1,510 research outputs found
A Blueprint for Sovereign Wealth Fund Best Practices
No full textIn this article, the author presents a blueprint for sovereign wealth fund (SWF) best practices. This blueprint is based on a scoreboard for the current practices of 44 SWFs. The blueprint in turn provides a basis for evaluating the results of the IMF - sponsored dialogue on SWF best practices. The author concludes this paper with a few observations on implementing SWF best practices.
JEL Classification : F30, G29, G34Truman Edwin M. A Blueprint for Sovereign Wealth Fund Best Practices . In: Revue d'économie financière (English ed.). Hors-série, 2009. Sovereign wealth funds : Special Issue 2009. pp. 429-451
Description of a new mutation in rhodopsin, Pro23Ala, and comparison with electroretinographic and clinical characteristics of the Pro23His mutation
No full textOBJECTIVES: To report the clinical characteristics of a family with autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa caused by a proline-to-alanine mutation at codon 23 (Pro23Ala) of the rhodopsin gene and to compare this phenotype with that associated with the more common proline-to-histidine mutation at codon 23 (Pro23His).METHODS: We examined 6 patients within a single pedigree. The electroretinograms (ERGs) of 35 patients with known Pro23His mutations and of 22 healthy individuals were reviewed. Scotopic dim flash-response amplitudes, maximum combined-response amplitudes, and photopic-response amplitudes from the ERGs of these patients were plotted against age. The ERG indices of 5 individuals in the Pro23Ala family were compared with those of the patients with Pro23His mutations and of healthy individuals. Multiple linear regression was performed to evaluate the effect of age and mutation type on amplitudes. Mutation detection was performed using single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis, followed by automated DNA sequencing.RESULTS: Patients with the Pro23Ala mutation have a clinical phenotype characterized by onset of symptoms in the second to fourth decades of life, loss of superior visual field with relatively well-preserved inferior fields, and mild nyctalopia. Comparison with patients with the Pro23His mutation demonstrates statistically significant differences (P<.001) in responses to dim flash, maximum combined, and photopic responses between patients with these mutations after controlling for the effects of age. Patients with Pro23Ala mutations were less affected by ERG criteria than patients with Pro23His mutations. Patients with Pro23Ala mutations also differed significantly from healthy patients in all ERG indices examined (P<.001), after controlling for age.CONCLUSION: We describe a rare mutation in codon 23 of rhodopsin causing autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa. The retinal dystrophy associated with the Pro23Ala mutation is characteristically mild in presentation and course, with greater preservation of ERG amplitudes than the more prevalent Pro23His mutation<br/
Allelic variation in ABCR associated with Stargardt disease but not age-related macular degeneration
No full text"Where now the harp?" Listening for the sounds of Old English verse, from Beowulf to the twentieth century
No full textAdditional multimedia to accompany this article is available from http://journal.oraltradition.org/issues/24ii/jonesThis essay examines the representation or staging of oral performance and poetic composition within Beowulf, in order to argue that poem thematizes and mythologizes its own origins, and is as much interested in recovering the sounds of oral performances that pre-date its own manuscript inscription as modern Anglo-Saxon scholarship has been. The second half of the essay considers the recovery and reimagining of an Anglo-Saxon “soundscape” in the work of two twentieth-century poets, W. S. Graham and Edwin Morgan. The invocation of this “Saxonesque” patterning of sound invokes or triggers a historically constituted set of associations with the whole body of Old English poetry; that is, an allusion to a corpus, rather than to a specific text, is made through sound patterning.Peer reviewe
Projet de meilleures pratiques pour les fonds souverains
No full textA Blueprint for Sovereign Wealth Fund Best Practices
In this article, the author presents a blueprint for sovereign wealth fund (SWF) best practices. This blueprint is based on a scoreboard for the current practices of 44 SWFs. The blueprint in turn provides a basis for evaluating the results of the IMF -sponsored dialogue on SWF best practices. The author concludes this paper with a few observations on implementing SWF best practices.
JEL Classification : F30, G29, G34Cet article expose un projet de meilleures pratiques pour les fonds souverains. Ce projet s'appuie sur un classement des pratiques actuelles de 44 fonds souverains. Il constitue ainsi une base pour évaluer les résultats du dialogue mené sous l'égide du FMI sur les meilleures pratiques.
Classification JEL : F30, G29, G34Truman Edwin M. Projet de meilleures pratiques pour les fonds souverains . In: Revue d'économie financière. Hors-série, 2009. Les fonds souverains : numéro hors-série 2009. pp. 467-491
Localization of complement 1 inhibitor (C1INH/SERPING1) in human eyes with age-related macular degeneration
No full textAge-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a common degenerative disease resulting in injury to the retina, retinal pigment epithelium and choriocapillaris. Recent data from histopathology, animal models and genetic studies have implicated altered regulation of the complement system as a major factor in the incidence and progression of this disease. A variant in the gene SERPING1, which encodes C1INH, an inhibitor of the classical and lectin pathways of complement activation, was recently shown to be associated with AMD. In this study we sought to determine the localization of C1INH in human donor eyes. Immunofluorescence studies using a monoclonal antibody directed against C1INH revealed localization to photoreceptor cells, inner nuclear layer neurons, choriocapillaris, and choroidal extracellular matrix. Drusen did not exhibit labeling. Genotype at rs2511989 did not appear to affect C1INH abundance or localization, nor was it associated with significant molecular weight differences when evaluated by Western blot. In a small number of eyes (n = 7 AMD and n = 7 control) AMD affection status was correlated with increased abundance of choroidal C1INH. These results indicate that C1INH protein is present in the retina and choroid, where it may regulate complement activation
The G-20 and International Financial Institution Governance
No full textThis paper addresses the agenda for the Group of Twenty (G-20) leaders' meeting in Seoul, Korea in November 2010. This is an opportunity and challenge for Asian leaders in particular. Their test will be, first, to demonstrate that they can responsibly advance economic recovery. They must also deliver on institutional reform, in particular of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Author Edwin M. Truman advocates a substantial expansion of the IMF's role as lender of last resort that is integrated with the surveillance role of the IMF in the form of comprehensive prequalification for IMF assistance and policy advice and a substantial increase in the IMF's financial resources. Truman also propose an approach to meaningful reform of the distribution of IMF quotas along with limiting European seats on the IMF executive board.International Monetary Fund, Group of Twenty G20, China, Korea, Asia, special drawing rights, economic growth, exchange rates
Gene transfer to the nonhuman primate retina with recombinant feline immunodeficiency virus vectors
No full textWe hypothesize that recombinant feline immunodeficiency viral (rFIV) vectors may be useful for gene transfer to the nonhuman primate retina. We performed vitrectomies and subretinal injections in the right eyes of 11 cynomolgus monkeys. Vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein-pseudotyped rFIV that expressed the Escherichia coli ?-galactosidase gene was injected into eight eyes. Sham vehicle or lactose buffer injections were also performed in two of these eight study eyes. rFIV pseudotyped with an amphotropic envelope was used in two eyes, and in one animal injections of lactose buffer only were given. After surgery the animals were clinically evaluated by retinal photography and electroretinography. ?-Galactosidase expression was evaluated, at a final end point, in histological sections. We found photoreceptor and Müller cells to have the greatest transgene expression. Focal inflammatory responses localized to the injection site were seen histologically in all eyes. No difference in transduction efficiency was seen between injections near the macula and more peripheral injections. Visual function as assessed by electroretinography was not significantly affected by vector or vehicle injections. We conclude that rFIV vectors administered beneath the retina can transduce a variety of retinal cells in the nonhuman primate retina. rFIV vectors have therapeutic potential and could be exploited to develop gene therapy for the human eye. <br/
A flexible bimodal model with long-term survivors and different regression structures
No full textThe cure fraction models are useful to model lifetime data with long-term survivors. In this paper, we introduce a flexible cure rate survival model where the model parameters are related to covariates in different regression structures. The regression model allows to model jointly the location, scale and shape effects. The maximum likelihood method is employed to estimate the model parameters. We provide Monte Carlo simulation experiments to verify the performance of the maximum likelihood estimates for different sample sizes and cure rate percentages. Furthermore, some diagnostic measures to assess departures from model assumptions as well as to detect outlying observations are also considered. Finally, applications to real data are presented to show the usefulness of the new cure rate model.Lemonte, AJ (corresponding author), Univ Fed Rio Grande do Norte, Dept Stat, Rio Grande Do Norte, RN, Brazil.
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