272 research outputs found
Output Persistence from Monetary Shocks with Staggered Prices or Wages under a Taylor Rule
No full textWe analytically examine output persistence from monetary shocks in a DSGE model with staggered prices or wages under a Taylor Rule for monetary policy. The best known such model assumes Calvo-style staggering of prices and flexible wages and is known to yield no persistence under a Taylor Rule. Switching to Taylor-style staggering introduces lagged output into the model’s ‘New Keynesian Phillips Curve’ equation. Despite this, we show it generates no persistence, whether staggering is in wages or prices. Surprisingly, however, Calvo-style staggering of wages does generate persistence, if there are decreasing returns to labour.Output Persistence, Staggered Prices/Wages, Taylor Rule.
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No full textThis book first appeared in pamphlet form. It was written and published by P.J. Lawler [sic] and was afterward issued by J.P. Burbank. It was purchased and rewritten and revised by the Inland printer company in 1902. (Note from the publisher's preface to the 1908 Inland revision).Mode of access: Internet
Exonic STK11 deletions are not a rare cause of Peutz-Jeghers syndrome
No full textBackground: Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (PJS) is a rare, autosomal dominant cancer predisposition syndrome characterised by oro-facial pigmentation and hamartomatous polyposis of the gastrointestinal tract. A causal germline mutation in STK11 can be identified in 30% to 80% of PJS patients.Methods: Here we report the comprehensive mutational analysis of STK11 in 38 PJS probands applying conventional PCR based mutation detection methods and the recently introduced MLPA (multiplex ligation dependent probe amplification) technique developed for the identification of exonic deletions/duplications.Results: Nineteen of 38 probands (50%) had detectable point mutations or small scale deletions/insertions and six probands (16%) had genomic deletions encompassing one or more STK11 exons.Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that exonic STK11 deletions are a common cause of PJS and provide a strong rationale for conducting a primary screen for such mutations in patients.Abbreviations: MLPA, multiplex ligation dependent probe amplification; PJS, Peutz-Jeghers syndrom
Impaired insulin secretion after prenatal exposure to the Dutch famine
No full textOBJECTIVE: We previously reported that people prenatally exposed to famine during the Dutch Hunger Winter of 1944-1945 have higher 2-h glucose concentrations after an oral glucose tolerance test in later life. We aimed to determine whether this association is mediated through alterations in insulin secretion, insulin sensitivity, or a combination of both. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We performed a 15-sample intravenous glucose tolerance test in a subsample of 94 normoglycemic men and women from the Dutch Famine Birth Cohort. We used the disposition index, derived as the product of insulin sensitivity and the first-phase insulin response to glucose as a measure of the activity of the beta-cells adjusted for insulin resistance. In all analyses, we adjusted for sex and BMI. RESULTS: Glucose tolerance was impaired in people who had been prenatally exposed to famine compared with people unexposed to famine (difference in intravenous glucose tolerance test K(g) value -21% [95% CI -41 to -4]). People exposed to famine during midgestation had a significantly lower disposition index (-53% [-126 to -3]) compared with people unexposed to famine. Prenatal exposure to famine during early gestation was also associated with a lower disposition index, but this difference did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: Impaired glucose tolerance after exposure to famine during mid-gestation and early gestation seems to be mediated through an insulin secretion defec
Sinclair – Gipson 1931-1932 Correspondence
No full text{"value":"1931 January 12 from P.J. Sinclair (Moshi) to Lawrence H. Gipson (Lehigh Univ.) (Typed letter indicating that Sinclair has received letters from Gipson and Professor Tomlinson who took a trip with Sinclair on the Serengetti Plains. Sinclair says he will send a manuscript to Gipson regarding Beamish which may be of interest to Gipson regarding matters of the British empire.) Scanned 1931 May 29 from P.J. Sinclair (Moshi) to Gipson (Lehigh Univ.) (three page typed letter relates Sinclair\u27s point of view regarding the troubles in East Africa and acknowledge Gipson\u27s interest in the crisis. Sinclair describes life in Tanganyika hunting on the veldt, and planting pineapples in the Hawaiian manner through paper.) Scanned 1931 October 27 from P.J. Sinclair (Moshi) to Gipson (typed letter acknowledges letter of September 15 remarking on the situation in England exceeding expectations referring to Beamish\u27s forecasting a crash. East Africa\u27s affairs are in the background but the efforts made seem to have good effect. Sinclair reports that Adm. Beamish is retiring and hope is that H.H. Beamish be nominated to replace him. Sinclair refers to "the old Manuscript" and its author – most of what Sinclair knows about it is from his grandmother.) Scanned 1932 April 11 from P.J. Sinclair (Moshi) to Gipson (handwritten letter "In view of events in England I did not send the papers relating to Beamish and De la Mothe as I first intended and I hope for some culminative event to round them off, when you would then have had a full perspective view point which would have enabled you to judge of the matter as a whole. However the papers I now send will hold some interest for you I think as they are by no means dry in themselves but hold the interest in a way which is only possible when dealing with the personal element. Your "Studies in Colonial Connecticut Taxation," is intensely interesting and somewhat parallels our case in degree, and I could not stop until I had read every word of it. Thank you very much for sending it I greatly appreciate it.\u27) Scanned (Unrelated handwritten jottings but dates mentioned are interesting "Excise 1785-1786, Phila. 1786 on brown folded paper possibly in Gipson\u27s handwriting) 1932 April 11 from P.J. Sinclair to Gipson (handwritten letter "The paper herein For a mosaic of actual history being the minor facts which make up the Tapestry and the threads of which are rarely seen. As I mentioned before it would be dangerous and not right to expose them to publicity at present, but I understand well your interest as a scholar and historian in the true facts and therefore I leave them to you with confidence.") Scanned","attr0":"description"
Antisocial behavior from a developmental psychopathology perspective
No full textThis paper reviews research on chronic patterns of antisocial behavior and places this research into a developmental psychopathology framework. Specifically, research suggests that there are at least three important pathways through which children and adolescents can develop severe antisocial behaviors. One group of youth shows antisocial behavior that begins in adolescence, and two groups show antisocial behavior that begins in childhood but differ on the presence or absence of callous-unemotional traits. In outlining these distinct pathways to antisocial behavior, we have tried to illustrate some key concepts from developmental psychopathology such as equifinality and multifinality, the importance of understanding the interface between normal and abnormal development, and the importance of using multiple levels of analyses to advance causal theories. Finally, we discuss how this development model can be used to enhance existing interventions for antisocial individuals
Towards All-Polymeric Cochlear Implant Micro-Electrode Arrays
No full textCochlear implants (CIs) are the most effective solution to treat severe-to-profound hearing loss. These medical devices mimic and replace the function of the damaged structures of the cochlea. To this date, more than 700,000 individuals worldwide have benefited from CIs. However, state-of-the-art CIs do not provide a natural and high-quality sound perception to their recipients, who poorly appreciate music and hardly understand speech in crowded or noisy atmospheres. Furthermore, CIs are expensive and unaffordable for poorer portions of society. The CI electrode array is the component that presents the most margin of improvement as it is still composed of classic materials and is fabricated via a tailored manual manufacturing process that does not maximize the potential of the system. Concretely, commercial CI electrode arrays contain from 12 to 24 individual stimulating channels that cannot optimally substitute the role of the 3000 neural stimulation sites of a normal-functioning cochlea. Moreover, most of the commercial CI electrode arrays cannot fit in the narrow deep areas of the cochlea to completely cover the low-frequency audible spectrum. Hence, to overcome these limitations, novel strategies and materials to optimize CI electrode arrays ought to be investigated. Chapter 1 of this work starts with an introduction to the auditory system and the different types of hearing loss. Chapter 2 goes through the history and research that led to the development of cochlear implants and presents their main components and current limitations. Chapter 3 discusses in detail the state-of-the-art of CI electrode arrays and Chapter 4 reviews novel materials to enhance them. In Chapter 5, PEDOT:PSS is suggested for the development of all-polymeric cochlear implant micro-electrode arrays. Initial experiments provide a proof-of-concept that demonstrates that by patterning PEDOT:PSS layers with conductive and non-conductive areas, it is possible to create electric circuits with superior electrodes and leads that give rise to all-polymeric CI micro-electrode arrays. Future work will be directed towards developing an actual prototype using this strategy. Furthermore, a study of the long-term stability of the material will be necessary.Biomedical Engineerin
Sequence changes in predicted promoter elements of STK11/LKB1 are unlikely to contribute to Peutz-Jeghers syndrome
No full textBackground:
Germline mutations or large-scale deletions in the coding region and splice sites of STK11/LKB1 do not account for all cases of Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (PJS). It is conceivable that, on the basis of data from other diseases, inherited variation in promoter elements of STK11/LKB1 may cause PJS.Results:
Phylogenetic foot printing and transcription factor binding site prediction of sequence 5' to the coding sequence of STK11/LKB1 was performed to identify non-coding sequences of DNA indicative of regulatory elements. A series of 33 PJS cases in whom no mutation in STK11/LKB1 could be identified were screened for sequence changes in the putative promoter defined by nucleotides -1090 to -1472. Two novel sequence changes were identified, but were found to be present in healthy individuals.Conclusion:
These findings indicate that promoter sequence changes are unlikely to contribute to PJS
Hyperfine splitting of [Al VI] 3.66 mu m and the Al isotopic ratio in NGC 6302
No full textThe core of planetary nebula NGC 6302 is filled with high-excitation photoionized gas at low expansion velocities. It represents a unique astrophysical situation in which to search for hyperfine structure (HFS) in coronal emission lines from highly ionized species. HFS is otherwise blended by thermal or velocity broadening. Spectra containing [Al vr] 3.66 mu m P-3(2) <- P-3(1), obtained with Phoenix on Gemini South at resolving powers of up to 75000, resolve the line into five hyperfine components separated by 20-60 km s(-1) as a result of the coupling of the I = 5/2 nuclear spin of Al-27 with the total electronic angular momentum J. The isotope Al-26 has a different nuclear spin of I = 5, and a different HFS, which allows us to place a 3 sigma upper limit on the Al-26/Al-27 abundance ratio of 1/33. We measure the HFS magnetic dipole coupling constants for [Al vr], and provide the first estimates of the electric quadrupole HFS coupling constants obtained through astronomical observations of an atomic transition
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