Rare booms and disasters in a multisector endowment economy

Why do value stocks have higher average returns than growth stocks, despite having lower risk? Why do these stocks exhibit positive abnormal performance, while growth stocks exhibit negative abnormal performance? This paper offers a rare-event-based explanation that can also account for the high equity premium and volatility of the aggregate market. The model explains other puzzling aspects of the data, such as joint patterns in time-series predictablity of aggregate market and value and growth returns, long periods in which growth outperforms value, and the association between positive skewness and low realized returns

Disaster Risk and Its Implications for Asset Pricing

After lying dormant for more than two decades, the rare disaster framework has emerged as a leading contender to explain facts about the aggregate market, interest rates, and financial derivatives. In this article, we survey recent models of disaster risk that provide explanations for the equity premium puzzle, the volatility puzzle, return predictability, and other features of the aggregate stock market. We show how these models can also explain violations of the expectations hypothesis in bond pricing as well as the implied volatility skew in option pricing. We review both modeling techniques and results and consider both endowment and production economies. We show that these models provide a parsimonious and unifying framework for understanding puzzles in asset pricing

Nano-Pervaporation Membrane with Heat Exchanger Generates Medical-Grade Water

A nanoporous membrane is used for the pervaporation process in which potable water is maintained, at atmospheric pressure, on the feed side of the membrane. The water enters the non-pervaporation (NPV) membrane device where it is separated into two streams -- retentate water and permeated water. The permeated pure water is removed by applying low vapor pressure on the permeate side to create water vapor before condensation. This permeated water vapor is subsequently condensed by coming in contact with the cool surface of a heat exchanger with heat being recovered through transfer to the feed water stream

A Rational Approach for Creating Peptides Mimicking Antibody Binding

This study reports a novel method to design peptides that mimic antibody binding. Using the Knob-Socket model for protein-protein interaction, the interaction surface between Cetuximab and EGFR was mapped. EGFR binding peptides were designed based on geometry and the probability of the mapped knob-sockets pairs. Designed peptides were synthesized and then characterized for binding specificity, affinity, cytotoxicity of drug-peptide conjugate and inhibition of phosphorylation. In cell culture studies, designed peptides specifically bind and internalize to EGFR overexpressing cells with three to four-fold higher uptake compared to control cells that do not overexpress EGFR. The designed peptide, Pep11, bound to EGFR with

Diversification and performance in the hotel industry: do board size and family representation matter?

Purpose This study aims to empirically examine the relationship between industrial diversification and firm performance and the moderating effects exerted on that relationship by board size and family representation on the board. Design/methodology/approach Secondary financial data were collected for hotel firms listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange during the period 2005-2016. Subsequently, a bivariate correlation and a fixed-effects panel regression analysis were performed on the data. Findings The empirical results showed that diversification positively influenced firm performance until firms reached an optimal level of diversification (0.34); beyond that level, the effect was negative. In addition, firms with a larger board tended to show better performance when the level of diversification increased from medium to high, and firms with lower family representation on the board tended to exhibit better performance when the level of diversification increased from low to medium. Practical implications Theoretical and managerial implications are suggested in terms of balancing the size of a firm’s board and with regard to family representation on a board from the perspectives of resource dependence theory (RDT) and socioemotional wealth (SEW), the diversification of hotel firms and future research. Originality/value A limited number of studies have considered diversification as a corporate-level strategy in the hospitality field and in the unique context in which a service-oriented economy is dominant, such as in Hong Kong. The role of board composition on the diversification–performance relation has rarely been investigated theoretically and empirically. Apart from providing managerial implications for corporate governance, this study also offers theoretical generalizability, from the perspectives of RDT and SEW, to examine the moderating roles of board size and family representation on the diversification–firm performance relation

Synthetic Antibody Mimic Peptides

The present disclosure relates to compositions and methods comprising peptide molecules that mimic the binding and functional properties of native antibodies relative to their respective targets. Some embodiments comprise peptide-drug conjugates (PDCs) comprising the mimic peptides disclosed herein. The targets of these mimic peptides include epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1). The present disclosure comprises application of the knob-socket computational model to design antibody mimics for proteins

Rational Design of Peptide Ligands Based on Knob−Socket Protein Packing Model Using CD13 as a Prototype Receptor

Structure-based computational peptide design methods have gained significant interest in recent years owing to the availability of structural insights into protein–protein interactions obtained from the crystal structures. The majority of these approaches design new peptide ligands by connecting the crucial amino acid residues from the protein interface and are generally not based on any predicted receptor–ligand interaction. In this work, a peptide design method based on the Knob–Socket model was used to identify the specific ligand residues packed into the receptor interface. This method enables peptide ligands to be designed rationally by predicting amino acid residues that will fit best at the binding site of the receptor protein. In this, specific peptide ligands were designed for the model receptor CD13, overexpression of which has been observed in several cancer types. From the initial library of designed peptides, three potential candidates were selected based on simulated energies in the CD13 binding site using the programs molecular operating environment and AutoDock Vina. In the CD13 enzymatic activity inhibition assay, the three identified peptides exhibited 2.7–7.4 times lower IC50 values (GYPAY, 227 μM; GFPAY, 463 μM; GYPAVYLF, 170 μM) as compared to the known peptide ligand CNGRC (C1–C5) (1260 μM). The apparent binding affinities of the peptides (GYPAY, Ki = 54.0 μM; GFPAY, Ki = 74.3 μM; GYPAVYLF, Ki = 38.8 μM) were 10–20 times higher than that of CNGRC (C1–C5) (Ki = 773 μM). The double reciprocal plots from the steady-state enzyme kinetic assays confirmed the binding of the peptides to the intended active site of CD13. The cell binding and confocal microscopy assays showed that the designed peptides selectively bind to the CD13 on the cell surface. Our study demonstrates the feasibility of a Knob–Socket-based rational design of novel peptide ligands in improving the identification of specific binding versus current more labor-intensive methods

Computerised Clinical Reminders Use in an Integrated Healthcare System

Objective: To examine levels of routine computerised clinical reminder use in a nationwide sample of primary care physicians and to identify factors influencing reminder use. Design: Cross-sectional using a self-administered questionnaire. Setting: The United States Veterans Health Administration. Methods: Survey responses from 461 VHA primary care physicians sampled from across the Veterans Health Administration were sampled and analysed. We asked physicians how many computerised clinical reminders they use per patient per visit and when they typically use computerised clinical reminders in their clinics. Measured physician characteristics included age, gender, year of medical degree, number of days in clinic per week, and attitudes towards computerised clinical reminders (measured on Likert-like scales). We used multivariable linear regression to determine factors associated with greater use of computerised clinical reminders per patient per visit. Results: Average computerised clinical reminder use per patient visit was 4.2 (SD = 2.5). Eightysix percent of physicians resolve reminders during the visit. In a multivariable regression model, a higher score on the team factors scale is associated with use of more reminders (increase of 0.24 reminders for each unit increase on the team factors scale, or one extra reminder for each four unit increase in the team factor scale). Working more days in clinic is associated with use of more reminders per patient visit (increase of 0.13 reminders for each extra half-day of clinic per week, or about one additional reminder for physicians working ten half-days per week versus physicians working two half-days per week). Academic facility affiliation is associated with one less reminder used per patient visit as compared with no affiliation. Conclusions: Most United States Veterans Health Administration primary care physicians use computerised clinical reminders, typically during the patient visit. Strategies to increase reminder use should focus on improving physicians’ understanding of their role in completing reminder-related tasks and improving usability for users such as physicians who work in clinic less frequently