BioSciCon (United States)

In the paper, we develop a very fast and accurate method for pricing double barrier options with continuous monitoring in wide classes of Lévy models; the calculations are in the dual space, and the Wiener–Hopf factorization is used. For wide regions in the parameter space, the precision of the order of [Formula: see text] is achievable in seconds, and of the order of [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] — in fractions of a second. The Wiener–Hopf factors and repeated integrals in the pricing formulas are calculated using sinh-deformations of the lines of integration, the corresponding changes of variables and the simplified trapezoid rule. If the Bromwich integral is calculated using the Gaver–Wynn Rho acceleration instead of the sinh-acceleration, the CPU time is typically smaller but the precision is of the order of [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text], at best. Explicit pricing algorithms and numerical examples are for no-touch options, digitals (equivalently, for the joint distribution function of a Lévy process and its supremum and infimum processes), and call options. Several graphs are produced to explain fundamental difficulties for accurate pricing of barrier options using time discretization and interpolation-based calculations in the state space.

We clarify the relations among different Fourier-based approaches to option pricing, and improve the B-spline probability density projection method using the sinh-acceleration technique. This allows us to efficiently separate the control of different sources of errors better than the FFT-based realization allows; in many cases, the CPU time decreases as well. We demonstrate the improvement of the B-spline projection method through several numerical experiments in option pricing, including European and barrier options, where the SINH acceleration technique proves to be robust and accurate.

Healthcare organisations face constant pressure to change in order to pursue quality and performance improvements. As a result, professionals are often said to be experiencing change fatigue. This can be problematic for policy implementation initiatives. This paper reflects on an informal Gateway Review of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland's Integrated Point of Access Programme to make the case for independent peer review of healthcare management change programmes in order to work towards reducing change fatigue and its impacts. Peer review has been identified as an effective but underused process across health and social care provision and management. With this in mind, the Gateway Review outlined here is used to exemplify some of the practical benefits and challenges of external peer review. Based on this experience, a number of learning points and recommendations are outlined for those undertaking or thinking about undertaking peer review in healthcare management.

Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are highly prevalent in women, and are expected to impose a growing burden to individuals and society as the population ages. The predominance of research related to LUTS has focused on underlying pathology, disease mechanisms, or the efficacy of treatments for women with LUTS. Although this research has been vital for helping to reduce or ameliorate LUTS conditions, it has done little to prevent the onset of LUTS. Health promotion and prevention require an expansion of scientific inquiry beyond the traditional paradigm of studying disease mechanisms and treatment to the creation of an evidence base to support recommendations for bladder health promotion and, in turn, prevention of LUTS. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) introduced the concept of prevention as an important priority for women's urologic research as a prelude to supporting the formation of the Prevention of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (PLUS) research consortium. In this article, we introduce the PLUS research consortium to the scientific community; share the innovative paradigms by which the consortium operates; and describe its unique research mission: to identify factors that promote bladder health across the life course and prevent the onset of LUTS in girls and women.

In 2004, at the FASEB meeting, we introduced our new proprietary, biomarker‐based MarkPap® technology for detection of abnormal cells on cervical specimens.At subsequent meetings, we followed with reports for further developments of this platform technology, e.g., semi automated processing, diagnosis at distance with digital (TelePap) and mobile (Mobile Pap) transmission of microscopic images from POC to medical centers. Empowering the methodology with IT technology (telecytopathology) it became infrastructure‐independent and a possibility for self‐specimen collection (MarkPap Self) opened a prospective for global cervical cancer screening.On the most recent FASEB meetings we presented our results from building IT Telehealth Center for Telecytopathology with proprietary communication network to a global networking system enabling automatic exchange of secure digital image (high resolution, still, metadata) files between POCs and medical centers for the purpose of global cervical cancer screening.This time, we are presenting a composite, meaningful biomarker MEDYKO, an acronym, composed of ME ‐ pre‐malignant changes (cervical acid phosphatase); DY‐dysplasia, dyskaryosis (malignancy); KO – koilocytes, HPV disease (poor prognosis). This composition of biomarkers provides instant visual information of the metabolic status of cell undergoing transformation, morphological status of the nucleus indicating DNA malignant alteration, and koilocytes indicating poor prognosis because of the chronic HPV disease. All three parameters were present in high percent of cases of advanced cervical cancer and hierarchically less expressed in HSIL, LSIL and ASCUS.These results warrant further work on multiple biomarkers related to malignant disorders, which instant recognition on Pap smears could improve the clinical value of such new Pap test and return it to prior status of the “best anticancer screening test available”.Support or Funding InformationBioSciCon, Inc.