Profits and balance sheet developments at U.S. commercial banks in 2002

Despite the lackluster performance of the U.S. economy, the profitability of the U.S. commercial banking industry was again high in 2002, and the return on bank assets reached its highest level in more than three decades. Profitability was spurred in considerable part by declines in market interest rates to extraordinarily low levels. Short-term interest rates were low throughout 2002 as a result of the Federal Reserve's aggressive easing the year before in response to economic weakness, and longer-term rates fell to multidecade lows by year-end. Nevertheless, the yield curve steepened on average, benefiting net interest margins. The decline in longer-term interest rates also boosted realized gains on securities. The low interest rates strengthened the ability of households and businesses to service their debt, which also supported bank profitability. Finally, a change in accounting rules that largely eliminated the requirement to amortize goodwill caused a one-time drop in expenses. Despite the largest decline in commercial and industrial loans since the 1990-91 recession, the expansion of bank balance sheets quickened last year, driven primarily by real estate lending and substantial acquisitions of securities. Equity capital rose slightly faster than assets, and regulatory capital ratios also improved a bit, benefiting from an increased share of assets with low regulatory risk weights.Banks and banking ; Bank profits ; Bank assets

Regime-switching in expectations over the business cycle

In this paper the authors argue that a plausible reason why output and other major U.S. macroeconomic time series seem to follow a Markov switching process might be strictly related to expectations. The authors show that a time series of expectations of future output from the Survey of Professional Forecasters is the only one among the many they analyze that has switching properties compatible with those of output. Starting from this empirical evidence the authors present a business cycle model with shocks to expectations (sunspots) that produces time series with the same properties as the U.S. data.Business cycles ; Forecasting ; Time-series analysis

Profits and balance sheet developments at U.S. commercial banks in 2003

Amid a strengthening economic expansion, U.S. commercial banks remained highly profitable in 2003. Return on assets reached a record level for the second year in a row, and return on equity was near the top of its recent range. Banks' profits were bolstered by decreased loan-loss provisions as a rising economy and considerable debt refinancing at very low interest rates led to lower delinquency rates on business and household loans. Fees associated with record mortgage refinancing activity and robust corporate bond issuance boosted non-interest income. Increases in non-interest expense were generally modest, although compensation-related costs rose more briskly. Lower long-term interest rates in the first part of the year allowed banks to realize gains on the sale of some of their securities, but they also contributed to a further shrinking of net interest margins. Banks' balance sheets expanded briskly, as the strong housing market and heavy refinancing activity boosted residential mortgages and mortgage-backed securities. Business loans ran off for a third year, albeit at a slower pace than in 2002 and 2003. Banks' regulatory capital positions strengthened further, as the growth of assets with low regulatory risk weights outpaced that of assets with higher risk weights.Banks and banking ; Bank profits ; Bank assets

Hemiballism ja diabeet

Hemiballism on hüperkinees, mida iseloomustavad ühe kehapoole heitlevad-visklevad liigutused. Kindlasti tuleb aga pidada unikaalseks sündroomiks diabeediga seonduvat hemiballismi. Kogu maailmas on praegu umbes 150 miljonit diabeetikut. Suhkruhaigete arv arenenudriikides kasvab epideemiliselt, ulatudes oletatavasti aastaks 2025 kuni 6%ni rahvastikust. 80–90%sellest moodustab omakorda II tüüpi diabeet (1). Dekompenseerunud suhkurtõvega seotud hemiballistlik sündroom on senini teenimatult vähe arstkonna tähelepanu pälvinud. Eesti Arst 2005; 84 (1): 19-2

Paraneoplastiline sündroom. Haigusjuhtude kirjeldus

Paraneoplastiline sündroom (PNS) on kasvaja indutseeritud immunoloogiline reaktsioon, mis algselt kujutab organismi kaitsemehhanismi kasvaja vastu, kuid mis tabab n-ö ekslikult närvisüsteemi rakke. Neuroloogide koostöö immunoloogidega onkoloogia vallas on uus valdkond meditsiinis. 2002. aastal asutati PNSEuronet, organisatsioon, mis registreerib, uurib ja analüüsib paraneoplastilisi sündroome Euroopa Liidus, tehes ühtlasi koostööd kogu maailma selle ala spetsialistidega. Ka Eesti arstidel on nüüdsest võimalik avardada oma diagnostikat selles valdkonnas. Artiklis käsitletakse kolme paraneoplastilise sündroomi juhtu. Eesti Arst 2007; 86 (11): 898–90

Tunable and Multifunctional Eukaryotic Transcription Factors Based on CRISPR/Cas

Transcriptional regulation is central to the complex behavior of natural biological systems and synthetic gene circuits. Platforms for the scalable, tunable, and simple modulation of transcription would enable new abilities to study natural systems and implement artificial capabilities in living cells. Previous approaches to synthetic transcriptional regulation have relied on engineering DNA-binding proteins, which necessitate multistep processes for construction and optimization of function. Here, we show that the CRISPR/Cas system of Streptococcus pyogenes can be programmed to direct both activation and repression to natural and artificial eukaryotic promoters through the simple engineering of guide RNAs with base-pairing complementarity to target DNA sites. We demonstrate that the activity of CRISPR-based transcription factors (crisprTFs) can be tuned by directing multiple crisprTFs to different positions in natural promoters and by arraying multiple crisprTF-binding sites in the context of synthetic promoters in yeast and human cells. Furthermore, externally controllable regulatory modules can be engineered by layering gRNAs with small molecule-responsive proteins. Additionally, single nucleotide substitutions within promoters are sufficient to render them orthogonal with respect to the same gRNA-guided crisprTF. We envision that CRISPR-based eukaryotic gene regulation will enable the facile construction of scalable synthetic gene circuits and open up new approaches for mapping natural gene networks and their effects on complex cellular phenotypes

The recent behaviour of financial market volatility

A striking feature of financial market behaviour in recent years has been the low level of price volatility over a wide range of financial assets and markets. The issue has attracted the attention of central bankers and financial regulators due to the potential implications for financial stability. This paper makes an effort to shed light on this phenomenon, drawing on literature surveys, reviews of previous analyses by non-academic commentators and institutions, and some new empirical evidence. The paper consists of seven sections. Section 2 documents the current low level of volatility, putting it into a historical perspective. Section 3 briefly reviews the theoretical determinants of volatility, with the aim of helping the reader through the subsequent sections of this Report, which are devoted to the explanations of the phenomenon under study. These explanations have been grouped into four categories: real factors; financial factors; shocks; and monetary policy. Thus, Section 4 looks into the relation between volatility and real factors, from both a macro- and a microeconomic perspective. Section 5 considers how the recent developments in financial innovation and improvements in risk management techniques might have contributed to the decline in volatility. Section 6 considers the relation between real and financial shocks and volatility. Finally, Section 7 explores whether more systematic and transparent monetary policies might have led to lower asset price volatility.financial volatility, risk taking, international financial markets

Síndrome Oculoglandular de Parinaud: presentación de un caso

Presentamos el caso de una adolescente de 14 años que consultó por adenopatías en región preauricular izquierda. En el interrogatorio dirigido surgió el contacto con gatos, registrándose el antecedente de una conjuntivitis homolateral, por lo cual se planteó el Síndrome de Parinaud por enfermedad por arañazo de gato entre los diagnósticos diferenciales.We report the case of a 14-year-old patient with adenopathies in the preauricular region. During the interview, the patient stated having had contact with cats, and a history of conjunctivitis comes up. These led to the diagnosis of Parinaud syndrome caused by cat scratch disease

The phenotypic expression of mitochondrial tRNA-mutations can be modulated by either mitochondrial leucyl-tRNA synthetase or the C-terminal domain thereof

Mutations in mitochondrial (mt) DNA determine important human diseases. The majority of the known pathogenic mutations are located in transfer RNA (tRNA) genes and are responsible for a wide range of currently untreatable disorders. Experimental evidence both in yeast and in human cells has shown that the detrimental effects of mt-tRNA point mutations can be attenuated by increasing the expression of the cognate mt-aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs). In addition, constitutive high levels of isoleucyl-tRNA syntethase have been shown to reduce the penetrance of a homoplasmic mutation in mt-tRNAIle in a small kindred. More recently, we showed that the isolated carboxy-terminal domain of human mt-leucyl tRNA synthetase (LeuRS-Cterm) localizes to mitochondria and ameliorates the energetic defect in transmitochondrial cybrids carrying mutations either in the cognate mt-tRNALeu(UUR) or in the non cognate mt-tRNAIle gene. Since the mt-LeuRS-Cterm does not possess catalytic activity, its rescuing ability is most likely mediated by a chaperon-like effect, consisting in the stabilization of the tRNA structure altered by the mutation. All together, these observations open potential therapeutic options for mt-tRNA mutations-associated diseas

Pseudotumor cerebral o hipertensión intracraneana idiopática

La hipertensión intracraneana idiopática es una entidad poco común en la infancia que obliga a descartar otras patologías endocraneales. Si bien el curso evolutivo es en general benigno, puede resultar en un deterioro grave de la función visual, lo que obliga a un control riguroso de la misma hasta la resolución completa del cuadro. Presentamos el caso de una niña de 11 años con cefalea y trastornos visuales e historia de corticoterapia prolongada. Los estudios por imágenes descartaron proceso ocupante. El examen oftalmológico reveló papiledema bilateral. Realizadas las interconsultas y los exámenes complementarios necesarios para arribar al diagnóstico, se instauró tratamiento obteniéndose mejoría paulatina.Idiopathic intracranial hypertension is a rare condition in childhood which requires careful investigations in order to discard other etiologic possibilities. Although the clinical course is mostly benign severe impairment of visual function may occur. This obliges to a careful control of the condition until full recovery. We are presenting the case of an 11 year-old girl with headaches and visual impairment, and history of long-lasting administration of steroids. Imaging studies were negative. Funduscopic exam revealed bilateral papilledema. Appropriate consulting with several specialists allowed proper diagnosis and treatment which resulted in progressive improvement of the patient's condition