CAP Values Research Articles

Time dependent stop-loss reinsurance and exposure curves

Stop-loss contracts are the most commonly used reinsurance agreements in insurance whose important factors are the retention and the maximum (cap) values attained on the random loss, which may occur within the policy period. Therefore, determining and forecasting the loss amounts is an important issue for both the insurer and the reinsurer. Along with many approaches in actuarial literature, we propose a geometric Brownian motion (BM) with the time-varying parameters to capture the time-dependent loss amounts. We implement the time-influence on stop-loss contract in the frame of the stochastic model and find the analytical derivations of costs associated with reinsurance contract for reinsurer and insurer with constraints on time, loss amount, retention, and both retention and cap levels. Additionally, the analytical forms of exposure curves are depicted to determine the premium share between reinsurer and insurer under time, loss, retention, and both retention and cap constraints. An application of the proposed methodology on real-life data and the calibration of time-varying parameters using dynamic maximum likelihood estimator and simulations on the proposed model are performed. Finally, we forecast the claim amounts, expected costs, and exposure curves on time-varying parameters using the cubic spline extrapolation and the dynamic ARIMA with trend search. It is shown that the time-varying approach using the stochastic model copes with the behavior of the claims and assures fair share between insurer and reinsurer.

Hepatic Steatosis Is Associated with Elevated Serum Iron in Patients with Obesity and Improves after Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy

Background: Iron is closely related to metabolism. However, the relationship between iron and hepatic steatosis has not been fully elucidated. Objective: We aimed to investigate the triangular relationship between iron and hepatic steatosis and laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) in patients with obesity. Methods: A total of 297 patients with obesity and 43 healthy individuals with a normal BMI were enrolled. Eighty-two patients underwent LSG. Anthropometrics, glucose-lipid metabolic markers, and hepatic steatosis assessed by FibroScan (CAP value and E value) were measured at baseline, and again at follow-up time intervals of 6 months and 1 year after surgery. Results: (1) Iron was significantly higher in patients with obesity or overweight than in the individuals with normal BMI (8.18 ± 1.47 vs. 7.46 ± 0.99 mmol/L, p = 0.002). Iron was also higher in subjects with high blood pressure, dyslipidemia, and hyperuricemia than non-corresponding disorders (all p < 0.05). Moreover, iron was significantly higher in the severe than mild or moderate non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) group (p = 0.046 and 0.018). (2) Iron was positively associated with body weight, BMI, waist-to-hip ratio, uric acid, liver enzymes, postprandial blood glucose, fasting insulin, HOMA-IR, triglycerides, free fatty acid, and hepatic steatosis (CAP value), and negatively associated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (all p < 0.05). Iron was also positively associated with the visceral adipose area in patients with obesity and negatively associated with the subcutaneous adipose area in patients with overweight (all p < 0.05). (3) Iron levels and CAP values were decreased gradually 6 months and 1 year after surgery (all p < 0.05). Conclusions: Overall, our results indicated that iron is associated with hepatic steatosis in obesity. The iron level was significantly higher in patients with severe NAFLD than with mild or moderate NAFLD. LSG may reduce iron levels while improving fat deposition in the liver.

Noninvasive methods of diagnosis of steatosis in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

The aimof the research: to study the diagnostic capabilities of non-invasive methods for the diagnosis of hepatic steatosis in patients with NAFLD.Materials and methods: the study included 240 male patients aged 21 to 54 years (mean age 41,1 ± 8,1 years), 172 of them with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, 68 without this pathology. All performed measurement of anthropometric parameters, biochemical study of blood serum, ultrasound examination of the hepatobiliary zone, calculation of diagnostic indices of steatosis (FLI and HSI), non-invasive determination of the degree of steatosis on the device FibroScan with function CAP.Results: the CAP values of the FibroScan apparatus, as well as indicators of predictive steatosis indices signifi cantly (p&lt;0,05) diff ered in the study groups; the quality of diagnostic models, estimated by the AUROC index, in the steatosis indices FLI and HIS was recognized as excellent, in the CAP values of the FibroScan apparatus as very good.

Valid Geometric Solutions for Indentations with Algebraic Calculations

This paper analyzes the force vs depth loading curves of conical, pyramidal, wedged and for spherical indentations on a strict mathematical basis by explicit use of the indenter geometries rather than on still world-wide used iterated “contact depths” with elastic theory and violation of the energy law. The now correctly analyzed loading curves provide as yet undetectable phase-transition. For the spherical indentations, this includes an obvious correction for the varying depth/radius ratio, which had previously been disregarded. Only algebraic formulas are now used for the calculation of material’s properties without data-fittings, or simplifications, or false simulations. Penetration resistance differences of materials’ polymorphs provide precise intersection values as kink unsteadiness by equalization of linear regression lines from mathematically linearized loading curves. These intersections indicate phase transition onset values for depth and force. The precise and correct determination of phase-transition onsets allows for energy and phase-transition energy calculations. The unprecedented algebraic equations are most simply and mathematically reproducibly deduced. There are no restrictions for elastic and/or plastic behavior and no use of different formulas for different force ranges. The novel indentation formulas reveal unprecedented access to the onset, energy and transition energy of phase-transitions. This is now also achieved for spherical indentations. Their formula as deduced for plotting is reformulated for integrations. The distinction of applied work (Wapplied) and indentation work (Windent) allows now for comparing spherical with pyramidal indentation phase-transitions. Only low energy phase-transitions from pyramidal indentation may be missed in spherical indentations. The rather low penetration depths of sphere calottes calculate very close for cap and flat area values. This allows for the calculation of the indentation phase-transition onset pressure and thus the successful comparison with hydrostatic anvil pressurizing results. This is very helpful for their interpretations, as low energy phase-transitions are often missed under the anvil, and it further strengthens the unparalleled ease of the indentation techniques. Exemplification is reported for pyramidal, spherical, and hydrostatic anvil stressing by the numerical analysis of published germanium data. The previous widely accepted historical indentation theories and standards are challenged. Falsely simulated and even published so-called “experimental” indentation data from the literature can most easily be checked. They are mathematically unsound and their correction is urgently necessary for scientific reasons and daily safety with stressed materials. The motivation for this paper is the challenge of worldwide incorrect ISO 14577 standards for false and incomplete characterization of materials. The minimization of catastrophic failures e.g. in aviation requires the strengthening and the advancements of the mathematical truth by using our closed formulas that are based on undeniable geometric and algebraic calculation rules.

MONITORING VEGETATION COVER CHANGE USING VEGETATION INDICES IN TANGBO RIVER, BARANGAY TANGBO, SAMBOAN

Abstract. Tangbo River is an important resource in Cebu’s southern town of Samboan for being the site of Aguinid Falls, a known tourist destination. Monitoring the changes in the river’s riparian vegetation is important since it has impacts on its ecological role of helping maintain biodiversity and river water quality. This study aims to detect vegetation index changes along the Tangbo River corridor using three vegetation indices: NDVI, EVI, NDMI, and Tasseled Cap indices, specifically for the years 1998, 2004, 2009, 2016, and 2019. It also aims to monitor the changes in NDVI and EVI values alongside tourism arrivals in Aguinid in 2018.Cloudless Landsat 5 (1998, 2004, 2009, and 2016) and Landsat 8 (2019) imagery were selected. Thirty reference points were plotted along the river with a 30-m distance between each point. Vegetation Indices (VI) and Tasseled Cap values were generated using data from these points and were compared for each selected year. NDVI and EVI values from the same reference points used in Landsat were generated from selected cloudless months of 2018 Planetscope imagery. Inbound tourist records were acquired from the tourism office of Samboan and the tourism arrivals for the year 2018 was then graphed with the Planetscope VI values for better visualization.Landsat imagery showed that there was a general upward trend in the vegetation indices from 1998 to 2019. Tasseled Cap Greenness and Wetness showed an increase in values from 1998–2019 while Tasseled Cap Brightness showed the opposite. Results from Planetscope data for the year 2018 showed that there was an inverse pattern between NDVI and tourism arrivals. Tourism arrivals peaked during the months of April and May based on annual records, while VI values dropped. On the other hand, both VI values peaked towards the last quarter of the year while tourist numbers dropped. This suggests that the pattern of VI values and tourism arrivals seemed to be influenced by seasonal changes rather than with each other. Findings from the study shows that further data collection is required to be able to establish a relationship between tourism and vegetation index values.

Liver fibrosis by FibroScan® independently of established cardiovascular risk parameters associates with macrovascular and microvascular complications in patients with type 2 diabetes

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are closely associated, and liver fibrosis has been related to macrovascular complications. We examined whether liver fibrosis, diagnosed by FibroScan® , correlates with chronic vascular complications in a cohort of T2DM. We recruited 394 outpatients with T2DM attending five Italian diabetes centres who underwent liver ultrasonography (US), FibroScan® and extensive evaluation of macrovascular and microvascular diabetic complications. Steatosis by US was present in 89%. Almost all patients (96%) were on hypoglycaemic drugs, 58% had at least one chronic vascular complication, 19% a macrovascular complication (prior myocardial infarction and/or ischaemic stroke) and 33% a microvascular one (26% chronic kidney disease [CKD]; 16% retinopathy; 6% neuropathy). In all, 171 (72%) patients had CAP≥248dB/m (ie hepatic steatosis), whereas 83 (21%) patients had LSM≥7.0/6.2kPa (M/XL probes) (significant liver fibrosis). CAP was not associated with any macro/microvascular complications, whereas LSM≥7.0/6.2kPa was independently associated with prior cardiovascular disease (adjusted OR 3.3, 95%CI 1.2-8.8; P=.02) and presence of microvascular complications (adjusted OR 4.2, 95%CI 1.5-11.4; P=.005), mainly CKD (adjusted OR 3.6, 95%CI 1.3-10.1; P=.01) and retinopathy (adjusted OR 3.7, CI 95% 1.2-11.9; P=.02). Neither diabetes duration nor haemoglobin A1c differed according to CAP or LSM values. Significant fibrosis, detected by FibroScan® , is independently associated with increased prevalence of macrovascular and microvascular complications, thus opening a new scenario in the use of this tool for a comprehensive evaluation of hepatic and vascular complications in patients with T2DM.

Effect of Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease on Transaminase Levels and Transient Elastography in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease on aminotransferase (ALT) levels and transient elastography in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB).MethodsA cross-sectional study of 230 patients with CHB and ALT levels up to two times the upper limits of normal, of one-year duration, from June 2018 to May 2019. The demographic, clinical, and laboratory characteristics of each patient were collected. Transient elastography was performed to evaluate controlled attenuation parameter (CAP or steatosis) and liver stiffness (fibrosis).ResultsA total of 161 (70%) patients were overweight, with over two-thirds (166; 72.2%) having elevated ALT >35 U/L. Three-fourths of the patients (178; 77.4%) had a hepatitis B virus (HBV) deoxyribonucleic (DNA) level of less than 2000 IU/ml. Steatosis was detected in 166 (72.2%) patients while fibrosis of F2 or more in 88 (38.3%). Multivariate regression analysis showed that weight, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and elevated ALT levels of more than 35 were independently associated with higher CAP values (p= 0.019, 0.001, and 0.004, respectively). Age, insulin levels, and platelet counts were independently associated with liver elasticity (p=0.00, 0.002, and 0.028, respectively). HBV DNA levels did not show any significant association with CAP score, liver stiffness, and HOMA-IR or ALT level. Among those with an elevated ALT of 35 or above (n=166), 124 patients had HBV DNA levels less than 2000 IU/ml. Out of these, 97 (78.2%) patients had steatosis and 51 (41.1%) had F2 or more fibrosis.ConclusionA significant number of patients with CHB with mildly elevated ALT levels are overweight, have significant steatosis and fibrosis, but low HBV DNA levels. This aspect is important while making decisions regarding hepatitis B treatment.

Risk of chemotherapy-associated liver injury (CALI) in PNPLA3 p.148M allele carriers: Preliminary results of a transient elastography-based study

Background and aimsLiver steatosis is one of the side effects of chemotherapy. The PNPLA3 p.I148M, TM6SF2 p.E167K and MBOAT7 p.G17E variants represent genetic determinants for progressive liver diseases. Here, we investigate their association with chemotherapy-associated steatosis. Patients and methodsProspectively, we recruited 87 patients undergoing systemic chemotherapy for gastrointestinal cancers. Hepatic fat (controlled attenuation parameter, CAP) and liver stiffness (LSM) were measured non-invasively before the initiation of chemotherapy (T0) and after at least two (T1) and four cycles (T2). Genetic variants were genotyped using allelic discrimination assays. ResultsIn the final dataset (n = 60) patients demonstrated the following CAP values: T0 – 215.0 ± 55.7 dB/m, T1 – 223.3 ± 53.6 dB/m, T2 – 223.4 ± 56.7 dB/m, consistent with mild steatosis. Initial CAP correlated with BMI (P < 0.01) and serum triglyceride concentrations (P = 0.03). Whereas at T0 none of the variants was associated with CAP or LSM, carriers of the prosteatotic PNPLA3 p.148M allele showed significantly (P = 0.008) higher steatosis at T1 as compared to patients carrying the homozygous wild-type genotype [II]. ConclusionsOur preliminary results show that patients carrying the PNPLA3 p.I148 M risk allele might be prone to hepatic fat accumulation during chemotherapy. Further studies are be needed to validate the clinical value of these findings.

Dynamic capping of rename registers for SMT processors

Abstract Simultaneous Multithreading improves performance of superscalar CPUs by allowing execution of multiple threads with a shared path. An improved instruction throughput is attained by better utilizing shared resources from exploiting the newly available thread-level parallelism in addition to the intrinsic instruction-level parallelism. Physical Register file is one of the most critical shared resources in SMT systems due to the limited number of rename registers available for renaming. Registers held by long-latency instructions of some threads will block the progress of other faster threads resulting in inefficient resource utilization and performance degradation. In this paper, we present an algorithm with which each thread is allotted a portion of rename registers (i.e. a cap) in real time according to their run-time behaviors, namely the utilization ratio of its allotted quota and the pace of its deallocation. The proposed method differs from the state-of-the-art capping techniques in allowing each thread to adjust its own individual cap value in real time. To preclude over-adjustment, a global lower limit on the cap values is further established also in real time to accommodate potentially drastic variations from different mixes of on-going threads. The proposed method shows a very significant improvement in IPC up to 53.8% in a 4-threaded system, 43.8% and 41.6% in a 6-threaded and an 8-threaded system respectively.

The abilities of managers in UK pension funds. Are socially responsible managers superior?

The abilities of managers in pension funds and, especially, in Socially Responsible (SR) pension funds have only rarely been investigated. Both standard pension funds and specialized SR funds are concerned with social welfare, but SR pension funds present a special interest of study. Various works show that SR managers usually underperform conventional funds because they focus on social aspects, although other studies find that SR funds overperform. In this work, the stock-picking and style timing abilities of UK conventional and SR equity pension fund managers are studied, examining whether SR pension funds implement different strategies and contribute to developing more socially responsible outcomes. Additionally, the influence of SR as a risk factor is introduced. As far as is known, style timing and the introduction of the SR risk factor have not been previously studied in the context of SR pension funds. The results indicate that both kinds of pension fund develop similar investment strategies, investing in small cap and growth values. Moreover, both funds present negative performance, poor/negative stock-picking abilities, and perverse market timing abilities. SR managers exhibit superior style timing skills and are able to correctly time size and book-to-market strategies. The SR risk factor shows that SR pension funds have significantly positive loadings of this factor, which erodes their performance. Overall, none of the funds analyzed develop proper management, and the optimization of the risk-return binomial in SR funds may be constrained by SRI requirements.

Genetic polymorphisms associated with fatty liver disease and fibrosis in HIV positive patients receiving combined antiretroviral therapy (cART).

Hepatic steatosis can occur with any antiretroviral therapy (cART). Although single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been identified to predispose to alcoholic and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, their role for treatment-associated steatosis in HIV-positive patients remains unclear. We determined the frequency of PNPLA3 (rs738409), CSPG3/NCAN (rs2228603), GCKR (rs780094), PPP1R3B (rs4240624), TM6SF (rs8542926), LYPLAL1 (rs12137855) and MBOAT7 (rs626283) by RT-PCR in 117 HIV-positive patients on cART and stratified participants based on their “controlled attenuation parameter” (CAP) into probable (CAP: 215–300 dB/m) and definite (CAP >300 dB/m) hepatic steatosis. We analyzed CAP values and routine metabolic parameters according to the allele frequencies. Sixty-five (55.6%) and 13 (11.1%) patients were allocated to probable and definite steatosis. CAP values (p = 0.012) and serum triglycerides (p = 0.043) were increased in carriers of the GCKR (rs780094) A allele. Cox logistic regression identified triglycerides (p = 0.006), bilirubin (p = 0.021) and BMI (p = 0.068), but not the genetic parameters as risk factors for the occurrence of hepatic steatosis. Taken together, according to the limited sample size, this exploratory study generates the hypothesis that genetic polymorphisms seem to exert minor effects on the risk for fatty liver disease in HIV-positive patients on cART. Nevertheless, SNPs may modify metabolic complications once metabolic abnormalities have developed. Hence, subsequent analysis of a larger cohort is needed.

Abstract 383: Patient-Specific Coronary Models Combining Intravascular Ultrasound and Optical Coherence Tomography Lead to More Accurate Plaque Cap Thickness and Stress/Strain Quantifications

Accurate cap thickness and stress/strain quantifications are of fundamental importance for vulnerable plaque research. An innovative modeling approach combining intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) is introduced for more accurate patient-specific coronary morphology and stress/strain calculations. In vivo IVUS and OCT coronary plaque data were acquired from two patients with informed consent obtained. IVUS and OCT images were segmented, co-registered, and merged to form the IVUS+OCT data set, with OCT providing accurate cap thickness. Biplane angiography provided 3D vessel curvature. Due to IVUS resolution (150 μm), original virtual histology (VH) IVUS data often had lipid core exposed to lumen since it sets cap thickness as zero when cap thickness &lt;150 μm. VH-IVUS data were processed with minimum cap thickness set as 50 and 180 μm to generate IVUS50 and IVUS180 data sets for modeling use. 3D fluid-structure interaction models based on IVUS+OCT, IVUS50 and IVUS180 data sets were constructed to investigate the impact of OCT cap thickness improvement on stress/strain calculations. Figure 1 is a brief summary of results from 27 slices with cap covering lipid cores from 2 patients. Mean cap thickness (unit: mm) from Patient 1 was 0.353 (OCT), 0.201 (IVUS50), and 0.329 (IVUS180), respectively. Patient 2 mean cap thickness was 0.320 (OCT), 0.224 (IVUS50), and 0.285 (IVUS180). IVUS50 underestimated cap thickness (27 slices) by 34.5%, compared to OCT cap values. IVUS50 overestimated mean cap stress (27 slices) by 45.8%, compared to OCT cap stress (96.4 vs. 66.1 kPa). IVUS50 maximum cap stress was 59.2% higher than that from IVUS+OCT model (564.2 vs. 354.5 kPa). Differences between IVUS and IVUS+OCT models for mean cap strain and flow shear stress were modest (cap strain: &lt;12%; FSS &lt;2%). Conclusion: IVUS+OCT data and models could provide more accurate cap thickness and stress/strain calculations which will serve as basis for plaque research.

The inverse effect of meal intake on controlled attenuation parameter and liver stiffness as assessed by transient elastography

BackgroundControlled attenuation parameter (CAP) and liver stiffness (LS) measured by transient elastography (TE, Fibroscan®) have been used for steatosis and fibrosis assessment. We evaluated the effect of meal intake on CAP and LS values.MethodsForty patients who had had a liver biopsy within the previous month were recruited. The biopsy was graded for fibrosis (F) and steatosis (S) stagings. TE was performed after overnight fasting (baseline values) and 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, and 120 min following the intake of a standard commercial formula meal, and every 30 min until LS and CAP values returned to baseline. The effect of meal intake on CAP and LS values was analyzed with a multilevel mixed model approach.ResultsThe mean age was 53.1 ± 11.2 years old. The mean (SD) BMI was 25.6 ± 4.5 kg/m2. F0, F1, F2, F3 and F4 fibrosis stages were found in 17 (42.5%), 9 (22.5%), 4 (10.0%), 8 (20.0%) and 2 (5.0%), respectively. S0, S1, S2 and S3 steatosis stages were seen in 22 (55.0%), 11 (27.5%), 4 (10.0%) and 3 (7.5%), respectively. The mean (SD) CAP and median (IQR) LS values at baseline were 249.7 ± 58.1 dB/m and 11.9 (6–18.1) kPa. A significant decrease in CAP values was observed in all patients 15 to 120 min after meals, with the CAP peak value at 60 min and the mean post-meal delta reduction of 18.1 dB/min. CAP values declined after meals at early fibrosis stages and across all stages of steatosis. A significant increase in LS values after meal intake was observed within 15 to 120 min, with the LS peak value at 15 min and the mean post-meal delta increase of 2.4 kPa. Post-meal CAP and LS values returned to baseline within 150 min following meals.ConclusionFollowing a meal, patients’ CAP values declined with the peak value at 60 min, contrasting with the rising of LS values with the peak value at 15 min. The post-meal CAP and LS values returned to baseline by 150 min. A fasting period of more than 150 min after a meal is recommended for patients undergoing TE.

The Role of Different Noninvasive Fibrosis Assessment Scores in the Evaluation of Liver Fibrosis in Nafld Patients

Several noninvasive fibrosis assessment tests were developed in order to replace invasive procedures as liver biopsy. Our goal was to assess the correlation between APRI, FIB 4 Index and BARD score with transient elastography (TE) in patients with fatty liver disease. We also observed the relation between hepatic steatosis index (HSI) and steatosis quantified by CAP. We conducted a prospective study from October 2016- March 2017 which included 156 diabetic patients (average age 60.8 years, 37.8% males, 62.2% females) evaluated both by serum markers (TGO, TGP, platelets) as well as by TE (Fibroscan, Echosense,Paris, France, with incorporated CAP function). Based on specific formulas we calculated APRI, FIB 4 index, BARD score and HSI. We excluded the patients without liver steatosis at ultrasound. Liver stiffness (LS) measurement was considered reliable only if 10 valid values were obtained, with an IQR<30% and a success rate>60%. For differentiation between stages of liver fibrosis, the following cut-off values were used (1): F2-F3: 7-10.2kPa, F4≥10.3 kPa. We considered mild steatosis if CAP=230-275dB/m, moderate steatosis-CAP=275-300 dB/m and severe steatosis-CAP>300 dB/m (recommended by the manufacturer). Severe steatosis according to CAP measurements prevailed: 67.3% of patients (105/156), whereas the distribution between mild and moderate steatosis was similar 16% vs. 16.7%. 76.2% of the patients were overweight BMI >28 kg/m2.We found a small, but significant correlation between liver stiffness assessed by TE and liver stiffness predicted by APRI (Spearman’s rho=0.26, p<0.001) and BARD scores (Spearman’s rho=0.183, p= 0.02). We found a small, but significant correlation between liver fibrosis measured by TE in patients with at least significant fibrosis (F2, LS≥7 kPa) and APRI (Spearman rho=0.2, p=0.01).We did not find a correlation between TE values and FIB 4 (Spearman’s rho=-0.11, p= 0.17). We found no correlation between CAP values and HSI (Spearman’s rho=0.14, p= 0.08). An APRI score >1 correlates with significant fibrosis quantified by TE. BARD score ≥2 can predict advanced fibrosis. These two simple scores could be used as first line test to rule out patients without advanced fibrosis.

The Correlation Between Obesity-Related Diseases and Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Women in the Pre-operative Evaluation for Bariatric Surgery Assessed by Transient Hepatic Elastography.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common, severe disease in obese patients. However, NAFLD is usually underestimated by ultrasonography. Liver biopsy is not routinely done in bariatric surgery or during the follow-up. This study therefore examined the correlation between metabolic syndrome and NAFLD in morbidly obese patients based on an assessment using transient hepatic elastography (THE). This study involved 50 female patients in the pre-operative phase for bariatric surgery. Before surgery, we collected clinical, laboratory, and anthropometric variables. THE measurements were obtained using a FibroScan® device (Echosens, Paris, France), and steatosis was quantified using Controlled Attenuation Parameter software (CAP). Statistical analyses were done using linear correlation and the Kruskal-Wallis test. The mean of THE and CAP values were 7.56 ± 4.78kPa and 279.94 ± 45.69dB/m, respectively, and there was a significant linear correlation between the two measurements (r = 0.651; p < 0.001). The numbers of metabolic syndrome parameters did not influence the THE (p = 0.436) or CAP (p = 0.422) values. HbA1c and HOMA-IR showed a strong linear correlation with CAP (r = 0.643, p = 0.013 and r = 0.668, p = 0.009, respectively) and a tendency to some linear correlation with THE (r = 0.500, p = 0.05 and r = 0.500, p = 0.002, respectively). Morbidly obese women submitted to FibroScan® presented a high prevalence of severe steatosis and advanced fibrosis in our sample. Insulin resistance parameters were correlated with steatosis, but less with fibrosis.

Minimum revenue guarantee and toll revenue cap optimization for PPP highways: Pareto optimal state approach

In the Public-Private Partnership highway projects the Minimum Revenue Guarantee and Toll Revenue Cap policies are effective measures for risk and benefit sharing between the government and the private sector. However, if the Minimum Revenue Guarantee and Toll Revenue Cap values are unreasonable, it may lead one part of the investors to take too much risk and financial burden. This paper mainly establishes six objectives from the return and risk perspectives of the government, the concessionaire and the overall situation respectively. Because the traditional Discount Cash Flow method does not consider the risk factors, this paper proposes to use Monte Carlo simulation and scatter search algorithm to calculate the optimal values of the Minimum Revenue Guarantee and Toll Revenue Cap under different objectives. Compared with the statistics of the Net Present Value under different cases, it was summarized that when the objective is minimizing the variance of the total Net Present Value, the investors will realize the Pareto optimal state between the return and risk. In addition, it was found that the government is more sensitive to the Minimum Revenue Guarantee and Toll Revenue Cap marginal values according to the sensitive analysis. Therefore, the model has an effect on improving the fairness of the risk sharing measures, reducing the financial burden of the investors especially the government, and increasing the investment attraction of the private sectors.

Biological variation of plasma osmolality obtained with capillary versus venous blood.

Plasma osmolality (POsm) is a gold standard to assess hydration status but requires venipuncture. POsm obtained by lancing a digit, a source of capillary puncture blood (CAP), has not been validated. This study compared POsm from CAP versus venous blood (VEN) and validated its sensitivity to detect dehydration. Healthy young adults (Study A: n=20 men, 22 women; Study B: n=23 men, 23 women) participated. In Study A, CAP and VEN were compared under controlled euhydration meeting dietary reference intakes for water (3.7 L men, 2.7 L women). In Study B, CAP was assessed for sensitivity to detect dehydration with receiver operating characteristic analysis over two 24 h periods: euhydration for 24 h followed by water restriction over 24 h. POsm was measured using freezing point depression. For all subjects, CAP POsm (283.0±3.9 mOsm/kg) was not significantly different (p=0.07) from VEN (284.2±3.5) during euhydration and met analytical goals for individuality and heterogeneity. When outliers (n=3) were eliminated, mean difference was -1.6 (±3.2) lower (p<0.01) with CAP. Fluid restriction increased (p<0.001) CAP POsm (284.0±4.4 to 292.8±5.2 mOsm/kg), achieving excellent accuracy (0.92) and sensitivity (89.1%) to predict mild dehydration (2% body mass loss). POsm via CAP exhibited similar coefficients of variation and analytical goals compared to VEN combined with excellent accuracy and sensitivity to detect dehydration. Although CAP values were approximately 2 mOsm/kg lower than VEN, CAP appears an adequate substitute for tracking changes in non-clinical settings.

Mapping the Activity and Evolution of Retrogressive Thaw Slumps by Tasselled Cap Trend Analysis of a Landsat Satellite Image Stack

ABSTRACTRetrogressive thaw slumps are a dominant agent of geomorphic change in ice‐rich permafrost landscapes and may remain active for decades. Previous studies of slump activity have used aerial photographs and/or high‐resolution satellite images acquired at (multi)‐decadal time intervals. This study investigates if the calculation of the three Tasselled Cap transformations (brightness, greenness and wetness) from a dense stack of Landsat Thematic Mapper and Enhanced Thematic Mapper+ images can be used to identify slump activity and map slump evolution at near‐annual resolution. Results obtained from analysis of slumps in the Richardson Mountains‐Peel Plateau region of the Northwest Territories, Canada, suggest that Tasselled Cap linear trend images effectively identify both active and stable thaw slumps. In addition, the analysis of single‐date Tasselled Cap values at the pixel level can be used to map the initiation, growth and stabilisation of slumps at near‐annual timescales. The Tasselled Cap trend analysis method therefore offers the possibility to: (1) map the distribution of thaw slumps by activity level (active, stable or relict); (2) derive headwall retreat rates at near‐annual resolution; and (3) determine patterns of stabilisation and re‐vegetation over the period of available Landsat images. The rich temporal information provided by Landsat analysis complements conventional, higher spatial resolution (but lower temporal resolution) methods that map slumps from pairs of aerial photographs and high‐resolution satellite imagery. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Stock picking, market timing and style differences between socially responsible and conventional pension funds: evidence from the United Kingdom

As far as we are aware, this study presents the first comparative analysis of the stock picking and market timing abilities of managers of conventional and socially responsible (SR) pension funds, and of their use of superior information. For the United Kingdom, the results obtained show a slight stock picking ability on the part of SR pension fund managers (although it disappears if multifactorial models are considered), and a negative market timing ability on the part of both SR and conventional pension fund managers (these results hold for multifactorial models controlled by home bias). In relation to the management styles, both conventional and SR pension funds usually invest in small cap and growth values, although it is the SR pension funds that are the most exposed to these styles. We also observed that, while conventional pension fund managers make certain use of superior information to follow stock picking strategies, managers of SR pension funds use superior information to follow market timing strategies.

The Value of Green: The Effect of Environmental Rankings on Market Cap

This study empirically examines the relationship between environmental rankings and market cap value. The financial indicators of the Altman Z-Score are used to build a model for market cap value. The data used is from 2000-2008 for 100 of the companies included in Newsweek’s Top 500 Green Rankings 2009. The results support the hypothesis that companies with high environmental rankings have higher market cap values than comparable companies with lower rankings. This shows that either investors are including environmental factors in their stock price valuations, or that a high environmental rank indicates other intangible variables that contribute to a company's value.