Macroeconomic Shocks In The Cypriot Economy And The Emu-Area Countries

This study analyzes  macroeconomic shocks  in Cyprus and the EMU-area  from the beginning of 1990 to the end of 2004.  We examine the relative importance of aggregate demand and supply shocks along with money, in explaining short-run real output fluctuations.  The empirical results for the analysis are obtained by using the framework of structural vector autoregression model (SVAR).  The structural impulses in the VAR  model are defined as shocks in aggregate demand, aggregate supply and money growth.   Results indicate that shocks in AD, AS, the money growth are all sources of macro shocks  in Cyprus and the EMU-area.  

Comparing Monetary And Fiscal Policy Transmission Across The Americas And The Emu-Area

This paper estimates structural VAR models to compare the transmission mechanism of monetary and fiscal policy in the Americas and the EMU–area countries.  First, the NAFTA countries are considered and the estimation results are compared with those for the EMU-area countries. Attention is also paid to interaction of macroeconomic policies and the effects of shocks in financial markets.  Results show that the Americas except for the U.S. and Canada react rather differently to monetary and fiscal policy shocks than the EMU- area countries

Timing Long Horizon Predictability: Investment Implications

The analysis in this paper is twofold: a) we use the Vector Autoregressive (VAR) methodology to briefly study predictability of bond and stock returns, and b) we investigate the efficiency of  stock and bond markets  by exploring a buy and sell strategy made up of a hypothetical portfolio which consists of bonds and stocks.  Our strategy indicates that unexploited profit opportunities exist in the U.S. security markets.  The trading strategy used to identify profitability is based on return predictability.  More specifically, we estimate risk-adjusted cumulative twelve-month and quarterly compounded returns on the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the 30-year U.S. Treasury bonds using a state of the art forecasting model.  We construct our portfolio which consists of bonds and stocks based on the highest forecast given by the model as follows.  Buy stocks when the forecast shows returns are higher in the stock market.  Switch your portfolio into bonds every time the forecast model shows higher returns in the bond market

Exchange Rates And Equity Markets: Evidence From Some European Countries

This paper employs cointegration analysis, vector error correction and vector autoregressive modeling along with Granger causality tests to examine the effect of exchange rates on the stock market indexes for a group of  European Union countries using daily data from 1999-2009.  The results suggest that the transmitting mechanism for the influence of the exchange rate in the stock market is foreign investment.  Evidence also highlights that there is no clear causality from stock market to exchange rates, or vice versa, for the direction of the causation, suggesting that exchange rates and stock markets operate as an integrated system continuously influencing each other

Συγκρουσιακή Πολιτική και Τρομοκρατία. Μια πολιτισμική προσέγγιση των περιπτώσεων του I.R.A στην Ιρλανδία και της Ε.Τ.Α στη Χώρα των Βάσκων

Περίληψη Η παρούσα μελέτη διερευνά τους μηχανισμούς συγκρότησης της συλλογικής ταυτότητας των τρομοκρατικών οργανώσεων του I.R.A και της Ε.Τ.Α στη Βόρεια Ιρλανδία και τη Χώρα των Βάσκων. Εκκινώντας από τη διαπίστωση ότι κάθε κινηματική ομάδα αναπτύσσει μια διακριτή κοινωνική και πολιτισμική ταυτότητα αναλύεται ο τρόπος με τον οποίο η κουλτούρα μιας ένοπλης ομάδας κωδικοποιείται από τα μέλη της μέσα από μια πολύ-επίπεδη διαδικασία βιωματικών και συναισθηματικών σχέσεων μεταξύ των συμμετεχόντων στην ομάδα αλλά και με αλληλεπίδραση με το εξωτερικό τους περιβάλλον συνδέοντας τα μέλη της ομάδας με όρους κουλτούρας. Η συγκρότηση της συλλογικής ταυτότητας του Ι.R.A και της Ε.Τ.Α υπήρξε παρούσα σε κάθε διάσταση της σύγκρουσης του Καθολικού και του Προτεσταντικού πληθυσμού στην Βόρεια Ιρλανδία και του Βασκικού πληθυσμού με το Ισπανικό κράτος στη Χώρα των Βάσκων. Η ριζοσπαστικοποίηση του κοινωνικού και πολιτικού περιβάλλοντος παρείχε γόνιμο έδαφος στην εμφάνιση της πολιτικής βίας η οποία αποκρυσταλλώθηκε στην αντίληψη της ένοπλης δράσης για την επίτευξη πολιτικών σκοπών. Η τρομοκρατία όμως αφορά την ίδια την κοινωνία, την διαβρώνει και την υπονομεύει, την υποβάλλει σε μετασχηματισμούς και θέτει προκλήσεις στην κουλτούρα της.ABSTRACT The current dissertation investigates the mechanisms of the construction of collective identity considering the terrorist groups of I.R.A and E.T.A in Northern Ireland and in the Basque Country. Beginning with the proposition that every social movement develops a distinctive socio-cultural identity we analyze the way in which the culture of an armed group encoded by its members through a multi-level process of bio-emotional relations in interaction with the external environment , connecting the group members in terms of culture. The construction of the collective identity of I.R.A and E.T.A was present in every aspect of the conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland and Basques and the Spanish State in the Basque Country. The radicalization of the social and political environment created a fertile ground for the emergence of political violence which crystallized in the notion of armed struggle for the achievement of political goals. But terrorism affects, corrodes and undermines society, causes transformations and establishes challenges in its culture

Towards smart energy systems: application of kernel machine regression for medium term electricity load forecasting

Integration of energy systems with information technologies has facilitated the realization of smart energy systems that utilize information to optimize system operation. To that end, crucial in optimizing energy system operation is the accurate, ahead-of-time forecasting of load demand. In particular, load forecasting allows planning of system expansion, and decision making for enhancing system safety and reliability. In this paper, the application of two types of kernel machines for medium term load forecasting (MTLF) is presented and their performance is recorded based on a set of historical electricity load demand data. The two kernel machine models and more specifically Gaussian process regression (GPR) and relevance vector regression (RVR) are utilized for making predictions over future load demand. Both models, i.e., GPR and RVR, are equipped with a Gaussian kernel and are tested on daily predictions for a 30-day-ahead horizon taken from the New England Area. Furthermore, their performance is compared to the ARMA(2,2) model with respect to mean average percentage error and squared correlation coefficient. Results demonstrate the superiority of RVR over the other forecasting models in performing MTLF

Developing BIOTEL: A Semi-Automated Spreadsheet for Estimating Telomere Length and Biological Age

Introduction: Telomere length (TL) is causally related to aging and several age-related diseases. Specifically, the abundance of short telomeres and the rate of telomere shortening are strong determinants of cell homeostasis. Thus, tools for analyzing and manipulating TL data can vastly improve research focused on aging. Aim: In this study, we developed a semi-automated worksheet, BIOTEL, to generate individual and group TL statistics and provide a crude estimation of biological age.Results: Data from the Telomere Length Database Project (TLDP) were implemented to the spreadsheet to produce TL statistics. 150 participants were included, and their age was from 21 to 82 years, and the sex distribution ratio was 52.3%: 47.7% (male: female). Initially, we analyzed the fluorescence intensities of telomeres that were measured on metaphase spread leukocytes using three-dimensional (3D) quantitative-fluorescent in situ hybridization (Q-FISH) procedures (3D DNA FISH) with a (C3TA2)3 peptide nucleic acid (PNA) probe. Raw data of fluorescence intensities, demographic data and medical records from the participants were imported into the worksheet. Basic statistical analyses of TL data were provided through BIOTEL, including TL percentiles, specialized charts for TL distribution including the percentage of critically short telomeres (< 3,000 kilobases), individual telomere profiles, and graphs of biological age vs. chronological age.Conclusion: BIOTEL ver. 2.4 is a functional semi-automated worksheet that calculates a wide range of TL statistics, thus a useful tool with applications in research of telomeres and biological age estimation

Removal of phosphate from aqueous solutions by adsorption onto Ca(OH)2 treated natural clinoptilolite

Phosphorus (P) recovery from wastewater is of great interest especially when the loaded adsorbent can be used in the agriculture as slow-release fertilizer. The application depends on environmental concerns related to the chemical modification of the adsorbent and the release of toxic compounds from the loaded material to the soil or the water during adsorption. The present work focused on the phosphate (PO4-P) removal from aqueous solutions under low P concentrations (0.5–10mg/L) by using Ca(OH)2-pretreated natural zeolite (CaT-Z). As activation agent, Ca(OH)2 presents benefits in terms of pretreatment costs and environmental impact of the applied adsorbent. The pretreatment of natural zeolite (clinoptilolite) with 0.25mol/L Ca(OH)2 led to an increase of P removal from 1.7 to 97.6% at initial P concentration of 10mg/L, pH 7 and 298K. Low residual concentrations of 81–238μg P/L were achieved at 298K rendering CaT-Z a promising sorbent for tertiary wastewater treatment. At 200mg P/L, the adsorption capacity was 7.57mg P/g CaT-Z. The P removal efficiency was pH-independent suggesting a beneficial use of CaT-Z under acidic and alkaline conditions. Adsorption was found to be an endothermic and slow process reaching equilibrium after 120h, whereas the half of the PO4-P was adsorbed in the first 8h. The applied kinetic models showed that both film and intraparticle diffusion contributed to phosphate removal. Phosphate sorption decreased in the presence of the anionic surfactant SDS, Fe2+, HCO3−, acetate and citrate anion. The predominant mechanisms of ligand exchange and Ca-P surface precipitation were confirmed by the IR-ATR and SEM-EDS analyses, respectively

Primary extramammary invasive Paget’s vulvar disease: what is the standard, what are the challenges and what is the future for radiotherapy?

BACKGROUND: Primary invasive Extramammary Paget’s vulvar disease is a rare tumor that is challenging to control. Wide surgical excision represents the standard treatment approach for Primary invasive Extramammary Paget’s vulvar disease. The goal of the current study was to analyze the appropriate indications of radiotherapy in Primary invasive Extramammary Paget's vulvar disease because they are still controversial. DISCUSSION: We searched the Cochrane Gynecological Cancer Group Trials Register, Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE and EMBASE database up to September 2015. Radiotherapy was delivered as a treatment in various settings: i) Radical in 28 cases (range: 60–63 Gy), ii) Adjuvant in 25 cases (range: 39–60 Gy), iii) Salvage in recurrence of 3 patients (63 Gy) and iv) Neoadjuvant in one patient (43.3 Gy). A radiotherapy field that covered the gross tumor site with a 2–5 cm margin for the microscopic disease has been used. Radiotherapy of the inguinal, pelvic or para-aortic lymph node should be considered only for the cases with lymph node metastases within these areas. SUMMARY: Radiotherapy alone is an alternative therapeutic approach for patients with extensive inoperable disease or medical contraindications. Definitive radiotherapy can be used in elderly patients and/or with medical contraindications. Adjuvant radiotherapy may be considered in presence of risk factors associated with local recurrence as dermal invasion, lymph node metastasis, close or positive surgical margins, perineal, large tumor diameter, multifocal lesions, extensive disease, coexisting histology of adenocarcinoma or vulvar carcinoma, high Ki-67 expression, adnexal involvement and probably in overexpression of HER-2/neu. Salvage radiotherapy can be given in inoperable loco-regional recurrence and to those who refused additional surgery

Модулирование процесса старения в организме человека: последние достижения в области биомаркеров для диагностики и лечения

Aging is a complex biological process. Main factors that interplay in the aging process include free radicals and oxidation, insulin and insulin growth factors, sirtuins, mTOR, microbiome, lack of micronutrients, and declining proteasome activity which lead to cellular damage. Damaged cells are being replaced by somatic stem cells which proliferate to generate new cells. For each cell replication the telomeres of the related stem cells become shorter and this is the basic factor that modulates aging. Telomere length shortens with age and leads to senescence. Shorter telomeres are associated with increased incidence of aging related diseases and shorter lifespan. The percentage of short telomeres and rate of telomere shortening predicts longevity in mammals. Measurement of single telomeres through Q-FISH is the only reliable method to evaluate single telomere length and percentage of short telomeres. Repeated measurements at a distance of 6 months or a year can reveal the rate of change of the short telomeres, and response of patients to treatments, lifestyle, diet, supplementation and exercise modifications. A natural product telomerase activator TA-65, an astragalus extract, has been found to lengthen telomere in humans. By experimenting with different combinations of cycloastragenol (astragalus extract active molecule) we’ve able to increase telomerase activation in relation to the control cellsСтарение – это сложный биологический процесс. Основные факторы, участвующие в процессе старения и приводящие к повреждению клеток, включают свободные радикалы, процессы окисления инсулина, инсулиноподобные факторы роста, сиртуины, mTOR, микробиом, отсутствие микроэлементов и снижение активности протеасом. Поврежденные клетки заменяются соматическими стволовыми клетками, которые размножаются, генерируя новые клетки. При каждой клеточной репликации теломеры родственных стволовых клеток становятся короче, и это основной фактор, который модулирует старение. Длина теломер сокращается с возрастом и приводит к старению. Более короткие теломеры ассоциируются с увеличением заболеваний, связанных со старением и сокращением продолжительности жизни. Данные о процентном содержании коротких теломер и скорости сокращения теломер позволяют предсказать продолжительность жизни млекопитающих. Измерение отдельных теломер с помощью Q-FISH является единственным надежным методом оценки длины теломеры и доли коротких теломер. Повторные измерения через 6 месяцев или год могут выявить скорость изменения длины коротких теломер и реакцию пациентов на лечение, изменение образа жизни, диеты, пищевых добавок и физической активности. Было обнаружено, что натуральный продукт – активатор теломеразы TA-65, экстракт астрагала, удлиняет теломеры людей. Экспериментируя с различными комбинациями циклоастрагенола (активная молекула экстракта астрагала), мы смогли достичь активации теломеразы по сравнению с контрольными клеткам