2,467 research outputs found
"The Ownership Society: Social Security Is Only the Beginning"
No full textFrom this paper's Preface, by Dr. Dimitri B. Papadimitriou, President: As his new term begins, President Bush has been trying to focus his domestic agenda on what he calls the Òownership society,Ó a sweeping vision of an America in which more citizens would hold significant assets and be free to make their own choices about providing for their health care and retirement, and educating their children. L. Randall Wray, who has written for the Levy Institute on many topics, evaluates the premises and logic of this program in this new public policy brief. Wray points out that much of the history of the Western world since the advent of liberalism has been marked by a gradual rise in the power of those who lack property. Some of the milestones in this progression include universal suffrage, regulation of business, and progressive taxation. BushÕs ownership society proposals, according to Wray, would result in a partial reversal of the progress of the last 250 years. The reason is that, while BushÕs plans would undoubtedly increase the choices and power of those who have property, they would fail to democratize ownership. Many gains to the wealthy would come at the expense of the poor, the sick, and the elderly. Consider, for example, the condition of the nationÕs private pension system. Increasingly, firms are switching from defined-benefit to definedcontribution plans. This development would seem on its surface to favor the establishment of a new class of stockholders, empowered and holding a larger stake in the system. But, as Wray demonstrates, retirement accounts and other assets just do not add up to a substantial amount for most Americans. This means that most citizens have much to lose indeed from attacks on Social Security and the erosion of the traditional pension system. Much as the safety net for the poor has largely vanished since the Reagan years, the bread-and-butter benefits and rights of the middle class are now threatened by the ownership-society agenda. To many, the claim made by Republicans that all should take responsibility for their wellbeing rings true. But it is important to keep in mind the real alternative to public benefits for the middle class: a society in which success would depend largely upon luck, inheritances, or charity. A society that forces individuals to read their future in their Microsoft Money files inevitably creates a class of nonowners who are insecure and lack independent means. Ironically, this runs up against the aims of those who sincerely hope for a world in which more have the opportunity to become rich: moving upward often brings some setbacks along the way, which might be fatal in a world of reduced bankruptcy protection, disability and medical benefits, and educational aid.
“This is your life you have to live with the memories”: Older migrant women’s reflections on living with the past
No full textMemories collected across the life-course often inform our sense of who we are and what is important to us, as we grow older. This article draws on the findings of two qualitative life-history research projects that set out to explore older UK migrant women’s quality of life across the life course. It has two main aims. One aim is to contribute to existing theorizations of social memory. Another aim is to show the extent to which migrant women’s memories of life-altering events influence their satisfaction with life as they grow older. The article concludes by arguing for an approach to the study of ageing that is sensitive to the impact of memories on our experiences of growing older
Women growing older: agency, ethnicity and culture
No full textThis article considers the extent to which gerontological theories, that highlight the problems associated with later life, reflect the experiences of older women across ethnic and cultural difference. It is based on an ESRC research study examining women’s experiences of growing old across ethnicity and culture. Concepts that are often used to measure these experiences include ‘quality of life’ and ‘successful ageing’.These are linked to other culturally related concepts such as agency, self-autonomy, independence and dis/empowerment.Yet, while it is the case that the meanings attached to these concepts change according to locality and context, they are often applied in a way that reifies dominant values and perceptions.
Central to this article is the contention that gerontological approaches have often made ethnic and cultural experiences of later life invisible. Further, such approaches have assumed that agency is something that is either present or absent and that this is linked almost exclusively to income, housing, and other structures. A key argument is that this has led to an overstatement of the effects of structural disadvantage and a neglect of the diverse individual and collective strategies women use to maintain agency and control in later life. Empirical evidence presented in the article suggests there are significant cultural differences in the meanings older women attach to self-fulfilment and ‘successful ageing’
Paraneoplastic Opsoclonus/Flutter
No full textOpsoclonus; Ocular FlutterOscillopsiaIn 1975 this patient presented with oscillopsia due to opsoclonus with ocular flutter. Opsoclonus with flutter is a paraneoplastic syndrome associated with occult cancer of the breast, ovary and lung. This patient had cancer of the breast. In 1954 Cogan first used the term "ocular flutter" to describe a rare disorder of horizontal eye movements characterized by rapid bursts of synchronous back-to-back horizontal oscillatory movements usually seen in the primary position of gaze. Since then, there have been over 50 reports, usually single cases or small series, linking the phenomenon to a wide variety of brainstem and cerebellar conditions, e.g. post enteroviral infection, cerebral malaria, cyclosporine treatment and meningitis, but perhaps most frequently associated with parainfectious states or, with opsoclonus, as a paraneoplastic manifestation of occult malignancy. In 1986, a patient of mine presented with opsoclonus as a manifestation of occult adenocarcinoma of the breast. Her cerebrospinal fluid and blood were found to contain an anti-neuronal antibody which was named after her, using the first two initials of her surname, the Anti Ri antibody. Anti-Ri Antibody: The index case ID931-1 is in this collection. Review this case alongside the current case for additional information.This patient with paraneoplastic opsoclonus/flutter has: • Continuous, spontaneous, rapid multidirectional conjugate saccades characteristic of opsoclonus. • These oscillations persist under closed eyelids and during sleep. • In addition she has ocular flutter seen here as horizontal back-to-back saccades without an inter- saccadic interval.Review ID166-2 No imaging studies are available in this patient.Review ID166-2Breast adenocarcinomaTable 10-8 Etiology of Ocular Flutter and Opsoclonus. Pg 525 (6)1. Averbuch-Heller L, Remler B. Opsoclonus. Semin Neurol 1996;16 (1):21-26. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8879053 2. Budde-Steffen C, Anderson NE, Rosenblum MK, Graus F, Ford D, Synek, BJL, Wray, SH, Posner JB. An anti-neuronal autoantibody in paraneoplastic opsoclonus. Ann Neurol 1988;23:528-531. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3389761 3. Buttner U. Straube A, Handke V. Opsoclonus and ocular flutter. Nervenarzt 1997;68:633-637. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9380208 4. Cogan DG. Ocular dysmetria: flutter like oscillations of the eyes, and opsoclonus. Arch Ophthalmol 1954;51:318-335. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/13123617 5. Helmchen C, Rambold H, Sprenger A, Erdmann C, Binkofski F. Cerebellar activation in opsoclonus: An fMRI study. Neurology 2003;61:412-415. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12913213 6. Leigh RJ, Zee DS. Diagnosis of Nystagmus and Saccadic Intrusion. Chp 10:475-558. In: The Neurology of Eye Movements, Fourth Edition. Oxford University Press, NY. 2006. 7. Luque AF. Furneaux HM, Ferziger R, Rosenblum MK, Wray SH, Schold SC Jr, Glantz MJ, Jaeckle KA, Biran H, Lesser MK, Paulsen WA, River ME, Posner JH. Anti-Ri: an antibody associated with paraneoplastic opsoclonus and breast cancer. Ann Neurol 1991;29:241-251. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2042940 8. Shams\u27ili S, Grefkens J, de Leeuw, B, van den Bent M, Hooijkaas H, van der Holt, Bronno, Vecht C, and Smitt, PS. Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration associated with antineuronal antibodies: analysis of 50 patients. Brain 2003; 126(6):1409-1418. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12764061 9. Wong AM, Musallam S, Tomlinson RD, Shannon P, Sharpe JA. Opsoclonus in three dimensions: oculographic, neuropathologic and modeling correlates. J Neurol Sci 2001;189:71-81. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1153523
Hypogastrura ireneae Wray 1953
No full text<i>Hypogastrura ireneae</i> (Wray, 1953) <p>Figs. 1 D, 8, 9</p> <p> <i>Achorutes ireneae</i> Wray 1953: 2.</p> <p> <i>Hypogastrura ireneae</i> Salmon 1964: 216; Christiansen & Bellinger 1980: 99; 1998: 99.</p> <p> <b>Specimens examined.</b> Lectotype female, 4 paralectotypes (1 female, 1 male, 2 juveniles) (by present designation), USA, North Carolina, Fayetteville, 11 November 1949, on mushrooms in bog, D. L. Wray, coll.; 2 females, USA, North Carolina, Raleigh, Bloomsbury Park, 9 December 1943, mushrooms on rotted log, collected with <i>C. jondavi</i>, G. F. Knowlton, coll.</p> <p> <b>Redescription.</b> Body length of females 1.70, 2.03 mm, male 1.57 mm [up to 2.0 mm]. [Color pale yellow background color over which a reddish pigment is thickly speckled]. Granulation moderate, granule width 2.3–3.2 Μm; Yosii’s ‘a’ number 14–17. Most body setae similar in length, setiform, very finely serrated (Figs. 6 A–C). Head with all dorsal setae; setae c1, c2, d1, p2, and sd1 microsetae. Seta v2 more than twice the length of v1. Lateral seta of pronotum longer than more medial setae. Thoracic and abdominal sensilliform setae much shorter than neighboring setae, except p3 on Abd. V two-thirds to equal in length to p4. On metanotum, m-row setae complete and with extra setae m2’ and m3’ between the m-seta row proper and the p-seta row; setae p1, p2 and p3 forming angle; microsensillum not observed. Metanotal chaetotaxy similar to that of mesonotum except extra m-setae not present. Seta a3 missing on abdominal tergites I–III, present on tergites IV and V. M-row setae m3 and m4 usually present on tergites I–III, m4 occasionally missing. Seta m3 present or absent on tergite IV. Seta p2 on Abd. IV slightly longer than seta p1; on Abd. V seta p1 slightly longer than p2, 4+4 anterior setae inside the p5 setae. Subcoxae I–III with 1, 2, 3 setae, respectively, the longest setae serrate. Plurichaetosis absent.</p> <p>Antennal segment IV with simple apical vesicle, without prominent, finely granulated apical protrusions (Figs. 7 D, E). Subapical organite of Ant. IV spherical, microsensillum minute, arcuate; two lateral and six dorsal sensilla, the lateral sensilla and two dorsal sensilla strongly bent; most dorsal setae sensilliform, most ventral setae setiform. Ventral sensory field with 53–58 short, thick, brush-tipped or capitate microsensilla, one sensilliform seta near center of sensory field, two longer, rounded subapical sensilla and hooked apical sensilliform seta (Fig. 7 E). Sense organ of Ant. III (Fig. 7 F) with two weakly lobed sensilla in shallow groove flanked by longer sensilla; peg-like microsensillum present on Ant. III. Eversible sac between Ant. III and IV not observed, represented by weak aperture at apex of Ant. III. Antennal segment I with 7 setae, Ant. II with 13 setae.</p> <p>Postantennal organ width less than diameter of nearest ocelli, anterior lobes slightly longer or equal to posterior lobes, accessory tubercle not seen (Figs. 7 A–C). Labrum not clearly seen in dorsal view; in lateral view, with granulate basal region and smooth distal region separated by curving ridge projecting dorsally (Fig. 1 D). Maxilla with lamella 1 finely serrated and ciliated, extending past capitulum; lamellae 2 and 4 reaching capitulum teeth, lamella 5 long with double row of fine serrations (Fig. 7 H). Outer lobe of maxilla with one sublobal hair. On labial palpus (Fig. 7 G) lengths of sensilla A–E equal to or longer than guard setae, of which a1, b1, b2, d2, e2 and lateral papilla lp are setiform; guard setae b3, b4, d3, d4, e1, e3 and e5 foliate; guard setae d1 and e7 absent. Labial palpus with six proximal setae.</p> <p>Tibiotarsi I, II, and III with 19, 19, 18 setae, respectively. Clavate tenent hairs absent. Unguis (Figs. 7 I–K) with basal pairs of small lateral and dorsolateral teeth, median dorsal tooth in middle third of unguis, and pair of distal lateral teeth; larger ventral tooth present. Unguiculus with strong basal lobe and terminal spine extending slightly past ventral tooth.</p> <p>Ventral tube with 4+4 setae. Tenaculum with 4+4 teeth, without setae. Dens about twice length of mucro, strongly tuberculate dorsally, with seven smooth, slender setae, proximal and distal outer setae longer than others (Fig. 7 L). Mucro tapering to rounded apex, with strong outer lamella (Figs. 7 L, M). Anal spines short, conoid, nearly straight, less than half the length of inner edge of hind unguis.</p> <p> <b>Remarks.</b> Wray’s illustration of the PAO (Wray 1953) is quite misleading. The organ itself was drawn in proportion but much too large, nearly twice the width of the nearest ocellus. Specimens tentatively assigned to this species by Christiansen & Bellinger (1980, 1998) clearly are a different species on the basis of PAO size. In addition, their illustration of Abd. IV and Abd. V chaetotaxy shows the presence of seta m2 on Abd. IV, which is absent in type specimens of <i>H. ireneae</i>.</p> <p> <i>Hypogastrura ireneae</i> is a member of the <i>H. trybomi</i> group and keys to <i>H. oregonensis</i> Yosii, 1960 in Babenko (1994) and Thibaud <i>et al.</i> (2004); it also traces to <i>H. oregonensis</i> in Christiansen & Bellinger (1998) due to the erroneously stated size of the PAO. These two species are very similar and may be synonyms. Comparison of type material is necessary to determine the limits of these species.</p>Published as part of <i>Bernard, Ernest C., 2015, Redescriptions of Hypogastruridae and Onychiuridae (Collembola) described by David L. Wray, pp. 301-338 in Zootaxa 3918 (3)</i> on pages 313-316, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3918.3.1, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/233960">http://zenodo.org/record/233960</a>
Campylothorax sabanus Wray 1953
No full textCampylothorax sabanus (Wray, 1953) This species was originally described from the Bank of Puerto Rico and, although extensive colour pattern variation has been reported from throughout its range (Mari Mutt 1987; Soto-Adames 2002a), populations appear to be otherwise identical in traditional morphological characters. New observations of the maxillary lamellae suggest that the populations of the Virgin Islands may represent a different species. In all individuals from Puerto Rico, maxillary lamella 1 has an anterior subapical extension or lobe similar to that in C. notidanus sp. nov. (Figure 5 B, C), whereas in the three individuals from the Virgin Islands (two from St. John, one from St. Thomas) lamella 1 is tapered and apically acuminate, without the subapical lobe. Analysis of genetic variation in other springtails (Soto-Adames 2002b) shows the populations of the Virgin Islands to be isolated from those of the Puerto Rican mainland, and it is very possible that the distinct lamella morphology in Virgin Islands populations of C. sabanus reflects species-level differences. However, given the subtlety of the morphological difference, formal description of the Virgin Islands species will have to await examination of more extensive samples, in combination with analysis of molecular markers.Published as part of Felipe N. Soto-Adames, 2016, Chaetotaxy of first-instar Campylothorax sabanus (Wray), and description of three new Campylothorax species from Hispaniola (Collembola, Paronellidae), pp. 1583-1612 in Journal of Natural History 50 (25) on page 1608, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2016.1145272, http://zenodo.org/record/26988
Ceratophysella jondavi Wray 1946
No full textCeratophysella jondavi (Wray, 1946) Fig. 4 Achorutes jondavi Wray 1946: 79. Ceratophysella jondavi Salmon 1964: 216 (as jondaui); Christiansen & Bellinger 1980: 148, 1998: 155. Specimens examined. Lectotype female and 21 paralectotypes on slides (by present designation), numerous paralectotypes in ethanol, USA, North Carolina, Raleigh, Bloomsbury Park, 9 December 1943, mushrooms on rotted log, G. F. Knowlton, coll. Redescription. Body length up to 0.95 mm [up to 1.6 mm]. [Body with yellow background sprinkled with reddish-rust-colored specks heavier on head and antennae]. Granulation fine to moderate, granule width 2.3–2.8 Μm; Yosii’s ‘a’ number 11–12. Body setae consisting of smooth, setiform macrosetae and mesosetae, longest subcoxal setae serrated (Fig. 4 A). Head with all dorsal setae; setae c 4, d 2, d 4, d 5, p 1, p 2, p 4 and v 2 macrosetae. Lateral seta of pronotum slightly longer than more medial setae. Thoracic and abdominal sensilliform setal lengths equal to or longer than neighboring p-setae. On mesonotum, m-row lacking seta m 2 but with extra seta m 3 ’; setae p 2, p 5 and p 6 macrosetae, seta p 2 forward of p 1 and p 3. Metanotum lacking seta m 2 and extra seta m 3 ’, p 2 and p 5 macrosetae, p 2 slightly forward of p 3; microsensillum not observed. Tergites I–III with setae p 2, p 6 and occasionally p 4 as macrosetae. On Abd. IV p 2 as a macroseta, m 1 slightly thickened; on Abd. V p 1 a macroseta. Seta a 3 missing on abdominal tergites I–III, present on tergites IV and V. M-row setae m 2, m 3 and m 4 usually present on Abd. I–IV, m 2 and m 3 occasionally missing. Seta p 1 much longer than p 2 on tergite V (Figs. 4 A, B); 3 + 3 anterior setae inside the p 5 setae. Subcoxae I–III with 1, 2, 2 setae, respectively, the longer setae serrate. Plurichaetosis absent. Antennal segment IV with weakly bilobed or entire apical vesicle, without prominent, granulated apical protrusions (Figs. 4 D, E). Subapical organite of Ant. IV very small, peg-like, microsensillum minute, rod-like in pit; two lateral and five dorsal sensilla, the lateral sensilla plumper than the dorsal sensilla; nearly all dorsal setae sensilliform, most ventral setae setiform. Ventral sensory field with 25–30 slender, capitate or brush-tipped sensilla, one sensilliform seta near center of sensory field, three longer, rounded subapical sensilla and straight apical sensilliform seta (Fig. 4 E). Sense organ of Ant. III (Fig. 4 D) with two oval sensilla in shallow groove flanked by longer tapering sensilla; slender peg-like microsensillum present on Ant. III (Fig. 4 E). Eversible sac between Ant. III and IV present. Antennal segment I with 7 setae, Ant. II with 12 setae. Postantennal organ width up to twice the diameter of nearest ocelli, anterior lobes longer and broader than posterior lobes, accessory tubercle present (Fig. 4 F). Labrum roughly trapezoidal, anterior edge straight medially; basal two-thirds granulate, with four linear tubercles; setal formula 5, 5, 4. Maxilla with lamella 1 finely serrated and ciliated, extending past capitulum head; lamella 4 longer than lamella 2; bifurcated “toothbrush” present (Fig. 4 G). Sublobal hairs of outer maxillary lobe not seen clearly. On labial palpus (Fig. 4 H) lengths of sensilla A–E equal to or shorter than most guard setae; a 1 and b 1 ovate, b 2, d 2 and e 2 spine-like, lateral papilla lp conical; guard setae b 3, b 4, d 3 and, d 4 spatulate, all e guard setae linear; guard setae d 1 and e 7 absent. Labial palpus with six proximal setae. Tibiotarsi I, II, and III with 19, 19, 18 setae, respectively. Clavate tenent hairs absent. Unguis (Fig. 4 I) slender with one basal pair of small lateral teeth and ventral tooth. Unguiculus with basal lamella and terminal spine not reaching ventral tooth. Ventral tube with 4 + 4 setae. Tenaculum with 4 + 4 teeth, without setae. Dens less than twice length of mucro, strongly tuberculate dorsally, with seven setae; inner three setae slightly to greatly swollen, usually strongly serrated in basal half; outer setae slender and smooth (Figs. 4 J‒L). Mucro spoon-shaped, tuberculate basally, apex rounded, with strong outer lamella (Figs. 4 J‒L). Anal spines on short basal papillae, upright, short, about half the length of inner edge of hind unguis. Remarks. Ceratophysella jondavi is a member of the C. denticulata -group. Christiansen & Bellinger (1980, 1998) examined a single type specimen and another specimen attributable to C. jondavi, and counted 16 granules in Yosii’s “a” measure, but noted in their Ceratophysella character chart (Table VII, p. 138) that the number was “ 16 ±”. To reach C. jondavi in their key, seta p 1 on Abd. IV would need to be longer than seta p 2. However, their chart of Ceratophysella characteristics indicates that p 1 is shorter than p 2. Assuming the chart is correct, C. jondavi will trace to a couplet that separates the maheuxi and denticulata groups by Yosii’s “a” measure (maheuxi 16 or more, denticulata 14 or less). If the higher number is used C. jondavi traces to H. (C.) krafti (Fjellberg 1985), which is a Mitchellania -group species. The lower number places C. jondavi in the denticulata -group, where it is very similar to the “ exilis ” form (C. exilis (Yosii 1956) also see Yosii (1962)) and C. palustris (Martynova, 1978) (also see Fjellberg 1985). The validity of C. jondavi can be questioned and it could be considered a variant of C. denticulata (Bagnall, 1941), but until better resolution can be attained for this species complex it is better to keep well-described taxa separated.Published as part of Bernard, Ernest C., 2015, Redescriptions of Hypogastruridae and Onychiuridae (Collembola) described by David L. Wray, pp. 301-338 in Zootaxa 3918 (3) on pages 307-309, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3918.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/23396
"Fiddling in Euroland as the Global Meltdown Nears"
No full textPresident Dimitri B. Papadimitriou and Senior Scholar L. Randall Wray argue that the common diagnosis of a "sovereign debt crisis" ignores the crucial role of rising private debt loads and the significance of current account imbalances within the eurozone. Profligate spending in the periphery is not at the root of the problem. Moreover, pushing austerity in the periphery while ignoring the imbalances within the eurozone is a recipe for deflationary disaster. The various rescue packages on offer for Greece will not ultimately solve the problem, say the authors, and a default is a very real possibility. If a new approach is not embraced, we are likely seeing the end of the European Monetary Union (EMU) as it currently stands. The consequences of a breakup would ripple throughout the EMU as well as the shaky US financial system, and could ultimately trigger the next global financial crisis.
Migraine / PET Study
No full textIn December 1994 the New England Journal of Medicine published a remarkable paper Bilateral Spreading Cerebral Hypoperfusion during Spontaneous Migraine Headache. Roger P. Woods, Marco Iacoboni and John C. Mazziotta. which is reproduced in part, and accompanied by a video illustration. Courtesy of John C. Mazziotta, M.D., Ph.D, UCLA Brain Mapping Center, UCLA School of Medicine. The subject was a 21 year old right handed woman who was recruited as a normal volunteer for the PET study of cerebral blood flow. As an adult, she had had headaches every one to two weeks, some of which were unilateral and associated with nausea, vomiting, or photophobia. Motion or glare from a computer terminal could cause or aggravate her headaches. She had never had migraine with aura or neurologic deficits, and she had no neurologic deficits before, during or after the PET study. The only other family member with headache was a cousin who had migraines. Twelve serial measurements of blood flow were made at 15-minute intervals with the subject in a darkened room, fixating her vision on a computer screen that presented a series of line drawings at a rate of 2/sec. A few minutes after the sixth measurement, she noted the gradual onset of a throbbing headache that she described as a sharp pain in the center of the back of her head, "as if someone had hit me there". The headache worsened with no change in location, during the six subsequent measurements. She also had nausea and photophobia. Interviewed after the study about any symptoms that might be interpreted as those of a migraine with aura, she indicated that during one measurement (the ninth-she thought) she had been unable to focus her vision clearly on the drawings on the screen, although she tried very hard to concentrate on doing so. She indicated otherwise she had looked fixedly at the screen with her eyes open throughout all the measurements. The subject continued to have headache, nausea, mild vertigo, and anorexia after returning home from the study and had headache and nausea for the entire next day, before her condition gradually returned to baseline. For each measurement of blood flow, the subject received an intravenous injection of 10 mCi (370 MBq) of water labeled with oxygen-15. Data were acquired for two minutes after the injection. As compared with shorter imaging times, this approach improves the signal-to-noise ratio but results in a nonlinear relation between blood flow and counts. Three different sets of visual stimuli - A, B, and C - were presented in the order ABCCBAABCCBA during the study. The subject was instructed to view these stimuli passively, maintaining visual fixation on a cross in the center of the screen. Visual fixation was verified immediately before and after each measurement. The PET images were registered to T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans as described by Woods RP, Mazziotta JC, Cherry SR. (MRI-PET registration with automated algorithm. J Comput Assist Tomogr 1993;17:536-546). The subdivisions of the images (voxels) that were of potential interest were those in which the blood flow was lowest and decreased the most (to a level at least 20 percent below the base-line value) in studies 7 through 12. Bilateral decreases in blood flow were evident in the subject\u27s occipital regions in the first measurement after the onset of the headache (ie., the seventh measurement), and the decreases progressed anteriorly with time. The authors believe that the most plausible explanation for the blood-flow changes in their subject is that they were the result of spreading depression. Spreading depression, first described by Leao is a transient marked reduction in electrical activity in gray matter in animals that advances contiguously across the cortical surface; the rate of advance is consistent with the spread of symptoms during migraine with aura. It is associated with decreases in blood flow similar in magnitude and duration to those measured in the PET study. Spreading depression can move transcallosally to homologous regions of the opposite hemisphere in animals, and the authors postulate that transcallosal spread accounts for the bilaterality of the findings in their subject. The regions involved earliest were the visual areas known as Brodmann\u27s areas 18 and 19, which are known to have interhemispheric connections through the corpus callosum. Although unilaterality of headache is one of the criteria used in diagnosing migraine, bilateral migraines with aura are well documented. A better understanding of the pathophysiologic features of spreading hypoperfusion would be of obvious clinical importance, since migraine can sometimes lead to ischemic stroke and since stroke can sometimes be aggravated by or associated with the development of migraine.1. Afridi SK, Giffin NJ, Kaube H, Friston KJ, Ward NS, Frackowiak RSJ, Goadsby PJ. A Positron Emission Tomographic Study in Spontaneous Migraine. Arch Neurol 2005;62:1270-1275. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16087768 2. Afridi SK, Matharu MS, Lee L, Kaube H, Friston KJ, Frackowiak RSJ, Goadsby PJ. A PET study exploring the laterality of brainstem activation in migraine using glyceryl trinitrate. Brain 2005;128:932-939. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15705611 3. Bahra A, Matharu MS, Buchel C, Frackowiak RSJ, Goadsby PJ. Brainstem activation specific to migraine headache. Lancet 2001;357:1016-1017. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11293599 4. Goadsby PJ, Lipton RB, Ferrari MD. Migraine - Current Understanding and Treatment. New Engl J Med 2002;346:257-270. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11807151 5. Hadjikhani N, Sanchez del Rio M, Wu O, Schwartz D, Bakker D, Fischl B, Kwong KK, Cutrer FM, Rosen BR, Tootell RBH, Sorensen AG, Moskowitz MA. Mechanisms of migraine aura revealed by functional MRI in human visual cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2001;98:4687-4692. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11287655 6. Lauritzen M. Pathophysiology of the migraine aura: the spreading depression theory. Brain 1994;117:199-210. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7908596 7. Leao AAP. Spreading depression of activity in the cerebral cortex. J Neurophysiol 1944;7:359-390. 8. Olesen J, Larsen B, Lauritzen M. Focal hyperemia followed by spreading oligemia and impaired activation of rCBF in classic migraine. Ann Neurol 1981;9:344-352. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6784664 9. Storer RJ, Akerman S Goadsby PJ. Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) modulates nociceptive trigeminovascular transmission in the cat. Brit J Pharm 2004;142:1171-1181. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15237097 10. Vijayan N, O\u27Brien MD, Blau JN, Rastegar D, Woods RP, Iacoboni M, Mazziotta JC, Olesen J. Spreading Cerebral Hypoperfusion during Migraine Headache. N Engl J Med 1995;332:1515-1518. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7739695 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7739696 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7739697 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/773969
"The Fed and the New Monetary Consensus: The Case for Rate Hikes, Part Two"
No full textFrom this paper's Preface, by Dr. Dimitri B. Papadimitriou, President: In Public Policy Brief No. 79, L. Randall Wray wrote about the Federal Reserve’s recent interest rate hikes that "the most charitable interpretation of the Fed’s policy change is that it appears to be premature."Wray marshaled a convincing array of data on payrolls, employment-to-population ratios, and other labor market indicators to show "that the current recovery has not yet attained the degree of labor market tightness that was common in previous recoveries," and therefore that the threat of inflation was minimal. Hence, the Fed, in raising rates, was unnecessarily jeopardizing the economy’s weak recovery. In this new brief, we learn about the flaws in the Fed’s thinking that have led to its frequent policy mistakes.Wray traces several strands of current central bank thinking back to their roots in the Fed’s internal discussions in the mid-1990s. Transcripts of these discussions have recently been released, a development that has yielded some disturbing and telling insights about the way in which monetary policy is formed. The situation of 1994 closely parallels that of current times. Unemployment was clearly above its lowest sustainable level, and inflation was low. Still, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) and its chairman, Alan Greenspan, believed that interest rates had to be raised to keep prices in check. As it turned out, inflation stayed low, even as unemployment sank to levels previously believed to be inflationary. The Fed’s interest rate hikes proved to be unnecessary at best and counterproductive at worst. Not only is the current economic environment reminiscent of 1994, but so are contemporary justifications for recessionary policies.Wray lists six tenets of policy making common to both periods: transparency, gradualism, activism, low inflation as the only official goal, surreptitious targeting of distributional variables, and the neutral rate as the policy instrument to achieve these goals. The Fed would not be eager to espouse some of these principles publicly, but they were all discussed in committee meetings, as the recently released transcripts make clear—and there is no reason to think the Fed has changed its philosophy. Wray shows that this philosophy is convoluted. Fed officials claim that they are attempting to reach a neutral interest rate that neither provokes inflation nor causes recession. But they also say that they will not know the level of the neutral rate until they reach it. Little can be gained by pursuing such a chimerical goal. Moreover, even when the interest rate was far below its supposedly neutral level, the economy seemed to be free of inflation. Finally, the Fed seems to have painted itself into a corner by promising in advance a gradual series of interest rate increases. It is small wonder that the press finds the Fed’s public statements to be somewhat confusing and cryptic. The Fed transcripts shed light on the events of 1994 and those of the present day. I think that it is time for a new approach to monetary policy; this brief shows why.
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