25,784 research outputs found
Dick Price photograph, Anna Carter's Chairoplanes, 1986.
No full textAnna Carter's Chairoplanes - CP32 - photographed 11 May 1986
Diethild Anna Else Price
No full textDiethild Anna Else Price, 88, passed away at her Palo Alto home surrounded by family on December 11, 201
Diethild Anna Else Price, November 24, 1931 - December 11, 2019
No full textDiethild Anna Else Price, 88, passed away at her Palo Alto home surrounded by family on December 11, 201
Price support at any price? Costs and benefits of alternative agricultural policies for Poland
No full textThe author argues that Poland must choose an agricultural policy that promotes efficiency, structural change, and adjustment to the new market environment and eventual membership in the European Union. That policy must take into account both the needs of, and the financial constraints on, Polish agriculture. Results of simulation experiments performed with the use of the computable general equilibrium model of the Polish economy suggest that Common Agricultural Policy-type price supports are not the most efficient agricultural policy for Poland. The author discusses alternative policies and scenarios. Rather than discuss whether the relationship between farmers'incomes and average Polish wages is fair, the author analyzes whether medium- and long-term development trends in the Polish economy may cause this relationship to deteriorate, and what policies will counteract those trends. Rapid growth in the nonagricultural sectors combined with real appreciation of domestic currency (caused either through good current account performance or significant capital inflows) may jeopardize farmers'relative income position. And such developments are probable if positive projections for economic development and membership in the European Union are realized. The agricultural sector can defend its relative income only by becoming more efficient. Price supports improve farmers'relative income but at a high cost to taxpayers and consumers and to macroeconomic efficiency. To meet these costs, Poland must put in place firm quantity controls. But the author thinks that the best strategy would be to avoid price supports until the moment of joining the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy. In the interim, policies aimed at reducing farm employment seem most appropriate. The author discusses two such policies: encouraging older farmers to retire and promoting jobs in rural areas. He also proposes two feasible scenarios for integrating Polish agriculture with that of the European Union by 2005-10.Markets and Market Access,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Labor Policies,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,Markets and Market Access,Access to Markets
Relative prices and inflation in Poland, 1989-97 : the special role of administered price increases
No full textThe author evaluates how much relative price shifts affected inflation in Poland between 1989 and 1997. He uses a theoretical model that predicts a positive relationship between variance and skewness in the distribution of relative price changes and the general inflation rate. Regressions controlling for various shocks revealed that significant relative price changes -- especially the large administered price increases associated with adjustment -- produced substantial upward inflationary pressures. Growth in money and wages were shown to fuel inflation. Appreciation of the real exchange rate lowered it. Administered price increases -- in utilities and other sectors controlled by the government -- dominated inflation from 1989-97. And the adjustment of many controlled prices is not yet complete. Ideally, future administered increases should be frequent and moderate to prevent the large price shifts that increase inflation. But because frequent price increases are likely to be politically unpopular, sizable increases may be in order so that the current underevaluation of numerous services will diminish more quickly.Economic Theory&Research,Banks&Banking Reform,Insurance&Risk Mitigation,Markets and Market Access,Environmental Economics&Policies,Markets and Market Access,Access to Markets,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Inflation
Biomarkers for cardiovascular risk prediction in people with type 2 diabetes
No full textIntroduction: Type 2 diabetes continues to be one of the most common non-communicable
diseases worldwide and complications due to type 2 diabetes, such as cardiovascular disease
(CVD) can cause severe disability and even death. Despite advances in the development and
validation of cardiovascular risk scores, those used in clinical practice perform inadequately
for people with type 2 diabetes. Research has suggested that particular non-traditional
biomarkers and novel omics data may provide additional value to risk scores over-and-above
traditional predictors.
Aims: To determine whether a small panel of non-traditional biomarkers improve prediction
models based on a current cardiovascular risk score (QRISK2), either individually or in
combination, in people with type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, to investigate a set of 228
metabolites and their associations with CVD, independent of well-established cardiovascular
risk factors, in order to identify potential new predictors of CVD for future research.
Methods: Analyses used the Edinburgh Type 2 Diabetes Study (ET2DS), a prospective
cohort of 1066 men and women with type 2 diabetes aged 60-75 years at baseline.
Participants were followed for eight years, during which time 205 had a cardiovascular event.
Additionally, for omics analyses, four cohorts from the UCL-LSHTM-Edinburgh-Bristol
(UCLEB) consortium were combined with the ET2DS. Across all studies, 1005 (44.73%)
participants had CVD at baseline or experienced a cardiovascular event during follow-up.
Results: In the ET2DS, higher levels of high sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTnT) and N-terminal
pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and lower levels of ankle brachial
pressure index (ABI) were associated with incident cardiovascular events, independent of
QRISK2 and pre-existing cardiovascular disease (odds ratios per one SD increase in
biomarker 1.35 (95% CI: 1.13, 1.61), 1.23 (1.02, 1.49) and 0.86 (0.73, 1.00) respectively).
The addition of each biomarker to a model including just QRISK2 variables improved the c-statistic,
with the biggest increase for hs-cTnT (from 0.722 (0.681, 0.763) to 0.732 (0.690,
0.774)). When multiple biomarkers were considered in combination, the greatest c-statistic
was found for a model which included ABI, hs-cTnT and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase
(0.740 (0.699, 0.781)).
In the combined cohorts from the UCLEB consortium, a small number of high-density
lipoprotein (HDL) particles were found to be significantly associated with CVD:
concentration of medium HDL particles, total lipids in medium HDL, phospholipids in
medium HDL and phospholipids in small HDL. These associations persisted after adjustment
for a range of traditional cardiovascular risk factors including age, sex, blood pressure,
smoking and HDL to total cholesterol ratio.
Conclusions: In older people with type 2 diabetes, a range of non-traditional biomarkers
increased predictive ability for cardiovascular events over-and-above the commonly used
QRISK2 score, and a combination of biomarkers may provide the best improvement.
Furthermore, a small number of novel omics biomarkers were identified which may further
improve risk scores or provide better prediction than traditional lipid measurements such as
HDL cholesterol
Asset Price Inflation and Monetary Policy
No full textIt is crucial that central banks and regulatory authorities be aware of effects of asset price inflation on the stability of the financial system. Lending activity based on asset collateral during the boom is hazardous to the health of lenders when the boom collapses. One way that authorities can curb the distortion of lenders' portfolios during asset price booms is to have in place capital requirements that increase with the growth of credit extensions collateralized by assets whose prices have escalated. If financial institutions avoid this pitfall, their soundness will not be impaired when assets backing loans fall in value. Rather than trying to gauge the effects of asset prices on core inflation, central banks may be better advised to be alert to the weakening of financial balance sheets in the aftermath of a fall in value of asset collateral backing loans.
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