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This study offers a nuanced examination of the interplay between climate policy uncertainty (CPU) and three categories of the US commodity futures returns (metals, energy, and soft commodities). By integrating a regression framework with a Markov regime‐switching approach, our results uncover both linear and nonlinear effects of CPU in varying volatility contexts. This comprehensive methodological approach sheds light on CPU's diverse impacts across various types of commodity futures. The findings illustrate CPU's notable influence on metal and energy futures in low‐volatility regime, contrasted with its more pronounced effect on soft commodities during high‐volatility regime. These insights are pivotal for investors strategizing in light of CPU, and underscore the significance of renewable energy in alleviating climate policy uncertainties within commodity markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study first determines whether CEO overconfidence decreases the level of firm performance and increases the performance variability. Then, we examine whether CEO structural power simultaneously increases the level and variability of firm performance. Next, we investigate whether and how CEO structural power mediates the effects of CEO overconfidence on a firm's performance. Our samples include listed Chinese firms. Our results demonstrate that CEO overconfidence significantly reduces the levels of a firm's total profitability, shareholder profitability and stock performance and significantly raises the volatilities of a firm's total profitability and shareholder profitability. Finally, CEO structural power from duality strengthens the negative effects of CEO overconfidence on the levels of a firm's stock performance, and CEO power from a founder (duality) exacerbates the effects of CEO overconfidence on the volatilities of a firm's stock performance (total profitability). However, CEO power from a CEO's relative compensation share reinforces his or her incentives to increase the beneficial effect of CEO overconfidence on the levels of a firm's total profitability and shareholder profitability and to weaken the effects of CEO overconfidence on the volatilities of shareholder profitability. Our results help Chinese authorities develop policies regarding the supervision of a firm's CEO overconfidence and power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses an under-researched area in corporate behavior by examining the impact of a CEO's cultural background on corporate overinvestment decisions. We focus on the unique cultural dichotomy between northern and southern China as our context of study. Additionally, we scrutinize the interactions between a CEO's age and the type of company ownership in influencing overinvestment tendencies. Our aim is to enrich theoretical understanding of factors influencing corporate overinvestment, offering practical implications for businesses within and beyond China. By filling this gap in the literature, our study sheds light on the nuanced determinants of overinvestment decisions, aiding businesses in refining their investment strategies and governance mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study applied a quantile analysis to test the relationship between analyst coverage and overinvestment in Chinese firms and further sought to demonstrate the mediating effect of corporate governance on overinvestment. The empirical results show that analyst coverage causes overinvestment across all quantiles; however, corporate governance can diminish the effect of firm overinvestment in the higher quantile analysis. Additionally, the difference-in-differences method was used to explore the effectiveness of the Chinese government's 2013 corporate governance reform, with the results confirming that that governance reform has been effective in inhibiting a firm's overinvestment. The findings of this study indicate that analysts act as market supervisors in the Chinese capital market, improving corporate governance; however, their coverage does not appear to benefit firms or shareholders. This research highlights the need to review the role of analysts in the market to ensure they can reduce information asymmetry between managers and shareholders without causing overinvestment behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study extends the application of behavioral portfolio optimization by estimating the return of behavioral stocks (B-stocks). With the cause-and-effect relationships of the respective irrational behaviors on the stock price movements and the unique information provided by B-stocks in terms of knowing with a calculated probability when (time duration) a specific effect (e.g., positive cumulative abnormal return) after a certain trigger point (cause of the irrational behavior) is spotted, regression analysis is applied on the information in the duration to have more accurate return estimates. To fit in the framework of behavioral portfolio optimization, the scenarios used for the optimization are generated utilizing regression analysis, based on which the safety-first scenario-based mixed-integer program is applied to obtain the optimal portfolios. This study also proposes two new types of B-stocks with corresponding operational definitions for herding and ostrich-effect, along with the previously identified over-reaction, under-reaction, and disposition-effect B-stocks. Back-test results show that the portfolios are profitable and can significantly outperform a benchmark and the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute lung injury (ALI) is often characterized by severe lung inflammation and pulmonary edema with poor gas exchange and hypoxemia. Alveolar inflammation and water flooding are, in fact, notable features of ALI pathogenesis. The sodium-potassium-chloride co-transporter isoform 1 (NKCC1), localized at the basolateral surface of the lung epithelium, drives water transport via back transport of Na+ and Cl− to the alveolar air space. NKCC1, therefore, is crucial in regulating alveolar fluid. Increased expression of NKCC1 results in increased alveolar fluid secretion and impaired alveolar fluid clearance. During ALI, the with no lysine kinase (WNK), oxidative stress responsive kinase 1 (OSR1), and STE20/SPS1-related proline/alanine-rich kinase (SPAK) pathways are activated, which upregulates NKCC1 expression. Proinflammatory cytokines also enhance the expression of NKCC1 via c-Jun N-terminal kinase-and p38-dependent pathways. NKCC1 activation also increases the expression of proinflammatory cytokines via cell rupture and activation of macrophages. Increased proinflammatory cytokines, in turn, recruit inflammatory cells to the site of injury and cause further lung damage. Animals with high expression of NKCC1 show more severe lung injury with presentations of more severe pulmonary edema and microvascular permeability, higher expression of proinflammatory cytokines, and greater neutrophilic infiltration. In contrast, animals with low expression of NKCC1 or those treated with NKCC1 inhibitors show less severe lung injury with milder levels of presentations of ALI. These reports collectively highlight a novel role of NKCC1 in ALI pathogenesis. Manipulation of NKCC1 expression levels could, therefore, represent novel modalities for effective ALI treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the contributions of the Taiwan regular and mini index futures to price discovery. We find that the regular futures provide more price discovery, which is inconsistent with the findings for the US futures markets. This dominance of regular futures became relatively weaker after the introduction of the standard portfolio analysis of the risk margin system because of more arbitrage trades mainly executed by institutional investors. We show the effect of the introduction of an integrated margin system on the price‐discovery processes and efficiencies for futures with the same underlying asset but different contract sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how excessive growth in credit, housing and international capital flows, referred to as credit, housing and capital booms, can serve as an early warning signal (EWS) for an impending banking crisis. We examine 56 sample countries that comprise 32 advanced countries and 24 emerging countries. We have two novel results. The first supports the "more booms, stronger warning signal" argument for predicting the onset and persistence of a crisis. The joint consideration of credit, housing and foreign capital booms can be an important EWS for a systemic banking crisis. Second, the lead times for the three booms are different. Capital booms occur 1 year ahead of a crisis, but credit and housing booms occur 2 years ahead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Content-based recommendation techniques usually require a large number of training examples for model construction, which however may not always be available in many real-world scenarios. To address the training data availability constraint common to the content-based approach, we develop a collaborative expansion-based approach to expand the size of training examples, which could lead to improved content-based recommendations. We use a book rating data set collected from Amazon to evaluate our proposed method and compare its performance against those of two salient benchmark techniques. The results show that our method outperforms the benchmark techniques consistently and significantly. Our method expands the size of training examples for a focal customer by leveraging the available preferences of his or her referent group, and thereby better supports personalized recommendations than existing techniques that solely follow content-based or collaborative filtering, without incurring costs to identify, collect, and analyze additional information. This study reveals the value and feasibility of collaborative expansion as a viable means to increase training size for the focal customer and thus address the training data availability constraint that seriously hinders the performance of content-based recommender systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore whether various characteristics of chief executive officers (CEO) enhance the impact of CEO overconfidence on a firm's value after mergers and acquisitions. The study finds that overconfident CEOs have a positive impact on firm value after mergers and acquisitions. The study also shows that overconfidence amongst CEOs can help to explain merger and acquisition decisions and the likelihood of pursuing acquisitions. Young CEOs were also found to significantly increase the impact of CEO overconfidence on a firm's value after mergers and acquisitions, while female CEOs were found to be more risk averse when compared to their male peers, with lower leverage and less volatility in their firms when compared to firms run by male CEOs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of prevalent document management practices shows the popular use of categories (e.g., folders) to organize documents for subsequent searches and retrievals. The coherence and distinction of an existing document category can diminish considerably as influxes of new documents arrive over time. The complexity of and effort requirements for document-category management favor an automated approach that can be supported by appropriate document-clustering techniques. A review of the extant literature shows a predominant focus on document content analysis in automated document-category management, which cannot preserve the user's document-grouping preferences. This research develops two advanced evolution-based techniques for preserving user preferences in their management of document categories. The first technique (CE2), which supports the automated evolution of a set of flat (i.e., nonhierarchical) document categories, extends a promising evolution-based technique (category evolution, CE) by addressing its fundamental limitations inherent to the use of holistic measures. The second technique, category hierarchy evolution (CHE), is developed on the basis of CE2 to support scenarios where document categories are organized with a hierarchical structure. Empirical evaluations of the effectiveness of each technique in various category evolution scenarios created using two different document corpora (i.e., news documents from Reuters and research articles from the ACM digital library), as compared with those of associated salient techniques for benchmark purposes, show that CE2 and CHE outperform their respective benchmark techniques. Their performance is reasonably robust and appears more effective when the quality (coherence) of the previously created categories does not deteriorate excessively. According to our results, the evolution-based approach is viable, appealing, and capable of preserving user preferences in automatic reorganizations of document categories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses a dynamic herding model that considers intertemporal and cross‐sectional correlation to confirm that loan herding occurs among joint‐stock commercial banks (JSCBs) and city commercial banks (CCBs). We clarify the motivations for bank loan herding. We find that loan herding by both JSCBs and CCBs results more from following the behavior of other same‐type banks than different‐type banks because of characteristic herding or reputational concerns. Loan herding by JSCBs is motivated by investigative herding, whereas loan herding by CCBs results from informational cascades. Moreover, loan herding has a significantly harmful impact on the operating performance of CCBs but not JSCBs, which may be explained by the irrational behavior of CCBs. Our results will help Chinese bank supervisors develop appropriate policies for handling loan herding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Introduction: Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) frequently experience concurrent comorbidities; therefore, risk assessment for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) is very important. Objectives: We explored the association between COPD and risk of MACEs with three common clinical events: acute myocardial infarction (AMI), ischemic stroke (IS), and cardiovascular death (CVD). Methods: We evaluated the predictive value of the CHA2DS2‐VASc score (congestive heart failure [C], hypertension [H], age [A], diabetes [D], stroke [S], and vascular disease [VASc]) for MACEs in COPD patients. In this observational study, we retrospectively reviewed the records of 29 258 patients with COPD between 2005 and 2009 in relation to MACE risk using the CHA2DS2‐VASc score. We calculated the hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) using a significance level of .05. Results: Patients with COPD had significantly (P < .001) increased risk of MACEs, and a high prevalence of CHA2DS2‐VASc scores ≥ 6, predicting MACEs (16.1%), AMI (3.3%), IS (8.7%), and CVD (4.0%). A good discrimination was found for MACEs, IS events, and CVD events (AUC = 0.740, 0.739, and 0.778, respectively) but poorer discrimination for AMI events (AUC = 0.697). Conclusion: Early lifestyle modifications and antithrombotic therapy may be essential for COPD patients at a high risk of MACEs, that is, those with CHA2DS2‐VASc scores ≥ 6. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the impact of hot money on stock and exchange rate markets and the returns and volatility spillover between the stock and exchange rate market in China by using the monthly data covering the period from July 2005 to June 2013. This paper also uses the quantile approach to determine whether the hot money influences the stock and exchange rate markets. The results first reveal the long-run equilibrium relationship that is exhibited between the stock and exchange rate market. Second, hot money has an impact on the stock market but has no effect on the exchange rate market, according to the VECMBEKK model. Third, regarding the volatility spillover effects on the stock and exchange rate markets, there is a spillover effect on the Shanghai stock and exchange rate markets. Hot money has an impact on the stock and exchange rate markets. Finally, we apply the quantile regression to determine the impact of hot money on low quantiles of the exchange rate and high quantiles of the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines whether herding exists among foreign institutional investors (FIIs), what is the cause of their herding, and whether both foreign and domestic institutional investors are more likely to follow their similar types in the Taiwan stock market. By testing the cross-sectional dependence for FIIs’ stocks in two adjacent months, we demonstrate that the FIIs’ cascades mainly result from their herding. We find little evidence that FIIs’ herding behavior is driven by habit investing. The momentum trading of FIIs is found to account for little of their herding. Moreover, investigative herding, rather than informational cascades is the main reason for FIIs’ herding. One of our contributions may be to find that FIIs’ cascades mainly resulting from their herding does not change in the bullish and bearish Taiwan stock market. This study further finds that FIIs and dealers are more likely to follow similar-type institutions than different-type institutions, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

New Findings What is the central question of this study? Our previous study demonstrates that elevated orexin 2 receptor (OX2R) activity within the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) contributes to hypertension in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs), and a lower OX2R protein level was detected in their RVLM. The present study aims to explore the mechanisms underlying elevated orexinergic activity in the RVLM of SHRs, compared with their normotensive counterparts, Wistar-Kyoto rats., What is the main finding and its importance? Increased orexinergic input into the RVLM and enhanced OX2R responsiveness in the RVLM, which was mainly mediated by augmented OX2R-neuronal nitric oxide synthase signalling, may underlie the elevated OX2R activity within the RVLM of SHRs., Our previous study showed that elevated orexin 2 receptor (OX2R) activity within the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) contributes to hypertension in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). Herein, we investigated the mechanism(s) underlying the elevated OX2R activity. The following results were found. (i) More hypothalamic orexin A-immunoreactive (OXA-IR) cells existed in SHRs than in Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats at either 4 (2217 ± 43 versus 1809 ± 69) or 16 weeks of age (1829 ± 59 versus 1230 ± 84). The number of OXA-IR cells that project to the RVLM was higher in 16-week-old SHRs than in WKY rats (91 ± 11 versus 52 ± 11). (ii) Higher numbers of OXA-IR and RVLM-projecting OXA-IR cells were found in the dorsomedial and perifornical hypothalamus of 16-week-old SHRs. (iii) Spontaneously hypertensive rats had higher levels of orexin A and B in the hypothalamus and higher levels of orexin A in the RVLM than did WKY rats. (iv) Unilateral intra-RVLM application of OX2R agonist, orexin A or [Ala11, d-Leu15]-orexin B (50 pmol) induced a larger pressor response in SHRs than in WKY rats. (v) Intra-RVLM pretreatment with a neuronal nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor, 7-nitro-indazole (2.5 pmol), or a soluble guanylate cyclase inhibitor, methylene blue (250 pmol), reducedthe intra-RVLM [Ala11, d-Leu15]-orexin B-induced pressor response in both WKY rats and SHRs. In contrast, an inducible NOS inhibitor, aminoguanidine (100 pmol), was ineffective. (vi) Neuronal NOS was co-expressed with OX2R in RVLM neurons. In conclusion, increased orexinergic input and enhanced OX2R-neuronal NOS signalling may underlie elevated OX2R activity in the RVLM and contribute to the pathophysiology of hypertension in SHRs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the volatility spillovers and asymmetry between REITs and stock prices for nine countries (Australia, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States) using eight different multivariate GARCH models. We also analyze the optimal weights, hedging effectiveness, and hedge ratios for REIT-stock portfolio holdings with respect to the results. The empirical results indicate that dynamic conditional correlation (DCC) models provide a better fit than the constant conditional correlation models. The DCC with volatility spillovers and asymmetry (DCC-SA) model provides a better fit than the other multivariate GARCH models. The DCC-SA model also provides the best hedging effectiveness for all pairs of REIT-stock assets. More importantly, this result holds for all cases and for all models that we consider, which means that by taking spillover and asymmetry into consideration, hedging effectiveness can be vastly improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New Findings What is the central question of this study? Central orexinergic activity is involved in tonic and phasic control of cardiovascular homeostasis. A potential role for elevated central orexinergic activity in the maintenance of hypertension in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) has not previously been explored., What is the main finding and what is its importance? We show that central or intra-rostral ventrolateral medulla blockade of orexin 2 receptors produces a significant reduction of arterial pressure in SHRs, but not Wistar-Kyoto rats. This study demonstrates a previously unrecognized role of orexin 2 receptors in maintaining hypertension in SHRs., Orexins can raise arterial pressure and sympathetic activity and are involved in tonic and phasic control of cardiovascular homeostasis. We hypothesized that elevated central orexinergic activity contributes to the maintenance of hypertension in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). We examined this hypothesis by suppressing central orexinergic activity in SHRs and Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKYs) with specific antagonists or antibodies against orexin 1 (OX1R) and 2 receptors (OX2R). Intracerebroventricular administration of an OX1R antagonist, SB-334867 (30 and 100 nmol), induced no significant change in mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) in SHRs and WKYs except that at 100 nmol it reduced HR in WKYs. In contrast, an OX2R antagonist, TCS-OX2-29 (3-30 nmol) induced long-lasting reductions of MAP and HR in SHRs (21 ± 3 mmHg and 22 ± 2 beats min−1 at 30 nmol), but not in WKYs. Intracerebroventricular anti-OX2R IgG, but not anti-OX1R IgG or non-immune goat IgG, significantly lowered MAP and HR in SHRs. None of the three IgGs affected MAP or HR in WKYs. The OX2R protein level in the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) was lower in SHRs than in WKYs, whereas no differences were found between SHRs and WKYs in the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus, dorsomedial-perifornical hypothalamic area or caudal nucleus tractus solitarii. The OX1R protein levels in these four regions did not differ between SHRs and WKYs. Injection of TCS-OX2-29 (50 pmol) into the RVLM produced a larger reduction of MAP in SHRs than in WKYs. We conclude that elevated OX2R-mediated activity in the brain, especially in the RVLM, may contribute to hypertension in SHRs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper employs the autoregressive conditional jump intensity model, incorporating a forecast error, to investigate the relationships between the changes in the implied volatility and the relevant determinants in the Taiwan market. We further apply the orthogonality test to explore forecast error and content of information. The empirical results show that the changes in the implied volatility are affected by the contemporaneous returns, lagged returns, lagged changes in the implied volatility, contemporaneous daily changes in the realized volatility and lagged forecast error. At the same time, these results are consistent with the behavioral explanations of Hibbert et al. [ Journal of Banking and Finance (2008) vol. 32, pp. 2254-2266]. We also demonstrate that the implied volatility in Taiwan seems to be an efficient forecast of future realized volatility during the whole of the sample period, except for the financial crisis period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modern tendency of Japanese politics-economy interaction has affected emerging countries. This article examines the influence of the House of Representatives sessions on returns to Nikkei 225. The conventional linear regression can only describe the impact of averages on returns, but cannot completely present all the possible relationships between the two. In order to avoid the restrictions of the above mentioned method, this article performs quantile regression to analyze the influence of the House of Representatives sessions on the returns of Nikkei 225. Meanwhile, quantile regression provides a more complete description of analysis on relationships between stock market behavior and parliament effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was aminolyzed with 1,6-diaminohexane (DAH) and then sialic acid (NANA) was immobilized via amidation onto the surface. The surface concentration of NANA was determined by 2-thiobarbituric acid (TBA) test. The hemocompatibility of the resulting PET fabrics was evaluated based on complete blood count (CBC), coagulating times, and protein adsorption. The ability to remove lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was also determined. In addition, the effect of contacting NANA-immobilizing PET on the suppression of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production was measured by the chemiluminescence (CL) method. The results show that by immobilizing NANA onto PET, the adhesion of platelet (PLt) was reduced, and oxidative stress was suppressed. The level of LPS was also greatly reduced. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study utilizes a Smooth Transition Vector Error Correction Model (STVECM) with Glosten-Jagannathan-Runkle-Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (GJR-GARCH) and spillover volatility to investigate the changes in short-run return dynamics when a deviation from the comovement equilibrium between the prices of New Taiwan Dollar (NTD) and Japan Yen (JPY) exists. Empirical results demonstrated that both exchange rates have a nonlinear relationship with the comovement equilibrium, which was captured by the Logistic Smooth Transition Vector Error Correction Model with GJR-GARCH and Spillover Volatility (LSTVECM-GJR-GARCH-SV). Both exchange rates will quickly reverse to equilibrium when there are large deviations between the two exchange rates, implying that information traders obtain profit in two markets, and then both exchange rates continue to deviate from equilibrium when small deviations exist from comovement, owing to noise trader to expand mispricing. Moreover, small and large deviations may have obvious differences and adjustment speeds when reverting to equilibrium for large negative and large positive deviations. Thus, this study applied LSTVECM-GJR-GARCH-SV to elucidate arbitrage behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vitrectomy is a common procedure for treating ocular-related diseases. The surgery involves removing the vitreous humor from the center of the eye, and vitreous substitutes are needed to replace the vitreous humor after vitrectomy. In the present study, we developed a colorless, transparent and injectable hydrogel with appropriate refractive index as a vitreous substitute. The hydrogel is formed by oxidated hyaluronic acid (oxi-HA) cross-linked with adipic acid dihydrazide (ADH). Hyaluronic acid (HA) was oxidized by sodium periodate to create aldehyde functional groups, which could be cross-linked by ADH. The refractive index of this hydrogel ranged between 1.3420 and 1.3442, which is quite similar to human vitreous humor (1.3345). The degradation tests demonstrated that the hydrogel could maintain the gel matrix over 35 days, depending on the ADH concentration. In addition, the cytotoxicity was evaluated on retina pigmented epithelium (RPE) cells cultivated following the ISO standard (tests for in vitro cytotoxicity), and the hydrogel was found to be non-toxic. In a preliminary animal study, the oxi-HA/ADH hydrogel was injected into the vitreous cavity of rabbit eyes. The evaluations of slit-lamp observation, intraocular pressure, cornea thickness and histological examination showed no significant abnormal biological reactions for 3 weeks. This study suggests that the injectable oxi-HA/ADH hydrogel should be a potential vitreous substitute. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how foreign investors impact the Taiwanese stock market using the AutoRegressive Jump Intensity (ARJI) model proposed by Chan and Maheu (2002), in which stock volatility in Taiwan is classified as either normal or abnormal and the net purchases of foreign investors, together with the classified volatilities, are included in the bivariate Vector Autoregression (VAR) model for further analyses. The sample period comprises of two parts, namely before and after relaxation of the restrictions on Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) investors on 2 October 2003 (pre- and post-QFII). The forecast error variance decompositions and impulse-response functions are obtained via simulating the VAR model. Our results indicate why previous studies, in which abnormal volatilities were not taken into account, confronted biased and inconsistent results. Biased results from previous studies tend to be caused by not differentiating between normal and abnormal volatilities, and the results of this study provide a valuable reference for efforts to end conflicting arguments for whether destabilizing or stabilizing stock markets of foreign investor transactions. Furthermore, the study results also indicate why Taiwan was less affected during the Asian financial crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines whether nonlinear adjustment of short-term deviations impacts US real estate market returns by applying an exponential smooth transition threshold error-correction model with Generalized Auto Regressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (GARCH) (ESTECM-GARCH). Empirical results demonstrate that the ESTECM-GARCH captures the dynamics of returns more effectively than the Error-Correction Model (ECM) and Exponential Smooth Transition Error-Correction Model (ESTECM). Consequently, the nonlinear behaviour of returns is driven by momentum noise traders and heterogeneous arbitrageurs in Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: Patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) have high mortality and rehospitalization rates. Although circulating levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) are an accurate prognostic factor in chronic heart failure, no data are available to indicate whether hs-CRP can predict outcomes in patients with ADHF. Materials and Methods: We prospectively evaluated serum hs-CRP levels, patient characteristics, laboratory data, medications and management during hospitalization and two end points (inhospital mortality and 6-month readmission rate for heart failure) in 80 patients who presented with ADHF. Results: No correlation was found between initial hs-CRP at admission and the two end points. The result was the same for all patients after excluding those in whom infection was a predisposing factor for ADHF. Cardiogenic shock significantly predicted inhospital mortality (odds ratio [OR] = 15.76; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.8–180.06; p = 0.026). A high serum peak creatinine level (OR = 1.39; 95% CI = 0.98–1.98; p = 0.064) and ischemic heart disease as the etiology of heart failure ((OR = 2.48; 95% CI = 0.93–6.58; p = 0.068) could predict 6-month readmission with borderline significance. Conclusion: Hs-CRP may have no value as a predictor of the outcomes of inhospital mortality and 6-month readmission for heart failure in ADHF. Many clinical factors such as cardiogenic shock were found to be associated with inhospital mortality, and high serum peak creatinine levels and ischemic heart disease as the etiology of heart failure were found to be associated with 6-month readmission. Therefore, early detection of these high-risk groups to predict inhospital outcomes is possible. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article uses parametric and nonparametric Variance Ratio (VR) tests of Lo and Mackinlay (1988) and Wright (2000) to re-examine the weak-form Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) for the large- and small-capitalization stock indices of TOPIX (Tokyo Stock Price Index) and FTSE (Financial Times Stock Exchange). Unlike the previous studies, the multiple VR test of Chow and Denning (1993) is the first extended to the nonparametric VR test of Wright (2000) as suggested by Luger (2003). The empirical results show that the weak-form EMH is supported for large-cap stock indices, but rejected for small-cap ones. This conclusion is further confirmed by using a rolling multiple VR tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates whether foreign investors cause abnormal information by jump process in the Taiwanese stock market during before and after relaxation of the restrictions on QFII investors on 2 October 2003 (pre- and post-QFII). By conducting further analysis, this study conducts detailed analysis and explores how abnormal information and QFII behaviour are related by performing correlation and Granger causality analyses. This study concludes that the release of restrictions on QFII has been extremely helpful in improving the domestic investment environment and stabilizing the Taiwanese stock market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gelation of Pluronic F127 aqueous solution was investigated in the presence of sodium poly( γ-glutamate) (PGA). The gelation temperature was determined based on the tube inversion technique. The gelation temperature increased greatly when the ratio of PGA to F127 was 0.2, and then decreased at higher ratios. The enthalpy of gelation (Δ Hgel) was calculated based on the model of Eldridge and Ferry. A splitting in the model was observed when the PGA/F127 ratio was 0.2 which yielded both a maximum and a minimum of Δ Hgel. These results indicate that PGA can significantly affect the gelation of F127. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary CTP synthase (CTPS) forms compartmentalized filaments in response to substrate availability and environmental nutrient status. However, the physiological role of filaments and mechanisms for filament assembly are not well understood. Here, we provide evidence that CTPS forms filaments in response to histidine influx during glutamine starvation. Tetramer conformation-based filament formation restricts CTPS enzymatic activity during nutrient deprivation. CTPS protein levels remain stable in the presence of histidine during nutrient deprivation, followed by rapid cell growth after stress relief. We demonstrate that filament formation is controlled by methylation and that histidine promotes re-methylation of homocysteine by donating one-carbon intermediates to the cytosolic folate cycle. Furthermore, we find that starvation stress and glutamine deficiency activate the GCN2/ATF4/MTHFD2 axis, which coordinates CTPS filament formation. CTPS filament formation induced by histidine-mediated methylation may be a strategy used by cancer cells to maintain homeostasis and ensure a growth advantage in adverse environments. Graphical Abstract Highlights • Histidine is essential and sufficient for CTPS filament formation during starvation • The enzymatic activity of CTPS is reduced when it is in a filamentous structure • The GCN2/ATF4/MTHFD2 stress response pathway coordinates CTPS filament formation • Histidine-mediated regulation of cytosolic folate cycle promotes protein methylation Metabolic enzymes form membraneless compartments to adapt to environmental changes. Lin et al. demonstrate that histidine catabolism coupled with the folate cycle contributes to methionine synthesis, which promotes protein methylation. This post-translational modification in turn induces CTPS filament formation to preserve CTPS but reduces its enzymatic activity under starvation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypertensive subjects often exhibit exaggerated cardiovascular reactivity. An overactive orexin system underlies the pathophysiology of hypertension. We examined orexin’s roles in eating-associated cardiovascular reactivity in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats. Results showed eating regular chow or palatable food (sucrose agar) was accompanied by elevated arterial pressure and heart rate. In both SHRs and WKY rats, the cardiovascular responses associated with sucrose-agar consumption were greater than that with regular-chow consumption. Additionally, SHRs exhibited greater cardiovascular responses than WKY rats did to regular-chow and palatable food consumption. Central orexin 2 receptor (OX2R) blockade attenuated sucrose-agar consumption-associated cardiovascular response only in SHRs. In both SHRs and WKY rats, OX2R blockade did not affect regular-chow consumption-associated cardiovascular responses. Greater numbers of c-Fos-positive cells in the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) and of c-Fos-positive orexin neurons in the dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH) were detected in sucrose agar-treated SHRs, compared to regular chow-treated SHRs and to sucrose agar-treated WKY rats. Central OX2R blockade reduced the number of c-Fos-positive cells in the RVLM only in sucrose agar-treated SHRs. We concluded that in SHRs, orexin neurons in the DMH might be overactive during eating palatable food and may further elicit exaggerated cardiovascular responses via an OX2R-RVLM pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]