...Beta Management Company July 21, 2014 Variable Measures | |Vanguard Index 500 Trust |California R.E.I.T. |Brown Group | |Standard Deviation |4.61% |9.23% |8.17% | |Expected Return |1.10% |-2.27% |-0.67% | | |Vanguard & California R.E.I.T. |Vanguard & Brown Group | |Beta |14.121% |111.488% | |Correlation Coefficient |0.0735 |0.6562 | In evaluating the risk characteristics on a stand-alone basis, we can conclude that Brown Group offers a better return than California R.E.I.T. as well as a more stable standard deviation. When considering standard deviation as a measure of risk, the higher the deviation, the higher the risk that exists. Although the expected return for both Brown Group and California R.E.I.T. are both negative, Brown Groups expected return of -0.67%, in addition to its lower standard deviation than that of California...
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...1. Case: Beta Management 2. The Objectives 1. To gain practice in calculating risk and return measures on stocks and portfolios, including estimation of beta for stocks by simple regressions. 2. To understand concepts of total risk, portfolio risk, diversifiable and undiversifiable risk, and how these relate to the beta. 3. To gain an appreciation of the relation between risk and return, and the CAPM. 4. To allow an introductory discussion of investment strategies. 3. The Issues 1. The Strategy 2. The Choices 3. The Risks 4. The Port Folio Risks 5. The Return 4. The Strategy Ms.Wolfe Keeps majority of funds in no load, low-expense index funds. She preferably use vanguard’s Index 500 Trust due to its extremely low expense ratio and its success at closely matching the return of the S&P 500 index. She make money for its client by investing in index fund even in down market year. Company loses potential new clients because She only use index mutual fund and use none of its own stocks. 5. Company decided to purchase individual stock to make the equity portfolio. Focus on smaller stocks are made to invest. She focus on two stocks :California REIT and Brown group. Both stocks are NYSE listed and stock price are bad over past two year. Both stocks are volatile stocks. The Choices 6. Some Information of REITS (REIT, WWW.reit.com) REIT: Real Estate Investment Trust. A REIT invests in income-producing property, and may also invest in loans on property...
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...October 1, 2012 Case Study#6: Beta Management Company In 1988, Sarah Wolfe formed and became the CEO of an investment management company named Beta Management Company in the Boston metro area. It was primarily created due to the results of the October 1987 market crash when a rich married couple was saddened by their investment losses. In early 1991, Ms. Wolfe was pondering whether or not to initiate a plan to set out new objectives and guidelines for Beta in the upcoming year. Currently, Beta’s stated purpose was to enhance the returns and reduce risks for her high-net-worth clients through market timing. In order to accomplish this task, Ms. Wolfe would keep the vast majority of Beta’s funds in no-load, low-expense index funds; and, the rest of the money would go into money market instruments. Keeping the market exposure between 50% and 99%, she eventually established the limited use of Vanguard’s Index 500 Trust because it had a very low expense ratio and its success resembled the S&P 500 Index’s return. By January 4, 1991, Beta had 79.2% of its $25 million in assets ($19.8 million) invested in the Vanguard index fund. However, the firm had also lost possible new clients because Ms. Wolfe had only used the Vanguard fund instead of investing in its own stocks. In order to combat this problem, Beta’s new investment strategy was to increase the number of stocks in its portfolio instead of relying on just one pure equity investment, the Vanguard fund. This is process...
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...Beta Management Company In early January 1991, Sarah Wolfe was in her office considering new goals and directions for her company forth coming year. Ms. Wolfe was the founder and CEO fo the Beta Management Group, a small investment management company based in a Boston suburb. She dealt with a growing number of high-net-worth individual clients and had $25 million in assets under management. Beta’s investment success during the past year had brought in a steady stream of new clients and additional money from existing clients. At the same time, Ms. Wolfe had inquiries from some small institutions, and was hoping to expand her business in 1991. Beta Management Company was founded in 1988. A wealthy couple had become fed up with their investment losses stemming from the October 1987 crash and had asked their friend, Ms. Wolfe, to manage a portion of their money. While business was slow at first, she gradually developed a client base through good performance and word of mouth. She considered herself a market strategist, and Beta Management’s stated goals were to enhance returns but reduce risks for clients via market timing. Given the small size of her accounts, the easiest way for her to maintain and adjust equity market exposure was to “index”. She would keep a majority of Beta’s funds in no-load, low-expense index funds (with the remainder in money market instruments), adjusting the level of market exposure between 50% and 99% of Beta’s funds in an attempt to “time the...
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...Beta-blockers xxxx Collin College HPRS 1310-WW1 April 15, 2012 The first beta-blocker drug approved by the FDA in 1967 was developed by Sir James Black, an accomplishment for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1988 (Stapleton, 1997). Sir Black took a different approach to the treatment of angina pectoris—instead of using drugs to increase the amount of oxygen delivered to the heart, Black sought to find a drug that could reduce the amount of oxygen required by the heart. The drugs in this classification are subdivided into two categories: non-selective and selective (cardioselective). Major drugs in the non-selective beta-blocker category include carteolol, nadolol, penbutolol, pindolol, propranolol, sotalol, and timolol. Major drugs in the cardioselective category include acebutolol, atenolol, betaxolol, esmolol, metroprolol, and nebivolol. Some others, including carvedilol and labetalol also have alpha-adrenergic blocking effects, but are outside the scope of this paper. (Vallerand, 2013; Turley, 2010) Beta-blockers are prescribed for the treatment of hypertension, angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmias, hypertrophic subaortic stenosis, prevention of myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, migraine headaches, and glaucoma. (Vallerand, 2013; Hodgson & Kizior, 2013) Beta-blockers work to compete with sympathetic neurotransmitters1 for beta1 and beta2 adrenergic receptor sites. Beta1 receptors are found in cardiac muscle, and beta2 receptors...
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...| Beta Management Company Case Report | | Full name: Student ID: Class Time: Lecturer's Name: | Table of Contents I.Case background 2 II.Sarah Wolfe 2 III.Background of California R.E.I.T. and Brown Group, Inc. 3 IV.Return and risk 4 V.Summarize in bullet points what you learn from your case analysis. 7 VI.Appendix 8 I. Case background Who: Sarah Wolfe who is the founder and also the CEO of Beta Management Company Where: Small investment companies near a suburb of Boston When: The Beta Management Group was formed in 1988. Up to 1991, high-net-worth individual clients totaling $25 million in assets were under control by the Beta Management Group. What: She had been successful in the management of Beta’s funds by focusing on the Vanguard Index 500 Trust, even generating good returns in the worst of times. After doubling the size of Beta, she decided to pick some smaller stocks to go along with the index mutual fund. She also planned to increase the proportion of Beta’s assets in equities. II. Sarah Wolfe Strategy applied was to timing the market can be simply defined “buy low and sell high” to minimize the risk and enhance returns for clients since 1988. To get higher return by eliminating the risk was one of the good ways to add value for clients. Another strategy was to explore the range of market strategy. She has successfully adjusted the level of market exposures between 50% and 99%. The best way was chosen to maintain and adjust equity...
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...Creative Change in Healthcare Mary Ofili HSC 587 May 19, 2014 Lanny A. Kope Creative Change in Healthcare Change in any organization, especially healthcare is a given constant, frequent and always almost inevitable. Several factors may lead to these changes and sometimes, these factors are internal and other times they are external. In the United States, the economy determines the interactions between the cost of healthcare and the way hospitals deliver care to the patients. The current persistent economic downturn continues to force Medicare to look closely at how hospitals are reimbursed and to cut reimbursement rates. With the overhaul of the healthcare system, hospitals have to evaluate how to deliver care to the patients with limited financial resources. Therefore, Medicare expects hospitals to bear the cost of any adverse outcome caused by any changes within the hospital environment. For examples, hospitals are no longer reimbursed for the cost of diabetic ulcer treatment acquired while the patient is in the hospital. The quality of the expected result is much higher while the reimbursement is much lower. Hospitals have to look closely at how the nursing staff delivers care to the patients. The traditional bedside nursing is staffed by three levels of nurses. Certified Nurse’s Assistant (CNA), Licensed Vocation Nurse (LVN), and the Registered Nurse (RN). Other levels of nurses such as Nurse Practitioners and other advanced practice nurses are not included in the...
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...Biological methods of stress management try to control the body’s response to stress by reducing physiological activity. The most well-known biological method of stress management is drug therapy. One method is using drugs called Benzodiazepines (BZs). These are the most common type of drug to relieve stress and anxiety issues. They work by slowing down the Central Nervous System activity. GABA, the hormone responsible for anxiety relief naturally in the human body is enhanced by the BZs. The BZs will also help to reduce the serotonin activity in the brain, which is the neurotransmitter which causes stimulation, and reduces anxiety as a result. Benzodiazepines have a number of effects that all lead to the reduction of stress in people without much effort. The other type of drug that could be used to treat stress and anxiety issues are Beta Blockers (BBs). When the body detects stress, the SNS is activated which leads to raised heart rate, which leads to higher blood pressure which can lead to Chronic Heart Disease, heart attack, stroke etc. The Beta Blocker is taken then and it acts by reducing activity of adrenaline and noradrenaline and also binds to the receptors of the heart and other areas of the body stimulated by arousal. As a result of blocking these receptors, it is therefore harder to stimulate them and so the heart beat is slowed, and therefore lower blood pressure. An advantage of drugs is that they work very quickly and are effective in reducing stress almost...
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...Carvedilol is indicated in the management of congestive heart failure (CHF), as an adjunct to conventional treatments (ACE inhibitors and diuretics). The use of carvedilol has been shown to provide additional morbidity and mortality benefits in severe CHF.[9] Carvedilol (Carvil) is available at the following doses 3.125 mg (smallest), followed by 6.25 mg,12.5 mg, and 25 mg white tablets. Coreg CR is available at the following doses: 10mg(white/green capsules), 20mg(white/yellow capsules), 40mg(yellow/green capsules), and 80mg(white capsules). [10] U.S. supply issues On January 10, 2006 carvedilol supply became limited in the United States, due to changes in documentation procedures at a plant. This was lifted on April 27, 2006 in a Dear Pharmacist letter.[11] Approval of controlled-release formulation On October 20, 2006, the FDA approved a controlled release formulation of carvedilol; it is marketed as Coreg CR. References Press Release, FDA Approves First Generic Versions of Coreg, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Sep. 5, 2007 Stafylas PC, Sarafidis PA (2008). "Carvedilol in hypertension treatment". Vasc Health Risk Manag 4 (1): 23–30. doi:10.2147/vhrm.2008.04.01.23. PMC 2464772. PMID 18629377. Othman AA, Tenero DM, Boyle DA, Eddington ND, Fossler MJ (2007). "Population pharmacokinetics of S(-)-carvedilol in healthy volunteers after administration of the immediate-release (IR) and the new controlled-release (CR) dosage forms of the racemate". AAPS...
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...This assignment will take the form of a case study on a current patient with heart failure being nursed in a community setting. Due to confidentiality and patient privacy, the patient discussed will be referred to as John¹. John is an 82 year old gentleman who lives alone in sheltered accommodation. John’s son and daughter live close and take it in turns to visit daily. John is an ex-smoker who gave up 20 years ago, has long standing hypertension and is overweight having a BMI of 30 kg/m. John was diagnosed with heart failure a year ago after being hospitalised three times in the space of four months. Stewart (2004) feels that a diagnoses of heart failure is problematic in older patients as their symptoms can often mimic other diseases. According to the National Institute for Clinical Excellence Guidelines (NICE) 2003, hospitalisation accounts² for 70% of the £716 million pounds spent on heart failure annually. In this assignment the physiology of the heart will be discussed and how heart failure affects its performance. John’s symptoms, medication and how his condition was diagnosed will be discussed³. John’s future care and how it will be managed along with who will be involved in his care4. NICE (2003) defines heart failure as a “complex syndrome” that results from any structural or functional cardiac disorder that impairs the ability of the heart to function as a pump to support a “physiological circulation”. Tendera5 (2005) states that heart failure...
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...University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing Medication Tracking Sheet Tracking Medications Across the Curriculum Major Drug Classification (s): beta blocker Generic drug name: Metoprolol Trade (Brand) name: Lopressor Normal dosage range:______25-50mg Safe dosage range: Route(s) of administration: PO once a day Drug action (s): Blocks simulation of beta1 adrenergic receptors. * Uses: * Hypertension. * Angina pectoris. * Prevention of MI and decreased mortality in patients with recent MI. * Management of stable, symptomatic (class II or III) heart failure due to ischemic, hypertensive or cardiomyopathc origin (may be used with ACE inhibitors, diuretics and/or digoxin; Toprol XL only). * * * Significant side effects: fatigue, weakness * Significant adverse reactions: CV- bradycardia, tachycardia, pulmonary edema, hypotension Significant drug/drug interactions: Drug-Drug * General anesthesia, IVphenytoin, and verapamil may cause ↑ myocardial depression. * ↑ risk of bradycardia when used with digoxin, verapamil, diltiazem, or clonidine . * ↑ hypotension may occur with other antihypertensives, acute ingestion of alcohol, or nitrates . * Concurrent use with amphetamines, cocaine, ephedrine, epinephrine, norepinephrine, phenylephrine, or pseudoephedrine may result in unopposed alpha-adrenergic stimulation (excessive hypertension...
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...Alzheimer’s disease is a wholesale loss of synapses, contact points via which nerve cells relay signals to one another and a parallel deterioration in brain function, notably in the ability to remember. Amyloid beta (Aβ) denotes peptides of 36–43 amino acids that are crucially involved in Alzheimer's disease as the main component of the amyloid plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer patients. The peptides result from the amyloid precursor protein (APP), which is being cut by certain enzymes to yield Aβ. Study has shown that Beta amyloid begins life as a solitary molecule but tends to bunch up , initially into small clusters that are still soluble and can travel freely in the brain, and finally into the plaques that are hallmarks of Alzheimer’s. The study showed for the first time that in this clustered form, beta-amyloid can bind strongly to a receptor on nerve cells, setting in motion an intercellular process that erodes their synapses with other nerve cells. Further looking into this protein and the information regarding it in various databases, the following was sequence was found out for the Beta amyloid A4 protein in Homo sapien in SWISSPROT. >sp|P05067|A4_HUMAN Amyloid beta A4 protein OS=Homo sapiens GN=APP PE=1 SV=3 MLPGLALLLLAAWTARALEVPTDGNAGLLAEPQIAMFCGRLNMHMNVQNGKWDSDPSGTK TCIDTKEGILQYCQEVYPELQITNVVEANQPVTIQNWCKRGRKQCKTHPHFVIPYRCLVG EFVSDALLVPDKCKFLHQERMDVCETHLHWHTVAKETCSEKSTNLHDYGMLLPCGIDKFR GVEFVCCPLAEESDNVDSADAEEDDSDVWWGGADTDYADGSEDKVVEVAEEEEVAEVEEE E...
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...Am J Stem Cell 2012;1(3):196-204 www.AJSC.us /ISSN:2160-4150/AJSC1208001 Review Article Directed differentiation of progenitor cells towards an islet-cell phenotype Arif Abed1, Charlotte Critchlow2, Peter R Flatt3, Neville H McClenaghan3, Catriona Kelly1 The Guy Hilton Research Centre, Institute for Science and Technology, Keele University, UK; 2Keele Medical School, Keele University, UK; 3Diabetes Research Group, SAAD Centre for Pharmacy and Diabetes, University of Ulster, Coleraine, UK 1 Received August 3, 2012; Accepted November 9, 2012; Epub November 30, 2012; Published December 10, 2012 Abstract: Exogenous insulin administration and oral anti-diabetic drugs are the primary means of treating diabetes. However, tight glycaemic control, with its inherent risk of hypoglycaemia, is required to prevent the microvascular and macrovascular complications of the disease. While islet or pancreas transplantations offer a longer-term cure, their widespread application is not possible, primarily because of a lack of donor tissue, the burden of life-long immunosuppression, and eventual graft rejection. The rapid increase in the incidence of diabetes has promoted the search for alternative cell-based therapies. Here we review recent advances in the directed differentiation of both endocrine and non-endocrine progenitors towards an islet-like phenotype. Keywords: Endocrine, progenitor cells, islet cells, insulin production, diabetes mellitus The need for cell-based therapies for...
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...el páncreas exactamente en los islotes de Langerhans por su factor beta, esto ocurre cuando a través del Glut 2 membranal los detectores de glucosa encuentran una concentración más alta a lo necesario Esta hormona (la insulina) viaja por el torrente sanguíneo y afecta las células hepáticas, neuronales y musculares para que capten glucosa. La insulina se une al receptor membranal de insulina Si la concentración de glucemia es baja los RTK activan la vía PI-3 cinasa. Al final de esta vía de señalización se activa la proteincinasa B PKB que activa las vesículas de GLUT4 que se desplazan y se fusionan con la membrana para hacer que la glucosa entre en la célula. Tras eliminarse la insulina los GLUT4 sufren endocitosis y comienza la producción del glucógeno. Esto hace que se reduzca la degradación de glucosa a piruvato y este efecto es el opuesto al de la hormona glucagón que se produce en el páncreas. Existen diversos tipos de GLUT que son los receptores de glucosa en las membranas celulares, algunos ocupan ser activados mientras otros no. Por lo cual el cerebro logra captar la glucosa sin la necesidad de utilizar la insulina al usar el Glut 3 Cuando existe una falla en el metabolismo de la glucosa y la insulina se obtiene niveles altos de glucemia que deben de ser controladas con dietas muy estrictas. Esta enfermedad se conoce como “Diabetes” que existen 2 tipos: El tipo 1 es en el que las células beta casi no producen insulina, y el tipo 2 es el que la captación de la...
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...542 學術 阿茲海默失智症的食療科學證據 文/孫 瑜 邱銘章* 李明濱** 恩主公醫院神經內科 台大醫院神經內科* 台灣失智症協會理事長** 背 景 阿茲海默失智症為一逐漸腦部退化以致於喪失智 能的疾病，包括喪失智力與生活能力，年紀愈大，愈 易得病，這是現在人口結構逐漸老化的社會，必須面 對的重要議題。長久以來，就有不少研究在探討飲食 與失智症的相關性，包括食物種類與得病的相關性， 及以飲食型態來預防或延緩疾病惡化。這些飲食的研 究中，有不少建議攝取富含維他命C、E及胡蘿蔔素等 抗氧化食物來預防或改善失智症的惡化，另外維他命 B群、葉酸，不飽合脂肪酸、魚類、酒類等，都曾被 報導過可降低阿茲海默失智症的風險。不過上述這些 研究的結論常常不一致。另外，臺灣很流行的保健食 品如紅麴及銀杏也被奉為預防失智症的聖品，還有現 在很熱門的地中海飲食，這些食物對阿茲海默失智症 的預防及治療效果的科學證據仍須進一步探討。本篇 研究擬以實證醫學的方法探討飲食對失智症的防治效 果，進而希望為高齡族群提供飲食的建議。 方 法 分兩階段進行。第一階段：先以一般性回顧的方 法搜尋及整理阿茲海默失智症的完整且有臨床試驗的 飲食研究。從Pub Med中搜尋以關鍵字「nutrition」或 「diet」連結 「Alzheimer's dementia」或「Alzheimer's disease」搜尋相關的文章。並設定為回顧(review)性 文章，語言為英文或中文，起始年代不設限，搜尋至 2009年。總共找到73篇文章，其中再進一步將動物 實驗、基礎實驗及病理研究去除。如此一來，剩下33 篇，其中館際合作能找到24篇，再從中去挑選回顧性 研究中，所有收集納入分析比較的臨床試驗(含世代研 究及病例對照研究)最完整的文章，加以整理。另外也 加入我們自己團隊的研究。第二階段：是分別針對國 內常被報導的保健產品、食品及飲食型態，如紅麴、 銀杏、地中海飲食及咖哩等，用於阿茲海默失智症的 所有研究，探討其目前臨床科學性的結論為何。 結 果 以下分別就不同的飲食因素與阿茲海默失智症相 關性加以探討： 1.抗氧化飲食 阿茲海默失智症患者腦中的β類澱粉蛋白，會在 腦中形成過氧化反應，進一步造成神經元的損傷(1)，這 些腦中的氧化反應是阿茲海默失智症的是原因還是結 果，並不是很清楚，不過已有不少研究在探討以食物 中的抗氧化物質，來影響阿茲海默失智症的病程 (2) 。 常被研究的抗氧化物包括維他命E、維他命C及胡蘿蔔 素。有些研究發現阿茲海默失智症患者血中的這些抗 氧化物質濃度偏低。食物中維他命E的來源很廣，包 含蔬果、肉(牛羊豬)、魚與乳酪 (3)。維他命C的來源則 多為蔬果及胡蘿蔔 (3)。β胡蘿蔔素來源則為青菜(特別 是青花椰菜)、紅蘿蔔、水果如木瓜、蕃茄及葡萄柚等 (3) ，觀察幾個較大型的前瞻性臨床研究，其營養的介入 可分為攝取維他命及攝取富含這些維他命的飲食(多是 問卷及電訪的方式)，整理如表1 (4)。吾人可發現這些研 究的結論並不一致。不過可看出以下三點趨勢：1.以富 含維他命E、C的食物供給來減少失智症的發生，結果 是有效的多於無效的研究。2.富含維他命E、C食物對 預防失智症的證據，比以維他命E、C藥物還多(食物優 於藥物)。3.在失智症防治上，維他命E的飲食比維他命 C的證據還強。 2.維他命B群，葉酸與失智症 維他命B12或葉酸缺乏會造成神經細胞的損傷及 中樞神經病變(5)。也會造成智力的退化，這也是失智症...
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