6,219 research outputs found
Describing the Fed's conduct with Taylor rules: is interest rate smoothing important?
No full textIn this paper we estimate simple Taylor rules paying particular attention to interest rate smoothing. Following English, Nelson, and Sack (2002), we employ a model in first differences to gain some insights into the presence and significance of the degree of partial adjustment as opposed to a serially correlated policy shock. Moreover, we estimate a nested model to take into account both interest rate smoothing and serially correlated deviations from various Taylor rates prescriptions. Our findings suggest that the lagged interest rate enters the Taylor rule in its own right, and may very well coexist with (usually omitted) variables that relate to asymmetric preferences on the output gap, or financial market indicators. Therefore, while we cannot exclude that serially correlated policy shocks may play a role in describing the federal funds rate path, our results significantly support the importance of the lagged interest rate in Taylor-type models. JEL Classification: E4, E5
Scientific and Ethical Issues in Mitochondrial Donation
No full text\ua9 2018 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. The development of any novel reproductive technology involving manipulation of human embryos is almost inevitably going to be controversial and evoke sincerely held, but diametrically opposing views. The plethora of scientific, ethical and legal issues that surround the clinical use of such techniques fuels this divergence of opinion. During the policy change that was required to allow the use of mitochondrial donation in the UK, many of these issues were intensely scrutinised by a variety of people and in multiple contexts. This extensive process resulted in the publication of several reports that informed the recommendations made to government. We have been intrinsically involved in the development of mitochondrial donation, from refining the basic technique for use in human embryos through to clinical service delivery, and have taken the opportunity in this article to offer our own perspective on the issues it raises
Estimating the Aquifer’s Renewable Water to Mitigate the Challenges of Upcoming Megadrought Events
No full textIn arid and semi-arid regions of the world, the occurrence of prolonged drought events (megadroughts) associated with climate change can seriously affect the balance between water supply and demand, thereby severely increasing the susceptibility of such regions to adverse impacts. In this study, a simple framework is introduced to estimate renewable water volumes (RW) to mitigate the challenges of megadrought events by managing the groundwater resources. The framework connects a weighted annual hydrological drought index (wSPEI) to RW, based on the short time-scale precipitation volume. The proposed framework, which was in a proof-of-concept case study applied to the Neishaboor watershed in the semi-arid part of Iran, showed that developing the weighted drought index can be valuable to estimate RW. The results suggested that the wSPEI, aggregating hydrological drought index (HSPEI) with the time scale k = 5 days and the regional coefficient s = 1.3 can be used to estimate RW with reasonable accuracy (R2 = 0.73, RMSE = 11.5 mm year−1). This indicates that in the Neishaboor watershed, the best estimation of RW can be determined by precipitation volumes (or the lack thereof) falling over 5-day aggregation periods rather than by any other time scales. The accuracy of the relationship was then investigated by cross validation (leave-one-out method). According to the results, the proposed framework performed fairly well for the estimation of RW, with R2 = 0.75 and RMSE = 12.2 mm year−1 for k = 5 days. The Overall agreement between the wSPEI, the RW derived from water balance calculations, and the estimated RW by the proposed framework was also assessed for a period of 34 years. It showed that the annual RW followed closely the wSPEI, indicating a reasonable relationship between wSPEI and the annual RW. Accordingly, the proposed framework is capable to estimate the renewable water of a given watershed for different climate change scenarios.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Water Resource
Crystal structure of benzyl 2-(3-methyl-2-(p-trifluoromethylbenzoyl)-cyclopropyl)acetate, C(21)H(19)F(3)O(3)
No full textC21H19F3U3, triclinic, PI (No. 2), a = 7.934(4) A, b = 20.525(6) A, c = 5.642(2) A, a = 91.10(3)°, β= 91.58(4)°, y = 87.29(3)°, V = 917.2 A3, Z = 2, Rgl(F) = 0.066, Rw(F) = 0.064,7= 293 K. © by Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag,.T. D. Avery, D. K. Taylor and E. R. T. Tiekinkhttp://www.oldenbourg.de/verlag/zkristallogr/mn-ncsc9903.ht
Geometric Bounds on the Fastest Mixing Markov Chain
No full textIn the Fastest Mixing Markov Chain problem, we are given a graph and desire the discrete-time Markov chain with smallest mixing time subject to having equilibrium distribution uniform on and non-zero transition probabilities only across edges of the graph.
It is well-known that the mixing time of the lazy random walk on is characterised by the edge conductance of via Cheeger\u27s inequality: . Analogously, we characterise the fastest mixing time via a Cheeger-type inequality but for a different geometric quantity, namely the vertex conductance of : .
This characterisation forbids fast mixing for graphs with small vertex conductance. To bypass this fundamental barrier, we consider Markov chains on with equilibrium distribution which need not be uniform, but rather only -close to uniform in total variation. We show that it is always possible to construct such a chain with mixing time .
Finally, we discuss analogous questions for continuous-time and time-inhomogeneous chains.31 page
Hydrocarbon degradation by a new Pseudomonas sp., strain RW-II, with polycationic surfactant to modify the cell hydrophobicity
No full textWOS: 000300178200008PubMed: 22439560Pseudomonas putida RW-II isolated from petroleum refinery wastewater was tested for hydrocarbon degradation potential in the presence of polycationic surfactant, cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). The effects of CTAB on growth profile, cell surface hydrophobicity, cell adhesion, zeta potential and hydrocarbon biodegradation were investigated. The addition of CTAB had a significant effect on the growth profile of RW-II and the growth was increased 1.11 times in hexadecane containing medium. In the presence of CTAB, the growth of Pseudomonas putida RW-II increased about 14.4%. The zeta potential of Pseudomonas putida RW-II decreased significantly when CTAB was added to the medium. The addition of CTAB not only decreased the zeta potential of surface, but also significantly increased the hydrophobicity of the cell surface. The degradation rate of hexadecane, anthracene and naphthalene was observed as 64.8%, 46% and 56% at the end of 120 h, respectively. Biodegradation of hexadecane, anthracene and naphthalene was enhanced 1.16, 1.15 and 1.08 times at 40 mg/L CTAB addition, respectively. The increase in biodegradation resulted from improved interaction between the hydrocarbon and microorganism derived from the increased adhesion. Thus, the use of CTAB has been proposed to be a valuable effect to enhance the biodegradation of hydrocarbons
Pencegahan Penyakit Infeksi Menular Melalui Edukasi PHBS Pada Masyarakat RW.02 Jungge, Kelurahan Bontoparang, Kabupaten Gowa
No full textThis service aims to provide education regarding how to prevent the emergence of infectious diseases by implementing PHBS cultural practices to the community of RW.02 Jungge. This service is carried out in the Bontoala neighborhood, Bontoparang Village, Gowa Regency. The author uses several stages in the process of service activities, including: the preparation stage, the implementation stage, and the evaluation stage. The service activity was carried out on March 9, 2022, by lecturers and students of the Faculty of Health, Patria Arta University.D uring the service process, the author found that in the preparation stage there were several gaps related to the social conditions of the RW.02 Jungge community such as social status, profession, age, educational background, economic, social, cultural, and health conditions that made the writer decide to use an educational approach. theory and practice to introduce about PHBS. Then in the second stage, namely implementation, the author and his friends did heart exercise, then continued with theoretical education regarding the importance of PHBS and how to apply PHBS using a persuasive approach, panel discussion and door to door methods. And in the third stage or evaluation stage, the writer together with other friends did a cross check by asking the RW residents one by one. 02 Jungge regarding the results and benefits of this service activity. The implementation of PKM was successfully carried out using an educational approach based on theory and practice, obtained by RW residents. O2 Jungge, Gowa Regency by knowing, understanding, and being able to prevent infectious infectious diseases by implementing PHBS.Keywords: Infectious infectious diseases, PHBS Educatio
Comment on "A centrosome-independent role for gamma-TuRC proteins in the spindle assembly checkpoint"
No full textMüller et al. (Reports, 27 October 2006, p. 654) showed that inhibition of the gamma-tubulin ring complex (gamma-TuRC) activates the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC), which led them to suggest that gamma-TuRC proteins play molecular roles in SAC activation. Because gamma-TuRC inhibition leads to pleiotropic spindle defects, which are well known to activate kinetochore-derived checkpoint signaling, we believe that this conclusion is premature
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