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Household Expectations and Dissent Among Policymakers
No full textThis paper studies the impact of dissent in the ECB's Governing Council on uncertainty surrounding households' inflation expectations. We conduct a randomized controlled trial using the Bundesbank Online Panel Households. Participants are provided with alternative information treatments concerning the vote in the Council, e.g. unanimity and dissent, and are asked to submit probabilistic inflation expectations. The results show that the vote is informative. Households revise their subjective inflation forecast after receiving information about the vote. Dissenting votes cause a wider individual distribution of future inflation. Hence, dissent increases households' uncertainty about inflation. This effect is statistically significant once we allow for the interaction between the treatments and individual characteristics of respondents. The results are robust with respect to alternative measures of forecast uncertainty and hold for different model specifications. Our findings suggest that providing information about dissenting votes without additional information about the nature of dissent is detrimental to coordinating household expectations
Successful management of 30 kg Gigantic para-testicular liposarcoma
No full textWe report the successful management of a paratesticular liposarcoma, which, to the best of our knowledge, is the
largest known of its type. A 62-year-old male presented with a painless, gradually progressive left testicular “giant”
mass measuring 60 × 40 cm, weighing 30 kg and growing over a period of three 3 years. Additionally, a 5 × 5 cm
trophic ulcer could be seen at the bottom of the scrotum. The ultrasound of the left testis revealed the testis
having been completely replaced with a cystic and solid tumour. Preoperative serum testicular tumour markers
(STM) were within normal limits. The markers included Alpha Feto Protein, Beta Human Chorionic Gonadotropin
and Lactose Dehydrogenase. A left sided high inguino-scrotal approach with a huge skin resection including the
trophic ulcer with complete removal of the tumour and a primary complex closure of the wound was performed.
The post-operative period was uneventful, and histopathology revealed a dedifferentiated liposarcoma. We believe
social taboo and fear of disfigurement impart a sense of shame in patients which led to the delayed presentation
in a hospital in the index patient. The absence of metastases even with a protracted course is surprising.Gefördert durch den Open-Access-Publikationsfonds der UB Marburg
Households´ Inflation Perceptions and Expectations: Survey Evidence from New Zealand
No full textIn this paper, we study how inflation is viewed by the general population of New Zealand. Based on unique representative survey data collected in 2016 and using descriptive statistics and multivariate regressions, we explore various aspects of how laypersons perceive inflation and form inflation expectations. We focus on how an individual’s economic situation, information search and interest in inflation, economic knowledge, and attitudes and values are related to inflation perception and expectation, as well as the individual’s reaction to them. We interpret our findings as a clear indication that laypersons’ knowledge about inflation is much better described by the imperfect information view prevailing in social psychology than by the rational actor view typically assumed in economics
Self‐Monitoring or Reliance on Media Reporting: How Do Financial Market Participants Process Central Bank News?
No full textWe study how financial market participants process news from four major central banks—the Bank of England (BoE), the Bank of Japan (BoJ), the European Central Bank (ECB), and the Federal Reserve (Fed)—using a novel survey of 195 financial market participants from around the world. Our results indicate that, first, respondents rely more on media reports of central bank events than they do on self‐monitoring. The only exceptions are interest rate decisions in the respondent’s home region. In general, the Fed is watched most closely, followed by the ECB, the BoJ, and the BoE. Second, ordered probit estimations reveal that the perceived reliability of media coverage is negatively associated with degree of self‐monitoring and positively related to the probability of using media reports, particularly in the case of asset managers. The perceived importance of central bank events is positively related to the degree of self‐monitoring in the case of traders. Finally, portfolio managers tend to self‐monitor their home central bank more often than do respondents from other parts of the world
The Credit Composition of Global Liquidity
No full textWe conceptualize global liquidity as global monetary policy and credit components by means of a large-scale dynamic factor model. Going beyond previous work, we decompose aggregate credit components into credit supply and demand flows directed at businesses, households and governments. We show that this decomposition enhances the understanding of global liquidity considerably. Whereas global government sector credit supply is best understood as a safe-haven lending factor from an investors perspective, lenders supply the business and households with credit to maximize profits along the financial cycle. Morever, the goverment sector demands credit in times of bust-episodes, whereas private entities demand credit in times of boos. In particular, we find that our global credit estimates explain substantial variance shares of a large panel of international financial aggregates
Status an health-related quality of life of patients with late stage Parkinson's disease during one year
No full textDie Parkinson-Erkrankung ist eine fortschreitende neurodegenerative Krankheit, die mit einem zunehmenden Grad an Behinderung und Abhängigkeit einhergeht und für die bisher keine Heilungschance besteht. Aufgrund des demographischen Wandels mit einer Zunahme an älteren Menschen anteilig an der Gesamtbevölkerung muss ebenfalls mit einer Zunahme an Parkinson-Patienten in den kommenden Jahren gerechnet werden. Da die medizinische Ver¬sor¬gung vor allem in den Industrienationen eine gute bis sehr gute Behandlung ermöglicht, wird der Anteil an sehr weit fortgeschrittenen Erkrankten ebenfalls zunehmen. Die vorliegende Arbeit als Teil der internationalen, multizentrischen CLaSP-Studie (Care for Late Stage Par¬kin¬son’s Disease) untersucht die gesundheitsbezogene und krankheitsspezifische Lebens¬qualität von Patienten mit fortgeschrittenem Parkinson-Syndrom innerhalb eines Jahres.
In die Studie eingeschlossen werden Patienten beiderlei Geschlechts mit einem fortge-schritte¬nen Parkinson-Syndrom (Hoehn & Yahr IV und V) und einer Krankheitsdauer von mindestens sieben Jahren. Im Rahmen der Untersuchung werden neben soziodemographischen Daten der Schweregrad der Erkrankung und die Lebensqualität erhoben. Die Datenerhebung erfolgt im Rahmen eines persönlichen direkten Interviews mit Hilfe verschiedener standardisierter inter¬national validierter Fragebögen. In der vorliegenden Arbeit sind die Patienten selektiert, die an den deutschen Zentren rekrutiert werden (n=228). Änderungen der Lebensqualität werden im Vergleich zum Baseline-Wert (T1) nach einem Jahr (T3) erhoben.
Die vorliegende Arbeit hat gezeigt, dass Patienten mit einem fortgeschrittenen Parkinson-Syndrom im hohen Maße im alltäglichen Leben eingeschränkt sind und zunehmend auf Hilfe durch Angehörige oder professionelle Pflege angewiesen sind. Ebenso kann die Fragestellung der Arbeit vorsichtig bejaht werden: die Lebensqualität nimmt im Verlauf eines Jahres bei fortgeschrittenem Parkinson-Syndrom ab. Dies ist nicht nur durch die im fortgeschrittenen Zustand zunehmenden motorischen Symptome, sondern vor allem aufgrund einer Vielzahl an nicht-motorischen Symptomen erklärbar. Gerade die nicht-motorischen Symptome, wie zum Beispiel Störungen des Antriebes, der Stimmung oder zunehmende Ängstlichkeit, sind für eine zunehmende Einschränkung der gesundheits-bezogenen Lebensqualität verantwortlich. Doch gerade diese sind nicht immer integraler Bestandteil einer ganzheitlichen Behandlung von Parkinson-Patienten.
Mehrere Veröffentlichungen konnten im Laufe dieser Arbeit ebendiese Thesen beweisen. Aufgrund von mangelnder Vergleichbarkeit zwischen Baseline und T3-Untersuchung bei sehr unterschiedlicher Anzahl an Datensätzen mussten wir uns auf eine deskriptive Beschreibung beschränken. Da zurzeit die Datenerhebung der CLaSP-Studie im Bereich der Nachuntersu¬chung zum Teil noch läuft, können aussagekräftigere Ergebnisse möglicherweise noch folgen.Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that is associated with an increasing degree of disability and dependence and for which there is currently no cure. Due to demographic change with an increase in elderly people as a proportion of the total population, an increase in Parkinson's patients must also be expected in the coming years. Since medical care, especially in industrialized countries, offers good to very good treatment, the proportion of very advanced patients will also increase. The present work as part of the international, multicenter CLaSP study (Care for Late Stage Parkinson's Disease) investigates the health-related and disease-specific quality of life of patients with advanced Parkinson's disease within one year.
Patients of both sexes with advanced Parkinson's disease (Hoehn & Yahr IV and V) and a disease duration of at least seven years will be included in the study. In addition to sociodemographic data, the severity of the disease and quality of life will be collected during the study. Data collection is done by face-to-face direct interview using various standardized internationally validated questionnaires. In the present study, patients recruited at the German centers are selected (n=228). Changes in quality of life are collected in comparison to the baseline value (T1) after one year (T3).
The present work has shown that patients with advanced Parkinson's syndrome are restricted to a high degree in their everyday life and are increasingly dependent on help from relatives or professional care. Likewise, the question of the work can be cautiously affirmed: the quality of life decreases in the course of a year in advanced Parkinson's syndrome. This can be explained not only by the motor symptoms increasing in the advanced state, but mainly due to a variety of non-motor symptoms. It is precisely the non-motor symptoms, such as disturbances of drive, mood or increasing anxiety, that are responsible for an increasing restriction of health-related quality of life. However, these are not always an integral part of the holistic treatment of patients with Parkinson's disease.
Several publications were able to prove these theses in the course of this work. Due to a lack of comparability between baseline and T3 examination with a very different number of data sets, we had to limit ourselves to a descriptive description. As the data collection of the CLaSP study in the area of follow-up is still partly ongoing, more meaningful results may still follow
Activation and Inactivation of Arabidopsis thaliana Cryptochromes by BIC1
No full textIn dieser Arbeit lag der Fokus darauf, das Verständnis über die Aktivierung und Deaktivierung von A. thaliana Cryptochromen zu verbessern, insbesondere in Bezug auf die Inhibierung von cry1 und cry2 durch das antagonistische Protein Blue light Inhibitor of Cryptochromes 1 (BIC1). In den ersten Arbeiten zu BICs nach deren Entdeckung in 2016 zeigten BIC1 und BIC2 aus A. thaliana eindeutige und spezifische inhibitorische Wirkungen auf die Cryptochrome (Wang et al., 2016). Mithilfe verschiedener proteinbiologischer und pflanzenphysiologischer Methoden wurden in dieser Arbeit einige dieser hemmenden Effekte bestätigt und zusätzliche Daten zur Rolle der BICs bereitgestellt.
Überexpressions-Linien von BIC1 in A. thaliana Col-0-Hintergrund zeigten längere Hypokotyle unter Blaulicht, einen verzögerten Blühbeginn unter Langtagbedingungen und eine Schattenvermeidungsreaktion unter Langtagbedingungen und starkem Weißlicht. Diese Beobachtungen zeigten, dass eine Überexpression von BIC1 zu einer partiellen Inhibierung von Cryptochromen führt und somit eine dosisabhängige Reaktion der Cryptochrom Aktivität auftritt.
In vitro Studien zur Häm-Bindung durch BIC1 (zuerst gezeigt in der Dissertation von N. Niemann, Philipps-Universität Marburg, 2021) wurden fortgesetzt. Bestätigt werden konnte eine generelle Affinität von Häm zu BIC1 in vitro und in planta. Durch Austausche von drei Cysteinreste in BIC1 zu Alanin (BIC13CA Mutante) wurde gezeigt, dass dieses Protein kein Häm mehr bindet, wenn es heterolog in E. coli exprimiert wird. Ebenso zeigte diese Mutante keine Bildung von intermolekularen Disulfidbrücken, die bei der rekombinanten Expression von BIC1WT in E. coli beobachtet wurden. Dennoch zeigte BIC13CA in planta weiterhin biologische Aktivität, was darauf hindeutet, dass die Fähigkeit zur Bildung von intermolekularen Disulfidbrücken für die Inhibierung der Cryptochrome durch BIC1 nicht entscheidend ist.
Die zuvor bei Liu et al. (2022) beschriebene cry1 photobodody Bildung unter starken Blaulicht-Bedingungen wurde in der vorliegenden Arbeit bestätigt. Hierbei konnte im Gegensatz zu bisherigen Ergebnissen photobodies nicht nur im Zellkern, sondern auch im Cytoplasma von N. benthamiana Blattzellen identifiziert werden. Die Bildung von cry1 photobodies wurde durch die Co-Expression von BIC1 gehemmt, was die Ergebnisse von Liu et al. (2022) ebenfalls bestätigt. Weitere Untersuchungen sind erforderlich, um die Funktion und biologische Relevanz dieser cry1 photobodies zu identifizieren.The focus of this study was to improve the understanding of the activation and deactivation of A. thaliana cryptochromes, particularly with regard to the inhibition of cry1 and cry2 by the antagonistic protein Blue Light Inhibitor of Cryptochromes 1 (BIC1). In the first studies of BICs after their discovery in 2016, BIC1 and BIC2 from A. thaliana showed distinct and specific inhibitory effects on the cryptochromes (Wang et al., 2016). Using various protein-biological and plant-physiological methods in this work, some of these inhibitory effects were confirmed and further data on the role of BICs provided.
Overexpression lines of BIC1 in A. thaliana Col-0 background showed longer hypocotyls under blue light, delayed flowering under long-day conditions, and a shade avoidance response even under long day conditions with strong white light during the day. These observations demonstrated a partial inhibition of cryptochromes through BIC1 overexpression and therefore a dose-response of cryptochrome activity.
In vitro studies focused on heme-binding by BIC1 (initially demonstrated in the dissertation of N. Niemann, Philipps-University of Marburg, 2021) were continued. A general affinity of heme to BIC1 was confirmed in vitro and in planta. Through the replacement of the three cysteine residues in BIC1 by alanines (BIC13CA mutant), it was shown that this mutant protein when heterologously expressed in E. coli is incapable of binding heme. Likewise, this mutant no longer exhibited the formation of intermolecular disulfide bridges which were observed in BIC1WT when recombinantly expressed in E. coli. However, BIC13CA still showed biological activity in planta, indicating that the ability to form intermolecular disulfide bridges are not essential for the BIC1 inhibition of cryptochromes.
The formation of photobodies by cry1 under strong blue light described by Liu et al. (2022) were confirmed in this study. In contrast to previous results, photobodies were not only identified in the nucleus but also in the cytoplasm of N. benthamiana leaf cells. The formation of cry1 photobodies was inhibited by co-expression of BIC1, confirming the results of Liu et al. (2022). Further work is needed to identify the function and biological relevance of these cry1 photobodies
Iranian-Oil-Free Zone and International Oil Prices
No full textOne of the main elements of economic sanctions against Iran due to its nuclear and military programs is crude oil exportation restrictions in addition to investment in Iranian energy related projects. Senders of such sanction are interested in understanding the impacts of such embargos on international oil prices. We apply unrestricted Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model, using impulse response (IRF) and variance decomposition (VDA) tools with annual data from 1965 to 2012 to analyze the dynamic response of international oil prices to Iranian oil export sanction. Controlling for the supply of non-Iranian oil and the world GDP per capita, we show that international oil prices respond positively to negative changes of the Iranian oil exports, our proxy of Iran oil sanctions. However, the increasing response of oil prices to the Iranian oil sanction is only significant in the first year after negative shock in Iran oil exports. Beyond the first year following shock, we do not observe a statistically significant response of oil prices
Performing without Pressure? The Effect of Ghost Games on Effort- and Skill-based Tasks in the Football Bundesliga
No full textWe analyze the natural experiment of ghost games in the 2019/2020 season of the German football Bundesliga and confirm previous studies showing that the home advantage diminishes if the stadium is empty. However, our paper is the first that distinguishes between effort- and skill-based tasks in this setting. In line with behavioral economics, we observe that a supportive audience has a positive effect on effort-based performance but a negative effect on some offensive skill-based performance measures
Low Wage Growth and Job-to-Job Transitions: Evidence from Administrative Data in New Zealand
No full textBy using administrative data fromNew Zealand, we assess the relative importance of job-finding, and job-to-job transition rates for wage dynamics. We exploit the regional variation and find that wages are closely linked to job-to-job transitions and less so to the job- finding rate. Further, the impact of the job-to-job transition rate is stronger at the lower half of the wage distribution. Overall, our findings are similar to Karahan et al. (2017) for the US, which support the prominence of on-the-job search for cyclical wage dynamics