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Second Factor (second + factor)
Selected AbstractsConvergence within the EU: Evidence from Interest RatesECONOMIC NOTES, Issue 2 2000Teresa Corzo Santamaria The economic and political changes which are taking place in Europe affect interest rates. This paper develops a two-factor model for the term structure of interest rates specially designed to apply to EMU countries. In addition to the participant country's short-term interest rate, we include as a second factor a ,European' short-term interest rate. We assume that the ,European' rate follows a mean reverting process. The domestic interest rate also follows a mean reverting process, but its convergence is to a stochastic mean which is identified with the ,European' rate. Closed-form solutions for prices of zero coupon discount bonds and options on these bonds are provided. A special feature of the model is that both the domestic and the European interest rate risks are priced. We also discuss an empirical estimation focusing on the Spanish bond market. The ,European' rate is proxied by the ecu's interest rate. Through a comparison of the performance of our convergence model with a Vasicek model for the Spanish bond market, we show that our model provides a better fit both in-sample and out-of sample and that the difference in performance between the models is greater the longer the maturity of the bonds. (J.E.L.: E43, C510). [source] Relationship between weight, levodopa and dyskinesia: the significance of levodopa dose per kilogram body weightEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY, Issue 5 2008J. C. Sharma Purpose:, Levodopa dose per kilogram body weight is reported to be a significant factor for dyskinesia in Parkinson's disease. We have investigated this hypothesis in data from the studies comparing ropinirole versus levodopa as the initial therapy. Methods:, Data from the ropinirole versus levodopa studies 056 and REAL-PET in early Parkinson's disease were pooled and manipulated to calculate levodopa dose per kilogram body weight. Logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate significant variables for the development of dyskinesia. Only the patients on levodopa monotherapy or with ropinirole were analyzed. Results:, Analysis of levodopa therapy patients revealed that dyskinetic patients had received significantly higher absolute levodopa dose and levodopa dose per kilogram body weight. Logistic regression revealed that the most significant factor was the higher levodopa dose per kilogram body weight, P = 0.005, odds ratio 1.078, 95% CI 1.023,1.135; younger age was the second factor ,P = 0.026. Variables of gender, absolute levodopa dose, weight, disease duration and initial motor Unified Parkinson's disease rating score were not significant. Conclusion:, Higher levodopa dose per kilogram body weight is an independently significant factor for developing dyskinesia. This relationship should be considered in treatment of Parkinson's disease patients aiming to prevent and manage dyskinesia. [source] A Two-Factor Model for Predicting When a Couple Will Divorce: Exploratory Analyses Using 14-Year Longitudinal Data,FAMILY PROCESS, Issue 1 2002John Mordechai Gottman Ph.D. This article examines 14-year longitudinal data and attempts to create a post hoc model that uses Time-1 data to "predict" the length of time the marriage will last. The sample consists of the 21 couples (of 79 studied) who divorced over a 14-year period. A two-factor model is proposed. One factor is the amount of unregulated volatile positive and negative affect in the marriage, and this factor predicts a short marriage length for the divorcing couples. A second factor is called "neutral affective style," and this factor predicts a long marriage length for the divorcing couples. This model is compared to a Time-1 model of ailing marriage in which Time-1 marital satisfaction is used to predict the timing of divorce. [source] Novel factor of merit for center-frequency tunable bandpass filters comparisonMICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 4 2009Emmanuel Pistono Abstract This article presents an improved factor of merit for the comparison of center-frequency tunable bandpass filters. This study draws up a comparison between existing tunable filters for which different commonly used parameters demonstrating their performance are given. A first factor of merit that takes all the major characteristics of such tunable filters into account is introduced. A second factor of merit is proposed to evaluate the filter compactness. These new factors of merit are applied for the comparison of more than 30 recently published papers. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 51: 985,988, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.24220 [source] In-vivo visualization of phagocytotic cells in rat brains after transient ischemia by USPIONMR IN BIOMEDICINE, Issue 4 2002M. Rausch Abstract Cerebral ischemia provokes tissue damage by two major patho-physiological mechanisms. Direct cell necrosis is induced by diminished access of neurons and glia to essential nutrients such as glucose and oxygen leading to energy failure. A second factor of cellular loss is related to the activation of immune-competent cells within and around the primary infarct. While granulocytes and presumably monocytes are linked to the no-reflow phenomenon, activated microglia cells and monocytes can release cytotoxic substrates, which cause delayed cell death. As a consequence the infarct volume will increase, despite restoration of cerebral perfusion. In the past, visualization of immune competent cells was only possible by histological analysis of post-mortem tissue. However, contrast agents based on small particles of iron oxide are known to accumulate in organs rich in cells with phagocytotic function. These particles can be tracked in vivo by MRI methods based on their relaxation properties. In the present study, the spatio-temporal distribution of USPIO particles was monitored in a rat model of transient cerebral infarction using T1 - and T2 -weighted MRI sequences. USPIO were detected in vessels at 24,h after administration. At later time points specific accumulation of USPIO was observed within the infarcted hemisphere, with maximal signal enhancement on day 2. Their detectability based on T1 -contrast disappeared between day 4 and day 7. Immuno-histochemically (IHC) stains confirmed the presence of macrophages, presumably blood-derived monocytes within areas of T1 signal enhancement. Direct visualization of iron-burdened macrophages by IHC was only possible later than day 3 after occlusion. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Albino corpus cardiacum extracts induce morphometric gregarization in isolated albino locusts, Locusta migratoria, that are deficient in corazoninPHYSIOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 1 2007SEIJI TANAKA Abstract The neuropeptide [His7]-corazonin, present in the central nervous system and corpus cardiacum, is known to mimic a ,gregarizing' effect on phase-related morphometric ratios (hind femur length/maximum head width and fore wing length/hind femur length) when injected into locusts reared in isolation. However, an albino strain is known to exhibit phase-specific changes in these ratios in response to rearing density, although it is deficient in [His7]-corazonin. To examine whether there is a second factor responsible for this phenomenon, perhaps a corazonin-like factor that has lost its dark-colour inducing activity, methanol extracts of corpora cardiaca taken from crowd-reared albino nymphs of Locusta migratoria are injected into isolated-reared second-stadium albino nymphs and reared to adults in isolation. The hind femur length/maximum head width and fore wing length/hind femur length ratios are significantly different from those of control oil-injected counterparts, and shift significantly towards the values typical for crowd-reared gregarized individuals. The results indicate that the corpora cardiaca contain a factor similar to [His7]-corazonin, although it has no dark-colour inducing activity. [source] Ecological and evolutionary trends in wetlands: Evidence from seeds and seed banks in New South Wales, Australia and New Jersey, USAPLANT SPECIES BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2000Mary A. Leck Abstract Aquatic plants include a variety of life forms and functional groups that are adapted to diverse wetland habitats. Both similarities and differences in seed and seed-bank characteristics were discovered in comparisons of Australian (New South Wales) temporary upland wetlands with a North American (New Jersey) tidal freshwater marsh having both natural and constructed wetlands. In the former, flooding and drying are unpredictable and in the latter water levels vary diurnally and substrate is constantly moist. The hydrologic regimen provides the overriding selective force, with climate an important second factor. Other factors related to water level, such as oxygen availability, temperature and light, vary spatially and temporally, influencing germination processes, germination rates and seedling establishment. Seed and seed-bank characteristics (size, desiccation and inundation tolerance, germination cues and seed-bank longevity and depletion) differ, with the Australian temporary wetland being more similar to the small-seeded persistent seed bank of the constructed wetland site than to the natural tidal freshwater site with its larger seeds, transient seed bank and seasonal spring germination. Some non-spring germination can occur in the tidal constructed wetland if the soil is disturbed. In contrast, seeds in the temporary Australian wetlands germinated in response to wet/dry cycles rather than to season. Functional groups (e.g. submerged, amphibious) are more diverse in the Australian temporary wetlands, where all species tolerate drying. We suggest that the amphibious zone, with its hydrologic gradient, is the site of selection pressure determining establishment of wetland plants from seed. In this zone, multiple selective factors vary spatially and temporally. [source] No predictors of antidepressant patient response to milnacipran were obtained using the three-factor structures of the Montgomery and Åsberg Depression Rating Scale in Japanese patients with major depressive disordersPSYCHIATRY AND CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES, Issue 2 2008Hisashi Higuchi md Aims:, Milnacipran, a new specific serotonin and norepinephrine re-uptake inhibitor, is as effective as tricyclic antidepressants. Symptomatological predictors of antidepressant response to milnacipran have not been studied until now. Methods:, This study included 101 Japanese patients who fulfilled the DSM-IV criteria for the diagnosis of major depressive disorders and whose score on the Montgomery and Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) was ,21. Eighty-three patients were finally included. Patients with a pretreatment MADRS score ,31 points were defined as severe (n = 28), and the rest as non-severe (n = 55). The three-factor model of MADRS was used for analysis; the first factor was defined by three items, the second factor was defined by four items and the third factor was defined by three items representing dysphoria, retardation, and vegetative symptoms, respectively. Milnacipran was administered twice daily for 6 weeks. The initial dose was 50 mg/day; after a week it was increased to 100 mg/day. Results:, No significant difference was observed in the mean score of first factor, second factor and third factor at pretreatment time between responders and non-responders in both severe and non-severe patients. Conclusions:, No predictor of antidepressant response to milnacipran was obtained using the three-factor structures of the MADRS in Japanese patients with major depressive disorders. [source] Block Design Performance in the Williams Syndrome Phenotype: A Problem with Mental Imagery?THE JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY AND ALLIED DISCIPLINES, Issue 6 2001Emily K. Farran Williams syndrome (WS) is a rare genetic disorder which, among other characteristics, has a distinctive cognitive profile. Nonverbal abilities are generally poor in relation to verbal abilities, but also show varying levels of ability in relation to each other. Performance on block construction tasks represents arguably the weakest nonverbal ability in WS. In this study we examined two requirements of block construction tasks in 21 individuals with WS and 21 typically developing (TD) control individuals. The Squares tasks, a novel twodimensional block construction task, manipulated patterns by segmentation and perceptual cohesiveness to investigate the first factor, processing preference (local or global), and by obliqueness to examine the second factor, the ability to use mental imagery. These two factors were investigated directly by the Children's Embeded Figures Test (CEFT; Witkin, Oltman, Raskin, & Karp, 1971) and a mental rotation task respectively. Results showed that individuals with WS did not differ from the TD group in their processing style. However, the ability to use mental imagery was significantly poorer in the WS group than the TD group. This suggests that weak performance on the block construction tasks in WS may relate to an inability to use mental imagery. [source] | |||||||||||||