scholarly journals The Biology of ‘Risk-On’. Decreasing Inflammatory and Stress Responses on a London Trading Floor

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Z. Xie ◽  
L. Page ◽  
D. A. Granger ◽  
J. M. Coates
Keyword(s):  
Risk Taking ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Inflammatory Responses ◽  
Sickness Behaviour ◽  
Market Prices ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
Natural Settings ◽  
City Of London ◽  
The City ◽  
Pro Inflammatory Cytokines

AbstractHuman physiological arousal is highly sensitive to information and uncertainty. Little is known, however, about how to measure information in natural settings, nor about which physiological systems respond to it. Financial market prices, and their volatility, present a convenient measure of informational load. Here we report on a study into the physiological response of traders in the City of London during a period of extreme, but declining, volatility. We sampled salivary cortisol, the main stress hormone, and the pro-inflammatory cytokines, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α three times a day for two weeks. We found that average daily cortisol levels tracked closely an index of equity and bond volatility, as did levels of IL-1β. Within-day cortisol and IL-1β levels also tracked one hour lagged volatility. Interestingly, the cascade of endocrine and immunological changes was initiated by IL-1β, the first responder of the stress and inflammatory responses. Our results have implications for finance because chronic stress and the immune response known as ‘sickness behaviour’ could have powerful effects on risk-taking and market stability.

Magic in the Dark

2020 ◽  
pp. 22-27
Author(s):  
Lewis Bush
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Camera Obscura ◽  
Levels Of Detail ◽  
Security Personnel ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
City Of London ◽  
The City

Throughout its history, photography has been viewed as something imbued with magical qualities, able to detect the supernatural, or capturing a part of the identity of those it depicts. Even in more enlightened times, these beliefs linger, and security personnel and police officers often ascribe to photography an ability to capture and record dangerous levels of detail. In response to a series of encounters with such personnel, I began to travel to locations around the city of London equipped with a camera obscura, which I would then use to draw highly sensitive locations in meticulous detail, inviting a response. The aim was to draw these same security personnel and police officers into a discussion about their fears about photography, and to illustrate that the abilities we often associate with photography are not at all unique to it. Keywords: camera obscura, drawing, security, counterterrorism, public space

Francis Woodleke’s Window

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon McSheffrey
Keyword(s):  
Urban Environment ◽  
Drainage Channels ◽  
City Of London ◽  
The City

A royal enquiry was commissioned in the mid-1530s to investigate the boundaries of the sanctuary of St Martin le Grand. This enquiry was precipitated not by a problem with felonious sanctuary seekers, but instead by a conflict between the City of London and Dutch-born shoemakers making and selling their wares in St Martin’s precinct despite prohibitions against immigrant labour. The testimony in the enquiry uncovers the complexity of jurisdictional rights woven into the idea of sanctuary: battles over labour, trade, and immigration were conflated with asylum for accused felons in both attacks and defences of sanctuary privilege. The witnesses’ statements also reveal how the boundaries of the sanctuary—often marked only by convention or by drainage channels in the street—functioned in the urban environment.

Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aled Davies
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Development ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Financial Centre ◽  
Conservative Government ◽  
The Social ◽  
Post War ◽  
City Of London ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City

This book is a study of the political economy of Britain’s chief financial centre, the City of London, in the two decades prior to the election of Margaret Thatcher’s first Conservative government in 1979. The primary purpose of the book is to evaluate the relationship between the financial sector based in the City, and the economic strategy of social democracy in post-war Britain. In particular, it focuses on how the financial system related to the social democratic pursuit of national industrial development and modernization, and on how the norms of social democratic economic policy were challenged by a variety of fundamental changes to the City that took place during the period....

Conclusion

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aled Davies
Keyword(s):  
International Monetary System ◽  
The State ◽  
Real Economy ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Monetary System ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
Post War ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
City Of London ◽  
The City

The aim of this book has been to evaluate the relationship between Britain’s financial sector, based in the City of London, and the social democratic economic strategy of post-war Britain. The central argument presented in the book was that changes to the City during the 1960s and 1970s undermined a number of the key post-war social democratic techniques designed to sustain and develop a modern industrial economy. Financial institutionalization weakened the state’s ability to influence investment, and the labour movement was unable successfully to integrate the institutionalized funds within a renewed social democratic economic agenda. The post-war settlement in banking came under strain in the 1960s as new banking and credit institutions developed that the state struggled to manage. This was exacerbated by the decision to introduce competition among the clearing banks in 1971, which further weakened the state’s capacity to control the provision and allocation of credit to the real economy. The resurrection of an unregulated global capital market, centred on London, overwhelmed the capacity of the state to pursue domestic-focused macroeconomic policies—a problem worsened by the concurrent collapse of the Bretton Woods international monetary system. Against this background, the fundamental social democratic assumption that national prosperity could be achieved only through industry-led growth and modernization was undermined by an effective campaign to reconceptualize Britain as a fundamentally financial and commercial nation with the City of London at its heart....

scholarly journals Punicalagin Prevents Inflammation in LPS-Induced RAW264.7 Macrophages by Inhibiting FoxO3a/Autophagy Signaling Pathway

Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 2794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cao ◽  
Chen ◽  
Ren ◽  
Zhang ◽  
Tan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Western Blot ◽  
Signaling Pathway ◽  
Inflammatory Cytokines ◽  
Blot Analysis ◽  
Western Blot Analysis ◽  
Inflammatory Responses ◽  
Raw264.7 Macrophages ◽  
Tnf Α ◽  
Autophagy Inhibition ◽  
Pro Inflammatory Cytokines

Punicalagin, a hydrolysable tannin of pomegranate juice, exhibits multiple biological effects, including inhibiting production of pro-inflammatory cytokines in macrophages. Autophagy, an intracellular self-digestion process, has been recently shown to regulate inflammatory responses. In this study, we investigated the anti-inflammatory potential of punicalagin in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced RAW264.7 macrophages and uncovered the underlying mechanisms. Punicalagin significantly attenuated, in a concentration-dependent manner, LPS-induced release of NO and decreased pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-6 release at the highest concentration. We found that punicalagin inhibited NF-κB and MAPK activation in LPS-induced RAW264.7 macrophages. Western blot analysis revealed that punicalagin pre-treatment enhanced LC3II, p62 expression, and decreased Beclin1 expression in LPS-induced macrophages. MDC assays were used to determine the autophagic process and the results worked in concert with Western blot analysis. In addition, our observations indicated that LPS-induced releases of NO, TNF-α, and IL-6 were attenuated by treatment with autophagy inhibitor chloroquine, suggesting that autophagy inhibition participated in anti-inflammatory effect. We also found that punicalagin downregulated FoxO3a expression, resulting in autophagy inhibition. Overall these results suggested that punicalagin played an important role in the attenuation of LPS-induced inflammatory responses in RAW264.7 macrophages and that the mechanisms involved downregulation of the FoxO3a/autophagy signaling pathway.

scholarly journals Will Households Invest in Safe Sanitation? Results from an Experimental Demand Trial in Nakuru, Kenya

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 4462
Author(s):  
Rachel Peletz ◽  
Caroline Delaire ◽  
Joan Kones ◽  
Clara MacLeod ◽  
Edinah Samuel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Market Prices ◽  
Price Point ◽  
Improved Sanitation ◽  
Sanitation Infrastructure ◽  
The City ◽  
Experimental Demand

Unsafe sanitation is an increasing public health concern for rapidly expanding cities in low-income countries. Understanding household demand for improved sanitation infrastructure is critical for planning effective sanitation investments. In this study, we compared the stated and revealed willingness to pay (WTP) for high-quality, pour-flush latrines among households in low-income areas in the city of Nakuru, Kenya. We found that stated WTP for high-quality, pour-flush latrines was much lower than market prices: less than 5% of households were willing to pay the full costs, which we estimated between 87,100–82,900 Kenyan Shillings (KES), or 871–829 USD. In addition, we found large discrepancies between stated and revealed WTP. For example, 90% of households stated that they would be willing to pay a discounted amount of 10,000 KES (100 USD) for a high-quality, pour-flush latrine, but only 10% of households redeemed vouchers at this price point (paid via six installment payments). Households reported that financial constraints (i.e., lack of cash, other spending priorities) were the main barriers to voucher redemption, even at highly discounted prices. Our results emphasize the importance of financial interventions that address the sizable gaps between the costs of sanitation products and customer demand among low-income populations.

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