Differences in underpricing returns between REIT IPOs and industrial company IPOs

This paper follows Chan, Stohs, andWang (2001), which argues that the underlying value of the real estate is not by itself the reason for the very substantial differences in underpricing returns between real estate investment trust (REIT) IPOs and industrial company IPOs.We use variables identified in previous studies that have helped explain the underpricing of industrial company IPOs to help explain the underpricing of property trust IPOs. We find that the prospectus forecast dividend yield is a critical variable in the valuation and hence underpricing of REIT IPOs compared to industrial company IPOs. The sentiment towards the market and whether or not the issue is underwritten also impact the underpricing of REITs but the impact is much less than on industrial company IPOs.

Iron and zinc nutrition in the economically-developed world : a review

This review compares iron and zinc food sources, dietary intakes, dietary recommendations, nutritional status, bioavailability and interactions, with a focus on adults in economically-developed countries. The main sources of iron and zinc are cereals and meat, with fortificant iron and zinc potentially making an important contribution. Current fortification practices are concerning as there is little regulation or monitoring of intakes. In the countries included in this review, the proportion of individuals with iron intakes below recommendations was similar to the proportion of individuals with suboptimal iron status. Due to a lack of population zinc status information, similar comparisons cannot be made for zinc intakes and status. Significant data indicate that inhibitors of iron absorption include phytate, polyphenols, soy protein and calcium, and enhancers include animal tissue and ascorbic acid. It appears that of these, only phytate and soy protein also inhibit zinc absorption. Most data are derived from single-meal studies, which tend to amplify impacts on iron absorption in contrast to studies that utilize a realistic food matrix. These interactions need to be substantiated by studies that account for whole diets, however in the interim, it may be prudent for those at risk of iron deficiency to maximize absorption by reducing consumption of inhibitors and including enhancers at mealtimes.

Is iron and zinc nutrition a concern for vegetarian infants and young children in industrialized countries?

Well-planned vegetarian diets are considered adequate for all stages of the life cycle, despite limited data on the zinc status of vegetarians during early childhood. The bioavailability of iron and zinc in vegetarian diets is poor because of their higher content of absorption inhibitors such as phytate and polyphenols and the absence of flesh foods. Consequently, children as well as adult vegetarians often have lower serum ferritin concentrations than omnivores, which is indicative of reduced iron stores, despite comparable intakes of total iron; hemoglobin differences are small and rarely associated with anemia. However, data on serum zinc concentrations, the recommended biomarker for identifying population groups at elevated risk of zinc deficiency, are sparse and difficult to interpret because recommended collection and analytic procedures have not always been followed. Existing data indicate no differences in serum zinc or growth between young vegetarian and omnivorous children, although there is some evidence of low serum zinc concentrations in vegetarian adolescents. Some vegetarian immigrants from underprivileged households may be predisposed to iron and zinc deficiency because of nondietary factors such as chronic inflammation, parasitic infections, overweight, and genetic hemoglobin disorders. To reduce the risk of deficiency, the content and bioavailability of iron and zinc should be enhanced in vegetarian diets by consumption of fortified cereals and milk, by consumption of leavened whole grains, by soaking dried legumes before cooking and discarding the soaking water, and by replacing tea and coffee at meals with vitamin C-rich drinks, fruit, or vegetables. Additional recommended practices include using fermented soy foods and sprouting at least some of the legumes consumed. Fortified foods can reduce iron deficiency, but whether they can also reduce zinc deficiency is less certain. Supplements may be necessary for vegetarian children following very restricted vegan diets.

Increasing Iron and Zinc in Pre-Menopausal Women and Its Effects on Mood and Cognition: A Systematic Review.

Iron and zinc are essential minerals often present in similar food sources. In addition to the adverse effects of frank iron and zinc-deficient states, iron insufficiency has been associated with impairments in mood and cognition. This paper reviews current literature on iron or zinc supplementation and its impact on mood or cognition in pre-menopausal women. Searches included MEDLINE complete, Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE), psychINFO, psychARTICLES, pubMED, ProQuest Health and Medical Complete Academic Search complete, Scopus and ScienceDirect. Ten randomized controlled trials and one non-randomized controlled trial were found to meet the inclusion criteria. Seven studies found improvements in aspects of mood and cognition after iron supplementation. Iron supplementation appeared to improve memory and intellectual ability in participants aged between 12 and 55 years in seven studies, regardless of whether the participant was initially iron insufficient or iron-deficient with anaemia. The review also found three controlled studies providing evidence to suggest a role for zinc supplementation as a treatment for depressive symptoms, as both an adjunct to traditional antidepressant therapy for individuals with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder and as a therapy in its own right in pre-menopausal women with zinc deficiency. Overall, the current literature indicates a positive effect of improving zinc status on enhanced cognitive and emotional functioning. However, further study involving well-designed randomized controlled trials is needed to identify the impact of improving iron and zinc status on mood and cognition.

Economic growth with coal, oil and renewable energy consumption in China: prospects for fuel substitution

We examine the relationship between Chinese aggregate production and consumption of three main energy commodities: coal, oil and renewable energy. Both autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) and vector error correction modeling (VECM) show that Chinese growth is led by all three energy sources. Economic growth also causes coal, oil and renewables consumption, but with negative own-price effects for coal and oil and a strong possibility of fuel substitution through positive cross-price effects. The results further show coal consumption causing pollution, while renewable energy consumption reduces emissions. No significant causation on emissions is found for oil. Hence, making coal both absolutely and relatively expensive compared to oil and renewable energy encourages shifting from coal to oil and renewable energy, thereby improving economic and environmental sustainability.

Associations between dietary iron and zinc intakes, and between biochemical iron and zinc status in women

Iron and zinc are found in similar foods and absorption of both may be affected by food compounds, thus biochemical iron and zinc status may be related. This cross-sectional study aimed to: (1) describe dietary intakes and biochemical status of iron and zinc; (2) investigate associations between dietary iron and zinc intakes; and (3) investigate associations between biochemical iron and zinc status in a sample of premenopausal women aged 18–50 years who were recruited in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia. Usual dietary intakes were assessed using a 154-item food frequency questionnaire (n = 379). Iron status was assessed using serum ferritin and hemoglobin, zinc status using serum zinc (standardized to 08:00 collection), and presence of infection/inflammation using C-reactive protein (n = 326). Associations were explored using multiple regression and logistic regression. Mean (SD) iron and zinc intakes were 10.5 (3.5) mg/day and 9.3 (3.8) mg/day, respectively. Median (interquartile range) serum ferritin was 22 (12–38) μg/L and mean serum zinc concentrations (SD) were 12.6 (1.7) μmol/L in fasting samples and 11.8 (2.0) μmol/L in nonfasting samples. For each 1 mg/day increase in dietary iron intake, zinc intake increased by 0.4 mg/day. Each 1 μmol/L increase in serum zinc corresponded to a 6% increase in serum ferritin, however women with low serum zinc concentration (AM fasting < 10.7 μmol/L; AM nonfasting < 10.1 μmol/L) were not at increased risk of depleted iron stores (serum ferritin <15 μg/L; p = 0.340). Positive associations were observed between dietary iron and zinc intakes, and between iron and zinc status, however interpreting serum ferritin concentrations was not a useful proxy for estimating the likelihood of low serum zinc concentrations and women with depleted iron stores were not at increased risk of impaired zinc status in this cohort.

Oral administration of iron-saturated bovine lactoferrin-loaded ceramic nanocapsules for breast cancer therapy and influence on iron and calcium metabolism

We determined the anticancer efficacy and internalization mechanism of our polymeric-ceramic nanoparticle system (calcium phosphate nanocores, enclosed in biodegradable polymers chitosan and alginate nanocapsules/nanocarriers [ACSC NCs]) loaded with iron-saturated bovine lactoferrin (Fe-bLf) in a breast cancer xenograft model. ACSC-Fe-bLf NCs with an overall size of 322±27.2 nm were synthesized. In vitro internalization and anticancer efficacy were evaluated in the MDA-MB-231 cells using multicellular tumor spheroids, CyQUANT and MTT assays. These NCs were orally delivered in a breast cancer xenograft mice model, and their internalization, cytotoxicity, biodistribution, and anticancer efficacy were evaluated. Chitosan-coated calcium phosphate Fe-bLf NCs effectively (59%, P≤0.005) internalized in a 1-hour period using clathrin-mediated endocytosis (P≤0.05) and energy-mediated pathways (P≤0.05) for internalization; 3.3 mg/mL of ACSC-Fe-bLf NCs completely disintegrated (~130-fold reduction, P≤0.0005) the tumor spheroids in 72 hours and 96 hours. The IC50 values determined for ACSC-Fe-bLf NCs were 1.69 mg/mL at 10 hours and 1.62 mg/mL after 20 hours. We found that Fe-bLf-NCs effectively (P≤0.05) decreased the tumor size (4.8-fold) compared to the void NCs diet and prevented tumor recurrence when compared to intraperitoneal injection of Taxol and Doxorubicin. Receptor gene expression and micro-RNA analysis confirmed upregulation of low-density lipoprotein receptor and transferrin receptor (liver, intestine, and brain). Several micro-RNAs responsible for iron metabolism upregulated with NCs were identified. Taken together, orally delivered Fe-bLf NCs offer enhanced antitumor activity in breast cancer by internalizing via low-density lipoprotein receptor and transferrin receptor and regulating the micro-RNA expression. These NCs also restored the body iron and calcium levels and increased the hematologic counts.

Constitutive overexpression of the OsNAS gene family reveals single-gene strategies for effective iron- and zinc-biofortification of rice endosperm

Background
Rice is the primary source of food for billions of people in developing countries, yet the commonly consumed polished grain contains insufficient levels of the key micronutrients iron (Fe), zinc (Zn) and Vitamin A to meet daily dietary requirements. Experts estimate that a rice-based diet should contain 14.5 µg g−1 Fe in endosperm, the main constituent of polished grain, but breeding programs have failed to achieve even half of that value. Transgenic efforts to increase the Fe concentration of rice endosperm include expression of ferritin genes, nicotianamine synthase genes (NAS) or ferritin in conjunction with NAS genes, with results ranging from two-fold increases via single-gene approaches to six-fold increases via multi-gene approaches, yet no approach has reported 14.5 µg g−1 Fe in endosperm.

Methodology/Principal Findings
Three populations of rice were generated to constitutively overexpress OsNAS1, OsNAS2 or OsNAS3, respectively. Nicotianamine, Fe and Zn concentrations were significantly increased in unpolished grain of all three of the overexpression populations, relative to controls, with the highest concentrations in the OsNAS2 and OsNAS3 overexpression populations. Selected lines from each population had at least 10 µg g−1 Fe in polished grain and two OsNAS2 overexpression lines had 14 and 19 µg g−1 Fe in polished grain, representing up to four-fold increases in Fe concentration. Two-fold increases of Zn concentration were also observed in the OsNAS2 population. Synchrotron X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy demonstrated that OsNAS2 overexpression leads to significant enrichment of Fe and Zn in phosphorus-free regions of rice endosperm.

Conclusions
The OsNAS genes, particularly OsNAS2, show enormous potential for Fe and Zn biofortification of rice endosperm. The results demonstrate that rice cultivars overexpressing single rice OsNAS genes could provide a sustainable and genetically simple solution to Fe and Zn deficiency disorders affecting billions of people throughout the world.