transmission. However, only 25% of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH) in the USA are virally suppressed. Sub-optimal adherence (p\u3c 0.05). Social support satisfaction was also significantly associated with ART adherence (OR = 1.52, 95% CI [1.11–2.08], p \u3c 0.05) and energy/fatigue/vitality (OR = 1.03, 95% CI [1.00–1.05], p \u3c 0.05)

Regional Diversity in the Postsynaptic Proteome of the Mouse Brain

The proteome of the postsynaptic terminal of excitatory synapses comprises over one thousand proteins in vertebrate species and plays a central role in behavior and brain disease. The brain is organized into anatomically distinct regions and whether the synapse proteome differs across these regions is poorly understood. Postsynaptic proteomes were isolated from seven forebrain and hindbrain regions in mice and their composition determined using proteomic mass spectrometry. Seventy-four percent of proteins showed differential expression and each region displayed a unique compositional signature. These signatures correlated with the anatomical divisions of the brain and their embryological origins. Biochemical pathways controlling plasticity and disease, protein interaction networks and individual proteins involved with cognition all showed differential regional expression. Combining proteomic and connectomic data shows that interconnected regions have specific proteome signatures. Diversity in synapse proteome composition is key feature of mouse and human brain structure

An Intervention to Improve Adherence and Management of Symptoms for Patients Prescribed Oral Chemotherapy Agents: An Exploratory Study

Background: The use of oral chemotherapy agents to treat cancer has increased. Patients are responsible for adhering to complex dosing regimens, while monitoring and managing symptoms from side effects of the chemotherapy at home. Objective: This study examined an intervention to manage symptoms and promote adherence to oral chemotherapy agents. Intervention and Methods: A 3 group exploratory pilot study determined how an Automated Voice Response (AVR) system alone (N=40), or the AVR with strategies to manage symptoms and adherence (N=40), or the AVR with strategies to manage adherence (N=39) reduced symptom severity and improved adherence. Participants received a Symptom Management Toolkit, completed a baseline interview, and were randomized to receive 8 weekly AVR calls. The AVR directed patients to the toolkit for high symptoms and nurse calls occurred for management of severe symptoms or non-adherence. An exit interview occurred at 10 weeks. Results: Mean age was 59.6, with 70% female and 76% Caucasian. Overall, 42% of patients were non-adherent, with missed doses increasing with regimen complexity. Symptom severity declined over time in all groups. No difference was found in adherence rates among intervention groups. Higher adherence rates were related with lower levels of symptom severity across groups. Conclusions: Adherence is a significant clinical problem, which can affect efficacy of the cancer treatment. The AVR intervention alone was just as effective as the AVR plus the nurse intervention at promoting adherence and managing symptoms from side effects. Implications for Practice: Nurses need to focus on patient education by assuring patient understanding of oral agent regimen, and the need to adhere to the oral agent for efficacious cancer treatment. Nurses can promote the use of medication reminders and self- management of symptoms from side effects, to support adherence to the oral agent

Enhanced immunogenicity of a functional enzyme by T cell epitope modification

BACKGROUND: T helper epitopes are necessary for the induction of high titers of antigen-specific IgG antibodies. We are interested in the epitope modification of intact proteins as a method to enhance their immunogenicity for the generation of recombinant protein-based vaccines. RESULTS: Hartley strain guinea pig T cell epitopes were mapped for two related bacterial proteases. Two T cell epitopes were found in one of the proteases, while a comparatively reduced immunogenicity protease had no detectable T cell epitopes. A T cell epitope sequence homologous to the immunogenic protease was created in the less immunogenic protease by changing a single amino acid. Proliferative responses to the whole protein parent enzyme were two-fold higher in splenocyte cultures from variant-immunized animals. We found that the single amino acid change in the variant resulted in a protein immunogen that induced higher titers of antigen-specific IgG antibody at low doses and at early time points during the immunization protocol. The serum from parent- and variant-immunized guinea pigs cross-reacted at both the protein and the peptide level. Finally, animals primed to the variant but boosted with the parent enzyme had higher levels of antigen-specific IgG than animals immunized with the parent enzyme alone. CONCLUSIONS: With a single amino acid change we have introduced a T cell epitope into a comparatively low-immunogenic enzyme and have increased its immunogenicity while retaining the enzyme's original proteolytic function. The ability to immunomodulate proteins while leaving their function intact has important implication for the development of recombinant vaccines and protein-based therapeutics